My Little Pony's Justice 2 - Official MLP Thread v2

[RedFox99]

I think a better setup for this episode could've been one where maybe the ponies are celebrating Family Appreciation Day and Spike begins to feel self-conscious about not knowing who his family is.

[DabigRG]

So I finally got around to seeing Father Knows Best and it honestly just kinda okayish on the eh side. I don't think it was a bad episode per say, but I can certainly see someone being bored with it.

To address my main thought throughout this episode, am I the only one who kinda wished Sludge(because apparently Sledge wouldn't have been better) was actually Spike's dad? Hell, at one point after the song, I kinda imagined his mom/"mom" showing up in person(for whatever reason) and begrudgingly confirming that they  are both his parents, though Sludge himself wasn't much to be proud of. Not that the actual reveal wasn't kinda obvious within the episode itself(though I dreaded it), but everything else seemed to wanna suggest he was. You know, beyond perhaps the distinctly shabby shade of his color scheme.

One of the little touches I liked was the fact that despite Sludge claiming and later singing that living, eating, and sleeping in Twilight's castle was what made him un-dragonlike, he himself was clearly becoming enamored with the lifestyle. Could've made for a neat little Generation Xerox between the two beyond their appearance, which would simultaneously distinguish Spike while, in a way, assuring him that for better or worse, he's not completely unnatural. There was also the moments where Sludge actually seemed to care about Spike's feelings on some level, despite some of them arguably cramping his style a bit.

Also, while I didn't mind Smolder being in this, I kinda thought Ember should've been the one to help Spike deal with Sludge at the end.

There were a couple of moments I found humorous and a little clever, like Pinkie getting Sludge back in full motion, Twilight's heart breaking, and Starlight's physical cameo, but they weren't really laughs.

On 10/8/2018 at 9:06 AM, RedFox99 said:

I think a better setup for this episode could've been one where maybe the ponies are celebrating Family Appreciation Day and Spike begins to feel self-conscious about not knowing who his family is.

That would've been a more obvious of doing it, yeah, but I guess they wanted to take advantage of having a character around that he can biologically relate to. Again.

[DabigRG]

On 10/6/2018 at 6:31 PM, RedFox99 said:

I'm really wondering what Doc will think of this.

I have a feeling not a lot of Spike fans will like this episode.

Here ya go.

Dat thumbnail.

[pastelspectre]

watched the season 8 finale and it was really good!! the villain was someone i kind of expected, but they put a twist on it to make it interesting. i cant wait to see if they bring them back in season 9.

[DabigRG]

So, Season 8(and the final season) of MLPFIM wraps up with it's finale School Daze. I really enjoyed how multifaceted & involved and yet casual & building this two-parter was.

This episode was especially interesting in that it has a number of plot elements that I(and likely, a number of others) thought could be the subjects of such a finale for a while, as well as little deviations that somewhat reflect what might have been otherwise. It also seemed a bit custom built to bring back a sense of the older seasons' focus on the Mane Six, adventure, and villainous aspects, in addition to working in the supporting cast in relatively natural, contributing ways. The only character/clique who didn't get that much screentime was Starlight herself and there was a pretty good reason for it.

So, let's talk about the villains. When I first really thought about them, Chancellor Neighsay and [initially just in appearance] Cozy Glow made me think of Starlight back when she was a villain. Specifically, how they both ultimately seem like fuller realizations of what Starlight was trying to be--the antagonistic & misguided fundamental extremist and the manipulative, yet psychologically unstable  in plain sight. Cozy in particular even has what looks like a ripoff[-ier] color scheme and kinda sounded like what Tara Strong's take on Starlight would be at times.

Speaking of which, I was honestly surprised she wasn't working for Neighsay(who I somehow forgot about by the time his presence was revealed) from the inside the whole time. Though it is interesting to see two major villains try to run the show for a bit. I'm also surprised that she was in cahoots with Tirek, who I just assumed she framed for whatever it was she was doing to the magic going in.

Ultimately, I understand why they established her early on and had her show up from time to time--she'd have come right out of nowhere otherwise. I know the other villains technically did as well, but it would've been more egregious here. After all, she's just a little pegasus that wanted to gain control over Twilight realm of things for the power it inherently gives. Probably could've used a little more motivation for why she would want to get rid of all the powerful magic while they were at it, but that would probably get in the way of having a villain for it's own sake again.

