Dear Silver Quill, It's not about ego, it's about the Elements of Harmony. · 10:53pm Dec 2nd, 2015
For a while now, something very obvious has seemed to escape the Brony Analysis Community, and it seems to have come to a head with this latest season finale. Toon Krytic Y2K was salty because Starlight Glimmer wasn't punished, and Silver Quill was a bit put out by the Mane Six being so critical to Equestria. He was annoyed by the ego that Twilight had about her friends being so important. Heck, Twilight didn't even realize why she and her friends were so important. Well the answer may surprise you, and then make you go "Why didn't I see this?!"
Think way back to Season Two's opener which introduced us to Discord. Didn't Celestia mention that the Mane Six had a stronger bond with the Elements of Harmony than even she and Luna had? Two seasons later, did you really think that bond went away when they gave up the gems? Of course not. And through Season Four, each one had a test of their specific Elemental Virtue. Each one had to be willing to sacrifice something that was important to them in order to remain true to that virtue. Rarity had to be willing to give up winning Fashion Week to be true to her Generosity. Rainbow Dash had to be willing to give up flying with the Wonderbolts to stay true to her Loyalty. Pinkie Pie had to give up her pride of place as Ponyville's Premier Party Pony to stay true to her Laughter. Applejack had to sacrifice her reputation in Ponyville to retain her integrity, her Honesty. Fluttershy had to give up being the ultimate critter caretaker to remain true to her Kindness. Lastly, Twilight had to give up the power of four alicorns to remain true to the Magic of Friendship. Then they received the Rainbow Power. Funny thing, it was mentioned by several in the Analysis Community that the Rainbow Power was just the same old "Taste the rainbow mothertrucker" effect that the Elements had. Even then, nobody seemed to make the connection.
Nobody questioned why the Mane Six were being tested in their Elemental Virtues. They just thought that character was just getting a key for the latest deus ex machina. Nobody seemed to wonder about the implications of why each one had to prove themselves true to the Element with which they had bonded. The answer is simple. They had to prove themselves worthy vessels for the powers of Harmony. They had to be true to the Element they would represent. Because with the acquisition of the Rainbow Power the Mane Six went from being the bearers of the Elements of Harmony to BEING the Elements of Harmony.
It is quite possible that in the alternate futures we saw in the Season Five Finale, that other ponies were found that could bear the Elements of Harmony, but they wouldn't have the same bond, and were defeated by each of the villains that were showcased.
It's quite possible that their destinies being tied together by one little filly doing the impossible made the Mane Six have the proper resonance to bear then eventually become the Elements of Harmony.
So it's not about ego, it's about Elements, and the fact that those six ponies become the force for spreading friendship and Harmony.
I feel Silver Quill should have went a bit deeper into the comparison with the Turn Left episode of Doctor Who. The Doctor, like the Elements of Harmony, wasn't critically important as there were others that could have taken his place during various events though there were great sacrifices to beat those enemies. In fact Donna was the Sonic Rainboom of that episode as when she was taken away everything steadily went to hell. The thing he was missing was that they were only important for the BEST possible outcome and everything would have been fine if it wasn't for the fact that all the events happened in such a short period of time. If Nightmare Moon, Discord, the changelings, Sombra, and Tirek happened with a decade or two between them then everything still could have turned out fine as there would have been time for replacement heroes to step up. But because they all happened within the time-span of a couple years that meant there was no time to replace any lost Wonderbolts, powerful guards, or the like. The Elements of Harmony being united by the Rainboom allowed them to have a group that could succeed without all the attrition that would happen otherwise.
Threads of fate are, quite often, hard to spot let alone follow. Truthfully, I saw no hubris when Twilight said her friends were important to Equestria, and that she did not know why.
Especially when Zekora explained it! Change one thing in a timeline, and it changes things down stream drastically!
Now, I have a lot of respect for the review community, but I agree with you here. There was no ego, there was simply someone unbalancing the scales by removing some key pieces.
Well said, Kitty.
3588010 Exactly! It is, in essence, chaos theory. But nobody seems to have caught on that the Mane Six, themselves, have actually become the Elements, instead of merely bearing them.