Like I said, I don't normally do this sort of thing and I probably won't do another one, but here's a review of the finale of MLP Season 7 (and a picture of Pony of Shadows that looks like it was drawn by a baby). If you can't open PDF's in dA, I'll post the review below.
——-
Cons

If you’re reading this, you’ve either already seen Shadow Play 1&2 or you’re a friend of mine who’s giving me a pity read and don’t actually follow MLP enough to care what happens in it. As such, I won’t waste your time with a synopsis of the plot…Just this obnoxious explanation about how I’m supposedly not wasting your time…Yaaaaay…

- Starting off with a light and minor problem…is the dark and major villain, The Pony of Shadows. I’ll say more about him in the Pros section, but the introductory monologue in Episode 1 describing him as a creature of darkness and wicked power made me think he was actually King Sombra at first. Although PoS wound up being MUCH better than Sombra was in Season 3 (I hear the comics did good things with him, but the show doesn’t seem to borrow anything from them), it was kinda weird to see one villain more or less borrow his gimmick from another villain.

However, PoS did more in less screentime than Sombra did, so the two being similar is only a minor issue for me. It honestly doesn’t even bother me, but I probably would have made a note of the two being similar if I was editing the show’s script.

- Another minor offense concerns Sunburst. He was a major player in Episode 1, but more or less disappeared in Episode 2. Sunburst is a minor character by this point in the show and I think the finale was much better off focusing on the Mane Cast (Twilight and Friends) we already love and the Old Guard (Starswirl and Company), but it still seems like a flaw to me when characters go to waste in a story; having characters who do nothing almost feels like wasting resources.

I’ll actually cover Sunburst some more in the Pros (as I feel this story did do good things for him), but I still feel he wasn’t utilized an awful lot for someone who kickstarted the plot. The finale’s plot may have been tighter if Twilight was the one who found Starswirl’s book rather than Sunburst.

- Going into meatier territory now is Twilight’s portrayal in Episode 1. I’m not saying she was out-of-character here and I actually loved her portrayal enough to put it into the Pros section, but there’s something oddly-familiar about it.

In A Health of Information, Fluttershy was so determined to cure the Swamp Fever that she gained tunnel-vision, pushed herself and Twilight to work so long that they couldn’t even sleep and stopped listening to Twilight’s suggestions of taking it easy. In Episode 1 of Shadow Play, Twilight stops focusing on anything other than freeing Starswirl…pushes herself and her friends to work without sleeping…and…stops listening to Starlight’s suggestions of calming down…

I’ll cover Twilight’s portrayal here more in the Pros, but her sharing Fluttershy’s problem still felt a bit repetitive, especially considering there aren’t that many episodes between Health of Information and Shadow Play and that two episodes concerning The Old Guard storyline (the episodes talking about the legendary ponies of old and Shadow Play) more or less have the same conflict. I personally think that Health shouldn’t have given Fluttershy this problem, but Shadow Play still has to be called out for repeating something from an earlier episode.

- I actually like Shadow Play a great deal, but it has a problem that we haven’t seen in previous finales: pacing.

Episode 1 spends a lot of timing explaining what Limbo is, giving the backstory on the Old Guard, building up the potential dangers opening the portal to limbo…but not much actual stuff happens in this episode and the hunt for the ancient artifacts is very quick, despite seemingly taking the Mane Cast to the far corners of Equestria. Episode 2 is possibly worse, with a fat chunk of the episode being about the Mane Cast and Old Guard failing to find seats of darkness for the PoS to draw power from, which leaves Twilight’s Redemption Conversation with Stygian to almost feel rushed.

I was actually engrossed by the potential danger of opening the portal to Limbo before the Mane Cast ever got to Ponehedge and I loved the PoS even when he wasn’t on-screen, but I still feel that the climax and denouement the story were in a mad rush to juggle Starlight’s character, the menace of the PoS, Twilight’s Redemption Conversation and the conclusion into the little time they had for them. I think the story was great, but I hope that the next finale can balance things a little better.

