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MLP:FIM Season 3 Review (Revised)


Dark Qiviut

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Author's Note: This is a more thorough, revised review for season three of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Head here to read the previous version.

 

 

Season three was like a haphazard dinner at a restaurant. You have a decent appetizer, then a scrumptious entrée, followed by an awful desert.

 

1 & 2. The Crystal Empire: Part one gave the season a great start. There were layers of great characterization amongst the Mane Six, notably Twilight Sparkle and Spike. The backstory of both King Sombra and the kingdom were also convincing, despite being brief. Its most notable drawbacks, however, were twofold (both in part 2):

  • King Sombra's character was flatter than a board. What made Discord and Chrysalis engaging and more objectively menacing were how their personalities shone through. They had depth. Sombra was scary just for the sake of it.
  • The plot crawled. Part 1 had an engaging plot that varied in pace. Part 2 had the pace crawl to a standstill as Twilight and Spike explored the Queen's castle while searching for the Crystal Heart.

Its strongest moment is easily the Door of Illusions/Door of Fear. It explored Twilight's greatest fear and desire to do whatever she can to pass the test. Twilight took this test so seriously and doesn't want to let herself, her friends, and Princess Celestia down. This powerful magic also gave Sombra the only layer given: his utmost cruelty for anyone aside his own.

 

While part one was great, part two was noticeably weaker. But it was still a hit.

 

3. Too Many Pinkie Pies: Dave Polsky's best episode by far. It was an episode full of comedy, but it also provided magnificent depth for Pinkie Pie, as well. Her clones were shallow and one-dimensional, with the minds of airheads, intentionally written to separate them from Pinkie's complex layer of care, laughter, and toughness. There was one obvious brony reference, too: G3!cloned Pinkie. The only flaw was the obvious Deus Ex Machina in the middle of Act 2 (where Spike discovered a secret cupboard within one of the back walls to reveal the book).

 

4. One Bad Apple: An episode that brought in a brand new eventual Cutie Mark Crusader: Babs Seed. The song is easily the catchiest of them all, with a great rhythm, great musical score, and psychedelic background. The CMC underwent the tortures of being bullied by someone who was coaxed under peer pressure to bully. The drawbacks in this episode were one objective, one personal:

  • The revelation of Babs being bullied back in Manehattan came off as way too sudden. Even with the foreshadowing earlier in the episode, there was way too much buildup for the opposite. At least one extra hint while Babs joined the forces of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would've given the twist a bit more convincing.
  • Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were flat. In Ponyville Confidential, Diamond Tiara was given extra depth by being organized and conniving. She put the Cutie Mark Crusaders in hostage with the threat of having their private photos being released in order to embarrass the trio. Here, Diamond Tiara was a generic antagonist. The same can be siad for Silver Spoon, whom was given a little extra layer of depth in Family Appreciation Day when she was the first to applaud to Granny Smith. That layer was missing, and she was relegated to a sidekick again.

5. Magic Duel: Easily my most favorite episode in season three (and second-best in season three, too). My two analyses can be found here and here.

 

6. Sleepless in Ponyville: Magic Duel is my most favorite episode in season three, but this one is easily the best. I praised this episode here.

 

7. Wonderbolts Academy: At the time, it was the boldest episode with Rainbow Dash joining the likes of Snowflake/Horse Power, Thunderlane, Cloudchaser, Raindrops, and Lightning Dust (Dash's foil and episode antagonist). It was Merriweather Willimas's first Dash-centered episode since The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (arguably the worst episode in the series and in season two), but she didn't disappoint here. WA is by far the best Dash episode since Sonic Rainboom (and easily Williams's best episode); her complex character was explored entirely, and she obviously learned her lessons from her previous appearances. Rather than finding a fault, her faults were showcased and balanced with her biggest strength: her loyalty to what is her family. Rainbow Dash's character is a concrete highlight this season after a disastrous first half of season two. I wrote my full analysis of the episode here.

 

8. Apple Family Reunion. Unlike the previous episodes, this one is akin to season one and two's slice-of-life episodes. It's tame, but extremely well-done. Applejack's previous episodes centered around her stubbornness and occasional drive to steer away from troubles. Here, she did whatever she could to make the reunion grand, only to have her plans fall apart so badly. It explores a really fantastic side of her: her dedication and love for her family. My most favorite moment of the episode was when Granny Smith said to Apple Bloom that not everyone may make the next reunion, leading up to Applejack's desire to make this reunion the best ever. Here is my full review.

