AlbaTross

My predictions for G5 going forward: Zipp will retake my number 1 spot from Misty, as character development will cease even for the latter, and Zipp is inherently more interesting when all ponies are equal on the character development front. G5 will finally be able to be G5, and not be held back by any of that forced G4 stuff that makes zero sense, and has no benefit for either series! Being a purely 2D series will mean that instances of things cut or happening off screen due to concerns with having to animate them in 3D will no longer be an issue. The Mane Six will become a Mane Seven. A lot of things will be rushed due to having to fit into a series of five minute shorts, with a refusal on the show's producers to do multi-part episodes. The four alleged longer episodes will allow for a few key plot moments to be carried out in a somewhat less rushed capacity. However, they will still be insufficient. The viewer base will diminish due to fans losing interest. Season 2 will be the last season of G5.

Wow, I realized I forgot to post about this way back when. The episode isn't bad, and even has its creative flourishes. I'm not sure if I consider it season finale material, but it's alright, if a bit overshadowed by the uncertainty of what's next, given that G5 is officially in its first real hiatus.

Another nothing episode, but I kind of think that's what TYT is best at. Also, it did find a use for that one track from the Chapter 6 OST that I forgot about because it didn't end up being used in Chapter 6, so...ok, I guess. I guess we are back to the bi-weekly schedule for the last two episodes of Season 1. It kind of throws me off when the release schedule just changes back and forth on a whim like that.

Well, thank you for sharing your thoughts. While I definitely don't see things that way, and the G4 references do not seem like they're out of love for G4 to me, thank you for explaining your mindset for why you like the connections to G4. I'm definitely in support of Season 2 focusing more on just being G5, but one thing that fascinates me is that it almost seems like certain camps might end up switching places in regards to Season 2. People who were critical of Season 1, particularly regarding its ties to G4, may end up liking Season 2 more, while those who were really on board with the G4 stuff and/or liked the direction of the series before, might not like it as much. I guess we will have to wait and see, but that is the vibe I'm kind of getting. If so, I wonder if TYT will either alienate some of its current fans and effectively spell disaster for itself going forward, or if, on the more positive side, there will be different parts of G5 that end up appealing more to different people and effectively expand its fanbase, or maybe some combination of both? I guess we will see if things play out how they appear to, and whether that will be a positive, a negative, or net neutral for the series.

Ugh, I hope they ditch the G4 references, so I'm with you there Rafa. It's easily the worst part of G5's storytelling, and I can't think of a single benefit it brings to G5 either. Since I have a well-supported headcanon that places G5 in an alternate universe, I don't need to be bothered by the unnecessary link between series, but I can still acknowledge bad writing for what it is. In any case, I do kind of like the direction the series seems to be going. Expanding the world of G5 and meeting new characters can only make things more interesting from here on out, the 3D series is being dropped, so here's hoping no corners have to be cut on story going forward as a result of being unable or unwilling to animate certain things, and we were told that there would be four longer-length specials to look forward to. We can pretend not to notice that most of the Mane Six (or possibly Seven?) will remain underdeveloped, because there will be too much adventure to care. Allura seems to be an alright villain too, even if I'm a bit critical of the need for this series to always have an ongoing villain. Seriously, can we finally drop the notion of G5 being more slice of life than G4? It makes zero sense, as it's not as though an episode set at one of Rarity's multiple boutiques, or on Sweet Apple Acres needed to cut away to Chrysalis or some other villain. If anything, it seems as though the G5 writers have an aversion to dedicating more than a TYT short to slice of life storylines, though I do appreciate Chapter 5 doing one such episode, even if it had to share said episode with other stuff. In any case, if my cautious optimism is warranted...G5 still won't hold a candle to G4, but at least it can be fun in its own right. If it's not, well, G5 will continue to flip flop between being dull, and being caught up in a long drawn out villain arc that goes nowhere. So...either way I think it will be better than the first season. I do have to wonder if the inevitable hiatus starting in a couple weeks where we won't get any G5 content will kill much of the momentum the series has had in keeping a captive audience? Couple that with MYM being dropped, and time will tell if G5 continues to sustain enough of an audience, or if there will be a Season 3.

