The Thread About Ponies, Logistics and General Weirdness (And Gilda)TV

[Tornado]

Spoiler

I liked the introduction of an over-arching plot, the as-per-usual excellent dialogue and humour, and the backstory and plot of the Crystal Empire as a whole. I don't think that it necessarily brought any particular holes or contradictions, either, which for some was a big worry before the episode aired.

That's because there wasn't anything to the backstory. It was gone. Suddenly, it's there; and now that it is it's obviously important.

Spoiler

It also managed to contradict itself in the 2 minute span Celly talked about it when she handwaved why Twilight never had heard of it. "Me and Luna were the ones who personally vanquished the bad guy way back when, but nope. I barely remember it either.

Spoiler

In addition, I think that the criticism of King Sombre is a little unfair; Discord and Nightmare Moon were meant to be characters that the mane six (or at the very least Twilight) interacted with. Sombre, I felt, did his job well as a different kind of villain; call him stereotypical and character-less, but he was very competent as a sort of unseen threat - and he was basically a representation of pure, unbridled fear and evil, (in a sense, like Mr. Shadow in The Fifth Element) as seen especially in the magic door scene. His powers were revealed to be mostly scaring the wits out of almost everyone who's ever had anything to do with him psychological; the whole premise of his evil was corruption, and Celestia's fears that his corruption of the Crystal Empire would spread to the rest of Equestria make him a foreboding threat - and whereas Discord had an element of comedy and Nightmare Moon had an element of tragedy, Sombre was just... evil. The fact that he didn't interact with the ponies directly and always remained as a kind of time bomb in the background made him ominous and threatening as opposed to anything else.

Spoiler

Being a Doctor Claw equivalent isn't a feather in his cap. "He's evil, and there's nothing else to it" can work if you try to actually sell it, but all they did with him was drop some buzzwords and give him a creepy voice.


Him being threatening was pretty questionable too, since neither Celly nor Luna were really worried about it compared to how they acted in previous episodes; most of the episode Twilight was more worried about disappointing Celly than actually stopping him; and none of the Mane Six were really bothered by what was going on. The only ones who actually seemed worried were Cadence and SA. Hence Show, not tell.

Spoiler

And besides; he's no more or less generic than stereotypical snake-in-the-grass Chrysalis, (no matter how good you thought her song was) especially when you take into account the whole "power of love" scene at the end of that episode.

Chrysalis at least had a motivation for her actions and a personality; and her scheme itself was clever even if she was surprised it worked after Celly found out about it.

Spoiler

That last one especially, in fact; I, for one, am incredibly interested in what the future holds for her, and considering that she actually is the main character and has always been (whether you like it or not), the prospect of her having an epic "higher purpose", so to speak, is extremely enticing.

Spoiler

The show was always an ensemble show, to the extent of even her being the main character was arguable during the second season. I don't want the show to start revolving around her going around and beating people up and the entire rest of the cast being pretty much useless, and I would very much argue that it would be a detriment to the quality of the entire thing if that started happening.

Spoiler

Ballad of the Crystal Ponies most certainly wasn't exclusively intended to simply sell the products to us; it was a nicely melodic little montage of the makings of the Crystal Fair, and in my opinion, simply couldn't have been executed any better than it was. I think that you'd have to be very jaded, disillusioned and cynical to think that the latter song was solely intended to be a mere marketing ploy; it certainly didn't seem that way to me, and never came across as anything other than an enjoyably well-done and pleasant track that complimented the plot and setting very well.

It came just short of listing the prices for the toys when they show up on shelves. It was a product list with a backing melody, and even when they were singing it was just them talking.

 

[Minty]

There.


I just saved you 20 minutes of viewing time.


And this picture rivaling PonyKiller's art is drawn by a Nazi:

Source

Seriously.


EDIT:
"A colt with the DNA of Adolf Hitler and Kratos" should totally be the villain in the next Avengers movie.

 

[Skython]

So, I read what you guys said in the spoiler tags.

I... completely disagree with the vast majority of it.

In all, I thought that both episodes were an excellent continuation and expansion of the usual formula, with virtually everything that the series routinely does well fully present and correct - and a sprinkling of fresh ideas, fantastic spectacles and plot advancement to keep things as new and awesome as they ever have been.

The perfect opening to a new season - watch it if you haven't!

After rewatching the episode last night, I probably have to agree with you. On first watch I think it was the hype from the teasers (and I didn't even watch all of them).

I am satisfied with my second viewing, this episode is almost like Progressive metal songs, you need to view/listen more than once to wrap your head around it. However if I am to have any complaints now...

Spoiler

Luna appeared shortly at the start, so after the lack of Luna in the finale, I WANTED TO SEE LUNA!!!! But no, she just appeared shortly at the start and even shorter at the end.

And secondly, the scene where Twilight is running down the stairs talking to Dashie telling her that she has to do this alone, and that Dash and the others need to keep the everypony else's spirits high. The reason this annoyed me was that Tara voiced Twilight as if she was just standing there, and it seemed odd. If you're running down stairs, or running anywhere, you couldn't talk that calmly or smoothly, it just wouldn't happen. But then again, how would you replicate it? Bring in a treadmill to the recording studio and run while doing the takes? It may be difficult to create, but the whole scene didn't quite match up with what I saw seeing and what I was hearing.

 

[eXtaticus]

As a side-note:

KING SOMBRERO!

Slightly racist.

Sorry.

