And so, here we are. Almost a full year since the last episode of MLP aired, and we once more have a new season to start watching. Which means, for me at least, several months? worth of weekly episode reviews. So, let's get started with the season five two-part opener. As per usual with my reviews, it will undoubtedly contain spoilers for those who have not watched the episode. If you don't wish to be spoiled, look away now.
The premise of this episode is that Twilight's new castle magically directs both her and her friends to a mysterious town far away, wherein they discover that the residents have all given up their cutie marks.
Let?s me first start this by saying how much I adore that this series, even after so many episodes, still manages to surprise me. Those who have read my reviews in the past will know that I have a tendency to say at the end of each season that the show has reached a natural end point, that it's unlikely that they'll be able to top things or go further. And every time, I'm proved wrong, and this is one of the few cases in which I'm happy that that's the case. The show continues to try new things and have these characters develop in ways I never considered, bringing new scenarios that furthers just how much this show can do with it's premise. They've done this for four seasons in a row and, as you'll soon see, I think they may just do it again with this one too.
Okay, as the opener to the season, this episode's task is clearly to establish the new status quo of the show. Not only does Twilight have a new place of residence, but it also seems to serve as the group's unofficial headquarters regarding their episode-to-episode shenanigans. Now, firstly, let me just address the issue people have been bringing up about this castle. Yes, I know it was designed to sell toys, but then, so is everything else in this show. I didn't look down on Cadence or Shining Armour or any other characters who were introduced for reasons like that, and I'm not going to do it here. With that settled, I do wish to say that I find it interesting that it now seems to be serving the role of informing Twilight of the various goings on in Equestria that she and the others will need to deal with. I know I should probably ask how it's able to do this, but since it was born from the magic of the tree of harmony, which we still don't fully understand, I'm willing to accept it. After all, questioning things is good, but so too is a little mystery every once in a while.
As per usual with two-part episodes, the story is centred around Twilight, with the rest of her friends playing minor or secondary roles. As it was stated in the season four finale, Twilight's role now is to spread the lessons of friendship across Equestria, with this outlying town being the first place she does so. The idea of Twilight taking what she's learned and using it to help others around their nation is an interesting concept, and one that offers a lot of possibilities for new locations and challenges for her to overcome. Having had over a whole season as an official Princess, there were times when I wondered if it really changed her character at all, with only a few episodes really touching on it, and even then it was mostly because she was expected to take up some official position. However, I can safely say that her character has grown as a result of this ascension, but in a good way. Because while she retains many of the qualities we fell in love with all those years ago, there seems now to be an added confidence to it all. When a situation arises, Twilight's first instinct now is to go out and deal with it, even to the point of not even bothering to consult the other Princesses. She has this position of authority, and she's taken it upon herself to be the one to deal with problems, even ones far away from her home in Ponyville. It's subtle, but it's definitely there.
So, let's discuss the general premise of this episode. More specifically, let's discuss our main villain, Starlight Glimmer. The first thing I'd like to say about her is that it's rather refreshing that, for the first time, we have a regular pony as the villain of a two-parter. Oh sure we've had other ponies as antagonists, but for the two-parters they've usually been restricted to having some ancient evil return and menace the land. Here's it's just a regular unicorn taking up the mantle of villain, which is a nice shake up. Plus, it was a nice touch to also have the characters themselves expect some kind of terrible creature that they would have to deal with, only to have it turn out to be some unicorn. That was a nice nod to the series formula and it's subversion. However, I will say that I feel the need to criticize Hasbro for it's marketing on this one. I mean, let's face it, we all knew this mare was going to be the bad guy months before this episode came out. Hasbro, on the off-chance you actually read this review, you might want to be a little less revealing with your preview trailers. Because I can tell you right now, had I gone into this not already expecting Starlight, I'd have been hugely surprised as to having her turn out to be the villain.
