S02E25 & 26: A Canterlot Wedding [SEASON FINALE]

[Scuderia FerrarityThe Corndogs Of Today are the Tacos of Tomorrow]

I laughed pretty hard at this.


I feel the exact same way



Not really, but I watched the s2 finale with my niece and I was way more blown away than her; why can't other kids be as chill?

We like the characters more or at least have pored over the stories more than your average little kid.
but I suppose it's like this:

Celestia is essentially every pony's mother figure with her subjects as her children- more or less.
An intruder breaks in and zaps their mother, it's pretty horrifying.
I suppose for lots of kids one of the most horrible things they could imagine is something bad happening to their parents. So taking out Celestia is a low blow.

[The DoctorTurner Of All Things Timey Wimey]

I see Celestia less as the mother figure, and more the Gandalf, or Dumbledore figure. Not totally infallible, but certainly the one everyone looks to for guidance.

[Ransom]

I see Celestia less as the mother figure, and more the Gandalf, or Dumbledore figure. Not totally infallible, but certainly the one everyone looks to for guidance.

Celestia is totally Dumbledore, right down to being humorous while still having a regal air about her.

Actually...I've imagined Twilight as a combination of Hermonie Granger's book studying obsession and Harry Potter raw natural ability and 'destined one' benefits. Kindof a scary thought actually.

[itinerant nomadSurprise Pedantry!]

Celestia and Luna have a unique place in the world built by the show, but they are gifted with abilities that are distinguished from the rest by degree, not capability.
They are special, but not deity special.
They can on their own manage day or night, and Celestia can handle both.
That doesn't mean that they alone are capable, since the founding story of their land indicated that ponies were getting along just fine (in terms of day/night) without them.

It's definitely far more efficient now that just one or two ponies can work with the day/night cycle.
Now all those extra unicorns in Canterlot are able to dedicate all their time to maintaining an insufferable parasitic class of nobles.

Maybe the wedding couple could have held off a little longer before evicting the invading parasites in Canterlot, just to be sure anyone could tell the difference.

[Mad SurgeLunch break is over, back to the brewThe fad is over and nothing's askew!]

Kratos is everything I hate about modern video games and I think he is the worst character, who should be defeated by a wimpy little filly like Twist or even Diamond Tiara. I don't want to play a game as the bad guy who ruins the world for everybody and whose design comes straight out of a 1999 Mountain Dew ad.

I kinda found him bearable until God of War 3, what with him and his revenge for petty motives destroying the world.
Keeping on with the greek gods parallel, I totally agree, Crow! Celestia is much better as a "powerful but not omnipotent" goddess. She kinda reminds me of Athena, the goddess of Justice, kind and generous but not afraid to kick ass when it's required.

[Opposing FarceDon't you smile at my faceSpit on my backDo you kiss your mother with a mouth like that?]

I kinda found him bearable until God of War 3, what with him and his revenge for petty motives destroying the world.

I haven't actually played the GoW games, but from where I'm standing that seems like a pretty clear attempt to have A Moral ("hey, revenge for petty motives is a bad idea!") and a potentially interesting subversion of the basic "RARGH KILL EVERYTHING I'M SO ANGRY" premise.

Basically I'm saying it's Neir but more dumb.

[Headless Horse]

I was just thinking about "Love's In Bloom" and how oddly right it feels to have it, a pop-style song that sounds like it could have come straight off the radio, as the ending scene/curtain call music. After two whole seasons of songs that were for the most part showtunes-inspired (the most "poppy" it got was "Becoming Popular", and I doubt you could really expect to hear that on the radio without a lot of alteration), to play the show out to a full-on pop song has a really appropriate feel somehow.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it's kind of the common style these days. Most Disney and Dreamworks movies, even the ones whose soundtracks are entirely non-pop-oriented, tend to have a pop song for the credits at least. WALL-E comes to mind as one example. It's usually very poignantly handled, even in comedy settings, and Pony has fallen into the tradition without taking any shortcuts about it. It gives the whole cast a chance to come out and take a bow, including fan favorites all over the place (Luna, Vinyl, Soarin, Fancy Pants), and it sort of rises above the show's normal musical texture and lets you see the characters not just celebrating in-universe but also celebrating the end of an outstanding year-long creative effort in a rather meta way. About the only way it could have been more perfectly suited musically would have been if it had continued on over the credits.

