Don't Meet Your Idols [finale spoilers!] · 12:58pm Oct 13th, 2017
Word to the wise: Don't let anyone spoil you on the finale, it was amazing. Even me saying that is kind of spoily. If you think you've heard anything about it, go watch it right now, lest the best come across your plate like it did mine. D:
WHOA
HOLY SHIT
This was amazing. Season seven had the worst premiere ever — not only a crap episode, but just one — but they have blown it out of the park with maybe the best finale in the show's run! I just
I can't
Wow.
For starters, everything was set up well. Yes, Rockhoof, Mistmane and Flash Magnus got short shrift in their introductory episode, and I'd have much rather seen them given the Meadowbrook or Somnambula treatment. But that's still the kind of season-long arc we haven't had since S4 (not that S5 needed it), and it pays off so good.
Second, forget this season: Star Swirl has been slowly built up since season two. And, for the first time since she got her wings, I found myself once again drawn into Twilight's little world, right there alongside her to go "OH MY GOD IT'S STAR SWIRL THE BEARDED!" Except, my world was also filled with guilt at not finishing Epic Unicorn History by now, and amusement at her tiny little world being destroyed by thousand-year-old arrogance. :V
Seriously, I love him, that's exactly how I've always assumed he would be like. He's not impressed at all by Twilight having wings or finishing his spell (I love the part where Twilight's friends all stand up for her), he's focused on duty, he's prideful, he's arrogant, because he's the goddamn Star Swirl and he knows it. XD What a shit.
The rest of them were mostly interchangeable, though I love how Flash and Dash got along so well, and oh my god Somnambula is the cutest cutie ever. :D Her voice! It's amazing! (On that note, Rockhoof's accent was way off what it should have been. :C)
So Starlight's role now seems to be "voice of not-blasting-villains-every-time", and it feels like a natural culmination of all those times she got reminded what a bitch she used to be. My predictions for a second-stringer team didn't pan out, but I'm sure there's time for that to happen (sigh) next season.
As for the plot, damn. I mean, I could see a lot of the broad strokes ahead of time, but this is the kind of rip-roaring pony adventure I live for: ancient magic, questing for artifacts, world-spanning consequences, the works. And yeah, Pony of Shadows? Fucking more season three callbacks, and it's amazing that panned out. (Though, if you remember Castle-Mania, the stinger suggested the Pony of Shadows was real and present, which wouldn't be the case, so that actually remains in the "what the fuck was going on here?" category. c.c)
Above and beyond everything, though, getting to see the Elements again was amazing. I know I was way impressed when S4 sandbagged them, I thought it was every bit as daring a move as blowing up the library, and we were really in need of getting away from them. (Rainbow Power, how I pine for you! :V) But having them back was like visiting an old friend again, it felt so good and brought back memories of how fucking awesome the first two seasons' premieres were. :D
And then you get to the finale, in which case, holy shit. One, Twilight just jumps the fuck into the PoS; like, how brave did she have to be to do that? Second, I take this as an acknowledgement of criticism about how so many of their villain takedowns have been through violence. They went out here to literally knock this guy out of the park, and instead talked him down from evil. (Still got to knock something out of the park, but I don't think "darkness" quite has feelings.) That's a really cutting path to take, and I appreciated the hell out of it.
Between finishing the ep and writing this blog, I had a long phone call, so I've probably forgotten all the stuff I wanted to squeal about, but Seapony Etiquette :D Also, I've never had to stop an episode and pull up Wikipedia to translate something before. The Futhark runes say "Pony Rules". You're welcome. (Though it's worth noting you'd pronounce the 'e' as a long 'a'. <.< "Roo-lace".)
Oh yeah, and HOLY SHIT THE SIRENS WHAT. EQG is officially canon, not that you have to have seen it to understand "oh look flying sing monsters attacking ponies", I guess. :B
I think I'm going to slot this one into the season list second, just because feels, but damned if this isn't one of the best episodes, two-part or otherwise, of the whole show's run. :D If we have to have a season eight, can it please be no worse than season seven? Season seven was all right! VA stuff!
Star Swirl is played by Chris Britton, who looks like a fairly venerable old actor, but has actually done a lot of voice work… in nothing I've really ever seen. :B He was Iron Man in MvC 2? The Pony of Shadows shares a VA with Bright Mac and Pharynx. Meadowbrook's VA is the same from A Health of Information, and she's been in, like, LaLaLoopsy. <.< Somnambula's VA looks about as adorable as she sounds (except she can probably also kick your ass), and has been in nothing I've seen. Flash Magnus has the same VA as last time, and he's done a bunch of random voice work over the last decade. Mistmane's VA also voiced the Feelings Circle changeling from that episode. :D I think I looked her up once before, because she's Dunwing in the Redwall cartoon. Rockhoof was voiced by Dragon Lord Torch, and this is his fourth role ever! Petunia Paleo (surprised to see her again!) and that disbelieving archaeology professor share a VA, but she hasn't really done much else. Also, did you know Vincent Tong voices Garble?
