This review will contain spoilers for those who have not seen the latest episode.
The premise for this episode is that Spike's nerves get the better of him when he is put in charge of lighting the Equestria Games torch.
One thing I would like to say about this before anything else is that I really like how we're finally getting to the Equestria Games that have been hinted at for so long. This event has been in the works ever since the latter part of the third season, which makes in the longest-running story arc we've had in MLP so far. Many episodes have been devoted to building this thing up and now we finally get the payoff. In many ways, this whole thing reminds me of the Grand Galloping Gala arc from the first season, except here there's been far more development to it. Plus, I think it was a good move to have it established last season, as these sorts of massive events take a long time to sort out in real life.
As for the episode itself, I will confess that when I imagined how the Equestria Games arc would end, this is not the kind of episode I was expecting. That's not to say this is a bad episode exactly, it just doesn't have the focus I would have thought this particular story would be given. We've been told over and over how important an even this is, and we've seen the ponies struggle to do their best in competing for it. And yet, now that it's here, the focus is instead on Spike struggling to perform a largely ceremonial task, rather than the other characters go through their own respective events, even though those events were given attention.
Now, that's not to say I think this is an inherently bad thing. After all, I've gone on record a few times now that the event this is based off, the Olympic Games, which is not something I ever really got that enthusiastic about to begin with, so I'm not really bothered that this episode doesn't go down that more predictable path. What I will say is that it is once again nice to have Spike be the focus of the story, even though his previous arc was only last week. As for his conflict, I'm sorry to say that this is again something the show has done many times in the past, putting a character in a position where they must overcome some self-consciousness to do something publicaly.
To the episode's credit, the message is no less relevant now than it was in all those previous outings. Spike's need to overcome nerves is just as important as, say, Fluttershy learning to do it back in "Hurricane Fluttershy", or Twilight overcoming self-consciousness to save the day back in "Boast-Busters". Plus, I myself have experienced nerves when involved in public events in the past, so at the very least this episode does a fine job of portraying just how difficult a position Spike is in here, and what problems there are in overcoming those issues.
The idea that Spike would be revered in the Crystal Empire is an interesting one, not the least of which because it undermines a thought I had back in season three where Spike's heroism in the Empire's debut would go uncomented on for the rest of the series. That is clearly not the case here, and I like that this act on his part hasn't been forgotten. However, what I will say is that it seems that those in charge might have wanted to reconsider putting so much pressure on him.
He might have had a hand in their salvation, but piling on that much praise and expecting him to do something this important at such a young age seems like a bad call to me. I know from first-hand experience how difficult that kind of pressure can be, and having all these other characters rub in the fact of how important this event and his role in it just seems like it would do more harm than good. Then again, I suppose it could be argued that, after all the other dangerous things he's gone through, that he would be capable of doing a relatively small task like lighting a fire.
Twilight's actions were, in my view, completely understandable given the circumstances. She and Spike have been close for a long time and it makes sense that she'd want it to appear as though he'd done well. Now, I will fully admit that doing something somewhat decietful like that might be counter to a lot of the morals that this show has given so far, but even so, it was for good reasons. In addition to that, it provided a good motivation for Spike, as being in a position where he doubts his worthiness is a major part of many of his focus episodes.
As for the other characters, there are plenty who get a chance to shine here. The CMC's involvement was great to see, given how integral it was to their first episode, "Flight to the Finish". Rainbow and Fluttershy's event, although not the focus of the story, was at least acknowledged, and I like how Rainbow's development shines through here, showing that winning the most medals wasn't her top priority. The return of Shining Armour was a nice touch given his relative importance in the previous season, and Cadence's interactions with the other characters works just as well. Seeing Celestia and Luna was nice, given that the two haven't had much to do in this seasnon, save for Luna visiting Sweetie Belle's dream a few episodes ago. All-in-all, the entire major and supporting cast got attention here, which is a rarity for this show.
