Season 6 Episode 5: Thoughts and Opinions

S6E5 Gauntlet of Fire

Well folks, get set because this might be a long one. Because oh my, we have a good Spike episode.

Now I'm aware, other Spike episodes have been considered good by other people. Personally, I think Inspiration Manifestation was a fun one, but you could argue that a lot of the focus there is on Rarity, and that makes it a joint episode. And besides, I think on balance, Gauntlet of Fire beats it out in terms of sheer enjoyment factor.

So this week we have an adventure episode, and one that expands the lore at that. Normally I'd have preferred something a little smaller scale, but not every episode fits the trend of preference. See last week's outing for an example of a slice-of-life story that didn't work for me. And this one had heart enough to draw me in, along with the action and humour.

This week, Spike has to return to the Dragon Lands at the summon of the Dragon Lord, and brings Twi and Rarity with him for moral support, and so Twi can bolster Equestria's minimal knowledge of draconic culture. On arrival it seems that only the younger dragons have been summoned, since there's no evidence of brutes like Basil from Dragonshy, and the green dragon from Owl's Well That Ends Well. Other than the Dragon Lord himself, Lord Torch. A behemoth who seems like he might dwarf those two in mass and volume. And we also meet Garble, of Dragon Quest and still a jerk, as well as the Lord's daughter Princess Ember, a far smaller character than her father. It turns out that Torch has summoned the dragons because the time has come for him to step down from leadership, and his successor will be whoever retrieves his sceptre from the Flamecano, a redundantly named volcanic island filled with odd traps and odder wildlife.

One thing I'll say right up is that the level of detail in the animation is some of the best it's ever been. A green dragon in gold armour competing in the competition is soon revealed to be the blue Princess Ember in disguise, forbidden to compete by her father because she's only a little bigger than Spike by dragon measure, as she's dragged from a watery grave by Spike we can see the trail of green paint flowing away from her.

Ember herself need some discussion, as perhaps THE proof that dragons are not in fact jerks by dint of genetics, but as a result of culture. From the very beginning she sticks up for Spike in her own prickly way, and by the end of the episode when she (admittedly rather predictably) declares her friendship with Spike and becomes Dragon Lord herself, she's more than open to the idea of opening diplomatic ties with Equestria. She's fast becoming one of the fandom's new darlings, and with good reason, I think.

On the subject of dragons not being jerks and the telling details in the animation, that dragon that Garble hugs towards the end has the most adorable expression, and I think that might be the first time he's ever been hugged before, and it's very obvious that he absolutely loves it. In fact, I think he was grinning all the way to the end of the episode.

But moving on, the really wonderful thing about this episode is that Spike isn't made into an idiot for it. He's physically competent as we've seen him in supporting roles, and he's intelligent enough to know that when Ember initially denies that she could ever be friends with him, she's only saying it because of dragon culture. It's a refreshing change, even from Inspiration Manifestation where he's completely blind to the idea that a clearly ominous book hidden away in a secret, crumbling part of the castle could be a bad thing.

Twilight and Rarity are here too, and there's not much I can think to say about them. The disguises were fun, and I was as flummoxed as Ember wondering how they managed to get so far through the course as they did in disguise, but then I remembered that Twilight can teleport. So... yeah. Not such a great mystery, though I do wonder why it was brought up and then deliberately not answered.

I feel like I'm rambling on for too long, and rambling is the word because I have no idea how coherent this is going to be for the average person who reads it! But I think now is a good time to stop, and sum up.

Overall, a very enjoyable episode that, despite other people's opinions, I personally feel was paced a lot better than On Your Marks. The characters were good, as was the action and the humour, and it's nice to see Spike given his due. Yes, there are a few plot points that pass without explanation, and it's perhaps unintentionally left to the viewer to fill them in. That's clumsy, I will admit, but with the rest of the episode being as good as it is I'd say it's earned a little slack, and I'm certainly inclined to be more forgiving.

So far, the Season 6 chart is being topped jointly by The Gift of Maud Pie, and Gauntlet of Fire. Let's hope we can keep the level of quality these two episodes reach going for the rest of the season!

But of course, I'm happy to hear what you thought of the episode!