My Little Pony : Second Thread

[The Yosemite Bear]

mind you as a WWII aircraft fan I find it Sacrelidge that there is something wrong with a pegasus named "Spitfire", purhaps it's just age, I mean how old can a pony that fought the Nazis be? Makes me wonder about Corsair, Fortress, Lancaster, etc. (oh look it's Sopwith the Griffin, now that's old)

[Wing Commander MAD]

Hmmm. This just in Spitefire is a terrible teacher.

Coupled with last week's episode, RD has suddenly grown up a lot. Pinkie how seems to have been flanderised.

I too was surprised they just chucked Lightning Dust out, rather than giving her a second chance as RD's wingpony.

Do the same at any real life military academy and I'd be surprised if they didn't drum you out.

[Wild Zontargs]

I smell executive meddling and downlooking the audience ("Because kids can't handle more than two lessons at once!" or some similar bullshit), but that's just cynical pessimism.

No it ain't. That pink pegasus with the yellow mane? That was supposed to be Wildfire (the OC of one of the animators, Sibsy. You saw her in last season's finale.) That was a last minute change, too, so they just did a quick re-colour. They're deathly afraid of another Derpygate, or they can't sell her, or something.

[Irbis]

Do the same at any real life military academy and I'd be surprised if they didn't drum you out.

Gee, in real life military the instructors pay attention to what the trainees are doing instead of engaging in photo signing fests then acting surprised when a student showered with praise and recognition keeps doing what gave her that praise in the first place

No it ain't. That pink pegasus with the yellow mane? That was supposed to be Wildfire (the OC of one of the animators, Sibsy. You saw her in last season's finale.) That was a last minute change, too, so they just did a quick re-colour. They're deathly afraid of another Derpygate, or they can't sell her, or something.

Um, do you have any link of that? Or is it just your guessing, seeing another animator pony, Holly's OC was actually made a toy just now and pink pony is just a recolour the show already had 9001 of?

Plus, *shrugs* I wont lose any sleep over Wild Fire, seeing she really doesn't fit into the show, IMHO. Not only is the art style markedly different, she falls straight into uncanny valley for me with her humanlike colours. Plus, while I don't mind animator OC cameos, the one that made toy above had decency to be added just in a few episodes. WF kept appearing in more and more important scenes, ceasing to be usual background pony role - and I wouldn't be surprised if someone had a talk with animator, just like whoever would shoot 2015 Star Wars move would talk to sound technician trying to push himself into movie scenes.

If there is a pony deserving more time, it's old mainstays of MLP series or new toy focus ponies (who so far had little screentime) because they at least have new, interesting designs and aren't glorified self inserts.

[Wild Zontargs]

Um, do you have any link of that? Or is it just your guessing, seeing another animator pony, Holly's OC was actually made a toy just now and pink pony is just a recolour the show already had 9001 of?

Pictures here of where they didn't change everything and an example of the character re-recolored back to the original, and Sibsy talked a bit about it on her twitter.

[Zixinus]

I have to say, the latest episode has the potential to be the best in the season. When Applejack finally got her episode, they definitely gave her one!

[LadyTevar]

That was a great ep!

[Mr Bean]

Funniest episode that's for sure. It was loaded with deadpan jokes that would go right past most of the kiddies mostly related to the visual gags and reactions.
Also notice the entire Apple Family was there except.... Applejack parents.

[Mr Bean]

The show runners have confirmed by Twitter, the lack of Applejack parents is nodded to by the shooting stars.

Yep they are dead, now will they go into that? Only Hasbro can say.

[RogueIce]

The show runners have confirmed by Twitter, the lack of Applejack parents is nodded to by the shooting stars.

Very well done, too. Because the first time is when Granny said, "Who knows if they'll all make the next one?" and there was a nice little bit of music as well.

I this show...

[RogueIce]

Spoiler

Season 3 Episode 11
Episode Title: Keep Calm and Flutter On
Air Date: January 19th, 2013
Synopsis: Princess Celestia tasks the ponies with reforming Discord, a mischievous spirit of disharmony, but Fluttershy is the only one who is willing to give him a chance.

Not 100% confirmed yet but John de Lancie did let it slip in a convention that he'd recorded a new episode, so certainly plausible.

In any event... OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!!!!

SPECULATION INBOUND

I wonder if they'll fail in trying to redeem him and the lesson would be about dealing with failure? I mean Twilight faced the prospect of it in The Crystal Empire (and arguably Magic Duel) but came through. What if this time she doesn't? It'd be interesting, anyway.

