S04:E24 - Equestria Games

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

I really enjoyed this episode. Spikes writing once again proves what a complex character he really is, from cunning, to loving, hardworking, and modest (sometimes.). The lesson was spot on, and no one was out of character. FlutterBiceps shipping fuel, Derpy and Lyara cameos..... Just a really nice episode.

[MrHaru 217]

In other words, I'm assuming most people who disliked this episode are Spike haters. I saw them last week and I'm seeing them here. And that's fine. To each their own.

STOP.  

I saw this on the Hasbro posting of the episode too: people dismissive of people genuinely upset or didn't like the episode amounting to 'Bah you're just a bunch of Spike haters!' and no, screw off. There aren't "haters" that are amassing together suddenly to post that they don't like Spike. They simply don't like how Spike was written in this episode. He's better than this.

 

How many times do we have to see Spike completely misunderstand something or get a big head out of taking something out of context? How many times do we have to sit through episodes where he's funny, smart, or heck, the VOICE OF REASON (see the episode where he had to snap Rarity out of her spell, Equestria Girls, Lesson Zero, or hey, even the episode when he was babysitting the pets) only to see him turn into another awkward idiot the immediate next?

 

I argue we don't hate Spike, but we're tired of seeing him get the brunt end of the 'stupidity' swing in the writing.

 

It also doesn't help that they've built this whole event up OVER A SEASON AGO and what did we end up with? "Spike having Spike problems, oh and some fireworks I guess."

 

You can't sit there and tell me with a straight face that the writing of the episode itself (not the Spike parts) wasn't sloppy, because I caught it...and I usually don't point them out. (Trust me I don't go onto the internet each week to read the summary of each episode before they air to pre-hype myself: I just stay blind until it airs.) But here it was just so thick and rife with error I couldn't help but feel it was.....amateurish.

 

Which is odd considering I feel that even poor episodes are saved by at least something going on and I never once looked away in disgust from them: not even the Breezies episode.

[Luffyiscool 397]

^ I approve of this message. So much.
(Giving negative criticism doesn't make you a hater.)

Very well said.

[~/XC- BRONY\~ 310]

It also doesn't help that they've built this whole event up OVER A SEASON AGO

this is my reason I didn't like the episode, I think spike episodes can be great, I even liked the lesson. But all of it was not enough to save the fact that the games, after being built up so much, were put second behind spike. If this spike episode without the games, I would have liked it a lot more... But that wasn't the fact. I really wish I would have seen the games more in this episode. Espically since I am a runner and the Olympics are my super bowl. But I'm going to just start ranting if I keep going

[Dark Qiviut 22,396]

So here we are. After over a year of in-canon hype, Equestria Games finally airs. It's a self-contained episode written by Dave Polsky (who previously wrote Daring Don't, Rarity Takes Manehattan, Twilight Time, and For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils), who wrote one Equestria Games-centered episode once prior in Games Ponies Play. The ponified version of the Olympics offers a ton of creativity and interaction among different cultures, traditions, and characters. With plenty to experience and build, the logical part was to explore various aspects of it, right?

No.

Instead, Spike was the focus with the Games relegated to the background, resulting in missed opportunities, a broken promise, and a broken conflict that had no business taking place at the Games.

 

Strengths:

1. For the most part, the Mane Six are relatively in character. Whatever they said, did, and behaved were very appropo to their respective personalities and development up to this point. Admittingly, Snowflake and Fluttershy were still out of character, but that's because Rainbow Falls royally screwed up the continuity, and Polsky was stuck with the crap RF left behind.
   
   And on the side, it's downright refreshing to see an array of characters beyond just the typical we normally witness. It gives the Equestria Games a subtle parallel to the international mosaic of the real-life Olympics. In particular the royalty suite, where the nobles, ambassadors, and leaders from other cities or countries. More of that…if you guys at Hasbro and DHX have the wherewithal to thrust the opportunities forward.
2. Whichever competitions were shown (ice archery, aerial relay), they were unique and fit the lore of Equestria.
3. On its own, the moral itself — sometimes the one who's most hard on is yourself; take pride in the hard work you endured — is very relatable and mature. You have so many people young and old who feel exactly the same as Spike did in EG.
4. The visuals are quite beautiful (if ignoring the fadeaway dots in the crowd). There's nice detail with great usage of perspective, and the Crystal Empire itself doesn't let up on the high-quality layouts. Despite The Crystal Empire being a weakly told two-parter, the visuals never cease to impress.
5. Some of the comedy works. The hammerspace gag is perfect for the climax, along with others like Dash's "casual" pose as Spike sulks by or Twilight's "Equestria, we have a problem."
   
   (Pinkie's "NAILED IT!", though, is very forced.)
6. One of the common problems that's been noticeable lately is the continuing of a flanderized portion of Spike being clumsy or just plain stupid. In one moment, this clumsiness was justified by having him light up the torch. It's one thing to light or burn something on your own or a small group. it's another before a stadium containing anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 spectators.
7. The abundance of Derpy. Need I say more?

