S04:E25+26 - Twilight's Kingdom

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

I would say the same, but what then? New cast means new story, but S6 will most likely be the very last season due to the limited episode count. If they wanted to move to a new cast, S4 was the time to do it, starting with the CMC getting their cutie marks.

Season 6 would be the most likely. Season 5 is sort of the "wrap up" season. The mane 6 have really finished their character arcs. They are developed as characters can be without becoming over developed. And Hasbro won't let this show be cute ponies doing cute things forever,so adventure arcs from this point forward are going to feel very forced, and won't or can't really result in anything. So season 5 should be a wrap up, setting all the ponies in their places and having them achieve their goals and dreams, and then passing the torch onto a new group of ponies, with a new dynamic. Or hasbro could be its old self and just keep with the main cast until it grows staler than highschool drama. But I really hope that they don't.

[Jorguil 54]

A time lapse pmv with this theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOZ_QVnYQuw is necessary I will try to make it this episode is that awesome! 

[EquineWhoDoesStuff 49]

Speaking of frames of animation....

 

THE ANIMATION WAS DOWN RIGHT AWSOME! 

Holy monkey balls, the animation...

You've got that right, my jaw literally dropped when Twilight first let loose that massive magic beam with all the colors and special effects! It's not just the pretty magic effects, the whole thing was so fluid and well put together, it was amazing.

Edited May 10, 2014 by EquineWhoDoesStuff

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

And the final shot from season 4. Man, it feels a lot more final than the other finales.

[Coconut Breeze 14]

Why Hasbro? You took the opportunity to bring Tirek back but you did it wrong!

 

Tirek and Scorpan are NOT brothers. Scorpan was a prince that was transformed into a monster when Tirek took over his kingdom.

 

Originally I was hoping that with Tirek's return, Hasbro was going to have the Generation 1 ponies team up with the Generation 4 ponies to fight against him...but Hasbro didn't do it. These episodes were a major let down. I mean they mentioned Firefly in this season! You would think they had the rights to use her again. 

 

Anyway...do you guys think hasbro is planning something behind the scenes for season 5 regarding the G1 ponies? 

[StarBot 85]

You've got that right, my jaw literally dropped when Twilight first let loose that massive magic beam with all the colors and special effects! It's not just the pretty magic effects, the whole thing was so fluid and well put together, it was amazing.

Stuff like this make me proud to a anmition fan!

[RED20 289]

This was the greatest thing my eyes have ever seen.

[Saphipony 22]

Oh my God, AMAZING episode! I loved the amount of power that Twilight was wielding. o_o

[Kel_Grym 1,917]

Ok ok ok ok ok....this.

 

AHAHAHA!

 

Real quick with that the episode did that I didn't like. Exposition, Rainbow beat down happened too quick, cheesy lines.

 

All overlookable. It's a kids show, cheesy lines and exposition just comes with the territory, I don't care.

 

Rainbow beat down happened too fast, needed more special effects...but!

 

That fight between Twilight and Tirek was DBZ fucking epic!

 

But what I really want to address is the real hero of the story...

 

 

DISCORD!

 

Oh yes.

 

Discord.

 

Now think about it...Discord is waaay too smart to have been duped outright like that and he always had a plan within a plan.

 

One, we already knew he pretty much handed over the secret of the keys to Twilight. We know this!

 

And come on...Discord knows how bad guys are like. So the question is...why did he really betray the mane 6?

 

My answer: Because he knew that's what he had to do. It's his role as an archetypical trickster.

 

Now he didn't like what he had to do, and he did feel guilty. But if he hadn't, Twilight would have never unlocked the box, so he did the most logical thing to quickly get to that point, with the opportunity that was presented to him, even though it meant becoming...

 

Judas Iscariot.

 

Think about that parallel, and the implications and fringe theological implications of destiny that go along with that subject.

