Following two grand episodes in Rarity Takes Manehattan and Pinkie Apple Pie, Corey Powell was challenged to write the official script for Rainbow Falls. This is the second time Rainbow Dash is the central character this season (Flight to the Finish doesn't count, for she was secondary). Along with Fluttershy and Snowflake (Bulk Biceps officially), Rainbow Dash's trials to qualify for the Equestria Games with her team hits a grinding halt via a very lazy mess.

Strengths:

• Derpy returns. Without question, the best part of the episode. She doesn't speak nor does she have a name, but she's an integrated part in the third act and treated as one. And she has the lovable wall eyes that make her her!
• Very beautiful scenery of the village and waterfall. You can tell the animators paid close attention to the structures of past Olympic Games, both the winter and summer, by the housing and placement.
• The animation has little to no hiccups. There was some little bits to make the characters act natural, like the flick of the mane from a sharp turn of the head. Of course, the Friendship Express had somewhat awkward rotations as it clickery-clacked down the track, but that's mere nitpicking here.
• Griffons return for the first time since Season 2! Unfortunately, they're there as unspoken cameos, but there needs to be more about them, as FIM's form of Earth is more than merely Equestria.
• Fluttershy's character development was actually recognized. Instead of just being Timidshy all the time, the character development she received from past episodes is put into some use.
   
  Keyword being "some."

Weaknesses:

• Continuity issues are all over the place. Instead of just picking a couple, let me give you a fuller list:
  • Snowflake has trouble flying. This character was seen flying in Hurricane Fluttershy with the rest of the pegasi, pretty much without issues. But then we see him again in Wonderbolts Academy. He was one of the select few to successfully participate in the military camp. He responded and despite screwing up, showed his worth by kicking plot and flying well throughout! In this "episode," Snowflake has so much trouble flying, Scootaloo would be a better candidate!
     
    And to make it even stupider, how the hell would this dumbassery contribute to the plot? By making the Wonderbolts and every other pony, minus Fluttershy, look better?
     
    Speaking of Fluttershy…
  • Fluttershy's fears are incredibly inconsistent. You have her boldly try out for the EQGames. That's fair. But then when she reacted to "Pinkie Pie's" cheerleading out of fright, then there's inconsistency. Not to mention this is never explained properly. It's there simply to be a gag to fill in time.
     
    Then again, Fluttershy participated in the tornado because it was her civic duty on behalf of both Ponyville's and Cloudesdale's behalves. Here, this is apparently a volunteered competition. This is nothing like what happened there. It's basically the jousting competition, only on a much larger scale. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of characters will be attending and watching her and everyone else compete, so to see her nosedive when she doesn't care a ton about extreme flying beforehand becomes rather contrived.
  • Spitfire didn't need to be retaught about the loyalty and being pushed to the right direction.
     
    Firstly, being a Wonderbolt is one of the most prestigious honors of any pegasus. The main purpose of being a Wonderbolt is to be the best, overcome pressure, and be proud and loyal. You're showing how amazing you are physically, psychologically, emotionally, and virtuously. You must show some integrity, also.
     
    What does this have to do with the continuity lapse? There's a difference between being incompetent and being vindictive and betraying your damn badge AND your own tag-team partner!
     
    Not to mention, Spitfire already learned firsthand about loyalty and recklessness. If she (and Fleetfoot, by association) had any damn intensity, integrity, and intelligence, she didn't need to have the concept of loyalty rehashed in front of her face. She learned that lesson the hard way after Rainbow Dash stomped the wingpony pin on her desk and stormed off. In fact, she admitted passively to learning that lesson right after Soarin' jammed/dislocated/broke his wing.
     
    And for that matter, the Wonderbolts, who were explicitly stated by Dash herself and a background pony named Dizzy Twister (by the fandom) to be the best fliers, chose to lie and abandon their own friend and teammate (who was medically cleared to practice, mind you) in favor of a much weaker, less inexperienced flier.
     