Weaknesses (and I have a ton to write about):

• It's a very common sin, one that Tommy Oliver and other reviewers have called out quite a bit this season: the arbitrary exposition. Instead of establishing the conflict early through organic storytelling, the dialogue tells you exactly what the conflict will be before the first act heads to commercial. By telling right off the bat, you take the fun out of the journey, make the conclusion extremely predictable, and immediately suck investment out from the audience. It was one of Rainbow Falls's quietest yet biggest issues, one that's occurred repeatedly this season. Equestria Games falls for that same trap when Spike tells the Cutie Mark Crusaders he takes a few breaths to calm himself (something he apparently forgot, which is understandable given the sudden rise in pressure).
• The climax is very contrived. Unicorns are forced to pass through a security system that temporarily disables their magic "to prevent cheating." An Earth pony suddenly trips over his own arrows and accidentally shoots an arrow into the sky, freezing a cloud that somehow hung over the stadium. Because of the security system in check, no unicorn or alicorn is capable of using their magic to dispel the frozen cloud. That leaves Spike to be the one to save the day.
  
  Okaaaaayyy…
  
  a. So why didn't anyone keep the sky clear during the Equestria Games? That way, that botched shot wouldn't touch the cloud and condense it with ice. Also, just in case something like this does happen, wouldn't some kind of magic shield, force field, or spell dispel any magic that touched anything stray other than the target itself? That way, you continue the competition safely.
  
  b. Although Luna and Celestia flew to the frozen cloud to stop it from falling, certainly there was one unicorn or alicorn allowed as security to prevent life-or-death situations like these. If not, then that's very poor security.
  
  c. As what @ said earlier, the climax is given to him. He didn't have to work hard; he was there by chance and took advantage. This isn't like For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, where the Cutie Mark Crusaders play a game of cat and mouse to fix the headdress or TT123 where Twilight used Dash's ability to concentrate while flying to help her study. Through EG's process, the climax is anticlimactic.
• There's a difference between having Spike being naïve, nervous, and an idiot. Spike not being able to light up the torch and believing he let everyone down was very in character. The fact that he felt down after bumbling the Cloudesdale anthem was in character…until you look at what happened earlier.
  
  a. Spike said aloud that he can conjure fire with his mind?
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k35aKeaKco
  
  Granted, it was reinforced through one instance in Owl's Well (because Spikabuse is SOOOOOOOOOOOO hilarious!), but Spike actually believed he could light up fire for some time? C'mon, man! You just crossed that line from making Spike nervous for a good reason into flanderizing his failures and making him an idiot!
  
  b. Speaking of making Spike an idiot, why the HELL would he even want to sing the Cloudesdale anthem when he obviously had no idea what the lyrics were despite claiming he did? Just by the first screwup alone and overall episode pattern, he was obviously going to screw up even bigger than last time. Through the sequences, it merely sets up more fervent embarrassment he had to endure. And worse, his out-of-character actions were written partially for laughs and partially to make you feel bad for him. That scene is called cringe comedy, but done out of the expense of Spike's characterization. Out-of-character comedy isn't good comedy, especially when the comedy is done to undeservingly abuse a child character!
  
  (That's one thing Power Ponies deserves credit. At least Spike was treated with some level of respect, as the taunting he received was frowned upon in story.)
• The moral itself is fine, but there are plenty of problems.
  
  a. It was told to Spike in the last two minutes. Spike didn't figure it out himself. While it isn't a copy of the morals being executed in Bridle Gossip, Mare Do Well, Spike at Your Service, or Somepony to Watch Over Me (all bad episodes; don't kid yourself otherwise), EG still follows the same method in context.
  
  b. It was shoehorned. While you can relate to him (when bypassing his flanderization mid-episode), the moral itself was very blunt and didn't fit the context of the conflict.
  
  c. Like Feeling Pinkie Keen, the moral was poorly worded.
  
  Don't know what I mean? Here's the moral:
  
  

  "No matter how many times others tell you you're great, all the praise in the world means nothing if you don't feel it inside. Sometimes to feel good about yourself, you gotta let go of the past. That way, when the time comes to let your greatness fly, you'll be able to light up the whole sky."

  It's so convoluted, it flows through one ear and out the other, seemingly to fill in script space. If it was something like this:
  

  "No matter how many times others tell you you're great, all the praise in the world means nothing if you don't feel it inside. However, just because you mess up sometimes doesn't mean you should give up and not feel proud of the effort you put into your work."

  Or this:
  

  "It feels very great to be proud of the effort you put into something. It's even better if they tell you you're great in your work. But all the praise you receive doesn't matter if you don't feel confident in yourself."

  …then you make the moral a bit clearer. (The third needs a bit more editing to make it more optimistic.)
• At the beginning, several ponies were exercising and lifting weights a few hours before the Equestria Games. This is something you may overlook, but exercising strenuously on the day of the event (particularly a few hours before it starts) can leave you very vulnerable to injury, because your muscles need time to recover.
• The episode not only breaks the promise of expectations for the Equestria Games, but also doesn't hide it. You want to know what I mean? Focus on the title:
  
  Equestria Games.
  
