Thanks
to the princess, the six main characters all get to star in a play at Canterlot about the founding of Equestria. The performance just so
happens to be an annual tradition which is held every Hearth's
Warming Eve.
The episode starts with the six main characters (Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie) on a train headed towards Canterlot. They are all excited since they've almost arrived. Upon arriving they enjoy the sights as they walk along and soon begin to prepare for the play. They argue a bit, but it's nothing serious. Then the play begins, which reveals more of Equestria's history.
In fact it's the story of how Equestria was discovered, long before Princess Celestia's reign even began. Apparently, many
years ago the three types of ponies (Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus)
didn't get along so peacefully. The play itself takes up the majority
of the episode and stars the six ponies, plus Spike as the
narrator. It was weird yet highly interesting to see the main
characters acting out different roles while still retaining their own
personalities. The
play also introduced a new mythical creature. After the play is one
final scene which wraps everything up nicely on a satisfying note.
Though this episode disappointed me, it was still a great episode on its own merits. The characters were
solid, the plot a bit predictable but still entertaining. There was great
attention to detail, a nice level of humor, and a good theme about getting
along instead of fighting. In fact fits in in quite nicely
with a holiday theme, as well as the show's overall theme of friendship. Also it
was quite interesting to learn more about the history of Equestria.
Despite
all that, “Hearth's Warming Eve” still left me disappointed. Why?
Well, for supposedly being a holiday episode it certainly didn't feel
like one. Last time for Halloween there was an incredible episode that
embraced the holiday it represented and made it its own unique pony holiday, with solid characters and a solid plot. This time the
characters and plot are fine, but this episode doesn't really embrace
the Christmas season or make it that significant to this particular episode.
There's several festive trees and a bit more such as a gingerbread
house, a giant candy cane, etc. But the whole holiday feels like merely a minor background
element. I hardly even know anything about their Hearth's Warming
beyond its origins. This episode provided a play and some history of
Equestria, that's it. Both those things are wonderful, but both
could've been given in practically any episode. If you remove every holiday reference from this episode you're left with a wintery
episode that has almost no noticeable difference to this one! I expected so much more from this episode, and I know the show is
capable of more. What makes matters worse is the fact that
any Christmas themed or the like episode of a show only gets made
once a year at most, which means potential was squandered this year for a truly awesome Christmas-themed episode.
All
ranting aside, this was still a really nice episode. I recommend it,
just be aware of what you're getting into and don't be expecting
anything as excellent as the Halloween episode. I hope
they do much better next year.
