What would you change about Season 6?

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

EQD just made a discussion article about whether or not you would have changed anything about Season 6 so far, so I made this thread to see what you people think.

 

Personally, I would have more worldbuilding. The theme this season is "Explore Equestria", but so far, they've just been exploring locations we've already seen, like Canterlot and Manehattan. This was also a problem in Season 5 with the map. The only new place we've explored is the Dragon Badlands. I would make episodes where the Mane Six go to brand new locations, meet new species, and expand the lore of Equestria.

 

[Cleverclover 1,525]

Overhaul Newbie Dash. 

 

Rainbow Dash deserved a much better episode to usher in the closure of her lifelong goal. 

[Odd Ball 230]

I would have made Hearth's Warming Tale an original story instead of A Christmas Carol retelling.

 

Remove the constant mentionings that Starlight used to be a villain.

 

Made the second half of On Your Marks focus on all of CMC instead of just AppleBloom and also have Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon be secondary characters.

 

Made Sunburst an actual wizard.

 

Have Ember be more than a stereotyical teenage girl wanting to prove to her overbearing Dad she can do anything.

Edited June 17, 2016 by Da King

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

First off, I would have liked a different Premier myself. I feel that the crystaling feels a bit phoned in and kind of meh compared to the other one's we've gotten. Also, more than any other two parter, it feels HORRIBLY disconnected from the mane six. Like, A canterlot wedding wasn't that connected to them in stakes sans twilight, but at least they as a group tried to stop the changelings and they had the scenes of them trying to reach the EOH and fighting changelings.  In this one, The other 5 were basically just cameos or background ponies with only really Twilight, starlight and Sunburst having a "real" connection to the plot and its stakes. Honestly, the other 5 could have been DELETED from the episode and NOTHING would have changed.

So I would have enjoyed a different opening, something more akin to ROH or twilight's kingdom. Adding onto that, There's no real meta-plot or arc this season, and no "hook" for the rest of the season. At least S5 had starlight escaping to pique our interests, S4 had the box as a HUGE "Plot hook" sign, and even S3 had the book with celestia and luna pop up. This season... nothing.

 

 

 

anyways, moving on from that. I would have stated, RIGHT up front at the start of the season that the map was broken; don't just spring that on us at the next map mission, as viewers didn't even REALIZE it was busted till then. You should have had an episode at the start (once more, how about a premier?) stating that fact, so that it could be a background event that the characters reference occasionally for the first half that they're trying to fix (like how twilight had charts for the box in the background in S4).

If you did that, then when they finally DO fix it in Spice of life, it would feel more like a road's been traversed for the group.

 

 

 

Moving on from that: Like what

 

EQD just made a discussion article about whether or not you would have changed anything about Season 6 so far, so I made this thread to see what you people think.

 

Personally, I would have more worldbuilding. The theme this season is "Explore Equestria", but so far, they've just been exploring locations we've already seen, like Canterlot and Manehattan. This was also a problem in Season 5 with the map. The only new place we've explored is the Dragon Badlands. I would make episodes where the Mane Six go to brand new locations, meet new species, and expand the lore of Equestria.

Says, Make this season more about branching out in the world, There's a whole WORLD out there for us to see, don't just give us manehattan. (of course, I remember seeing someone on 4chan post saying that they'd talked with big jim in a small capacity of questions, and he'd said that "explore equestria" was just a hasbro corporate stamp for the toys, and they never had that in mind for the season, so Its possible its a "theme" that never truly existed in the first place except on the toy boxes)

Overhaul Newbie Dash. 

 

Rainbow Dash deserved a much better episode to usher in the closure of her lifelong goal. 

THIS THIS THIS FREAKING THIS.

IMO, Newbie dash would be better served by being outriight DELETED, with a new plot and episode taking its place for how dash joins the wonderbolts.

[Swifty 249]

The episodes A Hearth's Warming Tail and Applejack's "Day" Off have been a waste of space. Replace it with something else.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Best BG pony Merry May was in the BG only once so far this season, and it was very brief, so to make things a bit better for her, I'd like to add her in the episodes On Your Marks, No Second Prances, Newbie Dash, and Applejack's Day Off. There, now I'm satisfied!

 

 

I would have made Hearth's Warming Tale an original story instead of A Christmas Carol retelling.

Remove the constant mentionings that Starlight used to be a villain.
 

