S08E14: A Matter of Principals

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S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Wayoshi (?) » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:33 am

When Twilight Sparkle leaves Starlight in charge of the School of Friendship, Discord is frustrated he wasn't picked for the job, and he does his best to make Starlight's new role impossible.
This thread is for discussion of the episode. This episode airs at 8:25am AEST on Sunday, July 29 / 6:25pm US EDT on Saturday, July 28 on Boomerang in Australia!

Official preview clips and images are okay to post, as is speculation about the episode.

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Applepie2017 (?) » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:14 am

Here comes Ilovekimpossiblealot.
But...
This one's too young

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Mechanical Ape (?) » Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:30 am

Discord vs. Starlight? The smart money’s on Starlight.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Adiwan (?) » Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:09 am

I'm not excited for this episode. Although it features Starlight it also has Discord, who is way too predictable for his "chaotic" behaviour. Of course he annoys everyone around him. This is almost always the case.
It would change my mind if Starlight punched Discord like Benjamin Sisko hit Q in Star Trek Deep Space 9.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by PonyHag714 (?) » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:45 pm

Glimcord should make for an interesting episode.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Mechanical Ape (?) » Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:18 pm

Adiwan wrote:
Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:09 am
I'm not excited for this episode. Although it features Starlight it also has Discord, who is way too predictable for his "chaotic" behaviour. Of course he annoys everyone around him. This is almost always the case.
It would change my mind if Starlight punched Discord like Benjamin Sisko hit Q in Star Trek Deep Space 9.
I like Discord but he’s usually cast in the role of “man-child who needs to learn a lesson”. He rarely plays the part of the genuine trickster in the mythical sense — the guy who’s here to teach you something, just in a way you won’t expect.

This is part of what makes Starlight so fun: she’s able to provide advice and solutions to Twilight in a way the more generically “nice” Mane Six can’t.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Applepie2017 (?) » Sat Jul 28, 2018 6:50 pm

The episode was just on Smashcast.
But...
This one's too young

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by PonyHag714 (?) » Sat Jul 28, 2018 8:57 pm

I enjoyed this one very much. One of my favorites this season.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Highbrow Dash (?) » Sat Jul 28, 2018 8:59 pm

I can't believe Starlight murdered Discord.

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Highbrow Dash (?) » Sat Jul 28, 2018 8:59 pm

I'm sad to see him go but I understand why it had to be done.

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by The Doctor (?) » Sat Jul 28, 2018 9:39 pm

:pinkieshrug: I didn't really like this one. Discord being an asshole again just for the sake of being an asshole. I mean, his problem was with Twilight, not with Starlight. She's the one that hasn't invited him to the school, and that's never addressed with her.


:unenthused: And Starlight being able to banish any part of Discord from the school? Isn't she OP enough as it is?

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by PonyHag714 (?) » Sat Jul 28, 2018 9:43 pm

Glimmy dosen't fool around...get her mad enough and she'll blast you. Image

It was nice to see the Breakfast Club have another substantial role in an episode.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Perpetual Motion (?) » Sun Jul 29, 2018 12:46 am

I kinda liked the swerve into a non-lesson in the end. Sure, the moral is nice, but Discord in no way earned or deserved kindness after his actions. Having the whole situation being set up by him for revenge absolves the show of forcing the characters to bend completely to the moral.

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Wayoshi (?) » Sun Jul 29, 2018 1:44 am

Yuck. Will a Discord conflict ever not be "be a childish dick"?

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Adiwan (?) » Sun Jul 29, 2018 2:02 am

Just as expected. Discord ruins everything because he's a selfish prick.
Discord episodes have become the new Spike episodes for me.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by SlateSlabrock (?) » Sun Jul 29, 2018 3:11 am

That poor marmoset.

Twittermites are real? :flail:

It's kind of odd seeing so many callbacks after several seasons of newer writers not remembering any of that stuff. I wonder if Nicole Dubuc was working closely with Josh Haber on this one, since his episode did a lot of that, too.

