The soapbox returns! Albiet a little later than it should be. I blame my phone alarm for not going off. Expect it back at it's normal time next week.
Community soapbox time, where opinions from around the fandom are dropped down below for you all to discuss and debate! Expect these posts normally when not late every Tuesday at 2:00 PM MST. To submit your own, see this post.
Headlines for the week:
- Elements of Harmony Final Form
- Amending Fences Forgotten Friendships
- Was the Tree of Harmony Corrupted?
- Chrysalis and Her Elaborate Plans
- The Wonderbolts are not the Team Everyone Hates Anymore
And get your soapboxes below!
Was the Tree of Harmony Corrupted?
By: TrianguloY
The mean six ending was...debatable. But this isn't about my thoughts of it being originally a two-parter cut for a better one. Instead I'll talk about the 'melting' scene, and two theories I've seen regarding if the tree of harmony was corrupted or not.
First let me describe something you may not have noticed: each element is triggered when the pony shows her anti-element: Fluttershy not being nice, Rarity not sharing, Dash don't caring, etc.
The most common theory, I think, is that the tree noticed the ponies were fake, and so it trapped and 'deleted' them. With this theory the tree didn't changed nor was corrupted, simply defended itself.
The other theory is a bit more interesting. The elements were in fact activated and ready to materialize into the necklaces and the big crown thingie, but the ponies weren't able to keep their form and transformed back into logs. With this theory the tree is now in a 'corrupted' state.
Personally I think the first one is the good one for this reason: the tree didn't changed visually at the end of the fight. It recovered the colors, didn't become darker. Either way the next interactions could be interesting.
Amending Fences Forgotten Friendships
By: Nightmare Muffin
It certainly has been a while since “Amending Fences” aired, back in season 5. Moondancer was so brokenhearted, that I thought it was going to be a reoccurring thing where Twilight visits her (I mean, she DID promise to visit soon, at the end of the episode), but it’s been three years already. With background ponies getting more spotlight then ever before in season 7, I certainly would’ve figured that we’d get another Twilight and Moondancer episode with them slowly re-building their friendship. In fact, “Uncommon Bond” would’ve been a far better episode for Twi and Moondancer than Starlight and Sunburst. At the very least, Twilight could’ve mentioned her rekindled friendship with Moondancer after all that time had passed, to Starlight in that episode. We also get mention of Pinkie and Minuette hanging out often in Ponyville in Amending Fences, but we still lack an episode of them together. Such wasted opportunity for episodes.
Elements of Harmony Final Form
By: Indiana
I saw a lot of people having a stick up their butt whenever they hear the idea of a new alicorn into the show and that is something i don't agree with. From the perspective of the show's storytelling it makes a lot of sense that there will be more alicorns in the future even if the show will end before showing it. What am i talking about? All the elements of harmony becoming alicorns. I am pretty sure you heard the confirmation that "Twilight will not outlive her friends". What do you think that means? Well as far as i can tell it means that all the elements will become alicorns sooner or later in their life and what i want people do understand is that there is NOTHING wrong with that. Why should Twilight be special? She said it herself that she is not. And i still have her as my number 1 pony u should know but it never was because she is an alicorn and the rest of her friends won't change just because they become alicorns either. I think that regardless if the show will show it or not, all the elements of harmony will eventually become alicorns.
Chrysalis and Her Elaborate Plans
By: Silverwind
So after the 'Mean Six' episode, what I've heard a lot is 'why didn't Chryssy attack the Mane 6 (and Starlight)? She was right there!'
Well, I had a think about it and something occurred to me - Changelings are shapeshifters. They disguise themselves as other creatures - and objects - and infiltrate and get close to or capture their prey to absorb its' emotions.
Thinking about predatory animals in the wild, they don't tend to be confrontational. Predators know that only attacking when the odds are in their favour will result in an easy meal. Being able to change shape and disguise themselves is a Changelings' biggest asset.
Making an elaborate plan involving stealth and subterfuge to leave her prey in an exposed place and herself with an advantage is therefore completely with Chrysalis' instincts as a predatory creature that feeds on others. She'd only directly engage in confrontation - as she has in the past - when either presented with no other option, or believing she has the upper hand (hoof? Swiss-cheese hoof?).
The Wonderbolts are not the Team Everyone Hates Anymore
By: Quick Fix
It seems that any time the Wonderbolts are mentioned these days, it's only to be viewed as a group of sleazy, win-at-all-costs, generally bad ponies. It's easy to forget that secondary and background characters can go through development in this show too. Wonderbolts Academy and Rainbow Falls put them in the spotlight and as such, were the episodes they underwent that development. Coincidentally, those are both the episodes they were at their lowest and the only episodes people bring up about them...
In Rarity Investigates they were a much tighter team that openly shunned their old mentality by disbarring Wind Rider. In Newbie Dash they may have come across as harsher, but we were seeing events from Rainbow Dash's perspective and nothing they did was intentionally mean spirited. They were also far more pleasant to each other and everyone around them in Top Bolt and Secrets and Pies, not to mention the team backed up Rainbow in Parental Glidance for nothing. Just helping out a friend.
Maybe it's time everyone took a look at the wider actions of the team, the good as well as the bad, and cut Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot and the rest some slack.
