History YMMV / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E17TheTimesTheyAreAChangeling

** Everypony's vehemence that a changeling can't be good, as well as their hostility and panic in regards to Thorax, can seem painfully excessive to some viewers, especially considering the well-known reformations of villains like Discord and especially Starlight Glimmer, who makes an appearance in the episode. On the other hand, Shining Armor and Cadance in particular have pretty good reasons to feel the way they do considering their last encounter with changelings, so other viewers argue their reactions are realistic.
** In direct contrast, the [[AntiClimax anti-climactic]] ending has many viewers wondering if the ponies fully accepting Thorax (to the point that Cadance ''brings Flurry Heart right under his nose'') after nothing but a quick song was in any way reasonable. Others feel that having ''both'' Spike "The Brave and Glorious" and Twilight "The Princess of Friendship" being willing to give Thorax a chance carried enough influence to have it make sense, especially for Cadance and Shining Armor due to their own past experience and Twilight being family.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** When one recalls "The Cutie Re-Mark", it occurs that in the Queen Chrysalis time lines, poor Thorax is either forced to watch potential friends suffer at the hooves of his fellow changelings, or even lives on the run from them. Or worse, because he never witnessed the Mane 6 and their friendship, he lives out the rest of his life never knowing there's a better way to live than under Queen Chrysalis' rule.

** There's also some notable similarities to ''FanFic/TheChangelingOfTheGuard'', first posted in March of 2014...

* FourthWallMyopia: While it's very easy to call out the ponies, especially Shining Armor, remember that only the audience and Spike is aware that Thorax is good. After what the changelings did in the Season 2 finale and how personal it was to Twilight's family, any InUniverse characters would have acted the same way.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: While Creator/CathyWeseluck's voice over performance as Spike has already been very well received, here for Spike's first solo in the series "A Changeling Can Change", she proves that she really can sing as him just as well, especially for such a moving and emotional ballad.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: While Creator/CathyWeseluck's voice over performance for Spike has already been very well received, here for Spike's first solo in the series "A Changeling Can Change", she proves that she really can sing as him just as well, especially for such a moving and emotional ballad.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: While Creator/CathyWeseluck's voice over performance for Spike has been very well received, here for Spike's first solo in the series "A Changeling Can Change", she proves that she really can sing as him just as well, especially for such a moving and emotional ballad.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: While Creator/CathyWeseluck's voice over performance for Spike has been very well received, here, for Spike's first solo in the series "A Changeling Can Change", she proves that she really can sing as him just as well, especially for such a moving and emotional ballad.

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: While Creator/CathyWeseluck's voice over performance for Spike has been very well received, here she proves that she really can sing as him just as well, especially for such a moving and emotional ballad as "A Changeling Can Change".

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: "A Changeling Can Change" being Spike's first solo song in the series, who would’ve thought that Creator/CathyWeseluck could sing such a moving and emotional ballad so well?

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop Don't expect too much sacrifice out of someone you haven't been friends with for that long.]] After a brief stint of ThenLetMeBeEvil, Thorax concedes that Spike has a lot going for him with being the Crystal Empire's hero, and it was a lot to ask him to risk torpedoing all of that for someone he's known for less than a day.

** With the Crystal Empire under EmergencyAuthority due to a suspected changeling spy in their midst, the premise sounds a lot like the ethnic and religious conflicts in many parts of the world throughout modern history. Americans in particular might be tempted to see parallels to anti-Muslim rhetoric and {{Deep Cover Agent}}s that have pervaded some political spheres since the beginning of TheWarOnTerror (especially since the main reason for the hostility was due to a terrorist attack during the Season 2 finale).

* FourthWallMyopia: While it's very easy to call out the ponies, especially [[NeverLiveItDown Shining Armor]], remember that only the audience and Spike is aware that Thorax is good. After what the changelings did in the Season 2 finale and how personal it was to Twilight's family, any InUniverse characters would have acted the same way.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: "A Changeling Can Change" being Spike's first solo song in the series, who would’ve thought that Creator/CathyWeseluck could sing such a moving and emotional ballad so well?

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: "A Changeling Can Change" being Spike's first solo song in the series, who would’ve thought that Creator/CathyWeseluck could sing such a moving and emotional ballad so well?

** Likewise, what exactly Thorax was doing after Chrysalis's invasion failed before he reached the Crystal Empire?

** When one recalls "The Cutie Re-Mark", it occurs that in one of those alternate time lines, poor Thorax is either forced to watch potential friends suffer at the hooves of his fellow changelings, or even living on the run from them. Or worse, because he never witnessed the Mane 6 and their friendship, he lives out the rest of his life never knowing there's a better way to live than under Queen Chrysalis' rule.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: "A Changeling Can Change" being Spike's first solo song in the series, who would’ve thought that Creator/CathyWeseluck could sing such a moving and emotional ballad so well?

* CounterpartComparison: A sensitive, awkward person raised from birth to be an unquestioning {{Mook|s}} soldier, indistinguishable in appearance from all his comrades, sent to attack innocents by a selfish villain but unable to bring himself to fire a shot, who then defects and makes friends with a popular hero, thus paving the way for his joining with the forces of good -- are we talking about Thorax the changeling, or [[Film/TheForceAwakens Finn the stormtrooper]]?

** Before the episode aired, some fans were worried that the episode would rehash "No Second Prances", but others liked the idea of Spike befriending a changeling. Thankfully, the episode was well-received by many in the fanbase.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: During Spike’s song, a spotlight comes out of nowhere along with various backgrounds.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: A cross-continuity example. While fans were fine with the idea of Chrysalis herself being over a thousand years old in ''Fiendship is Magic #5'', most found it odd and off-putting that the entire changeling species was just that one swarm that never aged, healed, or increased in number. Here, it's more or less revealed to be not true.

* {{Moe}}: Poor little Thorax.