My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

[Nabber]

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what's the moral?

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"Revenge is bad. Forgiveness is good." ?

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One, the amulet apparently was corrupting Trixie. Two, Trixie had a completely strange turn of face at the end, and then it was shown that she hadn't even improved at all by claiming to be humble and promptly running away. "Great and Apologetic" my foot.

 

[Weasel]

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what's the moral?

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"Revenge is bad. Forgiveness is good." ?

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2 Rainbow Dashes are better than one.

even if it's another pony in disguise

 

[Kyoko Sakura]

Spoiler

what's the moral?

Spoiler

"Revenge is bad. Forgiveness is good." ?

Spoiler

One, the amulet apparently was corrupting Trixie. Two, Trixie had a completely strange turn of face at the end, and then it was shown that she hadn't even improved at all by claiming to be humble and promptly running away. "Great and Apologetic" my foot.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Also, a third moral would be not to abuse power.

Trixie wanted to amulet to get revenge and abuse power in the first place, but when it corrupted her, I assume she went further than she originally intended. When the amulet was removed, the corruption curse was broken and she realized the error of her ways. (Maybe something along the lines of "Wow. I took over Ponyville and banished Twilight when all I really wanted to do was show off and redeem my name as the Great and Powerful Trixie..." Her seeing the error of her harsh ways doesn't mean she's going to magically change her personality. She's an arrogant character.

Do you really need the show to handfeed you a "dear princess Celestia" at the end of every episode to be satisfied with the moral?

EDIT: Besides, morals are subjective anyway. I myself haven't agreed with every single moral the show has put out.

 

[Nabber]

yes

 

[Toad Eightyfive]

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so many damn spoiler tags. :\

 

[Mijzelffan]

This is the best episode ever. And the end gave me so much feels. Couldn't stop myself from smiling.

 

[Master Crash]

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The scene with Trixie shutting Pinkie Pie up is the best thing ever. Props to Trixie.

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I knew you'd say something about that.

Pretty good episode, glad FS got a decently large part. Also Twilight and Zecora totally reminds me of Luke and Yoda.

 

[Time Turner]

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Also Twilight and Zecora totally reminds me of Luke and Yoda.

Spoiler

 

[Daniel Dyce]

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so after thinking it over i've decided i don't hate this episode and that it was actually alright (hell it was even better then some of the bottom tier episodes of Lawman) although I still didn't enjoy the 2nd magical duel or the Fluttershy scenes I enjoyed the scenes with Trixie in power and I loved the ending

 

[SonicMario]

I have to say, I think Trixie's grown on me a little more after this episode. Before this I didn't like her too much, but I think this episode really deepened her character to the point that I can understand her a little more. She showed alot more character in this episode then in her debut appearance I think.

 

[Smashgoom202]

Okay, so I forgot to record "Magic Duel" episode yesterday and YouTube was being a bitch all day Saturday. :evil:

Today, though, I managed to record a late showing of that episode, and my mom and I watched it together. I had to remind her who Trixie was, since she doesn't remember Boast Busters that well. Not to mention, I had to pause and rewind several times when she interjected with something. Usually I don't mind with these kinds of things, but since this is the first time I'm watching this episode, I didn't want to miss anything.

So, yeah, really solid episode! The perfect kind of episode for M.A. Larson, IMO.

Spoiler

So, what do I think about Trixie in this episode? I have to admit, I gave more of a crap about Trixie here then I ever did before. I never really understood why she was so adored by fans, I just didn't see that much appeal. Here, though... I get the feeling that Mr. Larson, or the team at large, paid close attention to the variety of "Trixie personas" that the fandom gave her, and seem to mix them all into one. There's the ruined Trixie, in which she lives a life of mockery and ridicule for her failure to incapacitate an Ursa Minor, there's the revenge Trixie, a bit of a Twilight-obsessed Trixie with Trixie thinking Twilight's responsible for all this, and finally, and the most jarring to me, a bit of nice Trixie at the end...

