@DarkObsidian
Don’t mind him, he’s just like that last Glimhater.

@GrimChariot
Wow, acting like Celestia is the incarnation of Satan. Are you sure you aren’t a Luna fan?

@Background Pony #467B
Bashing implies this isn’t exactly what she did.

I’d tell god to rot in hell for breaking their own rules I’ll surely do the same for the pretty pony princess.

So we got taking things too seriously and Celestia bashing. Good to know

@DarkObsidian
The first paragraph is Celestia as a whole.

Per the comic, the second is both. And it is to be expected Twilight would make the same mistakes as Celestia seeing as she’s attempted to and mostly has emulated her.

Regardless of ones position ones actions are to be judged, and those with power require a harsher view to prevent abuse, and unfortunately i’ve not much respect for Silverquills reviews mostly due to the overall support of the shows two faced, manipulative and hypocritical treatment of characters.

I.E Friends in high places is magic, or the abuse of power and the avoidance of consequences.

If I am to judge one person as a monster for a 1000th of what the supposed hero has done, then both are deserving of being reviled.

Sounds more like Celestia than Twilight, but well, to each his own opinion. But I would recommend this video to you.

MLP-Silver-Quill - One Tough Mother Recorded at Whinny City 2022

I personally think it’s very good, even though A.) it’s very long and B.) it drags a bit in some places. Nevertheless, it is one of the better videos when it comes to such a topic. To be the ruler, father and mother of a nation in one person. :-)

I’m not saying that it’s THE answer and I’m not saying THAT it makes you particularly wiser. But it reminds me a lot of the way we fans sometimes forget to see those we either glorify, or hate. When and if you’ve seen it, we can talk about it further, because I think you certainly have certain points. But I would love it if we were all so more or less on the same verbal dance floor. Even if it’s just someone saying to my face: That’s crap, you’re stupid! ;-)

You get to the heart of the matter. Thank you for that. As the Fremen in Dune say: Bi-lal kaifa! There is nothing more to say. (brohoof) ;-)

@Phoenixflambe
“Ah yes I will repeatedly risk the entire nation/world without anyones consent and will repeatedly withhold information that is pertinent and required to test someone as my replacement.”

“Ah yes, I will blackmail the entire country/world instead of working to resolve the issues longterm.”

Mate, ruling isn’t easy no one said it is.

But blatantly choosing selfish, manipulative, and down right monstrous acts out of personal wealth, influence and generally shortsighted gambling of lives is not acceptable.

And no, “Tough choices” “No other Choice” is an excuse.

There is always a better choice, it’s whether or not the person who decided they’re fit to rule is willing to face their choices and sacrifice.

And no, risking your entire nation to get your sister back after gaslighting the person who treats you like a mother and figured it out is called being a bad person.

@DarkObsidian
Basically put, being a leader is not as easy as anyone and everyone thinks. Blame them all you like, it’s not like you can do better, but do worse.

So, as I suspected before, a certain part of the fandom is going the way: Hey, let’s trash talk Tyrant Twilight. Seriously?

A word or two before that: I was never a big fan of Twilight. I did accept her as the leading character in G4, but I found her - let’s say questionable - even then. But at the end of G4, I was very, very happy that Twilight accepted her role as the new “queen”, um, I mean princess of Equestria. I admit it, I actually cried when the book closed

And now, a generation later, comes this BS. Okay, let’s say BS from both sides. I like the idea that Twilight set up a killswitch, at a moment when it was sort of, existence of all pony tribes, or extermination of her race. That’s something Twilight would do in an extreme situation. To look for a way to keep Harmony alive. And beyond that, to keep the various pony tribes alive.

But, and here I agree with the critics: it certainly (esp. US-Americans) feels like holding a gun to someone’s head. Still… I can understand this argument. But it means nothing to me. US Americans always seem to be triggered somehow when their government wants something from them. But as a European who has grown up with U.S. nukes strapped to his temple since birth, the motto is: hey, do what I want you to do, or else…. I have developed a certain resistance here, just to defy this real-life meta-BS when it comes to Twilight. As if the US hasn’t been holding a gun to the world’s temple for decades. NO pulterism here! Putler is way worse. At least we Europeans like the Americans, ja, even if they constantly seem like the bullies in the schoolyard ;-)

And here please understand me, because I am NOT a US-American: If you have to make a very hard decision as a leader to keep the peace. You do it.