What it reminded me of all of a sudden, actually, was the ending song from Prince Caspian—"The Call". Can't find a very good youtube link, but I'm sure anyone who's seen it knows what I'm talking about. Pony doing a pop song in that kind of spot is joyful and wistful at the same time, and it does more to legitimize the "feature film" feel of it than a lot of other aspects of it.

[SlateSlabrock]

Peppy pop songs are just musical fluff that set the right tone for a happy ending curtain call. On the other hand, Love's In Bloom at least fits the episode, since it's not just some random song yanked off the radio like so many movies.

Now, who's going to be the first one to edit All Star into the final scene?

[Doctor Wheeze]

Now, who's going to be the first one to edit All Star into the final scene?

That almost works

[Admiral Bonetopickhey u]

https://twitter.com/#!/R_Dart/status/195899514614333440

A My Little Pony cartoon used the guy who directed Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood as an artistic influence

[Mechanical ApeAnd I thought they smelled bad on the outside!]

I was just thinking about "Love's In Bloom" and how oddly right it feels to have it, a pop-style song that sounds like it could have come straight off the radio, as the ending scene/curtain call music.

I think context is what makes the song work as well as it does. "Love's In Bloom" is a light, catchy, almost painfully simple pop tune. If I'd first heard it on its own, without the surrounding episode, I might have judged it as a little too light and poppy for the show's usual standard -- it sounds like it was meant to wrap up a Strawberry Shortcake ep and ended up in Equestria by mistake. But in the context of the episode, it fits. It's a perfect tension reliever -- we've had 40 minutes of some fairly dark and complex events (as well as some dark/complex songs), and at the end of it all, when Pinkie throws the mic and Twilight breaks into this happy, uncomplicated dance tune, that's the point where we feel that everything's OK now. It's the lollipop you get after your doctor's visit.

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

It's the lollipop you get after your doctor's visit.

Ice Cream after your Colonoscopy.

And I don't know any of the song names, you're talking about the ending song to the season, right? I don't actually remember any of the lyrics because I was too engrossed in the celebration.

[KronosGiver of Zero Bucks]

BBBFF - first song, about Twilight and Shining Armor
BBBFF reprise - soul crushing moment for Twilight after EVERYBODY sides against her
This Day Aria - "duet" between the two Candences (after the real one proves she's legit)
This Day Aria reprise - when victory is all but assured for Chrysalis
Love is in Bloom - Twilight's pop finisher after the true wedding at the end (right after Vinyl Scratch makes her entry)

[numsOic]

Love is in Bloom reprise (season 3 opener) - a happy tune from forgotten times before the post-apocalyptic anarchy that ensues for the rest of the season.

[GravensteinCURSE YOU LARSON FOR MAKING ME THIS WAY!]

https://twitter.com/#!/R_Dart/status/195899514614333440

A My Little Pony cartoon used the guy who directed Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood as an artistic influence

That is the most completely insane thing I have ever heard.

[Headless Horse]

The fact that it's Twilight who sings the song is what really seals it for me; it puts the greatest little cap on her gradual acceptance of Cadance in her brother's life. I didn't even realize that bit until a rewatch (I missed the microphone-toss thing and assumed it was just a soundtrack song or an Equestrian Top 40 hit Vinyl was spinning or something).

[AramekYour MRI results have shown total infection to now be approximately one fifth of the full mass of the tissue."So you're saying..."Your brain is about 20% tumor.]

the microphone-toss thing

It's magical wirelessness notwithstanding, it was a Shure Classic Gear 55-SH Series II.
Phantom Power being supplied by Unicorn Magic!

[Mad SurgeLunch break is over, back to the brewThe fad is over and nothing's askew!]

https://twitter.com/#!/R_Dart/status/195899514614333440

A My Little Pony cartoon used the guy who directed Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood as an artistic influence

SHIT. I saw a part of that series and I almost fainted from the disgust
At least Chrysalis isn't being eaten alive by maggots or something like that...

