Season 9 Discussion Thread [NO SPOILERS, DF airings only]

@cheezedoodle  

 
The episode did explain how they met, they became pen pels after the events of Faults in Our Cutie Marks.
 
Rarity: I don’t understand. You two know each other?  
Spike: Gabby and I are sort of pen pals.  
Gabby: Yeah! There was this whole thing where I pretended to get a cutie mark because griffons don’t get cutie marks, so Princess Twilight had Spike send a bunch of letters off to Griffonstone about the first griffon ever to get a cutie mark! Which I didn’t really have.  
Spike: Gabby wrote back explaining things, and after that we just started writing back and forth.  
Gabby: Turns out we have a lot in common! We both come from cultures that don’t have the friendliest of reputations.  
Spike: [slurps] And we’re both in the message-sending business!

@Background Pony #FA6E  
Ok that part didn’t stick with me for some reason.

@cheezedoodle  

 
That’s the thing though, manipulation and “charm” are part of Rarity’s failure state, it’s not something she’ll immediately think about whenever she’s facing any conflict. That’s one of the reasons why I eventually came to appreciate her over time, that she seemingly understands that using those tactics consistently isn’t morally or socially viable. We’ve seen less and less of it because her career took off and it’s now much harder to drive her into this state, and that’s a good thing.
 
This episode is about 4-5 seasons too late. I feel it would’ve worked much better either before or during the start of her rise to a multi-franchise enterprise. As it stands, we’re led to believe that she’s only now realizing how crucial Spike is to her business and what would happen if he just up and left.
 
@Background Pony #FC7E
 
The episode was purely focused on the business aspect of things, though. She relied on getting those gems in time, and flipped out when she realized her one (free) provider wasn’t available and that it left her unable to work at all.

@Poison Trail  
Something that would’ve fixed this episode is having Rarity wanting to get Spike away from Gabby be on a subconscious level instead of deliberate. Then when the time comes for Gabby to leave Spike, Rarity would instantly realize what she did was wrong and try to make things right herself.
 
Instead we have her mindlessly thinking nothing’s wrong with Spike and it takes Twilight to tell her what she did wrong. Just like Dash needing to be told the moral by Smolder in 2, 4, 6, Greaaat. I always hate this kind of thing.

I did like that callback to that joke about Twilight from Fault in here

So I just saw Dragon Dropped, and I liked it.
 
I’m so over marshmallowdrama by this point, but I liked how they took stock of just how much Spike does for Rarity. So I suppose that’s as good a place as any to have a moral about appreciating what you have. Overall, I thought Rarity was the least interesting part of the episode.
 
It was great to see Gabby again, and I’m kind of sad that we won’t get to see their friendship explored more thoroughly. I think that’s kind of the crux of my position overall; there are much more interesting friendships they could be exploring if they just retired The Mane Six, and continuing to focus on them requires them to be flawed in ways that are really no longer appropriate.
 
I think that’s it. I could see the moral coming a mile away, but I was never bored, and just enjoyed spending time with the characters.

The Beginning Of The End:8.7  
Uprooted:9.1  
Twilight’s Seven:9.2  
The Point of No Return:9.4  
Common Ground:9.2  
She’s All Yak:9.0  
Frenemies: 9.3  
Sweet and Smoky:8.2  
Going to Seed:7.0  
Student Counsel:9.4  
The Last Crusade:9.3  
Between Dark and Dawn:9.0  
The Last Laugh:9.5  
2, 4, 6, Greaaat:8.8  
A Trivial Pursuit: 7.5  
The Summer Sun Setback: ∅  
She Talks To Angel: 9.0  
Dragon Dropped: 9.3
 

 
Protect that smile
 

 
Still gonna ship it
 
 
 
>>2120899t (merged)  
 
 
>>2096584t (merged)  
 

Seems like I’m having an opposite “A Trivial Pursuit” problem where everyone enjoys an episode that I didn’t.
 
Guess I’m just personally not a fan of these love/friendship triangle episodes.

By the way, Rarity and Gabby were introduced to each other in this ep, however…
 

 
They’ve met before.

@Spinny  
I assume she would’ve probably forgot that by now.

Too bad this is the last season, I want to see Spike and Gabby interact more. Maybe an episode where Spike hangs out with Smolder and Gabby.

@Background Pony #415C  
You would think an episode with Gabby coming back would be more involved with the CMC.
 
It’s like bringing Babs Seed back only to have her work on Fluttershy’s Sanctuary.

@Background Pony #FA6E  
“It happened off-screen” strikes again.

@Spinny
 
I like to imagine now that the CMC never bothered to introduce her. Rarity came back and just saw this feathered rat birb cleaning her floors.

@rdibp  
Probably to give the furry animals a haircut. 😏

@Anonycat  
It’s weird how it’s taken until right now for them to actually start hanging out.
 
I assume it’s been like one or two years since The Fault in our Cutie Marks.

@Poison Trail
 
I disagree. Rarity’s cunning/manipulative/spoiled/entitled nature is always evident whenever she has a focus episode. She’s the most charismatic of the mane 6 and outside of Twilight, the most intelligent. She uses her wits and charm to get what she wants again and again, not just as a last resort. Sometimes it’s an innocent batting of the eyes or whatnot, sometimes it’s outright emotional manipulation. We just haven’t seen much of it this season because she has not had a lot of screentime.
 
I also think you’re reading too much into Spike being “vital” to her business. Like i mentioned before, she just seems used to having him around for conversation and as a second opinion. She’d be fine without him, if she learned to not be so prissy and take initiative for once. To borrow a phrase from Family Guy, she’s just an old white mare who’s afraid of change.
 
I say all this as a fan of Rarity. These are her character flaws. Not afraid to own up to them.
 
@rdibp  

 
It seems implied to me that it’s been going on for a while, but only recently has started intruding on Spike’s ‘Rarity time’.

@cheezedoodle  
I recognize that these were character flaws and I don’t think Rarity was that bad, it just didn’t really make an entertaining episode for me.

@rdibp  
Both were busy and doing their own things and now they decided to actually hang out.

It also bothered me that during Rarity’s flashbacks, Spike had his wings. I guess she just doesn’t have that many memories of pre-winged Spike.
 
That or the animators didn’t care to change his model.

@rdibp  
Or maybe she did those activities with him more often after he got his wings? Sounds like nitpicking to me honestly.

@rdibp
 
That’s another reason why this ep reminded me of Forever Filly. All the moments and pictures Rarity had spending time with Sweetie Belle happened after Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark. And it’s like…well, clearly you must not be that deprived of spending time with Sweetie Belle if you don’t have any pics together from before she got her cutie mark.

@rdibp  
Previous episodes including one or two short scenes where Spike is seen writing a letter, or reading one from an unknown sender would have helped a lot to make this revelation more natural and less like a lazy last minute asspull.  
Show, don’t tell.

@ILoveMyoozik
 
She specifically mentioned in Molt Down that him having his wings gave him more utility when it comes to helping her out.

@ILoveMyoozik  
You’re right, but still something to point out. :p