>>8890
>‘’‘7/10‘’‘ Is my rating for this episode. Is it the best thing in the universe? No. I could understand even finding it a bit boring but it does its job well enough at introducing the characters (or should I say archetypes?) and basic set up for the adventure in part 2.
I think personally I find my opinion of these episodes to be the reverse of this – I prefer the first to the second. However, I think that’s not based on evaluation, but rather the emotional weight the buildup has to me on rewatch. The fact that these events are a catalyst for everything that comes afterward makes the first episode feel more like a glimpse into a before-time, a different era before eventually the world got so shaken up by everything that came after it, and that in itself is enticing. I think when I originally watched the two I was more invested in part 2, but since I already know it better from the stronger impression it made, it’s all the stuff I missed or didn’t remember as clearly that becomes much more interesting. For a first time viewer I think part 2 is what really sells the show though, and it’s still enjoyable in that regard even if it feels less apprehensive and reflective than part 1 for current me. The introductions to each of the pony’s manifestation of their element is I think fantastically done overall even if some of the individual cases are flawed (AJ’s made little sense to me even as a first time viewer, as previously noted in this thread). Once again like with part 1 setting up via the intro that Twilight will eventually befriend these ponies, I think the hidden strength of this episode is that it sets up which of the Mane 6 represents which element when Twilight lists them aloud from the book, showing each pony in the same order as the elements and with musical cues to drive the point home. So as a result, as the Mane 6 venture into the Everfree, the audience is anticipating for them to demonstrate their elements, rooting for Twilight to figure out that these girls are the elements, and to befriend them. These goals are not only achieved in just the runtime of this episode, but are also tied into an adventure through a mysterious environment to defeat a threat. In terms of tying all the themes together it’s very well executed, and the adventurous framing suggests that this sort of thing will be present in the show going forward, so it also all works very well as a hook. The ruined castle is very interesting – the rope bridge I can only assume was built much later, I can’t see wood lasting for 1000 years in even as good a condition as it appears in the episode and besides, I don’t see how a singular rope bridge could service a major castle housing both rulers of Equestria. In addition there’s not much in the way of ruins around it, which again makes me think about just how devastatingly destructive Luna’s initial rebellion might have been. I think it’s also quite fitting that the show starts with this adventure into a place so strongly associated with Equestria’s ancient past given that the show later goes into a great deal of both metaphorically and literally resurrecting aspects of Equestria’s past. The fact that the Elements of Harmony are here in the way that they are presented interests me too – it could be that they were put here after Nightmare Moon was banished, but it would be a weird place to keep them. Why not in Canterlot? And if Nightmare Moon was not actually involved in the destruction of the castle and it’s surroundings then why neglect a place that you’re using to hold the Elements in? So my interpretation is that Celestia had kept the Elements in the castle prior to Luna’s rebellion and her battle with Nightmare Moon finished right where the Mane 6 stand as they become probably the first ponies in centuries to lay eyes on the Elements, and Celestia simply left them there as they were after the battle, probably due to grief over the loss of her sister.