My Little Pony XCIX: Leakier Than A Changeling Bathtub!

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler: S9 E1

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If I had any complaints about this episode it would probably be that it felt like Twilight was a little too quick to give up whenever things seemed to go against her. I realize this was an extreme situation, but we've seen Twilight refuse to back down in the face of world-ending catastrophes previously, so the whole "woe is me I wasn't ready" bit started to wear thin fairly quickly. Even so, I would probably give this episode an A, definitely a good start to the season.

Spoiler: The Beginning of the End

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This has been a long time coming. Twilight has been a drain on the show for a while, and the show has finally decided to rub it in her face and stop rewarding her for it.

I look forward to her fall into becoming a member of Grogar's group, and needing to be redeemed on a dime, in the finale.

[Aotrs Commander]

Spoiler: s9e1&2

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That.

Was.

AWESOME!!!!!!!

Bahahahahahahahahaha!

Wow, after the day I've had, I needed that.



Right out of the gate, I was in stitches with the "here we go again with this crap" look on everyone's faces when Twilight started to freak out. Then the whole "yeah, she's having a crisis again" thing no-pony gave to fracks about and being so damn genre savvy about it. Also, Twilighting Twilight is Best Twilight.

(And you fools you're lettign STARLIGHT be in charge of a whole SCHOOL! Bwahahahahahahaha! You idiots!)

Discord, being as meta as possible, giving us a good reason why he doesn't save the day, and being a complete [Richard] while still be on their side! (John DeLancie was clearly having the time of his life and it shows.)

Celestia and Luna actully... Doing A Thing Again, even if it was just to keep them out of the way! And the promise of perhaps we might get some more of them doing stuff later this season, for frack's sake please!

And Sombra. Sombra!

Sombra talking!

Okay, so no, he wasn't the chessmaster mastemind I'd hoped (apparently that's Grogar this season. Speaking of, hi Grogar, 'bout time we got you! (Haha, Gusty, gratuitous G1 reference!)). Sure, he was a bit more prissy, but he has STYLE.

At by the end of the first episode I was like "well, that was kinda disappointing, but props for Twilight for being savvy enough to go straight to the big guns!" And then Sombra pops up and freaking straight-up murders the Tree of Harmony!

I was like "unholy fracking crap! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

All told, I cannot complain about him. He posed a seriously level of credible threat, and given what he achieved with a STANDING START, with zero prep time and he came as close if not closer than as anyone has with actual, carefully laid plans.

I was a little disappointed they blew him up; I was expecting him to be reformed by Grogar (I think maybe Grogar was too!) - but on the other hand, this time Twilight and co straight-up KILLED a dude, which I think is a measure, like last time, that Sombra is ridonkulously dangerous. But - and it is a big but - he is also a glass cannon (crystal cannon?) His fatal - literally - flaw. Had he been a little more genra savvy, with back-up?

Equestria would have been SCREWED. (Discord might have actually had to step in, proper-like.)

(Can we now maybe have some proper stories with THIS Sombra, and not the usual run of haha-comedy-Sombra is useless (or is romance redemption fodder) we have had, like in the last SIX YEARS? Because the number o stories in which Sombra is actually a proper villain are about as numerous as stories in which Celestia ia allowed to be awesome (and not just slice-of-life/romance fodder). VERY few and far between.)



It nearly killed me, Cosey being all like "now make friends!" Crysalis is apparently channelling good old Crazy!Celestia (remember her)! Tirek is so put-upon and cosey sassing Grogar. This is gonna be glorious.



Also, Flurry Princess of Destruction confirmed. Already shooting horn-lasers with the best of them before she can even talk proper-like. Best Princess.

(Don't think I missed Cadance coming back, ready to go all Princess Love-Paladin, either! Heart of the Matter canon confirmed! Bahaha!)



I mean, Twilight taking over from Celestia and Luna isn't even a new concept. Pre-season Three, fanfic was already full of Twilight ascention stories, and it never really stopped. So it really isn't a surprise that they were going there with the final season in canon - as cliché as even Discord seems to think as it is, it does make sense to close off her personal development arc. So, sure, why not?



