S08E01-02: School Daze

[Adiwan]

OK. Let's have a school to teach the students to accept and value different views, cultures, and people....



Applejack... The school is no place to teach an apple-centric world view and hate on all fruit other than apples.

[PonyHag714]

Egghead Dash

That picture of AJ teaching does become very ironic considering the theme of the episode.

[Captain Rufus]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critters_(film_series)

Someone in the FiM team is clearly a fan of these movies. I cannot disapprove. Plus we have Severus Brain too.

[Fizzbuzz]

Egghead Dash

That's Professor Egghead to you.

[The Doctor]

[Rainbow Crash]

I don't really get where they're going with this. Ok, sure, I can see Twilight opening a school. That's right in her wheelhouse. But why would the others, especially Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack drop everything they've built in their lives to become elementary school teachers? I don't see how you can read it any other way since it's a boarding school and they're the only teachers. It's a full time job. If they're going to try to play it off like they can still be a Wonderbolt or run a fashion empire on the side, then it's just convoluted writing.

Hope the rest of the season is better

[Highbrow Dash]

I don't really get where they're going with this. Ok, sure, I can see Twilight opening a school. That's right in her wheelhouse. But why would the others, especially Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack drop everything they've built in their lives to become elementary school teachers? I don't see how you can read it any other way since it's a boarding school and they're the only teachers. It's a full time job. If they're going to try to play it off like they can still be a Wonderbolt or run a fashion empire on the side, then it's just convoluted writing.

Hope the rest of the season is better

Yeah, agreed. The new characters don't seem that interesting either (though I did like the hippogryph and the dragon. And that Rarity impersonation was gold).

This is either gonna be weird if they only show up ocassionally, or a complete tonal shift if the school suddenly becomes the focus of the show

Fingers crossed though. Season 7 was probably my favorite season since 2, so I trust the writers. These 2 episodes did have a lot of fun moments.

[SlateSlabrock]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pukwudgie

A Pukwudgie also spelled Puk-Wudjie (another spelling, Puck-wudj-ininee, is translated by Henry Schoolcraft as "little wild man of the woods that vanishes") is a creature found in Delaware and Wampanoag folklore, sometimes said to be 2-to-3-foot-tall (61 to 91 cm).

According to legend, Pukwudgies' can appear and disappear at will, lure people to their deaths, use magic, launch poison arrows, and create fire.

Native Americans believed that Pukwudgies were once friendly to humans, but then turned against them, and are best left alone. According to lore, a person who annoyed a Pukwudgie would be subject to nasty tricks by it, or subject to being followed by the Pukwudgie, who would cause trouble for them. They are known to kidnap people, push them off cliffs, attack their victims with short knives and spears, and to use sand to blind their victims.

[Mr. Big]

Was interesting. Looking forward to seeing where they go with this

[PonyHag714]

I've had doubts in past seasons about the storylines, but Pony has always delivered in the end. I'm optimistic it will continue to do so.

[Fizzbuzz]

I don't really get where they're going with this. Ok, sure, I can see Twilight opening a school. That's right in her wheelhouse. But why would the others, especially Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack drop everything they've built in their lives to become elementary school teachers? I don't see how you can read it any other way since it's a boarding school and they're the only teachers. It's a full time job. If they're going to try to play it off like they can still be a Wonderbolt or run a fashion empire on the side, then it's just convoluted writing.

I doubt this'll come up an especially huge amount, at least not to where it'll be life-changing for them. Maybe in coming episodes we'll occasionally see the school grow and attract actual professional faculty, like how the Castle of the Two Sisters came up a few more times in S4 after being featured heavily in the premiere?

[The Doctor]

I think there's going to be some suspension of disbelief with this premise, but I am willing to go along with it.

The girls can't just become full time teachers, which is needed at a boarding school like this.
Despite the ending, Twilight has not opened a friendship school. She's opened a school. Her friends are not teaching friendship, they're teaching skills. Animal care, agriculture, sewing, etc. Like any school, they have an environment where students can build those social skills simply by interacting with others.

