My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

[Peanutbutter]

I like Cadence and Shining Armor, but I really don't understand what real significance in-universe the Crystal Empire is supposed to have. I loved the episode and all with the baby, but I'm not a big fan of the setting itself. Is it based off of something that was in the G1 series I've long forgotten? Or is it a new gimmicky thing that Hasbro wanted for more toys? I can't recall hearing or seeing anything about Crystal Pony toys but that doesn't mean it wasn't planned.



Anyway, I also love how well Starlight has been fitting into the group. I hope she has more episodes when the hiatus ends. It helps that I've always enjoyed Kelly Sheridan.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That's a good point, actually. The Crystal Empire doesn't have anything distinct about it other than having, well, crystals everywhere. Even the Griffin Kingdom and Starlight's village that we saw once each had more character than the Crystal Empire has. And we've been in the CE about seven times so far.

I would say part of the problem comes with the setting. There hasn't really been any lore or memorable characters (or villains) that have originated from the setting yet.

[Peanutbutter]

That's a good point, actually. The Crystal Empire doesn't have anything distinct about it other than having, well, crystals everywhere. Even the Griffin Kingdom and Starlight's village that we saw once each had more character than the Crystal Empire has. And we've been in the CE about seven times so far.

I would say part of the problem comes with the setting. There hasn't really been any lore or memorable characters (or villains) that have originated from the setting yet.

It really doesn't help that the only notable characters in the show's universe associated with the Crystal Empire aren't even originally from it. I really think if the third season premiere had done a better job with King Sombra, there might have been better lore around its setting. Thanks to it having been so rushed we never got that. What's mindboggling is why they haven't bothered trying to expand it in any in the other episodes since!

[Pharass]

You guys took the words right out of my mouth. The show could really use at least one crystal pony that has an actual personality. It wouldn't fix everything, but it would be a step in the right direction.
Speaking of things I hope to see in the show, I really hope that we get a Celestia-focused episode at some point.

[Pharass]

Seeing as how the hiatus has been over for some time, I thought I'd take this opportunity to revive the thread and share my thoughts on the last three episodes. Here we go:

Stranger Than Fan fiction

I must admit, reading the outline for this episode had me a bit concerned. Mainly, I was worried that Patton Oswalt's character would just be a strawman caricature of a fan that was there to be  proven wrong by Rainbow. Thankfully, the show mostly avoided that. I actually enjoyed Quibble as a character; much like Zephyr Breeze, he was obnoxious, but in a way that I found amusing (that is, he got on the nerves of the characters, but not on me as a viewer). I also enjoyed seeing Caballeron again, he's a pretty entertaining minor villain.
If I have a problem with this episode, I guess it would be that there's a certain lack of balance regarding the protagonists' opposing view-points. Let's see if I can explain it:
Basically, I got the feeling that Rainbow and Quibble were supposed to be stand-ins for two different types of fans (not just fans of MLP, but fans in general), with the latter representing the kind of fan that hates the direction his favorite series has taken and won't hesitate to point out its flaws, no matter how minor those flaws may be in the great scheme of things. Granted, that kind of nitpicking can be annoying, but let me ask you this: Isn't the type of fan represented by Rainbow, the type that refuses to acknowledge any criticism of their favorite series no matter how valid and who thinks that everyone who doesn't like every new installment is a hater, just as annoying? The episode never really addressed that (the closest it got was Daring telling Rainbow that she had more important stuff to worry about than disgruntled fans). Of course, the fact that Rainbow, unlike Quibble, knew that Daring Do was real meant that the cards were kind of stacked in her favor from the beginning.

All in all, an enjoyable episode. The moral was pretty good as well, if you ask me.

The Cart Before the Ponies

Honestly, I can't think of much to say about this episode: The song was fun, but other than that, there was nothing about this episode that really stood out for me. Let's call it serviceable and move on.

No, wait, there's one thing (though it doesn't really have anything to do with the episode itself): Now that she's no longer an antagonist is Diamond Tiara going to be limited to non-speaking cameo roles from here on out? I hope not, that seems like a waste of potential.

28 Pranks Later

Just watched this episode and I'm sad to say that my feelings were mostly negative. A large part of that has to do with the way the episode handled Rainbow Dash; she was just really badly characterized here, it felt as if the episode ignored the progression her character has made over the seasons, in order to have her act as a complete douche for (seriously, some of those pranks were neither funny nor clever. A brick in a sandwich? That's just mean). To end on a more positive note, I will say that the zombie-thing was kind of amusing, even if it soon became incredibly obvious where it was heading.

So, those were my thoughts on the first three post-hiatus episodes.  Hopefully, the show will get back on track with the next episode.

