Season 2 Discussion - SPOILER WARNING

[Aussie]

It's REALLY scary how no one talked about the latest episode.

[Interrobang Pie]

I was just wandering about that this morning. Ahem.


Sacrebleu! Ce fut un épisode décent. Cependant, j'ai oublié tous les Français, j'ai appris à l'école, je suis donc à l'aide d'un traducteur. Je suis un poisson.




Also...

Wasn't this one of the pictures we got as a teaser for Season 2?!??!?!?!?!

[Senator Myth]

Wasn't bad, wasn't great. Yet another decent episode. I might like it much more going back later and watching it, but for right now, my heart yearns for the mane cast.

I mean really, they've been /really/ pushed to the side so far in this season. I mean we got an episode with a lot of Rarity and Applejack, but it was still mostly about Sweetie Belle. And then there was the episode with Luna, where the mane cast was great, but not /quite/ given enough focus in the episode. The only episode so far that really made me happy was Lesson Zero, and even it could have used some more mane cast balance, I suppose.

I mean, we really need a Dragonshy or a Swarm of the Century or a Sonic Rainboom, where all of the mane cast have a good role in the plot, or at least something more like Lesson Zero. Don't get me wrong, it's cool to see episode about Woona and the CMC, but they've been far too densely packed here for my liking.


Goddammit, I can't be the only one who just misses the mane cast at this point, can I? I love these characters to death, and the show doesn't seem quite the same without them. I mean yeah I give Rainbow Dash a hard time and all and joke about her being worst pony (HINT: There's no such thing as a worst pony, only a best among equals).

BUT FUCK I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK, WHEN WE CAN FINALLY GET OUR FIX OF OUR LESBIAN QUEEN. I'm more excited about this episode than I have been for a while, and you should be too.

[SuperGiantRobot]

Zecora is back, and this time for good reason,
I'm glad to see her recurring in the second season
She appeared on Nightmare Night, spun the foals a tale,
To frighten them all, to make them turn pale,
It backfired somewhat; it scared everyone
When Princess Luna arrived, and made them all run
Now she has returned to Ponyville, in search of a flower
But everyone hid in their homes, and there they did cower.
For Applebloom has a sickness which they thought was contagious,
Of course this belief was untrue and outrageous
She kept learning new skills, the abilities piled
She couldn't stop using them all, that poor pony child
But the fault it was hers, the cause it was silly,
The flower she stole, that misguided filly
She wanted her mark, the flower granted her hope
But did it stop there? Not at all, nope
More and more marks came, they appeared one by one,
The first one made her happy, but now this was no fun
Zecora came to her rescue, but this came with a cost
She has to admit to her stealing the flower that was lost...

[bartekko]

inb4 we all remix one song at once

[Interrobang Pie]

(I will be the only one to make the above connection)
NEW BEST EPISODE

Definitely topped my previous favourite, Discord pt 2. It was hilarious and entertaining and Rainbow Dash and omfg I can't put it into words.

AND THE SONG. DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE FUCKING SONG. I thought it’d be difficult to top stuff like Winter Wrap Up and Cutie Mark Crusaders BUT THEY DID.

EVERYONE GET REMIXING!!!!! Dissonance said he's working on a MIDI when the song goes up on YT. I'll post them here when that happens.

[Senator Myth]

^

[Dr_Dissonance]

I've done some of it, but I am damn tired! I'll get it done tomorrow/today/I don't even know anymore!

http://www.mediafire.com/?5q4uzaj88r6nebm (See thread in Sharing Subforum!)
Here's what I've done, opening harmony and the first minute of singing (kind of, some wrong notes here and there)

Feel free to continue it, but if no one does, I'll be continuing and finishing it once I wake up!!!

NIGHT!

