This always seems to be the case with each villain.

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

This always seems to be the case, nightmare moon? 2 episodes defeated, Tirek 2 episodes and defeated. Must i say more?

Edited March 5, 2015 by Candy Star

[Pastel 7,630]

Oh it's true: the first day the villain wins, and the second day the mane 6 win.

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

I know this may be a troll meme, but its true. It never takes more than two episodes to defeat, it repeats like clockwork. Which is really puts on the laziness into display. But what do you expect from a kids show? its not a blown out anime.

 

And then there is anime: the shows that take up to 5-10 episodes to defeat a major villain, but the fights are fun to watch nonetheless.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Candy Star

[[NULL] 907]

Considering how they usually want to keep their episodes self-contained, it would make sense that they do this. Most cartoons that aren't Avatar: The Last Airbender have the story resolved in one episode.

 

And no, being a kid's show doesn't excuse anything from (actual) laziness.

Edited March 5, 2015 by SpaceOnion

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

Never said it did, just that they were lazy and decided to OP a villain.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

I know this may be a troll meme, but its true. It never takes more than two episodes to defeat, it repeats like clockwork. Which is really puts on the laziness into display. But what do you expect from a kids show? its not a blown out anime.

 

And then there is anime: the shows that take up to 5-10 episodes to defeat a major villain, but the fights are fun to watch nonetheless.

 

Well the main reason for this is that the writing staff still consider this a slice-of-life type of show even thought they're giving more and more attention to the premier and finales.  Another thing is that MLP has yet to do a fully serialized arc.  The Keys were a nice reminder arc, similar to what new Doctor Who does (like Bad Wolf and Vote Saxon, a background thing that really doesn't affect individual episodes save for the connection) but we're probably not going to see something like The Legend of Korra or Fullmetal Alchemist type of serialization from the show any time soon. 

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

Well the main reason for this is that the writing staff still consider this a slice-of-life type of show even thought they're giving more and more attention to the premier and finales.  Another thing is that MLP has yet to do a fully serialized arc.  The Keys were a nice reminder arc, similar to what new Doctor Who does (like Bad Wolf and Vote Saxon, a background thing that really doesn't affect individual episodes save for the connection) but we're probably not going to see something like The Legend of Korra or Fullmetal Alchemist type of serialization from the show any time soon. 

I know that, i was just pointing it out is all.

[[NULL] 907]

I know that, i was just pointing it out is all.

You make it sound like such a revelation.

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

You make it sound like such a revelation.

Well i'm not. If you want to make a good show, they need to step it up and show development. Hopefully this season doesn't go down the drain.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Candy Star

[[NULL] 907]

Well i'm not. If you want to make a good show, they need to step it up and show development. Hopefully this season doesn't go down the drain.

So what does "good" mean to you? Because out of all the problems with the show, complaining about episodes being self-contained seems pretty trivial.

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

Characters not getting even attention, is what the show lacks, but makes up for in character interaction. If you want to make a SoL, you need more than just focus on one single character above the rest. Applejack seems to be the most shoehorned in the series. But the others seem to have more eps than she does. I'm no writer, but people saying the same thing about it speaks for itself.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Candy Star

[MysticShine 529]

They probably do that to wrap up the crisis so they can get to more SoL episodes. If it was a more action oriented series, it would have an overarching plot.

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

And its not self contained i'm complaining about, its mostly how people compare this and DBZ by saying the RPP's ripped off the SSJ.

For example:

 

One more thing, people comparing this:

 

To this:

 

It really ticks me off to no end. How the bloody hay do you compare these two to each other?

 

Its a bucking kids show for crying out loud, of course you can expect something like that to happen, Its not a copyrighted thing to do.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Candy Star

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

And its not self contained i'm complaining about, its mostly how people compare this and DBZ by saying the RPP's ripped off the SSJ.

Well it's that you have an over-the-top fight scene with giant magic lasers and a sudden hair growth and color change.  A lot of people see the aesthetic similarities even if the two shows plots are very much different. It's more so about the general pop cultural knowledge than any meaningful comparison. 

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

Well it's that you have an over-the-top fight scene with giant magic lasers and a sudden hair growth and color change.  A lot of people see the aesthetic similarities even if the two shows plots are very much different. It's more so about the general pop cultural knowledge than any meaningful comparison. 

