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  1. Dark Qiviut
    Note: Various users are credited here, and there are some uncovered Season 9 spoilers (so read at your own risk!)
    Well, Season 9 arrived, so it's time to post my tops and bottoms of FIM's second-best season so far. My previous overviews are linked below.
    Season 5 Season 6, 1st Half Season 6 Season 7, 1st Half Season 7 I don't apologize for gushing over S8 this early.
    One important note: Despite being counted as an episode, The Best Gift Ever is self-contained, so it's not included.
    Episodes
    Bottom-3:
    Fake It 'Til You Make It
    Or, as I'll say for here, Putting Your Hoof Down 2.0. This entire episode is a major retread of one of the worst of the series. Background/tertiary ponies act rude for the sake of the plot? Check.

    Fluttershy conveniently forgets being assertive without being a jerk? Check.

    Fluttershy becomes an even bigger jerk than the folks she talks (down) to? Check.

    Consequences for her actions go unresolved for a painfully badly executed lesson? Double check!

    But that only scratches the surface for how bad this ripoff truly is. To go over some of them…

    a. Manehattan's setting's one-dimensional. Every single shopper to visit Rarity for You acts like a stereotypical depiction of New York's commercialized neighborhoods from an outsider's perspective. Sans the Edward Scissorhands parody, all act snooty, high of themselves, and with a one-track mind. Can you find anything worthwhile of these caricatures? Not at all. Even worse, since every shopper's like this, it makes Saddle Row a one-dimensional, unpleasant atmosphere.

    b. That said, despite their rudeness, the worst anyone really became was a background pony — Mare E. Lynn her name — agreeing with Fluttershy's eviction threat. At no point did anyone belittle her or act physical. All they want was to buy Rarity's clothes to match them. Fluttershy behaves worse than anyone else and, unlike its predecessor, has no motive justifying this sudden change in characterization. Bossing the raccoons around, threatening to kick them out, dissing them as rodents, and insulting her friends all cross a very firm line that this show established from the very beginning of the show. Why does she bear Kindness? For her inherent empathy and patience for others. She violates her moral code for a shitty, out-of-character reason. On top of that, by claiming to be pretending, FITYMI removes all accountability, rushes its conclusion, and makes her apology unearned.

    c. Rarity doesn't get absolved, either. Just like Honest Apple, she continues to show horrible leadership by rushing to find a backup storekeeper for the shop. Had she pre-planned everything, she wouldn't be this disorganized. But to make it worse, she becomes very OOC herself by bashing Manehattanites, Saddlettes, and her customers behind their backs, implicating she only extended her clothing line to Saddle Row to make a quick bit rather than connecting people's inner beauty. You do know your employees and many of your friends live there, right? What would they think about you if they caught you shit-talking about them? Won't be fun, ain't it?

    Now, does it get as bad as the former on the whole? Not quite. At least some of the characters here remain pleasant (contrived excuses aside), particularly Smoky, Softpad, and Smoky Jr. But that doesn't give this laziness a pass. Skip it!

    @Captain Clark, @Nyactis Mewcis Catlum, and @Jeric are credited for this.
      Compete Crap Clause
    Stole it from @Captain Clark. It fits too much. Whereas the former ripped off PYHD, this crap ripped off an actual good episode. So, how can AJ and RD get away with their immaturity in Fall Weather Friends and not here?

    In the former, neither of them were really good friends at the time. Prior, they disagreed and showed some friction. Additionally, FWF's stakes were lower and more grounded, and the goal was set: Dash has to compete in the Running of the Lave without flying to cheat. The highest moment of tension (their brawl) only affected them. Afterwards, they felt embarrassed, learned their lesson, and immediately worked together to complete their mission.

    OTOH, FWF 2.0 takes place several seasons later. They're teaching students the lessons of friendship they themselves learned over the years. Are they the most mature? No. That's okay. What isn't okay is degrading them into out-of-character children by putting the safety and education before their lust to win Teacher of the Month! To win it, they (or shall I say the story?) raise the stakes twice. Firstly, Dash's selfish desire to win Teacher of the Month and a stupid timing competition caused friction with AJ, resulting in a careless accident in bite-acuda-infested rapids…despite both knowing that Yona is so aquaphobic and can't swim (more about this later). Yet, after Twilight threatened to take over the trip, they agreed to get along, yet still competed with on another by being passive aggressive and testy with each other, forcing the Young 6 to find the way out of the nature walk for them and nearly getting themselves devoured.

    On top of that, just before it ends, they go back to arguing again, implicating they learned nothin'! As a result, NCC becomes the third episode — Cutie Pox & Fame the first two — to become pointless filler!

    The dialogue, usually a strength of S8, was clunky, contrived, and painfully unfunny.

    Protip: Writing long-standing characters out of character to make new ones better is pure laziness and risks making the new characters unlikable. The Y6 were poorly written.

    Two moments save it from failing: Twilight actively calling Dash and AJ out for their incompetence and threatening to punish them, and Dash and AJ getting sincerely nominated for TotM — risking that reward will make them think about how stupid they behaved on the trip.
      A Matter of Principals
    Discord's at his best when he's a jerk with a heart of gold. An ability to show he cares in his way. Unfortunately, AMoP flanderizes him into only a brat, first by tricking the RM6 to go on a friendship quest (which meant getting Fluttershy into the same pickle), and then using his jealousy of Starlight to make her and the student body miserable. His behavior contributed to friction between Starlight and disorder in the school with substitutes (including Cwanky as an out-of-character lazybones and jerk, and a dragon-sneeze tree to get under Spike's scales ).

    For the first time since The Crystalling, Starlight and Spike share the spotlight, and both of them were written fine here. While Discord and Starlight didn't get along, Spike acted as the middle man, keeping a cooler head while being as objective as possible. After Discord unleashed a bugbear on the grounds and put Yona in harm's way, Starlight was 100% justified to blast him and banish him from the school grounds. On the other hand, this is exactly what Discord wanted, as he insulted her for her past villainy, and the fact that she got her temper get the best of her proved him right and left her in a big dilemma.

    The ending is unfulfilled, yet not as black and white as some think. On one hand, Discord doesn't deserve Starlight's job offer for reasons explained. Clearly he doesn't deserve it, and even though the RM6's return — all filthy — nullified her hire, the fact that she hired nullified any consequences for his actions. On the other, despite being the interim headmare, she's also the SoF's counselor, so she also has to look in others' shoes. Rather than balance her job, she focused on leading the school and didn't consider the source of his actions to constructively solve sooner.

    Is it the worst episode of S8B? Without a doubt. But to echo from my quickieview here, it's watchable mediocrity, nothing more. Dishonorable mentions: Father Knows Beast & Yakity-Sax.
    ———
    Top-6:
    A Rockhoof and a Hard Place
    During the second half, FIM went on a five great-episode streak, two of which are included here. This is one of them and the best of them all last year. Kaita Mpambara cleverly foreshadows Rockhoof's eventual wish to become a stone statue, ala Discord by both the princesses initially and the M6 later.

    In addition to being absolutely funny, Hard Place briefly featured one of the most beautiful set pieces of the show: Mistmane's Crystal Empire garden is full of beautiful colors, composed perfectly, and feels exactly like something she'd do. Long ago, she surrendered her outer beauty to preserve an old friend's, and the hard work she put here is an extension of that same selflessness.

    There are two stars here: Yona and Rockhoof.

    a. Yona acted as Rockhoof's foil. When she first met him, she admired him for his strength, perseverance, pride, bravery, and occasion to smash, yakdom's cultural foundations. Immediately, she grew a student crush on him, and her excitement when thinking of him perfectly blends with her innocence and youth. This is why "Day just got betterrrrr!" is so damn funny: It's so easy to understand where she comes from, and her reaction's very in character. So who can blame her for reacting to Spike's news the hardest? So how did she respond? With the season's best scene.

    b. Rockhoof is the center of this fish-out-of-water tale, and he's incredibly sympathetic. No matter the job, he always tries to impress not just himself, but also others. When they thank him, he knows he succeeded. When he screws up, he feels guilty. War conquered the realm long ago, so his warrior-first instincts don't leave, but today, harmony triumphs, and now he's a veteran looking to live and not give up what he grew up remembering. Everyone can go home, but he can't, and Stygian adapted to modern life, but not him! Once his most innate skill — using the constellations to dictate direction — is moot by time, he believed the only way out was to become stone, an allegory of suicide that was masterfully executed.

    Not a bad outcome for a Pillars with a bland backstory, huh?

    This is just a summary of its magnificence, so read my review for fuller detail. Like my main review, credit goes to @TheAnimationFanatic, @Ganondox, and @gingerninja666 here.
      The Break Up Break Down Unimpressive synopsis, impressive episode. In a season full of improved dialogue, this in particular really showed not just the highly-crafted lines, but also how the editing team responsible for Shadow Play's quick wit influenced this. Not one line feels wasted; they all mean something and carry a purpose to fulfill circumstances later. Some of the best lines not only delivered hilarious comedy, but also genuine heart while fluently transitioning the tone by Act 2's end.

    Several seasons ago, Discord was the M6's biggest foe, and it took more than a full season after he reformed until they began to have any faith in him. tarting in Season 6, Confalone's Dungeons & Discord added him with the tandem of Spike and Big Mac to create the O&O trio. On the surface, it shouldn't work, yet somehow he succeeded. Now they all act like they knew each other since Spike hatched, and it makes sense. Their organic tandem sells the humor, snarky exchanges, Big Mac's anguish, and Discord's act to mend his friend's relationship with Sugar Belle.

    Yet, that was only the A-plot. The CMCs were also spectacular here. Thinking Sweetie has a secret admirer, they search for him, experiencing equally funny shenanigans. Yes, thre wasn't nearly as much time spent here, but Confalone economically took advantage of what he gave them, including rendezvousing at the barn and getting mixed up with Big Mac, who accidentally flustered on them (and apologized). Did thy find "him"? No. And they realized it was all a mix up. But being best friends, the journey more than made up the destination, punctuated by one of the most heartwarming lines all year: Awwwww…!

    P.S.: Here's my full review.
      The Hearth's Warming Club
    If only Acts 1 & 2, it would've been good. The final six minutes turned it into the best Christmas episode of the franchise and one of the top-15 overall. To go over it one by one:

    a. Gallus asks Silverstream what cousins are. Thanks to his sarcasm and pride from earlier, for him to ask a sincere question comes off as rather surprising to the audience, evident by how off-guard Ocellus was as she explained to him. Earlier shots foreshadowed his act to vandalize the Fire of Friendship, but this was the first outward clue.

    b. Once Smolder and Yona complete their interrogations, everycreature becomes desperate and worried. They want to go home, but someone holds them back. No one confessing equals guilt from everyone. Therefore, they apply their anger on others, such as Sandbar accusing Smolder of feigning anger and Silverstream's conspiracy theory. Ignoring Gallus's words of calm, they argue loudly. While they fought early that semester, this is their first true fight as friends. Their anger is weighty, and watching his friends devolve hurt him to the point of nearly crying.

    c. Gallus's backstory is devastating. His friends are incredibly lucky to have family to celebrate with, but like many in real life, not everyone is. Griffonstone's family dynamics are either unstable or nonexistent, evidence pointing the latter; he's an orphan in a desolate, corrupt world. His friends are his first real family, and the School his first real home. As bad as damaging the main hall is, can't you blame him for not looking forward to returning to Griffonstone? No! Going back there meant returning to an aimless, depressing life, even for a few weeks.

    d. So with the ample opportunity to hide his secret, why confess? As what he said to his friends, he didn't went them to stay stuck in her School and feel just as miserable here as himself while in Griffonstone. Yes, his friends will be there, but won't enjoy each other's company. If they ever find out later, who knows how close they'll be. For all he knows, they may relapse and separate, leaving him all alone again. By confessing and accepting the consequences, he saves everyone's friendship.

    e. Right here, the remaining five demonstrate true friendship. Despite every good reason to be mad, disappointed, and force him to relearn friendship lessons as punishment alone, they chose to not only forgive him, but also support him at his lowest point. Maturity quickly developing beyond their years, they elect to stay behind, proving he's one of them no matter what (and nullifying his punishment). Similar to the RM7 two episodes ago, they become closer.

    This episode is phenomenal, and I cannot recommend it enough!
      Road to Friendship
    Like Big Mac, Spike, and Discord's friendship, Starlight and Trixie's began in S6's No Second Prances, a very rocky episode. Since then, DHX greatly improved their chemistry, solidified their friendship, and make it important for them to have conflicts without making each other look horrible. Road to Friendship continues to build it and is unquestionably their best outing together.

    Like Break Down or Horse Play, its tight dialogue convinces the audiences to buy into their friendship. Listen to how Starlight and Trixie communicate with each other and their environments. Their chemistry's organic in its humor, drama, and overall emotion. Haber took full advantage of not only take full advantage to comedic opportunities, but how to test their friendships too. We're Friendship-Bound, its lyrics, and tone are ear porn, and Pinkie's friends must be a teeeeeensy bit jealous over its fourth-wall-breaking madness.

    However, don't ignore Hoo'Far nor him inadvertently contributing to the conflict. He met Trixie and would like to trade his larger wagon for something smaller and more homey. Is Trixie's rusty, uncooperative, crowded and falling apart? Yes. But to her, it's her home, so there's sentimental value attached to it… But Hoo'Far sees it from a material P.O.V. only and believes she needs  change.

    Starlight agrees with him. Since stopping at Somnambula, their whole trip worsened, and to her, Trixie's caravan is its source. By agreeing to trade, they have more room to sleep and store. Trixie told him why her wagon matters so much, but not her. For all she knows, Trixie wants to trade it, yet nopony offered to. Nevertheless, Starlight has NO right trading her property without asking! Thanks to their bad argument the night before, Trix's anger rightfully worsens. Fortunately, the ep understood this, hence its harsh treatment against SG once they split and that she apologized, a reversal of NSP done right.

    Heh! As a result of this upbeat, scaled-back classic, you'd think they knew each other since before the pilot.

    P.S.: My quickieview.

    P.P.S.: SG, Trix, please work on your chant and dance. Thank you!
      The Washouts
    A scrapped ending for Wonderbolts Academy was to redeem Lightning Dust, but after being reckless, selfish, and careless to the point of nonchalantly eschewing the RM5's near-fatal peril, it doesn't make sense. Disqualifying her works best. So what becomes of LD now? Does she retry for the WB, start a new career, or change for the better? The Washouts answers every question: leads a successful group of "washed-out" ex-'Bolts and becomes one of FIM's most manipulative antagonists.

    Her foil's Rainbow Dash, who continues a mostly grand streak of great outings (minus one, sadly). When DHX writes her well, they balance her ego with sympathetic depth, and like Berrow in GGW, Confalone does the same here. The episode phenomenally exploits her ego and self-confidence with equal dedication caring for Scootaloo and never relenting the consequences of when she exposes her flaws.

    Since most of TW is in Dash's perspective, we follow her every move and witness when she's either strong or vulnerable. However, Scootaloo isn't around her all the time; when she opens the Washouts Fan Club, Dash interrogates her. Later on, she brags about how much better the WBs are next to her and doesn't warm up to them at all till later in the stunt show, transitioning her emotions from envy to concern without being forced, especially once LD uses Scoot's rebellious naivete to claim anyone is capable of being a Washout.

    As per usual, it's really funny, especially this classic scene!
     
    Unfortunately, Dash's "tough love" not only made her feel more left out of the Wonderbolts, but also helped solidify Scoot's decision to become a Washout. Add to the fact that Dash immediately shuttered the Washout club over Scoot's inward objections, solidifying the thought that her mentor didn't act in good faith at any point.

    I haven't even touched upon the subtle development of Scoot's quest for inclusion (explained further down) and the harsh lesson Dash needed to hear to close Act 2, which you can find here. In all, a fantastic episode!
      The Mean 6
    What better way to close out Season 8A with the second-best 13th episode!

    After a small sabbatical, Chryssie returns, aimless in the forest and desperate for revenge on the Mane 8, especially Twilight and Starlight. In doing so, she concocted a crazy scheme of replicating the RM6, leading to some of the best exchanges and jokes, mainly the hilarious tension between her and Snarkle.

    But the real stars of TM6 is the RM7. Immediately conflict brew between them, beginning with TS's impatience with the photographer and slowly growing while trekking deeper into the Forest (i.e., Pinkie accidentally startling FS and Rarity leaving man equipment behind). After FS wanders off to help a bird find his nest, the conflict improves, especially when they encounter QC's doppelgangers unbeknownst (and vice-versa). These exchanges brought forth both needed comedy to keep it entertaining, but also accelerated the frustrations within each of the ReMane 7; Lazy Dash's dismissals of 'Shy and Sparkle at their lowest points and Liarjack bullying Starlight for carrying all the camping gear are perhaps the best examples.

    Consequently, the RM7 had probably their worst argument since Return of Harmony. Thanks to confusion, everyone was anguishing realistically, the tears from Twilight subtly accentuating the pain. By accident, Chrysalis almost successfully broke them up…if not for their strong bond.