[X-Trav]

I've done some of it, but I am damn tired! I'll get it done tomorrow/today/I don't even know anymore!

http://www.mediafire.com/?5q4uzaj88r6nebm
Here's what I've done, opening harmony and the first minute of singing (kind of, some wrong notes here and there)

Feel free to continue it, but if no one does, I'll be continuing and finishing it once I wake up!!!

NIGHT!

You are a God, sir.

[Ropony]

[Tephrax]

Totally called it. Knew from the beginning by some inevitable gambit the tortoise would end up as her pet.

And FINALLY RAINBOW SINGS.
YES.

[Ropony]

We seriously need more Fluttershy episodes.

[MiuMiuChuu]

Among others, RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES.

I do want a tap-dancing duck, though.

Oh, yes. More singing Ashleigh Ball, please~! >,<

[bartekko]

I see... Loads of Rainbow DashxTrixie

also, @down Senator myth.

This a lot of times

[Dr_Dissonance]

...except Trixie was nowhere to be seen...

Enjoyed this episode, lots of recycled music in there too...not sure if that's good or not, but still an ace episode!

[MiuMiuChuu]

Enjoyed this episode, lots of recycled music in there too...not sure if that's good or not, but still an ace episode!

Exactly. I can hear the one from Lesson Zero and Pinkie's break down circus riff.

BUT THEN THERE'S BATMAN'S THEME

And background ponies I've never seen before. I am content~ <3

And a stubbly pony~ <3

[Interrobang Pie]

Wait, you're comparing Mare Do Well to Batman? Seriously?

I'd say go make Mare Do Well a theme but she already has a TV show spinoff.



Good comparison.

Okay episode. RD is my favourite pony and that episode made me hate her so much, which hurts. Bawww.

[MiuMiuChuu]

Wait, you're comparing Mare Do Well to Batman? Seriously?

I didn't say she looks like Batman, sure I agree that she looks like Darkwing Duck better XD

But that Batman theme song suddenly popping when RD's chasing Mare Do Well, I had a very good laugh >w<

[Senator Myth]

Loved some parts of this episode, kinda hated others. Ponyville itself looked way different from other episodes, which was kind of weird. The jokes were all hilarious, but I was /really/ hoping that Mare Do Well was actually going to be... well, not the mane cast. The weirdness of the technology and stuff (construction, ELECTRIC DAM WTF) also kind of alienated me.

I'm noticing a bit of a trend, here, in Season 2, and it's not one I particularly like... I'll see if you guys agree, though. The writers seem to have decided that it's a good idea to have episodes that focus on more or less exactly one character throughout the whole thing. The fact that Twilight no longer needs to write letters every episode is either a cause or an effect of this, but there's definitely less of a focus on seeing characters interact with one another and more on seeing just one develop over time...

I mean in Lesson Zero, Mysterious Mare Do Well, May the Best Pet Win and Cutie Pox, there's a great deal of focus on just one character, and a lot of time in which this single character is monologuing and/or soliloquizing. Some episodes show this more than others. I don't like this at all, and it's not because I don't like character development. It's because I love seeing these characters interact with one another, and to have each one have something meaningful to say or do instead of just serving as things for other characters to talk at and give the occasional reply, or make a remark that more or less is the "moral lesson" of the episode, pointing out whatever the viewpoint character is doing wrong. We don't need that, we already have this letter-writing thing at the end.

I don't know, it just seems like in S2, it's been "LET'S FOCUS ON JUST ONE CHARACTER AND PUSH EVERYONE ELSE TO THE SIDE, GIVE THEM MAYBE ONE OR TWO LINES." It just seems all wrong, not have subplots involving the motivations of several different characters happening. Instead it's just "Pinkie Pie: (Says amusing and wacky thing), Rarity: (Something about fashion), NOW BACK TO DA MANE CHARACTER."

