The Mane Six are introduced to Cadance and Shining Armor's new foal; Twilight gives Starlight a friendship lesson.The Mane Six are introduced to Cadance and Shining Armor's new foal; Twilight gives Starlight a friendship lesson.The Mane Six are introduced to Cadance and Shining Armor's new foal; Twilight gives Starlight a friendship lesson.
Photos
- Twilight Sparkle
- (voice)
- Spike
- (voice)
- Shining Armor
- (voice)
- …
- Rarity
- (voice)
- …
- Rainbow Dash
- (voice)
- …
- Sunburst
- (voice)
- Pinkie Pie
- (voice)
- …
- Princess Celestia
- (voice)
- …
- Cloudy Spinel
- (voice)
- Coral Shores
- (voice)
- Directors
- Writers
- Lauren Faust
- Josh Haber
- Bonnie Zacherle(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode confirmed a rumor that Starlight Glimmer would be joining the "Mane 6" making it officially the "Mane 7"
- Quotes
Starlight Glimmer: [Opens one door in the castle, only to see Spike doing a manly pose in front of a mirror, who then sees her and waves to her nervously] Ugh, I am never gonna find my way around this place!
[Starts walking away as Spike runs out after her]
Spike: Gee, Starlight. What's wrong?
Starlight Glimmer: I don't know, Spike. Twilight's figuring out what my first friendship lesson is, and, I guess I'm not exactly thrilled with the options. Well, with one of them.
Spike: Which one?
Starlight Glimmer: Reuniting me with my first friend.
Spike: What's so terrible about that?
Starlight Glimmer: [sighs as the scene transitions into a flashback] When we were foals, Sunburst knew everything there was to know about magic. He always knew just what to do. And he was always there to help me. I guess it's not surprising that Sunburst got his cutie mark in magic and went off to Princess Celestia's school. But when he left...
[Spike walks in front of the flashback scene]
Spike: ...You blamed cutie marks and stripped a whole village of theirs, and when Twilight and the others stopped you, you went back in time and almost destroyed Equestria.
[the scene transitions back to now]
Starlight Glimmer: Not really stuff I'm super eager to tell Sunburst about. I mean, he's probably some big important wizard now, and, I can't even find my way around Twilight's castle.
"The Crystalling", both parts, was a watchable if rather unexceptional start to the season. For me it is a contender for the weakest season opener of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' and also one of the weaker two parters (meaning finales as well as premieres) overall. Of the two parts, Part 1 was weaker and was heavily flawed in my view. Watchable but a very mixed bag, and for a 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' season opener a very mixed bag just isn't good enough in my view.
Am going to start with the good things with "The Crystalling: Part 1". Have no issues with the animation quality which is always vibrant and fluid with lovingly detailed backgrounds. Or the well synchronised music that has a lot of character. Or the uniformly very good voice acting, especially from Tara Strong and Kelly Sheridan with the most to do. While not being sold yet on Starlight's new personality yet, that is through no fault of Sheridan.
Spike really surprised me throughout "The Crystalling". He serves a point to the plot, not window dressing, and is sympathetic and likeable, his most likeable appearance in a long time. His conversation with Starlight here is one of the most heartfelt moments of the entire two parter and sees him as a true friend and someone you should take advice from. There are amusing moments as well as some cute ones, Flurry Heart is adorable and when the regular characters featured they were fun. Twilight is written very sincerely and the chemistry between her and Starlight Glimmer intrigues.
For all those good things, there are some big negatives. "The Crystalling" does suffer from the opposite basic problem to "The Crystal Empire". Whereas that episode felt over-plotted and rushed at times, this felt too slight. "The Crystalling" easily could have been a single episode and with pretty much all the events of Part 2 and a little of what's seen in Part 1. "The Crystalling: Part 1" is basically setting things up for what's to come, which admittedly season openers should do, but too often feels like overlong filler. While the chemistry between Twilight and Starlight is great, for me the subplot between Starlight and Sunburst in Part 1 didn't work.
Not only is it not interesting or realistic (or at least in this part), some of the writing between them is quite cringe-worthy and Sunburst is not a very appealing character. Did not find myself connecting with Starlight here really, her character writing was a revelation in Season 5 and her 180 personality post-Season 5 took a lot of getting used to. It is not yet interesting enough and her writing seemed underdeveloped and rushed. While the other regular characters were great when they appeared, their appearances are too brief. The writing is uneven, it intrigues enough in parts but in other parts especially in the previously mentioned subplot there was the cringe factor.
Overall, watchable but a disappointing way to start Season 6. 5/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Feb 14, 2021
Details
- Runtime22 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1080i (HDTV)
- 480i (SDTV)