ANALYSIS PART TWO MOTHERFUCKERS because I've clearly lost control of my life
Well, I asked for comments on my analysis.
And I got them!
Including some counterarguments that on the surface of things could have looked like they held water. But no sense has been made of the episode yet, so let me explain why.
First of all, let me actually say a few words about why I'm doing this. It's not just to complain about the episode. I spent the time watching the episode mostly in a state of "what the actual fuck" because it didn't make sense to me, and then started trying to figure out why it didn't make sense. And I found my answers. I can't say I liked the episode, but if I just wanted to whine about how it ruined Friendship is Magic forever, I would have produced a very different type of text - and you don't want to see that. (no, seriously, you don't want to see that. Other people have already said pretty much all there is to say about that.) No, I'm doing this because I'm a sucker for continuity, and Magical Mystery Cure (from here on referred to only as "MMC") seemed to be forgetting not only the continuity of all of the show leading up to it - but also its own continuity.
And you might think I'm doing a bit more personal theorycrafting here. And yes, I am. But all my theories are at the very least as solidly grounded in the worldbuilding presented throughout the former sixty-four episodes of Friendship is Magic as any of the counterarguments were. Whether or not you want to believe my evidence is another question entirely. I'm not doing this to claim that I know more about the 'verse than you do, I'm just calling them as I see them and point out why I don't think that any part whatsoever of MMC made any fucking sense at all based on the evidence we have been given throughout the series.
Also going to take the opportunity to use this part two to clear up some poor word choices on my part in the first part of the analysis.
So.
First of all, we need to take a closer look at what cutie marks actually are about. I said in the last part that a cutie mark is connected to the special talent of the pony. Well, looks like we have to go a little deeper than that about it.
Much was made about the fact that cutie marks are actually supposed to be symbolic representations of the destiny of the pony, following them having an epiphany through which they realize their true calling in life (I may have combined a few different comments about them there). So that would be saying that the gems in Rarity's cutie mark represent that the incident with the rock full of gems was what made her realize that it was indeed dressmaking that was her true calling.
Perhaps.
But there's still parts of this that makes it clear that it doesn't work this way. Rarity got Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. That should therefore mean that Rarity now had Rainbow's destiny, her true calling. But she still doesn't think she's actually Rainbow Dash the pegasus. So exactly what did she get? Looking at her actions, she didn't get Rainbow's skills, she didn't get Rainbow's talent, she didn't get Rainbow's affinity for speed, she didn't get Rainbow's life in any sense of the word... and she most definitely didn't get Rainbow's destiny.
Because let's look at Rainbow's backstory of how she got her cutie mark.
She received her cutie mark after pulling off her first ever sonic rainboom, a move that requires one thing above all else to be possible at all: speed. Lots and lots of speed. Supersonic speed. It's something that it seems that only a few pegasi has ever been able to do. Only the fastest pegasi there are. Rainbow Dash is well aware of this. So if Rainbow Dash figured out her true calling/"destiny" at this one moment, then what would it make sense for that calling to be?
Speed. Flying. Being the best flyer that Equestria has seen. To tie it into her cutie mark design and be poetic about it, her destiny is to be a rainbow-coloured streak of lightning across Equestria's skies.
None of this was transferred over to Rarity. Rarity seems to just think her destiny is... doing the job of a pegasus, even though she's a unicorn. So what part of Rainbow's cutie mark epiphany were actually shuffled over to her?
None.
The same is true for the rest of them. If the cutie mark really represents all there is about a pony, some parts of the actual things those cutie marks should represent should also have been transfered over. Someone said that was what shuffled between the ponies were their true selves - but that's exactly what WASN'T shuffled, because if it was, they wouldn't have been so terrible at what they were doing. They didn't get each other's memories, because if they had, they would have come with at least a basic know-how of actually doing what they were trying to do. They tried to live another pony's life while still having all the skills and personality of their original lives.
Think about that for a moment.
The only way for that to have worked at all is if the five of them forgot pretty much everything about their life leading up to the moment of the scrambling, and didn't get anything to replace it with. They didn't know why they had their new cutie marks. If they had known, they would have known the circumstances in which they got them. And if they had known that, they wouldn't have been as terrible at trying to do what they were trying to do. They just kind of resigned themselves to doing what their cutie mark supposedly told them to do (which still makes zero sense when it comes to Rarity having Rainbow's cutie mark, which I've already explained, and Applejack having Rarity's cutie mark, which I'm going to elaborate on even more later). And this isn't even going into the part where the rest of Ponyville doesn't seem to remember anything about the actual ponies, but expecting them to be whatever their cutie marks are. Which makes no sense on its own.