  The purpose of titles is to inform people of not just the setting, but also what the plot will be about. For example:
  
  a. Wonderbolts Academy, Magic Duel, Maud Pie, Apple Family Reunion, Applebuck Season, The Crystal Empire, A Canterlot Wedding, Winter Wrap Up, The Mysterious Mare Do Well: Self-explanatory.
  
  b. Bats!: The plot revolved on the conflict of bats. The exclamation point indicates surprise and how urgent the situation with the bats is.
  
  c. Lesson Zero: Twilight needs a lesson of friendship to write to Celestia, yet doesn't have one.
  
  d. Hurricane Fluttershy: Focuses on Fluttershy, a weather-centered conflict, and a metaphor of Fluttershy's fragile psyche.
  
  e. Green Isn't Your Color: Referencing "green with envy" and the struggle with jealousy.
  
  f. Too Many Pinkie Pies: Pinkie Pie along with "too many," a negative phrase.
  
  g. Rainbow Falls: Two references: the setting and Rainbow Dash's external conflict.
  
  Equestria Games translates to a primary focus on the Games, especially to those who don't review the synopsis or previews. Plenty of bronies watch the episodes blind, and the title indicates a primary focus on the ponified Olympics.
  
  And how can you blame them? For fifteen months and through parts of two seasons, the Equestria Games built up hype and expectations. FOUR episodes prior were heavily dedicated to hyping the Equestria Games. Grandiose, athletic, and full of life. Not everyone watches the Olympics (including me personally), but it doesn't alter the fact how important it really is. The Games are symbolic with people coming from all walks of life; they're important to athletes worldwide because they represent the best in their countries. The Equestria Games was a parody of this and built itself up as something more important and grander than the Grand Galloping Gala.
  
  How? Again, four episodes focused on the preparation for the Equestria Games. Sure, none of them were good (Flight to the Finish the best one; Rainbow Falls easily the worst), but it still doesn't affect the event's importance. DHX and Hasbro promised to the audience that the Equestria Games (one of three overarching plots this season) was worth watching. Not just through web promotions, but also the episodes themselves (as they each held a very heavy focus).
  
  Instead? The overarching plot is a half-assed gimmick for an unnecessary main conflict. This has been a gigantic problem all season: premise over story. CloudCookooCountry's very negative review of EG (and also season 4 collectively) explains this perfectly. EG is shoved in as the premise to create Spike's story, conflict, and moral. You could've used ANY piece of the Games for Spike's story, and it wouldn't change. Hell, Spike's confidence problems could take place ANYWHERE in the canon, and it wouldn't change the story.
  
  Just like several other bad episodes this season like Daring Don't, Power Ponies, Bats!, Rainbow Falls, It Ain't Easy Bein' Breezies, and Trade Ya!, it's as if DHX is focused more on the setting or the premise over the story, characters, and overall conflict. When they have the setting prepared, they have plenty of difficulty what to do with the setting and just plug in the overall narrative with hopes of making it work. Why that's the case, I don't know. Either the writers are experimenting and hoping to succeed, Hasbro is mandating them to introduce wilder and clunkier premises to pander to its older audience, a combination of both, or none of the above.
  
  In what was the series and web promotions hyped for a grand payoff, the conclusion to this arc contributed nothing to the series. It was a trap simply to sucker the audience and achieve high rankings. We won't know the official results until later this week, but just by the weak writing and unfulfillment of expectations, EG feels like an obvious rating's trap. To echo Tommy Oliver: DHX, why the fuck would you hype up the ponified Olympics and spend more quantity of time on it over the Grand Galloping Gala if the Equestria Games DOES — NOTHING?!
  
  Normally, you'd set aside audience expectations and review the quality of the writing itself. But because the build up to the Games's conclusion and expectations are interconnected, it'd be insulting to separate the two. What Equestria Games does is a really big crime in storytelling: build expectations and not capitalize on them. What makes this anomaly stand out more is how these expectations are spat at, as if they mean nothing. That's low. At this point, there are two people to vote "I hated it!" for Equestrian Games; one of them is mine.
  
  And it's a shame, too, because the Games offer SO MUCH to explore. You have various ethnicities, the spirit of friendly rivalry, how sportsmanship affects people in other cultures around Equestria and other countries, the styles of events to parallel the Olympics while blending with the lore of the canon simultaneously, the griffons, the security system beyond being a transparent Chekhov's Gun, and interactions in the stands. All of these are much more interesting than the crap featured in this episode. And as fun as fanfic is, it shouldn't be relied on to fill in the gaps. As cool as Spike is, his conflict and bastardization in the second half are out of place, especially one to last for the entire episode.
  
  And I know a few people will recognize how plenty saw the previews along with the synopses. That still doesn't nullify the lies Equestria Games exhausts.

