The Mysterious Mare Don't Well

[RarityDash]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eikjD7lR-bY

If they turned around and made that the lesson for the episode, I kinda think it would have justified everything else.

At the very least it would have been hilarious.

[SuperWriter]

While I will say this was my least favorite episode, right under Over and Barrel, I must say it actually had some decent qualities. For example, the RD Fanclub was a nice touch, and so was her heroic acts around Ponyville. What I do feel, is that the episode's climax was way to predictable and it overall was just not that fun. To describe it, act one - Rainbow Dash is a hero, act two - Mare Do Well is better, act three Rainbow Dash learns a lesson. It just lacks the fun the other have, and I really feel it missed a chance to create something great.

[elsporko]

I'm not a huge fan of that eye for an eye mentality. That's not healthy problem resolution, that's messing with people for the fun of it. And why the costumes, then? They obviously made a huge spectacle out of it for no reason.

Well the point of the costume was so that they could be a hero without taking any credit. The oppisite of Rainbow Dash basking in the glory.

Trouble is that kind of thinking falls apart when they all start boasting about what they were doing. I have noticed that in a few episodes the lesson they try to give doesn't actually line up with what is happening in the episode

[PookiePie]

I personally think Rainbow Dash was just being Rainbow Dash. I don't think it was necessary for the others to really do what they did, though at the same time..maybe Rainbow needs a mirror pointed to her face every now and again.

But when one literally lives in the clouds, what do you expect? A down to earth pony? No way!

Did anyone else totally predict that it was the other five masked up? I flash-backed to Amigos Amigos Amigos from Three Amigos.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Did anyone else totally predict that it was the other five masked up? I flash-backed to Amigos Amigos Amigos from Three Amigos.

Rarity didn't dress up though, did she? That would make it four.

[Lux]

Maybe an idea is where RD has made too many promises to help others and gets into a bind when she cannot honor them all. She then calls upon her friends who gladly help. RD then realizes how her bravado had got her into that mess and asks her friends to forgive her.

[PookiePie]

Rarity didn't dress up though, did she? That would make it four.

I'm not 100%. I'd have to re-watch the episode to know for sure. She did at least admit to making the costume. So in a way she's been an accomplice. But I can't remember if she actually dressed up herself or not.

[Thoth]

This honestly still sits as my least favorite episode of the series.

The lesson, as everyone said, comes off as completely hypocritical. Rainbow Dash brags, so then her friends do the same thing and villianize Dash for her bragging. The very fact that her bragging and popularity didn't hurt them irks me enough, but then they become so angered by it that they victimize Dash by playing her self-confidence issue to their gain. They make up a hero, and turn the tables on Rainbow Dash by making her lesser, knocking her down a size. If they were truly her friends, they wouldn't "give her a piece of her own medicine". As many have said, that's the equivalent of bully logic.

I can see what Merriweather was trying to do, but the blatant lack of respect to the mythos also bugged me. Construction sites? Cranes? Electric-powered dams? What is this, G2? I understand it creates situations for the episode, but couldn't there have been anything more practical? Heck, even with the situations we're given, they all indeed come too close in-between for our imagination to really digest it. I understand there needed to be this kind of conflict so we could have an episode, but so much of this happens that it's insane. Even the ponies in danger are absolute jerks! How about that construction pony that Rainbow Dash manages to save? Mare Do-Well saves the rest, and when Dash sits dejected, the construction worker walks off with a DISAPPOINTED EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE. As if she insulted him somehow! YOU COULD HAVE DIED. I understand that it could've just been lack of detail applied, but with a show heavy on detail, could a meek "Thanks" have been unable to fit. It just feels...mean-spirited!

Most of all, the mis-fire of all the characters is just AWFUL. Scootaloo, the apparent biggest fan of Rainbow Dash, who is quoted to have said, "I'll do anything you say, Rainbow Dash!", organizer of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club, turns on Dash in a matter of a day because a new hero arrives. We've already established Rainbow Dash's friends are absolute jerks here too, but Rainbow Dash isn't better either! I understand she was desperate to sooth her waning self-confidence issue, but Dash is certainly not the one to fabricate disasters. We've learned she's vain, but not THAT vain. That's just ridiculous. That's something that I'd expect Eddy from Ed, Edd, n Eddy to do. Heck, that actually DID happen in Ed, Edd, n Eddy in the episode "Cry Ed". That episode, in fact, has a similar concept to this one. However, that episode actually had Edd voice his displeasure about Eddy's constant grabbing for attention. If that had been done here, I would've enjoyed the episode.