 

9. Spike at Your Service: Here's where the season's quality began to objectively drop — It was a clunker that reversed Spike's progress in character throughout the series and season three. It had many good smaller moments (including some funny lines), but Spike was handled horribly through a very inane concept. Here's my full review.

 

10. Keep Calm and Flutter On: A complete reversal of SaYS. The previous episode had a great pace but a shoddy plot and characterization, but this one had easily the strongest characterization of the full cast and shoddy pacing. Fluttershy was extremely in character who didn't fall into being needlessly shy, She was strong-willed and did whatever she could to make Discord trust her in some way. Discord's plan to manipulate Fluttershy completely worked, but Fluttershy witnessed this plan from the very beginning and had him beat in his own game. She's tenaciously patient, and this episode showed the character development she received from Dragonshy, Putting Your Hoof Down, and Hurricane Fluttershy; she was given justice, and Polsky (and Teddy Antonio, the story's creator) deserve immense credit. But Discord's redemption isn't factually as convincing because:

  • The pace was abnormally fast with no time to recuperate at any point.
  • Celestia's throwaway line when describing her interest to have Discord redeemed was contrite and nonsensical.

It would've been a hell of a lot better if Discord's redemption was a two-parter; too much information was compacted into one twenty-minute episode, and the timeline was implausibly short. My full review is found here.

 

11. Just for Sidekicks: Easily my most hated episode of the season. Corey Powell is a wonderful writer who can handle the characters brilliantly. But Spike's character was written atrociously. Instead of being balanced with his greed and commitment to perform right, his qualities were sacrificed for his conniving and greedy sides, lessons that he learned in the past. Powell knows the universe, but tried to give Spike a flaw that he is capable of understanding the need to caution himself. There were several fantastic small moments, but Spike is the focus, so the episode is weighted by his performance. Spike's characterization was an absolute travesty, and I wouldn't EVER recommend this disgusting episode to ANYONE. Here's my full review.

 

12. Games Ponies Play: This episode I haven't watched yet. But that only determines whether I'll like the episode or not. But I read the transcript on the MLP:FIM wiki, and the characterization is bullshit. It had the worst overall characterization since The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well; they behaved like idiots and got rewarded for it. I'll skip it over.

 

13. Magical Mystery Cure: The songs are strong and progressed the plot. But that's really the lone strength (besides the animation; it's always been strong). The plot was way too fast, and Twilight's evolution to an alicorn had no momentum from TCEII onward. It was refreshingly dark in many aspects, but the plot whizzed through like flipping a storybook without reading the lines. Each sequences had no time to relax nor explore the consequences of the changing of the Mane Six's core. This episode easily should've been a two-parter to not just make the premise interesting, but also sell the Twilicorn concept better. Like what I wrote in my editorial (found here), The Twilicorn concept is factually stupid, and it was going to take something brilliant to make the idea convincing in the canon. (Liking a concept does NOT mean it's objectively a GOOD one.) M. A. Larson had to weave in the Twilicorn concept in the best fashion possible, and while it was a hell of a lot better than it could've been, given Larson's intellect, it should've been much stronger. It had no momentum, and it showed through here. Overall, I'm okay with it, but objectively (sadly), this episode is a strikeout. My full review for it can be found here.

 

 

 

 

That said, it gave us a welcoming pleasant surprise:

 

 

 

 

 

img-1180801-1-245570__safe_derpy-hooves_animated_spoiler-s03e13_crystal-pony_wink.gif.gif

 

 

 

 

 

And she appeared at least five times, three of them WITH her derped eyes! biggrin.png

 

———

 

With the overview of the episodes complete, it's time to review the characters.

 

After losing some screentime in the last third of season two, Applejack participated in all thirteen episodes. This background pony had very huge roles in almost every episode this season. Examples include:

  1. Too Many Pinkie Pies: Rounded up all of the Pinkie Pie clones.
  2. One Bad Apple: Was the "surrogate" sister for the Cutie Mark Crusaders and was the one who said Babs came to Ponyville because she was being bullied back home.
  3. Sleepless in Ponyville: Was a tertiary character during the camping hike.
  4. Apple Family Reunion: Need I say more?

