EP 1: The Cutie Map Part 1
Rating: 4 5 5
To start off, there's an opening shot of Twilight's new castle with a lake and waterfall behind it. Upon noticing this, I went back to the Season 4 finale to see if these were there and the lake is but the waterfall isn't. Also found an animation error with Rarity's mouth at 19:10 in that episode.
Then we're in the castle with the events of the season 4 finale being told to us and at a point Fluttershy says she agrees with all the ponies then says "oh and probably Spike" who is sleeping and this bit was pretty amusing. Then Twilight sits in her seat and the cutie mark map thing activates meaning this is most likely the first time all of them sat down in their chairs at the same time meaning this episode most likely takes place very soon after last season's finale. I went back to Rainbow Rocks and looked at the scene that takes place in Equestria and not all the seats are occupied in that movie but does show the cutie mark symbols in the seats glow when the character of that cutie mark sits in the chair like is shown in this scene.
Only change in the theme song this season is Twilight's castle appearing in the background of the group photo I think. Then afterwards, the cutie mark map summoning thing happens and they go where they're summoned. At this point I also got some ideas to add to my manifestation theory which I've decided to rename to the harmony manifestation theory since I now believe that harmony itself is the ultimate power of the world and calling it harmony manifestation theory emphasises harmony's importance to it. What if cutie marks themselves are part of this harmony? Since cutie marks pretty much determine a pony's abilities and stuff, what if harmony manifests itself in cutie marks and ponies earn their cutie marks based on what creates harmony. This could assist in pony societies being balanced since if this theory is true in this regard, ponies earn cutie marks based on what society needs from them and their skillset determined by harmony itself at least to some degree. Ponies could still have free will and choose what they want to do in their life but cutie marks help them achieve their goals which helps harmony at least on average.
They arrive at their destination which is a village full of residents who are all smiling but Pinkie's intuition makes her know that these smiles aren't real and she gets extremely suspicious of them while the rest of the Mane 6 remain oblivious or neutral. The residents also don't know about Twilight being another alicorn showing that the village doesn't receive news from outside.
Then they go meet Starlight Glimmer who's the leader of the village. During her introduction, she mentions being happy to have anyone who's willing to experience "true friendship" which foreshadows her backstory we will learn at the end of the season. Then we get a song about how the village is equal and will be happy. It's pretty good. This song also has the lyric "You can't have a nightmare if you never dream" which may be one of the creepiest lyrics in any children's show song. Fluttershy is buying into the propaganda.
After the song, Starlight mentions how no one has ever wanted to leave after coming to the village which I will bring up later since I have a theory for this. Starlight then talks to herself and we see that she wants to convince Twilight to give up her cutie mark since it will show all of Equestria her ways and what she's "trying to accomplish".
The Mane 6 then go to a restaurant and Twilight orders six muffins but they get more than six.
We also see that the residents all spy on each other like it's the Soviet Union or more accurately, a modern, liberal democracy where regulation and laws mandate the spying of a state's own citizens and social media, data brokers, and laws regarding background and credit checks allow for citizens to spy on each other often times as a legal requirement to participate in mandatory societal activities such as finding work and housing.
The restaurant owner then tells the Mane 6 to meet her in the basement and they come up with a plan to go into the restaurant without looking suspicious by convincing Pinkie to eat all the muffins and she turns into DeviantArt Pinkie.
Then when they arrive in the basement, three of the townsponies approach the Mane 6 suspiciously and Twilight gets ready to blast some fools. Glad to see she's learned well from the Tirek fight. However, the ponies reveal they aren't a threat and just are curious about the Mane 6's cutie marks. We then learn how the townsponies' cutie marks are removed and where they're kept.
Next scene, Starlight's leading them to the cutie mark vault and monologues about her desire for everyone in Equestria to come to her village and give up their cutie mark to spread her message of equality. They arrive at the vault and we see a wall of cutie marks. I checked the placement of cutie marks in multiple shots and it does seem to be consistent so I don't think there are any animation continuity errors here. Starlight then shows the staff she uses to strip cutie marks and explains its history which we see makes Twilight suspicious. Then Starlight asks how the Mane 6 learned of the vault and Pinkie snitches. Upon realizing this whole thing is trap, Twilight is an idiot and simply teleports into the air and charges up an attack only to be struck by Starlight with the staff and she loses her cutie mark. She should've teleported behind Starlight or used some spell to stun her first before trying an attack that requires a charge up. Then the rest lose their cutie marks and the episode ends.
