art by harwicks-art

A confession: I have loved dragons since early childhood. My home is decorated with a significant collection of dragon figures, particularly from the often awesome McFarlane series. My fascination with them has had a major impact on my decades of roleplaying and DMing. I sometimes have to force myself not to capitalize the word dragon.

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For that alone, this was going to be quite the episode for me.

I had avoided virtually all spoilers, so I didn’t know that the episode would feature dragons or the dragon lands. However, I did know that it was going to be a Spike episode, and I was keen to see what the new writing staff was going to do with him. “The Crystalling” gave us some of the best characterized Spike in a long time. I was hoping that would continue into the season’s Spike episode(s).

“Gauntlet of Fire” did damn admirably on that level. I do not hesitate to say that this is one of the best Spike episodes when it comes to exploring his established character (rather than mangling it). And it was probably the best overall Spike episode we have seen. In addition, I believe it has the distinction of making one of the previous Spike episodes, “Dragon Quest”, better than it was on its own.

So before I delve into all the things that I liked (or loved) about this episode, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the three issues that I had with it. Mercifully, two of those are pretty minor. The biggest problem was that the episode was predictable.

art by Genjilim

The moment we met Ember, we knew she was going to be the next Dragon Lord. When her father forbade her to compete, we knew that she would disobey, sneak into the competition, and inevitably win. We knew she would team up with Spike, that Garble would play a significant antagonist role at least once during the competition, and that Spike would have an opportunity to become Dragon Lord but would allow Ember to instead. Sure, I couldn’t guess the exact details about how all this would happen – the forty-second reign of Dragon Lord Spike was a pleasant surprise – but there was no question that these things would occur somehow.

Beyond that, I am a little disappointed with the inconsistency over how fireproof dragons are depicted. Spike should not have to worry about being burned to a crisp when he can swim in molten lava.

While Ember is a wonderful character who I hope to see return, I really hope she gets better animation in future episodes. The quality of her animation was reminiscent of the Diamond Dogs from the first season. I got the feeling that the animators didn’t have a proper 3D model for her, and couldn’t render her head beyond a small number of specific angles.

(And okay… not really a gripe against the episode in any way… but unlike Appledash, Rarijack or Starburst, I really can’t find a good shipping name for Ember & Spike.)

art by Assasinmonkey

“Gauntlet of Fire” is a wonderful adventure that takes us into the Dragon Lands. And unlike “Dragon Quest”, we actually learn a fair bit about dragons in the process. Since I won’t be talking about the plot, I’m going to structure this Afterthoughts slightly differently. The main text will encompass the primary thread of my observations, while side notes will be above and below the images in smaller text, like so:

Spike’s treatment by his friends has often been less than stellar, particularly from Twilight. I was happy to see Celestia and Luna (and

even Rarity!) give Twilight the Stare of Disapproval when Twilight prioritizes her research passions over Spike’s well-being.

(As a side note: I wonder if Rainbow Dash was annoyed when she learned that

Twilight, Rarity and Spike went back to the Dragon Lands for an adventure without her.)

I enjoyed how, while they know virtually nothing about dragons, the Call of the Dragon Lord is a phenomenon that Celestia and Luna were aware of. (And not the least because I like toying with the notion that the Royal Sisters learned about this via some past incident with a certain dragon from Fallout: Equestria.)

One of the first new things we learn is that the Call of the Dragon is configurable. We know this because we know that there should be a whole host of fully adult dragons in the Dragon Lands, yet none of them show up. The behavior of the dragons in this episode do not suggest that they have just suffered a war, plague or other calamity that has wiped out adult dragonkind. And the emphasis that is put on dragons always obeying the Dragon Lord despite their normally selfish and reckless behavior tells us that the adult dragons are not absent because they refused to obey. Q.E.D. they were not called.

I love the sense of scale that they give for the Dragon Lord. Especially with Ember,

who is nearly pony-sized, for comparison. That is a seriously impressive dragon!

Likewise, we learn that the Dragon Lord’s magic connects to every dragon, regardless of their location or the Dragon Lord’s awareness. Spike was summoned, even though the Dragon Lord clearly had no idea he existed.

We learn that dragon society has laws, and that one of those laws sets a limit to the reign of the Dragon Lord. The new Dragon Lord is selected by proving his or her worth in a competition set by the Dragon Lord who is stepping down. And while we are never told explicitly why the Dragon Lord’s reign is at its end, we can draw a reasonable conclusion.

That looks seriously cool!

“Flamecano?” Really? Well, from the looks of it, the place could be a natural formation magically

distinct from a volcano. But I can’t help but suspect it was entirely crafted with dragon magic,

and the Dragon Lord christened it a “flamecano” because He thought it sounded impressive.

