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>>/8891/ This episode I think is where the series starts to show some of the ways it stands out. I'm going to do something a bit different here. I want to go through each of the Mane 6‘s manifestations of their elements: Honesty Applejack, arguably the weakest and weirdest. Her line, ‘’Now listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe.'’ feels... odd. Why couldn’t she just say that Twilight Sparkle would be caught by Fluttershy? Feels more fitting for her to have been the Element of trust, faith, or as I have heard Faust wanted, integrity. Even then, this test felt like they could’ve built something a little better here. She would’ve had no reason to lie here. It doesn’t really show her character other than prove her general competency and being a dependable friend and ally. Kindness Fluttershy’s moment was much stronger. The ponies were all ready to fight. Though she was shy and timid to a fault Fluttershy asserted herself to stop the fighting and help the Manticore with a nightmare thorn in his paw. Overcame her stereotype some. Laughter Pinkie Pie’s too was a strong character moment. I always liked her song here but her actively helping organically and defeating the “nightmarified” trees with laughter I feel is underappreciated. Why I mean by that is... Generosity Rarity, as vain and looks obsessed and she could be (and certainly played up later in the show) was willing to cut off her tail to restore the sea monster (whom we’d later know as Steven Magnet). This moment might be a bit weird and oddly specific in a similar way to Applejack’s but I think it works better because Rarity defied her archetype and did so selflessly. Loyalty Rainbow Dash’s I can see being laughed at a bit too. You’re in a emergency and you don’t find these strange shadowy ponies in the Everfree Forest, the spooky place supposedly nopony goes into, and you don’t imminently see this as a red flag!? Though I still think it holds for the stories purposes. Rainbow Dash’s archetype would call for her to have a easily flattered ego (which she does) and the temptation is there, but she still easily resists and sticks to helping her friends. I do admit that it would be insane otherwise but still I think this fits for the theme they were trying to go for. With the exception of Applejack, what do these moments have in common? That each of the mane 5 defied, to varying degrees, their archetypes and in so doing, ‘’became characters.'’ (Applejack still proved herself in action of course, not to be too hard on her, but the writing here was weaker). ‘’‘Magic''' And Twilight Sparkle realizes that in a sense. Each of these ponies proves themselves and showed her the magic of friendship. In this she casts aside her eschewing of friendship and chooses to embrace it. Therefore growing herself. This is where the archetypes became characters. Friendship is Magic, Part 1 gave us archetypes , but Friendship is Magic Part 2 is what gave us characters and the first sense of something deserving of more respect than anyone would’ve expected going on. This introduction was a worthy start to the show, even if it still shows some weakness here or there. My thoughts on rewatching is for this review that the level of writing on display here is relatively complex and did a lot, mostly correct, with very little time. 7.5/10 is my rating. Not the greatest but underappreciated at what it did do. The range is more above average to outright good tier this time. [This is the 4th time I've posted this post due to errors in bold formatting, if this fails I just give up and continue forward.]