It’s not even hilarious anymore.

No, because they are geniuses at story writing and I am not.

like she’s the only good character or something, christ

@Background Pony
 
It isn’t “Friendship is Magic” if the Mane 6 wind up drifting apart from Twilight (due to her new status and duties). This change could lead to “Mane Five” and “Twilicorn” centric episodes, making Season 4 hypocritical to the values its trying to promote.
 
There’s no way to know until months or maybe a year down the line, but it is possible that Season 3 is the end of FiM and Season 4 is the start of a different incarnation.

just one.  
have Twi give up being an Alicorn and Princess in the episode as part of the episode.

Nope if she dosnt turn back mlp fim ends at season 3

Of course there is, what moron honestly thinks that Twilight getting wings and being made royalty is some impregnable corner they’ve painted themselves into? She could be royalty in training and therefore need to learn more about friendship in preparation for the day when she succeeds Celestia, bam boom done.

If I could I’d be getting paid to write.

It’s executive mandated character development. Think of it like that. Once again, there’s no point in being overly worried about something that NO ONE has any control over. All we can do is judge the product that we’re given as it’s given to us.
 
Is there reason to be wary? Hell yes. But complaining about something that we can’t even fairly judge yet? Not so justified in my opinion.
 
“With Twilight Sparkle being an alicorn princess though, there’s really no getting around the fact that old Twilight as we know and love her would be going away, and we will be stuck with the princess version from now”
 
Reminds me of the book series Wheel Of Time. Where Rand goes from being a kind, sweet, naive teen. To being a cold, unhinged, psyhotic ruler of nations. But you still bought that they were the same person.
 
This is character development. If the writers still care and try to make this good then, mandate or no, it’ll be believable and she’ll still be recognizable as Twi

@gingerninja666 The difference is, this would be the first time Hasbro mandates the alteration of a main character for the sake of toy sales. At the end of the day, the end result of the other mandates was that we ended up with more characters in the show, and that is not really something to be scared of.
 
With Twilight Sparkle being an alicorn princess though, there’s really no getting around the fact that old Twilight as we know and love her would be going away, and we will be stuck with the princess version from now through the last episode, assumign they don’t pull a punch on us an reverse it by the end of the episode (which seems a bit unlikely, given the obscene amount of hype Hasbro is pouring into the “coronation” event and princess Twilight toys).

We need a brony fandom version of One Day More from Les Mis to air before the S3 finale comes out. With each side of the fandom singing about what could happen in the episode and how they’re preparing for it

Coulda shoulda woulda. I’m bored of this conversation already.

that’s the mark of the good writer. How well they work under restriction as well as when they’re given free reign

@bb But then, with that logic. Where does YOUR paranoia end? They needed to introduce Cadance because of Hasbro. They made one of the most surprising finales we could’ve hoped for.
 
They needed to include Crystal versions of the ponies because of hasbro. They made it a natrual part of the show where it made sense. Both examples had far less in-show build up than Alicorn Twi has gotten.
 
If Hasbro ARE pulling the strings. Then there’s nothing anyone can do about it. The real question from my perspective is, “Are the writers trying their best?”
 
If they’re being forced to do stuff by Hasbro, but still care about the product they’re writing, then they’ll do their darndest to make it work.
 
That’s what I’m thinking about most. Not, “Hasbro are dicks for doing this.” but “What will the showrunners do to make it work?”
 
Given their attitudes on twitter and such they seem confident about the episode. We’ll just have to wait and see.

@gingerninja666 The thing is, they had plenty of options to go with before they resorted to literally transforming Twilight into something else, and there were plenty of ways her character could have been developed, too.
 
 
I liked Twilight just the way she was, and even when her being an Alicorn was just the stuff of fanfiction and fan art I never really liked the idea. We already have three alicorn princesses, so which makes Twilight seem more special– being a unicorn that has so much potential that her magic rivals that of the alicorns, or just turning her into an alicorn? That seems kind of like giving Batman superpowers to me.
 
As for the rest of the mane 6, if Hasbro is pleased with their decision to make Twilight into a princess then it’s only a matter of time before they turn her friends into Alicorn princesses, too, and that leads me to this question: where does it stop? If the way the characters were originally isn’t worth keeping to the point where they can’t even remain the same race, then why did we bother in the first place?
 
