I'm glad to see that more episodes in Season 8 are Genuinely Surprising me :) Support DRWolf on Patreon: / drwolf My Little Pony Characters, Images, and Video Clips belong to Hasbro and DHX Media.
Well let’s be honest: visit hometown where the base of your trauma took place and turned you into a villain or stop a war where you are hailed as a hero 😅
considering a pony nearly did start a war in the premier i wouldn't be surprised if the finale ended with a war (started by neigh say probably petitioning the rest of equestria to close twilights school by telling everyone how "dangerous" none ponies are - would be cool if he started trouble in the dragon community in fillydalphia to back up his claim, maybe even dragging spike into it) Im also calling it now that by the end of season 8 or beginning of season 9 (assuming there is one) twilights school will have none pony teachers brought in from the other species lands (either characters from the comics or other episodes or the young 6 become the new teachers/representatives) and/or the 6 pillars will be back to teach in the mane 6s place. we already have several griffin characters that could fit that role, there is now a few hippogryphs, changelings and a couple of yaks who could join. only thing were missing is a positive dragon representation besides ember (too busy leading), smoulder (currently a student) or spike (too young raised by ponies). Much as we need to keep some characters the way they are to show that some people just wont change or have a previously friendly character become an antagonist to show that some people could change for the worse and bringing back the cutting off a toxic friendship is a good thing message from "griffon the brush off", I would still kinda like to see an episode where garble actually learns a lesson and becomes a "nice" guy. never gunna happen, though could be a fun ride.
starlights father’s actions make even more sense when you consider why starlight glimmer went down the path she went. If he was somehow able to tell that everything that happened to her was because of her grief over her friend leaving then it makes even more sense that he would try to preserve the town to make it exactly the same and never changing so she wouldn’t feel like that again.
As a voice actor joke I imagined Firelight as ex-husband to Melody from _My Little Pony Tales_ (Both she and Starlight Glimmer were voiced by Kelly Sheridan). But I realized that the fallout of that backstory could also have contributed to Starlight Glimmer's fall (as well as supply an origin for her name, as Starlight was the name of one of Melody's foalhood friends).
@@KororaPenguin I recently started watching MLPT and it makes more sense for MLPT to occur somewhere in between FIM and ANG, now that we know what happened to the species relations. Still, that's quite an interesting theory on how the shows could be connected together.
I just had a realization. Twilight's dominion is the cutie map. Celestia raises the Sun, Luna the Moon, Cadence protects the Crystal Empire, and Twilight sends ponies on missions to mend friendships that would other wise greatly harm Equestria.
The cutiemap is an extension of the chest (that is buried on the center of the "throne room" just below that white star symbol). -> The chest represents "Malkuth" (Kingdom) in the Sephirotic Diagram [The Tree of Hamony]; meaning now "Twilight´s Kingdom" is the entire Realm of Equestria and the "Lands Beyond it" [she is the "The Alicorn of the Earth" ].
@ Phillip: On the contrary, she SHOULD do that (IF she considers it _necesary_ ). -> A good example would be if they actively prevented their children from learning about friendship [not the case: Yona would be their future teacher].
Honestly, the way Starlight's father treats her kind of gives us some insight into why she turned out the way she did. He told her that it was wrong to talk to strangers and typically people can't make more friends until they talk to strangers. Not only that, but Sunburst threw out a lot of letters from his and Starlight's hometown. Maybe Starlight did try to get into contact with Sunburst before she went off the deep end and he ignored those letters, thinking they were from his mom.
I can really relate with both Starlight and Sunburst. My father keep seeing me as a little girl who cant do thing on my own and when Starlight dad give history lesson to her really remind how my dad keep giving me history and sport lesson ( my dad is a gym and also history teacher by the way...) and my mother always think that i will fail in life if i have no plan that the only collage she want to sent me off is only about inside our state so that way she can keep sent and take me back home every week.....
Plot-twist: It was Starswirl abusing his "Master Admin" rights with the cutiemap, sending them to a fake "mission impossible" as a prank [to "get them back" from the dozens they pulled on him in the past].
I really think that Rainbow's parents were more symbolic for the younger audiences. Kids or teenager's who don't get along with their parents because it's "not cool", where this was more for the slightly older audiences learning to communicate with their parents as an adult who is independent.