Oh and I sense an "arc episode" (inasmuch as they'd have one) with Twilight's 'next level' and her 'destiny' being involved?

[Shadow6]

So that was an interesting episode. A few things which bothered me somewhat:

• The 3D Timberwolves looked rather out of place compared to the Flash animation. I don't recall them looking like that in the Zap Apple episode.
• The whole 'Dragon Code' thing felt contrived. Supposedly all dragons have their own personal and strongly held to code of ethics (which doesn't really mesh with the dragon episode whose title I've forgotten)? I can get Spike projecting himself as noble and needing to repay AJ, but a life debt?
• Why was Spike failing so badly at all those various tasks?

There were a lot of little things that I really enjoyed though:

• Rainbow writing self-insert fanfiction and Rarity's response.
• Twilight's OCD w.r.t. her ink pots.
• The fake Timberwolf and Rarity, AJ and Pinkie's acting.
• Aspiring slave owner Rarity.
• Even more focus on best background pony, AJ.

All in all, despite the lacklustre premise, I enjoyed the episode. Next one isn't for a while though.

[Kuja]

My immediate reaction to the episode was "who the shit wrote this? It's awful."

Out of nowhere Spike suddenly destroys everything he touches because lol, then stops halfway through the ep. There's this babble about 'dragon code' that's never been mentioned before and I thought Spike decided he didn't want to be like a dragon anyway? Twi just tunes out his big 'I'm leaving' speech because lol and where the hell is Aloysius at the end? The stuff with the other characters wasn't bad, but this plot was just a fustercluck.

[Mr Bean]

My immediate reaction to the episode was "who the shit wrote this? It's awful."

Gotta agree this was a WTF episode for me. On the one hand we have several good jokes (Pinkie pie's plan, every time Rarity opens her mouth, Twilight reacting to the tiny bit of disorder and of course my favorite... RD's fanfic Mary-Sue fanfic writing)

But beyond the jokes the rest of the episode was one giant wtf, Dragon code? What Dragon code? Your a pony remember from Season 2. You met Dragons and did not like them so you said you were a pony, also you got a cool phoenix we've never seen since so what's going on here?

[tim31]

Yep, agreed. A bit confusing.

I was thinking the timberwolves looked vaguely like decepticons with the eyes and they way they moved

Then they combined to form Devastator. Keepin' it in the family, Hasbro!

[Wild Zontargs]

My immediate reaction to the episode was "who the shit wrote this? It's awful."

Dave Polsky (Feeling Pinkie Keen, Over a Barrel, Too Many Pinkie Pies and Keep Calm and Flutter On) and Merriwether Williams (The Mysterious Mare Do Well, Hearth's Warming Eve, Putting Your Hoof Down, Dragon Quest, Wonderbolts Academy). You may notice a pattern here. Also note that MW had absolutely no excuse for not knowing that Spike doesn't follow any "dragon code" because she wrote Dragon Quest. They just didn't care.

[Lurks-no-More]

The "Dragon Code" thing was something Spike had come up with on his own. If you pay attention, he calls it "Spike the Noble Dragon's Code", and the "code card" he had was obviously made by himself. It's not a good episode, but this part isn't as weird as it seems at a glance.

[Zixinus]

This is easily the worst episode of the season. It had good bits, sure ,but the story again is contrived around a handful of gags. That is what the whole "dragon code" thing is quite obviously: an excuse so the writers can do the gags they found funny.

Thing is, that I didn't find the episode all that funny. Where I was supposed to laugh, I only cringed. When the big reveal came, I just wanted to smack all the characters and shout at them like a hysteric madman. When Spike faced the timberwolves I wanted to scream "THEY'RE MADE OUT OF WOOD AND YOU'RE A DRAGON! YOU'RE NOT THE ONE IN DANGER, THEY ARE!". He doesn't even have to kill them, you'd think that something that's made out of wood would have a natural aversion to even the sight or smell of flame.

The fact that the Timberwolves looked out of place was an animation necessity, but they still look wierd compared to their 2D counterpart. I still blame the writers for it though. The Timberwolves should be the rarely-seen bogeyman of the Everfree, whose presence alone inspires terror. Here, they aren't even worth a joke.

I can imagine Spike creating a "Noble Dragon Code" out of his own, but would it be fair to say that a good writer would show WHY he made the code? Even a few seconds of him reading a bunch of comic books and going "Oh, wow, Samurai Sengi is so honorful!" or something. Maybe not the best example, but it would be something you can relate to: I mean, honestly, how many of us when we were 6-10 years old didn't sometimes had their imagination go too far into the real world?

