What episode has aged the best/worst?

[tigris115 17]

Simple question I think

 

The ones that aged the worst were the earlier CMC episodes before season 3

 

As for which aged the best, I'm not sure

[Megas 27,701]

Most S1 episodes and a few from S2. In particular, most CMC episodes in S1 were pretty weak as were S2, at least the ones that focused on Applebloom or Cutie Marks. I'd say Sisterhooves Social was the first really good CMC episode

[twiia 1,843]

CMC, for sure. And maybe the mane 6 as well, just not as much.

[Teavvi 627]

CMC, of course/definitely.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,632]

I think Ticket Master is one that hasn't aged particularly well. To me, the first two episodes get a free pass for being the first two episodes of the entire series. Ticket Master is not a bad episode by any means, but I can see where it can be a tad awkward at times compared to how the show is now. The characters were far more simplistic back then, with hardly any complexities to their personalities at all and that was shown in full force in Ticket Master.

 

Despite that, it still has a simplistic charm that I enjoy. Most of season 1 really hasn't aged too well.

[Dark Qiviut 22,438]

IMO, Bridle Gossip and Rainbow Falls aged the worst. BG was FIM's original controversy thanks to its allegory of racism, but the criticism became relaxed later on. But over the years, the analysis community didn't hesitate to call out for the major problems it has, and lots of people started to notice. The more you look into this episode, the worse it becomes. And although Rainbow Falls flopped hard not long after it aired, you can still pick out more and more broken pieces of writing, and RF looks worse now than in 2014.

 

As for aging the best, as far as S1 episodes are concerned, Suited for Success, Party of One, and TBNE. Animation, humor, music are still really excellent, and the reveal of the dresses in Suited for Success is just as wowing now as five years ago.

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

The first half of season 1. The show didn't quite realize the direction it will go in, so a lot of the episodes ended up being very preschool show like.

 

Honestly, the show really didn't start getting really good untill about Suited for Success

 

As for best, well rewartchig Pinkie Pride still gives me that wam fuzzy feeling.

[baba_booey 4,303]

I'll probably stick to the first couple seasons only, but as far as those go, there are a lot of episodes from Season 1 (especially the first half) that have sort of that cheese looking back, and there are moments where it feels pretty generic as a kids show, mainly episodes such as Friendship is Magic Parts 1 and 2, Ticket Master and Bridle Gossip, not to mention the CMC episodes. I could also say The Canterlot Wedding episodes, as when they first came out I really enjoyed them, and while I still do, it's flaws are a lot more apparent to me.

 

As for aged the best, then I'd probably say something along the lines of Suited for Success, Party of One, Cutie Mark Chronicles, The Best Night Ever, Sisterhooves Social and Hurricane Fluttershy.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

The Pilot for the show, Friendship is magic (You know, the nightmare moon two parter).

Moony's half hearted attempts to just scare the mane six away from the castle are just so utterly divorced from later villains actions to get what they want that its kind of laughable XD
Nightmare moon's actions in that episode (Trying to make scary trees for example) just fall into poke the poodle territory, especially given how in the S4 premier she jumps straight to "murder celestia with lasers" as her first course of action.

If they could redo ANY episode, I'd take the pilot, as it had such POTENTIAL with them introducing the mane six, the EOH, nightmare moon, ect.

[Glimmer 78]

The Best Night Ever holds up really well. The Show Stoppers does not. 

[Swifty 249]

Season 1 has aged best; Season 6 has aged worst

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

The Best Night Ever holds up really well. The Show Stoppers does not. 

The best night ever is one of the only two episodes in the entire show I'd accept as a proper "end" episode to the series. Its just perfect, and celebrates/focuses on EVERYONE and their friendship.

[Thrond 3,263]

Early season 1 hasn't aged well, as the show was still finding its rhythm. It's still pretty charming and fun, however. A lot of the two-parters, which were impressive for their scale, are less impressive now that they've been topped. Most of them are still fun, but they're no longer mind-blowing. "Princess Twilight Sparkle" is something of a mess, though, so that one definitely hasn't aged so well. Also, I re-watched one of my S4 favourites, "Rarity Takes Manehattan," recently, and it's nowhere near as interesting as it was at the time. Still fun, though. 

 

Having re-watched my season 1-3 favourites, I've found "Party of One," "The Best Night Ever," "Lesson Zero," "The Last Roundup," "Hurricane Fluttershy," and "Sleepless in Ponyville" to hold up especially well. 

