Not a bad episode, I felt. Two characters I personally never thought would show up together wind up tight. I kinda wish the episode focused more on them bonding, however, and less on Pinkie Pie getting in the way. Can't wait to see the shipping art that comes out of this one, funny because this would have previously been considered a plot twist. Your thoughts?
Pinkie needed to stop getting in the way. The episode definitely had potential to show the two bonding more, but the episode wasn't bad either way. 7.5/10
I also would have preferred more bonding and less Pinkie Pie interference, mainly because this episode Flanderized the hell out of Pinkie. Other than that, good episode, with quite a bit of character development for both Maud and Starlight.
First off, congrats to Asmo for winning the race this week! OK, here we go... I liked this episode. I would have loved it had it not been for a certain pink horse's antics but, given the context of her part in the plot, I think she more than served her purpose. And as overbearing and borderline psychotic as she can be (accidental cave-in, my flank), I can't talk TOO badly about Pinkie, Celestia bless her. I did get a good chuckle when she did her Maud impression. Also, TOTALLY wasn't expecting half of the episode to be about Starlight so that was another REDEEMING quality to the story. I also wasn't expecting an Applejack level of brutal honesty from her. Pinkie needed to hear it and she did learn from it so bonus points to Starry! But we all know who the real star of this episode was... BOULDER!!!! No? OK... MAUD!!!!!!! Always a joy to see her and, as always, she steals the show!! Super solid episode, if not for a few... kinda cringeworthy... interjections from balloon butt. Anygoo... TIDBITS!!!! It's official, we now know Maudelina Daisy Pie's full name!! Also, I was TOTALLY expecting a herd of wildebeests to come stampeding through as Maud was hanging from the "ledge." Overall: 6.5/10
Nah, that sort of thing wouldn't be very likely. Trust me; I'm not lion. But in all seriousness, I enjoyed the episode on the whole. I've always liked Maud's characterization; the "calm and emotionless snarker" appeals to my sense of humor (just ask Lioconvoy ), so I'm always glad to see her appear in whatever capacity. Everything else in the episode is just salad dressing. So, just 'super solid', and not 'rock solid'? Basically, we'd just end up taking Starlight and Maud's friendship for granite? Or would we end up feeling jadeite because Pinkie was a little bit too gneiss? ... ...Never mind, stopping talking now. Onward, to Episode 5!
blah blah blah viewer discretion warning blah blah blah Spoiler This episode was good at first. The Pinkie and Maud antics are always the BEST and it was still the BEST in this episode. However... ANY. OTHER CHARACTER. If Maud's friend was ANY OTHER CHARACTER I would have liked this episode a whole lot more. But no. More BS expectation to like the HORRID NOT REDEEMED character. Also... I'm not mad at Maud for helping Starlight be a dictatorship *squee!*. She didn't know what she was up to so that wasn't exactly her fault. The Pinkie antics were great as always and I just really like Maud and her character and her 'monotone' behavior which gets a laugh every time. I'm also glad we may be seeing Maud more now that it seems she's moved to Ponyville. Or, I guess Ponyville Adjacent? Eh. It's still Ponyville. Don't get me wrong. I didn't hate the episode. Just... ANY. OTHER. CHARACTER. I can't in good conscious do anything to the percentage. Sorry. Overall it was a good episode but the continued expectation to like a HORRID NOT REDEEMED character is ridiculous. Current Status: Stay: 30% Leave: 70% Reason: To be honest... I'm sick of repeating myself. It should be obvious why and I also stated it above. No change whatsoever unfortunately.
So am I. If you want to be negative about everything all the time, and ignore any attempts at rational discussion, then just stop *squee!*ing posting. You've even managed to get Rockout pissed at you! Do you understand that? The nicest, calmest, most rational person on this forum has made multiple posts telling you to cut the crap. It's not us, man. It's you.
I too wish that Pinkie interfered a bit less, but they have to teach a lesson in the episode somehow. Overall, I enjoyed it. I too don't enjoy it when people try to force friendships on me.
Am i the only one in the entire fandom who doesn't like Maud? I'm sorry but Mandy, Wednesday Addams (movie version), Gaz Membrane, Annie Leonhart...whenever I see that kind of unemotional responses in a female, said female is usually presented as mean-spirited and sadistic and downright malicious, and the world she lives in is usually presented as a grim dystopia that is very much NOT family-friendly. She's out of place in Equestria. And the level of worship Pinkie Pie hads for her is downright annoying. Not only I feel Maud doesn't deserve it (because again, due to Maud's kind of character archetype, I can't help but see her as mean-spirited), but Pinkie never shows this level of emotional attachment to her other sisters.
The creepy monotone trope has been used by plenty of good characters, too. -Dorothy Wainwright (The Big O) -Raven (Teen Titans) -Okay I really thought there were more of these. But the point is that monotone in no way equals evil.
Daria (from Daria, natch) also comes to mind. You also have to remember that for all that she's been portrayed like that in all subsequent appearances, Maud's debut appearance did have her showing some rather clear emotions in her voice.
Daria is very mean-spirited, and the world she lives in is cynical, harsh and cruel (remember that most people describve the world Daria lives in as "a sick, sad world"), so she fits in the same character archetype I'm talking about. And that's something to keep in mind. The thing about this character archetype, about Daria and Gaz and Annie and Mandy, is that the respective worlds they live in are dark, nihilistic, cynical, pessimistic, and very much not for younger kids. Someone like Maud existing in Equestria (a very optimistic, cheerful, kid-friendly place) just rubs me the wrong way. And when you add Maud's lack of emotions...I don't know, I keep expecting her to start pummeling everypony around her.
It's not that she lacks emotions, she just doesn't display them as openly as others. Remember that she only smiles around Pinkie and Starlight; her sister and her new best friend, respectively. It seems to me that she just has trouble expressing her feelings.
I think Maud sends a good message, remember it's gears toward kids. It's saying, you can be friends with people like this that you know in real life. It also says to people like this in real life that there are people that can and will "get" you and it's worth being friends with them.
"it's geared towards kids". That's my main issue with Maud. "Daria"? The "Addams Family" movies? "Attack on Titan"? "Invader Zim"? "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy"? VERY MUCH NOT geared towards little kids. At least, not towards the younger kids that are the main target audience of "Friendship is Magic". Equestria is too optimistic and kid-friendly to spawn a character like Maud. Maud shold be in "Gotham", or "Game of Thrones", or "The Walking Dead", or a new "Evangelion" spinoff. Not in "Friendship is Magic". For a real-life example of Maud's character archetype, look at Alan Moore. Could Alan Moore work as a Pony? Could you market someone like Alan Moore to younger kids? And if Alan Moore was Pinkie Pie's brother, would it make semse for her to have enormous amounts of love for him? EDIT: Keep in mind that I'm talking about Alan Moore as a person, NOT about his work. I know Moore has written some kid-friendly and optimistic work, but I'm talking about Alan Moore himself, not about his work.
Thing is, Maud is not mean spirited so I don't know what makes you expect her to start pummeling anyone. The only pony we've seen her show any kind of anger towards is the pony that ripped Pinkie off for her party cannon in Manehattan. And I'm sure that, even though this is a kids' show, many of the target demographic have older siblings like Maud. And if not, chances are they know someone who does. I think you may be picking out parts of her personality that COULD be used in a negative way but more than likely WON'T.
