If they want to do a death episode, why not one showing us the reaction of the Crystal Ponies to the brutal death of King Sombra? Maybe they’ve stopped partying by now.

I could only imagine Celestia reacting with so much intensity every time Philomena died

@soundtea  
I agree that kids aren’t stupid, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to approach tough subjects, and DHX is likely trying avoiding doing it wrong if they have no way to check if their method is proper.

@Masem  
That kind of stuff rubs me the wrong way then. If you’re going to teach a lesson like death to a kid, don’t do it in some roundabout weird way. Deliver it in a straight manner, but don’t make it seem like its something to be sad about forever. Be straight with them.
 
Kids aren’t as vulnerable as we think.

@soundtea  
And yeah, that was praised for how well they did that. Thing to remember is that with Sesame Street’s production company, CTW, they have child psychologists and other people on board that can help craft scripts appropriately for tough subjects.
 
I’m pretty confident that DHX does not have those type of persons - they have smart writers that know how to write for children (and in the case of someone like AKR, knows how to deal with certain types of learning aspects due to personal experience), but not to deal with the “big” issues. As such, were I on DHX, I would know very well to avoid the implication of death of a non-villain character as a critical plot point, even if I knew how exactly to write for children, simply because I don’t have that child psychology aspect to be sure it was the best way. Avoiding that also avoids tons of potential backlash from parents.

@Masem  
I can agree with that, another one that is a better fit would be one would be a “friend moving away”, that is also done in a lot of kids shows but has the fact that one can still see them again unlike a “dealing with death” episode does.

@Prof.NightJack  
And Pinkie would probably know better than anyone else, seeing as Gummy probably needs to hibernate too.
 
 
Like I said, this is probably going to be a very soft “death a pet” allegory. It really could only work for Rainbow Dash and Tank because Tank has to hibernate which lets them have her ‘lose’ her pet without it actually being permanent.

@Masem  
It’s still pretty weak. I mean Sesame Street actually had an actor die, and instead of just replacing the actor, the actual character died and they taught Big Bird (and the audience) what death was and how to cope with it.
 
The clip for reference.

@Prof.NightJack  
hehe yeah I know, it will be an episode where everyone repeats the same to the pegasus with ADHD

@Prof.NightJack  
Okay, maybe calling it the “dealing with death” a bit too far, but it’s comparable to countless episodes of other children’s shows where a main character does everything they possible can to disrupt something they see changing what they think the status quo is. “dealing with death” episodes can be a subtrope of that general plot.
 
They have the right character and the right concept w/ Tank’s hibernation to make this general plot work best.

@Maya  
Ya, but with how Pinkie is talking it’s clear this is a short one.

they sure want to make rainbow dash cry…
 
hibernation can be used as a death sentence, like in that one thinkerbell movie where the creature is the one hibernating for 1000 years, and the dead ones will be all the fairies.

@Masem  
It would work better if the others react to how Dash feels about it with more then basicly going “it’s just hibernation”, so with how Pinkie is here I really think the dealing with death thing is a big stretch.

@Masem  
i guess you find fun by thinking like this was a nuclear exam.

@soundtea  
Any other character would be able to accept 2-3 months of that.
 
We are talking RD, who still has “the world revolves around me” ego moments. Not having Tank there when she expects it captures the same naivety that young children do when they learn of the loss of a pet or family member but don’t understand what death is, or how they act when they are told that pet/family member is going away.
 
It’s clear RD is more intelligent than that, she knows its only hibernation and Tank will be back, but couple that with her ego, and RD is acting like this is the worst thing ever, and hence her behavior to try to stop winter (per the synopsis). You couldn’t do this with any other character of the Mane 6 because they simply lack that the ego.
 
I anticipate that the moral is about understanding that there are natural things in the world that you can’t stop and learn to accept that. And they are using “hibernation” as a replacement for “death” in light of the children-friendly show. It is the same way they dodged the handicap question in “Flight to the Finish”, older fans easily got the undertone, but the surface level was very emotionally light.

@Prof.NightJack  
*that it has no end, that’s why it’s a poor analogy to death,

@Itsthinking  
Even if you are trying to sugarcoat it for the little ones that might take it hard, you still need to let them know that it has not ends, that’s why it’s a analogy to death, they come back unlike when one dies.

Awwww.
 
I can understand what Masem is getting at, but it’s pretty difficult to say that the writers had that in mind, though I guess you could relate the two things in some regards anyway.

@Itsthinking  
Yeah.
 
Still, it’s way too much of a stretch to call this the death episode.

Tank must sleep now.
 
This raises my hope that we might see another winter episode. Another winter episode means another winter wrap up.

@soundtea  
Not to mention that when he’s sleeping, unless it ends up in a very closed off place, Dash can still see him and tell he is alive.

@soundtea  
Like Masem said I think I could understand Dash taking it pretty rough.
 
@Mr. Horrible  
That and they probably don’t actually want to kill off any of the pets.

@Masem  
It’s only for like 2 and a half months though.
 
Honestly a pretty weak way to deal with death since it’s a given he’ll just wake up.

@Masem  
I think you are putting way too much thought in this.

Closest thing we’ll ever get to a dealing with death episode at any rate. This is probably the most standards and practices-approved way they could work in a story about coping with the loss of a pet.