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

The best ones have to be "Amending Fences" and "Hurricane Fluttershy". "Amending Fences" proved that the show can still do honest emotional stories even as it's become more absorbed in the glitz and glamor of its popularity and the growth of its characters. This is one episode that you have to watch multiple times in order to notice some of the cinematic devices used. "Hurricane Fluttershy" is noticeable in context for being one of the best Rainbow Dash episodes and I feel is a great example of an ideal MLP episode; a great slice-of-life moral-based story with a fantasy backdrop and character growth, with some entertaining visuals as well.

 

The ones that aged the worst, I'd say from experience, are "Boast Busters", "One Bad Apple", and "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep". For me personally, "Magic Duel" is one as well for its fan pandering and mindless, bare-bones comedy and story. "Boast Busters" really aged badly once people began to figure out the logical problems of the Mane 6 rudely interrupting Trixie's show, and sympathy for Trixie basically became this fandom's version of "Han Shot First". Personally, while I was fine with Trixie at first, I find her insufferable and overrated now and the episode has the distinction of introducing the two worst characters in the entire show (Snips and Snails). The problem with "One Bad Apple" is the same as "Flutter Brutter"; we're given an unlikable jerk of a character in the beginning and are suddenly forced to sympathize with them in the end because past issues absolve them of responsibility for their actions. Although the Crusaders did the wrong thing by going too far with their payback, they're unfairly made the bad guys for not empathizing with Babs despite the fact that they were busy defending themselves from her. "Princesses" is largely given a bad rap for its mishandling of depression despite its amazing technical presentation. Like "One Bad Apple" with bullying, this episode underestimates how large and varied its main conflict is in real life and tries to apply a single solution to a single case that is far from the most applicable.

[cmarston1 5,959]

I would say that the Cutie Re-Mark hasn't aged that well.

I still like the episode, but Starlight's reformation really brings the episode down.

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

Most S1 episodes and a few from S2. In particular, most CMC episodes in S1 were pretty weak as were S2, at least the ones that focused on Applebloom or Cutie Marks. I'd say Sisterhooves Social was the first really good CMC episode

 

Most Apple Bloom episodes are STILL weak... Like the only AB episode I think is particularly above average is Bloom and Gloom, otherwise it's ether Super Dull or outright terrible with her episodes, she has a worse track record than Spike really.

However I feel like im one of the few who holds a massive soft spot for Show Stoppers, it's one of the funniest episodes of S1 to me.

 

As for aged best, Suited for Success is just as perfect now as it was when it aired.

 

 

The Pilot for the show, Friendship is magic (You know, the nightmare moon two parter).

Moony's half hearted attempts to just scare the mane six away from the castle are just so utterly divorced from later villains actions to get what they want that its kind of laughable XD

Nightmare moon's actions in that episode (Trying to make scary trees for example) just fall into poke the poodle territory, especially given how in the S4 premier she jumps straight to "murder celestia with lasers" as her first course of action.

If they could redo ANY episode, I'd take the pilot, as it had such POTENTIAL with them introducing the mane six, the EOH, nightmare moon, ect.

 

Yeah Nightmare Moon in the pilot feels like a completely different and far more pathetic character than Nightmare Moon in the S4 opener or S5 Finale, who is all business and actually threatening where she's doing stuff like yeah, trying to murder Celestia or threatening to torture/kill Spike (and just casually blowing up wolves) if Twilight doesn't do what she wants.

I would say that the Cutie Re-Mark hasn't aged that well.

I still like the episode, but Starlight's reformation really brings the episode down.

Kinda feel it's a bit early to start judging how S5-6 episodes have "aged" 

[ponylaces 1,870]

Not really much to say here since most people have already summed up my opinions. Most of season 1 hasn't aged well, a couple of the episodes had controversy (Bridle Gossip, Feeling Pinkie Keen, etc) and most CMC episodes weren't very good either. Some of the better episodes of the season have aged really well though (Cutie Mark Chronicles, Suited for Success, Party of One, etc) and they're still impressive even with today's standards for the show.

 

Season 1 has aged best; Season 6 has aged worst

But season 6 hasn't "aged" at all, lol.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

On the note of what episodes have aged well:
Wonderbolt academy. This one really feels good even to this day; its probably the episode that shows who dash is the best (that and hurricane fluttershy) in that she's shown to value putting her loyalty to others above her dreams and wouldn't sacrifice who she is as a pony to get ahead in life.

