You pretty much nailed it with the OOC critique. Granted, I criticized this episode but even I didn't \pull that card.

There is next to nothing to like about Spike as a character anymore, and virtually no maturity whatsoever displayed in his episodes. There haven't been enough positive portrayals of Spike as a character to sufficiently balance out his negative traits in about 3 seasons, and the overall reliance on virtually the same plotline every single time his name comes up really makes the show and his character look stagnant. He learns absolutely nothing whatsoever and nothing changes about him, and the writers squander just about every other potential plotline he could drive by resorting to the same one or two character flaws every time.

If Spike really was a more interesting character already, the writers would have explored more of it. But I at the very least find a character whose only purpose is to learn the same moral over and over again with little to no variation or acknowledgement of other character traits to be incredibly unrealistic. What if every Rainbow Dash episode had been a "Mare-Do-Well" rehash about her arrogance rather than her loyalty, friendship, even the way she learns as in "Testing Testing 123"? There would be little left to enjoy about the character unless she was taken out of canon. What if your only personality trait was the same? You wouldn't be an interesting person or have any friends, would you? That's where Spike is now.

Going back on one or two morals is fine if the character had more to them, but when all the character does is learn the same two morals every single time, it goes to look like a creative get-out-of-jail-free card for the writers, and that's where their effort and the ability of Spike to carry episodes on a show full of actively developing characters comes into question.

There's a line between a realistic level of Aesop Amnesia, and the point where it becomes the sole defining trait of the character. He definitely crossed it.

But I at the very least find a character whose only purpose is to learn the same moral over and over again with little to no variation or acknowledgement of other character traits to be incredibly unrealistic.

I completely disagree that Spike learns the same lesson over and over again. Could you cite the episodes in which he learns the same moral as another episode? 

If Spike really was a more interesting character already, the writers would have explored more of it. But I at the very least find a character whose only purpose is to learn the same moral over and over again with little to no variation or acknowledgement of other character traits to be incredibly unrealistic. What if every Rainbow Dash episode had been a "Mare-Do-Well" rehash about her arrogance rather than her loyalty, friendship, even the way she learns as in "Testing Testing 123"? There would be little left to enjoy about the character unless she was taken out of canon. What if your only personality trait was the same? You wouldn't be an interesting person or have any friends, would you? That's where Spike is now.

Spike's last three episodes were about the difficulty of calling out people you care about when they're going down a destructive path, the importance of self-confidence and giving oneself credit for one's accomplishments, and his desire to take on difficult and important challenges that he isn't quite ready for yet. That's a perfectly acceptable level of variety, and it's all within a dozenish episodes. While there are underlying similarities (which is a given, since y'know, they're all episodes featuring the same person) and some of the similarities aren't always pleasant, such as Spike being in awkward situations that he can't handle, I really see no basis for accusing him of being a one note character. A character who is often poorly written, sadly, but in his current state he's far from being defined by one or two traits.

I was not a fan of Princess Spike and I'm not in a hurry to defend it, but it does sadden me when people oversimplify Spike by projecting traits from some of his lesser episodes onto his better ones.

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As for the video, I agreed with sections of it and disagreed with others, but I'm glad you shared it LZRD. Spike is most definitely not a plot device, and I also wish people wouldn't let a few stinkers sour themselves to Spike and his episodes altogether. The quote from the Horseshoe dude also identifies something I've seen and disliked around various pone sites, and it baffles me that Sunset Shimmer (who I do like, mind) is held up as an example of wonderful character development while so many are content to rip on Spike, the CMC, and other prominent characters.

I agree with a lot of these, especially "Out of character" which is something I'm really getting sick of hearing

Every time I hear "out of character" in someone's criticism I almost always want to ignore it pretty much for all the reasons you said. I feel like now it's just another way of saying "I don't like the way the character acted"

 

 

I completely disagree that Spike learns the same lesson over and over again. Could you cite the episodes in which he learns the same moral as another episode? 

 

"Secret of My Excess", "Just for Sidekicks", and "Princess Spike" are all about his greed leading him to snowball one honest duty into a selfish quest for money or power. "Owl's Well that Ends Well" is more about jealousy, but the same base plot.

"Power Ponies" and "Equestria Games" are both about Spike having low self-esteem from realizing just how much of a dunce he can be at times, and then getting a bone thrown at him when he gets a once-in-a-while chance to save the day, only for him to revert into being a hapless mess again in the next episode.

