YMMV / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S4 E23 "Inspiration Manifestation"

• Accidental Aesop:
  • Constant praise actually can stifle your artistic integrity and it's alright to take some criticism now and then. Just roll with the punches and adjust when you need to.
  • Your usual artistic style isn't always what the customer needs; try to think of the client's context. At the same time, you can't just assume the artist/contractor knows exactly what you want or need when placing a special order. Be specific!
• Broken Base: Even before the episode aired, there was some conflict between those who ship Spike/Rarity and were hoping for more Ship Tease and those who don't. Word of God weighed in at a BABScon 2014 panel that them being together at this time isn't appropriate because of his Vague Age, though fans have called foul.
• Fanfic Fuel: Trailers showing a green-eyed Rarity with her horn glowing the same color had fans wondering if King Sombra or Queen Chrysalis would be involved (they aren't). Given that all of Rarity's designs involve heavy use of crystals and gemstones and Twilight explicitly refers to the book's powers as dark magic, the episode looks to be implying that the book came from Sombra but backs off before stating it, leaving it open to speculation.
  • Given that the jewels were only a result of Rarity's design style and not part of the spell she used, they were probably a red herring as far as Sombra was concerned, but the gradual loss of reason and increase in power was similar to the effects of the Alicorn Amulet.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Claude the Puppeteer is called "Snips' Dad" by some fans for their similar designs."Filly Wonka" is also popular.
  • "Inspirarity" for Rarity under the effects of the spell.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: This isn't the first time that Rarity had gone off the deep end thanks to a Tome of Eldritch Lore.
• Spoiled by the Format: Rarity has made her creative contribution to the Foal and Filly Fair, nothing bad has happened, and she's about to return the book to Spike...and at this point, we're only eight minutes into the episode. She decides to hold onto the book for just a little while longer...
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • An ancient spell book hidden away in Celestia and Luna's old castle, containing all sorts of dark magic? Where did it come from, and what other secrets does it hold? Well, it's never explained and we'll probably never find out since Spike decided to eat the book.
  • Rarity is now powerful enough to transmute matter like wood and stone into solid gold and jewels for miles around, Sorceress Supreme Twilight Sparkle is actively looking for her in an attempt to figure out what's with all the dark magic, sounds like the stage is set for some epic confrontation right? Well it wasn't. They totally dodged each other the entire episode.
  • Also, with all the potential in terms of Rarity being under the influence of the Inspiration Manifestation spell, there's some disappointment that her corruption was rather subdued than what people were hoping for, and that the real focus was more towards Spike reacting to said corruption.
• Win Back the Crowd: After her previous episode was panned by several viewers, helping write the first widely-liked Spike episode since Season 2 got Corey Powell into people's good sides again. Then again, Meghan McCarthy, a popular writer on the show's staff, did pitch in...

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