Season 7: Episodes 22-26 discussion

[Deep Purple Crystal]

Lack of recent FiM-inspired discussion around here (initiated by the downfall of the FiM board) has led me to create a thread for all remaining Season 7 episodes.

My thoughts:
Once Upon a Zeppelin: A good, fun episode. Was lacking in some of the S1-2 magic, but this is expected in season 7. Either way, it was nice to both see Twilight's parents play some kind of speaking role and to actually laugh at an episode past 'Slice of Life'.
Secrets and Pies: Why is the fact that Pinkie makes pies (which we have never seen her do prior to this) suddenly so important to both Pinkie and the episode? Most of the gags were too exaggerated or clichéd to be amusing here - they lacked the effortless wit this show has been missing for a while now. This is not a good way to carry a comedy episode.
Uncommon Bond: A little formulaic, but still decent for what it was. It was great to see Maud interact with Starlight again though.
Shadow Play: First part was blah and had no stakes (not to mention the idiotic Applejack/Rockhoof sequence), while the second part was way too serious for its own good and devolved once again into a 'Starlight our Saviour' episode (not coherent with the episode's first half, where she barely did anything) despite her still being as bland as cheap bread.

Therefore, I rate season 7 as being an 'okay' season. Better than season 6 (in that I could at least rate some episodes as being more than 'okay' or 'pretty good') and probably 5 (despite not reaching the highs of 'The Cutie Map' or 'Amending Fences'), but still far below 1 and 2.

[babypowder]

Secrets and Pies was not the best episode, it felt like a redo of Mmmmmystery of the Friendship Express combined with Party of One. But the jokes were amusing, so I'll give it a 3 out of 5. I haven't watched the others yet.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I'm guilty of watching the leaks...
Once Upon a Zeppelin: I love when we get to see any sort of interaction with pony parents, so I really enjoyed this one! Twilight Velvet's daringness is really cute, and I was very amused by Flurry terrorizing the foals while their parents just watched on.
Secrets and Pies: Eh, I still feel like Rainbow Dash was in the wrong for not telling Pinkie about her dislike of pies. It was amusing enough, but I feel like i dragged on what could have been a one minute episode.
Uncommon Bond: This one dragged on FOREVER for me...maybe it was the message or how no one seemed to be listening to Starlight, but I just wanted this one to end. The ending wasn't very worthwhile, and if they really couldn't think of any other things the two have in common, they should accept that sometimes you just don't have anything in common. Maybe something about how they could find something new to share together?
Shadow Play: This is something that should have been built up more. We only got hints to the culmination in 3 episodes, and there was nothing hinting to Starswirl coming back. What's with the negativity in this season, anyway? I'd be heartbroken if my idol hated me! Why didn't that seem to bother Twilight? I hope there's episodes next season that include these ponies. If they were so important back then and were so important to history, they better have some spotlight in season 8.
My ranking would be: Seasons 1, 4, 2, 7, 3, 5, 6

[Bekuno]

I've actually been making the weekly discussion threads, just fell a little behind. I'll return later with thoughts

[StarSwirl05]

Saw the finale. It was okay. Wished the villain did more than just trashing Ponhenge. It was literally a tug-of-war rather than an epic battle. I guess it was interesting seeing all the ponies from the folklore actually out and about but they didn't really do much either.

[Ponyfan]

Thoughts on Shadow Play parts 1 and 2

Spoiler

I thought it was pretty good but I liked the Season 6 finale better. It was nice to see that the Legends of Equestria were actual ponies and connections to past episodes. I'm always happy to see Sunburst doing something besides controlling Baby Flurry Heart. The build up was interesting but I really didn't like Starswirl. All of the times he's been mentioned as being a really good and wise wizard but then he kept  berating Twilight and acting like she didn't know anything and Twilight did the same in a lesser way to Starlight. I know they both apologized at the end but it was a lot for both Twilight and Starlight to endure. I felt bad for Starlight when Twilight wouldn't listen to her even after Starlight told her that not every pony that does bad things is a lost cause.

I also didn't like how quickly everyone agreed to give the Elements of Harmony up to stop the Pony of Shadows. Is that the best StarSwirl could think of?

The Mane 6 found the artifacts a little too easily. It should have been harder.  Were those things in the flashback supposed to be the Sirens from Rainbow Rocks? Why were Celestia and Luna not included in the fight with the Pony of Shadows? I know the Mane 6 often saves Equestria without them but this time they weren't missing or captured so why leave them out?  I would have like more interactions with the Legends of Equestria. You would think that after being gone for over 1000 years they would have had more to talk about.

