does anyone know if there's a way to watch the Spring Breakdown EG movie? I'd love to show this to my daughter. I've reluctantly become a Pony expert. My 4 year old loves both MLP and EQ, so if she likes it, I love it. ;)
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic FINAL SEASON |OT| I used to wonder what friendship could be...
- Thread starter SigmasonicX
- Start date
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There's no legal way to watch it outside of Discovery Family at the moment, but it's going to be released on YouTube in six parts over a period of six weeks soon. With episodes, they're usually up on iTunes for purchase the day after, but that doesn't appear to be the case with this. Still, if you want to see it soon, then it shouldn't be too hard to find with a Google search.
I've finally caught up on Season 8, after watching half the season I missed. I do like this season, and I still feel this series is great, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they wrap this up. While the idea of a "School of Friendship" is still iffy to me, I do like the Student Six (especially Yona). Granted, there are some bad decisions, like making Celestia an idiot when it came to acting or making Applejack a jerk about not letting her Granny Smith not have any fun in Las Pegasus. Best episodes include The Hearth's Warming Club (Oh, I finally get the reference), Road to Friendship, and The Mean Six. Cozy Glow is an interesting villain, but she raises more questions than answers, along with Chancellor Neighsay. What's this about weaponizing friendship?
Guess we'll have to find out in Season 9.
Guess we'll have to find out in Season 9.
When "The Magic of Friendship" manifests as a literal magical nuke that can completely obliterate your enemies, it was only a matter of time before a villain thought of weaponizing friendship.
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Friendship Tactical Nuke has been a meme since the beginning, it's only natural for villains to catch on. Though more seriously, it's a pretty meta concept that I'm surprised the writers are exploring, albeit not as pushed as I would like given they're doing it at all.
Well, I guess waiting to make this "Spring Breakdown" followup paid off, because more fan art came out since Monday.
NOTES
I didn't notice this until it was pointed out during Sunday's stream, but they really do magically summon life vests whenever they're about to go into water. Gotta promote water safety.
Looking around the web, this special seems to be pretty universally seen as "meh". At best, it's good but still the worst of the three specials.
Interesting that this was the intention of this story. This implies that we can expect later stories to involve the Humane Seven accepting their roles as more or less superheroes; and moreover, this being a transition chapter means we can expect more than just one special after this. That said, I didn't get at all that this was what the special was doing. Like, yes, Rainbow brought up the superhero thing, and it was repeated later, but it didn't actually seem like a thing. Ironically, a villain would have helped carry that point. In any case, I don't think this is the right direction to go with EQG at all. The ponies are already saving the world, the humans should just have slice of life adventures. And that's even without taking into consideration that the superhero side of EQG hasn't been great.
We have tweets from both Nick Confalone and Katrina Hadley stating that there is a full version of "All Good", the former saying it's 3 minutes long. We still haven't gotten the full version of "Invisible" from Forgotten Friendship, so who knows if this will ever see the light of day. For those unfamiliar, even if they know a song is going to be interrupted in the final episode, it's much more convenient to just record a full song so the point where it's interrupted can be adjusted.
On Sunset's new look
About the objects that Princess Twilight brings out to show off
On pop culture references
So Equestria Girls is less able to do random references than FiM precisely because they're humans. Interesting. I didn't connect the show's parodies at all to them being ponies, but it makes sense. So that clearly means Equestria Girls is more capable of referencing Filly Funtasia than FiM is.
Lastly, this Twitter thread is pretty interesting. It goes over the bloopers from Friendship Games and Legend of Everfree, the production schedule, working with ponies again, how production is split between EQG and FiM, and more.
SCREENSHOTS
This is my new favorite out of context GIF
Made it a stream emote.
1.Girls reacting to Ragamuffin - It's weird, visually they're obviously reacting to his resemblance to Applejack, but then they only talk about his voice after.
2.SciTwi versus spider
3.Rainbow and Rainbow
4.Pony SciTwi eating - This is actually how she normally eats. Glasses need a taste too.
5.A look at the stuff Princess Twilight put on the map
1.All the ponies at the end - The normal FiM designs, unfortunately
2.Ashleigh Ball played the parrot!
3.Where did the hat come from? - This ties into my theory that Ragamuffin is AJ's hat come to life, and they rejoined in Ponyland.
4.Rainbow rescuing Rarity from Ragamuffin - He does have a funny reaction here.
FAN CONTENT
1.Sunset Spring Breakdown Patreon CO by The-Butcher-X
2.Spring Fever by clouddg - Sunset
3.Two angels by looknamtcn - Rarity X Applejack
4.Summertime Lessons by liaaqila - Rainbow explaining the special's lesson
5.EG Rarity Spring Breakdown by charliexe
1.Sunset X SciTwi by amelia-yap
2.Rarity describing Ragamuffin like Applejack by dimbulb
3.SciTwi and Sunset looking at the pamphlet by keeerooooo1
4.Ragamuffin as a pony by eqq_scremble - I think this is straight up his only fan art.
5.Sunset and SciTwi kissing by keeerooooo1
1.Levels of Apple sickness by yakieringi014
2.Avoiding from seasickness by looknamtcn - Rarity and Applejack kissing, this is very ill advised
3.Pony SciTwi freaking out by colorfulcolor233
4.Rarity describing Ragamuffin like Applejack by haibaratomoe
Like I mentioned before, there actually is a ton more fan art for this special, but most of it was drawn in response to the trailers. This is just stuff drawn in the last week or so.
Well, I guess waiting to make this "Spring Breakdown" followup paid off, because more fan art came out since Monday.
NOTES
I didn't notice this until it was pointed out during Sunday's stream, but they really do magically summon life vests whenever they're about to go into water. Gotta promote water safety.
Looking around the web, this special seems to be pretty universally seen as "meh". At best, it's good but still the worst of the three specials.
Interesting that this was the intention of this story. This implies that we can expect later stories to involve the Humane Seven accepting their roles as more or less superheroes; and moreover, this being a transition chapter means we can expect more than just one special after this. That said, I didn't get at all that this was what the special was doing. Like, yes, Rainbow brought up the superhero thing, and it was repeated later, but it didn't actually seem like a thing. Ironically, a villain would have helped carry that point. In any case, I don't think this is the right direction to go with EQG at all. The ponies are already saving the world, the humans should just have slice of life adventures. And that's even without taking into consideration that the superhero side of EQG hasn't been great.
We have tweets from both Nick Confalone and Katrina Hadley stating that there is a full version of "All Good", the former saying it's 3 minutes long. We still haven't gotten the full version of "Invisible" from Forgotten Friendship, so who knows if this will ever see the light of day. For those unfamiliar, even if they know a song is going to be interrupted in the final episode, it's much more convenient to just record a full song so the point where it's interrupted can be adjusted.
On Sunset's new look
About the objects that Princess Twilight brings out to show off
On pop culture references
So Equestria Girls is less able to do random references than FiM precisely because they're humans. Interesting. I didn't connect the show's parodies at all to them being ponies, but it makes sense. So that clearly means Equestria Girls is more capable of referencing Filly Funtasia than FiM is.
Lastly, this Twitter thread is pretty interesting. It goes over the bloopers from Friendship Games and Legend of Everfree, the production schedule, working with ponies again, how production is split between EQG and FiM, and more.
SCREENSHOTS
This is my new favorite out of context GIF
Made it a stream emote.
1.Girls reacting to Ragamuffin - It's weird, visually they're obviously reacting to his resemblance to Applejack, but then they only talk about his voice after.
2.SciTwi versus spider
3.Rainbow and Rainbow
4.Pony SciTwi eating - This is actually how she normally eats. Glasses need a taste too.
5.A look at the stuff Princess Twilight put on the map
1.All the ponies at the end - The normal FiM designs, unfortunately
2.Ashleigh Ball played the parrot!
3.Where did the hat come from? - This ties into my theory that Ragamuffin is AJ's hat come to life, and they rejoined in Ponyland.
4.Rainbow rescuing Rarity from Ragamuffin - He does have a funny reaction here.
FAN CONTENT
1.Sunset Spring Breakdown Patreon CO by The-Butcher-X
2.Spring Fever by clouddg - Sunset
3.Two angels by looknamtcn - Rarity X Applejack
4.Summertime Lessons by liaaqila - Rainbow explaining the special's lesson
5.EG Rarity Spring Breakdown by charliexe
1.Sunset X SciTwi by amelia-yap
2.Rarity describing Ragamuffin like Applejack by dimbulb
3.SciTwi and Sunset looking at the pamphlet by keeerooooo1
4.Ragamuffin as a pony by eqq_scremble - I think this is straight up his only fan art.
