That's probably the most redundant title for any episode I've ever seen. Why can't they just simply call it The End? Oh, wait, it isn't the last episode of the show. I get it.
The Ending of the End
Part 1 written by Nicole Dubuc
Part 2 written by Michael Vogel
Part 2 written by Michael Vogel
Yes, people; you read that correctly. The penultimate story for the series is actually a two-parter; the true finale will be a sort of epilogue. Onto The Ending of the End itself...
Throughout the season, they've set up Grogar to be a big threat to Equestria. But guess what he's done at all this season? Nothing! He doesn't go outside threatening ponies' lives, he doesn't send a message to anyone (not directly, at least), and overall, he's completely underwhelming. Is Grogar the worst villain of the franchise? No, he's the most boring and uninspired. Hell, the Storm King's a bigger threat than Grogar ever was; at least he actually did something in The Movie!
Except, guess what? It wasn't Grogar! Nope, it was Discord the whole time! And he impersonated Grogar just to test Twilight.
All I have to say is... WHY?! Why would he bother reviving King Sombra only for him to be killed off again? Why would he let Tirek and Cozy Glow out of Tartarus and force them to team up with Chrysalis just to cause chaos and fear among all ponies? And why would he have planned for the terrible trio to attack Canterlot on the day of Twilight's coronation? That was, hooves down, the stupidest plot twist this show has ever spewed, and this is in the same season that gave us A Trivial Pursuit!
And what does he get for his actions? Nothing! No punishment. No comeuppance. He's just free to cause chaos like nothing happened. Discord's actions make him feel like the bigger antagonist than the terrible trio, and they nearly destroyed Canterlot! That being said, Discord imitating the terrible trio was kind of funny, and to be fair to him, he probably wanted to get his own back at Tirek, but it doesn't explain why Chrysalis and Cozy Glow (as well as Sombra, before he was killed again) were there either.
Speaking of whom, at the end, they end up being turned into a statue. Thank goodness. I was getting sick and tired of villain redemptions (especially after Daring Doubt), so to see Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow forever frozen was pretty satisfying. Mind you, that won't stop people from saying that they should've been redeemed by embracing friendship in the end, even though there's evidence that it's a terrible idea. Even if they did get redeemed with guidance from Discord, it would still be terrible.
Also, their plan to take over doesn't feel like it was well-thought out if they had actually succeeded. What could they have done next? All I can think of is that they'd end up destroying each other until one of them remains (most likely Tirek), and whoever survives will end up ruling over nothing alive, making their entire plan pointless.
I've focused so much on the villains that I forgot the story was about Twilight. As I've said, we never saw an obvious transition from freaking out over petty things to trying to keep her stress under control to being the adorkable methodical pony we knew from the first five seasons. Granted, this isn't as bad as it was in The Summer Sun Setback, airing right after an episode where Twilight was at her worst, but it still leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. When she finally takes over, is Equestria expected to prepare itself for when their new leader has her mood swings?
The final battle with all the tribes (pony, Changeling, Griffon, dragon, yak, etc.) fighting against the terrible trio was nice and all, but even then, it didn't really stick out to me. It almost felt like it was there just to make this finale feel like a huge deal.
The End of the End takes every grand finale cliche, smashes them all up and throws the remains into the hotel swimming pool. It's a completely underwhelming anticlimax for a finale, but the epilogue episode that came after it was even worse, and I'll get to that tomorrow.
Throughout the season, they've set up Grogar to be a big threat to Equestria. But guess what he's done at all this season? Nothing! He doesn't go outside threatening ponies' lives, he doesn't send a message to anyone (not directly, at least), and overall, he's completely underwhelming. Is Grogar the worst villain of the franchise? No, he's the most boring and uninspired. Hell, the Storm King's a bigger threat than Grogar ever was; at least he actually did something in The Movie!
Except, guess what? It wasn't Grogar! Nope, it was Discord the whole time! And he impersonated Grogar just to test Twilight.
All I have to say is... WHY?! Why would he bother reviving King Sombra only for him to be killed off again? Why would he let Tirek and Cozy Glow out of Tartarus and force them to team up with Chrysalis just to cause chaos and fear among all ponies? And why would he have planned for the terrible trio to attack Canterlot on the day of Twilight's coronation? That was, hooves down, the stupidest plot twist this show has ever spewed, and this is in the same season that gave us A Trivial Pursuit!
