How should the mane 5 be used during season openings and finales?

[A Talking Dragon 257]

The mane 6--minus Twilight--always seemed to be lumped together during these episodes, the focus always being on Twilight or the guest character. And while the rest of the gang act as one unit behind their leader, they don't impact the plot as much. The last season premier seemed to try to do something with Fluttershy, but while everyone was depowered. 

Are the mane 5 being utilized effectively in premiers and finales? How can they be used; could they be broken up or should they stay together during missions? What do you hope for when season 6 starts?

[Rainbow Diamonds 282]

I doubt the Mane 5 will do anything at all in the season 6 opening. I think all of the Mane Six should do something important like in the pilot episode, but I doubt that's going to happen. In fact, they could get rid of the Mane 5. I don't think Lauren Faust wanted the entire show to be about Twilight Sparkle and her having friends just there, but Hasbro obviously wants that, and now that's what they get. While I want the mane 5 to play important roles in the openings and finales, that will never happen. The Mane Five shouldn't even be in openings and finales anymore. They're just there for no reason. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Season 6 finale and the openings and finales of the following seasons don't include the other mane five at all. Twilight is the main character, but she's not the ONLY one. Friendship is magic, not Twilight is magic, right? 

[ponylaces 1,869]

Twilight is the main character after all, but the other mane 5 made the premieres and finales a lot more enjoyable. Having it focus on the same character each time gets uninteresting after a while. I'd love to see a premiere/finale focus on another character, or at least let the Mane 6 all have equal levels of importance in the episode.

[A Talking Dragon 257]

A problem too might be that most of the threats in premiers and finales have been magical (Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Sombra, Starlight Glimmer, Discord, the cutie mark switching). There's only so much that a non-magic talented character can do in these situations. Discord homing in the point in one scene by simply putting the main 5 in a cage with the snap of a clawed finger.

 

I think that's what A Canterlot Wedding did so well: having a villain that relayed on stealth, planning and using an army rather then rely more on magic. In the situation too more characters can help, like the royal guard enforcing security or Pinkie using her party cannon. 

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

It wasn't so hard in the past. In season 1 and 2 twilight's magic was WAY shittier than it is, and she'd constantly screw up her spells or they'd flub and do nothing (Like trying a "fix everything" spell against discord's magic and doing nothing). Teleporting was hard, and she couldn't just spam it, she didn't have flight, she wasn't an alicorn, ect.
As such, she was MUCH less able to just solve everything on her own; the thought of her doing a giant ball of time stop/grab magic to stop hundreds of pony's at once was utterly UNTHINKABLE in S1/S2 like she did in the hooffields and the Mccolts (apart from as a child during that giant magical melt down), and she'd need her friends for lots of help.

Unfortunately, you can't go back again, and there's really no way to "nerf" twilight back to S1/S2 levels at this point, especially with her being an alicorn.

[Captain Sorzo 56]

It's understandably difficult to give six (or seven, counting Spike) characters meaningful, distinct roles in the span of an episode, even a two-part one. Unfortunately, this not only results in the writers generally just focusing on Twilight, but giving the Mane 5 token characterization, where their lines are based on fulfilling quotas and very basic character traits. Pinkie will say a joke, Dash and AJ will say something brash, Rarity will make a remark about aesthetics, Flutters will say something timid, and then the cycle will repeat. It's a writing style that feels very forced and artificial.

 

What I'd prefer the series do is have a given season's premiere focus on three of the Mane 6, with the others having at most cameos. The finale would then focus on the other three. Spike would be added to whichever episode allows him to contribute the most. Even if, under this setup, episodes still had a central protagonist, reducing the group size would allow the other present characters to have more meaningful roles and development of their own.

 

Group configurations would switch up every season. In addition, Twilight, having received the lion's share of focus in most series milestones already, would not be the central protagonist of any two-parters for several consecutive seasons, allowing the Mane 5 more opportunities to shine in adventure scenarios.

Edited March 26, 2016 by Captain Sorzo

[snowflame 189]

I do not know why people keeps saying that Faust would not have wanted Twilight to be the main focus when it was never more clear that in the first couple of seasons that Twilight was the main character.

[FlootahBabby 265]

What if the movie is actually not a follow up if the show, but instead what happened before Twilight came to ponyville and the story tells how the other 5 came together?

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

What if the movie is actually not a follow up if the show, but instead what happened before Twilight came to ponyville and the story tells how the other 5 came together?

Going to be honest, The odds of that happening for the movie are lower than free snowcones in hell

Like, I can see that as an episode: no problem there. Nothing wrong with that, the EQG comic had that as a plot for the highschool. But the MOVIE? Come on, lets be serious here. That would NEVER happen, Twilight gets pushed hard on EVERYTHING, there's not a way in hell the execs would ever allow Twilight to sit out a Huge movie where millions of dollars (Even billions perhaps) in ticket sales and merchandise sales hang in the balance.

 

 

It just doesn't make sense financially, even before you get into the Story precedent side of things.