My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - "The Return of Harmony: Part 2" - Talkback [09/24]

[MetroSparkster]

Today @ 9:00 AM ET on The Hub

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PREVIOUSLY ON MLP: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC...



Long story short: A mischievous ancient evil has been unleashed, the Elements of Harmony have been stolen, friends have been corrupted, and now all of Equestria is about to fall into total chaos.

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So how will this all end?


Let's find out!

Twilight and her pals get into a quarrel because of Discord's shenanigans. Twilight then works toward brokering peace so the ponies can unite and defeat Discord.

Needless to say, they'll be getting plenty of rest as Season 2 takes a break for the next couple/few weeks.

[NewcomerDC]

Twilight depressed? Like a fan fic come to life.

[The Huntsman]

Good episode. Good opening to the season. Rushed ending. Discord went down without a fight, as he didn't expect their harmony to work, and being turned back into stone implies that he won't show up again because the last time he was turned to stone he stayed stone for eons. Princess Luna also didn't show up, despite numerous mentions. However, at least all of those forced moral messages played a role in an episode for once, and the fan theories about this being another instance of "Trollestia" were shot down as well, so I can live with that.

[zoombie]

Twilight going a little nuts with the "it's my book and I am going to read it" was hillarous. The way Discord was defeated, that is old school MLP villain defeat, no turning good, just defeated.

Disappointed no Luna, but loved the Star Wars ending.

[King9]

Excellent start to the season. Discord was a much better villain than Nightmare Moon ever was, much more presence. Ultimately his failing was that he was too cocky. Anyone else catch that when Discord was clapping the sound effects were random noises. Awesome.
The ending was really rushed, but the rest of the episode was very entertaining. Cannot wait for more.

I don't know Huntsman, how do we know Celestia didn't engineer Discord's release in the first place to test her star pupil? (Kidding, kidding )

[nakak]

I'm disappointed that Discord turned into stone again, but I loved how chaotic Ponyville turned under Discord's rule (I want a Big Mac dog). And Twilight slowly losing patience with her discorded friends.

Spike: What about Rainbow Dash?
Twilight: Congratulations, you're the new Rainbow Dash!

Rarity (throwing away rock): Let us never speak of this again.

Rarity: Why does she think that small piece of cloud is Cloudsdale?
Applejack: The same reason why you thought that chunk of rock was a diamond?
Rarity: I thought we agreed to never speak of that again.

[MetroSparkster]

Honestly, I was really expecting more of a fight from Discord, but he was just too arrogant to see that his plan was about to backfire. You could even say he had taken his victory for 'granite'.

It was shocking to see Twilight corrupted with doubt, but the Friendship Reports played a big part this time around.
Speaking of corruption, Flutterjerk was easily the best. And when she was normal, her time to shine catching up with Rainbow Dash was pretty good.

Twilight: If you can't catch her, Discord wins!
Fluttershy: That big... dumb... MEANIE!

This was a satisfying episode overall with all the craziness Discord caused and pulled before his inevitable defeat. I can see the look on various forums who wanted to see more of him.

See you all when the rest of the season airs...

[NewcomerDC]

Maybe the rushed ending was intended. I wonder if the writers tried hard enough, we could get a three parter. Then again, we waited this long for this episode and a longer wait for the rest of this season. Maybe two parters are fine.

[Kookamunga]

Well, that was a pretty good end to the Return of Harmony!

The mane five's corrupted selves were still quite humorous yet I utterly despised Flutterjerk even though that was probably intentional.

It loved when Twilight started losing her temper when her friends were playing keep-away with her book. :anime:
Pretty sad when later Twilight lost hope in getting to her friends and she became gray as well.

The montage of Twilight injecting memories back into her friends' heads was a little rushed but I loved how they all reacted to their corruption.

Hilarious when Twilight just suddenly decided to make Spike the new Rainbow Dash!

But I really wish Spike did more as he had no real factor in helping defeat Discord aside from Celestia's notes to re-motivate Twilight coming out of him.

Another epic use of the Elements of Harmony to turn Discord back to stone and changing Ponyville back. :anime:

I loved the Star Wars-like ending which is ironic since this episode had a guest from Star Trek.

Kinda disappointed that we didn't see Princess Luna in this special at all. I hope we get to see her again soon.


I eagerly await for what more Season 2 has in store and the new opening!

[Justy]

The whole "Star Wars" ending thing has been done to death, so that was a little tough to watch, but it still was a good episode. I liked the references to the rest of the first season and how important the "The fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends" line really was. Nice. Discord went down too easy and I would've liked longer scenes of Twilight turning each pony back. The mane cast had their individual moments, particularly while still under Discord's spell. Overall, a good ending to the first season. Hope the wait for new eps isn't TOO long.

[Don_East]

The ending is rushed, they could've shorten a few bits so that at least Discord can do something besides screaming "NOOOOOO!" as he gets defeated. For that matter the scenes of Discord!Twilight was rather quick. But still this is a fun climax to a really good pair of episodes. The corrupted ponies were funny but I'm glad they were cured, Discord!Fluttershy was slowly getting into Bloo levels of jerk.

The use of previous episodes & their morals to restore the Mane Six was a clever bit of Arc Welding by M.A. Larson. Also, Ballet buffalo? There needs to be a GIF of that now.

[The Landstander]

Yeah, the ending was a bit on the rushed side. I think the real meat of the two-parter was Discord being awesome and the friendship dynamic being reversed, and as a result the "introduce the plot" and "actually defeat the villian" portions suffered from faster pacing. This honestly could've been a three-parter if they wanted it.