    Speaking of the Wonderbolts…
  • The Wonderbolts are a militia and aerial demonstrators modeled after the Blue Angels. They're not a sports team. They have no business being there other than to artificially create conflict.
  • Rainbow Dash's purpose was to get her team to quality for the aerial relay. As the de facto captain, her job was to lead the team. There was no good reason for her to decide to abandon them in favor of a couple of out-of-character, villainized Wonderbolts. If Rainbow Dash had an ounce of intelligence, she would've scolded them for even thinking of pulling such a stupid stunt and said, "Hell, NO!" to their faces.
  • Hell, Rainbow Falls lapses in its own continuity rules.
     

    Quote

    
    Rainbow Dash: "We want to qualify. We need to be one of the first four team to cross the finish line."

    By the end of the episode, five teams qualified for the Equestria Games.
     
    And "teams" was specifically mentioned. No matter who or what species, the first four qualified, period. Either the animators or writer screwed up, but that mistake is so easy to catch. How that error was overlooked, even after the script was locked, is beyond me.

• Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity are all absolutely pointless. They each have smaller subplots simply to garner humor. Unfortunately, none of their roles are investing, and when they get involved, they're all incredibly out of character.

  Applejack: Apples, apples, apples. And when she performs a trick, she screws up. Her life doesn't center all on apples and apple-related products. Outside of Rainbow Dash, she's perhaps the most athletic member of the Mane Six because of her very powerful legs and back.

  Pinkie Pie: Simply an obnoxious cheerleader just to drive the audience and rest of her friends batty. Remember what I wrote in my review for Rarity Takes Manehattan?

  Quote

  Pinkie, you left your brain at Sugarcube Corner. Please retrieve it the next time Rarity displays tickets. (Thank Luna Rarity interrupted her.)

  It hasn't changed, and to see Pinkie's "character" reduced from the offbeat three-dimensionality in Pinkie Apple Pie to the flanderization seen here is staggering.

  Rarity: Without question her worst role this season, and she's completely out of character. In Daring Don't, she's a background pony. In RF, she's a tertiary character, along with Pinkie, AJ, and Twilight. Her uniforms are so poorly designed, Hoity Toity would've given her a ripping so bad, Gordon Ramsay would look tame in comparison. The designs are such a ginormous retcon from Suited for Success and the rest of the episodes she influenced (including Green Isn't Your Color and Rarity Takes Manehattan), it made watching those episodes feel pointless briefly.

  There was no need for her to tag along and design the dresses at the village. She could've spent her time at Carousel Boutique, plan out her dresses there, design them, and then ship them off to Dash, Fluttershy, and Snowflake while they're training for the trials. Then at the trials, she could show up and watch them qualify.

  Lastly, the scene where Rarity steals away with the dropped horseshoe was unlike her. If she was truly generous and in character, she would've picked it up and toss it back to them so they can continue practicing. By taking it away, the trio had stop practicing and then wait until she returned with the gaudy design. With time not on their side, it made her look selfish and stupid. Instead of being treated with some integrity, her actions and choices are played for cheap laughs, disrespecting her character in the process.

  Just because a character is operating within her element doesn't mean she's in character or believable. It's how she's executed. In Rainbow Falls, Rarity isn't there. It's a completely different character disguised as her.

• Two things:

  a. If you pay attention, you'll notice a very familiar track as the village and falls were explored.

  That track came from Wonderbolts Academy, which has a very military atmosphere.

  b. At one point, imagery from Sonic Rainboom (a sudden flyby of a Derpy recolor) was borrowed into the scene, and then you have basically the same well-known background ponies as pegasi, like Dr. Whooves, Berry Punch, and Bon Bon (with a different mane and tail style).

  The recolors are, well, okay on their own. If this was a standalone episode, you can toss it all aside. And the show does reuse tracks quite often. That's okay, too.

  But Rainbow Falls is situated in between two major arcs: the Equestria Games and Chest of Harmony. By using such obvious shortcuts, it gives a feeling that the animators and Anderson aren't so invested in them. This isn't some low-budget B-animation like Scooby-Doo and pretty much every Hanna Barbera cartoon two generations ago (at least not anymore), nor is it a mere standalone episode that has nothing to do with a season-long plotline.

