As with all my reviews, it will contain spoilers. Those of you who have not watched the episode yet, you have been warned.
The premise of this episode is that the main six are asked by Princess Luna to find a magical force that turns dreams into nightmares.
Let me start this off by saying that this is the first episode in almost two months where we have something resembling an adventure for the main characters. Most of the episodes we?ve been given lately have either been big comedy pieces, such as "Party Pooped", or they've been more dramatic character-based slice-of-life issues, like last week's "Amending Fences". Now, already, this is a bit of an issue for me because, with the exception of the more grand season openers and finales, adventure stories have never managed to capture my interest as much as the more intimate episodes, like last week's. That's not to say the adventure stories can't entertain me, on the contrary, as "Dragonshy" was easily one of my favourite episodes of the first season, but when compared to the funnier or more emotional episodes, they never seemed to be of the same standard. Still, to this episodes' credit, it did do several things I liked, which I'll get into more detail in later. First and foremost, this episode is more of an ensemble piece, which, in the spirit of episodes like "Trade Ya", are always nice, as they give the main cast an equal chance to shine, rather than have the spotlight be focused on just one or two. And character interactions, as I've said many times in my past reviews, have often been one of the more entertaining elements of the show for me.
Another thing I really like about this episode is the use of Princess Luna. In the past, most of her appearances have basically put her into one of two roles. Either she was seen in the background, acting as a kind of subordinate to Celestia, or, in the case of the dream episodes of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, having her serve as a guide in their various nightmares. In this episode, by contrast, she seems to have been given a role more akin to that of Celestia, giving Twilight and her friends a task to go out and accomplish. I'm of two minds on this portrayal of her. On the one hand, it is nice to see her finally having a more active role in what goes on in Equestria, since she usually works in more subtle ways in other episodes. But, on the other hand, it does somewhat paint her as "just another Celestia". The big benefit of Luna?s portrayal, particularly in the nightmare episodes, was that it painted her as a very different kind of ruler than Celestia. Luna worked in dreams, and thus, her involvement with others was always kept more mysterious, serving more as a guide and a bringer of wisdom. Granted, they keep some of that here with the inclusion of her role as a guardian of dreams, but even so, it does take away from the uniqueness of her role by having her do more like what Celestia would do.
However, whatever problems I might have with that portrayal is more than made up for by the fact that we have a better glimpse into her character here than we've perhaps ever had in any other episode. While nightmare Moon's actions were a long time ago, the revelation that Luna has apparently never forgiven herself was a bit of a shock, even if it is a very relatable thing. After all, many of us have done things in our lives that we feel great amounts of guilt for having done, and sometimes, we don?t feel like we deserve to have other people forgive us. As such, the difficulty that Luna is going through is really the heart and soul of the story, and one that brings that particular part of her life, her personal story arc, to a close. The fact that she actively created that nightmare monster as a means of punishing herself was something I found pretty shocking for a kid's show, as it seems to be very much a form of self-harm she's inflicting upon herself, practically torturing herself every night as a means of penance. Of all the things I might have expected a character like this to do, that was not one of them. Still, it did serve to show just how powerful her self-hatred over her past actions was, and I salute the writers for going as deep with that concept as they did.
While Luna may be the main focus of the episode, the main six do get moments to shine. Their willingness to help Luna shone through in every scene they were in, even though she was unwilling to accept it at times. In many ways, their attempts to help her mirrored "Applebuck Season", wherein a character believes that an important task is for them alone to perform. Although, while Applejack's efforts were more a case of pride, Luna?s were more akin to her guilt, so it makes the situation somewhat more down on itself. The dream sequences for each of the main characters were fun to watch and provided a lot of opportunity for interesting visuals, which is always nice. But it was the climax, and the subsequent involvement of the regular ponies of Ponyville, that really took me by surprise. Granted, since "Slice of Life" I'm guessing these guys aren't just going to be forgotten, but seeing them in their various dream moments was quite entertaining, as well as having them contribute to saving the day. But, as always, it was Luna that really brought home what was important about this story, as her creation became pretty much exactly what she once was, a force that brought nightmares. Fighting one's self is an often-used idea in fiction and I think it was pulled off quite well here.