What annoys me most is how Twilight handles it. At the very least, he is her little brother, she shouldn't be relating to this with utter seriousness as she does but with good humour ("Oh, the Dragon Code thing? *smirk* Oh, it's just something that he got from a few silly comic books, I found it simplest just to play along until he gets bored").

The most terrifying aspect however, is that the Timerwolves seem to have left the borders of the Everfree on their own violition. Whether they were lured there or not, that's terrfiyng. If these creatures are dangerous, shouldn't Applejack set up a fence in case a few of them decide that Applebloom would make a good snack? What stops them? A dog half the size of just one of them?

Oh, and here's another question: Why is the kitchen in the barn? Shouldn't it be, you know, in the house? Did the animators forget what the house looks like?

If I may, let me show a very, very scewed way as to how I find the episode bad. I'm actually trying to write a story involving Spike and discovering his dragon heritage. This episode I can actually shoehorn into it and actually give more sense to this episode, but I honestly don't want to. Spike is turned into this accident-prone, half-blind retard for the sake of gags that aren't funny precisely because I like Spike. The fact that he's still a child makes a nonsensical excuse, especially considering how much he'd gone through just as Twilight's sidekick. If were to try and shoehorn this episode into it, it would be precisely that: obviously shoehorned that would show Spike worse than he was here.

[Irbis]

Out of nowhere Spike suddenly destroys everything he touches because lol, then stops halfway through the ep.

Because it was all new to him? And he was overenthusiastic?

Consider - he fails at cooking. Did he ever do any for Twilight? Only time we see them eating, is TS taking Spike to restaurant. At cleaning - but he tried to clean food with new tools, not dust like he does in library, something sticky and hard to remove. He breaks stuff - because unlike spacy interiors of library or TS house in Canterlot, AJs workspaces are very cramped and utilized to maximum, plus they are new to him.

When they ask him about things he could do, like rock stacking or pig cleaning, he did his best. You seriously never messed up task you never tried before?

This is easily the worst episode of the season. It had good bits, sure ,but the story again is contrived around a handful of gags.

I don't know, I liked it more than last one, to be honest.

When Spike faced the timberwolves I wanted to scream "THEY'RE MADE OUT OF WOOD AND YOU'RE A DRAGON! YOU'RE NOT THE ONE IN DANGER, THEY ARE!". He doesn't even have to kill them, you'd think that something that's made out of wood would have a natural aversion to even the sight or smell of flame.

Have you ever been in the forest? Wood you can find there is moist, wet, even, almost impossible to burn unless it dried for a long time. Timberwolves are alive, if they are like living wood, Spike would literally need to roast them for a few minutes before they started burning. Add to that 2 more issues why it might have been terrible idea, first, Spike's flame is very short range, about half a second from wolf's jaws tearing his throat open, and even if it worked, Spike could just send burning, mad with blind rage wolf say, to Celestia.

The fact that the Timberwolves looked out of place was an animation necessity, but they still look wierd compared to their 2D counterpart.

Yeah, 3D blending in MLP compared to Wakfu sucked.

I can imagine Spike creating a "Noble Dragon Code" out of his own, but would it be fair to say that a good writer would show WHY he made the code?

A) because his greed turned him into Godzilla; B) he saw real dragons and despised what he could have become. Continuity.

Even a few seconds of him reading a bunch of comic books and going "Oh, wow, Samurai Sengi is so honorful!" or something.

Time constraints, 22 min to work with.

What annoys me most is how Twilight handles it. At the very least, he is her little brother, she shouldn't be relating to this with utter seriousness as she does but with good humour ("Oh, the Dragon Code thing? *smirk* Oh, it's just something that he got from a few silly comic books, I found it simplest just to play along until he gets bored").

We're talking about someone who makes lists to make lists, someone who took Spike less seriously once which almost ended with a tragedy. To her, blind following lists of rules would only make perfect sense, especially if she helped him make it.

The most terrifying aspect however, is that the Timerwolves seem to have left the borders of the Everfree on their own violition.

They did that in Granny Smith episode before.

Whether they were lured there or not, that's terrfiyng. If these creatures are dangerous, shouldn't Applejack set up a fence in case a few of them decide that Applebloom would make a good snack? What stops them? A dog half the size of just one of them?

Maybe they can't leave the confines of forest?

Or maybe Farm buildings are warded from the predators, or maybe wolves are 'discouraged' from leaving forest? Real wolves don't venture out of forest for farms unless they're really hungry.

Oh, and here's another question: Why is the kitchen in the barn? Shouldn't it be, you know, in the house? Did the animators forget what the house looks like?

