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My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season 4 |OT| Twilight Princess Returns

A single bit from the upcoming part 3 comic for the Mirror arc. Lets all imagine that someone at IDW read this thread and changed this at the last second just for us.

FAvJb89.jpg

Lol, I have no context for this, but I was reading Cosmos and this reminds me of the part where the ancient Pythagoreans are freaking out about the dodecahedron and the square root of 2, and how they shatter their perception of how the world fits together, so they try to keep them under wraps from the public eye.

I can now imagine their arguments looked something like this.

Also whats all this powerup stuff I haven't followed since S2
 
Also whats all this powerup stuff I haven't followed since S2
The elements of harmony came from a harmony tree, and removing them took away some of the tree's power. before discord first turned to stone, he hatched a plan to corrupt the tree and take over the world. He didn't think that'd take over 1000 years, but it finally happened. To restore power to the tree, the mane 6 had to give up their elements of harmony and return it to the tree. So they lost their super weapon. The tree responded by growing a locked box with 6 keyholes.

Finale has the alicorns celestia, luna, and cadence give their magic/power to twilight and she uses it to fight the badguy, DBZ style.

Season stuff happens, and they unlock the box in the finale to unlock Rainbow power mode where they change forms into the ugly rainbow toys and like always, shoot a rainbow beam to beat the bad guy.
 
My top five songs from the season:

1.) Apples to the Core. No surprises here, loved this song from waaay back when they showed it off Comicon. Plus Applejack.
2.) You'll Play Your Part. I feel like this is one Ingram's best songs he has written for the show. The harmony between the three princesses in the chorus is beautiful.
3.) Pinkie the Party Planner. Great song that sets up the premise and musical theme for a great episode. Reminds me of the old opening numbers from the early Disney flicks.
4.) Hearts As Strong As Horses. Cutie Mark Crusader songs can be real hit-or-miss but this is easily their best one. It's a very different sounding song from the rest of the show, but it's one I keep going back to.
5.) Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic. Another unusual sounding song, but I just love the Flim Flam brothers. While not as good as their other song, Miracle Curative Tonic is still bombastic and manages to get me hyped. By the end, I want to buy their products.

Overall, I feel like this season had the weakest musical numbers, which isn't to say that it was bad at all. Compared to most shows/movies, the music kicked complete flank. But when compared to the previous seasons, which had such wonderful and memorable songs, it falls just a little short. I think it's probably because Ingram had to write so many songs for this season, and Littlest Pet Shop, and Equestria Girls 1 & 2 he just wasn't given as much time to perfect these numbers. Again, I don't want to seem like I didn't like his work in season 4, I just hope he has less on his plate for season 5 to really give us something special.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
It has dawned on me that the Princesses were never really captured this episode, and what we saw was yet another expert chess match by Celestia.

What does Tirek do with the Princesses? He sends them to Tartarus to be guarded by Cerberus.

What do we know about Cerberus in this show?

He's a nice doggy and hardly poses a threat to ponies, as Celestia didn't do anything more than put out a lost dog flyer last time he got out.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
You know, something else just hit me about the whole Tirek fight.

From when Twilight got all the Alicorn magic and until the library was destroyed, she had trouble controlling all the power. Even basic things like opening a door or flying got supercharged and destructive. She even overshot her mark when flying by Tirek in the start before teleporting back home. But when Tirek blows up the library and she realizes what he just did, she suddenly has no problem controlling the power of four Alicorns. Because thanks to her rage, she doesn't even try to hold back. Collateral damage or injury to Tirek be damned, Twilight is in full on rage-mode there.

So, basically, Twilight tried to kill Tirek. Not just defeat or capture. Kill. If Tirek had been just a little weaker, he'd be dead. Outright killed by Twilight who is not just no longer holding back, but actually giving the magic blasts her all, and then some, due to her rage at Tirek.

Equestria's newest princess has quite the mean streak. Not that Tirek didn't deserve it, but still. Raging Twilight is hardcore.

