S08E13: The Mean 6

[Wayoshi]

Queen Chrysalis returns, ready to exact her revenge on Starlight Glimmer and the Mane 6!

This thread is for discussion of the episode. This episode airs at 11:30 Eastern / 8:30 Pacific on Saturday, June 9!

Official preview clips and images are okay to post, as is speculation about the episode.

Note like in recent seasons, this is the halfway mark of the season and thus the season will take a bit of a break after this episode.

[Octavia]

Oh hell yes

[RudeCyrus]

well now

[Fizzbuzz]

Is that the official synopsis? It's awfully blatant, if so.

[Highbrow Dash]

Is that the official synopsis? It's awfully blatant, if so.

Yeah I would have preferred a Steven Universe style "slice of life" fakeout

[The Doctor]

I've preferred the route they've gone with Chrysalis much more in the comics than in the show, so I can't say I'm too excited for this one.

[Wayoshi]

Is that the official synopsis? It's awfully blatant, if so.

The season finale ones are even worse, I'll be editing those down when the time comes.

But the cold open is literally Chrysalis returning, so not much could be done about this one.

[Applepie2017]

Another year another summer hiatus incoming. This is like an Summer Nightmare Night episode.

[Aramek]

Oh hell yes

[Kronos]

Best villain returns.

God I hope it doesn't turn into a redemption.

[Octavia]

Did I just see a commercial for "Monopoly: Cheater's Edition" during MLP?

[RudeCyrus]

Evil Twilight is pretty amusing. I don't think Tara Strong has played an outright evil character on this show.

[RudeCyrus]

The faces and Tabitha noises are A+ too.

[Adiwan]

If I had to summarize the episode in one word it'd be: inconsequential.

[Octavia]

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the ending. Even though it was all a big misunderstanding, they never figured it out, nor do they need to.

Did Chrysalis end up with the elements?

[The Doctor]

This was a hilariously stupid episode.

It's a very pleasant change to take one of the big villains and insert them into a totally mundane story. Making this episode just a series of jokes with the Mane 6 unknowingly deal with their evil counterparts was a neat idea.

I also like that there was no big conflict in the end. The Mane 6 never even see Chrysalis, and that's also a nice change. No big stupid battle at the end, just fun characters.

Good job, horse show.

[RudeCyrus]

Bizzaro Rarity was the best part of this. On the whole it was a bit weird: some parts felt like a retread of "Return of Harmony," others were hilarious in their stupidity, and the ending was odd. I did think it was funny the Mane Six never interacted with Chrysalis.

[Fizzbuzz]

Yo, so this episode was great. It's like, the show easily could've done a "Twilight plans a big trip and the stress gets on everyone's nerves" story straight, but I feel that alone would've been a bit dull at this point in the show. The way the Mean Six acted was like each of them at just a little bit than their worst, still believable but funnier (and sadder, in Fluttershy's case) than usual, and evil Twilight was a real treat. All in all, I'm glad the show can still find ways to tell these sorts of stories.

I didn't watch the leak, so at the end of the second act I was earnestly expecting this to be a surprise two-part episode over the mid-season break. I guess it's a bit of a cliffhanger with Chrysalis still being alive, but not as much of one as if she'd succeeded.

Did Chrysalis end up with the elements?

As I saw it, no. The Tree of Harmony obviously did not tolerate the presence of her evil clones, so I doubt it would have permitted Chrysalis herself to retrieve the Elements.

[PonyHag714]

I enjoyed this one. Chrissy's frustration in dealing with the Mean 6 was funny. It's pretty clear she's coming back, and I look forward to that.

[The Doctor]

Starlight acting like a stick in the mud before they ever encounter the mean 6 was a bit odd. Even Rarity was enjoying the time with her friends.

[Niels Olof]

I enjoyed the episode and it is always a treat to see the greatest villainess of them all return. Long may she persist in her endeavours! While her dastardly plot did not come to fruition, she showed good form: monologuing her plan while alone, and still able to strike fear into her recalcitrant minions when needed. To quote H. P. Lovecraft: As I told you longe ago, do not calle up That which you can not put downe.

I see a parallel in this episode with P.P.O.V. in that for the Mane Six, the other five acting like maniacs is apparently within normality, and not something that causes undue reflection.

[SlateSlabrock]

The good: Pretty funny watching Chrysalis's plan unravel by itself because of course it would. Starlight hating camping continues to make her the most down-to-earth teammate, although how she can be that bad at it after hiding in the mountains for however long is beyond me. Evil Twilight is a pretty good answer to, "Why didn't Discord just mind-control her, too?" And holy shit, that Last Crusade ending. The episode did precisely what it needed to, and delivered the message it was trying to send. The Elements of Harmony don't take no jive.

