We're back! This weeks episode aired under BronyCon. Spoiler: S7 Ponies from Fillydelphia, Toola Roola returns, a brandnew song and on.
Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned that you probably shouldn't break into a perfectly harmonized song with five other ponies at the spur of the moment when claiming to have flaws. It kinda ruins the message. Yours Faithfully, Dragonbait
So, umm... ...the crisis isn't really solved. I'm glad that the two fillies learned their lesson, but all the copies of the Friendship Journal are still out there, and everyone's issues with it are still present. And I still mantain that this could cause bigger and nastier problems in the long run. What if Abacus Cinch gets ahold of a copy and uses it as evidence to uncover the secret of Equestria's extistance? What if Tempest Shadow and the Storm King, or Queen Chrysalis, or the Pony of Shadows, find something in the Journal they can use against the Mane Six? I don't know...I was expecting Starlight to whip out a mind-erasing spell and then destroy all copies of the Journal, not go "these two fillies did learn from the Journal, which obviously means problem solved!".
I can't believe I'm going to be the first one to write praise about this episode here. I loved it. There are way too many fans nowadays who get too caught up in the "glory days of the show" and in their "perfect fanfic worlds", and this episode makes fun of those fans perfectly. My favorite bits of mockery were the opening that made fun of Season 2 and Fluttershy asserting herself over how it took so long to learn how to be assertive. That was gold. They acknowledge that the crisis isn't really solved, it's an allegory for how you can't stop crazy fans from being crazy fans. XD
Again: someone OTHER than "a crazy fan" can get ahold of the Journal, someone who could use its information to bring down the Mane Six. Considering the "Pony of Shadows" season finale, the theatrical movie (Tempest Shadow and the Storm King), and the fact that Chrysalis is still at large, "loony fans" are the least of the Mane Six's concerns when it comes to the Friendship Journal. It's like in the "Tower of Babel" story arc in DC Comics, when Ra's Al Ghul got ahold of Batman's book where the weaknesses of the Justice League were recorded. At no point were "loony fans" anyone's concern
Fear not, @CloudMistDragon!! You are not alone!! So, like with Rocky & Bullwinkle, I think the alternate title for this episode should be "Fandoms in a Nutshell!" It's a bold statement and there are some problems that will never be solved per say. Sparky did a good thing. The message was unfortunately lost on many but for the few that it DID resonate with, isn't that proof enough that the book did its job? Sparky didn't CREATE the problem, the problem was always there. Many people will misinterpret what they consume, hear only what they want to hear, and argue and debate about whatever it is find right or wrong with it. This episode is a real world scenario perfectly illustrated in 22 minutes... WELL DONE, DHX!!! And yeah, for some who criticize the writers for having the ponies learn the same lessons over again, Flut put it BEAUTIFULLY!!!! Overall: 9/10
Yeah, this problem also leads to a lot of bronies unfairly criticizing episodes like Feeling Pinkie Keen, What About Discord, and Flutter Brutter. Of course, that's not saying those episodes are exempt from fair criticism, it's just that the insane amount of backlash those episodes have received from fans basing their criticism on a misguided interpretation of their messages is just more proof in the pudding that the brony fandom needs an episode like this that calls them out on their tendency of... *ahem* COMPLETELY MISSING THE POINT.
And funny enough, missing the point of the friendship lessons was the entire premise of Every Little Thing She Does where, much like a lot of bronies, Starlight misses the forest for the trees. It's an easy trap to fall into; getting so wrapped up in the details that the big picture is totally overlooked. It's amazing how all of this seems to tie in together. Also, the idea of FAIR criticism is why I've always been very outspoken against writer bashing for this particular show. It's easy for us as jaded adults to want more out of a show that was never intended for our demographic in the first place. That's why the main 2 questions I ask myself when I weigh in on these episodes are "was the episode enjoyable" and "was the message clear and a good one for kids and (sometimes) adults?" And then of course I pick out the little tidbits that made the episode that much better for me personally such as jokes, references, or things that just get me thinking. No episode is perfect and not all of them are enjoyable for me personally but an appreciation for ALL episodes is a theme I try to maintain before I hit that Post Reply button.
So, If I take anything from this, is that the whole Snowden affair wasn't about dangerous goverment secrets being leaked to the press, but about "loony fans". Same thing with the Sony hacks, or the leak of nude celebrity photos, or Watergate. No dangerous secrets that could fall into the wrong hands, just "loony fans".
Honestly, discussing the potential dangerous ramifications of the Mane Six's deepest secrets being within reach of the multitude of villains who could use said information to hurt/defeat the Mane Six is far more interesting to me than talking about "lol, loony fans that are meant to represent the most extemist side of the brony fanbase". Especially since we rarely talk villains in this forum. We have Tempest Shadow and the Storm King arriving in October, the Pony of Shadows arriving in the season finale, and Queen Chrysalis is still out there.
Well, we DO talk about villains when there is a villain in the episode. Also, it's not like using the ponies' own fears and flaws against them is a new concept. In fact, the perpetrator of that particular evil scheme now meets once a week with Fluttershy for tea. And if the past is any indication, it is unlikely that the events in the upcoming movie will affect the storyline of a series that has canonically existed within itself.
I wonder how mad Daring Do is gonna be when she finds out that Rainbow Dash casually revealed her deepest, darkest secret? Specifically, the fact that she exists.
Fortunately, I think most of the population doesn't find the "stories" to be believable enough. I'm sure most of them would write Dashie's entry off as nothing more than fanfiction.