    Oh, and this…
    Indeed… *shudder*

    P.S.: My full review. Like before, Jeric, Clark, and @PathfinderCS credited here.
      Honorable mentions: Surf and/or Turf, Grannies Gone Wild, & Sounds of Silence.
    Note: All episodes are listed in my order. As for S8's alone, they're below with their grades and placement (as of the day before S9 debuts).
    S8 episode ranking:
    A Rockhoof and a Hard Place: A+ (#8) The Break Up Break Down: A+ (#10) The Hearth's Warming Club: A (#14) Road to Friendship: A (#17) The Washouts: A (#18) The Mean 6: A (#23) Surf and/or Turf: A (#26) Grannies Gone Wild: A (#28) Sounds of Silence: A- (#35) Horse Play: A- (#41) Molt Down: A- (#45) What Lies Beneath: A- (#46) Friendship University: B+ (#54) Marks for Effort: B+ (#56) The Parent Map: B+ (#60) The End in Friend: B (#71) School Raze: B (#75) The Maud Couple: B (#78) School Daze: B- (#84) Yakity-Sax: B- (#92) Father Knows Beast: B- (#98) A Matter of Principals: C- (#133) Non-Compete Clause: D- (#152) Fake It 'Til You Make It: F (#163)  
    Morals:
    Bottom:
    N/A.
    In order to qualify, it must be a bad moral on its own merits. While some were poorly executed, they weren't actually bad. ———
    Top-3:
    Breakdown: Don't be afraid to openly admit your feelings. Those who care for you will listen and understand.
    This lesson rings true in both this episode and beyond. Communication is crucial to any relationship, both romantically and familiarly. What's one of the most important elements of communication? Listening. Thanks to misinformation and miscommunication, Big Mac & Sugar nearly fell out on the most romantic day of the year. Thankfully, BM didn't give up and openly admitted his love for her as he mended her trailer, and Sugar — in her sweet, bubbly, caring voice — not only cleared it all up, but became more in love with him.
      Hard Place: No matter how hurt, lonely, or hopeless you feel, you matter.
    Over a year ago, Rick & Morty co-creator Dan Harmon tweeted very valuable advice for battling depression. The sentence that struck me, who was never clinically depressed, was how your feelings may be real, but aren't reality. That rings so true to Rockhoof, whose self-shame for his inability to adapt to modern times no matter how hard he tried made him believe no one sees him for the hero he was anymore. Yona, who admires him, convinced him he belonged not just by how much she likes him, but by rounding the whole school up to greet him.
      Surf: Even if you don't know it, you wording can perpetuate doubt and confusion to someone else.
    Another key component to a healthy relationship is how you communicate. Words matter. Even if what you say's innocent, another person might not take it that way. Observe the awareness of microaggressions to create a more inclusive society, for example. Now, what happens in Surf and/or Turf's completely unrelated to bigotry in any way, but pay attention to what Terramar's parents say to him: When he explained his conflict, he believes that if he chooses one home over the other, he lets others down and pins blame on himself for their separation, a very common feeling among kids of divorced parents. Statements like these perfectly exemplify why Terramar was so confused, unsure, and overwhelmed. Extra pressure's added onto his shoulders without them realizing it. Honorable mention: The best friendships overcome the toughest hardships (Mean 6).
    New characters:
    Characters that appeared on screen prior to S8 (even when in the background) don't count. So some of the tertiary characters from Fake It and Stellar Flare won't make the cut.
    Bottom-4:
    Every tertiary character debuting in Fake It.
    Every Manehattanite who walked into RFY's a walking stereotype, and the new ones share the problem. They're uninteresting, irritating, and obnoxious. I don't come to watch FIM to see caricatures of millennials, Gen-Xers, rich people, goths, and so forth. Save those elsewhere. Dishonorable mention: Rolling Thunder (flat co-foil for Scootaloo).
    Top-6:
    Yona.
    Cute yak best yak! NEXT!
      Gallus.
    This griffin is a hysterical featherball of jerkery. Embedded with a Griffonstone edge, he keeps his vulnerability within, yet will reveal it when he feels he has to.
      Cozy Glow.
    Triumphs over Stygian as the show's best villain. Deceptive, witty, manipulative, confident. Innocent on the outside, scheming from the inside. More than willing to make friends, then dump them after fulfilling her usefulness while making them the guilty party.
      Smolder.
    Growing up with her own culture in the Dragon Lands and understanding it from inside and out, she's macho without being demeaned for it, yet actually cares for others in her own way. Since S6, FIM showcased dragons in a more positive light; she's the most thorough example, especially in Molt Down and Father Knows Beast.
      Autumn Blaze.
    From my SoS review:
    Oh, and this:
    ^ If you can make a really serious situation witty and hysterical, y'got talent.
      Sludge.
    From my FKB review: Honorable mentions: Silverstream, Ocellus, Sandbar, Snarkle.
    Mane 8:
    Bottom:
    Fluttershy.
    Blame it on Fake It PYHD 2.0, her worst portrayal of the entire series. Backtracking her growth all these years, having to relearn her lessons in a contrived fashion (no pun intended), knowingly threatening to evict a rescue raccoon family, and apologizing half-assedly. In PYHD, she became a bigger plothole because everyone was atrocious to her first. But this ripoff gives her no believable motive and regresses her by storytelling demand.
    Dishonorable mention: AJ.
    ———
    Top:
    Starlight Glimmer.
    Were ya expecting anyone else? S7 improved her performance and was its best man character, but two episodes held her back: Fame (being the false vessel for DHX to reject the Death of the Author theory) and To Chang a Changeling (became OOC by calling Pharynx a "lost cause" behind his back). S8 improves her consistency tenfold. No OOC moments, no contrived mouthpiece of DHX. As a character, she takes control and is in character in every appearance she's in.
    Honorable mention: Twilight.
    ---
    Full M8 rank (in order):
    Starlight Glimmer Twilight Sparkle Spike Pinkie Pie Rainbow Dash Rarity Applejack Fluttershy  
    Moments:
    Bottom-3:
    Yona nearly drowns.
    An in-character, likeable Dash and AJ would stop squabbling over some lame record. That same Dash, who rejected going after a difficult-to-attain windpower record from Hurricane Fluttershy after several pegasi were too sick to fly, would consider her inability to swim and utilize her lessons to help teach her students friendship. That same AJ, who forgave Grand Pear and welcomed him to the family decades after disowning his late daughter, would stop arguing with Dash and focus on helping the students row safely. But nope! We got new characters in disguise whose out-of-character stupidity caused their boat to crash in dangerous water and needed the help of Ocellus and Silverstream to rescue her after nearly drowning!

    Do they have ANY idea how lucky they are?! If she died, relations between Yakyakistan and Equestria break beyond repair. Even worse, Twilight will have to close down the school! Prince Rutherford agreed to lend his trust to Equestrian royalty and let her join the school. Again, this ain't Fall Weather Friends or Castle Mane-ia! They're supposed to be past this stupid phase! Congratu-feathering-lations for proving Neighsay right, ponuts!
      Discord unleashes a bugbear on Starlight's students.
    Reasons why are similar to prior. Had Discord's prank harm Yona or the others, Twilight's school has an irreparable PR nightmare. Not to mention it makes Discord a spoiled brat! The reason it's lower is because a non-student's responsible for this, and the interim headmare both successfully intervened and justifiably called him out for his actions.
      Fluttershy threatens to evict Smokey and family.
    Verbally abusing animals, who she values so much and the core of her talent, violates her moral compass that this show sided for so long. To make it worse, Rarity reminded her early on how she rescued them, hired them, and they became very valuable employees. After threatening them, she proudly bashed them behind their backs to a fellow mare who agrees. *scoff* Some "pretending"! Dishonorable mentions:
    FS claims she "pretended." Discord screws up the treasure hunt. Maud stands Pinkie up. Dash & AJ argue to conclude NCC. Twilight suddenly announces the School of Friendship. Top-5:
    Yona rallies the School in support of Rockhoof.
    From my HP review (with edits for here): Discord breaks Sugar Belle's wagon wheel.
    Reiterating from above, reformed!Discord is written the best by balancing his abrasion with caring for his friends. (Observe this balancing act from The Beginning of the End for an excellent post-S8 example.) In Break Down, he acts like rude and selfish at times (even shooing Hearts & Hooves Day as a commercialized fad), but when he screws up, he'll go make it right. Here, he uses his chaotic magic to stealthily break Sugar Belle's wheel, allowing Big Mac to catch up to her, where they settle their differences and reunite. Yes, he complains about Hearts & Hooves Day being a commercialized fad, yet after his bad advice nearly breaks 'em up, he actively salvages it, proving his belief of romance and friendship with Spike & Big Mac.
      Smolder and Gallus won't leave the cave. Seven sentences. No more. A simple pause in the action fulfills several points.

    a. The School of Friendship helped them learn to become better people.

    b. No matter where they live, how they celebrate, speak, or what they look like, everyone's equal.

    c. Their friends matter. If they pass their tests alone, they'll help them and support them. They'd rather be trapped underneath than abandon them.

    d. Individually, they developed. Each task up to What Lies Beneath affects who they are and how they respond to the Tree's test. Without School Daze, Clause, and Club, they never become the people we know now.

    P.S.: I'm still in a self-plugging mood right now. If anyone wants to read my What Lies Beneath review, click here.
      After Twilight dismisses class for the winter, Gallus flies away.


    mlp.fandom.com's caption perfectly points it out: "Note the subtle foreshadowing here - only Gallus appears unhappy in this shot." The Young 6's whole dynamic fleshes out, starting here. Without it, we know nothing of their lifestyles or Gallus's home hardship.
      Lightning Dust's false inclusive motive. Originally, Scootaloo's love for The Washouts appeared to be a fad. At the start, she represented the rebelous teenager growing fascinated with the extra danger because it was "cooler" than the Wonderbolts. Until the final act, she never relinquishes this role. But this exchange creatively swerved an extra motive to admiring the Washouts: inclusivity. Unlike every other pegasi to date, she can't fly, yet idolizes Dash, who's now a Wonderbolt. She envies her mentor and her rise to stardom and feels guilty. This shot punctuates her guilt:


    But when Dust retorts, her facial expressions improve instantaneously:



    Every thing Scootaloo says and does through the rest of Act 2 calls back to these shots.

    a. Scheming with Dust to have the WBs expel her, qualifying her to join.

    b. Rejecting Dash's and Spitfire's tough love, believing they had selfish ulterior motives. "Following your wingflaps" subtly points to her disability (thank you, Ganondox, for this point) and envy of Dash for achieving an unattainable goal.

    c. Dash's snappy decision to close her fan club finalizing her decision to join the Washouts.

    After all of this, it culminates with the most painful lesson in Dash's life, and the one she most deserved to hear. The Washouts calls back so many episodes so subtly, including Flight to the Finish, and takes advantage of its continuity to build an internal conflict developing within Scootaloo for quite some time. Not only did Confalone and his editors write an avenue for Scootaloo to search for a club that'd include disabled pegasi like her, but also show major differences between them.

    Does Dash love Scootaloo? Of course she does! She's her surrogate sister. But her ego made her believe she became protective in bad faith. Scootaloo's direct rant was a long time coming, and made Dash painfully realize she'll never become one of the best fliers, the key physical qualifier for becoming a 'Bolt. The Washouts gave her a chance to prove herself, and she wasn't giving it up. Like it or not, Scoot's growing up; she must trust her to use her conscience and judge if a stunt's too dangerous. Dash and Twi did the right thing letting her go and decide for herself.
    Honorable mentions:
    Cozy talks to Starlight after watching Twilight expel the CMCs. Silverstream stands up to The Storm King. Twilight sticks up for Spike after helping defeat the Roc. Ocean Flow and Skybeak (Terramar's parents) greet each other warmly. Celestia leads the play's rescue. Gallus's friends stay behind to support him. What I want for Season 9:
    The usual: maintain consistency, watch out for unfortunate implications, etc.
      Haber and Dubuc continue working as a team. Shadow Play really showed what they were capable of; despite a slow start, they helped edit the most consistently great season of the show. Haaber's return helped improve S7, Dubuc's arrival added extra touches to improve its formula. So far, they remain that team with the touch.
      Further develop the Young Six. What Lies Beneath and School Raze show us what to potentially expect of them: The Tree of Harmony likes them, has faith in them, and believes they can spread the Magic of Friendship far and wide. Friendship's in their nature. Don't be surprised if they succeed the RM6 and either become the new Bearers or become successors to the Elements before them. The Y6 are some of the best group of characters FIM ever had; more of them, please!
      Deliver finality. Hasbro announced Season 9 as its last. As disappointing as it is to many, S9 and FIM's end's also a time to celebrate the show itself, what it became, its consistency from the beginning, and how it can inspire other shows years from now.

    Story-wise, there's still some closure left. Cozy Glow's S8's villain, yet she, Tirek, or Chrysalis aren't done. Their arcs remain. The Beginning of the End and an upcoming episode may foreshadow their conclusions, but the ride interests me just as much. Verdict:
    No secret. I love Season 8! Had S5 not top it just a little bit, it'd be my favorite. Great episodes, excellent consistency, great new characters. Best villain. I don't need to say anymore. Bring on Season 9!!!
    P.S.: My season order: 5 > 8 > 7 > 2 > 1 > 4 > 3 > 6.
  2. Dark Qiviut
    Dumbo went through so much trauma throughout. Bullied by a brat for his wings (and getting his mom locked up in the process), ostracized as a freak by the Matriarch and the other elephants, demoted into a clown sideshow after accidentally destroying the circus tent, and bullied by the crows before Timothy stood up for him and made them have changes of heart. And I didn’t even get to Baby Mine!
    Suffice it to say that this film is really sad…which makes this happy ending so triumphant in hindsight. If there was one character who deserved it, it’s him!
     
  3. Dark Qiviut
    With season 9 being its last, I could give my thoughts on it ending, but I did so already. Instead, I want to reflect on what the show has done. Over the years, FIM has had moments where many, myself including, declare whether the show jumped the shark or not. For those who don't know, "jumping the shark" is the moment that indicates its peak has passed and won't return to form again. Examples are located here and here.
    Of course, when something jumps the shark is subjective. What might be a "jump the shark" moment for one may not be for another. There's no right way to determine it. That said, there have been many "jump the shark" moments, only for FIM to bounce back.
    Faust leaving during Season 2's production? Season 2 was really solid and has aged better than the former. Derpygate? Derpy was around during S2, was on hiatus in S3 til MMC, returned again in Rainbow Falls, and has remained a background mainstay since. Twilicorn debuting in MMC, a possible change in character? In S4, she showed remnants of Twi of old, and in S5, many of her quirks return. The castle replacing the tree? No on talks about it now, and I argue that Castle Sweet Castle helped relieve the worries. In fact, her castle's been in the show longer than the Golden Oak Library (104 eps to 91 to date, minus the shorts and Best Gift Ever). Princess Spike's ending implicating permanent status as a buttmonkey? Two weeks later, Amending Fences — one of the best of the show — aired, and Spike's direction has improved tremendously since. S5 remains my favorite of the show. Newbie Dash screwing up Dash's achievement? In consecutive weeks, Tail and TSRR air. Afterwards, the Wonderbolts become much more likeable, and Dash feels like a part of the team. Starlight joins the cast? She gradually improves in S6, and in S7 and 8, she makes her mark as one of the Mane Eight. The School of Friendship is born? Becomes one of the show's best settings and the home of the Young Six, some of the best characters of the show. You get the picture. Every time the show proverbially jumps the shark, the show always bounces back. It never stays down for so long. Whenever the show looks to be in the downturn in quality, DHX publishes good to great episodes, reminding us why FIM has the well-earned reputation of being one of the best Western cartoons of the decade.
    Consider this. Many cartoon shows don't last so long. After two or three seasons, it starts wrapping up or gets canceled. Gravity Falls only lasted two seasons. If they stick around, it runs the risk of rotting. FOX renewed The Simpsons for both a 31st and 32nd season, but many argue that it began its turn to mediocrity after Season 9. The Powerpuff Girls were good for about four years, but S5 and 6 (both w/o McCracken) sucked. Nickelodeon finally canceled Fairly Odd Parents after already drilling into the sewer. Sometimes they bounce back, such as Spongebob post Out of Water and Thomas & Friends following S16.
    Is it impressive that FIM lasted so long? Indeed. I still remember wondering if FIM will even have a S3 or 4. But think about it. FIM's been good for not just the first three to four seasons, but so far its entire run. A large chunk of the show's best episodes started in S5. If Friendship Is Magic ended after MMC or Twilight's Kingdom, we wouldn't have all-time greats like Flight to the Finish, The Cutie Map, Slice of Life, Lost Mark, The Times They Are A Changeling, The Perfect Pear, Shadow Play, Mean 6, The Washouts, or Sounds of Silence. DHX maintained consistently good quality from the very beginning to today, which is very hard to do. As I wrote here, Faust planted the seeds early, and her apple tree currently blooms. Prior to FIM, Hasbro's longest TV series was G1 Transformers (99 episodes, 6 seasons). When this show concludes, it'll be more than double the length (221 episodes, 9 seasons); not bad for a show that's been this good for so long, huh?
    Whether it'll hold up or not remains to be seen. But no one can deny that Friendship Is Magic built a legacy, and with S9 coming up in perhaps five to eight weeks, I can't wait to see what's in store.
  5. Dark Qiviut
    Note: Credit to @Truffles, @Sparklefan1234, @PathfinderCS, and Silver-Quill for this review, which I C&P'd from here with extra edits. This review has been revised to include a little more content.
    Sludge may be the most hateable non-villain of the series, if not one of them with Svengallop, Garble, Zephyr, and Spoiled Rich. Garble's someone to just hate, but Sludge you love to hate. This slob knows how to con others with no remorse. He wants to lives the luxury life and make you work for it, all the while tugging the right strings to make you fall for his tricks and divide you from who you love at your most vulnerable state. While he freeloads, he's not a stereotype, as he always cleans up after himself and trades his laziness for his brains. Smart, calculating, and very manipulative, he catches himself, remains convincing, and uses Spike's want for biological parentage to bypass all doubts.
    Several clues indicate his scheming ways before he became more brazen:
    He stopped jogging on the treadmill to chug the fresh cider…with hilarious results. XD

      The Wonderbolts held him above them, but he won't fly until Dash lectures him.
      He doesn't admit to being his father until after he fully recovers (just as he's about to depart) and walks with Spike back inside.
      Just by his stops and gestures, he's making up his backstory as he goes along, including not answering other questions the RM5 asked, but his tale's canonically logical, and his tears sound real, adding a layer on uncertainty.
      Silver-Quill brings up this point. Look at the image below:

    In this shot, she's nearly as tall as Torch, a monster-sized dragon.

    In the next, she's nearly as tall as Sludge, who's much smaller than him:

      After his song, he cackles, cutting into Act 3.
      ^ The synopsis gives away a very important clue: "dad" and "real" are in skeptical quotes.
      Dismisses Spike after being asked if he wanted to do anything with his son and then casually accuses him of not being a "real" dragon, cutting deeply into his psyche.
      His name has negative connotations related to muck and sewage. Despite being clean, his personality perfectly fits his name. Because he's so conniving, I'm really glad he's not his father; if he was, he'd be a deadbeat. However, as excellent he is at crafting a façade, this leads to a few big problems I have with it, echoing from @Truffles's review, @Sparklefan1234's comment, and Discord conversations with @PathfinderCS.
    Spike's hurtful comeback to Twilight absolutely crushes her, but doesn't have the weight. From the beginning of Act 3, the RM6 were already suspicious of him thanks to his sleazy manipulation of Spike and major holes in his backstory previously. Unfortunately, they can't prove anything, and Spike grew so close to him that telling him the truth without being delicate risks fracturing his relationships with the ponies. They must give him the benefit of the doubt and hope he doesn't brainwash him further. Emotionally, the delivery of disappointment feels stilted, further hurting its importance.
      Spike doesn't truly figure out he was being used until after his conversation with Smolder, and their plan takes place off-screen. Afterwards, everything starts falling into place. Because he figured it out late and needs Smolder's off-screen advice for some closure, the pacing feels a little off.
      No one can blame Spike for being so disappointed with Sludge revealing to be a phony. After getting so acquainted with him, his reveal's a major slap to his face. Yet, just before it concludes, he starts getting over it and feels mostly satisfied with the only family he has. But as this and DQ demonstrate, wanting to know his family roots matters to him, and he thought he was so close to actually figuring out who his biological father is. Heck, he revealed his scroll of things to do with them and was so happy to do them. As a result, Father Knows Beast's ending feels really hollow and forced.
      Sludge's backstory, even with the holes, is plausible, and you can fill in the cracks with them. His sobs after telling them his story also feel real. The script and Allspark even built interesting and complex lore behind it with a very unique art style of its own, suggesting a degree of reality into his tale. At the time, he looked very sympathetic and acted like he wanted to reunite with his "lost son."

