Talk:Shadow Play - Part 2/@comment-10390252-20171029083535

This was the best season finale that I've ever seen.

I expected to resent Starlight Glimmer's role in this episode when I first read of it but, for the very first time, she was written correctly as a foil for the Mane Six, specifically having the courage to speak out against Star Swirl's plan when Twilight wouldn't (because he is her hero) and the others wouldn't because of their respect for Twilight's judgement. Starlight became the necessary figure to remind Twilight that conquest and punishment were not the only options because of the kindness she was shown herself after committing nigh-unforgivable crimes.

Star Swirl was a revelation and I think that Josh and Nicole deserve credit for how consistently and three-dimensionally he was written. Powerful, knowledgable and wise, certainly, but also more than a little too over-impressed by this and this leading him to believe that no-one could advise him or have a valid opinion that differs from his. This leads to a minor nit-pick in that I would have had Mistmane advise him to give Twilight's spell a chance as she was a sister mage and someone whose opinion of formal and ritual magic he would instinctively (if grudgingly) trust. That aside, we knew from as far back as Magical Mystery Cure that Star Swirl's Achilles Heel was his inability to understand ponies. He could lead but he never really understood how to be a friend and that undermined him.

Stygian interests me on several levels. Now he is cured of his madness and has both Star Swirl and Sunburst to aid him, I find myself wondering where his researches into magical power may take him. It is possible that we may yet see a magical 'iron pony' concept emerging, weakly immitating the powers of the Elements to create a great magical tool not unlike the Marvel Comics universe's Infinity Gauntlet. Naturally, something like that would turn into a McGuffin for a future episode.

So much has changed now. The presence of the Pillars gives the Bearers of he Elements of Harmony distinct mentor figures who might appear more in Season 8 to share their wisdom and experience (as well as benefit from the younger ponies' own hard-won experience too).

So, hardly a perfect episode but nonetheless an excellent bit of writing that did the job of bringing the heroes of the past to life and reminding us agian why the Mane Six are heroes of today. Oh, and we got to see Adagio, Aria and Sonata, which was a major bonus!

BenRG's Rating: 9/10

BenRG's Overall Rating: 8.5/10, tying with Twilight's Kingdom as the best season finale. If they hadn't super-compressed the Artefact Quests into part 1, it would have been the perfect season meta-arc.

Favourite Pillar: Flash Magnus - He accepted Rainbow's claims to being a hero in her own right without question and was the first to accept that they needed the Element Bearers' help.