My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic SPOILER TALK THREAD

Well, the show is not ending so much as getting a reboot.

That, to me, is ending. Like, this incarnation, with the characters we've come to know and love over the past decade having their stories come to an end, to be replaced by the new versions.

Like, when The Doctor regenerates. Sure, teh show hasn't ended, but that Doctor's story has, and with it (usually) also his companions'.

Now, as far as I'm aware, the comics won't be ending, so we'll probably see them continue through them (a la ATLA/ALOK), but I'm so far behind it's ridiculous (the last one I remember reading was Reflections). Also, there's always the chance we might see our favorite colored horses on EQG, which they said wasn't ending, right?

edited 31st May '18 7:08:38 AM by Rytex

Yeah, I'd consider a reboot to be an ending and a new beginning rather than a continuation too.

I'm of two minds on the new gen. On the one hoof, I'm excited to see what the creative team might come up with given the chance to wipe the slate clean and start over fresh. They've been chafing under the yoke of having basically adopted someone else's story for years.

But on the other hoof, I'm concerned by the thought of what the creative team might come up with given the chance to wipe the slate clean and start over fresh. I haven't exactly been thrilled by the direction some of the later season episodes and arcs tend to go.

Best case scenario: A new setting and story structure that will capture the imagination, full of characters that are every bit as interesting and engaging as the ones we had.

Worst case scenario: "Okay, what if we did My Little Pony over, but this time we built it exclusively for the bronies from the ground up."

In order for the show to work best, I feel a few things would have to happen.

One, the core of the new show's staff have to be there from start to finish. Maybe not all of them, but most of them. MLPFIM lost its way due to the ever-changing hands of the show staff, and the changing visions. It got flanderized into "Friendship is the answer to every problem!" when before, morals were a lot more diverse. Plus, no real good sense of continuity. Having the same team around the entire time would hopefully mitigate that.

Two, a compromise has to be struck with Hasbro. Hasbro want toys to sell, no question. But if they want their shows to stay popular and not slowly bleed fans over the years like FIM did after Season 4, they have to be willing to let the show writers do their thing with minimal interference. I don't think any of the FIM staff wanted Twilicorn to happen until the very end, but Lord Habsro made it happen, and it caused the single greatest and most pointless shitstorm in the history of this fine internet (though the Szechuan Sauce meltdowns are a close second). Sure, ask for some new toy sets from time to time, and the show staff can make it happen, but forcing things before their time can alienate fans hardcore.

Not to mention, as we've griped about time and again, they still have no idea what to do with Rainbow Power that they threw in and then forgot about.

edited 31st May '18 7:35:46 AM by Rytex

I still maintain that they never meant to do anything with Rainbow Power after they threw it in there. It was a one-time thing that happened due to the activation of a single-use MacGuffin that isn't around anymore.

Bullshit Castle and its associated Map? That's what they did with Rainbow Power. That and beating Tirek. It was a transitional thing serving as both plot-solving Deus Ex Machina and to bring about the status quo changes that Hasbro wanted, and then it was done away with.

It was never meant to stick around. Just like how the Power Ponies abilities were never meant to stick around. And how Flutterbat, despite my protestations and that episode's own final scene, was never meant to stick around.

edited 31st May '18 7:57:01 AM by TobiasDrake

The thing about Flutterbat that bothers me is they keep teasing it. It was in the dream parts of "Magic Sheep," and it was teased in the Hallowe'en episode of Season 6 (but then walked back by saying she was all dressed up). They clearly haven't forgotten.

I wouldn't mind if they just let things lie, but for goodness sake, let them lie and quit reminding us you remember them.

Why not? They are just Continuity Nods to a popular Fluttershy moment. I don't see the harm in that.

edited 1st Jun '18 9:56:54 AM by Redmess

Yeah, that's not really teasing. As noted, that's a Continuity Nod. "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" also features the Power Ponies, but nobody's really expecting that to make a return.

