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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 3 |OT| The fun has been TRIPLED!
- Thread starter DrForester
- Start date
Likely story.
Whogie
Member
Ah, here's #5
Lauren sounds a little bitter, but it does seem the show is still heading towards what she envisioned at least so far with TS and RD.
Really liked this episode for all its music. My favorite is Celestia's Ballad; I must have watched it 20 times. It's really sweet and paired with the montage it hits a chord for me.
Lauren sounds a little bitter, but it does seem the show is still heading towards what she envisioned at least so far with TS and RD.
Really liked this episode for all its music. My favorite is Celestia's Ballad; I must have watched it 20 times. It's really sweet and paired with the montage it hits a chord for me.
Confused101
Member
1) Magical Mystery Cure
2) Magic Duel
3) Too Many Pinkie Pies
4) Sleepless in Ponyville
5) Wonderbolts Academy
6) Keep Calm and Flutter On
7) Games Ponies Play
8) The Crystal Empire - Part 2
9) The Crystal Empire - Part 1
10) Just for Sidekicks
11) Apple Family Reunion
12) Spike at Your Service
13) One Bad Apple
2) Magic Duel
3) Too Many Pinkie Pies
4) Sleepless in Ponyville
5) Wonderbolts Academy
6) Keep Calm and Flutter On
7) Games Ponies Play
8) The Crystal Empire - Part 2
9) The Crystal Empire - Part 1
10) Just for Sidekicks
11) Apple Family Reunion
12) Spike at Your Service
13) One Bad Apple
Nobodyspatzy
Member
I refuse to rank this Season was ehh. except Sleepless in Scootaloo land. I liked it, because of feels. Everything else was ehh, and I still have nightmares of that one episode.
kunonabi
Member
1- Sleepless in Ponyville
2- The Crystal Empire - Part 2
3- The Crystal Empire - Part 1
4- Magic Duel
5- Too Many Pinkie Pies
6- One Bad Apple
7- Keep Calm and Flutter On
8- Apple Family Reunion
9- Games Ponies Play
10- Just for Sidekicks
11- Spike at Your Service
12- Wonderbolts Academy
13- Magical Mystery Cure
2- The Crystal Empire - Part 2
3- The Crystal Empire - Part 1
4- Magic Duel
5- Too Many Pinkie Pies
6- One Bad Apple
7- Keep Calm and Flutter On
8- Apple Family Reunion
9- Games Ponies Play
10- Just for Sidekicks
11- Spike at Your Service
12- Wonderbolts Academy
13- Magical Mystery Cure
Racist Barn?
Shadow Hog
Member
1, 2, 3, 4
Nobodyspatzy
Member
No... That was confirmation that a heart can be broken (poor Burry!)
No.. think about it for a sec....
(fun FUN FUUUUNNNNN!)
Due to several reason NOT having to due with the main character
Due to several reason NOT having to due with the main character
kunonabi
Member
Didn't care for the ending to Wonderbolt Academy and there was almost no Rarity in it at all.
As much as I loved the music in MMM I hated the rest of it. I don't mind Twilight becoming an Alicon to end the series but they handled it as badly as they possibly could have. As a series finale it would have been terrible.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
I don't really see how they could have handled the transformation any better. I think a lot will depend on what they do now with it.
I think the episode would have worked wonderfully as a series finale.
I think the episode would have worked wonderfully as a series finale.
I think that the entire episode was terrible* BUT given the circumstances, I'll have to agree that they handled it surprisingly well.
Edit, have a funneh:
* Music was pretty good, as usual.
Whogie
Member
They could have been clearer with it. What does her leadership mean to her and Celestia? How is it going to shape her life? They just dropped a huge change and immediately ended it -- we don't know much more about her transformation than we did before the episode. Surely they'll address those things later, but during the episode would have been a good time to go into -some- of the details.
Loved that episode, for the record. Music really made it. And I'm optimistic about the change and how it lets the show move forward instead of growing stale and formulaic.
What was the spell she fixed during that episode, exactly? Summon Space Void?
Loved that episode, for the record. Music really made it. And I'm optimistic about the change and how it lets the show move forward instead of growing stale and formulaic.
What was the spell she fixed during that episode, exactly? Summon Space Void?
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Whogie
Member
I'll admit that I've always felt like the show is at its weakest when it starts taking "friendship is magic" literally, and that's coloring my view of the episode. Especially when the Elements get involved, the show can get very Care Bearsy in the worst sense of the term (80's Care Bears; I haven't seen the new show). Edit: The above image captures this weakness pretty well - Honesty!
