MadCat221: Why was this season short?  Was it to make the syndication threshold point a nice clean season-end break?

For syndication you need 65 episodes, which I'm not sure is an actual rule or simply the most profitable number of episodes for syndication. Which is why season 3 was only 13 episodes.

Hasbro thought it was going to be bought by Disney, so they wanted to end the series. Alicorn Twilight was always the endgame, hence why this episode had her ascending to "Princesshood".

However, Hasbro was NOT bought by Disney, Lucasfilms was, AND I think upper-management at Hasbro noticed how numerous [and profitable] the Brony community is when John Lancie's "Bronies" documentary came out. Since the documentary came out they sent out cease and desist letters to Fighting is Magic Game and the "Friendship is Witchcraft" parody series on Youtube. They're locking down the IP.

Yuri Futanari: This question has probably been answered, but is there a Season 4 confirmed or was this it as far as we know?

DHX documents list them as being paid to produce a fourth season, Daniel Ingram's website shows him as working on 91 MLP episodes.

65+26=91.

So, full season 4.

/probably as official an announcement as there will be until episodes are ready.

shortymac: MadCat221: Why was this season short?  Was it to make the syndication threshold point a nice clean season-end break?

For syndication you need 65 episodes, which I'm not sure is an actual rule or simply the most profitable number of episodes for syndication. Which is why season 3 was only 13 episodes.

65 episodes is the minimum number needed to air one episode every weekday for 13 weeks, so you can get 4 airings of an entire run into one year.

The series remains fresh that way, and in the days before VCRs and DVRs and DVDpeople would keep watching each rerun cycle because by the time the run started over, they would happily watch the cycle again because they last saw it 3 months ago and it seemed new enough.

FirstNationalBastard: shortymac: MadCat221: Why was this season short?  Was it to make the syndication threshold point a nice clean season-end break?

For syndication you need 65 episodes, which I'm not sure is an actual rule or simply the most profitable number of episodes for syndication. Which is why season 3 was only 13 episodes.

65 episodes is the minimum number needed to air one episode every weekday for 13 weeks, so you can get 4 airings of an entire run into one year.

The series remains fresh that way, and in the days before VCRs and DVRs and DVDpeople would keep watching each rerun cycle because by the time the run started over, they would happily watch the cycle again because they last saw it 3 months ago and it seemed new enough.

Ahhhhhhhh, I see then, it's basically "tradition" now. I remember seeing that number [or something close to it] mentioned in a Community thread about whether it would get a 4th season

shortymac: FirstNationalBastard: shortymac: MadCat221: Why was this season short?  Was it to make the syndication threshold point a nice clean season-end break?

For syndication you need 65 episodes, which I'm not sure is an actual rule or simply the most profitable number of episodes for syndication. Which is why season 3 was only 13 episodes.

65 episodes is the minimum number needed to air one episode every weekday for 13 weeks, so you can get 4 airings of an entire run into one year.

The series remains fresh that way, and in the days before VCRs and DVRs and DVDpeople would keep watching each rerun cycle because by the time the run started over, they would happily watch the cycle again because they last saw it 3 months ago and it seemed new enough.

Ahhhhhhhh, I see then, it's basically "tradition" now. I remember seeing that number [or something close to it] mentioned in a Community thread about whether it would get a 4th season

Yeah, that number goes back to the 60s, at least. I remember first reading about that 65 episode thing in regard to The Munsters, which had 70 episodes, making it just barely perfect for Syndication.

Plus, looking back at the 90s WB animated shows, you see how stuff like Tiny Toons was ordered with one large first season of 65 episodes, and then renewed for much shorter runs afterward.

Also, the fact that her brother MARRIED into Royalty but Twilight became a princess of her own merit makes the feminist in me smile.

Way to turn the tables on girly show tropes! :]

shortymac: Also, the fact that her brother MARRIED into Royalty but Twilight became a princess of her own merit makes the feminist in me smile.

