D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­AAA­AAA­AAA­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­WWW­W

EXCUSE ME WHILE MY HEART EXPLODES

I came to this episode for cool exposition on the history of the Griffon Kingdom.

I got that, plus a horrifying cyclopean goat monster, plus scone-wagon-fulls of feels.

Yeah, and the writers really like reforming antagonists from past seasons. Like a lot.

inb4 Diamond Dog reformation episode. This is my new theory for Rarity Investigates. Anyone here play My Little Investigations? It was a pretty good game, I'd suggest it. But now I'm thinking the episode Rarity Investigates will be similar to Case 1: True Blue Scootaloo, but with Rarity investigating instead of Twilight, and with a full on Diamond Dog reformation at the end.

Oh, and I expect tons of fanart of Dashie with Twilight's manecut. Tons of it.

And Gilda had all the best faces this episode. Like all of them.

ok, just rebooted, now for my thoughts on the ep.

...eh...

I mean, it was pretty entertaining, and the first half I was a big fan of, and OH MY GOD FILLY(?) GILDA WAS SO FUCKING CUTE

My main gripe with the episode, shockingly, was how they handled the inclusion of Gilda, and what it implies.

For starters, why was she there? The place seemed like a dump, and I find the "make enough bits to leave" excuse was kind of BS considering cough cough she had wings, and how the hell/why the hell did she move there in the first place if the place was such a dump?

Of course, I have theories and assumptions for all of the above. However, that brings me round to my other point. How they handled Gilda.

Did anyone else feel that the Gilda reformation was rushed? I sure did.

"I'm not her friend"
"but remember when you were!?"
"oh shit, fine, i'll help"
*one rescue operation later*
"you're more important to me than some block of gold that would've easily fixed this entire kingdom"

And i'm with RD when she said that pinkie's conclusion statement was sappy as all hell.

And forgive me when I say that I don't think Gilda's the type to make too many friends, but what the hell, I only saw one other episode that included her, so I'll cut her some slack.

For me the one saving grace of the episode is FREAKIN' FILLY(?) GILDA WAS SO FUCKING CUTE

Hmm... I know I have not participated in the past two discussions, sorry. Had a lot of work, and so little mental energy for reviews. But I just watched this episode so I'm gonna form my opinion while the memory is still fresh.

I really liked this episode! I truly appreciate the writer's effort to explore different parts of the MLP universe and Equestria. I've been wanting to see such things from Season 2. Anyways...

first of all, I was really surprised to see Gilda... since I don't read the synopsis for upcoming episodes... ever... what's the surprise then? :D

The first half of the ep was built up nicely and thoroughly while the second part was kinda rushed indeed. but they can't make miracles with character development in 20 minutes runtime... the writers did the best they could in such short time, in my opinion. and yes, MLP characters often resort to such "sappy" resolution and/or moral, it's something I'm used to, it did not really bother me at all. I can look passed that cos of the awesome and cute flashback, the creative, Indiana Jones-like atmosphere, the amazing facial expressions, Pinkie's good puns (as usual) and the primary story arch. I'll need to re-watch it for a more thorough examination, but right now, I'm giving 5 stars out of six for this episode. It had great entertainment value, an interesting story with new scenes and info on Equestria and even though Gilda has never been my favorite since she's a bully, but I liked seeing her more... sensitive side... just how I liked seeing Rainbow in peril. Which adds more value to her character. she's the best flyer and everything but she's still not invincible and still relies on others in certain situations. it makes the whole scene feel more realistic and Dashie to be more "human"-like...