That said, the stakes in the episode simply didn't feel very high. Doing the same thing over the course of two episodes would probably have helped, but this could easily have been a regular mid-season episode that ended with the status quo ante. The main conflict was set up and resolved in a little more than a single montage, didn't require anything of Twilight that she couldn't have done by halfway through Season 1, and didn't require anything of the rest of the cast that they couldn't have done by halfway through Episode 1.
If they were going to do this, Twilight earning her wings needed to be a bigger thing. Probably Celestia should have been removed from the picture the way she was for all of the season openers and A Canterlot Wedding. The magical problem needed to be better-established and a bit more important (every pony excepting Twilight is affected, maybe even including Celestia), and Twilight needed to spend a lot of time looking for a magical solution, instead of dismissing that out of hand, while Ponyville or maybe all of Equestria starts going to shit (instead of one shot of the orchard going to pieces and a bunch of grumpy ponies). Then she can have her epiphany that the thing Starswirl was missing was an understanding of friendship, then she rescues her friends from whatever with the power of friendship, then she confidently finishes the spell and casts it, setting all of Equestria right again. Ideally she would get her wings as a byproduct of that rather than as a gift from Celestia afterwards, but I'm not picky.
So, basically, I'm thinking something like Return of Harmony without Discord and with a problem other than discord afflicting the group. Or, hell, bring Reformed Discord back into it to try to help Twilight devise a magical fix for whatever horrible thing is happening - he's unaffected by the spell misfire because he's already chaotic. Have Discord's pathetic concern for Fluttershy and attempts to help her entertain everyone inspire Twilight to have the ponies all try to help each other out no matter what they think their destinies are.
So I've given it some thought, and I think I can verbalize why I didn't really like the latest episode. First up, I think the cutie mark shuffle would have been good for an episode by itself. I loved it in the opening when Rarity said "I'm afraid I'm not good with the thundery ones." The episode needed more of that kind of thing. I think they rushed through the cutie mark shuffle, when it really should have been an entire episode. And then the second half of the episode (very much bleeding into the first half) seemed to be a celebration of Twilight getting her wings. The episode didn't seem to be "about" Twi getting her wings (and the cutie mark shuffle seemed disconnected as the means of making it happen), it was more like Twi getting wings was To Sell Toys, and that was why it happened, this episode was just her coronation party. As a comparison, S2's Canterlot Wedding was 100% To Sell Toys, but the show still managed to turn that into two of the best episodes ever. The songs in this episode were all great, but they were tossing them out a little too frequently. I sort of got a feeling like the S3 opener, and Twilight's "I Wasn't Prepared For This". Good song, but I prefer the songs which have a tighter connection to the plot.
Anyways, S3 judgement time!
Episode 1&2 - The Crystal Empire - 6.5/10
IMO, the weakest of the epic-two-parters, although it did give us wife-tossing.
Episode 3 - Too Many Pinkie Pies - 8/10
Twilight may have a hair-trigger when it comes to killing her friends, but Dave Polsky is my new Best MLP Writer.
Episode 4 - One Bad Apple - 4/10
Babs is the worst new character.
Episode 5 - Magic Duel - 8/10
Not the Trixie episode I wanted, and it missed the chance for a fantastic Luna appearance, but what it had was good enough.
Episode 6 - Sleepless in Ponyville - 7/10
Average Scootaloo episode pushed up by a unique use of Luna. Good, but could have been better on both counts.
Episode 7 - Wonderbolts Academy - 7/10
Lightning Dust is the best new character, and there was some good controversy, but unlike S1&2 where I was certain the writing had unseen depth, the oppsoite is true for S3, and I'm almost certain that any hidden depth is a lie. I'm still going to score it high though.
Episode 8 - Apple Family Reunion - 6/10
Okay episode. Babs and Dead Parents cancel each other out.
Episode 9 - Spike at Your Service - 6/10
Okay.
Episode 10 - Keep Calm and Flutter On - 6/10
John DeLancie saves a less-than-stellar episode. Better than a bad Q episode.
Episode 11 - Just For Sidekicks - 6.4/10
Seems to benefit more from the cross with ep12.
Episode 12 - Games Ponies Play - 6/10
Rainbow Dad did more than Cadence to save this ordinary episode.
Episode 13 - Magical Mystery Cure - 5/10
Great songs didn't save a questionable episode, IMO.