There are three overarching plots this season: the six keys/Chest of Harmony, the Castle of the Royal Sisters, and the Equestria Games. The Equestria Games is the focus, and Equestria Games is the self-contained finale of the plot. After fifteen long months, the Games take place…only to have it be a backdrop for Spike. The young dragon's conflict had no business lasting this long, if not at all. At most, it should've lasted before the first act concluded. But it lasted way too long, and the Games were rushed through to reach the contrived climax and poorly executed moral. After enormous build-up through parts of two seasons and heavy promotion, Broken Promise: The Episode is a glaring rating's trap to inorganically shove Spike in the spotlight in an unnecessary setting. You could've had Spike be placed anywhere, and you still would've had the same story. It's an underwhelming conclusion with blatant deception, culminating in an overarching plot that doesn't need to exist. Overall, a terrible episode.

Edited May 5, 2014 by Dark Qiviut

[pony.colin 156]

But, Twilight lit the torch during the opening, and Rarity went through the disabling spell afterwards and it seemed as if she wasn't expecting it so she probably didn't have to go through it for the opening ceremony since there were no games going on.  Plus, at the end the reason they couldn't melt the ice thing is because they couldn't get rid of the disabling spell in time, so if the Princesses weren't under the disabling spell they should have been able to step in and fix the situation, so I'm going to say that they did go through it.  Now whether they voluntarily went through it as a show of good faith, or they were forced to go through it by the games committee we don't know, but I think it's definitely safe to say that they were under the disabling spell. 

 

 

 

Ah fair point with the opening ceremony timing, good catch.  I would accept the premise at the end with the ice cloud, with the Princesses likely going through the spell post-opening ceremony.

 

 

 

 

But "Equestria Games" was not a deconstruction of getting to the championship and winning the gold. It almost set up for that sort of moral when Rainbow Dash gave her "pep talk" to the Ponyville team. Unfortunately, Rainbow's message and character were utterly mangled when she effectively stated that the relay team should just settle for silver because the Wonder Bolts are so good. Who on Earth goes to the goddam Olympics and says, "Boy, those other athletes are terrific. I think I'll go for silver; anything else is icing on the cake"? I'll give the answer: no one. Rainbow Dash is the last pony to settle for second best; she's intensely competitive, so much so that she can get overzealous in her quest for victory. Never before has she ever expressed the a priori rationalization of the merits of being second best. "Hurricane Fluttershy" may have demonstrated Rainbow's growing maturity with respect to coming out on top at the expense of everything else -- yet how does that devolve into the horrific message she conveys to the rest of the Ponyville team? It's an immature and insensitive act to tell Bulk Biceps and Fluttershy that they should just be satisfied with winning the silver before they even have a chance to compete.

 

I have the sense Polsky thought Rainbow's willingness to settle for second somehow demonstrated a growing awareness of her limits or something. My response is that it is an example of atrocious character writing and dialogue. I would be on board if Rainbow said, "No matter how we do in the Equestria Games, I want you guys to know that I'll always be proud of all of you!" Then if Rainbow's team does come in second, she can demonstrate maturity by comforting a despondent Fluttershy ("We were so close...") through a statement like "Hey. Didn't I say that I'd still be proud, no matter what happens?" Not to toot my own horn, but I reckon that is a little better than "Get ready for second place, everypony, because the Wonder Bolts are totally better than us!"

 

 

 

What Dash was saying in her pep talk to FS and BB was a rather realistic rationalization, (though judgemental from her perspective).  As you said, Dash is expected to be the typical competitive athlete, so this type of attitude and rationalization is, really unexpected. It can be quite mature, but this is not something I would expect from Dash.   

 

 

I mean the premise you put afterwards, with Dash saying it to a despondent Fluttershy after they got 2nd place is a premise that I would expect and could have easily worked (and that's kind of the only way I can see going about, so it's a bit predictable, but that's a consequence of acting in a typical archetype for a story).  

 

 

It's not atrocious writing I would say, it's more like a perspective that usually is not spoken about (the rationalization is kept in personal thoughts before a sporting event and not expressed until maybe after the results).  So it's sort of like coming from the perspective of maybe a person who is not from a competitive mindset, so that's where I feel it's cropping up from.   

 

 

 

I cannot say, however, whether or not the conflict went anywhere in particular. Spike fails in the clutch, gets bailed out by Twilight, finds out he isn't so special, compounds the problem through trying even harder, mopes around during the Equestria Games, and then... saves a bunch of ponies from a giant floating block of ice? I'm not sure how that resolution addresses Spike's performance anxiety. Yes, I understand the event was meant to demonstrate Spike can take heroic action when he isn't forced to think about it -- quite an apt analogy, too, as thinking too much is one of the central causes of weak performance. I have a problem with how contrived the final incident is, effectively handing Spike a problem to solve on a platter. He doesn't have to work for it or learn not to try and overcompensate. I never had the sense Spike needed to tackle the problem headlong in a way which leaves us all with a fruitful lesson.

