My Little Pony Season 4 Premier SPOILER WARNING

[TheSYLOH]

So anyone catch the season premier for the internet's most bizarrely widespread obsession?
Personally I think it was a good episode. Main structural problem was the fight between Celestia and Nightmare Moon felt a bit gratuitous, didn't stop it from being EPICALLY awesome though.

I particularly like the new characterization of Discord. It really calls to mind the portrayal of Q as an educator. What he's doing is unpleasant, and you're not sure if hes doing this for his own personal enjoyment, but you still learn something.

Personally, I think it's a good thing they got rid of the Elements of Harmony. Nothing spoils a plot more than having 6 magical I WIN buttons always on hand. And it was getting boring watching ways to disable them.

Also we have a new McGuffin!
To quote Brad Pitt: "Whats in the box!?! Whats in the fucking box!?!"

 

[RJ 17]

Main structural problem was the fight between Celestia and Nightmare Moon felt a bit gratuitous, didn't stop it from being EPICALLY awesome though.

I think that's exactly why they put it in there: a bit of fanservice specifically meant for the older crowd that watches the show and would love to see more action stuff like that happen. I'm hoping this is a sign that they're going to be tossing in more such fanservice while keeping the show mostly innocent and sweet (cause that's what originally got the fans in the first place). I mean come on: getting to see the epic clash between Nightmare Moon and Celestia? Frickin' awesome!

Spoiler: I also liked the use of Discord in the episode.

The way he acted really wasn't all that different from how he used to act before being "rehabilitated"...and yet at the end of the episode he really did end up giving Twilight the proper advice she needed to do the right thing, implying that he actually IS going to be doing good...in his own twisted little way.

All in all I think it was a good way to start off the new season, my guess for the box is that it's going to mean there'll actually be a bit more continuity between the episodes rather than just "random occurrence" episodes since it implies that there's actually an end-goal to be achieved by the end of the season.

And yeah, I immediately thought of that Seven quote as well at the end of the episode.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

All in all I think it was a good way to start off the new season, my guess for the box is that it's going to mean there'll actually be a bit more continuity between the episodes rather than just "random occurrence" episodes since it implies that there's actually an end-goal to be achieved by the end of the season.

And yeah, I immediately thought of that Seven quote as well at the end of the episode.

That's what I was thinking. I turned to my sister and said
"You know what that box means, right?"
"What?"
"It means we now have an overarching plot for this season."

Or at the very least, something to remind us of an end goal. Six keys across twenty-six episodes, we're looking at about one key per four episodes.

And if I may say, that box is really video game-y. You need six keys to open the chest, you know what I mean? I'm not saying that in a negative way it's just what I thought.

 

[Little Woodsman]

So anyone catch the season premier for the internet's most bizarrely widespread obsession?
Personally I think it was a good episode. Main structural problem was the fight between Celestia and Nightmare Moon felt a bit gratuitous, didn't stop it from being EPICALLY awesome though.

I particularly like the new characterization of Discord. It really calls to mind the portrayal of Q as an educator. What he's doing is unpleasant, and you're not sure if hes doing this for his own personal enjoyment, but you still learn something.

Personally, I think it's a good thing they got rid of the Elements of Harmony. Nothing spoils a plot more than having 6 magical I WIN buttons always on hand. And it was getting boring watching ways to disable them.

Also we have a new McGuffin!
To quote Brad Pitt: "Whats in the box!?! Whats in the fucking box!?!"

LOVED it!
We had to expect that they would eventually show the battle between Nightmare Moon & Celestia, fans have been wanting to see the official take on exactly how that went down since S1E2. That scene also allayed the fears I've had ever since it was confirmed that NM would appear in S4.
I really liked Celestia's take/explanation of her feelings about the Summer Sun festival...I've wondered for some time whether the ponies have a Winter Moon festival & Equinox festivals.
Discord was good, though I thought he would display more affection towards Shutterfly...I mean Fluttershy..though I suppose the way he was acting could be his way of showing affection...

As for "getting rid" of the Elements of Harmony..

