SpoilerHOW MANY POINTS DOES HE RECEIVE?
...anyone?
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I went cleaning my Google Drive today and found this old thing. I haven't had a chance to read through it all again yet, but I do wonder how our thread's proto-fanon has fared through the past couple seasons. :smalltongue:
S3 Premier Thoughts
SpoilerI enjoyed it for the most part and thought it was generally up to the standards set by the other 2-part episodes (good story, nice gags, a little rushed at times but not so much that it ruined anything).
That said, I think Sombra was by far the weakest villian the show has had yet, largely because he either had not enough characterization, or too much. It seemed like the writers couldn't decide whether Sombra was some evil king from the past or a primal force of evil. If they wanted him to have been a primal, (mostly) unstoppable force of cosmic evil, than they should have made him more mysterious. The more alien and unknowable he was, the more effective he would have been. On the other hoof, if they simply wanted him to be an evil king returned from the past, than he needed a lot more characterization. Have him actually engage the mane 6, do some evil monologuing, maybe even give him a song gloating about how he's going to corrupt the Crystal Empire followed by the rest of Equestria. As it stands, Sombra's neither menacing nor interesting enough to really work as a memorable villian.
On the plus side, I loved how the new window in Canterlot Tower focused on Spike saving the crystal ponies. Nice to see the little guy getting some credit for a change. (Also, listen to how concerned Rarity was for her little Spikey-wikey when he was plummeting from the tower. As far as I'm concerned, the Rarilight moments were just Rarity being friendly with her future surrogate-sister-in-law :smalltongue:)
Edit:
One thing I thought of; Celestia and Luna never actually say it's Twlight's destiny. I think it's entirely possible this was as much a test for Cadance as well as Twilight.
Spoiler
Personally I suspect that if that where the case (which would require a much greater degree of failure than just them failing to stop him), the backup backup plan would be for Celestia and Luna to go there themselves and defeating him without the Elements.
I base this on the flashback of his original defeat having no signs of the Stones nor any jewelry that could be the elements, instead utilizing a shared spell from both of them to do the job.
MadMax is at it again, already (S3)
Well, somewhat behind the crowd (my goodness, five pages!) as by the time the HD upload was ready, it was within spitting distance of supper-time, so I thought, sod it, may as well wait for that...
As usual, thoughts immediately after viewing, pre-ponyhtread catchup...
SpoilerHUZZAH!!!!
Okay, Spike gets not only to go along as a main character (finally!) in the thick of it, but gets to save the day (with a little help from Cadance!) And for, I think, the first time, we had all SEVEN main characters doing a song togther (here's to many more!)
Grand start, I thought. I think the animation was noticably more polished throughout.
Rarity, as usual stole the show, even with not being in it much. Though, I have to say, I thought AJ came across rather well today... She does seem to be step-by-step slipping into the smart-straight-pony-snarker, and that's good, because I think it suits her rather well.
Celestia knows some nice spells... Also, Twilight apparently has the Share-ngarn. And has no problem casting dark magic when circumstances require it (whether that's dark as in "Evil" or dark as in "Pokemon type -sort-of-thing" I'm not sure...) And Twilight has some nice spells of her own now (yay Reverse Gravity with panache!)
What I did like was the fact that Somber and the Crystal Empire fall in line with my fanon, that earlier in history, some pretty nasty stuff went down that she (and, at that time, Luna -nice to see her right out of the gate - by the way) had to deal with.
Somber didn't get a lot made of him, aside from he seemed pretty Evil.. Which is nice, because having a pretty unambiguously Evil enemy makes for a change. He might be feelin' a bit sore though... Gettin' explodinated like that has got to hurt! Well, there's no doubt about it, since I have done that once or twice myself. (Also, note, villain not beaten/redeemed, but explosively discorporeated. Yes, I think that shows he's pretty Evil...)
That said, I give it a week before somepony writes/draws fanfiction/fanart about how terribly hard-done to Somber was, and how we wasn't really Evil at all, just misunderstood. *eyeglow roll*
Shining came across fairly well too (he has PNYLAZARS! That's going to be a Thing now.) despite him clearly being a bit out of his league to deal damage to Somber. (He tried at least, and he did help save the day.)
Kudos to Cadance, not only for holding that spell for ages, but even finding the last gasp to catch Spike. (I did wonder whether it was love - seeing as Spike is basically family to her that helped give her that last boost as well as just the crystal.)