For the most part, she was written very well, and her characterization was great for the most part, even in the bad bad episode she co-starred in, Spike at Your Service. Barring Games Ponies Play (an episode where every character was shafted), she was written well.

 

In a reversal from Applejack, Rarity had no episode starring her, even in the lone episode where she participated in a somewhat bigger role, Games Ponies Play. She was a tertiary character throughout the season, and she didn't get as much screentime compared to last year. Spike at Your Service and Sleepless in Ponyville wrote her quite well: sassy but caring for her family and friends. But there were no more crucially big roles for her to where she as a character can legitimately stand out.

 

Even though Rarity had no central episodes, Fluttershy was more of a background pony, even with Keep Calm and Flutter On starring her. In many episodes, she had a very diminished role (i.e., being a background character in One Bad Apple and tertiary character in the second half of SaYS). Two of them didn't have her in the episode at all (SiP, AFR). She didn't stand out as much, but had enough character into her to be identifiable and in character most of the time. That said, it's time for her to grow into a role akin to Keep Calm and Flutter On: more assertive, sweet, and firm in her duties, yet still subtly shy and not as anxious as she once was. Give her more of the ability to further communicate with more citizens besides the princesses, animals, and Mane Six.

 

Compared to her episodes in season one and two, Pinkie Pie is a mixed bag this season. Too Many Pinkie Pies really explored her as a three-dimensional, complex character who loves her friends and wants to do whatever she can to redeem herself. She showed that she can really make a mistake, but she isn't that aloof. The same can be said for Wonderbolts Academy, where she worried that Rainbow Dash's hard training will result in Dash forgetting her friends, a concept that really works because of how close they are. But her biggest offenders are One Bad Apple, Spike at Your Service, and Games Ponies Play. In those three episodes, she treated the situations with a severe lack of care, resorting to slapstick conversation and attitude rather than paying attention to the action at hand.

  1. One Bad Apple: When the Cutie Mark Crusaders pleaded to get into Pinkie's float, she kicked back and read the paper instead of paying attention to the panic the CMC had in their faces and tones. The "VEGGIE SALAD!" yell made no sense, either.
  2. Spike at Your Service: In the scene before the last round of commercials, Applejack said in order to break the "Dragon Code," Applejack's life needed to be saved. Pinkie Pie suddenly acted in a happy, slapstick manner. It didn't fit the scenario nor her character one bit.
  3. Games Ponies Play: She was basically an airhead with an IQ of 3.

Of the six ponies, Rainbow Dash was easily the best written. In the first half of season two, her characterization was very shaky, ranging from nice to being a bigger jerk than what she's supposed to be. But from The Last Roundup onward, she's been written much better, and that's very difficult with a character as complex as her. Hurricane Fluttershy took her up in a secondary role; she was the firm, supportive leader and character, giving her her best characterization since early in season two. Season three continued this trend, especially in two key episodes: Sleepless in Ponyville and Wonderbolts Academy. Sleepless in Ponyville explored her caring side, being a surrogate sister to Scootaloo. But even though Sleepless in Ponyville is the best episode this season, it's objectively NOT Rainbow Dash's best performance. That belongs to Wonderbolts Academy, her best episode since season one. Her characterization is extremely strong and incredibly balanced in her strengths, flaws, and callbacks in her developed psyche. She was the breakout character in season one, and season three is where she improved. This season had many weak links; Rainbow Dash's characterization isn't one of them.

 

Twilight Sparkle showed her growth this season, but it wasn't the case magically. She grew intellectually. This is especially the case in Magic Duel. Trixie used spells that Twilight couldn't do thanks to the corrupted Alicorn Amulet. Early in the season, she showed her temperament, lack of patience, and nervousness, but that was no longer revisited as if ignored. (Unfortunately, this is something Magical Mystery Cure should have exploited, because the REAL Twilight wouldn't have been so calm in the episode.)

 

The big flaw in her character "growth" this season is, of course, her ascension to being an "alicorn princess." It was a plot device shoved in inorganically with no clear momentum, and the method was so rushed that it resulted in a poor first impression. And with season four's premiere not airing for several months, this skepticism is something you don't want laid out to your audience.