TL
R
1 - Magic Duel
1 - Too Many Pinkie Pies
3 - Wonderbolts Academy
3 - Sleepless in Ponyville
5 - The Crystal Empire 1&2 combined
6 - Just For Sidekicks
7 - Keep Calm and Flutter On
7 - Spike at Your Service
7 - Apple Family Reunion
7 - Games Ponies Play
11 - Magical Mystery Cure
12 - One Bad Apple
Final thoughts: S4 needs more episodes, more time, and more money, and while DHX seems to be confident that S4 will be great, I would seriously remove Twilight from the Mane Six right now and replace her with Trixie.
Anyways, S3 judgement time!
Episode 1&2 - The Crystal Empire - 6.5/10
IMO, the weakest of the epic-two-parters, although it did give us wife-tossing.
Episode 3 - Too Many Pinkie Pies - 8/10
Twilight may have a hair-trigger when it comes to killing her friends, but Dave Polsky is my new Best MLP Writer.
Episode 4 - One Bad Apple - 4/10
Babs is the worst new character.
Episode 5 - Magic Duel - 8/10
Not the Trixie episode I wanted, and it missed the chance for a fantastic Luna appearance, but what it had was good enough.
I think this one had the potential to hit 12/10.
Episode 6 - Sleepless in Ponyville - 7/10
Average Scootaloo episode pushed up by a unique use of Luna. Good, but could have been better on both counts.
Episode 7 - Wonderbolts Academy - 7/10
Lightning Dust is the best new character, and there was some good controversy, but unlike S1&2 where I was certain the writing had unseen depth, the oppsoite is true for S3, and I'm almost certain that any hidden depth is a lie. I'm still going to score it high though.
Episode 8 - Apple Family Reunion - 6/10
Okay episode. Babs and Dead Parents cancel each other out.
Episode 9 - Spike at Your Service - 6/10
Okay.
Episode 10 - Keep Calm and Flutter On - 6/10
John DeLancie saves a less-than-stellar episode. Better than a bad Q episode.
Episode 11 - Just For Sidekicks - 6.4/10
Seems to benefit more from the cross with ep12.
Episode 12 - Games Ponies Play - 6/10
Rainbow Dad did more than Cadence to save this ordinary episode.
Episode 13 - Magical Mystery Cure - 5/10
Great songs didn't save a questionable episode, IMO.
TL
R1 - Magic Duel
1 - Too Many Pinkie Pies
3 - Wonderbolts Academy
3 - Sleepless in Ponyville
5 - The Crystal Empire 1&2 combined
6 - Just For Sidekicks
7 - Keep Calm and Flutter On
7 - Spike at Your Service
7 - Apple Family Reunion
7 - Games Ponies Play
11 - Magical Mystery Cure
12 - One Bad Apple
Final thoughts: S4 needs more episodes, more time, and more money, and while DHX seems to be confident that S4 will be great, I would seriously remove Twilight from the Mane Six right now and replace her with Trixie.
Confused101
Member
The common denominator for everyone's thoughts on season 3 appears to be missed opportunities. And I agree.
Discord. He could've turned the world upside down (almost literally) but he didn't. Because of the threat of getting turned back to stone? You can't turn to stone what you can't see. Unless the elements are evil-seeking. Which they might be, I don't know. However, he could've just snapped his way out of the situation and good luck finding him after that. I guess he loved tormenting the mane-six more than turning Equestria on its head. I still thought he was great, but not as great as he could've been.
Trixie. So some people didn't get the Trixie return that they wanted. I really enjoyed seeing her again though. I called it as soon as they started talking about the amulet. While I liked the episode, I was kind of wishing for Trixie to be more violent. I know violence is not a theme of this show (nor should it be), but we did see the changeling queen go after Celestia and actually put her on the ground. I kind of wanted something like that. I wanted Trixie to attack Twilight directly. She was obviously very angry and went to great lengths to be better than Twilight. However, it is shown at the end that Trixie was not inherently evil and I guess that's a good enough explanation for me.
Wonderbolt Academy. Did Spitfire forget who RD was? I couldn't tell. I'm just going to think that Spitfire didn't say anything because she didn't want to play favorites. Anyway, I'm not sure what I expected from this episode but I do know that I wanted more. I also wanted a better reason for Spitfire to put RD as the wingpony. Even though the reason was that Lightning Dust pushes herself harder, the real reason should've been because Spitfire wanted to see RD be a teammate and not always in a leader position. I guess she kind of proved that anyway by trying to stick up for the other recruits when Lightning wanted screw them up, but still. I think that should've more of a theme instead of simply being reckless to get ahead.
Luna. Just simply wanted more. Yeah, she was used in a couple of cool spots, but I want more. Did she even say anything to Twilight when all that jazz happened in the last episode? Even a simple, "I had my doubts, Twilight Sparkle, but you have proven yourself worthy," would've suffice. More Luna. MORE Luna. Luna please. More. Yes.
