Geekscape Reviews My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 2 Premiere

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Bronies were finally treated to the season premiere of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Now that the show has taken the adult male demographic with an iron hoof and continues to skyrocket in popularity, the bad part is this also means the second season has huge expectations to keep. At the start of the episode, I had no idea what to expect. Sure, I knew it would start much like season 1, with a plot centered more on conflict and the return of the power known as the Elements of Harmony, and I knew there were teaser videos all over the interwebz to get a quick fix, but I was anxious for so many reasons. Would new villian, Discord, be a worthy foil for the mane six? How would the Elements of Harmony come into play this time around? And how awesome will Pinky Pie be after such a long absence?

The episode opens with a class field trip featuring the Cutie Mark Crusaders, three recurring fillies who have yet to find their life’s purpose and earn cutie marks (the pony equivalent of a magical tramp stamp) on their flanks. After their usual bickering near a giant statue of some kind of dragon/pony/snake thing… (otherwise known as a Draconequus) the statue begins to crack thanks to the disharmony brought by the young chaos bringers. The statue ends up being Discord, a spirit of chaos that was sealed away centuries ago by Princess Celestia and her sister Luna, (before she became season 1’s Nightmare Moon). Now that he’s free, he’s brought chaos to all the land (including clouds made of cotton candy that are filled with chocolate milk rain) and it’s up to the six main Ponies who now represent the Elements of Harmony to put a stop to his antics and protect Equestria from this new threat… except the elements were already stolen by Discord, and the only way to get them back is to beat him at his own game.

I’ll admit, the beginning started off slow to me. I mean, I like cotton candy clouds and chocolate rain as much as the next guy, but I couldn’t help but wonder why Celestia couldn’t do more. I mean, she’s the princess after all. The ruler of all Equestria. Is she really so helpless that she not only lost the precious elements of harmony from right under her hooves, but has to send her student and her friends to clean up her mess? And does anyone else find it messed up that in season 1, Celestia’s sister was banished to the moon essentially because she was lonely, but Discord tries to bring chaos to Equestria and he gets displayed in the palace garden where he can easily be awakened. $5 says she’s in total control all along and is just trolling again.

Once the cast tries to track down the elements in Discord’s maze is where it really picked up. Each pony got separated and eventually manipulated into switching their personalities to become the opposite of what their element represents. It was hilarious seeing the normally trustworthy Apple Jack blatantly lie while following up with an awkward poker face ripped straight out of LA Noire, or the timid Fluttershy acting so bitchy. At the close of the episode, the formerly loyal Rainbow Dash abandoned her friends, causing the heroes to lose Discord’s game and leaving us on a huge cliff hanger for next week.

So after watching the premiere, I learned a few things. First, eternal chaos = chocolate rain guys. CHOCOLATE RAIN! Second, Fluttershy is completely helpless, and she’s ok with that. But most importantly, I learned the ponies haven’t lost a step and I can’t wait until this two parter concludes next week. Especially in the second half of the episode, The Return of Harmony Part 1 does a great job of showing why the Brony phenomenon is so strong. With a mix of great animation, simple, yet humorous writing, distinct characters and a strong happy go lucky quality, the episode continues the trend of episodes that are an absolute joy to watch.

It also helps that the writers aren’t afraid to throw a bone at their older audience every now and then. There’s no way that “chocolate rain” wasn’t intentional, but aside from that, how awesome was Discord? Voiced by John de Lancie, (or Q from Star Trek,) he seems to be perfect for the role of the mischievous trolling spirit that alters reality at the expense of the heroes. It’s probably because he already played that role as Q to begin with. So Trekkies, give the episode a shot and be prepared to be welcomed to the heard! I think Discord is a great new addition to the already colorful cast, (not to mention he has some sweet dance moves,) but I’m still going to pout until I see Luna again…

This episode gets two hooves up from me. If there was ever a time to see what all the fuss is about, I think this would be a good time for everypony to jump in. Now comes the hard part… waiting until next week! Until next time, brohoof!