MLP S3 Finale overview *Spoilers*

[V da Mighty Taco]

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The wise creators know who the better princess is, and its not Luna or Cadance or Twilight. Best princess is obviously me!

Can you... can you cry for me?

inb4 Low content post - I really hope to see more Celestia / Luna interaction in S4.

 

[Worgen]

The first time I saw the episode I didn't like it, it felt really rushed to me. But after watching it again and really watching it everything just slid into place, they could have made two episodes out of it but really they did everything they needed to in one and it all fit together nicely. The destiny angle was a bit annoying but I dislike destiny, although they did have Twilight have to work rather hard to achieve her destiny, it wasn't handed to her, she earned it, which I liked. Also the song by Celestia is rather fuckawesome. I would say this finale is probably one of my top 5 favorite episodes.

I really liked that Celestia finally got character development, we found out that she pretty much did setup allot of things as tests for Twilight to pass so she could achieve this moment and become a princes.

 

[Lazy]

I take it I'm the only person here who genuinely hated the new episode? Seems here everyone else liked it or thought it was okay, yet I'd actually go as far as calling it crap.

I mean, the plot itself was paper-thin and solved through an overly obvious solution. There were too many goddamn songs that were mediocre at best, and all of them felt incredibly forced; as if they were just put into the episode for the sake of making the finale have songs rather than making said songs actually fit. And overall it felt incredibly rushed and poorly written with a unsatisfying payoff that really ruined the excitement of Twilight becoming an Alicorn.

You're not the only one.

I didn't like it either. Far too rushed, and the plot didn't make sense.

I would've thought that Twilight would need to complete her toughest assignment yet, before being promoted to an alicorn princess.
But this? This wasn't difficult at all. It was just "Here, do this work instead. See? All better now".

What. The. Fuck.

Twilight has done FAR more difficult tasks, and overcome WAY more difficult problems in the past. This was nothing in comparison. This was just ridiculous.

Agreed there. It felt like such a huge payoff for what would have normally been a pretty standard episode.

I'm not a fan of alicorn Twilight either. Having it at the end of the entire show, with no more episodes to follow, would have been fine. But now we have a problem.
If the show carries on the same way, the alicorn thing will be a real elephant-in-the-room.
It's more likely the show will change direction. Whether it's a good direction, remains to be seen.

I have my doubts.

We've had 65 episodes of Twilight being Celestia's student, and learning about friendship. And it's worked out well.
Now we're going to have (at least) 26 episodes where Twilight learns about being a princess? I can't see it.

I really hope that's not the case. Hate to say it, but Twilight is probably my least favourite character. That's not to say I dislike her, just that I find her kinda boring.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Snips fer daiz

I personally really like the current canon idea that Luna's jealousy really did get the better of her and that she regrets what she did. Luna Eclipsed in particular really played on both the insecurity that probably led to that as well as her trying to atone for it all, hence why I like the episode so much. You can see shards of who she once was when she says things like "They have never liked us, Twilight Sparkle, and they never will" and when she goes into a frenzy because everypony is fleeing from her, but at the same time you her spend the entire episode just trying to make some friends and to prove that she's changed. It's what makes Luna such an awesome character in my eyes - she's a former villain who genuinely is full of regret, yet hasn't gone full-on emo and is trying to make the best of things even if it's sometimes hard. Also, bat-pony chariot of doom ftw!

Those are good points and a fine take, but to me they leave the questions hanging....
If it was just that Luna's jealousy/temper got the better of her for a bit--why 1,000 years of lonely exile? And from a
sister who's shown herself to be extraordinarily kind at all other times? I mean, L&C ruled together for an unspecified
amount of time--decades at least, possibly millenia, and then one day she's had enough, has a snit and refuses to set the
moon...and Celestia does't just throw up her wings say "Fine, have your little tantrum" and then come back in a day or
two and say "All done? Can we talk like adults now?" and maybe they arrange for some celebrations to highlight Luna's
role and let their subjects show their appreciation of Luna and..boom..everything goes back to being fine. Or even if
she thought a more forceful approach was necessary why not send Luna to the moon for a year or two and then talk it out?? Also, if Luna was watching the dreams of little foals & fillies at that time like she does in present-day Equestria, well I'd think that there would be plenty of their subjects doing everything to express their appreciation to her. I'm a dad,
and if there was a magical princess who was willing to intervene to keep my little girl from having too bad of a nightmare, I wouldn't be kissing her hand, or her foot, I'd be happy to kiss her...flank...as it were. On top of that,
if she still has the temper/volatility/jealousy that caused the problem in the first place, why would Celestia simply
restore her to her former position? She'd be endangering all of their subjects. So to me it doesn't make sense unless
you throw in something like possession/both princesses being tricked by a master of deception. I will say that I believe
that it was Luna's core feelings of jealousy that probably provided the *****/hook that either of those forces would have
used to worm their way in to controlling/influencing her. Of course Your Mileage May Vary, but that's my take on the
situation.

