Thrond

Ugh... Dungeons and Discords - This episode is really funny. I really like how Discord and Spike are nearly as silly as Discord, meaning that he's reacting to them more often than they're reacting to him, plus this is one of the first times he really seemed like he might change. Love it. Hearts and Hooves Day - This episode is silly; it just goes so far with its one joke that it builds up this great sense of absurdity. I just think it's really funny. Brotherhooves Social - I think this falls into some common traps with cross-dressing comedy... it calls so much attention to Big Mac being male that it seems like it's judging him for pretending to be a mare, which is problematic in a lot of ways. But there is a sweetness underlying all of it, and Peter New's enthusiastic voice acting makes up for a lot. Plus, that ending really is quite moving. To Change a Changeling - This episode is very funny a lot of the time, but it frustrates me. I just find Starlight's and Trixie's poor judgement here exasperating, I don't really care about Thorax making up with his brother, and the moral doesn't seem particularly applicable to the target demographic. But Pharynx is funny. Stare Master - This is the first time I found the CMC to be annoying, and I don't really think the moral is reflected in the story. Plus Twilight has never been more shoehorned in than here. Still, there are a good few funny moments, especially the Stare. Somepony to Watch Over Me - I think this has some funny reaction shots, and the stuff with the chimera is pretty cool, but Applejack's behaviour is just so ridiculous that I don't believe she would do any of that. She's incredibly annoying, though it is satisfying to see the CMC acknowledge that; if any of the mane six were going to act like this, I guess it would be Applejack, but I don't actually want to see this from any of them. And the moral is nice but I don't really understand where Applejack got it from - I mean, Apple Bloom had just gotten herself in danger because she wasn't prepared. The Summer Sun Setback - I can't deny that this is sort of funny and has more continuity than I would expect, but I just can't get behind this whole "Twilight stops panicking so she can be a better ruler of Equestria" thing. I don't care about Twilight ruling Equestria, and I feel like having her stop panicking altogether takes away an important part of her identity. I don't want to see her prove she's changed, I want to see her continuously managing her anxiety. Plus, this situation seems worth panicking over, and it seems like Twilight's friends act the exact same way she would in this situation. Plus the villains are way less silly than they were in "Frenemies," and that's a bummer. The End in Friend - First half is up there with the worst episodes of the show; it just seems like Rainbow and Rarity are both being incredibly inconsiderate, and the idea that their friendship is this flimsy is downright insulting. I liked seeing them cooperate in the second half, because they can be fun together, but even that was hurt by the idea that this is the only thing they can bond over; they both seem so petty here, and in the context of season 8's greater continuity, that doesn't even make sense.

Read It and Weep - One of the more direct attempts to show Rainbow Dash overcompensating, and that makes this one of her most interesting episodes to me. It’s ultimately that dichotomy which makes her interesting to me - she puts on a façade of confidence when she’s actually really insecure. This one also has a bunch of funny jokes, the Daring Do stories it introduces are just plain delightful, and the moral about not being ashamed of things you like is easily one of the show’s best. It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies - This one keeps growing on me. I think it’s super cute, and it’s softer tone is a perfect fit for the challenge this provides to Fluttershy’s worldview. Unlike most of these season 4 “key” episodes, this one has Fluttershy realize that her sensitivity is both a strength and a flaw - her life philosophy isn’t reinforced so much as it’s modified, as she now realizes that she can’t just coddle everyone. The Times They Are a Changeling - I’m not convinced this entirely works as a story about racism; it still reinforces the changeling stereotype that Thorax needs to “change” from. Thorax is “one of the good ones.” And yet, I find it irresistible: Thorax is cute and sympathetic, and it’s powerful seeing him strain to resist his predatory instincts. Plus seeing Spike stand up for him is equally moving. Sonic Rainboom - Maybe the first episode to show Rainbow Dash overcompensating, done in season 1’s gentler style. I like this for pretty much the same reasons as “Read It it Weep,” but I like it less because I find Rarity kind of annoying in it. She’s just so selfish in this one. Otherwise it’s great. Friendship University - I kinda feel like Film and Flam has a point about Twilight feeling threatened by competition, but also this episode is really funny so I can look past that. “Plainity” is one of the highlights of its season. Campfire Tales - I guess this is a little charming and kinda fun at times, but it doesn’t seem very creative to me. These myths are all pretty generic, and their cultures are all just real-world cultures except with ponies. Not my definition of a compelling world. Made in Manehattan - This episode is annoying, and I find the whole montage of Applejack and Rarity failing to be overly depressing, but I do like the ending with the roadside play. A Trivial Pursuit - This kinda seems like one of the things that I liked My Little Pony for not being. Loud noises and weird faces aren’t funny to me, and I actually found this one really obnoxious.