And what does he get for his actions? Nothing! No punishment. No comeuppance. He's just free to cause chaos like nothing happened. Discord's actions make him feel like the bigger antagonist than the terrible trio, and they nearly destroyed Canterlot! That being said, Discord imitating the terrible trio was kind of funny, and to be fair to him, he probably wanted to get his own back at Tirek, but it doesn't explain why Chrysalis and Cozy Glow (as well as Sombra, before he was killed again) were there either.
Speaking of whom, at the end, they end up being turned into a statue. Thank goodness. I was getting sick and tired of villain redemptions (especially after Daring Doubt), so to see Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow forever frozen was pretty satisfying. Mind you, that won't stop people from saying that they should've been redeemed by embracing friendship in the end, even though there's evidence that it's a terrible idea. Even if they did get redeemed with guidance from Discord, it would still be terrible.
Also, their plan to take over doesn't feel like it was well-thought out if they had actually succeeded. What could they have done next? All I can think of is that they'd end up destroying each other until one of them remains (most likely Tirek), and whoever survives will end up ruling over nothing alive, making their entire plan pointless.
I've focused so much on the villains that I forgot the story was about Twilight. As I've said, we never saw an obvious transition from freaking out over petty things to trying to keep her stress under control to being the adorkable methodical pony we knew from the first five seasons. Granted, this isn't as bad as it was in The Summer Sun Setback, airing right after an episode where Twilight was at her worst, but it still leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. When she finally takes over, is Equestria expected to prepare itself for when their new leader has her mood swings?
The final battle with all the tribes (pony, Changeling, Griffon, dragon, yak, etc.) fighting against the terrible trio was nice and all, but even then, it didn't really stick out to me. It almost felt like it was there just to make this finale feel like a huge deal.
Final Thoughts
For the final ever two-parter, it was extremely weak and unsatisfying. I know I'm repeating myself, but considering that a lot of season nine was forgettable at best and awful at worst, you'd think an amazing finale would make it all worth it, right? Nope! I think the writers stopped caring about the show by the time season seven ended and then just did... whatever. This so-called finale was very blatant about it, and the less said about that stupid plot twist, the better.The End of the End takes every grand finale cliche, smashes them all up and throws the remains into the hotel swimming pool. It's a completely underwhelming anticlimax for a finale, but the epilogue episode that came after it was even worse, and I'll get to that tomorrow.
Rating: Bad (1/10)
I know how you feel, I hate the series finale too. This isn't how expected to end. This season should've had a proper continuation after season 8. At least there's going to be a season 10 in the IDW comics and I hope they retcon this abysmal final season. Also come back to FimFiction and check out the MLP Disney chronicles series. In this series Spike discovered a magical storybook that somehow fell from the sky. Twilight and the gang get sucked into a gateway to the Disney worlds, where they meet new friends and battle new villains and learn new lessons. See how the Book of Disney change Equestria's lives forever.
ReplyDeleteAbout the villains' plan, Chrysalis DID say that they'd rule different parts of Equestria alone once they succeeded.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't excuse the awful writing in this episode, but your not wrong about that.
DeleteI agree with you. I was getting sick and tired of too many redemptions since the show needs to have villains in it by staying evil so I'm glad that Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy stays bad by the end of the series.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Ending of the End?
ReplyDeleteEven the title is self aware of how lazy Season 9 has been!
Samurai Jack got a series finale, Adventure Time got a series finale, Regular Show got a series finale, Gravity Falls got a series finale, Avatar: The Last Airbender got a series finale, Tangled: the Series got a series finale and MLP: FIM got an Endgame knockoff. Season 9 is not going to age well with time and we're just gonna to forget about in the future. For me, the series ended with Best Gift Ever and I will never acknowledge it as a good season. My hope is that these mistakes are not repeatedin G5.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you guys but the heroes can't turn people into stone that is a line they can't cross but what they should do is throw chrysalis,Tirek, and Cozy Glow in jail
ReplyDelete