Spike suffers from a serious Peter Pan syndrome where he has up days and down days but seems to have lost all common sense and impulse control. It's the same song, different verse every time, except for "Dragon Quest", the most recent time they treated him like a growing character who actually considers things in his life other than how much he can satiate his inflated ego, or bring it back up from being completely deflated.

"Secret of My Excess", "Just for Sidekicks", and "Princess Spike" are all about his greed leading him to snowball one honest duty into a selfish quest for money or power. "Owl's Well that Ends Well" is more about jealousy, but the same base plot.

 

"Power Ponies" and "Equestria Games" are both about Spike having low self-esteem from realizing just how much of a dunce he can be at times, and then getting a bone thrown at him when he gets a once-in-a-while chance to save the day, only for him to revert into being a hapless mess again in the next episode.

 

Spike suffers from a serious Peter Pan syndrome where he has up days and down days but seems to have lost all common sense and impulse control. It's the same song, different verse every time, except for "Dragon Quest", the most recent time they treated him like a growing character who actually considers things in his life other than how much he can satiate his inflated ego, or bring it back up from being completely deflated.

I disagree with your analysis here. Secret of My Excess was about greed. Just For Sidekicks was about him being dishonest and using others for his own gain. Princess Spike is about him becoming corrupted by absolute power (in the spirit of the old Lord Acton quote).

I disagree with your analysis here. Secret of My Excess was about greed. Just For Sidekicks was about him being dishonest and using others for his own gain. Princess Spike is about him becoming corrupted by absolute power (in the spirit of the old Lord Acton quote).

Greed, also known as avarice, cupidity, or covetousness, is the inordinate desire to possess wealth, goods, or objects of abstract value with the intention to keep it for one's self, far beyond the dictates of basic survival and comfort.

They're all pretty much the same thing at core. He wanted different things but one thing was common: they were all beyond his means and yet they were all still for himself. Like I said, same song, different verse. Try to convince me his extortion of gifts in "Secret of My Excess" was not in any way like the way he tried to rip ponies off in "Just for Sidekicks" using illegitimate business, or satiate his own lust for power in "Princess Spike" using illegitimate authority, with the exception of Spike just coming up with a new gimmick every time. Power was just nothing but another object of his lust.

They're all pretty much the same thing at core. He wanted different things but one thing was common: they were all beyond his means and yet they were all still for himself. Like I said, same song, different verse. Try to convince me his extortion of gifts in "Secret of My Excess" was not in any way like the way he tried to rip ponies off in "Just for Sidekicks" using illegitimate business, or satiate his own lust for power in "Princess Spike" using illegitimate authority, with the exception of Spike just coming up with a new gimmick every time. Power was just nothing but another object of his lust.[/size]

The first one is about his greed, the second is about dishonesty, the third is about corruption. They come from similar places, sure, but I maintain that they're different from each other. If it gets old for you, fine. But they're not the same.

To further elaborate on Spike being a punching bag: 

The notion that I get from the episode is that he simply cannot win, no matter what. 

When things finally blew up in his face, it was only because he stopped the repair of the water main and the dragon sneeze trees from being cut down, two things which had occurred before he began letting his power go to his head---two things that originated from nothing more than his selfless task of allowing Twilight to get some much-needed rest. In essence, this is pretty much the episode punishing him for actually doing his legitimate job, as if to imply that he was in the wrong right from the start, and not when he actually started delving into self-centeredness. 

And sure, perhaps Spike could have found another way to drown out the noise and perhaps he should have known that stopping those things was probably not the best course of action, but the situation really should have come crashing down via decisions he made through his own self-centeredness, and not out of the things he did for the right intentions. 

Furthermore, there was absolutely no good reason for him to have accidentally destroyed the statue. Seriously, none. As far as I can tell, the only reason it happened was so that there could be one extra thing to make Spike seem utterly incompetent, as well as to add an arbitrary "attendees repair the statue together to prove their unity" scene which the episode really did not need in the slightest since it had absolutely nothing to do with the core conflict. 

And lastly, of course there's the ending implication that Spike destroys the statue a second time with another sneeze. So yes, even after he's been redeemed, all is forgiven, the episode throws him one final punch, proving that it ultimately refuses to let him win.

So that's where it comes from. The episode flat-out treats him like crap.  

By the way, you really seem way too full of yourself. Methinks somepony probably needs to climb down off their high horse.