When it comes to the humour of the episode, this week most of the jokes and funny moments centre around Spike. I mentioned in last week's review that Spike is not one of the characters that I consider among the funnier in this show. Getting involved in antics usually expected of young children has always been the defining trait of his brand of humour, and much like the CMC, it's very hit-or-miss for me. Having said that, this show does have a habit of bringing out very funny moments from characters who are having stressful times, "Lesson Zero" being the best example of this. I know it may be cruel to say, but the funniest moments of this episode all came from Spike trying to cope with his nerves, so on that note, this episode is far from a flop when it comes to humour.
Onto the songs now and this week we get, I'm sorry to say, a rather cringe-worthy song by Spike during the mid-section of the episode. I understand what they were going for, that it was meant to be an embarrassing and uncomfortable moment for all the characters and the audience. And if that was their goal, then kudos to pulling it off. But, just because they acknowledge that something is uncomfortable doesn't stop it from being less so when I watch it, so I'm afraid I can't really say anything good about it other than the fact that it does what it was meant to.
Time to discuss the lesson of the episode, and this week it seems to be that there are two lessons going on here. The first lesson is that even though other people may praise us for the things we do, such praise isn't going to matter much to us if we don't believe it. Secondly, there's the lesson that only we can stop ourselves from being disappointed in our actions, and that other people aren't going to be able to help us when we feel we've let ourselves down. These both seem like relatively mature lessons for this show, teaching kids that we need to have confidence in ourselves, rather than seeking it from others. It's a good couple of lessons, and I praise it for trying to get that message out.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Well, this is a mixed one for me. On the one hand, I can't say that this is a bad episode, not by a long shot. The character moments were great, we had yet another good outing for Spike, the humour hit it's mark and I was entertained all the way throughout. However, compared to last week's episode, it felt just a little bit weaker. I mentioned in last week's review that it felt stronger than an episode like "Trade Ya" because the focus was on just a couple of characters. This episode suffers from having the focus spread over a multitude of different storylines and characters. Now, I have gone on record as saying that I like it when all these guys have the spotlight, but sometimes there can be too much of a good thing,. So, while I fully consider this a good episode, and worth watching, I won't be counting it among my favourites of this season.
The premise for this episode is that Spike's nerves get the better of him when he is put in charge of lighting the Equestria Games torch.
One thing I would like to say about this before anything else is that I really like how we're finally getting to the Equestria Games that have been hinted at for so long. This event has been in the works ever since the latter part of the third season, which makes in the longest-running story arc we've had in MLP so far. Many episodes have been devoted to building this thing up and now we finally get the payoff. In many ways, this whole thing reminds me of the Grand Galloping Gala arc from the first season, except here there's been far more development to it. Plus, I think it was a good move to have it established last season, as these sorts of massive events take a long time to sort out in real life.
As for the episode itself, I will confess that when I imagined how the Equestria Games arc would end, this is not the kind of episode I was expecting. That's not to say this is a bad episode exactly, it just doesn't have the focus I would have thought this particular story would be given. We've been told over and over how important an even this is, and we've seen the ponies struggle to do their best in competing for it. And yet, now that it's here, the focus is instead on Spike struggling to perform a largely ceremonial task, rather than the other characters go through their own respective events, even though those events were given attention.
Now, that's not to say I think this is an inherently bad thing. After all, I've gone on record a few times now that the event this is based off, the Olympic Games, which is not something I ever really got that enthusiastic about to begin with, so I'm not really bothered that this episode doesn't go down that more predictable path. What I will say is that it is once again nice to have Spike be the focus of the story, even though his previous arc was only last week. As for his conflict, I'm sorry to say that this is again something the show has done many times in the past, putting a character in a position where they must overcome some self-consciousness to do something publicaly.
To the episode's credit, the message is no less relevant now than it was in all those previous outings. Spike's need to overcome nerves is just as important as, say, Fluttershy learning to do it back in "Hurricane Fluttershy", or Twilight overcoming self-consciousness to save the day back in "Boast-Busters". Plus, I myself have experienced nerves when involved in public events in the past, so at the very least this episode does a fine job of portraying just how difficult a position Spike is in here, and what problems there are in overcoming those issues.