Seriously, I felt the ending was a bit of a cop-out to not upset Trixie fans. They hinted that the alicorn amulet twisted the minds of those who use them, but I just kind of assumed it just made Trixie more of a jerk then she already was. When she apologized at the end... well, it felt a little weird. I guess I didn't expect her to have a conscience of any kind, and it just felt so out of the blue to have her regret her actions... Then again, she did do some really terrible things, worst then what she did in Boast Busters, which she probably didn't feel the need to apologize. It's also kind of weird that Twilight just instantly forgave her, but then again, I probably wouldn't of had it any other way. The amulet does corrupt those who use it, and Trixie is trying to make amends my adding to the entertainment, not to mention, Twilight is a pretty nice pony, enough to see if Trixie really means what she says. Before the episode ended, I almost thought Trixie would ask for forgiveness, then laugh at Twilight's face before running away. Instead, she seems genuinely apologetic, though she still gloats about it in her "Trixie-ish" was before running off again (and tripping, lol). At first I didn't know why she did that, but then again, maybe she just wanted to apologize to Twilight specifically, knowing the rest of the town will have a harder time forgiving her. Maybe it just soured me ideas of having her as a recurring antagonist, but then again, she'd be a nice ally as well! Not to mention, with this angle, there's a lot more room for development than if she just became straight-up evil, so yeah, go Team Trixie!

The episode itself, as I said, was really solid, lots of ponies get some time, even if it's just being part of Trixie's tricks or Twilight's plan. Nothing I can really complain about, that isn't really nitpicky. SPEAKING OF WHICH!

Okay, so first off, the "alicorn amulet". Curious about the origins of that item, and how it came into the hands of that shopkeep. Really, something this powerful, I feel it shouldn't be on display, nor in the hands of somepony so willing to give it up like that. Part of me was slightly disappointed that there was no apparent connection to King Sombra, as I had hoped, but then again, this also intrigues me... Plus, the term "alicorn" is now officially canon, how about that! :mrgreen:

Trixie's shadow smiling while looming over the case... how did that smile work? Was there just a hole where her mouth was?

The "magic duel" itself... Different then what I was expecting. I thought they were going to fight each other using different types of magic, but instead, it seemed like it was just showing off what magic you can do... I liked Twilight saving that one point... And oh my God, Twilight summoning a Parasprite to eat those pies? BRILLIANT call-back! They should have magic duels more often!

I get the feeling that M.A. Larson loves exploiting Fluttershy's timid nature for comedic effect. I don't, really. I didn't really have a problem with Fluttershy and her animals, because that's to be expected, Fluttershy really worried about her animals, even if the situation they're in is supposedly safe. The part where I get annoyed is when Fluttershy finds out what the alicorn amulet is, and nopony pays attention to her. I really don't like any situation where she's ignored, it's rude, and... it... reminds me a lot of myself, really. Most times, when I try to say something, someone else, usually a family member that's with me, butts in and says something before I do. It doesn't help one's self-esteem, even if it's unintentional. The parts where she's called on to go into the Everfree Forest, I have mixed feelings on. On one hand, I don't like she doesn't have any say in the matter, since she's rightfully terrified of her... On the other hand, she's the best pony for the job, since Trixie will easily notice of one of the other ponies is gone, but not Fluttershy, since she usually prefers hiding in the background and being unnoticed. Not to mention, she NEEDS to find Twilight, and it seems like she's not even going to try, knowing it's in the Everfree Forest. This is king of an interesting divide between how she acts in Dragonshy and here. In Dragonshy, she is deathly afraid of dragons, and is COMPLETELY ignored throughout the entire episode, to the point which I feel is completely unfair on her part. Yes, things "just to happen" to work out in the end, but I still feel like the other mane 6 unsympathetically forced Fluttershy along without really hearing what she has to say in the matter. Making matters worse, the episode makes it out that it's her OWN fault for not telling them, but she DID try to tell them, multiple times, and they just ignored her! GEEZ! Here, though, which she is being forced along, it feels like a necessity, instead of just bringing her along because they THINK she'll be useful, when really she isn't. Not to mention, Fluttershy's been in the Everfree Forest before, so it's not like facing her worst fear. I dunno, like I said, mixed feelings about Fluttershy's role in this episode.

Snips and Snails... Feels like their like for Trixie here is being taken for granted by Trixie, herself. At first, I didn't really blame her for doing some humiliating things, seeing as they WERE responsible for the chaos that happened in Boast Busters. Then it crosses a line, like now they worship her, not out of admiration, but out of fear. Can't help but feel sorry for them after a certain point. Makes me wonder if they'll treat Trixie any differently, should she return... again.

