S02 E01 : "The Return of Harmony" Part 1

   

Oops, I accidentally took a break! No, seriously, it was accidental. I was planning to do this one last week, but I ended up having to postpone it because of work-related exhaustion. But I'm back now, and ready to watch MLP until my eyes bleed (not really)!

The title indicates that we might actually see, and get this, THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! You know, the things that saved the day in the pilot and were never seen again for no particular reason? I vaguely remember these two episodes because Adam was watching the premier at the time while I was probably playing a video game or something, I dunno.

The only thing that I clearly recall is that John De Lancie had a role as the villain Discord, which was basically Q as a tiny lil' dragon-thing. I love me some John De Lancie as Q...but how did he fare as Discord? We shall see...

S02 E01: "The Return of Harmony - Part 1"

As if the CMC weren't generally annoying enough, their "antics" went and awakened an ancient evil! Lovely. Discord is implied to have been freed by their negativity, and after the credits we see Ponyville assaulted by chocolate milk storms from candy cotton clouds, Applejack's trees wither and her corn pops into popcorn,  while Fluttershy's animals mutate and go all Biblical plague on Applejack's crops. The six ponies cooperate to stop the chaos, and are immediately summoned by Princess Celestia to Canterlot. 

Once there, she explains who Discord is and how he was stopped last time with The Elements of Harmony by Celestia and Luna. Turns out they were sealed away in the castle after the pilot episode, and that would have been great to know earlier so I wouldn't have spent time bitching about it. Celestia assigns the main 6 to track down Discord and seal him away again since they're the ones currently linked to the Elements...or she would have if they hadn't been stolen. 

Turns out, surprise, Discord took them. He demonstrates that he knows who the main 6 are, and he's decided to have a little fun with them by making them find the Elements. He gives a cryptic clue that Twilight Sparkle deciphers to mean that the Elements are hidden in Canterlot's hedge maze. The six take off, and just before they enter the maze, Discord takes their wings and horns to make sure that none of them use their natural abilities to cheat.

They enter the maze anyway, and Discord seperates them by summoning new walls into the maze. Twilight tells the others to regroup in the center, which everyone agrees to sans Fluttershy, who is too busy freaking the fuck out. Applejack is lead down her path by some apples which turn into living piles of apples. They taunt AJ by showing her a vision of the six ending their friendship, breaking her spirit. This gives Discord the opening he needs to brainwash her. When she is reunited with Twilight, she lies about what happened.

 Pinkie Pie is up next, and Discord convinces her that her friends laugh at her, not with her. Once she's distraught, Discord takes the opportunity to force her under his thrall, just before she's found by Twilight and AJ. This continues with the remaining ponies; Discord appeals to Rarity's greed by making her think she's found a giant diamond, Fluttershy is so good natured and resistant that he just cuts the shit and straight up brainwashes her out of frustration, and Rainbow Dash is tricked into flying away from the maze after being shown the destruction of Cloudsdale.

With that, the game is over-- Dash technically broke the rules by flying away. Discord declares victory and says that a new age of chaos will reign throughout Equestria!

OMG THEY'RE FUCKED

 

So what did you think?

Um...wow...this one was good! Like, legit entertaining! I haven't liked an episode this much since A Dog and Pony Show. I actually laughed more than once, out loud. Them's is LOLs, fuckers! 

There were quite a few humorous moments stemming from character interaction, and while that isn't doing much to make me give a shit about the non-Rarity ponies, they are at least entertaining to watch in this episode. Discord himself I was indifferent to, but that's because John De Lancie's performance was about what I was expecting. They have reached the lowest of bars once again, which is to say that I wasn't bored. I sincerely hope that bar is raised at some point.

"Hold on a second! Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain!"

  Worth it. 

The animation was good, and there was one moment in particular where Discord reveals himself in a stained-glass window that was very well done. Backgrounds, facial expressions, all as good as usual. Say what you will about the show (I sure fucking do), but it ain't ugly, and this premier episode was a reminder of that.