Also? Princesses swapping around taking turns to rule?

Mourning Sickness canon confirmed!

Muhahahahahahahahaha!



11/10, would watch Sombra just barely fail via deus ex machina at the last second again!

More of this please, season nine!

Right, back through thread...



Edit:

Spoiler: Premier

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Grogar's design could've been a bit more menacing. They could've at least given him the creepy goat eyes.

Spoiler

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Oh, but they DID. Just not the way you might have expected.

Did you miss the fact that the crystal ball he was using was a creepy goat eye?

Also, today I am becoming more of a convert to Sabaton. Not only are they responsible for the best music in HoI4 and CK2 (well, plus Pagan Fury more recently in that last one), but all their songs are historically inspied on really neat little things. Today I looked up the actually lyrics to that one that goes "Night bomber regiment, five hundred eighty-eiiiight!"

So turns out, in reading the comments, the 588 Night Bomber regiment was a women's bomber unit in the Soviet army. Compirsed of ladies in their late teens to early twenties, who flew fracking training airfcraft made of wood and canvas, so light they didn't put parachutes on them to make night harrassment bombing attacks. They used to switch the engines to idle and glide in on the final approach, which caused the Germans to name the Night Witches (the title of the song), because the noise they made as they attacked was like a witch on a broom. The aircraft were so slow their max speed was below the stall speed of the German fighters, so they were really hard to shoot down. Apparently, there was a standing reward of an Iron Cross to anyone that did. the Night Witches took that as a compliment. (I mean, why wouldn't you? That's kinda awesome!) Never very big, they nontheless made not ar south of thirty thousand sorties before the end of the war. That is fracking amazing and seriously badass.

Needless to say, I am already considering renaming one of my Eurasian Solar Union fighters squadrons to 588 and the first Phystyulon bomber I've started work on today is the Nytvyx...

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler: Season 9 Premiere

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Pffft, I still can't see why Celestia and Luna think it's a good idea putting Twilight in charge of a country. Putting ponies with no experience in charge of something that large is a really dumb idea. Also, ugh, how many times does Twilight say "I don't know what to do!" in this two-parter? Geez, that's a deadly drinking game.

On the positive side, Sombra put on a good show. Went right for the prize and kept on the offensive. I did not like his VA, however. It really didn't fit his design. Props for smashing the tree; that was a good move, but seems the Mane6 didn't need it for their orbital friendship cannon. I was impressed that when they disintegrated Sombra, you can almost see bone as he vaporized. Damn, that must of hurt.

Points to Discord for helping with with his friendship speech. He seems to know the right to say sometimes, even if he is a bit of a jerk still.

Good action at least, so it was a decent season opener that kept moving things along. Seven or Eight out of ten I guess?

Spoiler: Premier

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Anything that gives us more Chrysalis is fine by me.

Grogar's design could've been a bit more menacing. They could've at least given him the creepy goat eyes.

Spoiler: S9 Premiere

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Yeah, I agree on Chrysalis needing more screen time. Out of all the villains she has managed to last the longest, and is quite the amusing ham.

Grogar's eyes were... kinda weird yeah. Moe crazed than menacing. His crystal ball thing had the goat eye, which I guess works for the transition wipes he did.

Spoiler: S9 E1

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He seems marginally more competent then the previous villains and potentially more powerful given his ability to gather the others together, but the opening didn't give much else to go on and his personality seems a little generic. The bit that I'm hoping was setup for later in the season was the mention of Grogar's missing bell, so we'll see if anything becomes of that. On the plus side, I'm definitely looking forward to the antics of Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow.

Spoiler: S9 Premiere

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Yeah, Grogar didn't do enough to really make an impression on me.

Honestly, I think this villain teamup idea wouldn't work without Cozy Glow. She's so out of place here, yet somehow it works.

