S04:E23 - Inspiration Manifestation

[Rocky 68]

I thought it was an okay episode. Not one of Spike's best performances, but he wasn't really awful either. Basically along the lines of his performance from "Just for Sidekicks". Not to mention Rarity had a lot of funny bits and the friendship between the two was pretty strong.

 

I'll give it a 7/10

 

Though I honestly think the people who thought Spike was bad in this episode never really liked him in the first place. That's just a hunch.

[Truffles 2,033]

On 4/26/2014 at 9:37 AM, Shift said:

The stomach ache is for future Rarity to worry about.

 

Congrats, you win the internets!!

 

On 4/26/2014 at 10:57 AM, Batbrony said:

Spike spent far too much of the episode shrugging off Rarity's madness and blindly supporting it, and that just rubbed me the wrong way.  He's not just her friend, he quite honestly loves her (this was best conveyed in "Secret of My Excess"), but here, his love came across as an obsession that blinded him to just how wrong Rarity was behaving.  So not only was it OOC of Spike not to take action sooner, but in the process the episode kind of cheapened his very love for Rarity; if he truly cared about her as we know he does, after almost four seasons no less, he would've acted sooner.  If this episode had debuted in Season 1, I could probably forgive it for that

 

After rewatching the episode, I have to agree with you. It's not enough to toss the episode into the dislike or even "meh" category, but this was totally season 1 Spike here. We got to see cynical/smart alack Spike again, which was entertaining. But what came along for the ride was clueless Spike who should have known better about the dangers of Dark Magic after all of the foes the Mane 6 have had to deal with.

 

Perhaps instead of Spike going along with Rarity's wishes up to the very end, he should have confronted her at the end of the second act and spent the third act trying to break the spell and bring her back to reality. It would have been a lot more dramatic between them. I mean, he still clearly loves her, but what's the point of giving into your true love's wishes if it turns them into somepony you despise?

 

I don't think there should have been much of a mystery to the townsponies of Ponyville as to who was turning everything into glitter and shininess; I mean, really. Twilight must have figured this out in the end (or maybe Owlicious told her or Fluttershy who then told her?) since she berated Spike for uncovering more Dark Magic. (Is it me or does Equestria have a lot of Dark Artifacts carelessly left around for unsuspecting ponies to find and misuse? )

 

There were a lot of fun things to see in the episode, however, that save it:

• Rarity gets her second outing in "crazy" mode. (Score so far: Rarity: 2, Twilight: 1 (almost 2 in "Testing...Testing..."), Fluttershy: 1, Pinkie: 1, Applejack: 1: Spike: 1, and 0 for Rainbow. Rainbow Dash is the only sane pony in the Mane 7. )
• Octavia is back, woo!
• Truffle gets a cameo, woot! And with Cheerilee; maybe they really are assigning him the official name of "Teacher's Pet"?
• Rarity's parents FTW!
• Spike seen loving Rarity again for the first time since "Simple Ways". Sparity, wherefore art thou gone? Oh, there you are! :comeatus:
• Spike melting iron brass. Impressive! I didn't think the little guy had it in him to pull that off.
• Spike eating an evil book - whole. As had been questioned elsewhere in this thread - the ramifications of which in both the canon and fanon realms now remains to be seen! (In the moment Spike grabbed that book from Rarity's saddlebag, I thought maybe he would simply transport it to Celestia like he does with the scrolls. Eating it was funnier, though.)
• Another instance of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Although it seems clear in this case the book's spell had control of Rarity; she could barely remember what had happened. It glommed onto her love of gaudy things and turned it into something monstrous.
• Hee, Rarity (or at least Evil Rarity...lol) values Spike's opinion the most for input on her creations. She didn't move forward on something without an affirmative from him whenever he was around. (Of course, he so often always agrees with her it's hard to tell!)

Oh yeah, and if I had that book, there'd be ponies popping up all over the place in reality. Along with Ponyville itself.

Hmm, makes me wonder if Rarity could've resurrected AJ's parents if she had wanted to....