So when do we get to see the adventure Twilight and friends went on? :v:

I'd say solid average for this one. Starlight needed to be a bit more active so she could visibly realize how to deal with Discord, but needing a minute longer is a common trait of Discord episodes.I think the lesson was fine, although the principal pro strat would've been distracting Discord with some kind of fluff class for him to teach.

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Aramek (?) » Sun Jul 29, 2018 3:55 pm

Episode was great, and as usual Starlight never does anything wrong.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by RudeCyrus (?) » Sun Jul 29, 2018 4:39 pm

Not a fan. Starlight and the students should have been the focus.

Also, not enough Trixie.

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Soft Snow (?) » Tue Jul 31, 2018 6:37 pm

Discord felt like a true villain for once.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Fizzbuzz (?) » Sat Aug 04, 2018 12:11 pm

Jeez. It was nigh impossible to escape this episode's buzz ("Starlight kills Discord!!!") at BronyCon, but I thought that was going to be the end of it.

The trouble with Discord is that it's difficult to tell when he's acting a certain way because he has a lesson he wants to teach, or if he's doing it because he himself wants to be a better person but doesn't quite know how for a given situation. I genuinely enjoy the former, and I appreciate the latter too, but trying to figure out one from the other gets to be a bit of a chore. I guess it's good to be kept guessing in a sense, since otherwise episodes with him would become rather predictable, but it's guessing in a way that Starlight illustrated very well for us. I guess we really do have to treat him as everyone in the show does, as a living trickster god doing wacky shit in the wacky world they live in, and not like we treat an annoying acquaintance who keeps trying to lean in on our lives.

The references and the gags were on point. My favorite was Trixie answering the bananaphone.
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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by LunarRainbow92 (?) » Sat Aug 04, 2018 2:08 pm

Adiwan wrote:
Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:09 am
It would change my mind if Starlight punched Discord like Benjamin Sisko hit Q in Star Trek Deep Space 9.
That would've made a great scene! LMAO!

Starlight: *hoof punches Discord*

Discord: *gasp* Twilight never hit me!

Starlight: *Gets in discord face* I'm not Twilight!

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by SigmasonicX (?) » Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:14 am

LunarRainbow92 wrote:
Sat Aug 04, 2018 2:08 pm
That would've made a great scene! LMAO!

Starlight: *hoof punches Discord*

Discord: *gasp* Twilight never hit me!

Starlight: *Gets in discord face* I'm not Twilight!
Damn, now I'm disappointed that didn't happen.
(Although Twilight did turn him to stone that one time)

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Re: S08E14: A Matter of Principals

Post by Mechanical Ape (?) » Wed Aug 08, 2018 11:58 pm

Time to catch up! :party: (I’ve been sick)

:twismug: “spellvenger hunt”
• Like: :twonk: “Tirek! I swear to you I will have my spellvenge!”
• Twi And Spike can now do a flying high five. They’ve probably been practicing this for days.
• Somehow AJ’s concern is there’ll be no teachers to run the school. In prior seasons she’d be freaking about harvests this and cider that. I dunno, maybe Apple Bloom’s now old enough to pick up the chore slack.
• Credits: Wait — how long has Angel been vacuum-sucking that apple into his mouth? Has that been a thing all season? I just noticed.
• Pouty Starlight kinda rules.
• Can’t ... stop ... staring ... at ... marmoset. :starity:
• Gotta love a classic Limburger joke.
• I’m pretty sure Starlight could kick Discord’s ass if she needed to. I wouldn’t push her.
• OK, if Discord’s in Steve Buscemi’s “hello fellow teens” getup I’ll ... be very amused. :good:
• Trixie makes everything better.
• OH HOLY FUCK STARLIGHT DISINTEGRATED DISCORD BEST EPISODE EVER
• Medieval Changeling Portrait leaves me with a lot of questions about Changeling tech level.
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