Overall, it's a great start to the season, and I'm going into the next episode A LOT less apprehensive than I've been since The Episode That Shall Not Be Named. Don't fuck it up, show!

- Apathy Pony

S01 E16: "Sonic Rainboom"

S01 E16: "Sonic Rainboom"

Ugh, lovely-- I can tell just from the title this is going to be a Rainbow Dash episode, and I am not particularly fond of her. Dash is brash, self-centered, destructive and generally annoying as far as I'm concerned. I will keep my expectations low-- I know my opinions of the characters seem to turn on a dime, but if some of them would stop being written to be assholes out of nowhere, it wouldn't happen so often. Also, I decided to get rid of the sections detailing what I liked and hated about an episode specifically, since that should be pretty clear through images and what I'm saying anyway.

Okay, intro over. Review time is NOW

So This Happened, Then This Happened

00:25 "Yay." lol

00:37 So Rainbow Dash is teaching Fluttershy how to cheer, and this was the worst idea ever from the start-- hilariously so. Why not Pinkie Pie, she's loud, cheerful, and never shuts the fuck-- Oh.

00:44 Wow, these teaser segments are getting shorter and shorter, and this one in particular didn't set up the premise for the episode at all. I'm not exactly opposed to it, but what's the point if you're not gonna set things up? May as well run the intro and go straight to the episode after the commercials.

02:15 Fluttershy continues to cheer terribly, but the real star of the show just now was the animation. I actually forgot the show was done in Flash for a couple seconds there, it was really good, considering. We've come a long way from Mucha Lucha!, that's for sure.

02:20 Twilight is thanking the other main ponies who aren't Dash and Fluttershy for helping her clean up her books, but in the background it looks like they just haphazardly threw them on the shelves. I wonder if that background was recycled...it looks good tho'.

02:29 I didn't even bother to guess, I just KNEW Dash was going to fuck up their hard work, as usual. Start subverting this, show!

02:36 Get the fuck out of here Fluttershy, your cheering couldn't fog up a cold window, let alone demolish a library, lol

03:41 Poor Fluttershy, Dash is basically shitting all over her cheering ability and telling the other ponies she'd rather have them supporting her at the competition while Fluttershy is RIGHT THERE. If Dash doesn't get humbled and learn a lesson about not being a dick to your supportive friends, I'll be severely annoyed.

04:10 So Rainbow Dash is from Clydesdale? I wonder how she ended up in Ponyville...I BET HER SONIC RAINBOOM IS A FAKE AND SHE LEFT TOWN TO HIDE IT BECAUSE SHE'S A FUCKIN' FRAUD or something like that.

04:44 So Dash flew in, fucked everything up, and leaves without even offering to fix her mess.

TYPICAL

05:03 Rarity wants Twilight to come up with a spell to get wingless ponies in to Clydesdale? I'd want one to clean up that friggin' mess, personaly...

05:25 Okay, I like this assertive new Rarity here, I hope she sticks around. I can definitely see more of the comparisons of her to Cordeila from Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this particular moment.

05:45 You know, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle isn't the only Unicorn in the group. Why don't you do some damn magic for once?

06:23 Of course they cut to commercial before revealing what exactly the spell did...Goddamn that's annoying. But at least it worked? We'll see.

06:35 So is it Clydesdale or Cloudsdale? I might be hearing it wrong and I don't have internet where I am...anyway, this place looks like Dash's house, which makes a lot of sense. Lots of Greek columns and shit like that...not bad.

06:40 So we're introduced to some Pegasuars who seem to be even douchier than Rainbow Dash-- Is this a Cloudsdale thing? It would explain a lot. I wonder how many people from Ponyville are transplants anyway...

07:02 KNEW IT! The new asshole ponies insinuate that Dash got kicked outta flight school and that the Sonic Rainboom was "an old mare's tale". This actually explains her tendency to overcompensate. Doesn't forgive it, but hey, it's an explaination.