There's an argument to be made that Twilight would've known that even her hardest hit wouldn't be enough to take Tirek out completely, but that doesn't change the fact that she made no attempt to hold back. I loved that about the finale; that it takes someone destroying a library to make Twilight really, officially furious.

My top five songs from the season:

Overall, I feel like this season had the weakest musical numbers, which isn't to say that it was bad at all. Compared to most shows/movies, the music kicked complete flank. But when compared to the previous seasons, which had such wonderful and memorable songs, it falls just a little short. I think it's probably because Ingram had to write so many songs for this season, and Littlest Pet Shop, and Equestria Girls 1 & 2 he just wasn't given as much time to perfect these numbers. Again, I don't want to seem like I didn't like his work in season 4, I just hope he has less on his plate for season 5 to really give us something special.

It really is a miracle the music turned out as well as it did given Ingram's workload.

Not sure where I'd rank S4 overall. Magical Mystery Cure managed to single-handedly elevate S3 (which already had a few really great songs) to the "excellent" tier for me, and S2 and S1 both have a lot of excellent songs between them. I guess S4 maybe does sit a little lower than the others. If a few of the moderate successes had been proper triumphs (Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic, Generosity and Let the Rainbow Remind You are prime candidates for this IMO) I think the season would've felt more complete.

It has dawned on me that the Princesses were never really captured this episode, and what we saw was yet another expert chess match by Celestia.

What does Tirek do with the Princesses? He sends them to Tartarus to be guarded by Cerberus.

What do we know about Cerberus in this show?

He's a nice doggy and hardly poses a threat to ponies, as Celestia didn't do anything more than put out a lost dog flyer last time he got out.

Wouldn't be the first time Celestia's done something like that, and given that she didn't seem to have any end-game arranged beyond sending Twilight away while she and the other two Princesses chill in Canterlot, it's not inconceivable.
 

Orcastar

Member
It really is a miracle the music turned out as well as it did given Ingram's workload.

You keep saying stuff like this about the production team too, how it's amazing that they manage to make such a good show despite the huge workload and tight schedules. What makes you think that making FiM is any more arduous than making any other animated series, or hell, any other TV series, animated or not?
 

brian577

Banned
You keep saying stuff like this about the production team too, how it's amazing that they manage to make such a good show despite the huge workload and tight schedules. What makes you think that making FiM is any more arduous than making any other animated series, or hell, any other TV series, animated or not?

Well they don't make just MLP. A bulk of the crew also work on Littlest Pet Shop and Pound Puppies including Ingram.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
You keep saying stuff like this about the production team too, how it's amazing that they manage to make such a good show despite the huge workload and tight schedules. What makes you think that making FiM is any more arduous than making any other animated series, or hell, any other TV series, animated or not?

I don't. I've always understood that television production in general is a long, complicated and involved process, and I see no reason to think MLP is any different. As someone who works in production myself (albeit on the shittier advertising end), I'm constantly in awe at what people are able to achieve on a ton of different shows.

Additionally, MLP being a Hasbro show suggests to me that the scales probably tip more in favour of the "We're just advertising toys" angle than the "Let's make the best possible show" angle (from a funding/production time perspective). That's just an assumption on my part, though.

EDIT: Also what Brian said.
 

$200

Banned
LTTP song rankings:

Apples to the Core
Already looked like it was going to be one of the best songs in the series back when they showed it at Comic-Con. The animation however was not as smooth as I had expected...
Pinkie's part was my favorite even though her lyrics make no sense.

Pinkie's Lament
Dat Disney moment.

Glass of Water
Unique and awesome.

You'll Play Your Part
Didn't like it first because of the awkwardness. Listened again without animation and it's now one of my favs this season. I may not rate Cadence but she has perhaps the best singing voice.

Make a Wish
Simple and effective melody and lyrics. Check out the official extended version if you haven't.

Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic
Not as good as Cider song, but still cool.