Edited May 10, 2014 by KelGrym

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

The finale was fantastic!!! Twilight's insecurity as princess was believable. It seems like the writers used the complaints about Twilight's lack of royal duties to their advantage. I like how the beginning of the episode tied in with "Equestria Games" When Spike voiced Twilight's fears and Applejack smacked him I was like "Thank you Applejack" because that was exactly what I wanted to do to Spike myself in that moment. It was interesting to see the princesses do a royal/political meeting with a count and countess. The song the princesses sing after the meeting was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Beautiful lyrics! It was wonderful to hear Celestia and Cadence sing again and I know many fans are freaking out about Luna singing since I looked at a small clip of the song online before it aired. My favorite part of the song was when the princesses harmonized together. The camera work with the princesses flying above Twilight was beautiful. I liked how they have backstory to the villain in story book form like in the season 1 opener and I liked the sisters interactions with each other when Celestia has the dream vision. I'v heard Tirek is from MLP G1 and it was cool how they connected his story to "It's About Time". I didn't expect that! I thought the scene with Discord messing with Twilight was just going to be him being a d*ck but I like how he helped them with the journal and tried to catch Tirek at first. The way Discord was manipulated by Tirek shows me that Discord is insecure himself. I did kind of feel sad for Discord when he got betrayed and lost his magic. It was especially heartbreaking to see Fluttershy cry like that when they are captured. I would say the entire experience was a good lesson for Discord. Twilight and Discord teaching each other was a nice follow up to "Three's a Crowd" The concept of Cadence,Celestia,and Luna being able to transfer all of their power into Twilight was amazing. It seems like their cutie marks are also magic because their cutie marks disappear when the magic is sucked from them. The pegasus and earth ponies also seem to be magic because too the same happens to them. When Twilight was nervous about the enormity of her responsibility of holding all the princess magic I thought "You wanted responsibility,be careful what you wish for" It was cool to see Twilight raise the sun and try to control the power. The battle animation was great. We finally saw what all the "Rainbow Power" toys were referencing. Applejack's rainbow power design looked better than the actual rainbow power toy of her. The rainbow castle was so awesome! I was surprised that the old "Castle of the 2 sisters" didn't transform into Twilight's new castle. I loved that all of the mane 6 had thrones in the new castle. I wonder if Twilight's friends will have political duties now? It is wonderful that they share power with Twilight because it means the girls will stay together. I'm glad the other mane 5 didn't turn into alicorns. That would have been too much. The way Twilight said "I have within me the most powerful magic of all" reminded me of Equestria Girls. The fact that Twilight and the mane 5 can use the Elements of Harmony even when their other kinds of magic are gone may explain why the human mane 6 were able to use them in Equestria Girls. The song at the end also sounded a bit like Equestria Girls songs. The things I didn't like as much was some of the pacing seeming slightly off,some scenes were predictable and Twilight seemed to figure out that the keys were regular objects a bit too quickly/easily. It seems like in order to have extra princess scenes they gave Twilight's friends a lot less to do in the story than usual. I know a lot of people on the internet are complaining about Celestia telling Twilight not to tell the others about the magic transfer but I can kind of understand why Celestia would do that. Celestia was thinking of their safety. Celestia probably was worried that the mane 5 could be blackmailed or something worse by Tirek if they knew about Twilight's major power upgrade. All in all, a fantastic episode in my opinion. 
Now we just have to wait for season 5.

[TheSupremeLeaderOfChaos 1,206]

I honestly can't sum up my feelings about this episode.

 

I feel so happy cause it was epic and great.

 

And I feel sad cause now we have to wait.

 

Tirek was epic.

 

And I swear the writer's are taking Discord straight out of my headcanon.

 

And just so much awesomeness asdfghjkl ageorgbehaetgj

I seriously can't.

 

Like, if I had to list all the things I liked, this would go on forever.

 

Just a few I guess.

 

1: Discord

2: Discord's little snort after he says the line "Will I ever learn the intricate nuances of being a good friend?"

3: Twilight's Princess Dilemma

4: Luna SANG!

5: Discord's Internal Battle

6: YOU CAN SEE HOW GUILTY DISCORD LOOKS

7: Huge freaking ball of princess magic

8: The freaking fight with Tirek. Awesomeness.

8: Twilight saved Discord too!

10: Discord gave Twilight her key!  can't even

11: SUPER SAIYAN PONIES

 

That kinda sums it up. Kinda.

[Hashi 323]

To be honest... the saddest thing in this episode (not the scariest) 
The Golden Oaks Library

All them memories ):

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Then And now. With the destruction of what was arguably the most iconic building in the show, we really do move on from the small, almost hometown nature of the previous seasons. And I really feel that the castle symbolizes that, the mane 6 have moved past their small town origins, to become the protectors of friendship for the kingdom. And Twilight has moved from the adorkable bookworm, to a princess that will come to rival Celestia in wise rule. This finale, while may not appearing to do so, really did finish the story of Twilight Sparkle.

[CavyShy 169]

Wow. Just...wow. A lot of awesome things to say about this eppy. I'm mind-blown right now. Mind-blown.

 

Things I LOVED about it:

 

- Discord.

- The song!

- Omergawd. That battle was so freaking epic! And the animation and the colors and all that! Wow!

- The animation overall.

