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 PST. To submit your own, see this post.
Headlines this week:
- Gallus: A Future Leader?
- Why "overthinking" isn't a problem
- Twilight's Freakouts Have Gotten Tiring
- Twilight and the Iron Throne
- The Case Against Retcons (How Cosmos ruins Discord)
And get your soapboxes below!
Why "overthinking" isn't a problem
By: FlareGun45
Sometimes when I do a theory about the show, people say I'm "overthinking" some of it. Good job stating that fact, smarty pants! :P You say it like it's a bad thing? It can be sometimes, but there are times when it's useful!
Now just because FIM is a kids show, does that automatically mean it's "predictable"? At first, yeah, it felt that way, but as the show went on, it started doing the unexpected! Especially in season 9! Every episode so far in season 9 (as I'm writing this, we're up to episode 4) has done something unpredictable so far! The premiere gave us a major role with Discord which was unexpected, Uprooted gave us the Treehouse of Harmony, and Sparkle's Seven gave us Spike and Luna's conspiracy plan! Who knows? Maybe Episode 5 gave us something unexpected! The unexpected in this show can go all the way back to Canterlot Wedding! We thought it was just gonna be a plain ol wedding, but then there was a conspiracy that made the finale so interesting!
Kids show means "kid friendly" and "kid understanding", but it doesn't mean "predictable"! Just because this show is predictable half the time, unpredictable has started becoming more common! That's what makes this show cool! It looks like a plain ol kids show, but if you watch it, well let's just say Spike's quote, "That's the thing about looks - they can be deceiving!" This'll bring me to my next soapbox article next time - which will actually be predictable! XD
Twilight's Freakouts Have Gotten Tiring
By The Dragon Warlock
I normally don't do these pony soapbox discussions, but I feel I need to say something that's been bothering me with everyone's favorite egghead princess, Twilight Sparkle. Namely it's about Twilight and the constant freaking out she does. If you recall back to the second season with Lesson Zero Twilight that introduced us to the gag of Twilight freaking out. However, in the past few seasons, Twilight's freakouts have become more and more frequent and has gotten tiring.
I didn't mind the gag at first, but now it seems they make Twilight freak out over everything possible. Some things I can understand like the pressure of taking over Equestria. A lot of the things she's overreacted to though are ridiculous. She gets worked up over ladybugs, the Sibling Supreme Crown, highlighters, and now an overdue book. It's concerning to see Twilight just freak over everything now. I get this is a gag some people still enjoy, but I feel this gag has gotten tiring. I'm hoping by the series finale we see Twilight be confident and less prone to overreacting. To me, Twilight freaking out over everything isn't funny anymore.
Twilight and the Iron Throne
By: indiana
At this point it is not a matter of who but a matter of when? A while ago I made a half serious and half joke comparison between MLP and GOT(Game of Thrones). Now that we are in the last season, this looks less like a joke and more like fact but unlike GOT, we actually know who will sit on that throne already. MLP has been focusing for a while now on showing us what a leader looks like rather than making us guess who gets to sit on it like GOT does. But I have to admit I simply loved all of the GOT references coming and this season was no exception. Between Twilight's literal sitting on the throne in Discord's vision and Sombra's return that mimics the Night King's invasion and even the subtle Twilight leadership buildup that further mimics Daenerys. Also Daenerys's dragons have grown up. I wonder what Spike represents with his new wings? I rest my case. I know this may be nothing more than an over reactive observation of mine that maybe doesn't mean much but I want to argue that it does later. This is actually part one of a two part soapbox if Seth will be kind enough to post the next part in the future. I promise it will make sense once you read it. To be continued in: Fandom influence.
The Case Against Retcons (How Cosmos ruins Discord)
By: Sheep
Discord is without question my favorite character in the show. He serves as both an entertaining villain and a good way of showing the struggle one can go through for acceptance after committing some pretty awful deeds and learning to be better.
Which is why the current comic arc is such a disappointment to me so far. Cosmos, Discord's psychotic ex-girlfriend is the villain. In it, it's retconned that Cosmos was the one that was responsible for the majority of the chaos that Equestria was in a thousand years ago, deeds that Discord took the blame and was wrongfully imprisoned for, and that he was actually a good person at the time by trying to reign her in. Not only is that completely out of character for Discord's S2 self, but it also ruins the arc that he's had going ever since season 3. If you make it that someone like Discord was actually good all along, it sort of invalidates all the development and struggle they went through to get where they are because it shows they actually did know better the whole time. It implies Discord and Equestria overall would have been fine without Fluttershy's help, which could not be further from true.
Questionable canonicity aside (as the comic has a lot of contradictions so far) and considering how far he's come, I feel this is a massive disservice to Discord's character.
Gallus: A Future Leader?
By: Lord Blu
At first glance, Gallus may not seem like prime leadership material. But after watching the Young Six in action since season 8, I'd say there are a handful of subtle clues to support this idea. Though it's not exactly "official", Gallus has a habit of taking the lead in their antics, if only to make a sarcastic comment, or push their efforts along. And in both "The Hearth's Warming Club" and "School Raze - Part 2", the rest of the Young Six rallied around him; the latter example is particularly notable, as it draws parallels toward the Mane Five racing to help Twilight in the series premiere. The fact that Gallus glowed the same color as Twilight, the Element of Magic itself, helps support this further. Like Twilight, he spent a long time isolated from others (albeit not by choice) before accepting friendship, and like Twilight in the early seasons, he can still be aloof and snarky at times. But he's also willing to go to great lengths to help his friends, guiding and encouraging them.
While still rough around the edges, it's possible that Gallus does indeed have the makings of a good leader in him.