Luna Eclipsed was easily the best episode so far, and the one that felt the most like a S1 episode, because Luna and Twilight and the other characters are constantly playing off of one another in a meaningful way. In May the Best Pet win it works, too, because much of the focus of the episode is on a bunch of pets who can't talk (and we get a pretty damn good dialogue in the form of the Pet Song). But the other ones... I don't know, it's difficult to express what I mean. Where are the episodes like Dragonshy, Bridle Gossip Swarm of the Century, Boast Busters, (hell I could list about half of the S1 episodes, most of them my favorites) in which the members of the mane cast are all working toward the same goal? Where are the episodes like Look Before You Sleep, Fall Weather Friends, Green Isn't Your Color, and Feeling Pinkie Keen, which all had meaningful conflict between two characters?

Instead we get a clumsily-written attempt at this in Sisterhooves Social, wherein one character is obviously a bitch before having a sudden epiphany and being cured. (That scene made others tear up, I guess, but it was so over-the-top that I was honestly expecting a joke). Instead we get the flaws of characters blown to unrealistic and out-of-character magnitudes, like in Lesson Zero, Mare Do Well, and the aforementioned Sisterhooves Social. Instead we get WAY TOO MUCH Cutie Mark Crusaders and not nearly enough in which the mane cast interact with one another in a meaningful way.

Sorry bout the textwall, this is rather troubling to me though, and looking at the next few episodes or so I don't have particularly high hopes for these concerns to go away (although I am pretty damn excited about Hearth's Warming Eve.) I hope I won't get blamed for hating the show just because it's changed. No, I'm concerned because one of the aspects of the show I love the most, which is meaningful and respectfully-handled (ie not just character joke after character joke) conflict and dialogue between the mane cast members, seems to have been almost completely abandoned.

I just want to hear your guys' thoughts on this.

[Calamus_Dash]

Loved some parts of this episode, kinda hated others. Ponyville itself looked way different from other episodes, which was kind of weird. The jokes were all hilarious, but I was /really/ hoping that Mare Do Well was actually going to be... well, not the mane cast. The weirdness of the technology and stuff (construction, ELECTRIC DAM WTF) also kind of alienated me.

I'm noticing a bit of a trend, here, in Season 2, and it's not one I particularly like... I'll see if you guys agree, though. The writers seem to have decided that it's a good idea to have episodes that focus on more or less exactly one character throughout the whole thing. The fact that Twilight no longer needs to write letters every episode is either a cause or an effect of this, but there's definitely less of a focus on seeing characters interact with one another and more on seeing just one develop over time...

I mean in Lesson Zero, Mysterious Mare Do Well, May the Best Pet Win and Cutie Pox, there's a great deal of focus on just one character, and a lot of time in which this single character is monologuing and/or soliloquizing. Some episodes show this more than others. I don't like this at all, and it's not because I don't like character development. It's because I love seeing these characters interact with one another, and to have each one have something meaningful to say or do instead of just serving as things for other characters to talk at and give the occasional reply, or make a remark that more or less is the "moral lesson" of the episode, pointing out whatever the viewpoint character is doing wrong. We don't need that, we already have this letter-writing thing at the end.

I don't know, it just seems like in S2, it's been "LET'S FOCUS ON JUST ONE CHARACTER AND PUSH EVERYONE ELSE TO THE SIDE, GIVE THEM MAYBE ONE OR TWO LINES." It just seems all wrong, not have subplots involving the motivations of several different characters happening. Instead it's just "Pinkie Pie: (Says amusing and wacky thing), Rarity: (Something about fashion), NOW BACK TO DA MANE CHARACTER."

Luna Eclipsed was easily the best episode so far, and the one that felt the most like a S1 episode, because Luna and Twilight and the other characters are constantly playing off of one another in a meaningful way. In May the Best Pet win it works, too, because much of the focus of the episode is on a bunch of pets who can't talk (and we get a pretty damn good dialogue in the form of the Pet Song). But the other ones... I don't know, it's difficult to express what I mean. Where are the episodes like Dragonshy, Bridle Gossip Swarm of the Century, Boast Busters, (hell I could list about half of the S1 episodes, most of them my favorites) in which the members of the mane cast are all working toward the same goal? Where are the episodes like Look Before You Sleep, Fall Weather Friends, Green Isn't Your Color, and Feeling Pinkie Keen, which all had meaningful conflict between two characters?