Now then, let's discuss her plan, that being to enforce equality upon Equestria by the seizing of every pony's cutie marks. The idea of equality is noteworthy as it's, I think, the first time this show has tried to tackle a social message before. Lessons regarding friendships and other relationships are abound in MLP, but wider issues that whole societies have to deal with? That's definitely as new one. Plus, it gives our villain something that none of the past villains have ever had before, an actual sympathetic cause. In the past, every villain has wanted either general destruction or were driven by self-serving reasons. Starlight glimmer is the first villain that seems to be driven by wanting to make things better for other ponies, or, at the very least, "better" as she sees it. And it's something we the audience can recognise and understand that she has a point on. After all, the show itself has established that cutie marks do indeed set some ponies as better at a lot of things than others. Just as one example, Twilight's talent was magic itself, which pretty much means she was destined to accomplish far more than most others.
It's an angle the show hasn't really tackled before, and, more importantly, it's one that puts me specifically in a rather awkward position. Anyone who has read my work in the past will know that the idea of the cutie marks is something that I've taken issue with on more than one occasion. Things like having the characters be basically branded with what they're supposed to do has, among other things, never sat well with me. However, do not take that to mean that I, in any way, approve of what Starlight was trying to do here. On the contrary, because while I continue to have reservations with the cutie marks myself, I've at least made peace with the fact that the characters themselves have no issue with them, and actually seem happy with them. Still, the fact that the villain was actually going against a concept I've criticised in the past, and thus almost put me on her side ideologically, was a rather disturbing revelation for me. Not that that's a bad thing though, in fact, I wish the show would do that more often. By all means take me out of my comfort zone.
In fact, this entire episode reminds me a great deal of a story I encountered when I was much younger. Unfortunately, the name of the story escapes me at the moment, but the premise itself is still as clear as day to me. The basic setup was that it's a dystopian future, and all peoples are made equal. However, that equality has been brought about by rigorously enforcing people to suppress the natural advantages they have over others. Beautiful and attractive people were forced to cover their faces, strong and athletic people had to wear heavy weights all the time, and so on and so forth. Granted, that kind of message-mongering is about as subtle as a hammer to the face, but even so, the basic point is as clear in that story as it is in this two-parter; Just because an action is taken to make people equal doesn't mean that action is good. And that's perhaps the most striking thing about this two-parter. Children's stories usually strive to have equality be portrayed in a positive manner, so to have it be a tool of an antagonist is a fairly brave thing for them to have done here. Although, the message might have been a little bit stronger if it turned out that Starlight was just as equal as the rest, rather than lying about it the whole time, having her truly believe in her cause instead of having it be part of a scheme.
Now, fans of the show will, at this point, be quick to point out that the idea of taking away the characters? talents and cutie marks has actually been done a couple of times before, both when Discord was first introduced and last season when Tirek came about. And that is certainly true, it is a re-used idea. However, I think it should be forgiven on that point because it actually does things a bit differently. Firstly, as I said, it's being used by Starlight as part of a cause, rather than simply amusement or desire for power like Discord and Tirek did. Secondly, I would argue that, with the way it's handled, the loss of their marks is actually more impactful in this episode than the other ones. When the main six find that their marks are taken, and their special talents are gone with them, you really feel how upset they are from it. In the previous episodes, the loss, despite being dramatically portrayed, was quickly glanced over as the characters had to charge forward with their plan, so we never got a chance to have their lack of abilities sink in. So on that note, I think this episode does this concept just a little bit better.
What's more interesting about this premise is that it?s taking place immediately after the premise we got in the last MLP story, the second Equestria Girls movie, Rainbow Rocks. In that film, the story's villains, the Dazzlings, were magically making people follow a belief of proving that they were better than everyone around them, that achieving greatness was more important than their friendships. Here, we have the exact opposite scenario, with Starlight making people get along by having their advantages suppressed, effectively forcing them to be equal, thinking that being better is an inherently bad thing. I don't know if this was intentional on the part of the writers, but this could be seen as an overall attempt to show the dangers of taking such things too far. Proving you?re the best is fine, if it doesn't hurt your friends in the process, and likewise, making yourself lesser to get along with others is also bad, especially if it's done to the unwilling. Both extremes are bad and you need to find a happy middle. Again, I don't know if it was the writer's intention, but if so, it was well done.