Spoiler: s9e1&2

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Celestia and Luna actully... Doing A Thing Again, even if it was just to keep them out of the way! And the promise of perhaps we might get some more of them doing stuff later this season, for frack's sake please!


Speaking of, hi Grogar, 'bout time we got you! (Haha, Gusty, gratuitous G1 reference!)).

Spoiler: S9 Premiere

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Yeah, it was nice seeing the princess sisters doing something. I mean, the Mane6 pretty much lampshaded the fact they never were useful before. Daybreaker Cameo happened.

Heh, yeah. G1 refs are neat. Guess we don't get a Katrina one tho.

[Adderbane]

Spoiler

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Oh, but they DID. Just not the way you might have expected.

Did you miss the fact that the crystal ball he was using was a creepy goat eye?

Spoiler

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I wasn't quite sure if it was supposed to be or not. While it's a nice touch, it doesn't have the same uncanny valley feeling that it would have in an actual face. He just overall seems a bit plain-looking compared to Chrysalis, Sombra, or even Tirek. Maybe he'll get a suitably epic bell sometime this season. We'll see.

Also, today I am becoming more of a convert to Sabaton. Not only are they responsible for the best music in HoI4 and CK2 (well, plus Pagan Fury more recently in that last one), but all their songs are historically inspied on really neat little things. Today I looked up the actually lyrics to that one that goes "Night bomber regiment, five hundred eighty-eiiiight!"

Funny that, I've been listening to Sabaton a lot too lately. Not generally a fan of that type of music, I can easily imagine them playing along to some sort of awesome movie about the events. I can't believe there's no movie about Castle Itter...

[Alabenson]

Spoiler: S9 Premiere

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Yeah, Grogar didn't do enough to really make an impression on me.

Honestly, I think this villain teamup idea wouldn't work without Cozy Glow. She's so out of place here, yet somehow it works.

Spoiler: E1-2, S9

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I think what Cozy Glow brings is that she's incredibly proactively irritating to the other two, whereas left to their own devices Tirek and Chrysalis would mostly just skulk around and occasionally snark at each other.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler: E1-2, S9

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I think what Cozy Glow brings is that she's incredibly proactively irritating to the other two, whereas left to their own devices Tirek and Chrysalis would mostly just skulk around and occasionally snark at each other.

Spoiler: S9 Premiere

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Hmm, yeah that's the short of it I think. The proactive part; nothing has stopped the snark train from departing that station.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Well, that was fun.

Spoiler

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The intro was starting to be cheesy, corny and predictable, right up to the moment Discord appeared, at which moment it became hilarious. Which pretty much set the tone for the whole thing.

I suspect that the season focus will be split between Twilight preparing to take the throne (giving that as the final scene) and Grogar's mechanisations behind the scenes, only breaking cover towards the end. It's an interesting setup for the last series, and it makes a change to have two villains (Cosy and Grogar) who understand the point of teamwork, even if they miss the actual point of friendship. I suspect that it will be that (or chronic backstabbing disorder) that brings putative team evil down eventually.

And this time we see Sombra as an effective threat first hand, rather than seeing it second-hand as we did in the Crystal Empire two-parter. In that, the main cast were stymied by just what he had left behind - this time we see how dangerous he is when he is taking an active part in what he is doing.

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler

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I suspect that the season focus will be split between Twilight preparing to take the throne (giving that as the final scene) and Grogar's mechanisations behind the scenes, only breaking cover towards the end.

Spoiler: The Beginning of the End

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I suspect based on the synopses released so far that this season, like every other season, will not have a focus, but will instead be devoted to Mane Six/Student Six pair-up episodes; that Twilight preparing to take the throne will receive no treatment whatsoever before the finale and may be undermined by her episodes (the one where she freaks out for 22 minutes over getting a librarian fired seems like a step back even from this episode); that the finale will involve Twilight's fall to Grogar's side as part of his Legion of Doom, because she is the weak link in the Mane Six; that the finale will involve the rump Mane Six, Starlight, and the Student Six "redeeming" her in a short span of time; and that given all that, the final scene with her taking the throne (which will happen regardless of the lack of any buildup and regardless of Twilight's fall) will be extremely unsatisfying.