5.Sunset and SciTwi kissing by keeerooooo1
1.Levels of Apple sickness by yakieringi014
2.Avoiding from seasickness by looknamtcn - Rarity and Applejack kissing, this is very ill advised
3.Pony SciTwi freaking out by colorfulcolor233
4.Rarity describing Ragamuffin like Applejack by haibaratomoe
Like I mentioned before, there actually is a ton more fan art for this special, but most of it was drawn in response to the trailers. This is just stuff drawn in the last week or so.
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New episode synopses! Note the last one is spoilers for the season premiere.
6. Common Ground
Rainbow Dash's old pal Quibble Pants needs help to bond with the daughter of his new special friend because, like Dash, she's a real sports pony.
7. She's All Yak
When Sandbar asks Yona to a pony dance, she goes to Rarity and her friends for a makeover in appearance and personality.
8. Sweet and Smoky
Smolder returns to the Dragonlands with Spike and Fluttershy to help cheer up her sensitive brother, but when they arrive they discover the dragon eggs aren't hatching.
9. Frenemies
Patton Oswalt returns as Quibble! We knew his actual wife and daughter were recording for the show, so it's a surprise they aren't playing Quibble's wife and daughter. Instead, he'sdating special friending a single mom.
With the next two episodes, I'm glad they're having individual Student Six episodes, and having them bond with the Mane Six. That was sorely lacking from the previous season.
Yona and Sandbar is an unexpected ship. As I recall, that maps to Applejack and Fluttershy.
The Smolder episode sounds unfocused from the synopsis. Still, it'll be interesting to have Fluttershy in the Dragon Lands for the first time, and to see Smolder's family.
That last episode sounds like a lot of fun.
6. Common Ground
Rainbow Dash's old pal Quibble Pants needs help to bond with the daughter of his new special friend because, like Dash, she's a real sports pony.
7. She's All Yak
When Sandbar asks Yona to a pony dance, she goes to Rarity and her friends for a makeover in appearance and personality.
8. Sweet and Smoky
Smolder returns to the Dragonlands with Spike and Fluttershy to help cheer up her sensitive brother, but when they arrive they discover the dragon eggs aren't hatching.
9. Frenemies
Grogar sends his legion of doom on a mission to become allies, but his plan works too well and they almost become friends.
Patton Oswalt returns as Quibble! We knew his actual wife and daughter were recording for the show, so it's a surprise they aren't playing Quibble's wife and daughter. Instead, he's
With the next two episodes, I'm glad they're having individual Student Six episodes, and having them bond with the Mane Six. That was sorely lacking from the previous season.
Yona and Sandbar is an unexpected ship. As I recall, that maps to Applejack and Fluttershy.
The Smolder episode sounds unfocused from the synopsis. Still, it'll be interesting to have Fluttershy in the Dragon Lands for the first time, and to see Smolder's family.
That last episode sounds like a lot of fun.
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I just finished up watching Season 7, now I have to watch Season 8 (And the christmas special) in... 72 hours? And I have work as well?
Ooh boy, maybe I'll be watching the premiere on Sunday instead.
Ooh boy, maybe I'll be watching the premiere on Sunday instead.
Thoughts on episodes:
6. Going to depend on the writer, could be very good (I really liked Stranger Than Fan Fiction) and they usually bust out their best writers for guest VA episodes but it's Rainbow Dash so there's always a danger.
7. Least exciting premise for me. Really obvious direction it's probably going to head, but again depends on the writer.
8. Fluttershy and Spike is a combination that's never really happened before, and I think there's good potential for Smolder going back to the Dragon lands after friendshipping. We'll see.
9.
Season 8 was a bit of a step down given the quality of Season 7, but there's still some great stuff in it. I found both the 2-parters to be very mediocre but the students were definitely the highlight even though the School wasn't integrated very well. Lewis and Songco are coming back after being absent in Season 8 so hopefully 9 will go out with a bang.
6. Going to depend on the writer, could be very good (I really liked Stranger Than Fan Fiction) and they usually bust out their best writers for guest VA episodes but it's Rainbow Dash so there's always a danger.
7. Least exciting premise for me. Really obvious direction it's probably going to head, but again depends on the writer.
8. Fluttershy and Spike is a combination that's never really happened before, and I think there's good potential for Smolder going back to the Dragon lands after friendshipping. We'll see.
9.
So is the Legion of doom his own new lackeys, or are they going to be past villains like Sombra and Chrysalis? I honestly hope it's the ladder as I would like to see more from those characters, especially in a more casual setting
Season 8 was a bit of a step down given the quality of Season 7, but there's still some great stuff in it. I found both the 2-parters to be very mediocre but the students were definitely the highlight even though the School wasn't integrated very well. Lewis and Songco are coming back after being absent in Season 8 so hopefully 9 will go out with a bang.
i heard this was ending, thought it was done at 8 and not 9 though, but an extra season is cool
i basically haven't touched it since i caught up with everything to watch the movie, as unnecessary as that was lol
i'll marathon everything i've missed since then once the final season ends, or a few months after since i'll likely forget lol
i basically haven't touched it since i caught up with everything to watch the movie, as unnecessary as that was lol
i'll marathon everything i've missed since then once the final season ends, or a few months after since i'll likely forget lol
EQG - FOMO
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TwiDash date
This turned out to be a much briefer "Party of One". Could have used more time for some real Rarity freak outs, but I liked the bit we got.
(And you can stick to posting the shorts just in this thread; all official content goes here until the end of the season)
TwiDash date
This turned out to be a much briefer "Party of One". Could have used more time for some real Rarity freak outs, but I liked the bit we got.
(And you can stick to posting the shorts just in this thread; all official content goes here until the end of the season)
Yeah pretty interesting short for me. I just like when Rarity wears that spy getup!
And saw some season 8 episodes this week and hope to binge watch the rest soon.
Friendship University - It was honestly clever that the FlimFlam brothers's latest scam was selling school supplies under the guise of establishing a friendship school. And Neighsay being petty as always. Just how did Flim and Flam get a copy of Twilight's textbook? Hmm...
The End In Friend - It was pretty nice to see RD and Rarity interacting here; don't remember the last time they did that as a focus to an episode. Starlight once again proved to be a great asset in solving the problem.
Yakity-Sax - Didn't really feel this one much; felt it abruptly ending without resolving the issue that Pinkie Pie was disrupting others and the plot could have been to help hone her skills on those bagpipes (I'll just call it that). Gotta commend the parts with (pardon the spelling) Pikamena Diane Pie.
On the Road to Friendship - Great to always see more Trixe and Starlight interactions. Funny they lampshade about musical numbers, only to start one!
The Washouts - So Lighting Dust finally makes a return after her last appearance in seasons 2 or was it 3? Personally wished Spitfire interacted with LD, maybe to be disappointed in LD having not learned anything from her time at Wonderbolts Academy.
A Rockhoof and a Hard Place - Pretty good. Always feel for those that have trouble catching up to times, but loved how the issue at hand resolved at the end.
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I believe it was "Rarity Investigates" in season 5.
This episode got mixed reactions, but I liked it.
This was caused by a conflict between the jokes and what we were actually supposed to get out of the scenes. We see Pinkie making birds explode, but we're only supposed to think she's annoying but harmless. Still, they should have told her to play in a soundproof room or something.
"Wonderbolts Academy" was season 3. And yeah, this was probably the biggest gap between first and second appearance in the series.
My opinions on those episodes mostly match your own.
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Mostly liked this one for the expressions.
(Source)
Also dramatic seat belting and house entering.
Final season starts tomorrow, everyone! Or, excuse me, last season, so might as well. Final season starts tomorrow, everypony!
... Wait, proper term is everycreature now. Ah, well, you get the picture.
Here's a compilation of every "thank you" in the series
Rarity is the most thankful pony. Twilight is in second. Applejack is the least thankful of the Mane Six, as one would expect.
New Pinkie Pie Says Goodnight
And tomorrow's episodes are
1-2. The Beginning of the End - April 6, 2019
In the back-to-back season premiere episodes, titled "The Beginning of the End," Princess Celestia and Princess Luna decide to retire and hand off the ruling of Equestria to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, which sends Twilight into a tailspin of self-doubt. Meanwhile, an ancient villain bands together a legion of nefarious characters to conquer all of Equestria, challenging Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Mane 6 to step in and save the day.
The Beginning of the End
I actually enjoyed that. They finally figured out how to use Celestia and Luna in a supporting role, rather than just damsels in distress.
Honestly I think it was pretty easily the best opener since season 5, which says more about the quality of the openers as of late but it was still pretty fun. One of the big reasons why I think many openers generally are pretty weak is that they're less focused on telling a complete story and more about setting up the season's major arc. This 2-parter does that too, but it still has a pretty fun story along with that. There's a lot of stuff that happens in the opener: It sets up the main villain for the season, establishes the Evil League of Evil, (Unfortunately not ruled by Bad Horse) puts into place the idea that Twilight will eventually be taking over for Celestia and Luna, the elements and tree get blown up, and there's still a story about Twilight and her friends getting the confidence they'll eventually rule Equestria. There's a lot of story packed in this story, but it still feels fairly well-paced and has plenty of time for some fun jokes.
