Line #30 YMMV/MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Princess Amore's actions regarding Sombra and why she never actively did anything to help him reject his destiny. Was it because she wanted him to figure it out on his own, or was she afraid if she actively tried to steer him away from his destiny he would assume she was only doing it because she viewed him as a potential threat and not because she believed he was good (and thereby leading to his FaceHeelTurn anyway)?
2	* BrokenBase:
3	** The Tirek issue... Some like how it shows his mentor, family, and personal life; others feel TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot by skipping what he and Scorpan did in Equestria pre-"Twilight's Kingdom." Not helping is the prior issue's ToughActToFollow status.
4	** The Sirens issue over being lighter and more joke-heavy than the first two issues. Some enjoyed the humor, others criticize it for diluting the series' DarkerAndEdgier draw.
5	* CryForTheDevil: All the major antagonists are given sympathetic backgrounds, with the exception of Chrysalis, who was hatched as an EldritchAbomination, and Tirek, who we only see as a destructively EmoTeen, without any explanation for why he is so.
6	* DesignatedVillain: The Sirens. The way the issue is told, they don't come off as much as a threat as the legends told in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'' implied. Particularly, their singing doesn't cause strife or arguing between other ponies, it makes ponies adore them, and it's implied the Sirens do this as a way to get fame and attention, not to purposefully create trouble. If any harm was caused, it was {{Offscreen\|Villainy}}. Enter Star Swirl who, after failing to best them in a fair contest, just banishes them to another world to get rid of them. Some fans go so far as to say ''Star Swirl'' is the villain of the comic, that the story that Twilight read on ''Rainbow Rocks'' was a clear case of WrittenByTheWinners and that the Sirens were victims DrivenToVillainy after their banishment.
7	* FanDislikedExplanation:
8	** Good luck finding anyone who views the banishment of the Sirens to the present in ''Issue #3'', thus [[{{Jossed}} invalidating]] their ReallySevenHundredYearsOld aspect {{fanon}} held them to, as necessary or desirable.
9	* FanonDiscontinuity: While revealing the backstories of popular villains gets all the issues this to some degree for inevitably clashing with {{fanon}}, the Sirens has been universally rejected for [[DesignatedVillain failing to successfully portray them as villains deserving their banishment]] and {{joss\|ed}}ing the most popular fanon about them. Few fans doubt it a coincidence that the show and later comics would make it CanonDiscontinuity in a way that, unlike other examples, came off as irrefutable and deliberate.
10	* FirstInstallmentWins: While the second and third issues have divided the fanbase on if they're good or not, Sombra's issue is not only agreed to be excellent by most, but is considered better than either of the two issues following. Issues four and five got back some of that affection, but only the latter is considered a challenger to the quality of Sombra's issue.
11	* HarsherInHindsight:
12	** Everything about Princess Luna's guilt over Nightmare Moon now that we see [[AndIMustScream what she did to her subjects]] and how she plagued ponykind with horrible nightmare for ''1000 years''. This was all ''before'' ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E13DoPrincessesDreamOfMagicSheep Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?]]'' revealed that her guilt was far, ''far'' worse then anything fans predicted.
13	** Star Swirl got a RonTheDeathEater treatment for how he banished the Sirens, despite his acknowledging he regretted doing so. Come the "[[CanonDiscontinuity actual]]" events of their banishment, Star Swirl was ''even worse'', displaying no guilt or empathy (not that the Sirens [[AdaptationalVillainy did anything to deserve it here]]) to the point it would become his FatalFlaw.
14	** The Sirens' issue being CanonDiscontinuity after "Shadow Play" -- which left few complaining, as it's the least-popular ''[=FIENDship=]''. But come "The Beginning of the End"? Sombra's issue, the most-popular one, was next on the chopping-block; this time, the complaints were many.
15	* JerkassWoobie:
16	** Sombra -- who was DrivenToVillainy due to a miserable life growing up, leading him to think [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds it was wrong to be anything but the monster he was meant to be]]. Even as an EvilOverlord, he mainly has a bitter YouCantFightFate mindset.