 

Those two, I'm with you on, brother! I know people really liked the Hearth's Warming episode, but it wasn't excellent in my book. It was good though, but not great. I can tolerate the Starlight mentionings for now, but let the previous episode be the last of it.

[Goat-kun 2,500]

#MakeEquestriaGreatAgain

 

-40% of all ordinary episodes would need to be adventure episodes and H-Bro would be forced to pay for them all.

-Ban all powerful unicorns and alicorns who have recently entered the show. They’re stealing the jobs of our beloved characters and something needs to be done about it!

-I’d bring in a hell of a lot worse than yamchaing.

-Crooked Haber needs to step down. We need someone who is a true worldbuilder and not a puppet of Slice Street!

[FlareGun45 2,221]

-Crooked Haber needs to step down. We need someone who is a true worldbuilder and not a puppet of Slice Street!

 

Yeah, me. :3 I'm a great writer! I can definitely do this!

[Goat-kun 2,500]

Yeah, me. :3 I'm a great writer! I can definitely do this!

We’ll need to have a gladiatorial competition to choose the one true whip destined to claim the Pony Throne. If UR gud, I’m sure you’ll make it through in at least a few functional pieces.

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

#MakeEquestriaGreatAgain

 

-40% of all ordinary episodes would need to be adventure episodes and H-Bro would be forced to pay for them all.

-Ban all powerful unicorns and alicorns who have recently entered the show. They’re stealing the jobs of our beloved characters and something needs to be done about it!

-I’d bring in a hell of a lot worse than yamchaing.

-Crooked Haber needs to step down. We need someone who is a true worldbuilder and not a puppet of Slice Street!

You don't want any more Slice of Life?

[cmarston1 5,952]

I would have definitely handled Starlight Glimmer's character redemption a lot better.

Instead of having it be so rushed that it makes the ending of the first Equestria Girls look like the ending to Return of the King, I would have handled it in a similar manner that Steven Universe did with Peridot's character redemption.

Starlight would get episodes interacting with each member of the mane 6 individually as she gets more accustomed to them and over time become their friends and become a better person as a result of that.

And by the finale she would finally get the courage to try to patch things up with the Equal 4.

It would make a deal about how all of the mane 6 really helped her to become a better person and would reflect on her growth as a character.

She would eventually stay at the village as becomes true friends with the Equal 4.

This could even count as a season long meta arc similar to the keys in season 4.

Edited June 18, 2016 by cmarston1

[Megas 27,069]

Overhaul Newbie Dash. 

 

Rainbow Dash deserved a much better episode to usher in the closure of her lifelong goal. 

one and done. 

 

Only other thing I'd consider is for the season to actually take advantage of the "Explore Equestria" moniker instead of having us go to Manehattan a billion more times

Edited June 18, 2016 by Sideswipe

[Makazi 317]

I'd have them stop trying to make new "meme faces" every other episode:

 

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

I got a few in mind:

1. Flutter Brutter: Make Zephyr not a stereotype of divas and freeloaders, more of a character, and make his efforts feel more rewarding. Have him actually try to accomplish his tasks, only to either fail or believe he could've done better, or have him fail while giving out his best effort. So when he tries and succeeds, his accomplishment can feel like it was worth something.

2. Spice Up Your Life: Rewrite Zesty Gourmand's character and Canterlot. Zesty's a "tyrannical critic" stereotype and straw character. Why does the fate of every restaurant have to be tied down to her words and words alone, and why does Canterlot have to continually act like a hivemind?
    

   Instead of making Zesty the lone reliable culinary critic, why not bring in another culinary critic in Canterlot, one who's way more competent than her? Or have Zesty be a competent critic?
    

   An idea: Coriander and Saffron would allude to the idea that Zesty's that snooty culinary critic thanks to them overhearing her insults. But when she comes in for the re-trial, she isn't like what they talked about at all. She has high standards, yet treats every restaurant fairly and wants them to succeed. And about the insults, she had to leave for an emergency, yet in earshot angrily talked about another restaurant whose lead chef and owner insults the staff. So she tries it and likes it. And for the moral, you can have her say that no one pony should wield the power or words to determine what succeeds and fails.

3. Newbie Dash: Give it a complete overhaul to make her promotion to a Wonderbolt much more meaningful and not have the moral be about sucking up to hazing just because it's "friendly banter." Its moral is one of the five worst in the show.