Oh this handle the "Helicopter parent" situation WAY better then Parental Glideance in my opinion. For one thing, in RD's episode, they made it look like RD was completely in the wrong when her parents caused more harm then she did. Here at least both parties learned something. As for the episode itself, this one really hit close to home since I have a strained relationship with my parents, especially my mother. It's gotten so bad that I honestly don't know if I want to mend it. So yeah with this episode, I am completely on the fence because of how personal it is.
I agree completely. This is Parental Glideance done right. Rainbow was painted too far in the wrong. Sure she was rude, and hurt her parents feelings, and if their antics had been considerably toned down how they portrayed Rainbow might have worked, but that wasn't the case. For goodness sake, they launched fireworks into the middle of an airshow! Somepony could have been killed. I was with Rainbow every step of the way and it really rankled that she got shoehorned into the villain role. But in this episode it's shown that both sides made mistakes and added to the problem, and both sides had to compromise to repair their relationship. A much better lesson in my opinion.
Also hints of "Forever Filly" As for rushed, I found it interesting that it ended on a note of "Let's get out of here before they decide they have nothing that can't wait and come along with us." So there is still work to be done.
The map seems to largely call those who have connections to the mane six. sunburst is arguably the most distant one but he has shown to get along with the man six. friendship is magic and its power grows the more people in the circle.
How would the map call someone who had no idea what a glowing cutiemark means? Only those aware of the functioning of the map are able to respond to the call, so why call outsiders?
The map calls only on those who know about it, and are suited to solve the problem, it doesn't call at random, those who are call by the map are all consisten with knowing about the map and being able to solve the friendships problem
"MOM THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS" Has to be one of my favorite moments. Seriously that constant making a problem so they can fix it is a throwback to that one twilight sparkle episode in season two where she's trying to find a friendship problem so she doesn't get in trouble for not sending a letter. It seems they were playing up that same angle with the sunburst's mom because she was afraid they'd get fired for not doing a good job on their friendship mission. On the other hand there were flaws like the dad constantly popping up. This is pinkie pie territory. Where it's fine with pinkie pie I just think it's unnecessary for a parent to know where his daughter is and the constant treating starlight glimmer like a filly got kinda annoying. It's not a bad episode just some parts were ehh
Tom Reis oh now this is a subject matter I can get behind. I think, if you look at them as more than friends or really close friends, it’s because you often try to find someone like your parents. I think my English professor talked about it that we search for something stable and familiar in our partners in our daily upbringing. Hope that makes sense
JapaneseDancer46 I think that just depends on each person, I heard about the whole “finding a partner that reminds you of your family member” this tends to turned a lot of people off, including myself. As for this episode, Stellar was a lot like old Starlight in that episode, I’m not so sure if Sunburst is like Firelight, maybe Firelight used to be similar to him, being all detached and a bit of a bookworm himself, definitely not seeing Sunburst being all doting, but I am definitely seeing Starlight in Stellar
10:17 also something i would add is that perhaps stellar flare felt guilt for pushing sunburst to magic school the second he got his cutie mark an action of impulse. so in order to feel like she can make up for it she decided to develop all these plans and contingencies for sunburst.
lunerblade13 I agree. I think their parents made bigger mistakes with them when they were children. Firelight was probably so wrapped up in his work that Starlight felt alone and Stellar expected nothing but the best from Sunburst and didn't take into account what he wanted, making him feel ignored. Starlight and Sunburst relied on each other, because no one else noticed them.
I was calling this "Parental Glidence pt II". I really lked it. I came away from my inital viewing with yeah, I really liked it. It doesn't hurt that I'm a Starlight fan, either. I agree with you on the way the story unfolded. At first, with the pun of the title, I was thinking, are a couple of ponies actually siblings and not know it? I'm glad they didn't go that route. I definitely thunk te writers are writing to a much broader age range, and not just little tidbits here and there to placate the older audience members. I really like that Hasbro has let it go past a marketing ploy, and let real storytelling happen. As always, I look forward to your next video post.
I think they kind of pre-established that Starlight has a bit of a "punk" streak, with the style of human clothes she wore in that Equestria Girls movie where she goes to the human world.
The word "movie" simply refers to the fact that it's a "moving picture". Technically, ANY moving picture, whether 3 minutes long or 3 hours long, could be considered a "movie". The only other thing that makes the Equestria girls "special" different, is the fact that you see it on TV instead of in theaters. You could even still call it a "TV Movie". Why are you quibbling over something so minor?
