SPOILERS! Mariusioannesp Reviews: "Gauntlet of Fire"

WARNING!!! The following contains SPOILERS for today’s MLP episode “Gauntlet of Fire”.

Now, without further a-lot-of-dragons-do, here is my review of “Gauntlet of Fire”.

Spike finds that he has been called by the Dragon Lord and must journey to the Dragon Lands to compete in the Gauntlet of Fire to choose a new Dragon Lord. When Spike realizes the safety of Equestria depends on which dragon becomes Dragon Lord, he realizes he must become the Dragon Lord. Will Spike despite his shortcomings compared to other dragons succeed in ascending to the throne as Dragon Lord?

So, what’s the verdict?

Ah yes, the dreaded Spike episode. This could be either really good or really bad.

What we got was “Dragon Quest Part 2”. That is certainly a good thing. It was a little predictable, but that’s the least it could be. It could have been so much worse.

So yeah, I liked it.

We begin with Rarity searching for gems in a cave with Spike acting as her basket holder/bodyguard. Rarity is trying her best not to stir the bats in the cave with the light of her magic, so that’s when Spike suddenly starts glowing. Rarity rushes the glowing Spike to the Castle of Friendship where Princess Twilight Sparkle is having lunch with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Wait, hold up. Celestia and Luna are just paying Twilight visits unaccompanied by any fanfare and such. Twilight certainly has come a long way. Either way, it’s nice to see Celestia and Luna again so soon after the premiere. We didn’t see much of them last season if you think about it. Their presence here provides them with the chance of shedding light on Spike’s situation.

According to Celestia and Luna, dragons glow like this when they are called by the Dragon Lord back to the Dragon Lands. To make it stop, Spike must answer the summons and journey to the Dragon Lands. Rarity is aghast because the Dragon Lands are obviously full of dragons and how ghastly they are, kind of forgetting Spike is a dragon. Well except for Spike, she points out, and she then brings up Garble, the antagonist of “Dragon Quest”. Funny you should mention him Rarity. If you recall correctly, Garble went unnamed in “Dragon Quest”. He was only named in the script. Anyway, Twilight and Rarity will be accompanying Spike to the Dragon Lands. Twilight is excited because she’ll be able to learn about dragon culture, something that remains unknown to ponykind. Celestia advises them to be discreet given that the Dragon Lands are a dangerous place for ponies. Rarity suggests the disguise they used the last time they went to the Dragon Lands in “Dragon Quest”. (Wait, that was in the Dragon Lands too? I thought that was in Equestria.) Instead, Twilight suggests something more practical, and they go disguised as a rock.

And look at who just so happens to rear his ugly head.

Eyup. It’s Garble. And he was just mentioned before. What a coincidence. He’s here to further mock Spike over his background of being raised by ponies.

We are then introduced to the current Dragon Lord Torch.


I must say that is an impressive looking dragon. I like the horns especially. He has like a British accent. His voice actor, one Matt Cowlrick, sounds like he’s doing a slight impression of Vinnie Jones. Y’all know Vinnie Jones. He’s that British actor guy who always plays like big, British tough guys.

We are also introduced to Dragon Lord Torch’s daughter Princess Ember.

Spike notices her immediately.

Moving on, Torch has summoned all the dragons because the time has finally come after his long reign as Dragon Lord to step down. Therefore, he has called the dragons here to compete for the throne of the Dragon Lord in the Gauntlet of Fire! The throne goes to the dragon who has the strength and the fortitude to retrieve the bloodstone scepter from the heart of the flamecano!


With that, Spike stops glowing, and with the summons complete, he thinks it’s probably best if he, Twilight, and Rarity sneak off back home. Unfortunately, Torch spots him whilst trying to do so. No one leaves until he says so; that is the way of the dragons. Ember comes to Spike’s defense though, noting that since Spike is so young he shouldn’t have to compete if he doesn’t want to. Then there’s his lack of familiarity with dragon customs. Torch agrees and permits Spike to leave. However, when Ember leaves to prepare for the Gauntlet, Torch doesn’t allow it. He insists that despite how smart she may be only the big and strong can become Dragon Lord, and she’s not that much bigger than Spike. Meanwhile, before Spike, Twilight, and Rarity can leave, they overhear some dragons discussing their plans when they become Dragon Lord. What Garble has to say gives them the most pause. He plans on raiding Equestria and burning everything to the ground. Were you mothered by Daenerys Targaryen Garble? Sounds like you were. Anyway, given that Equestria is in danger if any of these dragons become Dragon Lord, Spike concludes that he must win the Gauntlet of Fire and become Dragon Lord. Twilight and Rarity are aghast at this. The Gauntlet is much too dangerous, and Spike would have to remain in the Dragon Lands if he wins. Spike insists this is the only way to keep Equestria and all their friends there safe.