Aw shoot, let me correct.

Rarity Investigates - Not sure Rarity has ever been more delightful than she is here, and this suggested a lot of potential for pairing her up with Rainbow Dash in the future. Huge shame that every other time the show did was just a joke about how different their personalities are. I mean, here they seem to get along quite well. And besides, I find this to be one of the funniest episodes in the entire show, and the whole film noir gimmick is just great. The Hearth's Warming Club - This is super cute, plus Gallus's backstory is one of the more impressively bittersweet things the show has ever done. It caught me completely off guard when I sat that episode, and it was really heartwarming to see his friends stick with him over the winter break. This episode is really sweet. Feeling Pinkie Keen - This is one of the funniest episodes of the entire show and arguably the funniest of season 1, but I do think it botched the moral. It seems to me that just because you can't deny something doesn't mean you shouldn't try to understand it, and I honestly feel that Twilight was right to be skeptical, at least to a point. Otherwise: terrific. Triple Threat - This one's kinda clunky in a lot of ways, but I also think it's pretty funny, and honestly I just generally like Ember and Thorax. Watching them become friends at the end was particularly great. And although it seems weird that Spike would make such an obvious scheduling mistake, I do sympathize with his anxiety regarding the huge responsibility suddenly thrust upon him. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 - This is pretty charming and has a great song but it kinda makes no sense. Clearly the Apples have a supply problem with the cider, and the Flim Flam Brothers have offered a solution, so it seems absurd that they just stubbornly cling to tradition instead of realizing they still need to do something. The Flim-Flam Brothers are pretty sketchy even here, but they kinda have a point. 28 Pranks Later - I'm pretty annoyed that this features Rainbow at her most immature, to the extent that her friends have to put on an elaborate show just to scare her into not playing dangerous pranks on everyone, but I also think it's kinda funny, and the zombie thing is pretty creative and has some nice atmosphere. Twilight Time - I find this episode to have a relatively cynical tone, and it has relatively few jokes for this show, so I find it a bit boring; I don't really sympathize with the CMC and I don't find Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon very entertaining, so this just feels like waiting for the CMC to learn their lesson. And it's one of the more notable examples of Twilight being just sort of bland, even with the crazy burger scene, though I will admit that scene is almost worth it. 2, 4, 6, Greaaat! - This episode is annoying.

Not a fan of most of these. The Last Roundup - This is probably one of the best examples of the show's blend of silliness and surprising depth. At the end of the day the main driving force is an internal conflict: Applejack's fear of disappointing the town is already deep enough, and it's all the better for being set against silliness like Pinkie Pie's "chimicherrychanga" bit. And though this has some of the show's best action scenes and involves a journey far beyond Ponyville, at the end of the day it's still just a friendship problem. One of my favourites. Suited for Success - I think this is one of the show's funniest episodes, and I also think the moral here is unusual for season 1. Most of this season was about stuff like keeping secrets and trusting your friends, and suddenly there's this episode about overly demanding customers. Great stuff. Filli Vanilli - I still find it a bit frustrating that the show returned to this well so many times, especially since it hinted at moving away from it in season 3, but I also think this is one of the better versions of the "Fluttershy is afraid" plotline. I like how happy she is to sing when people aren't looking, and I like how she doesn't just get over her fear by the end - maybe one day she'll get there, but now she just likes to sing to herself and her friends. And Fluttershy taking Poison Joke to replace Big Mac is just a creative idea to begin with. Canterlot Boutique - There are... hints that this episode has a bit more to offer, but as far as I can tell it's just about Sassy Saddles being egotistical and signing Rarity up for too much work. I mean, the mass production idea is interesting, but this episode doesn't do anything with it; Rarity just deals with the work Sassy dumped on her, eventually decides it's too much, and takes control back. She doesn't really learn anything or have her worldview meaningfully challenged, and I find that pretty uninteresting, which wouldn't be a problem except that this episode takes itself relatively seriously. I feel there's just not a whole lot here. The Last Laugh - I find bits of this kinda funny, but this episode makes no sense. Why did Pinkie forget her "purpose"? What she learns here is something that she already knew for most of her life. The Cart Before the Ponies - I feel like older sisters should all be more sensitive than to take over the CMC's race car projects, and the general trajectory of this is really predictable, which makes the whole thing kinda dull. I liked watching the CMC try out new things - this is one of their more atypical episodes, I think - but the characterization of the older sisters is shaky, and although this has a little more depth to the moral than you might expect, it doesn't really show that through the story. A Matter of Principals - I was starting to lose patience with Discord by this point, because this seems to strip away a lot of the depth that the previous few seasons had tried to give him, and this doesn't have nearly enough good jokes and weird moments to compensate. I would call it by far the least funny Discord episode. And some of his shenanigans in this are just, like, bringing back monsters and villains from earlier episodes. Usually Discord is more creative than that. Fame and Misfortune - Even if I try not to get mad that this is basically the show insulting its own fans - I mean, I guess it makes some valid points - it's just way too unsubtle and heavy-handed. It's just a bunch of ponies being rude and annoying, without much of an actual joke to it, and the dialogue doesn't even make sense in the context of the story. The citizens of Ponyville are talking about the book like it's a fictional work, whereas the mane six reply like they personally are being attacked - which they are, but that's not the same thing as fans criticizing a show, even though that's the obvious metaphor here. This episode doesn't make sense.