So? that doesn't change the fact that they have the right to do it, transformations are not copyrighted. So why bother comparing them at all? Buck the 2 epsode deal, this seems to be a huge problem with the idiot who believe it.

There's really no point in comparing them when they're completely different.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Candy Star

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,628]

Yepp. The villain's usually some overpowered monster from the past,that they need to work together to defeat.

 

It gets old. I think the next villain should be an organization. You know? Like a team of mysterious evil-doers that wear hoodies and masks.

 

Kind of like Anonymous. But,it takes a whole season to take them down. That would be awesome.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,306]

The alternative could be a recurring villain the likes of Skeletor (He-Man) or Mumm-Ra (Thundercats) that's just constantly a thorn in the side of the protagonist(s).  My entire childhood: Been there, done that.  And though I've watched and enjoyed anime for a long time, at some point you just wish the damned good guy would defeat the bad guy already.  Dragon Ball Z spoiler incoming:

 

 

Just HOW many episodes did Goku spend on the deteriorating planet Namek after Frieza stated he'd something like eight measly minutes before its complete destruction?  More than eight minutes-worth, I know that much. xD

 

 

Looooong hero / villain clashes may give way to recycled animations and drawn-out dialogues.  Some anime characters spend more time talking about how much ass they're going to kick than actually kicking ass. x3  And, so far as MLP is concerned, longer bouts with villains would mean less of the slice-of-life stuff that I often find comparably more appealing.

And Twi vs. Tirek was more DBZ than it was MLP. xP  Just accept it.  And while I don't generally equate Rainbow Powuh with Supah Saiyan, I still like saying that Rainbow went Super Saiyan 3 (or her mane did).

Edited March 6, 2015 by Ziggy and Angelbaby

[Cosmik Vek 768]

I can confirm it, but the next villain will probably show itself but with more progression as the two-parters go along and maybe at the end we could see an unexpected turn of events, even something that could shock we might never know.But for now we just have to wait, until Hasbro gives us something really unique for a two parters season opener.

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

The episodes are not the problem, its the villains overall:

 

S1: NM shows a lot of arrogance and starts monologuing too much; its like they ran out of ideas and decided to take the cheap way out.

 

S2: Next was Discord, he was okay but had his moments where he really shined; but then turns into an idiot and let's them zap him *Facehooves* really? If he actually cared to notice their color was back, he could have avoided it. Then we had chrysalis(or however you spell it), she managed to go further than the other did by means of separating Twilight from her friends, taking care of the element problem,  but underestimates Twilight and she pays for it and is defeated.

 

S3: Next we had King Sombra who lacks any strategy and suffers the same fate as the rest, again arrogance.

 

S4: and finally, we have Tirek. He was the second worst villain we had the misfortune of seeing, he had a good plan, but just not the brains to carry it out like he should have, in the end arrogance got him too. 

 

You see my point? A lack of logic in any villain gets them defeated too easily, turning the last battle out of context was the worst decision you could have done. It would be good to see a powerful villain actually try and do what they say, instead of boasting the crap out of it.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Candy Star

[Justin_Case001 4,934]

I think it would be great if they had a season-long villain arc, or at least a recurring villain that was developed more, takes more time to defeat, etc.  But since the OP posted the DBZ thing, I will say that I think FIM is orders of magnitude better than DBZ.  I loved DBZ as a kid, but it's pretty dopey.  I'd much rather have a story that moves a good pace and is wrapped up quickly than have the hero and the villain screaming and powering up for literally half a season before either one makes a move.  DBZ is absolutely the worst pacing of any entertainment ever made.  They just make three clips--one of Goku power up, one of the villain powering up, and one of Krillan wincing or something, and then they just repeat those three clips for 15 episodes.

 

But I do wish they'd be more creative with FIM, rather than sticking to this predictable premiere and finale formula.  What are the odds that epic villain threats would always happen back to back anyway?  I really like that one brony youtuber (forget which one), who called the premieres and finales "Twilight Mad Libs".  Genius.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,164]

It's a pattern yeah, but with the time constraints the writers have to work with it's just how it works. At least what we get is still of great quality regardless. ^^

 

The episodes are not the problem, its the villains overall:

 

S3: Next we had King Sombra who lacks any strategy and suffers the same fate as the rest, again arrogance.