Spike arrives at the cliff where the Gauntlet is to begin, telling the Dragon Lord that he reconsidered competing. Garble mocks him for his lack of wings, given the first leg of the Gauntlet is flying to Flamecano Island. Torch reminds them all that every dragon is free to compete in the Gauntlet at their own peril. With the mighty breath of fire from Torch, the Gauntlet is on. Spike is forced to swim which he totally intended to do despite Garble shoving him into the water. Twilight and Rarity are there to show their support disguised as a pile of seaweed and driftwood.

It is then that the dragons are attacked by waterspout shooting eels.

Oh my gosh! Look at those things!

The eels end up shooting one golden-armored dragon out of the sky. Spike dives down deep, saves the dragon from drowning, and drags the dragon onto the beach. It is then that Spike discovers that the armored dragon is actually a disguised Princess Ember! Ember also discovers Spike’s friends Twilight and Rarity. She finds this odd because as she insists dragons don’t do friends. She doesn’t care as long as Spike doesn’t get in her way as she’s winning the Gauntlet in spite of what her father had to say about her competing. That’s when Garble lands beside them pinned to the ground by a rock flung at him by a creature called a slingtail.

There are some really cool creatures in this episode.

Either way, Garble begs for Spike to help him, and he does so. Garble though did so only because knew Spike would do it, ponies having made him soft he says. He then gets suspicious when he thinks he smells a pony. Ember covers for Spike saying that smell is her having robbed some ponies. But then Garble becomes suspicious of her because she looks familiar to him. Spike then covers for her by invoking the Line-of-Sight Name Trope and saying she’s his neighbor Sandy Rockbeach. This joke is wasted though because the name is never used again. After Garble flies off taking his lame jokes with him, Ember wonders why Spike even covered for her. He could have just let her get taken out of the competition so he’d have one less competitor. Spike notes he could ask her the same thing. After seeing the potential difficulty of taking on the slingtails, Spike suggests to Ember that they work together to get past them. Rarity isn’t sure trusting Ember is a good idea, but Spike thinks he can given she didn’t rat them out to Garble. Ember agrees to Spike’s plan, and so they fly up the mountain, avoiding the rocks hurled by the slingtails. Given their success working together so far, Ember suggests they continue to work together getting through the rather treacherous part of the mountain.

There’s Twilight and Rarity disguised as a tree.

Inside the mountain, dragons have to deal with moving pillars and spikes of crystals piercing the walls.

Somehow, Twilight and Rarity don’t have trouble navigating all that in their stalagmite disguises. Spike then saves Rarity after a tremor causes her to almost fall off a cliff. Ember seems mystified by the idea of Spike risking everything to save Rarity and how Rarity and Twilight are putting themselves in danger to support him. That’s what friends do, Spike explains. It turns out Ember has never felt like she had anyone that looked out for her in her life.

Except Spike, huh. I see what’s happening here.

Unfortunately, now that they’ve gotten through the hard part, Ember thinks the time has come for her and Spike to part ways. There’s only one Dragon Lord and one bloodstone scepter. It’s every dragon for themselves from here on out. Spike thought they were friends though, but Ember points out that maybe in pony land that would be the case but dragons don’t do friendship. Wait, did she say “Ponyland” as in old school G1 MLP Ponyland? I will accept that reference. Anyway, Spike is kind of miffed over this as he makes his way further inside the flamecano with Twilight and Rarity. Rarity thinks Spike is better off without her, but of course she’d say that because she’s totally jealous. Spike though is certain that Ember is different than the other dragons because she did help him even though she didn’t have to. That makes them friends in Spike’s book. They finally reach the heart of the flamecano and the bloodstone scepter is within reach. But Spike isn’t the only one there. Garble is there, and he grabs Spike, ready to chuck him off the bridge to the scepter! But that’s when Ember also shows up and knocks Garble out of the way, causing Spike to plummet off the bridge anyway, but Ember catches him.

Awwa. She came back to him because she learned the value of friendship. A little too quickly for my tastes. It’s like Batman V. Superman all over again. That is easily forgiven though.

Unfortunately, Garble had been thrown into Twilight and Rarity and discovers their presence. He’s about to attack, but Ember goes after him after telling Spike to go for the scepter. We then have a small epic throwdown between Garble and Ember. Of course, Spike has to go back and attempt as best he could to pry Garble off of Ember. Garble though ends up tossing Spike off so he’s hanging by his claws at the edge of the bridge. Ember chucks Garble away once more and helps Spike back onto the bridge. Spike makes his way to the scepter and finally claims it.

Spike is now the Dragon Lord! Garble makes one last ditch attempt to take out Ember, but Spike is the Dragon Lord now, and he must do as he says. As his first order of business Dragon Lord Spike orders Garble to start making his way back home, but he has to hug every dragon he comes across without telling them why.


Well, at least this dragon seems happy about it.

With that done, Spike then gives the scepter to Ember so she can be Dragon Lord. Spike never wanted to be Dragon Lord; he only did it to protect his friends in Equestria. Now he knows though that Ember will protect them just as well as he would have. Spike’s home is in Equestria. Ember assures Spike that now he will always have one friend in the Dragon Lands, and he gives her a hug.


How do you like Spember as a ship name for them?