I went in expecting to hate it, but was pleasantly surprised. The Spike stuff is definitely the lowest point, but at least it provides more evidence that G5 is set in an alternate universe, or at least an alternate timeline, so I'm ok with that. It's all uphill from there though. I don't think the events of Chapter 6 are Shakespeare by any stretch, and there is a lot that's paint by numbers (good call on not making Sparky a direct descendant of Spike though), but it's fine IMHO. I guess that whole subplot of Misty allegedly going back to Opaline to play double agent, with her friends going "gasp, no Misty, you can't" went nowhere and could have easily just been cut. Oh well, I suppose. Some songs are recycled, but that's par for the course for this series. At least the songs are generally at least slightly more memorable than is usual for this generation and Opaline even gets a second song (even if it's a little too similar to the first for my liking, and is still shallow from a lyrical standpoint). The harmonies aren't bad this time, perhaps because the Mane Six aren't singing alone, and tend to either be accompanied by more voices, or in the case of Izzy and her song, able to sing alone (and the character song is indeed something I wish G5 did more of). Interesting gender swap of the trope where the lone female of the group falls first and her male comrades commiserate over her failure, only to subsequently fall later. I don't know if that's an intentional use of the trope with Hitch being taken out first, or if I'm giving G5 too much credit, since it's not exactly known for being particularly clever with its writing. Still, it's an interesting observation nonetheless. Some might think the resolution came a bit too quickly, but that's similar to how it is in FiM. The only thing that's different here is that this villain showdown had a whole season of buildup behind it that has lasted a good couple years, which...kind of set it up for failure to live up to said hype no matter what was written or the sequence of events that transpired. As it stands, I think it's fine, completely ignoring the TYT recap spoiling things. Also, interesting Rescue at Midnight Castle reference. If G5 is clever enough to make these kinds of references, it baffles me all the more why it couldn't just be more creative in how it references G4, instead of trying (and I'd argue, failing) to shove a square peg into a round hole to try and make it fit in the same universe. As for The Secrets of Starlight, it reminds me of both The Cutie Map, and one-offs like the Rainbow Roadtrip special. Perhaps it's not quite as good as that, but it's similar enough, and it works fine for what it is. I think traveling around, exploring new locations and meeting new characters can be a decent new direction for the series. Sure, it will act as a smoke screen for the lack of character development on the part of most of the Mane Six (or maybe Mane Seven now?), and doesn't indicate much confidence in everyday life in Maretime Bay being interesting enough to sustain a series on its own, but hey, it would be a decent enough distraction from all that, and possibly entertaining enough in its own right that I don't have to care. As for Allura being a new recurring villain, well, I guess that's indicative of the kind of series G5 is, now isn't it? Here's hoping we can finally put the notion that G5 is more slice of life than G4 to rest, permanently. Oh, and if that's the end of G4 references, that's a W I'll gladly take, as that just means we can now just focus on the world and characters of G5, and appreciate it for G5, as opposed to trying to make it G4 Part II, finally putting an end to something I don't actually believe has ever done G5 any favours. Is Comet a new member of the group? I'd be ok with it. If the point of this new generation is to push a mixed-gendered group, I'm all for having another male around. Plus, the way this series tends to work, new characters tend to get more focus, and more character development, making them more interesting than most of the existing members of the group. I'm sure Misty's character development will dry up now, so Comet has the potential to be Season 2's Misty, minus the lengthy dance Misty went through of building up to joining the group. The series going down to just the 2D show might also be a good thing from a story standpoint, given the number of corners clearly cut to avoid having to animate certain things in 3D. I heard there are four longer specials planned, so it won't just be five minute shorts. Still, if it's mostly going to be told through shorts, that might be a bit problematic for any ongoing plot reaching its true potential, but I think the first season more or less made more serious storyline stuff work in shorts when necessary. It's just 100% needed to sustain the plot now, since MYM isn't around for that anymore. All in all...I'm going to be cautiously optimistic, but I think I might end up liking the next season of G5 more than the first. We will see though.

I'll have to wait until I get home from work to watch MYM, but I decided why not, and watched the spoilery new chapter of TYT anyways, and...I'm actually kind of hopeful for the direction of the series going forward? Hopefully the whole thing with Spike and the dragons is the last of the AU fanfic, and G5 can focus on just being G5 going forward. More importantly, it looks as though G5 is finally expanding its world, so I can't complain about that. I'll have to see how things play out in Chapter 6.

I have my trope bingo card ready. I'm counting on Sparky being the son or descendant of Spike, and Allura being a new recurring villain after Opaline. What does everyone else have?

