S04:E11 - Three's a Crowd

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

Twilight was wearing the Starswirled the Bearded costume!! *Squeeee*

 

...Ahem...anyway, I said before that this was either going to be a really good episode because of Discord, or a really bad episode because of Discord. Discord as a character sometimes seems like a go-ahead for the writers and animators to cram in whatever references and shout-outs they can come up with that will no doubt fly straight over most kids heads and smash the older viewers in the face (After all, what kid has seen Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?). The finest example of this is Discord's song, which I have mixed opinions on. I'll admit, it's catchy as all hell but it seems way too quick paced to the point I lost track of what he was saying within seconds. That's an apt way to describe this episode actually: a cavalcade of references. Why else did they feel the need to specifically include Flash Sentry of all ponies (maybe it's just me, but I would have liked it if there was a split second scene where Twilight blushes at the sight of Flash. I know EQG isn't meant to be canon...). Though, do my eyes deceive me or was that a Crystal Pegasus Pony? I thought all the Crystal Ponies were Earth Ponies, guards included. Does that mean there are Crystal Unicorns as well?

 

Discord aside however, the rest of the episode was a treat to watch. Fluttershy being away on a trip felt like a natural reason why she couldn't be in town to handle Discord. Though, something Fluttershy said is making me think: she said that she was going off to see something called "The Breezies", and a future episode just so happens to be called "It ain't easy being Breezies". Me thinks we're going to have another twin-sided episode on our hands like with "Just for Sidekicks" and "Games Ponies Play". I can safely say that all the main characters in this episode were truly in character ('cept for Pinkie's even shorter attention span than usual, but that's beside the point) and their reactions dealing with Discord were hilarious to witness, especially Applejack's "I'm not buying it" eyebrow raise. I know what new facial expression will be turned into a meme by the days end!

 

On another note...WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA WAS THAT WORM-THING!?! I saw that thing and the first thing I could think of after the initial confusion wore off was "Have we stepped into a B-grade monster flick?" Hell, Discord had no idea what it was, which scares me even more!

 

So, where does that leave this episode? Well, while the Discord scenes were a touch over the top, I can't say I didn't have fun watching this episode. Only thing I can really complain about would be the sheer overload of shout-outs and the lackluster song, but in the long run they only hampered the episode slightly. It was also nice to see Cadance again, as well as adding a little more depth to her character (much to Discord's disappointment). Though, was I the only one disappointed when they didn't do the "Sunshine, Sunshine" dance? I feel cheated.

 

Another week, another episode. Now, if you'll excuse me...*puts on conductors hat*

 

All aboard the Weird Al hype train! Have your tickets ready at the door!

Edited January 25, 2014 by PoisonClaw

[Radiance64 7,053]

Was I the only one who loved the friendship necklace that Discord gave Twilight? XD

Ha yeah, that was the best. Would be even funnier if it would've been Twilight's Rainbow Item, though.

[Wingnut 6,988]

That was a cute ep! Discord hasn't forgotten how to get into Twilight's head, has he? As dozens have said in this thread, best troll! But let's face it. Who among hasn't felt blue at one time or another wondering if we're really loved or wanted? Another theme that stands out is that strong friendships are often built during turbulent times.

 

Memorable moments include:

 

-You'd think someone like Discord would be immune to psychological or physical disorders. Oh well, that's what you get!

-Applejack's raised eyebrow.

-A crystal train? Haven't seen that before!

-Another fine Discord song and dance. There were so many references in there I need to see it again before I can comment.

-A glass of water.

-The medicinal flower proves to be surprisingly big.

-And it's guarded by a giant monster. 

-We may not see it on screen very much, but Fluttershy and Discord are clearly quite close. 

-The friendship medal is much preferable to the Twisceptre.

-And, of course, Flash Sentry's cameo as one of Princess Cadance's minions. Come on, you knew we wouldn't be absolutely free of him in Season 4.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Wingnut

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

The official name of that monster said by Meghan McCarthy. Apparently it's called a Tatzlwurm. http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/01/tatzlwurm-name-of-new-wurm-creature.html

[Vertigo_95 572]

The episode wasn't bad, but I didn't find it that great either. I feel like they changed Cadence's character a little and the fact that Shining Armor doesn't seem important anymore. But on the flip side, Discord and his song was awesome.