  DHX and Top Draw are investing some of their time and Hasbro's money into these three storylines (the refurbishment of the old castle the third). Top Draw and/or the storyboarders should've used that time to make interesting background characters with different palettes and manes/tails. Anderson, for the matter, should've composed a brand new background track rather than have his Wonderbolts Academy piece recycled.

  The biggest annoyance between the two, though, is the recycled track. It was there specifically for the atmosphere and relationship Dash has with the military. When you're reusing music with a very specific purpose into a scene with a completely different feel and message, then it becomes extremely contrived.

  And the worst part is that track is repeated at other points in the episode in a higher pitch when 'Shy and Snowflake embarrass themselves. That really contradicts the whole atmosphere and sucks the humor out of the scenes.

• There is way too much exposition in this episode. Instead of showing all of the moments and actions most of the time, a character tells another, sometimes to their face. That zaps the attention right out of it and makes the scenes a chore to watch.

  And by using such exposition, it tells the audience about one of the biggest story flaws all season: the pace. Because there's so much of it, the pace becomes very wonky. Most of the time in Rainbow Falls, the pace is so slow, the moments tend to crawl, and the obnoxious side-stories only worsened this issue. Then when it gets to the third act, Fluttershy and Snowflake find a quick replacement in Derpy. As fun as she is, you're not going to find a replacement on short notice that easily.

  Two extremely painful moments of exposition are as follows:

  a. Dizzy Twister and then Rainbow Dash telling her partners about how great the Wonderbolts are, the latter telling them how much she likes them. Despite showing incompetence to create gags, the 'Bolts' greatness and Dash's idolization of them are a running theme since the pilot and was told and shown to the audience each and every time the subject came up. Rainbow Falls wasn't the Wonderbolts' grand return from season one or the pilot. You don't need to remind the audience again; they're not stupid. Let the visuals and tricks explain it for them instead.

  b. After Soarin' was saved, Fluttershy jogged up to Dash and said this:

  Quote

  Fluttershy: Oh, Rainbow Dash, I'm just so proud of you. You scooped Soarin' out of the sky and brought him down to the ground and now, now he's okay. At least, I hope he's okay. [to Soarin'] Are you okay?

  You don't need to remind the audience moments after it all happened. It would've been much better if Spitfire, Fleetfoot, or Dash asked Soarin' if he was okay. It's out of character for Fluttershy and degrading to viewers young and old.

• This episode has some of the worst contrivances this season. The recycled music just turns your head and makes people wonder how much care the people in the back put into their post-production. But there's much worse than that.

  • There's no reason for Snowflake and Fluttershy to actually be on the aerial relay team. Yeah, sure, Thunderlane and Helia exposited that ponies can only compete in one event, but there are two major issues.
     
    a. In real life, Olympians are allowed to compete in multiple events. You don't need for the ponies to be confined to just one unless you handwave one of the most known rules in the Olympics.
     
    b. The story explained how those ponies couldn't compete. There are multiple pegasi from not just Equestria, but Ponyville altogether. Take a look at how many pegasi it took to create the tornado in Hurricane Fluttershy. Surely, there are other pegasi in Ponyville who are better qualified for the aerial relay race than Snowflake and Fluttershy (both of whom should be somewhat competent fliers, anyway).
     
    And on this matter, Helia and Thunderlane were competing in the aerial sprinter qualifications. Because they're much better fliers than Fluttershy and Snowflake (who, by principle, is damn good enough to try out for the Wonderbolts!), surely they would be better than them.
     
    The only reason they weren't with Rainbow Dash was simply for comedy, plugging in the entire Mane Six without necessity, and to provide out-of-character conflict and "humor."
     
    Even if the episode wasn't fixed elsewhere, if Snowflake, Fluttershy, and Derpy competed in the sprinters competition and Helia, Thunderlane, and Rainbow Dash in the relay race, then after treating the conflict, characterization, and humor with competence and intelligence, you would've given Rainbow Falls a smidge of believability.
     
