Wheels, don't trust 'em. (Magic Duel)

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Fearless of bears, fearful of everything else. By Firestorm-CAN

What's that you say? An episode review? WHY YES. Magic Duel was awesome enough for me to actually put some effort into MLP, which I haven't done so in a while. This episode was written by a writer I am very glad to not have departed from the show like so many others. Though his episodes aren't always my favourite, they are without a doubt always high in quality. So here we have Magic Duel! In comparison to the rest of season three so far this would be in that "CELESTIA-TIER" category, but my rankings are a bit rusty at the moment so I'm not entirely sure where this episode is supposed to land. What I DO know, is that it's definitely higher than just "good". There were boatloads of references, which is decent in itself, but every episode this season has had boatloads of references. What this episode has that others so far don't, is the intelligent writing I've come to expect with pastel multicoloured ponies! I guess after the enormity that was Canterlot Wedding, the quality isn't expected to continue soaring high right into the very next season. (this is all of course, my own personal opinion)

Oh Fluttershy. You are gold. Just gold.

So! This Fluttershy episode...er I mean, Twilight episode deals with the return of somehow fan-favourite "Trixie". Now, I never expected her to ever come back, especially when season two was airing, but from what I've seen of season three so far I'm expecting lots of shoutouts and plots that bronies would eat up because they just love to turn minor characters and antagonists into ensemble darkhorses. Personally I was not a big fan of Boast Busters. I found it an overly ordinary episode for Twilight, which makes sense as it was an early episode and MLP was still searching for its ground. However, both Pinkie and Fluttershy were not overly involved (or involved at all) in Boast Busters, so their appearance and significance this time around (especially Fluttershy) was refreshing and just what I needed! Luckily M.A. Larson didn't write the episode just so Twilight could show off and increase her magical abilities preposterously further. So far in season 3 (well, mostly just the premiere) I found Twilight's progress with magic going far too quickly.

Oh thank God. I love you Pinkie but there's been waaaaaaay to much High Octane Sugar lately.

Another great relief comes from Trixie shutting Pinkie up for the entire episode. I'm still reeling from the effects of "Too Many Pinkie Pies". Granted the clones were just one-dimensional ear splitting clones of Pinkie and not Pinkie herself. After all, the episode did bring in some decent character development for my favourite character, but I could not see through the copious amounts of "FUN~!" to really appreciate the episode. Also I found season three so far to have some really...odd animation. The animation hasn't been getting worse in quality per say, but it feels like the animators are drawing the ponies far more loosely this time around? No longer are they restricted to the ever perfect "anatomical" designs of the ponies when they first started? I've grown used to it in this episode at least, but the last few have seriously been messing with my mind. Sad!Pinkie in episode three for example wasn't so much a serious image of her depressed, rather she was flopped forward like a hilarious ragdoll. It felt misplaced. In the Babs Seed episode, I think it was toned down a bit more (or else it's slightly harder to do that style with the younger fillies) but in this one it felt like it came back full force!

Are Snips and Snails always prominent in Trixie episodes?

Anyway, more specifically to this episode itself and why I liked it. When I first heard Spike's line at the beginning of the episode "Aw. don't worry Fluttershy. Twilight's magic has gotten a lot better since she's accidentally crushed me and Applejack with a giant snowball" I already knew it would be great. It's one thing to reference past events perhaps as a funny background event or even acknowledging it with some sort of visual aid, but casually mentioning something like that isn't expected at all! Of course there's the shameless amounts of Fluttershy in this too, if you haven't already noticed from my totally unbiased GIFs and screenshots. I almost wanted to make this entire review Fluttershy-focused without touching on Twilight or Trixie at all, but then I realized I didn't actually have that much to say about her. She was just especially adorable, that's all...technically this episode is the Trixie comeback episode, so...