Time to discuss the humour of the episode now and, as you might expect from an ensemble episode like this, most of the funnier moments come from the various ways the characters interact from one another. One of the biggest indicators of a good show, and more importantly good characters, is when you can simply put them in a situation together and be entertained by the way they bounce off one another. This is something the show has proved, time and again, that it can do well, and this episode is no exception. While it may not be an outright comedy episode, there were still plenty of humorous moments. Naturally, with Pinkie Pie being present, the most overt laughs came from her and her particular brand of jokes, from her over-the-top reactions to her bizarre dialogue. But the other characters got their moments in the sun as well, such as Rainbow Dash, whose dream and nightmare moment was probably the funniest part of the episode for me. However, much like last week, it's the character drama that's really at the centre of all this, so the jokes aren't as prominent as they are in full-on comedy episodes.
When it comes to songs, this week there's none to speak of.
Let's move onto the moral of the episode, and this time, there seems to be a general lesson of guilt, and how we deal with it. As I said earlier, I think every single one of us has done something in our lives that we wish we hadn't, that we feel guilt over having done. In those moments, we often carry that guilt with us for a long time afterwards, sometimes for the rest of our lives. This episode's lesson seems to be that people should forgive themselves if they are better people than they were before, especially if those around them have already forgiven them. This is an important thing for young people to try and learn, as many of them will often struggle with guilt-related things in their lives, and will have difficulty in dealing with it. The episode handled these issues well in a way that I think will speak to many people, especially given how clear it was that Luna was in pain over her actions, both past and present. It was the most emotional I?ve ever seen her in this show and I give kudos to the staff for pulling off her struggle this well.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Well, in truth, I liked it. It does, however, have a rather unfortunate problem in having come immediately after last week's episode, "Amending Fences", which was so good in its character and emotional moments that it easily managed to become my favourite episode of the season so far. This episode, by contrast, doesn't manage to reach that kind of level, which makes it hard to seem like anything other than a downgrade by comparison. But then, that was to be expected, since, as I said earlier, the episodic adventure stories were not really what makes me love this show. Still, for what it did do, I loved it. There were plenty of amusing moments for me to keep myself entertained, the characters work just as well together as they always have, and I never once found myself either bored or disinterested in what they were doing. By far, Princess Luna?s character development elevated this above many of the episodes of the season, so while it may not be as good as "Amending Fences" in my book, it's definitely in the same league. All in all, a fine end to this half of the fifth season, and definitely worth watching.
The premise of this episode is that the main six are asked by Princess Luna to find a magical force that turns dreams into nightmares.
Let me start this off by saying that this is the first episode in almost two months where we have something resembling an adventure for the main characters. Most of the episodes we?ve been given lately have either been big comedy pieces, such as "Party Pooped", or they've been more dramatic character-based slice-of-life issues, like last week's "Amending Fences". Now, already, this is a bit of an issue for me because, with the exception of the more grand season openers and finales, adventure stories have never managed to capture my interest as much as the more intimate episodes, like last week's. That's not to say the adventure stories can't entertain me, on the contrary, as "Dragonshy" was easily one of my favourite episodes of the first season, but when compared to the funnier or more emotional episodes, they never seemed to be of the same standard. Still, to this episodes' credit, it did do several things I liked, which I'll get into more detail in later. First and foremost, this episode is more of an ensemble piece, which, in the spirit of episodes like "Trade Ya", are always nice, as they give the main cast an equal chance to shine, rather than have the spotlight be focused on just one or two. And character interactions, as I've said many times in my past reviews, have often been one of the more entertaining elements of the show for me.
Another thing I really like about this episode is the use of Princess Luna. In the past, most of her appearances have basically put her into one of two roles. Either she was seen in the background, acting as a kind of subordinate to Celestia, or, in the case of the dream episodes of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, having her serve as a guide in their various nightmares. In this episode, by contrast, she seems to have been given a role more akin to that of Celestia, giving Twilight and her friends a task to go out and accomplish. I'm of two minds on this portrayal of her. On the one hand, it is nice to see her finally having a more active role in what goes on in Equestria, since she usually works in more subtle ways in other episodes. But, on the other hand, it does somewhat paint her as "just another Celestia". The big benefit of Luna?s portrayal, particularly in the nightmare episodes, was that it painted her as a very different kind of ruler than Celestia. Luna worked in dreams, and thus, her involvement with others was always kept more mysterious, serving more as a guide and a bringer of wisdom. Granted, they keep some of that here with the inclusion of her role as a guardian of dreams, but even so, it does take away from the uniqueness of her role by having her do more like what Celestia would do.
