Hi! This episode is about Tank dying going to sleep for a few months. It is something that Rainbow refuses to have happen, so she tries to stop winter from coming. She ends up trying to sabotage the weather factory, but this backfires, and she ends up bringing winter even sooner than it was supposed to come. She wallows in depression until she can accept the fact that Tank needs to hibernate. And then Tank goes into hibernation.
Salutations!
Ah, the love between a pony and her turtle. Seriously, I really like her comradery with Tank. To me, I think it’s so sweet. And it’s an episode dedicated to that special bond.
You know, Dash went through as if going through the stages of grief. She was 1. in denial, where she wanted a second opinion after animal-expert Fluttershy’s answer was not enough, and Dash even wasn’t satisfied with Tank’s twin brother from another species (aka Spike); 2. anger, when she took it out on her friends for saying the word hiberna…..; 3. Bargain, with the decision to stall winter; 4. depression, when she realized she would have to let Tank hibernate and would not leave her room or Tank’s side; 5. and acceptance, when she did come to terms with his need for hibernation.
So, Dash reminded me of the Grinch in this episode with her wide mischievous evil look. “I must stop winter from coming!” would be her Grinch line. While I do feel it is really sweet she wanted more time with him, I also feel it was a little selfish, even after her denial, to keep Tank from his hibernation. She didn’t notice he was asleep the entire time she sang her little number. Speaking of the song, nice beak, Dash. Poor geese, I bet they were cold when they turned around. The Running of the Leaves happens right before it snows–literally. Didn’t know it came that soon! Those pegasi with the speaking roles were something else, weren’t they? When Dash broke into Cloudsdale, there was a closet with what looked a lot like her cutie mark on it. It sure was shocking to her. Ok, so it was just a closet with lightning symbol, but it does resemble her cutie mark minus the rainbow.
I was a little surprised by Dash’s outburst of tears in the end there. And the fact that the others cried more for Fluttershy when she cried was funny, but I would have to agree with them on that! I was in all honesty pretty pleased Fluttershy knew Dash had to cry it all out by being tough. But when the friends cried together, it was a comfort for Dash. And when Tank comforted her, it also helped her to get through and know it’ll be alright. It was a perfect ending where Dash was reading to Tank. I give the episode an overall 8 out of 10, I suppose.
This is a nice episode. It breaks the timeline a little bit, since “May The Best Pet Win!” aired before “Hearth’s Warming Eve”, but…
This is kinda like a pet death episode, but without the pet actually dying. (It’d be stupid if Tank actually died. There’s a reason he’s called “Tank”. It really shouldn’t be surprising if Tank outlives Rainbow.) It’s really nice to see the strong bond between Rainbow and Tank. The reason of this being a pet death episode without the pet actually dying seems to have made some people dislike the episode. I actually want to do some episode defending later on…
The funniest part of the episode (in my opinion) is Rainbow’s denial when visiting Spike. I kind of wish the funniest moment was the “Who’s On First?” reference, but no. It’s Rainbow being in denial. The most heartwarming part of the episode was the crying fest. (Also, the Rainbow slippers on Tank and the Tank slippers on Rainbow were totally adorable.)
The only thing I really didn’t like about the episode was that little timeline break.
Ledger also gives the episode an 8 out of 10.
Now to play episode defense! The first reason people didn’t like the episode was mentioned above. Pet death episodes without the actual death of a pet make the characters seem like they’re blowing things out of proportion, reacting way beyond what they need to be. But…. it’s Rainbow Dash, so that idea doesn’t apply here. Rainbow Dash is very, very emotionally expressive (and how I wish people would get that already… Daring Don’t and now this). Also, Rainbow Dash is not great at putting herself mentally in the future. She can’t really foresee the time that she’ll eventually get back together with Tank because a few months is just too much time for a pony who can’t stand to have an injured wing for a mere few days. Hyperexpressive plus pretty impulsive plus plans for an awesome winter with her close companion being ruined at the spur of the moment equals… Rainbow Dash as perfectly in-character for this episode, and no clue why anyone would think anything different.
I didn’t see this episode as a pet death episode until after reading someone else suggest that, and I still found Rainbow perfectly believable here.
The second reason is that Rainbow doesn’t get punished for sabotaging the weather factory. My response to that- This is Equestria, not America. We Equestrians are not so big on punishment. Fluttershy got away with stealing Philomena and Twilight got away with inflicting doll-love on a town of ponies, and this is because, in the end, no harm is done, and the pony in question is expressive of genuine remorse. We Equestrians are a very forgiving people. It’s fine that Rainbow trashed the factory. We don’t need it at the moment, since winter is already here, and we’ve got a few months to fix the relatively minor huge mess that she made, so… it’s all good. I’m sure Rainbow will be helping with the repairs anyway. She is a weather pony herself, after all, and the sabotage was, for the entire event, something she would rather not have done.
twoearthponies 