Deadly, a delightfully daring drawer and drafter of dissertations. Defying the dictations of our disparate denizens, Deadly decides his direction with a dirth of dependence on the decisions of despotic desperados. Deadly detests dismissive derision, and will debate any dude or dame that dares to detest discussion.
Wow, Twilight totally had a bookgasm there. That was impressive.
Pinkie Pie dressed as Fluttershy was also a nice touch as a sort of Andrea Libman acknowledgement.
S3 (Pinkie)
Spoiler
That was hilarious. Pinkie in a Fluttershy suit. So does Pinkie have friend suits in case of friend emergency?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trixie
Spoiler
So, crystal heart was on top of the tower whole time. If only Twilight knew anyone who could fly. If only...
S3 (Flying)
Spoiler
Well, she'd still have to climb out of the basement and find one of her two pegasi friends (who were busy keeping the crystal ponies distracted, an important thing because... panic stampede), and they'd probably get caught in the trap then instead of Twi. I think the net result would be similar. I'm cool with it.
Besides-- Gravity spell ramp grinding. That was pretty swanky!
__________________ The Arbiters - A Comical Conspiracy Comic
The critics rave about Digo Dragon:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Succubus
Truly, there is nothing more terrifying than a DM with a sense of humour.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Soras Teva Gee
No pretty sure he thinks he's Digo Dragon.
Custom Avatar by SnowHawk- My OC Pegasus, Ellie Sprocket.
As far as I can tell from the ponythread spoiler comments:
Spoiler
This episode was bad and peeps should feel bad for making it.
Don't listen to Trixie. It was pretty good, a lot of great moments to go over a second time, especially with the comic relief, but was, as with all 2-parters, a bit rushed and there were potential alternate and better ways to resolve the story, although none decisively.
__________________
Lawyer Pony Avatar by Dirtytabs, exalted as an Eclipse by Elemental, now with a fancy robe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Giant
Anarion's right on the money here.
Quotes
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiki Snakes
Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Anarion Mori?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiki Snakes
You just highlandered an entire city block into a glass-filled storm by road-runnering down it in your underwear.
It was good, not the best two-parter we have had, but still good. King Sombra seemed like a rather weak villain, in fact I think I would rank him worse then even NMM.
Spoiler
Nah, I'd say ranking now is Chrysalis > Nightmare Moon > Sombra >>> Discord. The decision to drop his episodes as S2 opening abroad in favour for Canterlot Wedding is pretty telling, he is nothing to anyone who doesn't know who De Lancie is.
Also, this episode did as much to sink Fs/RD ship to me as Hurricane Fluttershy did. RD is once again inconsiderate jerk who doesn't care about Fs feelings, she treats Fs like some rough jock friend at best, hurting her every time
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendulous
Spoiler
Way to lampshade it there, RD: "Since when does Twilight Sparkle ever fail?"
"Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie can't actually transport you to Equestria... But!
The Great and Powerful Trixie can beat you over the head until you think that's what happened!"
I really enjoyed this one! Yeah, yeah, rushed, yeah, yeah, boring villain, whatever. This had great moments for every character, Spike saving the friggin' day, alicornapult, Flutterknight, Rarity (just Rarity, she was on top form), Pinkie Pie (likewise), Celestia (fanboyism ), and shiny ponies!
And did you see the adverts for future episodes!?
Double spoiler
Spoiler
Aw man, Pinkies! Celestia sized stallion! Twilight's destiny! Some other stuff! This season is gonna rock!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trixie
Spoiler
The ending was a bit weak, IMHO. What self-sacrifice? What did Twilight sacrifice? Prestige? What?
Had Celestia went with angle 'you did right thing, saving others comes before anything' I'd agree, but 'sacrifice' angle doesn't work without her really sacrificing anything.
Spoiler
She sacrificed (or thought she did) passing the test, because she was supposed to do it alone. Doesn't sound big to us, but for Twilight, that meant everything, especially after that nightmare vision.
__________________
Just call me Diego. Mr. Havoc was my father.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SiuiS
Diego Havoc, one of the hoopier froods I've met, up there with DeLancie.
It was good, not the best two-parter we have had, but still good. King Sombra seemed like a rather weak villain, in fact I think I would rank him worse then even NMM. Also, Twilight, I'm not sure it is such a good idea for you to be tapping into all that dark magic.