Ember returns to her father with the scepter, and he is quite shocked to see Ember with it. Ember tells him that she may not be big and strong, but she still won because she’s smart. It takes more than being big and strong to be the Dragon Lord. Torch accepts that he was wrong and agrees that being smart has more value when it comes to being a leader. It doesn’t seem that clear, but I think that’s supposed to be the lesson. I can stand behind it, I guess. This was still a good episode either way. Then, Garble hugs Torch but can’t say why. Tee hee. Meanwhile, Spike, Twilight, Rarity are making their way back home. Twilight praises Spike because with Ember as Dragon Lord the ponies of Equestria will be safe and she’ll be be a powerful new ally as well as a friend. Twilight can now even write to Ember about any questions she has about dragon culture. She could gain enough information to write a book on dragons. And not to be left out, Rarity was also inspired to create a line of camoflage inspired clothing. I’m sure iJustine would love that.

This episode was the work of Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco. They made their debut last season with the episodes “Castle Sweet Castle”, “Rarity Investigates”, and “The Hooffields and McColts”. This episode does feature some aspects seen in their previous episodes. This episode plays to one of Spike’s strengths. He usually is at his best when he’s accompanying another character who’s undergoing some kind of development. This was seen in “Castle Sweet Castle”. It’s seen here with how he shows Princess Ember the value of friendship. There’s also a similarity to “The Hooffields and McColts” when it comes to worldbuilding. We saw a never before seen corner of Equestria in that episode, and here we see a never before seen corner of the world beyond Equestria. However, this episode has more worldbuilding concerning dragons than we’ve ever seen before. The new dragons have great designs. The armor some of the dragons wear also have great designs. It’s kind of ironic that dragons are wearing armor similar to the knights that traditionally slay dragons. Plus, we now have dragon armor to speculate and headcanon upon. The other creatures that populate the Dragon Lands, like the slingtails and waterspout-spewing giant eels, also have great designs. We also learn that dragons have something of a society with the Dragon Lord as leader. I wonder if the Dragon Lord’s ability to call other dragons is related to Spike’s ability to magically deliver letters to and from Celestia.

We see Garble again in this episode, which is something I didn’t think would happen. He didn’t get reformed despite this being his second appearance. I almost expected it when he was pinned by the rock or when Spike became Dragon Lord. I guess he’s not interesting enough an antagonist to reform. Does that mean he’s like Diamond Tiara level antagonist for the most part? Diamond Tiara had a lot more than two appearances before she was reformed.

This episode actually makes be think a little bit about Friends Forever #14, one of the MLP comics. The analyst Silver Quill once made a video where he questioned the comic’s canonicity given that it seems violate what was established in “Dragon Quest” in Season 2 that dragons and their culture remain a mystery to ponies. This episode seems to further that idea. Twilight’s reason for joining Spike is primarily to learn more about dragons. I’ve been starting to rethink my rather die-hard stance in favor of the comics’ canonicity. (One of the comics suggests the existence of alternate universes parallel to Equestria. Perhaps some these comics take place in alternate universes and not the exactly the show’s universe.) At least now in the show itself we have Ember as a dragon Spike has a chance with instead of Mina from that comic.

The title “Gauntlet of Fire” is an obvious allusion to the title of the fourth Harry Potter book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I though couldn’t help thinking of Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra every time they mentioned the Dragon Lord. It sounded a lot like the Fire Lord who is the ruler of the Fire Nation. And dragons do play a significant role in the culture of the Fire Nation. They were the first Firebenders.

Here’s another episode that I feel sets up something for the future. Given that Twilight mentions at the end that Ember will be a powerful new ally, I believe that Dragon Lord Ember will be leading the dragons alongside Equestria against a common threat sometime in the future. Perhaps very likely it will be in the season finale. Perhaps it’ll be in a future possible season. Maybe it’ll even be in the movie. I don’t know for sure when, but what I do know is that it will happen.

As for what I didn’t like, this episode did seem a bit predictable. I mean, I think we could all sense from the beginning that Ember was probably going to end up Dragon Lord and that Spike would not be staying behind to be Dragon Lord. I mean, it would be cool to see Spike become Lord of all the Dragons, but it would still be somewhat insulting to him to be scuttled off to the side like that in perpetuity. But sometimes, it’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey. Spike still went on a great journey in this episode. Also, there was some confusion over whether the events of “Dragon Quest” take place in the Dragon Lands. I was under the impression that was still in Equestria. It also doesn’t help that Torch initially addresses the dragons with “Dragons of Equestria!” According to the map, the Dragon Lands are separated from Equestria by an ocean. I thought this wasn’t Equestria. If this is the worst I can say about a Spike episode though, than that’s still great. We’ve already seen too many times how much worse it could be.

Overall, “Gauntlet of Fire” though predictable in some respects was finally an episode worthy of Spike. We also got a long awaited look at the world of dragons. I also look forward to what else Lady Writers Songco and Lewis put out this season.

What did y’all think of “Gauntlet of Fire”?

God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.

Comments

[Doctor Perseus]

As you already know, I really liked this episode as well. Yay for more world and ship-building!