    So for FKB to use the Liar Revealed trope feels like a gigantic letdown, and Sludge's reveal alone is anticlimactic. Previous clues indicate he set Spike up, but one big unmentioned red flag is stating he searched everywhere for him. Why does it hurt the story? Because he never recognized Spike nor said his name until after he fully healed. It was only a matter of time before Smolder and Spike craft a plan to out himself for being the fraud that he is. I don't like to harp on predictability in FIM nowadays, because the journey determines the episode's success above the destination, but that blatant piece of foreshadowing really risks sucking the audience out of the story. It's no surprise why many, myself including, feel dismayed. By revealing to NOT being his dad, the episode reverts to the status quo. After all this time, Spike's past remains a mystery. So despite a competent, nicely written story with a nicely song, great comedy (i.e., Sludge chucking SG out of the castle as she bathed ) and one of the best non-villain antagonists of the series, the resolve feels hollow. More could be done to tighten the plot or not feel so isolated from the rest of the series.
    At the end, I still feel uncertain whether I like it or not. Even after I submitted my initial review in the discussion thread. Nevertheless, it's got some big positives.
    Spike is very good here. He really wants to do the right thing and tries so hard to impress his "father." Here, we see his vulnerable side and one other flaw rarely exploited that well: his naiveté. He became so devoted with reuniting with what he thought was his biological father that he overlooks when he becomes a sleazy slob. Despite telling Twilight off, her worry clearly was on the back of his mind, evident by expressing his confusion towards Smolder. (This is also the first episode to refer to Spike as an orphan.) The audience sees his personality, how it was shaped, and (despite accusing her of being a fake parent) sympathize with them. His commitment for Sludge was genuine, which made his disappointment feel more crushing.
      Twilight has one of her more mature secondary outings of the series. Throughout FKB, Twilight is more than Spike's friend, but mom, too (and he sees the others as his family). From thinking he let her down after he was quiet and turned away for so long (punctuated by a really funny pillow reveal XD) to hugging him after he admits to being orphaned. Spike's health and well-being matter to him and will do anything to make sure he's safe, even if it means probably upsetting him. When he revealed Sludge ditched him and wasn't his real dad, she consoled him immediately, equally upset with the results.

    These shots really show their love for each other:


      Unlike Sludge, Smolder represented authentic dragondom despite their rough reputation, and she was great at it. When Twilight had trouble instructing Spike how to do tricks, she's there to help, explained that their parents teach them to fly when they're ready, and Spike offers a thank-you pillow to her, who doesn't sleep with pillows. Also, she knew Sludge phonied everything and worked with Spike to out him, because he treated her as his servant instead of his son. When he fled, she comforted him.
      Sludge is a fantastic, competent, and clever antagonist. No need to repeat.
      This is Dragon Quest (S2's worst episode by far) done right. How so? Recall the sexist implications and xenophobic stereotyping of dragons by the Mane Six. In DQ, while the RM5 watched dragons, they mocked Spike for looking "feminine" and proudly claimed that he's unlike the "other dragons" because of it. This sexism and xenophobia crossed over to teenage dragons, who are are written to represent dragondom, with Spike disowning his identity until Gauntlet of Fire. These implications are nonexistent here, and Haber wisely dignified dragon culture. Sludge claims he teaches Spike how to be a "real" dragon, but in reality, Sludge is a false representation of dragondom, while Smolder is. Guess who's in the right here.
      DQ's lesson actively uses racism in a positive light and treats the dragons other than Spike himself as savages in comparison to ponies, creating imperialistic implications that ponies are inherently superior. Thankfully, FKB handles a similar moral much better, this time focused on family over individuality, but Spike neither forgets nor abandons his dragon identity or sees dragon culture as a bad thing.

    Suspicions aside, they supported Spike's dad and worked with Spike to fulfill his wishes. They were all really charitable throughout the second montage: Pinkie and Fluttershy vs. Spike and Sludge in buckball (Granny Smith the ref):

      Rarity & Dash mimicking HW Day so they trade presents:


      Spike & Sludge bake and eat cupcakes together.

      Accusations of xenophobia from the ponies to dragons in DQ by bronies are justified, courtesy of their racist and sexist language. In FKB, no one acted like that at all, including Twilight. As mentioned previously, everyone's focused solely on Sludge being a terrible person, not because they believe dragons are primitive. When TS expressed concern, Spike retaliated with false accusations, which he apologized for.
      In DQ, Fluttershy agreed to watch the dragon migration after Dash agonizingly watched the butterfly migration, but punted her chest and cowered away. Here, Fluttershy actively helps him heal and no longer outwardly fears larger dragons. Disappointment aside, is Father Knows Beast a good episode? I believe it is. Compared to the rest of its post-Matter streak, it's the weakest of the bunch, especially so after its excellent run from Road to Friendship to Sounds, but it's still competently written. Hopefully, it'll continue to hold up on its own and age better in the future, but right now, don't expect me to watch it again anytime soon.
  6. Dark Qiviut
    Note: Credit to @Truffles and @Justin_Case001 for my review.
    Am I interested in talking about this episode? No.
    I'D RATHER SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

    For Season 8, Nicole Dubuc brought in a few writers: Brian Hohlfeld, Kaita Mpambara, and Kim Beyer-Johnson. Minus Kaita, each of them have strong connections with Dubuc and worked with her on Transformers: Rescue Bots. Gregory Bonsingore is no exception. But for him, he's a little different compared to the rest. Bonsignore is an award-winning playwright and lyricist: His Off-Broadway play "Gorgonzola: A Cautionary Sicilian Tale" won several awards at a Miami musical festival, including Best Musical and Best Music/Lyrics. So to have an accomplished writer on FIM is a treat regardless of outcome.
    In his Friendship Is Magic debut, he displays his credentials.
    This episode covers a lot of information, comparable to Lost Mark or even MMC. But what he does so well is manage it. How? When scenes weren't as important (i.e., the Map calling), little time's used, but when he needs to delve into the important plot points (i.e., communicating with the kirin, finding Autumn, figuring out what caused the vow of silence), he takes advantage. Therefore, despite an abrupt ending, the story flows well. It goes by fast without rushing through.
    As what Twilight said, this is the first time a set of ponies took part in a second quest, this being AJ and FS. And here, each of them were tremendous. Was Fluttershy scared? Thanks to its ominous name and craggy exterior, more than plausible. The Friendship Express quickly hightailing from its weathered station further and freaky clerk support her fear. But as the episode progressed, her fear starts to ease, starting with helping nearby squirrels gather up bright yellow-to-blue flowers, who in return helped her locate the Peaks's real entrance and their discovery of the kirin.

    Needless to say, the kirin are gorgeous! Their earthly tones complement really well with their environment and contrast really nicely to the pastel-ly look of AJ and FS. Their manes, horns, toes, tails, and dragon-scale-esque backs are wonderfully designed, with only their brilliant eyes to pop out. And, yes, @Justin_Case001 is right. The tilting of the head makes them look really cute!

    But the outsider of the clan, Autumn Blaze, is easily the star of the show and takes up the bulk of the run time compared to the others. Pinkie and Silverstream are massive chatterboxes, but Autumn gives them a massive run for their money. She talks a lot and is full of quirks with solid reason. Other than the view and makeshift toys, she hasn't talked to anyone in ages to the point of forgetting or mispronouncing words. AJ is her first companion since Rain Shine exiled her. And her rapid, sometimes flowery, talk is completely hilarious. Her personality is more than charming. It's warm, bright, and optimistic. Even when she's bored, she finds ways to remain eccentric and hopeful to reunite with her clan, evident in many ways, including her gossip with a stick.
    Oh, and We're Friendship-Bound? You're dethroned! A Kirin Tale is the best song of the season. Nuff said!
    Not enough? Well, alright. The events Blaze described are quite serious, but because she and the song sound so happy with a boatload of humor (including pop culture jokes referencing Citizen Kane, Hamilton, and especially Phantom of the Opera!), the tone's nowhere nearly that dark. The song itself, written by Big Jim and Dubuc, is really funny with many fantastic lyrics. The kirin society's closed off from outside contact and, if going by the ancient shield Rockhoof used, lived closed off for millennia. Its vow of silence is relatively new in their history, but painted on a nearby rock (and shown to FS offscreen) to remind them of why they accepted this vow.

    The graphic imagery in itself paints a really dark era of what happened and, to echo what @Truffles stated in his replies, why Rain Shine (the kirin's longtime empress) was completely justified to take such a drastic measure in the first place. The kirin clan devolved into a literal flame war over who'll buy a homemade water pitcher, and their nirik fight destroyed their water supply, flora, and village. But even after becoming homeless, they kept going, and some of them were completely incapable of controlling their temper, hence their sustained nirik form. Had Rain Shine not step in and order everyone to step into the Stream of Silence and suppress their feelings, they'd lose more than just their village, but way of life or even themselves. And in response to those who criticize Rain Shine's plan as flawed, that's the point. Anger's normal, and it's okay to express your anger. But it's important to channel it responsibly. Rain Shine's solution restored order and peace within the Peaks of Peril, but sacrificed being able to communicate and feel without being reminded of why they suppressed their emotions. The following lyrics metaphorize the very moral:
    Rainbows won't light up the sky unless you let it rain. Shiny apples sometimes come with worms. Candles just won't glow until they burned. And that was why the Map called AJ and FS: to teach them how to constructively moderate their anger and disagree without sacrificing their joy, ability to feel, or fearing to hurt each other's feelings and reunite Autumn with the others.
    Why Applejack and Fluttershy in particular? For a few reasons.
    Applejack can tell the firm truth while also being sensitive to their feelings. She's not afraid to express what went wrong or what goes against her core morale without marginalizing them. In short, she tells the truth because she cares. If you have someone like Starlight, you run the risk of undercutting the very moral you're trying to teach, because she's plain and blunt, and with a history as sensitive as the kirin's, even more so. AJ's softer personality balances out better with the conflict as well as Fluttershy's further tenderness and care for the animals who live with them. Fluttershy is way more connected to the animals than anyone else. When they're happy, she's happy, and when they're sad, she's sad. She understands what they want, how they feel, and what they're saying. She inadvertently discovered leftover Foal's Breath flowers for the squirrels, and in return, they help them discover the Peaks' true entrance. Because of her ability to read emotions and understand what's wrong, she's observant in how to properly communicate with the kirin, including advising Applejack to ask yes or no question (even though AJ contrivedly ignored that to begin Act 2 ). Despite being initially frightened, she grew more comfortable around them as AJ searched for Autumn Blaze. Observe how she stopped being scared after Applejack returned to the village. The episode validates both their arguments, which won't work with another pair. Autumn's explanation packs the events with a lot of humor, which masked its seriousness. But because the kirin are mute and emotionally suppressed, Fluttershy fully realized how serious the situation was immediately. Her closeness to the wilderness justifies her to opt for the opposite solution. OTOH, AJ had a valid argument, too, which was find the Foal's Breath flower to free them from their vow of silence so they can emote and communicate again. Both sides have a point, rounding the conflict. It's easy to see why they briefly argued; they were both passionate about solving the kirin dilemma and couldn't find common ground, which they did after Blaze rescued them and used her anger and nirik alter ego to protect them from harm. And @Justin_Case001 makes three great points in his review.
    This is an episode about communication, more specifically being able to communicate without fear of hurting each others' feelings or starting an argument. Is it important to be sensitive to others? Without a doubt. Otherwise, you suggest you don't care. But it's important to talk to people, communicate with them, and find common ground to compromise without compromising your integrity. While The Cutie Map is about being diverse in your opinions, talents, and personalities, Sounds of Silence is about being diverse in how to communicate and find common ground. As I mentioned before, anger is important and will always be a part of your life. Unfortunately, it's attached to many harmful stereotypes, i.e., the angry black woman, which stigmatizes the emotion. But in itself, it's okay to be angry. Just like anger in itself is important, constructively channeling it is even more important. The nirik's temper were out of control, and until the end, only Autumn Blaze figured out how to manage it without manifesting into something worse. Fluttershy's solution to the friendship problem — keeping the kirin silent — is the wrong option, and she realizes it after they nearly dunked them into the Stream of Silence. However, it's very clear she didn't come to this conclusion with the worst intentions, but instead the opposite. Fire and wood mix easily, and nature is vital to the health of the kirin's secluded village and society. The nirik's temper was clearly a traumatizing event that she and the village altogether don't want to repeat, and this extreme option seemed to be the best one. Observe their faces as they argued:

    They were clearly distressed. Their heated argument reminded them of what happened long ago. That's why they interrupted it before it escalated. Other than the pacing, cramming of detail, and AJ getting briefly nailed with the stupid stick, its last flaw is how obvious the Foal's Breath flower's impact into solving the friendship problem becomes as the plot progresses. Fluttershy and the story spent a good amount of time arranging it for the squirrels, and its brilliant gradients of blue to yellow with all that detail stand out really strongly against the dirty-looking desert. The fact that Blaze landed in a bed of identical flowers and made a tea out of them connects the dots much more.
    Yet, they're all very minuscule in the thick of things. Bonsignore's scripting talents really shine with well-done dialogue, pleasant characterization of AJ, FS, and Autumn Blaze, and intelligently simple story. Despite its fast pacing, the script is tight and polished; everything logically flows from one point to another without anything out of place. Since S4, FIM plugs in one episode featuring at least one celebrity guest: Weird Al for Pinkie Pride, Lena Hall for Mane Attraction, Patton Oswalt for Stranger Than Fan Fiction, Felicia Day & William Shatner for The Perfect Pear, and now Rachel Bloom (Autumn's VA) for this one. DHX, now Allspark Studios, puts forth a ton of effort into making the guests belong into the story, and that hard work pays off into an excellent episode (with TPP museum-worthy). Sounds of Silence is no exception. In an already-phenomenal Season 8, this is another addition to the pile of outstanding episodes.
  7. Dark Qiviut
    Note: Credit to @Ganondox and Loganberry for this review.

    Like using Chrysalis to explain past events to the Everfree trees, much of what Vogel uses to start What Lies Beneath is exposition to describe the Tree of Harmony, its history, and purposes. But rather than using a character babble it out, it's told in the context of a classroom lecture followed by studying for a surprise test, and it wasn't all explained immediately or through one mouth. When Twilight lectured, students either asked questions, didn't believe her, or became frustrated over not knowing pony history, organically informing the audience of its lore.
    Now, whereas HW Club gave the Young Six the boost they truly deserve, WLB expands them further. Each of the Young Six start having doubts over whether becoming friends with others is natural to their consciences, culture, and themselves. Cozy Glow nicely sets up the conflict by going deep into parts of the Young Six's psyche, exploiting areas of their culture and livelihoods that are really sensitive to them. Is it racist? Absolutely; she's stereotyping the creatures as inferior to ponykind, and given how dubious she's been this season, it's intentional. Unlike Neighsay (whose racism is mixed with bitterness), her manipulation is masked with sweet innocence and then changes the subject, as if she meant no harm. Yet, pay attention to the moment afterwards and their little argument that night in the library, started by Gallus after getting annoyed at Silverstream for tapping her claws on the table. Her superiority complex cut deeply in them.
    And it's at this moment where the episode turns into an improvement of two past episodes: the pilot and The Crystal Empire. To get this out of the way, I agree with both Loganberry and @Ganondox regarding the Tree of Harmony's tests for the Young Six. Not only were they really harsh, but also morally questionable. What if Gallus failed his test? Would he be trapped in the enclosing cavern forever? Would the Tree create another test? Or what about Yona's arachnophobia; will she become so scared of spiders that she'd rather kill them over acquainting them? Fear is reactionary and not always based on logic.
    (And the dialogue was also a little rough with plenty of repetitive dialogue.)
    So, why does the Tree get a pass when Celestia and Luna don't?
    The Tree is omnipotent and understands the characters' strengths, weaknesses, and virtues. After seeing a friendship-related problem, she ties it to being(s) who can successfully heal it. Sometimes it's one, two, or more, depending on who and what they all have in common. Of course, this is a little different, because she tests them to determine whether they can become friends with each other or not.

    Additionally, despite its strong powers and subsequent growth, it can't fix it alone. Faith is placed upon them, and it's up to them to use their knowledge and friendship capabilities to solve it. OTOH, Celestia and Luna already defeated King Sombra, who cursed the Crystal Empire into disappearance. But after one of their guards alert of their resurgence, what does Celly do? Write to Twilight and place thousands of lives on her shoulders! Conversely, the stakes here are nowhere nearly as severe. In addition to needlessly putting countless lives on the line, they assigned her and her friends to take part in Twilight's challenge, but Celestia warned her that she and only she can save the Empire, contradicting the assignment Celestia placed on her since the beginning of the series. If she goes against the test in any way, she risks failing. So once she's trapped and requests Spike to return the Crystal Heart to its altar, she's rightfully worried, hence her dismay after Sombra's defeat. And the episode also has the gall to emphasize passing the test as the most important plot point over protecting the empire from Sombra, which makes the sacrifice lesson she spewed really hypocritical and phony.

    WLB counteracts this. Firstly, the Tree can't mandate them to take her test; they choose to explore what was under the drain grate she popped open. When Gallus crossly questioned her tactics, she was precise in her reply. Secondly, from the start, she explicitly tested their meddle to make them prove whether friendship's in their nature or not. She has the wherewithal to know that, yes, they'll break free, but will also not leave until they found each other. Tightening their friendship was the purpose for her tests, and the moral excellently backs her up. And how does WLB improve the pilot, specifically Part 2?
    Vogel spends a great deal of time equally pacing and exploring each of their fears along with sensible ways to face and beat them. Gallus and Smolder beat theirs first, but WLB doesn't forget about them. Instead, when one of their friends is very vulnerable and doubts if they'll ever conquer their fears, they bond with them more and use their own experiences as an example of overcoming them. The bonding between Ocellus and Smolder has added weight, because changelings and dragons retain an awful reputation (dragons for their brutish nature and history of terrorizing pony villages, changelings for nearly overthrowing Equestrian royalty twice), and the same can be said with Silverstream's horrific belief that the Storm King will reconquer Mount Aris.

    One little thing that gets overlooked is what Smolder and Gallus say after they arrive at the cave entrance… …AND after reuniting with all but Sandbar: With every opportunity to leave the cave, they willingly risked being trapped to find the others. Twice. No matter the consequences, they were NOT leaving ANYONE behind! Their friends matter, period! When the Mane Six were tested in the Everfree Forest, each one was segmented. When one trial ended, another began, and they were all written in to prove they properly represented the Bearers of Harmony. Sure, individualizing them isn't a bad thing, but by splitting them all up into only a few minutes, none of them had time to develop or breathe. Each segment was crammed, and be being bound to the E/I rating, the stakes weren't heightened as much as they should or paced more evenly.

    By contrast, Vogel intertwined each and every one of them simultaneously. None of their tasks ended at once, but he neither rushed them through nor ended them abruptly. He gradually built up their fears, exploited them, and ended them properly. What do I mean? They conquered their fears at the right time of the story, used the right characters to help pass their tests, and only after Vogel exhausted development of those fears.

