The tantibus is Luna's version of cutting her wrists, Neither self nightmares nor self cutting is healthy and very dangerous to you and others. By cutting yourself you cause stress to friends and family to worry about your health and try to help you, the tantibus is the kid friendly version of this. But when a person begins to cut themselves they will hide it and avoid talking, with luna it was only when it escaped and she had no choice but to talk with those she hurt directly with her own self harming. But by talking to someone despite not wanting to is what people with depression need, Luna could easily avoid speaking with Celestia but having the tantibus attacking dreams and locking luna into a spot where she must speak she was able to be told what she needed.therapy for depression takes a long time as the emotions and thoughts hurting you are rooted deeply inside you all of what Luna has done up until this point are those steps to recovery. being accepted and helping others, starting to rebuild your love for yourself with this since you know you are doing something worth wild but just this won't make you better. You need to accept that you make mistakes both small and big ones, while it sounds easy it's not.
I had about the same impression about this episode :D Thanks I am not the only one. And personally I think that Luna didn't tell the truth or ommited some details, when she said, that her sister couldn't do anything. Maybe she kept it to herself, harmed herself - this could go likely for a year or even longer I think... Then some unpredicted mishap - the Tantibus escapes. But to keep it low, she doesn't go to Celestia but tries to get it herself under controll...
Most Agreed! I've only almost committed self harm, but I do tend to overly punish myself for mistakes I have made. That's what I think a lot of MLP analysts miss. The idea that human punish themselves for reasons unknown to other's around them. Making myself feel worthless and less deserving for no apparent reason made a lot of sense to me, even if did not make any logical sense based on the general consensus that all creatures are entitled to the same fair treatment we expect to given to ourselves.
@@robertnett9793 does this mean luna cab acses celestias dreams? If she has no power at night, she would have no protection if luna.. er went bad... of was possessed. Also luna has crazy power, I mean she could keep her enimys asleep, or possibly invade there day dreams and take over there minds, or drive them insane.... I'm not joking about this. I love luna.... but she has power! !!
I agree. I have no depression but my family has a history of it. I know alot about it. But though I'm glad they adressed depression, I wish they put it before her real development. If It was Before the Crusader episodes, this would make more sence . I wish this one was shown before. At least then we wouldn't have this cortridiction.
If evil Dr. Wolf ever gets control of Kaiju Derpy, we're screwed. On a more serious note, it was smart to have two videos with a different guest on each side of the fence.
So, I don't know if anyone will read this, but I think the concept of depression and self harm gets pushed aside too quickly while discussing this episode. Child depression is a real thing, and many kids commit self harm without realizing the consequences. Luna was surprised when the Tantabus got out. I think she willingly created it and punished herself, but like many who engage in self harm, didn't see the long effects. Most don't realize how much loved ones would fear for them and be hurt by their own self harm, and this is especially true of children, the viewers. So instead of pretending that isn't an issue, they showed that self-harm and loathing can hurt you and those around you. They also asked all who are suffering to trust loved ones. A real and often effective tactic. Her positive steps also make sense in this context as they could arguably be driven by the same will to repent and be worthy of forgiveness. Depression runs strong in my family. I was diagnosed at 18, but at that time I was also informed I had been exhibiting symptoms since 3rd grade, including self harm. I didn't cut, but I would pull my hair out or bite myself. I had no idea that other people had these feelings or how to cope. Nowadays, this episode made me cry and led to a long discussion with my fiancee, but I wonder if I had seen this episode, or something like it when I was younger, if I wouldn't have gotten help sooner.
For me, the addition of negativity that Silver Quill thinks is out of place is actually a brilliant depiction of what Luna has to go through. I was drawn to Luna because like her, I made a huge mistake when I was younger that hurt people; it was the kind of mistake where I honestly feel that I don't deserve to be forgiven, even if others do. When you have that kind of mistake following you around in the back of your mind, your life becomes a quest for redemption that lasts forever. You try so hard to be a good person that when you fail even a little, the world comes crashing down. You surround yourself with people and smile while improving yourself like Luna with Ponyville. But when you're left by yourself, you end up wandering into the scariest part of your mind, where you have to face your mistake over and over again just so you can feel yourself cry. It's a twisted kind of depression, where the people who suffer it choose not to end it even when they know how to solve it. They both crave forgiveness and push it away because they can't forgive themselves. It goes deeper than just "everybody makes mistakes" and move on. It's the fact that you did something so horrible that if someone else did the same to you, you wouldn't forgive them. You have to accept that at one point in your life you were a terrible person to start forgiving yourself, but then it becomes a contradiction. If you did something so bad, how can you possiblely be good? So you just stop at "you're a bad person" and start punishing yourself for it. The key word here is "deserve." You feel you "deserve" this punishment for having put others through it. You feel you don't "deserve" forgiveness. Luna created the nightmare because she felt she "deserved" it . See the pattern? Even with the repentance argument that it should be used to improve oneself, the internal argument becomes that if you engrave the shame of that mistake into yourself permanently, you will never make that mistake again even by accident. And yet, despite knowing exactly what's going on inside my brain for this to happen, I still can't forgive myself. I doubt Luna can either. It's a sadness that lasts a lifetime, and this episode was probably meant to address that even with Luna's accomplishments, she still needs to learn to forgive herself. If MLP knows how to end the madness, I'd love to hear it.
The Tantibus being a creation of Luna is a stroke of genius for the developers to have done, in my opinion. How I see it, the conflict between Luna and the Tantibus is reminiscent of famous saying: "We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell." ~ Oscar Wiljava We can be our own worst enemies at times. We, like Luna, can still hold unto guilt for having done something or had failed to do something in our past. We can each create our own personal hell or "Tantibus". So I very much like the concept of the Tantibus being a creation of Luna.
Self loathing is a feeling difficult to understand for those who haven't experienced it. The concept of looking in a mirror and seeing the face of the person you hate more then anyone else looking back at you is probably outright alien to most people, but believe me when I say it can drive you to do senseless and horrible things to yourself. It can get you to overlook all the good you do, all the smiles you bring, and all the friends you have. It can throw every action into a negative light. It's pretty easy to put on a mask around friends and loved ones, yet still absolutely hate what you are inside and that feeling can eat you alive. It is irrational, because it's hatred and most hate is irrational. Speaking from experience I can easily see why, despite all the good she's done and all the growing she's gone through, Luna might have created a monster to "punish" herself. Real people can't make monsters, but the Tantabus is a *very* familiar beast for those of us who have fought similar demons.
Thanks Silver for such an awesome collab! It's great to see the differing opinions this episode can bring out, and the ways the people connect with characters in shows like MLP.
A very worthwhile discussion, as per usual Silver. I'm afraid the video I made won't be quite enough to match when it gets released, as you've covered a few points I was hoping to bring to the table. Still, I believe there is more that can be discussed about Luna and the Tantibus. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
+DRWolf001 Will you be covering the idea that her inability to forgive herself could be parallel to many mental illnesses, where just because it's obvious doesn't mean the person afflicted will believe you?
+DRWolf001 I think there's more that can be discussed about Luna and the Tantibus as well. lightningbro already mentioned the inability to forgive oneself being parallel to mental illness, such as depression and anxiety, and that is such an important aspect to bring up because many people struggle with the exact same thing. But that also brings up how people are resistant to the idea of self-compassion because people who have done wrong in the past don't believe to be deserving of self-compassion. Also, I think that the Tantibus is a metaphor for how our suppressed negative emotions can manifest into something that takes a life of its own and impacts our life and the lives of the people around us negatively. I don't think that the Tantibus was created intentionally, as Voice of Reason seemed to imply in the previous video which sparked his own frustration with Luna as a character (and, oddly enough, his frustration shows how frustrated we can be with the people in our own lives who live with mental illness and who have a tendency to beat themselves up over their mistakes!). But just because Luna created it, even if she said that it was created as a reminder of her past sins, doesn't mean that she meant for the creature to manifest into something tangible to begin with. Luna's magic, as a princess, is extraordinary, so it is possible that her own internal guilt was debilitating her, so the creature manifested from her magic in order to lighten her mental load so she could continue to live life. This represents what we do when we suppress our own emotions - the more we do it, and the more we try to ignore our negative emotions, the more likely it is to manifest into something that we don't actually want. And in Luna's case, her guilt LITERALLY manifested from her magic into a powerful creature that she felt had to be contained in order to not wreak havoc. Now, I'm just a big pony fan and a big fandom consumer with a big heart for emotional growth and healthy mental and emotional well-being. I don't have any videos of my own (yet) and I'm not a famous pony fan by any means. But, if you want to poke my brain a little more, and/or if you need a sounding board for your own ideas, let me know. I'm happy to help.
+DRWolf001 Luna is realtible compared to her "Mary-sue" like sister,Celestia. Its EASY for many people to like her just for that reason alone. Plus, she also has that "Dark Beauty" thing going for her as well.
Sometimes I wonder why people get so angry about Luna "punishing herself" for her wrongdoings. Elsa did this for the entirety of Frozen and she illicits sympathy from fans
No she didn't. She didn't torture herself for he past sin, she just followed what her horrible parents told he to. To close herself off from the rest of the world until she gets control of her powers.
jthedog Pay attention to Elsa's vocabulary. After her parents died she shut herself away to protect others from herself. She ran away to spend the rest of her life in isolation so that everyone would be safe from her. Though her parent's perpetuated this philosophy it was still Elsa's choice to hurt herself so that she wouldn't hurt anyone else again.
+Moonlitwatersofaqua She wasn't really hurting herself, just went fuck it and decided to live in the mountains after her secret got out, she was smiling throughout the song.
+Moonlitwatersofaqua and yet it was her parents that lead her to be ashamed of her gifts the trolls said to CONTROL it NOT try to forget you even have it and feel bad that you have it. They planted the seed that lead to her depression at that point it wasn't her choice, she was too far into her self hate
I'm going to be blunt here. I have felt guilty and ashamed of something for 13 years straight and punish myself for it and no one has known about it until I tell them. So it is really believable for Luna to do the same for a year.
I did initially feel that the reveal of the Tantabus was badly timed as well. However, if I compared Luna's use of the Tantabus to self-harm and the possible emotional motivations behind it, I began to think it made more sense. Even if a person is having a serious emotional problem (being so revolted by their failings and so afraid that they will fail again that they feel the need to inflict pain and distress on themselves as a constant reminder not to let that happen), the people around them often have no idea. What do they always say every time someone does something extreme? "I never would have thought ... they always seemed so normal." It actually make me feel it more to think that even the ponies closest to her, like her sister, never realized that she was hurting herself. And no, it doesn't make logical sense that Luna still feels this way even so long after returning to herself. But it does make emotional sense. As far as she's concerned, the progress she's made is hardly anything in comparison to what she owes Equestria, because she's overstated NMM's impact on her country to the nth degree. Left to her own devices, she may never have stopped feeling like she deserved what the Tantabus was doing to her. The only problem, as far as I'm concerned, with Luna's having created the creature consciously as opposed to unconsciously is this: if she made the thing from scratch all on her own, why doesn't she know the first thing about it? Why is she surprised when it escapes? Why does she think that it's feeding on dreams, and a big dramatic reveal is needed before she realizes it's actually feeding on her own guilt? Why did she allow herself to dream about the Mane 6, unless she didn't even know that it would put them in danger? And here's the kicker: if she knew that it could possibly escape, and her entire goal with creating it was to prevent the ponies from being in danger, why would she make it at all? All these questions can be answered by saying that she created it unconsciously and therefore its creation was a total accident and she knows nothing about the thing other than the fact that its torturing her. And then, she chooses to do nothing about the creature because she thinks she deserves to be tortured. Damn, that's dark. You know, I have so much to say that maybe I should just make my own video instead of writing a wall of text down here, because oh Luna, I could go ON.