Zecora... Okay, remember back in Bridle Gossip? How Twilight went off on saying hexes and curses are fake magic and all that mumbo jumbo? I got the impression that this was to imply that Zecora couldn't really do magic, it was just the ponies making her out to be far worse than she really was. Hell, even in The Cutie Pox, where she made Apple Bloom's tooth grow back, I felt like it was the properties of her ingredients that were magical, not her. But here, she FILLS A CUP WITH TEA, just by using her hoof! Not to mention, Twilight goes to HER for magical training?! Like, since when was she ever considered a master in magic? She's a freaking zebra!! And while I'm on the subject, how exactly does magic work in Equestria? It seems like unicorns can just learn magic by watching it. They don't say anything, there's no incantations, no motions to go through... Just lighting up your horn and concentrating. Concentrating on what? Could it be that if you just think you can do something, you can? Well, no, because if that were the case, Twilight could age and reverse age Snips and Snails when she tried, and Trixie could have tortured Rainbow Dash when she tried. So, what, is there some sort of third layer to this that we're not getting here? Well, either way, I liked Twilight's training scenes... or scene, since I assume the rest of her training had to be cut out for time. Maybe it's the forest environment, or the weird way Zecora spoke, but I'm reminded of Yoda training Luke in Empire Strikes Back. Anyone else?

Alright, so apparently, Trixie's career was ruined because word got out that she failed to stop an Ursa Minor. Well first off, even though an Ursa Minor doesn't sound all that threatening, and being bested by what it basically an infant sounds pretty pathetic, but really, who honestly could say they really bested something that colossal? Not to mention, she went around saying she bested an Ursa Major in Trottingham (it was Trottingham, right?). Well, you'd THINK that, given how quickly something like this spread, the people of Trottingham would say something about Trixie being a fraud. Maybe she just wasn't big enough by that point, instead opting to bank on the fact that nopony would know her to make herself look better than she seems. A plan destined to fail, should she ever get as popular she wants to be, but even that aside, it only brings up my biggest issue with this. If a nopony like Trixie can be humiliated just for not being able to defeat an Ursa Minor that just happened to go on a rampage in small town like Ponyville... HOW COME THE MANE 6 AREN'T WORLD FAMOUS BY THIS POINT?!?!?!? They've saved the world at LEAST twice, as well as rescued an empire, not to mention accomplished dozens of other feats that have been said to be impossible, and done other things to gain notoriety and fame, so how come they're still treated like everyday shmucks, while Trixie, for failing to do this one thing in this supposedly backwater town in the middle of nowhere, can have her performing career essentially ruined?! This may seem like a minor point, and honestly, I'm not THAT upset by it, but it just leaves my head scratching...

Saddle Arabia... Don't get much info on them, or the ponies from there, though I do like how the delegates from there look drastically different from the other ponies, including Celestia. Makes me want to see the mane 6 go there some time... Like an episode takes place there. Or Hell, how about where Zecora's from? That'd be sweet!

I get the feeling the alicorn amulet will be a plot device later on... It probably won't, but Zecora literally locked it in a chest and will likely hide it somewhere. It's not unlikely to see somepony go after it again...

Dome over Ponyville. The Simpsons Movie, anyone? Also, they called it a force field... What's up with that?

I liked the resolution of this episode. One screenshot had me nervous, like there are 2 magical MacGuffins to use? In reality, it was just Twilight and her friends Tricking Trixie into taking off her amulet, which I felt was rather clever, though I immediately began to suspect that the "amulet" Twilight had was fake, the way she prodded Trixie into having another duel with her, though I must admit, they really got me when Twilight turned Applejack and Rarity into fillies, and duplicated Rainbow Dash... Oh gosh, even I failed to notice Fluttershy wasn't there! I'm TERRIBLE!!!! :cry:

But, yeah, I didn't even suspect anything when Applejack "aged" and looked like Granny Smith, or was "gender-swapped" and said "Eeyep" like Big Mac. In retrospect, that "Eeyep" should have been a tip-off, but instead, all I could thing of was "fan fic writers are going to exploit the SHIT out of that spell!"

Speaking of spells, I think the running gag of Pinkie not having a mouth was kind of funny, even though I REALLY had to feel sorry for her when she couldn't eat anything. Like, they showed that she couldn't eat anything, and STILL didn't bother giving her her mouth back! How cruel... But the final scene, where both Pinkie AND Twilight break the fourth wall by going into the black, Pinkie demanding her mouth back, Twilight restoring it, and Pinkie gasping, only to cut to the credits before she can say anything, probably one of the funniest of the series! Also, there's something else about Pinkie not having a mouth or nose brings up, with MrPoniator thankfully illustrates here:

Spike not being able to contact Celestia is an interesting point to make, for me anyway. Twilight mentions how she can't get Spike to send a letter while she's out there, but Spike could easily write a letter himself. He's done it before, in Lesson Zero. But then again, since the "force field" is apparently pretty solid, so solid that not even beavers can get through it, I'm going to guess that even if he could write a letter, it still wouldn't reach Celestia... Of course, there's the subject of Luna, but then again, how could they even get in contact with Luna in that short amount of time? So it all works.