Oh my god I totally missed the LyraBon proposal, aaaaaahhhhhh!

Not a whole lot to say about this. Big Mac and Sugar Belle proposing to each other is really cute, and there's a bunch of individual funny moments, but I found the bigger picture kinda exasperating. It kinda seemed like everyone here kept making obviously bad decisions and should have known better, and when it was apparent that neither of these plans were working out, I really think they should have just went back to Big Mac and Sugar Belle and admitted as much. As always I wish this show were less predictable, and I don't think this took very good advantage of the mockumentary gimmick. And I don't find the moral about everything working out okay convincing at all; to me, it seems like it turned out like that solely because the stakes are so low. It sorta seems like they decided the wedding would happen first and then hastily slapped together a story to fit it. I dunno, I felt kinda similarly about "The Break Up Break Down" only to enjoy it a lot more on a second viewing, and I already found a lot of the jokes here pretty funny, so maybe that'll also happen with this one; for now I'm leaning slightly towards a thumbs up. Sugar Belle saying "eeyup" is some good stuff, though.

Top 5 are all among my favourite episodes of the entire show, and could probably be shuffled in any order. Fall Weather Friends - By this point season 1 had really picked up momentum; I kinda doubt the show were written in linear progression, but all the early-season awkwardness is mostly gone after this point. This one is delightful mostly because the friendly rivalry between Applejack and Rainbow Dash is so much fun, but also because it's full of great little jokes and is even more fast paced than most of season 1. Stranger than Fan Fiction - Putting a nitpicky nerd into his own favourite series is a pretty clever idea, and I like that this focuses less on that than his character arc from dismissing the whole ordeal to realizing it's all serious. Plus, this is a fun turn from Dash; her loyalty to Daring is a great complement from her love of spectacle, and the moral about respecting others' tastes even though you don't share them is one of the show's best. The Perfect Pear - I can see why this one is so beloved: the flashback story is adorable, and it's full of these poetic touches unlike anything else in the show. It's not my #1 because I wish it had slightly more detail, but the romance is great and the framing story is even better. There's nothing else in the show like this, and if I were ranking episodes purely by emotional power, this would be ranked incredibly high. The Mean Six - I think this one's pretty unique in the show too, if only because the moral seems completely unimportant. It's just great jokes, top to bottom, and for once it doesn't take a villain's plan so seriously. The story is even more simple than most of season 1, because that leaves more room for jokes, and shifting Chrysalis to comic relief is one of the show's best ideas. It's this show stripped of all pretensions and just left as a funny cartoon. Baby Cakes - This is incredibly funny, and I like that Pinkie is making a sincere effort to be responsible. I always enjoy when this show presents parenthood as stressful and exhausting, because it seems like exactly the sort of brand which would otherwise glamorize it by selling baby dolls. And those babies really are freaky - I kinda wonder how anyone could handle babies that can fly or which have magic power. Between Dark and Dawn - I will admit that I find this kinda predictable and formulaic, and I wish it put less emphasis on crazy faces, but this is also just filled with great jokes. So many funny and charming things happen in this that I can ignore that both conflicts here have been done in this show, and to be honest, seeing Twilight & co. struggle with royal duties makes it slightly easier for me to accept her being Celestia's successor. Simple Ways - Not a fan of this one. I just think that Rarity is really annoying in it, and that's most of what this episode is, so even though I find Applejewel pretty funny and the moral solid, I just don't enjoy watching it. Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? - This is one of my least favourite episodes; I feel like it brings up serious issues and then ignores them in favour of callbacks and dull action. I find the jokes generally weak, relying on lazy jokes like Rainbow being afraid of cute things, and there's never any sense of danger or any particularly creative or exciting imagery. It's rather boring, and it does a really clumsy job of handling the theme of self-harm; it's really not hard to suggest that Luna saves the day by just sort of deciding to get over it, as if her issues are all in her head. And that's not okay. Magical Mystery Cure - I just think this episode is messy and incoherent. There's a lot of seemingly random events which are never fully explained, and I find the pace of this just exhausting. The general feeling is that it's telling me that I should be moved without actually explaining why, and I find that extremely frustrating, especially because I think the plot structure is pretty messy. And I like it even less because of how Twilight became a princess; to me it feels like she's being placed on a pedestal as if her friends don't matter, and it's not very satisfying because it doesn't seem to have anything to do with what we've seen her do in the show up to that point. Combined, I find the high emotion and nonsensical plot absolutely infuriating.