    No matter the tone, each of their fears are treated with equal validity: Smolder's fear of femininity overtaking her persona was by far the most lighthearted, but the episode didn't treat it as a joke and utilized it as an example of being able to change from who she once was to Ocellus, who recalled how they used to treat others back then. The Storm King was already destroyed, but Silverstream's fear of his return resulted in her cheerful, optimistic personality being replaced to debilitating fright to the point of crying. Gallus realized his "return" was a mirage, but that wasn't enough for her. So he used his fear of small spaces, helped her overcome her fear of his return, and she let it all out to him.

    How Yona faced her fear was the most different. Gallus's trick foreshadowed what was to come, but when spiders faced her, her strongman personality gave way to intense arachnophobia. When spiders got too close, she was justifiably upset. With no friend she knew around, she wished they were there so she could get out. But in a twist, the lead spider Spindle talked to her. What the spiders were doing was that they weren't trying to scare her. They wanted to help, Spindle leading by example. Language barrier aside, they shared something in common: befriending each other and reuniting her with the others.

    Recall the second quote box above. Sandbar's fear's more subdued, but nonetheless validated. From the beginning, he focused on returning to his friends so they, "Dash," and "Rarity" can go on this adventure. Every time he questions his teachers' logic, they manipulate him into removing doubt and forcing him to run in a massive loop. Soon, he has enough, questions them outright, and when they express disappointment in him for caring about his friends than them, he turns the tables on them. As he lectures them, his friends arrive and watch from behind, adding more weight into how much they mean to him. He may be the quietest and most straight-man-ish of the Young Six, but he also needs to grow; confronting his fear of disappointment head-on was a fantastic solution.

    Without the constrictive E/I rating and by rearranging the plot, Vogel legitimized the stakes without phoning them in, which makes us invested in their obstacles, friendships, and outcomes. This next paragraph deals with spoilers for the S8 finale and S9 leaks/speculation, so it's under the tag.
    Overall, What Lies Beneath is another really excellent episode within S8B's fantastic lineup.
  8. Dark Qiviut
    Note: Credit to @gingerninja666, @Ganondox, @Theanimationfanatic, and Justin Galloway on YT for this review, which has been revised to expand my thoughts better and for better editing as a whole.
    Out of every legend from Season 7B, Rockhoof's was the worst. Combined with being a boring character, the story itself was very bland, and Applejack told the entire thing rather than letting the tale show. It's competent, but completely uninteresting. How ironic that in his first self-contained episode, ARaaHP is spectacular with some of the best characterization of a Pillar since they were first introduced.
    Hard Place is a "fish out of water" story, an idiom that puts the character in a setting or situation they're very foreign or uncomfortable with. DHX holds none of the comedy back, which had a lot of variety, but mostly came from the characters' reactions, starting off with Professor Fossil. Rockhoof doesn't understand preservation at all, because he lived in the era she continues to discover, emphasized by his destruction of an old sweat lodge (rightfully upsetting her) and triggering the conflict.
    Fossil's line, which sounded completely innocent on the surface, foreshadows future events while remaining wonderfully subtle:
    The scene in the auditorium to begin Act 1, while adding on to Rockhoof's inability to adapt to modern times, established connections, providing pivotal context as the episode progressed. Rockhoof's a Pillar, adding to the mystique and adoration from folks across generations. Most of this generation in the School of Friendship's very young, with five of the six unfamiliar with pony folklore. Smolder's sarcasm in response to Rockhoof's first accident is just one opinion (which changed as he told his story of his fight with an Ursa Major), but Yona adored him immediately, because his strength and bravery remind her of yakdom back home.
    As for the rest of Act 1, there was criticism of what Ocellus said about Discord's stone transformation (Celly and Luna casting a spell) as not being true to continuity. That's not true. From Princess Twilight Sparkle, Part 2:

    Sisters power up the Elements.

    Them casting a spell. The Elements couldn't turn him to stone alone.
    And I agree with YouTuber Justin Galloway regarding this point (his comment from this video link):
    Indeed!
    Personally, I can't blame the students for feeling excited (and Gallus lying about the class's direction). Learning can be fun, but sometimes boring, and Gallus is the perfect rebel to steer the class and Rockhoof in another direction. The story, despite in small doses and done to further emphasize his trouble to adapt, was really entertaining.
    To reiterate, the comedy in this episode as a whole is absolutely fantastic. This one in particular is probably the best one. (You know what I'm talkin' about. )
    Several other funny moments include:
    Rockhoof incredulously swatting decorative set pieces out the school window, not knowing it belonged to Rarity for class (and was not created to fool him). Despite all of the carnage inside Twilight's classroom, the worst he can do to her wooden desk is squish it like a marshmallow. Cranky being heavily embarrassed after Cranky announced he had a rash somewhere in his privates. OTOH, in hindsight, this accidental embarrassment was well-earned for Cranky, who spent all day in the school treating the students like garbage on the buckball pitch. During Somnambula's speech, Rockhoof suddenly falls asleep and squashes a mare behind him. XD
      Despite doing so inside the school (even though Twilight told him to wait previously and didn't react at all to the fire), Spike and Smolder's bond continues to evolve through a fire-breathing competition. Small, but compared to their conversation in Molt Down, they're more comfortable around each other, and she's not so bristly towards him.
    That said, no matter the jokes or how much Rockhoof screws up, the episode never treats him as dumb at any point, which @Theanimationfanatic points out. Everywhere he works, he's always willing to impress, whether it's delivering the post to the right house, massaging, helping Zecora, or teaching. Wherever he went long ago, his warrior-first instincts aided him, and he applies them here. Today, harmony replaced war. He doesn't need to fight much anymore, especially now with Stygian redeemed. As a result, he screws up, sometimes badly, yet the episode does a great job not making him look worse each time he faults. To expand my reply, his struggle feels real, and he always works to at least try to succeed; at times, he does the right thing, but overlooks one crucial detail, whether it's teaching instead of preparing for battle, trying to relive life on his soil rather than retaining its history, and so forth. As a result, we sympathize for him and root for him to succeed. It's a major strength that the episode worked very hard in getting right.
    What's more interesting is how most of the Pillars still contact each other and know their whereabouts, but not Rockhoof. Despite their close connection as champions and friends, it also shows us an audience how distanced Rockhoof became since the Pillars split. He goes back home and virtually spends his days there, as if his life is complete. He can keep his shovel, but not need to use it. He remains a warrior, but as the episode progresses, he realizes he's less of a warrior, but now a veteran who can't settle after being gone so long.
    On the other hand, DHX/Top Draw puts forth a lot of effort to make the other Pillars's adaptations as seamless as possible. My favorite is Mistmane's just because of her work in The Crystal Empire.

    There are a lot of amazing set designs throughout the series. But Twilight's right. The imagery here's some of the most beautiful ever put forth for the show. The composition, colors, crystal designs, light, shadow, and perspective are so organic to the country.
    As the episode progressed, Rockhoof's struggles slowly took a toll. Sulking away from the School started it, and his doubts reappeared in the CE scene, especially after he tells her that shovel ponies aren't in current demand. It progresses further by accident after Meadowbrook was able to open her clinic back home and then after Twilight finds Stygian's new novel. Both of these sting him for two reasons:
    He can't go home. If STYGIAN can adapt, why can't him?! But the final trigger? Accidentally sinking the Aris navy. @gingerninja666 explains that point perfectly:
    And it's after this when Rockhoof requests to be turned to stone. Mpambara doesn't hide one bit how it's an allegory of suicide, and his (the writer's) logic narrows this down in several key areas:
    No matter how hard he tries, he's always one step behind, and he can't catch up. Everyone successfully adjusted, but all he does is, in his eyes, ruin his reputation, and it's not only self-embarrassing, but also self-deflating. If he can't rely on using the stars to navigate around the world, then what can he do now? Rockhoof believes his friends are better off without him. Because he can't transition, he believes he looks weak to them, even though he means so much to them and were willing to help him in any way they can. That's why he avoided communicating with them for so long. He understands how much the Realm idolizes him and the others, but he doesn't want them to think of him as the washed-up veteran he became, but the warrior they grew up remembering. Turning into stone means preserving his legacy. Older adults are at highest risk for suicide; for U.S. veterans, twenty died by suicide daily in 2014, 65% of them 50 years or older. @Ganondox even pointed out an even sadder implication of one reason why an elder may commit suicide, and one powerful Golden Girls episode long ago does the same. Rockhoof's generation is long gone; he's the lone relic left. He believes his time has passed him. Additionally, he fears of what's to come. What if he stays un-stoned, and everyone sees him as this old relic who relishes for the good old days? He doesn't want to look old, washed up, and useless. Twilight agreed to write a stone spell, thereby assisting his suicide. The fact that it's temporary doesn't change the implications. Everyone reacted to Rockhoof's wish in complete horror. Twilight didn't want to write it, because she knew he belonged somewhere. But the students, especially Yona, reacted the hardest for obvious reasons. The followup scene in the castle hallway is one of the best of the series. Yona developed a student-to-teacher crush on him, but when his life was in danger, she came right to him, and her idolization for him evolves, evident by the class report she recited. She's in school in Equestria, where no one looks like her or shares her interests; her constant running almost got her into big trouble immediately, and Neighsay spouting racism towards non-ponies doesn't help. Bonding with others eases her fears and makes her feel safe. His ability to be strong, brave, and persevere inspired countless individuals, including her, who's innocent and childlike. Their chemistry and her admiration are incredibly genuine, and the fact she stood up for him and convinced everyone in the school to gather around outside and listen to his stories at maybe the lowest moment of his life makes him realize at just that moment he means so much to them.
    It fixes a big problem from two previous episodes: Magic Sheep and No Second Prances.
    Magic Sheep: Luna's Tantabus creation is an allegory of either depression or addiction. Self-punishing with the Tantabus not only reminded her of her crimes long ago, but also gave her an escape from the torment she inwardly suffered. But it's marred by an awfully-executed moral, thanks to its rushed, absolute ending. Addiction and illness don't magically disappear. NSP: After Trixie and Starlight fell out, Trixie acted like she didn't want to live anymore, but it's an unfortunate implication, and Twilight and Starlight doing nothing as she treks into her cannon is just insulting. Here, A Rockhoof and a Hard Place tackled a really dark subject, but took a long time developing the allegory, provided key clues foreshadowing what was coming, and treated it with the delicateness and seriousness it so richly deserves. The moral it teaches — "No matter how hurt, lonely, or hopeless you feel, you matter." — is also magnificently executed.
    But it isn't just Yona and Rockhoof. AJ and Twilight were really good in their roles, too. Twi may lead the school, but she trusted AJ into conversing with each other and letting AJ help guide her and him wherever he went. Working with him and helping him was a team effort throughout.
    More importantly, Mpambara keeps Spike in character in Act 3 without looking insensitive. How? With this shot:

    Spike has a history of being snarky, but thanks to the suicide allegory, his sarcasm, sardonicism, and sometimes blasé behavior won't fit at all to the tone and messaging DHX is aiming. If not careful, viewers may end up hating his portrayal. By opening the act with him asleep and then woken up with a start, the episode instantly sets part of the tone, and his sleepy behavior parades into the classroom, allowing DHX to use his snark for comedy without unfortunate implications.
    This episode was an amazing surprise. Because Season 8 was so good up to this point, I had high expectations for this one. After watching it the first time, I knew it was great. But watching it again and again helped me pay closer attention to the effort put into creating this wonderful story. Ever since I first watched the S8 leaks last year, I had Break Down as its best. A Rockhoof and a Hard Place replaced it, and it's one of the ten best of the whole show. Bravo!
    P.S.: Those who read my statuses may have read and followed my episode order, but for those who don't, this is my current top-10 of the series (including Rockhoof):
    The Perfect Pear The Best Night Ever Crusaders of the Lost Mark Amending Fences Shadow Play Sisterhooves Social The Cutie Map A Rockhoof and a Hard Place Parental Glideance The Break Up Break Down An episode of such a quality deserves such a spot. More can't be said about how amazing Hard Place is.
  9. Dark Qiviut
    Having the teachers learn is okay. Having them become so out of character and incompetent in order to make the Student Six look like better friends and teachers isn't. There are many reasons why Complete Crap Clause is such a disaster, which I don't need to explain in this paragraph. One episode later in S8, The End in Friend, shares a lot in common with it, but unlike its predecessor, it fixes NCC's primary issues.
    Which ones? To go through them one by one:
    One of the biggest differences is Dash's and Rarity's statuses. In NCC, both Dash and AJ were co-teaching their class about how to learn friendship through teamwork, but their egos got in the way of actually teaching the Student Six. Here, despite being teachers, they're not teaching the class. They're subjects for Twilight's class so she teaches them about how differences in passion don't fracture friendships.
      Why did AJ and RD argue previously? Because they wanted to win Teacher of the Month, and their focus was on that over the students. That's not the case here. They actively try to work with each other to get past their differences as Twilight uses their experiences in real time to teach them. Or at least try to. Unfortunately, miscommunication or tastes get in the way of being able to see their interests in a positive light.

    When things boil over, it doesn't come at the cost of the Student Six looking better. Instead, they use their arguments as a teaching tool to learn what friendship means, even if it's not Twilight's intention. Notice how they quickly scribble notes before Act 1 closes followed by Smolder questioning their friendship as the moral is delivered. Additionally, their argument isn't petty and perfectly in character of each other. When they insulted each others' interests, they were rightfully angry. Their testiness was down to earth, and the episode treated it as a really big problem; Twilight and Starlight took their fighting seriously to the point of crafting an emergency plan to mend their friendship.
      In addition to not coming at the Student Six's expense, it's even more evident by how other ponies react to their escalating argument. The other ponies at the restaurant represent the Ponyville folk, and their reaction isn't comedic. They know quite well how close the Mane Eight are, including these two. When an argument as nasty as this endues, they notice, and it's very shocking. Ponyville can't afford to lose their tight bond. Lyra and Bon Bon showing grave concern in between gasps adds to the seriousness of their drama.
    Rarity and Dash not only learn their lesson, but also take it to heart and stick to it.
    Oh, yeah, TEiF doesn't have a teacher recklessly screw up at a certain yak's expense.
    In addition to fixing Non-Complete Clause's problems, it borrows one key piece from Mare Do Well and its ripoff, 28 Pranks Later. But there are major differences here, too.
    Even in Mare Do Well and 28 Pranks Later, they still didn't have to scheme Dash to teach her a lesson. In the latter, the RM5 become major hypocrites, because they get upset at her for putting more effort into the jokes after accusing her of being previously lazy. This mean-spirited tone is completely nonexistent in Twilight and Starlight's setup; the RM5's previous setups were reactive, while Starlight and Twilight's was proactive.
      The purpose of their plan was to use their strengths, weaknesses, and interests so they can follow the trail (intentionally) left behind and rescue it. We know it was a setup, but Dash and Rarity were so absorbed in their argument that they didn't. Yet, when peril hit, they put the fate of Equestria above their feud (unlike NCC, which was the opposite).

    Adding the fact that this quest carried no sense of danger helps, too.
      As they searched, their anger progressively eased. While in the swamp, they admired each others' tricks and ideas to solve the puzzles, including crossing the swamp, asking help to a Bufogren (who was also involved), and opening the passageway behind the School of Friendship. At points, they actually forgot about their fight, leading to the scene on the mountain. They realized how poorly they behaved and not only grew a sense of tolerance for their interests, but newfound respect, as well. This quest humbled them without humiliating them. And to borrow from @Cwanky's review, given the current climate regarding sports, politics, and cultures (including multiculturalism), the understanding and respect of diversity while sticking to our own values is integral to society today. The moral taught (and how) is incredibly important. The teachers were as equal as the students: They, too, learned a valuable friendship lesson. But the episode carefully crafts it so it doesn't prop the students over them. And by sticking to the lesson and not devolve into an argument, The End in Friend concludes on a high note.
    Oh, and all the horse jokes in this episode were quite funny.
    In short, this was a really good episode.
  10. Dark Qiviut
    Last year, I praised Once Upon a Zeppelin as Fame & Misfortune written correctly for three reasons: writing an actual story than a hodgepodge of "jokes" disguised, the princesses' fans not written disparagingly, and writing Twilight well while simultaneous treating the multi-sided conflict with respect. Princess Twilight is the most developed of the Mane Eight; initially focused on her studies over friends, now it's reverses: she loves to read and study, but emphasizes friendship first. Becoming a princess and then the Princess of Friendship meant an increase of both her duties and role as an international advisor.
    So how much involvement is too much? When does acting like a princess feel like a honor and more of a chore? A Flurry of Emotions hinted that question, but was mostly surrounded by tying in her schedule to sudden babysitting duties. Once Upon a Zeppelin tackles that question directly and becomes her most important episode since Twilight's Kingdom.
    No vacations allowed?
    The cold open shies away nothing from the downsides of Equestrian royal duty.