EP 2: The Cutie Map Part 2
Rating: 5 5 5
The Mane 6 are stuck in a room playing propaganda and we see they've lost their abilities. Twilight then explains how she thought Starlight was lying about the staff since she knows at least a little bit of "eastern unicorn" history. Twilight then gets the idea to escape by getting Fluttershy to pretend she's accepted Starlight's philosophy and then getting help.
Starlight then arrives and implies that a night has passed since the Mane 6 were locked in the room. She orders them to step outside and the whole village is there as Starlight asks if any of them are ready to join her village. It's also mentioned how those that join will have a cottage built for them indicating the villagers have free housing. In fact, there hasn't been any monetary transactions seen so it may be a moneyless society. Then Rainbow Dash and Applejack try to womansplain to the villagers which completely goes over the villagers' heads which I found pretty amusing.
Then Fluttershy pretends to accept Starlight's philosophy and Starlight makes her point out who was missing their cutie marks only for one of them to come forwards to protect the others and he's forced to get in the propaganda room with the other five. In the room, he pierces his horn through the door which made me whisper "damn" when I saw this. We also see part of a clock which is either displaying it being 11:00 or 12:50 assuming it's not broken.
Fluttershy then has to conduct a black op to get her friends' cutie marks back and discovers that Starlight had them delivered to her house. She then finds that Starlight still has her cutie mark and only fakes not having one. The next day, everyone's at the propaganda room again and the Mane 6 are offered to join Starlight's village again. They don't accept but Starlight frees the pony she sent in there yesterday.
Then Twilight bullshits her way out and Flutters throws water at Starlight to expose her for having a cutie mark which breaks the villagers' trust in her. Starlight trying to explain herself to the villagers also says that she found her cutie mark-removing staff in the desert which doesn't mean it's not magical, just that it isn't what the villagers or maybe even Starlight herself knew. Starlight also mentions how she created harmony which supports an idea I got I will mention later.
With the villagers realizing Starlight lied to them this whole time, they rise up and unleash their inner gamer as Starlight flees. The villagers go to the cave to get their cutie marks back while the Mane 6 follow Starlight. At the cave, as the villagers break the thing holding their cutie marks, we see them light up two different colors before shooting out and the patterns made me think of Conway's Game of Life but I don't know jack shit about it so I'm unable to determine if there's a secret in the patterns or if I'm just looking too far into it. Someone else that understands the game can look into it.
The villagers get their cutie marks back as Starlight flees and they have to help the Mane 6 chase her since they are pretty much useless without their cutie marks. Eventually the villagers get Starlight to drop the jars the cutie marks are in and the Mane 6 get them back. Starlight then just straight up tries to murder the villagers only for Twilight to save them with a magic shield. Starlight also states she studied the spell for years meaning she's been preparing to merc fools for a long while in case she ever needed to. Unless she wasn't actually trying to kill them and it was some other spell and I'm assuming murderous intent of characters in a children's show for no good reason like some deranged lunatic.
Twilight womansplains to Starlight and she runs away to escape the babbling. Party Favor, one of the villagers then mentions how each of the villagers came to the village because they were missing something from their lives which suggests that the villagers were all directionless or lost in life before coming to the village. This also gives me another idea that may be part of harmony manifestation theory. What if harmony manifested itself in Starlight's village as a test against the concept of cutie marks and special talents? Twilight and Starlight are extremely powerful too being sort of mirrors of each other going down opposite paths, becoming the arbiters of their own form of friendship and therefore harmony but Twilight's harmony proved to be much more successful and harmony itself decided to get rid of Starlight's harmony which is why the castle map, the newest manifestation of harmony sent the Mane 6 to her village. The villagers then decide to stay in the village suggesting they have nowhere else to return to further suggesting that they were lost in life or directionless before meeting Starlight.