 

But you can't have Twilight without Spike. Early in season three, he was given three smaller, important roles that grew his character:

  1. He was the one instructed to return the Crystal Heart to its shrine.
  2. He found the Deus Ex Machina in Too Many Pinkie Pies.
  3. While Twilight was exiled in the Everfree Forest, he kept the team together.

Unfortunately, his important roles as a tertiary character diminished greatly. And to make it worse, the two episodes starring him made him completely out of character. In Spike at Your Service, he was incompetent and careless, a complete contradiction to the previous episodes. Just for Sidekicks wrote him just as badly by converting him into a very unlikeable bastard, something from Owl's Well that Ends Well that I didn't miss at all. And in here, he was a greedy bastard, and he learned about the consequences of greed back in Secret of My Excess and Dragon Quest. It was a total flip-flop, and as a Spike fan, his episodes really disappointed me. The next time he shows up as a main character, less use of made-up "flaws" for him (and less use them as lame excuses for humor) and replace them with genuine good quality characterization!

 

Rainbow Dash was the first breakout character in season three; Scootaloo is the other. She had one main episode all season: Sleepless in Ponyville, and her character was explored majorly in it. She idolizes Rainbow Dash and wants to do whatever she can to perform at her best just like Dash. Dash's personality evidently ebbed onto her because she had a façade so others don't see her as "weak." That conversation at the end really helped cement some needed character growth for her.

 

Now I can talk about Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. His "redemption" episode was handled a hell of a lot better than anticipated. And at the end, he remains chaotically antagonistic. That said, issues with the way his character "grew" are extremely evident, and I mentioned this in my review of the episode linked above and overview early in this review alone. That said, if he isn't used at any point in season four, his episode is purposeless.

 

The same can be said with Trixie. Magic Duel was supposed to be an episode for season two (in fact, the final draft of the script was submitted sometime in early-2011). I'm unsure why it wasn't released for season two, but part of me believes it has something to do with animation or another episode taking its place (maybe A Canterlot Wedding, I don't know), but that's merely speculation. Her episode brought her back, and she returned with anger corrupting her conscience. She was a showmare who got the short end of the stick in Boast Busters, and Magic Duel showed her pain and bloodthirsty desire for revenge. The end of the episode was tremendous growth of her character (as well as Twilight's), especially her stumble at the end before getting back up and galloping away. It's unknown if she'll ever get another episode, but she has so much potential for it to go to waste.

 

———

 

So, what went right?

  1. The characterizations of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are brilliantly done. They were the breakout characters this season and were one of the major improvements season three had from season two. This is especially the case for Rainbow Dash, whose three episode were among the weakest in season two.
  2. The songs are brilliantly done, as usual. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has always done one thing right, and that's compose some very great songs. Babs Seed and Raise This Barn are extremely catchy with clever animation, great music that fit the characters and situations, and in-character personality. Despite Magical Mystery Cure's failure to produce, the songs (despite being chopped for time) never dipped in quality.
  3. Each season, the animation has become more complex and smoother, and this season is no exception. There have been little tidbits to make the animation smoother, such as not as much constantly mirroring in the heads (Trixie's bangs in Magic Duel being a great example). Other examples include the little movements in their chins in front view, putting the anatomy in perspective, and Twilight's waving of her hair in The Failure Song.
  4. When the bold decisions went right, it was extremely great. Magic Duel and Wonderbolts Academy are two such episodes where the staff went bold and did a damn great job accomplishing it.
  5. Keep Calm and Flutter On — despite being a okay episode — didn't accomplish this feat as well as some make it out to be. Discord's redemption was horribly rushed and isn't as solid as it should've been. Frankly, it should've been held back for a two-parter in a future season.
     
    There's only one concept that I saw that a self-contained redeemed Discord episode would work. A user on EQD named HMS_Celestia wrote this small passage in Twilight's perspective (first-person) in response to this challenge:
     

    Discord?!? What was Celestia thinking. I suppose I should bring somepony to help me, but I've already got Spike, and I don't want the whole town to panic- I choose myself to look after Discord, but only after some careful thought while I lock him inside an uncomfortably small safe. Before long, he lets himself out. Next thing I know, all of my books are in reverse alphabetical order and spike is hanging from the ceiling like a novelty lamp.
     