[Spark Of Spirit]

28 Pranks Later was actually a missed opportunity. A zombie style episode where they have to find the cure would have been more entertaining than another "Rainbow Dash is a jerk for 22 minutes" episode. She's not my favorite character as it is, but the episodes like this where she is overly obnoxious do nothing for me.

The Cart Before the Ponies was a pretty typical episode. I think it would have been improved had each of the girls switched mentors and the story worked from that angle instead. The way they did it made it average overall.

Of the three, Stranger Than Fan Fiction was the best one. I always enjoy the more adventure-ish episodes and this one was no different. But I do agree with Pharass in that Quibble and Dash should have both been equally over the top and then eventually find the middle ground together. As it is, it's a bit awkward when Quibble comes to his conclusion at the end since he didn't really have anyone to bounce off of. Other than that, I quite liked it.

[Pharass]

The Cart Before the Ponies was a pretty typical episode. I think it would have been improved had each of the girls switched mentors and the story worked from that angle instead. The way they did it made it average overall.

I agree. Besides, unlike the other two, Applebloom has the advantage of having more than one adult in her life. She could have asked Big Mac for help.

Moving on, here are my thoughts on the latest episode: The Times They're A-Changeling

This, I'm pleased to say, was a definitive improvement over the last episode. Of course, it helps that the changelings are one of my favorite races in the show (I just really like their design, not to mention that shape-shifting is one of my favorite super-powers), but even so, this was just a quality episode through and through. Sure, the theme of the episode (we shouldn't judge someone based on where they come from) is well-tread ground, but it was told well and in the end, that's really all that matters. A few more observations follow below:

This season has been really good towards Spike, hasn't it? We've had two episodes focusing on him in which the little guy has been portrayed in a generally positive light. A far cry from most Spike-centric episodes, in which he was either the butt of jokes, or the source of the episode's problem/conflict. Here's hoping that this trend continues.

It was good seeing Chrysalis again, even if it was only for a few seconds. With Discord and Glimmer reformed, she's my favorite straight-up evil villain in the show.

Speaking of which, one detail I appreciated was the guilty look on Starlight's face during the last portion of Spike's song. That was a nice touch.

I'll see if I can think of more to say about this episode later, but I think this will do for now.

[Pharass]

Apparently, the season finale was leaked early. I haven't seen it yet, its tempting, but I'm going to wait until after it has actually aired (besides, it feels a bit weird to watch the finale before the season is over). Anyway, I'm pleased to say that all the episodes that have aired since I last posted in this thread have been really good. I especially enjoyed Pony Point of View, I'm a sucker for Rashomon-type stories and the episode was a very good example of  one. Although, I fail to see how during Pinkie's version of the events, it was Rarity's fault that the ship sank. Because she didn't take the wheel in time? Neither did Pinkie or A.J.

By the way, if you allow me a bit of self-promotion: I recently listed my 5 favorite characters of the show on my blog. Here it is, for those who're interested.

Spoiler

Rarity is #1

[close]

.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That is the correct choice.

It's nice to have a show that remains as consistently entertaining as FIM. I never imagined when it started that it would still be around and readying for a seventh season years later.

[Pharass]

Has a seventh season been confirmed? I know there's a movie coming out next year, but I haven't heard anything about a new season. Then again, I can't really see Hasbro pulling the plug on the show after a mere six seasons.

Top Bolt was a good episode. Twilight and Rainbow is a good combination as their contrasting personalities complement each other very well and leads to some entertaining moments. One thing I found interesting was that the more sympathetic and likable of the two guest characters was really the one who was more in the wrong (at least that's the way I saw it). Yes, Sky Stinger was a cocky jerk, but his arrogance stemmed entirely from his belief in his capacity as a flyer, a belief which only came about because Vapor Trail had covertly helped him out, without his knowledge of her doing so.
So, yeah, a worthy episode to round-out the season before the finale.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Season 7 is confirmed, though it was confirmed pretty quietly. They will be hitting 150 episodes this season, so I assume they'll make a big deal out of that episode.

I enjoyed Top Bolt. It was interesting to see such a pair of contrasting personalities and have Twilight and Dash be the ones to deal with them. I've been hearing good things about the finale, but I'd rather wait to see it myself when it officially comes out.

[Pharass]

Season 7 is confirmed, though it was confirmed pretty quietly.

Glad to hear it. I don't think the show should go on forever, but there's a lot of territory I want it to explore before it ends (still holding out hope for a Celestia episode somewhere down the line).
I'll be back with my thoughts on the finale once I've watched it. Though I'll keep them under spoilers for the sake of courtesy.

[Pharass]

Below are my thoughts on what transpired in the season six finale: To Where and Back Again. As promised, I've put them behind the spoiler-tag, just to be on the safe side.