They call this old buck, "Uncle Frogurt"

I don't really have too much to say about Trixie herself. The plot and her motivation were pretty standard, just as one would expect. What pleases me is how everything was resolved, which I won't say. But Trixie apologizing and basically no longer being a horrible pony at the end was a bit abrupt. She definitely wasn't as horrible and evil in the episode as she usually is supposed to, but I didn't think she'd become so humble all that fast either. Perhaps the Rock Farming and being corrupted by the amulet has done something for her because all her previous hardships were off-screen and explained for only a few minutes anyway. Her return I felt was less for her character and more for the fans, especially the owner of that one site I won't mention. He is a huge Trixie fan. Also Trixie running off towards the distance similar to the ending of Boast Busters, but with her tripping was cute, I can't lie. Damnit, writers! Don't make me start liking Trixie! Anywho, I wonder if she will ever return after this. I believe a season four of MLP is confirmed, but I'm not entirely sure why she would return. Her character has been resolved after all.


Oh Rainbow Dash, you card.

Also a fan pointed this out about Rainbow Dash yesterday. She basically body-slams Twilight in the beginning because Trixie is back, and when Twilight is out of commission, as soon as she is able to Rainbow Dash throws Fluttershy into the spotlight to save everyone. When I was watching I was like "SONIC RAINBOOM THE GLASS!" but considering Dash never attempted to land after her wing was morphed far larger than it should be, perhaps Rainbow Dash's heroism and, well, smarts wasn't up to par today. After all only Twilight is allowed to take down the crazy-with-power vengeance-seeking mare. The other one I noticed myself, is how Fluttershy's animals are obviously copy-and-pasted. It's one thing to do this with background ponies, but when the animals are what we're focusing on...there's some sort of strange oddness with having two of the exact same animal, isn't there? There were even two Angels! I thought Angel, being such an important pet, would be able to retain a sense of uniqueness, but alas, alas. Maybe Twilight's strange entertainment ritual using animals requires such synergy as having two of the same animal being flung in the air, I don't know.

This doesn't look familiar at all...
Like I mentioned before (I think) there was plenty of eyecandy and fanservice for the fans this episode beyond just Trixie. Again, there were references, like Pinkie's Rock Farm (It's canon! yay!), parasprites, magic mustaches, FOREVEEEEER!!, Twilight's Owl (I can't spell name halp) and ones outside of MLP as well, like the Star Wars references...as well as fanservice shots like age-changing spells, gender-changing spells, duplication spells, having Pinkie play ten instruments "spell" and once again the closing oval gag at the end. Was quite amusing Trixie reverted everyone else except Pinkie, ha! But again the difference is it wasn't just references and fanservice...which honestly is what I felt Season 3 was like until recently.

So, let's see how this episode falls onto the rankings (gonna shoehorn them in anyway) ...I might change its position later, however season three turns out.

Celestia Tier	Awesome Tier	High Tier	Mid Tier	Meh Tier
The Cutie Mark Chronicles Party of One Luna Eclipsed The Last Roundup A Friend In Deed Hurricane Fluttershy A Canterlot Wedding P.2 Magic Duel	Dragonshy Bridle Gossip Swarm of the Century Suited for Success Feeling Pinkie Keen Sonic Rainboom Green Isn't Your Colour May the Best Pet Win Baby Cakes Sweet and Elite Secret of my Excess A Canterlot Wedding P.1	Applebuck Season Griffon the Brush Off Winter Wrap Up A Dog and Pony Show Over a Barrel The Best Night Ever The Return of Harmony P.1 The Return of Harmony P.2 Lesson Zero Sisterhooves Social The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 It's About Time MMMMystery on the Friendship Express One Bad Apple	Friendship is Magic P.1 Friendship is Magic P.2 The Ticket Master Look Before You Sleep Fall Weather Friends Stare Master A Bird in the Hoof Hearth's Warming Eve Family Appreciation Day Read it and Weep Hearts and Hooves Day Dragon Quest Ponyville Confidential Too Many Pinkie Pies	Boast Busters Call of the Cutie The Show Stoppers Owl's Well That Ends Well The Cutie Pox The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well Putting Your Hoof Down The Crystal Empire P.1 The Crystal Empire P.2