Wind Chaser

It's good that Starlight makes mistakes. Otherwise there'd be no conflict and little character growth. Starlight has as little right to be a perfect character as anyone else in this show. One of the biggest themes of the show is learning from your mistakes. If there's really any criticism I could give it, it's that Twilight needs to be more firm with Starlight and not give her any sense of privilege or immunity in terms of her status as a royal student. People really let their distaste for this character really cloud their judgment of this show. Most of what was okay for Twilight in Season 1 seems like an aberration now that Starlight does it. She's only taking on the same outsider's role to friendship that Twilight was early on in the series. Where's all the complaining about Twilight getting off easy for using mind control back in "Lesson Zero"?

You can take Starlight out of Our Town, but you can't take Our Town out of Starlight. The episode is fine as far as entertainment value goes. It's good for comedy seeing the shenanigans mind control gets the Mane 6 + 1 into. As far as Starlight goes, she still has a lot to learn, and I mostly accept that she's taking the role in these episodes that Twilight would have taken back in seasons 1 and 2 and making similar, albeit much further-reaching mistakes to what a young Twilight would have done in the same position (think "Lesson Zero"). Don't hate it because it was Starlight, because when it was Twilight it was one of the best episodes in the series. Granted "Lesson Zero" had much more entertaining and iconic moments, character growth, and continuity development, but at its core Starlight basically did the same thing Twilight did; used her knowledge to control others' minds in order to satisfy a selfish desire to get in a "friendship lesson". Starlight is going down the same path, so it's only fitting she makes a similar mistake.

...Spike, get to da choppa. Twilight, TO THE BATMOBILE! DANANANANANANANANA!

"Winter Wrap-Up" was a big one, it reminded me a lot of myself at the time and continues to be one of my favorites. "Hurricane Fluttershy" was the best of the regular episodes to me and likewise stuck around. "The Cutie Map" really stuck in my head for a while. I really couldn't wrap my head around how well MLP handled the subject matter of that episode, likewise the fight scene in "Twilight's Kingdom" despite the rest of the episode being a complete mess.

I think Twilight's parents have more combined appearances than any of the other parents in the show. Fluttershy's parents are the first to have a prominent role in an episode, Pinkie and Rarity's parents are background characters, Rainbow Dash's parents are unconfirmed, and something happened to Applejack's parents that apparently no one wants to talk about. Even so, absentee parents are a constant in the show, understandable for the Mane 6 given that they are responsible and adult in their roles. Scootaloo has not had a word said about her family either. Though it is ignoring some story opportunities, this has become an accepted quirk of the show.

Gladmane's place looks like a cross between the Excalibur (arcade) and the Circus Circus (indoor amusement park). As for the episode itself, it's nice to finally see another map episode. It's still a wonder why that plot device is still so woefully underutilized. The character of Gladmane, though a common type, is a step above most of the one-off antagonists of late, weaseling his way into the hearts of the others rather than using direct threats or just pouting when he doesn't get his way. There's a little shade of Starlight Glimmer in that; using ponies' trust against them. I like how Fluttershy has seemingly become more of a strategist since Season 5. When she said "tricking a trickster", I initially thought she was referring to herself and her past incidents with Discord and Starlight Glimmer. However, her plans went much deeper than that and she even had a plan B ready. Of course Gladmane fell into the classic villain trap at the end, and one has to wonder if Fluttershy is more Genre Savvy now because of it. My issues with the episode include how quickly and easily it ended; though a great character moment for Fluttershy, it still used the villain gloating as an ending device. It seems to have come out of a crunch for time due to the "three strikes" nature of the plotline, where Gladmane did the exact same thing to three different pairs of characters and Fluttershy and Applejack had to fix it three times. On the other hand, it was definitely the Flim Flam Brothers' greatest appearance to date. Moral of the story: beware the friendly ones, but most importantly, beware the quiet ones.

It could go either way. On the one hand, things like the Royal Wedding and the Crystal Empire were done to push specific toylines, and those went off pretty well. So were Equestria Girls and "Twilight's Kingdom", the former got mixed reviews at first but got better over time, and the latter wasn't a particularly good episode, only being remembered for the fight scene. Most of the show's issues have more to do with its format, particularly the limits of a 22-minute episodic series with a continuity and wide character base aimed at such a diverse audience. Hasbro did give the creators a lot of freedom, but definitely not as much as other shows. Toys have little to do with that, directly speaking, as non-toy-based shows can and have fallen into the same creative traps.

In terms of achievement, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are the biggest overachievers in the series. All three of them ascended to positions of great fame, power, and responsibility through work and dedication. Applejack and Fluttershy seemed content with where they were from day one. Why wouldn't they be considering they were already in positions that made great use of their skills? Even Pinkie Pie, who still rooms with the Cakes, is considered one of the best in the field of party planning. I would put it in that order, considering for all intents and purposes that the Mane 6 are decent achievers at the very least by the standards of our world (especially in the messed up economic and social situation we live in).

I second this as well, it seems as if all the episode was set up for was the fight scene and just to get Rainbow Power into the show for once. I'll add in a Worf facepalm just because.

I second this. The entire episode was a cheap comedic plot that was predictable from the first few minutes. The entire second act I spent waiting for the inevitable rather than enjoying the comedy. The moral at the end was ass-pulled from a quick scene early on in the episode that was not revisited at any other time during the episode, and on top of that the ending was a total cop-out, but probably more realistic than you think considering Rio de Janeiro actually got to host an Olympics. I still consider it the worst episode of the series, mainly because everything that could go wrong with an episode of this series happens here. No character progression, a boring, predictable, and minimal plotline, an unelaborated moral, no consequences for anyone's actions, and not focusing on the message. It was an episode more fitting for an 11-minute screwball comedy cartoon than MLP.

Scorpan definitely put the greater good before his own family, and it takes a strong soul to do that. The ponies were innocent creatures to him, who did nothing to offend them as far as we know. He felt dirty stealing from them, so he did what he felt was right by ratting Tirek out.

Fairly standard for Season 6 as far as entertainment value goes, but it's bolstered by a great voice performance and a beautiful moral about how you don't need external affirmation to find what you're best at in life. I'm glad it didn't end with Gabby getting a cutie mark as that would have been too easy. Avoiding the easier ending is one of this show's strongest tendencies that I thought was going away as of recent episodes, but it's fortunately still there.