Also, I have to say, those ads for future episodes looked....interesting. 0_0
Spoiler
re: Sombra. It seemed like they were torn in terms of which direction they wanted to take Sombra. He made a good looming presence, but then they tried to make him a tempter. Which kind of worked. You talk about how Twilight was tapping into dark magic to advance toward the Crystal Heart, and how dangerous that could be, especially in light of Twilight's previous magical mishaps. She did have to reject that temptation and let herself have confidence in her abilities and herself, but it was never talked about in terms of turning away from Sombra. Instead, she and Spike talked about rejecting fear. They'd drawn the parallels between Sombra, fear, and forgetting in the previous episode, so that was alright.
And then they tried to give him dialogue. After all that, it really undermined Sombra. Instead of making us think about the threat he represented, to the Crystal Empire as a whole and to Twilight's character - that is, who she is as a person - it made us think about his motivations. Which were flimsy at best. He's not a primal spirit like Nightmare or Discord, whose motivations don't have to make sense, or an alien creature like Chrysalis. He is a unicorn skilled in dark magic, and who wants the Crystal Ponies as slaves. He doesn't want to be worshipped, feared, or fed by them, he wants their labor. Which he can get anywhere. If the Crystal Empire is special because it preserves love and light in Equestria, well, then get the griffins to slave for you or something. And that voice. Ugh. Something about it was just viscerally off-putting, and not in the good way that some villains need.
Here's hoping someone catches onto something I've missed that makes the motivation and dialogue they gave Sombra make sense. He needed either much more, to be a fleshed-out character like the other villains, or none at all, to maintain the vague threat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendulous
S3 Premiere
Spoiler
So, what mythological creature is King Sombra supposed to represent? I know it has to be one.
Twilight can cast Reverse Gravity now. So she's a pretty high level wizard.
Way to lampshade it there, RD: "Since when does Twilight Sparkle ever fail?"
Spoiler
Level 13 at least. That's her first level 7 spell, by my count (remember, I work in Pathfinder, so that apple-to-carriage spell she cast before the Gala could just as easily have been Phantom Chariot as Polymorph Any Object ).
And yeah. Rainbow Dash: making failure twenty percent cooler since 10 November 2012.
__________________
Milk Chocolate Justiciar of the Haley fanclub
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anarion
And remember, whoever captures the fox and brings it under their control first gains ownership and accompanying property rights over the wild beast.
Don't listen to Trixie. It was pretty good, a lot of great moments to go over a second time, especially with the comic relief, but was, as with all 2-parters, a bit rushed and there were potential alternate and better ways to resolve the story, although none decisively.
Yeah, it wasn't bad. Rushed, and a few weak points, but nothing really worse than all the two parters. At least not from a first impression.
Deadly, a delightfully daring drawer and drafter of dissertations. Defying the dictations of our disparate denizens, Deadly decides his direction with a dirth of dependence on the decisions of despotic desperados. Deadly detests dismissive derision, and will debate any dude or dame that dares to detest discussion.
As far as I can tell from the ponythread spoiler comments:
Spoiler
This episode was bad and peeps should feel bad for making it.
S3 (Overall Grade)
Spoiler
I had no problems with the episodes. Sure, not the best written ones, but I'm cool with them. I take in the MST3K mantra--
"It's just a TV show and you really should relax"
Sides, still 11 more chances to blow our feathers off.
__________________ The Arbiters - A Comical Conspiracy Comic
The critics rave about Digo Dragon:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Succubus
Truly, there is nothing more terrifying than a DM with a sense of humour.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Soras Teva Gee
No pretty sure he thinks he's Digo Dragon.
Custom Avatar by SnowHawk- My OC Pegasus, Ellie Sprocket.
white Sarah Palinish pony from Nightmare Night...royal aide?
Brrrr......sooooo many Pinkies....sooooo scary
ahem, Spike? JUST a test? do you remember her reaction to being tardy?
Luna!!!! they remembered that there are TWO princesses!
snow goggles..nice touch
magic blocked!
wait..I thought it was Twilight/Tara that was the professional troll, not RD/Ashleigh
they keep saying Somber..i thought it was Sombra?
GAWD DAMNIT Pinkie dont wear skins of your friends
OGOD, Twilight just Nerdgasm'd
cream coat with violet/rose mane...very nice...and apparently the Bonbon(shows up everywhere and in multiples) of Crystal Empire
promo trolling from RD/Ashleigh...on herself...trollception?
Dash troll again? wth?
DA FUQ!??! ahhh, of course..dream of worst fear
you..MAY want to climb faster Twi
oooo, did i just see a crystal Berry Punch?
now THAT is a neat trick Twi
huh...10:30 next week?
O Lawdy...brace for incoming tsunami of RariJack....
Aaaaaand also RariLight
__________________
Ponies not only make ME want to be a better person than I was before they entered my life, they make me want to HELP OTHERS be better people too.
