This week’s episode is called “Princess Spike” and despite the rather implied idea in it’s title, is not about Spike being Rule 63’d. (Though most of you will know there’s no absence of it in the fandom, from Spike and Princess Twilight shipped as female/female to Spike and male Rainbow Dash in a questionable relationship)
Last week’s episode was one of the best of the season so it would be hard to follow up something of that caliber, and thankfully they didn’t try to shoot for the moon. This week’s episode is what I’d like to call a ‘fluff piece’, just enough information to sooth us die hard curious fans and more then enough to keep the ‘target’ audience happy.
We open with a lovely view of Canterlot Castle and it appears that we have many ponies and even a griffon all gathered for a meeting. Quickly we find out that there are fifty (50) of these delegates and they are here to help our princesses understand more about the land of Equestria. I find it strange that there’s 50 states her in North America and oddly, there’s the same number represented here. I find it rather comforting and familiar, which is why I think they did that. (Though my state’s represented rather…unusually..more on that later)
Then we meet Spike, whose more then happy to serve any of the needs of the delegates! If this were a fanfiction we’d be in for quite a display of semi erotic encounters..but it’s not and we quickly find out as Spike does that everyone there is far far more interested in talking with Twilight directly.
Spike begins what I assume he does when he’s not in a scene which is clean Twilight’s room. Quickly bursting in, Cadance, no doubt thrilled to have more then three seconds of cameo time since A Canterlot Wedding or that lovely Discord episode, informs Spike that Twilight has worked herself into a state of near complete exhaustion. Twilight wanders in looking like she’s just been through a Brony Convention and promptly goes to bed.
What I loved so far was if you watch the Griffon in the opening scene, it claps it’s hands, which implies that hands, or the concept of, is not entirely missing. (Which contradicts Rainbow Dash’s question at the end of the first movie) and I’ve always had a soft spot for Cadance, she’s got such a different style of leading, though all the Princesses do, and it’s refreshing to see her for once without her being set dressing.
So predictably Spike begins his job and over corrects by chasing a bird from outside INTO the room. We find out though that Twilight is OUT like a light, the bird’s song doesn’t even wake her thankfully. No doubt dreaming that she’s a blond super heroine in Townsville. Each new problem that pops up is comically and progressively severe. He even stops a construction pony working on a water main.
This gives us a distinctly unique view of Canterlot that I began this blog for. The very FACT that Canterlot has such an advanced water delivery system is a point of debate. I’ve often said that Celestia may be intentionally holding back different technology that she’s privy to in order to keep the civilization she’s molding on whatever particular track she wants.
Stay with me on this, I have thought about this. We know that Twilight Sparkle went through the portal to a human world that was by far more advanced and on par with our own with technology. She returns at the end of the movie and everyone is still fine, no absurd amount of time has passed. We can assume from this that time there and time in Pony World Prime is identical. So for the most part both worlds if no interference was made, should be on the same track within reason. Thoughts?
Anyway, Spike starts to use Twilight’s name to stop the various noisy conditions which as any one can clearly see aren’t random and will eventually pile up. As things start to spin slowly but inevitably out of control, Spike is confronted with delegates (Mainly ponies) who want to get her opinion on everything from important issues to completely mundane fashion issues.
This raises a rather fascinating thought in regards to the freedom of thought or capability there of the overall world has. It seems they turn to the nearest princess to fix the major issues of the world, not just monsters but down to what color their bow should be. Seems handy to keep your world dependent on you if you were trying to keep them subjugated..no?
Spike turns to making decisions himself and claiming that it came from the princess who, to his credit, he DID try to wake up and ask things, but she was very loopy and couldn’t be counted on. This brings us to my state, the lovely northstar state, and how we seem to be represented. A New York pony and a Minnesota Pony are one of the first collisions Spike has to deal with. I can honestly say I wasn’t entirely put off by the Fargo-esque hat and accent (We don’t have accents I don’t understand how people thing we do don’tcha know?) but it was a cringe worthy moment.
So as Spike falls into a pit of self indulgence, it’s quite interesting to see what he chooses as his perks, from a massage to many other little things that do indeed help us get a better idea of his character. In the end thats all this episode really is, it’s to show insight into Spike and establish some economic and political layout to the more hardcore bronies.
Despite Cadance trying to reason with Spike, the dam finally breaks, and so does the water main, flooding the main meeting room and destroying the statue made up of 50 gems (each from one city) and angering the combined force of all the ponies that Spike had been giving advice to under the guise of Twilight. They storm her tower in an angry mob scene that resembles the villagers attacking the Beast’s castle and finally, Twilight, properly rested, wakes up.
It’s interesting how calm and collected she is to the delegates, a true testament to her character’s growth. The timid bookworm we first saw in season one now can handle a crowd of upset ponies and one griffon. Spike, despite trying to make a run for it, confesses himself to Twilight and she quickly finds out all the issues that he’s made. Not angry, she tells Spike what he needs to learn from this, and he promptly gives us a heart felt speech, and begins to rebuild the statue, one stone at a time.
Moved by his speech, the delegates help him and we quickly find out that if you do something bad, it’s entirely alright if you’re sorry. Well maybe not entirely the lesson, but still, it feels like it falls a bit short of showing any real lesson and feels more like..as I said..a fluff piece 🙂
Summed up, I give it a 3 out of 10. It was cute for what it was, and I like the looks into how some technology works and has been settled into pony society. The glance at the fifty cities was a wonderful nod to how BIG the world is supposed to be (imagine naming them all, I’d hate to be in the writer’s room since each has a horse theme) and a taboo sin inside me likes when Cadance gets more then three lines and a booty bump from Twilight in a flashback. Next week should be interesting to see!
Again, TWEET me, spread my blog, and don’t hesitate to comment and ask questions, I build this for a reason. Maybe one day I’ll write for an actual Brony Page 😉
-Watchfire
It’s more perplexing that a scientist like Twilight wouldn’t have come back through the mirror with all sorts of notes and tried to reverse-engineer computers and cell phones and stuff. Time running at the same speed in both worlds doesn’t necessarily mean that their tech would be the same. The kind of things that spark technological advancement–wars, colonization, expansion of industries, discovery and exploitation of various resources, etc, are progressing at different rates. If you only have to dig a foot into the dirt to find pre-cut gems, you don’t have to build a machine for it. No need for meteorology if all the weather is manufactured. It’s hard to spend centuries perfecting weapons of war if everypony’s worried about windigoes showing up whenever they argue. And so on.
In regards to the free thought question, you make a good point. When a princess shows up in children’s dreams to help them with their insecurities, the dependency is quite clear.
Great review and thoughts, as always…as you can probably tell, I appreciate a deep thinker as well. I happened upon your blog when I was Googling to see if anyone had anything to say about Gilda’s “pony hero complex” line. Seemed like no one was struck by that like I was. Anywho, keep it up!