My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

Favourite pony out of the main bunch?

  • Twilight Sparkle

    Votes: 25 16.6%
  • Pinkie Pie

    Votes: 29 19.2%
  • Applejack

    Votes: 13 8.6%
  • Rainbow Dash

    Votes: 31 20.5%
  • Rarity

    Votes: 18 11.9%
  • Fluttershy

    Votes: 35 23.2%

  • Total voters
    151
Purple Yoshi said:
Well, that was boring. I wasn't really expecting much, to be honest, but it didn't feel that special.
And did they give a reason as to why Discord's plan only worked now? It just seemed rather lame "Oh, this was a plan I had centuries ago and it only worked now".

They did, Discord basically said he underestimated the strength of the Tree of Harmony. It held out that long before it finally worked here.

Also, seriousy? Boring? Both you and Nabber both kinda mentioned this. That just kinda seems like to me you both don't care too much about Twilight as a character if you got nothing out of this. This episode had far better pacing and even had less contrived stuff like alot of the previous two-parters did. In terms of storytelling, it managed to flow more smoothly then any two-parter before it.
 
well, the thing is I don't care about Twilight as a character. The show is a sitcom, so it hasn't been trying to develop the characters much, so I simply don't care about Twilight, especially when her problems are so hard to connect to.
 
Nabber said:
well, the thing is I don't care about Twilight as a character. The show is a sitcom, so it hasn't been trying to develop the characters much, so I simply don't care about Twilight, especially when her problems are so hard to connect to.

But they have developed. Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight for example are pretty different from who they were early in the series.

A part of Games Ponies Play shows how Twilight won't go full Lesson Zero again. And Wonderbolt Academy plus Hurricane Fluttershy showed Rainbow has changed for the better from her most of Season 1/Early Season 2 abrasiveness. There is character development in this show.
 
yes, but it's minor

i just don't particularly care for the characters in this show. that's just the matter of it.
 
Northern Verve said:
Purple Yoshi said:
Well, that was boring. I wasn't really expecting much, to be honest, but it didn't feel that special.
And did they give a reason as to why Discord's plan only worked now? It just seemed rather lame "Oh, this was a plan I had centuries ago and it only worked now".

They did, Discord basically said he underestimated the strength of the Tree of Harmony. It held out that long before it finally worked here.

Also, seriousy? Boring? Both you and Nabber both kinda mentioned this. That just kinda seems like to me you both don't care too much about Twilight as a character if you got nothing out of this. This episode had far better pacing and even had less contrived stuff like alot of the previous two-parters did. In terms of storytelling, it managed to flow more smoothly then any two-parter before it.

Well, yeah, 1. I'm not exactly a hardcore MLP fan, I just watch it sometimes and 2. just because it has good pacing doesn't mean it's interesting. I can't explain why I was bored by it, really. I guess it didn't feel epic enough? Like, when the vines were coming, we only saw the main characters' reactions to it, which kinda made it seem like it was just an ordinary problem and not a worldwide emergency.
 
Nabber said:
yes, but it's minor

i just don't particularly care for the characters in this show. that's just the matter of it.

Then I feel like you're not really watching it for what's basically the point of the show. The characters are basically the show's strong point. Sometimes it isn't the most consistent, but at it's best it still gives a strong sense of meaning seeing these characters bounce off their personalities with eachother with what situations happen to them. They each have distinct personalities, and while there's a few that arguable if they've had much development at all (Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie most of all) they do have at least some subtle change in which they're different from how they were in Season 1 when they were just learning.

Here's an example of all 6 in how I mean they've developed:

Twilight early in Season 2 could get stressed over the littlest thing to the point she'd go insane in Lesson Zero. In Games Ponies Play, with a tip from Cadence she manages to keep herself more calmer then usual despite the mistake of the wrong inspector. Granted that didn't really come in a good episode. But it was one good thing in what was otherwise a plain episode. (Speaking of which, you want a boring FiM episode? How about Look Before You Sleep or Apple Family Reunion?)

Applejack in Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 lets the others of the Main 6 help when in Applebuck Season she was stubborn to let anypony help.

Rainbow Dash as I said showed great growth in Wonderbolt Academy. Lightning Dust may as well been a mirror of Rainbow Dash had she never met the Mane 6. Still talented as all heck. But too much arrogance

Rarity from Suited for Success onwards has proven to be one of the characters with the most depth. She's the element of generosity but her lifestyle and general wants in life has sometimes challenged her. In no other episode is it more apparent then in Sweet and Elite when she has trouble deciding priorities between Twilight's Birthday Party or living her dream to hang with the Canterlot Elite.

Fluttershy finally put her trauma from being bullied as a filly past her in the climax of Hurricane Fluttershy.

And while Pinkie Pie is the hardest to see development for. Too Many Pinkie Pies was perhaps the first episode since Party of One to show a new side to Pinkie. We saw how different the real Pinkie was from the clones who are pretty much what people who may think she's a flat character is like all the time. But this shows she's not like that all all.