- In Episode 1, Starlight is opposed to opening the portal to Limbo but in Episode 2, she fights hard to keep anyone from going back to Limbo. Her reasoning for both arguments makes sense, it plays into her character wonderfully and the real unifying theme to her arguments is her hindsight giving her clarity rather than whether or not Limbo is bad, but it still almost sounds like she’s flip-flopping from one episode to another. A little rewording on her arguments from Episode 1 to 2 or playing her change from “Leave Them in Limbo” to “Nobody Goes to Limbo” a little slower could have made her seem less wishy-washy and contrarian.

I think Shadow Play was a great storyline for Starlight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people online got the wrong impression about her and started calling her whiny and argumentative.

- The last Con is also about Starlight.

Uncommon Bond portrayed Starlight as being more or less clueless about old magical artifacts and Shadow Play states that she has bad handhorn-writing and she’s not even consulted for magical knowledge in Episode 2. While Starswirl snubbing her in Episode 2 is largely because he didn’t take her seriously for trying to reason with PoS and she did lend her power in opening the portal to Limbo in Episode 1 and helping Twilight fight the PoS in Episode 2, I still got the impression Shadow Play was treating Starlight as a borderline Muggle in terms of magic.

Now…I could be totally wrong about this. It’s quite possible that Starlight’s talents have been more innate and relied more on improvisation than formal knowledge of magic since Day 1 and that she was never implied to be a magic nerd the way Twilight is. If that’s the case, my last Con is totally null and void…but we’ve seen Starlight claim to have studied certain spells for years, frequently help Twilight with spells and make a dozen or so of her own spells, all of which are stated to be very impressive. It feels like Starlight’s magical abilities were downplayed in Shadow Play; while that worked well with emphasizing her plight of being an underestimated, it was kind of distracting to see her take such a big downgrade in power.



Pros

- I’ll start this section off by addressing the Cons I said would be popping up here. First up is Sunburst.

While he didn’t get much to do in Episode 2, he still got pretty good spotlight in Episode 1 and this 2-parter comes on the heels of Uncommon Bond, which featured him prominently. With his deep knowledge of magic put on full display and a budding friendship with Twilight proving he can contribute to big stories, I think writers will have a lot of fuel for Sunburst stories in Season 8 and beyond. Shadow Play didn’t use Sunburst an awful lot after Episode 1, but I think this story is probably the best thing that happened to his career as a character.

- Twilight did kinda copy Fluttershy’s problem from A Health of Information…But Twilight has an well-documented history of getting carried away by her own ideas and shutting out sound advice from friends. The ambition problem felt so strange and out of place on Fluttershy, but it fit Twilight to a T, resulting in a much more believable problem that still felt in-character for its pony.

I never really thought Twilight would be the cause of a problem in a finale, but I think Shadow Play gave us something bold and unique by making her kinda of the villain of Episode 1 and putting us in a position where she didn’t save the day on her own (if she can be the sole hero of Seasons 4 and 5’s finales, why not take a less dominant role in Seasons 6 and 7?).

- The Pony of Shadows (despite having funny initials) was an awesome villain! He has a great look, cool voice, interesting powers, intriguing history with his enemies and the lore surrounding him does a great job of establishing his threat level and making you feel uneasy about him, even when he isn’t onscreen.

His redemption was also nail-biter, with how Stygian almost got sucked back into The Darkness even after hearing Twi and Starlight out, which made things feel more dangerous and unpredictable than prior Redemption Conversations. The only downside to PoS is that Stygian being separated from The Darkness and The Darkness being banished to Limbo means that we’ll probably never see The Pony of Shadows again. It seems shadowy villains can’t catch a break on this show.

- Now that we’re finally done with the Cons, I’ll start off with a simple Pro.

Pinkie Pie was funny in this 2-parter. That may go without saying to most fans, but I…am not the biggest fan of her sense of humor.

Before you kill me, let me reiterate that I DID find her funny in this 2-parter! Her abridged history of villains during Starswirl’s absence and impromptu rundown on who the Elements of Harmony amused me greatly. Considering Pinkie normally doesn’t do much for me, her ability to crack me up here is a major Pro for Shadow Play.

- Rainbow Dash tricking Garble into dropping Flash Magnus’ shield cracked me up beyond recognition! Probably the biggest laugh I got in the whole finale.

- Possibly another unpopular comment, but I don’t think Season 7 treated Fluttershy very well, with Fluttershy Leans In and Health of Information being my least favorite episodes of the season for portraying her as weirdly bossy and annoying to be around. Seeing her return to her more classically kind demeanor was a breath of fresh air.

- Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash revisit the 3-person dynamic they had in Applejack’s Day Off and the movie. It was brief, but I think these three play very well off of each other and continue the show’s tradition of character-driven humor and writing.

- Twilight’s fangasms over Starswirl and going into Critical Dork Mode when explaining her plan to open Limbo (complete with Nerd Snort) were, as the Ancient Greeks said, “Adorable AF.” So cute, it hurt and I got a big laugh out her hitting AJ in the face with her book and freaking Rarity out by disappearing her own diorama.

- Spike didn’t do a whole lot in this 2-parter, but he gets his moments when he amusedly shakes his head at Twilight’s dorkness, takes her side when Starswirl doubts her and helps her research spells, even though he doesn’t know what they’re looking for; his constant familiarity with Twi’s antics and always sticking up for her make Spike probably the most consistently-written character on the show. He even gets to help Rainbow Dash get Flash Magnus’ shield, which is a nice step-up from his usual sitting on the sidelines.

- Although Shadow Play makes Twi and Starlight its main characters, EVERYONE gets something to do. The Mane Cast get to go on a short adventure collecting ancient artifacts for the Limbo spell, the Old Guard are all hyped up greatly in the introductory monologue and PoS is a very imposing villain and intriguing redemption, despite how little time he’s onscreen.

Despite the HUGE size of its cast, Shadow Play gives everyone at least one scene, joke or storyline to please the fans. Unless your favorite character isn’t part of the Mane Cast, almost everyone is going to have at least one moment to spotlight their Best Pony.

- This 2-parter is FULL of continuity nods and even adds a bit of lore to the Elements of Harmony that we never knew before. Seeing the Sirens from Equestria Girl 2 and hearing Celestia and Luna reminisce about their tutelage under Starswirl were great moments to notice and actually getting to see Starswirl himself after 6 Seasons of mentions lived up to all the hype you could generate around it. Shadow Play shows that this show really takes itself seriously and knows that its fans do too.

- Speaking of Starswirl, he was a very interesting character and played a great role in this story.

His huge reputation and prior experience elevate this story’s threat a great deal just from knowing that he’s involved in it. He also cuts the larger-than-life figure you’d imagine a pony of his fame would.

Although he becomes snooty and dismisses Twi and Starlight, the show cleverly knows not to overdo it. He has a very justified reason for being mad at Twilight for freeing him from exile and it’s clear that he cares more about saving Equestria than he does about being Mr. Right and getting to brag at people. He’s also open to new ideas, congratulating Twilight on her observations, using her new plan for the banishment spell and even trusting Sunburst enough to have him help research spells. Even when he continues to shoot down Starlight’s suggestion of talking things out with the Pony of Shadows, he has a valid reason to believe that PoS won’t listen to them and that the situation is too dire to take things lightly.

It would have been easy for a show to botch Starswirl and make him stubborn to the point of being self-destructive or making him so proud that he’d be more villainous than PoS, but Shadow Play walks the fine line with him. He is simultaneously a great obstacle for Starlight’s conflict and a fascinating good guy I can’t wait to see more of.

- The Old Guard still being alive and in Equestria at the end of this story opens SO MANY possibilities for Season 8 and beyond. Their previously-established adventures in earlier episodes and predicament of being 1000 years after their initial lifetime are going to make for great stories and maybe even premieres/finales. I can’t wait to see these guys again.

- Ever since she became Twilight’s student in Season 6, Starlight has been struggling to learn how to see life as more than objectives to be met and overcoming the guilt she feels from her past mistakes. Shadow Play makes GREAT use of the lessons she learned from Twilight in seasons 6&7 and the mistakes she made in her villainous days. Her past experiences in tampering with magic gave her great insight into why opening Limbo could be a bad idea and, more importantly, her troubled childhood and well-intentioned villainy has taught her that everyone has a reason for what they do and that people shouldn’t be treated as lost causes.