[Rater202]

Spoiler: thingy

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"Flim and Flam count?"

Best Part.

Also, in the SoLiM timeline, Diamond Gear had a panic attack around the time this episode takes place.

[Alabenson]

Well, that was fun.

Spoiler

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The intro was starting to be cheesy, corny and predictable, right up to the moment Discord appeared, at which moment it became hilarious. Which pretty much set the tone for the whole thing.

Spoiler: S9 E1-2

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I have to agree that Discord was in rare form in these episodes. I've always loved the idea that Discord acts as a mentor to Twilight in the most trolling way possible, and these episodes were a prime example of that.

[Adderbane]

Spoiler: FOMO short

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Kind of got buried by the premier but this week EQG short was pretty good, if a bit predictable. Dramatic Rarity is one of my favorite things whenever it comes up.

[Aotrs Commander]

Frag damn convoy bug, HoI4! I got this bug a while back, which gave me, like -5000 convoys (I have barely lost nmore than a handful and have been cranking them out since the beginning). The chaps on the forums said not to worry about it, because it's a tooltip error or something, and it didn't seem to stop me moving troops or making naval invasions.

But what I did not twig, after a brutal African naval invasion, whose supply catastrophy I ascribed to the desert, until the same happened on my invasion of the UK, is that is DOES count it for naval supply, as in a completely uncontested sea, wiped clean of British ships and places, my supply efficiency was at 5%. NASTY bug, basically renders naval invasion impossible (you can't build enough convoys in any kind of sensible way - I've been steadily cranking them out since the start of the game and I've only made about +500 from my start). Fortunately, the logistics screen enabled me to work out how many I SHOULD have and then I was able to use the console command to give myself basically the bug-deficient 4500 or something.

Whaddaya know? Funnoly enough, when I'm not being actively screwed with, my troops collapsed the UK like it was made of damp tissue paper.

...

Though the hilarity of being able to send land troops across to Ireland in CK2 and EUIV but not in HoiI4 is... Actually not all that funny, since it means having to launch another invasion.

In the mean time, I'm gonna make a start on conquering the balklands. I might as flipping well, with all the supply problems in Afrcia, I've got several armies worth of dudes twiddling their thumbs... And once that's done, I might start haviong to tackle the horrible mess of unaligneds across Asia. (America is going to be a loooong haul, since I don't even have decent carrier tech (or any naval aircraft) to be able to protect my cruiser subs to clear the path to the Atlantic coast...)

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler: FOMO short

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Kind of got buried by the premier but this week EQG short was pretty good, if a bit predictable. Dramatic Rarity is one of my favorite things whenever it comes up.

I mean, wasn't it just Party of One?

[Adderbane]

I mean, wasn't it just Party of One?

Pretty much. I just love how Tabitha does upset Rarity.

[DigoDragon]

Cute Student 6 art I saw earlier.

Spoiler

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Spoiler: The Beginning of the End

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I suspect based on the synopses released so far that this season, like every other season, will not have a focus, but will instead be devoted to Mane Six/Student Six pair-up episodes; that Twilight preparing to take the throne will receive no treatment whatsoever before the finale and may be undermined by her episodes (the one where she freaks out for 22 minutes over getting a librarian fired seems like a step back even from this episode); that the finale will involve Twilight's fall to Grogar's side as part of his Legion of Doom, because she is the weak link in the Mane Six; that the finale will involve the rump Mane Six, Starlight, and the Student Six "redeeming" her in a short span of time; and that given all that, the final scene with her taking the throne (which will happen regardless of the lack of any buildup and regardless of Twilight's fall) will be extremely unsatisfying.

Spoiler: S9 BotE Discussion

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Not sure about Twi joins the LoD, but I could see her getting captured. Again. ...this happens a hell of a lot more often since becoming princess.

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler: S9 BotE Discussion

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...this happens a hell of a lot more often since becoming princess.

