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MLP:FiM S3E7 Wonderbolt Academy Review

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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic S3E7 "Wonderbolt Academy" Review


I said it last week, and I said it for "One Bad Apple," but I really liked this episode. Not only did I like it, but I found it a bit surprising that I liked it considering that Rainbow Dash is my least favorite of the mane 6. I have never been a big fan of her simply because she seems "too cool," if that makes any sense. Her brash, abrasive attitude has always rubbed me up the wrong way, but this time it actually serves the story.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

*SPOILER WARNING! READ NO FURTHER IF YOU HAVE YET TO SEE THE EPISODE IN QUESTION!*

The premise for this episode is neatly encapsulated in the title; Rainbow Dash has been accepted to the Wonderbolt Training Academy to test her mettle against the best of Equestria's flyers. There were some pretty nice cameos from pegasi that we had seen previously in "Hurricane Fluttershy," including Flitter, Thunder Lane, and that one pegasus who looks like he hires professional balloon salesmen as his personal trainer. There is one new pegasus to add to the bunch named Lightning Dust, and she is pretty much Rainbow Dash 2.0. Of course this wouldn't be a Wonderbolt episode without Spitfire, but it seems that she has pretty much forgotten how Rainbow saved her life two seasons ago. It's probably for the best though considering that Spitfire may as well be R. Lee Ermy in "Full Metal Jacket," choosing to stick to the tried and true "Drill Sergeant Nasty" character formula for this episode.

Anyway, near the start of the episode Spitfire places the pegasi into teams of two, one of whom is the "lead pony," with the other being the "wing pony." Rainbow gets put onto a team with Lightning Dust, except she gets made a wing pony. Obviously a little incensed by this, she chooses to muscle through just because she and Lightning are downright unstoppable compared to the others. However, after a particularly hazardous time on the training course (at least for the other cadets) it becomes readily apparent that Lightning is far more concerned with being the best than she is for the well being of her fellow students.

Throughout the episode in little interludes, it goes back to Ponyville and shows how RD's friends are dealing with her being gone for a week. Pinkie is taking it particularly hard, but then gets the brilliant idea to make Rainbow a care package, and then deliver it to her in person. This little escapade, while seemingly unconnected to the main plot, ties back in for the grand finale when Lightning takes her training too far, and resorts to creating a tornado to clear out clouds. This all goes from bad to worse when they lose control of the tornado and suck up Rainbow's friends, who are in a hot air balloon as they float over to the academy. After saving her friends lives, Rainbow gives what is probably the best "Reason You Suck" speech that this show has to offer to Lightning Dust, and then resigns from the academy, saying that being a Wonderbolt doesn't mean anything if it means being reckless and endangering the lives of others. Spitfire sees the reason behind what Rainbow says, expels Lightning from the academy, and makes Rainbow the lead pony.

When I started watching this, I was in the mindset of "Great, another episode just to show off how awesome Rainbow Dash is." I have been lulled into a sort of trance by Rainbow Dash episodes simply because they all tend to follow the same sort of formula; Rainbow is practicing for something, then that something starts to loom on the horizon, then insert any of a number of things that could potentially make Rainbow nervous/apprehensive/get cold hooves, etc. She eventually overcomes her shortcomings just in time to get the gold, then wash, rinse, and repeat. This was interesting in that it STARTED with Rainbow getting what she wanted, only to realize that it wasn't what she was really expecting from the whole thing.

I really like Lightning Dust as an antagonist, simply because she seems pretty cool at the start. She's just another pony like Rainbow, they form a fast friendship and a friendly rivalry, and it seems like they will leave the academy as unlikely friends. It isn't until much later that you start to realize that she may not be completely on the up-and-up. I like that sort of villain progression, as it seems much more natural than just explicitly hanging a neon sign on them that says "I WILL TURN EVIL!" (*cough* SOMBRA *coughcough*).

Finally, I have to say that this is probably the most character development that Rainbow has gone through in the show thus far. Think about it; she has wanted to be a Wonderbolt for as long as she can remember, and yet is more than willing to give up her dream if it means that it keeps her from becoming a reckless daredevil with no concern for those she cares about. She really is a loyal friend through and through, and that is really the only character trait about her that I can admire.

If I had to critique this episode (and I do), I would say that the Ponyville segments seemed a bit contrived. They could have better spent that time developing the dynamic between Rainbow and Lightning so that her eventual turn for the worse seems like a bigger slap to the face than it was. It's easy to believe that Rainbow's friends would want to visit her, but it's harder to accept that a character that we have come to like is all of a sudden just going to be a huge, life-threatening jerk without the proper context and build-up for it.

On the whole, this episode surprised me in a lot of ways, not the least of which was the fact that I actually thoroughly enjoyed a Rainbow Dash episode. I just hope that they can have this character development stick with her, unlike Fluttershy's assertiveness from S2 that seems to have evaporated like a puff of smoke. See ya next time, and stay tuned to criticisms-r-us.tumblr.com for more!
My thoughts on Season 3, Episode 7 of MLP:FiM "Wonderbolt Academy."

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