Wow! This season had a bit of a slow start, but now we’ve been getting some awesome episodes in succession. And more episodes that center on Starlight and Sunburst is always good in my book.
I disagree I've enjoyed every episode we've gotten so far. How well that holds remains to be seen especially cause at least two of the episodes coming up have really got me worried because of their synopsis.
I have enjoyed every episode in this eason as well, however it still felt like the first couple (outside the premiere which was excellent) were a bit more awkwardly made
11:00 Thanks for bringing up these little moments - I didn't really notice them first watching the episode. This made me appreciate the episode a lot more. I personally think all the little details in the village - the greeting doors, the forced smiles and the sudden appearances - were not only jokes or red herrings, but were actually meant to paint a picture of the environment Starlight grew up in and her development. Stellar Flare seems to be such a commanding presence with big plans, while Firelight is all about preservation, history and preventing bad things. (Starlight also mentions that he won't even let her talk to "strangers".) With all of that over years, there's was no chance for Starlight NOT getting screwed up.
Yeah this episode really caught me off guard but the real conflict of the episode really spoke to me because my parents behave exactly like those parents. Sometimes they treat me like a baby and sometimes they keep pushing me to plan for my future. But there are other times where its both when they try to spoonfeed me in tasks I have to figure on my own. I understand it comes from a place of love but I constantly have to remind them that I need to grow on my own.
The one thing this episode did for me was explain why EQG starlight looks the way she does. i never knew why they went with the punk rock style for her, but after seeing her childhood room? I totally get it now. On a much more serious note, why do i get the feeling there's a conspiracy trying to get me back in touch with my father? this is just the latest in a long string of coincidences that just so happens to deal with or be about parent issues..... nah, buck it.
I did like seeing their parents and all the awesome reactions with Starlight and Sunburst With this episode, I thought their parents were doing this for their kids, being that one is the apprentice to Princess Twilight and the other is the Crystallor to the Crystal Empire and them fighting over who was better. But I did like how they went this direction. Also, considering Starlight's impressive magical skill I'm not surprised if her dad is equally as talented.
Sneakily teleporting in silence to appear next to someone and monitor them, unnoticed, seems like exactly the kind of spell an overprotective parent who is also a unicorn would master😆
This episode was filled with comedy. The bit as the end where they were trying to get the train to speed up while the parents schemed especially made me laugh
Starlight's parents treating her like a kid after she has enslaved the town is both absurd and makes sense insofar as they would want to think of her as she was before that happened
Nope, if you look closely, it looks like there's a bat kite on the ceiling and another kite string trailing down from somewhere else. It's really the happy kites that she prolly tossed.
I think the episode showed why Starlight and Sunburst are the way they are, especially Starlight. The whole reason she ended up starting a cult is because she couldn't let go of the past, which was a habit normalized by her father.
My favorite episode of the season. What you said about "preservation vs development" actually held true though. The first conflict worked well as a microcosm of the larger issues Starlight and Sunburst had with their parents. Oh, also, the townsfolk were great. Best background ponies.
RE : Angst Starlight's teen bedroom and new looks. Flutter Bat, Punk Rarity, Flutter Goth. The Halloween episode with Cowardly Lion Applejack, Space Cadet Rainbow Dash and Roller Disco Pinkie Pie. These one shot variants are fun. I look forward to them, but like any treat, it requires moderation.
In a way, I can sympathize with Starlight and Sunburst even more than normal, given the history I have with my family being overbearing and believing that I will never succeed. They believed that I was always putting too much time into things other than my schoolwork and that was the reason I wasn't passing. They would often forget that my brain is hardwired so differently that I can't learn the same way and process the same things other people can. They felt that the military was the only path left for me, yet after a lot of thinking, I realized that I was too mentally unstable for it.
Regarding Sunburst being chosen by the map, I don't see it as completely out of the blue that he might be chosen. He has had access to the map, and is a close friend to several ponies that have already been chosen. Starlight's magic is all over that map, and I suspect the map itself may be sentient. How else could it seek out and identify friendship problems, and know who the best pony to send is? What I'm suggesting here is that the sentience of the map discovered Starlight's loose ends, and decided it was time for those loose ends to get tied up. And now for an interesting theory that came out of a chat in an art stream. Concerning Starlight having only a dad, Sunburst having only a mom, both of whom seem to be on very good terms, and the lack of any mention of another parent on either side, it was suggested that Sunburst and Starlight could be brother and sister. Should this theory take traction, I imagine it will spawn some interesting fan fiction.