Stupid Bronystate. I don't have TV, but I wanted to check out Littlest Pet Shop. Should have let it roll.
I was a bit curious myself. It will probably end up on YouTube though, within a day or so if you're curious enough to pursue it.
Quote:
Like all TV heroes, she fails before she succeeds.
More S3 spoilers
Spoiler
I think it's weird to talk about failures in the abstract. Rainbow Dash wasn't saying Twilight never fails to mean that Twilight literally never makes a mistake or gets anything wrong. It means more like Twilight will always come through in the end. And in that regard, Dash is right. Twilight is very smart and tends to figure out problems, whether that's organizing in Winter Wrap Up to make things efficient or in this case being willing to give up her own career to save other ponies. That doesn't mean Twilight won't mess up along the way though, or never get discouraged.
__________________
Lawyer Pony Avatar by Dirtytabs, exalted as an Eclipse by Elemental, now with a fancy robe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Giant
Anarion's right on the money here.
Quotes
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiki Snakes
Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Anarion Mori?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiki Snakes
You just highlandered an entire city block into a glass-filled storm by road-runnering down it in your underwear.
I would kind of like to see Twilight get taught by Luna, what with all the "final" test thing, the glances and secret talking between her and Celestia, as well as the black book at the end.
Big Black Book?
Spoiler
Is she being prepared for Warhammer 40K tourney?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anarion
Spoiler
Also the trap might have worked even better against a pegasus than it did against Twilight and Spike.
Spoiler
Pegasus wouldn't have touched circle on the floor, or simply flew above breast-high crystal wall? ^^
Quote:
Spoiler
Twilight was willing to sacrifice her hopes and aspirations to save others. We just saw that her worst fear was being dismissed by Celestia, and she really seems like she wouldn't know what to do with her life if she was no longer Celestia's pupil. Having to live a "normal" life probably would be devastating for her, even if you should be a perfectly fine university professor or something. But she was willing to give up her own desires to please Celestia and risk her livelihood in order to save other ponies.
Spoiler
The thing is, Lesson Zero ruined that angle. Yes, Twilight has a lot irrational fears. But, Celestia should have reacted the same as in that episode - you though what?! Instead, she acknowledges it, as if she really wanted to kick her out for failing the 'test'. That didn't made a lot of sense.
Plus, I stand by the 'fear' being really weak scene. The dismissal in Canterlot Wedding was a lot stronger emotionally, here, it looked like Sombra was bored casting the spell making 'fear' act badly and unconvincing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anarion
Don't listen to Trixie. It was pretty good, a lot of great moments to go over a second time, especially with the comic relief, but was, as with all 2-parters, a bit rushed and there were potential alternate and better ways to resolve the story, although none decisively.
Silly filly, 'Anarion' isn't spelt 'Trixie'. I never said anything like that
"Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie can't actually transport you to Equestria... But!
The Great and Powerful Trixie can beat you over the head until you think that's what happened!"
I think it's weird to talk about failures in the abstract. Rainbow Dash wasn't saying Twilight never fails to mean that Twilight literally never makes a mistake or gets anything wrong. It means more like Twilight will always come through in the end. And in that regard, Dash is right. Twilight is very smart and tends to figure out problems, whether that's organizing in Winter Wrap Up to make things efficient or in this case being willing to give up her own career to save other ponies. That doesn't mean Twilight won't mess up along the way though, or never get discouraged.
You totally mean the same thing, guys.
Also, only two pages since the episode started broadcasting? Surely we can do better.
__________________
Milk Chocolate Justiciar of the Haley fanclub
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anarion
And remember, whoever captures the fox and brings it under their control first gains ownership and accompanying property rights over the wild beast.
I say it was a decent enough episode, nothing great (though Sombra's evil laighter was awesome); but nothing bad really. What I am really hoping for is that season 3 works more like a myth arc than the semi-related episodes of the other seasons. What with all that stuff and possible foreshadowing about Twilight's destiny.
__________________
Avatar by Ceika
Past Avatars/Iron Chef Trophy:
Towards the end when Twilight passed the test, Luna took out a black book. I think she was also waving it about when Celestia and her were looking out the window at the main six... Although Warhammer in Equestria is also a possibility I suppose. xD
I say it was a decent enough episode, nothing great (though Sombra's evil laighter was awesome); but nothing bad really. What I am really hoping for is that season 3 works more like a myth arc than the semi-related episodes of the other seasons. What with all that stuff and possible foreshadowing about Twilight's destiny.
Spoiler
On one level, I hope you're right. Myth arcs are gold in this era of television, especially since they can be viewed all together once all the episodes are put on the internet (though given the target audience, not-terribly-strict episode ordering and replayability may factor in more). On another level, I hope you're wrong, because it makes what they did with Sombra even more disappointing.