    Twilight's bored expression as she rests her muzzle on her hoof demonstrates how mundane princeesshood is sometimes. Given previous continuity, she loves being a princess, but also wants to show how being the Princess of Friendship allows her to spread her knowledge far and wide. But here, she signs because she feels like she has to instead of want. Accidentally snapping the head of her quill further adds to the frustration. Excellent visual storytelling initiates the conflict, further accentuated by this line:
    Pay attention to the line and action underlined. She wants to go, but believes she'll betray her princess duties if she stops or dillydallies. Royalty for her devolved into a bad habit, and sometimes interference is required to break it.
    Hence Spike's role, which is small but very, very important. His involvement and Twilight emphasizing how much she means to him as a family shows their bond, but that's still rather understated. Spike knows her better than anyone and comprehends when Twilight isn't feeling cheerful or excited. When it starts to become a chore, he doesn't want her to be swamped under it all and dread life as a princess permanently. His insistence of accepting the zeppelin vacation and promptly taking over her roles demonstrates the proper guidance she needs.
    Does it end things, though? Knowing this show, far from it.
    A return to duty.
    Iron Will announcing not just random bullshit about Twilight exploring Cloudesdale's Weather Factory caught her attention, but the BS that Iron Will made up just to excite the crowd, too. Knowing that Twilight, Cadance, and their family would set the zeppelin abuzz, he took advantage.
    But that's not why Twilight accepted the invitation in the first place. She accepted it to get away from royal duties for once, but Iron Will putting her at the center of attention forces her to return to them. While in the royal lounge, Twilight was stuck with a massive dilemma: cancel the cruise, make everyone miserable, and miss the Northern Stars (her most sought-out event of the cruise) or continue the cruise and hope she won't be driven crazy and miss the Northern Stars.
    When Night Light suggested to cancel it, Twilight stepped in:
    Why does she do this? Negotiating with others and sometimes compromising in order to get things done is crucial to anyone being part of a governing body. Twilight wants to do what she wants with her family, but also wants to disappoint no one. With this deal, she hops she can help create a satisfactory and memorable cruise. This means adjusting to her schedule, but hopes she can balance them.
    Secondly, pay attention to what she said after SA expressed concern (which I'll get to in a bit):
    Nowadays, her duty as Princess of Friendship is instinctual. If she feels canceling the cruise will disappoint everyone, she believes she's betraying her goals as princess. Everything she suggests in her deal offer to Iron Will is centered on selflessness. A will to sacrifice her own happiness for others' happiness.
    But that doesn't mean her family doesn't get concerned for her own well-being and her own happiness. After Twilight creates her deal on the fly, Shining said this:
    Recall why Spike jumped into her duties despite her objections. He wants her to be a happy pony rather than just a princess and let her hair run down. Spike's instincts foreshadowed SA's mild objection above, which in turn foreshadows future events.
    A break-free day.
    Despite making the deal, Twilight maintains hope she'll spend quality time with her family, but no matter where she goes, something always gets in the way, starting with the sudden raffle.
    Star Tracker becomes Twilight's honorary family member, and right away, there's friction between them. Star Tracker is very quick to go around, all to the point of her not noticing him unless by surprise. He's incredibly nervous around her, because she's a princess and doesn't want to do anything to harm or embarrass her. But his difficulty to communicate results in sometimes breaching simple etiquette, such as whispering into her ear without warning and standing too close to her. All this creates cringe comedy without crossing the line into secondhand embarrassment.
    So why doesn't Twilight tell him to give her some space? Two reasons:
    Unfamiliarity with this type and degree of discomfort. This is the first time we see anyone approach Twilight in this manner, and she doesn't know what to do. Despite the discomfort, he has no ulterior motive. She understands he doesn't do it to be creepy or uncomfortable, and she doesn't want to add to the embarrassment and discomfort he already feels. To her, swallowing her own pride and hoping he realizes what he's doing was her best solution.
    Unfortunately, it isn't the best solution. By saying nothing, she accidentally lets the bingo game last too long, nearly missing the boat race (and having to wave the checkered flag rather than race against her older bro). Then, she missed time to be with Cadance and Flurry Heart in Peewee Princess Playtime and had to hastily depart for a Q&A while the zeppelin is stationed at Neighagra Falls. Despite the cluttered and buy schedule, she hopes she accomplishes her objective of making others happy, fulfilling her end of the bargain, and anticipating watching the Northern Stars.
    Yet, making others happy results in missing even more valuable time with Velvet. Because she spent a long time answering the Q&A, she missed watching Velvet take part in the barrel ride over Neighagra Falls. There, despite having the time of her life, Velvet's motherly instincts kick in after seeing disappointment on her face:

    As any good mom would do, she sees how overwhelmed she is with the princess duties, but Twilight fibs to her and tells her it's all peachy. So why does she lie to Velvet and Night Light? Because she doesn't want to let them down. She wants them to celebrate and have a good time. Admitting to being unhappy and disappointed in not participating with her family is, to repeat from before, admitting to unfulfilling her royal duties.
    Once more, it's not like she doesn't want to take a break. She feels like she can't. Like being a princess is a part of her identity and must stick true to what she's assigned to do, whether she's on duty or not.
    This disappointment and crowded schedule culminated to one final thing: signing autographs.

    From a composition and storytelling standpoint. it mirrors almost everything she went through previously.
    Star Tracker with the quills: Spike with the quills.
    The stack of papers: The princess mail she had to sign away.
    Twilight's disappointment on the cruise: Twilight's boredom over signing the mail and forms.
    The fans and autographs: Twilight's fan mail from the castle.
    Iron Will: The offscreen person who delivered Twilight the mail prior to the open.
    Twilight's in the center; everything and everyone surrounding her is tightly enclosed around her, perfectly capturing the same claustrophobic atmosphere to debut the open. What happened in the open and what led her to escape the castle for a breather returned in full force, culminating to her boiling point in Act 3.
    Purple minus the blue.
    Her boiling point? Missing her most important event of the whole cruise.




    At this point, the toll she put up with filled up. The façade, that forced happy face, she kept in order to keep everyone else happy crumbled. For the first time in a long time, Twilight couldn't hide her vulnerability. Here, it's impossible not to feel bad for her. For several years, she maintained her duties as a princess while keeping her composure. Beneath the fun and smiles, stress slowly accumulated within, accentuating as OUaZ increased the tension.
    What makes her crying hurt to watch is threefold:
    Compared to the others, she doesn't cry often, both in the past and future, so for longtime bronies, when she starts to cry, they'll notice. The crying felt real. Twilight not only showed to be upset. She sounded upset, too. Her family, Iron Will, and almost every other cruise pony being able to watch it makes this scene sting even more. Flores's tender care for the scene. This event was incredibly important to her, and missing it by having to fulfill her duties as a princess while trying to temporarily escape her duties for a few days is a big problem. By playing this scene straight, we connect to her on a deeper level, extending our sympathies from within to her as we watch. After this, Twilight Sparkle turns into Rainbow Rage, yelling at her family — from her parents to Cadance to Flurry Heart — emphasized by the brilliant red-to-orange gradient background as her temper exploded, and then feigned an apology to Star Tracker after accidentally stepping on his hoof. Was she right to be upset? Absolutely. I she right to take her frustrations out on them and ST? Absolutely not. Like Glideance, Flores's careful writing and hard effort come into play. Despite sympathizing with her, Zeppelin knows what to tolerate, what not to simultaneously, and maintain that delicate balance.
    Immediately, Cadance's motherly wisdom comes into play. She, and the episode itself, comprehends how scolding her would be detrimental to her growth as a princess. FIM's at its best when it proactively resolves the conflict, and this is no exception. She understands what Twilight's feeling and retains that soothing voice throughout, while remaining firm in her morale. A princess she'll forever be, she has her own needs and wants, and must set up boundaries so they don't get crossed. When mothers hogged their babies around a nervous FH, she immediately stepped in, separated her from them, and used her experience as an example to help Twilight further understand how being happy and wanting to do the things she wants is as noble as helping others.
    Zeppelin earns a lot of credit for having the guts to teach that message. Is it noble to help make others happy? But you're also obligated to make yourself happy, too, and that obligation isn't selfish or entitled at all. Twilight's whole conflict fits the moral's frame, which is executed with excellent class. And how does she approach it? By apologizing to Star Tracker for lashing out on him and letting him, her family, and everyone else on the cruise eat ice cream on the deck.
    This…

    …isn't all that bad, either. <3
    Conclusion.
    Once Upon a Zeppelin is one of the best episodes of the show for a variety of reasons. One of them is how Twilight experiences and resolves the conflict. The Princess of Friendship's turmoil was great, and little by little, the story chips away her self-confidence and the façade she self-painted on her face in order to maintain her reputation. Every time she tries to make others happy, she becomes more and more miserable, and it becomes more and more difficult to maintain that image she created. Missing out on the Northern Stars brought her to her breaking point, leading the way to a valuable lesson she needed to learn ever since she ascended. Through Flores's careful respect to continuity, it methodically recreates Twilight's image as not simply a princess, but an Equestrian being overall. Altogether, Zeppelin's an excellent study of growth and maturation within an evolving show.
  11. Dark Qiviut
    Lately, when Discord is at his best, he's a jerk with a heart of gold. Without his inherent edge, he's a completely different character in his voice. Discordant Harmony and especially The Break Up Break Down handle that side very effectively. But when he's just a jerk, he loses that dimension and becomes antagonistic just because. And that's the case here. Because he's not leading the school, he makes Starlight, established previously and here as a friend, miserable.
    His worst moment, very clearly, occurs at the buckball pitch. His scheme with the bugbear put the Student Six and a few others in really grave danger. Had Starlight not scare him off, Yona would've been stung. Recall how Dash's and AJ's selfishness and recklessness nearly caused her to drown? This is no better. Had she be hurt on Twilight's grounds, then the school would be in big trouble. Starlight was absolutely justified to be angry at him, warn him, and blast him away from the school grounds after he continued his defiance. Back to him later.
    Starlight and Spike continue their successful roles since Season 7. AMoP is the first episode since The Crystalling to pair them up, and you immediately see their trust and faith for one another after Twilight temporarily promotes her. He's always by her side and helped put in the work to alleviate the stress. When Discord and Starlight didn't see eye to eye, Spike was the middle man to maintain order between them and be as objective as possible.
    Was Starlight justified to warn and blast him away from the school grounds? Absolutely. As headmare, it was her job to punish him. But Discord isn't like other beings; he's a god with a love to warp logic. Rather than talking to him what's wrong, Starlight chose a very drastic measure, which Spike rightfully warned would only worsen matters. Why? Because provoking him proved him right, even though he was insufferable. Therefore, he felt justified to raise more hell in the School of Friendship.
    Discord has insecurities and sometimes fails to hide them. But the clues, even if subtle, are missing, because that context when Starlight spoke the episode's primary lesson is missing, too. Everywhere he showed up, Discord becomes a destructive brat, and acting like he doesn't know either her or him hurts, too. Was she right to apologize to him? Yes. But by offering him a job, the story lets him off without any level of consequence and rewards him for it. The RM6 return, nullifying the offer, but it's still an unsatisfactory resolution.
    On top of that, almost all the jokes fall flat. The ones with Twilight fail, because she's flanderized: Her personality early was reduced to obsessively organizing and pre-planning everything to the point of being redundant and at Starlight's expense. Cranky constantly spitting his drinks (accidentally) at Gallus's direction while being a lazy ass regresses him. One of the only jokes to be funny is Trixie talking on her banana phone.
    Despite being rather negative (and not liking it), I won't throw in reactionary hyperbole and call A Matter of Principals bad, awful, or an atrocity, because it's not. At the time of this quickieview, it's the third-worst episode of S8, but nowhere close to the badness of Non-Complete Clause and Fake It; it's watchable mediocrity. 
  12. Dark Qiviut
    Note: Credit to @Jeric, @PathfinderCS, and @Captain Clark and conversations with them on Discord for this review.
    One of The Return of Harmony's biggest strengths is its clever execution of the Discorded Mane Six. Discord manipulated each and every one of them — sans Fluttershy for humor's sake — into exposing a major internal weakness, such as Applejack fearing no one loves her and running away from the idea and Rainbow Dash fleeing the labyrinth and leaving her friends behind to protect Cloudesdale. Twilight's slow progression of losing her denial that her friends still cared and had some good left in them was a masterpiece of a villain's accomplished deeds breaking down a strong character's confidence so much that she abandoned the Magic of Friendship.
    Now with Discord a good guy, warping the Mane Eight into Discorded versions of themselves doesn't make sense anymore. But Mike Vogel brings the idea back in clever fashion while still keeping their presence fresh in The Mean 6.
    Chrysalis crafts a spell to create copies of them. Poorly crafted, apparently. Instead of creating exact mirrored personalities of every Discorded Six, three of Chrysalis's Mean Six are switched up a little in order to be unpredictable and to increase potential for both friction and comedy. Rather than be Rainbow Ditch and wrap up major delusions of Cloudesdale being safe and protected, Mean Dash — who I call "Lazy Dash" — is completely apathetic of everything around her. No matter the interest or urgent, she'd rather fly and sleep. Pinkie Pie in both TRoH and TM6 is a major grump, but Mean Pinkie in TM6 — "Bordie Pie" — finds everything so boring instead of being Chef Hater Pants. TM6's version, Twilight Snarkle, stands out the most for a few reasons, one of which is how much she completely differs from Twilight Quitter in TRoH. She's very snarky with a very keen ability to tap into someone's weak spot to make them pay attention to her. More about her later. Vogel uses Chrysalis's desperation and status to recap past events. Occasionally, Season 8 hides its exposition very organically, The Mean 6 being one of its smartest iterations. Rather than just have Chrysalis spill everything, she explains to still photos of the RM6 of what she used to be, what happened to her now, and what she wants to do next. Each lines oozes with a wide range of personality, from extreme cockiness — i.e., her little prance with matching music — to a lust to conquer Equestria to a deranged thirst for Starlight's pain and destruction. Now that she no longer controls her kingdom and is all alone, she'll do anything to reclaim her credibility as threat to Equestria, and creating half-baked clones of changelings exemplifies her desperation and status. Chrysalis has always been a mixed bag. Very threatening with a slab of ham as her thorax, but often woefully incompetent. Whenever she's ready to conquer Equestria, she overlooks one major flaw in her plan or concentrates more on her own ego over conquering the kingdom. In ACW, she sent Twilight to the same dungeon as the real Cadance and didn't take SA's bond with Cadance so seriously. Rather than capture every single threat to her revenge, she willingly left Starlight behind.
    So, why is The Mean 6 her best role by far?
    The episode wisely uses her current status as a solid alibi for why Plan A lacked a major failsafe. When Snarkle criticized her for not attacking the ReMane 7 at the School, she knew right away that trying to destroy them would backfire big time. Defeating Celestia in ACW was by luck, which she and TM6 are aware of. The Elements of Harmony are Equestria's key for maintaining security, but very few are acutely aware of how powerful the Elements are. Until later in this episode, she had no idea the Elements feed the Tree nor of its existence. Among the collection of eccentric villains, she plays the straight woman. Comedy drives the communication between the Mean 6 and Chrysalis; how they respond and react to each other determines the joke's effect. Aside from Snarkle, Chrysalis is the most competent of the Evil Seven, but Chrysalis's quick temper and Snarkle's ability to force QC to depend her really makes her stand out. Without an army anymore, she must not only create something from scratch, but also depend on them. Each clone is headache-inducing and willfully disobedient, but must keep them alive, because they are the possible source to take down the ReMane Seven. Yet, Chryssie knows she can start over and adjust to spell to force the Mean Six to obey her, hence her threat to kill Snarkle just before Act 2 closes. But once she runs out of patience and loses control, she's incredibly threatening.
    (BTW, kudos to DHX for outlining Chrysalis's shadow as Rarihoard, Boredie Pie, and Liarjack nod nervously. Really emphasizes her intimidation.)
    The Mean Six, however, share her spotlight and are all great in their own ways.
    Flutterbitch (or Flutterbrute, for tact's sake) remains just as funny as ever. Nasty, self-serving, sarcastic, and menacing — and a really big bully. Forced a lost bird to walk and climb back to his nest his nest, then told animals living nearby she hopes they freeze to death, and then followed up with classic flower-flattening. She taunted animals and relished it, which Discorded Flutterbitch didn't do (instead smugly cheering Angel on for flattening Twilight).
      Liarjack would make Discorded!Liarjack feel jealous. Each of her lies are bigger, more outlandish, and meaner. What started out as a small swindle grew grander and grander. Watching AJ try to string together an impromptu lie explaining Flutterbitch, Rarihoard, and Snarkle's whereabouts is just one example of the hilarity, but how our heroes respond to her meanness is where they're strongest. More about that later.
      Gladly.

    Despite few lines, she made the most of it. My favorite is this: During RoH, Greedity was a great source of comedy. Rarihoard makes her look sane. Look at her faces!
    Creepy, ain't they?

    So why do they work, unlike this, this, this, or THIS? Because of who the source of the joke is. As Rarihoard hogged onto more and more stuff, the more obsessed she became. Her faces accentuated her lust for anything, especially when she caught eye of Applejack's wagon, an immediate trove of treasures. Similar to Return of Harmony, comedy is plentiful in The Mean 6, Rarity's deranged faces a source of it.
      Grumpie Pie was excellent, and Bordie Pie was just as great. Andrea Libman performed really well emphasizing hooooowwwww boooorrrred she is. But the post-production knows how to counter-balance her boredom with some humor, too: In the beginning of the video linked above, her hair subtly squeaks as she moves her head.
      But the best one, without question, is Twilight Snarkle. While the ReMean Five are comic antonyms of the ReMean Five, she's the most fleshed out. Extremely calculating, power-hungry, and very snarky, she balances out her villainy through manipulation. Chrysalis cannot defeat Twilight alone; Snarkle understands this through her questions and snarky comebacks.

    This little bit demonstrates their chemistry masterfully: Fantastic the episode's overall dialogue quality is, their organic exchanges really sell the chemistry. Kathleen Barr — QC's VA — and Tara Strong take advantage of the script to craft excellent tension between each other. Chrysalis rightly couldn't stand Snarkle and the others for being so uncooperative, while Snarkle rightly kept her on a tightrope so she can take out Chrysalis when she least expects it. Very clearly, they can't stand each other.

    Even when she ain't with Chrysalis, she figures out a way to deliver a shot at her, enforcing her hatred of her and her servants:
    There are many ways to create a great villain, but the foundation is being a great character; that is highlighted very well through her ability to manipulate a very naïve Pinkie Pie in Act 2. When an evil alicorn evilly rubs her feathers together like hands…

    …you know ye got her good. >)

    At the same time, she acts like the straight mare, showing off how dynamic she is. Her sour impatience progressed to anger as Pinkie recaps the events of Twilight's Kingdom creates great friction between them, especially after the fact that Pinkie doesn't know that at all.