So we're back at the question of what the fuck did the cutie marks actually represent?
The entire problem lies in that the more esoteric and requiring of convoluted explanations cutie marks become in regards to explaining the true nature/self/destiny/fuck you, that's why of the pony in question, the less sense the whole concept of cutie marks start making as a whole. The thought that whatever the hell cutie marks represent lock you into your destiny isn't a good one either. From what we've seen, there also seems to be a view, at least among younger ponies, that you should try to get your cutie mark as soon as possible. Implication: To lock yourself into the path you're supposed to follow for the rest of your life while you might not even be old enough to understand all that comes with it.
Think about that for a moment.
If cutie marks really are your destiny and there's nothing you can do about it, that means that once you have your cutie mark, it can't change. It's there. It's your life. It's your true self. Even if it turns out to be something you're not actually good at or enjoy doing. This is what the first half of MMC tells us. Implication: Cutie marks trump free will.
This is all working from the assumption the cutie marks can't change once you have one. That you're stuck with the mark you get. If cutie marks could change, then it wouldn't be so bad for the five of them because if the cutie mark swapping would have made any sense and come with the actual knowledge it should have come with, they could have applied that to what they actually liked doing.
At this point I'm assuming that cutie marks are well-understood in-universe. Given how the basics of them are taught in school, there's presumably been higher level studies of them as well. They're clearly magical in nature, but there's one thing about them that, if cutie marks can't change one you have them, is probably impossible to actually find the answer to: whether or not what cutie mark you're going to get is locked in when you're born. If it is, then it means you're completely bound by destiny. If it's not, it means you get to shape your own destiny... but also means that if your areas of interest change as you get older, well, you're fucked. Figuratively.
But.
Guess what, the episode contradicted itself about this.
After Twilight's... change... her cutie mark did change. It gained a star.
While this might be seen as an extraordinary event, it still shows that cutie marks can actually change. This should mean they don't trump free will! Except the episode tells us they do because of the way the ponies were handling their new "destinies". Did I mention that nothing in the episode made any sense?
On its face, the way they handled their new jobs wasn't especially off. It seemed fairly close to what would actually happen if the five of them switched jobs for a day, without that destiny bullshit. But that's just that, jobs. Jobs aren't cutie marks. Jobs aren't destinies. Jobs especially aren't elements of harmony.
And herein lies one of the biggest problems with the episode. Friendship is Magic has always been good about giving the characters multi-faceted characterization. There's a lot of things making them what they are. The type of pony they are. Their personality. Their special talent/cutie mark. Their elements, for the main characters. Their jobs. Their relationships with other ponies, both friends and family. Their motivations. Plus a lot more, individual parts, that all together make up what I would consider the true self of the pony. Think back to "Too Many Pinkie Pies" - the Pinkie clones had many of her superficial traits, but were completely lacking any of her deeper personality - which makes sense seeing as how they were clones created from her reflection, which could only see her "outer" traits. They couldn't replicate her true self (I don't really like the term "true self", but I have nothing better).
And in MMC, it was clear that after the scrambling, the ponies kept nearly all of their true selves. The problem is that MMC takes those multi-faceted personalities, all those small things that when together make up a pony, and just kind of squashes it together into a one-dimensional view of the pony. Because consider what parts of a pony's true self would actually be directly related to their cutie mark. Now consider what parts of the ponies' true selves were shuffled around, from their actions in the episode. Now consider that we're supposed to believe this happened due to the scrambling of the elements of harmony.
Now realize that we're back to the conclusion that there is literally no possible way for that whole thing to have happened as it was shown while being internally consistent even with itself.
So, in short: Cutie marks don't decide your destiny. They're only one of many parts of a pony's life. They show you what you have a talent/affinity for, and then it is up to each pony to incorporate it as they like into their lives. The idea that they would work in any other way carries with it a multitude of grim implications about life in Equestria that I don't think anyone wants to believe.
Moving swiftly along.
Since we're done (no, seriously, we are) with cutie marks, let's look at the other thing I talked about last time: Twilight and all what happened to her. To, not with.
(scene missing)