Kyler: Maybe. Or more boringly, it could translate to a tail flex or something like that.

Also, new Ask Dusky.

Games Ponies Play isn't highly regarded? What was wrong with it? I rather liked the episode.

Twilight can cause ponies to explode by flexing her tail. I dread to think what RD's knowledge of karate enables her to do.

A lot of people dislike the Idiot Plot component of no one, at any point in the episode, realizing that they picked up the wrong pony from the train station. It works at first, but the longer it goes the more hard to believe it is that no one calls her by name.

edited 11th Aug '13 8:15:40 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Primarily disliked for it's very predictable plot.

I liked it regardless though.

edited 11th Aug '13 8:14:59 PM by Mio

No it's because she's read lots of secret scrolls.

And every last scroll she read was actually a mirror.

I imagine her getting really annoyed after the first couple.

"Okay, I get it! The power was inside me all along! Can I please just read a real scroll now?"

All scrolls have been replaced. Celestia now gets friendship mirrors with Twi's thoughts scrawled in permanent marker.

You have no idea how hard this made me laugh.

The only thing I liked about Games Ponies Play was that Rarity was the only one who didn't drop the ball.

Other than that, meh. Chickadee was obnoxious, Idiot Plot, and the moral was kinda fucked up ("You guys treated me like shit and my trip has been a headache from beginning to end! Thanks for being honest :D").

It also had a rather strange moral.

Come on, there were a few good moments. Like RD crashing into the roof.

"Hm, What was that? It sounded like Rainbow Dash, but there's no property damage. Oh well, back to being Best Pony."

Well, that kind of plot has never been particularly good, IMHO.

To be fair, it was more: 'Everyone always sucks up to the person with authority, but do they really act that way with everyone else?' Of course, the whole thing happened because the mane six were trying to suck up to someone they THOUGHT had authority, so.

edited 11th Aug '13 8:45:21 PM by edvedd

Chickadee? Obnoxious? Aww, how can you not like this mare?

Admittedly the moral was weird as hell, but I enjoyed the rest of the episode.

edited 11th Aug '13 8:46:57 PM by Crowfall

I liked it overall. Yeah the overall story was weak and had a ton of issues and was really dumb. But there were so many great jokes, great scenes, the whole thing was just fun to watch. It was like EQG for me. Fun and entertaining to watch and enjoy the humor of, but falls apart when you actually stop to think about it.

I'm not so sure about this crab, Rarity. Just look at his big, meaty claws.

I guess now we know what she does for a living. She works at a video game company. That she founded.

I now want to know what the fallout would have been if they actually ran these subtitles while AB was speaking French.

Yeah, GPP was entertaining, but the plot doesn't hold up well to scrutiny.

x4 Is it akward to say I thought she was a sexy pony?

edited 11th Aug '13 8:54:24 PM by KingKix

Ugh, I hate being in a morbid mood. The usual thinking of death and such.

I wonder if it bothers ponies, or if they even believe in an afterlife? It's never mention, so I assume they're atheistic.

I thought GPP had very solid characterization and development. With how awkward that can be from episode to episode I can forgive a lot in an episode if it's good. It's partially why I'm ok with OBA.

edited 11th Aug '13 8:57:21 PM by Mio

@JT: The 'Mistaken Identity' plot has never worked particularly well in cartoons, because it requires a complete breakdown in communication for it to happen most of the time. MLP has risen above basic plots before, but this one? Not so much.

edited 11th Aug '13 8:57:36 PM by edvedd

my favorite season 3 episode was probably Wonderbolts Academy, despite the lack of Applejack.

Tie between OBA and SIP.

@Ed: It generally doesn't work well at all unless the characters are less-than-bright in-universe.

@Dark: It wouldn't surprise me if they did, but like you said, they never mention it in show. Probably because it would be almost impossible to address that issue without coming across as pro-or-anti religion. That and aside from the possibility of an episode dealing with loss, I just don't see them as having much motivation to tackle the issue of death anyway. It's basically a blank; there are any number of cosmologies about the afterlife that you could put in there.

The most you can say about spirituality in the setting is that there's definitely some kind absolute morality built into the universe that says "friendship is awesome, and everyone should treat each other well". Whether that's the product of some sort of deity or a more pantheistic "force" or simply a Clap Your Hands If You Believe on the part of the ponies.

Anyway, my favorite S3 episode is probably Wonderbolt Academy. Just For Sidekicks was also pretty good, but that's more of a pure entertainment episode than one that was particularly well written.

edited 11th Aug '13 9:11:00 PM by JapaneseTeeth

Sleepless gets my vote.

Yeah, the Mistaken Identity plot breaks down completely if a character asks a basic question.

edited 11th Aug '13 9:16:51 PM by edvedd