A year is rather short amount of time you know. Especially when it comes to mental health issues. In many ways she suffered trauma and recovery takes time. Creating the Tantabus is similar to people with depression or trauma turning to substance abuse. You know it is bad for you and outward you might seem fine but it is still something you turn to. Heck, comfort eating is similar.
I can see it being designed by conscious thought, heavily effected by sub-conscious, and then slowly getting worse without her realizing. From there a part of her refused to accept that she had less control then she thought thus not thinking about parts two and three of its development as possible/of note
Something everybody forgets is that people DO get mentally locked in a "I messed up, I am at fault, I messed up, I'm at fault..." loop. I know that from experience, and I think the people who hate this episode have never been there, and don't know anyone they consciously realize was there.
One thing I can say about Luna is that she has some fantastic taste in declaration. I mean between her bedroom, her dream and remodeling of the Castle of the two sisters, I want her to decorate my house.
Silver Quill expresses disbelief that after a year of seeming gentility and contentment, Luna can still be this messed up inside. He seems to be completely ignorant of the concept of masks. Especially for someone with huge societal pressures and expectations on her shoulders, and a strong sense of duty and sacrifice.
+MLP-Silver-Quill I would have to disagree there silver :) I agree for kids show the episode does feel a bit out of place and perhaps there should have been a line where someone such as twilight or even Celestia could have said "all this time?" but even so as a person who is a master of masks you can go years changing masks until you don't even realise you're doing it. also, as luna works nights it is very possible she doesn't have to wear a mask all the time and so could keep up it up for a long period of time especially if she has an outlet such as the tantabis. As a luna fan, I always thought she would be the one to wear the mask, hiding her dark side that always to be at the forefront. something that is always eating at her and without help she won't overcome it. The reason she hasn't been getting help is because of her reserved nature.
Midnight29 I find this show is usually straightforward about characters. A masked personality would work great if there was more of an overarching story, but this episodic set up doesn't blend so well for me. Luna's been honest about her feelings in the past, including being near tears in _Luna Eclipsed_, so I'm not as drawn to the idea that she's only now bringing up inner turmoil.
+MLP-Silver-Quill fair enough I do agree it is very much out of the blue from a storytelling standpoint and no amount of fangirling (or fanboying in your case) can really change that. it's all about speculation and head cannon to try and fit in some kind of sense. so yeah this episode is very much a debatable subject. But if she was a real princess with this much emotional jumping I'd is seriously worried kinda luck she's got her sister. doesn't stop me from loving her though :)
Natasel Cutting has never been metal. It's always been dangerous and wrong. However it humanizes Luna. It shows that in reality she is VERY depressed. She was in a bad place when she made the Tantabus. She must have hated herself a lot.
You know what I love? This. When we can talk about our different opinions, then accept and understand others points of views. We don't have to agree but in debates over "Is X a good character" I love to just sit down, have a cup of *your fav drink here* and just talk about the same show we all love. :)
something i havent really seen any reviewers talk about is that the Tantibus could be a form of relapse for Luna, a parallel to real life. people in real life tend to relapse a few times before getting better, that's what i see the Tantibus as- Lunas form of relapse into her self-hate and depression.
I actually can relate to the fact that luna is punishing herself. I am a person who does feel a lot of regret about things that don't really matter, internally beating myself up about it a lot for a long while. So I can understand that luna would punish herself this badly as what she has done, considering how bad it was.
Oh adding on to this the only thing I don't really like is how quickly she got over her regret, it's really hard to just decide to forgive yourself, but I'm used to quick redemptions and the like in this show by now
As someone who suffers from depression Luna's actions in creating the Tantabus make alot sense to me. Mentally hurting one self for no reason may seem odd to a healthy mind, but to a mind that is weakened in some way due to mental illness or trauma (Like Luna's clearly is), it's a fact of life. The subconscious prays on the conscious mind and convinces itself of horrible things, even if the conscious part of the mind is screaming it's not true. One may take steps to present a collected happy face but there's always this nagging voice doubting your every action. This is doubly true when one is alone in bed. There's no one to talk to, nothing to drive the thoughts away that will help you get a peaceful sleep. It sucks but it's something one has to live with.
Because sometimes people dislike themselves so much that they do masochistic things and rationalize it as penance. I know I do it, and because of that I was able to identify with and identify the emotions she is feeling. I thought it was a very poignant message about the inability to forgive oneself.
Depression can take many forms and for Luna it's no different. Even if we conquer some demons, others can still remain. A highly relatable episode in my opinion /)
This whole time I think of it as the "Kid friendlyish" of Cutting. When your around people who do this. They act unusual, similar to Luna. They will try to improve, but will still punish them self with the pain that isn't needed. It shows that people do care and don't want them to suffer.
+Blazetailx Realm Exactly! Sorry I just jumped in, but I was about to go on a rant how this is perfect parallel for self-harm, and how fast it can get out of hand. On outside, you try to act like nothing is wrong, act all peppy and hide the scars, which easily miss-leads those around you. Or if they know, they will turn the blind eye and act like nothing is wrong. It takes sometimes years from people to notice these things, and hell... okay this might go into "Too much info" territory, and might make some people uncomfy, but here goes: I am self-harmer. It's something I have been battling against for... gosh, at least 6 years? My family would've never figured it out if it wasn't for one of my out bursts in phone where I screamed that I might as well cut the veins next time, and even then it took them a year to hear about it. And before anyone freaks out, yes I am getting help for it. Wouldn't had gone as far as it did if I hadn't been pulled out of therapy by my family in the first place but hey, how they were supposed to know what I did on my own time. I cannot stress how easily it is to let these things get out of hand. What might start as a simple cut that doesn't even really break the skin or bleed, might very well become severely infected wounds that leave lasting scars in span of a year. Yet no one KNOWS what is going on, unless they get to SEE the effects or acts first. Luna's up-beat attitude outside this has been a facade so far - she does this to keep people from seeing how much help she really does need. Ugh sorry I started to rant here for ya, I've been wanting to yell these words to any reviewer for months now and.. I just kinda finally snapped. Sorry. I needed to get this out of my system.
+DogiCrimson I'm glad to see you admitting to fault however going into super personal detail isn't necessary to make a point (I have dealt with the same things dm me if you want to talk)
+Robin Coolidge this is why I love this episode. It shows that even a Children show can show such deep messages that stain memories. I hope you recover too.
+DogiCrimson You made your point stronger wit some relativeness. For you to speak without it, it would haven't had proven your point to its fulliest. Either way, I hope that you get better and enjoy your lives. Take care!
Admittedly, after reading some of the comics, I'm liable to believe that Celestia and Cadence are not the perfect princesses that everyone seems to think they are. They can just hide it better. Heck, Celestia's had over a thousand years to cultivate her mask. But between her soured relationship with Starswirl, her love interest with Sombra that ended in heartbreak and her near death, her sister betraying and attacking her, Sunset Shimmer betraying her trust and running away to seek her own power and goals... I think Celestia is far from as "perfect" and serene as everyone seems to make her out to be. She can just hide it better.
This is where the controversial topic of self harm comes in. When a character real or fake feels that they have not made amends for their actions they go out of their way to help others while internalizing their own feelings. Owning up to those self crimes is hard and forgiving yourself is even harder. Speaking as a person recovering from depression it has taken me over 2 years to forgive myself for the simplest of mistakes. Do princesses dream of magic sheep resonates with me personally as a symbol of hope for anyone going through depression that if you work to forgive yourself you can get through anything. It will take a lot more time than this episode provides (then again most endings are rushed) but it can be done. To anyone going through depression see this as a message from someone who still struggles with the same problem - you can make it through this
Luna's self-inflictment actually reminds me of how someone with depression would act/behave. Even if they're helpful to others and seem happy in public, they're hiding their inner pain and tormenting themselves when others aren't around. The depressed oftentimes don't seek help, just like Luna refusing to even tell her own sister about her pain. They choose to suffer through that pain alone because they don't see themselves as good enough to warrant help. She's only able to get through it after her closest friends stage an impromptu intervention when she's near the breaking point, forcing her to see that she is worth more than she realized.
+Casey Clark Thanks, and glad you enjoyed the video! I hope to be able to produce some original content soon! Many thanks to Silver Quill for giving me this collaboration opportunity.
Self-harm doesn't always stop when others have accepted you or you've been able to return to 'life as normal'. That's why I don't think this episode was poorly timed, I think it was good to show how people can still carry guilt and shame even after it seems the cause is resolved. I also don't think Luna ever thought the Tantabus would escape and threaten the world which is also an analogy to how self harmers don't always see what they do hurts people around them too.
The thing I think needs to be discussed about the Tantabus and Luna is it's direct correlations to serious depression. Self-punishment is often found with major depressive disorder. Feelings that one is inherently bad and must be punished. Since Luna has the guilt of Nightmare Moon to guide her it makes sense that these feelings linger in here. Depression isn't often an illness that is cured and done with. It's entirely possible given all she's been through Luna may suffer from chronic depression. This mental illness helped drive her towards being a nightmare, lashing out because she felt helpless and unworthy. The same force that then drives her to create the Tantabus. I doubt she really understood that it could escape from her dreams, particularly since she never anticipated the ponies in her life to become close to her to the point where they would break into her dreams. Yes it's been an entire year of growth but as I already said depression is often a chronic struggle. Some people get really good at wearing a mask and jumping through hoops. She's taken great steps into repairing her relationship with her subjects but that doesn't necessarily equal getting better mentally. I've always had amazing friends in my life and yet my depression has nearly caused me to commit suicide. Furthermore Celestia is not in a position where she can take all the time necessary to coax the truth from her sister. I have no doubt she provides as much active support as possible, but if Luna doesn't want to be helped then there's just nothing anybody could do. Any therapist can tell you that in order to help a patient that patient has to WANT to get better. Until the Mane Six had that heart to heart with Luna she was still in a place where she felt she needed to tackle her problems alone, and that she deserved whatever she's schemed up for herself. But most important of all I think this episode has an amazing moral to teach kids. The moral of self-forgiveness and moving on. When you make a big mistake it can be really hard to move forward, sometimes the act alone could lead to depression with all of it's scary baggage. One of the first steps to getting better is telling yourself that it's okay for you TO get better. By moving on Luna can only grow to be a better pony and ruler.
+Rosie Sievers (rigifan32) While I don't have any of my own content produced quite yet, I hope to in the future, and would appreciate your subscription regardless :) Glad you enjoyed the video; it's always fun working with Silver Quill!