The Call of the Dragon Lord clearly summoned all dragons below a certain age. If rising to the position of Dragon Lord is done by proving merit – whether it be through strength, intelligence, skill or cunning – one would expect the fully adult dragons to be better suited for both the competition and the role. So the only reason they would not be summoned would be that, by draconic law, they are forbidden to compete. The competition to be the new Dragon Lord is solely for the young. And from that, and with a distinct lack of any other reason hinted at (such as injury or scandal), it is reasonable to deduce that the Dragon Lord is required to step down because He is now too old to legally continue in His position.

Here is another thing I really love about this episode: dragons wearing armor. Dragons are intelligent and

physically capable of tool use, so why wouldn’t they wear armor when going into a dangerous situation

where the extra protection could be useful? They also have jewelry. And based on the Bloodstone Scepter,

they probably craft and make use of their own magical items...

…but try telling that to D&D players who whine when the dragon they are facing

spent part of her horde on draconic plate and a breath-enhancing ring.

This actually makes a degree of sense in a draconic society that emphases strength, power and prowess. Ideally, the Dragon Lord must be young, hale and healthy – in the prime of His or Her life, and before physical or mental ailments from age have begun to set in. Once past that prime, the Dragon Lord is required to step down before physical or mental decline can even begin. (Of course, the health of individuals will not adhere to a generalized model. But it is understandable for a governmental system, particularly if it is a rudimentary one, to function based off of generalized concepts rather than specific realities.)

These monsters are clearly acting as an obstacle in a rather unnatural fashion. They aren’t going after any

of the dragons they knock out of the sky. Are they trained, or are they acting under a magical compulsion?

Also, I wonder if they share a clade with the quarray eels of Ghastly Gorge?

We also can glean a bit of insight into dragon magic, or at least the magical capabilities of the Dragon Lord. Not only is the Call of the Dragon Lord clearly a magical effect – and one with at least a continent-spanning reach – but so was the Gauntlet itself.

The Dragon Lord claimed that He had designed the Gauntlet Himself; and after seeing a cavern transformed into a dragon-like maw of chomping stalactites and stalagmites, there is no reason to doubt Him. Either the Dragon Lord used draconic magic to mold the “flamecano” from outside, or had other adult dragons carry out His designs. I am guessing that the very draconic nature of the magical obstacle designs were a result of preference, but they could have been dictated by the fundamental nature of dragon magic.

The set designs in this episode are just magnificent!

Also: Spike, you can swim in lava. This isn’t a hazard; it’s a day at the spa!

It is interesting that the Gauntlet of Fire is comprised of obstacles designed to impede, but not to kill. These obstacles are, as Ember so succinctly puts it, rough. But the dragons aren’t depicted as bloodthirsty or savage, and this is no blood sport. The Dragon Lord is testing to see who can make it through first, not who can survive it at all. The fact that a teenage dragon can take a hit like Garble did from the gemstone lance and walk it off also says a lot about just how damn tough dragons are in this world. (And I really, really like that.)

While the episode itself was predictable, it was also fairly awesome. Not the least of which because Spike comes out of the episode significantly better off than he went in. He has just made a powerful ally. And a friend.

I found the run-off of green paint to be a very nice detail.

(A female dragon friend, no less. And while the age difference matters now, with the way dragon aging slows down drastically to give them their extreme lifespans, Spike will have caught up to her nicely in a decade or two… sayeth my headcanon!)

“Wait, how did…?” Teleportation.

So yes, I heartily applaud this episode: a great episode with a ton of good stuff for world-builders to play with, a new character that is already inspiring a lot of new art and fanfiction, and a praise-worthy vehicle for Spike. I hope we see Ember again this season, and I pray that the treatment of Spike continues to be this good.

One final thought...

One of my favorite types of adventure stories are those with "gather the X to deal with Y" quests. To stop the devil, the heroes must gather rings from each of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. To fight the dark enemy, the heroes must forge an alliance between five of the seven factions. To open the harmony chest, the heroes must each obtain an item symbolic of her virtue that will be transformed into a key. I particularly enjoy stories where when the quest, or what is required for it, is revealed, the heroes find they have already acquired a portion of what they are looking for. (You might recognize this structure from Fallout: Equestria, and it was definitely used in My Little Pony.)

Twilight, after seeing you battle Starlight, I cannot take the “peril” you are in here seriously.

The writers needed to at least have Rarity suggest Twilight use her magic, and Twilight give a reason not to.

Or even have her try to blast Garble only to have her magic bounce off his scales. After the hits he took earlier, I’d buy it.

This episode has Spike securing a major ally for Equestria and the beginning of (hopefully) good relations between them and the dragons. It strikes me that this isn't the first time our heroes have extended the reach of friendship to other lands. The parallels between "dragons don't do friendship" and what we saw in Griffonstone are too strong to ignore. So... is it possible that we are looking at the building of a grand alliance that will be able to stand against a world-scale threat?

Probably not, but it is extremely cool to think about.