Okay starting off we get a nice bit of jab at Rainbow when she hears about Spike bragging about his saving of the Crystal Empire. You know an episode's off to a good start when in the first 30 seconds we already have great character interaction.
And it seems like that the Finale might have fixed what many thought was a bit of a flaw with the season early on. Regarding the show not referring to Twilight's new status enough. Unless the problem again happens in Season 5 somehow, looks like Twilight's Princesshood not being all that important in the first half of the season besides the opener was intentional.
Yeah Flash Sentry appeared. But just like Three's a Crowd it doesn't amount to much. I don't really want to get involved with talking about it again. Cameos are fine, it's if he ever does anything beyond that. Especially if he ended up becoming a recurring character and as Twilight's coltfriend. That's when I would say the show jumped the shark. Flash Sentry becoming Twi's coltfriend in the main series would be just as bad, if not worse then if the rest of the Mane 6 becoming Alicorns or an out of nowhere 7th Element of Harmony being introduced in my honest opinion.
But starting with the song that all four of the Princesses sing in. This really is a touching song, it's greet to see Twilight, Celestia, and Cadence all sing again (Considering all three of them have sung my favorite songs in the show. I've Got to Find a Way (Twilight), Celestia's Ballad (Celestia), and one half of This Day Aria (Cadence)) but it's also cool to see Luna sing for the first time. While I'm not sure I like the song as much as the songs in which three of the four Princesses had a solo. It was still a pretty nice song and heartwarming to see them comfort Twilight. I think it might grow on me like A True, True Friend did. Both aren't my favorite songs but the episodes they were in would not be the same without them.
Also quite a mood whiplash after the song to go to Tirek's introduction. But yeah, Tirek's first scene was pretty creepy and a good start for him. I'll talk more about Tirek as a whole later. But this is one of the few scenes I saw early, and somehow I knew he was going to be pretty awesome from just this one intro. And even though it's brief, it's nice to see Celestia and Luna interact and express worry when they get a bit of a vision of Tirek.
Oh by the way, I do love they brought back the way they handled the exposition for the Pilot in this episode too. Something about seeing the storybook style again feels somehow nostalgic.
And wow, I applaud the usage of what seemed to be a minor offhand reference as far back as It's About Time back in Season 2. Really clever, but does this mean that Twilight's worries was right about impending disaster? Even if it came 2 seasons late.
Now we get a bit more of Keep Calm and Flutter On's use in the series as Celestia sends Discord to deal with Tirek, and Fluttershy is still a little at odds with her friends regarding Discord. It's good to see this still a bit of a conflict because it would of been harder to bear if Discord truly was a goodie-goodie from just Keep Calm and Flutter On alone. Not that I was worried they'd do that with him considering he was great in the Opener and Three's a Crowd.
And now with Discord coming to see the Mane 6 before he heads off to face Tirek. Part of this scene I also saw in the previews (This and Tirek's introduction were the only previews I saw early). And this was a pretty amusing scene. Though that's really almost always promised when Discord's involved. Also I'm assuming Discord is referring to how Luna was sent to the Moon for 1000 years when he says "Ask Princess Luna" when he said he wouldn't dream of being an Alicorn Princess. Also, I'm really loving the Applejack eyebrow raise. I don't think I mentioned that before. But I almost hope that becomes a running gag for her even in Season 5.
Now we get to Discord's meeting with Tirek
I have to admit I was scared here. Considering I had portrayed Discord pretty nice in Genie Twilight. I actually thought for a moment that Discord's reformation was for nothing and that he was going to get turned back to stone or sent to Tartaurus with Tirek by the end of things. Kinda souring any moments I had in the blog where Discord and Genie Twilight had positive interaction. It's a good thing later events would make sure that wouldn't happen (In fact it strengthens them more then ever), but still that had to have been scary for those who legitimately did like Fluttershy and Discord's friendship that started in Keep Calm and Flutter On.