4. Don't remind the audience of Starlight's past evil all the time. The opening and with Trixie are fine. Doing it now is overkill.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

I know I'll get alot of flak for this, but personally I'd also remove starlight glimmer; she's not really coming off as a unique character but more a tumorous offshoot of twilight, and she doesn't really bring anything new to the group.

 

 

-Crooked Haber needs to step down. We need someone who is a true worldbuilder and not a puppet of Slice Street!

 

I wouldn't call haber crooked, but I will say that I think he's the worst person in his position we've had yet, and I would gladly take someone taking over for him. The S5 Premier had a MUCH more entertainingly written starlight than when haber took the reigns for the finale, and I'm not a fan of his work on FG either.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

I know I'll get alot of flak for this, but personally I'd also remove starlight glimmer; she's not really coming off as a unique character but more a tumorous offshoot of twilight, and she doesn't really bring anything new to the group.

To remove Starlight Glimmer from the Mane cast is a terrible idea. You put effort into making her a part of the Mane Eight. Use it. Make her memorable. To remove her would become a big mea culpa by the writers: Rather than trying to make her work, DHX suggests, "Forget it, I quit." It's the same reason why reverting Twilight back to a unicorn from an alicorn makes no sense.

Edited June 19, 2016 by Dark Qiviut

[Luminance 2,181]

More World building. The Dragonlands were an nice addition but I though that more different locales will be introduced but again half of the season is here so I hope there's more places to explore.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

 To remove her would become a big mea culpa by the writers: Rather than trying to make her work, DHX suggests, "Forget it, I quit."

 

If everyone used your logic we'd still have Rodimus prime and optimus would still be dead.

Mistakes do happen, and starlight's not ingrained enough into the show enough that removing her would be impossible; she doesn't have an element yet and she could very easily be handwaved out of the picture into a secondary role like how discord diminished after S4.

[Megas 27,069]

If everyone used your logic we'd still have Rodimus prime and optimus would still be dead.

Mistakes do happen, and starlight's not ingrained enough into the show enough that removing her would be impossible; she doesn't have an element yet and she could very easily be handwaved out of the picture into a secondary role like how discord diminished after S4.

Two different scenarios. The difference between the two is that they actually used Rodimus and pushed him as the new Autobot leader, versus Starlight where I don't feel like they're doing anything with her, she just feels like a prop for Twilight. She doesn't feel like a mane cast member, and I feel they could fix this if they had her interact with the other mane 6 and have her be more frequent

 

At least they actually tried with Rodimus. With Starlight they'd boot her out it'd feel like they didn't even try at all

Edited June 18, 2016 by Sideswipe

[PoisonClaw 8,153]

A few things:

 

1) Make Flurry Heart a unicorn, not an alicorn. I don't hate Flurry Heart as a character, but realistically, there's yet to be a good reason why she's an alicorn besides selling toys. As the characters themselves pointed out in the episode, her being born an alicorn diminishes both Twilight's and Cadance's accomplishments, since you could only become an alicorn after performing some great deed. Even if you needed her to be immensely powerful in order to smash the Crystal Heart, need I remind you that her parents are both magically talented and her aunt was possible the single most powerful unicorn alive, and the bearer of the Element of Magic?

 

2) Take the script we got for Newbie Dash, and light it on fire. Then, write something that doesn't make the Wonderbolt's completely unlikable jerks again like they were in Rainbow Falls, doesn't have Dash acting like an idiot and doesn't try and make us buy that hazing and mocking nicknames are apparently good for you.

 

3) Go somewhere entirely new. Everywhere they've gone so far are places that they've visited before (Manehattan, Canterlot, The Crystal Empire, ect.) How many seasons ago did we get the official map? Have them go to Hollow Shades, Neighagra Falls, Las Pegasus even! Hell, I'd settle for them just going back to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters again.   

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

One thing would improve season six. Rainbow Dash should have given Zephyr a sharp right hoof to the snoot! Then, Fluttershy should have called the cops on him for intentionally destroying her father's prized collection. 

 

Also, Applejack's day off should have been only 11 minutes long. The part showing her to be a moronic blithering idiot while working on her own farm should be made to cease to exist.

 

One last thing...Rainbow should have told off SpitGobber, and reminded her that no other pony in Eqiestrian history could do a Sonic Rainboom., and that she had PERSONALLY saved Spitdribble's life.