    Now that she's an alicorn princess, couldn't Twilight compete in the trials rather than be stuck in the middleground as an idiot? More about this later…
  • To continue ragging about Fluttershy and Snowflake, it's so obvious that they wanted nothing to do with the Games. Until the qualifying race, they showed little care and focused more of their time leisurely with the others. They were there simply because the script mandated them to.
  • The Wonderbolts, specifically Spitfire and Fleetfoot, are villainized. Instead of suggesting Dash to try out for the Cloudesdale team, they manipulated her into confusion. It only worsened after Soarin' admitted that Spitfire and Fleetfoot blatantly lied to Dash and him so Dash competes in the Games instead of him.
     
    More about this later.
  • The flanderization of AJ, Rarity, and Pinkie, all that I explained earlier.
  • The fact that the Wonderbolts showed up to practice at the Games when they're not designed for sports. Again, already grew very annoyed at that.
  • Because Rainbow Dash's partners are so absentminded and inept in their practices, they suffer some consequences from their poor work and stupidity. But all that did was make the slapstick and consequences extremely forced and cringeworthy to watch.
     
    And they didn't slightly get better. They started off badly for no good reason and only worsened. They couldn't do a wing push-up (for Snowflake, he had a good reason, as his wings are too small), fly through a relay ring, pass the baton, or even hold onto the baton. Then when they're not practicing, they tend to look really stupid, like playing with the Apple Brown Betties and donning in Rarity's embarrassing uniforms.
     
    Part of the conflict would've looked so much better if Fluttershy and Snowflake started off slow early and then improved. That way, it would've made the choice between joining Cloudesdale and Ponyville a bit more difficult (and even then, it still wouldn't have made this episode any less dumb). The sequences during Act 2 only plodded the plot and were a complete waste of time.
     
    Spitfire and Fleetfoot commended Rainbow Dash for her effort at the academy. Yes, part of their commending had to do with saving Soarin' from a nasty fall, but several other background characters from WA are there: Thunderlane, Cloudchaser Stormwalker, Raindrops, and Snowflake himself. They're recognizable and could've been chosen other than Dash. The fact that they only sucked up to Dash alone is quite jarring and makes them look more manipulative.

• Starting from Act 2, the ending of the episode got predictable extremely fast. Even with the stupid and out-of-character slapstick and Derpy featured as well-done fanservice, you could easily predict that Rainbow Dash was going to be swayed into joining the Cloudesdale relay team (or even the Wonderbolts because she idolizes them so much and proved her worth last season), only to be befuddled, don't know which team to choose, stay on Ponyville's squad, and finally qualify at the end. Chances are you won't really get the smaller bullet points and the ways they're shown, but the bigger points are easy to guess correctly.

  Before anyone here uses the insulting "the show's for kids; they can be predictable" excuse, this show has a measurable quality regardless of audience where tropes that are usually predictable get shot down. Even when the ending could be predictable, it's altered to freshen the experience. Look at episodes like Hurricane Fluttershy, Party of One, Suited for Success, Green Isn't Your Color, The Best Night Ever, Wonderbolts Academy, Pinkie Apple Pie, and Pinkie Pride.

  Products, more specifically television productions, require the audience to be attentive. Twisting the trope captures the interest of your audience and sends a message of the overall quality of the product. Having tropes being written down the letter via predictable clichés and outcomes is discouraged in the show, and excusing it is disrespectful to the product. There is a reason why the fandom sustained in size, one of them being the high-quality storytelling you tend to see in the show. Seeing something like the outcome being this obvious is extremely disconcerting and contradicts My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's subliminal mission statement.

  For that matter, children's television needs to be put under higher standards, not lower, to prove to people old and young that children aren't stupid. Lazily excusing the game-changing flaws regardless of which episode you're watching and critiquing means you're treating the children with lesser intelligence. Also, using the show's primary audiences (families as its market, the kids' guardians as its target) to handwave such issues means you're calling Friendship Is Magic — and every other product, by association — inherently weak and stupid.