    Oh, yeah, the "bzzt!" sound effect is really funny. XD But the Mean Six aren't alone. The ReMane Seven star here, and they were all done very well, particularly in one aspect: the conflict. From the opening shot, everyone was tense, particularly Twilight. Because "Shutterbug" pushed them ten minutes behind schedule, Twilight slowly lost her cool, and then rolled her eyes when Shutterbug exaggeratedly pleaded for forgiveness.
    To briefly go on a tangent, Shutterbug/QC's haste to collect their hairs contained several great jokes, like yanking on Dash's tail hair a little too hard, picking out a loose strand from AJ's hat (and not putting it on her head), and this lightning-quick meta reference:

    But it wasn't just the opener. The beginning of their trek alone is an excellent exercise of foreshadowing.
    Rainbow Dash questioned Twilight's activities as "fun." Even though all seven agreed to camp, Twilight's plans were kept secret, apparently with little input from anyone. Granted, Twilight designed this camp night to be a surprise, but it made Dash a little uncertain. Adding the nervous rubbing of her hooves helps, too.
      Pinkie Pie accidentally scared the daylights out of Fluttershy so badly that she hyperventilated, just moments after FS declared her happiness for quiet time with everyone. Unlike Filli Vanilli, this was quick, performed once, and with no ill intentions whatsoever. Not to mention Pinkie warned everypony she was playing beforehand.
      Starlight sulked the entire time. While her friends were grouped together in front, she lagged behind and grumbled at the swampy weather and bugs. It's her first camping vacation…and showed to hate it without saying it outright. To talk a bit regarding two of the RM7:
    Pinkie had one of her most likeable roles of the last two seasons, and how she behaves embodies the Element of Laughter. She's so happy to be with everyone and so eager to participate in Twilight's camping retreat. Teaching inside that school meant having few free days to spend quality time with everyone, so she takes the opportunity to take advantage of it. Watching her smell those roses so deeply and then roll around in them like a little baby (and avoiding any thorns ) is unbelievably adorable. Being a massive Starlight brony since she first arrived, it makes no sense avoiding her. In the last few outings, she's been very relatable, and this is no exception. Her immense distaste for camping is really relatable, especially with her reasons why (bugs and humidity ain't no fun), and struggling to keep AJ's gear and cloak on invited nice slapstick. As they trekked deeper into the Everfree Forest, her anxiety, exhaustion, and lack of enjoyment became more and more evident. More about her later. Speaking of anxiety, the whole second scene progressed the tension further while maintaining their close relationships.
    Rarity and AJ mildly spar over AJ not having anything to keep their manes neat. Even though Pinkie is so cute rolling in the rosebushes, Twilight is less than enthused and got really cross with her for nearly kicking her into the muzzle by accident. But Pinkie's having way too much fun that she doesn't notice and scampers deeper into the forest, building up more tension between them. Fluttershy wanders off into the forest to help a lost bird without telling anyone, leading everyone into splitting up to search for her and Pinkie and further testing Twilight's will. At this juncture, TM6 was really good. When they separated and met another Meanie, it became great.
    Even though the ReMean Five are sorta cookie cutters, they're dynamic, too, evident by their interactions with the Mane characters and environments.
    As I wrote previously, Lazy Dash spoke little and wasn't on screen much in the second act, but generated more conflict by ditching FS in the woods and shooing away Twilight while she leaned precariously over the pond.
    Throughout the episode, nobody suspected something was wrong with their counterpart, except Dash and AJ with "Rarity." Because she grew madder as she possessed AJ's camping gear, they worried for her sanity. As I wrote previously, Rarihoard's deranged expressions are a great source of dark humor, but how Dash and AJ behaved bewilderingly around her adds an extra layer into the jokes.
    Liarjack's encounter with Starlight and Rarity is the only one to not be comedic, and their first scene marks the episode's initial transition in tone, which will be discussed below.
    Flutterbitch/Flutterbrute never bumped into or talked into a Mane character, but like Fluttershy, a bird has to return to his nest and got lost. But while Fluttershy helped out their sibling, she got lost and walked around in a proverbial circle, giving the story a grand opportunity to use Flutterbrute to accidentally damage her rep in the forest. Doesn't help when Lazy Dash ditched her (and made FS break the fourth wall in confusion). Yet, because Fluttershy has no idea someone who looks just like her threatened the animals and destroyed the daisy patches, who can blame her for feeling so  upset when the animals curse, growl, and yell at her? Ya can't.
    Snarkle and Bordie talked to one apiece: Pinkie and Twilight, respectively.
    Bordie, being Equestria's most boring pony, did what she's great at: insulting something exciting as lame and uninteresting. Because Twilight spent a great deal of time and effort preparing the campsite and when to have it, to have her Friendship Retreat blown off like that by someone she's supposedly close with hurts, thus making her actually wonder if it was worth scheduling it after all. Conversely, the tone in the Snarkle-Pinkie tandem was predominantly comedic, using the characters' responses, cartoon logic, and behavior to accentuate it. Originally, Snarkle took delight to Pinkie spilling all the secrets to the Tree of Harmony and the Elements, but the more eccentric she behaved, the angrier she became. Her anger over Pinkie's attitude evolved into callousness for Fluttershy, including telling her to stay on schedule and "get over" her anguish, accelerating the switch of the once comedic tone of the episode into emotional, dramatic, and harsh. When Pinkie accused Twilight of being selfish and ruining everyone's fun, their anger and grief felt really raw. Twilight doesn't cry often, so when she does, long-time viewers will notice. But here, it feels somewhat different. Her hurt didn't just bleed from within, but grief, too. For the first time in years, her friendship with Pinkie was brought into serious question. Regret for not just going out to the retreat, but also possibly formatting the idea of spreading the Magic of Friendship in the first place.
    Why was Fluttershy's hoarse "CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!" so crushing? Because of their exchange. Cushioned by her minutes-long fright, she noticed her friendship with Pinkie and Twilight slowly starting to crumble…and she couldn't bear it.
    And whose emotions were also raw? Rarity and especially Starlight.
    Think about this episode in Starlight's perspective. She never liked camping previously, but accepted their invitation, because she has been not only an invaluable asset to the School, but also a fantastic friend. She wears AJ's classic camping poncho, struggles like hell to keep the camping gear, but stays quiet out of respect. But that evening, "AJ" tells her her story of how great she is as a camper in Equestria, accuses her of being silly with that gear, and then laughed at her because she thought her look stupid.
    How would you feel if she were you? Something like this, I presume?

    If your answer's yes, I can't blame you. Someone she apparently trusted mocked her at her lowest moment all day long. Starlight felt USED! And Rarity did the right thing sticking up for her and sternly threatening to "AJ's" face a long talk about her heinous behavior, one of her most powerful moments of the entire series. A role reversal of…


    …but without the terrible dialogue and broken setup.
    In fact, their entire argument in the forest — including the crying — felt real. All day long, they anticipated for quiet time with each other in Twilight's Friendship Retreat, but the Mean Six accidentally exacerbated their friendships further to the boiling point. Their anger with each other was grounded, had weight, and — unlike NCC — wasn't petty whatsoever. This is how you have adult teachers in a cartoon argue angrily without sacrificing their dignity.
    BTW, kinda funny how Chrysalis almost accomplished her plan to destroy Harmony without even trying! How genius is that?! *ahem* Okay, got a little carried away here.
    Yet, when their friendship was bound to collapse, Twilight mustered what makes their friendships strong: Despite their differences, disagreements, and arguments, deep down, they care for each other and will help them. Vogel did an excellent job taking his time wrapping up all the conflicts each Mane pony had with someone else, airing their grievances, and maturely settling them one by one.
    Still, FS rightfully worried no one likes her, so how do they resolve that? By everyone running up to her and roll in the dirt with a hearty laugh. It brings great closure and proves she's one of them.
    Yeah, neither group figuring out they were talking with duplicates feels a little anticlimactic, but it makes sense, and the criticism of it misses the episode's point. If they figured out who their doppelgangers are, then Vogel contradicts the moral he's teaching: the strongest friendships get through difficult times with one another. The RM7's friendship is so strong, because they use their strengths to get through. No matter the obstacle, the Mane Eight understand the heart of their friendships and work together.
    On the other hand, the Mean Six are collectively selfish. Despite Snarkle's warning them to follow her lead, they only look after themselves, and their lack of cooperation cost them their sapience.
    How can you also tell how close the RM7 are?
    The Friendship Retreat is in complete tatters, but all they can do is laugh it off. This small exchange: Their trust in each other's so ingrained, they lightly tease each other hours after they settled their fight.
    Season 8's first half is the most consistent in quality for the entire series. The Mean Six is just one example why. Its storytelling is outstanding with excellent dialogue, comedy, drama, and heart. A Hearth's Warming Tail is excellent and was Vogel's best episode; TM6 leapt over it. Bravo!
  13. Dark Qiviut
    Consider this a little belated gift for the Summer Sun Celebration.
    Princess Celestia's best appearance was Horse Play. For the first time, FIM had a quasi-legit Celestia episode, and she was written very well. Despite being a country ruler, she had no acting experience and really showed how much she sucked at it. But when the play was on the verge of collapse in "celestial" proportions, Celestia leads the Mane 8 into saving it and becoming a nationwide success. This episode is a marvelous exercise in how to make a godlike presence feel human.
    So, what about her second-best appearance? That goes to The Return of Harmony!
    Why not Crystal Empire, A Royal Problem, or Twilight's Kingdom? If you don't know my history, I ratted on her appearances in each of them, so no Debbie Downers for this blog.
    Okay, so why is this her best role pre-HP? Three big reasons.
    Rightful pass of the baton.
    One common criticism I know of this series is her (lack of) inclusion or sometimes exclusion in the two-parters, usually for really stupid in-'verse reasons. Twilight's Kingdom, The Crystal Empire, To Where, and the film took the brunt of it, and justifiably so. This isn't the case here. Discord was an old foe of both Celestia and Luna eons ago, but turned him to stone after they discovered and bonded with the Elements of Harmony. Still, powerful the two princesses are, they don't possess them anymore. Only their rightful heirs can harness their true power and restore harmony to Equestria once again, them being the Mane Six.
    The confusion is very evident on the Mane Six's faces, especially Twilight, as you see here:

    Her interrupted line echoes her expression:
    But the camera's panning of the stained glass window — PNG from here — explains why, along with Celestia's explanation:

    Even though this scene is rather expository, Celestia sets the tone. The EoH trust the M6 into wielding the Elements and using them to defend and protect harmony throughout the land. Twilight promises her they'll reuse them to beat Discord. Therefore, Celestia trusts them, too.
    Controlled anger.
    Pay attention to how Celestia behaves when Discord confronts them.
    Previous appearances showed Celestia as calm, cool, collected, and not afraid to pull a trick or two on others to maintain a loose atmosphere. For the first time, Celestia is the opposite: demanding, hostile, and very angry. All for the right reasons. Thanks to her and Luna's broken link from the Elements, her old foe was released into the modern Equestrian world and can't do it by herself. Discord understands this and uses the priceless artifacts and Celestia's anger to taunt her. With the Elements lost, he can do whatever he wants at his own disposal while maintaining his own integrity.
    Scenes like this demonstrate how dynamic Celestia not only is as a character, but can be, too. Up to this point, she had a lot of potential, and this back and forth shows us what the writers — Larson here — can do with her if you write the right plot.
    Also, notice three things during this scene.
    Despite being angry, she never loses her control. Age carried a whole load of wisdom for her. She knows his mind games and gets tested, but crossing the line by herself is exactly what he wants. As long as she remains calm, he can't really do anything with her. Twice, she extends her wings, once when she yells enough and once when she warns Discord after he toyed with the EoH. Emphasized a degree of majesty and warns Discord to take her and the new Bearers seriously. Before the camera pans to her face, Celestia paws the ground forty-five seconds aggressively into the video above. This shot is no accident. Rarely, a horse will forcefully drag their hoof across the ground to indicate anger, threatening to charge. Here, she warns Discord to not cross the line or hurt the Mane Six, or else. But since they each know she's no threat to him, that's really all she can do. Help from afar.
    Discord's powers are so great that they influenced her friends and brainwashed them into their polar opposites. Even though she retained her optimism and hope they'll return to normal, their lack of cooperation over her the reference guide made her frustrated and angry, causing a nasty brawl and effectively ending their friendships between each other. Dash's lack of presence (foreshadowed by Celestia's backstory early in Part 1) caused the Elements to backfire and result in Twilight believing that perhaps the Magic of Friendship truly isn't enough. Finally, she couldn't take any more manipulation, discolored, and decided to leave everyone but Spike behind.
    But who didn't? Celestia. At Twilight's lowest moment, she knew it still wasn't too late to help her or her friends. By returning her friendship lessons to her, she reminds her of her growth since first moving to Ponyville. Every friendship lesson she learned was important, and Celestia won't let her forget it. As Twilight recited them, the Twilight of old recovered, and no longer was she Twilight Quitter anymore. This scene here reinforces RoH's main moral:
    The Return of Harmony was the most perilous situation the M6 ever experienced. But Elements or no Elements, Celestia knew how to help tell Twilight from afar how important her friendships with the RM5 are. All without telling her, too.
    But this moment also enforced a secondary moral, which is just as powerful:
    Almost seven years after RoH first aired, it still rings so true in the old library, don't you think?
    Conclusion.
    Despite writing Twilight as the lead, Larson maintains the importance of their whole friendship. All six matter, and he writes the episode as if they matter. Secondly, Princess Celestia had her best role of the series that wouldn't be usurped until Horse Play. Depending on how she's written, she can be a major force to be reckoned with in the story and have a tremendous impact on the conflict and resolution. Despite appearing in Part 1 and briefly to conclude Part 2, she maintains her presence at the most critical times and was there to help Twilight when she was about to quit. Both parts of The Return of Harmony respectively premiered on September 17 and 24, 2011, and Larson's strokes of genius age brilliantly.
  15. Dark Qiviut
    Like many Americans back in the day, I first got into Thomas & Friends through Shining Time Station, a slice-of-life, sitcom-esque family show that ran most knowingly on PBS from 1989 through the '90s.
    Aside from adapting Thomas & Friends and introducing it to American audiences, it had three major hires in its run: Didi Conn, Ringo Starr, and George Carlin after Starr left. also has a very iconic intro (after George Carlin was hired) and outro, sung by Kevin Roth. I was a huge fan of this show as a kid and still am more than twenty-five years later.
    Earlier this year, I discovered the full theme on Soundcloud, and its calm, soothing music and vocals remain as nostalgic as ever. Have a listen:
     
  16. Dark Qiviut
    Note: This review has been edited to add more content.
    Do you remember dreading the thought of a Spike episode?
    I do.
    For so long, Spike episode were usually among the worst of the series, much less the season. For the first five seasons, no matter the plot, episodes usually starring him were usually awful; anything better wasn't the norm. But since Princess Spike (his worst outing of the show), everything changed. His episodes became good. DHX wrote him with dignity. Since Newbie Dash, the Spikabuse vanished. Even today, the thought of not bashing a new Spike episode is completely refreshing.
    Molt Down is the first S8 episode to star Spike, and the show's biggest evolution from the status quo since Newbie Dash.
    How does it approach it? By describing how a child dragon goes through puberty. Like real life, puberty ain't fun, and several allegories hammer that point home.
    Itchy, painful stone scales: rashes and pimples. Volume shifts: deepening of the voice. Armpit smell: body odor and hair. Fire burps: dunno. A period, perhaps? Sleep disruptions: teens being more alert late in the day. (Thank @Jeric for that pointer and the accompanying research.) Haber's jokes are equally as funny as sympathizing for Spike. Yet, the jokes themselves have an extra layer of dimension, because they're not all the same type, the characters' reactions vary, and visual cues round the story. Other great jokes include:
    Zecora stuffing each of her ears with a cottonball after Spike suddenly shouted. The camera's wide shot, Spike's irritated voice, and the squashing/stretching of the pot he's in as he complains create a perfect recipe for a joke. It's wonderfully timed and really hilarious.
    Smolder smacking Spike a little too hard in the back, accidentally driving him in pain.
    Pinkie's sudden shouting and liking that foul odor.   Her sly faces really sell the characterization, too.
    Twilight grumbling at the thought of Celestia never creaking out.
    That said, not all of them. Sometimes they got a little repetitive or cringeworthy, notably Rarity's shouts after a while and the grossout shot of Spike's stone scale. But for the most part, they did their job.
    That said, let's talk about Spike. Although he grew considerably since hatching from his egg years ago, from how Twilight acted, this is the very first time Spike molted. The stone scale is painful already, but having so many throbbing and itching is completely foreign to him. Puberty is a part of life the majority of us experience, and whatever he has to endure throughout the episode parallels ourselves in some way. The stages of puberty poor Spike suffered through echoes our own. Impressively, despite many chances for Haber to unleash the most cringeworthy puberty-related joke possible, he restrains himself just enough to create them at his expense without crossing the line into Spikabuse.
    How does he do that? I'm not sure, but many of the guesses include:
    What Spike had to go through isn't his fault. Every dragon goes through this stage, including Smolder's presumably-older bro. The molt effect that Spike suffered from is no less different than any other dragon when they grow up. When they treat it as normal, we do, too.
      Spike's friends and Twilight don't ignore him. When they noticed something is wrong with him, they're there to help. They care about Spike and want to work with him so he can get better.
      Smolder interacts with Spike. Back in S2, Spike grew rapidly due to inherent greed, opening up a big implication into how dragons grew. Is greed the cause? Could Spike control it, which was a main part for two future conflicts? How did other dragons grow when they didn't show signs of greed? Smolder's description of greed-induced growth as not normal for a dragon cleared up so many questions and brought forth more insight on dragon lore and dragon culture in her homeland. Smolder has an attitude, and her description of dragon culture's response to the molt effect increases Spike's anxiety for the unknown, increasing the conflict's stakes. But there's one thing to note, which the episode makes very clear — as scary as her description of dragon life during the molt is, she's not treated as a bad person, and Smolder isn't written to be antagonistic. The molt effect is a part of her life, so what she and others experienced is expected. For the most part, she's prepared for the challenges; theorize that others back home do, too.
    Spike, on the other hand, isn't. He's lived with Twilight his whole life and knows so little about dragon culture. The molt effect, especially the smell, is putrid, and he fears that Twilight and the others will reject him, forcing him to live on his own. He's not prepared to defend himself from predators that relish for that smell, especially the roc. Because Twilight asked him to retreat to an area that won't fry anyone in the school, Spike assumes even more that the more out of control his molt becomes, the less Twilight will want him around. Can't you blame him for being so scared of growing up and fighting to alter the molt? Of course not!
    For obvious reasons, Rarity and Twilight are usual partners for Spike in his episodes, but they're all really good here. (Credit goes to @Truffles and his reply for this bit.) What makes them stand out here is their immediate empathy for Spike.
    In the beginning, when Rarity sees Spike hide something under his eye, she becomes suspicious and worried. She walks around him to sneak a glance at what's under his claws, but never gets frustrated at any point. When he admits to being embarrassed by the stone scale, she assures him not to worry, but treats his embarrassment with the respect its deserves. She's the first to recommend getting some of Zecora's blemish cream, and did so again after Pewee accidentally pinched his scale.
      Twilight gets worried when Spike sleeps in all morning and also sympathizes with him for getting breakouts, just like her years ago and also recommends heading to Zecora. When he accidentally destroys her lecture, she doesn't criticize him or make him feel worse. Recommends to leave the castle for his own safety and everyone else's.
      Despite battling a sudden ear infection, Rarity never stops thinking about Spike and asks her for blemish cream to help him with his stone scales. When they bump into each other, she notices his worsening condition and took out the cream (only for the roc to snatch her).
      Right on cue, Twilight shows up and heads to Zecora's to get the cream. Unlike Cart Before the Jerks and Complete Crap Clause, neither of Spike's closest friends and relatives treat his condition as a lesser deal to themselves or belittle him for it. Both of them treated his condition, embarrassment, and pain as important, never stopped thinking about him, and wanted to help him in any way they can.
    Zecora's really well written in a nowadays-rare appearance. But rather than be treated as merely a vessel to deliver plot devices, she becomes deeply involved in both the A and B plots: Spike's puberty and Rarity's phoenix-related ear infection. Her interactions with the characters and their problems add depth to her character, occupation, and relationships with others.
    One big change for this season is the treatment of the Everfree Forest, historically a really dangerous place to roam. What was a common plot device for the Mane Six, Spike, and CMCs to face conflict in S1, its dangers and presence became mostly absent after Princess Twilight Sparkle. But for the third time this season, an Everfree creature threatened creaturekinds' safety. And the chase scene was really tense. Zecora, Spike, and Rarity were in great danger, and the score and sounds throughout hammered in the sudden perils they faced. In the leaked version, the chase's tone was more comedic, courtesy of Twilight's lasers sounding like video game beams. Here, the comedy was more toned down, an excellent change from the leaked product.

