Princess Luna should implement some mandatory sentencing. She was on the moon for 1000 years. No parole, no communication. Starlight Glimmer attempts to destroy space and time for petty revenge. She didn't think about the consequences of her actions and all she has to do is go, "LOL SORRY!" and she gets off scot free? Pffft. Unicorn privilege, an earth pony or pegasus would have been sent to the moon.
You know, I honestly feel like just flat out punishing Starlight when she has truly seen the error of her ways would go against the entire point of the episode. The message is that it is NEVER too late to change the path you are on. When Sparky convinced Starlight that what she was doing was wrong, she allowed for the rainboom to happen. All damage was repaired and an emotionally traumatized pony, after years of hate and resentment, was finally healed inside. I have a hard time believing that the Princess of Friendship would consider punishment a higher priority than helping someone see the light. Especially after seeing how Fluttershy dealt with Discord. With everything she has seen and been through, she has grown as a character herself. I think one of the subtexts about her is that she has learned to see the potential for good in others and has the ability to make them see it in themselves.
^Pretty much that. My only issue was with how quickly it happened. I'll say it again; this would have worked better as a three-parter.
I found the episode's ending to be bland. I hate Starlight Glimmer still, and It all felt depressing in a way. (Starlight better not make the show have a mane 7 or I will be upset) I loved it though. The two best episodes in the season were obviously, Slice of Life and Crusaders of the Lost Mark. (One of which made me cry. ) (The Diamond Tiara redemption was fine enough...) I can't wait for Season 6 and what it has to offer. Man... The forums are gonna be dead without fan animations... XD. We should be getting a new Equestria girls around 2016-ish. I like writing reviews... If there could be a picture to describe this episode it would be:
I agree, a three-parter wouldn've been better. Instead they ended with a song. (Which does seem it has been rushed.) I'm pretty sure the rest of Ponyville didn't even know who she was, they just went along with it.
Well... this... may not end well... (considering how things are going for me on Canterlot.com atm) Before I speak about my issues with this... (There are only two. Though they're pretty BIG. It might be obvious what they are though) Let me say this. The episode itself was pretty AMAZING. It did remind me of Final Fantasy 13-2. The only difference was that there was only ONE paradox whereas in FF 13-2 there were MULTIPLE. There was even a moment where "Ruined Hometown" from FF 13-2 would have fit unbelievably. The part in Part 1 with the ruined-looking Ponyville. So that was pretty good and I liked seeing a FF 13-2 like story in MLP: FiM form. It was also pretty interesting to see the alternate futures where the villains won. Then there was the Starlight vs Twilight battle which was pretty freaking good. Not as good as the Tirek vs Twilight fight but still pretty good. Then... There was the ending. Which brings me to my issues with this. 1. NO PUNISHMENT. Considering that no punishment was given considering what she did... NO. JUST NO. 2. The lesson. Why? BECAUSE STUPID GLIMMER SHOULD HAVE FIGURED IT OUT FOR HERSELF. IT'S ING COMMON SENSE. DOES COMMON SENSE NOT EXIST IN YOUR STUPID BRAIN?! So... yeah... The episode? AMAZING. The ending? CRAP. Which means the middle ground is.............. It was mediocre. This next thought is in a spoiler because some may not like it. Spoiler I don't care about Glimmer. I seriously don't. She's NOT reformed. It'd be better if I NEVER saw that *squee!* EVER AGAIN. Similar to my issue with Discord. The difference is I can deal with Discord. I DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH GLIMMER EVER AGAIN. I don't want to see her having an important role in the movie OR future seasons. EVER. The End.
Overall, I enjoyed the episode. It was nice going back through the rogue's gallery of the various seasons and getting a glimpse at what a future where each of them won was like. Also, if each future was supposed to be worse than the last, I'm curious to know the backstory of the Flim Flam brothers future, since that one was near the end, and thus presumably worse than most of the major villains. I don't read much in the way of fanfics, but a lot of my friends have been gushing about all the Fallout: Equestria references. I haven't checked with what it is, but I've heard there's another fanfic that received a reference, but it's much more subtle. I only have a few issues with the episode. First, unless the spell Starlight worked out forced Twilight to have to keep going back to the Sonic Rainboom first happening, why didn't Twilight just go back in time to ambush Starlight before the time travel spell ever got used in the first place? Secondly, I'm in agreement that the redemption happened too quickly. That has pretty much been covered already in the thread. Lastly, I thought it was a bit muddied that Starlight's friend was good enough to get into magic school, but she apparently wasn't. Yet, she suddenly can go up against an alicorn on equal footing with magic. Not just any alicorn, but an alicorn whose cutie mark is completely magic focused. I get they didn't have time to delve too deeply into Starlight's backstory, but unless she did some intense self-teaching with magic, I find her power and ability with magic to be difficult to believe. Also, I'm not a fan of how she's basically the Sunset Shimmer for Equestria, since they're trying to keep Sunset more in the Equestria Girls universe. It just feels redundant, unless you haven't seen the movies.
