I know for a fact that Season 5 is where MLP peaked. Also a telltale sign is its declining popularity from here. Season 6 and beyond is where things drop of significantly so I have low expectations from now on. The best writers of the series (M.A. Larson, Amy Keating Rogers) have all departed from the show and a bunch of new writers came in who aren’t familiar with the cast of MLP. Not necessarily that they’re bad writers – just that they can’t beat writers who are really good AND have had years on the show.
Okay, this episode is controversial due to Hasbro pushing in an alicorn baby which made no sense (Rarity said that this herself during the episode, that it makes no sense. The show became self aware for a sec). I think it’s ridiculous that Flurry Heart was born an alicorn but whatever. Ignoring the controversy, I do think these two episodes are the weakest out of every OP of FiM so far. It just isn’t that capitvating.
I think the most well done part was between Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst which was actually what these 2 episodes were all about, hence why the high score. It discovers the difficulty in meeting the expectations of people, especially long-time friends who you haven’t seen in a while and I think it’s an incredibly important thing to learn. It was also executed brilliantly with the two ponies being extremely awkward around each other, then Starlight trying again and again but failing. And finally, under pressure and a bout of emotional fury, they learn about each other and accept.
The baby shattering the crystal heart is a bit ridiculous. How does Flurry Heart shatter the heart? No baby should have that power – not even Celestia as a baby I’m sure. I think the Crystal Heart shattering is an interesting concept but it has to be done under realistic circumstances which was not done here at all.
I did not expect to like this episode so much. First of all, it’s with a new duo: Rarity and Pinkie. And they added Maud in too. First off, the Rarity impressions of Pinkie was just GOLD! Man it has hilarious. Second, this provided some great characterisation to Maud and Pinkie. For Pinkie, it’s shown how good Pinkie is from showing her emotions when she absolutely needs to (in this case, Pinkie always kept a smile on when next to Maud and acted extremely happy with the gift, even though Pinkie was the opposite of happy). Also, Pinkie is a terrible salespony. For Maud, it demonstrated how much she cared about Pinkie, so much so that she was willing to give up the rock pouch she loved so much for Pinkie’s party cannon. Rarity’s salespony capabilities were great too! I just wished the show put more screentime on Rarity searching for her Boutique rather than just a quick snippet at the end.
I liked this episode but it’s CMC and you know how I am with the CMCs. Overall, it’s alright. I think the CMCs searching for their own thing to do, most especially Apple Bloom, is a great concept and the song was fantastic but it feels a bit flat.
This episode was GREAT and POWERFUL! I loved it a lot. Essentially, Twily is a helicopter parent until Twily realises that she was doing the wrong thing, Starlight has difficulty in making new friends until she could find someone she could truly relate with. Trixie, in her bout of anger, almost loses her only friend (well, she does for a moment) and contemplates suicide because of it. The contemplation of death by Trixie and her almost doing the deed felt a little too light-hearted. I wish it could’ve been taken a biiiit more seriously. However, it still went very well. Great episode; high score.
Okay, I know that this was the episode that made Rainbow Dash a wonderbolt but my god the cringe was really bad when I saw Rainbow trying to imitate her friends. This episode is ~alright~ but it’s just not that good. It felt a bit boring. (12/3 update) OKAY. I don’t know why I didn’t mention this in the review but this episode is absolutely horrendous when it comes to the moral. The moral of the story is literally “Suck it up if you have a shit nickname and get bullied; just accept it.” Yeah, no, that’s ridiculous. Rainbow Dash gets called shit names and has no choice to accept it just because everypony else also has a terrible nickname. Rainbow tries her best to fight back initially and in the end... she just fucking accepts it? Wow, just wow. I don’t know what the writers were thinking but jesus christ that is absolutely insane. The wonderbolts already have such a negative initial image because they keep learning things from RD but now, they just give her a dumbass nickname, plummeting their respect for RD (and hence their respect from the brony community) to the ground. There are some people who stopped watching the series because of this episode. Probably the worst episode of season 6. (Initially the score was a 6, I’ve dropped it down to a 2 because of this)
I’ve always loved Hearth’s Warming episodes, right from the beginning. This is no exception. The beautiful stories told during this time round is as captivating as the last. It follows Twilight talking to Starlight Glimmer about the story of Snowfall Frost and how she hated Hearth’s Warming. The use of the mane 6 + Starlight + all the side characters really adds on to the show and makes it much more fun. Maybe I’ll give it a 9; yes it’s THAT good.
