My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic: Episode 305 - Magic Duel

Rating:
 

You knew it was going to happen the instant I complained about this show in my season one top five list.  Despite having difficulty selecting a best episode for the first two seasons, Magic Duel is very clearly the finest outing of the third.  Trixie had no business being given a second episode after the awful Boast Busters, but leave it to M. A. Larson to find a depth of character where there previously was none.  In true My Little Pony fashion, he cobbles together an adventure from many cult favorites (Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Gremlins), but the episode is positively gripping despite all of the references.  The beginning is a bit slow, with Fluttershy seeming much more worried than usual throughout.  But everything takes off after Trixie’s arrival in Ponyville, and Magic Duel remains as strong as any episode of the series to this point straight through to the end.

As the episode proper begins, Twilight is about to perform magic on some of Fluttershy’s woodland friends.  Here, magic means she’s going to hurl them about in the air, where one interruption will cause all of their deaths.  Somehow this is for an upcoming celebration, but Fluttershy is understandably distraught over what she will witness if Twilight screws up.  As silly as her behavior seems in this scene, it’s actually at least somewhat typical of mothers.  This is suc­cinctly depicted when Twilight tells Fluttershy that “nothing bad will hap­pen to them”, to which she squeaks out “I know” while looking extremely frightened.  Yes it’s irrational, but probably still how Fluttershy would react to the situation.  Before all of this starts though, Fluttershy practically threat­ens Twilight with furious anger over what will happen if the animals do tumble to their dooms.  It’s a quick moment, but reminds us that Flut­tershy is much more than the worrywart she often seems to be.  Even if this isn’t exactly deep character development, at least Larson is thoughtful enough to show some, which makes Fluttershy feel much more well-rounded.  This isn’t the last time in the episode that he’ll do this either.

Again proving to be a better sobriquet, Rainbow crashes her way with the news we know is coming.  A certain pony’s appearance has attracted a large crowd, but not for a show this time.  Rarity is forced into a dress made partially of brown fabric through magic, and this horrid clash of colors causes her to faint.  Pinkie Pie’s description of “soothing pink” as a rem­edy would probably only work for her, but we do see Rarity being com­forted in a pink cloak moments later.  Twilight arrives as the culprit un­hoods herself to reveal Trixie, and Spike’s tone in response (“what’s she doing here) is perfect in conveying how long it’s been since her previous visit and how undesired and uncomfortable her return is.  Trixie continues casting spells on the unfortunate residents around her, and the results are not only embarrassing but noticeably more mean-spirited than before.  While not technically too different from her first appearance, Larson’s version works since the tone of her spells is part of the plot, and the episode most definitely isn’t just an excuse to embarrass our beloved ponies (well, except Snips and Snails, but does anyone really like them?).  It’s a subtle difference, but ends up having a large effect over­all.

Trixie announces she has come to have the eponymous magic duel with Twi­light, due to having been embarrassed herself after how the last episode ended.  Since that was ages ago, we get a flashback to quickly remind us about what happened, but not the kind that is typically expected.  Trixie pro­vides the flashback herself via magic (she creates a screen in the air for everyone to watch, and we still see her in frame), although most of it actually consists of events since her previous episode.  The final scene shows Trixie working on a rock farm apparently owned by Pinkie Pie’s adopted father, and naturally provokes a strong retort from Pinkie herself.  Unfortunately, Trixie’s response is to cast a spell that takes Pinkie’s mouth off and dumps it into a computer trash can.

With Ponyville practically in ruins already and Trixie promising to cast more spells, Twilight has little choice but to acquiesce to the duel.  After she does, Trixie dutifully reverses the effects of what she just did, except that Pinkie’s mouth remains missing.  Her mumbled attempts to bring notice to this are ignored, although apparently no one else sees a prob­lem.  Not one comment is made by any other pony, and in a Kenny-like moment later on, her grunts are easily understood and responded to by Applejack.  This “obliviousness” becomes something of a thread in the episode, as it’s not the only thing that will be ignored by every pony but one.