 

 

 

Was the ice cloud a bit contrived? Yeah it felt like that to me.  But given how much Spike was thrown under the bus for a while, I was totally okay with it (that's just an opinion of mine).  Sure, it was way too convenient.  And yes, it doesn't help him – which he just says at the end of it – I didn't do anything special or important.  So it was not great and Twilight basically had to spell out his own problem to him.   Points for giving Spike something, not so great on the execution of having him gain a fruitful lesson.

 

 

 

Nitpicking once again -- what the hell were the princesses doing when the giant block of ice descended upon the crowd? I've read a few people justify their inaction on the basis of the magic deactivation device unicorns must pass through when they enter the stadium. Why would the princesses be required to do so, though? As I said to my friend after watching the episode, that's like patting down President Obama and the Secret Service for weapons. In the context of Equestria, the princesses regularly handle emergencies using their magic -- why deprive them of that ability? I hardly imagine anypony would insinuate Twilight, Celestia, Luna, or Cadance projecting their magic to influence the results of the games. I don't believe we even get a throwaway line that explains the princesses' gross inaction. I personally chalk it up to Polsky conveniently forgetting magic exists because it would undermine the plot contrivance.

 

I'll be on that side of fence and say I actually believe that Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight did go through the disabling spell, post-opening ceremony. It's a reasonable premise and it's not that far-fetched I would say. From Celeestia's standpoint – it would be a show of good faith and humility. Sure it's unlikely that Celestia would use magic to manipulate the games and/or show favouritism towards a certain team. However, Celestia (& company) would have rationalization to go through the disabling spell as a sign of good faith to demonstrate that your leader does not put herself above any other unicorn and will accept the disabelling spell. That would be my attempt to put rationalization there. It's more about political image here. (Of course any of the alicorns would be above the disabelling spell).

 

Yes from another logical standpoint, if a crisis were ever to occur surely the Princesses would weld the most powerful magic to remedy the situation and it would be extremely unwise to disable their magic if such an incident were to occur. But like I said, rationalization of good faith demonstration is possibility I'm throwing out there. And yes I would agree, any alicorn princess could have probably fixed the ice cloud problem very easily, give the poor dragon boy a bone, he hasn't been thrown one much as of late/ even though it's not the greatest execution, but it somewhat makes up for it for him during this season.

[NavelColt 22,880]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Scootalove continuation :3 Small noticeable one-liner and action, but it was included as a part of a three sister line-up, so it counts.

Nah, bro. This won't do.

 

--

 

 

FINALLY.

 

FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY FINILLY VANILLI FLUTTERSHY SINGING LIKE BILL COSBY BUT NOT, Scootalove has actual, legit continuation since the early mid point from season 3. Count that, almost a season and a half it took, but finally it's happened. Sure it was small and quick, but the most tender and priceless moments often are.

 

But CD, Dash and Scootaloo had lots of sister-ish moments in Flight to the Finish!

 

>MFW.Org

 

True, Dash and Scootaloo had 'moments' in Flight to the Finish, but these moments had no 'sisterly'-ness in them, whatsoever. Dash treated Scootaloo in the same way that she would have treated her at any given point in time prior to their established relationship. That is to say, she treated her more like, 'a young filly who's in the CMC with my friend's sisters' than 'the kid who I took in under my wing and became sisters with'. I get that Dash signed up to be a mentor in addition to a sister figure, and that Dash isn't good with the whole affection thing, but regardless, it was a letdown to see that the only time we get to see them interacting since that OVERLY HEARTFELT, TEETH-ROT-INDUCING episode, was a series of interactions that felt rather stand-offish and dull.

 

This one short scene did what the several interactions in Flight to the Finish didn't do. It painted a reflected image of what we saw back in The Show Stoppers. Rarity for Sweetie Belle, Applejack for Apple Bloom, and Rainbow Dash for the obvious remaining Scootaloo, showed up after their performance to congratulate the CMC in much in the same way they're doing here, this just being on a much larger scale of performance.

 

The Show Stoppers scene

 

This time, instead of only appearing on screen and having no lines or interactions with Scootaloo, we get the appropriate gestures to boot, putting these two on equal terms with AJ and Rarity, again, for a second time, as official canon continuation. Dash gave a noogie and similar words of affection in Flight to the Finish, however, by putting it alongside the two established sisters doing the same form of interactions, and also reflecting to that past scene, it makes a world of difference.

 

It's all about showing the relationship, man. Bring on the feels. Here's to hope for bigger capitalization on these two sisters meant to be in S5. Glad we got something that can be called official continuation, before this season ended.

[Luffyiscool 397]

I see what you're saying, Dark Qiviut.

But I have to disagree when you lump in Bridle Gossip with the other "bad" episodes you mentioned.
I actually love that one, it's entertaining. One of my favourite season 1 episodes.

Hell, it turned a lot of people into bronies BEFORE they heard Winter Wrap Up, which is the usual moment that hooks people in.

You also said that Bats! is one of the bad episodes of this season?
We have very different tastes, it seems. I came close to giving that one a 10/10.   :/

Edited May 6, 2014 by Luffyiscool

[Cerbyrus 63]

Wow, an actual good Spike episode.

 

I enjoyed this. Seems like a lot of others didn't, even some calling it the worst episode yet.