Way to turn the tables on girly show tropes! :]

Season 4 has possibilities here, too. Hasbro's content to stick with the princess stereotype in the toy stores, but what if the theme of S4 is an amplification of last week's theme, namely that leadership is damn hard work?

Twilight Farkle: The My Little Pony Killer: I still don't get what's supposed to be so rage-inducing about Twilight Sparkle's character development.

Me neither.

[25.media.tumblr.com image 370x208]

Everything's gonna be just fine.

Aesthetically, the switch from "6 peers, 2 unicorns, 2 pegasi, 2 earth ponies" to "5 ponies and a demigod" breaks a few symmetries and feels a little weird, and from a pure storyline angle, it's a great way to end the series. Purely artistic considerations sometimes have to be sacrificed to business realities. It's still a good way to end the season and give the writers a clean slate for Season 4.

I also don't get the butthurt, because the whole damn show has been basically the progress of Twilight Sparkle through Equestrian College. :D

(Yes, seriously.  She got sent on her field study on friendship, basically earned her bachelorate in getting Princess Luna out of her Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds period; earned her Master's in dealing with Discord and Salombra; and pretty much all of her field work has been in study for what is the equivalent of a Doctorate (in that we now know that alicorn-age is apparently earned via original research in new magic, which is pretty much directly analgous to how folks earn their Ph.Ds in the human world).  Pretty much anyone who's been in college or has known someone in college beyond the Bachelorate level has known where this is going, and no, learning does NOT end when you earn a doctorate, as any MD or DO who engages in Continuing Medical Education on a yearly basis can tell you. :D)

Yes, this means that pretty much "Princess" in Equestria is equivalent to "Doctor" here, and there's probably more than a bit of Philosopher-Princess involved (someone did point out the similarity to Greek ideas of destinies of men, it's a pretty old concept really).  I, at least, find this a neat concept :D

So I say, "Congrats to the new Princess Twilight Sparkle...or if you will, Doctor Twilight Sparkle, DMSS (Doctor of Magical and Social Studies)."   Because it's pretty much the same, and no, the series is not RUINED FOREVER because Pr. Twilight Sparkle has a title and wings (no more so than learning is over when one earns a doctorate--if anything, the real learning just begins then). :D

/then again, I've been pretty much seeing the show all along as Twilight Sparkle's Journey Through Pony Graduate School :D
//of course, this also leads to the question of whether ponies in fact get tenure

Great Porn Dragon:
/then again, I've been pretty much seeing the show all along as Twilight Sparkle's Journey Through Pony Graduate School :D
//of course, this also leads to the question of whether ponies in fact get tenure

This. That alicorns are few and far between, and the description of "new magic" as a particularly remarkable event, suggests that perhaps magic's a well-explored field, subject to occasional incremental improvement, but most of the work consists of improving one's skills at using existing tech. If most knowledge is siloed, cross-pollination of ideas is going to be rare, and most dissertations are going to be boring until you find someone willing to draw from other fields.

And as for tenure, isn't that just a more polite word for immortality?

Speaking of research... Derpy was everywhere.

Bridge derpy at 0:23.


Wet mane derp at 6:22.


And one more Derpy at 20:30.

Captain Steroid: Dinobot: Captain Steroid: Dinobot: Captain Steroid: the total opposite of the clusterf**k everpony had been fearing.

I dunno, I hated the 2nd half of the episode...

Spoken like someone who didn't find Derpy. :P

I -saw- Derpy, but she didnt manage to salvage the episode for me.

Not even Fluttershy's critter friends preparing "Rainbow Dash a l'Orange"?

[i.chzbgr.com image 492x363]

I'm actually a bit impressed that someone found a way to use that old cartoon trope and NOT have it be Unspeakably Racist For Modern Times :D

Dinobot: Nezu Chiza: 'm not sure that logic really follows since you can clearly become an Alicorn when you weren't born one. If any race can become an Alicorn, then Alicorn's are all races, not a separate one.

However, they make it seem that you need to be a Unicorn, as its based on Magic. Pegasi and earth ponies cannot do magic, therefore are automatically excluded from transcending.