Starlight's fighting a war line really is her best line. I think this episode helps bridge the gap between where Starlight is now and the turning point of her backstory. Her friend getting his cutie mark and leaving her for magic school might have been what Starlight thought really caused her hatred of cutie marks; but I bet a father trying to overly baby her while trying to make his daughter happy again helped shove her even harder down the path. Cutie marks are bad assumption coupled with other ponies might be too dangerous to play with. Plus, Starlight being treated like a filly by her father mirrors her trying to relive her childhood with Sunburst with the board game episode. The only real issue I had is the stress on your parent being your friend at the end. Parents trying to be their kids' friend instead of parent can cause a lot of behavior issues, and many people might not understand when parent-child relationships are supposed to transition to parent-adult child relationships. I do love how this episode shows the overarching aspects of life with the show. You can already see themes of different stages in one's life; growing up, finding your career, teaching a student/child, watching them grow and growing from them. We seem to be in a legacy stage, with the importance of spreading your knowledge and leaving an impact on the world, thus the school makes sense. This episode adds to the 'life lessons in your adult life' package, just like Celestial Advice. The other thing that bothers me is we've had 3-4 mentions of the Pony movie, but no talk about the Season 7 finale still. Like, they have completely ignored anything to do with Starswirl and the heroes. I don't mind them not being a focus, or showing up much, but we need some continuity closure. I really don't see why the old heroes wouldn't be living in Cantorlot or able to give a guest lecture at Twilight's school.
Also, people bitch about how Starlight didn't try to make more friends or get into contact with Sunburst. Her father kind of was overprotective and in this episode Starlight said that her father didn't want her talking to strangers. You typically don't make friends unless you talk to "strangers". As for getting in contact with Sunburst, considering that Sunburst threw out a lot of letters from his hometown, maybe some of them were from Starlight before she went off the deep end.
thebeav PercabethFTW Considering Stellar's obsession with Sunburst going to magic school and being a successful wizard, I imagine he was shipped off before Starlight even knew where to send a letter, making her feel even more alone, because her friend was gone and she had no way of reaching out to him.
I thought they said they were going to travel at the end, given they haven't seen the world in so long and had a lot to catch up on. Also many were from further away home lands. I expected to see them again but not right away for that reason given they had their own tasks to fulfill as they said.
I agree fully on the issue with the "parent being your friend" I had the same problem with it. Parents need to learn to be a parent FIRST. You need to teach, guide, and DISCIPLINE the child. You need to try and raise them so that they are ready for the struggles of life. The certain unfairness of life and how to deal with issues. How to accept and handle conflict in a productive manner. Raising them to cry about and throw a fit over things not going your way, or having a break down over someone challenging your point of view sets them up to fail. I enjoyed this episode overall and thought their gotcha decoy map issue between the two parents was well done. One of the better episodes so far I'd say.
I did like this episode, but the red herring and Sunburst being called by the cutie map felt like tacked on additions that robbed the resolution of the time it needed to be fleshed out. They already had a set-up for Sunburst to be brought back to Sires Hollow, that didn't have to involve the map. I will say though, this episode makes me ship StarBurst all the more.
But remember that they were deliberately avoiding going back, Sunburst knew exactly who those letters came from at the start. The only way they would've gone was by the map.
I really liked this episode in a bubble. It makes a lot of sense and you can relate to a lot of what's going on. Parents usually have their reasons and I'm glad that it was not quite as one-sided as it could have been. Starlight and Sunburst play off each other really well. He's mild-mannered but a bit snarky and Starlight is as direct and to the point as a nuke to the face. What got to me about this episode was that it just threw up a lot of questions. Starlight had a goth phase? Okay, that's a bit weird but whatever. Where's her mother? Where's Sunburst's father? When did she leave home? When did she come back? I imagine she came back sometime after her redemption but before To Where and Back Again. Or maybe a little after I don't know. Why did her dad never enrol her in magic school? Did he? That leaves Sunburst, was his relationship better with his mother until he flunked? Has he been back since he flunked? Why did he end up in the Empire of all places? So many questions and not enough answers. I dunno. I understand that we were never going to get all of the answers but this would have been a really good opportunity to give us some, instead of throwing up more questions. I still liked the episode overall, and laughed a lot at all the one liners and silly character reactions... but it made my head hurt at the same time...