  If an episode is written where the ending is so predictable that you don't need to watch the rest, it sucks the investment out of the viewers and makes them want to change the channel. Episodes with such predictability like this one don't expand the brony fandom; it stagnates it. So for Rainbow Falls to drop the horseshoe so quickly talks down to its entire viewership.

• Besides Soarin', pretty much the only character beyond Derpy with in-characterization (for the most part), the rest of the characters are unrecognizable. What they said, acted, and responded was completely unlike them. Snowflake, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash aren't in character one iota. Let me break them down.

  • Snowflake might've been a stallion of few words and the "YEAH!" gag, but he still had a lot of personality. He was proud, competitive, and kind. If you were going to give him a duty, he would do it, and he tried whatever he could to make sure he succeeded. The fact that Wonderbolts Academy accepted him provided some background to his capabilities, athleticism, and intelligence, and Spitfire treated him (and the others) respectfully.
     
    Rainbow Falls spat whatever competence he had to the ground and turned him into an incompetent dope. Flying is a struggle. He screams all the time. And whatever he says and does makes him look stupid rather than absentminded. Compared to his previous appearances, this is a completely different character.
  • Along with Fleetfoot, Spitfire turned from a kind, competitive Wonderbolt with a military edge into a manipulative, antagonistic jackass. Before some of you excuse about Spitfire's competitiveness and behavior akin to Wonderbolts Academy, the comparison is apples and oranges. In The Best Night Ever and Hurricane Fluttershy, she showed kindness and loyalty to the crown and Rainbow Dash. She had a very kind personality despite somewhat of a competitive edge. Wonderbolts Academy dispelled that in favor of the drill sergeant, but she was like this for a very good reason. The fact that she pushed everyone neutrally showed respect to the cadets and demonstrated some form of integrity.
     
    Meanwhile in Rainbow Falls, she and Fleetfoot decided to lure Dash into joining the team and being a Wonderbolt. They aren't asking her to consider joining after the trials and Games are over. During practice for qualifications, they wanted Dash to join and, pretty much, have Ponyville not just fail the relay, but also get potentially disqualified.
     
    And this is where Fleetfoot also gets hit under scrutiny. Until Big Mac's two-part comic and Rainbow Falls, her personality was very up in the air. But the fact that she's a Wonderbolt is a testament to her sacrifices and trust she has with Spitfire and Soarin' and vice-versa. So to see that pushed that to the extreme is way too far, even for her.
     
    (In case you were wondering, her role in the two-story comic with Big Mac was stupid because she reinforced the misrepresentation of the Wonderbolts and overall incompetence.)
     
    Then there's the icing on the cake: them lying to both Dash and Soarin'. As I wrote earlier, being a Wonderbolt is about displaying athleticism and integrity. Fleetfoot and Spitfire betrayed their honor by deciding to attempt to lure Dash into the Cloudesdale relay squad. If they were true friends, they wouldn't blatantly lie to Dash and Soarin' and be forced to relearn what loyalty is. They're so out of character and out of line as Wonderbolts, you could have them written out as a completely different team. They're there simply to build up tension, since Dash idolizes them so much, but the lazy characterization is a gigantic slap to the face of the show.
     
    Moreover, the entire resolution is idiotic. Lying betrays one's trust, especially with one so blatantly evil. By manipulating Dash and lying to her and Soarin', they betrayed their statuses as Wonderbolts and severely embarrassed Cloudesdale. It's ridiculous for Soarin' and Dash to forgive them without as much as a bat of the eye. Dash quit the academy because the reckless abandonment was all but enforced, nearly killing her friends in the process. This is the second time that the Wonderbolts betrayed Dash's word.
     
    The fact that Dash still looks up to them is mind-boggling (and, quite frankly, unfaithful to her morals). You also don't betray your status as a military commander and not get severely punished for it. It makes no sense for Soarin' to immediately forgive his friends for willing to fracture a tight friendship.
     
    It's one thing to be incompetent at times. It's another to recycle the Shadowbolts segment during Friendship Is Magic, Part 2 and The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well with a spread-out conflict, the "superhero" subplot cut, and dumb dialogue added.
  • Rainbow Dash's portrayal is completely backwards. All of the character development she received up to this point is retconned, and the Bearer of Loyalty is written as if she had never experienced any of the conflicts from previous episodes he starred in. Instead of being a smart pony who learned how to compete wisely and stay true to her ethics, they never showed up until the last three minutes.
     