[Headless Horse]

It's kinda like how Disney hired Gerald Scarfe (the guy who did all the freakout animation from Pink Floyd's The Wall) to do the art design for Hercules.

[kefkafloyd]

It's kinda like how Disney hired Gerald Scarfe (the guy who did all the freakout animation from Pink Floyd's The Wall) to do the art design for Hercules.

Gerald Scarfe was probably more well known for his editorial cartooning in England. It was quite the jump. You can sort of see that Hercules style in his editorial work.

[Wayoshi]

I didn't even realize that bit until a rewatch (I missed the microphone-toss thing and assumed it was just a soundtrack song or an Equestrian Top 40 hit Vinyl was spinning or something).

Well, it does shift to that after the bouquet.

[RagnarWhat's older? Unicorns, or stars?]

"I now pronounce you mare and colt." I wonder if they're intentionally reversing the man/girl thing from real life. If "the matriarchy" became a running theme, I would be ridiculously impressed. If Legend of Korra can do privilege and class warfare, what other social issues can kid cartoons handle?

I saw the eye-star thing this time around. I'd call it no big deal, but then it happens again at the tale end in the sky. Symbolism??

[numsOic]

I imagine it's more a "both start with /m/" thing, at least in the "man" version.

[RagnarWhat's older? Unicorns, or stars?]

But he's a stallion, not a colt.

[numsOic]

They also say "fillies and gentlecolts" when referring to adults. I don't know.

[Ashenai You're dorkin' up the skies, Twilight Sparkle.]

They also say "fillies and gentlecolts" when referring to adults. I don't know.

Well, "gentlestallion" just sounds stupid. But yeah, Celestia probably should have pronounced them "mare and stallion."

[The DoctorTurner Of All Things Timey Wimey]

Celestia also should have performed the ceremony like the priest in "The Princess Bride" but what are you going to do...

[Scuderia FerrarityThe Corndogs Of Today are the Tacos of Tomorrow]

Celestia also should have performed the ceremony like the priest in "The Princess Bride" but what are you going to do...

MAWWIDGE

SHIT. I saw a part of that series and I almost fainted from the disgust
At least Chrysalis isn't being eaten alive by maggots or something like that...

OK!

Looks like I wasn't too far off in my idea of Chrysalis as "Beelzebub".

[The DoctorTurner Of All Things Timey Wimey]

MAWWIDGE

Pownies

[Wayoshi]

Extended Love Is In Bloom came out on Hasbro's website, YT rip:

Click here to view video.

New section in the middle and a long intro, but not that much different. This is the accompanying video.

[SlateSlabrock]

They also say "fillies and gentlecolts" when referring to adults. I don't know.

Except in this episode, where they were "mares and gentlecolts." My canoooooon!

[Wonkadoo]

Chrysalis, being the changeling queen, tends to respond to events as if she were dealing with her own little changeling ponies. And when she begins to see Twilight as a threat, she responds by throwing her into a dungeon.

[Crow.Why, of course!I'm clearly insane! .]

Except in this episode, where they were "mares and gentlecolts." My canoooooon!

The announcer at the Best Young Flier's competition also says, "Fillies and Gentlecolts".

[Pocketis she just gonna go booty booty]

I half-joked about some brony couple using "Love Is in Bloom" at their wedding reception, but Headless's post made me realize something else about the song: It reminds me more specifically of the kind of song they might play over the cheesy computerized slide show/home-video montage that it's become popular to show at receptions nowadays. If it had more verses, and didn't mention ponies, it would be absolutely perfect for that sort of thing.

This shot looks adorable to me, rather than creepy and villainous.

Me too. Given the way it's set up, it feels more like one of those scenes where the "scary creature" is revealed to be some harmless, fluffy thing. Surprised nobody caught that and changed it to give her angry eyes instead. She looks appropriately menacing in the rest of the episode.