Not necessarily. It was all the elements of harmony that triggered the... whatever. I'm sure if anyone else mastered the elements to the point Twi did, they would stand a decent chance of being uplifted, too. The fact that the spell going wrong and her correction led her to realize the whole friendship Destiny thing may not be material.

Yuri Futanari: This question has probably been answered, but is there a Season 4 confirmed or was this it as far as we know?

The head writer confirmed it on her twitter.

dorkymidgetqueen: The look on Q's face when he realized he actually cared about losing Fluttershy's friendship... So good

I noticed during the original Discord eps that Discord would actually stop what he was doing to brag to whomever happened by, and show them all the "wonderful" things he's built. Discord actually seemed to believe everyone would enjoy His chaos, if the girls would only give it a chance.

If no one was there to enjoy his new universe, well then, what was the point?


Strolpol: //can anyone name ANY male pony character that has a position of actual importance? (being wealthy does not count)

Shining Armor was already Captain of the Guard.
The fashion designer that critiqued Rarity's dresses.
Soarin the Wonderbolt.
The District Judge, (who stands next to the Mayor during Pinky's Smile song).
the Chief Surgeon who patched up Dash's wing.

Doctor Whooves, of course ;)

But the mane 6 cover so much of the character archetypes spectrum, there's not generally a need for additional characters onstage, unless one of them isn't available for some reason.

Great Porn Dragon: I also don't get the butthurt, because the whole damn show has been basically the progress of Twilight Sparkle through Equestrian College. :D

(Yes, seriously.  She got sent on her field study on friendship, basically earned her bachelorate in getting Princess Luna out of her Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds period; earned her Master's in dealing with Discord and Salombra; and pretty much all of her field work has been in study for what is the equivalent of a Doctorate (in that we now know that alicorn-age is apparently earned via original research in new magic, which is pretty much directly analgous to how folks earn their Ph.Ds in the human world).  Pretty much anyone who's been in college or has known someone in college beyond the Bachelorate level has known where this is going, and no, learning does NOT end when you earn a doctorate, as any MD or DO who engages in Continuing Medical Education on a yearly basis can tell you. :D)

Yes, this means that pretty much "Princess" in Equestria is equivalent to "Doctor" here, and there's probably more than a bit of Philosopher-Princess involved (someone did point out the similarity to Greek ideas of destinies of men, it's a pretty old concept really).  I, at least, find this a neat concept :D

So I say, "Congrats to the new Princess Twilight Sparkle...or if you will, Doctor Twilight Sparkle, DMSS (Doctor of Magical and Social Studies)." Because it's pretty much the same, and no, the series is not RUINED FOREVER because Pr. Twilight Sparkle has a title and wings (no more so than learning is over when one earns a doctorate--if anything, the real learning just begins then). :D

/then again, I've been pretty much seeing the show all along as Twilight Sparkle's Journey Through Pony Graduate School :D
//of course, this also leads to the question of whether ponies in fact get tenure

Skyfrog: Alicorn Day

I LOL'd. "Drink this and tell me what you learned..."



Princessin' ain't easy.

Depressing video time: Eternity's End

FirstNationalBastard: /No Derpy until the final two minutes of the season and no Rarity episode... how could S3 be that good?

For one thing that vapid coont Rarity didn't hog a whole Episode.

ArkPanda:
It seemed obvious to me that Luna's book was the spellbook Twilight was sent to finish.



I knew I forgot something this afternoon!

precia: Cadence

*facepalm*

precia: Madbassist1: precia: Cadence

*facepalm*

My word, did I spell it wrong, following the lead of the Farker I was replying to? I'm a moron, and a terrible person. I shall go into exile.

fark off.

Not at all. It's spelled correctly as far as I use it, and the post is not a slight against you at all, other than you are an adult who is a fan of a stoopid cartoon (I like Justice League, myself) Some of the software I work with is called "Cadence", that's all. Nothing personal.

Strolpol: you've got an adventure series like Ducktales, where you can use the protagonists' resources to justify crazy adventures outside the home town.