The idea that Spike would be revered in the Crystal Empire is an interesting one, not the least of which because it undermines a thought I had back in season three where Spike's heroism in the Empire's debut would go uncomented on for the rest of the series. That is clearly not the case here, and I like that this act on his part hasn't been forgotten. However, what I will say is that it seems that those in charge might have wanted to reconsider putting so much pressure on him.
He might have had a hand in their salvation, but piling on that much praise and expecting him to do something this important at such a young age seems like a bad call to me. I know from first-hand experience how difficult that kind of pressure can be, and having all these other characters rub in the fact of how important this event and his role in it just seems like it would do more harm than good. Then again, I suppose it could be argued that, after all the other dangerous things he's gone through, that he would be capable of doing a relatively small task like lighting a fire.
Twilight's actions were, in my view, completely understandable given the circumstances. She and Spike have been close for a long time and it makes sense that she'd want it to appear as though he'd done well. Now, I will fully admit that doing something somewhat decietful like that might be counter to a lot of the morals that this show has given so far, but even so, it was for good reasons. In addition to that, it provided a good motivation for Spike, as being in a position where he doubts his worthiness is a major part of many of his focus episodes.
As for the other characters, there are plenty who get a chance to shine here. The CMC's involvement was great to see, given how integral it was to their first episode, "Flight to the Finish". Rainbow and Fluttershy's event, although not the focus of the story, was at least acknowledged, and I like how Rainbow's development shines through here, showing that winning the most medals wasn't her top priority. The return of Shining Armour was a nice touch given his relative importance in the previous season, and Cadence's interactions with the other characters works just as well. Seeing Celestia and Luna was nice, given that the two haven't had much to do in this seasnon, save for Luna visiting Sweetie Belle's dream a few episodes ago. All-in-all, the entire major and supporting cast got attention here, which is a rarity for this show.
When it comes to the humour of the episode, this week most of the jokes and funny moments centre around Spike. I mentioned in last week's review that Spike is not one of the characters that I consider among the funnier in this show. Getting involved in antics usually expected of young children has always been the defining trait of his brand of humour, and much like the CMC, it's very hit-or-miss for me. Having said that, this show does have a habit of bringing out very funny moments from characters who are having stressful times, "Lesson Zero" being the best example of this. I know it may be cruel to say, but the funniest moments of this episode all came from Spike trying to cope with his nerves, so on that note, this episode is far from a flop when it comes to humour.
Onto the songs now and this week we get, I'm sorry to say, a rather cringe-worthy song by Spike during the mid-section of the episode. I understand what they were going for, that it was meant to be an embarrassing and uncomfortable moment for all the characters and the audience. And if that was their goal, then kudos to pulling it off. But, just because they acknowledge that something is uncomfortable doesn't stop it from being less so when I watch it, so I'm afraid I can't really say anything good about it other than the fact that it does what it was meant to.
Time to discuss the lesson of the episode, and this week it seems to be that there are two lessons going on here. The first lesson is that even though other people may praise us for the things we do, such praise isn't going to matter much to us if we don't believe it. Secondly, there's the lesson that only we can stop ourselves from being disappointed in our actions, and that other people aren't going to be able to help us when we feel we've let ourselves down. These both seem like relatively mature lessons for this show, teaching kids that we need to have confidence in ourselves, rather than seeking it from others. It's a good couple of lessons, and I praise it for trying to get that message out.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Well, this is a mixed one for me. On the one hand, I can't say that this is a bad episode, not by a long shot. The character moments were great, we had yet another good outing for Spike, the humour hit it's mark and I was entertained all the way throughout. However, compared to last week's episode, it felt just a little bit weaker. I mentioned in last week's review that it felt stronger than an episode like "Trade Ya" because the focus was on just a couple of characters. This episode suffers from having the focus spread over a multitude of different storylines and characters. Now, I have gone on record as saying that I like it when all these guys have the spotlight, but sometimes there can be too much of a good thing,. So, while I fully consider this a good episode, and worth watching, I won't be counting it among my favourites of this season.