Other minor moments I picked up where Mayor Mare being locked in a cage, Lyra and Bon Bon chilling in the background, Trixie working on Pinkie's family's rock farm and... well, how exactly is levitating animals impressive? I mean, it looks nice, and synchronized and all that, but I don't know...

Okay, I THINK that's all I wanted to talk about with this episode. Hopefully I didn't miss anything, and sorry for the huge wall of text. Thank you to anyone who actually read what I have to say, really appreciate it. Once again, really solid episode, probably going to be one of the better ones this season.

 

[Daniel Dyce]

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Why didn't Twilight Sparkle just go to a different town and get help there...

 

[Smashgoom202]

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Why didn't Twilight Sparkle just go to a different town and get help there...

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What help? From what town? Besides, she already knows Zecora, why would she risk going into a different town with ponies she doesn't know when she can go see the zebra she knows pretty well who is also relatively close by?

 

[Daniel Dyce]

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Why didn't Twilight Sparkle just go to a different town and get help there...

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What help? From what town? Besides, she already knows Zecora, why would she risk going into a different town with ponies she doesn't know when she can go see the zebra she knows pretty well who is also relatively close by?

Well what if the Zebra couldn't help her or what if she was out of town also she could have gone to the different town contacted a mail pony and had him sent a letter to the Princess...or she could have done it herself using her magic

 

[SonicMario]

Spoiler

Why didn't Twilight Sparkle just go to a different town and get help there...

Spoiler

What help? From what town? Besides, she already knows Zecora, why would she risk going into a different town with ponies she doesn't know when she can go see the zebra she knows pretty well who is also relatively close by?

Well what if the Zebra couldn't help her or what if she was out of town also she could have gone to the different town contacted a mail pony and had him sent a letter to the Princess...or she could have done it herself using her magic

She can't send a letter to the princess herself. Only Spike can firemail letters directly to the Princess.

 

[Daniel Dyce]

Spoiler

Why didn't Twilight Sparkle just go to a different town and get help there...

Spoiler

What help? From what town? Besides, she already knows Zecora, why would she risk going into a different town with ponies she doesn't know when she can go see the zebra she knows pretty well who is also relatively close by?

Well what if the Zebra couldn't help her or what if she was out of town also she could have gone to the different town contacted a mail pony and had him sent a letter to the Princess...or she could have done it herself using her magic

She can't send a letter to the princess herself. Only Spike can firemail letters directly to the Princess.

That seems like a very dumb limitation but i'm not going to question it because I know the answer is the ultimate deus ex machina magic

 

[Smashgoom202]

Spoiler

Why didn't Twilight Sparkle just go to a different town and get help there...

Spoiler

What help? From what town? Besides, she already knows Zecora, why would she risk going into a different town with ponies she doesn't know when she can go see the zebra she knows pretty well who is also relatively close by?

Well what if the Zebra couldn't help her or what if she was out of town also she could have gone to the different town contacted a mail pony and had him sent a letter to the Princess...or she could have done it herself using her magic

If Zecora couldn't help her, THEN she could go to another town. I can't help but be reminded of out Stare Master argument, and you kept debunking my "what could happen to Twilight" arguments with relatively simple solutions, like it wouldn't take them that long to find her. Seriously, Zecora is perhaps the best option Twilight has at the moment, since she can't contact Celestia (or Luna, for that matter), and if Zecora couldn't help her, then she can find help elsewhere from there. Besides, we don't know how far other towns are, or how quickly they can contact the Princess. You have to consider her options, and going to Zecora first was the easiest and quickest one available.

Also, Celestia is in Saddle Arabia. If I recall that map...

http://images.wikia.com/mlp/images/1/12/Map_of_Equestria_online_version_2012-08.jpg

Saddle Arabia isn't even on it, meaning it's really far away. Twilight has probably never actually been there herself, and thus can't know it's exact location, if she wanted to "magically" send a letter there herself. It could also be said that, even if a Pegasus were to try and go there with a letter, it would take some time, all the while Trixie is torturing and enslaving the ponies. It really isn't as simple a solution, nor would it make things get resolved more quickly, it would just complicate things further, and drag the episode out.