Spoiler: rant incoming

This has been bugging me ever since the wedding episode...
The Elements of Harmony aren't rocks! They aren't even pretty necklaces!
They are qualities expressed most deeply within those six ponies! I always felt that this was why Celestia was OK with doing things like sending them up against a giant dragon...with or without their necklaces they had the power of the elements. The fact that the power of the elements would occasionally express more subtly has always been one of the things that I loved most about the show. Flutters didn't 'defeat' big D with a magic colored light beam, but it was still her element that bested him.
The Elements of Harmony aren't gone from the series, in fact this may be a way for them to be much better expressed than they usually have been in the past..no more rainbow beams to set things right, the writers will have to show how the problem is fixed with Honesty/Kindness/Laughter/Generosity/Loyalty. Which has always made for the best episodes.
Apologies for the rant.

The box seems interesting, but I think it would be hilarious/great if there isn't actually anything inside it...the box itself could be a lesson in working together.

 

[Yuno Gasai]

I'm interested by the box, but I was disappointed by the rest of the episode.

They recycled the old Elements of Harmony format and also recycled the very first episode. While I did kind of appreciate having more depth given to what happened before Twilight and her friends showed up, the lack of a new villain made things seem half-hearted and lazy to me.

The entire episode was just a means to an end - to get rid of the Elements of Harmony. Which it did. But it could've been better.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but I wasn't exactly impressed, either.

 

[Neverhoodian]

It had plenty of Discord. That in and of itself automatically makes it awesome in my book.

I liked it. Not my favorite of the grand 2-parter epics ("Return of Harmony" still claims that title), but still very enjoyable. It was great to finally see Celestia's true power during the flashbacks, unleashing cans of whoop-ass on Discord and Nightmare Moon. The flashbacks themselves were a treat, as we finally got to see how things went down during some of the most pivotal moments of Equestria's history.

But seriously though, Discord was awesome (like he always is). I love how his character is generally following the same arc Q did in Star Trek, from straight-up antagonist to unpredictable mentor and occasional ally.

 

[Worgen]

Great episode, makes me excited for more of season 4. Getting to see Luna go Nightmare and Celestia put the beatdown on her was pretty awesome, plus the mane6 had to give up the Elements of Harmony, which means they will have to look for other methods to deal with the big bads now.

 

[Piorn]

I liked it.
I'm still unsure where they're taking Twilight with the Alicorn Princess thing in the big picture, but at least they didn't let her become an instant Mary Sue.

 

[shintakie10]

Great episode, makes me excited for more of season 4. Getting to see Luna go Nightmare and Celestia put the beatdown on her was pretty awesome, plus the mane6 had to give up the Elements of Harmony, which means they will have to look for other methods to deal with the big bads now.

Psh. Celestia didn't put the beatdown on her. Luna put the beatdown on Celestia.

Absolutely amazing scene by the way. Not just because of the incredibly well done animation and the fact that we finally get to see Luna's transformation to NMM, but also that heartbreaking scene where Twilight thinks Celestia has died before realizing its just a flashback.

The rest of the episode could have been completely meh to downright terrible (nitpick issues here and there, but it absolutely was fantastic) and the flashback scenes would have at least kept it in the decent category. As such I rate this episode as the second best 2 parter (Return of Harmony is still the best) and an absolutely amazin start to season 4.

 

[Ian Mantell]

Will there be a fukushima themed episode of MLP this season?

 

[Lord Garnaat]

I really, really enjoyed it. The historical background was great, the characters are every bit as lively and fun as they have been in previous seasons, the whole "Alicorn Princess" thing is being handled extremely well, and I just loved the use of Discord. I was a little skeptical after his "rehabilitation", but they way they're going around it now, where he still subtly tries to get rid of the princesses and the Six but also helps them in little ways is really clever. The fact that he was behind everything reminds you that he's still a malicious chaos god, but with a slight tie to other people now.

I will say this though: was anyone else intrigued that "Alicorn Magic" seems to be the same as "Dark Magic"? Because visually they seem exactly the same. What does this say about the historic alicorns? Were there other ones that weren't as benevolent as Celestia and Luna? And where does Sombra fit in with this, considering he uses that kind of magic?

 

[Worgen]

Great episode, makes me excited for more of season 4. Getting to see Luna go Nightmare and Celestia put the beatdown on her was pretty awesome, plus the mane6 had to give up the Elements of Harmony, which means they will have to look for other methods to deal with the big bads now.

Psh. Celestia didn't put the beatdown on her. Luna put the beatdown on Celestia.

Absolutely amazing scene by the way. Not just because of the incredibly well done animation and the fact that we finally get to see Luna's transformation to NMM, but also that heartbreaking scene where Twilight thinks Celestia has died before realizing its just a flashback.