I mean, we saw today what we saw with Starlight.

The best way to learn about friendship is to get as far away from Twilight as possible.

[Mr. Big]

And I don't think anyone mentioned it, but the movie's now officially canon with the show, with the prologue recapping the events, as well as explaining where Tempest went.

[SlateSlabrock]

And I don't think anyone mentioned it, but the movie's now officially canon with the show, with the prologue recapping the events, as well as explaining where Tempest went.

"Back to her home planet"

[LunarRainbow92]

I'm not gonna say any spoilers but it was a great start to season 8 (Word of warning about Neighsay, you will hate him at the end of part 2)

[CastletonSnob]

I'm worried the students won't get much development.

[Aramek]

I'm not gonna say any spoilers but it was a great start to season 8 (Word of warning about Neighsay, you will hate him at the end of part 2)

I didn't, he owns.

[Fizzbuzz]

I didn't, he owns.

[Mechanical Ape]

OK! The plan is: pony part 1, then dinner, then pony part 2. Because I’m all about proper life balance.

• Oh, it’s like they graduated to Mass Effect 2 where the galaxy map is bigger and there are more side quests.
• “Here! They can all go here. Straight to hell!”
• Nice to see them acknowledge the non-TV adventures for a change, though I think we all know Twilight has been budgeting for a school for years, just waiting for an excuse.
• Credits. Increasingly the only place you’ll ever see Snips and Snails.
• So is the map table physically bigger or is it just showing more of the world?
• We need Rarity in an “Undercover Boss” episode like, yesterday.
• Ha ha, the bureaucracy reigns supreme.
• “whether it’s unicorns learning magic, pegasi learning flight or earth ponies learning to work the fry machine”
• Pretty cool EEA logo.
• Whoa, did they snag Maurice LaMarche for this one?!
• I’m sure there’s more important plot to cover, but I would’ve loved to see the school-building montage.
• “And make sure my logo is ALL OVER this bad boy!”
• teeny cannon
• “Sure Twi, we’ve got harvests ‘n’ boutiques ‘n’ animal sanctuaries ‘n’ Wonderbolt training ‘n’ I think Pinkie Pie’s still employed but I guess we’ll put our lives on hold for your school thingy.”
• That wasn’t unexpected, Pinkie! It was super expected! It’s the plot of the episode!
• Not every student looks stoked to be there, which is realistic.
• Ha ha, Starlight as guidance counselor? Marvelous.
• Young yaks are always the most adorable.
• So I guess the hippogriffs decided “heck with it, let’s stay hippogriffs”.
• I guess they didn’t bus in any Diamond Dogs — well, baby steps I suppose.
• Song time! I can’t tell if the Mane Five’s expressions denote teacher seriousness, or if they really hate teaching.
• OK, later in the montage it looks like they’re enjoying themselves.
• Here’s the thing: this is a fun montage but I have no idea what they’re actually supposed to be teaching. And I wonder if maybe the writers don’t know either — like they said “school of friendship, cool idea” but couldn’t figure out what might be taught in such a school, and hoped that a fun montage would distract from it.
• Oh OK I get l it, the Mane Five are having fun when they’re teaching their own way, miserable when they’re following the book.
• What’s that cool circular diagram Fluts has on her blackboard?
• Oh boo hoo, school isn’t fun. Suck it up, pony snowflakes.
• Dash is right. This is supposed to be a real school. Hire some freaking professional teachers. Cheerilee could probably suggest a few names.
• Ha, that Dash doodle. “I don’t look like that, do I?”
• Ladybug changeling has a nice design.
• Chancellor with the fucking awesome portal spell.
• Well I mean, to be fair the school SHOULD be shut down. It kind of sucks.