And here comes the large continuity where the Mane 6's items become keys to the chests. Also Pinkie yelling at Boneless was amusing xD She even threw it and revealed how the keys are created. By having the items touch the box ^^ I'll say it's pretty cool to have had this done in Season 4. This is definitely a better executed Seasonal arc then the Gala one in Season 1. In which it was basically just Ticket Master, Suited for Success, cameos in other episodes, and then the Season Finale. This one had a grand total of 10 episodes (The Opener, Rarity Takes Manehatten, Rainbow Falls, Pinkie Pride, It Ain't Easy Being Breezies, Leap of Faith, and the Finale) related to the arc with a couple of cameos in non-arc episodes like Twilight Time.
When it comes to the scene where Tirek is stealing magic from Equestria. What I actually found the most notable thing is that it's confirmed that strength and tending the land is part of the Magic of Earth Ponies. That's really cool. I've always wanted that to be a little more clear. Earth Ponies are confirmed more then ever not to just be the vanilla ponies. ^^
Also we have the pretty tamest cliffhanger of all the two-parters. We've had Nightmare Moon laughing be the subject of two cliffhangers in the Pilot and the Season 4 opener, Discord's laugh in Return of Harmony, Twilight sinking into the floor from Chrysalis' magic, and Sombra approaching the Crystal Empire. While Celestia saying they have to give up their magic is still big, it's still tame compared to pretty much all of our cliffhangers from before.
Looks like we have yet another use for why Twilight was ascended to a Princess. She'd be the one that keeps the magic so that Tirek is surprised to find out that there's no longer only 3 Princesses. Also looks like the flowing Mane is a sign of Magical power since Celestia and Luna's manes stopped flowing when they gave up their Magic. It was actually quite awesome to see Twilight's own Mane flow when she got it, too bad it was kinda short-lived. But it was neat to see even for a short time.
The little quirks done with superpowered Twilight were amusing on their own. Like the electric twitches she gets. And her switching the Moon and Sun around a few times heh heh.
Hm, Shining Armor was back in Canterlot. Did he not resign his position from Captain of the Royal Guard when he became Prince of the Crystal Empire? He must be one busy guy then.
And then Tirek and Discord's relationship drops pretty quick from a seemingly good high with a new necklace and a stained glass with the two wielding a sword and a piece of bread, to the lowest low where Tirek betrays Discord and steals his magic After stealing the magic of the Mane 6 sans Twilight. This is probably the defining moment where Tirek makes himself the best villain in all of Friendship is Magic. It might as well been a metaphor too, as the one villain he had to outrank in order to become the best villain was Return of Harmony's incarnation of Discord.
And here begins perhaps the best part of the episode. the Twilight Vs. Tirek fight. And boy, beginning with the destruction of the Treebrary. Destroying a very well-known location of the show. We all knew (Or at least we should have all known) Twilight was going to be coming out of that Tree home sooner or later being a Princess and all. But I don't think anyone imagined they'd do it as forcefully as this. Completely obliterating Twilight's old home. As much as it's probably a bit of a blow to those who really liked the Treebrary. I must applaud the staff for having the balls to do this. But then we get into awesome Dragonball Z-esque battle! Right down to the laserbeams, giant explosions, hitting characters through mountains, etc. If you didn't know already, DBZ is practically the only Anime that I have a huge love for. Sure I hear it's the gateway Anime that is supposed to get you into objectively better Animes. But in this case I think I'd rather stay at the Gateway. Seriously, this was the best action sequence the show has ever had. And it's a shame this might be the only time we get something this epic, because this came only from Celestia, Luna, and Cadence's Magic being infused with Twilight's own. Oh well though, seeing an ass-kicking badass for a short time is still awesome enough. And I'm sure there will be plenty of awesome fan-art of it too that will go along with all the previous art of badass Twilight
On another note, I think this is really the first time I can really see Discord being really sincere. And it not coming too quickly like it did in Keep Calm and Flutter On. It really does open a side to Discord that we may not have ever thought he had. But I think with this I can slightly appreciate Keep Calm and Flutter On more. The ending from that episode is still a bit rushed, but I think this being the event that ultimately reforms him makes a lot more sense. And is heartwarming enough for me to enjoy the reformed Discord more then I have before. I never hated the idea, as more Discord to me is always a good thing. But it's definitely left me conflicted for the longest time. But after this Finale, I can finally say it was worth it.
