Thrond

Characters can keep distinctive fundamental traits without needing to learn the same things or seemingly undo character development. If Dash becomes more humble and Fluttershy becomes more confidence, then they still could very easily have recognizable traits which make them distinct from each other. It's all a matter of the writers understanding the existing core of the character and expanding on it so they don't need to repeat ideas, so Fluttershy doesn't need to always be cowardly and Rainbow Dash doesn't need to always be insensitive. For example, "28 Pranks Later" would have worked significantly better if it had placed heavy emphasis on Rainbow Dash's reason for upping her pranks being to amuse her friends; too often this episode made her seem like she's doing it for her own amusement, and that doesn't feel like a nuanced understanding of her character. If she's trying to amuse them but approaching it wrong, then that completely changes how she fits into the story without needing to alter the moral at all.

I want to explain a little better. I feel "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" is pointlessly mean-spirited primarily because a good chunk of the running time is devoted to depicting Rainbow Dash at her worst, and increasingly having her ego cause problems. One later scene, where she struggles to open a jar of peanut butter, feels actively hostile towards her, because she is humiliated solely for the crime of taking pride in her accomplishments. Why does so much screen time need to be devoted to Dash making an ass of herself? Why does just as much need to be devoted to Dash utterly embarrassing herself? I can see how this could tie into a lesson about fame going to your head, but I don't find Rainbow Dash's arrogance fun in this episode, and the overwhelming vibe I've gotten in the past is that the episode is revelling in taking Dash down a peg way beyond what is necessary. In retrospect, her arrogance at least makes some sense given all of the positive feedback, but I don't really want to see the show bring out the worst in her just to knock her down over and over again. To me, it feels mean-spirited, and I find that makes for an unpleasant viewing experience. As for the mane six? Perhaps it's just a delivery thing, but it always came across to me as Dash's friends praising themselves in a roundabout way rather than trying to drive a point home. Nothing ever promted me to consider there might be any other purpose to them praising Mare-Do-Well, particularly given that they consistently praise their own part in it. I hope this clears my thoughts up a little more. I dunno, getting Rarity's new boutique ready to open quickly seems like a pretty solid conflict to me. The screw-ups aren't really the point as much as actually getting shit done, and that drives the story pretty well in my opinion. And it's not thematically very strong, but it does have a lesson: when you're selected to do a job, then do it your own way and don't waste time thinking about how someone else would do it. They picked you for a reason. And, hey, I just like story momentum being used as a backdrop for comedy. "Rarity Investigates!" from season 5 is one of my favourite episodes ever because it's one of the few episodes which actually dares to do that, and I partially liked the first half of season 6 so much because every single episode had a backdrop of story momentum even if it didn't contribute anything to said momentum. Weird how we've gotten multiple lessons this season which could be best applied to the workforce. Targeting an older audience, perhaps? Or preparing the target audience for later life? Could be both.

Watch your mouth; that's my favourite episode you're talking about. Twilight learned to not make a small problem into a big one, and that she doesn't always have to do everything perfectly. I don't remember her learning that previously.

She has potential. I don't think she was necessarily a bad pony, just misguided, and I actually find it easier to believe she could grow and learn her lesson than that Gilda can. She's a good contender for the least mean of the minor antagonists, I feel, and I'd really like to see her come back and try to learn from her mistakes.

Hey, at least "Lesson Zero" required her to learn from her mistakes!

