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Post by Applelight Limited on Apr 5, 2015 0:52:20 GMT
Balloon Binoculars...now I've seen it all. EDIT: Oh wait...a Balloon Bridge...didn't see that coming! So, I finished it. What a starter that was. There was some great humor in this ep and I feel like it's set the tone for the season arc. And like JT said I'm really happy that it was the others (the fantastic four) who saved the day, since the whole point now appears to be the mane six using their well established and cemented friendship to help bring friendship to others. And on a personal note, I love how it was EP who particularly did it. So yeah, that's my thoughts.
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Post by Mezzaphor on Apr 5, 2015 19:07:20 GMT
And yeah, the town basically is a weird cult. Man, the effects of the cult programming on Party Favor were pretty interesting. He joined the resistance, he bravely turned himself in to spare the other two members from capture—but then a single night in Room 101 was enough to break him and make him parrot the party line again.
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Post by Applelight Limited on Apr 5, 2015 19:18:48 GMT
Yeah, that was an odd reaction. Unless his capitulation was out of fear over what would happen to them (know when to fold them and all that).
Also, imagine what the ponies of this village must have been going through to actually think that this was a good idea. Either they were desperately lonely, or their attempts to follow their destinies must have been either going nowhere or worse, doing them serious harm. Case in point, is it just me or did it look like Double Diamond had a nasty accident some time out in the mountains?
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Post by Mezzaphor on Apr 5, 2015 20:04:48 GMT
Considering how quickly the village turned on Glimmer once her deception was revealed, her personal charisma is probably what won a lot of them over. I think they trusted her, personally, more than they bought into the logic. Once the mane six gave them reason to doubt her, the whole house of cards collapsed.
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Post by Mio on Apr 5, 2015 20:58:59 GMT
The story is kind of unclear about how much of the cult influence was freely given, acquired through brainwashing, or just out and out mind control.
Not to mention having the ponies in the town be genuinely "damaged" by their experience is waaaaay beyond purview of this show.
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Post by japaneseteeth on Apr 5, 2015 21:08:31 GMT
I don't know if I'd say he ever really "Joined the resistance"? There was never any real resistance movement going on; just a handful of ponies who were vaguely discontented; they didn't have any intentions of overthrowing Starlight or anything. And it's worth pointing out that even after Party Favor got re-brainwashed, he still didn't sell out the other two.
As for the control, I think it's a mix of emotional manipulation and the spell's effects. The reason that the Mane 6 held out so long is because they underwent the process together. I'd assume that in normal circumstances, you'd only have one or two ponies in the brainwashing room at a time, and if there were other there, you wouldn't know them. The mane 6 were both actively fighting the brainwashing, and they had each other to try to keep their spirits up. Most ponies would be alone, and would probably have been more ready to trust Starlight to begin with.
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Post by Applelight Limited on Apr 5, 2015 21:23:17 GMT
I guess it's easy to 'acquire' lone and vulnerable ponies when they don't have friends to support them and are actively seeking friends too.
I wonder if Starlight built the village or simply took over it.
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Post by Mio on Apr 5, 2015 21:39:23 GMT
I get the feeling that the village was built, though I wonder how they got all the resources to build and maintain the town in what is pretty much the middle of no where.
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Post by Applelight Limited on Apr 5, 2015 22:16:28 GMT
Good point. Then again, with an orchard in the desert, ponies don't seem to have a problem with getting resources. Is it strange that the thing I like most about Party Favor is his mane? Which shows how to draw curly hair on a stallion?
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Post by Mio on Apr 5, 2015 22:26:01 GMT
Even with their mediocre ability?
I never noticed that stallions never really had curly hair.
I kind of hope that those four show up again. I even kind of wish that episode 100 was about them as opposed to the background ponies it will actually be about apparently.
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Post by Applelight Limited on Apr 5, 2015 22:34:48 GMT
Oh yeah...shit, good point. I know right? There were very few references to go on. I really hope that they show up again too.
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Post by Mio on Apr 6, 2015 1:28:40 GMT
Well, all that aside I still feel that the premise of the episode is more interesting then it's execution.
I know this is a kids show, but it needed a bit more development of the town, what Starlight's philosophy and motivations, and why the ponies wanted to be a part of the town. The whole being different as the problem and bring about harmony by making everyone the same rings really hollow (more so then it already does) without any kind of expansion on why. Hell, even a little "Poor unfortunate Souls" style song would've been helpful.
I didn't care much for the Mane Six in this episode either, but that's a pretty common problem in these Mane Six episodes anyway.
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Post by Kyler Thatch on Apr 6, 2015 2:55:23 GMT
I get the feeling that Starlight is going to be a recurring character, and her philosophy and motivations are going to be revealed slowly over time. Maybe. Can't say for sure.
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Post by Applelight Limited on Apr 6, 2015 2:59:11 GMT
She'll be back. Only question is, will it be this season?
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Post by Mezzaphor on Apr 6, 2015 3:42:52 GMT
Considering how vindictive she was, I get the impression Starlight didn't have a guiding philosophy beyond "Look out for number one." She comes across like she came up with the cutie mark removal spell just because she couldn't stand the thought of other ponies being better than her, then she made up that bogus philosophy after the fact to justify it.
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