However, whatever problems I might have with that portrayal is more than made up for by the fact that we have a better glimpse into her character here than we've perhaps ever had in any other episode. While nightmare Moon's actions were a long time ago, the revelation that Luna has apparently never forgiven herself was a bit of a shock, even if it is a very relatable thing. After all, many of us have done things in our lives that we feel great amounts of guilt for having done, and sometimes, we don?t feel like we deserve to have other people forgive us. As such, the difficulty that Luna is going through is really the heart and soul of the story, and one that brings that particular part of her life, her personal story arc, to a close. The fact that she actively created that nightmare monster as a means of punishing herself was something I found pretty shocking for a kid's show, as it seems to be very much a form of self-harm she's inflicting upon herself, practically torturing herself every night as a means of penance. Of all the things I might have expected a character like this to do, that was not one of them. Still, it did serve to show just how powerful her self-hatred over her past actions was, and I salute the writers for going as deep with that concept as they did.
While Luna may be the main focus of the episode, the main six do get moments to shine. Their willingness to help Luna shone through in every scene they were in, even though she was unwilling to accept it at times. In many ways, their attempts to help her mirrored "Applebuck Season", wherein a character believes that an important task is for them alone to perform. Although, while Applejack's efforts were more a case of pride, Luna?s were more akin to her guilt, so it makes the situation somewhat more down on itself. The dream sequences for each of the main characters were fun to watch and provided a lot of opportunity for interesting visuals, which is always nice. But it was the climax, and the subsequent involvement of the regular ponies of Ponyville, that really took me by surprise. Granted, since "Slice of Life" I'm guessing these guys aren't just going to be forgotten, but seeing them in their various dream moments was quite entertaining, as well as having them contribute to saving the day. But, as always, it was Luna that really brought home what was important about this story, as her creation became pretty much exactly what she once was, a force that brought nightmares. Fighting one's self is an often-used idea in fiction and I think it was pulled off quite well here.
Time to discuss the humour of the episode now and, as you might expect from an ensemble episode like this, most of the funnier moments come from the various ways the characters interact from one another. One of the biggest indicators of a good show, and more importantly good characters, is when you can simply put them in a situation together and be entertained by the way they bounce off one another. This is something the show has proved, time and again, that it can do well, and this episode is no exception. While it may not be an outright comedy episode, there were still plenty of humorous moments. Naturally, with Pinkie Pie being present, the most overt laughs came from her and her particular brand of jokes, from her over-the-top reactions to her bizarre dialogue. But the other characters got their moments in the sun as well, such as Rainbow Dash, whose dream and nightmare moment was probably the funniest part of the episode for me. However, much like last week, it's the character drama that's really at the centre of all this, so the jokes aren't as prominent as they are in full-on comedy episodes.
When it comes to songs, this week there's none to speak of.
Let's move onto the moral of the episode, and this time, there seems to be a general lesson of guilt, and how we deal with it. As I said earlier, I think every single one of us has done something in our lives that we wish we hadn't, that we feel guilt over having done. In those moments, we often carry that guilt with us for a long time afterwards, sometimes for the rest of our lives. This episode's lesson seems to be that people should forgive themselves if they are better people than they were before, especially if those around them have already forgiven them. This is an important thing for young people to try and learn, as many of them will often struggle with guilt-related things in their lives, and will have difficulty in dealing with it. The episode handled these issues well in a way that I think will speak to many people, especially given how clear it was that Luna was in pain over her actions, both past and present. It was the most emotional I?ve ever seen her in this show and I give kudos to the staff for pulling off her struggle this well.
So, how did the episode fare overall? Well, in truth, I liked it. It does, however, have a rather unfortunate problem in having come immediately after last week's episode, "Amending Fences", which was so good in its character and emotional moments that it easily managed to become my favourite episode of the season so far. This episode, by contrast, doesn't manage to reach that kind of level, which makes it hard to seem like anything other than a downgrade by comparison. But then, that was to be expected, since, as I said earlier, the episodic adventure stories were not really what makes me love this show. Still, for what it did do, I loved it. There were plenty of amusing moments for me to keep myself entertained, the characters work just as well together as they always have, and I never once found myself either bored or disinterested in what they were doing. By far, Princess Luna?s character development elevated this above many of the episodes of the season, so while it may not be as good as "Amending Fences" in my book, it's definitely in the same league. All in all, a fine end to this half of the fifth season, and definitely worth watching.