Spoiler

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I don't think it actually does. The incidents that come to mind where she was physically confined (as opposed to left free but hampered or broken, or hedged out of places, or incapacitated) are in A Canterlot Wedding, The Crystal Empire, EqG 2, The Cutie Map, To Where and Back Again, The Movie, School Raze, and The Beginning of the End.

Setting aside the movies, that's two capturings per three pre-princess seasons, and and four capturings per five post-princess seasons.

[Rater202]

Spoiler: S9 BotE Discussion

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Not sure about Twi joins the LoD, but I could see her getting captured. Again. ...this happens a hell of a lot more often since becoming princess.

Spoiler

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Being captured and held captive is a Princess Tradition.

the only problem is that the dragon is her (pet/son/littlebro/secretary circle most appropriate this episode) instead of her captor.

[Alabenson]

Cute Student 6 art I saw earlier.

Spoiler

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Spoiler: S9 BotE Discussion

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Not sure about Twi joins the LoD, but I could see her getting captured. Again. ...this happens a hell of a lot more often since becoming princess.

Spoiler

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Being captured frequently does seem to something of an alicorn princess trait; Flurry Heat's been captured twice now before she could even talk in complete sentences.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler

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I don't think it actually does. The incidents that come to mind where she was physically confined (as opposed to left free but hampered or broken, or hedged out of places, or incapacitated) are in A Canterlot Wedding, The Crystal Empire, EqG 2, The Cutie Map, To Where and Back Again, The Movie, School Raze, and The Beginning of the End.

Setting aside the movies, that's two capturings per three pre-princess seasons, and and four capturings per five post-princess seasons.

Spoiler: Princess Capturing Count

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That makes the pre-princess era equate to 67% capture chance per season and the post-princess era jumps to 80% capture chance per season. Counting the movies increases the latter count to 120%. I see that as a significant increase in capture per season after Twi's alicornification.

[Aotrs Commander]

Woo! After a good couple of years of effort, Dad's mate had finally created the wargames table for Dad's mancave.

Naturally, of course, I was the first to break it in, as is right and proper, with starships.

(Because the wargames club was closed tonight.)

Spoiler: UCDR vrs Phystyulons

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That was on the 6' by 6'; you can squeeze an 8' x 6' by adding the forth set of trestles in, though for AccAtt, a six-by-six is plenty.

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler: Princess Capturing Count

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That makes the pre-princess era equate to 67% capture chance per season and the post-princess era jumps to 80% capture chance per season. Counting the movies increases the latter count to 120%. I see that as a significant increase in capture per season after Twi's alicornification.

It might be more telling to compare with capturings per episode rather than capturings per season. But I'll be arsed to do it.

[Thanqol]

Well and truly past the spoiler interval, and I finally caught up so:

I really liked it! Aotrs was pretty much on point with most of his descriptions; Sombra went from 'I'm back' to 'I have conquered literally all of Equestria and baited out the location of the Tree of Harmony' in no time at all. He was a legitimately threatening guy and moved from CRYSTALLSSSSSS to one step below Discord in terms of sheer potential threat. And then they freaking murked him. Holy crap.

I'm actually super hyped for this season now. It's made big promises and is bound to absolutely go somewhere, which is a nice change from the sense of aimlessness that's crept into a couple of recent seasons. I'm glad that they were able to write this season as a final season; it's letting them actually resolve a bunch of character arcs that they've needed to keep treading water and you can see that happening already.

Also, today I am becoming more of a convert to Sabaton. Not only are they responsible for the best music in HoI4 and CK2 (well, plus Pagan Fury more recently in that last one), but all their songs are historically inspied on really neat little things. Today I looked up the actually lyrics to that one that goes "Night bomber regiment, five hundred eighty-eiiiight!"

Hell yeah! History is metal as hell and it's hell that we don't get enough history metal.

[zimmerwald1915]

*snip*

Hey, you, here's a thing you might like.

[Aotrs Commander]

Hey, you, here's a thing you might like.