[Castle Bleck 19,333]

@Wingnut,

 

At least Human!Flash was slightly developed. Unfortunately, no humans in Equestria (for now), so pointless Pony!Flash it was, I guess.

[Aerial~Shot 177]

Was I the only one who loved the friendship necklace that Discord gave Twilight? XD

God dammit Discord, stop photobombing

[NightOwl 912]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwXylReeDwI

 

The new songs up on YouTube!

[Ianpiersonjdavis 512]

This episode airing today was somewhat ironic for me since I just got over a pretty bad stomach flu a few days ago.

 

Cadance's health bubble spell is something I could used.

 

Twilight's Starswirl cosplay returns XD

 

I wish I could pause parts of Discord's song, so I could accurately count and list the references made in it.

 

Discord's friendship necklace for Twilight was hilarious.

 

While I don't like Flash Sentry, his appearance didn't really bother me that much-it was the fact that Meghan tweeted a few months back that he wouldn't be in this season that rubs me the wrong way because it feel like she lied to us.

 

The appearance itself was pretty harmless though, as it had zero impact on the episode or any of the characters in it and just the audience's perception of it, so I think it would be unfair to rate it any higher or lower based on a three second appearance.

 

The episode was good, but as a few others have said it felt like it was missing something, but I just can't put my finger on it, so I give it an 8 gummy bears out of 10.

[BalanceBrony 259]

I can already tell that I'm going to have a mark on my forehead from facehoofing so much. ARE PEOPLE REALLY HATING THIS EPISODE FOR A THREE SECOND CAMEO OF A CHARACTER WHICH SHOULDN'T BE HATED AT ALL?
 
You people make no sense. For starters, Flash wasn't a bad character. Boring certainly, but that isn't his fault. The writers were forced to make an hour and a half commercial. It was also meant to be stand-alone, so they had to reform all the mane 6 while also creating new characters. Obviously the additional characters will fall a little flat to make room to show the character of the main cast.
 
But hating them for that? It makes no sense. Flash and Sunset have potential. And people hate them, and this episode? For three seconds? God dangit.
 
I can tell this will be me in the coming days:



Regarding my personal opinion, it was a fun episode, but it left me feeling a little disappointed for some reason, though I'm not sure why. I have a guess though.

I attribute my disappointment to the weak book moral, and the somewhat uninteresting plot. The pacing kind of fell flat after Discord's song. But I also need to give analytical points to the episode. I thought the Princess time was nice, and Twilicorn haters can gtfo now. FLYING PONIES WITH FREAKING LASERS! Discord was also written very well, showing his own little spin of what friendship means, and also being the unpredictable chaos god we love. I will say that this was the first episode where I didn't like Pinkie, but the other ponies were all done well.

I'm going to be honest and say, not only did Flash not tick me off, but I actually enjoyed his appearance. I think he has potential, and he is cute with Twily. If given more room to develop, I'm sure the writers can make him a good character. And even if I didn't like it, I'm never one to hate and episode for three seconds. So, there are my thoughts on the episode. I give it an 8/10

Edited January 25, 2014 by BalanceBrony

[Simon 4,557]

Would people have preferred it if she said he would be in season 4, we spent a year freaking out about it, a chunk of the fandom quit because of the pairing, and then it turned out to be a meaningless 3 second background clip?

[Lightning Dust 19]

I watched the ep on OtakuAscendedLive. I've been a little out of the fandom for a few months and I kind of found it very annoying that I didn't get even half of the references in Discord's Water song. Oh well.

Flash Sentry showed up. Deal with it, guys. I donut care at all if he keeps appearing (he's rather handsome, don'cha think? xd)

I definitely like a Twily x Flash shipping better than Twilight x Discord ----> nightmare fuel, eww

 

**And maybe they actually weren't going to put Flash Sentry in season 4, but they did it after all and then Megan would have to be like ''Oh I'm sorry guys, we're putting him in anyway. It's just a 3 second clip, but go ahead and freak out anyways!''

--that'd be stupid. and if I were her, I probably woudln't post it either.

 

I liked the way Discord made fun of Twilight again, (first the Twily scepter and now the friendship necklace)

 

Though, I have to say that this episode missed something for me... that may be because of the growing piles of unsolved mysteries in this season...

I'll give it a 7 out of 10.