- The way they made Discord a more 3-Dimensional character, even more than before. I didn't realize how incredibly cute he is. (On the subject, anyone else super excited that the Discord and Fluttershy shipping is actually working out?)

- The fact that Twi has a castle.

- The end shot.

- Derpy.

- Derpy flying.

- Doctor Whooves.

- Oh, and when Twi saved Discord. Just...AWE!

- Oh, also, Discord is actually a lot smarter than we think. He pretty much knew how they needed to get their keys all along!

 

Things I didn't like...

- The loss of Twi's library. Memories!

- Unnecessary product placement. If you don't catch my drift, it was the part where they were all in the orb and became Rainbow Power ponies. )

- Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity's dialogue. Like...really?

Edited May 11, 2014 by CavyShy

[FlashFireX 0]

Da Finale Thouggggghhh
Seriously that was the best Finale and possibly episode I've ever seen
its funny thinking about it
Season 1 Finale: Gala
Season 2 Finale: Wedding gone awry
Season 3 Finale: Princess Ascension
Season 4 Finale: OMFGWTFBBQ DBZ SHIT!!!!

[MagicalStarSwirl 15]

Why Hasbro? You took the opportunity to bring Tirek back but you did it wrong!

 

Tirek and Scorpan are NOT brothers. Scorpan was a prince that was transformed into a monster when Tirek took over his kingdom.

 

Originally I was hoping that with Tirek's return, Hasbro was going to have the Generation 1 ponies team up with the Generation 4 ponies to fight against him...but Hasbro didn't do it. These episodes were a major let down. I mean they mentioned Firefly in this season! You would think they had the rights to use her again. 

 

Anyway...do you guys think hasbro is planning something behind the scenes for season 5 regarding the G1 ponies? 

Its a different continuity. Why would they even have the exact same story/chracters as G1? G1 was bad, Not as bad as G2 or G3, but it was still a mess. Why would they want to copy and paste everything from it?

[~Rule 63~ Lyeco 527]

THE FINALE WAS EPIC!

I love how the animator so go with the fighting scene!

And the song was really good.

I felt bad for her library

It really was a deserving finale that it should be

Too bad we have to wait next year to get our next season

[NomDeSpite 452]

Did not see the episodes until 4:00 PM today. But my goodness, it was worth it! Easily two of the best episodes of the entire show, for all four seasons. Maybe even the best of all, by any objective measure.

 

I don't do the whole "play by play analysis" thing (The best analysis you can ever give is to absorb it for yourself) but I will say what I loved about the episodes:

 

-It feels like a finale should. Lots of grand, majestic displays of power and emotion, many conclusions reached and many stories ending, with hints of new beginnings.

-Twilight's lacking role as a princess is addressed in the best way possible.

-"You'll Play Your Part" has LUNA SINGING, and some touching lyrics.

-the line from Fluttershy in "Let The Rainbow Remind You": "We have a light that shines within us that we were always meant to share", is a thing of pure beauty.

-The idea that gifts/trinkets from previous episodes played a role in how the ultimate magic was to be unlocked.

-Fluttershy bursting into tears after Discord betrays the Mane Six, and then Discord being betrayed inturn by Tirek. One of the most powerful moments in the show.

-Twilight's Dragon Ball Z-esque battle with Tirek. I forget for a second that this is My Little-friggin'-Pony.

-Twilight's role as princess revealed finally, along with a new castle.

 

I liked everything about it, really. There's nothing to improve on. Even Tirek's one dimensional "all you can eat buffet" personality I didn't mind; it fit for some reason.

 

Meghan McCarthy, I highly doubt you'll ever read this...but thank you. You wrote two amazing ones. And thank you to the entire cast of the show also. I am so grateful.

[MagicalStarSwirl 15]

This was an action packed episode, but was it nessesarily a good episode?

 

The start of the episode introduces the notion of Twilight's insecurities with being a princess. Was that insecurity solved? At the end of the episode Twilight claims to have to task of "spreading friendship" but what exactly does that mean for her future duties? I don't exactly know what she sees she must do, but the character does, so I'll say it was solved in the end.

 

The second focus is of course Discord. He has exponential character development in the episode with his fall from power (which kind of reminds me of the Star Trek episode in which Q lost his powers but I'll digress). Discord got humbled and shown the error of his ways with his magic getting taken away. It was probably the weakest Discord has ever been and ever will be which probably shocked him into true reforment by the end of the episode. Is he completely reformed? I honesty think he is at this point, but I don't think his antiques will completely end with his reforment.