I actually see Luna's internal battle with the Tantabus from a less literal context than what is said in the episode: when I first watched it, I perceived the Tantabus a magical form of emotional self-harming that arises from guilt and is perpetuated by the presence of depression. Luna feels so bad about what she did as Nightmare Moon that she feels the need to punish herself as she said, but I thought the reason it became so serious is that she might be struggling with that mental illness, which to me explains why we haven't seen her so distraught in the CMC episodes: people with depression can seem perfectly normal to an outside observer, when in reality they are constantly beating themselves up for one thing or another. It's only when those feelings were able to harm others that Luna realized how truly destructive her emotional punishment was and the Tantabus only grew as she continued to hate herself for causing such harm. It was only with the support of those close to her that she was able to drive those feelings back...and find a measure of peace. I love how Luna forgave herself at the end of the episode, yet I somehow get the feeling that this isn't the end of her struggling with her past and her darker emotions. In all honesty, I would be a little disappointed if the show doesn't address her still having these feelings after this one moment of triumph because one does not simply "get over" serious emotional injury. But now, there is hope in our Lovely Princess of the Night and at the end of the day, that's what really matters.
punishing yourself for things you perceive you've done is a very real thing people do to themselves. And it's a thing you can very easily misinterpret if you don't have first hand experience with it. I applaud the show for taking this risk.
+Amy Gonzalez I like Luna Because i can relate to her honestly i know what it feels like to be over shadowed by someone else and i think every one has that familiar feeling
I was going to write a long ranting comment on the main review about how there are those out there that punish themselves unnecessarily for past mistakes long after they should have forgiven themselves and how that can be doubly true when everyone they have wronged has forgiven them. But this video has satisfied me. Guilt and self loathing are powerful forces and when you realize that her actions make sense.
... Why does Cadence need the umbrella when she has wings? I agree with my puppy paw brethren. While Silver may see Luna's recent positive actions as reason for her guilt subsiding he is making the assumption that Luna herself sees her actions in the same light that her fanboys do. It is far more likely that she does not see the good that she does and if pointed out would not see it as anything extraordinary. Also if she is anything like me... she might be afraid to forgive herself. Afraid that if she forgets what she's done she'll allow it to happen again. Afraid that no matter what good she does there is still that darkness that she has to keep at bay. Afraid that if she DOES allow herself to see the good she does she will become careless and slip back into old habits and hurt ponies once again. So she will live her life in as much light as she can while not allowing herself to relax for fear her old ways will take over. And as does tend to happen often the path we take to prevent something only quickens its inevitable recycle. In trying to prevent herself from hurting others she has only succeeded in hurting others more. A sentiment that I can relate to whole heartedly.
I love the song lullaby for princess The melody he cut to has the lyrics: carry the piece and the coolness of night and carry my sorrow in kind Luna your loved so much more than you know may troubles be far from your miiind and forgive me for being so bliiind
some people over analyze the episodes, like Lilly peet, and because of that they end up seeing something that's really not there. and I think that's the problem. this episode was pretty good, was funny, was entertaining and it has a beautiful and nice lesson. but then these people came and started taking it too seriously and simply ruined the whole thing. why can they just watch the episodes and enjoy them and start pretending they're reviewers when most of the time, they only show that they don't know what they're talking about. silver Quill is the only one who always gives a real and unbiased analysis, he never let his emotions take over or starts screaming and ranting randomly and nonsensically.
Gian Song yim They can only if that opinions are well founded, when you're actually analyzing and comparing objectively the episode or the movie or the show or whatnot. You can easily tell when a person knows what they're talking about, they give smart arguments, professional opinion etc, cause they have experience and something to back up what they're saying, and that's called credibility. Silver Quill is the only one in my opinion who has it. Let me ask you something, how do you know what's good and what's garbage?? Compared to what?? You need experience watching the best movies, shows, etc. But if you haven't seen the best, how are you going to know the worse?? I see these people claiming to know they're experts, but they have never seen sandfield, friends, etc, and have never seen the best movies. Then how are they going to know what's good acting, good writing, how are they going to discern a good Character from a bad one, a good episode from a bad one
+Yinyanyeow I don't get why people feel the need to bring up Undertale everywhere. It was a great game. But it doesn't need to be mentioned everywhere.
YoshiXII Blame my feed getting an explosion of it when I didn't want it. Yea...not easy to keep it down. Nelson Demifur Isn't it as scary as some of the stuff Silver gets into?
I enjoy Luna a lot. Take Lullaby for a Princess as cannon and seeing her grow to help other ponies is very good character development. As I see it, the Tantabus was creates by Luna on purpose, but she never expected it to harm others. She most likely created it back when the show first started and has kept it hidden because I know first hand that when you're feeling down, the last thing you want to do is burden others. Now this is the piece that I think the reviewers are all missing. This show is for kids. Season 5 has done a FANTASTIC job of getting back to a theme about friendship and true problem solving. This episode is a lesson about guilt and forgiving yourself. Whether or not you like Luna, this message should be understood as a part of her character growth. For Luna or anyone to move past something as big as this type of guilt is so so important. I see Luna as such a strong character for being part of the world of ponies even while facing her own problems.
"Celestia can't help, she has no power in the dream world." From the moment it was said in the episode, I've called bullshit. Even if she has no power, simply being there for Luna would have been enough. Celestia is supposed to be the closest person to Luna on a personal level, and yet Luna chooses not to tell Celestia about her problems, completely ignoring that that was the mistake that led to the creation of Nightmare Moon in the first place. Had Luna gone to Celestia and told her she was still feeling guilty, Celestia would have done everything in her power to insure Luna got the help she needed. And how do you think poor Celestia feels about all of this? Luna basically told Celestia that she couldn't trust her to help with the guilt she was feeling. Celestia was probably heart broken by that. Yes, Luna has a lot of potential to be a good and interesting character and her backstory could lead to an epic yet tragic episode, but that's not what happened. Lullaby for a Princess only highlights how much Luna's potential in the show has been absolutely squandered. The fans care more about Luna then the show runners, and I LOATH that. All three of the princesses aside from Twiligth have massive potential to be the most interesting characters in the show. Characters that have been around for generations, who have had to watch the world change around them or lived in a time before the modern era or who came into their own by simply being the best they could be. They deserve the attention in the show proper that fans have been giving them. I should not have to depend on other bronies, talented writers and artists as they might be, to find joy in a character. The show comes first in my eyes, and if you can't make her likeable there, then what's the point?
+Xain Russell - Sometimes even being present in one's life and getting a person help isn't enough. Luna is still fairly distant in both attitude, action, and choices from pretty much every current day pony. After being saved all the way back in season 1 Luna has understood she did wrong, and feels immense guilt over the threat she brought to her subjects, and the various pains she brought upon her sister. Celestia can tell Luna "You are forgiven." till she turns blue in the face, and it might not mean squat in Luna's mind. To Luna up until this point she had committed something unforgivable. Because of her actions Celestia had to bare the personal shame of imprisoning her little sister, and shoulder the burden of 2 celestial objects and the protection of an entire kingdom on her own for a long time. Because of this, and the fact Celestia welcomed her back without a bit of scorn or punishment, but instead showed nothing but love and caring, Luna had nothing to clear the shame. She sees her big sister as to kind and forgiving, thus any words of forgiveness would be meaningless. Now instead we have Twilight, a character she has fought against, and learned alongside, giving her the words of forgiveness and hope. Compared to Celestia, Twilight is a more neutral party, and thus less likely to spout biased, mommy sorrys.
Lin2Waterfall AND that's the point! If we are saying that NM And Luna are different people (Despite NOT benig different people, just a different personality), then why would Luna feel bad about that stuff that her darker counteraprt did if it wasn't really her fault. BUT if we keep that both are the same...NM didn't really get to do much since the moment after she went nuts, Celestia sent her sister to the moon before anyone innocent was injured or worse. When she came back, she came CLOSE to really harming 6 innocent young women who wanted to help their monarch, but still. They were mostly unsathed and saved her and even beacme her friends. People feared Nightmare Moon for over 1000 years because she wasn't killed, she was just locked up and they grew fearful of her return until she was just pushed into something for scaring kids on a candy-givingh oliday.
Tbh, I love this episode more than any other episode, mostly because of the feeling I got from the episode. To me, it's uplifting and Luna's conflict and issues in the episode resonate with me on a personal level.
+ShadowWriter45 Well other then the one time she got kidnapped, she been all so flawless, never falls o presure, never has issues. a perefct toy to sell to kids. I mean evne in the yak episode she coudln' have helped but nope that be doing something. *princess spike* cough cough
+ShadowWriter45 I think it's more that we haven't seen enough of her to learn what her faults and struggles are. The same's true with Celestia to some extent. While we've had stories focused on Luna and (obviously) Twilight, Celestia and Cadence as of yet haven't gotten much story time focused on them as characters.
+Andrew Meyer That is true, in terms of the tv show. The reason I say she isn't perfect, just like I would say about many other characters in this show is with one word: Comics. I know the comics aren't cannon. but I think the comics are bringing out the personalities that people are looking for in Celestia, Cadence, and other characters that have been dismissed as perfect, not getting enough screen time, or needed more time to flesh out their character. To me, just saying a character in a show and anime is perfect because they don't have flaws or haven't suffered by something isn't entirely fair because we might see something like this later or the writers have a plan and we will see it soon. However, you have to take into account that certain characters have a personality set for them to the point that seeing some sort of development is going to be tricky because they aren't the main characters of the show. The main characters of the show as a whole are going to develop. Secondary characters barely or never get development because they are not the main focus of the show and it doesn't revolve around them. What I'm trying to say is, characters like Cadence have an established personality that is meant to be that way and not focus on an arc that is going to make them better or seem flawed. But you also have to take into account that main characters go through obstacles that is considered character development, but we rarely ever see it used again unless it is meant to be used for someone else; an example being Fluttershy.
+ShadowWriter45 Well it's moreso that she's praised for extremely little effort. Celestia does constant work, even if offscreen. That much is made apparent. Luna is constantly watching over the night, if not thwarting evil, then helping ponies in their dreams. Even Twilight is doing things like arranging conventions and setting up meetings with another country to establish diplomatic relationships. A country, I might add, that Cadence lives RIGHT NEXT TO. It was stated from Cadence's own mouth that she is bored living in the Crystal Empire, and we saw an entire episode where she had to be prettied up while the mane 6 did all the actual work. Even when the time comes where she could step up and do something, like in Princess Spike, she doesn't. I'm not going to say she does absolutely nothing, but everything she's contributed has had almost minimal effort on her part, and yet everyone in the show loves her.
Glad that both of you took the time to make this other opinion video to go along with the main epsiode. Good points Grand Pause, and I hope you get a lot of followers/fans.
I love Luna, but after watching these videos. I've begun to change my mind. As much as I hate how Sun Butt acts, Moon Butt seems to be a suicidal teenager. I hope in the near future, she has an episode where she can save the day without the fandom's sympathy backing her up. But that might be a while. Hiatuses are torture.
Thank you for making this supplement, I like you Silver Quill and a bunch of other fans had loved Princess Luna, more so than the other Princess's and I didn't really know why except the fact that she was different from other Princess's in this show and in other things like Disney movies, so you talking more about Luna in this way makes me realize that everything you said is true and are the reasons why I personally love Luna. So thank you. :)
Silver, I love your stuff. You always make me smile when I see you on screen, mainly because you are such a derp and have a quality I myself have: the ability to make a joke out of a something regardless of what the situation is. A good example, I tried to help my friend cope with the fact Snape's actor died. I made a joke about how one of his potions messed up most likely. He smiled wide and was able to move past, despite being sad that he died.