Thing usually stored in barn - hay. Problem solved

I'm actually trying to write a story involving Spike and discovering his dragon heritage.

There is none outside what he made up?

Spike is turned into this accident-prone, half-blind retard for the sake of gags that aren't funny precisely because I like Spike.

This is why I despise Granny Smith, btw.

[Welf]

I think the episode was okay, and below average, but I wouldn't call it a "fustercluck" (but I like the word). Yes, it was out of character for Spike to act so clumsy, and I also wondered why he wouldn't use fire. I expected AJ would say something like "use your breath" instead of the solution with the pebble*. But some of the jokes were good, as said before everything Rarity said and the "unfinished novel", and the ending was very mlp: the problem is actually solved permanently and they talk about it.
And I can very well understand why Spike would make up his own honour code. Even if he follows pony rules, he isn't one, and making up some for himself makes sense. Or it was just something he came up the day before, he's a kid after all.

Edit:
*or what Irbis wrote, that explains it very well

Oh, and here's another question: Why is the kitchen in the barn? Shouldn't it be, you know, in the house? Did the animators forget what the house looks like?

Why wouldn't they have a kitchen in the barn? My grandparents have a little extension to the barn which was used as kitchen. When they slaughtered a big they didn't want to have all the blood in the house. Also there is a big cauldron where they could cook large amounts of fruits like potatoes or could do marmalade. In general it makes sense to separate normal daily cooking from large scale preparations for the agricultural production. for one that both can be worked on separately, for second because different tools might be used.
Or the authors didn't care, but there is worse.

[Kuja]

Out of nowhere Spike suddenly destroys everything he touches because lol, then stops halfway through the ep.

Because it was all new to him? And he was overenthusiastic?

Consider - he fails at cooking. Did he ever do any for Twilight? Only time we see them eating, is TS taking Spike to restaurant. At cleaning - but he tried to clean food with new tools, not dust like he does in library, something sticky and hard to remove. He breaks stuff - because unlike spacy interiors of library or TS house in Canterlot, AJs workspaces are very cramped and utilized to maximum, plus they are new to him.

When they ask him about things he could do, like rock stacking or pig cleaning, he did his best. You seriously never messed up task you never tried before?

AJ sends Spike off to clean a plate and he floods Rarity's kitchen with suds, asks for a broom, then comes back with a broken pipe. That's not being new at something, that's fucking Spongebob levels of stupid. Twilight shouldn't have a library left after two years of this kind of behavior.

[Zixinus]

Because it was all new to him? And he was overenthusiastic?

He has lived in Ponyville for, what, two years? He has gone through two winters. He had the opportunity to see and likely help the rest of the Mane 6 before. We see him taking out the trash fairly competently in a Season 1 episode (Feeling Pinkie Keen, IIRC) and told that he bakes cookies (Owl that Ends Well or however that episode is titled). Yes, not, suddenly he makes a pie that's on-par with Sweetie Belle's "liquid toast" and can't get a bowl of eggs off a shelf in a kitchen!

This is the same character whom was entrusted with taking care of Fluttershy's animals. The same person that made tea in Dragon's Quest and was able to traverse a great deal of terrain while following dragons. In a Dog and Pony Show, he shown as a competent helper. In Bird in the Hoof, he is shown being skilful enough to use his fire to bake pies (or whatever those things the Cakes were serving up). Yet in this episode, Spike treats flour as an alien substance, makes a pie that looks like ash, cannot stop himself to literally walking into a pole holding a balloon (although, to be fair, that kind of just shows that the owner/pilot was a moron who can't tie a knot or use anchor) and whose ideas of using a broom is dismantling the fucking kitchen.

Have you ever been in the forest?

Yes, I have, plenty of times. I even started small camp-fires, by using tinder to small, less-than-finger thick branches. With an open flame, you don't even need that much tinder, if you can find enough thin branches. Thin branches and twigs like what the Tinderwolves are afraid of. Which are also constantly moving in the air and thus more quick to dry.

But again, the timberwolves are wild animals and wild animals are afraid of fire. The timberwolves are made out of wood. And Spike breathes fire.
Wild animals are afraid of fire. It is reasonable to assume that an animal made out of wood would be even more so.

A) because his greed turned him into Godzilla; B) he saw real dragons and despised what he could have become. Continuity.

It's continuity if he tells that's why he did it. It's pulling it out of your ass if not.

Time constraints, 22 min to work with.

They spent tremendous amount of time showing how much of a blithering moron Spike has become, but they could not spare less than a minute to show why? They had time make RD's self-insert-fanfiction joke and Rarity's desire to be a slaveowner, even had time for Pinkie antics, but not enough to explain the motivations of the episode's protagonist?

