This is the last episode for this year and season and people seem to certainly enjoy it. It's currently ranked as the greatest episode ever! Then again, that's with very few votes. I admit that I didn't like this as much as most people. Looking back, I realize all of the things that this episode did well. We find out that the Pony of Shadows was actually once an ordinary pony named Stygian. There's this really cool sequence where Twilight and Starlight actually go into the Pony of Shadows' body to rescue his physical body. What I love is how it ends.
It doesn't feature the Pillars going back to limbo or onto the afterlife or back to their original time period. Now I do wish that they would appear as characters later and stay in Canterlot, but they still intend to be around in Equestria. I admit the Pony of Shadows looks a lot like an old changeling design. They still manage to make this character quite effective even if the result isn't that unique. The Elements of Harmony finally come back to put more relevance in the story. It helps that the animation is amazing. ***1/2
It doesn't feature the Pillars going back to limbo or onto the afterlife or back to their original time period. Now I do wish that they would appear as characters later and stay in Canterlot, but they still intend to be around in Equestria. I admit the Pony of Shadows looks a lot like an old changeling design. They still manage to make this character quite effective even if the result isn't that unique. The Elements of Harmony finally come back to put more relevance in the story. It helps that the animation is amazing. ***1/2