Honestly, the whole episode just feels completely off-beat to the rest of the series. It feels mean-spirited, lacks in-character characters, and seems to betray the entire mythology of the series in a matter of 22 minutes.

[PookiePie]

This honestly still sits as my least favorite episode of the series.

The lesson, as everyone said, comes off as completely hypocritical. Rainbow Dash brags, so then her friends do the same thing and villianize Dash for her bragging. The very fact that her bragging and popularity didn't hurt them irks me enough, but then they become so angered by it that they victimize Dash by playing her self-confidence issue to their gain. They make up a hero, and turn the tables on Rainbow Dash by making her lesser, knocking her down a size. If they were truly her friends, they wouldn't "give her a piece of her own medicine". As many have said, that's the equivalent of bully logic.

Also, didn't Twilight understand the lessons of bragging and how to deal with it when she was met with The Great and Powerful Trixie? Inconsistency, I say! Perhaps the rules change when we're dear friends. We've earned the right to kick someone in the pants when they're being fat headed. hahaha

[Soleirolia]

I was actually indifferent to that particular episode. After looking at it closely, I did see the flaws but it didn't really bug me much... although that episode doesn't sit too high for me.

I liked the whole idea of the superhero, and everyone having something else to do with it, but it just seemed a bit drastic. Yes, RD is stubborn, but going so far as to turn on her in the space of about a day was a little much.

Whilst there are some flaws if you look at it closely, I still think that this episode is neither the worst one to be condemned to the fiery pits of fiery-ness for all eternity, nor is it the best episode to be placed on a pedestal and worshipped every half an hour.

All-in-all, it was a "meh" episode with "meh" writing and a lot of contradictions to itself. I almost couldn't help feeling sorry for RD, in a way. Instead of talking to her and trying to help directly, they just steal her self-esteem in order to break her down and reach her that way. It was a little over the top.

[Acynder]

I just found the episode to be really boring. Which is weird since this episode had the most danger in the town.

Which is another problem in the show. For one episode alone, All of a sudden EVERYONE IS IN TROUBLE!! DISASTERS THAT COULD WIPE OUT TOWNS JUST SUDDENLY APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE!!! Yet every other episode its just a normal town with no real problems. Consistency? Whats that?

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

I was thinking about this episode again, and I thought up a few points. First of all, while Dash might have been a sore loser, her friends were sore winners, for lack of a better term. Their 'hitting-us-over-the-head' moral at the end might have worked better if they'd tried it at the beginning, but in the end it just felt like the kind of brow-beating I got from self-righteous adults when I was a kid.

Second: maybe people might have thought that hiding behind a mask would have automatically made someone humble twenty years ago, but I've been on the internet long enough to know that hiding behind an alias doesn't mean you can't be self-aggrandizing.

As for the disasters, I think they could have rolled a lot of the disasters into one set, which would have probably made more sense. They could have started off with a new bridge being constructed, and when the bridge collapses that fills the construction yard scene. Then, because the bridge collapsed, that would explain why there's a road to nowhere that some ponies almost go falling off of. Then perhaps Dash notices a sewer pipe is leaking at the base of the bridge, since it got hit by debris, and thats where we get the flooded out scene.

Last: If Twilight Sparkle could magically fix a hole in a gigantic dam, why couldn't she fix the building when it was collapsing? People gave Dash a hard time for signing autographs while somepony was falling from the sky, but her friends' decision to put on a mask and pretend to be a single pony was actually just as dangerous, since only one of them could show up to save the day at a time. If they had all showed up, it would have been much safer for everypony involved.

[SOStmohs]

I've found lots of inconsistencies in MLP before, but ehh it's alright to me. Adds some social and personality realism to it imo.

Like did anyone notice that the episode before the last of S2 (MMMystery or something like that?) they told you not to make assumptions, then in the finale episodes, they turn around and say that assumptions without visible evidence are a good thing and everyone should have believed in Twilight about the Princess Cadence fiasco.

So back to MMDW, Twilight is learning about friendship so not all the time is she actually going to be right about everything she leans, she may miss points and learn the wrong lessons maybe. Twilight is really observant and does keep track of things, but friendships and social situations are not Twilight's fortay. She improves after awhile, but maybe at that time, she hadn't been studying too long? I mean, I think the seasons are in order of events, but not the episodes within the seasons. The episode after the Winter Wrap Up took place in Fall after all o.0.

So, in other words, Twilight missed the point and didn't realize that what her and her friends were doing was actually not good for RD's fragile ego and it was just douchey in general, and they were being hypocritical as well. Sometimes, maybe it's the viewers that should examine it more and learn the real lessons?