I enjoyed her characterization in that episode for more or less the same reasons, so I don't really have an argument here. I don't perceive this as unreasonable, or "mega-dumb," as you put it. It's easier to see others' problems than your own. Redundant? Yes. Unbelievable? No, I don't see that. She's familiar with "high society," and she was under the impression that making the Tasty Treat like all the other stores was necessary for it to succeed. It also seems like Coriander did absolutely nothing to encourage Rarity to think outside of her comfort zone, which even a creative pony like her might be prone to slipping into. This is an assumption, but I think it's reasonable to believe that Rarity got carried away, focused too much on the success part over the Tasty Treat part, and interpreted the lack of negative feedback as positive feedback. Of course, I would have preferred seeing Pinkie and Rarity come up with creative solutions to the Tasty Treat's problem, but that's more of a missed opportunity than bad characterization. You're assuming that the events of the Daring Do books being real wouldn't sound completely absurd to him. Maybe he should have come to a different conclusion, but especially for a pony like him, those fictional characters and fictional quests being real was probably the LAST possibility he was willing to consider. Also, I'm fairly certain Quibble either thought the Adventucation was somehow separate from the con, or that the con was really poorly organized - thought his complaints about safety around the middle of the episode made that second possibility really clear. Just remember, you know that Daring Do is real, but Quibble doesn't, and he has absolutely no reason to believe that without a very high quantity of evidence. He'd be more stupid if he didn't take so long to realize what was happening. (although, maybe he should have suspected that some crazed fans kidnapped them.) They share only a little bit of the blame for their failed attempt to speak to Rainbow on her own level. I can understand why they thought challenging Rainbow to make more inclusive pranks would work - Rarity thought that Dash would interpret the challenge differently than she did, and the rest of the mane six knew exactly where she was coming from. It would have been cool if they'd tried to follow her when she left, but would they catch her? This is Rainbow Dash we're talking about, and by that point she might not have been receptive to any more talking, which was kinda why they did the reverse-prank in the first place. Of course, that would work a lot better if Rainbow Dash actually appeared to be trying (misguidedly) to amuse ponies around Ponyville, but while the episode implies that sometimes, more often it just shows her amusing herself and not thinking at all about others. Yes, exactly; that's what I like about her characterization in that episode, and kinda where I want the show to go with her. Say what you will, but Twilight as a bastion of friendship just doesn't sound even slightly interesting to me. I just wish the show did more with it; as is it's basically left alone in favour of rehashing the "let Starlight do her own things" lesson.

Starlight is Twilight's pet project, and I dunno if Twilight necessarily fully trusts her yet, given that Twilight is actively trying to mound Starlight into a better pony. Trixie is just someone she happens to know. Trixie didn't fit Twilight's image of nice, harmless friends for Starlight, and THAT is what made her nervous.

1. That sounds pretty interesting, so yes. 2. I don't reay understand why she distrusted Trixie (although perhaps she thought Trixie and Starligjt would be a bad influence with each other), but Twilight being entirely unsympathetic in that episode was considerably more engaging than watching her as a moral delivery device in season 4, and even came close to being interesting.

S4 Twilight was horrendously boring. I only liked her that season when she seemed to not enjoy being a princess, and even that didn't especially go anywhere. I enjoy recently how all the princess stuff seems to be inflating her already-unhealthy self-expectations, and after late season 5, where she was constantly panicking and overcompensating, as well as "No Second Prances," which I continue to interpret as nothing less than an act of misguided perfectionism because she was afraid of coming across badly to Princess Celestia, it certainly seems she has plenty more room to grow - and, perhaps, to collapse under her own stress. Season 1 is actually pretty coherent in that it's about six ponies' growing friendships. Couldn't help but notice that constant theme in the vast majority of the season. Gets better as it finds its footing. I don't agree with a lot of these, and some feel like you're missing the point entirely. "Gift of the Maud Pie": This was really, really important to her, and she's not exactly a pony to keep her emotions private. I found it funny. "Newbie Dash": Dash was very understandably not in her right mind at that time. People make mistakes when under distress. "No Second Prances": a. Minor character. Nitpick. b. I don't read so much into this, but fair. "Applejack's 'Day' Off": Applejack has been shown to be prerty stubborn when she sets her mind to something, and maybe sheer momentum and habit caused her to continue with a pointless routine which - very importantly - always worked for her. I don't see what's so hard to understand about that. "Spice Up Your Life": I have my counterargument on the episode's thread but this is one of the more fair criticisms. I find it fairly easy to reconcile this episode with "Canterlot Boutique," but to each their own. "Stranger Than Fan Fiction": Yes, because a nitpicky, sceptical sort like Quibble Pants would totally find it easy to believe that a fictional book series he finds implausible is real. Are you going out of your way to criticize a character that annoyed you? "The Cart Before the Ponies": Criticism is entirely the point, but suggesting that not enough is done to make it organic is fair. I don't see the Show Stoppers similarity, though - the CMC trying different things is treated rather sincerely here. "28 Pranks Later": Fair re: Dash, otherwise I don't see where you're coming from.

But we already got a lot of new writers in the past several seasons. Do we need so many more? Hope some of these new writers are happy to be given the opportunity. I know I'd be.

I've been complaining about the revolving door of show writers for three seasons now, so I'm baffled that they've decided to add EVEN MORE. Hopefully these guys do a good job.

If this is true, then I have reason to believe that season 7 will be amazing, considering how much I'm enjoying season 6.