That makes sense, but it does make you wonder what he did in the time between flunking and the Empire's return. Though again, we don't know how long that was. If Sunburst is Twilight's age, roughly, he could have still been a student into his adulthood. Still, an amusing thought to have him running off to a previously gone empire just to run away from his overbearing mother. That's one step below blasting off to the moon.
Parents ALMOST always THINK they have good reason for what they are doing .... That do not mean that they actually do. And even if they do, their children may very well still be right in rebelling against it, even if the parents are also right. Yes, it sounds like a contradiction, but it's true.
I mean the whole thinking you can't do anything part. I was raised by my dad so he wasn't really the supporting type. Just told me to do my school work and that I didn't need friends...ya.
I don't like being negative. But when you have no support or anything you have an EXTREMELY hard time being positive. At least I'm a very helpful person in games and in life...I'm just like Maud Pie. Don't emote much lol.
The premise was actually very close to a fan fiction idea I had where two pony friends are fighting, then they get sent off by the Map _together_ and have to resolve their own friendship problem. That aside, this is easily one of the funniest episodes I've ever seen. Absolutely fantastic. Spike's line about how one friendship mission is his "fair share" 😆 Plus, angsty teenage Glim Glam is canon now. *Gold Star* 🌟
I thought this was a pretty good episode. Though I would have liked to two see Starlight's mom. It seemed like the episode was going to be about the conflict between the two parents, but then it turned out it's was about Starlight and Sunburst reconnecting with their parents. FOr while I seemed like it was going one way, then it went another.
And i relate to starlight and sunburst here. Which even if their parents WERE annoying WHY did i give it a 8/10. Because it is a funny episode and i relate to the both of them here.
When starlight make me think this episode can't make laugh anymore. Starlight say why can't be sent to stop a w-*ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING LIKE LIGHTNING BLISS AND ACT LIKE AN IDIOT* *WHEEZE* I would have given this episode a 9 or even a 9.5/10 if it were not for their parents but hey what can u do. Poor starlight. I right now STILL LAUGHING!😂😂😂😊😊😊
I mention this in my own reaction video and review of this even this is a perfect episode for the demographic of the brony community who struggle with their parental relationships whether they are treated as under adult age or pretty much with high expectations from the parent(s). On the sidenote Cyrus hollow kind of reminds me of early 2000 Bozeman Montana with the fight between modernism and the historical reserves fight.
In short, this episode is, to me, what Parental Glideance should've been. In this episode, the parents apologized for their behavior, as well as the children, and even explained why they did what they did. This made me relate to the parents so much more than the other episode!
Z-blade Gracin Rainbow Dash's parents have nothing to apologise for. They were being her biggest fans, giving her the confidence to succeed, and while they may have embarrassed her, Rainbow ultimately understood why they did what they did, and how she wouldn't be as successful as she is if her parents hadn't given her the confidence to believe she could do anything. She joined them in doing the same for Scootaloo, because she and her parents knew that she needed it.
Winter Naomi Vera Jaime Escalante, a famous math teacher in the 1980s, once said that people will rise to the expectations that are placed upon them. In other words, is there any growth without expectations? If people like Rainbow Dash's parents just kept praising others for everything *no matter what they did,* would they become better and achieve? I didn't see that with Rainbow Dash's parents. This is one of the reasons why I hate that episode. They seemed to have this mentality that "we don't care whether you finish first or last. We'll cheer for you no matter what you do." Now, on the surface, that may seem great. But if that was all that her parents did, would Rainbow Dash truly have the drive to succeed? From my experience and the experience of others I know, I would firmly say no. People need support *and* expectations to succeed. My theory is that Rainbow Dash, because of her parents, developed the mindset that she was better than everyone else, and that someone (most likely a mentor) set some high expectations for her to be the best in all that she did. Otherwise, she would've done nothing for her life. I mean, would any of us have any drive to do more if our parents kept saying, "We'll cheer and support you no matter what you do"? We simply wouldn't have the motivation to do more or to be more. That's one of the main reasons why I hate that episode because it's completely one-sided on the side that isn't completely at fault. :/
all i could think of when starburst's mom said about ponies drinking their food was BUY AND LARGE, THE SUPERSTORE, ALL YOU NEED, AND SO MUCH MORE!!!!!!!! (Wall-e)