That first "endless" staircase down did give me a moment's pause, though, as I flashed back to SCP-087, what with the recent thread putting it back in my mind...
Overall, damned good way to break in the new season.
Okay, now back through thread to see what everypony else thought.
This.
SpoilerThe Crystal Ponies are Earth Ponies. After years and generations of exposure to the crystalifying magic of the heart, they have taken on some gemmyness.
I like this more than I should.
Only slightly more seriously, I seem to recall that in Changeling: The Lost, the longest measure of time for oaths, changeling magic and stuff was...1000 years. Clearly it's just what she says when she means a really long time ago.
SpoilerI also enjoyed it.
Trixie spends most of her time in ponythread criticising the show and/or main cast of the show. It could be argued that it's best just to leave her to it at this point. It's kind of hard to have a sensible debate with someone who honestly seems to believe that the mane six are incompetant monsters and who has more faith in the myth and the personality cult of The Great And Powerful Trixie than the character herself.
EDIT - Oh, and Ponythread and the internet at large apparently can't recognise a fastball special when they see one.
Cadence is the best there is at what she does. And what she does, is pretty. Or something.
Full points then, that Pony.
upon rewatching...
Spoileri was right..Berry Punch totally snuck in and was in the crowd for the jousting event..wonder if this season its going to be Where's Berry? instead of Where's Derpy? or she just snuck in for some Crystal Berry Wine....
how long til someone makes a comic about Shining getting the black crystals on his horn and somepony telling him "that's why you always wear protection"
everyone mentions the gryphon statues...what about the winged cat statue on the building next door?
and.....theory time!
Spoileri think "the next level of study" is going to be with Luna.. kinda fitting in with one of our more popular theories that Celly has the raw power but Luna has the greater knowledge of magic
also i sadly think they are going the "Alicornication" http://i.imgur.com/lJFOJ.jpg Alicornication. HeeHee that's almost as fun to say as Pickle Barrel Kumquat! route just due to the glowy rune showing up behind Twi like they did behind Celly and Luna
5? this is page 7 since start of episode
Spoilerwe have seen the PNYLAZARS! before...Twi used em in the caves beneath Canterlot
Found it on Youtube - will buy it later.
Running commentary!
Spoiler...So there's no time to waste to get there, but apparently there's time for a musical number? I mean it's not a BAD number, but it feels... i dunno, pointless? =/
So Scar is a cloud of smoke now. Neat.
Rainbow is best jokester
The dance again? Really? *sigh*
And now Rarity is in full fangasm mode.
... Okay, I call bullcrap. NOBODY loves research papers!!
...Ah, right, i forgot, THIS is why people hate spoilers... ah well, it's still a funny clip
Ze Pie is a spy!! =D ... OW! Who threw that?!
*snrk* Wow Rarity... just... WOW. You're really good this episode.
And Pinkie, you continue to be Funniest Pony.
... Why Gryphon statues?
"I'm not sure I actually work here." ... That's just... awesome.
"I like her!" Me too, Pinkie.
...Why was Twilight making Spike hold the book up? She can LEVITATE things
.... This is gonna backfire somehow, you can just tell.
...Okay, apparently it hasn't backfired INSTANTLY.
Rainbow, that's creepy.
... Ah. THAT'S how. Bet the Crystal Heart is a very SPECIFIC object.
Ding ding ding!
That horn won't be a plot point AT ALL :smalltongue:
Rarity is a terrible liar =/
Knight Fluttershy... ooooooh this isn't gonna end well...
...Using what your mentor described as hatred and fear can't end well either o__o
(Unrelated: My brother and I have gone through 2 liters of coke in less than a quarter of a day)
SpoilerGee, I wonder if this Celestia is a fake of some kind.
Illusion door? >.> Why a door?
*snrk* that's one way to tire the heroes i guess...
Why is his horn fine no- oh right, Shadow-smoke. Never mind.
Hey, i saw a face in the sky when it flashed that time!
Wouldn't it be Dame, come to think of it...
Poor Fluttershy...
That's not how gravity works, but it's clever and kinda funny, so i'll let the show get away with it.
Oooooooh, that's bad.
((Potato break!))
I like Rarity's excuse better, but at that point lieing wasn't going to help at all
Ah. Gravity spells... it still doesn't work like that, but it's less idiotic, at least
... YOU THREW. YOUR WIFE. AT IT. WHAT THE HELL, SHINING?!