I really liked what you had to say Grand Pause. Not just your support for my favorite princess,but the humor,and good nature you brought in this review. I look forward to it if you start doing your own reviews on the show, and I hope you will do more collabs in the future you have defenetly showed you are talented at reviewing. Congratulations you earned yourself another subscriber! :-) Bro-Hoof and God bless.
the whole "A character can take on more meaning than even the writers envisioned" line is what I strive for in my writing. I don't plan my stories ahead, maybe I do, and maybe it turns out how I wanted it to be, but I want my readers to get different perspectives all from one character. My main character, Shadow Dancer, may seem at times a childish 32 year old mutant, but at other times, she is so serious it freaks her friends out because they're used to her childish ways. And at times, she ends up like Luna, wrapped in the guilt of a past mistake that lead to a whole lot of pain for her and her friends around her. I want my readers to come away from her story and my others with mixed meanings. I strove so that Shadow Dancer and my other characters seem so human, though they're superheroes, ponies, cats, and wolfs.
My personal headcanon in lullaby for a princess is that Celestia had dyed her Mane somehow but wielding all the elements purged it and she didn't redye it because it reminded her of Luna and it hurt
I feel that the best way to complete Luna's character arc would be if something happened that knocked Celestia out for a day or two or even just incapacitated her so that Luna would have to take on a shortened version of what's Celestia to go through for 1000 years
Really excellent work with showing the different viewpoints, and you nailed it with the reason why Luna is so identifiable. She truly is a gem among the other princesses. I've related to her struggle with regret for past actions in my life; and wouldn't be surprised if she listens to some heavy metal music to numb the pain as well. (Someone please make a PMV) Thanks to everyone involved for making this review! NSH.
Bravo, Grand Pause. I appreciate that you brought your perspective forward because I think you're right, that Luna's Tantibus is not really all that ridiculous for her to have at this point in the show. Some people have a tendency to beat themselves up over their past even while in the midst of trying to help others. I liked that this episode made it a point to show viewers that guilting yourself over your past doesn't do you any good.
Nice to see this supplment to the original review, which I think really missed the mark. I think Grand Pause really picked up on what the show meant to say about Luna's inner turmoil in this episode. Forgiving ourseleves our own past transgressions and mistakes is sometimes much more difficult to do than obtaining the forgivness of others.
Personally I think Celestia should have shown up in the dream at the end to try to reassure Luna. Luna: "But you have no power here! Get out, you're in danger." Celestia: "I may have no power in the world of dreams, but I am not here as the princess of day; I am here as your sister." Maybe even Celestia having no wings or horn in dreamland.
Personally, this episode really struck a chord with me. I often degrade myself for many past mistakes and regrets, yet often I find myself trying to help others when they are in a bad spot. People seem to come to me advice, yet just as often I find it hard to follow my own advice. Too often I succumb to self loathing, that periodically goes to dangerous lows. That's where my friends from Fire Team Harmony really step in and help me not feel so terrible about myself.
First Off, different people punish themselves in different ways. For example, when I screw up and put a rubber band on my wrist and snap it everytime I screw that thing I screwed up befpre a second or third time. I'n harming myself, yes yet I eventually move on with it. Luna might be the same, except on a much grander scale. She terrified people as Nightmare Moon and I feel like the way she handled it would be the best way to handle it. Most friends I asked (Yes, I asked friends at school ablut this situation) Said that they would've just wallowed in their own sadness or worse. One is you mentally berate yourself and come up with harsher and harsher things to say, without listening to what others say about you, whether it be good or bad. One is you have the same memory repeating time and time again, punishing you for the one thing and making sure you know never to do it again. Second Off, What I feel striked me as odd is that no one I've seen review this episode bring in the idea of "Maybe Luna never saw hpw she affected other Ponies after her other episodic appearances" She just gives advice to lighten up their dream and leaves. Thats it from what I have seen, its never been revealed that Luna actually knows what good she did to thst pony's or other ponies' days or lives.
this is why I love the analyst fandom! I try to speak about my views in any other fandom, including the ones outsides the brony fandom, I get ignored or no one cares. here people actually like when you do that! I wish I had proper equipment but I don't think anyone would watch anyway. not with so many others already doing it. perhaps on deviantart? I don't know. by the way you got me sil! that Mary Poppins reference made me laugh not just smile!
The pink mane comes from a headcanon that Celestia didn't have a rainbow mane until she harnessed the Elements by herself, without Luna, since she was using them against Luna.
Lullaby for a princess made me cry, and I sing it on the school bus! And if you look at the very first picture of Celestia, in the book that Twilight is reading in the first episode, she does have pink hair. 😎🤘🏻
I would like to submit my view based on what was being said. As Mr. Quill and Mr. Paws stated we all have fallen short in our lives. But there is a psychological aspect to this. Sometimes the guilt of your failures depending on how deep it was can cause deep seeded emotional damage to not only the victims of your actions but also to the person who wronged. Now I am not a psychologist nor deal with people and their problems. That's more of Dr. Wolf's domain. But coming from a standpoint of someone who has made choices I deeply regret, it causes a lingering taint inside. The thing is, is that princess Luna has an obligation. She's a princess of the night and royalty. She has her job to do so she pushes the feelings and emotions down and going about her day. But the emotions and feelings of guilt are still there. And everyone has done this at some point in their lives. Acted like nothing was wrong, while inside their guilt and pain were clawing at the I side to get out to the surface. What I am saying is that princess Luna is suffering from deep bipolar depression from the guilt of her past. She is unable to or maybe doesn't understand how to rid herself of her guilt but hides it the minute someone is around for fearing of hurting some pony else. What if all the episodes leading to this one were of Luna acting like everything was alright? I feel Luna like myself and many others who suffers from this see problem feel that the only way to deal with the problems inside is to hide them and say nothing instead of coming out with them. There is another aspect of this as well. Fear, being afraid to speak out on your mistakes because of the possible backlash it could cause. She's afraid of how others see her. Possibly she feels there are still ponies who hold a grudge against her for what she's done or even her sister herself. Bit as he was shown this was entirely untrue. Sometimes if not most, the most difficult person to show forgiveness for your mistakes is yourself. Only because of the deep emotional damage and the guilt you caused others and yourself. I know this is TL/DR but it's just how I felt at the time as scattered as my thoughts are some times. I hope it's alright. Laters...
How i see it, from personal experience. It doesnt matter how much praise you get how much assurance that its ok . Some people will continue to punish and torture themselves because they believe that no matter what theyre not ok with themselves and what theyve done. People will promise you its ok but in your head all you think about is that its not and you have to torture yourself for it. This is how I perceived luna in this episode . Shes not my favorite princess but i can relate to her alot in this episode
it might have been worth mentioning that self harmis a way some people try to deal with their problems which is exactly what luna was doing, hurting herself trying to solve her problem
Luna now appears to stay awake during both the night and half the day. Considering all those day events throughout the show and the breakfasts with Celestia. I'm surprised she isn't suffering from insomnia.
I do wish to see more of the princesses to see how they'll grow. Well, not as much cadence, because she's to perfect for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I like her, but to perfect. And we need a Celestia central episode especially.
I can connect to Luna a lot. I have had a lot of times where I keep looking at the past and seeing my failure even if I am moving forward in other ways like improving my art. That has kept be back. I have blown my failures out of proportion to the point where it feels like it will swallow me whole. It is only when someone tells me the truth and I take a step back that I realize I have the control and am able to defeat the fears myself.
I find Luna's self-harm through the use of the Tantabus to be very realistic. People who self-harm often can do so, even while making positive movements in their life. Luna feels so guilty that she'd chosen to keep up the decision even when changing for the positive. And this is just my opinion on the matter, as I've struggled with self-harm, too.
I agree with Grand Pause on this one, for me, Luna created the Tantabus to punish herself because of too much humility : she believed other ponies out there didn't forgive her, and she didn't want to forgive herself before they do.
The tantibus is Luna's version of cutting her wrists, Neither self nightmares nor self cutting is healthy and very dangerous to you and others. By cutting yourself you cause stress to friends and family to worry about your health and try to help you, the tantibus is the kid friendly version of this. But when a person begins to cut themselves they will hide it and avoid talking, with luna it was only when it escaped and she had no choice but to talk with those she hurt directly with her own self harming. But by talking to someone despite not wanting to is what people with depression need, Luna could easily avoid speaking with Celestia but having the tantibus attacking dreams and locking luna into a spot where she must speak she was able to be told what she needed.therapy for depression takes a long time as the emotions and thoughts hurting you are rooted deeply inside you all of what Luna has done up until this point are those steps to recovery. being accepted and helping others, starting to rebuild your love for yourself with this since you know you are doing something worth wild but just this won't make you better. You need to accept that you make mistakes both small and big ones, while it sounds easy it's not.
I had about the same impression about this episode :D Thanks I am not the only one.
And personally I think that Luna didn't tell the truth or ommited some details, when she said, that her sister couldn't do anything. Maybe she kept it to herself, harmed herself - this could go likely for a year or even longer I think...
Then some unpredicted mishap - the Tantibus escapes. But to keep it low, she doesn't go to Celestia but tries to get it herself under controll...
Most Agreed! I've only almost committed self harm, but I do tend to overly punish myself for mistakes I have made. That's what I think a lot of MLP analysts miss. The idea that human punish themselves for reasons unknown to other's around them. Making myself feel worthless and less deserving for no apparent reason made a lot of sense to me, even if did not make any logical sense based on the general consensus that all creatures are entitled to the same fair treatment we expect to given to ourselves.
Also hurting herself in secret while maintaining a facade of normality for more than a year is quite possible. At least it was for me.
@@robertnett9793 does this mean luna cab acses celestias dreams? If she has no power at night, she would have no protection if luna.. er went bad... of was possessed. Also luna has crazy power, I mean she could keep her enimys asleep, or possibly invade there day dreams and take over there minds, or drive them insane.... I'm not joking about this. I love luna.... but she has power! !!
I agree. I have no depression but my family has a history of it. I know alot about it. But though I'm glad they adressed depression, I wish they put it before her real development. If It was Before the Crusader episodes, this would make more sence .
I wish this one was shown before. At least then we wouldn't have this cortridiction.
If evil Dr. Wolf ever gets control of Kaiju Derpy, we're screwed.
On a more serious note, it was smart to have two videos with a different guest on each side of the fence.
So, I don't know if anyone will read this, but I think the concept of depression and self harm gets pushed aside too quickly while discussing this episode. Child depression is a real thing, and many kids commit self harm without realizing the consequences. Luna was surprised when the Tantabus got out. I think she willingly created it and punished herself, but like many who engage in self harm, didn't see the long effects. Most don't realize how much loved ones would fear for them and be hurt by their own self harm, and this is especially true of children, the viewers. So instead of pretending that isn't an issue, they showed that self-harm and loathing can hurt you and those around you. They also asked all who are suffering to trust loved ones. A real and often effective tactic. Her positive steps also make sense in this context as they could arguably be driven by the same will to repent and be worthy of forgiveness.
Depression runs strong in my family. I was diagnosed at 18, but at that time I was also informed I had been exhibiting symptoms since 3rd grade, including self harm. I didn't cut, but I would pull my hair out or bite myself. I had no idea that other people had these feelings or how to cope. Nowadays, this episode made me cry and led to a long discussion with my fiancee, but I wonder if I had seen this episode, or something like it when I was younger, if I wouldn't have gotten help sooner.