However, one downside to all of this, is the fact that I think they missed a great opportunity with this premise. I mean, here we have a society where cutie marks have been removed to make everyone happy by forcing them to be equal. Do you know who would have been interesting to see in an episode like this? The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Think about it, those are three fillies who got together largely because of shared prejudice amongst youngsters regarding those without cutie marks. It would have been fascinating to see them involved in all this and see their views on the matter. Maybe, for instance, they become swayed by Starlight's arguments, having experienced bullying for their lack of marks in the past, perhaps putting them at odds with what Twilight and the others want. I know it's unfair of me to criticise an episode for something they ultimately didn't put in, but still, I think it would have been an interesting angle to play.
Something else I think should really be discussed about this story is that, overall, I think it could well be the most disturbing episode of MLP that we've had so far. True, we've had some dark and serious moment in the past, but none of them were ever quite as subtly unnerving as this story was. The idea of some secluded village where bad things are going on has been done before, but as far as I know, no children's show has attempted it. From the way all the ponies in the village were smiling, to the way everything slowly built-up to having our heroines lose at the end of part one, the whole episode had a really uncomfortable feel to it. Granted, I realise that this was most likely the intention, to make us just as uneasy with all this as the characters were, and so I have to give them credit for being so effective at it. Once again, this kind of thing just shows how adept this show is at being dramatic and tense when it needs to be.
Two things in particular really surprised me about this episode. The first of them is that the ultimate conflict was resolved, not by the main six, but by a group of ponies we only just met in this episode. I think that's actually a good shake-up, as it shows that our six heroines aren't the only people in this world that can help to fight the bad guys, or even be useful, as so many other minor characters have been shown to be unimportant compared to Twilight and the others in the past. Secondly, I found it very interesting that Starlight, after everything that happened, actually got away, leaving it open for her to appear again in the future. This is the first time such a thing has happened, and it leads me to think that, perhaps, she may return later in the season as a recurring antagonist. It would be the first time such a thing has happened in this show, and if it's true, then I look forward to seeing how they handle such a character, especially since we never really got to understand her motivations in this story.
Onto the comedy now and, like most two-part episodes, it's somewhat lacking. That's no criticism however. After all, it's been made pretty clear throughout the show that two-parters are generally where the show's most serious and dramatic moments take place, which means comedy, for the most part, gets relegated to the back seat. However, do not take this to mean that there are no funny moments, because there are. Pinkie Pie, as expected, always provides plenty of levity, even in the more dire moments of the story, and Spike, despite his relatively minor presence in the episode, also manages to get a chuckle here and there. So while I can't say that there's a lot to laugh about with this one, I can say that the comedic moments we did get were still well executed.
Time to talk about the songs now, and this time we have several to discuss. The song sung by the ponies of the town was, admittedly, well done, even though I fell genuinely disturbed by it. But then, I gather that this was probably the point. The whole place was designed from the get-go to unnerve the audience with how forcibly pleasant everything is, so it makes sense that their song would be too. The way everything seemed so passive-aggressive, with Starlight Glimmer going around and just correcting every pony in the line-up, it was a very unnerving and uncomfortable thing to watch, though again, I understand that was probably the intention.
As for the moral of the story, I think it's safe to say that we all know what it is at this point. It was, after all, the whole point of the episode, to show that while equality is an inherently good thing, forcing it onto people is never justified, and that just because different people have things that set them apart doesn't mean they can't get along and be friends. Learning to accept and be friends with those different from you is a great message for kids, and I salute this episode for trying to get it across. I will say though that this could well be the first two-parter that actually tries to teach such a message. Most others, like "Canterlot Wedding" or "Twilight's Kingdom", have usually settle for staying as simple good vs evil stories, so it's a nice change of pace to see a two-parter try and teach something in addition to being serious and dramatic.
Overall, I really liked this episode. The characters were just as endearing as ever, the animation remains impressive to look at, the message was well told and important, and we were given a great new villain. While it?s easy for me to say that this episode isn?t as dark or intense as the season four finale, that?s no mark against it, as I know that not every episode, even the two-parters, need to be like that all the time. At this early stage, it'll be virtually impossible for me to say how this ranks among my top episodes, at least until some time has passed, but I can safely say that I was thoroughly entertained and engaged by what I saw here. Only time will tell if the rest of the season manages to live up to the standard set by this episode, but for right now, the season is off to a very strong start. I heartily recommend this one.