Man. Feels good, brony.
The Perfect Pear
Shadow Play
A Royal Problem
A Health of Information
Once Upon a Zeppelin
Parental Glideance
To Change a Changeling
Fame and Misfortune
Honest Apple
All Bottled Up
Daring Done?
Uncommon Bond
Rock Solid Friendship
Forever Filly
Secrets and Pies
A Flurry of Emotion
Triple Threat
Discordant Harmony
Marks and Recreation
Campfire Tales
It Isn't the Mane Thing About You
Celestial Advice
Not Asking for Trouble
Fluttershy Leans In
Hard to Say Anything
Open Up Your Eyes
You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song
Time to Be Awesome
Best Friends Until the End of Time
One Small Thing
We Got This Together
Blank Flanks Forever
I'm the Friend You Need
We're Not Flawless
Battle for Sugar Belle
Yeah, that's right, I added the movie songs into the list. <.< They're the reason we only got five fucking songs this season, and most of the episode songs were crap, so shut up. :V (I did not add in the three pop songs, just because those weren't written by Daniel Ingram.) But seriously, just a list of five songs looked pathetic. Remember, this isn't the final list for either songs or episodes! I look forward to rewatching the season in something like a normal fashion!
I did feel providing an origin for the Tree of Harmony felt a little midichlorian-ish, greatly lessening the mystique for little tangible gain, but aside from that? This was awesome. From Indiana Pones to the confrontation with Garble to my being on the edge of my seat for almost all of Part 2, this was one heck of a ride.
Perhaps the best part? Stygian was basically the Spike of the Pillars. This is the "Spike gets fed up and turns on the Mane Six" story done awesomely.
Though I'll admit, you were right about the slime from "Daring Done?" being basically harmless. Or Pinkie is just the superior protoplasmic horror. Either or.
Be told I haven't even seen the episode because I cannot find it.
Is it on YouTube?
Heh. It'll probably be another month or two before I finally see it, unless I marathon the rest of Season 5, then 6 and 7.
Fortunately, I'm very good at ignoring spoilers.
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WatchCartoonOnline.io
You’re welcome.
Wasn't impressed with the season finale as it was too anti-climatic. I'd rather just have the old elements return and have a slice-of-life episodes where they adjust to 'modern' times.
What I did really like was how the finale was basically three episodes instead of two. The first was a kind of prologue where Sunburst visits Glimmer, and boy did I find this one amusing. Starlight Glimmer really wants Sunburst wink wink.
The finale was a bit weak, but it sure gave the show some good material to work with for season 8. I also found the element pairings amusing.
RD + Magnus = Shipping!
AJ + Rockhoof = Team -hit it with a shovel-.
FS + Meadowbrook = Mare x Mare plz.
PP + Sonnambula = Team odd.
TS + Starswirl = Bitter rivalry.
RY + Mistmane = Hahahaha Rarity got paired with an old bag.
I think THIS should have been the pony movie. Take these two episodes, add in the antiquing scene from Uncommon Bond, expand the search for the aritfacts and/or the Pony of Shadows a bit more (the latter would let us develop and explore the Pillars a bit more), and you could easily get a 70 minute or so flick from this, if not a bit longer.
Ah well. For me this is the best season finale they’ve ever given us, it felt like years of story arcs all culminated here and it was glorious.
I’ve seen some people hate on the finale for tossing Twilight an idiot ball and making Starlight the voice of reason, but I feel like it was handled perfectly in-character for them. Twilight has always had a problem standing up to her idols and mentors and seeing them as flawed (”you just said ‘princesses’ and ‘aren’t the best’ in the same sentence, and it’s making me nervous!”), and her hero worship of Star Swirl is well documented, so if he’s here giving orders and dismissing her contributions, I don’t find it implausible that she would be drawn into going along with him afraid to speak out. Starlight’s major character flaw throughout the series has been her reliance on magic to solve problems and seeing it backfire horribly, so it makes sense that when the problem to be solved is not directly her own and she’s not too close to have her judgment compromised, she would recognize the dangers of someone else doing as she tends to do.
Oh, as for the Pony of Shadows seen in S4, I have a headcanon about that.
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So... much... to discuss...
