"Magic Duel" | |
---|---|
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode | |
Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 5 |
Directed by | James Wootton |
Written by | M.A. Larson |
Original air date | December 1, 2012 |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Magic Duel" is the fifth episode of the third season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the fifty-seventh overall. The episode follows Twilight Sparkle, who is banished from Ponyville after Trixie, a former fraud, overpowers her with a magical amulet. Twilight must find a way to return to Ponyville and get Trixie to remove the amulet, which is corrupting her, from her neck.
A mysterious pony buys the Alicorn Amulet, one of the most powerful artifacts. In the meantime, Twilight practices her magic at Fluttershy's cottage for Princess Celestia's visit with delegates from Saddle Arabia. She is interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who tells her that there is an emergency. Twilight rushes to the town, where the buyer of the amulet is revealed: Trixie. Trixie returns to Ponyville seek revenge from Twilight after her last visit. The powerful amulet is stronger than Twilight, and Trixie banishes her from Ponyville and seals the town with a glass dome. Stuck outside of Ponyville, Twilight goes to the Everfree Forest to see Zecora. Zecora offers to help her beat Trixie.
While Trixie takes over Ponyville, forcing everypony to be her slave, Twilight’s friends discover that the amulet also corrupts its user and only the user can remove it, and they send Fluttershy to tell Twilight. After hearing this, Twilight asks for a re-match. She secretly arranges with Zecora and her friends to perform simple illusions disguised as more powerful magic with a fake charm, making Trixie take off the amulet willingly to try the charm. This breaks the spell, and the amulet is secured by Zecora in a locked box. Now back to normal, Trixie realizes her mistake and apologises for her behavior after watching Twilight's magic show for Saddle Arabian delegades.
In October 2012, head writer Meghan McCarthy stated a fan favourite villain would return "in a very, very awesome way", who was later revealed to be Trixie, the antagonist of "Boast Busters". [1] [2] [3] Due to this, the episode was one of the most anticipated season three episodes since the premiere, "The Crystal Empire". [3]
Daniel Alvarez of Unleash the Fanboy gave the episode five out five stars, calling it a "great episode all around" and "one of the best [Friendship Is Magic episodes] yet". [3] He praised the characters, particularly Trixie and Zecora, and Twilight's usage of the "magic of friendship", which he said would be considered "cheesy" in any other television series. [3] Writing for Freakin' Awesome Network, Raymond Gallant gave it nine and a half stars out of ten, and found it more energetic, amusing, and exciting than "The Crystal Empire". Whereas he commended her development, he deemed Trixie's reformation out of place. Other things he lauded included Zecora, the expansion of the series' world, and references to previous episodes and fandom. [4]
"The Return of Harmony" is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the second season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, as well as the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth episodes of the series overall. Both episodes were directed by Jayson Thiessen and written by M.A. Larson. Part one of the episode aired in the United States on September 17, 2011 on the Hub, while part two aired the following week, on September 24. The first received a Nielsen household rating of 0.2, and was viewed by over 339,000 viewers, making it the highest-rated episode ever broadcast by the Hub at that point. It is also the last episode where DHX Media is credited as Studio B Productions.
"Magical Mystery Cure" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the sixty-fifth episode of the series overall. Directed by James Wootton, it was written by M.A. Larson.
The first season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on The Hub in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 1 of the series premiered on October 10, 2010 on The Hub, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded on May 6, 2011.
The second season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on The Hub, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 2 of the series premiered on September 17, 2011 and concluded on April 21, 2012.
The third season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on The Hub in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 3 of the series premiered on November 10, 2012 on The Hub, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded on February 16, 2013.
The fourth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on the Hub Network in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 4 of the series premiered on November 23, 2013 on the Hub Network, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded on May 10, 2014.
"Power Ponies" is the sixth episode of the fourth season as well as the 71st episode overall. In the episode, Spike, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are transported into a comic book where they become its characters. To escape, they must defeat the Mane-iac, the villain of the book. The episode was heavily influenced by comic books, including having a more modern and futuristic style. Upon its airing on December 21, 2013, on the Hub Network, it was viewed by over 600,000 people.
"Pinkie Pride" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and the seventy-seventh episode of the series overall. It was directed by Jayson Thiessen, co-directed by Jim Miller, and its screenplay was written by Amy Keating Rogers from a story by Thiessen. It was produced by Sarah Wall and Devon Cody.