Wow..... you are incredable. .... thank you for writing this.
o.o i am the same as u were when ur in 3rd grade i don't cut but i do those things..
For me, the addition of negativity that Silver Quill thinks is out of place is actually a brilliant depiction of what Luna has to go through. I was drawn to Luna because like her, I made a huge mistake when I was younger that hurt people; it was the kind of mistake where I honestly feel that I don't deserve to be forgiven, even if others do. When you have that kind of mistake following you around in the back of your mind, your life becomes a quest for redemption that lasts forever.
You try so hard to be a good person that when you fail even a little, the world comes crashing down. You surround yourself with people and smile while improving yourself like Luna with Ponyville. But when you're left by yourself, you end up wandering into the scariest part of your mind, where you have to face your mistake over and over again just so you can feel yourself cry.
It's a twisted kind of depression, where the people who suffer it choose not to end it even when they know how to solve it. They both crave forgiveness and push it away because they can't forgive themselves. It goes deeper than just "everybody makes mistakes" and move on. It's the fact that you did something so horrible that if someone else did the same to you, you wouldn't forgive them. You have to accept that at one point in your life you were a terrible person to start forgiving yourself, but then it becomes a contradiction. If you did something so bad, how can you possiblely be good? So you just stop at "you're a bad person" and start punishing yourself for it.
The key word here is "deserve." You feel you "deserve" this punishment for having put others through it. You feel you don't "deserve" forgiveness. Luna created the nightmare because she felt she "deserved" it . See the pattern? Even with the repentance argument that it should be used to improve oneself, the internal argument becomes that if you engrave the shame of that mistake into yourself permanently, you will never make that mistake again even by accident.
And yet, despite knowing exactly what's going on inside my brain for this to happen, I still can't forgive myself. I doubt Luna can either. It's a sadness that lasts a lifetime, and this episode was probably meant to address that even with Luna's accomplishments, she still needs to learn to forgive herself. If MLP knows how to end the madness, I'd love to hear it.
The Tantibus being a creation of Luna is a stroke of genius for the developers to have done, in my opinion. How I see it, the conflict between Luna and the Tantibus is reminiscent of famous saying:
"We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell." ~ Oscar Wiljava
We can be our own worst enemies at times. We, like Luna, can still hold unto guilt for having done something or had failed to do something in our past. We can each create our own personal hell or "Tantibus". So I very much like the concept of the Tantibus being a creation of Luna.
Self loathing is a feeling difficult to understand for those who haven't experienced it. The concept of looking in a mirror and seeing the face of the person you hate more then anyone else looking back at you is probably outright alien to most people, but believe me when I say it can drive you to do senseless and horrible things to yourself.
It can get you to overlook all the good you do, all the smiles you bring, and all the friends you have. It can throw every action into a negative light. It's pretty easy to put on a mask around friends and loved ones, yet still absolutely hate what you are inside and that feeling can eat you alive. It is irrational, because it's hatred and most hate is irrational.
Speaking from experience I can easily see why, despite all the good she's done and all the growing she's gone through, Luna might have created a monster to "punish" herself. Real people can't make monsters, but the Tantabus is a *very* familiar beast for those of us who have fought similar demons.
Thanks Silver for such an awesome collab! It's great to see the differing opinions this episode can bring out, and the ways the people connect with characters in shows like MLP.
Grand Pause, BAD! BAD GRAND PAUSE! NO RICKROLLING SILVER QUILL/ SLENDERMANE'S SENPAI! BAD GRAND PAUSE, BAD!
A very worthwhile discussion, as per usual Silver. I'm afraid the video I made won't be quite enough to match when it gets released, as you've covered a few points I was hoping to bring to the table. Still, I believe there is more that can be discussed about Luna and the Tantibus. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
+DRWolf001 hello doc
+DRWolf001 I look forward to seeing it, Dr.!
+DRWolf001 Will you be covering the idea that her inability to forgive herself could be parallel to many mental illnesses, where just because it's obvious doesn't mean the person afflicted will believe you?
+DRWolf001 I think there's more that can be discussed about Luna and the Tantibus as well. lightningbro already mentioned the inability to forgive oneself being parallel to mental illness, such as depression and anxiety, and that is such an important aspect to bring up because many people struggle with the exact same thing. But that also brings up how people are resistant to the idea of self-compassion because people who have done wrong in the past don't believe to be deserving of self-compassion. Also, I think that the Tantibus is a metaphor for how our suppressed negative emotions can manifest into something that takes a life of its own and impacts our life and the lives of the people around us negatively. I don't think that the Tantibus was created intentionally, as Voice of Reason seemed to imply in the previous video which sparked his own frustration with Luna as a character (and, oddly enough, his frustration shows how frustrated we can be with the people in our own lives who live with mental illness and who have a tendency to beat themselves up over their mistakes!). But just because Luna created it, even if she said that it was created as a reminder of her past sins, doesn't mean that she meant for the creature to manifest into something tangible to begin with. Luna's magic, as a princess, is extraordinary, so it is possible that her own internal guilt was debilitating her, so the creature manifested from her magic in order to lighten her mental load so she could continue to live life. This represents what we do when we suppress our own emotions - the more we do it, and the more we try to ignore our negative emotions, the more likely it is to manifest into something that we don't actually want. And in Luna's case, her guilt LITERALLY manifested from her magic into a powerful creature that she felt had to be contained in order to not wreak havoc.
Now, I'm just a big pony fan and a big fandom consumer with a big heart for emotional growth and healthy mental and emotional well-being. I don't have any videos of my own (yet) and I'm not a famous pony fan by any means. But, if you want to poke my brain a little more, and/or if you need a sounding board for your own ideas, let me know. I'm happy to help.
+DRWolf001 Luna is realtible compared to her "Mary-sue" like sister,Celestia. Its EASY for many people to like her just for that reason alone. Plus, she also has that "Dark Beauty" thing going for her as well.
That joke involving the Past Sins fanfic was well timed and made me smile like a complete doof.
Sometimes I wonder why people get so angry about Luna "punishing herself" for her wrongdoings. Elsa did this for the entirety of Frozen and she illicits sympathy from fans
No she didn't. She didn't torture herself for he past sin, she just followed what her horrible parents told he to. To close herself off from the rest of the world until she gets control of her powers.
jthedog Pay attention to Elsa's vocabulary. After her parents died she shut herself away to protect others from herself. She ran away to spend the rest of her life in isolation so that everyone would be safe from her. Though her parent's perpetuated this philosophy it was still Elsa's choice to hurt herself so that she wouldn't hurt anyone else again.
+Moonlitwatersofaqua
She wasn't really hurting herself, just went fuck it and decided to live in the mountains after her secret got out, she was smiling throughout the song.
+Moonlitwatersofaqua and yet it was her parents that lead her to be ashamed of her gifts the trolls said to CONTROL it NOT try to forget you even have it and feel bad that you have it. They planted the seed that lead to her depression at that point it wasn't her choice, she was too far into her self hate
***** Does that change that she still tried to hurt herself to avoid doing harm to others? No it does not.
I'm going to be blunt here. I have felt guilty and ashamed of something for 13 years straight and punish myself for it and no one has known about it until I tell them. So it is really believable for Luna to do the same for a year.
I did initially feel that the reveal of the Tantabus was badly timed as well. However, if I compared Luna's use of the Tantabus to self-harm and the possible emotional motivations behind it, I began to think it made more sense. Even if a person is having a serious emotional problem (being so revolted by their failings and so afraid that they will fail again that they feel the need to inflict pain and distress on themselves as a constant reminder not to let that happen), the people around them often have no idea. What do they always say every time someone does something extreme? "I never would have thought ... they always seemed so normal." It actually make me feel it more to think that even the ponies closest to her, like her sister, never realized that she was hurting herself.
And no, it doesn't make logical sense that Luna still feels this way even so long after returning to herself. But it does make emotional sense. As far as she's concerned, the progress she's made is hardly anything in comparison to what she owes Equestria, because she's overstated NMM's impact on her country to the nth degree. Left to her own devices, she may never have stopped feeling like she deserved what the Tantabus was doing to her.
The only problem, as far as I'm concerned, with Luna's having created the creature consciously as opposed to unconsciously is this: if she made the thing from scratch all on her own, why doesn't she know the first thing about it? Why is she surprised when it escapes? Why does she think that it's feeding on dreams, and a big dramatic reveal is needed before she realizes it's actually feeding on her own guilt? Why did she allow herself to dream about the Mane 6, unless she didn't even know that it would put them in danger? And here's the kicker: if she knew that it could possibly escape, and her entire goal with creating it was to prevent the ponies from being in danger, why would she make it at all?
All these questions can be answered by saying that she created it unconsciously and therefore its creation was a total accident and she knows nothing about the thing other than the fact that its torturing her. And then, she chooses to do nothing about the creature because she thinks she deserves to be tortured.
Damn, that's dark.
You know, I have so much to say that maybe I should just make my own video instead of writing a wall of text down here, because oh Luna, I could go ON.
I think most of us have had the thought of making a video about this chapter. It has so much material to be discussed.
A year is rather short amount of time you know. Especially when it comes to mental health issues. In many ways she suffered trauma and recovery takes time.
Creating the Tantabus is similar to people with depression or trauma turning to substance abuse. You know it is bad for you and outward you might seem fine but it is still something you turn to. Heck, comfort eating is similar.
I can see it being designed by conscious thought, heavily effected by sub-conscious, and then slowly getting worse without her realizing. From there a part of her refused to accept that she had less control then she thought thus not thinking about parts two and three of its development as possible/of note
Something everybody forgets is that people DO get mentally locked in a "I messed up, I am at fault, I messed up, I'm at fault..." loop.
I know that from experience, and I think the people who hate this episode have never been there, and don't know anyone they consciously realize was there.
One thing I can say about Luna is that she has some fantastic taste in declaration. I mean between her bedroom, her dream and remodeling of the Castle of the two sisters, I want her to decorate my house.
Lullaby for a Princess!!!.😘😘😍😍
.
+Autumn Frost it handled that confrontation better than the show
+Clap Trap I know
+Clap Trap I wish we could get an episode like it
Lps Makala best fan video ever
Silver Quill expresses disbelief that after a year of seeming gentility and contentment, Luna can still be this messed up inside. He seems to be completely ignorant of the concept of masks. Especially for someone with huge societal pressures and expectations on her shoulders, and a strong sense of duty and sacrifice.
+Mlai00 Four and a half seasons in, we're past the point of masks.
+MLP-Silver-Quill I would have to disagree there silver :)
I agree for kids show the episode does feel a bit out of place and perhaps there should have been a line where someone such as twilight or even Celestia could have said "all this time?"
but even so as a person who is a master of masks you can go years changing masks until you don't even realise you're doing it.
also, as luna works nights it is very possible she doesn't have to wear a mask all the time and so could keep up it up for a long period of time especially if she has an outlet such as the tantabis.
As a luna fan, I always thought she would be the one to wear the mask, hiding her dark side that always to be at the forefront. something that is always eating at her and without help she won't overcome it. The reason she hasn't been getting help is because of her reserved nature.
