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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8328vFkjSo  
Episode link

I didn’t think Twilight was a bitch at ALL in HWC. She said at the end that she pretty much KNEW it was Gallus. It’s highly likely that the whole punishment was just a way to try and encourage him to admit it.

What color are Rarity’s eyes? They look really gray here for some reason

So Flim and Flam run a school called FU…yeah that checks out

@EotD
 

@EotD
 
Dammit I didn’t catch that.

@Background Pony #000B  
I think it’s holding up admirably, considering:  
It was never supposed to run this long or have this broad of a scope.  
The lore and world-building have never been all that consistent.  
All throughout the show, they never put in the legwork to give the main characters a consistent interest curve.
 
I think the show has this recurring idea of “Crossing the threshold and befriending those on the other side in order to save the world”. It starts with Twilight leaving her literal ivory tower in Canterlot, making a group of friends, and defeating Nightmare Moon. Then The Mane Six go on adventures and learn lessons, then those experiences let them defeat Discord. Next, in Season Four, the Key episodes take them beyond the threshold of their home town and their circle of friends, and that then gives them the power to defeat Tirek. After that, they befriend the yaks, dragons, and changelings. The Movie once again takes them beyond the threshold, and once again, the friends they make let them save the world.
 
So while the school doesn’t make sense from a character perspective, (beyond Twilight), to me it feels like a logical continuation of this idea. I also like how The Mane Six have accomplished their own goals, and are used as vehicles to tell stories about other characters. So in my opinion, Season Eight has managed to stay fresh, while continuing with its core idea.
 
At its absolute worst, it’s showing its age, but I think it’s shaping up to be better than Season One.

Can we just throw Neighsay down a well or something? Seriously, this guy is so utterly written to have no redeeming qualities it’s getting annoying. Like “Friendship will be used as a weapon against us.” Hear what you are saying man. Like no one ever goes “Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational Friendship station! Commander you may fire when ready”

@EotD
 
Ahem.
 

I hope this is good, about time some older characters and places got callbacks, like Dragonshy  
Tree Hugger  
Season 7 is finally canon again  
Cozy Glow???  
Ha, nice bait-and-switch-and-Wii-U  
Theme  
Someone in the comments said MLP is getting less girly  
You deserve pink cloud, traitors  
Do californians go to NY for college?  
Of course.  
How have they not… Oh, right.  
I wonder what happens with windigos if a pony is killed…  
Twilight interrupting?  
At least they admit it  
Those uniforms look like vault jumpsuits  
Oh, accredited.  
And there goes your reputation. Better seal that cutie mark, amputate those wings and change your name  
Uh oh indeed…  
This isn’t good…  
Twilight is the Herald Sun readers disgruntled by the African gangs getting off easy  
Has there ever been a Twilight/Rarara ep before now?  
He sounds like a moron though  
What are they teaching  
Hedonism eh?  
Your reputation’s sunk for good  
Oh, it’s for money. Of course.  
You can’t spell EEA without EA  
Exposed - who?  
This won’t end well…  
Cozy Glow foreshadowing…  
That’s cute.

“Actually our resort is a legitimate business” Okay good line there XD

Who?  
Fuck that line is hilarious

HOW MANY EPISODES IS AUSTRALIA GOING TO AIR?!
 
Get the kangaroos out of the TV station!

Starswirl confirmed to be a easily scammed senior.

Okay so after 8 seasons we finally, FINALLY have a Rarity Twilight episode
 
What I liked:  
Twilight: Not to bad with her character here, she has good reason to distrust Flim and Flam, is caught in a realistic pickle where she’s basically being out playing by ponies with better PR than her and makes a sacrifice for her cause. All in all a good outing for her.  
Rarity: The lesser of the two halves of the duo in this pair, it was really good of her to help and support Twilight and be there for her. Planity was fun to see as well, showing some more use out of her like of the Shadow Spade books.  
Flim and Flam: Hey look it’s the scam artist that appear only in even numbered seasons! And they aren’t going up against Applejack this time. Really they got a good plan going here and using their PR to the utmost extent. They are blackmailing a princess and have a reasonable way around that. That’s good. I also really Like that line where they go “Who?” when Rarity reveals herself cause they’ve never really met. XD  
Starswirl: Kind of 50/50 on him really. Seems to be a different character here from the one we saw in Shadow Play and quite frankly underused here. I mean he gives out postcards in the beginning, is a basic plot set up for Act 2 and is then used in the resolution to Act 3 and that’s about it. He’s useful and was nicely handled here but he’s a big character that’s in a part that seems really small for him.
 