 

But that title belongs to It ain't easy being breezies IMO.

[Lily Frost 20]

I feel it was an "alright" episode...

[Yellow Diamond 7,569]

What Dash was saying in her pep talk to FS and BB was a rather realistic rationalization, (though judgemental from her perspective).  As you said, Dash is expected to be the typical competitive athlete, so this type of attitude and rationalization is, really unexpected. It can be quite mature, but this is not something I would expect from Dash.   

 

 

I mean the premise you put afterwards, with Dash saying it to a despondent Fluttershy after they got 2nd place is a premise that I would expect and could have easily worked (and that's kind of the only way I can see going about, so it's a bit predictable, but that's a consequence of acting in a typical archetype for a story).  

 

 

It's not atrocious writing I would say, it's more like a perspective that usually is not spoken about (the rationalization is kept in personal thoughts before a sporting event and not expressed until maybe after the results).  So it's sort of like coming from the perspective of maybe a person who is not from a competitive mindset, so that's where I feel it's cropping up from.   

 

Except the rationalization betrays Rainbow Dash's psychology. She's a do-or-die type of personality, not one to settle for second best if she can help it. That she led her overachieving team all the way to the Equestria Games, only to tell them they should prepare to lose to the Wonderbolts, contradicts everything we've learned about Rainbow over the course of the show. Remember "Fall Weather Friends"? "Sonic Rainboom"? "May the Best Pet Win!"? "Hurricane Fluttershy"? "Wonderbolt Academy"? Certainly Rainbow learned over time to rein in her competitive spirit insofar as she views winning as the be all and end all of her existence; but nothing about her maturation suggested she was flat-out fine with settling for less than being the best. She certainly never spent her energies crafting a priori rationalizations for why second place is okay, either.

 

It's not mature, to be honest; rather, it's immature to lower expectations out of the gate when a team is depending on you to lead them. Rainbow's rationalizations are a mark of poor leadership, not terrific insight. But we don't know the full impact anyway since the Equestria Games are nothing more than a background event.

 

 

Was the ice cloud a bit contrived? Yeah it felt like that to me.  But given how much Spike was thrown under the bus for a while, I was totally okay with it (that's just an opinion of mine).  Sure, it was way too convenient.  And yes, it doesn't help him – which he just says at the end of it – I didn't do anything special or important.  So it was not great and Twilight basically had to spell out his own problem to him.   Points for giving Spike something, not so great on the execution of having him gain a fruitful lesson.

 

In the spirit of Anton Chigurh, if the contrivance brought us to this, then of what use was that contrivance? Spike's lesson conveyed nothing that required the Equestria Games in particular, nor did Spike have to work to learn the lesson in the first place. That we're settling for Polsky throwing narrative bones to Spike truly underscores how lost his character has become in the grand scheme of things. He's the butt monkey rather than the little brother hanging around his surrogate older sisters. The writers just don't know what to do with him, and it glaringly showed in this episode.

 

 

I'll be on that side of fence and say I actually believe that Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight did go through the disabling spell, post-opening ceremony. It's a reasonable premise and it's not that far-fetched I would say. From Celeestia's standpoint – it would be a show of good faith and humility. Sure it's unlikely that Celestia would use magic to manipulate the games and/or show favouritism towards a certain team. However, Celestia (& company) would have rationalization to go through the disabling spell as a sign of good faith to demonstrate that your leader does not put herself above any other unicorn and will accept the disabelling spell. That would be my attempt to put rationalization there. It's more about political image here. (Of course any of the alicorns would be above the disabelling spell).

 

Yes from another logical standpoint, if a crisis were ever to occur surely the Princesses would weld the most powerful magic to remedy the situation and it would be extremely unwise to disable their magic if such an incident were to occur. But like I said, rationalization of good faith demonstration is possibility I'm throwing out there. And yes I would agree, any alicorn princess could have probably fixed the ice cloud problem very easily, give the poor dragon boy a bone, he hasn't been thrown one much as of late/ even though it's not the greatest execution, but it somewhat makes up for it for him during this season.

 

But we're not even told whether or not such was the case! Worse still is how that plot device is supposed to make reasonable a plot contrivance that should not have existed in the first place. As Tommy Oliver pointed out, it doesn't make a lick of sense that unicorns are effectively banned from using their magic in any way during the games. It's even less reasonable that the monarchs of Equestria would surrender their powers, thus rendering all of them useless in a crisis. The whole thing is unreasonably contrived because the writers (or Polsky himself) couldn't think of a smooth way to complete shoehorning Spike into the climax of the Equestria Games arc.

[Pixel Stick 927]

Once again, having read absolutely nothing in this thread, here's my spiel.  So opinion.  Wow.

 

I actually really liked this episode.  Of all the episodes this season, it had one of the strongest lessons, IMO - especially for Spike, who's struggled with self-confidence and abuse issues for a while now.  There were only two parts of this episode I didn't like:

 

First off, the way everyone sucked up to Spike, while legitimate, seemed awfully out-of-left-field.  I know he's the one properly credited with actually saving the Crystal Empire at the beginning of Season 3, but you'd think we would have heard something more about his hero status before now.  And it was WAY too obvious a contrivance to set up the plot, IMO.

