Tank DIES????? | My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 5 Episode 5 REACTION + Discussions
Added 2024-07-04 20:06:56 +0000 UTC
Comments
Incredible episode! What a beautiful way to tackle death in a show like this and the demographic. Silly, tragic, and real. The emotion was real and honest and doesn’t pull punches. And yes flutteryshy with the reality was so shocking but necessary, the acceptance as you said. And yes their pet/owner relationship is probably the best and most developed in the series. Gotta love it. Wonderful stuff and I’m glad I wasn’t reaching!!
Ed
2024-07-14 06:39:09 +0000 UTCIn this episode, Rainbow Dash is faced with the reality that her pet tortoise, Tank, has to hibernate for the winter. Struggling to accept this, she goes to great lengths to prevent Tank's hibernation, ultimately learning a valuable lesson about the natural cycle of life and the importance of saying goodbye, even if it's temporary. - Some notes/thoughts/facts: - Congratz for your success! - It's always nice if things work out. Yeah "Tanks for the memories" is quite an expressive title that kinda gave away, what this episode might be about - even so, the execution was going into a slightly, more kid-friendly, direction of temporary hibernation than death, which was well made. But i totally get why you thought about the worst... if i remember correctly... i did that too the first time around. Luckily it was quite early revealed that it was not about death - still the allegory towards this could be drawn and also was intended (even confirmed) to be the case. So... you are not crazy 😅 - everything is good. And yes Tortoises hibernate :) You were right it was the annual "Running of the Leaves" of the "Fall Weather Friends" episode. It's great to see RD's affection for Tank. She really does care for him. Even so much that she can't bear to be separated from him - even for a short time due to his impending hibernation. The whole situation was intentioned to be an allegory to death. Tank's hibernation preparation leads to RD go through the five stages of grief, also known as the Kübler-Ross model: 1. Stage: After hearing about Tanks hibernation, RD gets into the first stage, denial: She doesn't want to accept any notion that Tank has to hibernate Rainbow Dash: "Come on! Tortoises don't hibernate! Somepony put that picture in there as a joke." 2. Stage: She begins to lash out on anyone mentioning "hibernation", Anger: Rainbow Dash: "Who said anything about anger?! I didn't say anything about anger! I'm not upset! And I am not angry! Do I look angry?! [grumbles] Come on, Tank! Let's get out of here!" This sparked one of the best facial expressions made by RD: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/a/ab/Rainbow%27s_super_angry_face_S5E5.png 3. Stage: She tries to stop winter by sabotaging the weatherfactory of Cloudsdale, bargaining: Rainbow Dash: "Well, I'd rather have him awake in the heat than asleep in the cold... [gasps] I just have to stop winter!" - Which provided us with another great facial expression that was also a reference to the "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!": https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/0/0a/Rainbow_Dash%27s_Grinch_smile_S05E05.png RD's song "I'll Fly" is btw. one of the best songs in the entire season! It has suprisingly good vocals from RD which was her first solo-performance in the show. There are quite some good remixes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FJyd3Sl0k0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpaQH0wgqlI BTW.: I dunno why but that bit where the Pegasi were arguing about the "open clear sky" was one of the best conversations i heard which was slightly "mocking" the common naming of ponies after certain things: Sunshower: "So where do these clouds go?" Open Skies: "Over by Clear Skies." Sunshower: "But there's clear skies everywhere." Clear Skies: "Yo, Clear Skies right here!" Sunshower: "But there's clear skies over there, too!" Clear Skies: "That's Open Skies!" Sunshower: "There's open skies everywhere!" Open Skies: I'm not everywhere. I'm right here! Sunshower: "[sighs] Wait. So you're Open Skies, and you're Clear Skies. Then what's all that? [points to the sky]" Clear Skies and Open Skies: "Open, clear skies!" Open Skies: "Hey, where'd our fluffy clouds go?" Clear Skies: "Fluffy Clouds? He's over there!" 🤣 The detail in worldbuilding about how they make winter was a really cool aspect of this episode - especially the interiors with all it's machines was great to see. You are kinda right, the phrasing "Winter is coming" was a reference to George R. R. Martins novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire", which was later made more popular by HBO's "Game of Thrones", the television adaptation of Martin's novel series. - You could say, the ponies did it first, before the TV-adaptation made it popular 😂 4. Stage: Rainbow Dash is sad and passively moping in her bed not caring about anything anymore, depression: Fluttershy: "How are you feeling, Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow Dash: "[despondently] Whatever..." ... [All her friends are trying to comfort