 

Was Triek a good villian? In terms of character, he is much more interesting than the Crirysalis and Sombra. He had a legitamate backstory and a brother who he constantly mentions throughout the episode. The betrayal of his brother definately had an impact on his character and you can feel it. Other than that, though. He was mostly just a generic bad guy, but definately the most powerful generic bad guy in the show so far.

 

in the end, the finale accomplished amazing everyone with the animation AND severe character developement, world building, and makes everyone wonder what is to come in the future. Seriously, this makes me even more baffled than the season 3 finale!

Edited May 11, 2014 by MagicalStarSwirl

[Cuddleshy 49]

I feel like MLP is a ponified, ages 6-10 version of DBZ/Avatar: The last air bender(anime series) for the reason that each new villain that has appeared causes greater damage than the previous, thus making the mane six stumble but get stronger. Also, a new species has arisen, which could lead to a story about him and the possibility that there are more of his kind. The map may expand over the seasons to come.

[RaptorJaysus 178]

There are no words to describe this episode other than epic. That was the greatest thing I have ever seen. The plot was fantastic, the animation was excellent, just EVERYTHING WAS EPIC! Except perhaps Rainbow Power Pinkie Pie. The colour clash in that.

[iceestarz 5,764]

BEST SEASON FINALE EVVVVVVER.

 

Man, what a way to close the season. I'm already craving the next season right now, I don't know if I can survive another day let alone a few months.

 

I totally have high hopes for future episodes, Twilight's Kingdom was handled beautifully. The writing, villian, music, and all around maturity of this two parter was amazing. Literally topped every single episode in this season and the previous three for me.

 

Plus now Twilight is bumped up to my second favorite pony, sorry Rarity. (Nopony can triumph Pinkie as best pony in my eyes, so second best you go, Twilight.)

[MatrixChicken 879]

Wow... I went in not expecting much, but that ended up being one of the goosebumpiest, epicest finales ever. Tirek was pretty cool (though I was hoping his name would be pronounced differently), and there wasn't very much in the episode that felt contrived. It made sense, and that's really impressive, considering there wasn't any setup for it before season 4. Really good job, MLP staff. Can't wait to see what you do with season 5.

 

A note... I was a little worried that the mane 6 would keep their "rainbow power" designs. They weren't bad, but it would've been really weird seeing Rainbow's spiky hair in every episode. xD

[Dark Diamond 21]

Absolutley fantastic. Best season finale yet. The fight scene was spectacular, the plot was tightly written, Tirek was magnificent, and Discord was great. The ending has a sense of finality to it, and it was really touching. I'm looking forward to Season 5.

[NavelColt 22,879]

"Doesn't seem like my new role as a princess equates to all that much."

 

Is there an echo in here? Twilight, trust me when I say, you're not alone :| Much of the fandom hasn't shut up about that since the season began Then again, much of the fandom hasn't shut up about much of anything at all.

 

It's certainly a nice premise though. Ignoring the fan's complaints about it all season long, looking at the show chronologically, it makes some amount of sense that there's been a period of down-low, low-brow responsibilities, where Celestia hasn't really given Twilight too much to do on a large-scale, despite how she's been an 'official' princess the entire season. Let's all remember that Cadence was a 'princess' for some amount of time before she went over to rule the Crystal Empire and began to do large-scale things, as we're to assume she just more or less lived in Canterlot and hung out most of the time before then, so imo, the fact that we're only now seeing the concept of doubt about 'is my title really worth its' weight?', makes more sense than some may think.

 