 

 

I have to disagree strongly with this one. Granted one person may see something different versus another person's perspective, but my points on Sombra are these:

 

1. What strategy is he lacking? He can't do much with Cadence's shield spell active, so he bides his time while doing what he can do to spread fear to the hearts of the ponies in the Empire. It's a great credit to the Mane 6 that they were able to hold things together for so long until Cadence's magic was exhausted.

 

2. I saw little to no arrogance in Sombra. In my eyes; he's a nice example of a no nonsense type of villain. It may not be to everyone's preference and people may disagree with my on this, but to me, he was one of the least arrogant villains in FiM.

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

I never understood how those black crystals got inside the barrier though.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,164]

I never understood how those black crystals got inside the barrier though.

 

Well, the barrier did collapse for a short time at the end of part one. When Cadence brought it back, one of the two happened:

 

1. Thank to quick thinking, Sombra charged the barrier, allowing his horn to be but knowing that he could regrow it and establish his dark influence one crystal at a time.

 

2. Sombra charged to the barrier, hoping to make it in time, though falling short when the barrier cut his horn.

 

I like option #1

[Tom Snyder 4,113]

Well, the barrier did collapse for a short time at the end of part one. When Cadence brought it back, one of the two happened:

 

1. Thank to quick thinking, Sombra charged the barrier, allowing his horn to be but knowing that he could regrow it and establish his dark influence one crystal at a time.

 

2. Sombra charged to the barrier, hoping to make it in time, though falling short when the barrier cut his horn.

 

I like option #1

Sorry if i come out sounding like a jerk, i'm just trying to figure out each villains motives for what they do. Sombra had his clearly planned out, the others not so much.

[ManaMinori 4,149]

The episodes are not the problem, its the villains overall:

 

S1: NM shows a lot of arrogance and starts monologuing too much; its like they ran out of ideas and decided to take the cheap way out.

 

S2: Next was Discord, he was okay but had his moments where he really shined; but then turns into an idiot and let's them zap him *Facehooves* really? If he actually cared to notice their color was back, he could have avoided it. Then we had chrysalis(or however you spell it), she managed to go further than the other did by means of separating Twilight from her friends, taking care of the element problem,  but underestimates Twilight and she pays for it and is defeated.

 

S3: Next we had King Sombra who lacks any strategy and suffers the same fate as the rest, again arrogance.

 

S4: and finally, we have Tirek. He was the second worst villain we had the misfortune of seeing, he had a good plan, but just not the brains to carry it out like he should have, in the end arrogance got him too. 

 

You see my point? A lack of logic in any villain gets them defeated too easily, turning the last battle out of context was the worst decision you could have done. It would be good to see a powerful villain actually try and do what they say, instead of boasting the crap out of it.

King Sombra WAS NOT a villain who lacked strategy. He was the epitome of strategic villains in MLP. His mere shadow instills fear in an entire empire.He is a CONSTANT threat looming over the empire. This is why everyone's so anxious the entire time they're searching for the Crystal Heart. He doesn't even have to physically be there. Just mentioning his name, just his shadow makes  ponies pee themselves. He's strategic and cunning, and it shows, because he HID away the Crystal heart, which was required to defeat him. He erased all the Crystal Ponies' knowledge of it ever having existed at all. The last page of the Crystal Empire History book that Twilight finds is also torn out. The trap he laid at the bottom of the staircase in his castle throne room shows ponies an illusion of their greatest fear- meaning that if Spike hadn't gone with Twilight, she would've been frozen by Sombra's illusion, and Sombra would've won. This is on top of the fact that Sombra put the Crystal heart in his castle, because he was "the dreaded", meaning the crystal ponies would be too terrified of him to even TRY looking for it. Then he HID the entrance to the chamber so that the only way to open it was to be able to USE his dark magic. Dark magic that- presumably- a truly incorruptable hero would be unable or unwilling to use. And finally, stepping on the platform allows Sombra to trigger a spell beginning to spread his dark crystals inside the castle, and trapping WHOEVER MANAGED TO GET THAT FAR, at the top of the tower, unable to use the Heart. Not to mention the anti-teleport spell he cast on the trap, so that even a powerful magician wouldn't be able to leave all that easily. Sombra comes within a hair's breathd of succeeding without barely even having to lift a hoof.

 

If that's not expert cunning, foresight, and strategy, I seriously don't know what you're expecting out of an MLP villain

Edited March 7, 2015 by Nightmare Muffin