I still thought it was a strong episode. Every character had at least one moment that was great; mean/determined Fluttershy was great, Tom Rock was great, Pinkie stopping for one last chocolate rain drink was great, Ponyville in chaos was great. Twilight going gray was a "Pinkie deflates" level sad moment. Could've used a bit more Dash but the balloon chase made up for it.

Honestly, it's not like we're going to get a fight scene in a show like this that's awesome or anything, so if they were going to rush something, I kinda don't mind that it's that.


Side note: Looks like two weeks of repeats at least after this argh

[HEATXZ]

Great episode :anime:
My favorite parts are all the Pinkie Pie and Discord scenes and all the ponies stealing Twilight Sparkle's Book XD
I hope Discord comes back later in the season or Season 3

[Silverstar]

I have to say, I was a tad disappointed by this one: the Ponies retirieve the Elements of Harmony, Twilight breaks Discord's spell on the others, they find Rainbow Dash, cure her, face Discord, use the Elements to pwn him, he gets turned back into a statue, Ponyville is saved, cut, print, cash the check. The whole thing felt rushed and anti-climactic, not to mention basically a retread of "Friendship is Magic".

And the lack of Luna is getting a bit irritating. She wasn't even present for the big Star Wars end ceremony, even though she was 1 of the ponies to originally defeat Discord. It's almost as if the writers are deliberately trolling the audience.

I hope Discord comes back later in the season or Season 3

Nah, Discord's a strictly 1-and-done bad guy. There'd be no point in bringing him back for the same old story, and it's not like he could go on to become a recurring annoyance. I knew Discord had to go; he was too powerful and too much of a threat to the status quo. He basically turned Ponyville into Wackyland; there's no way he could peacefully co-exist even a little. Also, John DeLancie has already said that he's not coming back to the show unless someone asks him, and so far he hasn't been asked.

[TnAdct1]

I don't know Huntsman, how do we know Celestia didn't engineer Discord's release in the first place to test her star pupil? (Kidding, kidding )

Of course, who in their right mind would place a major threat who in encased in stone in a place where the simplest squabble between a group of young ponies can allow the creature to escape?

The whole thing felt rushed and anti-climactic, not to mention basically a retread of "Friendship is Magic".

Thus justifying the picture that I linked in my post in the Part 1 thread.

[Blankments]

I liked it. While it was a little rushed, I felt like it was done as well as it could've as a two-parter. Spike actually had a role this time too! Naming the rock Tom and the keep away with the book were hilarious moments, along with "Spike, you're the new Rainbow Dash!" Discord was a wonderful villain like in the previous episode, although I was slightly disappointed he didn't get a villain song. He just seems like the villain who would have a great showstopper. Depressed Twilight was, well, depressing, and I'm glad the friendship reports showed up, justifying their existence in my eyes.

Curing all the ponies was rushed, but the Rainbow Dash chase with the balloon was both frantic and funny, and not something you usually see from the show. Hopefully there are some more action pieces like that over the season. Then, yes, they defeated Discord far too easily, but he does have a chance to return; I don't think he will, but there's the chance. Finally, although I would've liked Luna to show up, I found the Star Wars ending the funniest part of the episode. It just came out of nowhere, and then the end credits music added to the joke. All in all, it was a pretty good episode, and as a two-parter, it was great. And now, we wait.

[Nel]

Fantastic. This episode is going to spawn so many memes. XD

That ending though. Ugh. Way too rushed. Discord could have at least tried fighting back.

[TnAdct1]

Is it just me, or does this analogy work:

The Return of Harmony is to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as Island of Illusion is to Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

[Gatomon41]

2-parter episodes tend to suffer from good buildup, but weak followup. The 2nd part simply doesn't live up to its potential. This episode is no exception.

Like others have said, the episode diffinetely felt rushed. How Twilight saved her friends felt too quick and too pat. There was so much potential character development that could have occured by Twilight confronting her pals.

This would have been better as a 3-part episode, in which Part 2 would have focused on Twilight and friends confronting their issues, and Part 3 with finishing off Discord.

Speaking of Discord, he wasn't such of a meanace this episode. Part 1 did a great job showing that he dangerous. But when we see his rule, it isn't so bad. It's more wacky than pure Chaos, and makes Discord look more like a fool than monster.

Then again, I don't think they could show Pure Chaos. I'd doubt Hasbro would consider The Warp from Warhammer 40,000 to be kid friendly.

On a side note, I'm divided by Discord's fate. Could have been fun seeing Discord taunt Captian Twilight once in a while, show her the threat of the Borg, and cosplay as Robin Hood. Maybe engage in fisticuffs with Rinbow Dash. But his fate would make Discord a memorable character, since his appearance is so limited.

Finally, the lack of Luna. Where the heck was she?

But it would be misleading to say this episode failed. Quite contrary, it still was entertaining. Chaosvile looked fun, the bit with capturing Rainbow Dash was great, the writing was good, and the final showdown didn't feel lame. In fact, the final battle with Discord was better than Nightmare Moon.

Overall, the two parter was a great way to start the season. Part 2 was ok, but Part 1 was great.

[Juu-kuchi]

Pretty good episode. Liked how Discord used the attrition of the negative energy from all the other ponies to bring down Twilight and the overall progression of the storyline from start to finish. Just a damn shame that it was rushed so quickly, and the Star Wars ending was amusing but kindof lazy.

But at least while it rushed through we had a lot of fun along the way.