• Love the representatives from far-off lands, very amusing and almost stereotypical. And whoa, first time we've seen all four princesses sitting in one location and interacting, since Equestria Girls, which doesn't 'count' since it 'wasn't canon'.
• Whoa, wasn't expecting that song x) Very nice. Love the fact she's more or less singing her feelings to the other three princesses instead of to her friends, or just to the audience. And then everyone else joining in. Again, something new and different. Blows Celestia's solo out of the water from the S3 finale, that's for sure.
• Why hello there, teaster trailer. And so much for the pony dying, as so many people throughout Youtube comments were bent on backing up as being the outcome. ToldYaSo.JPG
• "LUNA! I just had a most terrible dream. Your sisterly embrace is required, we must make the bronies da'www with heart attacks abound!"
• Look at this backstory-connecting-to-G1 bullshit going on This is amazing. More use of the book, just as in S1E1. Fuckin' love it. And YAY, Tartarus is mentioned yet again, no longer left to be just a plot device location used as an excuse for Ceberus, back in It's About Time.
• ":3 I don't think it's that big a surprise, he can be very helpful". Fluttershy lingo for, "My homeboy Discord can snap his fingers, and make that centaur monster his bitch."
• "Hello, everypony~" "What are you doin' here, Discord?" "Well, I was so excited about my upcoming mission that I was inspired to celebrate, by inventing a wonderful new word."
• Why hello, previous teaser trailer.
• Goddamn, that was an excellent Discord scene. Brand new visual gags, awesome script, and the final bit with Fluttershy was excellent x) And that door to another dimension. I still hold the headcanon that Discord lives in some obscure pocket dimension that borders next to the dimension Equestria is in, and if anything I can use that as an example of why it could work.
• I AM FANGASMING SO HARD, TWO EPIC, INSANELY POWERFUL AND INCREDIBLY ANCIENT BAD GUY CREATURES INTERACTING AND HAVING A BRIEF CONFLICT OF MY GLORB.
• I'm not surprised that many people question why Discord would betray the ponies, but IMO, I don't think it's out of character or to be totally unexpected at all. As shown on a few occasions, the end of the season premiere for example after learning that the Elements were gone, Discord showed some sign of enjoying the idea that the only thing capable of stopping him, was no longer an obstacle, thus leaving his friendship with the ponies (mostly just Fluttershy), the only thing in the entire universe stopping him from enjoying the things he does as a simple part of his nature. The way he initially reacted to Tirek's proposal was not over-the-top, it was very thought-provoking for him, and he was clearly weighing his thoughts. I won't and don't plan on arguing with anyone about this turn of sides being this, that or the other thing, but here's me saying, it has enough sense for it to work, IMO. Friendship being important to you or not, one's true nature is one's true nature, at heart, and slipping to wanting to reclaim that core nature is a powerful motive at the worst of times.
• Yay for flashing back to the rainbow eye moments :3 And go Pinkie, you...CHOKE THAT CHICKEN, HURRRRR.
• *whistle*, goddamn, nicely done redesign of Tirek, DHX. Lovin' not only his design, but that entire montage of taking the various powers away from ponies causes chills. Sorry Chrysalis and even Sombra, I think you've both been overshadowed in terms of both power and scope of villainous goals x)
• Now that's what you call a classic cliff-hanger. Gasp right before the fade.
• That's a sound plan, but Discord is working with Tirek, and Discord knows there's a fourth alicorn.
• Discord and Shining Armor interacting Read a fanfic about that once, and it even used a similar location, I believe.
• Tirek you lookin' mighty bad-arse.
• Niiice transition. 'WHERE...IS YOUR MAGIC!?" "*BOOM*, goes the door."
• "So let me get this straight, princesses, you're a bunch beeeeeyetches that don't like pomegranates. Well that's good. CAUSE YOU AIN'T FINDIN' NO POMEGRANTES, IN TARTARUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS! BEEEEEEEEEEEEYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETCHES!"
• Discord is best window maker.
• Goddamn Discord, you've helped a monster grow so strong that he's on god-tier level, even drained your energy x) This is what happens when you give in to those core desires and pass up the relationships and important ponies in your life.
• *More whistling*, yeah, welp, Tirek for most impressive, powerful and brutally evil villain thus far, indeed x)
• xD This shit is literally going DBZ, holy shit. If ever the fans who bitch about pandering were to do so, they're inevitably going to do so, here. Wreck that maniac, Twilight :3
• Even a creature of chaos makes mistakes and learns lessons :3
• 'I MAY HAVE GIVEN YOU MY ALICORN MAGIC, BUT THE POWER OF RAINBOWS WILL STILL COMPEL YOU, ABOMINATION. BACK TO TARTATUS WITH THEE.'
• I dunno, I don't find the point of bitching about toys if you don't plan on buying them anyway, I find the designs kinda cool x)
• NO TREEHOUSE? TIS FINE, SHINY CRYSTAL EMPIRE-STYLE TREEHOUSE FOR YOU.
• You have your own throne Discord, it's more bad-ass and not sparkly xP
• Yay for ending songs. Yay for revisiting the core side characters of the season. Yay for Dislestia shipping fuel xD

 

You know, despite how the fandom continues to sadden me, in that most Youtube comments, most comments on boards outside ours, and many other locations, consist of 'fans' doing absolutely nothing but bitching about the small details, how they don't like how the show is, how they, I really don't care at the end of the day x) S4 has probably been the best season so far for me, and no opinionated wall of negative text or the like will ever change my mind. So much universe expansion has occurred, character expansion, location expansion, and numerous cool new concepts.

 

That was one hell of a finale. Whoa. Can't wait for S5.