Re: S05E01-02: Cutie Markless
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Bremen
- Joined: Oct 09, 2011
- Gender: Male
Moderators: Perrydotto, Dexanth, Venusy, Wayoshi
Discord wrote:Starlight Glimmer was a good villain. An interesting change of pace from previous ones. I'd like to know more about her, but it seems like they're saving that for perhaps some kind of council of evil at the end of the season (or during it)?
SlateSlabrock wrote:Seasons 3 and 4 made me wary of red herrings, but they definitely left enough unsaid in this episode to pull that off later. That spell makes her terrifying as a normal pony. Twilight was able to fight Tirek to a standstill, but one insta-zap later, she has no magic at all.
It's also not totally clear whether she had big plans for all those cutie marks she was storing, or if she just needed propaganda to spread her plan to equalize everypony. But if the latter's true, I feel like she should've had a backstory. Why would she try to rule over the lousiest town in Equestria? Did she not make it into Celestia's school? Is stealing cutie marks her special talent?
So yeah, I could totally see her coming back later.
SlateSlabrock wrote:Why would she try to rule over the lousiest town in Equestria? Did she not make it into Celestia's school? Is stealing cutie marks her special talent?
So yeah, I could totally see her coming back later.
The Doctor wrote:
This was probably my only issue with the episode. There was no reason for them to get caught. Twilight could have blocked the spell. Could and transported them all out. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could have flown away from the group. It was all a bit too convenient for them to get captured. Should have just had Starlight zap them in their sleep or something.
Perpetual Lurker wrote:
Twilight was in the middle of casting a spell when she got hit. Starlight was just a quicker draw, no foul there. The rest of them had only a few seconds to react, and I doubt any of them would have ditched the others in a fight like that.
The Doctor wrote:
I'm not saying ditch the others, but start fighting back.
Bakufoon wrote:I think one of my favorite little details is when Twilight first meets Startight she flutters her wings just a bit to get Starlight to noticed she's an alicorn.
!saak wrote:Tumblr is instilling a "The villain is totally an an analogue for SJWs/anti-SJWs" (depending on which side is talking about it) kinda vibe on it
It's funny because in the earliest days of the show I just kind of assumed them to be representations of talents, but since then it seems closer to actually affecting the mindset and abilities of the pony that has them. Shades of "Magical Mystery Cure". Hence the very concept of 'taking them away'.Caldera wrote:There's probably a lot of questions one could ask about cutie marks and how they work but I'm not gonna worry about it now.
Niels Olof wrote:Though I must point out that if we are dealing with an Orwellian vision here, it is Animal Farm rather than Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Wildfire wrote:Outstanding start to the season. I think this is the first time the mane 6 relied on others to help them win.
there was a very heavy 1984 feel to it. The only thing missing was "Room 101" (unless you count it as the house they were locked in).
The announcements over the speaker reminded me of that one scene in Red Dawn, and that scene where they smash the cutie mark holder was definitely a ref' to this:
Onward to the rest of the season!
The Doctor wrote:
shotgunbadger wrote:Yea it's more a general blended inspiration of Orwell's works and of course the kinds of governments that caused him to write them, it doesn't have one iron clad 'this is what this is' but more the general 'here's a common theme of abuse of power in the name of equality and unity that really is for a charismatic leader's own megalomania, and it has real world inspiration'
WandereringPony wrote:
I think it was supereffective because Twilight's talent is magic, period- which means losing her mark = *ahem* no more spellcasting. That and the staff being a MacGuffin the whole time, meaning she likely was looking for a spellcast from the staff, not the unicorn holding it. Blindsided, OHKO'd, and out.
Ragnar wrote:
I'm not crystal clear on her motivations. Power, I guess? I didn't get the impression that she believed what she was saying.
Niels Olof wrote:
Collecting the power of cutie marks for eventual nefarious purpose?
The Doctor wrote:
Possibly. She seemed to be taking the Cutie Marks just to keep the mane six away from them, rather than to try an use them and gain their powers.
Which is good because she'd really just be Tirek 2.0 if she was sucking powers from other ponies.
Niels Olof wrote:
(Butt) stamp collecting for megalomaniacs? She’s got a very nice display case after all...
SlateSlabrock wrote:Part 1 emoticons. Not as many wacky faces as I'd expected. Also not sure if Fluttershy's cute face works without being animated.
Ransom wrote:So,
Night Glider
Double Diamond
Party Favor
Sugar Belle
Any chance they show up again in the show and/or comics? Quite a bit of characterization put into them.
WandereringPony wrote:
If you're the only powerful pony in a sea of mediocrity, you rule. If she'd successfully brainwashed Twilight, it'd have been the Tom Cruise of her little cult and attracted even more ponies to brainwash and rule.
I mean, it wouldn't be the first equine-ish creature to want to rule over a sea of drones.
Venusy wrote:There was one pretty big elephant in the room when it came to Starlight's philosophy: the pegasi can still fly, and the unicorns still have access to the basic spells that it seems like every unicorn has. It's especially noticeable during Our Town - the pegasi bring RD down to the ground, but they all fly up for the finale.
Ragnar wrote:I'm not crystal clear on her motivations. Power, I guess? I didn't get the impression that she believed what she was saying.
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