The premise of this episode is that Twilight's new castle magically directs both her and her friends to a mysterious town far away, wherein they discover that the residents have all given up their cutie marks.
Let?s me first start this by saying how much I adore that this series, even after so many episodes, still manages to surprise me. Those who have read my reviews in the past will know that I have a tendency to say at the end of each season that the show has reached a natural end point, that it's unlikely that they'll be able to top things or go further. And every time, I'm proved wrong, and this is one of the few cases in which I'm happy that that's the case. The show continues to try new things and have these characters develop in ways I never considered, bringing new scenarios that furthers just how much this show can do with it's premise. They've done this for four seasons in a row and, as you'll soon see, I think they may just do it again with this one too.
Okay, as the opener to the season, this episode's task is clearly to establish the new status quo of the show. Not only does Twilight have a new place of residence, but it also seems to serve as the group's unofficial headquarters regarding their episode-to-episode shenanigans. Now, firstly, let me just address the issue people have been bringing up about this castle. Yes, I know it was designed to sell toys, but then, so is everything else in this show. I didn't look down on Cadence or Shining Armour or any other characters who were introduced for reasons like that, and I'm not going to do it here. With that settled, I do wish to say that I find it interesting that it now seems to be serving the role of informing Twilight of the various goings on in Equestria that she and the others will need to deal with. I know I should probably ask how it's able to do this, but since it was born from the magic of the tree of harmony, which we still don't fully understand, I'm willing to accept it. After all, questioning things is good, but so too is a little mystery every once in a while.
As per usual with two-part episodes, the story is centred around Twilight, with the rest of her friends playing minor or secondary roles. As it was stated in the season four finale, Twilight's role now is to spread the lessons of friendship across Equestria, with this outlying town being the first place she does so. The idea of Twilight taking what she's learned and using it to help others around their nation is an interesting concept, and one that offers a lot of possibilities for new locations and challenges for her to overcome. Having had over a whole season as an official Princess, there were times when I wondered if it really changed her character at all, with only a few episodes really touching on it, and even then it was mostly because she was expected to take up some official position. However, I can safely say that her character has grown as a result of this ascension, but in a good way. Because while she retains many of the qualities we fell in love with all those years ago, there seems now to be an added confidence to it all. When a situation arises, Twilight's first instinct now is to go out and deal with it, even to the point of not even bothering to consult the other Princesses. She has this position of authority, and she's taken it upon herself to be the one to deal with problems, even ones far away from her home in Ponyville. It's subtle, but it's definitely there.
So, let's discuss the general premise of this episode. More specifically, let's discuss our main villain, Starlight Glimmer. The first thing I'd like to say about her is that it's rather refreshing that, for the first time, we have a regular pony as the villain of a two-parter. Oh sure we've had other ponies as antagonists, but for the two-parters they've usually been restricted to having some ancient evil return and menace the land. Here's it's just a regular unicorn taking up the mantle of villain, which is a nice shake up. Plus, it was a nice touch to also have the characters themselves expect some kind of terrible creature that they would have to deal with, only to have it turn out to be some unicorn. That was a nice nod to the series formula and it's subversion. However, I will say that I feel the need to criticize Hasbro for it's marketing on this one. I mean, let's face it, we all knew this mare was going to be the bad guy months before this episode came out. Hasbro, on the off-chance you actually read this review, you might want to be a little less revealing with your preview trailers. Because I can tell you right now, had I gone into this not already expecting Starlight, I'd have been hugely surprised as to having her turn out to be the villain.
Now then, let's discuss her plan, that being to enforce equality upon Equestria by the seizing of every pony's cutie marks. The idea of equality is noteworthy as it's, I think, the first time this show has tried to tackle a social message before. Lessons regarding friendships and other relationships are abound in MLP, but wider issues that whole societies have to deal with? That's definitely as new one. Plus, it gives our villain something that none of the past villains have ever had before, an actual sympathetic cause. In the past, every villain has wanted either general destruction or were driven by self-serving reasons. Starlight glimmer is the first villain that seems to be driven by wanting to make things better for other ponies, or, at the very least, "better" as she sees it. And it's something we the audience can recognise and understand that she has a point on. After all, the show itself has established that cutie marks do indeed set some ponies as better at a lot of things than others. Just as one example, Twilight's talent was magic itself, which pretty much means she was destined to accomplish far more than most others.