Personally, I don’t want an answer to that highly sensitive topic at all. I just want to make it clear that Twilight had to find an answer here, to a situation that was virtually life-or-death. Well, there will always be those among us who now say that if such a species as the ponies are so cursed (Windigos), then they should rather be left to die. But I would like to leave this decision to someone of you. Think about it. Would you just condemn your entire species? Just because they behave stupidly? Or wouldn’t you rather put your hope in the future? A question I have VERY much missed in all these comments so far.

The situation as such is certainly due to rather bad writing as far as the story and the lore are concerned, well…. What can I say? That it was a series for kids? That G5 is trying to pick up on this “thing” and work through it? Hell, they’re trying! Okay, yeah, I know… We all, ALL have this issue of racism about. Sorry, pony racism. But G5 is just reflecting here (and let this be my own opinion) the things that we as humans are still concerned about as well. And so, f**k the critics of the story here, we must not forget who this is actually directed at. To the children and the child in us.

So please, I can really understand it… But please take your foot off pedal a little. You can puke and scream as much as you want. To be honest, I don’t care a bit. But think a little bit about it, that this universe is not only a comfort zone for your feel-good, but ALSO a reflection of the reality. And in the reality… Well, that we rather discuss somewhere else ;-)

Twilight did what she had to do. And she wasn’t alone in that - that’s a decision you have to accept. Not CAN, but that is an uncomfortable truth. Just like climate change, or other hard truths of our time.

To be upset about it, that I can understand absolutely. Not to find it good. No problem. But to question the whole existence of G4 (here I am replying to more than just the comments on this image), I think is really exaggerated. Not to say: stupid.

I’m sorry if someone felt attacked now. It was not meant that way. But I still see no (logical) reason for stylizing Twilight as a tryant here. Book Horse didn’t always find the best solution right away, but at least she found one. Who are we who have decided better here? ;-)

But (and this is what the inner critic in me who doesn’t really always fall right in line): If the series (and by that I mean G5 in its entirety) can’t come up with a really good reason why one unicorn can instantly switch the other ponies back to racism mode, then I’m out too. Then I’ll be the first to have a very, VERY serious word to say to the person or persons responsible for this. With a (literally ) gun in my hand. ;-)

@Incursor
Well, I recommend reading the full comic, as there’s much more evidence than I presented that hopefully speaks for itself.

@Phoenixflambe
At least Littlepip takes the time to learn about her friends enough to treat them as equals, picks up and trains valuable skills that she brings to the group, and uses her own wits in order to save Equestria. Instead of just valuing her friends because they aren’t Earth Ponies and not giving them a chance to talk about themselves as individuals with her, doesn’t so much as try to leave her minimal-security hometown that is filled with ponies that don’t really like her to try and find adventure, and constantly abuses plot contrivances to restore Magic to Equestria like what Sunny Starscout does.

Which character sounds like a more believable lead?

@Lord WyrmSpawN
That’s trust not faith.

@Ohvist
Nice try, Fallout Equestria is in the Dark part of the Ponyverse.

@Daneasaur
Yes a “spell” (that it wasn’t intentionally cast as a spell suggests it was more an inherent property of friendship) may have been needed to dispel them. But by “hold back” I meant friendship alone without weaponizing it as a spell is what was sufficient to prevent their remanifestation.

And their making the crystal, which was morally equivalent to the “spell” that protected from the Windigos, did restore the peace for some time afterwards. Yes it’s disappointing this happened so soon after “The Last Problem” and needed a magical crutch to their ideals, but how “stupid” and “for nothing” (it inspired what’s fixing this in G5) is pending later reveals. (Where were/what happened to the other races as Sunny mentioned Thorax? What exactly happened that was so dire they resorted to the crystals? How long after the crystals did the peace last?) Also there’s no evidence Celestia would have been any better at diffusing the racism given the EEA under her, how quick they lapsed back despite 1111+ years of time to confront it, and how much more effectively Twi reached out to the other races (even if it was short lived it happening is more than can be said for Celestia).

@Macaroni C-Pony
Villains and Star Swirl are prone to hyperbole and error (he was wrong about Stygian), and the context of the setting is limited to the world that “world” and “reality” are liable to be used interchangeably unless we are shown proof otherwise. Midnight Sparkle’s the only one shown with universe scale destruction but that’s more due to unstable reality destabilizing powers than raw power.