In before it's revealed in a "shocking" twist that Sparky is his son, or some sort of descendant of his.

So, my suspicions were confirmed. The G5 crew really doesn't care anymore. In fact, they care so little about their story that they decided to just spoil it. Brilliant. I mean, it was really difficult to be in much suspense anyways, but to outright just end it like this? What the hay? It seems every time I try to get even a little invested in G5, the team behind it does everything in their power to sabotage it.

This one is ok, I guess, or maybe mixed bag is the right term. It's a simple enough lesson I suppose, and I'm glad it's able to focus on just a couple of the characters. The song is...just as forgettable as any other background song in this series I suppose, but it goes decently enough with the food fight. Apparently the TYT people don't care about G5's lore, between hipster pony having her cutie mark back (to be fair, Posey had her's back in the episode where hipster pony lost her's), and the flashback involving unicorn magic. In some regards G5 is starting to hit its stride, and I maintain that, but now, in other regards, it's as though Hasbro is caring less and less. I guess they're working to improve G5 story-wise and a little bit character-wise, but when it comes to continuity they're now just throwing their hands up in the air and deciding they don't give a flip. Maybe it's more accurate to say that MYM is improving, while TYT is taking a nosedive? The only unfortunate thing with that is the TYT people don't care about spoiling MYM Chapter 6, and Hasbro doesn't care enough to step in to correct them. So...what's the point of Opaline stealing Cutie Marks at the slow as molasses rate of one at a time, if she can't even keep them long-term? Animation errors are one thing, but I swear the ponies don't seem that put out when their Cutie Marks are taken either, as it's treated as a "hey, she stole my hat" type of deal. On the other hand, if their Cutie Marks just regenerate in spite of Opaline holding their originals, there's zero reason to be in suspense about this particular subplot. As hipster pony had her's stolen in TYT, I also wonder if MYM will acknowledge it? The way this particular subplot is being handled is a total dumpster fire either way, so it's really just a matter of how much of a dumpster fire it ends up being.

People call him G5's Spike, but I disagree because he's more like G5's Cutie Mark. He could be like G5's Spike if he talked though. I...doubt he will grow up though. G5 can barely manage its current developments. I doubt aging up Sparky is even on the minds of the writers, animators or anyone involved with G5.

Two back-to-back TYT shorts have already spoiled Chapter 6 for us. We know that Opaline is prevented from taking over the Dragon Lands, and the dragons are able to return and reclaim their lands. We also know that Opaline is still plugging away at the task of taking cutie marks, at the painfully slow pace of one pony every time she appears somewhere. Opaline also seems to have become aware of and accepted Misty's betrayal...which also means the whole plot point of Misty pretending to go back to Opaline to spy on her didn't amount to anything. Oh well, I suppose that would be expecting too much from a side plot in G5. So...in short, there will be somewhat of a defeat for Opaline, but this painfully long and drawn-out arc will be far from over.

So...a lifetime ban should be issued to Izzy then. While we're at it, Sparky too.

Gotta love my favourite NPC Hitch, especially when he cameos even less than an actual supporting character. Still, this is a solid enough episode for what it's trying to do, and I think it may actually be one of my favourites, further reinforcing that Misty is the most dynamic character of the group. The episode is clearly trying to establish an annoying switch for Sunny, though her worst crime is accidentally having her smoothie explode on Misty, and going along with the other fillies in crowding Misty. I suppose she would need more personality to be as annoying as the others once their annoying switch is flipped, but an attempt was made. Also, if push comes to shove, it's impossible for any of the others to be more annoying than Izzy, though Pipp sure did her best here. Actually, Zipp could have been worse, considering previous annoying switch episodes. Pipp, and especially Izzy were carrying the team on this one. Still, here's a prime example of an episode that probably could have been as strong as a decent FiM episode had it not been five minutes, but it does its best with the time it has.