Although not as earth-shattering as was hoped by the faithful, the duel proceeds as it logically would in all likelihood.  Twilight is forced to undo or counter Trixie’s spells, and is also able to get off a shot of her own with a certain manly spell we’ve seen before.  Angered by the bitchin’ ‘stache, Tri­xie grinds the duel to a halt by making our favorite duo baby Snips and big old Snails.  These age spells are only possible by the top unicorns, so Twi­light’s attempts to reverse them are hopeless.  As the loser must leave Po­nyville “for-ev-errrr”, Twilight has to pack her bags, although her friends naturally stand up for her.  Banishing someone over a stupid pointless contest is silly, but Trixie is too strong at the moment for the mane six to do anything.  She escorts Twilight out of Ponyville immediately with another spell, and seals Ponyville with a large glass jar to make sure no one can get in or out.  Having now grown suspicious that this hack has so much skill all of a sudden, Twilight vows to find help and quickly leaves without many words.  All her friends can do is watch.

Celestia suspiciously being away on business sounds a lot like the time Spike was doing the same thing in Look Before You Sleep, but there’s a huge difference despite both being contrived.  Spike’s absence made no sense and weakened the episode, while Celestia’s is the exact opposite.  Heads of state are often away from their country to schmooze with the lead­ers of others, but the bigger point is that the episode is much better with Celestia missing for all but the end.  Otherwise, Twilight could just run to her teacher like she was her mommy, and Celestia would quickly put an end to the situation in Ponyville since of course the Great Leader tol­erates no rivals.  This would have left the episode with little point or excitement, so the “coincidence” is much more tolerable.  Trixie probably would have waited until Celestia was indisposed to make her move on Ponyville anyway, since she would have little chance to take root oth­erwise.

Twilight needs to seek someone’s help without Celestia around, and the ep­isode wastes no time in dissolving to where we all know she is going.  Ze­cora ends up being the zebra version of Yoda, which is made obvious with the scene in the swamp (something that certainly isn’t a Bible reference no matter what Twilight might be doing).  Even better is the scene just before when Twilight spills Zecora’s drink, Zecora refills it by magic, and Twilight knocks it over yet again.  All of this happens with no mention in the dialogue while also feeling quite natural.  These little attentions to detail elevate Magic Duel over the rest of the third season, among all the other reasons.

Meanwhile in Ponyville, the rest of the mane six are busy “helping” Trixie turn their town into a dystopian egopolis, which is unsurprisingly followed by an all-nighter in the library looking for some help.  Although Fluttershy is the only one to find anything useful, most of the scene amazingly proceeds as if she isn’t there at all.  Fluttershy’s “announcement” that she has identified Trix­ie’s amulet is completely ignored, but everyone pays attention when Spike notices only the book moments later.  It is quickly decided that Twilight must have this information, but sneaking past the barrier will be quite difficult.  Since the ultimate goal is to get into the woods, Flut­tershy is selected for the job.  Despite finally being noticed for the first time in the scene, Fluttershy naturally freaks out at this unorthodox suggest­ion.  However, her responses to their questions about her willingness for the mission are once again ignored.  Fluttershy’s complete refusal is heard as acceptance, although the hand-in-the-middle thing finally convinces her to agree (even though the rest of them won’t really be in­volved in this part of the plan).  This whole scene might have been just a slightly funny joke with no context, but it feels more like part of the fabric of the episode coming after Pinkie Pie receiving similar treatment, and shows a rare intelligence in the writing.

Trixie soon hears of a disturbance somewhere on the barrier, but her response is to create a large wooden carriage with no wheels and force Snips and Snails to pull her around (which naturally leaves huge troughs in their wake).  The reason for her doing so is apparently a bad pun (which thank­fully goes unmentioned), although even these two dolts are realizing that Trix­ie is acting much different from the last time she was around.  While of little consolation, Snips does at least get off a decent one-liner (“I miss the days when she was just a fraud!”).  No ponies are visible though, as the disturbance appears to be from a few beavers who are angrily whacking the force field with their tails.  Trixie questions the lead beaver, who angrily shouts at her while pointing at a log and some place beyond the barrier.  We can’t understand a word, but Trixie rolls her eyes and the music plays exactly like an actual language was spoken.  She lifts the barrier just enough so that the beavers can leave with their log before dropping it back in place again.  As before, this scene nicely couples with Pinkie Pie’s mum­bles being understood by Applejack, and is stronger because of its context.