The actual conflict itself doesn't actually take up that much of the episode, which I think is for the better. The whole "Twilight is unsure of herself but she realizes that the strength she needed was with her all along" feels a bit overdone and expected at this point, so it not getting as much of the runtime is for the better. One thing this allows is a much longer resolution then is usually given in a 2-parter. The time from Sombra's defeat to the end of the episode is 4 and a half minutes, which allows them to cool down and have some jokes and exposition before the end. Many of the 2-parters almost instantly end after the big bad is defeated, so it's nice when that isn't the case.
And as for the season-wide arcs it's setting up, I think they're fine. Twilight becoming ruler was always expected for the end of the show, but I'm glad that it's not happening immediately even though it kind of makes one of the big points of the episode pointless. (Very similar to Lewis and Songco's other opener Celestial Advice) But the one that has me more excited is the Evil League of Evil. (This is what they're called now) Chrysalis is awesome so any more of her is welcome, but I was surprised on how much I was digging the thing as a whole. I was afraid that since Grogar is basically the big bad of the whole series they'd make him super serious and dark but he seems like he's still capable of being funny and less serious. And I think that Cozy Glow is much better-suited for being in a villain team rather then being the big bad, as I found her to be pretty funny and enjoyable here where she had some more typically evil people to play off of whereas I didn't really like her in season 8. Tirek we'll see how he ends up playing with the others in later episodes. And lastly Sombra as the big bad of this episode was ok I guess. He was still not super interesting, but I think that's to be expected. He never really had much of a personality aside from being generically evil and he's really not given much time in this episode to develop.
One other thing that I think might be overlooked is that I'm really glad that the "Sombrafied" people they had to actually fight were largely just nameless characters or ones that we didn't have that strong of an attachment to. Considering how easily all of them were defeated, I feel like it would have just been rubbing salt in the wound having the Mane 6 also have to fight them. But them not having to do that makes it more palatable to me. Starlight is barely in this and the Students I don't think show up at all, but hopefully there's a whole season with episodes giving those characters some love.
One thing worth mentioning is that I had to initially watch the episode in really low quality with the video constantly buffering, which is not exactly an ideal setup to watch a show. I'm looking forward to being able to watch it in good quality later, but even then I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The actual conflict itself doesn't actually take up that much of the episode, which I think is for the better. The whole "Twilight is unsure of herself but she realizes that the strength she needed was with her all along" feels a bit overdone and expected at this point, so it not getting as much of the runtime is for the better. One thing this allows is a much longer resolution then is usually given in a 2-parter. The time from Sombra's defeat to the end of the episode is 4 and a half minutes, which allows them to cool down and have some jokes and exposition before the end. Many of the 2-parters almost instantly end after the big bad is defeated, so it's nice when that isn't the case.
And as for the season-wide arcs it's setting up, I think they're fine. Twilight becoming ruler was always expected for the end of the show, but I'm glad that it's not happening immediately even though it kind of makes one of the big points of the episode pointless. (Very similar to Lewis and Songco's other opener Celestial Advice) But the one that has me more excited is the Evil League of Evil. (This is what they're called now) Chrysalis is awesome so any more of her is welcome, but I was surprised on how much I was digging the thing as a whole. I was afraid that since Grogar is basically the big bad of the whole series they'd make him super serious and dark but he seems like he's still capable of being funny and less serious. And I think that Cozy Glow is much better-suited for being in a villain team rather then being the big bad, as I found her to be pretty funny and enjoyable here where she had some more typically evil people to play off of whereas I didn't really like her in season 8. Tirek we'll see how he ends up playing with the others in later episodes. And lastly Sombra as the big bad of this episode was ok I guess. He was still not super interesting, but I think that's to be expected. He never really had much of a personality aside from being generically evil and he's really not given much time in this episode to develop.
One other thing that I think might be overlooked is that I'm really glad that the "Sombrafied" people they had to actually fight were largely just nameless characters or ones that we didn't have that strong of an attachment to. Considering how easily all of them were defeated, I feel like it would have just been rubbing salt in the wound having the Mane 6 also have to fight them. But them not having to do that makes it more palatable to me. Starlight is barely in this and the Students I don't think show up at all, but hopefully there's a whole season with episodes giving those characters some love.
One thing worth mentioning is that I had to initially watch the episode in really low quality with the video constantly buffering, which is not exactly an ideal setup to watch a show. I'm looking forward to being able to watch it in good quality later, but even then I enjoyed it quite a bit.
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The Beginning of the End
This was a pretty packed two parter. If it wasn't for Celestia and Luna deciding to take back their "retiring in two days" thing, I would have said they spent too little time on Twilight getting prepared and too much on the villains, but with that, it's fine. No need to change the intro yet.
One of my big issues is that given the nature of this episode, the villains all felt a bit too silly. Neither Grogar nor Sombra felt particularly menacing. But this was a nice showing of Sombra power-wise, with nothing in particular from previous episodes being forgotten. Well, perhaps stairs.
The other big issue is that it was frustrating seeing Twilight have so little clue what to do, which seemed to go against the entire point of her being ready for this. But the episode concluded that no, she wasn't ready and that's fine, so... that's fine.
It was odd how the episode remembered that the Everfree Forest would grow out of control without the Tree of Harmony, but forgot about the Plunder Vines, instead using green vines. I liked the groaning noises they made, though.
Given that these action two parters never give the other Mane Six as much time as I'd like, this story did a pretty good job showcasing all of them, and Spike, and Starlight, and Discord, and even Starswirl. It'll probably take a rewatch (tomorrow) with the ending in mind to know for sure, but I liked this.
It's pretty safe to assume that the thing the trailer made us think would happen this episode, Celestia and Luna retiring, will actually happen in the season, and series, finale. I hope we get episodes peeking in at the transition of power before that.
This was a pretty packed two parter. If it wasn't for Celestia and Luna deciding to take back their "retiring in two days" thing, I would have said they spent too little time on Twilight getting prepared and too much on the villains, but with that, it's fine. No need to change the intro yet.
One of my big issues is that given the nature of this episode, the villains all felt a bit too silly. Neither Grogar nor Sombra felt particularly menacing. But this was a nice showing of Sombra power-wise, with nothing in particular from previous episodes being forgotten. Well, perhaps stairs.
The other big issue is that it was frustrating seeing Twilight have so little clue what to do, which seemed to go against the entire point of her being ready for this. But the episode concluded that no, she wasn't ready and that's fine, so... that's fine.
It was odd how the episode remembered that the Everfree Forest would grow out of control without the Tree of Harmony, but forgot about the Plunder Vines, instead using green vines. I liked the groaning noises they made, though.
Given that these action two parters never give the other Mane Six as much time as I'd like, this story did a pretty good job showcasing all of them, and Spike, and Starlight, and Discord, and even Starswirl. It'll probably take a rewatch (tomorrow) with the ending in mind to know for sure, but I liked this.
It's pretty safe to assume that the thing the trailer made us think would happen this episode, Celestia and Luna retiring, will actually happen in the season, and series, finale. I hope we get episodes peeking in at the transition of power before that.
Well that was pretty bad. Something something something, put the horse down because its leg has been broken for like two and a half seasons now.
That entire two parter came off like fanfiction to me, both with the self awareness that didn't really do anything to the general speed of the plotting. No one acted in any true semblance of their characters, and all of the jeopardy felt needlessly large without any real weight. "Oh, the kingdom is yours in three days kthnxbai" and "Yeah let's do it! I'd rather become a politician in Canterlot than grow apples because my name is Applejack!" I kept waiting for the camera to pull back and Discord and Spike and Big Mac to be playing their version of DnD but running a Twilight campaign and then arguing about the logic of what was going on.
And let's be real. We all know Tyrek, Chrys, and that pony are going to become friends to stop the goat man because they're afraid of him. Twilight and co will probably be stuck in stone or something, but the magic of friendship will live on through everyone else. The day will be saved, and then we'll finally be done.
At least Discord was fun.
That entire two parter came off like fanfiction to me, both with the self awareness that didn't really do anything to the general speed of the plotting. No one acted in any true semblance of their characters, and all of the jeopardy felt needlessly large without any real weight. "Oh, the kingdom is yours in three days kthnxbai" and "Yeah let's do it! I'd rather become a politician in Canterlot than grow apples because my name is Applejack!" I kept waiting for the camera to pull back and Discord and Spike and Big Mac to be playing their version of DnD but running a Twilight campaign and then arguing about the logic of what was going on.