...So... they killed Sombra? As in, actually killed him? That's awesome!
(Applejack's pun) ... Boooooo!
Alright Twilight!
Ah, the good ol' door to the face gag. Never gets old.
Oh good god, reprise?! COME ON!!
... meh. The stilts are worth it.
...So, what was the next level of study?
All in all?
SpoilerWeak beginning but otherwise a good episode. I'd REALLY like to know what the next level of study is, but whatever, i can wait a week.
My thoughts on the new episodes:
Spoilerhttp://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...FINGQUILLS.png
I liked flutterguise and the reverse gravity spell.
my biggest nitpick of the episode..
Spoilerwhen she was sliding up the underside of the stairs..how did she end up exiting to the top of the staircase?
she is riding the underside of the stairs..when they reached the top they stopped and she shoulda slammed into the wall where they turn into the top of the pillar
My personal crackpot theory:
Spoiler"Alright Twilight, you've learned all about the magic of Harmony and friendship and all of that light and fluffy stuff from my sister. Now, in MY course, you will learn about the proper application of force, and when it is appropriate to use it. LESSON ONE! Repeat after me 1000 times! Darkness is not Evil!"
"But it can be used for evil...?"
"So can light. Remind me to tell you the story of when Celestia tried to go on a diet. She's not a kind and benevolent princess when you try to keep her away from her cake."
Tangentially related to s3
Actually think I got this on a second run through the episode. .
SpoilerBecause we saw a column with a stair inside a larger cylinder of open space when she reached the "top" of the underside of the stairs she would have kept going right around making an "extra" turn around the floor/ceiling of the room at the top over the cylinder until coming out on the ceiling over the final part of the stairs.
Orbital Quote-Post Bombardment!!!
All spoilers in this post are for new episode unless otherwise stated...
SpoilerGeneral points, that other people made me think about, because while I'm doing my immediate thoughts, I often forget bits in the excitement:
Spike gets stained glass window! Huzzah!
Shining throwing Cadance was awesome. See, he's not completely useless. (Also any arguements against Shining are now invalid, as he has PNYLAZARS! (If I had the time energy and ability, I would totally do a motivator of that.))
SpoilerOh, yeah, Ninja Pinkie was hilarious! Especially with the googles, now I think about it, given the conversation we had previously about Pinkaruto.
Also, Twilight is totally the Sasuke. (The comedy Sasuke parody, granted, because nopony deserves to be the proper Sasuke. Except Gilda. Probably.)
SpoilerWhich made me think of another point. Spike's greatest fear was being sent away - and ending up alone. Which is what I've been saying all along; he's an inherently social creature, and all the Spike-grows-up-alone-and-sad fics now definately even come out as even bleaker and kinda cruel. Now it's not just (melodramatically) sad, it's his worst fear confirmed.
Shame on you, sad-Spike fic writers, shame on you!
SpoilerYeah, that was a nice moment.
SpoilerDespite his somewhat... destructive finish, I suspect we have't seen the last of Somber. After all, reading between the lines, he got out from being frozen, so he's likely going to come back. (He might be doing a bit of Nazgul-after-the-Ford at the moment though). Also half-expecting some kind of bigger arc, with Celestia's prep and that book maybe foreshadowing something (as well as the staff having dropped hints about "some seasons are more special than others" or something; honestly, I was half-expecting the whole season to be in the Crystal Empire, as some sort of whole arc, so...)
...
It just occured to me, it's plausible that Sombra is some kind of Undead. I knew I liked him for some reason!
Win.
SpoilerWell, obviously, Celestia was speaking generally, and wasn't being exact to the year (because the exact time really didn't matter.) I mean, you don't usually say 987 or 1017 years ago when speaking conversationally, unless the specific date is important. If we go by the natural rounding people use when speaking conversationally, it could be any time from about 950-ish (else she might have said "nine-hunred years") to sometime over a thousand (probably less than "eleven-hundred" as you would normally say in conversation.)
Also, as I'm writing this as I go down the thread, (Pinkie) ninja'd at least twice in the suceeding posts, with more brevity...!
Also this.
The speed of the fandom is astounding.
