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"Twilight's Kingdom" is the collective name for the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth episodes of the fourth season of the Canadian-American 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 finale deals with a new threat, Tirek, who wants to rule Equestria by absorbing all magic, as well as Twilight 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, written by Meghan McCarthy, and produced by Sarah Wall and Devon Cody. It premiered on the Hub Network on May 10, 2014, with both parts airing as an hour-long event.

Synopsis

Part one

Twilight and her best friends travel to the Crystal Empire, where Twilight, in her role as a princess, is to help greet delegates from another nation. She finds this duty unfulfilling, and laments this to Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, unsure what her role in Equestria is. The other three assure her that her responsibilities will become clear in time.

Celestia has visions revealing that an evil centaur named Tirek has escaped Tartarus (due to events from the episode "It's About Time") and is now draining ponies of their magic. Gathering the other princesses, Celestia explains how they had stopped Tirek before and must stop him now before he becomes too powerful. Twilight is eager to help, but Celestia instead puts Discord in charge due to his ability to sense magical imbalances caused by Tirek's activity. Twilight returns home to Ponyville, disappointed at being unable to help, and heads for the ancient castle in the Everfree Forest to catch up on studying. Discord interrupts them and teases Twilight, but makes sure to remind her of the locked chest at the base of the Tree of Harmony (from "Princess Twilight Sparkle"). Twilight suspects there may be something to help against Tirek inside, and she and her friends search the books in the castle. Twilight realizes Discord mentioned their shared journal, and finds stories written by the other five where they were challenged in regards to their core Element of Harmony, and were able to help another, receiving an item in return. They gather these items, which transform into five of the six keys needed to open the box, but Twilight realizes that she has not yet faced a challenge similar to theirs and thus cannot provide the last key.

Discord encounters Tirek, but he teases him with having freedom over friendship, so Discord decides to join Tirek as his chief henchman and assistant. Twilight is summoned back to Canterlot, where Celestia reveals Discord's treachery and that Tirek now has his sights set on taking the princesses' alicorn magic for himself.

Part two

Celestia reveals that the best plan to prevent Tirek from getting the alicorn magic is to hide it away within Twilight since her recent ascension to Princess is still unknown to Tirek. They transfer their powers to Twilight, who has difficulty in controlling the amount of power and tries to avoid her best friends on returning to Ponyville while she practices control.

Tirek confronts the princesses, finding their magic gone, and banishes the three to Tartarus. He then expresses his gratitude for Discord's assistance by giving him a medallion as a sign of loyalty. As they discuss this, Tirek learns of Twilight's existence and sets off to Ponyville. With Discord's assistance, they trap Twilight's best friends and Tirek steals their power. He then turns on Discord and takes his magic as well, having only used Discord as a pawn to become powerful as he tells him he is no longer useful to him. Tirek finds Twilight and when she tries to run away, he destroys the Golden Oak Library in Ponyville. Enraged, Twilight attacks Tirek, and after a battle between the two superpowered beings, they realize they are evenly matched and Tirek offers to release Twilight's best friends in exchange for all the alicorn magic. Twilight comes to realize this is the same type of situation that her best friends had previously experienced and agrees to the deal on the condition that Discord is also freed. Tirek takes the alicorn magic and begins to go on a rampage.

Repentant and regretting his involvement in Tirek's plan, Discord apologizes for turning on them and gives Twilight the medallion Tirek had given him as a sign of his true friendship. Twilight recognizes this as the sixth key, and they quickly race to the box. With all six keys present, the box opens and powers the Tree of Harmony, making Twilight and her best friends be temporarily infused with a rainbow-like power. Together, they are able to face Tirek, repulse his attacks, and revert the magic drain. Tirek is weakened to his frail form and returned to Tartarus, while Twilight and her friends return the magic to all the other ponies in Equestria and free the princesses. The box transforms into a crystalline seedling that grows into a new, tree-like castle at the edge of Ponyville. Celestia informs Twilight that it is now her new castle and she is now the Princess of Friendship with her responsibility to help spread friendship across Equestria with the help of her best friends. Discord fully reforms, vowing to be a better friend to Twilight and the others.

Production

Tirek is a reinvention of the main antagonist of Rescue at Midnight Castle, which was produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions. Meghan McCarthy noted that they "cannot show Twilight punch [sic] Tirek in the face".

Twilight's castle was designed by background designer Phil Caesar in conjunction with art director Ridd Sorensen and BG painter Geoff Manson. When asked about the name of Twilight's new castle, Jayson Thiessen replied, "You'll have to wait 'til Season 5 to find out!".

Broadcast and reception

Both parts of "Twilight's Kingdom" aired back-to-back on the Hub Network as an hour-long event on May 10, 2014. Part 1 of the finale was viewed by 677,000 viewers and was watched by approximately 0.3 percent of households in the United States, according to the Nielsen household ratings. Part 2 of the finale was viewed by 788,000 viewers and, also according to the Nielsen household ratings, was watched by approximately 0.4 percent of American households, making it the most watched episode of the entire series.

The two episodes have received critical acclaim. An Entertainment Weekly writer graded them an A−, describing the two as carrying "a Frozen-y empowering theme (and a sly Godfather reference)". James Zahn from The Rock Father considered the finale "an exciting pair of episodes," adding that "fans of My Little Pony will be discussing these episodes for some time to come." On Tirek's character, Zahn wrote, "The Emperor to Discord's Darth Vader, Tirek is exciting, bringing with him a (rainbow?) dash of that classic 80s evil." Daniel Alvarez on Unleash the Fanboy gave the finale a 10 out of 10 and called it a masterpiece, praising the general pacing and writing of the episodes. He also considered Tirek a "brilliant antagonist, by far, the best villain the show has seen yet" and favorably compared the battle between Twilight and Tirek to Dragon Ball Z.

Home media release

The two-part finale is part of The Keys of Friendship DVD, alongside "Rarity Takes Manehattan," "Pinkie Apple Pie," and "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies," which was released on July 29, 2014. The episode was also part of the Season 4 DVD, which was released on December 2, 2014.

References

1. ^ Zahn, James (6 May 2014). "Advance Review - MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC: Twilight's Kingdom (Season 4 Finale)". The Rock Father. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
2. McCarthy, Meghan (2014-05-10), "[Deleted scene confirmation]", (Self-published), Twitter, retrieved 2014-05-10. {{citation}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |title= at position 1 (help)
3. Miller, Jim (2014-05-11). "[Designers of Twilight's new home confirmation]". (Self-published). Twitter. Retrieved 2014-05-11. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |title= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
4. Thiessen, Jayson (2014-05-13), "[Official name of Twilight's new castle in Season 5 confirmation]", (Self-published), Twitter, retrieved 2014-05-13. {{citation}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |title= at position 1 (help)
5. ^ Pucci, Douglas (2014-05-16). "Hub Network Ratings Scorecard—Week of May 5, 2014". TV Media Insights. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
6. Kryptonlogic (2014-05-16). "Twilight's Kingdom Brings In The Most Viewers Of The Series". Equestria Daily. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
7. Staff writers (May 9, 2014). Rahman, Ray (ed.). "What to Watch". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc.: 57–61.
8. Alvarez, Daniel (2014-05-10). "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Twilight's Kingdom' Review". Unleash the Fanboy. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
9. "My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: The Keys Of Friendship". Amazon.com. 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
10. "My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season 4". Amazon.com. 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2014-09-04.

External links

• "Twilight's Kingdom – Part 1" at IMDb
• "Twilight's Kingdom – Part 2" at IMDb

• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes
• 2014 television episodes