My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2/E14 The Last Roundup/YMMV

Return to the main page

"Anon 1: HERE COMES THE EXPLOSIN
 * Accidental Innuendo / Getting Crap Past the Radar: Cherry Jubilee is styled like a "madam" of the Old West, and being "boss of Cherryhill Ranch" may give a few different visions of what actually goes down there. Not to mention she can always use "a pony with quick hooves and a strong back".
 * Ascended Fanon: So, Derpy Hooves not only gets called by "Derpy", but gets lines and actions consistent with the fanbase...
 * And The Fandom FREAKING EXPLODED...TWICE: You can witness the reaction from the Bronies.
 * One-Scene Wonder: This is pretty much known as "The Episode Where Derpy Became Canon." Lots of fans forget the episode was about Applejack.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: A meta example. For all that this episode was supposed to be about Applejack, it will undoubtedly be overshadowed by a double whammy of Derpy's new Ascended Fanon status and Pinkie's crazy show-stealing antics.
 * Base Breaker / Unfortunate Implications: Despite this, some fans are not happy with using "Derpy" over "Ditzy", her voice, or her klutzy nature, which all give her the appearance of being mentally challenged (the word ableist has been tossed around by some). It has been noted, however, that the episode's writer, Amy Keating Rogers, does have a mentally disabled son, and thus would be sensitive to such issues, according to this apology from the community to her. Sisby, one of the storyboard artists, states that they storyboarded Derpy as an "accident-prone klutz" and never as someone mentally challenged. Furthermore, as explained by Tabitha St. Germain (the actress that voiced Derpy), she created Derpy's voice as an "endearing" take on a local boy that wasn't disabled, just sleepy, klutzy, and a slow speaker.
 * Some real mentally challenged people were actually more offended by the negative reactions to Derpy than the character herself, and actually like her. BaldDumboRat, considered the fanon voice of Derpy, did a very nice commentary on this fact.
 * Meanwhile, other real mentally challenged people who were genuinely offended were told by some vocal fans to shut up. Really, Derpy-gate can most easily be summed up as "Unfortunate Implications everywhere".
 * Cross-Dressing Voices: Furthering on St. Germain's comment, she had voiced Derpy as a male character; as she explained, she hadn't seen any art or storyboards, so had to imagine the character herself when creating the voice.
 * Made even worse by the fact that an Updated Rerelease of the same episode has been released, with the name "Derpy" removed and her voice changed to a more feminine one, but the straw that made the fanbase explode was that they made her eyes less googly. Those monsters.
 * For some the straw was... the bad editing.
 * Pandering to the Base: Many are seeing the use of Derpy in the episode as this, considering the backlash and that the character was supposed to be named "Ditzy Doo" 4chan reacted just as strongly as the aforementioned video when the scene premiered:

Anon 2: THIS SHOW IS Ruined FOREVER

Anon 3: NO GOD CONFIRMED

Anon 4: SHOW FINISHED MASS SUDOKU IMMINENT"

""I'm sorry, but the only way I can see this is through my disabled son's eyes, and to him it's saying that anyone who is different should be changed.""
 * Executive Meddling: Shortly after reactions from this episode's initial airing, the episode was mysteriously pulled from the iTunes Store and was skipped in The Hub's reruns.
 * Furthermore, the t-shirt vendor We Love Fine, which has an official license from Hasbro, temporarily renamed any product with "Derpy" in the description to something else and pulled shirts with the text "Derpy", shortly after the episode airing. However, this was rectified in a few days, and even now they add Derpy shirts including some that poke fun (for example, a shirt simply with Derpy and the caption "Misunderstood".)
 * "The Last Roundup" did return to iTunes about 4 weeks later, but with none-too-subtle changes (as can be seen here): Derpy's voice got Orwelled into a much less foolish tone, and her eyes were made less googly. Her name also no longer appears. The reactions were not pretty.
 * While the official DVD shipped with the episode completely unmodified, and although Derpy hasn't been removed from later episodes of the show, the edit did end up carrying over to The Hub once they resumed rerunning the episode.
 * Amy Keating Rogers provided an in-depth retelling of events from Derpygate. Originally the scene was going to feature Ditzy Doo from Winter Wrap Up until Rogers was asked to change her name to Derpy Hooves as a Fandom Nod. Later, after initial airing, she and Hasbro received disappointed emails that pointed out the connotation of mental retardation with the term "derp". Hasbro, aware of Rogers' awareness of such matters due to her son, discussed possible options to deal with the situation, though realized that any action (including leaving the episode alone) would hurt part of the fans. Rogers, having not known the troubles with the word, had personally thought leaving the episode as-is was all-around the easier solution. In the end, Hasbro made the ultimate decision to omit the name "Derpy", as well as alter the voice to a more klutzy one like Rogers originally intended. Hasbro has also stated that the change is only to this one episode; the other visual cameos of Derpy that otherwise exist will remain unchanged.
 * Mis Blamed: The Big Name Fan Yamino is often blamed for this, even though she never spoke to Hasbro. Regardless, the Fan Dumb was bashing Yamino so hard that one of the animators had to ask the fans to stop blaming her. Also, back when the edited version had only been used by iTunes, some blamed them for the edit.
 * People have also accused the complainers of wanting her to be completely removed or have her eyes "normalized". With very few exceptions, all they wanted was for her voice and name to be changed. Several have voiced their disappointment about the other changes.
 * Tear Jerker: The Apple family's reaction to Applejack not coming back is pretty heartmelting (particularly Apple Bloom), as is Applejack admitting in defeat her reason for avoiding her friends, she didn't come first in any event, and considers herself a failure because of it.
 * Unfortunate Implications: Believe it or not, the edit. Read this comment left behind by a father of a disabled child on one of the animators' Deviant ART page:


