Thrond

I still kinda hope that they don't reform Chrysalis. She's possibly my favourite villain in the series, just because she's so fun to hate. If it's sufficiently justified I'll take it, but I feel there's ample evidence that her villainy mostly stems from self-centred reasons, and that she's too stubborn to see any other way.

Anyway! Midway through MLP season 8, my ranking:

1. "Horse Play" (100)
2. "The Mean 6" (85)
3. "Marks for the Effort" (83)
4. "Molt Down" (80)
5. "The Break Up Break Down" (78)
6. "Grannies Gone Wild" (75)
7. "School Daze" (75)
8. "The Maud Couple" (68)
9. "Surf and/or Turf" (55)
10. "Fake It Till You Make It" (35)
11. "The Parent Map" (35)
12. "Non-Compete Clause" (25)

Comparatively, the percentage of episodes I enjoyed by this point in each season (13 episodes in): 

S1 - 77%, 10/13
S2 - 85%, 11/13
S3 - 54%, 7/13
S4 - 54%, 7/13
S5 - 46%, 6/13
S6 - 85%, 11/13
S7 - 46%, 6/13
S8 - 69%, 9/13

Pretty good showing so far. I wish the school premise had a somewhat bigger impact on the mane six, as their starring episodes generally don't seem to have all that much to do with it, but the season has been pretty good about consistently offering up fresh story concepts while still keeping them entertaining, just as season 6 did. I like Starlight a lot more this year than I did in the past, and this is the first time she feels like a satisfying part of the main cast. I just wish the mane six had better episodes, because they still feel rudderless despite the change in concept. Those new students are charming, though, and thankfully stay out of the way, keeping the focus on the characters I already care about. Every season has its stinkers, but the high points this year have been relatively frequent, and especially these past four episodes have been a really strong showing. It's just nice to see that this show still has new things to offer, and hasn't entirely lost its touch yet. Much improved from last year's paltry showing.