Despite thinking Fluttershy’s leaving originally caused the disturbance, her actual means of escape was soon obvious.  Yes, Fluttershy was somehow hidden in the log, and the angry beavers only acted out what seemed to be an innocent throwaway moment.  There is no sense of relief for Fluttershy though, who again acts al­most absurdly frightened.  Having to be the hero is rather uncomfortable for her, and ironically the easily gifted information Fluttershy receives from her bird friends makes her run away rather than toward where Twilight is.  The seemingly silly sentiment Fluttershy expresses as she is being dragged/flown into the Everfree For­est is very understandable though.

At this point, the second act was likely cut rather short in the editing room.  We next see Fluttershy calmly sip­ping some of Zecora’s brew inside her hut, having apparently told Twilight everything she was supposed to.  The Alicorn Amulet is a One Ring that gives its wearer the power to rule the world while corrupting them at the same time.  As everyone has noticed, Trixie’s usual antics have a much meaner edge to them this time, which explains the embarrassing moments the ponies around Trixie have had.  Also like the Ring, it is almost im­possible to get the Amulet off once it is being worn, so it quickly becomes obvious to Twilight that all this magic training she did with Zecora was worth­less.  However, another confusing rhyme from Zecora gives Twilight an idea, but this will only come off if they can get Fluttershy back into Pony­ville.

Or whatever.  There is no mention or even a frame devoted to how Fluttershy returns to Pony­ville.  Even though it’s ex­tremely important to the plot, we don’t see her again until the episode is al­most over (or so it appears, to be fair).  Considering how the second act ends, Larson almost certainly had some­thing written regarding this, but the scene was inexplicably cut despite its necessity.  Presumably, the beavers took her back in with the log, but that’s only pure speculation as the episode stands.  This isn’t exactly a fatal flaw, but it is a ra­ther large plot hole in an episode that was clearly well thought out.  These two scenes make it feel obvious that the epi­sode needed to be longer by at least a few minutes.  “Economic realities” likely cost Magic Duel a shot at a top rating thanks to these unforgivable jumps.

So the next disturbance Trixie hears about in her barrier has nothing to do with Fluttershy, although the “false alarm” comment is nice continuity.  This time Twilight and Zecora are waiting just outside the barrier, and it would appear we missed even more than Fluttershy based on what happens.  Twilight now has an amulet of her own that she promises is even more powerful than the one to rule them all, and we end up as shocked as Trixie when Twilight actually proves it in the re­match.  Twilight laughs off the “simple” age spell Trixie starts with, and starts going nuts.  She turns Applejack and Rarity into a variety of ages, and then gets even weirder by cloning Rainbow Dash, turning Applejack into a male momentarily, and making Pinkie a one-man band.

Rightfully stunned at the jaw-dropping things she just saw Twilight do, Trix­ie grabs the amulet for herself without waiting for the duel to end.  She pulls the Alicorn Amulet off while basking in her triumph, which is enough to move one of the Rainbow Dashes into action.  This Dash quickly snatches the amulet away from Trixie, but Trixie doesn’t care at first since the one she stole from Twilight should be at least as good.  Trixie casts some Force Lightning at Dash, but somehow it only tickles.  Twi­light comes clean that her whole magic display (which included ponies chang­ing ages and genders right before our eyes) was fake.

It turns out there was a reason why the old and male versions of Applejack looked similar to Granny Smith and Big Macintosh.  The letter Twilight sent back to Ponyville instructed her friends to use paint and wigs to dress up like other mane six members.  Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were cast as the younger versions, while Fluttershy’s rainbow wig and other body paint made her look enough like Dash to pass as a duplicate.  They all leapt out from behind a conveniently placed statue at the appropriate time, and apparently pulled it off with no rehearsal.