Part 1 gets 4 EV because while it was engaging enough, there wasn't that much going on, especially for a two-parter. Part 2 gets 5 EV because there was much more going on and was therefore more engaging and I enjoyed it more than part 1. They get 5 VB for the message that absolute equality is not a good thing and differences in people brings strength in groups and society. 5 DV for starting the castle map thing, seeing a new location, and seeing new characters.
EP 3: Castle Sweet Castle
Rating: 6 5 5
This episode starts with Twilight helping Fluttershy clean her animals and when they're done, Twilight doesn't want to return home so she just kicks Angel into some mud and this was fucking hilarious when I first saw it. When Fluttershy no longer needs her help, Twilight goes off to help Pinkie with making pancakes instead of returning home. Angel locks Fluttershy out of the cottage.
The next morning, everyone is eating pancakes which all have different toppings and lots of them. I like my pancakes plain because I like to dip them in coffee. They also don't get too soggy from doing this unlike waffles which is why pancakes are better. They then talk about Twilight being too helpful and Applejack mentions how she helped her dig 53 planting holes but in the shot, there are more than 53 planting holes shown. Cute Applejack:
After the ponies bitch about Twilight, she becomes a pancake-head.
Twilight complains about having an entire castle so the other ponies decide to decorate it while she goes to the spa with Spike. After they leave, we get a song that's fine while they decorate. This episode also feels very similar to season 4's first episode after the premiere being set in a castle and focusing on all the Mane 6. At the end of the song, we see that the ponies' decorations are a complete mess of everyone's egotism.
Spike returns and sees the mess and tells them it fucking sucks. Then everything goes to shit and gets destroyed. Spike is sent to delay Twilight longer so they can repair the place. Then we see Twilight with an alternate manestyle which looks fucking awesome.
To delay Twilight, Spike gets an extra-strength hot stone deep tissue massage which then prompts Bulk Biceps to break through a wall, pick up Spike with his pecs, and then break through the same wall in a different spot in a very hilarious sequence.
At the castle, the ponies argue over the decorations. Spike and Twilight are done with their massages but Spike still has to delay Twilight further so he makes her take a long way back to the castle and they come across the ruins of the Golden Oak Library which still has a bunch of ash around it indicating that it hasn't been that long since the season 4 finale.
The ponies at the castle still haven't properly decorated the place and then they reminisce about the Golden Oak Library and we get callbacks to previous episodes. Pinkie then has psychotic episode getting very excited while talking about when the library got blown up.
Then the ponies go to the library ruins and we also see there's still a lot of debris further suggesting this being very soon after season 4's finale. They then all work to do stuff with the ruins and go back to the castle to do stuff and then Twilight arrives and finds that they put the roots of the library above the map along with ornaments which contain the memories of their adventures. Twilight likes it and the episode ends. Also how did they get the pictures in the memory gem things?
This was one of those episodes with a bunch of hilarious moments and was thoroughly entertaining so it gets 6 EV. It gets 5 VB for the ponies coming to the understanding of decorating the castle with the memories of their friendship as opposed to their personal tastes. The castle is really all of theirs, not just Twilight's so this symbolises that. 5 DV because this episode is somewhat about moving on from the past but still maintaining the good things that were there. They have to move on from the Golden Oak Library and continue on in the castle.
EP 4: Bloom And Gloom
Rating: 3 4 4
Babs Seed got her cutie mark. We also learn she runs or at least ran the Manehatten chapter of the CMC. I can't remember if this was already implied in her episode. After the theme song, Apple Bloom's panicking to Applejack about cutie mark stuff. Rest of the episode is her dreaming.
Dream one she has a cutie mark making her a pest pony. Then an old pest pony comes to train Apple Bloom and we get a callback to the parasprites episode. He then talks about twittermites which he states are capable of destroying half of Equestria. Telling by their name, I'm guessing twittermites are a metaphor for Tw*tter which has already memeticly destroyed half of society. Stuff happens and then Apple Bloom comes across her shadow and more stuff happens and Ponyville is destroyed. She wakes up. Dream.
