Amen, bro. "Oh jeepers! I hope we don't upset our adult viewers by writing simple plotlines and introducing underdeveloped characters in show about magical talking ponies. I mean, this isn't a damn kids' show or anything!"
I just realized something. I don't see why a unicorn being as powerful as an alicorn wouldn't make sense. I mean, Starswirl was a unicorn and he understood and could perform magic that not even Celestia could fathom. But you never hear anyone complain about him being OP even though he is referenced God knows how many times.
I think it's because of comparison. We've seen Twilight beat up Tirek (granted, with the help of three extra Alicorn's magic but it might be being ignored in this case) and Starlight is apparently able to just annihilate Twilight every single time. The balance feels somewhat artificial. Now, I'm perfectly happy to accept that Starlight is fantastic at magical duelling while Twilight, being less psychotic and less physically skilled, is only managing to keep up with the far more wily foe she has to face. Starlight was able to bob, duck and weave while Twilight only had magical grunt. That would make sense! We've never truly seen Starswirl do anything. Seeing is believing for a staggering number of people. And all they saw was Twilight get her flank kicked by something we assumed was more powerful.
It's also not a wild stretch that Starlight may be several years older than Twilight. Alicorn or not, she is obviously far more well-read than Sparky when it comes to magic. In line with your theory, I'm also not entirely sure if Starlight is that much more powerful than Sparky if at all. I mean, yeah she's mastered a few spells Sparky hasn't but that speaks more to her ability to learn, understand, and control it. Her ability to stay one step ahead of Sparky speaks more to her cunning. If we're gonna talk about power levels though, Starlight's seems, to me at least, on par with Sparky's... give or take. How else would Sparky be able to block her blasts with a force field? And as we saw, it took a lot out of BOTH of them. Of course, the same logic could apply to Starswirl and he could have just known more magic than Celestia. Both sides of that debate do make sense to me and like you said, we've never actually SEEN him in action. So, my thoughts on him ARE just speculation. Another theme I noticed is that not all "magic" consists of a spell and a pretty aura. The magic of friendship isn't just about glowing cutie marks and rainbow beams. Forgive me for referencing Harry Potter but as Albus Dumbledore said, "Words are... our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it." Sparky's words did what her magic couldn't. That's why I feel like this episode is more about reaching out to those who need your help the most, such as the misguided, friendless, and bitter, than it is about how awful Starlight's crime was and how high she should hang for it.
Nah. I'm perfectly happy with the fact that everything she did was flat out BS and the fact she got nothing for it is even more BS.
I agree though I felt like they stumbled on the delivery of that final blow, though it could be more about how I could see it coming a mile off. Both makes sense I guess.
I still don't like her. I think my main beef is the fact that they just did the formula of making the next villain more powerful than the last. Why not be creative about it and make the next villain sneaky, wily, underhanded, manipulative, etc? Which how they started her out in the first episodes of the season, she was slimy and creepy and vile... and then in the finale they went with BOATLOADS OF SUPERMAGIC AWESOMEPOWER BLAM! It seemed cheap and tawdry. Which is how Starlight Glimmer came across to me at the end.
I agree, actually. And I figured that Twilight would have to show some serious smarts to get around her. For example, I thought she was going to let Nightmare Moon travel back in time before she travelled back herself. Why? Well, a part of the spell, according to Starlight, was that she new where anyone that followed her into the past would be. Like a little alarm, she'd be there to deal with it. Well, how about a monstrously powerful alicorn brimming with dark magics to throw in ahead? Firstly, Nightmare Moon would be hit with the initial attack, allowing Twilight a chance to strike. Also, Starlight would have just attacked the maniacal Nightmare Moon. She'd have two alicorn to fight rather than just one. Just a thought. Heck! What if the Princess of Friendship actually managed to convince some of the ponies in each alternate timeline to come back with her and help? You know, gather some friends together to save the day? Banding together and stuff?
I'm going to say one last thing about this and then I'll try to stop talking about this once and for all. Dictatorship jerk Glimmer's reasoning for what she did is pretty freaking horrible. Apparently this idiot hasn't heard the saying "at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Or even the good 'ol mantra of "Never Give Up." You lost a friend because of a cutie mark? Uh... seriously? Go make another friend then you idiot. You're just going to flat out give up when you fail at something like that? Seems to me like someone takes failure too quickly and starts making the wrong decisions. Liking thinking everyone would be happier by being equal/being under a dictatorship. Oh yeah. That's the way to handle this. Totally. Something like this should have been common sense. So apparently this idiot doesn't have any common sense either since she should have figured that out on her own instead of having Twilight explain it to her. Sorry. Everything about this character is just idiotic and wrong. End of story.
It's easy to say "just try again" when you are on the outside looking in. Trauma like losing your best friend can affect someone in ways that they themselves can't even fathom sometimes. Even to the point of insanity. It's something that doesn't just exist in movies an TV. It's like telling someone with anxiety that it's just in their head. I can personally vouch that traumatic experiences can alter your judgement and outlook on the whole world; even change the way you think and act. Not everyone is able to just get over it and move on and it doesn't really seem fair to assume that.
Sorry but my opinion on this matter isn't changing. She was a decent villain but to reform her that way with nonsensical motivations and then expect people to forgive her is outrageous and flat out unacceptable. It's just not happening for me.
I think they were trying to pull off something similar to the Kuvira storyline in Legend of Korra. They just didn't do it as well.
What was it she did that was so bad? I mean really? She stole a few cutie marks which were returned in the end. We didn't see her again until the finale and all she does is change the past a few times, which no one except for Twilight and Spike remember. In this show we have seen forgiveness for much worse things. Discord turned the world into a nonsenical wonderland, on multiple occasions. It only took what, a few episodes for him to become a friend? Honestly the forgiveness part isn't too hard to believe. As for the finale itself, I think it was overall an excellent end to an eventful season. It was kind of cool to see the post-apocalyptic version of Equestria, along with several other versions. I do feel like the end was a bit of a cop-out. The ending should have been more eventful than the CMC getting their cutie marks, which was pretty eventful. I honestly found myself hoping, there towards the end, that the camera would just fade out to Starlight mumbling in a padded cell. Finding out that she actually went mad trying to plan her revenge on Twilight. The whole friendship thing was just her own fantasy. It's twisted but it would have been more interesting than, "We're all friends now and that's all that's going to happen!" I know the show is about friendship but at least introduce something new that's too amazing for words. I'd rate this finale at a whopping 8/10. All that build-up for such an anti-climax. -Nights
Yeah I don't care. Sorry but I refuse to talk about this anymore. The way I feel is the way I feel and it's likely not changing.