Even at the time I noticed that it had that vibe, and it's clear that the intention in a lot of episodes is to suggest the main characters had completed a "journey" and shift them to more of a "mentor" role - something that I think a lot of people (though not myself) wish season 9 was doing, especially given that the show pretty quickly turned its back on that idea. The big notes of finality come pretty frequently, even in episodes like "The Mane Attraction" which don't really conclude anything. At the time I complained that it diminished the power of the finale a bit, though I dunno if I'd still consider that the case. It definitely still serves as a transition of a sort, as it introduces the kind of storytelling ambition and tighter plot structures that would become frequent later on. The main characters had already had their roles disrupted in season 4, when they started to be consistently shown as an inspiration to secondary characters, and season 5 doubles down: in many stories, they are the ones teaching someone else a lesson, and they all directly approach their goals at some point, which left the next four seasons to reconcile that with the show's moralistic storytelling. So yeah, it has a strong air of finality to it, but it leaves the door open for the show either to end there or to change into something different.

I actually like most of these, but one of the ones I don't like is potentially my most contrarian My Little Pony opinion. Pinkie Pride - This is just so joyous and energetic. I find the escalating silliness of Pinkie and Cheese's competition absolutely delightful, and it's jam-packed with great songs. Better yet, it does that while being genuinely introspective, exploring Pinkie's fear of abandonment, and even implying that she directly associates her title of "Equestria's premiere party pony" with people's approval of her. It's wonderful. Marks for Effort - This has an even more gentle atmosphere than the show's usual slice-of-life episodes, and I like how it took the Friendship School and used it to tell a story that would not have been possible in earlier seasons. I like that the CMC get to subtly learn to understand how much they know about friendship just by teaching Cozy Glow, and in this early appearance they did a really good job of hiding the latter's evil by making her almost too cute. Plus it has my favourite Starlight appearance ever. Discordant Harmony - That one time Discord tried to be nice. I actually think this tones down his usual absurdity slightly as a result, but I find Discord politely riffing to be almost as funny as Discord trolling, and this is the only episode where I can sympathize with him at all. It would have been interesting if they had continued trying to make him just a little nicer. Plus it's a pretty good showcase of later-season Fluttershy. I just wish it didn't suddenly raise the stakes at the end. Call of the Cutie - Cute, though I feel like nobody really learned anything here. Family Appreciation Day - I was already pretty bored with Diamond Tiara making Apple Bloom self-conscious by this point, but Granny Smith being awesome makes up for a whole lot. She's pretty silly, but she's also so confident in all of her silliness that I can't help but admire her. Spice Up Your Life - I think the balance of this story is off; Rarity's characterization doesn't seem out-of-place to me, but I wish she was written with a little more nuance, and I think this doesn't do a good enough job of having both Rarity and Pinkie be to blame for the Tasty Treat's bad showing. And I'm annoyed by the whole idea of Zesty Gourmand as a character. But there's also a unique flavour to this that I find appealing, and I really like Coriander and Saffron. The producers really should have gotten actual South Asian voice actors to voice them, but it's a breath of fresh air nonetheless. The Last Crusade - This meanders a bit and presents the most idyllic version of its story possible, but I generally like how this presents Scootaloo's family life, and I find it satisfying to finally learn about that. I feel like Scootaloo should have resented her parents for neglecting her, and I find it underwhelming that this episode doesn't dig into that. But it still gets to the idea that her parents need to do a better job, and I guess that's good enough for me. Amending Fences - I thought the entire point of the show was that Twilight didn't have friends in Canterlot. Even here, her relationship with them doesn't seem very close, to the extent that I genuinely don't believe she owes Moondancer anything. As far as I can tell, Twilight barely knew her. And it's even harder for me to sympathize when it seems like Moondancer's real friends did show up, and did try to reassure her of her self-worth. I don't understand what point this episode is trying to make, so all of the high emotion leaves me cold. Plus, Twilight is entirely in the right from start to finish and never doubts herself, which bores me stiff. Games Ponies Play - I find this one really contrived and unfunny, mostly, and it doesn't even seem to have a very strong moral. I think it's one of the show's most annoying episodes.