And let's be real. We all know Tyrek, Chrys, and that pony are going to become friends to stop the goat man because they're afraid of him. Twilight and co will probably be stuck in stone or something, but the magic of friendship will live on through everyone else. The day will be saved, and then we'll finally be done.
At least Discord was fun.
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I have to say, when I saw that DrForester was the first one to comment on this episode, I didn't expect a positive review.
Sheesh, I forgot how fast these fan artists could be when they wanted. And these are only based on things that weren't in previews, which is to say, they definitely weren't drawn beforehand.
Well excuuuuuse me, Starlight! by lumineko
Chrysalis and Cozy by n0nnny
When Twilight's Away by bobthedalek on DeviantArt
Also,
And,
EDIT: Whoops, forgot half the reason I made this post.
Pretty fun Q&A.
Sheesh, I forgot how fast these fan artists could be when they wanted. And these are only based on things that weren't in previews, which is to say, they definitely weren't drawn beforehand.
Well excuuuuuse me, Starlight! by lumineko
Chrysalis and Cozy by n0nnny
When Twilight's Away by bobthedalek on DeviantArt
Also,
And,
EDIT: Whoops, forgot half the reason I made this post.
Pretty fun Q&A.
Honestly I like not super serious or menacing villains at least when it comes to MLP. Discord, Starlight, and the Dazzlings I think are the most interesting and memorable villains the show has had, whereas Sombra and Tirek are among my least favorite. I was worried that they would go out of their way to make Grogar scary or menacing and he would make the opener/finale dreary and not very fun, but I think they got a good balance of him being the top villain while still not being too edgy.
I would like some time devoted to showing how things ended up going after she took over, if not a couple episodes then at least a lengthy flashforward. But we'll see.
King Somboop
Pretty mixed feelings on the opener, which I watched the day of it's airing, today, April 6.
Most of it revolves around Sombra. I liked how they kind of hammed him up with his voice and arrogance, but some part of me also feels like they didn't go far enough. He also felt like he didn't have any new tricks up his sleeve. Like, you're really going to show ponies' their fears and trap them in crystal cages again? This shit didn't get you a W last time.
Despite him feeling like a bit of a schmuck, he takes over the Crystal Empire in what I'm pretty sure was less than 60 seconds. There was an entire two-parter dedicated to fending off an invasion from him, and here he just walks in an takes it like it's nothing. Crystal Empire had way better direction, with better pacing, shots, cuts, etc. to give the atmosphere and story more weight with less going on and things at stake. Two-parters once upon a time were better at selling the drama and gravity that they were going for. They were a slow burn that balanced the edge with gags and songs. These days it's just bloated and flat.
And I never really bought the princesses were retiring immeditately. Did anyone buy this? It was kind of hard to care about Twilight freaking out when I just knew they were going to come to their senses by the end. Twilight, honey buns, you're not becoming ruler today. I've been watching this show for seven years, I know how it works.
I did like how Grogar basically used Sombra as the sacrificial lamb to get his baddies together, although it remains to be seen how successful this will be. It seems like after this episode their focus should be on how to defeat Discord and not how to defeat the mane six though. He really fucked up Sombra.
Main impression: The show has long lost the ability to make an inventive, adventurous two-parter with a strong villian and believable drama. While I like the S5 opener and the S6 closer, both fell short on some of these things, and the S6 opener and S9 opener REEEEALLY struggle with this compared to S2 closer and S3 opener. I think if they went a different direction with Sombra and basically played him for comedy this could've worked, but it was just another potpourri two-parter. IMO the S4 opener got the show into this weird rut of an idea of what the two-parters need to be — a bunch of characters running around the whole world of Equestria, Discord on the sidelines, tree of harmony elements shenanigans, flat world building — that it only occasionally gets out of. This episode was definitely the show in that rut.
Side impression: I find it pretty hilarious actually that it seemed they were telegraphing Sombra would fail and then be forced by Grogar to join his villain team with the deal, and while Sombra does fail, instead of him joining the team... he just dies. lol
Most of it revolves around Sombra. I liked how they kind of hammed him up with his voice and arrogance, but some part of me also feels like they didn't go far enough. He also felt like he didn't have any new tricks up his sleeve. Like, you're really going to show ponies' their fears and trap them in crystal cages again? This shit didn't get you a W last time.
Despite him feeling like a bit of a schmuck, he takes over the Crystal Empire in what I'm pretty sure was less than 60 seconds. There was an entire two-parter dedicated to fending off an invasion from him, and here he just walks in an takes it like it's nothing. Crystal Empire had way better direction, with better pacing, shots, cuts, etc. to give the atmosphere and story more weight with less going on and things at stake. Two-parters once upon a time were better at selling the drama and gravity that they were going for. They were a slow burn that balanced the edge with gags and songs. These days it's just bloated and flat.
And I never really bought the princesses were retiring immeditately. Did anyone buy this? It was kind of hard to care about Twilight freaking out when I just knew they were going to come to their senses by the end. Twilight, honey buns, you're not becoming ruler today. I've been watching this show for seven years, I know how it works.
I did like how Grogar basically used Sombra as the sacrificial lamb to get his baddies together, although it remains to be seen how successful this will be. It seems like after this episode their focus should be on how to defeat Discord and not how to defeat the mane six though. He really fucked up Sombra.
Main impression: The show has long lost the ability to make an inventive, adventurous two-parter with a strong villian and believable drama. While I like the S5 opener and the S6 closer, both fell short on some of these things, and the S6 opener and S9 opener REEEEALLY struggle with this compared to S2 closer and S3 opener. I think if they went a different direction with Sombra and basically played him for comedy this could've worked, but it was just another potpourri two-parter. IMO the S4 opener got the show into this weird rut of an idea of what the two-parters need to be — a bunch of characters running around the whole world of Equestria, Discord on the sidelines, tree of harmony elements shenanigans, flat world building — that it only occasionally gets out of. This episode was definitely the show in that rut.
Side impression: I find it pretty hilarious actually that it seemed they were telegraphing Sombra would fail and then be forced by Grogar to join his villain team with the deal, and while Sombra does fail, instead of him joining the team... he just dies. lol
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In "The Crystal Empire", they knew he was there and already put up the barrier. He just came out of nowhere from their perspective this time, so I didn't have an issue with that.
*raises hand*
I figured it would be like the School of Friendship. Twilight's in charge, but the normal episodes act like everyone has endless free time.
It's funny seeing someone praise "The Crystal Empire" like this, when it definitely got a meh reaction back in the day. Maybe you always gave it a good review back on GAF, I don't remember. Anyway, that story always was underrated for its direction; it may straight up be the show's best-looking story. I was going to object to the "these days" part, but I suppose the last two-parter I was really satisfied by was back at the end of season 6, three years ago. Most two parters just try to fit way too much in.
On another note, here's my updated bingo card after this episode.
Holding off on Celestia leaving until she leaves. ? on whether the vines count as a villain Celestia defeated, and on that hug that Rarity gives Twilight. I'll probably pity count them if nothing else comes up.
The big "problem" with most the openers these days is as I mentioned before the openers are generally a lot less concerned with telling a cohesive story and more focused on establishing all the major arcs, plot elements, and themes that will be fleshed out in the rest of the season. The show as a whole has shifted much more towards continuity and more developed character arcs, and when this stuff is done well I think that it's had a really positive impact on the show. (Season 7 I think is the best example of this) And season 8 and 9 are both essentially based around massive status quo-changing things so that kind of stuff has to be established in the opener because you really can't put this stuff anywhere else.
And unfortunately for this episode the big arc of the season is Twilight being given more responsibility so because Twilight is Twilight we need to go through another song and dance about her not thinking she's ready before realizing that she's up to the task. It would be extremely out-of-character for Twilight to not react this way, and I think that the main story being focused on this is one of the big problems with the opener. Personally I'm just really fatigued on this kind of story already and so at this point I feel like there's a ceiling on how well this kind of thing can be done, and to the episode's credit I think it got close to it.
The point I'm trying to make is that all the things that the opener needs to do (establish Twilight eventually succeeding Celestia, Grogar's a guy that exists that we should be afraid of and that he's recruited previous villains to help him, the tree of harmony is destroyed) make it extremely hard to tell a cohesive and focused story that holds up on its own merits as a standalone story. But I think that this kind of opener can be a big benefit if built upon well. Many of the best episodes and moments from Season 8 were about the Student 6, which were introduced in the opener. And Season 9 could be the same way, we already know that we're getting a followup episode about the bad guys trying to work together. And that episode's existence is owed to them being established in the opener.