Instead we get a clumsily-written attempt at this in Sisterhooves Social, wherein one character is obviously a bitch before having a sudden epiphany and being cured. (That scene made others tear up, I guess, but it was so over-the-top that I was honestly expecting a joke). Instead we get the flaws of characters blown to unrealistic and out-of-character magnitudes, like in Lesson Zero, Mare Do Well, and the aforementioned Sisterhooves Social. Instead we get WAY TOO MUCH Cutie Mark Crusaders and not nearly enough in which the mane cast interact with one another in a meaningful way.

Sorry bout the textwall, this is rather troubling to me though, and looking at the next few episodes or so I don't have particularly high hopes for these concerns to go away (although I am pretty damn excited about Hearth's Warming Eve.) I hope I won't get blamed for hating the show just because it's changed. No, I'm concerned because one of the aspects of the show I love the most, which is meaningful and respectfully-handled (ie not just character joke after character joke) conflict and dialogue between the mane cast members, seems to have been almost completely abandoned.

I just want to hear your guys' thoughts on this.

I'm hoping that this whole "focus on one character, disregard the rest" is just gonna be a temporary thing where they try to develop all of the character's personalities a little bit more. I totally agree about Luna eclipsed and I hope they do more like that later in the season.
That being said, I still thought this was a pretty awesome episode, aside from the whole "Rainbow Dash is a bitch for 20 minutes" thing.

[penguindf12]

I agree completely Myth. You probably remember my worrywart thread about Lesson Zero a while back... it seems like much of the time my fears are confirmed. "Luna Eclipsed" and "May the Best Pet Win" are definitely my favorites so far; in the rest of the episodes, most of the characters feel VERY one-sided and the peripheral cast seems very "rubber." Even "Pet" did this to a certain degree. For instance, Pinkie Pie used to be my favorite character, but now I cringe every time she speaks. The visuals are very good, but the show fails to warm my heart and hold my interest like it used to. It's tough to put my finger on it, but things are continuing to feel "off."

I still enjoy some things, but if I had just discovered the show and watched season 2 first, I probably wouldn't have become a fan.

[Rainbowdutch]

an essay

I do agree with what you're saying but when it comes to mlp I have to look at it subjectively.
To me it still feels like the happy and warm mlp that I fell in love with, so in my opinion is this new focus not a bad thing

[PinkieGuy]

I'm hoping that this whole "focus on one character, disregard the rest" is just gonna be a temporary thing where they try to develop all of the character's personalities a little bit more. I totally agree about Luna eclipsed and I hope they do more like that later in the season.
That being said, I still thought this was a pretty awesome episode, aside from the whole "Rainbow Dash is a bitch for 20 minutes" thing.

So, going into season 2, RD was my least favourite mane six character. Pets left me saying "well... fuck, who do I dislike NOW?".

This episode was essentially everything I didn't like about rainbow dash from S1 amped up 10 fold, and balance was restored to the world.

[Dr_Dissonance]

Getting the first word in...

Posh ponies are great, loved their fake laughs!

Song was okay...it fit, but nothing special...

Pinkie made me laugh for the first time since the Discord episodes!

Everyone flipped when Octavia showed up...

Also Fancy Pants was a good character!

[Interrobang Pie]

SEXY RARITY.

Good song too. Might be easier to remix as well.

Did everyone see Photo Finish and Octavia? Also it turns out that yellow Octavia from Nightmare Night ISN'T just Octavia in a costume.

I wonder how many people will be requesting Interrobang Pie Fancy Pants for the Toastbeard this week?


Also

Unnff~~~