And great morale! And from starlight! Out of all ponies! To teach the lesson! Good job girl proud of ya! You grown a lot! Since season 6. Even if u make mistake is ok. U have real friends like the mane 6/spike/me/starlight fans to guide you. U are not alone. *HUGS STARLIGHT* 😊
This episode surprised me in a lot of ways. I was also thrown for a loop concerning what the actual problem that had to be fixed and I was caught off guard by just how funny this episode was. I liked how the overbearing natures of parents were not only distinct from one another, but also from Rainbow Dash's parents as well, and that there were surprising complex reasons behind them as well. I also liked the subtle implications concerning how Starlight and Sunburst grew up. Because it was mentioned that Starlight was a latchkey child, you could infer that it had to do with her the apparent wealth or influence that her father holds. Even if his current position is new, that he was able to gain so much sway over the town to push and maintain historical/preservation efforts in spite of the growing efforts to develop it, he probably was a pretty busy person even before she left. Stellar Flare was probably fairly affluent as well due to her spearheading the development projects in Sire's Hallow, and because her son apparently had enough wealth to purchase a home in another "kingdom" that was fairly large and stocked with quite the collection of books, despite him being a school dropout and having no apparent job prior to his appearance in the series. All things considered, their parents probably knew eachother which was how Starlight and Sunburst met and became friends in the first place. Taking things further, you could also see how their parents got to be the way they are towards their kids. If Starlight had little adult supervision during her childhood as Josh Haber said she had, then that gives some extra credence as to why Firelight would be motivated to give her so much extra affection, both in her childhood and adulthood, sort of as compensation for not being with her as much as he would have wanted. Stellar Flare on the other hand probably defaults to trying to get things to work with Sunburst by pushing plans because that has probably been her job for years now, and so thought that she could solve her son's problems the same way.
Hey Doc, I had a though about Sunburst's and Starlight's parents efforts on the town. Because their kids haven't been in contact with them, both Firelight and Stella Flare are projecting their concerns for them onto the town. Its an interesting way for the MLP staff to address the 'empty nest' situation most parents face when their children grow apart from them and how it can affect others. What do you think?
I think it has something more to do with the missing spouses. Firelight is, figuritively speaking, stuck in the past to happier times when his daughter was young and his wife was alive. He prefers to keep the past alive. While Stellar Flare is the exact opposite. She prefers to FORGET the past as it's probably too painful. She has also probably moved on while Firelight has yet to.
The episode illustrates just how driven Equestrian society is. There is so much pressure on its members to succeed at something that parents will go to extremes just to make sure things turn out (from their perspective) just perfect for their children. It seems to me that the biggest friendship problem Equestria has is in finding balance between encouragement and letting go.
To a point I agree with you but in our world we will question and rebuke such actions whereas Equestria has yet to reach the information age using snail mail as the chief form of communication outside of a town limits. This stunts their ability to evolve to better ideas. TV/radio gave us a kick in the plot to embrace new ideas but computers accessing the internet has really brought us into a much broader world with different cultures sharing ideas from around the world.
I gave it 7/10 - It was sweet seeing Sunburst's mom and Starlight's dad and we have another lesson on what kind of relationship you want with your parents. Preservation vs Development as a parallel was interesting. but it felt a little rushed throughout.
When I first saw that image of what would turn out to be Starlight Glimmer's bedroom, I thought it was going to be Smolder's (the female dragon student at the School of Friendship) dormitory room. Wasn't expecting Starlight to have a room like that (but considering her Equestria Girls form appearance in Mirror Magic, well...)
Seemed to me that Firelights reactions weren't a denial of Starlights behavior so much as a response to it. After everything she went through his parental instincts were telling him to protect her at all costs, even her dignity. He wanted her to feel safe and loved and that was the only way he could think to do so, by giving her the attention he remembered giving her back when she did feel safe and loved.
Now that I think about it, I'm surprised there wasn't more anti-cutie mark stuff in Starlight's room. That would've been funny in kind of a creepy way. I did think they went a little too over-the-top with the parents' overbearing nature, especially Firelight's. This was a very fun episode.
I kind of got the feeling that Starlight's mother died while she was a foal and that helped push her into a more dark outlook on life. It would also help explain her father's focus on her.