And again, you're using magic as a be-all-end-all solution to the problem, when the show is trying to establish that there are RULES to using magic, and that there are things you can and can't do! As to what those rules are, well, if it's not otherwise said, it's either impossible, unlikely, or a difficult spell to pull off (or the writers didn't think of it, but I'd like to give them more credit then that).

 

[Toad Eightyfive]

Spoiler

Alright, number of problems with this episode.

First, "Saddle Arabia"? Really, you're going with "Saddle Arabia"? What's next, "Stalliongrad"? "Hoovesbekistan"?

Second, there's a huge loophole of "banished from Ponyville FOREVUR". Despite holding the Alicorn Amulet, Trixie has no political authority over the town, and couldn't just order someone out at her whim. And even if she was able to, couldn't Celestia or the Mayor just redistrict Twilight's house out of "Ponyville"?

Third of all, Trixie forgot to put holes in the giant glass thingy. If this show was longer than 22 minutes, she'd condemn not only Ponyville, but herself to death by suffocation. She may have a glowy amulet thing now, but I can tell she's still not the brightest candle on the menorah.

Fourth, Twilight's reasoning that she "can't get in touch with Princess Celestia because Spike's inside the dome" is moot, since it's not like she's blocked off from Canterlot's post office.

Fifth, the Empire Strikes Back reference at about 10:30 was not funny, clever, or wanted.

Sixth, why exactly can't the rest of the Mane 6 just leave? It's not explained very well, and Trixie never gives any justification as to why not.

Seventh, the idea behind an "Alicorn Amulet" MacGuffin is trite and overdone, and its execution is botched. I couldn't really get an exact pinpoint, but I knew throughout the whole episode that I was watching someone else's idea that the writers decided to "borrow".

Eighth, if they were going to do a Rainbow Dash clone, they should have used it two episodes ago. Boring. And Applejack's "mare into a stallion" can easily be done in real life. Again, boring.

Ninth, the Magical Duels, both of them, were crap. I don't think I really need to elaborate on this one.

Tenth, oh my god, the dialogue was bad. I mean, bad. I know Larson has had trouble with chatty scenes in previous episodes. "It's About Time", even though I love love love it, is a good example of how bad he can be at directing speech). But... WOW did this episode take the cake. Nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE, did I hear Twilight, Trixie, Fluttershy, or any other character. I heard actors banging out lines in a dark room in LA waiting for their shift to be over. No immersion at all, Larson.

Eleventh, I'm going to repeat the main problem I had with last episode: why the hell isn't Trixie reprimanded. At least Babs didn't do any physical or psychological damage to anyone but Applebloom and co., never did anything against the law, and fully apologized. So at least I can understand why the CMC would forgive her.

But Trixie's done more and worse than any villain on the show before her (except possibly Nightmare Moon). Her resume now includes enslaving half of a major metropolitan area, usurping local democratically-elected government, destruction of property, unlawful abuse of magic, arson, theft, terrorism, would-be manslaughter, dueling without a license, and jaywalking in the middle of a four-way intersection. In my opinion, that's Osama Bin-Laden worthy behavior. And Twilight does nothing!




So far, I can come up with excuses for Season 3's ineptitude. I don't really like Pinkie in the first place, so "Too Many Pinkie Pies" would never impress me. I can see how they could mess up a PSA episode like "One Bad Apple". I can even understand how a season premier like "Crystal Empire" could be disappointing, especially after months of waiting and hype. But this is a Twilight episode, A FUCKING TWILIGHT EPISODE, and I feel it's up with "Stare Masters" and "MMMystery on the Friendship Express". This season's totally fucked.

 

[Smashgoom202]

Wow, cynical much?

Granted, you're entitled to you're opinions, but I feel like everything you complained about would go under "nitpicking" then genuine problems with the actual episode.

 

[Time Turner]

Wow, cynical much?

Granted, you're entitled to you're opinions, but I feel like everything you complained about would go under "nitpicking" then genuine problems with the actual episode.

I have to agree here. I mean, come on, you listed "Saddle Arabia" as one of your problems when the show has made tons of city puns before.