[LordDiscord 289]

I don't suppose anyone has any links to the episode, maybe preferably on on Youtube.

[Party Cannon 876]

They said he wasn't gonna be a CHARACTER in season 4. Meaning he won't have a major part or a talking or acting role in the season. He was a background pony, nothing more, nothing less.

 

You would make a great defense attorney. Lol But yeah I totally get what you mean. It didn't ruin this fantastic episode in the slightest. I am more intrigued than anything at this point that whoever animated him into the episode wanted to start some brony trouble/gossip.

 

 

 

So when is an image of AJ's "sexy face" from today's episode going to show up? Gotta say, even though it is still going S4 wins for best faces.

 

 

 

UPDATE:

 

Here it is

 

Edited January 25, 2014 by Party Cannon

[Castle Bleck 19,333]

I love this episode; I'd give it, like, an 8/10.

[Nature's Spell 526]

For those of you say Twilight doesn't fly enough I think this episode just blew up your spot. Plus we get Cadence admitting that she doesn't get to fly very often. As many of us have said Twilight flies when she needs to!

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

Also yay Twilight's wings are not completely useless. She flew a lot in this episode.

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I rather enjoyed this episode myself, it was sooo nice to see Cadance again since we haven't seen her since the Season 3 finale. Also I loved Discord in this episode, he was soo funny and his typical sneaky self pretending to be sick just to test Twilight's loyalty, good old Discord. The song was also amazing, love any type of song like what Discord sang. Also that worm creature was rather interesting and creepy, looked like the worm from Tremors, and of course nice to see Twilight fly, she was a real badass, also lol the friendship necklace, so funny. Also nice to see a cameo of Flash Sentry! All in all a good episode, 10/10!

Edited January 25, 2014 by MLPFanatic34

[Batbrony 16,052]

OK, "Three's a Crowd" was a hoot and a holler, no denying that.  I'd say it was probably the silliest episode we've had this season since "Castle Mane-ia", or maybe "Power Ponies", and maybe the funniest episode out of those three.  Despite having a giant action sequence between two alicorns and a giant worm, the episode somehow turned out to be a lovely little slice of life episode far sillier than most, and very unique from most in that we got a combination of main characters that we usually don't see in the show.  So, let's get this review going proper.  Oh, and seeing as there wasn't so much plot until the last third of the episode and mostly just silliness being wreaked by Discord, like last week I'll focus this review as well once again on the characters, rather than the story.

 

I love these two, they're adorable

 

So let's start by talking about Twilight and Cadance.  Besides "Games Ponies Play", until today we'd never seen these two alicorn sisters-in-law getting to spend time together in a casual capacity, and even in the aforementioned episode the visit was semi-formal seeing as Twilight was trying to help the Crystal Empire secure hosting the Equestria Games.  I will say that the one thing that continues to bug me about Cadance, or rather, her VA, is that she always delivers her lines like she's trying to be a Mary Sue.  I'm not saying she is, because Cadance is hardly what I'd call a Mary Sue, but gosh dang it if she doesn't sound like one with her constantly-cheery voice (and no, it's not the same as Celestia's gentle and benevolent regal demeanor or Luna's delightfully cute and hilarious social awkwardness mixed in with genuine formality).  But whatever, she still had a good episode, mostly because the writers have always written her very well (no small feat considering if anypony could easily be a Mary Sue, it's her; I mean, that's always been the case since her inception back in Season 2 and the writers have still managed to make her a well rounded character).

 