[CorpusCavernosumThe bear and the unicorn fair]

ok, the work week is over, so I finally had time to go through the episode thread. The 27-page episode thread. This might be a long post... stream of consciousness

Hour long advertisements all about "Snuggles The Bear" (Has anyone seen that Ad on the HUB? Damn america your advertisements sure are something.)

The ads aren't for Snuggles the bear, they're for fabric softener. Because you want your clothes to be nice and cuddly... like bears are.

Episode 25 should have been the season finale. A glorious cliffhanger for the summer. People say it woudl be cruel, but cliffhangers generate non-stop speculation and discussion that gets a fanbase through the off season with class, and style. Just Twilight being drug down to pony hell and a To be Continued message.

I was thinking the same thing... I used to watch shows like ST:TNG, Lost, Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica that would cliffhang you for months between seasons. I would enjoy that but most would consider it a fucked up thing to do... especially to the 300,000+ children who were watching. Think of the children!

Y'know what surprised me?
Celestia shot first.

No warning, no "stand down!", or "Give up!", just straight to the solar death beam. You mess with the 'corn, you get the horn!

She could have just shot Chrysalis in the back... she didn't have to do the whole "I'm going to stop you" speech. Goddess-pony-princesses confirmed for stupid.

I really liked that Changeling Queen's design. They did a great job making her twisted and nightmarish, yet still elegant and "pretty" enough to be a queen.

The swiss cheese legs were just ... ah! horrifying. and holes in the hair, too (how does that work!?) I'm sure people will be making Chrysalis customs out of Celestia toys, using dark gray paint and a cordless drill... and people will pay big money for them.

I'd mentioned Little Mermaid earlier. ( I assume some of you have seen Little Mermaid, right?

I saw it in the theaters when it came out... and I got sick from theater nachos and vomited all over the aisle. good times.

Random thoughts!

Good to see that unicorns aren't entirely unstoppable. Their laser beams can be reflected using certain gems.

All the various uploads on Youtube total over half a million views. Most other episodes are around half that.

'Love is in Bloom' is a great song. Not a great pony wedding song. Just a great song. If you were listening to it without the frame of reference (knowing that it's from MLP), you would just assume that it was a song made for somebody's wedding. I'm sure that we will be seeing videos of it (or a remix of it) being used at weddings at some point during the summer.

Even though these episodes were a little dark, there was still epic levels of cuteness, with the Filly Twilight flashback and a quick glimpse of Dinky.

I was hoping for one of the characters to facehoof or roll their eyes when Luna showed up asking if she missed anything. Yes, Luna... you missed 95% of the finale and 47 of the 52 episodes in the series thus far.

'B.B.B.F.F.' was the weakest song, but it had filly Twilight so I didn't really notice. The floating heads in the sky weirded me out for some reason.

Wild horses actually have a phenomenon called the bachelor herd. Young horses who are not strong enough to form their own harem of mares roam the land together... for protection.

I loved the sandwich puppet and Twilight's facial expressions during that whole sequence. It gave the impression that she really was crazy and wrong during Part 1.

Apparently the primary weapon of pony soldiers are spears that are twice as tall of a stallion.

So if Equestria is ever attacked, the unicorns in Canterlot will just erect a shield and let the invaders pillage and destroy all the earth pony towns outside the bubble? Nice...

(end random thoughts)

This Day Aria was legit one of the best cartoon songs I've seen in a long long time.

'This Day Aria' was incredible; I know this was said before, but it was equal or superior to the best Disney songs of the 1990s. Its only flaw was being too short.

You gotta admit this pose is awesome.

"Fighting's not really my thing... ok, so it is my thing. PREPARE. TO. DIE!"

Or for that matter, if Shiny was too busy, couldn't Ma and Pa have let her known?

Damn Sparkle clan, get your crap together!

I'm beginning to think that after being turned into plants, they just don't want Twilight around, and Celestia had to force them to invite her to the wedding.

Well, my friend thinks Chrysalis is the lamest villain ever.

Show him the 1990s Batman movies. Have an ice day!

I'm pretty sure that goes along the lines of "The bridesmaids can't show up the bride herself".