Edited October 18, 2020 by Truffles
It was brass not iron, lol

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

I just saw the new episode and I liked it. I liked that we finally got an episode which has more of Spike. This season seems to put Spike off to the side a lot but I like how when they do focus on him he has a new level of maturity and the episodes focus on something other than his pride and greed. The episodes were Spike is greedy in earlier seasons bugged me and made him unlikable. I loved how Spike is being totally supportive of Rarity and how that actually ends up being the conflict for him. Spike could almost be "The Element of Support" Spike's lesson in this episode sort of reminded me of Applejack's lesson in "Leap of Faith" where she had to choose between making/keeping Granny Smith happy and honesty but this episode feels different too. I thought Rarity was in character and fun to watch. I don't know why some bronies thought Corey wouldn't do a good job writing Rarity. The Vanilla Oat Swirl ice cream(I totally want that ice cream flavor! It sounds so good!) scene with Rarity crying was great. After seeing that scene I can see why Sweetie Belle would have a Nightmare about Rarity losing her mind in "For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils" Rarity takes rejection hard like any sensitive artist. Seems like both Spike and Rarity get into trouble when they crave praise from others. The spell itself was interesting. It was like what Rarity was able to do in "Power Ponies" but the dark/evil version. We got to see how an actual spell is written/said(other than the spell we saw in Magical Mystery Cure) and Rarity seems to have been able to cast the spell easily. I thought it was really awesome and interesting to see Rarity cast a kind of spell that normally Twilight would cast. It was wonderful to see Rarity do magic that is more advanced than just levitating things. I have always wanted to see Rarity do more magic. I finally got my wish! I also liked that Twilight was addressed as a princess again by the mayor and that Princess Luna and Cadence were mentioned. Owlious(the owl, I don't know how to spell his name properly) reminded me of Jimmy Cricket from Pinocchio with how he tried to get Spike to do the right thing and tell the truth.  I noticed some people here mentioned having seen Rarity's parents. I didn't see them but I have only seen the episode once so maybe I will catch it next time. To me the puppet guy was a cross between Snips and Mrs Carrot Cake with his body shape. 

[Noodles 109]

Nightmare fuel!

spike was not out of character this episode and did not behave anything like spike at your service. he acted like is loveable love stick dragon we all know and love!

[Truffles 2,033]

spike was not out of character this episode and did not behave anything like spike at your service. he acted like is loveable love stick dragon we all know and love!

 

I think it was fine for the first third of the show since he was still lovesick; I just thought it went on a little too long. (Admittedly, he was more afraid of breaking his promise towards the end; so one could argue that, I suppose. )

 

I agree he wasn't like he was in "Spike At Your Service". The beef I have with that OOC Spike is how clumsy he was; he didn't become Twilight's #1 assistant by constantly ruining everything he touched. His endearment to AJ was simply his need to follow the Dragon Code, no OOC there.

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

Beside Octavia Vinyl Scratch had been seen too.

 

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

>is tasked with building mobile puppet theater

>doesn't include working wheels

>gives it pegs

Way to go rarity, you really got that whole "mobile" idea down.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Miaq_The_Truthful

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

Haha!! That was awesome!!

Loved it!! XD

[Truffles 2,033]

Way to go rarity, you really got that whole "mobile" idea down.

 

Even her revamped version wasn't correct. She put the wheels on the side where the pony has to pull it, and the pegs on the other. So the pegs still end up dragging and the wheels end up in the air!

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Even her revamped version wasn't correct. She put the wheels on the side where the pony has to pull it, and the pegs on the other. So the pegs still end up dragging and the wheels end up in the air!

I guess good ol' rares will never fully understand the meaning of "mobile". The whole conflict could have been avoided if she just put 4 wheels on the damned thing.

[Sir Wulfington 276]

The mayor called Twilight "Princess Twilight".

 

Rarity wasn't scary at all, it could have been much, MUCH worse. She could've hurt Spike for example.

 

Why Spike didn't burn the book instead of eating it?

Maybe the book burned in his gut? He doesn't produce fire from his mouth, maybe his belly is like a furnace

[Truffles 2,033]

I guess good ol' rares will never fully understand the meaning of "mobile". The whole conflict could have been avoided if she just put 4 wheels on the damned thing.

 

She simply needed to put the wheels on the side where the foals view the puppet show and the pegs on the side where it gets lifted when a pony is harnessed into it. Actually it might have just been an animation error, but it still makes Rares look silly.

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

I'm torn on this episode. On one hand I really liked the way Rarity was portrayed. The book prayed on two of her most important desires. Her desire to create beautiful art, and her desire to help others with said art, it took these two traits and warped them into something more sinister. It was a really nice way to "corrupt" her without making it seem out of character. I also thought the beginning with the overdramatic sobbing and the ice cream was amusing. "Nom nom nom" is now canon.

 

 On the other hand I don't really like Spike this episode, he was an oblivious idiot for far too long. I liked him a lot better in the earlier seasons when he was childish but had a sarcastic side, and was Twilight's voice of reason when she went too far. Now he's just a clumsy moron most of the time.