R 2/4 – How tf did I give this only an 8. I’d say a 9 now! This episode is absolutely amazing. Music, story, funness, everything. Fuck man, I might just give this a 10! I particularly like Pinkie Pie’s and Luna’s songs “The present’s always filled with presents!” Also Twily’s “And the reason is to be with your friends” was very cute. Also also the animation quality is top notch.
Only Twilight could make a dance remix about sweeping. Sweep sweep sweep sweep sweep sweep. I think this episode is o.k. but the style this episode was made in was so so well done. As interviews of everypony, we got a view of everypony’s different experience. Because of that, +2 points.
This episode is controversial and I think it’s due to its moral. Essentially, it tells everypony to work efficiently – to streamline their work in order to get more freetime. Though this would make sense for a pony like Applejack where farm work is her main ordeal and it’s a list of chores she has to do rather than continous work, most ponies aren’t applejack. In fact, if you do this in real life, most cases is that people will end up working harder (and more streamlined) for nothing since their pay isn’t based on their productivity. It basically tells people to take a day off after and only after they finish all their work which is... ridiculous. Absolutely mad. People should have mandatory breaks and stipulated time off even if they
Controversial opinion time: I liked it quite a lot. Zephr Breeze (or whatever you’re supposed to spell his name as) is a very annoying character; a deadbeat. But this episode explores the ins-and-outs of deadbeats like him and why they don’t want to do anything for themselves. I feel like it’s a very important episode and the moral is something that should be followed. Locking out deadbeats for not doing anything isn’t the right way, even though that’s what most people would do (and hell, I’d probably do it too) and neither is acting as a doormat like Fluttershy’s parents were. There’s always a root problem to their inactivity which, in this case, is a fear of failure. Some parts dragged on and was a bit boring, hence the lower score. Still a great episode though.
Man this is a great streak. Another amazing episode! Pinkie and Rarity are a very dynamic, interesting and fun pair. They work so well together! This episode shows how terrible all the restaurants in Canterlot are – even rarity says it’s bad. That’s pretty bad. Then a stereotypical Indian restaurant trying barely to stay open tries to conform to the rest with their help. They realise their roles are switched, so then they change it back. I don’t really know how to articulate how I like this episode, it’s just a great one. Perhaps a few bad things about this episode was some parts dragged on (Pinkie trying to show everypony the resto’s good) and the end part being a little longer would’ve been more nice. Maybe I’ll give it an 8.
This is an ok episode BUT MAN THE LAST PART WAS HILARIOUS HOLY SHITTTT +1 point the way he rambles on during the credits was great. This episode was definitely making fun of the brony fandom.
This is also an ok episode except without such a great last part like the previous episode had. It was wholesome don’t get me wrong but it’s a biiiit boring. I liked the idea of the three older ponies screwing everything up for the younger ponies and that grownups don’t always have the right thinking. Still boring though and CMCs have a max of 6/10. Sorry guys.
Okish episode. Pretty fucking fucked up ngl with all the zombies and ponies dressing up as them. Still, it did get the point across for Rainbow and at least she knows now.
Wow, the only episode singlehandedly keeping Spike afloat. This episode introduces Thorax, a changeling who wants to be a friend. There are a couple of plot holes in this episode; for one, Thorax says that he goes all bad-changeling mode if there’s too much love. Explain exactly how Thorax is able to not go bad-changeling mode if he literally goes next to the baby at the end of the episode. My theory is that Thorax will only go bad-changeling mode if there’s a lot of love but with the love not directed at him. But that still doesn’t make sense: when Thorax met the ponies for the first time, they all liked him (and so did Flurry Heart) SO Thorax shouldn’t have gone bad-changeling mode. Nonetheless, still easily explainable; Thorax was dressed as somepony else. It wasn’t his “true” self so in reality, there was still no love directed at him. Boom, problem solved. At first watch, it didn’t make much sense to me but now I understand why Thorax was able to be not bad-changeling mode at the end. Anyways, I really liked the detail when Spike shared Thorax’s story in a song and Starlight Glimmer changed her expression to be more empathetic since she realised that that’s what SHE went through herself. Really nice small detail. Sad to see not that much Glim Glam in this episode though. Now I understand why Tootsie loves Thorax so much, he is a great character. WHEN TRIXIE EPISODE BTW I WANT TRIXIEEEE x STARLIGHTTT agh Trixie is also a great character. Can’t believe I’m turning into a Trixie fan.
