Season 8 Episode Discussion [Spoilers, possible leaks, rumours etc.]

@DerpyFast
 
I know right? I was expecting some kind of twist somewhere, but no it was pretty straightforward.

@Dustcan  
That was the twist. The twist was that there wasn’t a twist… They just wanted you to think there was.

I liked Hoof’ar a lot. He was just exceptionally chill and treated with a lot of dignity. I especially loved his long ass sip of tea.

@gingerninja666  
Agreed.

Just watched The Washouts. I’m not really sure what to think about it.
 
It was really satisfying to see that Rainbow Dash has matured to the point where she’s ultimately more concerned with Scootaloo’s safety than her own ego. That’s a huge step for her. It was also satisfying watching Scootaloo become her own person, and Rainbow Dash accepting that. Lastly, it’s satisfying that Scootaloo is given an opportunity to live her dream despite her disability. Which ties in nicely with how Lightning Dust still gets to live her dream, despite being kicked out of The Wonderbolts.
 
I want to live in the parallel universe where all of these elements pay off in the end, rather than the copout ending we got.

@DerpyFast  
Agreed.
 
Is it wrong that I would’ve been satisfied with Scootaloo ending up the exact same way Spitfire warned her about as a possible alternate ending?
 
I mean a happy endings good and all, but her ending up in a hospital because she didn’t listen to Rainbow Dash would really teach kids to listen to their parents.

@TheMultiBrony21
 
I think that would be too depressing. If they’re going to drop the “Scootaloo Can’t Fly” bomb, they’d damn well better give us an emotionally satisfying payoff.

@DerpyFast  
Agreed.
 
I was talking more of a humorous ending though, like the beginning of the episode where Rainbow discovers Daring Do for the first time.

Just saw Friendship Road. I was surprised its in my preferred writing style. “You put two characters in an elevator and then go.”
 
This is the first Trixie episode ever. You get to see the things that she’s emotionally invested in. You get to see how she operates when she’s traveling. You also get to see how hard her life is. Unlike other ponies who live sheltered lives in Ponyville, she’s always been on the road all by herself. Going from town to town making ponies happy with her “magic” but never staying long enough in one place to make friends. Why does she do that? Who knows?
 
Hoofar is probably her first canon fan. Seeing someone love her show and seeing Trixie happy that Starlight was willing to go with her on a really hard trip made me happy and angry at the same time. Because of the reason below. Take it with a grain of salt. Its just an opinion.
 
Trixie is the rightful sixth ranger, not Starlight. She deserves to be Twilight’s friendship student, not Starlight. She’s been all alone all this time trying to reach out to other ponies with her magic shows because she didn’t know how to make friends. Trixie was supposed to be who Twilight was if Twilight never learned about friendship. I could easily imagine replacing Starlight with Twilight in this episode if Starlight never existed and Twilight was Trixie’s friend and mentor.
 
Unfortunately, this is the timeline I live in. Here’s to G5.

@hironakamura  
It would have ended in murder if it was Twilight & Trixie.

I still really enjoy the type of friendship Star and Trix share. It’s a lot… harsher. I’m not sure what the word is. There’s a lot more ribbing and bickering even when their friendship’s health isn’t the focus of the episode. Like, in To Change a Changeling, they were still going at it a few times.
 
I guess they’re a lot less openly sappy about their friendship than the mane 6 are.

@gingerninja666  
In other words, its the most realistic friendship in-show. Considering Trixie is in it, that’s no surprise.

@PonyPon
 
“Trixie has come to terms with being second best.” is still my favourite line from To Change a Changeling. Because it has almost zero bearing on the current scene. She literally just says it to get back at Trixie for earlier.

@gingerninja666
 
Trixie’s wide-eyed, silent reaction to that line was great too.

@DerpyFast  
I thought it was a 5/10 episode. Not bad, but not good either.  
Well, at least it wasn’t plain bad.

Am I the only one unsatisfied with the “I can’t fly” moment from Scootaloo in Washouts? It would’ve been way more impactful if the episode really focused on that, why it is, and what it means more. But it’s just dropped as an emotional moment near the end and we don’t really get an actual resolution to it.
 
It also would’ve meant more if this episode was anywhere close to Flight to the Finish, the previous episode that hinted Scootaloo had problems with flying, maybe if it was last season or something. But I can guarantee at least 80% of normal watchers haven’t seen a re-run or just forgot about that already. It would be like new Spongebob making a reference to Bubble Bass or something and expecting kids to know who that is.
 
 
As for the whole Scootaloo being confirmed disabled, I really don’t buy it. We just haven’t been told enough about her, or Pegasus flight really. Yeah we see tonnes of kids younger that her fly by her age, but was there anything to make us think that if it doesn’t happen by a certain age she’ll never be able to fly? She’s still a kid after all anything can happen really. Hell Spike learned to fly in an afternoon and he didn’t even have wings before the day started.

@MadVillain
 
I’d say that there have been hints at Scoots being unable to fly since Flight to the Finish. Like, the Gabby episode where she sympathizes with her because “I know what it’s like to want something that’s out of reach” while looking wistfully at her wings. Earlier this season in Surf and/or Turf we had her loving being a sea pony because “This must be just like flying!”

I mean they’ve already laid out several times that she can’t fly, i’m not sure what more you want

@Anonycat  
It had the making of a great episode. If it played its cards right, it definitely could have been an 8/10.
 
 
@MadVillain  

 
You’re not the only one. I was caught off guard by them going there. So much so that I didn’t realize it didn’t really have that much of an impact. Even this short moment is more effective.  

 
I’ll tie both replies together. It was a really good Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo episode, right up until it had to decide what it was actually about. Is it a cautionary tale about listening to adults, with Rainbow Dash finally becoming the reasonable authority figure? Or is it a story about growing up; Rainbow Dash accepting that she can’t be Scootaloo’s only role model, and Scootaloo becoming independent and finding her own way? They tried to have both, and the ending just ended up being a confusing, unsatisfying mess.

@Whomps  
Reasons. So she can’t fly now, can’t she just learn to fly when she gets older? Is this a disability or because of her simply not being able to learn? If it was due to a disability can’t it be fixed with magic? And so on.
 
Without knowing any specifics Scootaloo just saying “I can’t fly.” Is like if a human child said they can’t swim, yeah it’s an issue but it’s not major grounds to be sad or anything.
 
@DerpyFast  
Yeah like you said it felt kinda muddied because they tried to combine two important parts of her growing up which made both lessons come off weaker.

@MadVillain
 
Just as a possible love relationship between Lyra and Bon&Bon is only hinted at, Scootaloo’s disability is only hinted at as well. But the clues are already very strong. I can understand why people reject them. That is why I am not going to say anything else. However, I also understand people who are in favour of this. It’s just a question of half empty or half full.

@DarkObsidian  
What love relationship are you talking about? Lyra and BonBon are Best Friends, nothing more.

I dunno, I thought it was the best episode of the season to date, but I wasn’t looking for any revelations either.
 
 
@MadVillain  
@DarkObsidian  
I think by now it’s clear she physically can’t do it, I guess they could maybe try to rig a magic based solution.

Nvm

@MadVillain
 
Grin. Well. There will probably always be two sides to the fandom. It is just a fight of the optimists against the pessimists. And the other way around. Funny, not always you just stand on one side or the other. ;-)