Summoned to the Dragon Lands, Spike must compete for the title of Dragon Lord.Summoned to the Dragon Lands, Spike must compete for the title of Dragon Lord.Summoned to the Dragon Lands, Spike must compete for the title of Dragon Lord.
Cathy Weseluck
- Spike
- (voice)
Willa Milner
- Princess Ember
- (voice)
- (as Ali Milner)
Matt Cowlrick
- Dragon Lord Torch
- (voice)
- …
Tara Strong
- Twilight Sparkle
- (voice)
Tabitha St. Germain
- Rarity
- (voice)
- …
Vincent Tong
- Garble
- (voice)
Nicole Oliver
- Princess Celestia
- (voice)
- …
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWithin a week of this episode airing, Princess Ember became one of the most popular side characters in the show.
- SoundtracksFly
Directed by Kim Young-jo and Yoo Seung-woo (Naive Creative Production)
Lyrics and Music by earattack & The Kick Sound
Performed by Got7
Featured review
What "Dragon Quest" should have been
Actually don't dislike Spike as a character overall, regardless of what people may think from my reviews of previous episodes. His character writing though is very inconsistent, too many times he is underused and most of the episodes with him as the lead character tend to over-emphasise his negative character traits ("Owl's Well that Ends Well" and "Dragon Quest" for instance). The show though has proven that it can write him well, it proved that in the uneven "The Crystalling" two parter where Spike was one of the best assets.
It proves it here as well in "Gauntlet of Fire", replacing "The Crystalling" as having the best Spike appearance since "Equestria Games" way back in Season 4. "Gauntlet of Fire" is also easily one of the best Spike-centric episodes of the whole of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' and Season 6 up to this point of the show and of all the nine seasons perhaps is the only one where a Spike-centric episode was one of the high-points of the season, with the previous five nearly all of them (apart from "Secret of My Excess" and "Equestria Games", with "Just for Sidekicks" having its moments) were in the bottom 5 of their respective seasons and among the show low-points.
"Gauntlet of Fire" however really surprised me in a great way. My only issue with it was Garble, who is quite annoying here and completely unnecessary.
On the other hand, Spike has some of his best ever characterisation here. He shows that when the writing is good that he does have enough personality and charisma as a lead character and not an over-extended supporting one (too many of his episodes give off that feeling). His personality here is also a likeable one, no pessimistic character traits over-emphasised, here is a sense of the writers knowing what to do with him and portrays him as a conflicted and brave character that is easy to trust and root for (those two things being seen for the first time in a while in "The Crystalling" and continued here).
The story was also much better than expected. With it being another episode about dragon lore and heritage, part of me on first watch was very anxious about it going the same way as "Dragon Quest" (have never liked that episode, nor its inconsistent and muddled way of telling its story nor how it seemed to have little idea what to do with Spike and making his motivations make sense, not to mention badly written supporting characters). "Gauntlet of Fire" luckily does not go down that way and is instead an episode that captures the excitement and danger of the quest brilliantly and with great entertainment value and an emotional core.
Ember is also a great character that really progresses in development, starting as fun and reasonable (mostly) yet with little understanding of friendship to learning the meaning of it and letting go. Loved her chemistry/relationship with Spike, which was the heart of the episode and was entertaining and poignant. Twilight and Rarity's roles are smaller but both are likeable and serve a point, Rarity's line telling Ember off was one of "Gauntlet of Fire's" best lines. Lord Touch's character design was very cool, as was he though the episode could have done even more of him. The animation is extemely good in not just one of the best looking and most visually ambitious (especially the backgrounds) episodes of Season 6, but also in a while and for the show overall. The music is dynamic and often epic, especially in the exciting more action-oriented scenes. The voice acting is also without complaint, while the writing balances humour and emotional conflict expertly and the excellent and true to life moral is not preachy at all.
Overall, great and one of the show's biggest surprises. 9/10
It proves it here as well in "Gauntlet of Fire", replacing "The Crystalling" as having the best Spike appearance since "Equestria Games" way back in Season 4. "Gauntlet of Fire" is also easily one of the best Spike-centric episodes of the whole of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' and Season 6 up to this point of the show and of all the nine seasons perhaps is the only one where a Spike-centric episode was one of the high-points of the season, with the previous five nearly all of them (apart from "Secret of My Excess" and "Equestria Games", with "Just for Sidekicks" having its moments) were in the bottom 5 of their respective seasons and among the show low-points.
"Gauntlet of Fire" however really surprised me in a great way. My only issue with it was Garble, who is quite annoying here and completely unnecessary.
On the other hand, Spike has some of his best ever characterisation here. He shows that when the writing is good that he does have enough personality and charisma as a lead character and not an over-extended supporting one (too many of his episodes give off that feeling). His personality here is also a likeable one, no pessimistic character traits over-emphasised, here is a sense of the writers knowing what to do with him and portrays him as a conflicted and brave character that is easy to trust and root for (those two things being seen for the first time in a while in "The Crystalling" and continued here).
The story was also much better than expected. With it being another episode about dragon lore and heritage, part of me on first watch was very anxious about it going the same way as "Dragon Quest" (have never liked that episode, nor its inconsistent and muddled way of telling its story nor how it seemed to have little idea what to do with Spike and making his motivations make sense, not to mention badly written supporting characters). "Gauntlet of Fire" luckily does not go down that way and is instead an episode that captures the excitement and danger of the quest brilliantly and with great entertainment value and an emotional core.
Ember is also a great character that really progresses in development, starting as fun and reasonable (mostly) yet with little understanding of friendship to learning the meaning of it and letting go. Loved her chemistry/relationship with Spike, which was the heart of the episode and was entertaining and poignant. Twilight and Rarity's roles are smaller but both are likeable and serve a point, Rarity's line telling Ember off was one of "Gauntlet of Fire's" best lines. Lord Touch's character design was very cool, as was he though the episode could have done even more of him. The animation is extemely good in not just one of the best looking and most visually ambitious (especially the backgrounds) episodes of Season 6, but also in a while and for the show overall. The music is dynamic and often epic, especially in the exciting more action-oriented scenes. The voice acting is also without complaint, while the writing balances humour and emotional conflict expertly and the excellent and true to life moral is not preachy at all.
Overall, great and one of the show's biggest surprises. 9/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Feb 28, 2021
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime22 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1080i (HDTV)
- 480i (SDTV)
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