Bats
Love the song, minus the Fluttershy parts.

Music in the Treetops / Find the Music in You
Good song and remixes. Big Mac may just be the last pony I expected to have a singing role.

The Super Duper Party Pony
Cool...

Generosity
Meh, dat reprise tho.

Pinkie the Party Planner
Cool...

Cheese Confesses
Cool...

Let the Rainbow Remind You
Not a fan, but I absolutely love the way the last line was delivered together with that group photo. There's something special about it.
that_we_will_always__shine__by_applejackcowgirl-d7ibtbl.jpg


The Goof Off
Not a fan either.

Hearts Strong as Horses
Seems pretty well liked here, but I find it pretty dull.

The rappin' Hist'ry of the Wonderbolts
Can't really rank this one.


Solid music this season, the best ones are not as good as the best ones from S2 and MMC imo but the overall quality throughout the season is higher.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Apples to the Core
Already looked like it was going to be one of the best songs in the series back when they showed it at Comic-Con. The animation however was not as smooth as I had expected...
Pinkie's part was my favorite even though her lyrics make no sense.

You've never experienced balloons flying over your favourite drink? So much fun.
 

UberTag

Member
Here are my Season 4 song rankings...

1) Apples to the Core
2) Hearts Strong as Horses
3) Pinkie's Lament
4) You'll Play Your Part
5) Shake Your Tail (EG: Rainbow Rocks)
6) The Super Duper Party Pony + Cheese Confesses
7) Generosity
8) Find the Music in You + Music in the Treetops
9) Bats
10) Make a Wish (Extended Version)

I'm admittedly biased when it comes to Kazumi Evans... although the singing star of Season 4 in my mind is Michelle Creber.
Those first two songs would make the cut for best songs in the franchise consideration. The others not so much.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
What do you guys not like about Glass of Water?

Speaking for myself, the only issue is that John DeLancie can't sing, and doesn't really try to. It kinda winds up being more of a jaunty poem than a song, for me. Always liked the lyrics though, and DeLancie does a good job with the tools he has.
 

$200

Banned
All season 4 viewership ratings

Highest: Twilight’s Kingdom Part 1 and 2 ∙ 733,000 (Combined Average)
Lowest: Inspiration Manifestation ∙ 385,000

Season average: 559,000

Most importantly - Season 4 saw the largest increase in viewership over the previous 3 seasons.

For comparison, once record holder A Canterlot Wedding had a rating of 485,000 and that was with insane promotions. MMC most likely beat it but I don't have the exact number.
 

UberTag

Member
All season 4 viewership ratings

Lowest: Inspiration Manifestation ∙ 385,000
Clearly parents didn't want their kids watching this episode because it would give them nightmares.

610459__safe_solo_rarity_animated_screencap_magic_corrupted_inspiration+manifestation_spoiler-colon-s04e23_possessed.gif


http://investor.hasbro.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=855121

Rainbow Rocks plot revealed, still doesn't tell us which Twilight Sparkle is in it.
The girls must rock their way to the top, and outshine rival ADAGIO DAZZLE and her band THE DAZZLINGS, to restore harmony back to CANTERLOT HIGH.
If there isn't a Jem and the Holograms homage included in here, I'm going to be disappointed.
 
Clearly parents didn't want their kids watching this episode because it would give them nightmares.

I let my 4 year old watch it. Don't remember what the plot was, but she didn't seem too bothered by it. I'd have thought she'd have been more troubled by the one where Fluttershy turns into a vampire or whatever (unless that's Inspiration Manifestation?), but she liked that one.
 
I let my 4 year old watch it. Don't remember what the plot was, but she didn't seem too bothered by it. I'd have thought she'd have been more troubled by the one where Fluttershy turns into a vampire or whatever (unless that's Inspiration Manifestation?), but she liked that one.

That was "Bats!". Inspiration Manifestation is where Spike gets that forbidden book out of the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters and Rarity starts fabulizing everything.
 
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