Spoiler

The first thing to note is that the set-up for To Where and Back Again mirrors that of the very beginning of the show: An old enemy has returned and its up to a magical prodigy, student of one of the princesses to gather a crew of unlikely heroes to combat this threat. Of course, there are some differences. For example, unlike Twilight, Starlight is already on familiar terms with her three companions (we've never seen her interact with Discord before now, but she treats him as someone she knows, so their first meeting must have taken place off-screen. Shame that, I would liked to have seen how that went down). Another difference is that Starlight's team consists of redeemed villains (though Thorax really only counts as a villain in the sense that he was once took part in an invasion, as an ordinary grunt, mind you).

Speaking of villains; Chrysalis returned for her second stint as a big bad in this show. I'm pleased to see her return, the changeling-queen is one of of my favorite villains in this show with her voice, design and overall demeanor making her quite an enjoyable antagonist. At the end of the day, Chrysalis rejects Starlight's offer of redemption and flies away, swearing revenge. It will be interesting to see how she'll manage to claw herself up from the rather crushing blow dealt to her this time. After all, without her kingdom and her army of changelings, she's not really a large-scale threat the way she used to be.

Regarding Chrysalis plan: I would have liked to have some, heck any, insight as to how long she had planned it and exactly how the changelings pulled it off. How did they manage to capture so many powerful ponies exactly? My guess is that they gradually replaced ponies close to them and took them unawares, though that's pure conjecture on my part).

I found the idea of Chrysalis' throne soaking up all non-changeling magic to work really well. It explains why the more powerful among the captives were unable to free themselves and their friends. It also puts a serious damper on Discord, a guy who, as Starlight put it "could take on the entire changeling army by sneezing if he wanted to".

Not sure how to feel about the new design for the changelings.  They're not the worst designs I've seen in this show and maybe they'll grow on me, but still, I kind of preferred it when the changelings were depicted as creepy, yet oddly cute, bug-ponies.

Let's move on to the star of this two-parter: Starlight Glimmer. Starlight's been one of my favorite characters since she first showed up, going from being a villain, to a friend of the heroines and finally, a heroine in her own right. I found her reluctance to be in charge and her fear that being put into a position of authority would cause her to revert back to her old ways well handled. During the course of this season we've seen that Starlight, although she tries to be a good, has a tendency to use some less than ethical methods, for the sake of expediency and convenience. So, her anxiety here is understandable. Basically, at the beginning of the episode, she doesn't trust herself yet.

By the way; I know that she went back and apologized during the last season finale's musical montage, but I would still have liked to see a bit of reluctance from some of the villagers, regarding Starlight's return for the celebration. I know that ponies are a pretty forgiving bunch, but there's a difference between forgiving someone who wronged you and feels genuine remorse for it and being actively excited about seeing them again.

Discord and Trixie provided most of the humor in the two-parter. Their constant bickering was pretty funny, it makes sense for two such self-absorbed personalities to clash. Speaking of Trixie, I liked the fact that even though they're both friends with Starlight, she and Twilight do not really get along at all. The passive-aggressive sniping shared between them in their one scene together amusing. Twilight is so much more accomplished than Trixie, but the stage-magician still manages to get under her skin.

Finally, I found the ending to be a bit abrupt, but couldn't really put my finger on why. Then, it struck me: Unlike the two season finales that preceded it, this one did not have a big musical number at the end. In fact, To Where and Back Again featured no songs whatsoever, which is a bit odd, now that I think about it.

[close]

So, did I think this was better than last season's finale? Well, I'd have to re-watch them both, but for now; I'd have to say no. The Cutie-Remark felt bigger and more epic in scope and seeing the different timelines had more of a wow-factor than seeing the changeling kingdom. That said, this was still highly enjoyable and a good way to end what was a really good season.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I liked it quite a bit, especially that it touched on many of the standalone episodes in the season. I will agree that it probably doesn't top the finales from season 4 and 5, but I would easily put it right behind them. It was nice to see them focus more on characters away from the usual suspects and really give the spotlight to Starlight to show how far she has come since last season. The end of the episode which mirrors her first appearance in season 5 where she rebuffed Twilight's friendship was a good parallel, too.

Eager to see where season 7 goes.

But I do hope there's a chance to have more multi-parters in the future. The season premieres and finales are one thing, but we're almost 150 episodes in. I think we stand to have a few more bigger episodes spread into the mix.

[Pharass]

But I do hope there's a chance to have more multi-parters in the future. The season premieres and finales are one thing, but we're almost 150 episodes in. I think we stand to have a few more bigger episodes spread into the mix.

I agree with this sentiment. Take last season's Crusaders of the Lost Mark for example: Great episode, but looking back, I think it would have benefited from being either a two-parter or at least a bit longer than a regular episode.