The rest of the episode could have been completely meh to downright terrible (nitpick issues here and there, but it absolutely was fantastic) and the flashback scenes would have at least kept it in the decent category. As such I rate this episode as the second best 2 parter (Return of Harmony is still the best) and an absolutely amazin start to season 4.

Luna only got far enough to force Celestia's hoof, then Celestia ended it. With a rainbow beatdown.

 

[Story]

I might get flamed but, I don't care, I'll ask anyway.

Does this make up for the horrible, horrible, season finale of last year?
I was someone so turning off by that last episode that I was going to stop watching the show. Think I should pick it back up?

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I thought it was pretty good. Maybe the pacing could be a bit better, but on the whole, it was pretty entertaining. Plus, it had Discord, and he's always fun to watch. And we have an overarching plot thread now, I'm curious to see where this goes...

I might get flamed but, I don't care, I'll ask anyway.

Does this make up for the horrible, horrible, season finale of last year?
I was someone so turning off by that last episode that I was going to stop watching the show. Think I should pick it back up?

I'd recommend giving it a few episodes and see if it looks good or not. And if it's the latter, then fair enough, it's your call.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I very much enjoyed it and I think it's safe to say that this episode should have put a lot of the overblown fears to bed. The fact that Discord is even more like Q now is also a win.
Plus, entire scene with Rarity and only Rarity. Major victory there.

 

[TheSYLOH]

I might get flamed but, I don't care, I'll ask anyway.

Does this make up for the horrible, horrible, season finale of last year?
I was someone so turning off by that last episode that I was going to stop watching the show. Think I should pick it back up?

I would say it does.
Its a bit disjointed here and there, but nothing in it is groan worthy.
Also not a single song in sight.

The one-two punch of Magical Mystery Cure and Equestria Girls really put me off too, but I think they may be trying to distance themselves from those things.

As a side note, I've come to the conclusion that it is impossible to predict what the fandom will fixate on.....
The scepter? Honestly? I'd call it a throw away sight gag, if we had seen that thing for more than 5 seconds and the characters payed attention to it, but they weren't paying attention. Meh, its still worth a chuckle.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

The writers kind of dropped the ball for a fairly large section of Season 3. Season 4, so far, looks like they've managed to pick it back up.

I will say this though: was anyone else intrigued that "Alicorn Magic" seems to be the same as "Dark Magic"?

I'm not entirely convinced that Twilight wasn't using some form of magic she'd picked up from Sombra.

 

[scorptatious]

I enjoyed it. It was a definite improvement over the season finale to season 3 IMO.

I liked how they went in depth to Celestia and Luna's history together, Discord was awesome, and I liked how they got rid of the Elements. Will probably make future encounters with super powered demi-gods more interesting.

Also I liked the ending. It really shows how far Twilight has come throughout the series.

 

[Mikeyfell]

I loved the episode, I have nothing bad to say about it, except...........
Why is the Mayor in the new photo during the Theme?
Same goes for Snips and Snails
Seriously who decided that Snips and Snails outrank Cheerilee
(Or Derpy, I mean I'm not a fan of her but imagine how many people would freak out if she was in the intro!)

I will say this though: was anyone else intrigued that "Alicorn Magic" seems to be the same as "Dark Magic"? Because visually they seem exactly the same.

Well, the Alicorn Amulet turned Trixi evil, you might be on to something.

In order to ascend to Alicorn Twilight mastered friendship and Cadence mastered love, you can tell they'd be hard to corrupt, but what did Luna master to ascend? Maybe Luna didn't master anything harmonious and that's why she became Nightmare Moon (You know, unless the comics are cannon in which case she was possessed by evil moon daemons... )

 

[Mikeyfell]

I might get flamed but, I don't care, I'll ask anyway.

Does this make up for the horrible, horrible, season finale of last year?
I was someone so turning off by that last episode that I was going to stop watching the show. Think I should pick it back up?

That sort of depends on what you didn't like about the season 3 finale.

I doubt they're ever going to do another episode with 8 songs in 22 minutes again, I'd bet you're safe there.

season 4 will be a full 26 episodes so I doubt they'll try to squeeze anymore two parters into one time slot again.

But if you dislike Alicorn Twilight on principle, it doesn't look like she's going anywhere.


This episode was amazing (But that's coming from someone who likes the idea of Alicorn Twilight)