Discord. He could've turned the world upside down (almost literally) but he didn't. Because of the threat of getting turned back to stone? You can't turn to stone what you can't see. Unless the elements are evil-seeking. Which they might be, I don't know. However, he could've just snapped his way out of the situation and good luck finding him after that. I guess he loved tormenting the mane-six more than turning Equestria on its head. I still thought he was great, but not as great as he could've been.
Trixie. So some people didn't get the Trixie return that they wanted. I really enjoyed seeing her again though. I called it as soon as they started talking about the amulet. While I liked the episode, I was kind of wishing for Trixie to be more violent. I know violence is not a theme of this show (nor should it be), but we did see the changeling queen go after Celestia and actually put her on the ground. I kind of wanted something like that. I wanted Trixie to attack Twilight directly. She was obviously very angry and went to great lengths to be better than Twilight. However, it is shown at the end that Trixie was not inherently evil and I guess that's a good enough explanation for me.
Wonderbolt Academy. Did Spitfire forget who RD was? I couldn't tell. I'm just going to think that Spitfire didn't say anything because she didn't want to play favorites. Anyway, I'm not sure what I expected from this episode but I do know that I wanted more. I also wanted a better reason for Spitfire to put RD as the wingpony. Even though the reason was that Lightning Dust pushes herself harder, the real reason should've been because Spitfire wanted to see RD be a teammate and not always in a leader position. I guess she kind of proved that anyway by trying to stick up for the other recruits when Lightning wanted screw them up, but still. I think that should've more of a theme instead of simply being reckless to get ahead.
Luna. Just simply wanted more. Yeah, she was used in a couple of cool spots, but I want more. Did she even say anything to Twilight when all that jazz happened in the last episode? Even a simple, "I had my doubts, Twilight Sparkle, but you have proven yourself worthy," would've suffice. More Luna. MORE Luna. Luna please. More. Yes.
There is an interesting connection between the final episodes of S2 and S3:
While there is nothing extraordinary about that, I can't stop laughing at the irony that Princess Toy is the one telling such thing to TS.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
I'm wondering more and more if this really was a toy mandate from Hasbro. Few notes
-Faust says Twilight succeeding Celestia was her plan all along
-Writers clearly thought this was it, and this would have made a grand finale to Twilight's journey.
-Twilight has never been the focus of the toy lines so far, that is much more Pinkie Pie's place.
-May make a push for a second purple pony princess?
-Faust says Twilight succeeding Celestia was her plan all along
-Writers clearly thought this was it, and this would have made a grand finale to Twilight's journey.
-Twilight has never been the focus of the toy lines so far, that is much more Pinkie Pie's place.
-May make a push for a second purple pony princess?
I don't think Faust was going for Twilight becoming an Alicorn, but more that Celestia was going to teach Twilight until the student was as wise as the master, at which point the immortal Celestia would take her leave of this world. Twilight would be Celestia's successor more in wisdom than power.
I do agree though (in hindsight, I really didn't believe it before) that the writers thought S3 was going to be the final season, and that they wanted to go out with a bang, and that this ending is exactly what they were going for. The S3 opener even ends with Celestia and Luna pulling out Starswirl's notebook and nodding to each other. Although that reminds me, I'm a little disappointed with Celestia's machinations here too, and with Luna and Discord or even Cadence apparently playing no part in it. IMO, Celestia had more gravitas when she said "Happy Tuesday" in S2.
I think Twilight's wings just "felt" more like a toy decision, even if they weren't one.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Well, Cadance WAS a toy mandate, we know that. And it really shows by her having really no character at all. She's a bland old-school Disney Princess. They shipped her off to the Crystal Empire, and if they go back will probably show up, but I don't expect her to have any real part in the bigger story. They didn't even give her a line in this last episode, she was there because she kind of had to be.
Twilight was Celestia's student. Maybe a few lines for Luna for set up, but I didn't feel like it was out of place for her also to be there (though Celestia at least recognized her, unlike Cadance).
"Happy Tuesday" is confirmation that Twilight freaking out in the Canterlot library was a common occurrence.
I saw someone on another forum mention that the coronation felt like the Hasbro mandate, so they could make a big deal about it, and that made sense. I think the episode would have worked a lot better with Twilight leveling up, but axing the big celebration in Canterlot. Even Celestia says she's still her student, and I don't get the feeling that Twilight's going to be ruling over anything yet.
Twilight was Celestia's student. Maybe a few lines for Luna for set up, but I didn't feel like it was out of place for her also to be there (though Celestia at least recognized her, unlike Cadance).