Sorry, time constraints are not an excuse this time around.

We're talking about someone who makes lists to make lists, someone who took Spike less seriously once which almost ended with a tragedy. To her, blind following lists of rules would only make perfect sense, especially if she helped him make it.

So it's OK and makes perfect sense because Twilight has OCD?

If she helped make it, the episode should TELL US.

Also just because she didn't take Spike's jealousy seriously enough (because she believed that Spike knows how much she loves her and how much she finds him irreplacable as well as her), doesn't mean that now she has to take everything he does absolutely seriously now. It is shown, that despite being a more sarcastic and occasionally observant character in the past, that this code of his is a childish idea. Why shouldn't Twilight realize that?

They did that in Granny Smith episode before.

No, they turned back, remember? Then-Junior Smith banged pans and the wolves turned back in a border that has been reduced by the Apple family themselves.

Here, Timberwolves show up just because to make the plot more ironic. I actually think that the episode would have made more sense if they wouldn't have shown up and AJ and Spike woudld have had to resolve their problems by talking to each other rather than plot convince. Which would have actually made a good Letter to the Princess moment, but that would have required the plot to make more sense.

Or maybe Farm buildings are warded from the predators, or maybe wolves are 'discouraged' from leaving forest? Real wolves don't venture out of forest for farms unless they're really hungry.

In real life, wolves will actually often attack farm animals they can reach if their territories are confined enough. As wolves are coming back to the USA through Canada (where they were preserved) many farm owners are having problems coping with wolves, who are more aggressive than jackals or coyotes.

Thing usually stored in barn - hay. Problem solved

My actually-farming relatives store a lot of stuff in their basement. My half-brother owns a small grapeyard and tools for making wine in the basement. Neither do their day-to-day cooking in said basements: my uncles have a proper kitchen for when they make food for themselves (as the Apples were obviously doing with the pies) and my half-brother actually often cooks outside as he uses the place as a summer-house.

Granny Smith was making pies. Those are not agricultural production items, that's just a snack.

[qoote]
There is none outside what he made up?[/quote]

Read what I've written: I'm writing the story, ergo, making up some of the heritage as I go along. Thing is, I cannot make up a way to make the episode any less stupid.

This is why I despise Granny Smith, btw.

They often make fun of her old age, yes. The only time I can recall where they've gone too far with her was in Sisterhooves Social with the megaphone (and guess what, old people trying to use modern technology is often fustrating to watch).

[Wing Commander MAD]

Regarding the kitchen, you've never heard of a cookhouse before? Actually, I rather like it, as it's small touches like that, that add to the show's enjoyability. And no I doubt they're trying to imply the Apples are or were slave owners, as I'm pretty sure they were used on stuff like ranches and farms where there were lots of hired hands who lived there.

•The 3D Timberwolves looked rather out of place compared to the Flash animation. I don't recall them looking like that in the Zap Apple episode.

So that's what it was. I knew there was something off, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

Well it sucks there's no more new episodes for about a month, but at least that gives me some time to catch up on my observations. Holidays are not a procrastinators friend. I've a set of notes around here somewhere...

[RogueIce]

So Fluttershy in this episode, along with her small role in the previous episode, says to me she has not been Flanderized at all. I liked it, two four hooves up!

Also this definately feels like an Arc Episode, and I can't wait to see what Celestia needs Discord's magic for. The season finale won't be here fast enough!

[Bedlam]

I'm glad that we got a Fluttershy episode this season but it seems like my other favourite pony is getting left cold, no Rarity . She's had a few fun parts of episodes (spike at your service and sleepless in ponyville) but nothing substancial and nothing in the remaining episodes that I can see unless she's the main light in the last episode which seems unlikely.

Spike and the CMC seems to be the big stars this season.

The Crystal Empire - Twilight and Spike
Too Many Pinkie Pies - Pinky
One Bad Apple - CMC
Magic Duel - Twilight and Trixie
Sleepless in Ponyville - Scootaloo
Wonderbolts Academy - Rainbow Dash
Just For Sidekicks - Spike (as far as I've heard)
Apple Family Reunion - Applejack
Spike at Your Service - Spike and Applejack
Keep Calm and Flutter On - Fluttershy and Discord
Games Ponies Play - ? Sounds like Twilight or the whole group
Magical Mystery Cure - ? Sounds like Twilight

I supose its the problem with the shorter season if you have 13 episodes and 6-8 main characters plus a two parter and minor fan favourites, you dont really have the time to have a focus episode on each one.