    I sigh, as Discord snakes around the room, making himself comfortable. I try to devise any sort of restraining device, from magical bubbles to chains, although I kindly disregarded Spike's suggestion to construct a firewall around him. As I give up, Discord begins to laugh at my futile attempts. He jokes that I casted magic sheilding "as good as Starswirl the Bearded .... after ten gallons of cider" and I laugh, because I knew Starswirl used to drink. I excitedly ask him how he knew about starswirl, and he says he knew Starswirl when he was alive, and that they were great friends. Discord amuses me with with clever anecdotes, while I fill in the historical knowledge Discord hasn't read up on in his thousand years of being a statue.
     
    His mood turns melancholy, as he recounts his lost millennium. I ask him how it felt. He tries to describe it, but then gets an idea. He activates his magic, and Spike is instantly turned to stone. In a second, my body is engulfed in a bone-deep coldness. My muscles tense, then cramp, then freeze. I don't know what to do, but I don't want to fight back. I look into Discord's eyes while I still have control of my head. He smiles, and begins to cast a different spell. Slowly, he engulfs himself in stone. I lose all my ability to move, my eyes move frantically, eventually fixating on Discord, who is now a statue as well.
     
    We spend the night like this, then the next morning. It's maddening, but strangely relaxing. I still can see Discord, hear the subtle sounds of the library, until finally Celestia returns, concerned for my safety. She brings Spike, Discord and me back from stone, and Discord and I share a hug with Spike.
    I think I finally understand him, and he understands me.

So, what went wrong?

  1. The background ponies rarely had a role in any of the episodes. As I wrote several times before, background ponies help give the universe much more life than if it was the Mane Six (plus Spike, the princesses, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders) alone. Each background pony has a personality who helps give the canon life. Seasons one and two had them participate in several important roles. This isn't the case in season three: The Crystal Empire, Wonderbolts Academy, and Apple Family Reunion are the only episodes where they were doing something and/or were actively involved on stage during the action.
     
    And it isn't only Derpy who was a victim of this cost-cutting measure. Every background pony was affected!
  2. Budget is a really key issue here. Back when season three was under production, the writers and Hasbro interpreted it to be the final season for the series. In a thirteen-episode season (and in a supposed series finale), the budget gets sliced. The script, storyboarding, appearances of the background ponies, and rough executions of many ideas dictate this.
  3. Season three got too bold too quickly. Seasons one and two had much more relaxed approaches to developing the characters. As a result, the characters developed progressively and naturally (90% of the time). In season three, the team dropped in several bold ideas that should've gone through much more proper care and revisiting.

    1. Speaking of "bold," season three forced itself to go bold. There is a major difference between going bold progressively and going bold for the sake of it. Keep Calm and Flutter On and Magical Mystery Cure went bold for the sake of going bold (both due to the initial expectation of season three being the final one and Hasbro's greed for toys), with no prior momentum to realistically execute the subsequent events. Magic Duel and Wonderbolts Academy went bold progressively and took its time to make the episodes as plausible as possible. Despite its massive foreshadowing throughout, Keep Calm and Flutter On didn't have the prior momentum to make Discord's redemption as easily sold, either.

[*]Many of the episodes had major pacing issues. KCaFO and MMC each zoomed way too fast, and GPP's ending was too sudden, too. Crystal Empire, Part 2's first and second acts were too slow. The quality of the timing in the plotline was extremely inconsistent, a complete reversal of the episodes from seasons one and two. The excuse of "you have only twenty minutes to make an episode" doesn't work, including in season three. Check out Corey Powell's two episodes in season three, Apple Family Reunion, and Wonderbolts Academy. Pacing was NOT an issue in those four episodes.

[*]Too many ideas were crammed into one condensed episode. Magical Mystery Cure and Keep Calm and Flutter On are the two lone, obvious offenders. They should have been two-parters, because there was so much material to cover, and having everything settle after twenty minutes makes the episode rushed and convoluted. Magical Mystery Cure is the biggest offender of the two, because it was the season finale and had an extremely fragile concept (the Twilicorn) that can go really wrong if handled poorly.