"Twilight's Kingdom" is the collective name for the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth episodes of the fourth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, as well as the ninetieth and ninety-first episodes of the series overall. The two-part season finale deals with a new threat named Lord Tirek, who wants to rule Equestria by absorbing all magic, as well as Twilight Sparkle trying to learn what she should do with her new role as a princess. "Twilight's Kingdom" was directed by Jayson Thiessen, co-directed by Jim Miller, produced by Sarah Wall and Devon Cody, and written by Meghan McCarthy. It premiered on the Hub Network on May 10, 2014, with both parts airing back-to-back.
"Three's a Crowd" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the seventy-sixth overall. With Britt McKillip and John de Lancie guest starring as Princess Cadance and Discord, the episode follows Twilight Sparkle and the former, who visits from the Crystal Empire, trying to have a relaxing day. When they are interrupted by a sick Discord, they must venture to the edge of Equestria to prevent him from disrupting their visit. Co-directed by Jim Miller, with Jayson Thiessen as executive producer, and written by Meghan McCarthy, the episode aired on January 25, 2014, receiving over 400,000 viewers during its original broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised Discord.
"The Cutie Map", also known as "Cutie Markless", is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the fifth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the ninety-second and ninety-third episodes of the series overall. The two episodes focus on Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they visit a village controlled by Starlight Glimmer, a unicorn who strives to achieve "equality" amongst all ponies by removing their cutie marks. Both episodes were written by Scott Sonneborn and M.A. Larson from a story by Meghan McCarthy with Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller as director and co-director, respectively.
"Slice of Life" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the 100th episode of the series overall, which was celebrated as a milestone episode by Hasbro and its affiliates. It was directed by Jim Miller, written by M.A. Larson and produced by Devon Cody. The episode aired on June 13, 2015 on Discovery Family.
"The Cutie Re-Mark" is the collective name for the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth episodes of the fifth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the one hundred and sixteenth and one hundred and seventeenth episodes of the series overall. Written by Josh Haber and directed by Denny Lu, the two episodes center around Starlight Glimmer, who tries to take revenge from the Mane 6 by going back in time and preventing them from ever meeting each other. Released on November 28, 2015, the plot of the episode received mixed reviews from critics.
"A Hearth's Warming Tail" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the 125th episode of the series overall. Directed by Denny Lu and Tim Stuby, written by Michael Vogel and produced by Devon Cody, it first aired on May 14, 2016, on Discovery Family.
Equestria is the fictional setting of the fourth and fifth generations of the My Little Pony toy line and media franchise, including the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and My Little Pony: Pony Life. Created by Lauren Faust, the setting incorporates many elements of fantasy, including inspirations from European and Greek mythology.
"Games Ponies Play" is the twelfth episode of the third season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the 64th overall. Directed by James Wootton and written by Dave Polsky, "Games Ponies Play" premiered on The Hub on February 9, 2013. Occurring during the events of the previous episode, "Just for Sidekicks", the episode featured Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack trying to convince an inspector to host the Equestria Games at the Crystal Empire.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle" is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the fourth season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the sixty-sixth and sixty-seventh overall. The episodes follow the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle, who travels back to her hometown of Ponyville from Canterlot after Princesses Celestia and Luna disappear, and the Everfree Forest invades Ponyville. As Twilight and her friends try to find the cause of the havoc, they discover the Tree of Harmony, where they give up the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria.
"One Bad Apple" is the fourth episode of the third season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the fifty-sixth overall. The episodes centres around the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who are bullied by Apple Bloom's cousin, Babs Seed. As revenge, they sabotage a cart she will ride in during the parade but realise they are becoming bullies themselves.
"Keep Calm and Flutter On" is the tenth episode of the third season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the sixty-second overall. The episode features Fluttershy attempting to reform Discord while the rest of the Mane 6—Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie—remaining ambivalent on whether he can be good. The episode was highly anticipated and garnered positive reviews from critics, who found it funny and entertaining.
"Filli Vanilli" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, as well as the seventy-ninth overall. Written by Amy Keating Rogers, directed by Jayson Thiessen, and co-directed by Jim Miller, the episode centers around Fluttershy secretly standing-in for Big McIntosh in a few concerts. Big Mac lip-syncs on stage to hide it, but they are caught when Fluttershy accidentally knocks the curtain down. Aired on February 15, 2014, on The Hub, the episode was viewed by 584,000 people and received praise from critics for its writing and overall message.