 

(Can you tell how much I hated the leader sponsored name calling in that episode?)

[Goat-kun 2,500]

You don't want any more Slice of Life?

I don’t mind slice of life. I do mind slice-o-lifers and their condescending belief that everything with lore and worldbuilding surpasses this “kid show”. One gets more info on the world and political situation in one slice of life episode of Star vs. TFOE than in whole damn FIM season. Slice of life here is just fashion, apples, flying, shyness, books, cake, and I’m getting kinda sick of it. Let them go on a bucking field trip or to a festival or whatever. Please, just let them do something that doesn’t involve mundane scenery and friendship chores.

 

I wouldn't call haber crooked, but I will say that I think he's the worst person in his position we've had yet, and I would gladly take someone taking over for him. The S5 Premier had a MUCH more entertainingly written starlight than when haber took the reigns for the finale, and I'm not a fan of his work on FG either.

He’s probably a decent fellow like any other, but I was channeling my inner Trump.

 

By the by, is that transformer the one who was supposed to replace Optimus Prime in the Autobot liquidation back in 1986? I sure hope H-Bro has learned something since then.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

What I would change:

- Less Rarity. I like her performances, but she steal too much screentime. More Twilight, plz.

 

- Please Spike, Stop mocking Glimglam or whenever she become vilain again, you are her 1st target.

 

- No more Manehattan.

 

- Celestia gets more screentime. Enough Luna.

 

That's all I want. It not that hard, THX, please do it.

[heavens-champion 1,893]

Probably have the season premiere be more about Starlight rekindling her friendship with Sunburst and have the Flurry Heart story happen in a different episode.

[Thrond 3,257]

Per episode:

 

1. "The Crystalling" - There's a lot going on here as is, but it might have played stronger if the show had been able to build up more investment in Starlight Glimmer and, as much as I hate to say it, Cadance and Shining Armour as well. Not really a way to do that previous to the season premiere. 

2. "The Gift of the Maud Pie" - Make Rarity a little bit less hyperactive and scale back the exposition a little. 

3. "On Your Marks" - Stick to one of the episode's ideas, develop it more, and push it a bit further in a specific direction so we have a better idea of what CMC episodes will be like from here on out. 

4. "Gauntlet of Fire" - Make Ember three-dimensional and give the plot any weight whatsoever. 

5. "No Second Prances" - Complete rewrite. Give Trixie more focus, cut the whole deal with Starlight Glimmer being irresponsible, and address Twilight's control freak tendencies more deeply. Change what Twilight learns to something she hasn't already learned. 

6. "Newbie Dash" - Address Dash's history with the name in a more meaningful way. Introduce a theme about hazing. Completely retool the episode so it's about Rainbow Dash showcasing her character growth and maturation rather than demonstrating regression. 

7. "A Hearth's Warming Tail" - Make the original story's themes a bit clearer in this adaptation. 

8. "The Saddle Row Review" - Give the lesson a little more weight. Make Plaid Stripes entertaining. 

9. "Applejack's 'Day' Off" - Add in much more hijinks, or at least a bit more low-key friendliness between Applejack and Rarity. Speed up the pace considerably, or at least fill the script a little more. Add entertaining background events. 

10. "Flutter Brutter" - Remove the scene where Zephyr intrudes on his parents' hobbies. Remove his flirting. Make the first two acts and the third act cohere a little more. 

11. "Spice Up Your Life" - Provide some nuance for Zesty. Cast actual actors of Indian descent as Coriander and Saffron. Introduce a more interesting theme. 

 

Overall:

 

Place a much greater emphasis on main character development. Specifically, introduce subplots to facilitate that character development for the CMC and each of the mane six. I'd love the episodes to be less self-contained, but I doubt that can be done. I've always wanted to see more of Twilight struggling with her responsibilities, especially now that she has a protege. Maybe we'll still see some of that, but I can pick up scraps in the meantime. 

 

Bad idea. An asset of this show is the ability to go beyond the stereotypes and make them feel like actual characters. Princess Ember feels like a character. She embraces qualities commonly considered masculine, yet isn't demeaned for them. Although she accepts friendship, those qualities remain. To make Ember a stereotypical teenage girl will kill the dynamic between her and Spike and diminish the weight of both her development and the overall episode.

Re-read that. Da King was suggesting she be more than a stereotype, which, as is, I don't think she is either. 

Edited June 19, 2016 by AlexanderThrond