They should have at least gotten one line about trying to get flower girl cutie marks or something... it would have been better than the way they jammed the sonic rainboom into the episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COG1nrWEZao&feature=player_embedded

Celestia has been kidnapped by ninjas/changelings.
Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the princess?

THIS

They didn't want to generate love, just feed off the existing love, I think. Terrorizing the populace is still a viable option since it's not like anyone would stop loving their friends and family just because of the apocalypse.

If anything, they'd love them more. Plays right into the changelings' hooves.

Pinkie must have the same view of Shining Armor as she does Spike when it comes to party invites.

Handsome unicorn stallion + Rarity + copious amounts of punch = Sweetie Belle is an aunt.

Spike knows when he's way out of his depth. Just gonna chill and be a good little prisoner while Twilight and friends save the day.

Spike follows the chain of command. It doesn't matter who's in charge, they'll probably need to send letters at some point. Also, Chrysalis knows that there's a cave full of gems underneath Canterlot... think about it.

Yeah, after she gets KO'd, Celestia tells them to go get the Elements.

I would assume that the Elements would work on anybody, but I kind of see them as specifically being a counter to things like Discord. You get kind of a thematic chaos/order thing that way.

Really glad the Elements weren't used here. I mean, could they use them the Elements to solve all their problems, even just minor annoyances?
"The Cake twins are out of control!" = Use the Elements of Harmony to make them fall asleep
"Spike turned into a giant dragon again" = Use the Elements of Harmony to turn him back into a baby.
"We need a tornado to carry water to Clousdale" = Elements
"Can't make enough cider for everyone" = Elements
"I'm bored" = Elements!

Holy crap, that took 90 minutes to put together. Have a nice weekend, folks.

[SlateSlabrock]

Really glad the Elements weren't used here. I mean, could they use them the Elements to solve all their problems, even just minor annoyances?

Basically G1 in a nutshell:

Megan uses the magic of the Rainbow of Light to keep a storm away from the Paradise Estate's orchards. Her younger brother Danny sees a chance for some mischief, and takes control of the Rainbow, drenching his sisters in rain.

[Scuderia FerrarityThe Corndogs Of Today are the Tacos of Tomorrow]

There's a line that's been bugging me - Twilight frees Cadance from the goo binding her hooves to the floor and tells her
"Quick! Go to him while you still have a chance!"

You can word things so that they don't sound so serious but to me this sounds like "Quick! Say your goodbyes while you still can!"

Which is incredibly grim. Celestia is down, the heros have been captured, Canterlot is being attacked. Game Over.

[The DoctorTurner Of All Things Timey Wimey]

There's a line that's been bugging me - Twilight frees Cadance from the goo binding her hooves to the floor and tells her
"Quick! Go to him while you still have a chance!"

You can word things so that they don't sound so serious but to me this sounds like "Quick! Say your goodbyes while you still can!"

Which is incredibly grim. Celestia is down, the heros have been captured, Canterlot is being attacked. Game Over.

Reminded me a bit of the end of Return of the King (the book), where Aragorn and everyone are outside Mordor and the Mouth of Sauron showed them Frodo's belongings. In the book the general attitude was "well, we're screwed, might as well die here". The heroes know they're beaten and finished, and just want to try and go out on their own terms.

[Grilox]

What was with the entire last page being about "Celestia's such a wimp" and stuff I'll jab you guys; all of you.

How's about this: Chrysalis won not because of feeding off of just Shining Armor's love, but the love Celestia and Luna had for their niece, and the entirety of Canterlot's love for their princess.

That was the sort of power necessary to knock out Celestia.

[Ransom]

What was with the entire last page being about "Celestia's such a wimp" and stuff I'll jab you guys; all of you.

How's about this: Chrysalis won not because of feeding off of just Shining Armor's love, but the love Celestia and Luna had for their niece, and the entirety of Canterlot's love for their princess.

That was the sort of power necessary to knock out Celestia.

Why do I feel such a need to defend the honor of a fictional shiny white Princess pony? The Changeling got lucky! (already posted in the art forums comics thread)

I want Celestia to get a chance to really impress, maybe get a rematch with Sally and create a Green Lantern style fly swatter