Well, I was, up to the Twist point, which felt a bit cheap, to be honest.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler: S9 Ep3

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Pfft, poor King Sombra. All that work to destroy the tree undone by a ragtag group of meddlesome kids (and their little Friendship too). XD

Eh, was an 'okay' episode. Some amusing scenes, forgettable song... I want to see an episode with Ocellus' family though. They looked adorable!

[Alabenson]

Spoiler: S9 E3

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This episode started strong for me. Seeing the snippets of the Young 6's dreams was interesting (so Silverstream wants to be a Wonderbolt), and it was nice to reinforce that they have a special connection to the Tree of Harmony. I also liked seeing the different ways the Young 6 each got permission to return to school early, since it gave us a small bit of insight into their home lives.
Unfortunately, once they returned the episode started to fall apart for me fairly quickly, starting with Sandbar apparently picking up the idiot ball and then passing it around to everycreature except Yona. The resulting conflict felt a bit forced, how it played out and resolved felt very predictable and the song just felt extremely meh. It wasn't until the Tree reincarnated itself into the Clubhouse of Harmony that I really felt the episode picked back up again. Overall, I'd give it a C, not a bad episode, necessarily, but definitely a big step down from last week.

On a side note regarding the song, I've noticed that most of the more ensemble songs in the series tend to be much more forgettable and generic. I think the reason for this is that FiM's biggest strength is it's characters, and that extends into its songs. When a song focus on individual characters their personality feeds into the song and makes it more memorable, and conversely when they're all blended together everything feels much more bland.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler: S9 E3

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This episode started strong for me. Seeing the snippets of the Young 6's dreams was interesting (so Silverstream wants to be a Wonderbolt), and it was nice to reinforce that they have a special connection to the Tree of Harmony. I also liked seeing the different ways the Young 6 each got permission to return to school early, since it gave us a small bit of insight into their home lives.
Unfortunately, once they returned the episode started to fall apart for me fairly quickly, starting with Sandbar apparently picking up the idiot ball and then passing it around to everycreature except Yona. The resulting conflict felt a bit forced, how it played out and resolved felt very predictable and the song just felt extremely meh. It wasn't until the Tree reincarnated itself into the Clubhouse of Harmony that I really felt the episode picked back up again. Overall, I'd give it a C, not a bad episode, necessarily, but definitely a big step down from last week.

On a side note regarding the song, I've noticed that most of the more ensemble songs in the series tend to be much more forgettable and generic. I think the reason for this is that FiM's biggest strength is it's characters, and that extends into its songs. When a song focus on individual characters their personality feeds into the song and makes it more memorable, and conversely when they're all blended together everything feels much more bland.

Spoiler: S9 Ep 3

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Sounds like we have similar reactions to the episode. Sad that we didn't see Sandbar get permission from his parents.

I agree that the ensemble songs are easily forgotten. Most friendship songs are generally that format. The songs I remember are usually single/duet or about some situation; Winter wrap Up, Art of the Dress, This Day Aria...

[Aotrs Commander]

Spoiler: s9e3

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Eh. Didn't we do this once in season four already?

It was alright, a slightly above-average song (but we haven't had a really good sog for quite song time, I think the CMC and DT was the last time...)

Never really got on with the Young Six, so this mostly just sort of passed me by.



Well, I 'spose at least Sombra left some damage that couldn't be repaired, at any rate, even if he didn't trash the tree totally, dangit.

Edit: seems we seem to be airly much in agreement on this one.

[zimmerwald1915]

Spoiler: s9e3

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Eh. Didn't we do this once in season four already?

Spoiler: Uprooted

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Season Five, actually.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler: s9e3

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Well, I 'spose at least Sombra left some damage that couldn't be repaired, at any rate, even if he didn't trash the tree totally, dangit.

Spoiler: S9 Ep3

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Superficial I reckon, on account that the Mane6 were still capable of blowing away Sombra with the elements, sands physical charms.

I'm starting to wonder if the Young6 are gonna be shooting laser rainbow powers by season's end. Seems the direction if the tree needs them.