It's an angle the show hasn't really tackled before, and, more importantly, it's one that puts me specifically in a rather awkward position. Anyone who has read my work in the past will know that the idea of the cutie marks is something that I've taken issue with on more than one occasion. Things like having the characters be basically branded with what they're supposed to do has, among other things, never sat well with me. However, do not take that to mean that I, in any way, approve of what Starlight was trying to do here. On the contrary, because while I continue to have reservations with the cutie marks myself, I've at least made peace with the fact that the characters themselves have no issue with them, and actually seem happy with them. Still, the fact that the villain was actually going against a concept I've criticised in the past, and thus almost put me on her side ideologically, was a rather disturbing revelation for me. Not that that's a bad thing though, in fact, I wish the show would do that more often. By all means take me out of my comfort zone.
In fact, this entire episode reminds me a great deal of a story I encountered when I was much younger. Unfortunately, the name of the story escapes me at the moment, but the premise itself is still as clear as day to me. The basic setup was that it's a dystopian future, and all peoples are made equal. However, that equality has been brought about by rigorously enforcing people to suppress the natural advantages they have over others. Beautiful and attractive people were forced to cover their faces, strong and athletic people had to wear heavy weights all the time, and so on and so forth. Granted, that kind of message-mongering is about as subtle as a hammer to the face, but even so, the basic point is as clear in that story as it is in this two-parter; Just because an action is taken to make people equal doesn't mean that action is good. And that's perhaps the most striking thing about this two-parter. Children's stories usually strive to have equality be portrayed in a positive manner, so to have it be a tool of an antagonist is a fairly brave thing for them to have done here. Although, the message might have been a little bit stronger if it turned out that Starlight was just as equal as the rest, rather than lying about it the whole time, having her truly believe in her cause instead of having it be part of a scheme.
Now, fans of the show will, at this point, be quick to point out that the idea of taking away the characters? talents and cutie marks has actually been done a couple of times before, both when Discord was first introduced and last season when Tirek came about. And that is certainly true, it is a re-used idea. However, I think it should be forgiven on that point because it actually does things a bit differently. Firstly, as I said, it's being used by Starlight as part of a cause, rather than simply amusement or desire for power like Discord and Tirek did. Secondly, I would argue that, with the way it's handled, the loss of their marks is actually more impactful in this episode than the other ones. When the main six find that their marks are taken, and their special talents are gone with them, you really feel how upset they are from it. In the previous episodes, the loss, despite being dramatically portrayed, was quickly glanced over as the characters had to charge forward with their plan, so we never got a chance to have their lack of abilities sink in. So on that note, I think this episode does this concept just a little bit better.
What's more interesting about this premise is that it?s taking place immediately after the premise we got in the last MLP story, the second Equestria Girls movie, Rainbow Rocks. In that film, the story's villains, the Dazzlings, were magically making people follow a belief of proving that they were better than everyone around them, that achieving greatness was more important than their friendships. Here, we have the exact opposite scenario, with Starlight making people get along by having their advantages suppressed, effectively forcing them to be equal, thinking that being better is an inherently bad thing. I don't know if this was intentional on the part of the writers, but this could be seen as an overall attempt to show the dangers of taking such things too far. Proving you?re the best is fine, if it doesn't hurt your friends in the process, and likewise, making yourself lesser to get along with others is also bad, especially if it's done to the unwilling. Both extremes are bad and you need to find a happy middle. Again, I don't know if it was the writer's intention, but if so, it was well done.
