My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

[Smashgoom202]

So I've been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I saw the episode "The Northern Air Temple", and then I watched Doug Walker's recap on it:

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/specials/39651-the-last-airbender-vlogs-the-northern-air-temple

And listening to him talk about "tradition vs. progress", and thinking about how the Avatar episode tackles it, it had me rethink my position on the MLP:FiM episode, Over a Barrel, and why the buffalo were so pissy about their "sacred" land...

All-in-all, I have to say I'm still not really convinced that they had a compelling argument. I still think it sucks that the settler ponies just planted apple trees over their land and such, though the way the episode plays out, you get the impression that the two sides never actually talked... Like, the buffalo never actually told the settler ponies why they were so upset, or why they were attacking them. Keeping traditions has it's place, since you can learn from it, but the way it's played out in Over a Barrel, it seems like neither side actually bothered to talk things out and just jumped to fighting each other. And that really doesn't make any sense, you'd at LEAST think that the buffalo would say WHY they're upset, like, as they're attacking the settler ponies.

So yeah, now I think this episode is actually weaker now, albeit for slightly different reasons.

 

[Toad Eightyfive]

And that really doesn't make any sense, you'd at LEAST think that the buffalo would say WHY they're upset, like, as they're attacking the settler ponies.

their favorite road is being ransacked by a bunch of ponies they don't know and who don't understand it's sacred value

i thought that was pretty effing obvious

 

[Kong Rong]

And that really doesn't make any sense, you'd at LEAST think that the buffalo would say WHY they're upset, like, as they're attacking the settler ponies.

their favorite road is being ransacked by a bunch of ponies they don't know and who don't understand it's sacred value

i thought that was pretty effing obvious

woah woah woah you're going to tell me that the Buffalo's are upset because a bunch of random ponies settled on their land randomly one day and gave no indication of caring about the buffalo's feelings nor was their any indication that they asked permission to settle on the land. Man get the fuck out of here those Buffalo's are stupid

 

[Smashgoom202]

And that really doesn't make any sense, you'd at LEAST think that the buffalo would say WHY they're upset, like, as they're attacking the settler ponies.

their favorite road is being ransacked by a bunch of ponies they don't know and who don't understand it's sacred value

i thought that was pretty effing obvious

I guess what I'm saying is that it's all too vague, like both sides are completely clueless as to why the other side's upset. I can understand that being upset makes you less rational, but you'd think the buffalo would at least go "what are you strange folk doing, that's our sacred land!" or something. Like when Braeburn describes the situation to the mane 6 minus Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, he seems to think that the buffalo are doing this for no reason.

Again, I understand that the point of this episode is to reach an understanding and that's the lesson that's learned, but it all just feels wrong, like it's not executed properly.

 

[Magikrazy]

maybe the buffalo should build a casino

 

[Kong Rong]

And that really doesn't make any sense, you'd at LEAST think that the buffalo would say WHY they're upset, like, as they're attacking the settler ponies.

their favorite road is being ransacked by a bunch of ponies they don't know and who don't understand it's sacred value

i thought that was pretty effing obvious

I guess what I'm saying is that it's all too vague, like both sides are completely clueless as to why the other side's upset. I can understand that being upset makes you less rational, but you'd think the buffalo would at least go "what are you strange folk doing, that's our sacred land!" or something. Like when Braeburn describes the situation to the mane 6 minus Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, he seems to think that the buffalo are doing this for no reason.

Oh see here I was thinking that you should get permission to do things on people's land before doing said thing oh silly me

 

[Smashgoom202]

And that really doesn't make any sense, you'd at LEAST think that the buffalo would say WHY they're upset, like, as they're attacking the settler ponies.

their favorite road is being ransacked by a bunch of ponies they don't know and who don't understand it's sacred value

i thought that was pretty effing obvious

I guess what I'm saying is that it's all too vague, like both sides are completely clueless as to why the other side's upset. I can understand that being upset makes you less rational, but you'd think the buffalo would at least go "what are you strange folk doing, that's our sacred land!" or something. Like when Braeburn describes the situation to the mane 6 minus Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, he seems to think that the buffalo are doing this for no reason.

Oh see here I was thinking that you should get permission to do things on people's land before doing said thing oh silly me

I would appreciate it if you weren't a sarcastic smart-alec with me, thank you.

What I'm saying is, it's not so much what it was, it was the execution of it. Something about the episode didn't feel right, even if it would make sense anywhere else. Yeah, the buffalo and the settler ponies should be rightfully upset with each other, and maybe they don't necessarily have to know why each other's upset, but the way it's executed, I can't really see both sides, or rather, it feels less like Dave Polsky wanted to create actual drama and understanding so much as create scenarios where he can create wacky humor. Like, the buffalo seem more antagonistic and rude then the ponies, who just seem to be generally nice and reasonable by comparison. It feels like they WOULD have listened to reason if the buffalo didn't rage against them, WHICH THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE let me remind you, but still, I feel like somethine was off, something just wasn't right with the way this episode was handled, and that's why I don't like it.

 

[Magikrazy]

I would appreciate it if you were a sarcastic smart-alec with me, thank you.

That what he is doing.

 

[Smashgoom202]

I would appreciate it if you weren't a sarcastic smart-alec with me, thank you.

That what he is doing.

Fixed that, sometimes this happens.

 

[SonicMario]

Fluttershy confirmed for Smash Bros.