 

 I'll have to view it again before I rate it.

Edited April 26, 2014 by BasementPony

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,353]

I.. like it.

The plot was not all that great, but saved by Rarity being her loveable melodramatic self and Spike being better written than for most of the season.

Overall I'd say 7/10, 7.5 for fans of Spike and Rarity.

 

 

On the other hand I don't really like Spike this episode, he was an oblivious idiot for far too long. I liked him a lot better in the earlier seasons when he was childish but had a sarcastic side, and was Twilight's voice of reason when she went too far. Now he's just a clumsy moron most of the time.

Amen, brother. Though love does make people stupid.

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

 

Amen, brother. Though love does make people stupid.

 

 Yes it does, but there is a limit to that. Taking that book was incredibly stupid in the first place, and using it on Rarity was even stupider. What if it had seriously hurt her? Then somehow being totally oblivious to the change in her personality, and then continuing to go along with it even after he had noticed. Spike is a kid, not an idiot. He always seemed to be reasonably intelligent until the last two seasons.

[Allen 1,387]

Oh, that's green magic is happening to Rarity! What a shock!

[JH24 385]

I don't know what it is lately, but I'm not enjoying the latest episodes. They all start out strong, but slow down and start to drag out in the middle and have an anti-climactic/rushed ending. The whole scene with Spike and Rarity when she continued to change things just went on way too long.

 

Although I have to admit having a grumpy Twilight at the end made me smile. It was a nice way to end an episode that just didn't live up to its potential for me. Again. *sigh*

Edited April 26, 2014 by JH24

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

She simply needed to put the wheels on the side where the foals view the puppet show and the pegs on the side where it gets lifted when a pony is harnessed into it. Actually it might have just been an animation error, but it still makes Rares look silly.

Ya, it doesn't exactly help when your "master of fashion and design" cannot even make a simple cart that has the ability to move.

[spezzzzzhdafuigb 49]

I think this is the best season so far IMO. So far there's only one episode that I slightly disliked (everyones least favorite), and I didn't even hate that one that much. This was amazing too, from Rarity drowning her painful sorrows in ice cream to spike getting majorly friendzoned. If they manage to have a really good season finale, this will be my favorite season so far, and probably of all time! r8 9/10

Edited April 26, 2014 by Cheesythumbs

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

Yikes... just thought of some Fridge Horror for this episode...

 

Rarity said she was up all night creating.

And then she skipped breakfast.

And she just kept going and going and going...

 

Would she have ever stopped? Would she have ever slept or eaten?

Or would she have continued until she dropped from exhaustion and hunger?

 

I assume she would have been caught before that. She was getting more and more out of control.

And once caught she would be able to get some help. But still, jeez...

Edited April 26, 2014 by ShadOBabe

[PonyHag1 591]

This was almost like Rarity's version of "Lesson Zero". I thought it was pretty good.

 

I liked seeing Vinyl Scratch and Octavia make cameos.

 

Hopefully this will settle things with Spike and Rarity and he'll see her as a friend and not a crush. It was nice to see Spike have a substantial role in an episode, he didn't have too much up till now.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

Maybe the book burned in his gut? He doesn't produce fire from his mouth, maybe his belly is like a furnace

 

When I saw Spike eat the book I was like. "Doesn't he have dark magic in his body now? Will it corrupt him? Is he going to have to poop it out so Twilight can return it to the castle?" but fire coming from his gut is an interesting thought. Talk about heartburn LOL. 

[Castle Bleck 19,334]

Book!Rarity: *Crystallizes building*

 

King Sombra:

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

A really awesome episode

 

And that's the 4th time they used that crying clip that was first used in "Rarity Takes Manehattan". 

 

Insane Rarity was fun to watch. It kinda reminded me of Lesson Zero. 

 

Overall, a great episode and a great lesson. 

[mars 4,862]

Hmm.. this episode was good. I liked it. I loved Book!Rarity, as I love the episodes were a mane six goes crazy.

Rarity was FANTASTIC in this episode, and everytime she used her magic was awesome. I sort of thought it was like Magic Duel, with the amulet possessing a pony.

 

Spike was great in this episode too. I really like the little guy. I think he was done justice in this episode. Twilight was cool too, I liked her role.

 

I also found it interesting that Cadance and Luna helped out Twilight...

 

The ending sort of sucked, though. With Spike eating the book. That was rather disappointing.