Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Episode Rewatch series where every Saturday we take a look into the past to rediscover the foundations our little series budded from. As usual we'll be exploring the notable moments in the episode and every little thing that has been ingrained in our fandom's culture.
Today we'll be taking a look at Swarm of the Century, the episode that introduced us to Parasprites, how listening to Pinkie can be a good thing (and that she has mad musical skills, and that Parasprites make for the best Katamari Damacy.
Check on after the break for the episode link and the break down!
The Face of All Evil
Swarm of the Century continued a stretch of episodes that many used to place on their must watch list when introducing people to the show. With a strong showing from all the cast, plenty of insanity that you wouldn't expect from a show with the name My Little Pony and the fact the entire episode was very reminiscent of Trouble with Tribbles it was a solid episode to show off the show's uniqueness.
It also showed off that Fluttershy is a merciless apple killer. Just look how nonchalantly she ended that poor apple's life.
Interestingly enough this was also the first episode that M.A. Larson would write for the show followed by Sonic Rainboom and Cutie Mark Chronicles. Who would have known at this point that he would become the God of Wings, the Bringer of Alicorns?
Also of note is that despite all these seasons Twilight is just as obsessed with impressing Celestia then as she is now. She managed to show a bit more restraint in season 6 but it's nice to see little character traits like this still shine through today.
Derpy spotted so you don't have to! Plus Happy Lyra is Happy
There's something else important in this little scene besides the short lived "We Couldn't Fit It All In" meme and that is how enduring a lot of these background ponies have been since season 1. In less than a minute we've seen Berry Punch, Carrot Top, Derpy, Colgate, Lyra and Bon Bon (to name the ones that come immediately to mind), all of which enjoy a following to this day.
Seeing these ponies all together got me thinking a bit: the most successful and enduring background characters we have in the fandom are the ones that have a blank slate and/or are doing a simple background action that drives the imagination. It feels like nowadays we've been missing out on that magic, with most new characters the fandom has focused on being ponies that have had secondary roles in episodes. It might just be me, but I have a hard time thinking of a background character in recent seasons that exploded in popularity despite being on screen for a few seconds (Button Mash for instance).
Pinkie my boy!
By this point Pinkie had really started to grow on me and by the end of this episode that had really solidified for me. Sure she acts nutty, but she actually has some good ideas in that pink head of hers.
Also that Pinkie has to be some sort of eldritch God that is able to bend all of time and space. The evidence has only been mounting ever since.
At this point the Rainbow Dash Always Dresses in Style starting to take off and this outfit by Rarity certainly helped it along. Also it appears Rarity's desire for giant head wear was in full swing.
If my memory serves me correctly I think this was the first time we got a look at Rainbow's house and ever since it has blown us away and ever since we've all wondered how Rainbow can afford such an awesome pad.
Regardless we do know that Rainbow has remodeled her house since season 1 considering how sparse her bedroom is. I guess Rainbow has a knack for redecorating!
Ah, the Katamari jokes that came from this
For all the times that a spell went right for Twilight it seemed like there were just as many instances where she had problems with her spells. A lot of people have complained of Twilight being too powerful over the years, seeming to imply she has always been that way, but taking a look back at the early seasons she may have been good at magic but was by no means a master. I think the skill she shows now is a natural progression of her training and education, showing us how much she has grown over these six long years.
Ah, where would we be without Rarity's freakouts? Even that has evolved over time, at least now she has her own set of feigning couches to help facilitate a more refined freakout.
Zecora in two episodes in a row? When was the last time that happened? It's a shame that Zecora hasn't been included more into the show and its lore. She's an interesting character with a sort of knowledge that is quite unique to the characters in MLP.
I think Seth might have mentioned this before but I do miss Twilight's little mental breakdowns, something our more mature Twilight has a better grip on nowadays. While it is nice to have our characters grow and change over time there are some little things like this I just miss, heh. Though watching this particular scene it could be a pining for simple cartoony goofiness and exaggeration that I think some of the earlier seasons captured so well. Not to say there aren't any instances in later seasons but it does feel toned down a bit.
Ah, the scene that probably started it all in the Weird Al saga as it helped create the video called Pony Polka which eventually caught Weird Al's attention. Not only that but we now know that Pinkie truly is the most musical pony in Ponyville.
Got to admit, it's pretty cool to see a ruler that has lived for over 1000 years still discovering the wonders of Equestria...
Or she is just playing coy. Oh Celestia, you were awesome in season one.
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As season one began to approach its mid-point the show had really started to hit its stride! We began to learn a bit more about this strange land called Equestria and the humble little village of Ponyville that it contained but most importantly by this point we had started to learn about these seven wonderful friends (Spike included!) and what made them tick. By this point we have had a number of ensemble episodes that gave equal time to each pony and how they interacted together, expanding on the characters we had met just weeks before. Honestly I think within episodes like Swarm of the Century, Dragon Shy, and Bridle Gossip placed right before the middle of the season things would have been off to a rockier start, but thanks to them we had a solid foundation on why we thought this show was amazing and furthermore could be confident earlier episodes weren't just a fluke.
Plus so many adorable pony moments! I mean, come on!
With that, thanks to you all for giving this a read and even if you didn't I hope you enjoy reliving a piece of the past. We'll see you next week with another Episode Rewatch!
Twitter: Calpain