 

[Wiegert]

Sorry I never said this earlier, but congratulations Tom, Logan. Really glad you two have been together this long, even though it feels like it's only been a few weeks since you made your feelings known.




Also:

Source

By far the best Sombra model I've seen, even though the surface came out rough which seems to be a common trait with 3D printed models. It only makes me want to go and buy a 3D printer now.

 

[Tornado]

I just want to make sure I have this right before I go along purposely misspelling it anyway: Is it really Sombre or Sombra?

 

[Wiegert]

I just want to make sure I have this right before I go along purposely misspelling it anyway: Is it really Sombre or Sombra?

It's Sombra. eX's spelling of his name in that huge ass post of his was wrong.

"epic wife tossing"




EDIT:

Source

 

[Minty]

 

[Tornado]

So that's his backstory.

 

[Wiegert]

So having read the basic description for all but a few season 3 episodes, as well as going over what other Bronies have been speculating about:

*Warning, season 3 episode info at the bottom of the upcoming spoiler*

Spoiler

Such as "Sombra isn't gone for good", and that his horn and various other pieces were just scattered over Equestria and he'll return for the season finale and we'll get more exposition blah blah blah...

I'm still skeptical about it, plus I think it's silly for some people to say it's gonna happen with such certainty already. But with episodes like the ones coming up, I do wonder if a pieces of him will play key in each of those episodes.

(Don't read the rest of these spoilers if you don't want to know what the next few episodes are about!)



.....




The magic mirror resulting in Pinkie clones, somepony bullying the CMC, Trixie returning, Scootaloo having nightmares, etc...

I don't want to think too much into that right now, but I'll certainly keep it in mind.




EDIT:



Because James or eX would have posted it otherwise.

 

[CoffeeGrunt]

I'd take eX's opinion on the episode seriously if he hadn't had that massive argument a few months ago where he swore blind that Pisqueak had character progression in his episode, and therefore helped move the plot along.

Also now that I know what Sombra means, it just feels a little more shallow. I mean, c'mon, there has to be a sweet Spanish word for "void" or "devourer," right?

 

[Minty]

Its as adorable as it is true.

 

[eXtaticus]

Because James or eX would have posted it otherwise.

OMG DEJA VU BY DAVE RODGERS

HHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Thanks for that, Greg, I hadn't actually seen that PMV before.

And it's like... Dave Rodgers' only Initial D track that I don't have. :3

^_^

 

[Wiegert]

> Hadn't seen it before.

Jeez, it's not even 2 days old! At least you enjoyed it.

Source

Yes.... just, all of my yes.

 

[Tornado]

That is an inferior method of wife transportation.

 

[Minty]

That is an inferior method of wife transportation.

Yeah, Shining's front legs are cannons on their own.



Also:

...




...

 

[SuperShouden]

Yeah, Shining's front legs are cannons on their own.



Also:

...




...

But MLP has stolen a plethora of stuff from WB. Why should LOTR be safe? (New Line Cinema is owned by Time Warner.)

Great start to the new season. I wanna see the multiple Pinky Pie episode, though. Can't wait for that. It's nice to see Luna, Shining Armor and Cadance all return to the series. And not long after the wedding, which is surprising. Now, Gilda just needs to return. Maybe she could be reformed...although, considering the voice actress...that wouldn't fit too well.

For all the "made up as it goes" stuff, it's a pretty awesome series. And really, the random stuff that comes up just adds to the fun 'cause you NEVER know what's going to happen. I mean...it took two seasons for us to learn Twi had a brother and a Nanny and that Rainbow Dash had a griffin friend.

 

[Brando-K]

And it's like... Dave Rodgers' only Initial D track that I don't have. :3

^_^

I've got 4 different versions of it.
I prefer Mikado though.


That was cool thanks for posting it Greg.

 

[Minty]

But MLP has stolen a plethora of stuff from WB. Why should LOTR be safe? (New Line Cinema is owned by Time Warner.)

I prefer the term referenced, but yeah.

 

[Tornado]

Linky.

Linky.


That RD one is even better than the old AJ one.



Also:

 

[Wiegert]

Source

Source

Source


*Ahem* Canids are now Best Pony.

 

[SuperShouden]

Whenever I get FM4 I kinda wanna do MLP themed cars out of the SRT lineup:

Rarity - Chrysler 300 SRT8
Apple Jack - Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
Rainbow Dash - SRT Viper GTS
Pinky Pie - Dodge Charger SRT8
Flutter Shy - Dodge Ram SRT10
Twilight Sparkle - Dodge Challenger SRT8 (the 392 if I can get it.)

 

[Star]

a commission from Snufflin

only cost $4.95

 

[Wiegert]

Oh. that's nice, and incredibly cheap for the level of quality too.

 

[CoffeeGrunt]

I would want one, if I didn't already have Valt's piece on my dA. :3

 

[Bopop4]

Watched the premiere yesterday.

Spoiler

I felt that the main villain could have had a bigger spotlight, and it was a bit slow. But I really enjoyed it overall. There were some great bits and the slowness made it feel more like a short movie than 2 episodes.

 

[Tornado]

:3

 

[GregTheStig]

Spoiler

... There were some great bits and the slowness made it feel more like a short movie than 2 episodes.

I feel exactly the same about that and I quite like it too.

 

[SuperShouden]

I got to see the Pinky Pie babysitting episode today...I like this series more with every new-to-me episode.

 

[eXtaticus]

Tom, prepare yourself...



kewt :3