Being constantly told that she’s wrong and having plenty of reason to believe it mimics how a lot of people have a hard time believing in themselves and can be easily discouraged. Her moments of doubt in Episode 1 also make her perseverance and struggle to save Stygian in Episode 2 all the more endearing and cathartic, especially when Twilight agrees with her in the very end. Season 6’s finale gave Starlight a notch in her Good Guy Belt to counteract her villainous days, but Shadow Play shows that she’s been learning and developing ever since she became Twilight’s student; this is possibly best exemplified when her past as a villain stopped being a source of endless shame for her and instead gave her the clarity to help another lost soul.

Although I don’t want Starlight to go anywhere anytime soon, Shadow Play could easily be her final episode and her story would still feel complete.

- Seeing Starlight help Twilight appreciate her own philosophies and not just sell herself out to please Starswirl was another great milestone for the characters and a nice reminder that Twilight isn’t perfect. We don’t see too many episodes of Twilight and Starlight as teacher and student, but this finale and its ending were a FANTASIC display of their bond and positive influences on each other. Their hug at the end was also a nice bookend with their hug in Celestial Advice.


Overall Impression

Shadow Play feels a bit rushed in places, but it manages to make the Limbo spell and the Pony of Shadows interesting with just words alone. It’s also an AMAZING character piece for the Mane Cast and Twi and Starlight’s adventures as teacher and student. Last but not least, its introduction of the Old Guard and focus on Sunburst have set Season 8 up with a SLEW of episode ideas.

Not the best finale, but not bad by any means and its contributions to future episodes will more than likely counteract the slightly rushed ending.


Vs Other Finales

So, if Shadow Play isn’t the best or worst finale, where does it rank in the pecking order? Without doing any reviews on the other finales and going purely off of memory, here’s how I think they all stack up on a scale of 1-7, with 7 being the best and 1 being the least-best (I can’t really call any of them “worst” because none of them are bad).

1- A Canterlot Wedding- Chrysalis started strong when she posed as Cadence, but the battle with the Changelings wasn’t stellar and Cadence and Shining Armor winning with The Power of Love felt like it came out of nowhere and was disappointing next to Nightmare Moon and DisQord being beaten in more emotionally-complex ways.

2- Magical Mystery Cure- There isn’t anything bad about this episode, but I don’t really remember anything about it other than Twilight getting her wings in the end. I thought her “coronation” was great, but not being able to remember most of the episode should probably be held against it.

3- The Best Night Ever- Although it’s the least-impactful finale, it’s a little easier to remember than others and does one of the better jobs of giving everyone something to do. It’s also one of the only finales that was built up to and foreshadowed across its season, which makes it more impressive and helped establish that MLP was going to be a tad smarter than kid shows before it.

4- To Where and Back Again- It was really hard to choose this one for #4 or #5. It’s Starlight’s first chance to step up to the plate on her own and does a great underdog story with Trixie, DisQord and Thorax with great humor. Unfortunately, Chrysalis winds up being a very disappointing villain when she decides to remain evil for seemingly no reason than spite and embarrassment, despite her citizens all being taken care of now.

5- Shadow Play- For the reasons stated above.

6- Twilight’s Kingdom- Previous finales were either life lessons done in one episode or an invasion thwarted by a kiss. Lord Tirek changed the name of the game by becoming a truly terrifying villain that caused real harm to the characters of the show and even overpowered DisQord himself. Nothing ever felt more dire or dangerous than this and it was a great coming-of-age moment for Twilight. It forever changed the tone and scope of the show and made Dragon Ball Z look like a slap fight. What more can you say?

7- The Cutie Re-Mark- This one seems to be more a personal favorite for me than the wider fanbase, but I LOVE Season 5’s premiere and finale. As fun as the slice-of-life episodes are and how great the laser battle with Tirek was, the kind of stories that always get me the most are intimate character studies and the kind of villains that scare me the most are the ones that are either the most realistic or most sympathetic. Starlight picked up the reins from Tirek with her cunning, ruthlessness and belief that what she was doing was right. Knowing Starlight’s pain-stricken motivations, genuine attempts to make the world better in her own way and climactic Redemption Conversation still get me to this day.


In Conclusion

Shadow Play was a lot of fun. It gives just about everyone at least one cool thing to do, creates an exciting atmosphere with words alone and plays the Twi and Starlight relationship to the best of its ability. I can’t wait to see where the show goes from here and only wish Season 8 was here right now.