One thing that I think goes in the episode's favor is that when you compare this opener to other openers that similarly tried to establish a bunch of stuff like 4 and 8 this one comes off much better. The episode has a lot to explain, but it still largely remains fun through the runtime. There isn't massive pauses where they dump exposition or show off irrelevant stuff like Luna turning into Nightmare Moon. For what the episode is trying to be, I think it does a good job. And one other thing is that it features almost every major character in the show who all have their time to shine while still having the story move on at a fitting pace.
And I feel like you're really looking at The Crystal Empire with rose-tinted glasses because by far and away the biggest problem with that 2-parter is that it's hard to get invested in the story because they kept bringing the main story to a screeching halt so they could feature a terrible subplot that had nothing to do with the main story and didn't go anywhere. IMO The Crystal Empire was a lot of cool ideas that were ruined by unnecessary additions and those unnecessary additions for many people made it really hard to get invested in the main story.
Looking at an opener like this I think the most important question to ask is "does this make me excited for the rest of the season?" and for this finale the answer was big yes for me.
Just got done with the opening two-partner. Felt like a load of fluff and running on the spot to me, to be honest. There really wasn't a single part of it that I didn't feel like I'd seen before, done better.
The entire first part needn't have been there. Was there a reason we needed to see a condensed, much worse rehash of The Crystal Empire? Why not just have the villain crew smash the tree at the outset?
And then the second part was almost as inconsequential. Fight vines for a bit, fight goons for a bit, stock-standard friendship-EMP ending. The mislead with Discord added a very subtle wrinkle to it, but not much of one.
And putting Sombra front-and-centre might've been a better call if there was even a single interesting thing about him. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say he worked much better as a villain when all he said was "Crystalssssss..."
I dunno you guys, this felt to me like reheated MLP leftovers. It felt like what you'd get if a computer wrote an MLP storyline. When you compare this to a story like The Cutie Map, the lack of any soul or creative spark is startling.
The entire first part needn't have been there. Was there a reason we needed to see a condensed, much worse rehash of The Crystal Empire? Why not just have the villain crew smash the tree at the outset?
And then the second part was almost as inconsequential. Fight vines for a bit, fight goons for a bit, stock-standard friendship-EMP ending. The mislead with Discord added a very subtle wrinkle to it, but not much of one.
And putting Sombra front-and-centre might've been a better call if there was even a single interesting thing about him. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say he worked much better as a villain when all he said was "Crystalssssss..."
I dunno you guys, this felt to me like reheated MLP leftovers. It felt like what you'd get if a computer wrote an MLP storyline. When you compare this to a story like The Cutie Map, the lack of any soul or creative spark is startling.
Once again gotta wait for Netflix to have the first half of season 9 available once mid-season passes.
And did the Japanese dub of EQG stop altogether?
And did the Japanese dub of EQG stop altogether?
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I thought it worked to have a sort of condensed version of one of their early adventures in the first part, both establishing that Sombra is still a threat but also that under normal circumstances, the heroes can resolve this easily. Make Twilight think for a bit that she really could handle running the entire kingdom.
I was accepting of the rehash feel precisely because this is the last season opener, but I can see why you wouldn't like it for that reason.
Checking, they did dub the shorts through "The Other Side" and did dub "Rollercoaster of Friendship", but they haven't dubbed anything from EQG season 2. The number of views seems alright, but it's possible it got too costly and they're only dubbing the specials; if "Spring Breakdown" part 1 doesn't get a dub, then I think they're done for sure.
For me these recent two parters are just getting weirder and weirder, and not really in a good way either unfortunately. I thought they were going to go the boss rush route which would have been predictable but maybe still entertaining. What we ended up with was just all over the place with half-baked plans and is really hard on suspension of disbelief for me.
The princesses giving up their posts and quickly at that was done almost as if this whole running Equestria wasn't such a big deal. Maybe this is sort of a trope now that anything we consider politically serious isn't that meaningful to them.
Sombra has so many chances to just win and instead just stood around or left the Mane Six alone (caged). I can't tell but they usually point it out when its intended as satire.
And NMM "broke" in elements in the S1 pilot already. This is hardly new.
The princesses giving up their posts and quickly at that was done almost as if this whole running Equestria wasn't such a big deal. Maybe this is sort of a trope now that anything we consider politically serious isn't that meaningful to them.
Sombra has so many chances to just win and instead just stood around or left the Mane Six alone (caged). I can't tell but they usually point it out when its intended as satire.
And NMM "broke" in elements in the S1 pilot already. This is hardly new.
So can we agree to call Grogar's newly formed team The Evil League of Evil? It feels, sorta appropriate.
(And yes, I managed to marathon all of Season 7 and 8 over the week to catch up for the Season 9 opener, I may do write-ups on 7 and 8 if I have the time to spare later this week).
(And yes, I managed to marathon all of Season 7 and 8 over the week to catch up for the Season 9 opener, I may do write-ups on 7 and 8 if I have the time to spare later this week).
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Glad you cited that instead of the pitiful season one team up.Villain team-up
Like we decided during the stream, Cozy Glow is the Bad Horse of the group.
And I look forward to your season thoughts.
Watching "The Beginning of the End" again during the stream, I enjoyed it more the second time around. I get the complaints about repeating things from previous stories, but they felt more like callbacks to me. I definitely would have liked a deeper voice for Sombra, and Twilight was a bit frustrating, but I also enjoyed all of her Twilighting and it was a generally enjoyable story. Of course, I am expecting to enjoy the normal episodes far more than this one; I'm grading on a scale with these two parters.
"The Beginning of the End" followup will come later. I think in general I'll do them in the middle of the week instead of Sunday. That said, we have some more tweets.
So I guess Cozy Glow was going to destroy the Tree originally, but there wasn't enough room.
They were breaking down this episode's story back in August 2017. That's cartoon production times for you.
Grogar's hideout doesn't have a name. Any suggestions?
Finally, season 9 is here! Gave the first two episodes a watch and liked them quite a bit ^.^ I'm a fan of setting up conflicts for the remainder of the season this way, so hopefully episode 9 doesn't disappoint!
The Grog. Actually nix that it sounded better in my head :p
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Patton Oswalt talks about his upcoming episode, describing how deep into her role his daughter got.
Conan's joke starting at around 1:30 is great.
Ian Flynn, one of the good Sonic comic writers (also Mega Man and others), hints that he'll be writing something for MLP.
Episode followup coming later, but here's a preview.
Bro Talk by AcidEmerald on DeviantArt
Conan's joke starting at around 1:30 is great.
Ian Flynn, one of the good Sonic comic writers (also Mega Man and others), hints that he'll be writing something for MLP.
Episode followup coming later, but here's a preview.
Bro Talk by AcidEmerald on DeviantArt
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Well, here's my "The Beginning of the End" followup. I waited to post art partially because there wasn't all that much episode art... that was a mistake. There's been a bunch more in the past few days. Not "cute new Fluttershy form" level, but still enough that I should have done this earlier. Plus I forgot what I was going to write under Notes >_>.
SCREENSHOTS
1.Most important screenshot
2.Cozy Glow's statue
3.Chrysalis face
4.Chrysalis face meme combine!
5.Pinkie cakewalk
1.Danger Cadance
2.Cozy Glow sent flying into Tirek
3.Twilight breathing hard while Discord reacts
4.Twilight awesomely smacking away Sombra's attack
5.Flurry of death
1.Applejack placing Twilight on her throne
2.Sombra's gruesome death
3.Blushing Fluttershy
FAN CONTENT
I also included some Sombra, Tirek, and Cozy art that were uploaded recently but weren't labeled as being for this episode, reasoning they wouldn't have been made without this episode. Chrysalis always gets a lot of art.
