With Season 5 coming "soon" we've finally got a real trailer for what to expect! And of course what would any trailer be these days without some really in depth analysis?
Quite a few hidden things were scattered throughout to keep everyone guessing. For something that is only a minute and a half long, it sure did reveal a lot about the upcoming season. I hope you are ready for adventure.
So watch the trailer if you haven't, and then check out below the break for a shot by shot look!
The trailer opens on another shot of the inside of Twilight's new castle and the throne room.
Celestia and Twilight speak over the following few shots. "You've been wondering what you're meant to do as a princess. Do you know now?" Celestia asks, and Twilight says, "I guess I'm just a little confused by all of this." Celestia said those lines in Twilight's Kingdom Part 2, so Twilight's line is in reference to something totally different from another scene in the show. Maybe from the Season 5 premiere?
The cutie mark symbols above each throne are powering up as the Mane Six watch, and then POMF, light shoots out to hit the floor...
In the center where the lights meet, something starts to grow...
BAM! (That's short for BadAss Map.) This whole scene seems to be the finished version of the Season 5 animatic we had at SDCC.
This directly compares to the official map of Equestria we've seen before. You can easily spot Clousdale floating near the upper left, right above Canterlot with a rainbow connecting Ponyville with Canterlot. You can spot the Crystal Empire in the north, Manehattan in the east, Los Pegasus is the small cloudy bit in the southwest, Horseshoe Bay, and maybe more.
Still, there are definitely some places on this map we've never seen before. Right in the front Pinkie's staring at some sort of skull balanced on a mountain top, and just north-west of that are some really cool looking hills or mountains.
But way more importantly, we can see a big land mass off to the east. And what does the official map say is east off the map? Yonder to Griffons! Maybe? Can we hope? Are we going to get some Griffon Kingdom action finally? I know a few of you are on the edge of your seat hoping for that.
And then we get to the heartrending. I don't know about you guys, but seeing the inside of the burnt down library is actually more feels-inducing than the outside. Seeing the swirly inside design and knowing that Twilight and Spike walked past it all the time...
Nevermind, the outside is just as bad! D:
Yeah, I know how you feel, guys...
The tree...
The chest...
This castle...
And now the map! How can we NOT follow it?
As if they had any choice but to follow the magical map on magical adventures. Duh. In this shot we see the cutie marks of the Mane Six fly in from above and swirl down toward them, then return to their flanks, also from the SDCC animatic.
Another angle on the map. It looks like the close-up stuff on the left is the "maybe Griffon Kingdom" land. Looks pretty cool, either way.
Maybe I'll just stay here with Spike...
You really gotta get that narcolepsy checked out there, Spike.
On second thought, maybe I'd better go with them.
We got a scene switcheroo here for comedic timing. The animatic had Spike's real lines for this scene, about him and Big Mac hanging out and talking hoofball all weekend.
Another shot of the Friendship Express from a new angle. In stores now!
The Mane Six in a spoopy cave. Pinkie's the only one who doesn't look tense about being in there.
And here's where the real analysis kicks in!
First off, we have that new pony who seems really important on the left side (more on her later), raising a hoof to show the Mane Six the spectacle before them. Twilight and Fluttershy seem pretty upset by what they see, with their ears tilted back, and everypony else looks shocked.
Considering the fact that they seem to be looking at a whole bunch of cutie marks stored behind a crazy electric fence, it's no wonder they're shocked!
Does this all connect with the "Cutie Mark Magic" toy line? Who is this strange new pony? What is that staff in front of them? Surely the equal sign at the top is connected to everything!
And do the six empty slots all next to each other mean that the Mane Six's cutie marks are going to end up in there? Considering we have footage of Rainbow Dash and Rarity with equal sign cutie marks from those recent Hasbro Season 5 teaser videos, this seems very possible...
Speaking of equal sign cutie marks, Twilight seems to have one here, or at least something's wrong with her normal one. Also, she seems a little dimmer than usual, less Purple Smart and more just Smart.
She's surprised to see swirling lights flying up from off screen in front of her. What could those be? Cutie marks flying around? That's too easy of a guess right now. There's no way to tell for sure.
Cutie marks are intact here. Also, you can barely see a barrel and a wooden ceiling board in the background. They seem to be in the basement scene we'll see a little later below.
Here's the Mane Six looking down at the village where most of the action seems to be taking place in this episode. Since the animatic they've moved the one house that doesn't make up part of the equal sign even further away from the rest. Separate but equal? Hmmm. Wonder who lives there...
Pinkie is not convinced by the villagers' smiles. Not one bit.
Musical number, anyone? Yes please!
And everyone is in a perfectly straight line except Important New Pony. Everyone is grinning like an idiot except Important New Pony.
Extreme close-up! Is "Mayor Marx" our new villainess, at least for the premiere? She certainly seems to be the one in charge around The City of Equalsville.
I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it!
Why?
Because risking all of our lives fighting some incredibly dangerous creature is like, the best thing ever? We should put Fluttershy on the front lines! She's a monster!
Say what?
This is another one of those "trailer edits for comedic effect." Here we see the inside of a building, with some sort of equals sign painting hanging on the wall. Truly the height of interior design. Rarity clearly agrees.
ONE OF US! ONE OF US! GOOBLE GOBBLE GOOBLE GOBBLE
No wonder everyone is calling them The Stepford Ponies. Creepytown.
These two shots in a row make it seem like they're both from the same scene, however the first one is inside a cave with a grey floor and whitish rocks, and this one is inside of a basement or other structure with a brown dirt floor. Either way, things aren't looking the best for our fair heroines in either scene.
Don't worry guys.
Pinkie's on it. Though, if the animatic is right, Pinkie's method of solving the problem is tumbling face-first down a hillside and then crushing herself with a boulder.
<insert Admiral Ackbar joke here>
Here we can see Mayor Marx is confronting the Mane Six, and behind her is a pedestal. It looks like the same pedestal from the same cave as the big grid of cutie marks! And is she wielding the staff from the same scene? Is this where the Mane Six have their cutie marks stolen?
Another scene switch-up. Twilight's preparing to cast a spell from inside the basement, not in the cave.
One more shot of Mayor Smugface on the left there as the filthy Equalists approach from all directions.
Don't worry, girls! Princess Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, destined to be the greatest wielder of spells that has ever lived, is here to save you all!
Or teleport away and leave you all to suffer a terrible fate. Good luck!
And that was it! There was quite a lot, really. Even this last shot seems to be putting a lot of emphasis on the throne room being important to Season 5, maybe even for more than just the premiere? I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.
That's not soon enough!
