So as soon as the episode starts, we see Twilight learning how to fly. Her flight issues are a recurring thing in this two-parter, which again makes me angry when I think about how Magical Mystery Cure ended when she could fly with no issues at all! Still, despite that lapse in logic, I found it rather amusing all the same. Also, does Twilight look like a darker shade of purple at the beginning or is it just my TV?
A new opening, awesome! I love all the new additions, including Discord in Fluttershy's cottage, and Princess Luna by Princess Celestia! ...Still think Lauren Faust's name shouldn't be there, anymore, since she has no say in the series now whatsoever.
No one to the big thing in this episode: Twilight and her relationship with her friends, now that she's a princess. CLEARLY they still want to be friends, but her friends can't seem to get around that she's a princess now and that she should put that above their friendship. I think it's a bit ridiculous, especially later on when they suggest that they separate, since Twilight is the only princess left to "rule" Equestria with Celestia and Luna gone. They bring a fair enough point, though the seem to overlook the fact that they work better together then separated. Hell the separation bit actually felt like padding, since I KNEW they were going to get back together. In fact, there are a LOT of things that felt like padding in this two-parter, but I'll get to them as we come to them.
Also, I think Meghan McCarthy made a joke/reference about what she said a while back about how "every little girl wants to be a princess". Rarity says pretty much the same thing, only for Rainbow Dash to basically say "I don't." Nice. Also, Pinkie's weird. She's not kooky anymore, when you're drooling like that, you're just being gross. She's still cute, though.
I also felt genuinely sad about the rest of the mane 6 going back to Ponyville while Twilight stayed behind... I wonder if this'll last?
Twilight panics about her duties, and goes on about making sure everything on the list is done. Guess some things never change... though I'm glad it's only lightly touched on, because yeah, this is a huge responsibility, and it would freak anyone out the first time through! And to her credit, she does do her job well, like in dealing with the guards and Canterlot under a crisis. And her talk with Celestia, I feel like there's important stuff said there that I should keep in mind, but I can't really remember all that much about it...
But onto the main conflict: the Everfree Forest is INVADING! ...Except not really, but I'll get to that in a moment. I will say this, though, the synopsis basically lied, in that there's no new "foe" for the mane 6 to face this time (aside from one random monster encounter). This time, it's just a force of nature attacking. Again, I feel like Meghan McCarthy learned from her mistakes, in that instead of introducing a new villain and giving him a backstory and doing NOTHING with him (and no, saying that it leaves potential for new episodes and comics is NOT a good excuse, because now we NEED those episodes and comics to make up for his lack of presence in the two-part! A-HEM!!!), they just make it an unknown force that the mane 6 need to deal with to save the day! It works much better this way.
Sweetie Belle was uber cute, I adore her! Also, I think this sets up a plot-point that unicorn magic doesn't work with these plants around. This made it a little confusing to see Twilight use her magic, but I just assumed it was Alicorn magic, and it's more powerful then regular magic or whatever. STILL, REALLY COULD HAVE EXPLAINED THAT IN THE ACTUAL EPISODE, MCCARTHY! You know, keep your audience up to speed?
Twilight hesitating about Celestia and Luna's disappearance with Spike blurting it out... wasn't that funny... it wasn't even funny the first time when the guards did it!
And now we finally got Discord. What's weird is that they seemed to use the Elements of Harmony to summon him but it instead implies that it was a spell Celestia thought Twilight, so what's up with that? Anyway, yeah, Discord's involvement in this episode is... hard to explain... Everyone on the team including Meghan McCarthy and John de Lancie themselves said that Discord's still basically Discord, though one has to wonder why they try to make it think like he isn't reformed or not? Kind of removes the emotional involvement anyone had in Keep Calm in Flutter On, making us feel like idiots for being bought into it. I also have to say, I really didn't like that Discord confused Fluttershy with Rainbow Dash and called her Shutterfly. Seriously, we're talking about the only friend he truly has AND THE WHOLE REASON WHY HE DIDN'T BOTHER HAVING HIS WAY! Remember? Discord basically WON, but decided to change things back because he didn't want to lose Fluttershy as a friend! So why throw that joke in there? Again, it's kind of insulting, even if the writers want to make Discord like Loki and have people constantly guessing what his deal is, it's basically making us except that everything Discord did, including his puppy dog tears and refusing to let Fluttershy go, might just be an elaborate set-up, and again, removing any kind of emotional connection in that episode and making us feel dumb for being suckered into it. I guess it's hard to explain, I don't have the right words... Everything else about Discord and being all coy and deceptive is fine, I just wish Meghan didn't make it look like he didn't care all that much about Fluttershy.
So Zecora shows up with a deus ex machina potion that just so happens to explain things to everyone. I would kind of like to know what that is, but oh well. Zecora collects a lot of random stuff. And this leads to Twilight witnessing *gasp* LUNA TURNING INTO NIGHTMARE MOON?!
...But no, this is just a flashback she witnessed. And while the battle between Nightmare Moon and Celestia is pretty epic, I... kind of don't feel that invested in it. For one, we already know how this is going to play out, though it IS cool seeing how the Elements looked way-back when... and the element of Magic looks just like Twilight's cutie mark? Hmm... Also, this doesn't elaborate, in the slightest, why Celestia banished her to the moon instead of, you know, changing her back. It didn't seem like the powers were weakened at all, and it certainly wasn't mentioned as such in the episode. In fact, Celestia seemed to jump right into banishing her instead of using the elements to save her. This is pretty much why people were accusing Celestia of being a tyrant, that she didn't try hard enough to reform her sister and that she just banished her without a second thought. True, the episode does go to great lengths to show that Celestia DOES feel bad about the whole thing and that it's clear she loves her sister, but you'd think she'd at least TRY to change her back, instead of planting her on the moon right away...