And then here's Rainbow Power. As pretty much predicted by everyone it's a bit of a Deux Ex Machina for this Finale that saves the day. But we're pretty much used to it at this point (Elements of Harmony in the first two, Cadence & Shining Armor in Canterlot Wedding, Crystal Heart in Crystal Empire, Flashback Potion and partly the Elements again in the Opener.) Though arguably much less of a Deux Ex Machina compared to others because there were signs towards it throughout the season thanks to the five Rainbow Trinket episodes prior to the Finale. Still seems to be quite a super powerful blast that can defeat Tirek who's absorbed if not all, most of the Magic in Equestria. Oh and while I wasn't that afraid it would happen. I did have a bit of a "Phew" inside when I saw the Mane 6 turn back to normal. Confirming that Rainbow Power is a superpowered form and not a permanent design change. The Rainbow Power designs are a little too tacky, and it would of been hard to watch the show had they been stuck like that personally. That's just too much color.
But anyway Twilight gets her castle! Guess they aren't going to rebuild the old castle. It's a shame because I though that would of been a nice idea. But Twilight having her own castle inside Ponyville is the next best thing really. It's a bit of a compromise of those that didn't want Twilight moving into a faraway castle even as far as the castle from Castle-Mania. And Twilight still gets her castle in the end. And one of my favorite parts is there's a bit of a Knights of the Round Table thing with all her friends (Even Spike gets his own little throne next to Twilight! Now that's really sweet ^^). This was something I hoped would happen even before MMC aired. So I'm glad it came to fruition in some way. Also I knew Twilight would be the Princess of Friendship, it's not that hard to predict. But I'm pretty sure there were some people who somehow still had to ask what exactly Twilight was a Princess of. When the answer should have been straight-forward from the very beginning.
And the entire thing ends with a nice song that gives another appearance of all the characters helped in the Rainbow Trinket episodes and a photo of all the Mane 6 and Spike together ^^
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All in all, this was a really great end to the season. We had our best villain in the series, and quite possibly the best two-parter. But even if it's not, it's basically Season 4 versus itself for best two-parter with the Opener against the Finale. So either way Season 4 wins. I can say now without a doubt that Season 4 is the best season we've had yet. It completely overthrows Season 2 as my favorite season. Not just for an awesome Opener and Finale that blows away all previous two-parters, but also the consistent quality. There was only one episode I didn't like, a few I was meh about, but everything else ranged to enjoyable to some of the best episodes of the series. And it gives great hopes for the next Season next year.
I applaud the writers hard work this season. They've really turned things around after Season 3 seemed to tear the fanbase apart. I'm not saying Season 3 was bad suddenly as I continue to say that's it's only because it was only half as long, that Season 3 can't hold a candle to the other seasons. But we can all agree that all that happened with Season 3 and Equestria Girls just wasn't healthy for the fandom. But now we had perhaps the greatest season we've had yet, And even the sequel to Equestria Girls shows some promise as that will be something in between the hiatus to see for fun. I hope that during the hiatus, many people in the fandom can come together again and rebuild after a controversial Season 3 has strained friendships (Which is very ironic for this kind of show). And appreciate and reflect on the season that brought back why we love this show to begin with.
I'm not sad that Season 4 is over, I'm glad to see a satisfying season come to an end. And having (so far) a pretty great reception overall. I'll have plenty of things to hold me over until 2015. Mario Kart 8 is coming out at the end of the month, the 3DS version of Smash 4 this summer, and the Wii U version in the Winter. There's also Equestria Girls 2 to see in the Fall but I'm treating it just like I did the first film. In that I'm probably not going to go to any theaters for it and wait for a decent quality upload of the film. I feel like this has potential to be a lot better then the first film as long as it doesn't take it's story too seriously. But I still don't feel paying any money to see it. Equestria Girls hasn't exactly earned my love for it as much as the Main series have had.
Now one worry I do have for Season 5 is that because this season was so good. We might get Hype Backlash toward the next season if it's at all not as consistent as Season 4 was. This might of been at least part of the reason Season 3 got the flack it did. Season 2 did things with the show that at the time really was doing things with the show that would have been unimaginable in the first season. But because Season 3 didn't have as many awesome moments or nearly enough episodes to win some people over. It just was another thing that made Season 3 feel like a massive disappointment. Now that once again Season 4 has raised the bar high with what this show can do. It's going to be a tough act to follow next Season.