 

And this is the key issue of McCarthy's and Strong's words during their interviews regarding Twilight's current status. They said she's still the same character in personality (and Twilight possibly continuing to live in Ponyville), but that isn't good enough. The purpose for her being an alicorn must be greater than that. Doing what Strong and McCarthy claim runs the risk of devolving (or "ponyvolve," according to one of NetRaptor's kids on her DeviantArt journal) Twilight into a digital billboard. She is a princess; in Equestria, a princess and alicornhood mean more than mere titles. They're symbols of royalty, respect, and responsibilities of managing themselves emotionally and physically. If all that changes is only her wings, then the Twilicorn (and princess) concepts are meaningless! Just because things change doesn't mean it's a good change. The Twilicorn at this stage is an objectively terrible change that risks altering the core of the entire dynamic of the series.

 

Lastly, because it was treated as the series finale, MMC was supposed to resolve some needed questions. Instead, it opened up more questions and even more confusion. As a writer, unintentional questions and extra confusion following a supposed series finale (and potentially series-altering dynamic) are some of the last things you want: It's a sign of very bad writing.

  • What kind of princess will Twilight be?
  • What purpose will she have as an alicorn?
  • How will the consequence of her ascension affect her relationship with her friends — the Mane Six, Spike, and the rest of the citizens in Ponyville, Canterlot, and the Crystal Empire — psychologically and emotionally?
     
    (Even though they supported her, it doesn't mean they'll completely like eventual results down the road.)

[*]Some of the concepts shouldn't have existed in the first place. Spike at Your Service is an obvious offender due to Spike's poor portrayal. Hasbro's excessive meddling of the canon with the Twilicorn is another, but seeing as I harped against it in my editorial (linked above), I won't go further. Another is the concept of predestined circumstances. In my review for Magical Mystery Cure (also linked above), I wrote why the concept of predetermined consequences doesn't realistically work:

Quote

There is inconsistency in what a cutie mark truly is, and the "destiny" subplot is ill-advised. A cutie mark is defined as the pony's individual talent (or interest you pursue). Each cutie mark is like a person's fingerprint: No two are ever the same. Each pony's main interest depends on their cutie marks. Magical Mystery Cure, however, changes this to "destiny," or predetermined lives from here on out. Basically, MMC resorts to having their lives fixated on their cutie mark, a contradiction to the canon. Furthermore, it is hinted that Twilight's evolution to an alicorn is predetermined. As in, it was what her destiny is, whether she embraces it or not. Throughout the series, you notice that each character has a path, and then they set themselves onto another to better themselves. But in each episode, fate didn't determine the characters. The characters determined their own fate based off their actions and consequences. The concept of predestined circumstances reverses this trend and, in itself, is a major bothersome cliché in the storytelling business because it sacrifices organic plot progression for a cheap device. (This is why I hold very well-liked anime like Sailor Moon and Kannazuki no Miko with such low regards.) Destiny DOESN'T choose you! YOU choose your destiny! If Twilight chose to become an alicorn and princess, it would've made this problem moot. But Magical Mystery Cure nullifies this and forces Twilight to be into what is poor, inorganic "character development."

[*]Season three is treated as the last, period. Both the writers and Hasbro viewed it as the end, hence the very bold ideas and thirteen-episode format. The original order is sixty-five episodes. In seasons one and two, the approaches were as conservative as a Republican, but the overall results made the characters stronger and believable. Not too often did Hasbro mandate DHX to go bold. But then, there was some logic to go bold, but not so bold as to have your audience question your business practice.

[*]Its biggest flaw: its brevity. Because of its compacted size and lower budget, quality of the editing, scriptwriting, characterization, and logic are sacrificed in favor of cramming everything into several smaller packages like a seven-foot-tall basketball player inside a Smart Car. This makes the episodes feel stilted and not up to snuff. When this happens, the quality of the season suffers, and you run the risk of alienating your audience (and if they don't leave, have them doubt that the staff can't really dig themselves out of that hole). It's not like the only bad episode was the season finale, because the overall track record prior was more successful, and there is another season coming up. Instead, we've had a consecutive string of some really bad episodes with very questionable decision-making from people who are paid to produce good quality work, and season three's finale was treated as a series finale. Imagine if the series ended right there. You run the risk of soiling My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's reputation as a good quality animated product.

So what now?