Tirek's characterization here was a little weird. He seemed a little more like Discord than the straightforward manipulative brute he was before. Guess he really was growing on him a bit. Continuity with the monsters inhabiting Tartarus, including the Bugbear, Chimera, and Yeti thing, was a neat little touch. As was the fact that while they split apart into normal animals after having their remaining magic drained(for some reason), Tirek himself didn't. He even gained Cozy Glow as something of a dual cellmate in the end.

I guess I should say that some of the Mane Six seemed a little flanderized here. And that Starlight's imprisonment didn't much attention once she was freed--did she even get a line? Also just a tad weird how minimal the CMC's involvement in this was, considering they're the ones who got Cozy Glow past phase one in the first place.

 

The final scene itself was a tad odd in it's brevity, but that seemed to be the intent.

[Strickerx5]

Welp, we've come to the eighth finale of this show and... honestly, that was fantastic!

There were so many elements at play that all had a certain amount of build up throughout the season that the combination of them here was nothing short of engaging. I'm honestly surprised at how many characters they were able to pull off here. Of course, they still had the overall gimp nature of no magic and Starlight being captured but other than that, every character had a good role to play. I don't think I need to tell anyone who's been in this fandom for more than 2 seasons how rare that is.

Cozy Glow as a villain was interesting too... honestly, probably one of the more interesting takes on a villain the show has done. While her motives are relatively simple, her execution of them was a season and some change in the making. The writers really played up the show's innocence when it comes to characters in that first episode she appeared in way back when. For those who hadn't been spoiled by leaked episodes, she really did seem like a one off character. It wasn't until her other showings that they started to show her hand and even then you had the Chancellor playing into the main villain role so well that it still through me off a bit in where things would land. To see all of that come to a head here was simply great! It's continuity at its finest.

Also, odd that they went with Tirek here instead of Chrysalis who one could've sworn they were building up to with that Mean Six episode at the mid point. Hopefully that isn't the last we see of her.

Again, I can't talk enough about how well the student six have been developed. There's a true dynamic with them and it played out well yet again here. It's funny, when G5 rolls around I honestly wouldn't mind if they just based the new characters off of them.

Hell, I even got some solid Luna here! No, I'm not going to question why she put Cozy right next to Tirek so that they could possibly scheme... it's a fool proof plan that surely won't backfire!!!... if it goes bad, it was probably Celestia's idea anyway.

Honestly, the only real downside I have with this two parter is Tartarus itself. For what's been build up quite a few times as this place of serious danger... it's basically just a storage closet in some random ass cave filled with cages (that all have that problem of being made with some wide gaps between the bars). Artistically, it was pretty lazy to me and I wished that they had done more with it. Especially with how much the animation in this show continues to impress.

Seriously, after all this time they're still pushing Flash beyond most other things in the medium. There were some shots here that impressed even me. Add in how smooth and full of life the character movements continue to be and I know I'm beating a dead horse here (heh)... but the animation in this show is still something very much worthy of note.

So yeah, overall this was a great finale. The amount of continuity that came to a head here really pushed it over most others for me. A nice way to end season 8.

 

 

Regarding season 8 as a whole now that it's over... well, I'll just keep things short and say that there were some definite highs and a number of lows. Got some things I've been asking about for years now and got some other things that I... honestly could've done without. It's funny how the thing I thought I'd hate the most going into it (the friendship school) ended up being one of its strongest elements to me now.

There were also quite a few down the road episodes too. Ones that weren't really good nor bad, just there really.

So yeah, for now I can't say season 8 is going to top any charts for me but it's certainly not at the bottom either. A very middling season imo atm.

though... it did only give Luna like one speaking role so it could very well be at the bottom for all i care

[DabigRG]

30 minutes ago, Strickerx5 said:

Also, odd that they went with Tirek here instead of Chrysalis who one could've sworn they were building up to with that Mean Six episode at the mid point. Hopefully that isn't the last we see of her.

 

As I intended to allude to, the fact that the plot involves Starlight being used as a power source and  being banished another dimension sounds eerily similar to what I thought would happen with Chrysalis and/or the Shadows.

33 minutes ago, Strickerx5 said:

 

Honestly, the only real downside I have with this two parter is Tartarus itself. For what's been build up quite a few times as this place of serious danger... it's basically just a storage closet in some random ass cave filled with cages (that all have that problem of being made with some wide gaps between the bars). Artistically, it was pretty lazy to me and I wished that they had done more with it. Especially with how much the animation in this show continues to impress.

