Taking Gauntlet of Fire Too Seriously ft. Vivid Dreams 

"And the Celestia drops the *sun* on him."

So rarity is Like a fine cut Diamond. Very beautiful, Very Tough, and Very sharp.

Lesson learned: NEVER ask a question you don't want to know the answer to. Also Firebrand needs stronger walls

Easy answer for there only being teen dragons. Torch is passing the title to the next generation, there's no reason for the larger/older dragons to be there.

"And everyone who was ever mean to me shall be... Executed." BEST LINE FROM WRECK-IT RALPH!

"I don't know why he hoards plushies! More importantly, I don't care..." This!! Things like this are why I have so much respect for Firebrand. No matter how strange something is somebody has, as long as they're not hurting anybody, who cares!!?

My theory is that Torch only called the young dragons because his heir needed to be young.

"That wasn't a joke, it was a fact." Firebrand is right. That line MUST become a meme.

That ending. xD A rule of life Josh, never ask questions you don't want to know the answers to.

Ponies not knowing much about dragons is totally believable. Look at how long it took humans to fully understand gorillas. First we thought they were made up, then we thought they were basically primitive humans, then we thought they were something akin to Sasquatch, until we finally came to view them as the animals we all know. That took several hundred years, and even today, there are still a boatload of misconceptions about them which persist. Ergo, ponies not understanding dragons even after a millennium has passed is well within the realm of possibility.

“Insert politician you don’t like here” Congratulations! You found a way to do a joke like that without offending anyone!

I just go with it's a kind of generational thing. That all the larger dragons are adults who had their chance at the Scepter when Torch won it, this is now to see who will lead the next generation of dragons.

Anyone else notice the first dragon Garble hugs, was happy to receive a hug?

Dragon's don't DO friends! This Dragon does! How did you miss that double entendre!?

Even with Celestia and Luna's, questionable track record, I doubt the dragons could get very far because of one being. Discord. Fluttershy has him practically wrapped around her hoof and if he thinks they're a threat to basically the only pony he actually cares about unironically, he's likely to take it rather poorly.

"How did that not become a meme?" I WILL MAKE IT A MEME!

I have to say after watching this episode, I couldn’t help but come away from it being maybe the best episode that I’ve seen. Not just because of the dragons, but because of the lesson it portrayed. Even as a girl, I’ve been put down for not liking romance, or not enjoying the things that ‘most girls’ do. To see that Spike rises above it with Grumpy McEdgelord while at the same time staying humble and even chivalrous is such a nice thing to see!

"He can be incredibly selfish and greedy and very easily lets temptation get the better of him" Hes a dragon, its par for the course Also immense kudos for using music from Maximo, that game is underrated if ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL

20:20 1) Firebrand, don't ask question you don't want to know the answers to. 2) Someone better start drawing some Vivid/Kyton fan art or I will! XD

This is, without a doubt, the BEST Spike episode! Seriously! We need more of this side of Spike!

Am i the only who thinks the bow on raritys hard hat is adorable

7:27 plus, I'm pretty sure that's how all fathers react when people look at their daughters..... XD

I believe that The Dragon Lord isn’t a leader because he’s the largest. He just won the bloodstone septer back in his day, and we don’t see any of the other big ones, because he’s calling all the teenagers. You don’t make anyone your successor that’s the same age as you. That’s just how I see it though.

Everyone keeps talking about how Josh didn't say the taking too seriously quote at the end. It's most likely cuz he's traumatized by the fact that Vivid just revealed that he was having sexual relations with a changling

Also Josh what about the fact that Ember is his daughter which fathers are usually protective of, this is also my theory for why he didn’t want Ember to participate for fear of her getting hurt

What I took from this episode is, "Damn, Spike can LIFT!" Seriously, we see him carrying an unconscious Ember, a dragon probably twice his weight when she's NOT in full armor; we see him moving a boulder heavy enough to pin down Garble; and we see him save Rarity, who again, is probably something like twice his weight. Seriously, is that strength innate to dragons, or is Spike doing some serious push-ups off-screen?

If you look at chivalry as it was originally (all the way back to even the Holy Roman Empire), it was more about being a good soldier than anything else. I think people often confuse chivalry with a sense of moral decency; or the modern take on being either gentlemanly or ladylike (which themselves were originally something different). But the point still stands. At his best, Spike is the moral grounding of the main cast. He’s able to call them out on their bull and admit when he himself makes a mistake. But that’s a rant for when y’all get to the episode where Thorax and Ember meet. And no. We will _never_ forget the name Ember. You _will_ remember her name.

to quote brawny buck at that last bit "OH GOD THE IMPLEMENTATIONS!!!!!!!"

you forget celestia was taken by surprise by a powered up chrysalis

5:08. OBJECTION!! Vincent Tong voices Donut Joe!