I think that with the goth phase that they imply that Starlight had in her younger years for her it was a reaction to Sunburst leaving so I think that in Starlight's case it makes sense for her character given her back story
Honestly, I didnt think that much of this episode. When I read the synopsis, I was excited for both knowing Starlight's parents as well as seeing her and Sunburst again. However, the parents didnt endear themselves as much as the other parents of the Mane 6 until that little moment at the end. Also, after a very funny episode, I didnt laugh as much. Mostly it was Starlight's annoyance (in both her expressions and her voice) that kept me going, and the town wasnt that interesting a setting. I dont know? It was late at night, so maybe another watch will help
I will say that the cutie map idea is no longer fresh. As for the map, from what I can tell it can only(hopefully) summon: Mane six, CMC, Spike(if he gets a better map ep), Starlight, Sunburst, Sunset Shimmer(maybe) for all I know maybe even Flash Sentry can be called. After that there’s probably no more.
Great analysis as always! I agree that this is perhaps one of, if not the, strongest episode of the season thus far. I was at first a little shocked at how grown up this plot was as this is the first episode to which the lesson was seemingly tackling an issue only relatable to adults and not children, but I thoroughly enjoyed the episode and maybe young children might actually learn something useful from this for later in life. Shows focusing on these sorts of plots weren't ever on kids programming for me when I was growing up, but this is the sort of things people should be seeing because it is real and relatable. On a bit of side note, I think this might have been the first episode that we've seen Sunburst's flank as an adult since he's always wearing the cape. They actually showed it quite a few times, and every time I kept freaking out about it like "OMG! They're showing Sunburst's butt again! XD" I'm not necessarily a huge fan of Sunburst (I like him but never thought too much about him before), so to keep having such a reaction about it was kind of surprising and funny.
I loved this episode and have a similar relationship with my mother as Sunburst where she tries to plan out my life and when I tell her it bothers me she says she was only trying to help and then I feel sad I made my mommy cry.........hold on I should give her a call to tell her I love her. Yeah can't really relate to Starlight here as my dad and I have a good relationship even if most of our bonding is drinking beer while grilling burgers
I loved that the "essences" were a kind of rift on the entire essential oils and aroma therapy thing. "You can call them... mm... smells. But I call them 'essence!'"
Great episode, always a joy for me to see new places and explore main character's family backround more. I also really enjoyed seeing Sunburst character fleshed out a bit more. Always a plus to have more developed male characters. And yeah I was really surprised that the conflict between the parents was just a red haring and the real problem was between the parents and their kids. First time the map sent anyone to solve a problem that directly involves them.
I enjoyed this episode, but...I am wondering why we have gotten...like, NOTHING of the kids from the new friendship school. They set all that up in the beginning, and there hasn't been a single episode (really, I mean they were in a few of em but not for that long) since the start of this. Also, side-note, think Sunburst and Sunset Shimmer are related in the pony-verse? They look so alike, and have similar names!
Yeah, I've been really disappointed with how the students have been handled so far. We've had them appear in, what, two episodes since the opener in silent roles that really could have been filled by almost any character.
So the parents had the best of intentions, and the worst of implementations. No wonder the road to Hell has so many repair crews redoing the pavement. Mind the speed limits and watch out for those flaggers...
The only thing I wondered goin into this episode is have starlight and sunbursts parents kept up with current events and the answer is yes somewhat but how much do they really know
The reason why Starlight didn't get to the school for gifted unicorns when she gets her cutie mark, I think is that her father still tought her as a little filly and didn't allow her to. And the reason why she couldn't connect with him, because in this episode Sunburst was shown to not reading the letters, that were sended to him. I think this is must be because of his mother, who wanted him succes and studying more and not wasting time for reading letters or send one. And he grew up to become a bookworm, who didn't try to practice magic, but insted learning the theories of it. It also brings me the theory that Starlight was studying magic for years only for to get to the same school, were Sunburst went, to reunite with him. But because of her father, she was given up the chance to met Sunburst again. She grew up screwing the day when Sunburst left her and he left her because of him getting his cutie mark. That's why Starlight was so obsessed of the idea that cutie marks are bad thing, and if you think about it, it really makes sense! This is my headcannon, but that episode shows me the clues for building the story of Starlight's and Sunburst's childhoods after they're farewell and how they ended like to became the ponies they are.