[Mechanical Ape]

“School Daze, Part II”:

• I like to think when the school is shut down, the Mane Five are quietly going “yes!” in the background. Because let’s be honest, they’ve got shit to do. The critters at Fluts’ sanctuary haven’t been fed in weeks, somepony needs to look into that.
• Pillows and sad music Twilight, awesome.
• Not all cries are funny. But this is a funny cry.
• Just sayin’, Twi, you get just as sweet a tan on a failurecation as you get on a real vacation. UV rays don’t care, you feel me?
• “It’s a great dress ... FOR THE PRINCIPAL OF A CLOWN COLLEGE!”
• Oh snap, the School of Friendship Failure is literally in the castle’s front yard? Harsh. Well, maybe they can get like a mattress store to move in. Everypony needs mattresses.
• Time for Starlight to be awesome. Once again!
• Oh shit, you do NOT abuse a book on Twilight’s watch.
• 1) Twi and Star give stirring speech about making their own rules, 2) smash cut to them both in jail.
• I like the Mane Five all doing their little things at the table.
• The students have left to start their own school with blackjack and hookers!
• There’s a chance Sandbar might know something ...
• They never did finish fixing that damn castle.
• Ocellus is team nerd. Every team needs one.
• I gotta admit, stairs are pretty awesome.
• “Death by wedgie. Somehow I’d always known I’d go this way.”
• Twilight BREAKING THE LAW, BREAKING THE LAW
• Song #2!
• Speaking of creatures great and small, I bet there are Breezies attending this school and nobody’s noticed yet.

[SlateSlabrock]

• So is the map table physically bigger or is it just showing more of the world?

I don't think the map has gotten any larger, but the room's size is kind of... flexible.

DOIN' THE SPELL in mid-season 7


End of last season


This episode

• Pretty cool EEA logo.

• “And make sure my logo is ALL OVER this bad boy!”

And her picture above the door.

• teeny cannon

• What’s that cool circular diagram Fluts has on her blackboard?

What indeed?

• Ha, that Dash doodle. “I don’t look like that, do I?”

[SlateSlabrock]

I like Twilight's little hoof wave here.


Pinkie, you're not helping.


Life is so grand in our town! We're always filled wi--
Ixnay on the ong-say!


Can you spot the changeling?


The Canterlot throne room is using the movie layout now.


bird class


Smoulder is surprisingly interested in fashion design for, y'know, a dragon.


pinkie nooooo


HONESTY


Highly technical laughter studies












Ooh, now our school is a spooky haunted school! Let's go exploring!

[SlateSlabrock]

Spike knows exactly how to handle a moping princess.




The Badlands seem to be sprouting.


Is this the old ancestral hippogriff mountain? I guess they've been busy gardening.


smoulder noooooo


Oh no, it's a scary bug! Pretending to be a scary bug!


Derpy. Also, RIP the astronomy wing.





Best scene of the episode:

Just ask them to leave nicely!






"They're safe! I saw their parachutes deploy!"


Applejack nooooooo


That's a heck of a gymnasium.


We need to have a talk about impersonating others.


I wonder if this is a satellite campus, since it doesn't appear to be on the school grounds.


Whoops


Photo day

[Mechanical Ape]

Click for Fullsize

Dash using one of her many, many trophies to hold pens 'n' shit.

[Highbrow Dash]

The Canterlot throne room is using the movie layout now.

What's with that stained glass window above the thrones, anyway?

I wonder if it's meant to represent something we haven't seen yet, or it's just supposed to look pretty.

[SlateSlabrock]

What's with that stained glass window above the thrones, anyway?

I wonder if it's meant to represent something we haven't seen yet, or it's just supposed to look pretty.

I wonder if it's a leftover from early in the movie's development.

[Fizzbuzz]

What indeed?

This is called a phylogenetic tree. It's meant to show evolutionary relationships between organisms and the various clades of classification for them. Here's an interactive example of one.

[Aramek]

This is called a phylogenetic tree. It's meant to show evolutionary relationships between organisms and the various clades of classification for them. Here's an interactive example of one.

Fuck, beat.

