Remember my review of A Canterlot Wedding? How I said it was the best episode yet? Yeah, that's a trend. The bookends of the series tend to do things that are of a whole different caliber than what came before. This one follows through by more or less crossing the line into high fantasy. It has a common fantasy set up of a kingdom ruled by a dark lord which the characters must traverse to. Any more details would be spoilers.
This is now the best episode that the series had to offer. The story has some particularly dark points to it, and maintains an epic tone throughout. There are moments of high tension, points when you fear for what will happen next-and none of it is predictable. The episode retains a quick pace of events, and manages to have absolutely no dull moments.
The songs are very well written, and fit seamlessly into the story. They are used as a form of communication, with one of them even being used as exposition. The end is a reprise of the first song, a trend that I want to see continue. Best of all, while it is kind of a musical, it's not obnoxious like most musicals.
To top it off, the episode is absolutely gorgeous. From the camerawork to the animation itself, everything absolutely reeks of quality production. It's one of the most breathtaking pieces of animation I've seen, though that may come from lack of experience with animation than the actual quality of it.
In conclusion, this was the episode we were waiting for. It made the same jump in ambition as every season bookend before it, reaching a point where it seems like a completely different genre, and I couldn't be more happy.
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