1.Laughing Tom Cruise Sombra by alumx
2.The Legion of...Doom? by JamesCorck on Newgrounds
3.Retirement and Cake by johnjoseco on DeviantArt - Celestia
4.Needs more swag by saturdaymorningproj on DeviantArt - Twilight
5.Grogar Gang (Pic of the week MLPS9E1) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt - Human
1.Grogar Gang trust exercise by mightyshockwave
2.Sombra and crab rave by dino_horse
3.:D by Andromedasparkz on DeviantArt - Grogar Gang animated
4.Discord Death Scene (Pic of the week MLPS9E2) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt - Human
5.Cozy giving Grogar a Slayer shirt by flutterthrash
1.SHAKK !! by tyuubatu on DeviantArt - Fluttershy
2.Elements fall by Ramiras on DeviantArt - Twilight
3.Behind The Scenes 12 by OinkTweetStudios on DeviantArt
4.Waiter Sombra annoys Twilight by t72b
5.Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis status update by unsavorydom
1.Anthro Starlight and Twilight at the school by ambris
2.Grogar Sketches by Evergreen-Gemdust on DeviantArt
3.S9E2 - This is My Throne by luminaura on DeviantArt - Sombra
4.Daybreaker, Nightmare Moon, and Twilight by pinweena30
5.Grogar by Loryska on DeviantArt
1.One Punch Man "What's with this sassy lost child?" with Cozy Glow and Grogar by plotcore
2.Royals by RossmaniteAnzu on DeviantArt - Sombra and Chrysalis
3.MLP FiM - Grogar by Yula568 on DeviantArt
4.Sombra "Hello darkness my old friend" by jowybean
5.Grogar by Phoeberia on DeviantArt
1.Tirek about to flick Cozy by colorfulcolor233
2.Tirek about to flick Cozy Jojo To Be Continued by colorfulcolor233
3.Royal Interview by StePandy on DeviantArt - Celestia, Luna, and Discord
4.Twilight according to Discord (MLP S9C01) by AsajioPie01 on DeviantArt
5.S9E1 - Hide Me Plz by luminaura on DeviantArt - Cozy and Tirek
1.Friendship Is... (Pic of the week MLPS9E2) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt - Human Twilight smacking away Sombra's blast
2.Cozy Glow by rocioam7 on DeviantArt
3.Thats KING SOMBRA for you ! by ViperidaeGraphics on DeviantArt
4.S09E01/02 by iojknmiojknm on DeviantArt - Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy
5.King Sombra in shadow by Amy-Gamy on DeviantArt
1.Grogar by neonishe
2.Cozy with a knife and Starlight by breezietype
3.Finally! by MyLittleGodzilla on DeviantArt - Sombra
4.or what by Taneysha on DeviantArt - Sombra
5.A Smug Sombra by noxartbox on DeviantArt
1.Sombra insulting Grogar and Chrysalis by zihette
2.Cozy and Chrysalis with Tirek toy by colorfulcolor233
3.Twilight and her list with Starlight and Spike by jowybean
4.Twilight blowing balloons with Pinkie, Rainbow, and Spike by jowybean
5.Twilighting with Discord by jowybean
1.Return of the Demon Ram Grogar by InuHoshi-to-DarkPen on DeviantArt
2.My Little Pony: The villain by zouyugi on DeviantArt - Grogar Gang
3.My Little Pony: Who's next? by zouyugi on DeviantArt - Grogar Gang, reference to Adventure Time: Stakes
4.Sombra's sinister plan by enigmasart
5.Equestria Ninjas: Grogar (Demon Goat) by BozzerKazooers on DeviantArt
Comics
Celestia and Luna leaving things to Twilight (My Hero Academia reference) by darkest-lunar-flower - This is actually pretty old, but I didn't post it earlier.
Comic - Sombra's New Voice by Banquo0 on DeviantArt - Sombra's voice is the same as Flutterguy.
Sombra's real goal by starry5643
And also some more "Spring Breakdown" art.
1.Sunset, Dash and SciTwi In Ponyville by BrekrofMadness on DeviantArt
2.HORSE FACE by Neko-Snicker on DeviantArt - SciTwi
3.Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle by Rockset on DeviantArt
4.Rarity in spring outfit by kunshomo
5.Rarity in the beach 2 (BONUS) by TheRETROart88 on DeviantArt - Pony
And people took this opportunity to release a bunch fo Sombra tribute music. None of these particularly stand out to me, but including them for completion. If I had to choose one, the last one gives me some Sonic vocal song vibes.
Jyc Row - King Sombra ~ A Final Encounter - YouTube
【Music】The King is Back (ft. Namii) - YouTube
MelodyBrony - The King (Ft. PrinceWhateverer, Drummershy, KriZzZ, LuckRock) - YouTube
SCREENSHOTS
1.Most important screenshot
2.Cozy Glow's statue
3.Chrysalis face
4.Chrysalis face meme combine!
5.Pinkie cakewalk
1.Danger Cadance
2.Cozy Glow sent flying into Tirek
3.Twilight breathing hard while Discord reacts
4.Twilight awesomely smacking away Sombra's attack
5.Flurry of death
1.Applejack placing Twilight on her throne
2.Sombra's gruesome death
3.Blushing Fluttershy
FAN CONTENT
I also included some Sombra, Tirek, and Cozy art that were uploaded recently but weren't labeled as being for this episode, reasoning they wouldn't have been made without this episode. Chrysalis always gets a lot of art.
1.Laughing Tom Cruise Sombra by alumx
2.The Legion of...Doom? by JamesCorck on Newgrounds
3.Retirement and Cake by johnjoseco on DeviantArt - Celestia
4.Needs more swag by saturdaymorningproj on DeviantArt - Twilight
5.Grogar Gang (Pic of the week MLPS9E1) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt - Human
1.Grogar Gang trust exercise by mightyshockwave
2.Sombra and crab rave by dino_horse
3.:D by Andromedasparkz on DeviantArt - Grogar Gang animated
4.Discord Death Scene (Pic of the week MLPS9E2) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt - Human
5.Cozy giving Grogar a Slayer shirt by flutterthrash
1.SHAKK !! by tyuubatu on DeviantArt - Fluttershy
2.Elements fall by Ramiras on DeviantArt - Twilight
3.Behind The Scenes 12 by OinkTweetStudios on DeviantArt
4.Waiter Sombra annoys Twilight by t72b
5.Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis status update by unsavorydom
1.Anthro Starlight and Twilight at the school by ambris
2.Grogar Sketches by Evergreen-Gemdust on DeviantArt
3.S9E2 - This is My Throne by luminaura on DeviantArt - Sombra
4.Daybreaker, Nightmare Moon, and Twilight by pinweena30
5.Grogar by Loryska on DeviantArt
1.One Punch Man "What's with this sassy lost child?" with Cozy Glow and Grogar by plotcore
2.Royals by RossmaniteAnzu on DeviantArt - Sombra and Chrysalis
3.MLP FiM - Grogar by Yula568 on DeviantArt
4.Sombra "Hello darkness my old friend" by jowybean
5.Grogar by Phoeberia on DeviantArt
1.Tirek about to flick Cozy by colorfulcolor233
2.Tirek about to flick Cozy Jojo To Be Continued by colorfulcolor233
3.Royal Interview by StePandy on DeviantArt - Celestia, Luna, and Discord
4.Twilight according to Discord (MLP S9C01) by AsajioPie01 on DeviantArt
5.S9E1 - Hide Me Plz by luminaura on DeviantArt - Cozy and Tirek
1.Friendship Is... (Pic of the week MLPS9E2) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt - Human Twilight smacking away Sombra's blast
2.Cozy Glow by rocioam7 on DeviantArt
3.Thats KING SOMBRA for you ! by ViperidaeGraphics on DeviantArt
4.S09E01/02 by iojknmiojknm on DeviantArt - Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy
5.King Sombra in shadow by Amy-Gamy on DeviantArt
1.Grogar by neonishe
2.Cozy with a knife and Starlight by breezietype
3.Finally! by MyLittleGodzilla on DeviantArt - Sombra
4.or what by Taneysha on DeviantArt - Sombra
5.A Smug Sombra by noxartbox on DeviantArt
1.Sombra insulting Grogar and Chrysalis by zihette
2.Cozy and Chrysalis with Tirek toy by colorfulcolor233
3.Twilight and her list with Starlight and Spike by jowybean
4.Twilight blowing balloons with Pinkie, Rainbow, and Spike by jowybean
5.Twilighting with Discord by jowybean
1.Return of the Demon Ram Grogar by InuHoshi-to-DarkPen on DeviantArt
2.My Little Pony: The villain by zouyugi on DeviantArt - Grogar Gang
3.My Little Pony: Who's next? by zouyugi on DeviantArt - Grogar Gang, reference to Adventure Time: Stakes
4.Sombra's sinister plan by enigmasart
5.Equestria Ninjas: Grogar (Demon Goat) by BozzerKazooers on DeviantArt
Comics
Celestia and Luna leaving things to Twilight (My Hero Academia reference) by darkest-lunar-flower - This is actually pretty old, but I didn't post it earlier.
Comic - Sombra's New Voice by Banquo0 on DeviantArt - Sombra's voice is the same as Flutterguy.
Sombra's real goal by starry5643
And also some more "Spring Breakdown" art.
1.Sunset, Dash and SciTwi In Ponyville by BrekrofMadness on DeviantArt
2.HORSE FACE by Neko-Snicker on DeviantArt - SciTwi
3.Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle by Rockset on DeviantArt
4.Rarity in spring outfit by kunshomo
5.Rarity in the beach 2 (BONUS) by TheRETROart88 on DeviantArt - Pony
And people took this opportunity to release a bunch fo Sombra tribute music. None of these particularly stand out to me, but including them for completion. If I had to choose one, the last one gives me some Sonic vocal song vibes.