Midnight29
I find this show is usually straightforward about characters. A masked personality would work great if there was more of an overarching story, but this episodic set up doesn't blend so well for me. Luna's been honest about her feelings in the past, including being near tears in _Luna Eclipsed_, so I'm not as drawn to the idea that she's only now bringing up inner turmoil.
+MLP-Silver-Quill fair enough I do agree it is very much out of the blue from a storytelling standpoint and no amount of fangirling (or fanboying in your case) can really change that. it's all about speculation and head cannon to try and fit in some kind of sense. so yeah this episode is very much a debatable subject.
But if she was a real princess with this much emotional jumping I'd is seriously worried kinda luck she's got her sister.
doesn't stop me from loving her though :)
Midnight29
Indeed. :D
Hasn't anyone related how Luna creating the tantabus as a way to punish herself a similar thing to IDK CUTTING! O_O
Everyone else has))
alex beck Yeah but no REVIEWER has.
Natasel Cutting has never been metal. It's always been dangerous and wrong. However it humanizes Luna. It shows that in reality she is VERY depressed. She was in a bad place when she made the Tantabus. She must have hated herself a lot.
Lily Peet has.
***** I never heard of them
You know what I love? This. When we can talk about our different opinions, then accept and understand others points of views. We don't have to agree but in debates over "Is X a good character" I love to just sit down, have a cup of *your fav drink here* and just talk about the same show we all love. :)
something i havent really seen any reviewers talk about is that the Tantibus could be a form of relapse for Luna, a parallel to real life. people in real life tend to relapse a few times before getting better, that's what i see the Tantibus as- Lunas form of relapse into her self-hate and depression.
I lost it when I saw the Merry Poppins reference.
I actually can relate to the fact that luna is punishing herself. I am a person who does feel a lot of regret about things that don't really matter, internally beating myself up about it a lot for a long while. So I can understand that luna would punish herself this badly as what she has done, considering how bad it was.
Oh adding on to this the only thing I don't really like is how quickly she got over her regret, it's really hard to just decide to forgive yourself, but I'm used to quick redemptions and the like in this show by now
As someone who suffers from depression Luna's actions in creating the Tantabus make alot sense to me. Mentally hurting one self for no reason may seem odd to a healthy mind, but to a mind that is weakened in some way due to mental illness or trauma (Like Luna's clearly is), it's a fact of life. The subconscious prays on the conscious mind and convinces itself of horrible things, even if the conscious part of the mind is screaming it's not true. One may take steps to present a collected happy face but there's always this nagging voice doubting your every action. This is doubly true when one is alone in bed. There's no one to talk to, nothing to drive the thoughts away that will help you get a peaceful sleep. It sucks but it's something one has to live with.
Because sometimes people dislike themselves so much that they do masochistic things and rationalize it as penance. I know I do it, and because of that I was able to identify with and identify the emotions she is feeling. I thought it was a very poignant message about the inability to forgive oneself.
Depression can take many forms and for Luna it's no different. Even if we conquer some demons, others can still remain. A highly relatable episode in my opinion /)
This whole time I think of it as the "Kid friendlyish" of Cutting. When your around people who do this. They act unusual, similar to Luna. They will try to improve, but will still punish them self with the pain that isn't needed. It shows that people do care and don't want them to suffer.
+Blazetailx Realm Exactly! Sorry I just jumped in, but I was about to go on a rant how this is perfect parallel for self-harm, and how fast it can get out of hand. On outside, you try to act like nothing is wrong, act all peppy and hide the scars, which easily miss-leads those around you. Or if they know, they will turn the blind eye and act like nothing is wrong. It takes sometimes years from people to notice these things, and hell... okay this might go into "Too much info" territory, and might make some people uncomfy, but here goes:
I am self-harmer. It's something I have been battling against for... gosh, at least 6 years? My family would've never figured it out if it wasn't for one of my out bursts in phone where I screamed that I might as well cut the veins next time, and even then it took them a year to hear about it. And before anyone freaks out, yes I am getting help for it. Wouldn't had gone as far as it did if I hadn't been pulled out of therapy by my family in the first place but hey, how they were supposed to know what I did on my own time.
I cannot stress how easily it is to let these things get out of hand. What might start as a simple cut that doesn't even really break the skin or bleed, might very well become severely infected wounds that leave lasting scars in span of a year. Yet no one KNOWS what is going on, unless they get to SEE the effects or acts first. Luna's up-beat attitude outside this has been a facade so far - she does this to keep people from seeing how much help she really does need.
Ugh sorry I started to rant here for ya, I've been wanting to yell these words to any reviewer for months now and.. I just kinda finally snapped. Sorry. I needed to get this out of my system.
+DogiCrimson I'm glad to see you admitting to fault however going into super personal detail isn't necessary to make a point (I have dealt with the same things dm me if you want to talk)
+Robin Coolidge this is why I love this episode. It shows that even a Children show can show such deep messages that stain memories. I hope you recover too.
***** Hence I said it's going into TMI territory earlier on. I just felt I can't drive the point without bringing up more detail - sadly.
+DogiCrimson You made your point stronger wit some relativeness. For you to speak without it, it would haven't had proven your point to its fulliest. Either way, I hope that you get better and enjoy your lives. Take care!
Admittedly, after reading some of the comics, I'm liable to believe that Celestia and Cadence are not the perfect princesses that everyone seems to think they are.
They can just hide it better. Heck, Celestia's had over a thousand years to cultivate her mask. But between her soured relationship with Starswirl, her love interest with Sombra that ended in heartbreak and her near death, her sister betraying and attacking her, Sunset Shimmer betraying her trust and running away to seek her own power and goals... I think Celestia is far from as "perfect" and serene as everyone seems to make her out to be. She can just hide it better.
This is where the controversial topic of self harm comes in. When a character real or fake feels that they have not made amends for their actions they go out of their way to help others while internalizing their own feelings. Owning up to those self crimes is hard and forgiving yourself is even harder. Speaking as a person recovering from depression it has taken me over 2 years to forgive myself for the simplest of mistakes. Do princesses dream of magic sheep resonates with me personally as a symbol of hope for anyone going through depression that if you work to forgive yourself you can get through anything. It will take a lot more time than this episode provides (then again most endings are rushed) but it can be done. To anyone going through depression see this as a message from someone who still struggles with the same problem - you can make it through this
Luna's self-inflictment actually reminds me of how someone with depression would act/behave. Even if they're helpful to others and seem happy in public, they're hiding their inner pain and tormenting themselves when others aren't around.
The depressed oftentimes don't seek help, just like Luna refusing to even tell her own sister about her pain. They choose to suffer through that pain alone because they don't see themselves as good enough to warrant help.
She's only able to get through it after her closest friends stage an impromptu intervention when she's near the breaking point, forcing her to see that she is worth more than she realized.
The tantabus reminds me of the way Bucky goes back to the electroshock mind control machine from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
You go Grandpaws I would like to see more collabs with this guy. ;3
To be honest I don't like him
+Casey Clark his name is spelled Grand Pause.
Who is Grand Pause and where can I check out his content?
+grekoy Just type "grand pause youtube" in Google. At least, that worked for me.
thanks
+Casey Clark Thanks, and glad you enjoyed the video! I hope to be able to produce some original content soon! Many thanks to Silver Quill for giving me this collaboration opportunity.
Self-harm doesn't always stop when others have accepted you or you've been able to return to 'life as normal'. That's why I don't think this episode was poorly timed, I think it was good to show how people can still carry guilt and shame even after it seems the cause is resolved. I also don't think Luna ever thought the Tantabus would escape and threaten the world which is also an analogy to how self harmers don't always see what they do hurts people around them too.
Oops.
Oops what? What did you do this time?
+Misha Kastrilevich Tantabus* c:
The thing I think needs to be discussed about the Tantabus and Luna is it's direct correlations to serious depression. Self-punishment is often found with major depressive disorder. Feelings that one is inherently bad and must be punished. Since Luna has the guilt of Nightmare Moon to guide her it makes sense that these feelings linger in here. Depression isn't often an illness that is cured and done with. It's entirely possible given all she's been through Luna may suffer from chronic depression. This mental illness helped drive her towards being a nightmare, lashing out because she felt helpless and unworthy.
The same force that then drives her to create the Tantabus. I doubt she really understood that it could escape from her dreams, particularly since she never anticipated the ponies in her life to become close to her to the point where they would break into her dreams.
Yes it's been an entire year of growth but as I already said depression is often a chronic struggle. Some people get really good at wearing a mask and jumping through hoops. She's taken great steps into repairing her relationship with her subjects but that doesn't necessarily equal getting better mentally. I've always had amazing friends in my life and yet my depression has nearly caused me to commit suicide.
Furthermore Celestia is not in a position where she can take all the time necessary to coax the truth from her sister. I have no doubt she provides as much active support as possible, but if Luna doesn't want to be helped then there's just nothing anybody could do. Any therapist can tell you that in order to help a patient that patient has to WANT to get better. Until the Mane Six had that heart to heart with Luna she was still in a place where she felt she needed to tackle her problems alone, and that she deserved whatever she's schemed up for herself.
But most important of all I think this episode has an amazing moral to teach kids. The moral of self-forgiveness and moving on. When you make a big mistake it can be really hard to move forward, sometimes the act alone could lead to depression with all of it's scary baggage. One of the first steps to getting better is telling yourself that it's okay for you TO get better. By moving on Luna can only grow to be a better pony and ruler.
4:05 Awww, a Nyx Cameo. I love that little bundle of cuteness.
This is interesting and I want to sub to Grand Pause he brought up some good points ^^
+Rosie Sievers (rigifan32) While I don't have any of my own content produced quite yet, I hope to in the future, and would appreciate your subscription regardless :) Glad you enjoyed the video; it's always fun working with Silver Quill!
+Grand Pause
Woo, fourth subcribler! Good wishes to your channel.
+Grand Pause I AM the 8th subscriber!
I look forward to your first video. :3
theflotingheadproduc Thanks for the sub!
Grand Pause You're welcome! :D
Princess Luna Is A Unique Character in My Little Pony Friendship is Magic
I actually see Luna's internal battle with the Tantabus from a less literal context than what is said in the episode: when I first watched it, I perceived the Tantabus a magical form of emotional self-harming that arises from guilt and is perpetuated by the presence of depression. Luna feels so bad about what she did as Nightmare Moon that she feels the need to punish herself as she said, but I thought the reason it became so serious is that she might be struggling with that mental illness, which to me explains why we haven't seen her so distraught in the CMC episodes: people with depression can seem perfectly normal to an outside observer, when in reality they are constantly beating themselves up for one thing or another. It's only when those feelings were able to harm others that Luna realized how truly destructive her emotional punishment was and the Tantabus only grew as she continued to hate herself for causing such harm. It was only with the support of those close to her that she was able to drive those feelings back...and find a measure of peace.
I love how Luna forgave herself at the end of the episode, yet I somehow get the feeling that this isn't the end of her struggling with her past and her darker emotions. In all honesty, I would be a little disappointed if the show doesn't address her still having these feelings after this one moment of triumph because one does not simply "get over" serious emotional injury. But now, there is hope in our Lovely Princess of the Night and at the end of the day, that's what really matters.
punishing yourself for things you perceive you've done is a very real thing people do to themselves. And it's a thing you can very easily misinterpret if you don't have first hand experience with it. I applaud the show for taking this risk.
