A thread to discuss My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the tie-in media.
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Edited by Mrph1 on Aug 26th 2024 at 10:24:26 AM
Eh, it wasn't a huge issue. It's just that everything leading up to it was really good. Mark Hamill did a great job as Ozai, though.
Reaction Image Repository1. Yeah I had no issue with Energy Bending. As stated, it was hinted at throughout the series, just, yeah could have done a better job hinting at it. Same for the Lion Turtle. Yeah could have been handled a bit bette,r but was good enough for me.
2. The killing. Has he actually, directly killed anyone? The one time he definitely had a hand in directly killing anyone was the Siege of the North, and he had nightmares about it for a long time afterwards and was clearly traumatized by it. Others, I don't think he directly killed. But even then, it was always in the heat of battle, one they started, and Aang just ended up having to fight. With Ozai, he is deliberately seeking him out with the intent to kill him. Not simply reacting out of self defense. Can fully accept a huge difference in those things.
3. Don't see how he didn't earn the ending. He fought Ozai, and even before he went into the avatar state, there was a point or two where he might have ended the fight if he was willing to land a killing blow. using Energy Bending wasn't some instant win, worry free, solve everything solution. Using it was a huge risk.
edited 18th Jul '14 8:21:06 PM by Seraphem
The only thing I disagree with is #3, mainly because the only reason he won the battle is because Ozai accidentally unlocked his chakra. Before that, Ozai had the upper hand for pretty much the whole battle. There were one or two spots where Aang had chances to take a shot (most notably when he diverts Ozai's lightning), but it doesn't change the fact that he had basically lost the fight when the Avatar state kicked in. I never said Energybending was an instant win either. My main gripe is that the Lionturtle basically went "here, have this fifth form of bending without having to learn it". It's hardly an instant win button, but I still think it would've been more satisfying for him to have to have trained to use the technique rather than doing it successfully despite having never attempting it before.
edited 18th Jul '14 8:28:14 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryWhich is pretty much what the Avatar state is. I WIN!
And everything about it made sense overall. WAY better then the shear asspull of the Korra finale. Now THAT was a massive Deus ex Machina.
Oh, and apparently the later season of Korra shows more of the history of bending, and Lion Turtles were the original source of bending. Giving it to mortals to help them fight off the spirits. Just like the one we see does with Aang.
edited 18th Jul '14 8:31:44 PM by Seraphem
Okay, let me rephrase it. The issue isn't that the Lionturtle gives Aang the ability. The issue is that Aang having that ability undermines his moral dilemma. The bulk of finale is based on the question Aang has to ask himself: "How can I stop Ozai without killing him?" The answer, of course, is energybending. The fact that the answer is energybending is fine. What bugs me is this:
Aang didn't answer the question himself.
The whole finale sets up the question as being a crossroads for him having to choose how to handle a situation where there isn't an easy decision. The problem isn't that he takes a third option. The problem is that somebody else solves the dilemma for him. The alternative, that Aang refuses to accept the solution of "kill Ozai" and uses his own abilities, knowledge, and spiritual stability to search out another way is more satisfying than someone else giving him the answer when he isn't even trying to find one. He didn't find a solution, the solution found him.
If he would've said "I don't want to kill Ozai, I'm going to find a mythical lion turtle and ask if it has another option", I would've been fine with it. Because it would've shown Aang taking the initiative.
edited 18th Jul '14 8:40:11 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image Repository^^ I let Korra s1's ending slide on the basis that they got Screwed by the Network dicking them around about whether they were getting another season or not, though that doesn't make it any less of an asspull. ATLA doesn't have that excuse.
^ Yeah, instead of going out and seeking the answers, he just sat around for two episodes talking to himself about how he didn't want to kill Ozai, and then suddenly turtle. And after that, it's just a bunch of pretty flying around throwing stuff at each other. It's not a good sign when your main character's parts of the finale are the least interesting of the three concurrent plot threads.
The problem wasn't stopping Ozai. The problem was stopping Ozai without killing him, and it was treated as an unsolveable problem, to the point where Aang ran away and spent half the finale meditating. And then to solve the unsolveable problem, he pulls Bendingbending out of his ass.
If it weren't for Aang's Sudden Onset Pacifism, the finale would have been shorter.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayHe wasn't a pacifist, he had no problem fighting when he needed to, his issue was going into a fight with the intent to kill someone, and seeking him out for the specific purpose. When else in the series has he definitely killed someone, other then again, in the Seige of the North, which did traumatize him somewhat.
@Story: Pacifism is probably overstating it; he's willing to fight. The fact that he didn't want to kill Ozai is understandable. The fact that he just sat around moping about it rather than trying to, you know, find a solution is what bugged me.
Although I will say it's a bit weird that the whole "I don't want to kill him" thing never came up when they were preparing for the Black Sun invasion. He certainly had more than enough time to dwell on it.
EDIT: To keep this relevant.
edited 18th Jul '14 9:24:19 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image RepositoryWhich one? If you mean the season 1 finale, her airbending was something she had been studying the entire season. Hardly a Dues Ex Machina, even if the timing was close as drama dictates.
Which is a nice bit of continuity, but it doesn't change the fact that it came compeltely out of nowhere when the original series did it.
Any suggestions for instrumental music?
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayI guess the reason is bugs me so much is the whole What Measure Is a Mook? thing. The only time the show comes close to admitting that unnamed people have feelings too is in The Avatar State.
Eh, not realyl a fan of that one.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayIt was kind of an asspull, but at least those were both abilities that had been shown before. And besides, that was more cleanup, not help defeating the villian.
By the way, am I the only one who meantlly subsituted 'the writers' for 'Harmonic Convergence' whenever they constantly talked about how much Harmonic Convergence had changed things at the beginning of season 3? (Not really trying to criticize them there, that's just how the dialog felt to me)
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayI predict that there will be an episode where Twilight has to deal with losing her library.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
I think it was either Jason Theissen or Jim Miller that said that.
I'm still pulling for a Body Swap episode; cliched, but still a good source of comedy.
"I feel like I'm on a raft and surrounding me is an ocean of dumb."- Mr. SarkI'm curious if they'll attempt to make another epic opener or opt for something more low-key this time.
And now I go to bed.
That's the joke.
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayI was just on deviantart and on the front page there was a picture of a humanized peppermint frappe.
Is this what we have been reduced to? Personifying coffee drinks?
http://h0useb0und.tumblr.com/

Yeah, staying out of this one. Fans stil bicker about it now. Though thankfully the only big problem with the fandom is idiotic shipping wars.