My Little Pony: Cinco de Mayo Show

[ProfessorDetective]

You talk a lot of shit, but please remember the season 8 finale had the most terrifying villain in the show I have ever seen. Also Yona is a treasure.

Yeah, the one villain that stays a villain and doesn't repent at the first 'I'll be your friend' in YEARS...

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...and it's a little kid who took the show's tagline literally (Friendship is Magic, Magic is Power, so more Friends equals more Power. Perhaps enough Power to take over the world?!) And now she's rotting in Pony Hell. Seriously, did your first proper villain in almost half a decade need to be the same age as the show's target demographic who ends up in Hell? There are some implication there.

Also, yes, Yona is the one good kid out of that bunch.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Yeah. Up until her I was all for turning the entire country into yakburgers or at least magically yeating them out of Equestria until they learned how to behave.

You know what the first yak episode, "Party Pooped," reminded me of? It reminded me of an early Star Trek: TNG episode. One of the ones where the crew has to nobly put up with the assholish customs of some primitive culture that they're indulging in order to show how noble and enlightened the crew is, thus making everyone in the episode look like a twit? Yeah, was not a strong showing. The stuff with Pinkie Pie was great, but the yaks were just ... euuugh. Thank goodness for Yona.

Me too! And it was more puzzling because there was no Stone of Magic or Much Needed Vaccine or other apparent benefit to being allies with these varblenecking klorbags, whereas at least the Trek episodes had some flimsy unobtanium trade or strategic motivation for it.

[Darth Wedgius]

It took a while, but Starlight Glimmer grew on me. She was forgiven easily, but this is MLP:FiM, where even treason is forgiven pretty easily. And, like with Discord, they had a motive, with Starlight being powerful enough to want on their side. And Starlight's past was forgiven, but not forgotten, being brought up multiple times. And she had a character arc, learning (by fits and starts) not to use magic to solve everything, then being thrust into a situation where she couldn't use magic.

Plus, Trixie and Starlight have great comedic chemistry. They can get away with a little more snark than the Mane 6.

Fun little fact for anyone a fan of SG-1 and MLP:FiM: The Yak's Prince Rutherford is voiced by the actor who played Colonel Chekov.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Oh yeah. I found Twilight's Glimmer thirst amusing and I ship Glimmer and Trixie hard.

[Trinary]

It took a while, but Starlight Glimmer grew on me. She was forgiven easily, but this is MLP:FiM, where even treason is forgiven pretty easily. And, like with Discord, they had a motive, with Starlight being powerful enough to want on their side. And Starlight's past was forgiven, but not forgotten, being brought up multiple times. And she had a character arc, learning (by fits and starts) not to use magic to solve everything, then being thrust into a situation where she couldn't use magic.

That's a better justification of her arc in the Season 6 finale than I've usually got--but it's still undermined by her being quick on the draw to use magic in "A Royal Problem" within the first (what, five, ten minutes?) on others without their permission (AGAIN, after No Second Prances AND Every Little Thing She Does) and then being told at the end that she did the right thing. It's stuff like that really soured me on her redemption. I loved the Season 5 finale. It was Season 6 that did it in for me.

Starlight did grow on me a bit ... but mostly thanks to episodes where she wasn't interacting with the Mane Six. "Rock Solid Friendship," "Uncommon Bond," "Parent Map," "To Change A Changeling," "On the Road to Friendship," "Triple Threat." In those episodes she was capable of being funny, likeable, entertaining, etc.

Too often when she is interacting directly with Twilight or the others, the episode to tends to devolve into Starlight being the only one allowed to have a functioning brain-cell and solving the problem--often by making Twilight out to look completely hapless, clueless and overbearing: "No Second Prances," "Marks for Effort," "A Royal Problem," "School Daze," etc.

To take an example of an two-parter I actually really like, "Shadow Play," think about Starlight's role in that:
Part 1 - Starlight says they Twilight should listen to Starswirl, trust that he knew what he was doing.
Part 2 - Starlight says that Twilight shouldn't listen to Starswirl, that he doesn't know what he's doing.

She's the only one arguing that point of view and, of course, is right BOTH times. Having that happen in one part or the other is fine; having it in both is ridiculous and annoying.

[Darth Wedgius]

It took a while, but Starlight Glimmer grew on me. She was forgiven easily, but this is MLP:FiM, where even treason is forgiven pretty easily. And, like with Discord, they had a motive, with Starlight being powerful enough to want on their side. And Starlight's past was forgiven, but not forgotten, being brought up multiple times. And she had a character arc, learning (by fits and starts) not to use magic to solve everything, then being thrust into a situation where she couldn't use magic.

That's a better justification of her arc in the Season 6 finale than I've usually got--but it's still undermined by her being quick on the draw to use magic in "A Royal Problem" within the first (what, five, ten minutes?) on others without their permission (AGAIN, after No Second Prances AND Every Little Thing She Does) and then being told at the end that she did the right thing. It's stuff like that really soured me on her redemption. I loved the Season 5 finale. It was Season 6 that did it in for me.

Starlight did grow on me a bit ... but mostly thanks to episodes where she wasn't interacting with the Mane Six. "Rock Solid Friendship," "Uncommon Bond," "Parent Map," "To Change A Changeling," "On the Road to Friendship," "Triple Threat." In those episodes she was capable of being funny, likeable, entertaining, etc.

Too often when she is interacting directly with Twilight or the others, the episode to tends to devolve into Starlight being the only one allowed to have a functioning brain-cell and solving the problem--often by making Twilight out to look completely hapless, clueless and overbearing: "No Second Prances," "Marks for Effort," "A Royal Problem," "School Daze," etc.

To take an example of an two-parter I actually really like, "Shadow Play," think about Starlight's role in that:
Part 1 - Starlight says they Twilight should listen to Starswirl, trust that he knew what he was doing.
Part 2 - Starlight says that Twilight shouldn't listen to Starswirl, that he doesn't know what he's doing.

She's the only one arguing that point of view and, of course, is right BOTH times. Having that happen in one part or the other is fine; having it in both is ridiculous and annoying.

"A Royal Problem" worked for me, I interpreted it as she knows she took a big gamble and frets about it the whole episode. The episode has a line near the end, "That's a nice way of saying I came dangerously close to messing everything up." YMMV, of course.

But I'm completely with you on "Shadow Play", especially since it's Twilight Sparkle handling the idiot ball in that one. She's only hum.. um, equine, but twice in a row seemed a bit much.

[MerelyAFan]

I definitely echo the comments about Starlight working far better with her own unique friends. Outside Twilight and Spike, Glimmer's dynamic/relationship with the Mane Six was never terribly interesting.and felt a touch redundant given we'd already spent 5 seasons seeing Sparkle grow close to them. I do think Starlight was critical in freshening up the show and better solidifying Twilight's shift from student to teacher, but you can definitely spot the growing pains as the writers try to figure out how to integrate her into the series.

[aceina]

starlight x trixie is defiantly one of the best ships and seemingly one the writers are on board with

[ProfessorDetective]

I DISPISED "On the Road to Friendship" for one major scene. 'Oh, Trixie! You know your wagon? The closest thing you have to a home? I JUST TRADED IT AWAY! Without even asking you for permission first! And I got you a much nicer one and... Wait, why are you crying? You should be happy that I gave away your most prized possession on a whim without even considering your opinions or feelings on the matter. You're being really ungrateful, you know?'

Screw. Starlight.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Yeah that was pretty fucked up.