Teasing isn't references to the aesthetic like Fluttershy's Halloween costume. Teasing would be if they dropped in little hints that it's still around and something she can do. Like giving her fangs when she gets angry or having her in the background of a scene sniffing out apples. Small references to the powerset still being a thing she has.

edited 1st Jun '18 11:48:19 AM by TobiasDrake

Time alone hasn't done done Chysalis any favours.

So, can we talk about the Australian episodes here?

Ya know what I'm disappointed with? The lack of Australian accents.

To get the ball rolling, Road to Friendship was a complete anticlimax.

Okay, so I actually watched Road To Friendship and The Washout and speaking of the latter Lightning Dust should should be in jail.

I watched the early airing of "Father Knows Beast" and I realized something. What Sludge tried to do was very similar to the story that Smolder told in "Hearth's Warming Club" where Scales was taken in by the kind Dragon Lord and then overthrew him, with him ending up living outside. Where Sludge was taken in by the ponies and helped when he was injured, and then tried to take over the castle when he got comfortable there (and even made Spike start sleeping outside). Smolder, in turn, shows that even though she liked that story, she still steps in to help when something similar is happening to a friend of hers.

Damn, Sludge was a real asshole. But that's a good point about Smoulder you made. I'm really enjoying her character growth. I think she might be my favorite of the Young Six? She also showed impressive character growth in "What Lies Beneath" when she was willing to admit to Ocellus that she actually does enjoy cute stuff and did enjoy the tea party she had to join for her test so that Ocellus could have the courage to pass her test.

Unrelated, but I gotta say, "Sounds of Silence" is probably my favorite episode this season. A cool new species with interesting character designs, a fun new character, a rather nuanced moral (I really appreciate especially that a show aimed at little girls is giving the message that anger is a perfectly normal and healthy emotion to have, and that what's more crucial is making sure that what you do with that anger is good, as opposed to repressing anger entirely), a super catchy and fun song that I absolutely have not been playing on repeat since watching the episode, what are you talking about, and also worldbuilding that doesn't involve the Pastel Pony's Burden of spreading the Pony Values of Friendship to the Savage Non-Pony Masses? Sign me up! I hope we get to see the kirin again. They were really cool!

Edited by DeathsApprentice on Sep 2nd 2018 at 3:10:54 PM

I really, really liked Sounds of Silence. I think it might be one of my favorite episodes.

Saw Sounds of Silence casually on Youtube (it just showed up in my recomendations), and yeah, that is a fantastic episode. Easily one of the best episodes in S8. It introduced new lore, new fun characters, focus on my two favourite Mane 6, and their characters were very well handled. I would've liked a bit more Fluttershy screentime, but it was nontheless one of her best episodes yet.

I'm amused at the YMMV page for School Raze Part 2. Is Cozy Glow really that Draco-ed? From the looks of things she might be the final boss of the series.

Man, I remember back during the early seasons when people were speculating that Nightmare Moon would Bookend the series or stuff. Now it turns out it could very well be a filly who wants to take over the universe. This show's gotten weird.

Bumping this for discussion of the season 9 previews, so that the main thread doesn't turn into a series of spoilered-out posts. Not sure if spoilers are needed on here or not, but I spoilered my next comment on here just in case:

One thing I noticed on Equestria Daily is that in the series of screenshots, not only is Quibble Pants returning, but it looks like he's going to be playing buckball. I'm kind of surprised to see him in a context that doesn't necessarily have to do with Daring Do. Although since Rainbow Dash likes buckball, I'm guessing the plot has something to do with her trying to get him to play it with her.

I was mostly excited by the shot of spike, smolder, garble, and the teen dragons. I hope garble is the brother smolder mentioned in molt down.

Is garble the jerk teenager dragon? For a moment, I thought you were talking about the dragon that looked like Rarity's costume.

Yes, Garble is the jerk dragon with two cronies.

Is this the right place to discuss the Season 9 finale that got released early in the Netherlands?

yup

So... what did you guys think of the "Grogar was Discord all along" reveal? I think it was a wasted opportunity. And the power of Grogar's bell was seriously underused.

I chuckled at the Pinky and the Brain reference though.