For the first one, Starlight said she tailored the spell to where she was the only one who could control it. All Sparky could really do was activate the portal between the time and place Starlight had designated and the resulting version of the present. Secondly, I feel like their acceptance of SG only seemed rushed because the long period of time Sparky spent filling the others in was not shown. It's not a wild stretch of the imagination that Sparky did quite a bit of lobbying on SG's behalf since she knew she had really changed. Lastly, it may have taken many years and a lot of hard work for SG to get her cutie mark and become as powerful as she is. By then, she may have already grown up at least to the point where she would no longer qualify for an advanced magic school for fillies. I will say that I'm doing a fair amount of guessing for the second and even more for the last. The way my brain works is that I have a hard time accepting inadequacies as just writing/animation errors and voluntarily try to fill in the gaps to make sense of it all. So it's mostly just speculation on my part.
So, she rewrote a spell created by Starswirl the Bearded... Like what Twilight Sparkle did to become a princess... And then she used it for evil... I'm going to stay in the camp of not liking Starlight Glimmer.
She believed altering the past would ONLY result in taking Sparky's friendship away. We saw her reaction when Sparky took her to the resulting present. As much as she wanted to hold onto her anger and contempt, she wouldn't have changed her mind had she not finally realized that the fate of Equestria depended on friendship. If she were truly evil, she never would have changed her mind. Her actions, even with all that had happened, proved that deep down, she had a conscience. Villains are not born, they are made and it often stems from one traumatic event that scarred them emotionally and twisted their reason and judgement. It was fear that ultimately drove her to what she did, not a desire for destruction for it's own sake. All in all, her heart was broken and hardened but it was not gone. Sparky saw the good in her and made her see it in herself. It's irrelevant to me how quickly she was forgiven by the mane 6 and the ponies of her old town because that was not the point of the episode. What matters to me is that a wounded soul, after a lifetime of bad decisions, was finally healed.
I don't care if Starlight Glimmer was redeemed or not. I don't like her character. I thought she was creepy in the first episodes and she continued to be creepy in the finale. At least King Sombra was honest about wanting to control ponies, and he got it across better by only saying "crystals". She was a Mary-Sue villain, like a bad OC in a poor RP. It was the DBZ formula of the next villain (that no one has ever heard of before) has to be more powerful than the last because reasons. Step 1 - Unicorn loses friend to magic school Step 2 - Doesn't follow friend to magic school because of lack of talent (?) Step 3 - ?????? PROFIT! - Able to rewrite Starswirl the Bearded's forbidden time travel spells and has magic on par with Twilight Sparkle, an alicorn (whose cutie mark IS magic), to the point where Twilight admits she can't beat Starlight Glimmer with her magic. So, the outcome of what happened with her isn't in question, yay... she was redeemed. I still don't like her - as a character or as a villain.
Josh Haber: Newcomer to season 5, introduced with Bloom and Gloom. Without a single additional episode under his belt, he is allowed to write the season finale AND the corresponding movie. The end result is rather... unsurprising. edit: Apparently Castle Mane-ia from season 4 too. Huh.
You guys really don't seem to understand how worried about this I am. I seriously don't want to see Starlight Glimmer EVER AGAIN. There's a chance I might quit the fandom and the show if she does. This is different from the Alicorn Twilight situation. I admitted I overreacted to that. But... this is just too different. I'm sorry but I can't bring myself to like her. AT ALL. EVER. I don't want to see her in S6. Or the movie. Or in the show EVER AGAIN. I want to continue to watch the show and to be a brony... but... if she shows up... I'm just concerned that I won't be able to.
Seriously though, I think you're overreacting. Starlight isn't a good character... yet. She hasn't had enough character development to make her likable... yet. She hasn't earned the forgiveness of those that she wronged... yet. What she does have is the potential for character development. Only time will tell what she'll become. Instead of expecting the worst, why not hope for the best?
We already have our Jar-Jar Binks of the MLP universe - Spike. We don't need another character we don't want or like shoved down our throat. Even in this finale, he managed to botch things up... Spike - *goes to touch scroll* Twi - "No, wait! Don't touch that!" Spike - <_< ... >_> .................. *touch* {Insert bad things happening here}
Anyone else notice that Spike served absolutely no purpose in this finale? In Crystal Empire he supported Twilight and helped her through obstacles, ultimately helping her realize she needed him and that she can't do everything on her own. In this finale she literally does everything on her own. Nothing different would have happened if he weren't there, she just wouldn't have anyone to exposit to or make simple observations for the audience. Even him getting held hostage didn't actually change anything! Why was he even there at all! ...Huh, now that I think about it, Starlight never even met Spike. Does she ever actually acknowledge his existence? She shouldn't actually have any beef with him, he doesn't even have a cutie mark.
I'm not the type to do something like this. I always finish what I start. It's just something I've always done. It's the kind of person I am. Just try to keep one more thing in mind. The possibility of me liking episodes with Starlight Glimmer in them are about as likely as me liking episodes with Discord in them. In fact... There's more of a chance of me liking Discord episodes than Glimmer episodes. Got it memorized?
Well, to be blunt, I really don't think Hasbro or the writers give a damn what anyone on this site thinks. We don't buy enough of the toys.