 

The other thing that kinda struck me wrong was that when the ice cloud was falling on the stadium, the princesses - the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria - either didn't or couldn't do anything about that thing.  I could see two reasons for this in context:

 

(1) They had established that unicorn magic was being nullified for the games to prevent cheating.  If that happened to extend to the princesses as well (none of them were seen using magic after Twilight lit the torch for Spike), then that strikes me as a really foolhardy decision.  Perhaps it was due to these officials also representing their respective regions (Ponyville, Canterlot and the Crystal Empire), but you'd think the rulers would be allowed to keep their use of magic in case some sort of emergency happened... like, say, a huge, spiky ice-cloud falling to earth.

 

(2) If the princesses were NOT affected by the nullification spell, then why wasn't their first instinct to take charge and defuse a dangerous situation?  Stopping, slowing or melting that thing should have been well within Celestia's power, and she's shown the ability to think quickly and to defend her subjects before.  But all four of them just sat there, shocked by this.  It reminded me of the "Uh, shouldn't we, like, go in and help?" scene from Daring Don't.  (And unfortunately for Celestia in particular, given that this was the first time we've seen her since the season opener, it solidified her role this season as having nothing to contribute whatsoever.)

 

In either case, it was patently obvious that this was just to set up the scene so Spike could be the grand hero.  That was a foregone conclusion, but it felt REALLY contrived, and both of these possible reasons for the inaction of the princesses were kinda blatant in setting that up.

 

That said, the lesson itself, about learning to forgive yourself and stop kicking yourself over awkward mistakes, is one I can really relate to, and I applaud the writers for taking it on.  It's a difficult lesson to learn, and I thought they handled it quite well, contrivances and all.

 

And personally, I always get a kick out of flubbed-up lyrics, so I thought Spike's complete bungling of the Cloudsdale Anthem was hilarious.

[Jorguil 54]

the synopsis of the episode was weak, character development was spot on, Spit fire winning a race against rainbow dash despite her incompetence showcased I DON'T KNOW every episode. Showcases that twilight or other unicorns are not allowed into the games, no other teams species of equestrias sentient beings competed hardly anything to do with the games the princesses acting way to incompetent and that is it.

[Rocky Doo 39]

Summary: Spike dun-goofs

Anyway the episode was good 

[Swoony 195]

Cloudsdale is the greatest country in ze world, all other countries are run by little girls. Cloudsdale is the greatest exporter of potassium, all other countries have inferior potassium.

Not sure if this hasn't already been posted, but...

 

[pony.colin 156]

Except the rationalization betrays Rainbow Dash's psychology. She's a do-or-die type of personality, not one to settle for second best if she can help it. That she led her overachieving team all the way to the Equestria Games, only to tell them they should prepare to lose to the Wonderbolts, contradicts everything we've learned about Rainbow over the course of the show. Remember "Fall Weather Friends"? "Sonic Rainboom"? "May the Best Pet Win!"? "Hurricane Fluttershy"? "Wonderbolt Academy"? Certainly Rainbow learned over time to rein in her competitive spirit insofar as she views winning as the be all and end all of her existence; but nothing about her maturation suggested she was flat-out fine with settling for less than being the best. She certainly never spent her energies crafting a priori rationalizations for why second place is okay, either.

 

It's not mature, to be honest; rather, it's immature to lower expectations out of the gate when a team is depending on you to lead them. Rainbow's rationalizations are a mark of poor leadership, not terrific insight. But we don't know the full impact anyway since the Equestria Games are nothing more than a background event.

 

 

 

I worded that poorly when I called it mature.  It's not a rationalization that I expect Dash to actually have as I said before.  What I was trying to say was that, the rationalization, was basically coming from a writer who wasn't writing in the mindset of a competitive player - and one especially not designed really for Dash, as you've said referencing previous episodes. 

 

As you've said, previous episodes she's reigned in some of that competitive spirit.  Was her rationalization portrayal in Equestria Games something that would expected from her character? No, and it comes off rather suddenly without real notice and as you've said, Dash has never really provided priori rational for settling for second place.  Okay to save more redundancy, yes I agree with you. 

 

Why would Dash be written like this? I have a vague theory for it, but it's not well thought out.  Only really a hunch at best.

 

 

 

But we're not even told whether or not such was the case! Worse still is how that plot device is supposed to make reasonable a plot contrivance that should not have existed in the first place. As Tommy Oliver pointed out, it doesn't make a lick of sense that unicorns are effectively banned from using their magic in any way during the games. It's even less reasonable that the monarchs of Equestria would surrender their powers, thus rendering all of them useless in a crisis. The whole thing is unreasonably contrived because the writers (or Polsky himself) couldn't think of a smooth way to complete shoehorning Spike into the climax of the Equestria Games arc.