What's even worse than that is...it doesn't have to be. The writers, artists and animators could do so much more to make it fun and exciting. By rights, Ponyville shouldn't be half as exciting as it is either, because it's also a quaint, middle of nowhere type of town, and it doesn't even have the luxury of being near a large body of water. But, because it has its share of interesting landmarks, it does its job and then some. What does Maretime Bay have landmark-wise? There's the Rainbow Brighthouse on the outskirts. Hitch has his sheriff's office, and Pipp has Mane Melody. Is that really it? I may or may not even be able to point out the latter two on a map depending on how detailed it is. Regardless, a seaside town should be interesting. It's quaint, which is one aspect that it shares with Ponyville, but that's not enough for a location to be interesting. I do like that there's one road with a bridge that crosses overtop of Main Street. More architectural flourishes like that would be nice. I'm assuming the main reason it doesn't have the kind of multi-leveled road system I'm thinking of, is because Zephyr Heights has it in spades, though that kind of detail would make the streets of Maretime Bay interesting. I think the issue primarily comes down to a lack of interesting landmarks though.

Ha, good point. I think I'm used to TYT's tropey writing by this point, hence why that didn't occur to me, but yeah, she should be losing customers left and right. I don't know why most stallions have a use for hairspray and hoof treatment anyways. I suppose there is always a need for a hairdresser, but they could turn down any product for their mane. The series is written as though all ponies in Maretime Bay have nothing better to do than hang out at Pipp's salon. To be fair...maybe they don't. What is there to do in Maretime Bay?

I think this might be one of the better episodes of TYT. It provides a new situation/premise, and I'm always for any situation where Pipp needs to problem solve. I will nitpick it a little for Pipp immediately jumping to the conclusion that her mane couldn't be fixed rather than trying everything, as she could have just had a really bad case of bedhead, even though it did actually turn out to be a curse. This episode isn't wholly original either, as it does reach into the ye olde G5 trope jar (remind me to never turn that into a drinking game or I would die of alcohol poisoning). I can check off one of Pipp's products being the setup, and Sparky's dragon fire being the solution. Also, Sparky likely caused the problem, so I can check that off. If I had any feedback for G5...I could probably write a whole book, but I will say it really ought to depend a little less on reusing elements that we have already seen. Still, I can't quite get Bingo this time, as Izzy wasn't the cause, and Bridlewood wasn't the solution, so points for the episode not being regurgitated in its entirety. Also, Pipp wasn't on social media in this short. It was good to see Wendy again too, even if she's a very basic character (to be fair so is most of the Mane Six). All in all, the episode does its job, and is entertaining enough to watch, so I'll give it as much of a thumbs up as I can for a TYT short.

G4 G5 G1 G3 G3.5 G2 Spaces indicate a wider margin between the placements in my rankings.

I'm mixed on this one. Points off for recycling a concept from a previous episode, and one that is highly tropey to begin with. Points earned for having it be an Alphabittle episode though, and yeah...it ended up being a decent enough character moment for him. Having other potion and artifact effects occur while the ponies are young also helps alleviate the predictability somewhat, even though it's clear that it's going to work out, and even all of that is pretty tropey. As for Opaline's part...I'm equally mixed. It's a phoned-in addition at the end of the episode that could probably work without her, but I'm used to her being shoehorned into plots. Moreover, she did steal hipster pony's cutie mark (I really can't bother to learn the names of all the NPCs, even though she's one of my favourites in G5). Much like with Posey, hipster pony hated having her cutie mark stolen, but was otherwise more or less just mildly perturbed, which underlines how much less relevant cutie marks are in this series. Also, speaking of Posey, she had her mark again, so I guess those grow back. Yeah, I know that's probably an animation error, but if the producers of TYT don't give a flip than neither do I. Posey seems to be doing just fine post-cutie mark snatch even without that animation goof-up, so while all of this should be serving to amp up suspense, it's actually having the opposite effect for me. Oh well, I guess it is a clear indication that plot is still ongoing. By the way, who are Jade and Taco? A couple of Opaline's inanimate objects perhaps? It's also possible we got a further spoilery thing that we're not supposed to know about yet, but the producers of TYT definitely don't give a flip about that either, so neither do I.