her...] ... Rainbow Dash: "Didn't you hear me? I said 'whatever'. I don't know if you're here to cheer me up or what, but I'm fine." Until Fluttershy steps in and said what must be said: Fluttershy: "Rainbow Dash, your winter is going to be pet-less." Which led's to a cascade of wholesome sadness and RD is finally able to bawl it all out and thus reaches the last stage: Acceptance... Btw.: can we appreciate how well they managed to implement some humor into this scene which should have been an absolutely sad moment with RD and her friends? Whoever did that (looking at you Cindy Morrow) was a truly master in that regard. (She also wrote "Hurricane Fluttershy" btw.) Another neat thing to point out are RD's cute slippers that look like Tank 🥰 and Tank has also little slippers looking like RD 🥰 https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/c/c7/Fluttershy_sitting_next_to_Rainbow_Dash_S5E5.png 5. Stage, finally, acceptance: Rainbow Dash: "I thought you guys might like to say goodbye to Tank. He's ready to hibernate." Pinkie Pie: "Ooh, you're using the word!" --- This concludes "Tanks for the memories", which was a very emotional and poignant exploration of grief and loss through Rainbow Dash's experience with her pet Tank hibernating. It was well portrayed by the five stages of grief that Rainbow Dash had to go through, that serve as a framework for a lesson towards kids. Also it was able to masterfully combine emotional depth with light-hearted entertainment, highlighted by a good song that resonates with the audience and all the sprinkled jokes in-between. The episode navigates the poignant theme of emotional growth, showcasing Fluttershy’s uncharacteristic harshness towards Rainbow Dash as a necessary step for the latter's development. This moment of tough love, while intense, is balanced with comedic elements that prevent the overall tone from becoming overwhelmingly sad. This episode stands out for its adept handling of complex emotions within the fantastical world of Equestria. It reflects the series commitment to address profound life lessons, making it not only entertaining but also meaningful. Additionally, the worldbuilding is exceptional: The depiction of the Cloudsdale weatherfactory and the process of weather-creation adds an intriguing layer to the narrative, enhancing the episode's multifaceted appeal. Overall, the episode succeeds in balancing emotional weight with entertainment, reinforcing the show's ability to tackle significant themes in a way that is accessible and engaging for its original audience of kids. Your reaction was great - you have seen right away, that this episode was an allegory to death and that it was depicting the stages of grief. - Thank you for reacting to this. 💙
DeViruZz.eXe
2024-07-07 22:22:02 +0000 UTCThis is why tank is the best pet in the show! 💪
Ed
2024-07-05 07:45:04 +0000 UTCYes it is the biggest plot inclusion for a pet! like we had the Owlowiscious episode but it wasn’t as big of a story around him as tank.
Pinkie_applepie
2024-07-05 04:59:55 +0000 UTCYes! I didn’t want to get too tin foil had but I’m glad it was apparent. Her love was so wholesome especially when we consider how she first was towards him. We’ve come a long a way and also might be the biggest plot inclusion for a pet, correct? Very true! To see her like this all disheveled and fearful was so different. Loved to see new emotions out of her Also a lot of the small details confirmed it was about death which is such a hard topic to tackle in these shows so I’m glad they succeeded in a good portrayal of it. Those slippers 😭😭 Definitely need more non EQG RD singing. It was good stuff.
Ed
2024-07-04 21:56:13 +0000 UTCYou’re absolutely correct this episode was an allegory for death, rainbow dash went through the 5 stages of grief Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, they did it in a smart way, and it was a very a emotional episode, tank means so much to rainbow dash it’s adorable!, she would never want to see something happen to him and if it did she’d definitely act this way, cried during this episode, the fandom did love this episode, it’s nice to see a side of rainbow we never see, she doesn’t normally cry in front of her friends unless she’s extremely upset so it being allegory related to death definitely makes sense here, I’m glad they didn’t really kill off tank tho we all love tank when I first saw that title I thought maybe they would do it and could do it in a kids show kinda way, the writers definitely thought about it, it’s such a hard subject to tackle, also the episode had some funny moments oh and we get to see the inside cloudsdale and how the weather is done which was interesting,still sad tank is gonna hibernate for awhile also notice tank had slippers of rainbow dash and she had slippers of tank, that is so adorable! I loved it, great reaction! :) also some fans say the song is their favorite in the show, it is amazing, her vocals are so good, rd can sing! I still listen to this song a lot, sadly we don’t get many songs from her in the show if you don’t count equestria girls we did get some there which I really enjoy too.
Pinkie_applepie
2024-07-04 21:27:17 +0000 UTC