Even if it seems obvious in retrospect, such a complicated setup is a surprising explanation from a show with actual magic.  Not only does this make sense though, but it feels like a huge effort was needed to end Trixie’s tyranny, which is a relief from Meghan McCarthy’s “that was easy” resolutions.  All they had to do was convince Trixie everything was real for long enough to get her to take the amulet off, and it certainly looked that way to the audience.  This “magic” doesn’t explain Pinkie playing ten instruments (or whatever), but hearing Twilight tell Trixie “that was just Pinkie Pie” is still delightful even though we already know the answer.

With another world-deciding conflict saved by a grad student, the celebration for the Saddle Arabian delegates goes off as planned.  Trixie actually helps out by shooting off some fireworks, and then apologizes to Twilight for everything that happened between them.  Naturally Twilight accepts, but Trixie shows she hasn’t lost it entirely by boasting about how humble she is.  As in the previous episode, Trixie then “vanishes” into a puff of smoke before running out of town, although she takes a rather humble fall onto her face for just a moment before continuing.  But wait, Pinkie still doesn’t have her mouth back!  She pops into the iris out to complain, but Twilight thankfully appears to restore her missing orifice.  A big breath to finally say something is spoiled by the end of the episode.

Even without much of a big point, Magic Duel does play on the debate of “real” magic versus “stage” magic men­tioned in the first Trixie episode.  This is only possible in the show’s uni­verse though, so the point is more poignant there than here.  It is a neat solution how “fake” magic saves the day, since that was the only way to create more po­werfuler things than what Trixie was doing for the entire show.  While sub­tle, there is definitely a hint of not believing everything you see (and all the other clichés that go along with it), which is excellently demonstrated by the display near the end.

Magic Duel succeeds not just with an engaging story, but by also showing well-rounded characters.  This development may not be com­plex, but even the little efforts are well-appreciated and make for a better experience.  Fluttershy’s sincere angry threat to Twilight regarding her animal friends early on makes up for all the worrying she does in the rest of the episode, but the real revelation is Trixie.  Her first ap­pearance was just a one-dimensional villain that deserved to be a one-off, although this still somehow inspired love and anticipation for her return among the fan­base.  Larson makes great strides in showing this to be justified by creating a powerful villain who seems a credible threat with a sexy side as well, but then showing her come to her senses once the Amulet’s in­fluence wanes.  We see a descent through the flashback which explains why Trixie would be angry enough to purchase the amulet, and then later that she is able to feel guilt for her deplorable actions.  Instead of “wak­ing up”, Trixie calms down from her reign of terror, which makes it seem like the amulet influenced already existing feelings rather than completely tak­ing control of her.  These may be small details overall, but the episode is much more satisfying for the intelligence on display rather than the ster­eotypes most of the other writers typically put out.  Likewise, while Twi­light may not have a whole lot of development herself, her dialogue feels exactly perfect for everything that happens.  And even if the other char­acters don’t have a large part this time, Larson again finds a way to get most of the major and minor ponies involved for at least a little bit.

I realize that I decried Magic Duel even existing in the first place and am now ranking it among the series’ best episodes, but there’s little denying after multiple viewings that this is an uncommonly good My Little Pony episode.  Con­sidering it focuses on minor and guest characters more than certain mane six members, Magic Duel can’t exactly be called definitive, and the editing prob­lems are rather noticeable between the second and third acts.  Another 8-10 minutes of show were likely needed to completely portray the story, but at least Larson builds off of My Little Pony’s previous sea­sons and attempts to push the show into its prime.  The few holes probably weren’t his fault, although Fluttershy does come off as a bit too nervous despite how justified it may be.  Otherwise, there’s not much more negative to say about the episode.  Everything that made it to the screen sparkles, and the flaws that exist don’t detract too much.  As he did in the previous two seasons, Larson shows he’s far above any of the other writ­ers on staff by making gold out of a questionable premise.  Even with all of the references and a few mild problems, Magic Duel is as fine a My Little Pony epi­sode as has yet to be seen.