 * Another father mentioned that his children loved Derpy, and when he tried to explain the edit to them, the kids asked "Why does everyone hate Derpy?"
 * There's also the fact that in the new version, instead of Rainbow Dash talking to Derpy and
 * The original appearance in spades. In spite of no intention, using a name that is offensive to a lot of people, and using a voice that sounds suspiciously like Lennie Small left a lot of people displeased. And they were yelled at by the Bronies.
 * Broken Base: This episode has joined the likes of "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" as one of the series' most divisive episodes.
 * Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle: "We can always find a way to fix the hole in the roof, but if you don't come back who's going to fix the hole in our hearts?" Even the tomboyish Rainbow Dash shed a tear at that line.
 * Epileptic Trees: A lot of people began making theories that Tonight Someone Dies or gets Put on a Bus with this episode, presumably because the word "last" is used as part of the episode title. It didn't quite help that "The Last Roundup" is a term best associated with death.
 * That said, the very next episode was already confirmed to be another Applejack based one, so it was pretty easy to disprove any such theories, though considering all info given about that episode before this episode mention the Apple Family, but not Applejack herself.
 * The fans, after hearing Rarity's vow of vengeance, quickly assumed that she was the reason why Rainbow Dash was in the hospital in "Read it and Weep". When the episode premiered, it turns out to be her crashing.
 * Fanfic Fuel: The method of the revenge Rarity promises against Rainbow Dash is a popular fanart topic.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: Back in "Sisterhooves Social", we had Rarity calling out Sweetie Belle for causing damage, and this time it's Rainbow Dash scolding Derpy. Extra points for a variant of "don't do anything at all" being said each time. Extra extra points for Rarity and Derpy sharing a voice actor.
 * Out-of-Character Moment:
 * "I can't tell y'all the truth!" But...you represent the Element of Honesty, Applejack. Her evasive behavior is one of the things that lets the others know they're not getting the full story.
 * She's technically not lying to them. She just isn't saying anything on the matter.
 * She also is being honest when she says "I can't tell y'all the truth". She expects them to think less of her for failing.
 * Also, she promised at the beginning of the episode that she would use the prize money from the rodeo to fix the roof. When she didn't win any prize money, she felt she would be breaking that promise should she return home empty-hoofed.
 * Also, Rainbow Dash leaving Rarity and Pinkie behind? Element of Loyalty, huh?
 * On one hand, one can argue she was forced to prioritize loyalty to the "mission" over loyalty to stranded friends. On the other hand, we have her not waiting at the train station for Rarity and Pinkie, making them get their own ride home. Funny, but....
 * Rainbow Dash as the Straight Man (albeit to Derpy) anyone?
 * That has happened in fan works.
 * Even with Derpy aside, Rainbow Dash actually holds the Smart Ball for most of the episode, being Genre Savvy to Applejack's denial and devising some of the ways to get the truth from her (including leading the final successful stunt). Granted some may consider this Character Rerailment from the Jerkass Butt Monkey roles she has been given for most of the second season.
 * Plus, Rarity and Pinkie were near a town and could get back with little difficulty. Bringing Applejack back and showing the rest of the Apple Family that she was okay was a bigger priority for the rest of the Mane Six.
 * The Woobie:
 * And the poor telegram pony? It was his birthday! Fortunately, Pinkie eases his disappointment.