Some of the developments in the episodes aren't perfect, but they're there nonetheless. And proof this isn't just comedy all the time. These characters learn and grow, and that's more then most cartoons these days can say.
 
I had a feeling when Nabber said that SonicMario would list many example of how he was wrong.

And yeah, this show has more character development than many many many other cartoons of any ages. They just don't happen that often. Also even with Discord, he has had character development from when he was a villain. You also don't see many villain character developments either.
 
Speaking of Discord and character development, I was just discussing this on another forum, I feel like Discord kind of regressed in this two-parter. He doesn't seem like he's changed at all. It's one thing to say he'll still basically be Discord now that he's reformed, but it's another to try and play up the "is he good or is he bad?" thing. It's basically a huge slap to the face for anyone who liked or was emotionally invested in Keep Calm and Flutter On.

And that's BEFORE he mistook Rainbow Dash for Fluttershy, and called her "Shutterfly"... That one brief moment pisses me off so much, because it almost confirms my notions that they weren't taking Keep Calm and Flutter On seriously, and now we feel like idiots for being "fooled".
 
I don't think his personality progressed in the first place. But the fact that he's not, at least currently, trying to take over Equestria is good enough to call him "reformed" for me.

I still think the Discord thing with Keep Calm and Flutter On is kind of dubious. They may have done the "good or bad" questioning this time, but they better not do it constantly or at all from now on.
 
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This is one of those times I appreciate the little moments this show has. This has been literally me multiple times in my life xD
 
Northern Verve said:
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This is one of those times I appreciate the little moments this show has. This has been literally me multiple times in my life xD
Ditto that for me, I apologize a lot, even when I don't have to.
 
All in all, a good start to the season. Perhaps the best start any season had yet. I'm just glad we have some more pony to look forward to these coming weeks. I feel like we could be in for the best season yet.
 
That was a good, episode, i'm glad it actually wasn't rushed at the end.The chest key thing sounds kind of dumb to me unless they actually have to travel to physical locations to find them, but I doubt that'll happen.Also the Luna vs Celestia scene was really great.

also lmao at Discord being a dick to everyone
 
Nabber said:
The show is a sitcom,

wait

ohhhhh

i think i've figured out why i hated season 3 so much. i was taking it as a legitimate comedy/action series, a la something like avatar or adventure time, and when they didn't deliver on that front I dismissed the season. looking back, "sitcom" makes much more sense.

brb, rewatching season 3 in light of this new perspective.
 
The only reason Season 3 (And likely will always be) was the worst season to me is just that it had less episodes. Otherwise if you split the previous 2 seasons into their own 13 half sections. You get generally the same good, average, meh, and bad episodes. A 13 episode Season has a huge disadvantage to 26 episodes. Because it's not realistic to expect all 13 would be awesome episodes.

I can't deny that Season 3 is very much a mixed bag. But I personally believe it's best episodes (Magic Duel, Sleepless in Ponyville, Wonderbolt Academy. And I know how much some of you may disagree with me but: Magical Mystery Cure) ranked among the best episodes the show has done yet. While it's worst (The dull Apple Family Reunion, and just alot of Spike at your Service in general) reaches toward the opposite end. Everything else was either ok, meh, or on average with alot of the rest of the show.
 
I saw Derpy in the background while Celestia and Luna where celebrating. The people fixed Derpy's eyes. What do you all think? If you ask me, It's just an unnecessary change because a lazy eye is not insulting to anybody, especially not those with a disability. Sure her first voice might have been offensive to those who are slow, but nothing else was. "Derp" was not supposed to mean "stupid" at first, but rather a response to an ignorant (which doesn't mean "stupid") action. However, Snails from the same show (whose name even implies that he's slow), Spongebob and Patrick (who do worse things than Derpy in every episode), Ed from "Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy" (who not only talked the same way Derpy did at first, but was also much stupider than her), Johnny Fucking Test (that show is still running yet it is arguably stupider than Spongebob and so many people don't even like it, including myself), most of those characters from that crappy "Strawberry Shortcake" show with bad C.G.I. (most of them couldn't even add two and two together.), and Dopey from "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs" (similar to Derpy in many ways) managed to get off Scott-free. Derpy isn't even offensive yet she got bashed by stupid Soccer-moms as opposed to characters who are directly stupid. That's like attacking The Three Stooges because they are deemed "offensive to retarded kids" (Like Derpy, they're just clumsy by the way) while leaving Fanboy & Chum Chum alone. I still enjoyed the season. ;D ;D
 
@Shrek Guy: Derpy has shown up non-derped before. Even if that was mainly in Season 1 since in that one they didn't discover how popular the "Animation Error" was until Episode 17.

I think we'll be seeing some Derpy (Derped eyes included) cameos throughout the season. She appeared in both Magical Mystery Cure and Equestria Girls (Even if that was a human Derpy) after all.
 
So there's this thing, DigiBrony and BronyCurious talking about the season 4 premiere:


I find it interesting what DigiBrony said about Discord, though I THINK he meant to use the word "retcon" instead of "reboot". Using Keep Calm and Flutter On as a jumping off point into a more natural reformation is actually a good idea... though it's still a little disrespectful to anyone who actually liked KCaFO.