"Happy Tuesday" is confirmation that Twilight freaking out in the Canterlot library was a common occurrence.
I saw someone on another forum mention that the coronation felt like the Hasbro mandate, so they could make a big deal about it, and that made sense. I think the episode would have worked a lot better with Twilight leveling up, but axing the big celebration in Canterlot. Even Celestia says she's still her student, and I don't get the feeling that Twilight's going to be ruling over anything yet.
I agree with Cheerilee here, I doubt Faust wanted TS to be an alicorn. Instead, I believe she wanted her to be more like a mortal successor to Celestia's reign. Not only it avoids the cliche of princesses and stuff, but it also reinforces the original concept that it's ok to be different and blah, blah.
On the other hand, something tells me that Season 3 is the son of a lot of changed plans and confusion:
- Ok, Season's final works like an end of a Journey. But it's also awfully rushed and disjointed.
- During the season we see several efforts to bring some sort of closure to several of the other characters: RD's wonderbolts dream, FS's transforming Discord, etc. BUT at the same time, the episodes refuse to actually bring an end to anything and instead go nowhere, completely neutralizing any progression done.
- Some characters are completely neglected. (Rarity)
- The season is clearly focused on TS, contrasting S2.
That said, I think they went through a lot during the early stages of the season, in other words, they were not entirely sure if that was the final season or even worse, they were sure it was and the plans changed during production. With some luck, we'll know what the hell happened someday.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Regarding Rarity, I think the argument could be made that Rarity's arc ended (or at least hit a satisfactory ending point for a series) in season 2. We see in "Sisterhooves Social" her accept and embrace her little sister, and then in "Sweet and Elite" we see her hti her dream of getting in with Caterlot's elite, but sh instead chooses her friends and Ponyville. She still manages her designing dream, as we hear her mention that she has orders from Canterlot, so she kind of got the best of everything.
And regarding if Faust would have made her an Alicorn, who knows. Even this episode seemed to make a distinction between an Alicorn and a Princess. Rarity's comment that she's become an Alicorn, but Celestia having to distinguish that she is actually a Princess.
And regarding if Faust would have made her an Alicorn, who knows. Even this episode seemed to make a distinction between an Alicorn and a Princess. Rarity's comment that she's become an Alicorn, but Celestia having to distinguish that she is actually a Princess.
Ugh, you are probably right about it, they Applejack'ed poor Rarity. Man, they should be more responsible about this stuff, or at least, come up with something to "refresh" those characters.
Thinking about it, Pinkie is another one that desperately needs something to make her a proper character rather than the shitty gimmick she currently is.
You can blame Princess toy for making almost impossible to understand how the Princesses and Alicorn business works. I really hope Season 4 does a lot of explaining.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Really the only place to go with Pinkie is to address her abandonment issues, and that seems way to much for a kids show to tackle.
Slamtastic
Member
I thought they were trying to do a responsibility/growing up thing with Pinkie, with Baby Cakes (obvious) and Too Many Pinkie Pies (More to life than just fun)
They certainly seemed to be moving in that direction, but after TMPPs she's horribly regressed and has lost pretty much all development she gained over the past 2 seasons.
Sadly, this:
Also, as far as we know, the only characters that do something related to their elements are TS and FS (more or less). And as sad as it may sound, some of the main 6 characters don't even have aspirations. Exploring something along those lines could refresh the show and its characters in a pretty natural way.
For example, they could give to all them (except TS, duh) bigger and way more important aspirations (think big, one of them is a princess after all) that are also related to their elements, add the proper challenges and more character development/complexity and we could have an outstanding season. Considering the ending we got, S3 should have been like that.
Rhomega Beta
Member
I also got Fluttershy.
Choppasmith
Member
Am I the only one still hoping for that Weird Al episode that was briefly teased a while ago?
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Test is broken.
And I take it again and get Twilight...
And I take it again and get Twilight...
How very Twilight of you.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Shadow Hog
Member
Your sex change operation starts in the morning.
As soon a Celestia is 100% sure that you're really not Rarity, otherwise she'll just have to take your wings away again.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
Dash was actually pretty close to shaking the spell off herself. She's just that awesome.
Yeah, make them reasonable at first, but then get more numerous and ridiculous as the episode goes on.
"Princess! Princess Twilight! I need your help! Should I get chunky or creamy peanut butter?"
Yeah, make them reasonable at first, but then get more numerous and ridiculous as the episode goes on.
"Princess! Princess Twilight! I need your help! Should I get chunky or creamy peanut butter?"
That sounds great.