Does this season feel a bit....fillerish to you?

[GreyScholar 1,584]

@,

Yet only Bloom and Gloom is the only episode that really has any foundation to be called 'fillier', at least in my eyes, and all in all it is really too early to call the season as a whole fillier. So, because of this, the OP is kind of jumping the gun a bit when it comes to being so concerned... especially since there should be another 22 episodes. 

Edited April 19, 2015 by EquestrianScholar

[The Coffee Pony 1,390]

I also have to agree with the others that it's only been three episodes and it's too early to really judge this season.

 

But I do have to say that to say that this season is filler-ish is rather silly. My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is a slice of life episodic series. This isn't something like Nickolodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that actually has a major story to it.

 

To give you an example of what filler is I'll use the show I just mentioned. I'm only putting this spoiler tags because I've seen that there are TMNT fans on the site or people that have potential interest in it. And to the staff, yes, I know that I'm bringing up a different show but I'm only bringing this up because it is relevant to the conversation at hand.

One of the show's major story arcs was the Kraang Invasion of Earth. Throughout the seasons of the show there was consistent build up to throughout most episodes of season 1 and season 2 in which the Turtles had to try and prevent the invasion and while they did prevent the first attempt in the season 1 finale, they failed in season 2's finale with the Kraang taking over New York and Shredder beating Leo to the point of near death causing them to flee to North Hampton. Now the first three 7 episodes are a perfect example of filler in a story. It really should have taken two to three episodes in North Hampton for the Turtles to recover and plan to strike back at the Kraang but instead we get six straight episodes of the Turtles fighting Mutants that are essentially shout-outs to several movies. There was no planning to strike back at either the Kraang or Shredder and the only thing remotely related to the plot was Leonardo's injuries. Outside of that one thing (that really could have been solved within an episode or two) there was NOTHING related to the plot.

That is how filler works.

 

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on the other hand does not have major story, at all. I mean you did have The Grand Galloping Gala, The Equestria Games and The Three of Harmony but really they weren't major stories, they were minor stories at best and the majority of episodes weren't even about them.

 

Grand Galloping Gala (season 1)

3 out of 26 episodes were related to it

 

Tree of Harmony (season 4)

9 out of 26 episodes were related to it

 

Equestria Games

1 out of 13 episodes related to it in season 3

2 out of 26 episodes related to it in season 4

 

These are not enough episodes to call them Major Stories. Other than that Season 2 and 3 were entirely episodic. Now outside if those episodes you had callbacks, nods and episodes that mention or are related to previous ones but those are not story arcs, they just established that there is continuity in FiM. So really, you can't even get filler in FiM. There is no such thing as Filler in an episodic series. So really to say Season 5 is filler-ish would not only be jumping the gun as only four episodes are out but it would also be factually wrong because there's no major story.

Edited April 19, 2015 by The Coffee Pony

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,163]

As others have said it's seriously early, and slower, but character-based episodes are largely what define the backbone of FiM. In the end the show is built upon the "Slice of Life." It is these episodes where characters grow in personality, mature, and learn various life lessons.

[Honsou 399]

Well yeah it's a bit too early to tell, but now that we have the titles of every episode it looks like it will be like that until the season finale.

 

And the latest episode concluded the CMC/Luna trilogy.

I wouldn't say concluded. Just because AB was the last crusader to have Luna creep on her, doesn't mean it's finished.

 

Also, this season is hardly filler. In fact, Season 3 was the most filler season out of all of them. 13 episodes with 0 significance to advancing the plot besides episode 1, 2 and 13 when Twilight becomes Twilicorn the Purple, Grand wizard of the Friendship peoples.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,700]

I very much see where the OP is coming from here, so let me explain my view on it:

Specifically, compare the Premier of S4 to this one. PTS ended with the box being revealed; that's a HUGE plot hook right there, yeah? It was an epic adventure episode with a really big threat to equestria (the vines), a big sacrifice that altered the statuse quo (the mane six giving up their Elements of harmony, incredibly important objects) and the introduction of the Box, a HUGE macguffin with incredible potential and a definite promise of big things to come.