I actually think Dash is incredibly insecure.

I like almost all of these. Party Pooped - Honestly this is one of the few times I've actually kinda liked Twilight having a government position, because watching her and her friends freak out about diplomacy is a real change of pace from what the show usually offers. I like that this tries its hand at cultural relativism, something the show would slowly improve at over the next few seasons, and I also just find the general vibe here, which is both tense and goofy at the same time, to be a lot of fun. Molt Down - I'm still impressed by how bluntly this takes on puberty. It doesn't conceal it in metaphor like the early CMC stuff; no, there's Spike dealing with changes to his body as he grows older. I love the improved season 8 worldbuilding, with all the horrible dragon puberty rituals, and it's great that they're finally telling this story once the friendship school has brought other dragons to Ponyville. Also this is really funny. Winter Wrap Up - Kinda elevated by a great song, because there's not a whole lot going on here, but there's something charming about the general atmosphere here, and unlike most season 1 stories, nobody's acting like a jerk. There's also some nice little funny moments, like Rarity getting obsessed with Twilight's awful bird nest. I think this is about where season 1 really comes together. Three's a Crowd - This is a particularly bad offender for making Discord seem like a jerk, as it's before most of his character development, but I always enjoy his absurdity. And I have a soft spot for Cadance, who's just so sweet in this while also showing off some fighting prowess. I really wish the show had developed her more, because she never really developed tangible flaws or hobbies, but this is a fun episode nonetheless. Hearth's Warming Eve - I find it a little questionable that the historical figures in the play are so similar to the mane six personality-wise, this is still pretty fun - a good moment of worldbuilding before the show started taking that so seriously. The upside of having the mane six just playing themselves is that their lovable personalities come through, and so we get a bunch of funny moments, especially from Pinkie Pie, who I can only imagine was the first pony to understand that the earth is round. Flutter Brutter - I find Zephyr Breeze really funny, but the sheer scale of his bad deeds doesn't quite seem to fit the moral. What does fear of failure have to do with smashing his dad's cloud collection? Nonetheless, it is a good moral, and Fluttershy's role in this is still phenomenal. She's standing up for herself for once, but it doesn't feel like a big difference, because she still has the sensitivity and gentleness that defines her. That is what this show's character development ought to feel like. Not Asking for Trouble - I honestly barely remember this, but I do remember it being kinda funny. Just for Sidekicks - This is mostly just a rehash of "Secret of My Excess," with even more contrivances and a lot less buildup to Spike being greedy, but I still think it's a lot of fun. Even the contrivances are fairly creative. Student Counsel - This is the only one I don't really like, but it has a lot of funny moments and a good moral. My problem is that the adventuring in the Everfree Forest just seems overly convoluted to me, and I found it kinda tiresome even though there were great jokes like Maud drooling over Mudbriar being turned into a statue. And at the end it kinda seems like everything in this episode only happened because everyone was an idiot.

It doesn't really matter to me. I am not interested in Equestrian politics at all.