Hey! Maybe the kids should write what they learn about friendship to "Princess Celestia" and maybe cover things like this that Twilight might have missed I think it's a cute idea

But yeah, I don't dislike the episode. It gives us more insight on Dash's character, as well as the flaws of the rest of our characters.

[starswirlthebearded]

Twilight didn't make any assumptions, she noticed that Princess Cadence didn't remember her *at all*, which to be honest is somewhat of a big deal if they spent a significant amount of time together. Compound that into the fact that she acted completely differently from when they were together, Twilight had every reason to suspect that something was a miss. Then seeing what her brother looked like after Cadence cast that spell, honestly... wouldn't YOU have thought that she was evil too? Especially if you were Twilight and STUDIED SPELLS your ENTIRE LIFE? Twilight didn't recognize the spell, thought that something was a miss because of her brother's eyes. Honestly, I'd have come to the same exact conclusion as she did.

And before you say it, YES people do change, but they don't up and forget everything. And that is what arose Twilight's suspicions, which only turned out to be correct.

I've already said what I thought about this ep, and others have echoed how I felt. They just went in a bad direction. It was an OK idea in theory, but not in the execution.

[SOStmohs]

I knew personally, she wasn't making assumptions, but to the others like her friends, and even Princess Celestia just thought she was making assumptions.

[starswirlthebearded]

I knew personally, she wasn't making assumptions, but to the others like her friends, and even Princess Celestia just thought she was making assumptions.

Honestly I saw it as a "Stick to your guns" kind of moral, with a side of "believe in your friends" or at least listen to their council and take their concerns into account. Everyone simply wrote her off without second thought. No one asked her WHY she thought that, they (her friends) were actually making the assumption that she was being overly possessive of her big brother (aka BBBFF). So in the end, it was still a "Don't make assumption" kind of moral. Funnily enough, they kept it consistent even then because PINKIE was the focal point of the moral and she was too far gone to listen. At least as far as I recall.

[Motion Paradox]

Ah, the (in?) famous "Mysterious Mare Do Not Quite As Well As We Would Have Hoped"

Personally I didn't really mind the episode at all, it wasn't my favourite, but I didn't find it horrible either.

First of all I found that the episode gave Rainbow Dash a lot of charm; yes I know "But she was so egotistical", I actually find that charming if they handle it in the right way and for me, they did. Yes I liked her well enough before, but for me she didn't have her own....special charm, true she was likable and well written but didn't really have a trait or situation that I could either identify with deeply or that matches with a troupe that I find cute and one troupe that I find adorable in a series character is compensating for an emotional shortfall. In other words her usual over confidence was just funny before (such as in Boast Busters when she basically comments that showing off is her job), but after Mare Do Well it could now also be cute; basically with characters showing off is entertaining but showing off because you have a fragile ego wins you all sorts of sympathy points. Strangely, Sonic Rainboom didn't have the same effect for me but I suppose it makes sense, her break down in that episode felt more like nervousness over competing than a part of a larger pattern

Second I saw the others' behaviour as being good intentions not knowing the harm the actual actions cause. One of the easiest mistakes to make while watching a show is to forget that the characters don't always know everything the audience does and, if you look closely, you'll see that the other girls never saw Rainbow Dash's breakdown. If you think of it this way, it does effect the tone their actions take, the way I interpret the situation is that the plan was to perform a number of rescues Rainbow Dash would normally have handled so she would realise that she was not the only hero, basically they intended to humble her. This route probably seemed like a good idea at the time, they each had something that they could contribute to create a perfect hero, Rainbow Dash would learn her lesson after a while, Mare Do Well would retire and Rainbow could go back to being the hero, but now she would know no to get carried away. Unfortunately Rainbow is not the type that likes to appear vulnerable; if the others had seen how upset she was they probably would have admitted that they were behind Mare Do Well and apologised and Rainbow Dash would have forgiven them and admitted that she shouldn't have let everyone's praise effect her as much as it did. However the others only saw Rainbow being jealous that Mare Do Well was stealing her thunder which generally doesn't win you very much empathy, it wasn't her fault for not showing enough of the right emotion, it was just one of those times where a lack of communication leads to somepony stepping on another's feeling without realising. I've been on both ends of a case where one person accidentally upsets another and have seen it happen between other people, that's probably the biggest problem when somebody accidentally steps on your feelings, they won't know what they've stepped on until you point it out and trying to act as if everything is fine an make the problem worse; if you come out and say what is really bothering you, odds are people sympathise with you more than if you try to act as if everything is fine or focus on lesser issues