With so many ponies making cameos it would have been nice to see Thorax and Ember again although I'm okay with them not appearing in the finale.

I sort of wish Starlight would stop feeling bad for manipulating time. Didn't that happen 2 Seasons ago? What she did was wrong and almost caused Equestria to fall but she's made efforts since then to reform even though sometimes I feel she's still a little too quick to use certain spells that she doesn't know the full effects of. 

Ponyfan

[Shaz]

Ponehenge?! The puns are getting worse.

[Al-1701]

If anyone noticed, the message on Ponehenge said "poni rules" in Elder Futhark.  Har, har, DHX.

Spoiler

I enjoyed Shadow Play well enough, and actually enjoy it more as I think about it.  I liked Starswirl being a curmudgeon to tell the truth.  Magical Mystery Cure gave us a hint he might be like this since he couldn't complete his "Make me an alicorn" spell due to his lack of knowledge of friendship.  Even how the Pillars are named, being individual qualities rather than how you interact with others, gives a sense he does not think much of friendship.  So, him turning a blind eye and tin ear to Stigeon is an effective way to incite the conflict here.

The conflict was also personal for him.  This wasn't just some random monster, this was a person he knows and had come to hate.  So, he is blinded to any alternatives.  Twilight in turn is blinded by her idolization of him.

Also, unlike Daring Do, we have the advantage of time passing with these now living legends.  Their lives have had a chance to be romanticized and separated from reality over the past millennium plus.

I think the first part should have been spread out over the season.  It was just a collect-a-thon.  That way, the second part could have been the two-parter with everything more fleshed out.

What would have crashed this episode for me is if the Pillars had been sent back into the cornfield at the end.  That would have made this just a one off stunt.  With the Pillars remaining, it feels like a new beginning with possibilities before us.

[StarSwirl05]

Ponehenge?! The puns are getting worse.

Right up there with Old Ponish.

[sd_dreamcrystal]

I am so far behind but I cannot get the nerve to even watch these shows any more. After they added Starlight to the crew... I don't know I just dropped the show But I do sometimes like reading what people think about the shows as it does give me bits and pieces of what happens.

[Ponyfan]

Spoiler

I think I'm liking this episode more as I think about it too. 

Now that I think about it, it does make sense that Starswirl wouldn't be a pleasant pony to be around. He had disappeared for over 1000 years with the other Pillars and Equestria  has changed a lot. Also feeling like Stigeon not only betrayed them but caused them to disappear  and having so much time to brood over that fact.

Was Twilight the only one to notice Stigeon struggling to escape from the Pony of Shadows when the Pony of Shadows was being pulled in to the portal? IIt was nice seeing each of the Mane 6 have a parallel to one of the Pillars. It's interesting that the three ponies that told the legends of RockHoof, MistMane and Magnus ending up being their parallel in Modern Equestria. 

I agree it should have taken more time to find the objects maybe like FIM did with the Chest of Harmony arc where each of the Mane 6 had to find their key to open the chest.  I would have also liked to see more conflict with gathering the objects also. The ponies are suddenly taking things that should mean a lot to the ponies of Equestria and no one is trying to stop them? Maybe they explained why they wanted the objects but we only saw the Dragon objecting because he wanted the shield to surf lava and the caretaker of the garden not wanting the last thing of beauty to be removed from the garden. .


I'm also happy that the Pillars are staying in Equestria and hope we see more of them in Season 8

 


Ponyfan

[TJgamer]

Once Upon a Zeppelin was pretty solid. Good to see Iron Will again since he's way better than Flim and Flam.

Secrets and Pies was absolutely hilarious. Pinkie's determination was so much fun to watch. However, I do have issue with the ending, as I think it glorifies Rainbow Dash's lying a little too much.

Uncommon Bond was a decent episode. It didn't really do anything wrong, but it didn't really do anything exceptional either.

Shadow Play is every lore lover's dream come true. So much worldbuilding and backstory packed into this finale. In fact there's so much, that there wasn't enough time to flesh it all out.

[Ponyfan]

Spoiler

I agree. I would have liked to see more of the Pillars and how they influenced Equestria and how the Elements of Harmony are part of them.   

I agree that the scene with Applejack arguing over whether RockHoof was a real pony or just a legend seemed a little silly

Is this Pony of Shadows the same one the Mane 6 was afraid of back when they were in the Castle of the Two Sisters?

Ponyfan