 

Yeah, I thought that was kinda weird.

 

 

 

[AdventChild]

This week is the two parter finale School Raze.

And I found it to be rather middle of the road, slightly so-so. And that’s mainly because of Cozy Glow which I’ll get to in a minute.

I liked some of the Pinkie Parts and get to see Tartarus a bit more, even though I was hoping that it’s more than just a prison or a kennel for monsters and more of stepping into a new territory/world like the Nightosphere from Adventure Time. Nice to see Tirek again as well even though his S4 finale is way better than this. Starlight NOT saving the day. *Shot

The CMC felt shoehorned in along with Neigh Sayer just to get his redemption arc completed. I’m still indifferent and neutral on the Student Six when it’s all said and done (maybe leaning towards Gallus and Sandbar). Twilight’s ending comment about needing a school for friendship despite her gaining that knowledge through real life experience and not inside a classroom, feels going backwards than forwards.

And now with the meat of the problem for me, Cozy Glow. She annoys the crap out of me of her forced cutesy act and not really an interesting villain/character in the slightest, very weak. Going beyond the manipulation and cuteness, she’s just a generic power-hungry trope. And what? That it is a filly is going to make me impressed by it? As I mentioned before, there have been similar villains that are done way better with more character/personality and even motivation such as Darla Dimple from Cats Don’t Dance and Babydoll from BTAS. There’s just nothing to her.

A meh finale overall for me, brought down by one weak villain.

[RedFox99]

Which season do you guys think is the worst so far?

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, RedFox99 said:

Which season do you guys think is the worst so far?

I honestly never gave that much thought. Nevermind that I don't exactly marathon and/commit these episodes.

I guess I could default to saying Season 1.

[RedFox99]

3 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

I honestly never gave that much thought. Nevermind that I don't exactly marathon and/commit these episodes.

I guess I could default to saying Season 1.

Ask because I remember how some people used to think that Season 3 was the worst season and then some thought the same for the sixth.

[DabigRG]

16 minutes ago, RedFox99 said:

Ask because I remember how some people used to think that Season 3 was the worst season and then some thought the same for the sixth.

Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that.

I'm guessing it was primarily because of the status quo changes and the short length in the former's case. I'd also assume that a good bit of that negativity has ceased by this point, but then that's a matter of history.

[RedFox99]

Let's talk about something slightly more positive: how would you fix some of the worst of this season?

For me, maybe Yakety-Sax could've been had it been a Yona episode. Maybe the saxes are an important part of Yak culture, so she feels bad that she disrupted the other's lives with her badplaying, which makes her feel like a bigger failure. 

[Strickerx5]

4 hours ago, RedFox99 said:

Which season do you guys think is the worst so far?

Probably has to be season 4. Between the sheer amount of episodes I just don't care for and the whole alicorn transformation still being a thing of heavy contention (especially due to the fact that, at that point, it had literally taken away most of Twilight's interesting traits even though she was still front and center), it sort of has to be. 3 and 6 are somewhat close though.

At the moment, from best to worst, it's: 2 > 1 > 5 > 7 > 8 >> 6 > 3 > 4

 

How would I make the lower ones better? Add more Luna.

 

Though in all seriousness, that's a bit of a hard one to tackle. Their problems are so scattered and, by this point, so deeply rooted into the series that it might require some major changes to future things. I honestly don't know. I guess a start would've been to focus more heavily on the character interactions. There were quite a number of episodes in these seasons that just did it poorly. This in turn, never carried the plot and never got the lessons across in the best way.

[RedFox99]

23 minutes ago, Strickerx5 said:

Probably has to be season 4. Between the sheer amount of episodes I just don't care for and the whole alicorn transformation still being a thing of heavy contention (especially due to the fact that, at that point, it had literally taken away most of Twilight's interesting traits even though she was still front and center), it sort of has to be. 3 and 6 are somewhat close though.

At the moment, from best to worst, it's: 2 > 1 > 5 > 7 > 8 >> 6 > 3 > 4

 

How would I make the lower ones better? Add more Luna.

 

Though in all seriousness, that's a bit of a hard one to tackle. Their problems are so scattered and, by this point, so deeply rooted into the series that it might require some major changes to future things. I honestly don't know. I guess a start would've been to focus more heavily on the character interactions. There were quite a number of episodes in these seasons that just did it poorly. This in turn, never carried the plot and never got the lessons across in the best way.

