Line #22 YMMV/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E17TheTimesTheyAreAChangeling


1	* AccidentalAesop: Prejudice may not be something that's considered ideal, but if someone had a bad experience with a certain race or thing, racism is bound to be put into play.
2	* {{Adorkable}}: After Spike makes up the phony excuse that Crystal Hoof/Transformed Thorax is his pen pal from the Crystal Empire, Twilight is overjoyed and says he could have been using her "pen pal quill set" complete with an excited flapping of her wings.
3	* AlternateAesopInterpretation: 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.
4	* {{Applicability}}: The episode's theme can be used as a metaphor for many real world prejudices.
5	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "A Changeling Can Change", Spike's first solo song.[[note]]Not counting "Jolly Ol' St. Nick" from the ''It's a Pony Kind of Christmas'' album.[[/note]]
6	* BrokenBase:
7	** A straight example would be Spike's musical number. Some think it was SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic and a ''major'' step-up from his failure of the Cloudsdale anthem in "Equestria Games", while others thought it was cringe-worthy, largely unnecessary and some even consider it to be an AntiClimax.
8	** The 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.
9	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Thorax is pretty much the changeling equivalent of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E5GauntletOfFire Princess Ember]] in terms of this.
10	* EpilepticTrees: Thorax's statement that he was raised by ''an'' evil Queen is an implication that there is more than one Queen in the Changeling Kingdom or at least a confirmation to the existence of Proto-Queens in the species.
11	* FanficFuel:
12	** Granted, friendly changelings who wanted to defect from Chrysalis was a pretty common fan idea since their introduction in season 2. But now that we have a canon one, this is ripe for exploration to how other defectors will react to finding out that one of their own managed to cross the barrier and if they have a chance to legitimately live in pony society. Thorax wanting to spread what he has learned and hoping that changelings can find alternate means to feeding on love (another common fan idea) only adds more fuel to the fire.
13	** Likewise, what exactly ''was'' Thorax doing after Chrysalis's invasion failed, before he reached the Crystal Empire?
14	** Thorax also revealed that changelings are capable of transforming into non-living objects like rocks.
15	** New insights in changeling culture and behavior -- such as how they live in insect-like hives, hatch from eggs, and have distinct larval and adult stages -- while not necessarily fanfic-worthy by themselves, are sure to provide excellent material for anyone writing changeling-based fics in the future.
16	* 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.
17	* HilariousInHindsight:
18	** [[https://www.derpibooru.org/384571 This picture]] was made '''three years before the episode''' back in 2013.
19	** There's also [[http://pony-berserker.deviantart.com/art/The-Times-They-Are-A-Changeling-460889590 this picture]], which has the '''''exact same name''''' as the episode, posted back in June 2014!
20	** [[http://vavacung.deviantart.com/ Vavacung]], a prominent fanartist from Thailand, is one of the biggest changeling fans in the MLP fandom who believes in good changelings since "A Canterlot Wedding" and has a lot of fanworks portraying changelings in a good light. She finally got her wish with this Episode.
21	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MvciBMZNs0 This video]] was made '''three years ago''' back in 2013 which featured changelings transforming into non-pony beings.
22	* HoYay: When promos revealed that Spike's new changeling friend was a boy and when the episode came out there were a few small but noticeable moments between them that could be interpreted as "shippy". Perhaps most noteworthy, the way Spike gently touches Thorax's face during his song.
23	* MemeticMutation:
24	** "RACISM!!", in regards to everyone's behavior to the reveal of Thorax.
25	** On a lesser note and a somewhat NeverLiveItDown, "Shining Armor is so racist".
26	* {{Moe}}: Poor little Thorax. He's so shy and awkward, and so delighted to tour the Crystal Empire and make friends.
27	* {{Narm}}
28	** The montage of everyone {{gasp}}ing at Spike calling Thorax his friend goes on a tad too long and starts to enter parody territory.
29	** Spike's song is either meaningful or overly sappy and feel-y for this show.
30	* ParanoiaFuel: Changelings can, in fact, do {{Objectshifting}}. Sleep tight. Or not; how can you trust that your bed is actually a bed?
31	* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: While Creator/CathyWeseluck's voice over performance as Spike has already been 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.
32	* TaintedByThePreview: After the trailers were released, fans started accusing this episode of being a [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks rehash]] of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E6NoSecondPrances No Second Prances]]". Spike befriending a changeling to the dismay of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance has the same premise as Twilight's suspicions when Starlight Glimmer befriends Trixie. However, it's mitigated by the fact that there has been nothing since "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 A Canterlot Wedding]]" that would suggest Shining Armor and Cadance would be any less distrustful towards changelings. Twilight seemed to forgive Trixie at first in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E5MagicDuel Magic Duel]]", which cast her hostility in "No Second Prances" in a hypocritical light. Shining Armor and Cadance also have much more understandable reasons for distrusting Thorax -- namely, the only other changelings that the royal couple have any personal experience with launched a full-scale invasion of their nation's capital, sabotaged their wedding, kidnapped Cadance, and brainwashed Shining Armor (all of which Shining Armor himself brings up during the episode).[[note]]Also, if you consider the IDW comic books to be canon as well, that would give the royal couple even more reason to be distrustful.[[/note]]
33	* UglyCute: We finally get to see what baby changelings look like, and they're actually quite adorable.
34	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The three-dimensional animation as Spike slides through the cave.
35	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical:
36	** 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 UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror (especially since the main reason for the hostility was due to a terrorist attack during the Season 2 finale).
37	** Go back further in history and you'll find the RedScare (before and during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar), the anti-Japanese atmosphere of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII America, the pervasive anti-German rhetoric of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI....
38	* TheWoobie: Thorax, natch. It's heavily implied that he's endured AllOfTheOtherReindeer from his own kind, and that social status doesn't exactly improve when he tries to live among Ponykind -- at least not until the ending, thanks to Spike.

Context YMMV / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E17TheTimesTheyAreAChangeling