Like so many things in life Season 4 of Friendship is Magic seems to have come and go by in no time at all. However it's certainly left an amazing impression and with Season 5 on it's way I, for one, am eagerly looking forward to the future.

While Equestria Games provided perhaps the worst example of build-up and pay off I've ever experienced, Twilight's Kingdom gives us one of the best. A full season long story arc finally comes to a head in an epic two-parter that I happily rank among the best episodes of the series. The writers brought their best (or at least the best of what we've come to expect from the show lol) and gave us something heartwarming, heartpumping and at times even a little heartbreaking.

The Good:
-The villian. This time around the writers dusted off the orginal my little pony villian and updated him into an even more frightening and threatening incarnation. Many fanfic authors have used him before in their stories and he's often equated to mlp's version of the devil. I always rolled my eyes at that idea but now, I believe it.
-Discord...just Discord. Once gain John DeLancie brings his best to the spirit of chaos. However, unlike in the premiere where he was just there for exposition and a few jokes, here we have him playing a central role in the plot and a very vital one in my opinion. Which leads us too...
-The Princesses. I've made it no secret that Celestia is one of my favorite characters and every time we see her that feeling gets stronger and stronger. In the premiere we got a peek behind the proverbial mask of royalty but here we see it cast aside almost completely. Seeing Celestia show vulnerability, sadness and even fear goes a long way in, for lack of a better term, humanizing her. We also see the relationship between the four princesses when they are together and, most importantly, behind closed doors. Since the end of Season 3 there has always been a nagging thought in the back of my head questioning how Twilight is treated by the other three but seeing this finally silenced it. As before the elder royals are removed from the plot so Twilight and company can do their thing but this time it's done well enough that I can't complain about it.
-The battle. Yes, there is an epic DragonBall Z style battle in My Little Pony. And it was amazing. That is all.

The Bad: (Aka the nitpicks)
-This goes back to what I said about the princesses. In an early scene we see Twilight basically left out of a meeting between the other princesses and visiting dignitaries. That nagging thought I mentioned got a little louder upon seeing this but the scene that followed it put an end to that. I also had to remind myself that at this point Twilight's princesshood was simply a title and her royal duties were simply tasks given to her by Celestia. With that in mind, I just figured that if she had been invited inside all she would be able to contribute to the meeting was to smile and wave...which is what she did anyway. And as I said, the scene that followed put an end to my doubts about how much Celestia, Luna and Cadance care for and respect Twilight.
-That's...about it. Honestly I know I'll find something else in subsequent viewings but for now that's really the only problem I had with the episode.

Those are my thoughts on Twilight's Kingdom parts 1 and 2. As before agree, argue or outright ignore if you so choose. Myself, I'm going to kick back and start thinking up ways to endure the dry spell.