Jyc Row - King Sombra ~ A Final Encounter - YouTube
【Music】The King is Back (ft. Namii) - YouTube
MelodyBrony - The King (Ft. PrinceWhateverer, Drummershy, KriZzZ, LuckRock) - YouTube
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Guess I'm quadruple posting.
No new Equestria Girls short today. Katrina Hadley suspects that next up is the YouTube version of "Spring Breakdown", but it was delayed to give Discovery Family exclusivity for a bit longer.
The most important recap video series is back!
oh no ponyville is being controled by samba
Next episode is being written by Nicole Dubac, who wrote "Shadow Play", "School Daze", "Marks for Effort", "A Matter of Principals", and just part 1 of "School Raze". So this will actually be her first single-part Student Six focused episode. Also boarded by Desirae Salmark, Chelsea Woolman, and Graeme MacDonald. MLP Wiki lists the storyboarders for each episode, but they don't have a way to find out what episodes they storyboarded.
Speaking of which, now to show the next episode synopsis without spoiler tags.
3. Uprooted - April 13, 2019
The Young Six respond to a magical summons from the Tree of Harmony, only to learn it has been destroyed.
No new Equestria Girls short today. Katrina Hadley suspects that next up is the YouTube version of "Spring Breakdown", but it was delayed to give Discovery Family exclusivity for a bit longer.
The most important recap video series is back!
oh no ponyville is being controled by samba
Next episode is being written by Nicole Dubac, who wrote "Shadow Play", "School Daze", "Marks for Effort", "A Matter of Principals", and just part 1 of "School Raze". So this will actually be her first single-part Student Six focused episode. Also boarded by Desirae Salmark, Chelsea Woolman, and Graeme MacDonald. MLP Wiki lists the storyboarders for each episode, but they don't have a way to find out what episodes they storyboarded.
Speaking of which, now to show the next episode synopsis without spoiler tags.
3. Uprooted - April 13, 2019
The Young Six respond to a magical summons from the Tree of Harmony, only to learn it has been destroyed.
Alright, made time to sit down and watch/process the opener:
Started out rocky, but that was generally pretty fun overall, and I'm eager to see more of the Super Villain Pals.
- Twilight being groomed to take over from Celestia is an unstated idea that's nevertheless been with the show from the beginning, and it's still a headscratcher for me. Like, yeah, the princess probably wants a vacation now and then, but Celly's not getting any older. Maybe she wants to go work on her acting for a while? Write that novel she's never had time for? Dunno. It's weird. They've always been pretty vague about what Celestia actually does on a day to day basis and aren't answering that question any time soon, which isn't helping settle what her retirement actually means for Twilight and friends past the "deal with the big magic problems" thing, which is all they really focus on (and that they lean on the fourth wall about the princesses not having had much to do with lately anyway, amusingly).
- "The longest period of harmony in recent years." Luna pls, it's been like two months since magic almost died. Equestria's existence since you came back has been nonstop drama.
- Anyway, presumably they'll get back around to this by the end of the season, so we'll see how it goes. I feel like they can't not go through with it after setting up the idea, but I'd like them to at least spend a while getting Twilight into a place where she aspires to the role instead of fearing the responsibility. Also, take the time to have them move on from the school properly, because they kinda spent a long time last season making that a big deal and right now it feels like it's being brushed aside.
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- I wasn't sure about the big villain teamup idea to close out the series, but being positioned as a direct response to the show's message of friendship sold me on it, especially with Cozy finally finding her niche. Grogar ain't bad. Not too arrogant, not too casual. I feel like Tirek should've tried to eat him on sight, but eh, can't blame the guy for playing it safe for a while either.
- Sombra finally being brought back for the sole purpose of getting curbstomped twice is hilarious. Joins the Storm King on the "actually super dead" shortlist.
- Gonna be heartbroken if we don't ever get any followup on the Tree's sentience after What Lies Beneath.
- Discord finally goes full Q and it's wonderful. Doesn't get depowered for some reason (and if you bought Sombra blasting him for an instant, I can't help you), doesn't make things worse, doesn't cross the line into jerkass, but he also doesn't let them lean on him too much because he knows they're better than that. Discord, of all people, reminding them of the old season one manifesto. I'd be more annoyed by the fact that he had to do that if they didn't at least call out the fact that everyone really did need a reminder. We did this back in episode two, folks, and we will apparently keep doing it until it sticks.
- Horn parry's pretty sick.
- Glad to see the Pillars still representing, however briefly.
- no but seriously where's Tempest tho give her a cameo as a mind-controlled lackey or something, I'm desperate here
Started out rocky, but that was generally pretty fun overall, and I'm eager to see more of the Super Villain Pals.
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Sure Celestia isn't getting older, but she can't plan on being the ruler of Equestria for literally forever right? She needs someone to replace her at some point, and she picked Twilight. The bigger problem is that the Mane 6 being the rulers doesn't fit at all with the show's formula and their actual personal lives, which is why I guess they decided to push it all off until the end of the season.
You're in luck because the episode tomorrow is a follup on the Tree.
Once you've stuck with a particular status quo for a thousand years and change, I'm not sure the passage of time compels you to do anything in particular. It wouldn't bug me if they gave some kind of reason for it, but they largely glossed over that part.
This would bother me more if they hadn't just done the same thing last season, so this time it's at least already established that they're functionally married to Twilight and willing to rework their lives around her.
(Half the scripts would've carried on like nothing changed anyway.)
yaaaay
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I haven't watched the new episode yet, but we have information about episode 200, which is next week's episode. Also confirming that the fifth VA in question is Cathy Weseluck, not Nicole Oliver. I imagine the scene of Applejack playing music from the promo I posted earlier comes from this episode.
That's actually really cool. It's really nice that despite the fact that the show largely exists to sell toys to little girls the people working on it are still very passionate about it. Now I'm worried that the end result is going to be a chaotic clusterfuck trying to fit too much stuff in, but even if it doesn't turn out well the gesture is nice.
I'm playing Twilight Imperium with friends today, so I won't be able to watch it until late at night. All I know from the EQD thread about the episode is that the Storm King comes back from the dead to terrorize North Texas.
Uprooted
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Uprooted
I figured that the Tree summoned the Students to bring it back to life, but when they were building the tree house and talking about making it their new base of operations, I was worried for a bit that it would be dead for good. But instead, RIP the Castle of the Two Sisters. It's a shame Celestia and Luna didn't appear to have a miffed reaction.
This was an alright episode. It felt padded at points, but it was a nice showcase of the Students, particularly Yona bringing everyone together, and it was nice seeing the Students get their first song. It felt like a mix of "Friendship Always Wins" (from the end of "School Daze") and "Make This Castle a Home" (from "Castle Sweet Castle"), which is appropriate, but it was just OK. Silverstream's lyrics (particularly "We'll use the tree and we'll make due") sounded a ton like Rebecca Shoichet's singing voice for Twilight, so it surprised me when that wasn't the case.
Also about Silverstream, interesting that she wants to be a Wonderbolt.
The new Treehouse (I guess that's what it's called now) looks nice. Harmony Sparkle is still alive, but she hasn't shown herself to Twilight yet. I'm curious how much these will come up again in the rest of the series.
I figured that the Tree summoned the Students to bring it back to life, but when they were building the tree house and talking about making it their new base of operations, I was worried for a bit that it would be dead for good. But instead, RIP the Castle of the Two Sisters. It's a shame Celestia and Luna didn't appear to have a miffed reaction.
This was an alright episode. It felt padded at points, but it was a nice showcase of the Students, particularly Yona bringing everyone together, and it was nice seeing the Students get their first song. It felt like a mix of "Friendship Always Wins" (from the end of "School Daze") and "Make This Castle a Home" (from "Castle Sweet Castle"), which is appropriate, but it was just OK. Silverstream's lyrics (particularly "We'll use the tree and we'll make due") sounded a ton like Rebecca Shoichet's singing voice for Twilight, so it surprised me when that wasn't the case.
Also about Silverstream, interesting that she wants to be a Wonderbolt.
The new Treehouse (I guess that's what it's called now) looks nice. Harmony Sparkle is still alive, but she hasn't shown herself to Twilight yet. I'm curious how much these will come up again in the rest of the series.
EQG - Spring Breakdown part 1
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Strider_Blaze , FYI, it looks like Hasbro is uploading their EQG shorts on this channel now. It has not just the English version of "Spring Breakdown part 1", but also the foreign language versions. And several videos that were on the Hasbro channel are no longer there, but now in this new channel, like FOMO.
(source)
There was a weather warning during the big livestreams, which were sourced from Texas, and it happened right when Silverstream was talking, apparently.
I'll save other art for tomorrow, but here's a tweet that Nicole Dubac, the episode's writer, retweeted.