2's the best for you because it was the first one to have a Luna episode, isn't it?

Joking aside, regarding Twilight becoming an Alicorn, when I used to be a fan of the series, I didn't mind it too much to be honest.

Yeah, you could probably make an argument that a lot of season 8 episodes had messed up characterizations (Non-complete clause and Yakity-Sax are prime examples of such).

[RedFox99]

Sorry for double posting, but do you think that the movie sequel should focus less on the Mane 6?

[DabigRG]

7 hours ago, RedFox99 said:

Let's talk about something slightly more positive: how would you fix some of the worst of this season?

For me, maybe Yakety-Sax could've been had it been a Yona episode. Maybe the saxes are an important part of Yak culture, so she feels bad that she disrupted the other's lives with her badplaying, which makes her feel like a bigger failure. 

I would've liked that. It was pretty weird that that that episode was about Pinkie when Prince Rutherford was conspicuously absent.

 

Anyway, I'd have to look up the episodes to consider my options.

Off the top of my head, though, I'd probably have the episode with Starlight and Sunburst's parents at least be a little more direct/expository about their relationship before the event the point where they left.

I'd also consider giving Cozy Glow just a tad more motivation for why she'd wanna get rid of the Magic, since that didn't really make sense.

.

2 hours ago, RedFox99 said:

Sorry for double posting, but do you think that the movie sequel should focus less on the Mane 6?

As in the Tempest movie?

Eh, probably not. It does need to have more meat to it than the actual movie did.

[Strickerx5]

2 hours ago, RedFox99 said:

Sorry for double posting, but do you think that the movie sequel should focus less on the Mane 6?

Eh, depends on what route they're taking with it. If they're still going with their plans that were leaked, then it'll be a full on preview to G5 with, presumably, no signs of the Mane 6 we currently have. Though, if it is still rooted in G4 then I just hope they give the princesses a better role. That's honestly just all I ask at this point.

It's all really a waiting game right now though.

[DabigRG]

1 minute ago, Strickerx5 said:

Eh, depends on what route they're taking with it. If they're still going with their plans that were leaked, then it'll be a full on preview to G5 with, presumably, no signs of the Mane 6 we currently have. Though, if it is still rooted in G4 then I just hope they give the princesses a better role. That's honestly just all I ask at this point.

It's all really a waiting game right now though.

Sheesh, more leaks?

[Strickerx5]

1 minute ago, DabigRG said:

Sheesh, more leaks?

Oh no, these are from almost a year back. Back when season 8 got full episodes leaked, descriptions, scripts, movie files, and what not.

I don't think it's much of a spoiler at this point because, from what I read, it seemed that Hasbro was still very much in the early phases of planning for the movie. They hadn't even decided on if G5 would share any elements to G4 or what the movie would even be about. Just that there'd be another one.

[DabigRG]

11 hours ago, Strickerx5 said:

Oh no, these are from almost a year back. Back when season 8 got full episodes leaked, descriptions, scripts, movie files, and what not.

I don't think it's much of a spoiler at this point because, from what I read, it seemed that Hasbro was still very much in the early phases of planning for the movie. They hadn't even decided on if G5 would share any elements to G4 or what the movie would even be about. Just that there'd be another one.

Weren't they planning to rework the Mane Six for that, though?

[RedFox99]

https://geekreply.com/geek-culture/2017/12/19/little-pony-seasons-89-information-leaked

Please take this with a grain or two of salt. So, apparently the next movie is planned to be a prequel. 

15 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Weren't they planning to rework the Mane Six for that, though?

It seems that apparently Twilight and Fluttershy would be changing pony subspecies.

[DabigRG]

18 minutes ago, RedFox99 said:

https://geekreply.com/geek-culture/2017/12/19/little-pony-seasons-89-information-leaked

Please take this with a grain or two of salt. So, apparently the next movie is planned to be a prequel. 

It seems that apparently Twilight and Fluttershy would be changing pony subspecies.

Is Fluttershy an earth pony as originally intended?

[RedFox99]

22 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Is Fluttershy an earth pony as originally intended?

Actually she's a unicorn while Twilight is the earth pony. 

[DabigRG]

Just now, RedFox99 said:

Actually she's a unicorn while Twilight is the earth pony. 

...Well that's a bit random. I assume it's because of that play episode.

What the fuck did they do to Pinkie and Rarity?