Additionally the possession theory--as presented in "The Real Story" answers all of the questions, while putting all of the blame on the Haters and the Cloppers. And I am always willing to cast blame on the Haters and the Cloppers. (grin)

I love "Luna Eclipsed", it held the position of second-favorite episode for me until "Sleepless" came along, but I have to say that continuity-wise it simply doesn't make any sense.

And on top of the chariot, Luna has possibly the coolest cloak *ever*! (grin)

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

*Snip*

...And on top of the chariot, Luna has possibly the coolest cloak *ever*! (grin)

Isn't that the truth. Though admittedly, I'm too terrified of bats to ever use it. XD As off topic as this discussion of ours is, I'm absolutely loving it.

I just rewatched the beginning of the Pilot episodes again (where they briefly discuss the Royal Sisters' history), and I'm going to try to summarize it as accurately as possible:

Luna had built up resentment over the years / decades / millennia about nopony appreciating her work (and I'm guessing by extension her). In particular, it mentions how the regular ponies "shunned" the night, which was a big part of why Luna was pissed. Luna ended up one day refusing to let the Sun rise. Celestia did tried talking to her, but it was at this point that Luna's bitterness turned her into Nightmare Moon and she vowed to never let the Sun rise again, dragging all of Equestria into it. It was at this point that Celestia grabbed the Elements and sealed Luna in the Moon. At the end of the two-part pilot, Luna get's blasted by the Elements (again) and the bitterness / jealousy is purged from her. With the Royal Sisters having forgiven eachother and Luna no longer her old bitter self, she's welcomed back and re-established as one of Equestria's 2 rulers. (the quote "we were meant to rule together" comes to mind)

Now looking at this, a couple things can be inferred, however the vagueness of it all means that we cannot say for certain exactly what happened. First off, we already know that Luna is the more rash, temperamental sister - both Luna Eclipsed and The Crystal Empire are prime examples of that. Considering how well Luna handled being neglected and feared in Luna Eclipsed, it's easy to imagine that neglecting her and shunning her work for ages on end would drive her mad. Secondly, it seems like a fight broke out between the Sisters during the talks and that the Elements were the only way Celestia could stop Luna. This is essentially headcanon, of course, but that is the way it comes across to me. I noticed that the Pilot episode does specifically states that Celestia did it reluctantly, implying that she didn't have any other viable choice and that Luna simply would not back down from her "eternal night" plan.

As for the 1000-years thing, they never do actually explain how Luna got out besides saying "the stars aided in her escape". Don't know how stars can do that or how the prophecy came to be, but apparently that's how it went. What I can say is that the show begins with the Elements of Harmony completely defunct. I'm guessing that Celestia no longer had a way to get Luna out other than to wait for the stars to do it (that still baffles me), as it's well known that nothing can beat the Elements in this show's current canon (except apparently stars after a millennium. No, I won't let that go ). They do state in the first Discord episode that Luna and Celestia lost their connection to the Elements, and I'm guessing that their dispute is why. With that in mind, she set in motion her plan to have Twilight and her friends become the Elements so that when Luna escapes, they can blast the malice out of Luna and Luna can return home to rule Equestria again. (once again, the "rule together" quote comes to mind).

In the end, the story's too vague to say what really happened for certain. I'm just going off what we do know and what those things seem to imply. Overall, I do like the idea of Luna actually being at fault there, as it shows a real growth in her character and doesn't remind me of many a bad fanfiction that pull the "No, she was actually a pure and innocent victim all along" trope. Seeing Luna have to both accept and move on from a dark period in her life just makes for a much more interesting character imho, and does give a sense of tragedy to the Royal Sisters' backstory. I'd also say that it adds more to Celestia's / Luna's relationship, even though that's debatable.

 

[SweetShark]

I like the new opportunities provided by this (there are a lot of good ways they can take it from here), but overall most bronies (including myself) watch the show primarily because of the lightheartedness and the characters, with everyone having a character that they relate to. If characters start getting ignored, a lot of people are going to lose interest in the show due to not having the pony they relate to and care about actually mattering anymore. Just ask any brony who best pony is and hear them excitedly ramble on about it, if you don't believe me.

As for the new cast thing, I doubt that will happen and certainly don't want it to. While the show could use a good change, clearing out the previous main cast entirely definitely won't sit well with most people. I do see how a spinoff series involving a new cast could work, but dropping everyone's favorite pastel-colored equines entirely would probably be the death of G4 (as much as that term gets thrown around).

Indeed, I must agree somehow here as well. As I said before a big change is very dangerous for a show like this...
And of course I don't ignore the fact that if we remove the main cast, many will be VERY disappointed...
However, at some point it must to stop and find a new way the show be more interesting.
I am one of the few [I think, I hope to be even more people like me] that I will accept any kind of change. For the right reason of course.