I like Princess Luna
+Amy Gonzalez I love her too.
She's awsome
Omg ,yesssssssssss !!!!!!!!!!!!!!😍😍😍😍😍😍😘😘😘😘😘❤️💗💞💓
She is freaking awesome, anyone that calls her overrated will be stabbed by me!
+Amy Gonzalez I like Luna Because i can relate to her honestly i know what it feels like to be over shadowed by someone else and i think every one has that familiar feeling
I was going to write a long ranting comment on the main review about how there are those out there that punish themselves unnecessarily for past mistakes long after they should have forgiven themselves and how that can be doubly true when everyone they have wronged has forgiven them. But this video has satisfied me. Guilt and self loathing are powerful forces and when you realize that her actions make sense.
... Why does Cadence need the umbrella when she has wings?
I agree with my puppy paw brethren. While Silver may see Luna's recent positive actions as reason for her guilt subsiding he is making the assumption that Luna herself sees her actions in the same light that her fanboys do. It is far more likely that she does not see the good that she does and if pointed out would not see it as anything extraordinary. Also if she is anything like me... she might be afraid to forgive herself. Afraid that if she forgets what she's done she'll allow it to happen again. Afraid that no matter what good she does there is still that darkness that she has to keep at bay. Afraid that if she DOES allow herself to see the good she does she will become careless and slip back into old habits and hurt ponies once again. So she will live her life in as much light as she can while not allowing herself to relax for fear her old ways will take over. And as does tend to happen often the path we take to prevent something only quickens its inevitable recycle. In trying to prevent herself from hurting others she has only succeeded in hurting others more. A sentiment that I can relate to whole heartedly.
+Sweetie Bloom It was Mary Poppins reference triggered in Silver-Quill memory/imagination by talking about Cadance being perfect in every way
+Mad Max I get the reference. But Mary Poppins used her umbrella to fly which I think is a bit redundant given Cadance has wings.
+Sweetie Bloom It is the symbol of Mary Poppins, consider would the reference still have worked without it
+D HAROLD So is the carpet bag. Didn't see that anywhere. :P
Sweetie Bloom fine, i submit to that tardis bag
I love the song lullaby for princess
The melody he cut to has the lyrics: carry the piece and the coolness of night and carry my sorrow in kind Luna your loved so much more than you know may troubles be far from your miiind and forgive me for being so bliiind
some people over analyze the episodes, like Lilly peet, and because of that they end up seeing something that's really not there. and I think that's the problem.
this episode was pretty good, was funny, was entertaining and it has a beautiful and nice lesson.
but then these people came and started taking it too seriously and simply ruined the whole thing.
why can they just watch the episodes and enjoy them and start pretending they're reviewers when most of the time, they only show that they don't know what they're talking about.
silver Quill is the only one who always gives a real and unbiased analysis, he never let his emotions take over or starts screaming and ranting randomly and nonsensically.
Gian Song yim They can only if that opinions are well founded, when you're actually analyzing and comparing objectively the episode or the movie or the show or whatnot.
You can easily tell when a person knows what they're talking about, they give smart arguments, professional opinion etc, cause they have experience and something to back up what they're saying, and that's called credibility.
Silver Quill is the only one in my opinion who has it.
Let me ask you something, how do you know what's good and what's garbage?? Compared to what?? You need experience watching the best movies, shows, etc. But if you haven't seen the best, how are you going to know the worse??
I see these people claiming to know they're experts, but they have never seen sandfield, friends, etc, and have never seen the best movies.
Then how are they going to know what's good acting, good writing, how are they going to discern a good Character from a bad one, a good episode from a bad one
I think it is great that you gave a newcomer a chance to collab. NOW PLEASE PICK ME NEXT!
....Glad the griffon hasn't found undertale. Especially the genoside run...
+Yinyanyeow I don't get why people feel the need to bring up Undertale everywhere. It was a great game. But it doesn't need to be mentioned everywhere.
+Yinyanyeow NO! Don't send him looking for that!
YoshiXII
Blame my feed getting an explosion of it when I didn't want it. Yea...not easy to keep it down.
Nelson Demifur
Isn't it as scary as some of the stuff Silver gets into?
Yinyanyeow The last thing we need him to find out about is ANY of the final bosses for Undertale
+YoshiXII It's exactly that it's popular and memetastic that Yin mentioned it, it would be in Silver's meme-filled dreamscape.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THIS IS THE REVIEW THAT I WANTED! Grand Pause is smarter, more emotionally understanding then VoR.
i love this nice review silver quill :)
I enjoy Luna a lot. Take Lullaby for a Princess as cannon and seeing her grow to help other ponies is very good character development. As I see it, the Tantabus was creates by Luna on purpose, but she never expected it to harm others. She most likely created it back when the show first started and has kept it hidden because I know first hand that when you're feeling down, the last thing you want to do is burden others. Now this is the piece that I think the reviewers are all missing. This show is for kids. Season 5 has done a FANTASTIC job of getting back to a theme about friendship and true problem solving. This episode is a lesson about guilt and forgiving yourself. Whether or not you like Luna, this message should be understood as a part of her character growth. For Luna or anyone to move past something as big as this type of guilt is so so important. I see Luna as such a strong character for being part of the world of ponies even while facing her own problems.
"Celestia can't help, she has no power in the dream world." From the moment it was said in the episode, I've called bullshit. Even if she has no power, simply being there for Luna would have been enough. Celestia is supposed to be the closest person to Luna on a personal level, and yet Luna chooses not to tell Celestia about her problems, completely ignoring that that was the mistake that led to the creation of Nightmare Moon in the first place. Had Luna gone to Celestia and told her she was still feeling guilty, Celestia would have done everything in her power to insure Luna got the help she needed. And how do you think poor Celestia feels about all of this? Luna basically told Celestia that she couldn't trust her to help with the guilt she was feeling. Celestia was probably heart broken by that.
Yes, Luna has a lot of potential to be a good and interesting character and her backstory could lead to an epic yet tragic episode, but that's not what happened. Lullaby for a Princess only highlights how much Luna's potential in the show has been absolutely squandered. The fans care more about Luna then the show runners, and I LOATH that. All three of the princesses aside from Twiligth have massive potential to be the most interesting characters in the show. Characters that have been around for generations, who have had to watch the world change around them or lived in a time before the modern era or who came into their own by simply being the best they could be. They deserve the attention in the show proper that fans have been giving them. I should not have to depend on other bronies, talented writers and artists as they might be, to find joy in a character. The show comes first in my eyes, and if you can't make her likeable there, then what's the point?
+Xain Russell - Sometimes even being present in one's life and getting a person help isn't enough. Luna is still fairly distant in both attitude, action, and choices from pretty much every current day pony. After being saved all the way back in season 1 Luna has understood she did wrong, and feels immense guilt over the threat she brought to her subjects, and the various pains she brought upon her sister. Celestia can tell Luna "You are forgiven." till she turns blue in the face, and it might not mean squat in Luna's mind. To Luna up until this point she had committed something unforgivable. Because of her actions Celestia had to bare the personal shame of imprisoning her little sister, and shoulder the burden of 2 celestial objects and the protection of an entire kingdom on her own for a long time. Because of this, and the fact Celestia welcomed her back without a bit of scorn or punishment, but instead showed nothing but love and caring, Luna had nothing to clear the shame. She sees her big sister as to kind and forgiving, thus any words of forgiveness would be meaningless.
Now instead we have Twilight, a character she has fought against, and learned alongside, giving her the words of forgiveness and hope. Compared to Celestia, Twilight is a more neutral party, and thus less likely to spout biased, mommy sorrys.
Can we add in the fact that its CELESTIA she wronged the most?
+Lin2Waterfall so...she doesn't see being stuck on a dusty rock in space is punishment enough?
Dejay Page Nope, because she spent that time as Nightmare Moon, and not as Princess Luna.
Lin2Waterfall AND that's the point! If we are saying that NM And Luna are different people (Despite NOT benig different people, just a different personality), then why would Luna feel bad about that stuff that her darker counteraprt did if it wasn't really her fault.
BUT if we keep that both are the same...NM didn't really get to do much since the moment after she went nuts, Celestia sent her sister to the moon before anyone innocent was injured or worse.
When she came back, she came CLOSE to really harming 6 innocent young women who wanted to help their monarch, but still. They were mostly unsathed and saved her and even beacme her friends. People feared Nightmare Moon for over 1000 years because she wasn't killed, she was just locked up and they grew fearful of her return until she was just pushed into something for scaring kids on a candy-givingh oliday.
Tbh, I love this episode more than any other episode, mostly because of the feeling I got from the episode. To me, it's uplifting and Luna's conflict and issues in the episode resonate with me on a personal level.
I never really see Princess Cadence as perfect individual or princess to be honest
+ShadowWriter45 Well other then the one time she got kidnapped, she been all so flawless, never falls o presure, never has issues. a perefct toy to sell to kids. I mean evne in the yak episode she coudln' have helped but nope that be doing something. *princess spike* cough cough
+ShadowWriter45 I think it's more that we haven't seen enough of her to learn what her faults and struggles are. The same's true with Celestia to some extent. While we've had stories focused on Luna and (obviously) Twilight, Celestia and Cadence as of yet haven't gotten much story time focused on them as characters.
+Andrew Meyer () Well said.
+Andrew Meyer That is true, in terms of the tv show. The reason I say she isn't perfect, just like I would say about many other characters in this show is with one word: Comics.
I know the comics aren't cannon. but I think the comics are bringing out the personalities that people are looking for in Celestia, Cadence, and other characters that have been dismissed as perfect, not getting enough screen time, or needed more time to flesh out their character. To me, just saying a character in a show and anime is perfect because they don't have flaws or haven't suffered by something isn't entirely fair because we might see something like this later or the writers have a plan and we will see it soon. However, you have to take into account that certain characters have a personality set for them to the point that seeing some sort of development is going to be tricky because they aren't the main characters of the show. The main characters of the show as a whole are going to develop. Secondary characters barely or never get development because they are not the main focus of the show and it doesn't revolve around them. What I'm trying to say is, characters like Cadence have an established personality that is meant to be that way and not focus on an arc that is going to make them better or seem flawed. But you also have to take into account that main characters go through obstacles that is considered character development, but we rarely ever see it used again unless it is meant to be used for someone else; an example being Fluttershy.
+ShadowWriter45 Well it's moreso that she's praised for extremely little effort.
Celestia does constant work, even if offscreen. That much is made apparent. Luna is constantly watching over the night, if not thwarting evil, then helping ponies in their dreams. Even Twilight is doing things like arranging conventions and setting up meetings with another country to establish diplomatic relationships. A country, I might add, that Cadence lives RIGHT NEXT TO.
It was stated from Cadence's own mouth that she is bored living in the Crystal Empire, and we saw an entire episode where she had to be prettied up while the mane 6 did all the actual work. Even when the time comes where she could step up and do something, like in Princess Spike, she doesn't. I'm not going to say she does absolutely nothing, but everything she's contributed has had almost minimal effort on her part, and yet everyone in the show loves her.
Glad that both of you took the time to make this other opinion video to go along with the main epsiode. Good points Grand Pause, and I hope you get a lot of followers/fans.
+Torrie Starfrost Thank you for the words of encouragement! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the collab.