Curse you... I was seriously tempted myself, but the extra shipping costs would have made it way too expensive for a desktop thingie, and those figures are a bit big as well, I think, for my limited space - I don't have "display space", since every available piece of room gets used for storage; a few cubic centimetes by the Iron Idiot is about it. I really want a blind-bag Derpy... (And, of couse, i don't need one on Bleak Despair, since I can just have the Star-Sergeant stand there for a bit... Before she gets bored and blows something of importance again. (Like Hopreaver, though admittedly, that was hilarious.)
Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, chief. It might be you next time getting the Exploding Muffin Ball True spell...
Not while I have you to hide behind/shove into the way...
*muttermuttergrumblegripemoancomplain*
Okay, there needs to be fancfic of this.
(In seriouness, though, for Princess C, there might be an element of truth to that... Think back to remember stuff that happened to you did as a kid or a teenager, and try to remember exactly what year it was - most likely unless you have prefect recall, it'll be something "oh I was about [x]". And, as you get older, the relative variance will get higher. For me, reckoning we started using cardboard buidlings about fifteen-odd years ago is equivilent to Celestia going "yeah, that happened about a thousand years ago, give or take a century, or something; I dunno, I don't rightly recall without looking the exact date up." After all, a thousand years is a really long time, and even a lot of the fanfictions that address it don't really get how long it is. (Of course, I attribute some of that to the fact ponies are long-lived, so it might not be all that many generations ago.))
Good job I'm picking up on the quote-post slack, then innit?
SpoilerIt's possible... It's a ncie thought, though I suspect if we see him again, it's not likely!
Just a point, though: nearly everypony is saying we don't have a lot of motivation for Sombra - but maybe that's not a bad thing. It gives the fanon a lot of room for creativity; somepony's bound to have a crack at explaining it decently (the inevitable tedious "he's not a bad pony he's just misunderstood/corrupted/lost/etc" notwithstanding.)
SpoilerYes. As previously mentioned, a thousand years is a REAAAALLY long time. you may think it was a long time between pony seasons, but that's peanuts to a millenium. It's entirely possible (and indeed my nominal fanon) that it will take Luna years to be ready to assume her administrative duties again; she's got to assimilate so much information. I've always found it a bit unrealistic that people have had her go back to duty almost right away. Heck, I would have said she needed most of season 1 just to get over the worst of the psychological trauma and the culture shock of being displaced a thousand years. (There's even some evidence of that in her season two appearance: "what is "'fun'?")
Imagine you were a Saxon who got banished during the Battle of Hasting and came back in 1966 (which is roughly where I'd place pony technology (well, a few year past it, I reckon they're more 1920-1940s)). That's a phenominal amount of things that have changed and very little of what was then would have survived. Despite the frequent fanon to the contray, in reality, I suspect Luna's furniture and personal items (save perhaps some metallic jewellery - maybe) would not have survived through to the present time; unless some serious magical attempts to preserve it were made. (And by serious, just think about how much stuff we currently have dating back to the early Middle-Ages and then realise how little stuff actually last that long.)
Well said, that pony!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alabenson
SpoilerI wasn't even sure who they were referring to, at the time, I thought it could have been either.
Five since I last looked and saw nearly everypony else had started watching...
Just makes it more awesome!Quote:
Originally Posted by otakuryoga
Ye gods, it's half-past-two... So you'll have to wait for any response to my responses until after meditation...
(Also, I think I've spent longer writing about this episode than watching it... *shrug* That's our pony...)
Crack theories/episode
SpoilerWait, Twilight Alicorn...
Pinkie Pie was a gypsy fortune teller...
DUN DUN DUNNNNN
Next CMC episode will confirm Sweetie is a robot.
New episode:
SpoilerYeah, all right. You win this round.
For me, the episode was all about the fact that Celestia knows horrifying shadow necromancy, and now Twilight does too. Those two facts alone can send the fanfiction engine pumping for months.
I liked it. It felt mythic. It felt grand, sweeping. I thought all the music was a total miss but it definitely worked for me as an episode. I also encountered a piece of fanon recently on the creation of Alicorns which got me to not hate Cadence, so that worked out too (though it's not the kind of thing I want to share here).
And nice to see them putting the honesty pony on lying duty. Again.
OH GOD WHY
I accept this.
Writing from the distant past! It burns us!
Re: Sombra/Somber (for the record I prefer the former)
Spoiler
I haven't re-watched the episode; but I am pretty sure that in his death-scene they focused on a part of his horn flying a way. If his ability to start using shadows and black crystal is any indication, it is entirely plausible that King Sombra might return at a later date.