It would be nice if Sunny had at least something that she was known for, other than "friendship" and her part-time retail job. I would just like to know what she does for fun on her days off, even when her friends aren't around. If she's supposed to be G5's take on Twilight, she's a pretty terrible one, as Twilight was never just "friendship". Twilight had to have a mini-arc at the start of the show where she came around to friendship, but first and foremost she's a dedicated academic and bookaholic with more than her share of OCD, who enjoys reading and learning at every opportunity she gets, and initially being new to the whole friendship thing also meant she had a lot to learn about the ins and outs of having friends. Sunny simply doesn't have either the personality or development to sustain much in the way of stories about her, let alone match what Twilight was. If anything, Hitch is a better homage to Twilight than Sunny is. I have my issues with him too, as well as Izzy, but that's its own discussion. Zipp instantly replaced Sunny as the lead character in my eyes once the show started because she not only received the beginning of an arc with the whole not being ready to take the throne and wanting to explore friendship thing, but she's also the only one who seems to care when signs crop up of plot-related things and/or things that threaten the magic of Equestria, and nopony else, including the alleged mane pony, or even the town sheriff, seem to care until the consequences actually start to manifest. Plus, Zipp is just a far more interesting character than Sunny. Misty has since replaced Zipp as the lead pony, because she has not only had a full arc and development that eclipses what even Zipp received, but she is shaping up to be exactly what Sunny should have been; a Sunny 2.0 that's better in every way, shape and form if you ask me. Misty is in a position to explore what it means to have friends, and find her place in the place and circumstances she now finds herself in, and is a much more interesting character to boot. It's understandable too if she doesn't have a ton in the way of established hobbies and needs to try things, as she has been cooped up in a castle for a good portion of her life. As for the dead parent thing, I think that's a case of the shows and movie falling back on tropes as a shortcut for storytelling. In G5's defence, FiM had an ambiguous parent situation too for some of the Mane Six and CMCs, with many cases not being explored until much later in the series. However, with G5 focusing a lot more on family dynamics, it does seem a lot more glaring that there are a lot of dead parents, or unconfirmed parents in Izzy's case.

I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment. Also, to this day I couldn't even tell you what she even does for fun. Tending a smoothie stand is a job, not a personality trait, and while I get that she really enjoys spending time with her friend, she has to have things she enjoys doing when no one is around, and should have personality of her own outside of just being part of her friend group, even though she rooms with them. Unlike the others, who, besides Misty, all have an annoying switch where they can become insufferable once flipped, Sunny doesn't seem to have that...for the most part. I mean, one could argue that being portrayed as a Mary-Sue who can save the day in an instant with her Alicorn powers is problematic. In terms of general personality traits though, she doesn't generally act in an annoying manner. However, the problem is, Sunny doesn't generally act in a manner that exudes personality either, because she really doesn't have much of one. She can be whatever she needs to be for the plot I suppose, and that works sometimes. Sunny made for a good companion to Zipp in her investigation in that one episode in the latest chapter, for example. Being a good companion though, doesn't negate the fact that she can't seem to carry much of a narrative on her own, as she almost needs another character to take the lead or at least be present to give her something of relevance to do. Five minute shorts can work sometimes, but in those cases it's almost always a situation that carries the narrative rather than Sunny herself. Something like an episode about Pipp's product line feels distinctly Pipp. Conversely, that episode where Sunny wanted to earn a scout badge feels more like Sunny was just inserted into a random narrative that was drawn out of a hat, and which doesn't feel distinctly Sunny. Literally anypony could randomly decide to join some pony scout group, and it would have the same effect. I could even argue that it would probably come across as better if Misty did something like that in an effort to explore life in her new circumstances.

Pipp was my least favourite in the movie as well, and she has also shot up to my number three spot. Technically she was my second favourite until Misty came around. I think Pipp is still my waifu of the series though, which is odd, since my waifu is usually my favourite character (well, female character at least, but in MLP my favourite character tends to be female). As for what I think is the reason why character rankings are more prone to changing in G5, well, it probably has something to do with the majority of the cast being way underdeveloped. In G4 the mane cast got plenty of character development all along, which helped endear the audience to all of them, and it simply became a matter of picking a favourite from there. In G5, Zipp got a start of an arc, only for it to be mostly abandoned, though the two pony sisters and their relationship with Queen Haven is probably the closest the series got to fleshing out character relationships prior to Misty. Otherwise, all of the then Mane Five have yet to receive the kind of development FiM's Mane Six received in the first season alone. Misty has definitely benefitted from being the focus of the first major arc in the series. It's highly likely she will be treated just like any other member of the Mane Six going forward, but she has received a full arc, which is more than could be said for the others, so of course she has come along and shaken up character rankings left and right. As for why character rankings likely changed after the movie...well, different characters have gotten more focus in the shows than in the movie. Zipp and Pipp were the most underdeveloped in the movie because they just didn't get as much focus as they should have, but...does the show even care about Sunny, Izzy and Hitch anymore?