 

True.  We are never told that the Princesses go through the disabelling spell after the opening ceremony.  I threw it out as a plausible premise - and yes, it would be mainly used to hold up the shaky plot contrivance built up for Spike.   Again, that was something that is not great, but I was kind of rooting for  the dragon to get something decent - even at the expense of bad plotting, sorry.  

[MatrixChicken 879]

I see a decent amount of people totally harping on this episode, and I don't quite see why... I see people talking about all this "hype" leading up to it... Am I insane? Did I miss something? I don't remember any promise from the MLP staff that it would be a super amazingly epic episode about sports (which, honestly, I really don't care about, so that might help)... But maybe I'm wrong.

 

Anyways, this was another episode, like "Trade Ya!", that had me smiling most of the way through. It was pretty funny, and the antics were just overall fun to watch. The only parts that bugged me were: 1) Ms. Harshwhinny's voice... Am I the only one that feels that her voice is just... Really forced? I think the VA was going for the right feel and accent, but it sounded like they were trying just a little too hard. Of course, a nitpick, but it bugged me. 2) Spike's intentionally awkward performance of the Cloudsdale national anthem was a little too long and awkward, IMO. It got unfunny a ways in, and I just wished it would "End... Now...". xD

 

But yeah, other than that, I enjoyed it a lot, hence the "Loved it!" rating. :3

 

I also noticed that the animation was really super good for the most part in this episode. Was I just not noticing it before, or is this episode's animation just better? It looked really smooth. Great work, DHX!

[BlinkZ 1,151]

I like the episode. I like spike a lot. The morla was good at least, i'm not one for judging plot though.

[nami438 90]

Anyone know the names of the horse-looking couple at the left of the royalty box?

The brown and purple ones at the bottom left:

Edited May 7, 2014 by nami438

[Pastel 7,630]

Anyone know the names of the horse-looking couple at the left of the royalty box?

The brown and purple ones at the bottom left: Equestria_royalty_S4E24.png

Unfortunately, no. They are unnamed.

[nami438 90]

Unfortunately, no. They are unnamed.

Aw, oh well. But I guess there are horses in Equestria then?

 

Aaaah your avatar fits your response perfectly :3

Edited May 7, 2014 by nami438

[roptiriolg 49]

The episode overall was alright but I've seen better episodes with Spike, more adventurous and maybe just better (like Dragon's Quest). This episode was still a typical Spike episode but one thing I didn't like - Princess Cadence bowing before Spike? I mean, since when does this little fella get to be bowed before the true royals. I liked the overall idea, though far from 'super best episode' for me. 4/5 - liked

 

And to those who said 'crystal' wasn't that an ice block that was melted into rain? As for the umbrella, hasn't Spike or like any other in episodes just get some items out of nowhere, not really a big deal.

 

Oh and I loved the scene with the four royals there, Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence; and Twilight looks out of place among them and so little xD but I think this is how it should be being the young princess

Edited May 7, 2014 by ImtR

[Captain Brony (MG11) 218]

This episode brought quite the interesting perspective to my attention.

 

The primary complaint is that the build-up lead to something completely different. I've actually had these same feelings for Iron Man 3 which ruined the movie for myself yet everyone loved. It's interesting to experience what it's like to be on the flip-side because I actually liked the episode as opposed to all of the people who hated it.

 

Now Iron Man 3 parallels aside I thoroughly liked this episode. Even though the focus was taken from the event the episode still gave off the feeling that something big was happening. Luckily something did! Spike got some great character development with a story and moral that was widely relatable. I empathize so greatly with Spike in this episode because self-competence and worth has been something I've struggled with for so long. I was glad to see this type of story presented because myself as well as a few friends of mine have needed to stop and appropriately judge our accomplishments. In a world made of an anxiety pool sometimes it's hard to recognize our accomplishments when our society overinflates the weight of failure. I'm glad this episode exists it's so awesome!

 

Extra tidbits:

-Anyone else think of Zelda when they saw the ice arrows?

-Spike's final flame warrants so many anime fire ability references/memes

-The music playing when the cloud comes crashing down is strikingly similar to a song from the Dark Knight score

Edited May 7, 2014 by Captain Brony (MG11)

[Persona22 205]

Anyone else noticed that in that special spot on the stadium where Twilight, Cadence, the Royal Pony Sisters and all those other, apparently leaders of some part of Equestria, there wasn't a single Griffon?

 

But Griffons did take part of the Equestria Games... are they not part of Equestria? The Griffons that participated lived somewhere in Equestria and that's why they were there? Do the Griffons have their own nation but did not send any representative of their government to watch the Equestria Games?

 

Seriously, why weren't there any Griffons in that balcony with all those important looking ponies and the four Princesses of Equestria?

Edited May 7, 2014 by lucasliso

[Ninja(Pinkie)Midget 180]

This was a good strong episode to me.  It's always fun seeing how Pinkie will freak out, and it was interesting to have another episode that has Spike in the main storyline.  I'm looking forward to the finale this weekend, but a little bummed that me and my daughter will have to wait for fall for new episodes.  So it goes.