[Octavia]

[Doctor Wheeze]

Kinda iffy on this. I wish they had just thrown in a couple background pony teachers, because it seems like the implications is that a) Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash have all given up their careers to become full-time teachers and b) an eight-person staff is managing this giant school that came out of nowhere. I would have been more okay with the premise if they had reduced the scale of the school (perhaps Twilight could have started her program at an existing school, and the EEA guy could have been the administrator of that school, then later in the season she gets her own big fancy Hogwarts?) or made it clear that the mane six plus Starlight and Spike weren't literally the only staff. That was basically all I could think about the entire time and it really took me out of it.

The new student characters are okay, but we'll see how that goes. I wasn't really thrilled with the idea of Starlight-as-main-character at first either, but I ended up really liking where they went with that. The changeling and the yak are pretty cute, at the very least. I don't think I care for the pony or the griffon (that may just be because I found the blue they picked for him kind of jarring). I don't know too much of the spoilers for the rest of the season, so hopefully there's not too much of a focus on them.

[Octavia]

Obligatory:

[Mr. Big]

Obligatory:

I warned you about the stairs, bro. I TOLD YOU DAWG

[SlateSlabrock]

Kinda iffy on this. I wish they had just thrown in a couple background pony teachers, because it seems like the implications is that a) Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash have all given up their careers to become full-time teachers and b) an eight-person staff is managing this giant school that came out of nowhere.

I wonder if the Chancellor is going to come back and shut down the school every time the main characters wander off on an adventure, just like he warned at the beginning.

Also, random thing I forgot to mention: I didn't pay much attention to the pre-season leaks, so I thought the new griffon was going to be a big Wonderbolts fan, since he's wearing their colors. But no, that's actually his plumage, unless he's dyeing. It's strange, since every other griffon has had pretty subdued grays and earth tones. Is there any chance he doesn't wind up on the Wonderbolts by the end of the show?

[Highbrow Dash]

• “whether it’s unicorns learning magic, pegasi learning flight or earth ponies learning to work the fry machine”

This was beautiful, by the way

[The Doctor]

Kinda iffy on this. I wish they had just thrown in a couple background pony teachers, because it seems like the implications is that a) Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash have all given up their careers to become full-time teachers and b) an eight-person staff is managing this giant school that came out of nowhere. I would have been more okay with the premise if they had reduced the scale of the school (perhaps Twilight could have started her program at an existing school, and the EEA guy could have been the administrator of that school, then later in the season she gets her own big fancy Hogwarts?) or made it clear that the mane six plus Starlight and Spike weren't literally the only staff. That was basically all I could think about the entire time and it really took me out of it.

The new student characters are okay, but we'll see how that goes. I wasn't really thrilled with the idea of Starlight-as-main-character at first either, but I ended up really liking where they went with that. The changeling and the yak are pretty cute, at the very least. I don't think I care for the pony or the griffon (that may just be because I found the blue they picked for him kind of jarring). I don't know too much of the spoilers for the rest of the season, so hopefully there's not too much of a focus on them.

Yeah, I'm still iffy on the school thing. It's a great idea, but it doesn't fit very well.

At the same time, I'm willing to give it a lot of leeway. This is a really big shake up to the show's status quo and is something the show has desperately needed since Twilight got her wings. I want this to succeed.

[stonecutter]

This is called a phylogenetic tree. It's meant to show evolutionary relationships between organisms and the various clades of classification for them. Here's an interactive example of one.

"As you can see, the tree of life consists of four domains: Archaea, Bacteria, Eukarya, and Pony."

[The Doctor]

The Canterlot throne room is using the movie layout now.

I like that Celestia's throne is bigger.

weren't they the same size in the movie?

[SlateSlabrock]

I like that Celestia's throne is bigger.

weren't they the same size in the movie?

Yes.


Maybe it's a rotating dais?

[Mechanical Ape]

Clearly the thrones rise and set depending on the time of day.

[Aramek]

Poor Steve.


He cried for three days straight.