__________________
Milk Chocolate Justiciar of the Haley fanclub
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anarion
And remember, whoever captures the fox and brings it under their control first gains ownership and accompanying property rights over the wild beast.
Pegasus wouldn't have touched circle on the floor, or simply flew above breast-high crystal wall? ^^
Spoiler
Twilight tried to teleport out of the circle and it used magic to port her back inside. I don't think flying over the wall would cut it. There's also no guarantee that touching the circle was required for activation, as opposed to just getting within the radius.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trixie
Spoiler
The thing is, Lesson Zero ruined that angle. Yes, Twilight has a lot irrational fears. But, Celestia should have reacted the same as in that episode - you though what?! Instead, she acknowledges it, as if she really wanted to kick her out for failing the 'test'. That didn't made a lot of sense.
Plus, I stand by the 'fear' being really weak scene. The dismissal in Canterlot Wedding was a lot stronger emotionally, here, it looked like Sombra was bored casting the spell making 'fear' act badly and unconvincing.
Spoiler
I see these as quite different. In Lesson Zero, Twilight was worried over a routine deadline, something that everypony else realized would be a minor reprimand at worst. Here, on the other hand, Celestia had told her this was a test and had made an explicit statement that passing it would allow Twilight to move on to the next level of studies. She had also explicitly instructed Twilight to do this herself, with no help from her friends. It was entirely reasonable, if somewhat uncharitable, for Twilight to assume that disobeying her mentor would have serious consequences here, even after Lesson Zero had already happened.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trixie
Silly filly, 'Anarion' isn't spelt 'Trixie'. I never said anything like that
You've spent most of the last two pages criticizing the episode. Some of that criticism is deserved, some, imo, is not. Either way, I still think it was overall a good two-parter and had several enjoyable parts.
__________________
Lawyer Pony Avatar by Dirtytabs, exalted as an Eclipse by Elemental, now with a fancy robe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Giant
Anarion's right on the money here.
Quotes
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiki Snakes
Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Anarion Mori?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiki Snakes
You just highlandered an entire city block into a glass-filled storm by road-runnering down it in your underwear.
On one level, I hope you're right. Myth arcs are gold in this era of television, especially since they can be viewed all together once all the episodes are put on the internet (though given the target audience, not-terribly-strict episode ordering and replayability may factor in more). On another level, I hope you're wrong, because it makes what they did with Sombra even more disappointing.
Spoiler
Well I suppose yes; but assuming Sombra wasn't completely destroyed/sealed/etc he could return in the season, that would be awesome because a) I love his design and b) it could help to clear up his failings as character/villain from this episode.
__________________
Avatar by Ceika
Past Avatars/Iron Chef Trophy:
Deadly, a delightfully daring drawer and drafter of dissertations. Defying the dictations of our disparate denizens, Deadly decides his direction with a dirth of dependence on the decisions of despotic desperados. Deadly detests dismissive derision, and will debate any dude or dame that dares to detest discussion.
And I really to make a series of table-flip ponymotes. Applejack could be bucking a table, Pinkie Pie could be party-cannoning a table, Rainbow Dash could sonic rainboom a table, Fluttershy could be nudging a table, Twilight would be levitating a table, Rarity's table would be all fancy and have pillows underneath it, and Derpy would have the table on top of her.
Celestia, of course, would just be next to a picture of the sun, with a little smokey part next to it.
__________________
"Okay, so I'm going to quick draw and dual wield these one-pound caltrops as improvised weapons..."
---
"Oh, hey, look! Blue Eyes Black Lotus!" "Wait what, do you sacrifice a mana to the... Does it like, summon a... What would that card even do!?" "Oh, it's got a four-energy attack. Completely unviable in actual play, so don't worry about it."
Last edited by OracleofWuffing : 11-10-2012 at 11:51 AM.
Nah, I'd say ranking now is Chrysalis > Nightmare Moon > Sombra >>> Discord. The decision to drop his episodes as S2 opening abroad in favour for Canterlot Wedding is pretty telling, he is nothing to anyone who doesn't know who De Lancie is.
Spoiler
I'd never heard of Q or John Delancie before seeing Discord and thought him and his mind games were pretty epic. Actually I still haven't ever seen more than a couple scenes of Star Trek, not my thing really.
On the episode I liked it, especially part two but I felt that a three parter would have been best. If only to expand on Sombra, who did seem to fall a bit flat as a character, especially since we only saw him fully formed for two scenes.
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__________________
Ponies not only make ME want to be a better person than I was before they entered my life, they make me want to HELP OTHERS be better people too.