 

Too many pinkie pies. This one really shows pinkie well and how what she TRULY cares about is making others happy, not having fun HERSELF. She wants to be with all her friends NOT because she doesn't want to personally miss it but that she feels she'd be letting the others down if she wasn't there to hang out with them, and she's horrified at making the others unhappy due to her clone shenanigans.

 

[user1342342 143]

Boast Busters, the first episode I watched of mlp. Right off the bat I liked Trixie, and didn't like the other characters at all, it took me a while to warm up to them. Not a very good first impression. 

[Luminance 2,186]

To me, the worst was "The Last Roundup". Behind the Derpy controversy, Applejack's justifications with not telling her friends about her situation is rather a silly thing to get all work up for especially if her friends lives are at stake during the chase. Pinkie Pie and Rarity also being abandoned by Rainbow Dash hasn't really appealed either.

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

To me, the worst was "The Last Roundup". Behind the Derpy controversy, Applejack's justifications with not telling her friends about her situation is rather a silly thing to get all work up for especially if her friends lives are at stake during the chase. Pinkie Pie and Rarity also being abandoned by Rainbow Dash hasn't really appealed either.

 

To be fair, when WAS Rainbow Dash appealing in Season 2 outside of maybe like 2 episodes?

 

I mean I like Dash but that season in general was just bad for her.

[Stellafera 3,836]

To me, the worst was "The Last Roundup". Behind the Derpy controversy, Applejack's justifications with not telling her friends about her situation is rather a silly thing to get all work up for especially if her friends lives are at stake during the chase. Pinkie Pie and Rarity also being abandoned by Rainbow Dash hasn't really appealed either.

 

I felt like her justification was great. It was the first really cutting exploration into AJ's flaws aside from the fairly shallow stuff like "stubborn" and "overcompetitive" that you'd expect from the character archetype. "Overreaching sense of personal responsibility" is a much more interesting trait and got me to start liking AJ as a character. Now she's my favorite, so I've got a bit of a soft spot for the episode even if most of it was meh.

 

To be fair, when WAS Rainbow Dash appealing in Season 2 outside of maybe like 2 episodes?

 

I mean I like Dash but that season in general was just bad for her.

 

I would say that for Season 4 Dash, who was just out-of-character for most of her episodes. Her obnoxiousness seemed pretty in character for Season 2 at that point in the show. 

Edited July 4, 2016 by Stellafera

[ph00tbag 108]

Much of season 1 was received very well initially, but is viewed less positively in retrospect, because of a combination of factors. The simple fact that it was the show's honeymoon period with fans meant a lot of flaws in the episodes were rather overlooked by fans. Further, there wasn't a tradition of in-depth evaluation and analysis of each episode as it aired until Digibrony and his analysis series sometime after Season 2. Of course, the animation, which was viewed as mind-blowing at the time, pales in comparison to DHX's showings lately, and the write-staff has, for the most part, gotten a much better handle on how to create convincing conflict for all of the characters, with a better understanding of their nuances. I would call few of the episodes bad, per se, but they've certainly lost their lustre.

 

Then again, the pilot, and Griffon the Brush Off, in particular, have actually been somewhat revitalized by new episodes that have infused them with more depth than they had prior. Amending Fences supplies a gut-wrenching dread in the opening scenes of Elements of Harmony, which before had been somewhat wasted seconds, in that the message of the moment, that Twilight didn't care about friends, was conveyed much more effectively over the course of the episode. Now this scene is vitally formative not only to Twilight, but Moondancer, as well. Griffon the Brush-Off gets a similar makeover from Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, putting a much more tragic spin on Gilda's struggle in the episode, and providing much more context for her actions. Where before, she had literally been a cardboard antagonist and foil to Rainbow Dash, there purely for the purpose of creating tension between Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, and advancing the plot to develop their relationship, after Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, it is no longer mere fan speculation to suggest that she occupies something of an alternate protagonist in the episode, the suspiciously gregarious ponies of Ponyville being the antagonists in her story.

[Radiance64 7,053]

Best: Lesson Zero

Worst: Pilot

[NeonCobalt 256]

Well the pilot certainly hasn't aged well, or the first half or so of season 1 for that matter. They really aren't up to the standard the show later set for itself. Obviously there's nothing wrong with a show getting better as it goes along, it's just a bit jarring to watch some of those early episodes.

 

The Return of Harmony has aged phenomenally, in my opinion. It definitely stands the test of time. It's probably the Season 2 episode I revisit the most.