 

[Toad Eightyfive]

Actually, I kind of intended my comment to be nitpicky. It was originally going to be a comment where I just nitpicked.

I ended up just throwing my overall opinion towards the end, because I was running out of stuff to nitpick.

 

[SonicMario]

Toad85, most of what you said I feel is just silly nitpicking. Like your looking for reasons to dislike the episode. Not actually trying to enjoy watching the episode. Especially the glass dome that you say could cause suffocation, or the dialogue (I don't really see what was wrong with that one). You could make some of the same type of excuses to dislike an episode for any episode of the series.

I mean if you don't like Season 3 and you think the show is going downhill fine. But I personally don't see what's so different from Season 3 that makes it so much worse then what Season 1 and Season 2 has shown before.

 

[Tyrell Badd]

lol at complaining lack of real life logic in a cartoon

 

[Specific Neptune]

lol at complaining lack of real life logic in a cartoon

THIS, THIS RIGHT HERE

Seriously, why do people seek to question logic in this show? It was made for children, so do excuse the creators if they have a plothole or two in the episode

 

[Smashgoom202]

First, "Saddle Arabia"? Really, you're going with "Saddle Arabia"? What's next, "Stalliongrad"? "Hoovesbekistan"?

There have been tons of location names with horse puns in them. How's this any different?

Spoiler

Second, there's a huge loophole of "banished from Ponyville FOREVUR". Despite holding the Alicorn Amulet, Trixie has no political authority over the town, and couldn't just order someone out at her whim. And even if she was able to, couldn't Celestia or the Mayor just redistrict Twilight's house out of "Ponyville"?

Spoiler

Really? You're going to bring in politics to a kids show?! I mean, yeah, Trixie doesn't have the "authority", but come the frick on, do you really think somepony who has a vendetta against somepony else is going to go to Celestia, ask for legal authority to banish somepony from a certain location, and have legal documentation to assert her authority on everypony else? Give me a *bleep*ing break! Also, Celestia is in Saddle Arabia, and as we see in the episode, the Mayor's been overthrown and put in a cage.

Spoiler

Third of all, Trixie forgot to put holes in the giant glass thingy. If this show was longer than 22 minutes, she'd condemn not only Ponyville, but herself to death by suffocation. She may have a glowy amulet thing now, but I can tell she's still not the brightest candle on the menorah.

Spoiler

Yeah, that would fall under "willing suspenstion of disbelief". The Simpsons Movie did it, and everybody turned out fine. Besides, there are trees there, so if they were to "suffocate", it would be a rather slow process, since the trees can turn the carbon dioxide into oxygen. Then again, I'm no science major, but even thing, I'm willing to let it pass for a show like this, especially with MAGIC involved.

Fourth, Twilight's reasoning that she "can't get in touch with Princess Celestia because Spike's inside the dome" is moot, since it's not like she's blocked off from Canterlot's post office.

Again, as with my discussion with Octoberry, Celestia is in Saddle Arabia, so it would be a bit complicated to try and send a letter to her there. As for Twilight not knowing the same spell... well, that's another discussion, one that I can't really defend either way.

Fifth, the Empire Strikes Back reference at about 10:30 was not funny, clever, or wanted.

Even though I immediately thought of Empire Strikes Back, it's not even that pronounced. Yeah, someone's being trained by an enigmatic individual in a forest setting. Easy to draw parallels, but it's not like it's a direct shout-out.

Spoiler

Sixth, why exactly can't the rest of the Mane 6 just leave? It's not explained very well, and Trixie never gives any justification as to why not.

Spoiler

Because Trixie doesn't want them to leave. Trixie wants them to serve her every whim. I thought that was pretty obvious. Besides, if the rest of the mane 6 left, they could think of way to overthrow her together, so she just banishes Twilight, while keeping the rest of them under her control... Save Fluttershy who, in a rather clever but also kind of sad way, manages to get out unnoticed... Probably because she's easily ignored or overlooked.

Spoiler

Seventh, the idea behind an "Alicorn Amulet" MacGuffin is trite and overdone, and its execution is botched. I couldn't really get an exact pinpoint, but I knew throughout the whole episode that I was watching someone else's idea that the writers decided to "borrow".

Spoiler

Oh wow, someone used an idea that's been done before, oh no, what is the world coming to. It's not like it's hard to come up with new, creative original ideas, since there are CLEARLY not that many stories and plotlines that have been used before that one could have subconsciously use without really intending to. Everything must be new or original, or else is sucks!