    YO! Do you smell what the roc is cookin'?!
    Little details refine the episode and shape up the episode's quality. Two really stick out:
    As the episode progresses, Spike's limbs darken in color, foreshadowing his eventual molt and where it'll start.
      During the break in the chase, when Spike's old skin starts to encase him, the background music becomes louder and completely stops when he's completely cocooned. For several seconds, we hear nothing except Twilight firing at the roc, increasing the tension and making us wonder what will happen to the poor dragon next. So, what happened after he molted?

    THANKS, JOSH HABER!
    After everything he went through in this episode, Spike molting and earning wings is an excellent payoff. I don't know if he grew a little or not, but when you're making a child dragon molt, sticking with the status quo would be a complete slap to the face to Spike and the audience. Something about him had to change. Interestingly, even though his new wings feel earned, Spike and his friends treat his accomplishment as merely a new milestone in his life as he grows into adulthood.
    Here, MD brings forth a really great moral:
    For Twilight to deliver this lesson to him shows us how much he means to her, their hug proving their tight bond. DHX, please, more of their family dynamic!
    If there was one little problem with the chase, it's what Silver Quill pointed out: Twilight's magic felt kinda weak. Yes, you could argue that she scaled it back because Rarity and Zecora were trapped within the roc's talons, but she needed Spike's assistance to rescue them from their fall, when Twilight magically corralled them all during the movie.
    Conversely, the theme of growing was subtly foreshadowed through Peewee's reintroduction. The now-adult phoenix still interacts with his parents, but a sharp eye will notice he has his own nest now, indicating either a family of his own or the preparation for one. Spike may've released him, but they still know each other very fondly, evident by their embrace. Peewee grew up; Spike will, too.
    Back in Season 5, I panned Spike being handed the bouquet of dragon sneeze flowers, the lowest moment of the season. Rather than capping off a broken episode with a rather sweet moment, DHX doubled down on his buttmonkey status. After all, isn't FIM supposedly a feminist show? Well, you don't empower women and girls by making your only male lead a punching bag for abusive comic relief. It's hypocritical and massively sexist, one of the biggest stains of the series.
    But after that, the direction for his character improved. No longer did his personality shift to demand the plot. His role wasn't confined to pure comic relief. His episodes no longer beat him down or abused him just to teach him a contrived lesson. Starting out with secondary roles in Amending Fences and Re-Mark, Season 6 expanded his role, including becoming close friends with Starlight, bonding dragonkind and ponykind by working with and befriending Ember, and sacrificing his celebrityhood to stand up for Thorax. Season 6 was Spike's best season. Albeit a diminished role in S7, he was really good in Triple Threat, Owl's Well done right.
    Coming into Molt Down, Spike was having a great year. Now he left his biggest mark in the show since Times. His wings demonstrate his evolution in not just his character, but also his role. It's unknown whether his wings will have a big impact on the season, or it's just cosmetic. But what happens in the future will wait.
    When I watched the leaked version, I liked it, but wasn't totally happy with it. Days before its official airing, however, I was unsure whether I was fair to it or not. Now, when comparing the leaked version with the final product, the leaked Molt's lack of polish and missing score completely affected the episode's overall quality. The final product is excellent, well edited, and really makes the audience feel like Spike earned his pair of wings. Molt Down's one of the best episodes of S8 so far and one of the best Spike episodes altogether.
    P.S.: And, yes, Molt Down's change of the status quo's superior to MMC's.
  17. Dark Qiviut
    I don't know who was nuts enough to think Discord, Spike, and Big Mac would make a great team back in Season 6, but whoever it is, thank you! Big Mac, Spike, and Discord all act like they knew each other for years, even though this trio only formed after Discord officially became a part of the Guys' Night team. They play off one another through their actions, responses, and emotions, creating great chemistry with one another.
    Speaking of chemistry, Spike and Discord are outstanding in their best outings of the season thus far (and maybe of the show, too, once it's all finished). Discord's cynicism towards H&HD, and love in particular, plays off spectacularly with Spike, who's very optimistic and refreshingly snarky. To think that only a few seasons ago, Discord was one of his enemies, but from the way they talked to each other and knew each other so well, you'd think he was closer to Discord than Twilight. How they interacted with one another was among the multi-dozens highlights here, such as Spike criticizing Discord's pessimism to Spike intentionally teasing Discord for possibly having a crush on Fluttershy to Discord ignoring Spike's sappy romantic poem about Rarity. They know how to get under each other's skin without crossing the line, making their teasing all in good fun rather than mean-spirited.
    One of the season's biggest improvements — the dialogue — really shines. Every line's so organic, even when it's somewhat expository, gelling together. Every line oozed with personality and passion, whether it's from the O&O squad or the CMCs. Confalone knows how when to have them talk or act and keep them all in character. Even Big Mac isn't confined to that "Eeyup!" gag, varying his emotions or telling Discord to "EeWAIT!" The dialogue allows for not just some amazing comedy, but also some heart. More 'bout the latter later.
    The comedy here is golden! Every joke landed perfectly, from the dialogue responses to the satirically cheesy love music playing in the background as Big Mac rushes to Sugar Belle to Big Mac's drinking a barrel-load of cider to Sweetie's "Please say no." Spike's deadpan to Discord as an anti-romance cynic is one hell of a comeback, and that jab towards the greeting card industry by Discord is too funny.
    Oh, yeah…
    >Lyra and Bob Bon sharing H&HD bond & gifts
    >best friends
    Riiiiiiiight. XP
    The CMCs were also fantastic here. All season so far, they've been at their A-game. The episode recognizes them as kids, but doesn't make them so obnoxious. They were right to wonder where that mysterious pie came from and search high and low to find him. But the and does a nice swerve: They may not have found that actual special somepony for SB, but had a magnificent time together, anyway. Sweetie's small speech at the end had quite a lot of heart in it.
    Speaking of heart, as hilarious as TBUBD is, Confalone balances it perfectly. Big Mac's sadness was somewhat over the top, but treated with the respect it deserves. His romantic feelings with Sugar Belle feel genuine, and you can tell by how he talked about the small stuff to Skelenor, like how Sugar snorts and wiggles her nose when she giggles (something that @Nyactis Mewcis Catlum pointed out a while ago in a status). Big Mac doesn't talk much, so when he does, you listen. After they cleared up everything, it was all okay again, and they had a great end to Hearts & Hooves Day.
    Discord's revelation of finally believing in romance works perfectly and marks my moment of the season so far: revealing to damage her wagon wheel. Why? 'Cause he confirms to us he believes in love and figured out how to get them back together while remaining in character. He's still a jerk, and his advice to BM (long with Spike's) really stinks. But at the end, he retains a heart of gold and does the right thing, even when he's spoiled for Ogres & Oubliettes. Somehow, he predicted what Big Mac was going to do next, but given he's the Lord of Chaos, it makes sense. Really shows he cares for him as a friend.
    Derpy was great in her role as mailmare.
    As Discord counted the types of tea he loved, Top Draw lowered the audio quality of de Lancie's mic to match the sound one would hear from the old-school TV. Really masterful editing that helps enhance the joke. (The same scene from the leaked version, BTW, has the same audio quality as the rest of the ep.)
    Oh, and it has two morals, each executed masterfully:
    "Don't assume. Communicate with your friends, and everything will work itself out."
      "Don't be afraid to openly admit your feelings. Those who care for you will listen and understand." This one is my favorite of the season so far, because it's so relatable to everyone. When I first watched it in December, I watched a treat. Seeing it completed gives it such a fresh look, and it still holds up excellent. The Break Up Break Down isn't just the best episode of Season 8 so far, but one of the ten best of the show altogether, as well.
  18. Dark Qiviut
    Earlier tonight, I found this combined screenshot of Tweets on Reddit. It's a letter by Larson himself by confirming how much he and the rest of the staff really care for the brony fandom. They may not always publish the best stuff, but the fandom and DHX always maintain a very tight relationship. Larson's "Thank You" letter proves it.
    Have a look.

    My response?
    Thanks, M. A. Larson. (Not sarcastic. ) That love letter you helped build was fantastic. No matter what content I review, I know well how much you and the rest of the team care about the overall quality of the product. Slice of Life will be a fandom hallmark for years to come. 
  21. Dark Qiviut
    To continue the pattern from S5, this is a review of S7 as a whole, with both tops and bottoms in respective categories. To view the rest:
    Season 5 Season 6, 1st Half Season 6 Season 7, 1st Half No apologies for C&P'ing content from my First Half overview (with some changes).
    Episodes
    Bottom-5:
    Fame & Misfortune

    Where do I start?

    a. The dialogue is atrocious.
    b. The RM6 published all of their lessons from S4, including the one from Daring Don't, revealing her identity.
    c. They publish their journal without testing their target audience via study group beforehand.
    d. Each of the fan representations they meet are quarter-dimensional, stereotypical caricatures. None of the characters who appear act like genuine people.
    e. The RM6 are abused everywhere they went. Ranged from not taken seriously (Pinkie) to objectified (TS) to trespassed (AJ) to boycotted (Rarity) to stalked/harassed (FS). The background characters are out-of-character assholes.
    f. Every "fan," including the Canterlot reporter, honestly believed the journal was a work of fiction, turning the background characters into straw men.
    g. "We're a Work in Progress" is the worst song of the show for manipulating the audience, excusing bad writing and behavior of the characters over the years, and glorifying their flaws (as if changing and evolving is a bad thing in the show and life).
    h. The background assholes don't learn their lesson, and the main moral disguises what they did as a setback. Even after they stop group-hugging, Rarity, AJ, and FS still have to settle major problems, and the harmful moral excuses the abuse they suffered.

    There's no care for continuity, characterization, or story whatsoever. It disregards their main demographics (children and guardians) to boost their own ego and attack the critics. No wonder why Larson disassociates from it and hates it himself.

    For anyone who wonders why I (enjoy) bash(ing) this episode, dogshit on the sidewalk doesn't deserve to be rewarded a participation trophy. Fame & Misfortune's the worst of S7 by far and the worst written episode of the series.

    If there were any minuscule saving positives, Starlight continued to show growth, and I gained much more appreciation for Stranger Than Fan Fiction and its nuances after watching F&M.
      Hard to Say Anything

    Two words: unadulterated shit. After about 7 to 8 minutes of meandering (but nothing genuinely wrong), the minute Feather Bangs Stereo Pop shows up, the episode flushes down the drain. Big Mac and the CMCs have their worst and second-worst characterizations in the show, respectively. Big Mac for following on the CMCs' hairbrained schemes to try to woo Sugar Belle, the CMCs for believing the fairy tales are how-to romance guidebooks. None of the jokes or twists work at any point — Stereo Pop's characterization is a blatantly dated Bieber parody, Stereo Pop's phallic cutie mark resembling an erect penis with testicles (hence why he covers it up in almost every shot), and the shallow song-off between Mac and Stereo Pop.

    Protip, DHX: Sexual harassment ain't funny, either.

    Big Mac's crush on Sugar is contrived as hell, too; not only for the blatant ending, but also by the fact that we don't actually see it develop; the entire crush plot is unrequited. You could've written this episode much more differently and make it better. Hell, Starlight would've been a fine secondary character. Instead, it's a generic, clichéd, by-the-numbers plot that DHX couldn't even write well. Hell, continuity stated in the episode (Big Mac warned the CMCs not to use love poison to force the romance through) was ignored to make it work.
      Honest Apple

    While the former was marred by a terrible middle and ending, this episode's marred by a terrible beginning and middle all the way to the climax. Rarity acted incompetent and out of character by putting her contest into action despite only two judges signing off on it with no possible backups beforehand in case someone had to cancel. Apple Bloom looked really dumb for not realizing her bow caused major problems (and is a contrived plot point to boot).

    But what really drags this episode down is a complete lack of understanding of what makes Applejack the Bearer of Honesty. Does she tell the truth? Absolutely. But she tells them while still caring about others' feelings! So, what does she do here? Turn into an egomaniac with no clue how to judge fashion properly and a lust to tear down their work. The worst moment, by far, is shaking the crossed-over-stitched feathers off Lily Lace's hat. An in-character AJ will NEVER pull this stupid stunt! The only way she was able to realize she was verbally abusive was when Strawberry Sunrise (upon introduction from Rarity) delivered her the same abuse in return. We're in season 7; AJ should NOT have to learn about how important tact is when being honest.

    The new characters in the episode? Unlikeable, stereotypical, generic, or all of the above. Hopefully, none of them return!
      Secrets & Pies

    This is a type of episode that would probably fit in S1, like Honest Apple. It makes no sense for Pinkie to behave the way she did towards Dash here.

    S&P is a stretched-thin ripoff of Party of One with worse characterization. Pinkie's characterization here is the worst of the season for completely falling for Dash's tricks over the years and her psychotic obsession for catching Dash in the act. Dash is out of character for dumping the pie down Tank's feeding tube twice (easily my least favorite scene and one of S7's worst moments). Dash is partially at fault for causing Pinkie's injury at the academy (that's what you get for crying "wolf!" all these years!).

    Like most episodes over the years, Dash is beat down to be taught a lesson, a cliché so worn thin and should be tossed in the trash. Unlike PoO, every joke is awful, whether it's repeated to the point of annoying (the "look at that" coverups with no proper variation) or disgusting (Dash trying to eat the dumpster pie, close ups of Pinkie's deranged and tired faces).

    A good moral — "Don't create a snowball of lies just to make a friend happy. It's more worth it telling the truth." — doesn't save this episode.
      A Royal Problem

    The saving grace in this episode: Starlight. No, her actions were wrong, but the episode built that up to the point where Starlight's nightmare was so soul-crushing that it could've damaged her psyche. More on that a little below.

    Celestia was great in Advice, for showing how human she is without devolving her character. Unfortunately, she and Luna are out of character here. Is it fine for them to bicker as sisters? Totally. But their bickering crossed the line into being personal attacks; each of them treated each other's important roles in Equestrian society as not just pointless, but wasteful, too. On top of that, they never understood that THEY were the friendship problem until Starlight told them directly to their faces, and even then, they were still too dumb to get it till later. (Seriously, Snips and Snails are smarter than them here!)

    So, when did they finally get it? When they witness Starlight's heartbreaking nightmare. Their lack of appreciation for one another makes no sense, since Luna's envy of her sister and lack of appreciation are why she turned into NMM in the first place. You'd think at their age, they'd figure something out. It's among their five worst appearances for each in the show.

    But the worst moment of the episode comes during the resolution when Celestia tells Starlight that she was right to swap their marks. Firstly, she performed her spell on them against their will. Just because they say it's okay doesn't make it okay. The princesses absolve her of her wrongdoing. That side would've been resolved had she asked first and the princesses not act like idiots. Secondly, when they say she did the right thing, Starlight's emotional pain during her terrible nightmare becomes an afterthought. That her self-infliction plot-wise and emotion-wise was pointless.

    Despite quality characterization from Starlight, background music, and animation hints, Celestia's and Luna's out of characterization, idiocy, and incompetence ruin the episode. Even though I have it fifth-worst in overall quality, it's currently my second-least-favorite episode of S7 behind Fame (and easily the most disappointing). Dishonorable mentions: Fluttershy Leans In, Daring Done?
    Top-7:
    The Perfect Pear

    Pear Butter and Bright Mac = best FIM couple and best-written parents of the show. Everything about this couple is the complete opposite of the likes of Flash/Twilight and Sugar Belle/Big Mac: The development of the romance is like someone who knows romance wrote these ponies. Their chemistry from foalhood to matrimony's completely organic and makes complete sense to the audience. They show how much they love each other during and after life.

    Every joke lands.

    Only the third episode to make me cry and did so on a few occasions. One of them when Big Mac asked Burnt Oak if they can return to hear more stories about their dad. More about that later.

    It has misplaced criticism about them leaving out how they passed as well as Granny avoiding the tree. This isn't that episode. TPP's about celebrating their lives, cherishing their pasts, and letting go of both lifelong pain and bitterness. Each note is hit as the episode progresses. Secondly, the entire Pear family disowned Buttercup for marrying an Apple, and they died early. The marriage site gives her too much pain to deal with. The ending provides the perfect closure for this episode.

    "You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song" = best S7 song. It's so simple in its acoustics, but, to echo RainShadow on YT, packs such an amazing emotional punch. One of three times this episode makes me cry, the other one being Grand Pear apologizing to Apple Bloom.

    Grand Pear = show's most tragic character. The night his daughter married and became an Apple is the last day he saw her alive. Unfortunately, he'll never apologize to her and has to live with an enormous mistake he'll never repair. The moment he broke down as he apologized to Apple Bloom captures the heartbreak he had to hold within for so long. And excellent voice acting by William Shatner (and Felicia Day for Buttercup).

    In my first half overview, I said this might be the best episode of the show when S7's over. I was wrong. It isn't simply the best episode of the show, but of MLP altogether.
      Shadow Play

    FIM's canon and timeline are constructed on the fly and operate season to season. When an episode many seasons later feels like everything beforehand was preplanned, that's a major compliment. Amending Fences handled it beautifully. Shadow Play executes it just as beautifully, but in another way.

    Previous episodes both during S7 and in the past hung little details about specific characters' pasts, including Star Swirl. Twilight finished his spellbook, because he couldn't figure out how important the magic of friendship truly was in Equestria. The era he predominantly lived in justifies that, and it's connected to his association with the rest of the Pillars, his venom towards Stygian after he stole their magical artifacts, and bitter shots at Twilight after bungling her spell to free them.

    This two-parter is nearly one hour shorter than the FIM Movie, but each line matters, is naturally spoken, and the cast is excellently balanced. Everyone here in SP matters and is treated with importance. Remove just one of the Pillar Six, Mane Eight, or Sunburst, and the whole story changes.

    Speaking of characters, Stygian is the best villain in the entire series. Not only is he a really good character. His backstory that resulted in him becoming the Pony of Shadows is fantastic. DHX could've just stuck with the intro animation — a great callback to the opening scene of the pilot — and leave us with the simple backstory. Instead, each scene builds up the PoS's birth and merger with Stygian more and more. His backstory mirrors Starlight's intentionally.

    Speaking of Starlight, this is her best appearance of the series. For the entire season, DHX took extra care of her appearances and characterization, making sure she's not only written very well, but also make her a part of Ponyville's society. Unlike S6, her appearances are much more frequent and vary in importance, whether she's the episode's central character in Uncommon Bond or near-background like FLI. Shadow Play's a culmination of what she learned since becoming Twilight's pupil to conclude season 5. Everyone's rush to condemn the Pony of Shadows through the Elements of Harmony echoes critiques some of us had for the EoH, which was a band-aid to force evil to assimilate to Equestria's society; Sunset's character reset exemplifies this flaw to a T. Instead, Starlight pursued the cause of the Pillar's division from Stygian to search for a real fix to the conflict.

    Like most of S7's second half, SP illustrates a conflict that doesn't put one side entirely in the right or wrong and explored this tension masterfully. It's FIM's best two-parter.
      Parental Glideance

    "Wow" perfectly describes this treasure. Easily the best episode by a debut (solo) writer in the series.

    Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles = character-wise, two of the best canonical parents in the show. They play the embarrassing parent trope while still subverting the clichés, making them feel like they love Dash, and acting realistic. They're hyper, but so damn lovable.

    The jokes land perfectly.

    *gasp* The Wonderbolts are fucking LIKEABLE! Somepony call the Vatican! We witnessed a miracle!

    This episode also shows how to have a likeable character do a Putting Your Hoof Down rant correctly. There, Fluttershy calculatingly insulted both Pinkie and Rarity and then had the blame shifted to Iron Will that night. Here, Dash was at her limit's end, lost her cool, and immediately wanted to make things right.

    The criticism against the moral's execution is a flaw that doesn't even exist. Was Dash right to be upset at her parents? Yes. Some actions (despite having downplayed stakes) were reckless. Does she have the right to yell at them, slap Bow's hoof away, and implicate disownment of them because they embarrass her so much? No, she doesn't. She takes her supportive parents for granted, and Scootaloo would love to experience this feeling just once from her parents. The moral and execution were on the money.
      Marks & Recreation

    Is the cutie mark a pony's true life goal? What about their other passions? Will they be affected, too? Cutie marks are a part of Equestrian lore, but open up other questions, such as predestination, a choice of what they want to do for the rest of their life, their names associated with their mark, or living in a box. This underappreciated gem answers a few of these questions, streamlining its lore.

    a. Kettle Corn receives a cutie mark related to haiku poetry. @Batbrony highlighted VERY clever foreshadowing in his review: the circle she loves painting over and over is a zero in Japanese calligraphy, and a haiku is Japanese poetry. BTW, she was really good and cute in her curious, poetic, childlike ways. Her mark is unrelated to her name, one of the few in that regard.

    b. The CMCs are excellent in their roles, especially Sweetie Belle during her shouting match against Rumble.

    c. Rumble's blistering criticism and fears of a cutie mark trapping him in a box are believable. When he got no answer from Apple Bloom in regards to the last time she brewed potions with Zecora, he gained the leverage needed to retain his status as a blank flank. The song he led to rally the other fillies — "Blank Flanks Forever" — is solid and further developed the conflict.

    Thunderlane, now a Wonderbolt, is fantastic. His reason for sending Rumble to Cutie Mark Day Camp at Camp Friendship (calling back to Mane Attraction) makes sense: he wants Rumble to exit the box he himself created following his promotion to a Wonderbolt.

    The climax to resolve the conflict is both mature and tasteful. Yes, FIM could've simply made Rumble the complete bad guy and have the narrative shoot him down everywhere. Instead, the story used Thunderlane, he and the CMCs teaming up, and having Rumble witness and eventually decide to join the campers and TL at the campfire shows us that he can conquer his fear of losing his pastimes and hobbies. The moral — no one person is defined by a label — is fantastic.

    In all, a fascinating episode.
      Once Upon a Zeppelin  
    Discordant Harmony

    Discord has his most likeable performance in the series. He was the spirit of chaos, but in many of his post-villain appearances, he was being a jerk for the sake of it. Here, he shows how much he cares for Fluttershy and wants to be seen as a valuable friend to her. Pinkie's advice's solid, but Discord's naivete with friendship made him take her too literally. Because he and 'Shy are close, it makes sense for him to feel really sensitive when ponies question it.

    Fluttershy continues to show off her growth from past seasons. Unlike Leans In, it does it better. She's not so timid anymore and really shows how much Discord means to her. Not in the way that Keep Calm implicated, but a genuine care for him. Like equals. When Discord became too normal and began to fade away, Fluttershy jumped into action to try to save him. More about her and the moral later.

    Out of every episode, this is the first to actually treat their friendship like one. Prior, the show tells us they're friends, but they don't behave like friends. Here, their friendship feels incredibly genuine, a long-time coming for this show.

    As a cherry on top, the moral is spectacular. More on that later in the overview.
      Uncommon Bond

    This great episode shows us how much Starlight grew prior to Shadow Play. This is an external conflict for Starlight: trying to catch up with Sunburst and figure out what they have in common so they can share memories and know each other better after being separated for so long. But when Starlight finds out Sunburst has smoother and better chemistry with Twilight, Trixie, and Maud over her, it's easy to see how discouraging and devastating it must be to her. As such, her rash decision to literally remake one of their childhood pastimes (including turning themselves into fillies) is believable, yet rightfully points out her idea as disturbing.

    At the same time, Sunburst, who was excellent here, isn't written to be a jerk, but instead got carried away and lost sight of his childhood friend. His interactions with her friends really fit into his character and, in some respects, can get really cute, too. Yes, he should've paid attention to Starlight's mood (she ain't very subtle about how she feels), but it was very clear he wasn't doing it to be mean.

    How they were able to find something in common fits them all. Instead of playing the board game, the life-size game brings a roleplaying element, alongside using each of their strengths to bond each other more.

    This episode and Starlight's conflict are very relatable to a lot of people, and everyone being in top form helps shape UB into being one of S7's best. Honorable mentions: It Isn't the Mane Thing About You, All Bottled Up.
    Note: From now on, F-graded episodes are divided into F+, F, and F-.
    S7 episode ranking:
    The Perfect Pear: A+ Shadow Play: A+ Parental Glideance: A+ Marks and Recreation: A Once Upon a Zeppelin: A- Discordant Harmony: A- Uncommon Bond: A- It Isn't the Mane Thing About You: A- All Bottled Up: A- A Flurry of Emotions: B+ To Change a Changeling: B+ A Health of Information: B Triple Threat: B- Celestial Advice: B- Not Asking for Trouble: B- Forever Filly: C+ Campfire Tales: C+ Rock Solid Friendship: C+ Daring Done?: C+ Fluttershy Leans In: C A Royal Problem: D+ Secrets and Pies: D Honest Apple: F Hard to Say Anything: F Fame and Misfortune: F- ---
    Top-13 episodes (in order, updated; A+ episodes in italics):
    The Perfect Pear The Best Night Ever Crusaders of the Lost Mark Amending Fences Shadow Play Sisterhooves Social The Cutie Map Parental Glideance Party of One Testing Testing 1, 2, 3 Pinkie Pride Slice of Life Suited for Success Honorable mentions: Lesson Zero, Sleepless in Ponyville, The Times They Are a Changeling.
    ---
    Bottom-13 episodes (in order, updated; F- episodes in italics):
    One Bad Apple Newbie Dash Fame and Misfortune Bridle Gossip Dragon Quest The Crystal Empire Rainbow Falls 28 Pranks Later Princess Spike Owl’s Well That Ends Well The Mysterious Mare Do Well P.P.O.V. Boast Busters Dishonorable Mentions: Putting Your Hoof Down, The Show Stoppers, Appleoosa’s Most Wanted.
    Morals:
    Bottom morals:
    1. Fame & Misfortune: Your personality flaws are admirable and make up who you are.

    Like characters in a TV show, people in real life change, either through progression or regression. Everyone's personalities have a balance of their positives and negatives. Part of learning is figuring out how to improve and become better people. By championing and glorifying personality flaws, this moral's actively claiming that changing and improving to become better people is pointless. Consequently, they're preaching a really dangerous slippery slope. To put this into perspective: There's a gigantic difference between liking someone in spite of your flaws and liking someone because of your flaws. F&M preaches the latter.

    When connected into the show, it's very hypocritical. Why? Because it goes against one of show's core themes of becoming better. The Mane 8, the CMCs, Discord, and so on all have strengths to build upon and weaknesses to overcome. Character development is crucial to the show. Dash's self-absorbed ego, Fluttershy's phobia and timidity, Twilight losing composure so quickly are all well-known character flaws; even when the episode isn't done well, they work forward to improve. Secondly, what do Discord, Diamond Tiara, Gilda, and Starlight all have in common? They all had personalities and attitudes the show and protagonists didn't tolerate, and they had to improve so others could trust and like them (again). When they didn't, the episode rejected them, like Lightning Dust, Gilda in S1, and Wind Rider. This moral spits on their reformations and redemptions.

    You can read more about my panning of this moral in my status, some of which I C&P'd from.
      Fame & Misfortune: You can't change how they feel about you, but you can change how they affect you.

    In a vacuum, this isn't a bad moral. But given the context of the episode and offensive subtexts when paralleled to fans, the implications make this moral toxic. This moral is in response to how Ponyville and Canterlot directly harassed and bullied the RM6 to the point of altering their lives and devastating Twilight. The RM6 handwave all of it as just an obstacle in their friendship and mask it as criticism, thus telling us to tolerate the abuse. ---
    Top morals:
    Discordant Harmony: Your best friend may have nothing in common with you, but you're true friends because you care for each other.
    This is true for just about anyone. Many of us have at least one person we know who have nothing in common in personality, opinions, qualities, 'tude, and preference. Commonness doesn't determine true friendship, but by how much they love each other. Neither Discord nor Fluttershy share anything in common. Their personalities and tastes vastly differ, but they're still friends and show us that. More importantly, she's the one who took him in and trusted him. By delivering that moral, Fluttershy hones in past continuity and growth while not degrading her character.
      The Perfect Pear: Don't hold onto past anger and guilt of a mistake you can't fix forever. Celebrate their lives, and pursue new memories with their loved ones.
    I repeated this point ad nauseum since first watching it last June. People from all walks of life make mistakes they truly regret. While some correct their mistakes, not everyone does. Grand Pear is among the latter for disowning his late daughter on the last day he saw her alive. On the opposite end, Granny Smith grew so bitter of the Pear family for how they treated her that she didn't inform Grand Pear of their deaths until much later in life, adding to the grief and longtime feud and whitewashing Buttercup and Bright Mac's romance to her grandponies. Honorable mention: You have the obligation to your own time, even when you feel you must sacrifice it to make others happy ("Zeppelin").
    New characters:
    Characters that appeared on screen prior to S7 (even when in the background) don't count. Even though Star Swirl and Meadowbrook were referenced in past seasons, they didn't make physical cameos until S7, so they're exempt.
    Bottom-5:
    Toola Roola & Coconut Cream: Both fillies are lumped into one as a result of one common role. For the first time all series, FIM used token characters in an episode. Their only purpose from a meta standpoint is to tell young girls, their primary demographic, that they matter…when the entire episode leading up to the ending lumped young girls/kids (as the fillies) with the rest of the abusive ponies (the adults). Token characters talk down to children by only telling them they matter on a surface level only.
      Stereo Pop. Fucking Stereo Pop! A blatant, dated parody of teenage Bieber and stereotypical boy bands. Without him, Hard would actually be able to go somewhere. And, no, that asspull at the end doesn't make him any better.
      Strawberry Sunrise: She is a straw mare. Her only purpose is to be an asshole just to make AJ understand how it feels to be in the designers' horseshoes. There's no personality beyond this point, and the episode treats her bullying as a good thing.
      This Canterlot reporter from F&M. He's there only to drive the vessel that the ponies who abused the RM6 see them as merely fictional beings in an autobiographical journal and attack the critics more. Dishonorable mention: Lily Lace (valley girl stereotype), Dandy Grandeur.
    ---
    Top-6:
    Buttercup & Bright Mac. 'Nuff said.
      Stygian: The best villain in the series. Basically a ponified Squib, he doesn't have the magical abilities the Pillars or any other unicorn have, compensating it with his intelligence. As Shadow Play builds up his backstory, he as a character enriches.
      Bow Hothoof & Windy Whistles: Eccentric, loud, yet also very dedicated to raising their daughter the best way possible. They're very endearing, relatable, and hilarious.
      Star Swirl the Bearded: After years of mystery, he and the other Pillars physically appear before the Mane 8. As a character, he's incredibly balanced. Wise, smart, understands magic like the back of his hoof, but also judgmental, difficult to convince, and bitter. When he gets mad at someone, you'll know it, and his putdowns of Twilight in Shadow Play, Part 2 exemplify that. He's a byproduct of the tumultuous era he lived in over a millennium ago. But when he admits he's wrong, he sets his ego aside. A marvelous character. Honorable mentions: Pharynx, Mistmane, Star Tracker.
    Mane 8:
    Bottom:
    Pinkie Pie. She's really good in some episodes this season, in particular Not Asking for Trouble and Daring Done? Unfortunately, her characterization took a collective turn for the worse. During Rock Solid Friendship, she pestered Maud and Starlight continually, contributing to Maud feeling she doesn't belong in Ponyville. In S&P, she fell for Dash's constant cover up and became obsessed with catching her in the act.
    Dishonorable mention: Rarity.
    ---
    Top:
    Starlight. Overall, she's the best written and most consistent. After a sloppy redemption arc, DHX takes more care to write her correctly. She's not as nervous and hesitant as before, has a sardonic edge, and isn't boring or unlikeable. She still has a ways to go, but the Starlight here transitions into a more-self-confident pony. Every episode she's in makes her feel like she belongs in both Twilight's circle and Ponyville altogether.
    Plus, she's given much proper use. Her role in Rock Solid's fantastic, and it's a nice touch how she worked with the RM7 to build Fluttershy's sanctuary. Uncommon Bond brings forth a personal side to Starlight, and she humanizes Shadow Play's conflict as the Devil's Advocate.
    Honorable mention: Twilight Sparkle.
    ---
    Full M8 rank (in order):
    Starlight Glimmer Twilight Sparkle Fluttershy Spike Rainbow Dash Applejack Rarity Pinkie Pie Moments:
    Bottom-3:
    Big Mac forcing an attempted kiss on a sleeping Sugar Belle. Ah, nuthin' like a scene that says, "Hey! As long as it's a comedy, sexually harassing girls is a-okay!" Anyone who thinks this…


    this…


    AND THIS…


    …is okay or funny is lying. Big Mac's trying to force a kiss on Sugar Belle, who had no idea he was there! If SB showed or said anything to suggest that she knew he was there and teased him, then this moment won't look as bad. As is, it has NO business anywhere, especially in an education-centric cartoon like this one! I predicted no other moment will be worse than this one months ago, and it remains such.
      The Canterlot reporter accuses the RM6 and their journal of being fictional. Rather than rewrite why, I'll C&P why from my review:
       
    The four Ponyville ponies stalk and harass Fluttershy. What makes this so painful to watch is two reasons:
    Fluttershy's history. She's a sensitive pegasus who not only battles a psychologically crippling phobia, and was also laughed at (Hurricane Fluttershy) and abused (PYHD).
    The ponies' reasons for harassing her: Why she keeps relearning the same lessons and one stallion whining about why he wasn't inserted into the journal. Are you KIDDING ME?!

    FUCK those four ponies!
    Dishonorable mentions:
    Vet reveals Tank swallowed a whole pie/Dash chucks pie down her chute in a panic. AJ destroys Lily Lace's hat. Pinkie's bkg. friends laugh at everything she says. Celly and Luna absolve Starlight for swapping their marks. Pinkie tells Dash to "eat up" with a deranged face. Celly and Luna fight. ---
    Top-4:
     
    Big Mac asks Burnt Oak if they can return to hear more stories of his dad someday. This tearjerker is full of great detail. Big Mac — a stallion of few words beyond his "eeyup" gag — being the one to ask makes knowing more about his parents feel more important. After he asks, Burnt Oak cries, indicating clearly how much he missed his close friend. Little touches in episodes like this one turns a great episode into an amazing one.
      Starlight cries after Star Swirl venomously disowns Stygian. Starlight reformed from her villainous days a few seasons ago, thanks to Twilight giving her the opportunity to change and follow a completely new path. While every Mane and Pillar wrote him off, Starlight sees Stygian as someone who should be given another chance, because she relates to him. Star Swirl casting a final judgment on him as someone unworthy to befriend cuts deeply into Starlight. If she was in Stygian's shoes, she'd likely share his fate.
      Buttercup sings to BM. Their relationship is real, and the emotional (but simple) song makes it more believable.
      Bow Hothoof admits to installing the music by himself. Firstly, best joke of the season. Secondly, narrows Dash's parents down perfectly. They devote their entire lives to their daughter and cherish her, period. It helped build up the fallout later on. Honorable mentions:
    Rumble jumps over the line that divides the CMC and blank flank camps. Grand Pear apologizes to Apple Bloom. Cadance offers motherly advice to Twilight following her meltdown. Fluttershy re-creates Discord's house. Granny Smith forgives Grand Pear and welcomes him to the family. What I want for Season 8:
    Continue the episode quality. Season 7 is the most consistent in its episode quality (with only 5 bad and average episodes each and 15 good ones), and this was with a lineup of mostly writers who didn't write for the show very long or debuted in S7. Nick Confalone, one of the best writers for S6, only wrote one episode in S7. Josh Hamilton wrote the best debut episode in the show, and Triple Play isn't that bad. The Fox Brothers's Discordant Harmony was a major beacon of great quality to help conclude the first half. While Lappin started off poorly with Honest Apple, To Change a Changeling and Uncommon Bond are great and excellent, respectively. Brittany Jo Flores debuted with Zeppelin, and it's a far more nuanced and clever episode than F&M. Haber, who returned in the second half, had the longest tenure.
      Haber to continue his magic touch. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but after Haber returned to the show, the quality of the episodes spiked collectively. A couple of bumps along the way, but overall, the episodes were at least good. To repeat from earlier, the stretch from Mane Thing to SP was the series' best run since S1-2 (easily its best finish since S1), and who knows whether S8 will continue this trend or not.

    Once he returned, the direction changed for the better, too. Almost every episode contained dozens of shades of grey. By doing so, the conflict provides an extra side to the story, increasing layers to make the experience more rounded than one-sided conflicts provide. Episodes like Health of Info, M&R, SP, or Zeppelin wouldn't succeed had they not follow this direction.
      Starlight continue her arc. Her redemption arc isn't done, but she's come so far in the past couple of seasons, S7 being a major step up after DHX follied in S6. Now she's more self-assured and helped save Stygian from returning to limbo. She's heading in the right direction, and I want to see her develop more, maybe interacting more with the others beyond TS and Spike.
      Once more, watch your unfortunate implications and stereotypes. This got better following F&M, but chances are they may fall in that trap someday. If you have anything you might want to see for S8, let me know in the comments.
    Verdict:
    Season 7 was a huge step up for FIM. After S6, I worried whether the show would slow down or not. But not only did S7 squash those fears. FIM has a lot more left in the tank. With so many good and great episodes, and with Nicole Dubuc and Haber together to edit after co-writing Shadow Play so well, it's heading in the right direction. It's my second-favorite and second-best season of the show, and I can't wait what S8 has in store.
    For those curious about my season order from best to worst: 5 > 7 > 2 > 1 > 4 > 3 > 6.
  24. Dark Qiviut
    It's no big secret to long-time users here that I'm a huge Bob Ross fan. Painting was and remains one of my big pastimes, which I hope to return one day.
    There are 403 episodes, but my favorite comes from near the beginning: a seascape painted with the top half white and bottom black. It was the first of its kind in the series and is a joy to watch. Have fun watching!
     
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