Twilight being Celestia's student never really meant anything. The idea of her even becoming a princess, let alone Celestia's successor, never came up until season 3. That would be a lot harder to ignore if Celestia was a mortal with no heir, because then Twilight's relationship with her would have a different context. Twilight would definitely look like an heir in that case, but if the show was written the same way, it would stand out even more that the show never really brought that up, I think. I don’t think that’s the message, I was just reacting to the story that @BornAgainBrony would have preferred. Sure, that trivia episode wasn’t very good, and the Hearth’s Warming special didn’t go that deep into it. But I think the show still does a good job of getting at the genuine emotion behind it when it actually tries - this season’s “The Point of No Return,” for instance, seemed like a very thoughtful depiction of perfectionism to me. Meanwhile, I think “The Summer Sun Setback” goes too far in the opposite direction and actually makes her look calmer than her friends, which I have a hard time seeing as anything other than saying that Twilight essentially got over it entirely. There’s a way to have her grow and mature without taking one of her most relatable traits away. And I truly don’t care how long she would last as ruler. I wish she wasn’t becoming ruler. Also, you could probably argue that all of the mane six need counselling. I think the answer is that, just because children know some things better than adults, and even though some children might be more mature than some adults, that doesn’t necessarily make up for their lack of life experience. My idea is that they would add a scene where the CMC know better about something than an adult, which then leads them to think they know better than adults in general, but I like the pacing in this episode, and I feel like adding too much more might make it feel rushed. Then again I like this episode enough that adding that probably wouldn’t ruin it for me. And fair enough, children do take public transit, and the CMC getting off at the wrong stop is fairly silly. Plus, as I said, they should probably know how to get to Appleoosa. I just thought it was funny because of the irony. But I also think it’s significant that Apple Bloom didn’t make it across the fire swamp; I always thought that episode’s point was that Apple Bloom could handle being home alone, not that she could go on journeys on her own.

Which would make it more satisfying for Twilight to say “no” for once... Honestly it would be even more conspicuous if Celestia had a normal lifespan. They never even brought it up until season 3, and they couldn’t decide what it meant afterwards. That aspect has never quite sat right with the rest of the show. Different strokes for different folks.

I think any adult would be very impressed. It’s weird, because even when Faust was in charge, the show never really built up to Twilight becoming a princess. She never gave any indication she might be interested in that, and since then she’s never seemed very happy about it. And there’s no pressing reason for Twilight to rule Equestria, so I kinda just want her to decline the offer. I would say I kinda liked all of it except “She’s All Yak,” “Sweet and Smoky,” and “Student Counsel” (I felt all the Everfree stuff was unnecessary). Even the premiere and “The Last Crusade” I thought we’re okay, and the rest I enjoyed a lot.

When you highlight sections of text, a button should pop up that says "Quote Selection." I mostly meant "not adults," which is still how I see them, even in their most mature roles. I don't recall - did anyone ever point out how successful they are for their age? Mostly it's because I find it boring to watch the main characters do the right thing from start to finish, and in that episode I didn't find Rumble interesting enough to compensate. It makes them admirable at the cost of them being relatable. Oh thank god. Maybe the finale won’t be completely horrible. I think that's all the more reason for "The Summer Sun Celebration" to have been more nuanced, though. Twilight fitting so well as headmare makes this season's running plot especially confusing. I'm not sure how her being Celestia's successor is supposed to be satisfying. I actually liked a lot of the standalone episodes in the first half of the season, whereas the main plot stuff actively brought episodes down for me. I thought the premiere was okay but nothing special, and actively disliked "The Summer Sun Celebration." Fair enough, and I guess they've also been to Appleoosa before. (God, this was hard to post. Never had MLPForums glitch out on me like that before.)

Yeah, fair enough. It just seemed weird for literal children to be regarded as experts, though of course maybe they shouldn't have continued being literal children. And honestly I would be okay with the show emphasizing either direction, but they kinda fit awkwardly together. They could have been shown to have only grown slightly older, allowing the show to make more stories like this about children's perspectives. Or they could have properly aged the CMC up, which I think would have fit well with the friendship school being introduced. "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" is a good counter-argument, though it's kind of an exception in my mind. Season 7's "Marks and Recreation" is a better example of an episode I didn't like because the CMC don't learn anything, which is kinda what I assume would happen if the show deliberately tried to show off how much these characters have grown. But that's the entire emotional crux of the episode: that Twilight won't freak out, even though this issue is totally worth freaking out over. I don't think her friends reacted much differently than she would, and I found that reaction totally understandable, so I was mostly annoyed with them in that episode. Plus, "Twilighting" is one of the things that makes Twilight Sparkle who she is, so I don't think having her essentially get over that - especially in a situation that totally warrants it - is at all satisfying. I want to see her develop, but there must be a way to do that without totally flattening her personality, which really is what that episode looks like to me. More importantly, it's hard for me to get invested in anything that happens there, because I really dislike the idea of Twilight becoming ruler of Equestria. Those are the issues that I think are relevant to the discussion of whether characters have been given a satisfying conclusion; I have others which I've mostly said my peace about in that episode's thread. Yeah, but I don't think that Twilight could use that excuse if people didn't genuinely think they needed a chaperone.