Welcome back! We're here with the fourth issue of the G5 miniseries "Set Your Sail." Things start really moving and shaking so let's do a bit of a deep dive into what's going down but, as usual, be aware of spoilers.
Coming off from last issue, Queen Calla Lily had used her Ersatz Enchantment to magically conjure up an imitation of the Shadow Pearl, the seventh magical anchor, bringing them all together--and causing a massive earthquake that shook the land and sea.
This is what in common parlance is known as a "whoopsie."
The issue begins with the aftermath of this less than stellar example of royal decision-making, with Pipp and Izzy floating over a deep trench in the sea, calling down into it. At the bottom is Maris, a member of the Galloping Ghost Galleon (hereafter the Three G), who we met last time. The quake did quite a number on the Three G and knocked a treasure chest Maris was guarding off the ship and down a trench. Last issue had ended with her quickly diving down into the trench after it, Izzy and Pipp a distance behind her. Now we find that Maris is stuck at the bottom of the trench, her tail pinned by some fallen rocks. This also may be described as a less than great decision on her part, though unlike Calla Lily, I suspect Maris figured that out on her own.
Don't worry Maris, it happens to the (literal) best of us.
The area is too unstable for Izzy and Pipp to simply swim on down to help Maris out.
Pipp and Izzy try to brainstorm how to help her, however the crew of the Three G is busy trying to save their ailing vessel from falling apart and sinking. The captain even declares the ship has sprung too many leaks--to the bafflement of the crew.
We're not left to dwell on that for too long as Pipp suggests Izzy rescue Maris with her magic. While Izzy briefly fantasizes about rescuing Maris through a dazzling display of magic, she has the good sense to know that she can't actually do that.
The Great and Powerful Izzy!
I really like this. Izzy, like Pinkie Pie, is a bit of a cloudcuckoolander and has an out of the box way of thinking and reacting to things. But in the hands of some writers (official and fan writers alike) this can sometimes devolve into "Lol, I'm so random!" and not have her appropriately react to certain events. Just saying, it would be pretty tone-deaf and not terribly likable if she had responded to this earthquake business by saying "Oh wow Maris, that looks like fun, can I join you?" or something to that effect. So this is great work on Izzy. She's silly, but she's not inept and really cares about ponies. Nicely done.
Luckily, salvation does comes riding in to save Maris, yes, it's who we've been waiting to rejoin the story since the very first issue: Two-Eyed Gilbert!
Oh and Misty, Sunny, and Hitch too, I guess.
I kid of course, I'm just bemused by MLP's fondness for this (apparent) trope of creepy-train ponies.
Happy reunions abound, though I am a touch confused at the speed at which the others arrived. The earthquake that shook the sea and sent Maris into the trench seems to have only just happened and said earthquake being felt in Zephyr Heights is what encouraged Sunny, Misty, and Hitch to go try to find their friends. So they would've had to travel from Zephyr Heights to the Boardtrot, transform themselves into seaponies, meet Two-Eyed Gilbert, gotten him to help them sneak past the guards, and then swim out to the exact spot where the Three G was?
Queen Calla Lily will say later that she used the Ersatz Enchantment two days ago, which would work better for the arrival of the others--but does that mean Izzy and Pipp were just floating over the crevice fretting over how to help Maris for two days?
Still, it does get our characters to be where they're needed. Our new arrivals combine their respective magics in a rather impressive artistic display that help stabilize the rift so they can travel down to rescue Maris. It's also a likely parallel to what Calla Lily thinks (and wants) bringing together the seven anchors will do for the seaponies.
Someone needs to adapt this into something for the fandom.
Calla Lily is also quick to dismiss the teeny-tiny matter of that earthquake that occurred the instant she conjured up the fake pearl, declaring that anything said by trenchponies should be dismissed as a lie, pointing to how beautiful the kingdom looks now. Great, we've got the pony-equivalent of Ed Koch: she probably goes around trying to put decals of fake-windows on abandoned warehouses too.
Seeing the transformed kingdom up close and personal are Zipp and Anemone, who're traveling through a market while tracking the antenacles. While some seaponies are concerned about the earthquake business, some are prepared to write it off since the kingdom looks so much better than it did before the quake.
However, like we saw in earlier issues with Calla Lily's garden, it's all flash and flair with nothing real underneath. It's a literal case of a castle being built on, and of, sand.
This is the second time this series Zipp gets a faceful of sand from one of these illusions. If this happens one more time, Zipp will get a free day out with Sandbar.
This development proves worrying, Anemone even making a comment that nothing that color is ever good... which is untrue and totally unfair to Epona, a.k.a. Link pony.