 

This is the good thing about season four. It gives the team the opportunity to right the ship and fix some of the issues seen from season three. The Twilicorn left a pretty poor first impression. And first impressions are so critical, especially if the execution sucks. A poor first impression risks staining the character's reputation and can make a character virtually unlikeable. Twilight's first impression as an alicorn is factually poor in writing quality (you're kidding yourself if you say otherwise), and that will never go away. However, with twenty-six episodes on the horizon:

  1. It gives the Twilicorn's execution another chance. If the series was over, that was it. You risk ruining Twilight as a character permanently. But season four opens up the opportunity to make the Twilicorn work in the canon. Its start was poor, but hopefully its finish will forever redeem her.
  2. More questions can hopefully be resolved, such as the poorly thought-out retcon of a cutie mark from a "talent/interest" to a "destiny."
  3. A full, twenty-six-episode season means a much bigger budget. This means:
    • More time can be spent to compose the scripts, edit them, and resolute them so the characterizations, timing, logic, physics, and consequences make sense.
    • The background ponies have the opportunity to behave like important secondary or tertiary characters rather than having the characters there for the sake of it. Bigger budgets allow two important things.
       
      Firstly, the storyboarders can lay out the foreground, middleground, and background, yet give them some kind of roles instead of half-statues.
       
      Secondly, the animators will be capable of animating the cartoon with more computer energy. When you have lesser background characters, the overall memory of the episode drops, giving the animators a lesser chance of screwing up. Unfortunately, lesser background characters equal lesser life in the environment and lesser games for your audience to play.

[*]Not as many ideas have to be crammed into one package. Twenty-six episodes means you can spread out the bigger ideas into several smaller ones. You're given the room to provide a more conservative method to grow the characters, which leads to less stilted characterization and confusion. if going bold, it allows better foreshadowing to lead up to those needed moments.

[*](From a personal perspective) More opportunity to grow (other) characters organically, like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Discord (hopefully), Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Babs Seed, etc.

Overall, season three's episode quality is a mixed bag. There were so many great episodes in the first half, but of the last five episodes, only Keep Calm and Flutter On can be called good, and even that was greatly flawed. Seasons one and two progressed in several baby steps, but season three, due to its order of sixty-five episodes, attempted to perform bigger and more grandiose. Some episodes did a fantastic job (Wonderbolts Academy, Magic Duel), but it failed in others (Magical Mystery Cure). It felt like a final season in a series rather than a continuation for several seasons. So the team attempted to put forth more radical ideas that would make much more sense if given more time to foreshadow everything, especially the horrid Twilicorn concept. It forced itself to go bold, and it's evident by the really wavering quality of the episodes and even the ideas.

 

Nonetheless, I still have a lot of faith in the team. With season four having twenty-six episodes, there are many possibilities for the series to progress into deeper, more whimsical, and more thoughtful territories. I trust the writers and storyboard artists in getting the job done for season four. Moreover, it gives some poor concepts and results (like the Twilicorn) another chance to redeem themselves and eventually work. Who I have no faith in, however, is Hasbro: They're notorious for inserting some very stupid, series-altering ideas in the canon with no other reason than to sell toys. The results have been mixed, so I patiently wait for the subsequent quality of the upcoming episodes in season four.

 

 

So, with that, here's my list of season three episodes (from most favorite to least favorite regardless of quality):

  1. Magic Duel
  2. Sleepless in Ponyville
  3. Wonderbolts Academy
  4. Apple Family Reunion
  5. The Crystal Empire, Part 1
  6. Keep Calm and Flutter On
  7. Magical Mystery Cure
  8. Too Many Pinkie Pies
  9. One Bad Apple
  10. The Crystal Empire, Part 2
  11. Spike at Your Service
  12. Just for Sidekicks

  • Brohoof 6

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In my opinion, they killed PInkie Pie. She used to be a happy-go-lucky fun-loving girl who only wanted to make her friends smile, but in season 3 dhe was used to just make stupid one-liner jokes :/

  • Brohoof 3
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In my opinion, they killed PInkie Pie. She used to be a happy-go-lucky fun-loving girl who only wanted to make her friends smile, but in season 3 dhe was used to just make stupid one-liner jokes :/

 

It's a natural process, as one gap is filled, another one appears. I'm sure the gap with Pinkie's personality will be filled aswell. But i'll agree, i'm not to happy with her in Season 3. To many pinkie pie's was just to much of her "Randomness"

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I agree with everything you said about the Twilicorn thing. Very good review of this season, and hopefully next season will resolve the issues from last season.

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