07:57 Wow, Rainbow Dash is actually freaking out about not being able to do the Sonic Rainboom in front of a crowd! I wish I could be more sympathetic, too bad about all the BUILT UP ANIMOSITY OVER 15 EPISODES

08:12 RARITY HAS FAIRY WINGS AND SHE SHOULD KEEP THEM FOREVER AND EVER

08:32 The balloon from the intro is being piloted by the rest of the group! I was wondering when that thing would be seen again outside the intro...wait, was it seen before outside the intro? I don't even remember. I bet it has it's own Wikia page though, so it's not like I can't look it up. >_>

09:18 Wait, so is Fluttershy from Cloudsdale too? Ugh, stop making me want to google things, show!

09:48 Apparently the other Pegaweh think the wings suit Rarity as well. They really should let her keep them...

10:08 Weather factory? Weather. Factory. WEATHER FACTORY?! fosdjkfnaocvoajfcvofcvpakscv

10:35 Individually-made snowflakes and this idea is seeming stupider and stupider, which is impressive in itself since it's already pretty damn dumb.

10:54 The rainbows in Equestria are a liquid at the start, apparently. Pinkie Pie decides to literally taste the
rainbow (tm), and guess what? Rainbows taste like burning.

lol

12:28 Okay Rarity, the wings are awesome and all (really), but maybe stop making Dash feel inadequate, mmk? I mean it's nice that the shoe is on the other hoof with her for once, but there is such a thing as being over-exposed. Also, those wings are probably going to dissolve if you keep exposing them to the sun since they're made of morning dew and something something temporary. Falling through the clouds to your death? Not cute.

13:02 *sighs* FINE, show, I'll feel a little bit bad for Rainbow Dash. Rarity, you are squandering the cool points you earned in the last episode, pleas don't. :(

13:19 Derpy Hooves in her first (easily noticable) fully derped appearance! Was she a thing in the fandom by this point or is this where it started?

13:45 Great, Princess Trollestia is here. Ha-rumph. >:|

15:01 So Dash is freaking out even harder and swapping her number with the other contestants to delay the inevitable. Sometimes having empathy is annoying.

15:25 Rarity...not cute. At all. Gurl, you lookin' ratchet as FUCK with what you got on. SMH

17:13 So Dash and Rarity ended up having to perform at the same time; Rarity is performing flawlessly and Dash is fucking up in equal measure-- so lemme guess. Rarity is going to get her wings damaged, and Dash will end up pulling off the Sonic Rainboom in her effort to save Rarity from plummeting to the ground and exploding in chunky pony salsa.

17:55 Um, no Twilight, her wings did not evaporate, they burned. Morning Dew BURNED.

THE FUCK

18:10 The Wonderbolts actually make the first attempt to save Rarity, but she accidentally beats the shit out of them in a flailing panic. This feels like one of those details an earlier writer would have missed, and I'm glad they covered it.

19:08 So things pretty much played out exactly the way I expected them to. I have a feeling that Dash will have learned nothing about being a nicer pony and will continue her douchery for the foreseable future. :|

19:33 Rarity apologizes, still best pony.

20:43 Dash won the contest, but who didn't see that coming? Celestia presented her the award and wasn't annoying or anything. I hope this is a trend that continues.

21:32 So the douche-ponies get their comeuppance, and Dash takes off into the sun with the Wonderbolts. Woo.

Final Thoughts

Not a bad episode at all...mostly. I'd have liked it if Rainbow Dash actually learned something in her spotlight episode, but that went to Rarity for some reason. In any case, this episode had some of the best animation yet and the crazy facial expressions continue to get weirder and more amusing...good! I'm kind of annoyed that this season is so bottom-heavy with quality episodes, but it's certainly better than the drudgery of most of the earlier half of the season. The show has continued to improve, and I hope that trend doesn't end any time soon.

See you next time for...Stare Master? Huh.

-Apathy Pony