Obviously, Hasbro pays for this show to sell toys, but since people are generally defending Twilicorn for storytelling reasons rather than because it sounds like good business, I think it only fair that I hold the show to the standards of an adult when judging whether or not Twilight being a princess will be an improvement or a turn for the worse.

@bb I agree that they might well be. They’ve done it before. But I also think we should give it a chance.
 
We’ve een told that being a princess in the world of Equestria ISN’T about being frilly and girly and all that. It’s about being a good pony who shares her gifts with the world and has a position of LEADERSHIP. Not necessarily royalty. Twi is a leader, and has been since season 1 despit all her bumps along the way.
 
Changing up the status quo of the show isn’t in and of itself a bad thing. The main potential issue I’m most concerned about are the rest of the cast becoming irrelevant. Keeping everyone the same and static and just putting them in new situations all while including morals and such will inevitably lead to aesop amnesia and ooc-ness and stagnation.
 
Yes, that’s an assumption on my part and isn’t necesarily true, but nor is the assumption that Alicorn!Twi is automatically a bad thing when we can’t even fairly judge it yet.
 
Be wary, as I said, I think it’s wise to be wary. but don’t go calling foul before we have a chance to finally see the episode

@bboifatz  
Celestia DID seem quite pushy about Twilight making friends, and not just because friendship is literal magic. Maybe she has plans to make her a diplomat?  
While it does feel rushed because I think there is still a lot left to explore not just with the mane six but with tertiary characters as well, if this IS perm’d by execs, then it would be nice to get a timeskip and then see how she handles diplomatic settings. That’d be some pretty headdy stuff for a modern kids’ show!
 
Also, stop ignoring the text tag, background ponies, do you wish risking the anger of the infamous RIG??!?!? bum bum BUUUUM

@gingerninja666 If they focus on Twilight’s princess duties, then chances are the show is headed in a slightly frillier direction. Going through new job training is not nearly as interesting to me as her having adventures with her friends, or resolving the conflicts that sprout up when their personalities clash. The show’s cast was pretty darned brilliant:
 
Geeky, adorkable unicorn and classy, elegant unicorn
 
Brave and reckless pegasus and timid, nurturing pegasus
 
Earth pony who works hard, and earth pony who plays hard
 
There are so many personality and character aspects to work with that you can take any two of the characters and write a good episode about them, because they lend themselves so well to conflict but they also have enough complimentary elements for their friendships to feel real.
 
The reasons why alicorn Twilight is a bad idea far outweigh the potential benefits, and that is why the only way something like this could happen is because Hasbro started putting their dick where it doesn’t belong.

I think it’s in some ways good for us to be extremely wary of this. Go in with lowered expectations and either we won’t be let down by it’s lack of quality or we’ll be pleasantly surprised (which is an awesome feeling) XD

@bb What if they actually succeed at telling a compelling story with Alicorn!Twi and shake up the status quo with episodes about Twi’s new responsibilities?
 
Or what if Twi gets reduced focus after the season 4 finale and spends her time in Canterlot or something while the show still stays with her friends?
 
Both aren’t extremely likely but still possible.
 
Honestly, I just wish people would wait for the episode. How many times have we bitched about something we thought we saw coming then turned out to be wrong? Like Luna, and the Canterlot Wedding and the Crystal Empire and Discord’s return (not saying there weren’t people who didn’t dislike or outright hate those episodes, but compared to all the backlash going on beforehand)
 
Shouldn’t backlash come AFTER the fact?

What mess? Just because you don’t like her having wings doesn’t mean it is a mess

@lasty
 
“undoing” it would be greeted by the idiots in this fandom even more as some kind of a copout.
 
Moral of the day: There’s no pleasing those nutjobs.

I foresee two possible scenarios:
 

Simply, Twilight Alicorn = Twilight with Wings.
 
Job done, next.

I don’t think this is necessarily going to be a mess, but yes, I can think of a way to un-alicorn Twilight. Her friends are sincerely happy for her but also become jealous of her position or annoyed when she won’t use it how they think she should. Twilight feels alienated and decides that even if she’s ready to be a princess, her friends can’t handle it and they’re more important to her. Throw in an attempt to get whoever turns her into an alicorn to do the same for the others (little nod to Ticket Master) and there, all undone in an episode.
 
Though, does it need undone? Can we give it a chance before asking how it can be retracted?