Season 1 had the way better finale.

There is a few big problems I had with this finale.

The biggeset is the finish. Its ending had next to nothing to do with any of our main six characters, and instead falls fully on two characters we have barely had a chance to get to know. I mean the time we've had with Cadence wasn't even half an episode.

Then there is the issue of the blatently evil Cadence. How the hell did anyone NOT figure this out? The fake clearly didn't do all that much research, she didn't even realize Twilight was Shining's sister.

You could make the argument that perhaps she was using her magic to do so, but why didn't she just do it to Twilight? If it's because of twilights skill in magic it may not have worked on her, then how would it have fooled Celestia?

I'm not bothered by the Idea of the Shapechangers being here to feed on the inhabitants, but more the plan is a bit fuzzy. First off, did the fake get here before or after the barrier was put up? It seems her goal was to go after SA specifically in order to take down the barrier, but then how did she get in to begin with?

And then there was the actual fight with the Changelings, which was great and fun, but ended up not mattering in the slightest.

And I'm bothered by the introduction of Shining too. Not the character or the fact he exists mind you, but it was baddly handled. Twilight was so pissed about this not being told he was getting married? Really? This is a guy who has not come to see her ANY of the times they've been in Canterlot, and the guy she cares SO MUCH about she hasn't mentioned him once in the entirety of these two seasons?

And I'm boggled by thier refusal to get Luna involved in the story. They had the perfect opportunity to do so. That's not really a major complaint, just me wondering what went through their head.

I disagree with you Seifer, because these issues make this finale hard to be engaging for me. All the characters I know and love from the show had little to nothing to do with anything. The only relevant thing they did the whole time was Twilight saving Cadence. That was the extent of our shows main characters relevance.

Compare that to the Season 1 finale. That finale, as you said, it 'foreshadowed itself'. That's probably a bad word to use, as FOreshadowing is used to hint at something that was going to happen, where as we all knew the Canterlot thing was going to happen.

Season 1's Finale had a lot of build up, I think is the better word. Everyone involved in it was characters we had connections with, not two new people we have no connection with.

I will say the jokes tend to be spot on in this episode though. And like the mystery episode, there is a rediculous amount of small details that I loved, and just well done scenes. The many Rarity getting overly excited scenes were wonderful, Fluttershy and Pinkie during the Changling battle were hilarious, and one of my favorites was during the wedding when Apple Jack slipped back on the hat when Rarity was sobbing. XD

And I'll note I hated Twilight and Fluttershy's hair at the end. AJ and RD were pretty cool, and I loved how Rarity's was the same as always.

So as I said, good episode on a whole, but there was to much I felt dragged it down to be satisfying as a Finale.