God I wonder what this episode could be referencing. As a person who has played DnD both as DM and as the player, this episode doesn't fully accurately represent the game. It doesn't explore the fact that Spike can only cast a certain amount of spells (unless they're cantrips, then I guess I'm wrong) and no one is really acting as the DM here. At first, it was Spike, but he was also a player, and next was Discord, and he was also a player. Okay, pushing technicalities aside, this episode was great. It explored Discord's lack of friends and helped him into opening up to other people. In all fairness, it isn't because of Discord that it happened. It was 100% Discord's fault for screwing every thing up and the episode effectively teaches to rely on others' sympathy in the case you mess things up (rather than the moral that you should try to make things up). Yes, it's true, Discord does apologise to the crew but only after letting him in again. Discord should've been the one talking to Spike asking if he could actually join again after bathing in his sadness; not spike! Hence, a 7. Still though, a fun and great episode and I LOVED Rainbow Dash & Pinkie Pie joining into "Boy's Night", effectively curtailing the belief that adventures with swords and magic are only for boys. Also, Fluttershy's blink of happiness when seeing Discord having fun was very wholesome. Great!
I liked this episode (also got deja vu at the beginning segment of the show because it felt like something I already watched) but the moral was terrible. In fairness, they actually gave 2 different morals: first is the importance of having fun, which is a good moral, and second is to “not think about it” in times of serious pressure. This second moral is the one I have a problem with. IT’S A TERRIBLE MORAL. People can’t just “not think about it”. If it were that easy, then anxiety wouldn’t be an issue to anypony but as you can see, that isn’t the case now is it? If I had an upcoming exam and I was stressing the fuck out of it because I did terribly in the last test, to “just not think about it” (the “it” being the importance of the exam) is literally impossible. The way to deal with things like that is through coping mechanisms, whether that be very negative mechanisms like drinking and smoking or things that are great mechanisms like talking to your friends about it or doing exercise. “Not thinking about it” is not a coping mechanism; the importance of the test will hit you as soon as you enter the exam hall. I’d have given this a 7 but this moral really dropped it to a 5. Other than that, good episode.
Been a while since I watched an MLP episode. This episode was actually pretty good. I liked it a lot! This is the first non-pony-like character to be shown which (I think) will become part of the Student 6 much later on in the series. To be honest, I didn’t expect to like Gabby that much. Initially, she seemed like a happy-go-lucky kinda griffin and the explanation on why she was different from other griffins was absolutely terrible (“just kinda felt different, yknow” – basically gabby) so that wasn’t great. Nonetheless, it kinda grew on me as I watched the episode and by the end, I think Gabby was a pretty cool ADHD griffin. Nonetheless, I think her fault on running away from things needed to be expanded upon to truly make it great. Oh well, I hope future episodes will expand her character a little more.
YEEESSSS. FLIM AND FLAM! Anypony who knows me knows how much I like the Flim Flam brothers. Very glad to see the two back in action with their charisma and cleverness. The last part of the episode where they show the CEO’s evil plans just because the CEO wants to gloat about it feels pretty strange and awkward, but otherwise, this is a great episode. Also introduced to Los Pegasus (god I wonder where that name comes from). Now just awaiting another Glimmy x Trixie episode.