Anyways, Twilight and Cadance, it was a lot of fun to watch them spending the day as sisters.  Even when Discord started trying to ruin their plans, you could still tell that they were spending time with each other in an unofficial capacity, and it especially brought Cadance down to earth in a way we've never seen her before.  Twilight for her part had one of her silliest roles this season (as well as probably her first starring role since the season opener), and Tara as usual did an outstanding job with the voice work, delivering each line to perfection.  I really liked that her distrust of Discord was justified at the end and that she'd been right all along; I mean, yeah, she didn't ever predict that he was faking his illness, but she knew from the start that Discord was just trying to screw with her and Cadance the whole time.  I get the feeling that Cadance knew it as well, but I really enjoyed how she handled it differently.  Being the Princess of Love, she's really shown herself to be possibly the most patient out of all the princesses, maybe even all of the main characters, and I think that has a lot to do with her loving nature.  After all, as 1 Corinthians 13:4 states, "Love is patient, love is kind".  Cadance doesn't let things phase her (except for really, really big things like, IDK, being abducted on her wedding day  ), and I think it's really quite astute of the writers to understand that, yeah, a princess who embodies love more than anyone else probably would be really, really patient with anyone, even someone as frustrating as Discord.  All in all, the sisters-in-law duo of Princess Twilight and Princess Cadance were a lot of fun to watch this episode.  They were cute, they were funny, they had a really cool alicorn action sequence together where they really worked well and in-sync with one another (  and I am LOVING how much alicorn action we're seeing this season... no, NOT THAT KIND OF ACTION!!!  ), it was nice seeing them together without Shining Armor around (though I wouldn't mind seeing more of him soon as well), and overall they had a great slice of life episode together in which Cadance proved, even though she's not that much older than Twilight, that she can still teach her a lesson or two about friendship. 

 

Oh gosh, I just realized they didn't do the dance, THEY DIDN'T DO THE DANCE, WHAT THE BUCK MAN?!?!

 

OK, now onto Discord.  This guy, of course, stole the show.  His Season 4 appearances are really kicking the snot out of his lone Season 3 appearance so far, aren't they?  I mean, heck, he might've been funnier here than he even was in the season opener!  So of course John De Lancie did a delightful job, I mean, c'mon, he's John De Lancie, he was born to play trolls!    Every time Discord shows up now, I swear, the writers not only do a fantastic job with his character, but with those around him.  The second he shows up, everyone gets a little sillier, whether or not they mean to, especially the Mane 6; we don't usually see them so on edge and distrustful, so it's always kinda silly seeing that whenever our loveable Lord of Chaos comes to town.  You can see it in their faces, they're all measuring every single word of his, trying to find out how he's trying to trick them (there was seriously hilarious visual comedy from Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight today in particular, at least in the facial expression department).  As for his trick itself, the payoff was great, mostly because the viewer was as uncertain the whole time as to whether or not he really was sick as Twilight and her friends were.  I mean, he got two ponies sick for crying out loud, but at the same time you just knew, you JUST knew, he was screwing with them somehow, but you couldn't put your finger on it.  I just loved that I was second guessing myself right up until the very end when we learned the truth.  Discord thankfully got some just desserts (something he really should've gotten in the season 4 opener, so it was satisfying seeing that there were actual consequences for his actions this time), and interestingly enough it remains ambiguous as to whether or not he will ever turn into a villain again.  His trollish nature is the same as ever, and it's kind of terrifying that the only thing holding him back from turning into an all out villain now is a cute little butter pony.

 

Oh dear, it appears I may have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque, could you ladies help me by any chance?

(thumbs up if you get the reference)

 

As for his comedy, I can't point to specific examples, I just can't.  EVERY SINGLE THING about Discord is comedy, I'm serious, he is the living embodiment of comedy, even more so than when he first showed up since he's no longer a villain (for the time being).  His lines put me in stitches, the visual humor he was responsible for, whether in his own body language or the way he affects the world around him, was delightful, his trolling in general as well as the ultimate troll plan he put together for this episode were a riot, and that musical number!  Oh my goodness, that was pretty much exactly what you'd figure a Discord musical number would turn out to be, and boy oh boy was it funny.  Not the best song we've had this season, but it wasn't trying to be, it was trying to be the funniest we've had this season, and it most DEFINITELY was, maybe even the funniest song we've ever had on the show.  Discord, you are comedy.  Comedy, you are Discord.  Ergo, any time you show up, fun times will be had by all watching your antics.  Funny, funny, FUNNY episode, and that will always be the first word that comes to mind whenever I look back on it.

 

Chaos: it's what I do!