Sin Counter: 132 Completely shameless cinema sins reference * ding *

14:30 Firebrand would be great for MAD's snappy answers to dumb questions

By the way, kudos for tackling this episode! Your Spike Trilogy also inspired me to review this over on Equestria Amino. Or rather, I set up a poll of Spike episodes, and this one won.

6:13-6:27 *(jaw drops wide open in shock)* DANG, Vivid has an AMAZING singing voice! I wonder why he hasn't written any songs for Josh's reviews? He could totally do that!

In my opinion, while dragons in the series do get a bad reputation, Garble, in trying to be the stereotype to end all stereotypes, actually surpasses the terrible dragon stigmas to become a full on sociopath, and he needs to be banished to Tartarus for everyone's safety.

Man, Spike was such a great guy in this. Too bad his role was stolen by Starlight. *Seinfeld Tune*

OI! You didn’t say anything about taking anything too seriously! You’re supposed to do that at the end of every episode!

this truly was an amazing episode

9:37 Try saying that to an army of Fairy type Pokemon!

Is Vivid allergic to Fairy-type Pokemon?

This is why Spike is my favorite character, and it was another amazing review, always love your input

I fangasmed at spike’s determination.

also congrats on the new relationship firebrand. I'm happy for you

I thought the thing about why there were only younger dragons was the Dragonlord intentionally didn't summon the older ones. Possibly because they were too big and strong and might take his throne somewhere he didn't want (like he'd rigged it in Ember's favor or something), or possibly Dragons have sort a reverse of Human government elegebility rules where a dragon can't hold office if they are TOO old. Perhaps by that point most dragons have settled down with their hordes and don't want to rule.

Confirmed, Vivid Dreams has a crush on Celestia

"Where does he even get the love from?" I have an idea where...one word..starts with s ends with x and has an e in the center...

I ship vivid and chiton now.

'Dragons don't 'do' friends' They find partners for life :P,

Ah, breaking josh’s psyche. Truly the best joke.

If Spike was a basketball player, this episode would be his career high. As a Spike fan, I've been praying that he for once had a great episode and now he's finally got one. In my personal headcanon when Spike grows up into a teen dragon and gets secret training from Ember to defend himself, he finally squares off against Garble and kicks his ass. But for now, him constantly giving Garble the slip works too.

_That just raises even more questions!_ My thoughts whenever I see something that makes me rethink being in this fandom. Such as a dragon painting Celestia in lingerie, for example.

Wait, I thought Rainbow-lings didn't need to eat love anymore.

This episode had me falling out of my chair laughing. I loved Vivid's eyebrow waggle at the end for Firebrand. Plus dragons YAY~!

Spike doesn't deserve the shit he gets from the writers. He's amazing. If men in power learned from Spike's example, we wouldn't be going through the horseapples we have now. *rant redacted*

All I can say is thank you for the Wreck-It Ralph comparison because that is my absolute favorite scene from that movie I laughed so hard (and then started coughing but that’s besides the point)

12:00 "you can't even fly, yet, key word YET.

Still to this day I wish they dedicate an episode to Spike where he gets over his crush for Rarity. It's still a good lesson for young (and older) minds to learn. Crushes are called that because you feel crushed when it's over.

I believe every time we've seen the changelings before their transformation only continued to show chrysalis as incompetent. A canterlot wedding: there introduced in an invasion that did need to happen. They kidnapped cadence an alicorn that's talent IS love magic. Her alone could have been used to help feed them for a long time. But nope throw her in a hole to be forgotten. A times they are a changeling: the Crystal Empire radiates love and light thanks the the crystal heart so why couldn't they try and feed off that? I don't think there's ever a token mention as to why they don't even try. To were and back again: 1) they didn't kidnap Starlight during her trip because they "didn't think she was worth taking?" She is as powerful as twilight and very charismatic when she wants to be. You are stupid. 2) sharing love instead of holding it should only really mean they won't be hungry anymore so you now have a potential army that doesn't need to constantly feed to attack the world. It's like the jemhadar in Ds9 were it was said if they no longer needed the drug only ment they had no other tethere to hold back the onslaught. All chrysalis needed to do was play alone. It's not like she's bad at deception.

Where does he even get the love to feed off of .............. OMG

Its pretty obvious that the heir needed to be young enough to ensure a long reign before retirement, so he only called all the adolescent and younger dragons. Also Changelings don't need to feed on love after they have been purified, a changeling's natural diet is nectar, flowers and insects.

that big blue dragon *really* liked that hug

that ending MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Vivid: we're the movers and shakers of mythology Me: was that... a worm reference?