    For one, she was much more arrogant here than the rest of season four. Notice in the rest of the episodes prior, her cockiness was much more toned down, Power Ponies being a slight exception. (Bats! doesn't count, for she was more focused on drinking the apple cider rather than her own abilities and ego. Daring Don't is about Dash willingly putting her own abilities aside, clouding her judgment and doubting her own strengths.) Here, she's focused on wanting to qualify for the Games, not exactly for Ponyville, but herself. In the very beginning, she said this:
     

    Quote

    
    Rainbow Dash: And do I need to remind you how much I— I mean, Ponyville, heh — wants to qualify and make it to the Games?

    This only continued via her assuredness that she'll qualify even if Snowflake and 'Shy screw up, her smug attitude and face on the train ride to the village (as well as her continuous guarantee that Ponyville will qualify despite evidence to the contrary), and willingness to prepare for the trials with Spitfire and Fleetfoot even though her Ponyville teammates were struggling.
     
    Then there's the obvious manipulation from the Wonderbolts. After Soarin' was transferred to the hospital to have his wing examined and bandaged, they manipulated her into working out with the Wonderbolts in such a conniving personality, especially from Fleetfoot. Dash has a past history of knowing and understanding suspicious actions, especially if they contradicted her fidelity and ethics, with an exception being The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well because she was portrayed as an egotistical moron. If Rainbow Dash learned every single one of those lessons, including Wonderbolts Academy, Sonic Rainboom, Hurrine Fluttershy, and Flight to the Finish, she would've asked some curious, severe questions for their attitude and say no at most. At the very least, she might've said, "I'll think about it" and continue coaching Snowflake and Fluttershy.
     
    The thing about Rainbow Dash is how much she matured since the pilot.
     
    In Season 1, she was the breakout character and received tremendous character development that made her much more than plain boastful and egotistical.
     
    Season 2 flanderized her until around the halfway mark and took advantage of her growth, tenacity, and element in Hurricane Fluttershy.
     
    Last year, Rainbow Dash was one of Season 3's biggest improvements. Gone was that character derailment in favor of a proud, cocky, yet extremely intelligent and loyal pegasus. Two episodes, Sleepless in Ponyville and Wonderbolts Academy, marked a significant evolution of her character, from the immature, arrogant, egotistical tomcolt into someone who can guide and lead.
     
    This season's Flight to the Finish enforced that growth. While she was still jubilant and excited, she wasn't that boastful and showed much more concern for the Cutie Mark Crusaders than her own capabilities because she wanted them to carry the Ponyville flag for the Equestria Games. Did she want them to win? Definitely. But she wanted them to win in their own unique way; if they didn't, then she would be proud of them, anyway.
     
    In Rainbow Falls, the continuity of her very own character development was completely ignored. Her increased, out-of-place arrogance and selfish desire to work with the best team while being clouded under a ball of stupid was absolutely unlike her. The fact that Dash even considered joining Spitfire and Fleetfoot while knowing doing so would cost her friends a chance to compete in the Games betrayed her character.
     
    To make matters worse, until the end of the episode there wasn't any guarantee if Ponyville would qualify for any other event at the Equestria Games. If Ponyville didn't qualify for any other event, then Ponyville is out of the running. If Dash elected to join the Wonderbolts, then she risked being a gigantic goat. Dash (and the script itself) didn't consider this, which left out a lot more potential for an even greater dilemma and resolution for Dash's poorly constructed conflict.
     
    Like Rarity Takes Manehattan, Rainbow Falls tests her loyalty. But this scenario and Rarity's main quality being tested in Rarity Takes Manehattan have a very clear difference.
     
    In RTM, Suri Polomare — a brand new character in the series — vindictively took advantage of her generosity by plagiarizing her entire line, causing her to get upset and consider if doing so is just pointless. It was extremely believable and realistic of her to abandon her quality because her trust was deeply severed, both emotionally and creatively.
     