17	** Chrysalis appears so ragged and tired that even the Mane Six feel sorry for her when they see her state. True, we later learn that this was all a trap and it was really one of her commanders disguised as her, but still, one has to give the changelings credit for pulling off such a convincing ruse.
18	* LoveToHate:
19	** Nightmare Moon has been a victim of VillainDecay. Her debut had her fail to be anything more then a nuisance before her defeat, even her [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E2PrincessTwilightSparklePart2 original confrontation with Celestia]] [[AntiClimaxBoss was over surprisingly fast]] and she ''still'' failed to do anything else. Her entire established history on the show had her fail [[InformedAttribute to live up to her villainous reputation]]. Here, she shows [[KickTheDog more cruelty]] then ever before, [[HijackedByGanon retroactively took over as the Big Bad in the comics arc that implied she was a pawn]], and even in defeat, was able to spend her 1000 year banishment inflicting nightmares on ponykind as revenge. Her finally showing why she became associated with NightmareFuel in-universe has been well received.
20	** Chrysalis' issue has made her more this then ever. The reveal [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld she's existed for at least 1000 years prior]] and spent much of it ''not being'' {{sealed\| evil in a can}} away. What she and the changelings did during this time, and their origins, are [[CerebusRetcon even darker then what was expected of them]], raising their threat level. Chrysalis shows impressive brilliance throughout, like having a changeling impersonate her, letting her get the drop on everyone despite [[ProperlyParanoid suspicions of "her" behavior being a trap]] and break out. Scoring the first straight case of TheBadGuyWins in the series has left fans exited for what she'll do next.
21	* {{Narm}}: In the Tirek issue, he says twice in the span of as-many pages that Scorpan is entirely loyal and would never betray him. It was possibly intended as ironically funny, but comes off as forced and awkward. The ''third'' time it comes up, it's definitely forced.
22	* NarmCharm: Sombra's declaration that "destruction was my talent, and darkness was my cutie mark." It takes a certain talent to insert the words "cutie mark" into an intimidating BadassBoast and still make it work.
23	* NightmareRetardant: The Sirens issue can be this for them, since ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'' implied they were a much bigger threat than they're actually presented here.
24	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: King Sombra wasn't exactly the most [[BaseBreakingCharacter well-received villain]] back in Season 3's ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E1TheCrystalEmpirePart1 Crystal]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 Empire]]'' due to being fairly one-dimensional. Giving him a legitimately tragic and well-written backstory to turn him into a TragicMonster redeemed him in the eyes of many fans.
25	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
26	** The Siren comic. Instead of their origin story it becomes an ''Series/AmericanIdol'' parody, rehashing ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'' BattleOfTheBands with Star Swirl, which ignores the conflict their actions were said to have caused. Banishing them to the present also wastes the potential stories that could have happened during the 1000 years between then and now. The chance to show or develop the character dynamic that made the Sirens so well received in the movie likewise is missed.
27	** Rather than show the StartOfDarkness for Nightmare Moon, they give us what happens immediately after her banishment, and while that isn't exactly bad, it's not what some fans were expecting (namely, a story of how Luna was corrupted).
28	** Meta-example: It would've been nice to see Discord's backstory, but he is the only villain not to get an issue.
29	* ToughActToFollow: Sombra's issue was very well received, being well written and giving what fans wanted from his backstory, and set the high bar against which the subsequent issues would be measured--with only the Chrysalis one managing to measure up.
30	* WinBackTheCrowd: After the lackluster reception to Tirek and the Sirens, Nightmare Moon's issue got a bit of a warmer reception, and then Chrysalis' issue ended the miniseries on a high note, most considering it as good as Sombra's if not better. Goes doubles for writer Katie Cook; after "Reflections" "The Good, The Bad and the Ponies", and "The Root of the Problem" in [[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW the main series]] received mixed to poor reception, her return with Chrysalis' issue proved she's not washed up.

Context YMMV / MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic