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7/20/2025, 5:27:46 AM
>>42377033
Back with the games again, we see that all unicorns in the audience are forced to undergo a 'disabling spell', which presumably disables magic and reveals anyone who attempts to cast. This is the kind of detail that you'd expect to find in a world with magic. It's easy to compare this episode to stories like Harry Potter, where not only are there no measures to counter magic in situations where you would expect them to be present. One more reason why MLP stands out as a cut above most children's media.
We then have Pinkie exposit the current status of the games and Ponyville's place for the benefit of the audience, only to zoom out and reveal the concerned or annoyed reactions of the ponies sitting around her. I consider this to be the ideal use of Pinkie as a narrative device: addressing the 4th wall when necessary but without being explicitly aware of it, and the reaction of the others is consistent with characters who shouldn't have the slightest inkling that the 4th wall exists.
Spike asks Harshwhinny for the chance to do something else for the games, and she understandably reacts negatively. Neither character is in the wrong, but Spike isn't exactly able to explain the full story. Dash gets silver to Spitfire's gold, and there's a quick moment of mutual admiration between them, which I think is very nice considering the awkwardness of their story in Rainbow Falls. Spike then announces that he'll be singing "our anthem". There's a nice detail here where Spike says "You know how they always just play the music?", which establishes that there wasn't going to be a singer. I think it's important for the episode to make that clear. It keeps us sympathetic to Spike, he may be engaging in vain, attention-seeking behaviour, but he's being careful not to take the limelight away from anypony else. But it turns out they're playing the Cloudsdale anthem, which Spike doesn't know. Again, he's staying sympathetic because he's not being an idiot. He did have a plan, and there was no reason for him to know they'd play a regional anthem instead of the national one.
5/10ish
Back with the games again, we see that all unicorns in the audience are forced to undergo a 'disabling spell', which presumably disables magic and reveals anyone who attempts to cast. This is the kind of detail that you'd expect to find in a world with magic. It's easy to compare this episode to stories like Harry Potter, where not only are there no measures to counter magic in situations where you would expect them to be present. One more reason why MLP stands out as a cut above most children's media.
We then have Pinkie exposit the current status of the games and Ponyville's place for the benefit of the audience, only to zoom out and reveal the concerned or annoyed reactions of the ponies sitting around her. I consider this to be the ideal use of Pinkie as a narrative device: addressing the 4th wall when necessary but without being explicitly aware of it, and the reaction of the others is consistent with characters who shouldn't have the slightest inkling that the 4th wall exists.
Spike asks Harshwhinny for the chance to do something else for the games, and she understandably reacts negatively. Neither character is in the wrong, but Spike isn't exactly able to explain the full story. Dash gets silver to Spitfire's gold, and there's a quick moment of mutual admiration between them, which I think is very nice considering the awkwardness of their story in Rainbow Falls. Spike then announces that he'll be singing "our anthem". There's a nice detail here where Spike says "You know how they always just play the music?", which establishes that there wasn't going to be a singer. I think it's important for the episode to make that clear. It keeps us sympathetic to Spike, he may be engaging in vain, attention-seeking behaviour, but he's being careful not to take the limelight away from anypony else. But it turns out they're playing the Cloudsdale anthem, which Spike doesn't know. Again, he's staying sympathetic because he's not being an idiot. He did have a plan, and there was no reason for him to know they'd play a regional anthem instead of the national one.
5/10ish
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