After four years of finagling and mental gymnastics to maintain some semblance of canonicity, I must concede that my Star Swirl fics cannot possibly coexist with this episode. And this happens just as I'm getting ready to publish the final chapters of one of them. I was on schedule to have them out the door by the official air date, and then it leaked. So... I'm a little sore about the timing
But other than that, holy crap this episode.
Great finale. Had a lot of fun and the suspense was perfectly paced. I never felt that a scene was dragging on and on like in previous openers/finales. Star Swirl is pretty much how I envisioned him (comics give him a lot more silliness, but I actually prefer the more high-and-mighty version here).
A little disappointed that the Pony of Shadows didn't get to do much beyond destroy Ponehedge. Kinda wanted to see what else he was capable of, though he was able to withstand a Friendship Rainbow, so that kinda speaks well to his power.
I've got my hopes that next season Star Swirl and the rest of the Pillars pop back in now and again, learning about the changed world. I'm particularly hoping that Trixie is found to be Star Swirl's descendant and all the fallout that will bring.
Very happy with this ending! Season eight has got some legends to live up to.
I adored the Season 7 finale, and it practically confirmed S7 as one of my favorite seasons and restored my faith in the series after the movie left a sour taste in my mouth. The characters were all utilized brilliantly, the callbacks were clever, it gave us both excellent world-building and character development, and the plot was engaging. It might be my favorite two-part episode in the series, and it sure ended Season 7 on a high note!
4696642
"Don't think of it as Team Old, think of it as Team Three!"
Yep, all that and more. People who say pony is going downhill can suck it.
But you forgot one thing. Yes, Twilight was handled beautifully; brave and flawed without ever catching an idiot ball, and Star Swirl was perfect, and we got so many great references and call-backs, but absolutely the best pony was Starlight's eyebrow.
I had to pause the episode while laughing.
4696657 While I also preferred the finale to the movie, I can't see how its story would work as a movie. More than any other episode in the series, Shadow Play demands a near-encyclopedic understanding of the whole show up to this point in order to fully appreciate it. It couldn't possibly work as a standalone movie which—in theory—is meant to be equally understandable for newcomers as it is for longtime fans.
It was a very good finale overall, but I am perturbed by the Elements of Harmony basically being pooped out as leftovers by these other ponies. It really just feels like it completely removes whatever mystique and mystery was left in the setting. Not to mention it's the final nail in the coffin for Celestia and Luna—the Elements aren't some amazing ancient artifacts Celestia and Luna worked to be worthy enough for, they're just some charms left behind by the Super Amazing Ponies who were just So Awesome they basically created the world as we know it. And, really, Starswirl? You left two fucking alicorns behind without letting them know where the Elements they would need to defend Equestria were? In fact, he left two alicorns behind when they could have used their help fighting the Shadow? Did Celestia and Luna just stumble on the Elements and assume they were actually some ancient power from a distant age? No way at all to recognize the magic of the ponies who were running around saving the world including one of their mentors? Starswirl seems less "Rar friendship sucks" and more "rar basic responsibility and contingency plans suck."
They really just put the last nail in the coffin of Celestia and Luna's awesome potential, and from here on it'll just be a dull business of burying it even deeper.
Eh, still fun in a vacuum. Like most pony episodes these days.
One thing I loved about this finale fight was that what Twilight did...made me think of my favorite Sailor Moon season. See, in S, the Outers kept telling Usagi that the only way to win, was to kill Saturn. That she had to finish her off for the good of all and it was the only way. And what did our brave senshi of the moon do? Go into Pharoh 90 and pull out little baby Hotaru like it was nothing. She didn't need to kill anyone, she just had to save a life, the life she was told needed to die. That's what I felt while watching this.
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Attemping to make it standalone and accessible to nonviewers was a big mistake on the movie's part. The show has been around for seven seasons - anyone who hasn't checked it out by now will not be swayed by a movie. And even if they are the movie is unlikely to be referenced in the show so it's misleading them
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Dailymotion.
Re: Shadowmane's comment, watchcartoon has Adblock-blocker, so I don't trangle with them no more.
Starswirl: I'm the only serious pony on this show. That's the
jokeplot.What, you didn't want Fat Bastard/Shrek? :V
BEST HUMAN NOW INDUCED CANON WHAT
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And maybe also the comics. But not the one with Starswirl rapping to defeat the Sirens.
4696758
Yep. Well, they've been working on that since the end of season two, so... enjoy the ride down?
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In principle it's a fine thing to try, but the problem is that, as implemented, they chose the people who are unfamiliar with the source material over the people who are, hard.
4698490
Oh thank god that's been canon screwed @_@
So awesome.
I have a roommate right now that's sleeping, otherwise I'd have been squeeing the entire episode. One of the best, that's for sure.