...Though I must admit, I want to know more about the Alicorn Amulet.

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Eighth, if they were going to do a Rainbow Dash clone, they should have used it two episodes ago. Boring. And Applejack's "mare into a stallion" can easily be done in real life. Again, boring.

Spoiler

Why? Why dig up the mirror pond just for this one situation? Not to mention, why risk the Rainbow Dash clone going out of control when you can just use Fluttershy, who's already in on the plan. Also, "mare into a stallion can be done in real life"? Okay, now I know you're just *bleep*ing with us. Like, wow, something can be done in real life. It's not like the process takes so *bleep*ing long, and even THEN, you're not TECHNICALLY the other gender, you just look like it more. I think this is the point where I knew for sure that you're just looking for *bleep* to bitch and complain about. I'm sorry, opinions, entitlement, blah blah blah, NO, this is bull*bleep*.

Ninth, the Magical Duels, both of them, were crap. I don't think I really need to elaborate on this one.

Yeah, you do, because everyone I know loves them. Can't stop talking about how awesome they were, really. If they weren't talking about other aspects of the show, that is. Also, I just LOVE how you assume everyone's going to be in on you in agree with what you have to say. Because that's nor arrogant or anything.

Tenth, oh my god, the dialogue was bad. I mean, bad. I know Larson has had trouble with chatty scenes in previous episodes. "It's About Time", even though I love love love it, is a good example of how bad he can be at directing speech). But... WOW did this episode take the cake. Nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE, did I hear Twilight, Trixie, Fluttershy, or any other character. I heard actors banging out lines in a dark room in LA waiting for their shift to be over. No immersion at all, Larson.

Eh, maybe I'm not "well versed" in immersion or TV show watching, but I thought the dialogue was fine. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of M.A. Larson, but aside from certain Fluttershy moments, I didn't really have a problem with what anypony said.

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Eleventh, I'm going to repeat the main problem I had with last episode: why the hell isn't Trixie reprimanded. At least Babs didn't do any physical or psychological damage to anyone but Applebloom and co., never did anything against the law, and fully apologized. So at least I can understand why the CMC would forgive her.

Spoiler

Yeah, that is a genuine strike against the episode. Trixie really doesn't deserve forgiveness, and even then, it's just with Twilight, it's not like she's completely redeemed. Either way, I feel like there should be another episode with her to explore this...

But Trixie's done more and worse than any villain on the show before her (except possibly Nightmare Moon).

Yeah, because it's not like there was a villain who tricked the mane 6 into doubting their freinds, made them miserable, and turned each one of them into selfish jerks in the process... Wait...

Spoiler

Her resume now includes enslaving half of a major metropolitan area, usurping local democratically-elected government, destruction of property, unlawful abuse of magic, arson, theft, terrorism, would-be manslaughter, dueling without a license, and jaywalking in the middle of a four-way intersection. In my opinion, that's Osama Bin-Laden worthy behavior. And Twilight does nothing!

Spoiler

Probably because she was busy entertaining at the moment, so she couldn't properly chew out Trixie... I sort of expected her to forgive Trixie, though not completely, like in addition to forgiving her, she should have added "but you're not getting off that easily", or something along those lines.

So far, I can come up with excuses for Season 3's ineptitude. I don't really like Pinkie in the first place, so "Too Many Pinkie Pies" would never impress me. I can see how they could mess up a PSA episode like "One Bad Apple". I can even understand how a season premier like "Crystal Empire" could be disappointing, especially after months of waiting and hype. But this is a Twilight episode, A *bleep*ING TWILIGHT EPISODE, and I feel it's up with "Stare Masters" and "MMMystery on the Friendship Express". This season's totally *bleep*ed.

Again, different strokes for different folks. I can see why you wouldn't like The Crystal Empire or Bad Seed. Too Many Pinkie Pies, I feel, is only bad if you don't like Pinkie Pie. But this episode isn't that bad at all, and like I said, most of your complaints feel like nitpicks, but I suppose, if compiled enough, they can lead to you not enjoying this episode that much. Either way, I don't think this season is as doomed as you make it out to be, nor do I feel it's NEARLY as bad as MMMystery on the Friendship Express. Also, Star Master isn't that bad, but I talked about it on another forum, so I don't want to get into that.

In fact, I don't really want to get into this at all. I don't want to start a flame war or huge debate, but seeing a reaction like this, well... I feel like I can't just not say anything in response to it.