But the planetary destruction we’ve seen them wrought is high enough that it won’t make a difference in the vs. we’re discussing.

I think we’re on the same page. My analysis on those limits is that they would likely hold them back in a vs. given the frequency they’ve run into those limits and fell short in fight, military training seemingly making them less effective at such given their armies uselessness, the situations they’ve overcome those limits involved a level of self-confidence/moral clarity that’s unlikely to happen in a vs or evil superpowered side that would cause such collateral they’ve have to avoid it less their victory be pyrrhic.

If they could overcome this, I’ve said my piece on why I think the odds are against, but that’s comes down to the narrative which is outside of this debates scope.

based on what the team has written about G5 so far to have nearly EVERYTHING revolve around these damn crystals without having room for the actual Characters to have any attention focused on developing them as individuals: individuals that due to the fact that G5 is fundamentally set within the same universe as G4 means that the two groups will inevitably have a great deal of overlap and comparisons done between them, and because of this the G5 characters are seen as nothing more than blander copies or clones of previously-established characters: Izzy’s a Pinkie Pie Clone, Zipp is an aloof Rainbow Dash, Pipp is a vapid Rarity clone who is obsessed with technology, Sunny is the main lead who becomes an Alicorn just like Twilight, the only one who is original is Hitch; but he’s not the main lead so technically Hitch is a Star Wars Finn clone…

Hate to break it to you sweet-cheeks, but we the audience have absolutely zero idea what even is the plot of G5. The overarching narrative is stuck petering along on a path that the Mane Six originally walked down, which leaves very little room for the story to grow due to the damn crystals having far too much importance to the plot.
At least in Fallout: Equestria where the Elements of Harmony were indeed important to help clear out the balefire radiation from the Equestrian Wasteland to allow for life to return once more; Spike highlighted that the missing component to have the Elements work in the first place is a group of Six Bearers that could even activate them, and that by the time Littlepip finds out about this; he had already observed so many different Element-Bearer candidates over two centuries, only to watch as they either fell from grace or died before Spike could have a complete set of Six Bearers that he could trust with this task and not have them succumb to the madness and sorrow brought about by the Wasteland or attempt to try and destroy his work out of selfishness or spite.

@Phoenixflambe
Faith has to be earned, doesn’t it?

@Ohvist
From my point of view, it seems people like you don’t seem to have any faith in the new generation. You really think Sunny and her friends ain’t worthy enough to continue their legacy they’ve been bestowed upon? That’s literally the point of G5 in the first place.

@Phoenixflambe
tiny references to G4 can be a good or a bad thing within G5 depending on the context of it.

In a good way, fewer references to G4 will allow viewers a chance to try and have G5 stand on it’s own legs and not try to hold itself to the high standards that was set by G4. However, this ultimately leads into the bad way: G5 is by-principle a direct continuation to G4; meaning that the audience is expected to have some clear-cut answers as to why exactly the world of G4 went to shit in the first place to become G5 as we know it. And if we don’t get any satisfying answers to the questions we want that G4 had set up within itself such as how exactly Alicorns even fit into the world of Equestria in the first place: well, G5 will automatically become one of Hasbros’ shortest-lived My Little Pony lines in history due to a combination of low toy sales and the unpopularity of their Cartoons and Comics with the majority of their core audience.

@Phoenixflambe
I agree with your earlier sentiment, can I be in smort percent uwu?

@DR CHRISMAN
You’re right, the smart percent.

pretty much

That is the smart percent

@Macaroni C-Pony
Someone stated that the G5 will have very tiny references to G4 as G5 is meant to be a fresh start so the alicorn being Twilight is impossible. Even the comics support and it can’t get any clearer than that

@Ohvist
You speak for the 10%

@Background Pony #EB77
I Know, I Was Thinking Shadowy Alicorn Could Be Twilight Which Would Be Better Than Discord Being Grogar

@Background Pony #EB77
I not talking about the human world, I specifically brought up that the mystery pony could be an already established character or an alternate universe counterpart. If it was an alternate Twilight, which there are several of which in the series, it would have a version with a very tragic alternate history for her to WANT to destroy friendship. And this is just a theory. I never said this was going to be the case

And in no way was this mystery character ever established to be an “alicorn”