I actually didn't make this connection, despite Sciz 's post.
(source)
There was a weather warning during the big livestreams, which were sourced from Texas, and it happened right when Silverstream was talking, apparently.
I'll save other art for tomorrow, but here's a tweet that Nicole Dubac, the episode's writer, retweeted.
I actually didn't make this connection, despite Sciz 's post.
So the moral of the story is to not worry about G4 ending because Hasbro will try to replace it with something even more marketable? :gallsmug:
The episode was for the most part inoffensive, which is unfortunately the nicest thing I can say about the episode. Very little of it I feel works. First off, this feels like 5 minute plotline that was stretched out to 22 minutes. Probably the most laughable part of them padding for time is Gallus showing that he already has several copies of written consent from Gruff to do whatever, but then during the montage of the students asking their leaders/parents for permission to leave Gallus asks Gruff again. That whole sequence was totally unnecessary to begin with but then they establish that Gallus already has permission only for him to later ask for it again. In general the whole episode felt very padded out and like the writer was constantly trying to throw things in to increase the episode's runtime so it was long enough.
The students are always nice to see, but this feels like their worst showing so far. (Despite Non Compete being a worse episode overall the students were at least better there then here) Some of the students ideas for honoring the tree kinda made sense in-character, such as Smolder wanting to build an imposing statue to impress people or Yona wanting to smash and rebuild. (Although how does that translate to "build a treehouse" instead of actually trying to remake the Tree of Harmony?) But a lot of them just felt like they were just made up to create another "wrong" way of honoring the tree. Silverstream wanting to make an art mural would have made sense if her affinity for art was established in literally any episode before this, but it wasn't really set up at all so it feels like it comes out of nowhere. Same with Ocellus trying to turn it into a temple. And the correct choice being them trying to build a clubhouse feels like it's there so the giant fuck you friendship tree clubhouse now available at your nearest Fred Meyer weddingcastleplayset didn't feel like it came out of nowhere. Seriously, the show has used the Tree of Friendship as a Deus Ex Machina for a while now to just explain massive changes that don't make a whole lot of sense, but this one feels like the biggest stretch so far. Maybe there's some massive plan for the clubhouse later on in the season that'll totally justify it being built here but we'll see.
Production-wise it was alright. The song was serviceable but not exceptional, and the clubhouse does look nice. And to sort of counterbalance all the negativity I will reiterate that despite all the complaints I had the episode is still fairly chill and is inoffensive, which although less meme-worthy still makes it mostly fine to watch.
This seems like the kind of episode I wouldn't like because the characters are all acting a bit dumb but I thought it was pretty nice. Maybe the characters being students makes it easier to overlook? Or maybe all the gags just appealed to me.
I also thought that they were going to bring back the tree when they were called. So are the students going to become the new bearers of the elements?
I also thought that they were going to bring back the tree when they were called. So are the students going to become the new bearers of the elements?
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I checked for this during the stream rewatch, and I think the implication was that Gallus was carrying around blank permission slips for all of them to use.
That was definitely the implication of the season 8 finale, but I'm not sure if they'll follow up on it with them using the season 8 artifacts as magical weapons.
On another note, Nicole Dubac has a Twitter thread about her leaving the show's production.
Episode followup.
NOTES
This episode has definitely been getting a mixed response. I think it's as fony said, and it's a matter of how much leeway you're willing to give the students for doing dumb things. I also saw a lot of comparisons to "Castle Sweet Castle", including from me, but after watching them again, they aren't that similar really. "CSC" was about them trying to make Twilight's new home cozier and the end result happened to be a tribute to a dead tree, while this was about making a tribute to a dead tree the entire time.
It's interesting looking how the ways the students wanted to pay tribute reflect their cultures. Gallus comes from a place that cares about money, so he thought the best way to honor the Tree's memory would be to use it to make money, even if that means sprucing up its backstory. Silverstream's art affinity is indeed new, but the hippogriffs / seaponies have more extravagant home towns than the other races, we saw in the Movie that they had murals depicting how the Storm King forced them to flee to Seaquestria, and she's always been interested in expressing her emotions. Smolder works with stone because that's all dragons have to work with, though from what I recall, we haven't seen any art from dragons, so this might just be her. Ocellus wanted it to be a place to meditate, and she straight up says this came from that guru from "To Change a Changeling". Sandbar wanted a new tree because circle of life. And then of course, Yona states that the way of the yak is to smash and rebuild, because nothing lasts.
Come to think of it, maybe the students' tree house being a mess and ready to fall apart any moment was exactly what Yona wanted, and it was bad that the Tree revived itself and became a more permanent structure. Well, it's a different form, so it's probably fine.
(Series finale to involve Yona smashing the new Tree House of Harmony)
Bingo update
Added "Harmony Sparkle returns" and I have a ? for "Student Six Elements followup". They're clearly still being pushed as successors, but there hasn't been an explicit Elements thing for them yet.
SCREENSHOTS
1.Smolder's tea party dream
2.Silverstream's explanation to her family
3.Harmony Sparkle head tilt makes this a SHAFT anime
4.Silverstream's paintings
5.Silverstream superhero landing
1.Getting ready to sacrifice Gallus
2.Silverstream's drawings of everyone
3.Rock Ocellus
FAN CONTENT
There's a decent amount of art for this episode, plus a bunch more from the season premiere. No decent song remixes yet, but that's one place that fandom has definitely been slower with compared to the early days.
1.Hello, Fellow Organisms by Underpable on DeviantArt - Harmony Sparkle. I'm pretty sure the idea is that she visited existing dreams, but still funny.
2.duct tape attacking by Taneysha on DeviantArt - Yona and Gallus
3.Harmony Sparkle Surprise Motherfucker by colorfulcolor233
4.Painting Silverstream by 1racat
5.Boulder X Ocellus by variant
1.What are you looking at? by uotapo on DeviantArt - Smolder
2.Human Harmony Sparkle delet this by fantasygerard2000 - Reacting to people living inside her now
3.Wonderbolt Silverstream by cheezedoodle96
4.Fanart - MLP. Season 9, Remains of Harmony by jamescorck on DeviantArt - Student Six
5.Gallus the Bearded by AssasinMonkey on DeviantArt
1.Me? Cute? by johnjoseco on DeviantArt - Smolder
2.Spirit of the Treehouse (Pic of the week MLPS9E3) by JonFawkes on DeviantArt - Human Harmony Sparkle
3.Dragon Ocellus by Mojo1985 on DeviantArt
Here's more "Beginning of the End" art.
1.Discord X Fluttershy by sadistjolt
2.The Thronebreaker by Blackligerth on DeviantArt - Twilight vs. Sombra
3.Villains are not friends by nabebuta11 on DeviantArt - Grogar Gang
4.Starlight Joins The League Of Evil by SadTrooper on DeviantArt - Also Grogar
5.King Sombra by Polkadot-Creeper on DeviantArt
1.Sombra by Hierozaki on DeviantArt
2.Sombra - DTIYS entry by TigerDC on DeviantArt
3.Cozy Glow saying "Fuck!" by doctorcoat
4.King Sombra by Basykail on DeviantArt
5.Flurry Heart biting Sombra by jcosneverexisted
1.Grogar Gang by pony quarantine
2.[Spoiler} Quick ScreenCap Redraw Grogar by RedPalette on DeviantArt
3.Doombringer by zoarvek on DeviantArt - Grogar
4.Rebuilding Empire by AcidEmerald on DeviantArt - Cadance talking new ships with Shining Armor
5.Trix overslept by FuzzyPones on DeviantArt
1.Muh Stairs by Underpable on DeviantArt - Sombra and Cadance
2.Hail to the king by thediscorded on DeviantArt - Sombra
3.Creator of all monsters by Imalou on DeviantArt - Grogar
4.Twilight teaching Silverstream how to Twilight by luciferamon
5.Sombra on a throne by magicstarfriends
1.Tirek flexing with Cozy Glow by maxieforest - Artist says this isn't shipping
2.Drill Hair Pinkie by akainu_pony
3.Fluttercord by SkyeyPony on DeviantArt - Fluttershy X Discord
Some Spring Breakdown art too.
1.Vacation by SweetPieee on DeviantArt - SciTwi X Rainbow, with Pinkie and Rarity
2.Rarity comforts AJ (Random Sketches #16) by BrekrofMadness on DeviantArt
3.Pinkie Spring Break by qaq
And a bunch of comics.
S9E3 - Treehouse of Harmony by luminaura on DeviantArt
An Urgent Matter by DeusExEquus on DeviantArt
1+2 A Loquacious Revenge by BJDazzle on DeviantArt
Taking Friendship To The Next Level by Mew-Me on DeviantArt
Bunch of Twilights Spongebob meme by pinkiespresent
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