I think that's more what Lauren Faust had in mind at the beginning, too: adventure episodes to go with the 'slice of life' ones, like the the season premiers and finales. I wonder if there are any backburner episodes hanging around that this would allow them to use, especially for the season 4 premier.

ravenlore: So are the same folks trolling the Pony threads trolling the Doctor Who threads?

I haven't been paying attention.

The wrestling threads too. Don't forget them.

Finally catching up to this episode.  IMO, an appearance by DJ-P0N3 makes it all worth it.  :D

knowing that this was supposed to be the series finale, this is a damn good episode.

The scene where Twilight meets Celestia in the the ether reminded me of Picard meeting Q in the afterlife.

It's a stretch on this card, but I'll give S3 a bingo.



Get your Season 4 cards ready!

Madbassist1: ravenlore: So are the same folks trolling the Pony threads trolling the Doctor Who threads?

I haven't been paying attention.

The wrestling threads too. Don't forget them.


Hell, they were trolling the Homestar Runner threads bloody ten years ago.

Sim Tree: Madbassist1: ravenlore: So are the same folks trolling the Pony threads trolling the Doctor Who threads?

I haven't been paying attention.

The wrestling threads too. Don't forget them.


Hell, they were trolling the Homestar Runner threads bloody ten years ago.

Wow, that's a blast from the past.  I wonder if Strongbad ever upgraded to Gmail?

/DELETED!

Olympic Trolling Judge: After all the epic challenges she's faced, Twilight gets promoted for a damn fill-in-the-blank test? (Unless the upgrade was specifically an effect of Star Swirl's spell. In which case, holy crap they have instant alicornification now.)

Or (and this is my personal theory) apparently magical spell creation in Equestria is roughly akin to proofs of theorems in mathematics--you have cases of "OK, this mathematician never could prove X theorem because either mathematics wasn't that far along yet or he died before getting a formal proof out" and folks going for doctorates in mathematics going for proofs of these theorems as their graduate thesis...or hell, just to pretty much show their worth in mathematics.

Basically (to put it in maths terms) Twilight Sparkle found a new innovative magical solution by a working proof of Luna's Theorem Of...Something (and being acquainted with friendship whilst poor Luna IS FOREVER ALONE, had the necessary backgrounder for the research).

Seriously, this happens more often than one thinks, especially when one starts getting into the more theoretical fields like higher maths :D

/disclaimer--was EMCS major in college before computer science was split into its own field
//has taken me quite some time to get normal maths back

Great Porn Dragon: Olympic Trolling Judge: After all the epic challenges she's faced, Twilight gets promoted for a damn fill-in-the-blank test? (Unless the upgrade was specifically an effect of Star Swirl's spell. In which case, holy crap they have instant alicornification now.)

Or (and this is my personal theory) apparently magical spell creation in Equestria is roughly akin to proofs of theorems in mathematics--you have cases of "OK, this mathematician never could prove X theorem because either mathematics wasn't that far along yet or he died before getting a formal proof out" and folks going for doctorates in mathematics going for proofs of these theorems as their graduate thesis...or hell, just to pretty much show their worth in mathematics.

Basically (to put it in maths terms) Twilight Sparkle found a new innovative magical solution by a working proof of Luna's Theorem Of...Something (and being acquainted with friendship whilst poor Luna IS FOREVER ALONE, had the necessary backgrounder for the research).

Seriously, this happens more often than one thinks, especially when one starts getting into the more theoretical fields like higher maths :D

/disclaimer--was EMCS major in college before computer science was split into its own field
//has taken me quite some time to get normal maths back

And more specifically (to expound on it and avoid confusion)--Star Swirl's spell was the original "theorem", Luna had tried (and failed) to make a working proof, and Twilight Sparkle (via first her own failed proof and later realising the point of failure of Luna's proof) did a working proof with new knowledge.  Again, this is how proofs (and doctorates) in maths work all the time; prolly works the same for Equestrian magical studies :D