4:23 In the show's defense, it's been shown that the dragons haven't exactly been extending the ol' olive branch. I merely repeat what I said back in the review of Dragon Quest: Part of the problem is likely xenophobia brought on by fear of what they consider a threat. Once again, I ain't sayin' they're right in doing so. Merely that there's a method to the ignorance; less an excuse and more an explanation. As for where Celestia got the egg...that's actually a legitimate question. Something I'm amazed Twilight didn't think of doing in Dragon Quest or NOW.

16:06 I-I can't resist!!! "OH GOD THE IMPLICATIONS!!!!" God damnit! Now I have to pay Brawnybuck the royalties for using one of his catch phrases.

Man, I've actually thought about this before, and I always thought Josh would absolutely DESPISE DWK. I mean, he's drunk and high in every video he makes, says "fuck" every other word, and makes constant pony sex jokes. He seems like the anti-Scorcher in a lot of ways. Good to see you have an open enough mind to enjoy someone's content whose practically the opposite to your own lol.

7:57 can’t stop replaying this

I have to say one thing: when I first saw this episode, I saw in Ember the personality of Cinder, from The Legend of Spyro Trilogy. And, speaking of Spyro, do we need to bring him to the former Dragon Lord just to show how a tiny dragon, like Spyro, could overcome his adventures despite his size?

9:41-9:47 PPFFFFAHAHAHHAHHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-! *inhales* oh that gets me every time!

Still hoping EmberSpike becomes real

hope to see more Vivid and Firebrand episode reviews. Comedy gold!

Vivid Dreams at 18:13 ja YEET !!!! Btw i think he is One Punch Dragon (or mam or whatever :D )

17:15 SenPie NOTICED MEEE!!!

Thanks for giving DWK a shout out.

12:28 well this shouldn't be too hard *roll of the dice* he just has to swim to the volcan- oh sweet Mohammed!

My theory as to why Josh skipped a bunch of episodes just to do this particular one: Josh: "Oh shit! Trilogy Time on my main channel just ended up bashing Spike when it was supposed to be a celebration of him! I've gotta do something to remind people that I like him and this show! Uh...uh...I'll do a review of Gauntlet of Fire on on FOB Equestria early. Yeah, that should be enough.

Seeing this in my subscription box made me so happy! This is still my all time favorite episode of the show even removing my obvious bias. Also, I'll find a way to utilize "that wasn't a joke, it was a fact" just you wait

OC:"Twilight..one,your the element of MAGIC...TWO,YOUR A FREAKING ALICORN WITH GOD POWERS."Twilight:"*blink* Oh yeah!" JUST BLAST GARBLE TO THE MOON INSTEAD OF BACKING AWAY FROM HIM!!! I mean,you could even trap him in a block of crystal like Starlight did to you in season five!XD

"Where does he even get the love to feed off of?" *eYeBrOWs* *me and firebrand scream *I NEED TO BLEACH MY BRAIN.*

9:00 but, it did become a meme.

14:30 The timing of that sarcastic joke is comedy plantinum. Firebrand...NEVER CHANGE

19:20 Personally I wish we could see the show have a male character be masculine, dominate, and bold without resorting to demeaning gags.

Omg! I now realized why Fire Brand screamed at the end! Wtfrick!?

6:06 when you first meet your new waifu

I think Vivid must make his own love for that changling... **Wink wonk**

The thumbnail is incredible.

3:36, as a hipogriff once said, "CONTINUITY!"

I was hoping ud do this episode 😄

Spike at your service. I am so looking forward to that, Josh.

Aww, Vivid Dreams has his very own snuggle-bug. (I'm jealous.) Nice video.

That ending was just a complete mood. My friends make jokes like that all the time and I just completely break

8:39 I'd have used a different term to describe Blackstar. Mostly because toxic masculinity carries with it a terrible connotation about the person using it.

I just love the Ghouls n' Ghosts background music.

1:32 than that means we can pretend that the episode Honest Apple never existed.

Oh mate. You make me laugh every time. I watch you.

Did Vivid just forgot Firebrand is an unicorn with explosions as his special talent? Firebrand could kill Vivid in less than 2 secs...

Wasn’t expecting a soul eater reference, well done I’m impressed.

15:43 I think I laughed WAY too hard on that "baka"

Love the D&D inspired jokes... Also falling rocks are nothing compared to betrayals when it comes to many deaths in D&D.

How do you misspell your boss's name in the credits (I'm assuming 'Joshsua' didn't do it himself)?