I love ur videos Silver
Now that’s more like it. Seeing this episode from a positive angle.
Oh you did not just pull a Mary Poppins on my best princess. You and I are seriously going to have to have a discussion on the appeal of Cadance.
+Dulcet Tone 1v1 me mate :)
Grand Pause
Challenge accepted.
THANK YOU!!!! FINALLY, SOMEONE ADMITTING THAT HUMANS HAVE THIS KIND OF REACTION TO EMBARRASSING OR PAINFUL EXPERIENCES!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!
I love Luna, but after watching these videos. I've begun to change my mind. As much as I hate how Sun Butt acts, Moon Butt seems to be a suicidal teenager. I hope in the near future, she has an episode where she can save the day without the fandom's sympathy backing her up. But that might be a while. Hiatuses are torture.
On a side note, Lullaby for a Princess is bae
+Tetris Pancake "Bae" means shit, you realize?
I know. It means shit in danish. But not in america. Either way, I love LFAP
Why do you hate Celestia acts?
Thank you for making this supplement, I like you Silver Quill and a bunch of other fans had loved Princess Luna, more so than the other Princess's and I didn't really know why except the fact that she was different from other Princess's in this show and in other things like Disney movies, so you talking more about Luna in this way makes me realize that everything you said is true and are the reasons why I personally love Luna. So thank you. :)
probably the best supplement video I have ever seen from you. Really happy you got another perspective on this topic.
Silver, I love your stuff. You always make me smile when I see you on screen, mainly because you are such a derp and have a quality I myself have: the ability to make a joke out of a something regardless of what the situation is.
A good example, I tried to help my friend cope with the fact Snape's actor died. I made a joke about how one of his potions messed up most likely. He smiled wide and was able to move past, despite being sad that he died.
Toby Turner: "WAIT!! There's a Pause!!?? You know I have no time for pauses my brain moves too fast for them!" XD
I really liked what you had to say Grand Pause. Not just your support for my favorite princess,but the humor,and good nature you brought in this review. I look forward to it if you start doing your own reviews on the show, and I hope you will do more collabs in the future you have defenetly showed you are talented at reviewing. Congratulations you earned yourself another subscriber! :-) Bro-Hoof and God bless.
+TimeTravelPony Your kind words and subscription are very much appreciated! I hope to be able to entertain and offer more insight in the future!
Nice Mary Poppins reference when Cadance was brought up.
Man I feel old ;.=.;
the whole "A character can take on more meaning than even the writers envisioned" line is what I strive for in my writing. I don't plan my stories ahead, maybe I do, and maybe it turns out how I wanted it to be, but I want my readers to get different perspectives all from one character.
My main character, Shadow Dancer, may seem at times a childish 32 year old mutant, but at other times, she is so serious it freaks her friends out because they're used to her childish ways. And at times, she ends up like Luna, wrapped in the guilt of a past mistake that lead to a whole lot of pain for her and her friends around her. I want my readers to come away from her story and my others with mixed meanings. I strove so that Shadow Dancer and my other characters seem so human, though they're superheroes, ponies, cats, and wolfs.
My personal headcanon in lullaby for a princess is that Celestia had dyed her Mane somehow but wielding all the elements purged it and she didn't redye it because it reminded her of Luna and it hurt
I feel that the best way to complete Luna's character arc would be if something happened that knocked Celestia out for a day or two or even just incapacitated her so that Luna would have to take on a shortened version of what's Celestia to go through for 1000 years
Do you know what I love?
The fact that your videos are both funny and deep.
Really excellent work with showing the different viewpoints, and you nailed it with the reason why Luna is so identifiable. She truly is a gem among the other princesses. I've related to her struggle with regret for past actions in my life; and wouldn't be surprised if she listens to some heavy metal music to numb the pain as well. (Someone please make a PMV) Thanks to everyone involved for making this review!
NSH.
Bravo, Grand Pause. I appreciate that you brought your perspective forward because I think you're right, that Luna's Tantibus is not really all that ridiculous for her to have at this point in the show. Some people have a tendency to beat themselves up over their past even while in the midst of trying to help others. I liked that this episode made it a point to show viewers that guilting yourself over your past doesn't do you any good.
+Sailor Sally Rockin Rarity I'm glad that resonated with you as well!
Nice to see this supplment to the original review, which I think really missed the mark. I think Grand Pause really picked up on what the show meant to say about Luna's inner turmoil in this episode. Forgiving ourseleves our own past transgressions and mistakes is sometimes much more difficult to do than obtaining the forgivness of others.
Personally I think Celestia should have shown up in the dream at the end to try to reassure Luna.
Luna: "But you have no power here! Get out, you're in danger."
Celestia: "I may have no power in the world of dreams, but I am not here as the princess of day; I am here as your sister."
Maybe even Celestia having no wings or horn in dreamland.
Personally, this episode really struck a chord with me. I often degrade myself for many past mistakes and regrets, yet often I find myself trying to help others when they are in a bad spot. People seem to come to me advice, yet just as often I find it hard to follow my own advice. Too often I succumb to self loathing, that periodically goes to dangerous lows. That's where my friends from Fire Team Harmony really step in and help me not feel so terrible about myself.
Mary Poppins reference 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖😊😊😊😊😊🤗😊🤗😊squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Still waiting for an actual Celestia episode. The Big C has so much yet to reveal even in part.
First Off, different people punish themselves in different ways. For example, when I screw up and put a rubber band on my wrist and snap it everytime I screw that thing I screwed up befpre a second or third time. I'n harming myself, yes yet I eventually move on with it.
Luna might be the same, except on a much grander scale. She terrified people as Nightmare Moon and I feel like the way she handled it would be the best way to handle it. Most friends I asked (Yes, I asked friends at school ablut this situation) Said that they would've just wallowed in their own sadness or worse. One is you mentally berate yourself and come up with harsher and harsher things to say, without listening to what others say about you, whether it be good or bad. One is you have the same memory repeating time and time again, punishing you for the one thing and making sure you know never to do it again.
Second Off, What I feel striked me as odd is that no one I've seen review this episode bring in the idea of "Maybe Luna never saw hpw she affected other Ponies after her other episodic appearances" She just gives advice to lighten up their dream and leaves. Thats it from what I have seen, its never been revealed that Luna actually knows what good she did to thst pony's or other ponies' days or lives.
You do make very valid points about Luna. But, other than that, I still love Luna's character and this episode to this day!! :)
this is why I love the analyst fandom! I try to speak about my views in any other fandom, including the ones outsides the brony fandom, I get ignored or no one cares. here people actually like when you do that! I wish I had proper equipment but I don't think anyone would watch anyway. not with so many others already doing it. perhaps on deviantart? I don't know.
by the way you got me sil! that Mary Poppins reference made me laugh not just smile!
um can I call you sil? or is that something you don't like?
The pink mane comes from a headcanon that Celestia didn't have a rainbow mane until she harnessed the Elements by herself, without Luna, since she was using them against Luna.
The dark thing has her friend... Sing with me... "Hello Darkness, my old friend; I've come to talk with you again..."
Past Sins... definitely among my favorite fics. Well done Pen Stroke!!
Lullaby for a princess made me cry, and I sing it on the school bus! And if you look at the very first picture of Celestia, in the book that Twilight is reading in the first episode, she does have pink hair. 😎🤘🏻
I would like to submit my view based on what was being said. As Mr. Quill and Mr. Paws stated we all have fallen short in our lives. But there is a psychological aspect to this. Sometimes the guilt of your failures depending on how deep it was can cause deep seeded emotional damage to not only the victims of your actions but also to the person who wronged. Now I am not a psychologist nor deal with people and their problems. That's more of Dr. Wolf's domain. But coming from a standpoint of someone who has made choices I deeply regret, it causes a lingering taint inside. The thing is, is that princess Luna has an obligation. She's a princess of the night and royalty. She has her job to do so she pushes the feelings and emotions down and going about her day. But the emotions and feelings of guilt are still there. And everyone has done this at some point in their lives. Acted like nothing was wrong, while inside their guilt and pain were clawing at the I side to get out to the surface. What I am saying is that princess Luna is suffering from deep bipolar depression from the guilt of her past. She is unable to or maybe doesn't understand how to rid herself of her guilt but hides it the minute someone is around for fearing of hurting some pony else. What if all the episodes leading to this one were of Luna acting like everything was alright? I feel Luna like myself and many others who suffers from this see problem feel that the only way to deal with the problems inside is to hide them and say nothing instead of coming out with them. There is another aspect of this as well. Fear, being afraid to speak out on your mistakes because of the possible backlash it could cause. She's afraid of how others see her. Possibly she feels there are still ponies who hold a grudge against her for what she's done or even her sister herself. Bit as he was shown this was entirely untrue. Sometimes if not most, the most difficult person to show forgiveness for your mistakes is yourself. Only because of the deep emotional damage and the guilt you caused others and yourself. I know this is TL/DR but it's just how I felt at the time as scattered as my thoughts are some times. I hope it's alright. Laters...
Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Your videos are not only interesting and informative, but also hilarious!!!! :D
FINALY!! A Lullaby for a Princes reference!! Took you long enough.
How i see it, from personal experience. It doesnt matter how much praise you get how much assurance that its ok . Some people will continue to punish and torture themselves because they believe that no matter what theyre not ok with themselves and what theyve done. People will promise you its ok but in your head all you think about is that its not and you have to torture yourself for it. This is how I perceived luna in this episode . Shes not my favorite princess but i can relate to her alot in this episode
Rooster Rick rolling is most hilarious thing ever!
it might have been worth mentioning that self harmis a way some people try to deal with their problems which is exactly what luna was doing, hurting herself trying to solve her problem
Luna now appears to stay awake during both the night and half the day. Considering all those day events throughout the show and the breakfasts with Celestia. I'm surprised she isn't suffering from insomnia.
"My dreamscape is very sensitive to pop culture references". There is a reference within that sentence. BILL!
It is quite interesting watching this after Season 7 has come out.
Now, this feel more like the balanced Silver Quill episodes I enjoy so much.
I do wish to see more of the princesses to see how they'll grow. Well, not as much cadence, because she's to perfect for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I like her, but to perfect. And we need a Celestia central episode especially.
I can connect to Luna a lot. I have had a lot of times where I keep looking at the past and seeing my failure even if I am moving forward in other ways like improving my art. That has kept be back. I have blown my failures out of proportion to the point where it feels like it will swallow me whole. It is only when someone tells me the truth and I take a step back that I realize I have the control and am able to defeat the fears myself.
"Like puppy paws?!!
I find Luna's self-harm through the use of the Tantabus to be very realistic. People who self-harm often can do so, even while making positive movements in their life.
Luna feels so guilty that she'd chosen to keep up the decision even when changing for the positive.
And this is just my opinion on the matter, as I've struggled with self-harm, too.
Cadence Poppins was by far the best part of this review's visuals ^-^
I love the musical pony :3 Great to meet you, Grand Pause!
+Doodle Dabble Very pleased to meet you as well!
I agree with Grand Pause on this one, for me, Luna created the Tantabus to punish herself because of too much humility : she believed other ponies out there didn't forgive her, and she didn't want to forgive herself before they do.
Yay for Nyxie cameo!
I was a Luna fan. But now Luna is number 2 and Cadence is my best princess.