Absolutely love Rarity as a character, for me Season 4 did such a great job with her and her character writing and she gets my vote as the most consistently written and my personal favourite Mane 6 pony of Season 4. Have always liked the Cutie Mark Crusaders and there is a lot more to them than one would think, this episode shows how far Sweetie Belle has come on as a character. It is/was always welcome to see Princess Luna in any episode of the show.
"For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" does nothing to ruin either Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Princess Luna. All three are done perfect justice here, it is a perfect example of how to portray sister relationships and conflicts in animation and anywhere and one can see what makes them click so well as characters. It is not quite as amazing as the previous episode "Maud Pie" or quite one of my favourite episodes of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' overall, but it is to me still among the better episodes of a mostly solid Season 4.
There is not really much wrong with "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" actually. If to nit-pick the episode could have explained how Princess Luna could show the memories from a third person perspective, that wasn't made clear to me (but that may be just me).
Otherwise "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" is terrific. The characterisation is brilliant, some of the best, most interesting and deepest of the season and also up to this point of the show. Sweetie Belle was not this interesting in the previous episodes, her personality is different here and it may take some getting used to for some but she actually develops and learns a lesson and from her misgivings. She could have been completely unlikeable in this scenario, but not here, actually related to her. Absolutely loved the sister dynamic between her and Rarity, who genuinely loves Sweetie Belle without being over-protective (something that "Somepony to Watch Over Me" did badly with Applejack's character writing).
Rarity is as funny and caring as ever, and seeing her interact with Sweetie Belle was like remembering how much my sisters look out for me (although the eldest my physical and mental disabilities make me vulnerable). Princess Luna makes one of her most interesting appearances ever, her role in Sweetie Belle's dreams has real power and honesty. She is very firm and strong minded, but is well meaning and is effective in teaching Sweetie Belle the lesson. The dreams are incredibly imaginative and have real intensity and emotional power. The voice acting is truly excellent all round with Tabitha St Germain being at the top of her game and Claire Corlett being even better.
Animation is vibrant and richly detail, with some quite jaw dropping visuals in the dreams. The music fits beautifully, never at odds with the action and has a wide range of emotions. The writing is mature without being too complex, it is light on humour this time round (what there is is nice) but the emotional power is pretty huge in "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils". Due to it being such a relatable conflict, that it centered around characters that are easy to invest in and that it had such depth of characterisation. The story is tense and poignant without being too heavy. The moral is well delivered, making its point but without ramming it down the throat. It's an important one too and always worth of addressing.
Overall, terrific. 9/10
"For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" does nothing to ruin either Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Princess Luna. All three are done perfect justice here, it is a perfect example of how to portray sister relationships and conflicts in animation and anywhere and one can see what makes them click so well as characters. It is not quite as amazing as the previous episode "Maud Pie" or quite one of my favourite episodes of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' overall, but it is to me still among the better episodes of a mostly solid Season 4.
There is not really much wrong with "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" actually. If to nit-pick the episode could have explained how Princess Luna could show the memories from a third person perspective, that wasn't made clear to me (but that may be just me).
Otherwise "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" is terrific. The characterisation is brilliant, some of the best, most interesting and deepest of the season and also up to this point of the show. Sweetie Belle was not this interesting in the previous episodes, her personality is different here and it may take some getting used to for some but she actually develops and learns a lesson and from her misgivings. She could have been completely unlikeable in this scenario, but not here, actually related to her. Absolutely loved the sister dynamic between her and Rarity, who genuinely loves Sweetie Belle without being over-protective (something that "Somepony to Watch Over Me" did badly with Applejack's character writing).
Rarity is as funny and caring as ever, and seeing her interact with Sweetie Belle was like remembering how much my sisters look out for me (although the eldest my physical and mental disabilities make me vulnerable). Princess Luna makes one of her most interesting appearances ever, her role in Sweetie Belle's dreams has real power and honesty. She is very firm and strong minded, but is well meaning and is effective in teaching Sweetie Belle the lesson. The dreams are incredibly imaginative and have real intensity and emotional power. The voice acting is truly excellent all round with Tabitha St Germain being at the top of her game and Claire Corlett being even better.
Animation is vibrant and richly detail, with some quite jaw dropping visuals in the dreams. The music fits beautifully, never at odds with the action and has a wide range of emotions. The writing is mature without being too complex, it is light on humour this time round (what there is is nice) but the emotional power is pretty huge in "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils". Due to it being such a relatable conflict, that it centered around characters that are easy to invest in and that it had such depth of characterisation. The story is tense and poignant without being too heavy. The moral is well delivered, making its point but without ramming it down the throat. It's an important one too and always worth of addressing.
Overall, terrific. 9/10