But I think the worst part about this part of the two-parter is that it's all ultimately pointless. Twilight herself said, it told her NOTHING about what's going on and how to fix it. Even if it WAS just to see the Elements and Nightmare Moon's banishment, I think the former is solved in the next flashback, and the latter is a disservice because it paints Celestia in a bad light, because again, she immediately banished Luna/Nightmare Moon instead of trying to use the elements to try and fix her! I get the feeling Meghan McCarthy just included this bit to leave the first episode on a cliffhanger and "fool" people into thinking Nightmare Moon actually came back. Sloppy writing, but again, I've seen worse from McCarthy.
Then there are the other flashbacks, ones that involve Celestia and Luna banishing Discord, as well as getting the elements from the Tree of Harmony. I like that the scene implies that Celestia and Luna have fought Discord before (I even though they looked a bit younger at first), and that Discord's been clowning around for quite a bit, and always seems to be one step ahead of Celestia and Luna. I'll explain that last bit later.
But yeah, the mane 6 now know what to do and go to find the Tree of Harmony! They run into a "rockodile", which... you know, I'm a big mixed. On one hand, I don't think it looks like something from the show, but on the other hand, it looks kind of cool, like the timberwolves. It''s just a neat idea, too. "Rockodile"! Yeah, I can get behind that! This also leads to the group getting the idea that Twilight should leave, because since she's the princess, she should be kept safe, in case they don't find Celestia and Luna. Again, I feel like this is kind of silly, since they should know that they work better together then apart by now, and I feel like this is pointless padding since of COURSE they're going to end up back together in the end, though it DOES lead to a funny moment where Discord is using Gummy to file his claw, and Discord at first ignoring some ponies in trouble then saving them when Twilight shows up, and then Discord coaxes Twilight into going back to saving her friends... I'll get into what I think of this momentarily.
So the mane 6 minus Twilight reach the Tree of Harmony, don't know what to do, then Spike shows up, shouts that Twilight is in trouble before passing out (yeah, that seemed weird, I actually laughed at that when it happened and I get the feeling that wasn't mean to be funny), and the mane 6 save Twilight from some evil gas-spewing plants, and they learn that they're always united and that they really to work better together. This is a heartwarming moment, since I feel like Twilight really is the glue that binds them together. Ironic, given that Twilight wasn't all that interested in friends at first! Or is it...?
Then something shocking happens... Perhaps just as shocking as Twilight becoming a princess. The mane 6 GIVE UP THEIR ELEMENTS! I like this one exchange between Applejack and Twilight, Applejack saying that the elements is what keeps them together, but Twilight saying that it might have been what brought them together, but what KEEPS them together are their strong bonds and what they've been through! Still, giving up these incredibly powerful gems, it's a big deal, which I'll mention in a moment. So the plants whither away, Celestia and Luna are freed, then something strange happens... These sun and moon symbols show up, and a locked chest appears. So just like last season, they're setting up something BIG this season, again! This actually gives me hope, because we've got 26 episodes again, so they've got plenty of time to dedicate to an over-arching story while also having some fun one-off episodes! This also leads me to believe that, since they clearly have plans for this season, maybe some questions will FINALLY be answered! It gives me hope for the future!
But then there's the biggest problem I have with the two-parter... it's not a bad thing, but it doe shave me concerned. Discord finds out that the elements are gone, and seems to be happy, but Fluttershy puts him in his place. Again, this feels weir din the fact of before, where Discord couldn't even remember Fluttershy's name. Then comes a big shocker: DISCORD was the one who planted those evil plants! So apparently he KNEW about the Tree of Harmony, and suspected Luna and Celestia would try something like this, and planted the seeds in the hopes that they would attack the Tree of Harmony, weaken its powers, and hopefully set him free again! Though apparently, he thought they'd grow faster, and didn't expect them to pop up now... Though that does beg the question: why now? Is there a reason why they grew and attacked now? What was keeping them from growing for so long. Since Meghan McCarthy clearly has plans for this season, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and ASSUME this will be addressed.
Though again, this also begs the question... Did Discord KNOW that they'd have to give up the Elements of Harmony in order to set the evil plants back? Is THAT why he talked Twilight into going back to her friends? To make sure they'd get rid of the elements so now there would be nothing to stop him? If that's the case then why shrink when talked down by Fluttershy? What is his deal?! I get that's what they're going for but... at least with Loki, whenever HE pulls a fast one on Thor or anyone, you still know why he would do something. In Thor: The Dark World, he *THOR2SPOILERS!!!* willingly played along with Thor and made it look like he betrayed him just to lower the defense of Malekith, because even though he resents Thor and doesn't care for Odin anymore, he still loved his adoptive mother, and that was enough for him to play along with this... Of course, he's still power-hungry, and secretly takes over in the end... But still, they sill manage to keep you guessing while still getting a good idea of his motivation. Again, I'm going to give Meghan McCarthy the benefit of the doubt here and see where she's going with this, but it does have me concerned...
And it ends with... a kind of epic finale? I feel like the ending to Return of Harmony and even The Crystal Empire felt more grand then this, but still, it was cool to see the Summer Sun Celebration with Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all involved.
