Yeah, another pony promo. That's nice.
But is that a McDonald's Transformer that actually transforms? They haven't done a promotion like that in years... Now for once today's generation won't feel jipped when they go to the crappy fast food place!

Alternate universe?

Here's my theory: Every timeline was just a different outcome to the same series of events. Because, wouldn't ALL the villains have gone unopposed without the Mane Six to stop them? My theory is that, in every timeline, there was an epic war between the villains. Crystal Empire versus New Lunar Republic, Changelings versus Tirek's Striadons, and Celestia and the ponies caught in the middle. Each timeline was just showing who won. Sombra won in the first timeline, Chrysalis in the second, Nightmare Moon in the third, Tirek in the fourth, Discord in the fifth, Flim and Flam in the sixth... somehow, and in the last timeline, all the factions wiped each other out.

Now, how does Sunset Shimmer fit into all this? Well, Sunset tried to invade with her teenage zombie army, but her troops were ill-equipped to face the other villains. In every timeline, Sunset invaded, and in every timeline, she lost. In fact, she was the first to lose. Like, the instant she entered the picture, her troops were either massacred, imprisoned, or corrupted just like that.

Wait! What if every alternate history HAD a villain war at one point, and we were just seeing who won? Since, technically, Starlight changed the same thing every time she went back. It shouldn't have effected which villain took over the world, unless each timeline was just a different result of the same events!

But if that's the case... how did Flim and Flam win the war in that one timeline? I still don't get it.

No, Starlight was a cult leader who was also a communist and an SJW. There, now everyone can be happy.

Screw those guys, then. They should have known how it would end from the beginning, and at least be happy that it was done in the only possible way it could have worked.

Okay. Still not sure what to think about Starlight's heel-face turn. Honestly, I'd probably have been a lot more open to the idea if I weren't so used to hearing people demand that the truly irredeemable be redeemed. I honestly could see how Starlight could be redeemed from the start, I just didn't want to see people who support the Draco in Leather Pants trope be validated. And honestly, the way the episode did it, I think it worked out. Starlight's backstory wasn't nearly as tear-jerking as I thought they would make it. She didn't have a good reason for doing anything she did, because she herself was responsible for her own hardship. Her friend didn't leave her, she just decided that he had. It took showing her a future where there was literally nothing left to get her to budge, and even then she still took some convincing to realize what she was doing was wrong. Again, I'm still not sure what to think about it overall, but admittedly, they did do it the right way.

Seeing all the major villains (and Flim and Flam for some reason) again was pretty cool. A little disappointed they didn't give more time to Tirek or Discord, but then again, the episode would have gotten overcrowded if they had. This episode almost felt like a series finale, and it left me wondering how they could possibly top it in the next season. Is it even possible to top a time-travelling, multi-It's A Wonderful Life episode that has all the major villains from the series?

One question still remains unanswered. How did Flim and Flam take over Equestria? How do two snake oil salesmen get to be on the same level as a moon goddess, a chaos god, an emotion-eating shape-shifter queen, a living shadow, and some kind of demon centaur thing? Wouldn't it have made more sense to use someone like Ahuizotl or the Mane-iac in that role? Also, wouldn't ALL the major villains have gone equally unopposed if the rainboom never happened, and there could have been some sort of epic war between them with the ponies caught in the crossfire or used as ground troops? Or maybe have one villain in charge of all the others? Oh well, it doesn't matter that much. That's just a nitpick. I'm happy with what we got.

Honestly, I'm not surprised. But not disappointed. It's Sony Animation, not even the power of Faust could have saved that movie.
I was wondering why Medusa disappeared from Sony's Wikipedia page.

I don't think I would mind, as long as it was done well. But, truth be told, I'm against it. Like everyone's been saying, not everyone can be redeemed. There are some people who, for one reason or another, can't see the error of their ways or refuse to become a better person. And, Starlight just never seemed like the kind of person who'd be able to do either of those. She has her own twisted view of the world, and once someone has it in their head that something is the truth, it is very difficult to get them to see otherwise. Though it would be nice if she had a "My God, What Have I Done?" moment, realistically speaking, it shouldn't happen. She never saw what she was doing as a problem before, what aside from unleashing an even worse evil on Equestria could possibly get her to see it as a problem now?

But... Starlight's redemption was foreshadowed in The Cutie Map, and that's unmistakably her silhouette on the poster. Besides, she's a pony. Not a changeling, not a living shadow, not a demon centaur thing, a pony. That means she can't be TOTALLY evil, she's just mistaken and can EASILY see the error of her ways because all ponies are inherently good.

That's right, kids, you can totally convince a cult leader/communist/SJW that what they're doing is wrong. They just need a good friend to show them the way. Their beliefs and desires can't be THAT deeply ingrained in their psyche.

I know what they could do with Holder's Boulder.

You know how it was found in a dragon's nest, and is shaped like an egg? HELLO?