    RF's test of loyalty lacked in any form of believability. In order to drive the test of loyalty home, the episode relied on Dash's broken characterization and questionable logic from the Wonderbolts that would've made her very cross if she was truly in character.
     
    Speaking of broken characterization, the sequence where Dash wheeled herself before both the Ponyville and Cloudesdale teams is unbelievably STUPID!
     
    a. It only reinforced the idea that Rainbow Dash had absolutely no intelligence in the episode. Quite honestly, she would've been much more devastated if she can't fly again.
     
    b. It's a plan that can easily be caught. Unlike Rarity, who can be a really convincing drama queen, Dash's acting was so terrible, it was cringeworthy. But to make it even worse, everypony bought it. Not just the rest of the Mane Six, but Spitfire and Fleetfoot, as well. If they had any bout of intelligence, they would've been very suspicious and get her checked.
     
    c. Her plan is so transparent that without handwaving, it would've been over before it got any further. She would've been sent to the village hospital and have her body parts X-rayed. Once the doctors reveal that none of her bones were broken, her plan is ruined, and she would be extremely embarrassed in front of everyone.
     
    (The fact that Soarin' was cleared to continue practicing made the entire hospital scene even more ridiculous. Once the doctors X-rayed his wing and found out it was healed, then he would begin some rehabbing before being medically cleared to practice with the Cloudesdale squad. He wouldn't remain stuck in a hospital bed with his wing splinted and bandaged.)
  • Twilight's characterization as the middle-mare was absolutely deplorable. When Dash considered joining the Cloudesdale team, she said this:
     

    Quote

    
    Twilight Sparkle: If you fly for Cloudsdale, Pinkie Pie won't have anypony to cheer for. Rarity's uniforms will never be seen. And Applejack will have slaved over those Apple Brown Betties for nothing.

    There are so many better reasons to question her motives. By joining Clousedale:
     
    a. Rainbow Dash disappoints and betrays Ponyville, as the only reason she brings Fluttershy and Snowflake along is to qualify Ponyville for the aerial relay.
     
    b. She betrays Scootaloo, who looks up to Dash and uses her ambitions and support as motivation to help herself, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle become the flag-holders for the Games. If no other team from Ponyville qualifies, then the training to wave the Ponyville flag at the Games is for nothing.
     
    c. The whole trip to the village becomes all for naught.
     
    d. Snowflake and Fluttershy train for the relay team and practice out of Dash's support and guidance. You don't play games with other peoples' trust.
     
    e. Dash can kiss her values, integrity, and moral goodbye, and the subsequent guilt will forever haunt her.
     
    Compared to those five reasons above, Twilight's reasons are small and not very good. With all of her development to this point, Twilight should know better and understand what it means to understand the magic of friendship. If she gave those five reasons instead, then she would be reasonable, sensible, and honest without behaving pettily simultaneously. Instead, her guilt tripping contradicts what she has learned and, by virtue of being an alicorn princess, disrespects the crown.
     
    Nice going, Twilight.

• The moral is very clunkily written. While it's an obvious one that any sensible person should believe in (working with your friends is more important than winning with someone who plays dirty), the poor execution of what is an interesting premise disserved the path leading to the moral.

  If it weren't for such bad writing, the episode would've been over during the middle of Act 2.

Written by Corey Powell, Rainbow Falls is the second episode to focus on both the Equestria Games and Chest of Harmony. With RF overlapping two of the three overarching plotlines this season, there was plenty of potential to weave them. The Games could've also been a good way to test Dash's loyalties with there being so much at stake. Instead, the Mane Six, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot were incompetent, stupid, and/or out of character. Rainbow Dash suffered from extremely terrible characterization the most because she was the central character, and the Wonderbolts being there contrived the plot. Combined with major continuity issues, sloppy writing, extremely forced/repetitive humor, and an abundance of plot holes, Rainbow Dash is not just my most hated episode so far (more so than Just for Sidekicks), but also one of the worst episodes in the entire show.