My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Page 716

http://i.imgur.com/V4DEI26.png

That wall of texts doesn't make the episode any better, I already considered everything that person said and still think it was a sub-par episode. I don't want a thank you, I want a finale.

Really? That's what it's about?

..and people are fine with the entire concept of cutie marks? Y'know, the idea that your destiny/job/future life is decided at an early age by some magic and you're not going to be able to ever change your mind about it? And you just gotta accept whatever's given to you?

I dunno. MLP is a fun show, but it's not exactly a role model in so many ways.

The last half of the ep. was all about fan reassurance. "Yeah, we have to make Twilight a princess, but it's gonna be okay."

Starting at the point where Twilight disappear in a puff of Harmony smoke, the dialogue and imagery are going just a little over the kids' heads. "The Land of Floating Videos," as Cereal described it at EQD, is meant to remind us who have seen every single episode that we've been building to this moment all along. Celestia's motherly song, "You've come a long way... it's time to fulfill your destiny" just adds to the feel. We knew this moment was coming, practically since the takedown of Nightmare Moon.

When Twilight's wings finally do appear, the reactions are mixed.

Approving: Twilight's got wings! Awesome! A new flying buddy! - Rainbow
Confused: Why, you've become an alicorn. I didn't even know that was possible.- Rarity
Incredulous: Hold on a second! [drinks] [spits] - Pinkie

By the way, rarity's reference to alicorn is a dead ringer that this part is for us. Alicorn is a fanon word that barely broke into canon in Magic Duel (Another brony-centric ep.) But I digress... These are our reactions: mixed, a little confused, a little fearful. Celestia's response is that Twilight has earned it because she's learned the Elements of Harmony, which have suddenly gone up a couple grade levels to become:

Charity
Compassion
Devotion
Integrity
Optimism
and, of course, Leadership.

I see a little four-year-old watching, saying "Mommy, what's Oppsitism?" But I digress again... Celestia's talking to us, little one. We'll explain later.

In Twilight's speech, she says "I can honestly say I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the friendships I've made with all of you... for that, I will always be grateful." I think the subtext is clear. Bronies, we wouldn't be here without you. We'd have been just another second-rate show on the Hub, gone and forgotten like the others. The Lou Gehrig quote to close just ices it. "Today, I consider myself the luckiest pony in Equestria." Thank you for your support. We couldn't have done it without you.

The ending reprise, with quite a few bonus Derpy sightings, to boot, closes with "Everything's going to be just fine." Maybe famous last words, as others have said, but maybe a reminder of who we're dealing with.
The next four episodes will tell a lot. The rumors are that the season 4 premiere (or a later part 2 and 3 of this arc) will expand this concept more. Still, four episodes should be enough to see where we're at with the change. I am confident things be just fine. Plus la change

I felt kind of like watching a kid sister graduate. You know it won't be the same, but you know it'll still be good. Daniel Ingram writes good tunes, and nobody sings desperation like Twilight. Pace was a little too fast, but I still got good vibes.

If you believe Lauren Faust never wanted Twilight to be a princess at all, here's a counterpoint: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/130597

The difference seems to be that Lauren had a different exact plan for it - namely Twilight succeeding Celestia, as more of an ending than a mid-show thing.

I saw that, and found it interesting. I think that they should end up following the plans outlined in the video above, however only as a series-ending thing, so when they finally do decide to stop producing episodes/movies, it won't create as much of a void as it would if they just stopped.