However, one downside to all of this, is the fact that I think they missed a great opportunity with this premise. I mean, here we have a society where cutie marks have been removed to make everyone happy by forcing them to be equal. Do you know who would have been interesting to see in an episode like this? The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Think about it, those are three fillies who got together largely because of shared prejudice amongst youngsters regarding those without cutie marks. It would have been fascinating to see them involved in all this and see their views on the matter. Maybe, for instance, they become swayed by Starlight's arguments, having experienced bullying for their lack of marks in the past, perhaps putting them at odds with what Twilight and the others want. I know it's unfair of me to criticise an episode for something they ultimately didn't put in, but still, I think it would have been an interesting angle to play.
Something else I think should really be discussed about this story is that, overall, I think it could well be the most disturbing episode of MLP that we've had so far. True, we've had some dark and serious moment in the past, but none of them were ever quite as subtly unnerving as this story was. The idea of some secluded village where bad things are going on has been done before, but as far as I know, no children's show has attempted it. From the way all the ponies in the village were smiling, to the way everything slowly built-up to having our heroines lose at the end of part one, the whole episode had a really uncomfortable feel to it. Granted, I realise that this was most likely the intention, to make us just as uneasy with all this as the characters were, and so I have to give them credit for being so effective at it. Once again, this kind of thing just shows how adept this show is at being dramatic and tense when it needs to be.
Two things in particular really surprised me about this episode. The first of them is that the ultimate conflict was resolved, not by the main six, but by a group of ponies we only just met in this episode. I think that's actually a good shake-up, as it shows that our six heroines aren't the only people in this world that can help to fight the bad guys, or even be useful, as so many other minor characters have been shown to be unimportant compared to Twilight and the others in the past. Secondly, I found it very interesting that Starlight, after everything that happened, actually got away, leaving it open for her to appear again in the future. This is the first time such a thing has happened, and it leads me to think that, perhaps, she may return later in the season as a recurring antagonist. It would be the first time such a thing has happened in this show, and if it's true, then I look forward to seeing how they handle such a character, especially since we never really got to understand her motivations in this story.
Onto the comedy now and, like most two-part episodes, it's somewhat lacking. That's no criticism however. After all, it's been made pretty clear throughout the show that two-parters are generally where the show's most serious and dramatic moments take place, which means comedy, for the most part, gets relegated to the back seat. However, do not take this to mean that there are no funny moments, because there are. Pinkie Pie, as expected, always provides plenty of levity, even in the more dire moments of the story, and Spike, despite his relatively minor presence in the episode, also manages to get a chuckle here and there. So while I can't say that there's a lot to laugh about with this one, I can say that the comedic moments we did get were still well executed.
Time to talk about the songs now, and this time we have several to discuss. The song sung by the ponies of the town was, admittedly, well done, even though I fell genuinely disturbed by it. But then, I gather that this was probably the point. The whole place was designed from the get-go to unnerve the audience with how forcibly pleasant everything is, so it makes sense that their song would be too. The way everything seemed so passive-aggressive, with Starlight Glimmer going around and just correcting every pony in the line-up, it was a very unnerving and uncomfortable thing to watch, though again, I understand that was probably the intention.
As for the moral of the story, I think it's safe to say that we all know what it is at this point. It was, after all, the whole point of the episode, to show that while equality is an inherently good thing, forcing it onto people is never justified, and that just because different people have things that set them apart doesn't mean they can't get along and be friends. Learning to accept and be friends with those different from you is a great message for kids, and I salute this episode for trying to get it across. I will say though that this could well be the first two-parter that actually tries to teach such a message. Most others, like "Canterlot Wedding" or "Twilight's Kingdom", have usually settle for staying as simple good vs evil stories, so it's a nice change of pace to see a two-parter try and teach something in addition to being serious and dramatic.
Overall, I really liked this episode. The characters were just as endearing as ever, the animation remains impressive to look at, the message was well told and important, and we were given a great new villain. While it?s easy for me to say that this episode isn?t as dark or intense as the season four finale, that?s no mark against it, as I know that not every episode, even the two-parters, need to be like that all the time. At this early stage, it'll be virtually impossible for me to say how this ranks among my top episodes, at least until some time has passed, but I can safely say that I was thoroughly entertained and engaged by what I saw here. Only time will tell if the rest of the season manages to live up to the standard set by this episode, but for right now, the season is off to a very strong start. I heartily recommend this one.