This premier for this season, on the other hand, was much, much more low key. The villain was a "normal" unicorn in the form of Starlight glimmer, compared to the plunder vines which took out celestia and Luna without leaving a trace, and the defeat of the villain wasn't a huge magical deal, but was a more low key event of exposing her and teaching the others in the village about the benefits of cutie marks.



See the difference? the issue is that this season has no real plot hook or promise like S4 had for something "epic", so it just feels less adventuresome is all. Its not that this season is really filler, its just that it seems like they've taken a step back instead of upping the ante, which can leave some with a feeling of being letdown.


Now, the slice of life so far has been VERY good, and its showed some growth on various characters parts, but I see the OP's point anc can agree to a point. I was absolutely HYPED for S4 to see what would come due to the box, and while there's the map, there's not really a whole lot to speculate on and get excited on so far.

[GreyScholar 1,584]

@@Unlikeable Pony,
Honestly I find it refreshing that the villain is not some huge threat, at least not yet, and because it allowed for a change of pace. More there have been many, myself included, who feel this pilot while a bit more low key was also among the creepiest episode with a villain scary because she is more... 'real', the sort of villain one could see in our world in that her manipulativeness and charisma is just the sort of thing that could have an effect in our world.

That and the reference of Harrison Bergeron was also nice, and really I could see her also making a fair comparison to villain Amon in Avatar. Really Starlight Shimmer has the potental to be a very interesting recurring villain if the writers don'r mess her up, even a season long villain.

Edited April 20, 2015 by EquestrianScholar

[Yellow Diamond 7,576]

I didn0t say it was inconceivable, but i don't think that's a reason to complain anyway...

 

I only meant to say there's precedent for the claim.

 

Buck Testa wasn't complaining, though, if you consider what they wrote. It was more of an open observation.

 

 

 

Yet only Bloom and Gloom is the only episode that really has any foundation to be called 'fillier', at least in my eyes, and all in all it is really too early to call the season as a whole fillier. So, because of this, the OP is kind of jumping the gun a bit when it comes to being so concerned... especially since there should be another 22 episodes.

 

And the OP picked up on "Bloom and Gloom" as the potential filler episode. I disagreed with the notion for the reasons I mentioned, in addition to what you and others have said (i.e., the season has a long way to go). A better measurement will exist if and when the season's primary arc is revealed/revisited.

 

On another note, potentially critical episodes can behave like filler. I'd describe "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" in this way. A vehicle for a plot point? Yes. Was it a meaningful and impactful lesson learned? Not so much.

[simba86 1,541]

A little break from them saving the world is nice, we don't even know what most of the synopsis for the episodes even are to be able to judge

[FlutterHigh 81]

I would honestly wait till the halfway point in the season to make conclusions.

[Cleverclover 1,526]

 

 

This premier for this season, on the other hand, was much, much more low key. The villain was a "normal" unicorn in the form of Starlight glimmer, compared to the plunder vines which took out celestia and Luna without leaving a trace, and the defeat of the villain wasn't a huge magical deal, but was a more low key event of exposing her and teaching the others in the village about the benefits of cutie marks.

 

What did you want, exactly? Yet another "ancient evil" villain to just come out of the woodwork and attempt to conquer Equestria as if they're going to be any more successful than the last one? 

 

Believe it or not, that's really getting redundant. I'd honestly say that the villain being a normal pony and a plot in which the fate of all Equestria actually did not hang in the balance was quite the breath of fresh air. 

[Abia 258]

No, I don't think so at all.

 

The opener was important in establishing some basics about the castle, catching the attention of viewers, and further developing Twilight and the mane six's role in Equestria as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

 

"Castle Sweet Castle" addressed the enormous issue of Golden Oaks Library being destroyed.

 

"Bloom and Gloom" questioned the nature of cutie marks and explained their purpose, in addition to finishing off the CMC-Luna arc we've had.

