Welcome to Rainbow Falls! .... again... wait... what?
Here we go on a journey back to rainbow falls! This time we're not here for anything related to the equestria games (loltitledrop), however we're here for a swap meet. In this episode we're treated to three different stories that have almost nothing to do with eachother, so that's why I'll be taking each apart individually, so get ready.
#1: Applejack and Rarity
This was a fun little story, and feels like something that might've consumed the entire twenty-two minutes of the episode back in previous generations. AJ and Rarity are at eachother's throats to see who's the better friend. The only thing I didn't really like about this conflict was what brought it on... I get that their wants are supposed to be dumb, but they kinda went overboard... especially so with AJ. I mean, all your stuff just for a pie tin that cooks the pie a whole FIVE SECONDS faster? At least Rarity's want (presumably) has some innate value to it that makes it worth the trade (even if it's stupid to want it just because it's older than the exact copy of it that you have...)
That aside however, it was fun to see these two bantering back and forth similar to all the was back in Look Before You Sleep. Maybe not quite as good, but still fun. The resolution may have been a bit wonky and the inciting conflict off-putting, but many fun moments and silly chatter means that this story gets an 8/10 from me.
#2: Twilight and Pinkie Pie
This one is... the oddest of the three. Twilight just wants to get rid of her old books. She doesn't give a darn what she gets in return for them, for her, it's about giving away stuff that's useless to her but might be useful for somepony else. But then... just as she's about to trade away her collection for a broken quill to a young filly... Pinkie Pie happens... Bidding up the price of the books until everyone feels it's too valuable for them to afford. So Twilight is left with a stack of worthless books thanks to Pinkie... But wait, apparently they're not so worthless after all. Each one has many fond memories attached to it!
Okay so maybe i was really put off from this conflict because I have a mind very much geared toward practicality and I couldn't care less about the memories attached to things... I may have not gone as far as to take the broken quill, but I'd probably be okay with trading them for something of a lower value, if for no other reason than to ensure the whoever I'm trading with will think it a fair deal and be willing to trade what I want in exchange. Pinkie (i think...) was well meaning in wanting to drive up the price to Twi could get some better things in exchange, but in the end, I found it very distasteful from just how dishonest and misleading it was... It didn't feel like Pinkie really... I like to thing that getting Twi to realize all the memories attached to the books was her plan from the start, but it just doesn't feel that way...
The resolution to this conflict is also odd... Twilight legitimately just wanted to get rid of the books and didn't care one bit what she got in return. Yet, somehow she now realizes that she wants to keep them? couldn't you find something less big and heavy to remind you of the good times with your friends instead of all these books? Didn't you mention you needed to get rid of these books to make room for new books (ones that would actually be worth reading) in the library? I don't know... The resolution just didn't do it for me... 6/10 for a really awkward conflict with a dumb resolution.
Before moving on to the final story, I thought I might take a break here to talk about what I (everyone) THOUGHT the episode was going to be about when we saw the opening... We bring up the concept of Twi being insecure about being a princess again, which is great. We really need to bring that up and deal with it instead of being so inconsistent... coughcoughRarityTakesManehattanVsTwilightTimecoughcough. However, as soon as we're past the opening sequence, it's basically dropped and never mentioned again... It was a real shame too because this could've been the episode to shed some light on the subject rather than just tossing it aside again... but alas, no luck.
#3: Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy
this is probably the conflict that caught most people's attention and also likely the most eyebrow-raising. The premise is simple enough, RD knows what she wants and has something to trade for it, but of course, the pony who has what she wants doesn't want was RD's giving... So you trade one thing for another, trade that, trade that, trade again, one more trade, and presto! You have what you came for... sort of...
There's not much in the way of conflict until the very end, so most of this story wasn't very exciting... (sans Discord Lamps... How many bits you wanna bet that those things will be showing up pretty soon at a future con?) But of course, the big part of this conflict, and the climax of the episode is upon us. Apparently it's legal to sell (trade) your friend into indentured servitude in equestria! And what's more is Rainbow actually agrees to it! Say wha-! I'm sure that's more than enough to get a bunch of Fluttershy fanboys to be out for Rainbow's head... In all seriousness though, despite a lapse in judgment from her prize being right before her, Rainbow still values her friend more than anything else, no matter how special. And on the bright side, Twi's the first ever princess to weigh in on the fairness of a trade! That must've been fun. Due to the highly immemorable beginning and middle and the butthurt inducing end, I'm gonna have to give this only a 6/10 in the end.
Overall:
This just feels like a random slice of life episode that really doesn't accomplish anything... and while those types of episodes aren't innately bad, none of the three individual conflicts were really all that interesting to begin with, and when mashed together, I don't know, but overall this episode just didn't do it for me. One thing I did like was the interesting transitions from scene to scene. Rather than just cutting away, there are actually nice looking and believable angles and pans that just really bring you back and forth through everything in a really smooth manner, so props to the storyboarders/animators. However, story wise, this episode was basically a mess... I'm giving it an average 7/10... not the worst, but not an episode I'll be watching again anytime soon...
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