That said, I wish this was a two-parter. The real Mane 6 didn't even figure out what was going on, which meant they were rehashing the lessons (and characters) from "The Return of Harmony." And while they were much quicker to get to the hugs and forgiveness this time, Team Evil is enough of a decent villain concept that just flat-out melting them because the episode ran out of time was... disappointing. This is also cementing Chrysalis as a powerless has-been.

[Niels Olof]

I thought that the Mane Six being absolutely oblivious to the best efforts of their main antagonist was pretty funny.

[Edited for grammar]

[Highbrow Dash]

For a second there I thought they might really steal the Elements and that'd be our big mid-season finale twist. The real outcome was much, much better than that

It was a great episode

[Adiwan]

I could see that the Tree of Harmony is corrupted by the Psycho Rangers Mean 6.

[Fizzbuzz]

Starlight hating camping continues to make her the most down-to-earth teammate, although how she can be that bad at it after hiding in the mountains for however long is beyond me.

I don't think she was necessarily bad at it, more that she just didn't like it. When she spent most of S5 stalking Twilight and friends across Equestria, she wasn't doing it out of a love for the outdoors, but a lust for revenge. That alone would've definitely been enough to keep her going through it.

[Rainbow Crash]

I'm pretty sure Twilight could be the world's greatest villain if the put her mind to it

[SlateSlabrock]

but a lust for revenge.

WHOOOOOOOOOO?!

[Captain Rufus]

That was a good bit of fun. And the cast has developed enough they dealt with their issues and moved on as opposed to what would happen most times with this sort of stuff both in fiction and RL. Like the clones could have broken up the team which would have been even bigger than stealing the elements but TEH POWAR OF FRENDSHEEP is so strong and they have been together so long the heroes fixed they problems and moved on quickly.

[Octavia]

I'd probably put that as my 2nd favorite episode of the season behind Horse Play.

But now we're in the hiatus!

[Aramek]

Owned.

[Void Chicken]

Starlight hating camping continues to make her the most down-to-earth teammate, although how she can be that bad at it after hiding in the mountains for however long is beyond me.

It's not like there were wanted posters with her face around Equestria. She could easily have hidden in plain sight, as long as none of the main 6 spotted her.

[Aramek]

Timestamp 1:26

Perfectly sums it up. Starlight continues to be the best.

[Fizzbuzz]

I wonder if evil Applejack's "127 hours" joke got edited down. It seems like it would've been easy to do something like this:
"And I survived in this here forest for 127 hours, even after having to gnaw off my own leg!"
"But you have all your legs, dear!"
"Guh, well, uh... I got better! Legs grow back."

[Highbrow Dash]

It's not like there were wanted posters with her face around Equestria. She could easily have hidden in plain sight, as long as none of the main 6 spotted her.

And that's exactly what she did She shows up in the background a bunch of times, she wasn't just hiding in the wilderness.

[Mechanical Ape]

Today, I celebrate my independence from not being caught up on pony.

• I’ve known this photographer pony for 4 seconds and she’s already great.
• I mean, she’s clearly Chrysalis but it’s a fun character.
• So someone said “You know what was a great movie? Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Let’s do a pony version.”
• Oh no, Chrysalis has been alone so long she’s lost her mind.
• Ha ha, she’s endearingly daffy though.
• I’m unsure on the timeline, are the Elements even a thing anymore and if they aren’t, would Chrysalis know that?
• A picture and a cutie mark for each victim. This is as close as will ever get to Death Note.
• “Are we talking fun fun or like, Dwarf Fortress fun?”
• Starlight: still the best? Still the best.
• Oh man, even Chrysalis’ own clone-thralls are dunking on her.
• Rolling in rosebushes? Doesn’t seem wise.
• Oh that’s right, parasprites were a thing!
• This is really fun so far. I can’t tell which group is driving each other more crazy.
• Okay so yeah, Chrysalis doesn’t know about the tree. I sort of love how we’re shown she’s really degraded and out of control this time. Like they’re not writing her DUMBER, it’s more like Saruman post-Isengard, both her motives and methods have deteriorated since the last defeat.
• Mean!Twilight rubbing her wings together evilly is amazing.
• birdhug
• what just happened.
• So Mean!Applejack seems to have a different color cutie mark, but nomean!pony else seems to.
• Mean!Rarity has the best faces.
• OK, Mean!Pinkie’s cutie mark is also different.
• Mean!Rarity is like Mirror Kirk, not even capable of blending in.
• Well, watching clones of the Mane Six shrivel and die wasn’t a thing I expected to see today.

Ha. That was super fun.

[Mechanical Ape]

I wonder how many other episodes of this show were the work of evil Mane Six clones that nobody knew about.