 

All of these are important, and necessary episodes for the season, in my opinion. It'd be silly not to finish the CMC-Luna arc, it'd be ridiculous to pretend that the library's destruction wasn't a big deal, and the opener did its job as an opener. I don't see any of that as being filler.  

 

Edit:

Now I'm not saying I loved the episodes up to now, or that they were especially well-done. I'm saying that they addressed things that couldn't be ignored: the castle, the destroyed library, and the CMC-Luna dream arc. Filler, as I see it, is taking unnecessary, irrelevant fluff and stuffing it in between the plot-developing episodes. All the episodes so far have been extremely relevant, and the absence of any of them would result in a well-deserved outcry from the fandom.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Abia

[Twilight Frost 271]

I really didn't like the last episode. It seemed like it might be filler. However, everything else seems to be stepping inline with what the storyline is going to be heading too.

[Silver Letter 1,832]

I think the episodes shown thus far are not really filler. They do serve important purposes for the characters involved. We had some filler last season though. The season 4 finale retroactively makes the episode about renovating the castle of the two sisters pointless filler since the castle ended up being pointless anyway. I hope they don't do that again.

[RarityFan01 2,444]

It's way too early to start drawing conclusions. If season 5 is about cutie marks, 1,2, and 4 are not fillers. 3 is actually important to the story, so that isn't a filler, either. So far, I would say it's not a filler season. It's still early, though.  

[BastementSparkle 20,334]

I don't get this "Filler" complaint. What "Filler" are we even talking about? We for the first three seasons didn't really have too many story arcs at all, it was only really a big deal in season 4 and even then there were still a lot of episodes that had nothing to do with it.

 

 What's suddenly so wrong with an episode just being an episode? The episode happens, a character or characters learn a lesson, and we move on. There's nothing wrong with that, those slice of life moral episodes have always been here. Just because we have an arc now do we suddenly need every episode to focus on it?

[FlutterDash4072 189]

This is pretty much how all of the other seasons have played out. It's a slice of life show with some adventure episodes added in.

[colt_following 169]

I like where it is. I guess sometimes I DO like some more plot elements, like last season I felt like it was pretty much the season premiere and finale eps that made the key/items relevant, but I think just a hint at that every episode makes the universe feel a bit more coherent, like it doesn't "reset" every episode (ala Spongebob)

Even just a flashback, or like where they were looking back at old memories, helps set up linearity. Sorry my replies are small books haha

[Unlikeable Pony 2,700]

What did you want, exactly? Yet another "ancient evil" villain to just come out of the woodwork and attempt to conquer Equestria as if they're going to be any more successful than the last one? 

 

Believe it or not, that's really getting redundant. I'd honestly say that the villain being a normal pony and a plot in which the fate of all Equestria actually did not hang in the balance was quite the breath of fresh air. 

 

 

I honestly don't see how its redundant for fantasy evil beings to exist in a fantasy universe; that's like saying that having evil wizards in dungeons and dragons series is redundant.

Its all about making each new villain fresh with a new feel, which I feel they've done each time: Chrysalis and the changelings feel drastically different from Discord for example.

There is an entier season for slice of life, the two parters are there for the big epic storylines. Starlight glimmer just didn't bring it, she didn't feel any more threatening than Trixie with the alicorn amulet; that's the thing, if they didn't have to take time establishing facts about the map and the castle, this episode really feels like it could have been a one parter, not a two parter. and that just is a letdown compared to other two parters which all feel like they HAD to be multiple episodes.

 

 

 

attempt to conquer Equestria as if they're going to be any more successful than the last one? 

Just because One villain loses doesn't just mean every other villain gives up and goes home: Canonically, in the history, villains HAVE won in various ways. Discord established a short rule before being defeated, and Sombra took the crystal empire with him when he dissapeared. Additionally, ahuizotl has escaped all punishment each time since he's running around still. I don't think there's any reason for all villains everywhere to stop their attempts at villainy.

 

Additionally, who says it has to be a NEW villain? what about chrysalis returning, tirek being freed, or even the pony of shadows? there's lots of established lore already in the universe for use without them having to make stuff up whole cloth.