Also, it's still all speculation as to whether or not the keys have actual locations or if they just "appear" through certain character development moments, like most kids shows like this (Digimon in particular sticks out in my mind in that regard). I'm hoping for the former, like BronyCurious, THAT sounds a lot more interesting!

Wait, it's a "cragadile"? I thought it was a "rockodile"... Either way, I remember it... for really sticking out, and not looking like something from the series... though it is kind of reminiscent of the timberwolves, in that they both look cool.

Also, am I the only one to notice that Celestia didn't bother to try and revert Nightmare Moon back to Luna, and instead just went straight for banishing her? I feel like they could have at least said/mentioned SOMETHING in that regard, like give a brief explanation as to WHY Celestia couldn't revert Nightmare Moon.

But yeah, like a lot of you guys have said (and what's been said on other forums) a lot of the "emotional" stuff in this two-parter is "ham-fisted". I think it's better then what I usually get from Meghan McCarthy, and I like that she's improving, but really, it's not without it's flaws.
 
Smashgoom202 said:
Also, am I the only one to notice that Celestia didn't bother to try and revert Nightmare Moon back to Luna, and instead just went straight for banishing her? I feel like they could have at least said/mentioned SOMETHING in that regard, like give a brief explanation as to WHY Celestia couldn't revert Nightmare Moon.

But yeah, like a lot of you guys have said (and what's been said on other forums) a lot of the "emotional" stuff in this two-parter is "ham-fisted". I think it's better then what I usually get from Meghan McCarthy, and I like that she's improving, but really, it's not without it's flaws.

It wasn't very important to reveal that in terms of what the plot was about, the time taken to explain that would of taken away time for the rest of the episode. The scene is there for an awesome battle scene for us to see and a sort of red herring cliffhanger.

Perhaps there's a few parts where sometimes parts that are supposed to be emotional fall a few flat. (Though I think it wasn't that bad to have the friends confrontation, as much as they were wrong. Applejack and the others had a fair point.) But I felt it did give Discord a purpose of appearing in the episode other then to to sit back and wait for the Mane 6 to destroy the seeds and/or vines he planted a millennium ago. Just to tell them that he was the reason everything unfolded although he planned for it to happen much sooner then it did.
 
Northern Verve said:
It wasn't very important to reveal that in terms of what the plot was about, the time taken to explain that would of taken away time for the rest of the episode. The scene is there for an awesome battle scene for us to see and a sort of red herring cliffhanger.

Perhaps there's a few parts where sometimes parts that are supposed to be emotional fall a few flat. (Though I think it wasn't that bad to have the friends confrontation, as much as they were wrong. Applejack and the others had a fair point.) But I felt it did give Discord a purpose of appearing in the episode other then to to sit back and wait for the Mane 6 to destroy the seeds and/or vines he planted a millennium ago. Just to tell them that he was the reason everything unfolded although he planned for it to happen much sooner then it did.

I think it was. Perhaps not to the main conflict, but I think it's important to establish that she literally had no choice but to banish her sister. It could have just took one quick line to establish that, and maybe I need to watch the episode to make sure that was the case, but it really would not have taken up that much time at all, as I see it. I'd also like to add that awesome battles are a lot better when they make sense in context and also have emotion to it and things at stake. It was kind of impressive to watch, but again, part of me feels like it could have been better or that... yeah, red herring.

Something else I just thought of, regarding Discord; some people don't like the fact that it was Discord responsible for the evil plants, but honestly, I can't get that riled up about it, because I don't think it's necessarily a bad or dumb move. I don't particularly like it, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with it... It would also help justify why he didn't bother giving them a straight answer at first; after all, if HE was responsible for it, even if it WAS long ago, it probably wouldn't be in his best interests... and I mean that from a logical standpoint, with no malicious intent. After all, he wants to show them that he's reformed, and they ALREADY jump to the conclusion that he's responsible, saying the plants WERE his fault would probably lead to him getting stoned regardless. So he helps them without revealing the truth. It kind of works, as I see it.
 
Northern Verve said:
@Shrek Guy: Derpy has shown up non-derped before. Even if that was mainly in Season 1 since in that one they didn't discover how popular the "Animation Error" was until Episode 17.

I think we'll be seeing some Derpy (Derped eyes included) cameos throughout the season. She appeared in both Magical Mystery Cure and Equestria Girls (Even if that was a human Derpy) after all.
What if Derpy does appear but she only gets her signature eyes if she spins or gets hit by something? That would be a clever way to hide the 'true' Derpy.
 
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Whoooooaaaaaa the beginning of S4 Opener was around the same spot Twilight was in the first episodes of the show. That's really neat.
 
So, has anyone seen the leaked episode?

It was pretty solid; they're continuing the story arc and the character dynamics make for a fun 22 minutes. The Pony of Shadows was pretty easy to predict, though. :P
 
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