 

Next let's briefly cover the Mane 6.  Fluttershy had quite the nice set up for a future episode of hers (at least, assuming that the Breezies episode down the road covers her little trip, which will be quite interesting to watch seeing as she usually never does anything without her friends whenever she's in a starring role).  I'm pretty sure after this episode that Pinkie Pie has ADHD; I know that probably should've been apparent by now, but my gosh she was getting so easily distracted by those red balloons, it just seemed like the writers were screaming, "YES, SHE HAS ADHD, NO, WE'RE NOT JOKING, SHE REALLY DOES!"   Rainbow irked me earlier with how quickly she abandoned the group (given that she is the Element of Loyalty and all), but Radiance64 astutely pointed out that while she is loyal to friends, she's not loyal to Discord in the slightest, so I can give her a pass for dashing off (heh, see what I did there?) so fast.  It was really fun seeing some good ol' Rarijack in the episode; I've said it before and I'll say it again, those two are my favorite duo of friends among the Mane 6, and it was just a delight seeing them both automatically stick together and working in tandem to keep Discord away from Twilight (even if it didn't work).  Plus, Rarity had a few funny lines and AJ had a few funny faces.  Makes me quite excited to see Rarijack even more so later in the season when "Simple Ways" debuts.

 

OK, what else to cover.  Animation was spot on as usual.  The Crystal train was seriously awesome and, in a weird way, kind of metal.  IDK, it just looked like something you'd expect KISS to show up in or something.   The giant worm at the end was just plain terrifying, but it made for quite an awesome action sequence, complete with alicorn aerial action and magic to boot.  And of course Discord's animations were fluid and simply unpredictable, as they should be.  The music, as I said earlier, was a blast and Daniel Ingram continues to prove himself to be one of the finest composers for children's television in the modern era.  We got one of the most random references I've ever seen in this show (at least I'm pretty sure it was a reference) in the form of Discord's chariot, which I swear was a "300" reference!  Finally, the lesson was pretty sweet, even if it wasn't that important for the episode's purposes seeing as this was just a pretty silly episode all in all.

 

There's only one bad thing at all that I can say about this episode: THIS GUY...  :okiedokielokie:

 

 

I don't care if he only showed up for 10 seconds and didn't say a word, IT WAS STILL 10 SECONDS TOO LONG!!!    But, other than that little bit of unpleasantness, nothing bad at all that I can say about this episode thankfully.  All in all, it was a fun, fun, fun episode, and I can't wait to rewatch it.  Should be very interesting to see if next week's episode can surpass it in the fun department.  Brace yourselves everypony... Weird Al is coming to town. 

Edited January 25, 2014 by Batbrony

[Radiance64 7,053]

You know, I have to say that Discord's Glass of Water song:

Reminded me a lot of the Genie's song, Friend Like Me, from Aladdin:

Except, like, in reverse.

I have no doubt in my mind that they were heavily inspired by it here.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Radiance64

[Scootaloodle 1,622]

http://youtu.be/Ri2sguTeMIc

 

Well found a link for anyone wanting to see the episode
 
 

Edited January 25, 2014 by Asherdangerdash

[Simon 4,557]

Ah, I just looked at fluttershy's outfit from the beginning again... I want a plushie of her in that outfit <3

[zev_zev The outcast 415]

 

 

FLASH FREAKING SENTRY. HE IS IN SEASON 4. FOR LIKE 3 SECONDS BUT STILL. AND HE SEEMED TO PAUSE FOR A MOMENT TO LOOK AT TWILIGHT BEFORE HE LEFT. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK.

 

Don't think about it. It's mean's nothing .NOTHING you get it ?

[SomariFeyWright 776]

 

 

It's obvious it needed to be Cadence because she and Twilight are childhood friends and the obviously want some time together when the world of Equestria ISN'T hanging in the balance. Since Twilight is always with her friends + Spike I think making it any of them wouldn't have mattered because they could literally spend time with each other any other day.

I'm not saying that Twilight shouldn't have spent an episode trying to relax with Cadence just for things to go wrong, but I just feel like Cadence herself wasn't needed in this particular episode. We already have Discord... seeing him and Twilight interacting together would have been suffice in itself. This was a conflict that Twilight could easily have resolved herself (yes, it's implied that Cadence helped Twilight pluck the flower and fight the giant worm, but if the episode had been designed around Cadence not being there, she could have done it herself. Or maybe even Discord would have helped her).

 

Really, she just got the right treatment in the wrong episode. This really felt more like a Mane Six episode and what a Mane Six member would have gone through  with Discord perhaps with a little intervention from other ponies, and yet it was Twilight with Cadence, with Cadence not feeling nearly as relevant as she should be.

 

An episode with her and Twilight getting to know each other in such a way WAS a great idea for an episode, but I really don't believe this was the episode that should have made it happen.

[Twilightlicous 53]

Anyone noticed Twilight Potter on Discords Song?