 
What I didn’t like:  
Neighsay: First off is it Neighsay or Neighsayer? Cause I feel like it’s the latter for some reason. Anyways while the set up for the final is nice, this guy is being written as such a fucking hate sink it’s getting annoying. We get it, he’s an asshole with no redeeming characteristics. Problem is that you’ve reformed other assholes and threats to Equestria on flimsier reasoning so it seems more like an arbitrary writing choice to make him the example of someone who is irredeemable. He could have actually had some compelling motive, fuck give him PTSD over the Storm King’s invasion or something like that. But no he’s a racist douche with no redeeming characteristics who we should all want to see fall into a well.  
The moral: It kind of falls flat when you realized 4 out of 5 of the major villains this show has had have been redeemed in exceptionally questionable methods and then go “Well you don’t trust these ponies therefore you must be right in not trusting them.” It makes the whole redemption thing seem so arbitrary, that it’s a thing the writers do because of X reason rather than something from the characters motivation or ideals instead.
 
What was meh:  
The Song: Meh, I can’t say it was really rememberable or catchy, which is a shame given Flim and Flam’s original opening.
 
So overall a pretty solid outing. I like the paring we got and it was fun to see this kind of set up. Really good overall

@Lord Seraph  
Australia’s not getting the toys anymore, I still see mainly toys with the Movie tagline and haven’t seen anything new since November except Sunset Shimmer and clothes

@Background Pony #000B  

 
Running a education establishment is hard.

Before I start my reaction list, i have to share that i just realized Fluttershy’s involvement in the Kirin episode may make or break the whole thing for me.
 
@Lord Seraph  
Even when it’s run by your own rules?

@PonyPon  
Still have to somehow keep order in a school of students from all over the land, a growing school. Understaffed.  
Not to mention also having to carry out friendship expeditions and protecting Equestria on top of dealing with their daily lives.

Two pretty lukewarm episodes to be honest. Not exactly bad or good, they are just there.

I for one am glad Australia is airing episodes early, the sooner the season is finished the better.

Friendship U is interesting. So Cozy Glow stole the curriculum Twilight designed and probably gave it to the Flim Flams to plagiarize it.
 
Twilight and Starswirl’s roles were reversed since they last met. Starswirl didn’t judge the Flim Flams for their past unlike he did with Stygian while Twilight was seriously convinced the Flim Flams were up to no good for whatever reason without proof. By convenience of plot, they really were. I wish they weren’t and were just being used by Neigh Say.
 
Rarity felt out of place. I wish Spike was there instead and the episode was just Twilight and Spike getting into shenanigans. The episode was really odd.

Geezer takes to friendship very well.  
Trust me, Twilight. He doesn’t need the school. No one does. Except Gallus, kind of.  
The school has funds?  
Well it’s not like you made a friendship school seem like bad idea, Twilight. Don’t be hostile to competition.  
So Friendship College. I hope you’re proud of the monster you made, Twilight.  
Really, that minor crowd is already outdoing you?  
Backwater? Ouch. Snazzy song, thought. And a good point that more than one location could help this mare-brained scheme of teaching friendship.  
Way to turn this investigation into support, bros.  
It doesn’t seem to take anyone that much time, Twilight.  
Let me guess, he did it out of spite.  
Twilight, you do it literally all the time.  
Twi, you should know better than to accuse without evidence.  
Neigh is playing you like a fiddle, Twi.  
Who cares, you don’t have the authority to shut it down, Twi.  
oooh, finally a trust chestnut bites somebody in the cutie mark.  
Well how are they making money then?  
You both look stupid as hell.  
Oh shit, they’ve doubled down on the legit-ness mask.  
Oh thank god, ponies really aren’t that stupid.  
I’m actually liking this suspense.  
Protege? She wishes.  
Rarity naturally gravitates to queen bee status. Though i guess in this instance it doubles as potential valedictorian.  
A little, but life comes at you fast, Twi.  
Oh okay, they’re paying for the paper. Wait, that’s not a scam. Or maybe it is, we haven’t seen the rates.  
Okay, that was pretty cruel.  
Strikingly good statement on proper rep management, Twi.  
Not the purest of intentions, but i have a hard time calling this a scam.  
Brilliant, her curriculum spreads to money-grubbers first.  
“Who?” Lol.  
Time to cannablaise this school’s corpse.  
Don’t bother, Rarity. The second you try to make sense of it, that’s the second you fail.
 
Okay, decent episode. Some good jokes.
 
 
Feel kinda bad for Flim and Flam, though.

So I watched the episode and can someone tell me where they show or say Cozy gave Flim and Flam the book? I know it’s implied by having her walk into the room right after Twilight asks the question of how they got the book but that’s not really concrete at the moment

@EotD  
It doesn’t say, but the finale leak seems to confirm it.