On a more substantive note, the fact that this is a literal kingdom built on sand swiftly proves disastrous as everything falls apart. The seaponies in the market panic, with Zipp saving two young gillies (yes, seriously) while Anemone shepherds the rest into the safety of the central part of the market. Luckily, everypony is intact. The same can't be said for the general area, which is in worse shape now than it was before Calla Lily used the enchantment to gussy it up.
Anemone wonders if this could be Calla Lily's doing. Zipp is incredulous that this is even a question. On the one hoof, she's right but on the other hoof--she's right.
Pipp meanwhile is still confused to learn of the message she supposedly sent that resulted in Zipp's coming down to the sea. This provides an opportunity for her (and the creative team) to sneak in a jab against plagiarism software ("AI Art") by highlighting how the fake image Calla Lily sent to Queen Haven had her mane wrong and included a few extra limbs.
How does a queen whose early reign depended so much on deception prove so utterly bad at recognizing it herself?
In a very nice character moment, Pipp is quite concerned about Zipp's wellbeing considering that she's on her own (as far as she knows) and they just had that earthquake business. Seeing what happened to Maris, she's panicking that Zipp could have ended up in a similar situation. She expressed her concern back when the others first arrived and does so again in this scene. I've seen a lot of G5 fans say that one of the strongest character bits they like is Zipp and Pipp being sisters and the dynamics that flow from that, and that's very much on display here.
Also a good character moment for Izzy too.
Resolving to find Zipp and the source of the earthquakes, Maris identifies that the answer to both is likely one and the same: Calla Lily.
Speaking of our duplicitous dynast, she's looking out with her "shellascope" (because of course that's what it's called) and spotting the trouble in the marketplace.
Next I expect her to say: "Magic enchantment! Make my monster grow!" Also, I'd be concerned about being helped by that one octopus-type seapony that's yellow with blue rings because, uh, those are quite poisonous. Contrary to Anemone's concerns about brown-colored things, in nature the most brightly colored animals are often the most dangerous ... which makes things odd in a series about pastel-colored ponies.
After a bit more searching, Calla Lily spots Anemone and Zipp heading into a canyon, still tracking the antentacles.
In another bit that works character-wise, Zipp is getting along quite well with Anemone, the two rebel princesses who have an issue with their respective monarchs' deceit.
I could see folks shipping these two.
However, their impromptu race through the canyon is interrupted due to another sudden earthquake--which might provide some legitimacy to Pipp's worries from earlier about Zipp ending up injured or trapped like Maris. It also means that Zipp has something else in common with Rainbow Dash (see above).
Watching this with horror, Calla Lily swims off to save her sister. In a very nice parallel transition, both Calla Lily and Maris resort to using their respective magical items at the same time.
The art this issue has really been knocking it out of the park. We see Calla Lily with her eye shut, reflecting her willful blindness or that using magic this way is harmful, looking somewhat pained. Maris meanwhile has her eye opened and looks much more at peace even while using unfamiliar magic.
While we don't get to see this issue what Calla Lily is doing, we do witness what Maris has done with her magic: she fixed up the Three G, restoring it to its full glory.
Also, this may just be my One Piece obsessing raising its head again, but I can't see the Galloping Ghost Galleon and not be reminded of the Moby Dick.
Do you see it? Tell me you see it.
On a more important note, this little feat thoroughly impresses the trenchpony crew of the Three G, with the captain wondering how this could be possible. Creeping Jenny confirms what they're thinking: Maris is their new queen.
Hell of an image to close out on. She's not riding in on a dragon but this still works for a new queen to show her chops. Respect!
I've been sharing my thoughts throughout the recap, so I'll keep things brief here at the end: I think the art this issue was really strong and evocative. It clearly knew the importance of big dramatic moments and were able to convey those with a certain grandeur that I don't think we've seen in these G5 miniseries so far. The art has been consistently good at conveying emotions and I didn't have any head-tilting moments of distraction due to some minor artistic foible as may occasionally crop up.
I remain very fond of the idea of seaponies having a plethora of body-types that reflect different forms of sea life, though to answer a comment from last issue, this does make me strongly doubt that these seaponies are descendants of the cosplaying hippogriffs we met in Friendship is Magic. Granted, there really isn't anything that makes it impossible for them to be the same race, but it just doesn't feel like they are, at least in my opinion.
Story and character-wise, this miniseries has given me a bit more to chew on than some of the others. Even the new characters introduced in it, like Maris and Anemone and even Two-Eyed Gilbert are interesting enough that I'm invested in what happens. The character reactions of the Mane Six to them and to one another feels very on point and understandable. They're reacting appropriately to the situations they find themselves in but not without losing the little character beats that make them who they are. That's a tough balancing act to do so props are in order there.
Overall, I think this is probably the G5 comic series I've been enjoying the most thus far (though I do have a lot of hopes for the upcoming "The Storm of Zephyr Heights" in September) and I'm quite curious to see where the next and final issue will take us.
I hope to see you all there!