Pancakes are reused. This time she has a cutie mark in potion making and we get a callback to Twilight teaching her the craft. Apple Bloom goes to brag to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and they kick her out of the CMC. Apple Bloom offers to just sit in the corner like a cuck while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle do whatever. They still kick her out and she comes across her shadow again and gets her cutie mark removed only to learn Sweetie and Scoots got theirs and she's still kicked out. She wakes up again. Dream in dream.
This time, her cutie mark isn't an apple and she gets kicked out of the family. She wakes up. Dream in dream in dream.
She comes across her shadow again then Luna appears and shows her the dreams of Sweetie and Scoots. Luna then puts them all in a shared dream. She then wakes up in reality. Dream in dream in dream in dream.
I can't remember which one, but I know my record is either having a dream in dream in dream or dream in dream in dream in dream. Also despite often knowing I'm in a dream, I still have no control over them. I also have a lot of dreams where I should die but don't.
Apple Bloom is incorrectly formatted as Applebloom in the credits.
Very uninteresting and predictable episode so it gets 3 EV. It gets 4 VB for the message of not worrying about your future self in relation to others or something. It's a message that only really applies to children and pubescents. 4 DV for hearing from Babs and seeing more of Luna's dreamwalking abilities.
EP 5: Tanks For The Memories
Rating: 5 5 4
We start this episode learning that Cloudsdale has come to make winter in Ponyville. We then get a callback to the Running of the Leaves and then Rainbow Dash states it's her and Tank's first winter together which is just objectively wrong. The episode May The Best Pet Win!, the episode where Tank becomes Rainbow Dash's pet, takes place sometime between November of year 2 and April of year 3 as I deduced back in season 2. This means that Tank has been around for at least two winters since then. I don't know how I could provide a possible explanation for how this could work like I was able to explain Spike's birthday in Secret Of My Excess in season 2 which conflicted with my timeframe theory. This episode supports my timeframe theory, it's just that this comment I can't explain away so all I can do is just assume this was a big writing oversight. We can't even pretend this episode actually takes place in year 3 since Twilight wouldn't be an alicorn yet and she appears in this episode. Hell, even the Hearth's Warming Eve episode is after May The Best Pet Win! in season 2.
Anyways, this episode is about Tank needing to go into hibernation while Rainbow Dash denies this and goes through the five stages of grief as a metaphor for experiencing someone's death.
Eventually, there's a part where Rainbow Dash goes to Spike for advice which he can't give stating he and Tank are completely different species which Rainbow Dash tries to deny until Spike tells her that Fluttershy was right in the previous scene prompting Rainbow Dash to say "What would you know? You're a dragon." going against how she treating Spike just seconds before and this part was pretty funny.
Then Rainbow Dash decides to just stop winter. Next we get a Who's on first joke which is really funny. We then get song as Rainbow Dash fucks up the weather which is decent. It's also amusing how Tank is just asleep as Rainbow Dash is dancing around with him.
Rainbow Dash then decides to commit climate terrorism by sabotaging the Cloudsdale weather factory. We see her sneaking around, going through vents, disguising herself, and hiding in lockers like it's Metal Gear Solid. Eventually she fucks up the mission and makes an extra-snowy winter.
Everyone is now dead and Rainbow Dash has to contend with her sins.
Fluttershy makes Rainbow Dash accept Tank's hibernation, Applejack cries on the inside, and then the episode ends.
Episode's good enough that I give it 5 EV for the couple funny moments and it's thoroughly entertaining. 5 VB because it's a metaphor for accepting death. 4 DV because we see more of the weather factory.
EP 6: Appleoosa's Most Wanted
Rating: 4 4 4
On the official map of Equestria and in previous seasons' closed captioning, it has been spelled as Appleloosa but the title of this episode has it spelled as Appleoosa.
There's a supposed criminal named Trouble Shoes in town fucking up the Appleloosa rodeo and has been fucking up other rodeos across Equestria.
Eventually the CMC decide to go find him, sneaking out from Braeburn's house or something who's supposed to watch over them because of Trouble Shoes running around. Very slow start this episode has. Start of a scene, we see this hand be played in some card game and I looked up if the card numbers which are 2244 mean anything but all I could find is crap about 'angel numbers' which is just some numerology pseudoscience that uses vague wording to tell meanings in crap similar to zodiac signs or male types.