Ooh, that's tough. Have to give a slight edge to Twilight, but they're both absolutely adorable and both massive nerds. Twilight is ever so slightly more so, but it's REALLY close.

Rainbow Dash really, really needs to show off her best qualities. The writers haven't done that since "Wonderbolts Academy," which was three seasons ago. Some form of difficulty within the Womderbolts or regarding her Wonderbolt status would be much appreciated. Of course, what I'd most like is for the mane six to explore new dimensions of their previously established faults, so as to represent their growth and life changes. As much as I wa t characters to show their good side, I found these three episodes pretty stale and formulaic, though "Cutie Re-Mark" perhaps less so. "The Mane Attraction" in particular feels to me like it does nothing that makes any particular difference, so though it's still charming, it has an overwhelmingly minor feel which lessens my investment. "Gauntlet of Fire" was only slightly better for me because of its worldbuilding, while "The Cutie Re-Mark" at least had Starlight's reformation, which I still adore, to give it something I'm invested in.

Pretty bitter about people finally mirroring the complaints I've had about the show since season 4 in what I've found the best season in a while, but I do wonder how my now-improved opinion of season 4 will affect my feelings on season 6. I feel like one of the few people who really liked this season's premiere, and perhaps this shows where I'm coming from, but I've generally been way more satisfied with this season than the past two. I'll have to see how I feel at the end, because I feel the season is losing its direction, but I'm happier with season 6 than I was with season 5. Maybe it's just lowered expectations, as my recent re-watch of season 4 was a lot less tedious and disappointing than the first time through. I never thought the story arcs were all that good, and my favourite season is the completely uncohesive season 2, so that could be why season 6's pared-down style is doing so much for me. Haven't even hated a single episode so far.

A shame about the pacing of some scenes, but I actually rather like this episode. Spike's struggles with self-confidence are something I found very sympathetic, and even over-extended scenes like singing the national anthem were points were I could really empathise with what Spike was feeling. It's got deep themes and, in a rarity for this season, expands organically on a character and actually feels like it pushes them forward. It was around season 4 that I began to really like Spike episodes, because they always seemed to deliver the character depth and development I always considered this show's strong point, and even if the episode trades way too much on cringe comedy - seriously, the scenes of Spike embarrassing himself really are too long - this is an episode that not only makes me feel things, but also makes me feel like the show is moving forward. The games never really mattered, but what we got here is one of the few things which really does this season. I'm also really happy with the characterization here, particularly of Rainbow Dash. After the shaky quality of "Rainbow Falls," it's good to see her demonstrating all of that character development we're used to. I'm a little less fond of Twilight being the moral delivery system, as this season's attempts to make Twi seem perfect make her a lot less interesting, but I do like her apparent discomfort with actually being a princess, and wish this went somewhere a lot more interesting than I remember it going in the finale. Will have to see how that one holds up for me. Re-watching season 4 has been a lot better than I thought it would be. It's a lot more fun and moving than I remembered, and while I've found myself liking some episodes a fair bit less, this re-watch was where one or two others finally clicked with me. I can see why I found the season tiringly familiar at the time, but I also forget that I was mostly having fun even when I started feeling like the show wasn't moving forward. Perhaps it's that disappointment combined with how much less fun I had with the much more ambitious season 5 that tainted season 4 so much for me. In retrospect, it doesn't even seem that bad.

I believe this, which confuses me, as on paper she's probably one of the best characters in the show. Even weaker episodes like "Newbie Dash" have some interesting subtext, just because she's such an interesting, complex character. No reason she can't be consistent and fun as well, but few writers seem to fully "get" her. Aggravating.

Because they're all clones! Clones, I tell you! Not sure if the guard entirely corresponds to Equestria's defence force, to be honest. We can assume the Wonderbolts are a military unit of some sort, and Twilight & friends seem to contribute heavily to Equestria's security. Most of those are mares, so there you go.

An EqG show means more SciTwi and Sunset Shimmer, so I am all about that. This alleged Guardians of Harmony show sounds more action-oriented, which really isn't why I watch this show. Surely I can go elsewhere if I want action animation.

I dunno, I tend to find Pinkie Pie a lot more fun overall, and I even think she's been relatively grounded as of late, "28 Pranks Later" of course aside.

Much as I wish they could, they just can't have a serialized narrative. Discovery Family wants the ability to rerun episodes in any order, so every episode has to be self-contained. It's a significant constraint this show has to deal with.

There haven't been many Twilight episodes this season.