My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2/E13 Hearth's Warming Eve/YMMV

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 * Accidental Innuendo: It might have been overlooked if there weren't previous similar cases ("A Dog and Pony Show", "May the Best Pet Win") but Twilight being ridden by Rarity seemed to raise a few eyebrows in the community (see Les Yay below).
 * Aesop Amnesia: Arguably at first before the pageant with Rainbow Dash and the lesson of "The Mysterious Mare Do Well".
 * Applejacks's "This isn't the Rainbow Dash show!" is a possible Lampshade Hanging
 * Not to mention the mane six forgetting the moral of the play that they just performed. Good thing it did not last long.
 * Alternate Aesop Interpretation: "Our leaders are idiots and politicians are useless".
 * "... and Al Gore was right, Climate Change will kill us all unless we work together to solve it."
 * "... and it will accomplish this via the Giant Flying Snow Wolves that are attracted to arguing."
 * Alternative Character Interpretation: Some fans interpret that the play isn't 100% percent accurate to the history it's depicting. Either because the play was operating under Hollywood History in universe or the ponies were ad-libbing.
 * Breaking it all down, there is the play as is, what was not possible to depict in the play, the contemporary outlook on what happened, what might have been taken out for the foals, what actually happened at the event, and whatever filter the show writers had on the events. Plenty of ways to cut this one up.
 * Another theory is that the characters were the Ancestors of the Mane Six. One doesn't actually need to be familiar with MS Paint Adventures to understand what that means but it might help.
 * It might have been made as a Lighter and Softer version of the real events as well, so they wouldn't have to show people starving and dying.
 * Were the Wendigos evil spirits intentionally causing the ponies suffering and grief or non-sentient beasts who were merely feeding and their natural way of survival made them a dangerous threat?
 * A couple of fans have interpreted the Wendigos as good spirits who were punishing the ponies for fostering such hatred.
 * Complete Monster: The Wendigos (if you believe they're fully sapient). They cultivate hatred between the 3 pony tribes and attempt to turn the whole world into a frozen wasteland, freezing all the ponies in ice in the process. Unlike Discord, they're played dead serious.
 * Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Literally, given the heart-shape to the magical fire that saved the ponies.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome + Ear Worm: That song at the end was so sweet and heartwarming; how can one not hum along to it.
 * Came off as a Shout Out to How the Grinch Stole Christmas because it sounded like The Jimmy Hart Version of the "Welcome Christmas" song the Whos sing when the Grinch has changed his ways.


 * Harsher in Hindsight: After seeing Hurricane Fluttershy, one can't help but be amazed the poor pegasus managed to finish the play at all.
 * She Really Can Tell A Story: See "Rescued From The Scrappy Heap" below.
 * Large Ham: Spike slips into this a bit during his narration.
 * All 3 pony tribe leaders are equally dramatic; just in different ways.
 * Leaning On the Fourth Wall: Was Derpy just waving to the audience of the Show Within a Show or to the television audience?
 * Les Yay: Compared to the other groups, Platinum and Clover seem rather...close.
 * Narm: A possibly intentional case of it (seeing as how the characters were acting in a play) but the cave scene was filled with this.
 * Nightmare Fuel: Even though they're portraying other characters, it's still disconcerting to watch as beloved members of the Mane Six freeze solid with their faces contorted with hatred.
 * The roar of the Wendigos.
 * Rescued From the Scrappy Heap: The writer of this episode was the Merriweather Williams who was the writer for "The Mysterious Mare Do Well," an episode that had gotten an unhappy reception due to its odd writing and negative characterizations. This episode was very well received and is considered Merriweather's redemption as a writer.
 * Williams had written for several other shows before; just that "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" was (as best we know) her first outing with the ponies. While still a great turnaround, it's not as drastic when you consider that she's not an unknown in the industry...especially when you consider that the episodes of previous shows she had written for were fan favorites (You can thank her, Aaron Springer and C.H. Greenblat for amoung other things that "CHOCOLATE!" meme, the fan-favorite episode Band Geeks, and The Ugly Barnacle).
 * Stealth Pun: Rainbow Dash got (at least) 20% cooler in 10 seconds flat. Just not the type of "cool" she'd likely want.
 * Uncanny Valley: Pinkie shows another one of those weird smiles similar to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's in "May the Best Pet Win!", but mileage varies, especially when one considers her 'about to be brilliant' face adorable.
 * The Wendigos also inhabit the valley. Suddenly cutting from the show's usual style to relatively realistic horses with Blank White Eyes and no back legs is quite jarring.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: The fiery heart in the sky at the end of the episode could be seen as representing the Star of Bethlehem.
 * The Equestrian flag the three tribes decide on at the end looks almost but not quite like Celestia and Luna but could as easily be a Yin-Yang representing the new balance and harmony between the races.