Back at the CMC, they fall down a mud slide and then Scootaloo bumps Sweetie off her back into the mud which is pretty amusing. They then find Trouble Shoes who just has very low luck and agility resulting in extreme clumsiness which is why he kept seemingly sabotaging rodeos. We then get a flashback to his childhood where we see buffalo which first made me think that Appleloosans and buffalo were friendly decades ago but then I remembered that it was implied in Over A Barrel that Appleloosa was a new settlement I think so this flashback has to take place in a different town where ponies and buffalo already got along.
Trouble Shoes gets imprisoned and then the CMC break him out of jail with Sweetie Belle levitating the keys to the cell showing she's gotten better at levitation. Then they put him in the rodeo as a clown and he makes everyone laugh and then his disguise fails and the CMC prove his innocence or something.
It was an alright enough episode but was paced pretty slowly so it gets 4 EV. 4 VB because of the message that you can misinterpret things as being worse than they really are. 4 DV because we get Trouble Shoes' past and we see Appleloosa again.
EP 7: Make New Friends But Keep Discord
Rating: 6 5 4
Flutters and Discord are having a tea party and we get a callback to the breezies. Fluttershy also mentions her friend Tree Hugger to Discord which makes him jealous. Then Fluttershy brings up the Grand Galloping Gala making Discord think she's inviting him but she actually invited Tree Hugger.
Discord then interrogates Spike on where Twilight is which he states she's in Canterlot helping with the gala preparations meaning the gala is very soon and this episode takes place many months later from Tanks For The Memories since we know when the gala is. Then Discord goes off to annoy Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the CMC. Then Discord goes to Pinkie and we get a literal Metal Gear Solid reference. Normally, I don't mention the references because I actually find them annoying and for pop culture-brained idiots but I have made a bunch of MGS references in these commentaries already. Also, I have never used the box for stealth.
After making Pinkie pack up every single cake she has in an order and then canceling the entire order like a Chad, Discord finds Fluttershy with Tree Hugger who's a hippy.
We then see Discord's home in a chaos world and a mailpony comes by screaming and delivers Discord his mail which is his ticket to the gala. He then sends the mailpony to float away in the void and he's snatched away by some flying monster. This bit was really funny.
We then arrive at the gala and Discord has brought the Smooze as his plus one. He then confronts Fluttershy and Tree Hugger who has forgotten who he is. Discord then states that he's centuries old, not millenniums old so he's less than 2000 years old.
After hearing Flutters find something Tree Hugger said funny, Discord decides to do stand-up comedy in jealousy which only ends in Maud roasting him in one of the funniest moments this show has had so far. I even remember rewinding this part over and over again back when this episode came out because I found it so hilarious.
Then the Smooze breaks out a room Discord trapped it in and floods the place and Twilight's magic fails at stopping it while Celestia's horn has some of the Smooze on it and makes it impossible for her to use it. This implies the Smooze is both immune to offensive magic and can inhibit magic at least on a unicorn. The Smooze may be one of the toughest beings in the world.
Look at this screenshot. This is at 15:51.
So then Tree Hugger manages to stop the Smooze from flooding the place and at 17:00, we see Apple Bloom take a huge breath when she's released. She couldn't breathe for over a minute. Then Discord gets even angrier at Tree Hugger after everyone cheers for her and he threatens to throw her in a puppet world in yet another hilarious moment. Tree Hugger also says "oh man".
Fluttershy then tells Discord off and he realizes he's being a cunt. Celestia then states this has been the most fun gala in years and she invited Discord so hell would break loose. This also implies it doesn't top the gala in The Best Night Ever.
Fucking hilarious episode. It's kinda slow at the start but by the time they're at the gala, the hilarity ramps up making this episode worthy of the esteemed 6 EV. 5 VB this episode gets because I like Tree Hugger's character and the message that different friends will do different things. 4 DV for the Smooze.
MLP Commentaries IndexWritten 2025-1-11 Published 2025-2-1