Wow. You were so damn close to what i thought about the episode. This episode is really full of underlying ideas. You talked about most of them and i agree with it. And i should add that both parents probably did a lot of mistakes too that destroyed their marriages and had a life lasting impact on their kids growing up. Both Starlight and Sunburst show all the signs of growing up in a dysfunctional family. I believe that in this episode the parents are doing their best to make things right for the mistakes they did in their past and for where their kids ended up after the parents mistakes because they did feel responsible as they should be. And the main villain in all of this is bad communication. I believe this is the weakest episode for those who have no idea what it's about but also the strongest one for those who do have a clue or two. I fount myself having a ton on common with it. BTW Sunburst's mom is totally my mom. For me this episode was the best of the season so far. I cannot really put it into words how well depicted was the broken relationship between the parents and the kids but they did it justice.
hey doc, I'm kind of surprized you didn't try to say something about like Starlight's tale coming full circle or something. sunburst's cutie mark started her down her dark path, and his cutie mark glowing is the thing that ends up sending them home where all that happened in the first place...not sure why i thought of that your video just made me think of that.
This episode is pretty interesting to finally see their parents. And a joke..Starlight haters incoming. Look i take them as opinions and i respect them. But What ticks me off is these haters don't give starlight a chance. Is like the MOMENT starlight come on screen they immediately judge it as it is a bad episode based on that.Even the BEST writer like M.A larson writing. U can hate an episode but if u hate it because of ONE character. Then It is a baised opinion to me anyway. But good day everypony.😊All read this comment fully before you reply. Avoid baised opinions and cursing then i will hear your opinions.😊😊
Yes i get it. Starlight has manipluated a village and nearly destroyed the world and did not get punished. But u know why i am not mad? Because she is willing to change which i am aware forgiveness must be earned. Which leads to me to willing to give her a chance to prove herself before i hate her. Even if i did hate starlight i learn to SLOWLY let the character grow on me. Forgive and Forget. It is NOT as if she commit murder is it? If that was the case then the hate is justified. But in this case i REALLY don't get the hate but i respect their opinions anyway. Just remember if u hate an episode becasuse of a character even though the other elements make it good then meaning you let emotions get the better of you and this is truth. Good day.😊 Pardon my grammer.
Oh hey Parental Glidence. You're looking a lot better from that time you sprained your ankle on that final hurdle the last time I saw you. Good to see you stick the landing this time.😉
Explaining the joke: (IMO) Parental Glidence's lesson wasn't portrayed all that well considering how crazy Dash's parents were in their support. I can see the "don't knock your parents support" idea. But there's definitely a line that can be crossed even when people are trying to be helpful. And when said line is crossed but you're told you should mostly roll with it because "they mean well", that seems a little unfair. By no means should that person be instantly thrown out completly, but a compromise needs to made for everyone's benefit. And that's what this episode showed.👌 So (again, IMO) this episode has a better execution of a parental relationship lesson than that episode did.
You know, it would be interesting to see a RPG adventure type thing where far future where Twilight has become the gaurdian of the table, she researches the land and as ponies (and others as seen with spike) get summoned, Twilight trys to interpt the table's quest and then sends the answering ponies to complete them. A great RPG
In addition to the other additions to the punk/goth pony crowd, we may as well add Tempest Fury to the mix, along with the OC from the Ponyville Mysteries book series who I like to call Tempest Jr. No idea what her actual name is, but that is absolutely a CMC-aged Tempest model.
1) I like how both of their parents represent different ends of the parenting spectrum. Firelight is clearly overprotective of Starlight, wanting her to be happy, joyous, and filled to the brim with life, whereas Stellar Flare wants to encourage her son and aid him in accomplishment crossing the line into overbearing. What's even better is that while they both represent overprotection and overbearing respectively, they each have the elements of the others with Firelight trying to force Starlight to feel happy, and Stellar planning Sunburst's life out for him. 2) Anyone else like how Starlight seemed to have picked up quite a few tendencies from Sunburst's mom? Control freak, check...desire to "Use your talents to solve all of your problems" check...leading a town and rejecting other ponies' ideas on how to run it, check... 3) I think Firelight can channel Pinkie Pie with how he can break the rules of reality. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they gave him a "Super-duper-Daddy-Firelight sense" that allows him to know if Starlight is feeling upset from the opposite end of Equestria.
when you think about it, this episode actually did 2 friendship problems in one. Fixing the relationship both of their parents had with each other was the first one, so they are now friends, and then fixing the relationship sunburst and startlight had with their parents. now all 4 of them are friends. ^^