Okay, I know I’ve been rating a lot of episodes very highly but they were just really good episodes! The introduction of Starlight Glimmer to figuring out friendship lessons was GREAT! It was entertaining to see her struggle, and then learning how to do things properly. Not above a 7 though because I felt the episode’s moral was kinda... strange to say the least. It was essentially, “Don’t be scared of doing new things with friends, all you have to do is change your perspective”. I mean, the episode was structured in a way where Starlight was depicted to be scared with hanging out with her friends not because she was afraid on not knowing how to do things but simply because she wasn’t sure how to talk to them. Yet, Starlight herself says later that she was scared to do it because she didn’t know how to do the various activities. It would’ve been a lot more relatable (and make more sense) if Starlight was scared because she didn’t know how to talk to them instead. Imo, missed opportunity, but whatever. It’s still an enjoyable episode nonetheless and because the episode was designed that way, it still comes off as relatable to the watcher even if the explicit statement wasn’t said that way. Glad to see more Starlight Glimmer, she’s now definitely 2nd best pony.
This is an alright episode. I liked the friendship problem between the ponies and it depicted how best friends can still fight. To be honest, it would’ve been better if Twilight didn’t intervene as much as she did since things like this don’t normally have a 3rd party that can see the truth and figure out how to fix things. Nonetheless, I especially liked how the ponies told different stories and how Applejack still tells the “truth” (her truth, she didn’t exaggerate).
This is also an okay episode. Applejack episodes tend to be the weakest out of the mane 6 so it’s a bit to be expected. Applejack telling lies and keeping it all together is insane and not one pony decided to stop AJ despite how incredible the lie is. I mean, it’s a bit of a bland episode. This is a bland review, I just wanna watch the next episode.
Often considered one of the best episodes of season 6 because it handles a map problem thing with great nuance and skill, this episode was pretty good. I like the way they tackled both Rainbow’s and Twilight’s way of doing things and it kinda went... not great for the both of them. Very awesome. The nuance many people enjoyed was how it wasn’t just a fly in there and save the day kinda thing. The things between them were actually pretty difficult to fix and they only managed to do it because they came up with complex solutions. Still though, not really my cup of tea episode; it just wasn’t THAT interesting.
EXPECTATIONS for S6 Finale: Okay, I have low expectations. Season 6 OP was the weakest op by far, even worse than season 1, and it was pretty boring. I expect S6 ED to be the same judging that they’re both part of the same season. Really praying over here but here we go! I know for sure Starlight will be in it so I’m happy with that at least. Here comes the watching of the finale! Lemme clean my glasses first.
(after finishing E25) OH MY GOD OH MY GOD YESSSSSSS STARLIGHT TRIXIE THORAX DISCORD UFHUSFbFSKBJ WOWOWOOWOO
Actual review: Wow, that blew my expectations away. Those two episodes were AWESOMEEEE! As a huge Starlight and Trixie fan, I was SO happy to see the “side characters” take the helm of the crazy two episodes. Like, jumping up and down like a little girl excited, yknow? Okay, so the first episode deals with Starlight and Trixie going to Our Town. When I first watched it, I expected (with my low expectations) “oh they’re gonna have trouble fitting in, then Starlight will ask Twily and other ponies how to deal with her troubles and then eventually resolve them”. I couldn’t be more wrong. First of all, Starlight being anxiety-filled was very fun to watch. I sound like a horrible person but I was literally on the edge of my rusty chair when it happened. AND THEN when they came back and found out that everypony was kinda sus, I became much more intrigued. It became significantly more interesting since we don’t usually see the Mane 6 to be... weird. Initially, I assumed they were under some sort of spell (yeah for some reason I didn’t think it was because of Changelings but it became pretty obvious soon after). Seeing Starlight struggle on what to do felt very relatable and I think it’s what makes her character so good, especially because none of the mane 6 have a trait that’s similar to that. AND MAN I am so glad they used Thorax, Discord, and Trixie. It really felt like a breath of fresh air. The chemistry between them, especially between Trixie and Discord since they both like to put on a show for themselves, made it a lot more fun to watch and introduces some new friendships (Fluttershy becomes very happy to see the two having fun at the very very end of the two episodes).
