You know how we always imagined Twilight as some kind of grad student?

Does becoming a princess mean she's earned her PhD in Friendshipology?

Lol, I think Celestia knows what will happen if you put Twilight + Elements of Harmony + Starswirl's book in close proximity.

Damn on one hand, it felt like it just happened so quick, ...on the other it felt epic

Shining Armor definitely had the best line

But the rest of the final act was kinda, ....sappy.

I'll rewatch it again, and then I'll give it the final verdict, ...but for now it seems to be the best episode since "Too Many Pinkie Pies" and the fourth A+ episode written by MA Larson.

A little disappointed that it ended with Twilight already flying though.

But even if I do find more gaping problems, ....it's still better than the last finale or The Grand Galloping Gala.

edited 16th Feb '13 10:23:33 AM by terlwyth

I'm still curious about exactly why Star Swirl was researching a spell that could create alicorns. Maybe he didn't realize that the elements were required to work.

...I was like, almost done with the recap....and accidently closed the tab... pfffffffff!

Maybe the alicornication is just a side effect, and whatever he was going for was something else?

I can see forever.

You accidentally what? (Side note: look at the shape of the scorch mark)

That last post is SO MUCH WIN.

Breaking news: it's just a normal day in Ponyville.

I want that to be the title of the next episode.

edited 16th Feb '13 10:29:27 AM by IrishZombie

...and now I find someone else typed up the recap while I was working on mine... Oh well. I can throw in a funny quote somewhere, I guess.

That's the major thing that bothered me. Even if it was boosted by the Elements, it was still a two-line spell that cost apparently no effort to cast and didn't even require Twilight to be wearing her Element (which every other effect, including petrification and purification, as well as the magic resistance the Elements grant, requires).

Apparently, Twilight is the Alicorn of Friendship.

Since Star Swirl didn't get that, and cause this whole show is about how Friendship Is Magic, it was necessary for the Alicorn-candidate to realize/use/literally become the avatar of friendship.

Maybe Star Swirl was just very efficient. Or the spell uses the power inherent in the elements and the "spell" Twilight cast was just like an activation phrase or something.

A spell to change a pony's inner nature causes Twlight less exertion than those she used to give her friend butterfly wings, carry a bottle of milk to an Ursa Minor, or even teleport?

And there weren't any plot holes, whoever said anything about plot holes? I didn't. I said the plot was stupid, not that it was defective. Plenty of stupid things in the world that function fine, it's just that the job they so serviceably do is not worth doing.

I can't shake the feeling that the entire point of this was to sell a new toy, and the creative team got stuck trying to wring a decent story to justify it. It bears the same dumbass, "show is being Out Of Character" feeling as the arcs involving Cadence. Which they still pulled off magnificently, but were could not escape this reaction:

In other words, it's fine as long as you don't think about it too hard.

Also, it fucks up a lot of fanfic canons which presumed that hacking magical code was perfectly normal for a Unicorn and Twilight just happened to be exceptionally good at it.

edited 16th Feb '13 10:30:47 AM by TheHandle

Really, it didn't even look like Twilight was casting the spell. First time I saw the scene I just thought she was reading it aloud to herself and the elements responded for some reason.

Yeah. I'm glad she explicitly said she tried casting the spell, because it sure as hell didn't feel like it.

I know I wasn't the only one who was pretty surprised at the ending. I think this episode would have for better as a two-part series finale.

@Handle: Except the guy who wrote the episode explicitly said that this wasn't the case. According the writers, the ascension was the plan from the beginning.

Just what are those ropes attached to?

This would have been hilarious.

We have the beginnings of a season 4 bingo chart! Let's fill in those remaining spaces!

Liked the episode. Probably should've been a two-parter. Main conflict was resolved halfway through and the rest was just "yup, princess."

But I'm not complaining, because we got a lot of nice musical numbers, Derpy is back, and my favorite ship made another appearance.

None of the spells in this show ever require any effort. They either work, and wrap up the plot in whatever way is necessary, or they fail because it's too early for the plot to be resolved.

MLP is not a magical thriller show.

edited 16th Feb '13 10:36:36 AM by Bluespade

I did rather like most of the music in this episode. Other than Babs Seed I hadn't been liking the music this season as much as previous seasons, but this episode made up for that a bit.

I'm not complaining either, but I'm pretty worried about how the show will turn out. I loved the musical numbers and the plots, but I did find it scary how the animals attempted to cook and eat Rainbow Dash. I just hope things won't change for the worst.

Will Twilight still be able to interact with the other ponies? Will the Cutie Mark Crusaders ever get their cutie marks? Why am I asking all of these questions?

@Blue: She shows some effort in some cases, like Boast Busters, but yeah, for the most part, spells seem to be a matter of skill rather than effort.

Well, after making one of the primary cast members royalty, anything is possible. I still want an episode where one of the CMC gets their marks and triggers tensions within the group.

edited 16th Feb '13 10:39:20 AM by JapaneseTeeth

@ Blue: Boast Busters. Vanquishing the Ursa Minor. Took a lot of visible effort.

edited 16th Feb '13 10:38:35 AM by Badwolfwho

Early Installment Weirdness