After all that, it really undermined Sombra. Instead of making us think about the threat he represented, to the Crystal Empire as a whole and to Twilight's character - that is, who she is as a person - it made us think about his motivations. Which were flimsy at best. He's not a primal spirit like Nightmare or Discord, whose motivations don't have to make sense, or an alien creature like Chrysalis. He is a unicorn skilled in dark magic, and who wants the Crystal Ponies as slaves. He doesn't want to be worshipped, feared, or fed by them, he wants their labor. Which he can get anywhere. If the Crystal Empire is special because it preserves love and light in Equestria, well, then get the griffins to slave for you or something. And that voice. Ugh. Something about it was just viscerally off-putting, and not in the good way that some villains need.
Here's hoping someone catches onto something I've missed that makes the motivation and dialogue they gave Sombra make sense. He needed either much more, to be a fleshed-out character like the other villains, or none at all, to maintain the vague threat.
Spoiler
*Shrug* He is king. He might see Crystal Empire as rightfully his, and nothing else will do?
Or maybe with its resources he could take over Equestria, then easily enslave Griffons and Zebras, but not without. Who knows. I just wish we saw a bit of the motivation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pendulous
Stupid Bronystate. I don't have TV, but I wanted to check out Littlest Pet Shop. Should have let it roll.
Like all TV heroes, she fails before she succeeds.
Yeah, wanted to see a few scenes.
And if only, she fails that part more often than not
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anarion
Spoiler
I think it's weird to talk about failures in the abstract. Rainbow Dash wasn't saying Twilight never fails to mean that Twilight literally never makes a mistake or gets anything wrong. It means more like Twilight will always come through in the end. And in that regard, Dash is right. Twilight is very smart and tends to figure out problems, whether that's organizing in Winter Wrap Up to make things efficient or in this case being willing to give up her own career to save other ponies. That doesn't mean Twilight won't mess up along the way though, or never get discouraged.
Spoiler
Dragonshy. Bridle Gossip. Swarm of the Century. Green Isn't Your Color. A Bird in the Hoof. Lesson Zero. The Cutie Pox. Secret of My Excess. It's About Time. First episodes that come to mind, every time Twilight's solution was epic fail worsening situation and someone else had to actually correct that and then solve problem for her. I could name half a dozen episodes more, but I think these are enough to prove my point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anarion
Spoiler
Twilight tried to teleport out of the circle and it used magic to port her back inside. I don't think flying over the wall would cut it. There's also no guarantee that touching the circle was required for activation, as opposed to just getting within the radius.
Spoiler
Her hoof was deep inside circle that flashed only when she physically touched it. We also know the circle can snap back teleports, not that it can teleport flyers. It looked like Dimensional Anchor in D&D terms, IMHO.
But OK, no flyers. Twiligh could have simply summoned heart back to her instead of entering the trap, seeing trap didn't stopped physical moving of the heart. I guess we can consider magic sense theory as busted, then.
Quote:
Spoiler
I see these as quite different. In Lesson Zero, Twilight was worried over a routine deadline, something that everypony else realized would be a minor reprimand at worst. Here, on the other hand, Celestia had told her this was a test and had made an explicit statement that passing it would allow Twilight to move on to the next level of studies. She had also explicitly instructed Twilight to do this herself, with no help from her friends. It was entirely reasonable, if somewhat uncharitable, for Twilight to assume that disobeying her mentor would have serious consequences here, even after Lesson Zero had already happened.
Spoiler
Um, do you really believe Celestia would have kicked Twilight out for failing that? It just doesn't fit the character, IMHO. All the nebulous speak greatly reminded me of Lesson Zero, Celestia spoke figuratively and Twilight interpreted that as literal command. Only it really being literal command makes any sense from Celestia to acknowledge fear was valid, instead of causing sigh the Lesson Zero did not taught Twilight anything.
Criticism:
Spoiler
Quote:
You've spent most of the last two pages criticizing the episode. Some of that criticism is deserved, some, imo, is not. Either way, I still think it was overall a good two-parter and had several enjoyable parts.
I was pointing little plot holes, never stating episode qualities. Others repeatedly state whole episode was rushed, villain weak, voices bad, supporting cast badly chosen, plot predictable etc. I think I was the only one who didn't said that, or agreed openly to it, thank you
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nameless
Although Warhammer in Equestria is also a possibility I suppose. xD
I was referring to WH40K Rulebook being called BBB, Big Black Book
Also, littlest pet shop animals have really creepy eyes
"Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie can't actually transport you to Equestria... But!
The Great and Powerful Trixie can beat you over the head until you think that's what happened!"
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