Starlight throughout the two episodes is unsure what to do. Even after it becomes clear to her and everypony else how these four are the only ponies able to do anything, Starlight still tries to push her role as the “main character” to someone else (for example, she exclaims “There has to be somepony else who can handle this!” when asked by Trixie and Thorax on what to do). She’s afraid of all the terrible things that might happen if she does try taking on the role as leader. Now, this is where I feel it’s a bit of a downer. Starlight’s acting in a way that she’s scared of being a leader because being a leader is scary but she says that she’s afraid of being a leader because of her past actions and how she can be all evil again. It feels... contradictory. Maybe I’m just being a picky bastard but I just got a liiiittle bit confused near the end of eps1. Anyways, it’s just a nitpick. The point is that Starlight is afraid of being at the helm and she doesn’t want to do it. Well, one thing the show did great is that the show forced her to do it. The lack of magic possible within the confines of the Changeling kingdom is, I think, one of the best features used within the show. It makes sense (Changelings are in their own domain; they are not in Equestria so Celestia and co. have no control over them) and it’s effective in making the characters be their best.
For one, Discord isn’t able to use his magic. The first thing I thought of before the lack of magic was revealed was that Discord could just break everything with his magic because he’s just that powerful. This limits Discord to his fundamentals and shows some more sides of him that we don’t normally see; i.e. his complainy-willing-to-do-anything kinda side. Trixie works great here because Trixie doesn’t actually use that much magic, so it’s as if Discord had forcefully stooped down to Trixie’s level (and hence is constantly demeaning her on her lack of magic because he now knows what it feels like to have none of that too “oh if only you could have better tools we could get outta here and I can use my magic!”). Actually what I just wrote doesn’t make much sense but you get what I mean, right? They work well together! Anyways, let’s move on to the Great and Powerful.
Trixie gets to shine at a moment when she had to sacrifice herself for the crew and when she used her magic tricks to her advantage. A lot of people don’t like Trixie because she’s annoying (they’re wrong) but not many can deny that Trixie’s wit, skill and quick thinking saved them here. My only question is, when she got bugged by a bunch of bugs at that moment, how the fuck did she live. Jesus christ that was insane(ly awesome). Usually, Trixie is all boasty but these two episodes show a different side of her; one with fear and uncertainty. This was best demonstrated when she was introduced to Thorax (I was screaming internally like a little girl when I saw Trixie act like that she was very cute (this is why Trixie is very close 3rd best pony)) where she acted the most scared that we’ve ever seen her. Same with when she got to the Changeling castle. It really added much more to her personality than her boasty self. Don’t get me wrong, she still has it, but this made her more relatable and realistic.
And finally, Starlight Glimmer. I already mentioned a lot earlier and I won’t repeat so this will be short. Starlight initially believed that she wasn’t able to do anything, but in situations where quick thinking and leadership skills were required, she knew how to do things. She came up with creative solutions for Trixie, Thorax, and Discord to carry out when they were in a pickle. Sometimes, she messed up. For instance, that time when she got Thorax to replicate herself, and she tried to break the core-thing with a rock. Yeah... that was not gonna work little pony. Still, she managed to make things right alongside her friends to fix the world even with a few difficulties which is why it was done so well.
Other awesome things were the lack of the mane 6 in this. I mentioned it before but having none of the Mane 6 be useful really helped back Starlight into a corner and forced her to get out of her comfort zone. Princess Luna was a nice inclusion to warn Starlight of the Changelings, felt very realistic within the show. Celestia is useless like usual. And the cherry on top; Chrysalis didn’t accept Starlight’s offer for friendship. Not every evil can be switched over, and this was for the best.
Some qualms? The way Thorax defeated Chrysalis felt a bit... bullshitty. I mean, it doesn’t make much sense, since the Changelings sharing love was shown to be bad for them, and in fact Thorax’s transformation could’ve seriously backfired if it just made the other Changelings eat it all up and made them even more hungry. Yeah, idk about that bucko nii-chan. The defeating Chrysalis part all felt a liiiittle bit too Deus ex Machina (the entire show is deus ex machina but this felt a little more exacerbated) but I understand that this is probably the only way they could’ve ended it without reusing the power of friendship thing, so props to them. Still doesn’t excuse the minus score.
Overall, a fantastic ED that blew me away. I loved it. A lot.