ErisPegasus

not having dedicated history episodes early on (Shadow Play sucked). I mean actually seeing the past as it happened, so Hearth's Warming Eve doesn't count. Either do it by time travel, or Celestia/Luna telling a story about her former life, I don't care. It was criminal that we never had a crystallised view of Old Equestria.

I liked his voice. It served his new role as a braggart who was brought down by his own hubris and unwillingness to work in a team. Grogar literally used him as an example for the other villains; that was the point of him being the antagonist of the premier. One of the biggest original criticisms of Sombra was his complete lack of personality in the Season 3 opener. Season 9 rectified it and then some. Season 9 Sombra was always going to disappoint a loud minority because he's a fundamental retcon of himself in Season 3, as well as the individual mental pictures that they had built up in their heads. This doesn't have to contradict my previous post. In fact, my biggest disappointment is that they didn't follow through on Grogar 'punishing' Sombra for losing the bet. It would have made for a hilarious season-long thread if if he did revive Sombra again, but restricted his power/movement with magic so that he is forced to obey no matter what. Imagine Sombra as a true lackey: stripped of his king regalia, made to mop the floors of Grogar's hideout while muttering to himself and harbouring resentments. This was what we missed.

He was fantastic in the premier; the disappointment is that he was dispelled for good and didn't join Grogar's legion. This even contradicts Grogar's dialogue in Part 1, where he says that Sombra will do as he is told if he fails to retake the Crystal Empire. Imagine 'Frenemies' with King Sombra in it. That would've been dope.

I only just found out that Larson was entirely absent in S4, which threw me into a loop because it was a good season. Best: Larson in all the seasons he's been in. Lady Writers since Larson left. Mike Vogel is underrated. Frenemies put him on the map for me, but he was also decent in seasons 6 & 8. Worst: probably Haber. In terms of episode-by-episode he's not the worst, but he's had the most deleterious effect on the show's narrative direction since several of the original writers left.

She was the villain of the episode, and if you step back and evaluate the actual events, this is evident.

I haven't even seen 200, but I know it's way better than Slice of Life. I could never understand the fandom obsession with background horses. It was one of things I always thought of as pandering and circlejerking.

I like them for being their species, but not their personalities in and of themselves. Which is fitting - it's pretty clear that they exist only to be symbols/representatives of a species, rather than unique characters.

I mean yes, in the sense that it's ephemera, it was most popular in the first 2-3 years of its existence before dropping off massively, and it'll die eventually. 'Fad' doesn't need to be a bad thing however. The opposite of 'fad' - sticking around forever - is worse IMO. Just look at Harry Potter, Disney, the Simpsons, etc. They just won't die, and it's eating up creative talent as well as airspace that could create something new. (That being said, I wish M.A. Larson &co had stuck around for Horse instead of leaving Haber to his devices after season 5. If Horse had gone on longer than 10 seasons, I would have supported Larson &co leaving for their personal projects)

How Chrysalis was sidelined in seasons 7 & 8, when season 6's finale ended on a cliffhanger that promised imminent revenge. Season 9 has since picked up the slack, but for 52 episodes there was only The Mean Six to show for Chrysalis' ""comeback"". Which was pretty pathetic.

Re: the ending, I went over it again and I really like how Pharynx's second design meshes with his voice. It's funny in a 'snappy' way. It feels like something from an MLP Abridged Series. I'd like to see him again in future eps, and have him play the 'uncle who's grumpy but loves his subjects'. He'd moan about the new generation being soft, but never as harshly as I've heard from some boomers.

I love the new designs. I think the issue is that we didn't see the original Changeling society more before it was revolutionised. That's why Chrysalis having a second hive / changeling civil war is a great idea. The recent episode reduced this wiggle room, because all of Thorax's changelings are confirmed on his side, but it's possible some dozen ran away after Chrysalis was deposed. We may see them again.

Brohoof t I'm super critical of Starlight too, but the Mane 6 are stagnant. If the writers haven't explored every opportunity with them, it sure feels like they have, because they're starting to retread the same lessons again. I mean, it should be obvious with the show recently that its about fitting round pegs in square holes. Starlight is the pinnacle of that. In many episodes, the end and the means are discordant. A character states that they learned something despite the means not being very convincing. I don't think Starlight is a 'good' character, but she switches up the show dynamic after 5 seasons. If she wasn't there, I'd hate the Mane 6 even more, because the clockwork "Rarity says something superficial + Applejack rolls her eyes and quips back" would be even more stale. More broadly, it seems that the writers have selected 'making a more coherent and peaceful Equestria' as the show's ultimate goal, and a large chunk of the episodes are a step in this, whether the events are incidental or intentional. This is why you have all the reformations, as well as the geography's constant expansion. When you select this goal and work backwards to achieve it, many episodes feel contrived, because they are. Character interactions can never feel truly 'real' because they're guided by a moral goal, and this is because it's a kid's show. This was always present with Twilight being Celestia's student, but the castle map made it more blatant, because it became a literal goal to seek out. In a decade or two, when people look back at this show, they may view the castle map as the shark-jumping moment. Not Twilight's ascension, EQG, or Starlight (who debuted in the same episode). The mechanism that gave her her presence to begin with.

Pharynx is basically your Platonic Trump supporter. Feels left behind by new, colourful culture; blames his current unemployment on said culture instead of declining economic opportunities; wants the old society back despite it being more xenophobic and repressive (which - get this - doesn't impact him personally). The difference is that the second clause is correct in the episode: his current unemployment has direct causation with the demilitarisation of changelings. Him being older also helps the comparison. If he was younger, he'd spend his time gaming and calling other changelings cucks. I just realised that Starlight was dreadful in this episode. Darn, at this rate i'm downgrading my vote to a 3/5.