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If you could choice 3 episodes to erase from FiM which 3 would you choice?


Rosetta Spring

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Not in order:

  1. Rainbow Falls. The show's worst-written episode. Everyone outside of two (Soarin' & Derpy) is out of character. Every strand logic applied to the story makes absolutely zero sense. It disregards continuity on nearly all fronts. The Wonderbolts devolve into colossal assholes when Spitfire and Fleetfoot intentional sabotaged the Ponyville relay team and tried to woo Dash into joining the Cloudesdale team. Even worse, this is a "key" episode, so this affects whatever plot it references. *cough*Equestria Games*cough*
  2. One Bad Apple: One of the worst portrayals of how to battle bullying that I've ever seen in any television show. "Fighting back turns you into the bully"? "Bullying ends when you inform a grownup"? Babs Seed's actions are excused? Applejack becomes incompetent when she has no idea that Apple Bloom was forced to sleep on the floor in her own room? Worst FIM episode, period!
  3. Newbie Dash: One of the show's biggest anticlimaxes. Dash becomes a Wonderbolt right off the bat. But what could make it worse? Heh. Dash being taunted as "Rainbow Crash," triggering her pains of the phrase and her insecurities and worsening her performance upon each utterance. She imitates her friends to ease her pain in the worst joke of the season. She forces Scootaloo to get involved in a trick blindly. The worst of it all, the reprehensible moral of the Wonderbolts telling Dash (and by extension, us) that hazing is okay? FUCK, NO!

 

Number 3.....Oh for God's sakes not this again. Okay, look. Hazing in the military is an average part of the experience, ESPECIALLY in the Air Force, which the Wonderbolts are an equivalent to. In the Air Force, when a new recruit screws up they get a nickname called a call sign that sticks with them, stemming from the incident that gave them the call sign in the first place. It isn't meant to be mean. It isn't meant to be cruel. It's meant to be a TEACHING METHOD so recruits don't make the same dumb, possibly dangerous, mistake. Are we done here? I hope so, because I really don't want to have to give this lecture again.  :fiery:

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I could almost say that all three would be Spike episodes. I mean, Spike at Your Service is probably my least favourite Spike episode, followed by...maybe Princess Spike. But then there's What About Discord?, which stands as the only story starring Discord that I can say I dislike, and that includes all the B canon material I've read starring him. Yes, the B canon stuff has better Discord stories than What About Discord? Heck, after the excellent Make New Friends But Keep Discord, that episode was like a slap in the face. Thank you What About Discord? for being an in joke that the audience is not let in on.

 

Maybe I can scratch Princess Spike from my list as I've long since set the bar low for Spike episodes and Party Pooped just baffles me. Yeah, I'm sorry but as nice as a new political truce would be, I'd almost rather not have relations with a nation that's so petty. If they declare war I'm sure even one Alicorn is enough to massacre them. Seriously, go home Yakyakistan. You're drunk.

 

Spike at Your Service still stands as my least favourite Spike episode so I'm keeping it on my list. Most Spike episodes seem to be tropey episodes which, in stark contrast to the rest of the show, fail to do anything remotely clever or new or even interesting with said tropes and just happen to be that episode we've all seen a million times in too many other cartoons in the past. Sure, they're no worse than any other times we've seen those tropes, but by FiM standards, Spike episodes are less than satisfactory. I personally think Spike at Your Service is the most cringey of them all, and probably the reason why I'm often less harsh on other Spike episodes. Not only is Spike shown to be incompetent, in spite of actually proving himself to be quite capable in other episodes, but the whole "you've saved my life and now I'm your personal slave for life" concept is one that I was already especially sick of even before watching that episode. Yeah, I'm keeping it on my list.

Spike as a character deserves better. 

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I'd probably get rid of:

 

1. Boast Busters - Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity are characterized poorly, and with how the episode in general is set up, Twilight's conflict doesn't really make sense in context.

2. Rainbow Falls - The characterization is godawful to the point where I lost respect for the Wonderbolts and the consistency is all over the place.

3. One Bad Apple - The portrayal and moral regarding bullying is overall horrible and I hate how it tries to put Babs Seed in the right by saying "oh she was bullied in manehattan" (which, btw, isn't brought up until the worst moment for a poorly done climax). 

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I hate Newbie Dash. Why? First of all, after a huge arc that nearly every fan was waiting for, they just end it with a terrible episode that made me cringe almost the whole time. At least make it a memorable episode like Crusaders of the Lost Mark, Hasbro. I'm disappointed.

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(edited)

I'm notcing a trend. Most of the 'worst' epsidoes happen to be RD centric ones. MMDW. Rainbow Crash. Rainbow Falls. Daring don't.

 

Followed by Spike eipsodes. Secret of my excess. Spike at your service. Princess Spike. Owls well that ends well.

 

Wow. Spike & RD  really get the shaft.

 

As far as which 3 I'd erase? Outside of what's been said?

Daring don't. Cause it undoes the comic cannon that Twi's mom is the author of the Daring books.

 

Twilights Kingdom. We could've introduced Twi w/ a better villian than some plants and better ways of showing her growth.

 

Feeling pinkie keen. I do not get the message this episdoe is trying to get across. Don't try to understand soemthign confusing? Just accept it as is? What?

 

Honorable mentions:

 

The last round up. I love that the staff wanted a nod to the fans for Derpy, but some inconsiderate and overly sensitive types out there turned it into a scandal and just a painful episode in hindsight with the edits, completley overshadowing the intentional message of knwoign your family will still accept you, as long as you tried your best, with, hide yoru disabilites and be ashamed of what makes you different.

 

Magical mystery cure. I liek this erpisode, but the way it was originally written is now out of place. This was supposed to be the last episode beofre Hasbro said otherwise. Larson himself said that that was how he was gonna end the show. If he knew the show was gonna go on, he wouldn't have given Twi wings. So for that, it should go.

Edited by Denim&Venom
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Commonly bad episodes (One Bad Apple, Boast Busters, Rainbow Falls) gave us good/important stuff (Babs Seed (song), Trixie, EG arc continuation.) Other bad episodes gave us absolutely nothing, so I'd remove them. The top three being:

 

  • Dragon Quest: Worthless, reinforces stereotypes, poorly characterizes everybody, dull plot, etc
  • Spike at your Service: Derails Spike, relies on poor characterization to continue the weak story, lame resolution 
  • Owls Well That Ends Well: Typical cliche jealously episode

lol just realized theyre all spike eps. 

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Twilights Kingdom. We could've introduced Twi w/ a better villian than some plants and better ways of showing her growth.

 

The plants were actually in Princess Twilight Sparkle.

 

Twilight's Kingdom was actually the one with Tirek.

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The plants were actually in Princess Twilight Sparkle.

 

Twilight's Kingdom was actually the one with Tirek.

No wonder I didn't get the name right. It's just generic enough to be forgettable.

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Is Gauntlet of Fire the only good Spike episode?

I guess this isn't a particularly popular opinion, but "Princess Spike" is actually the only Spike episode I dislike. I'm very fond of "Owl's Well That Ends Well" and "Dragon Quest," I find "A Dog and Pony Show," "Secret of My Excess," and "Just For Sidekicks" to be very fun, and I even recall having some fondness for "Equestria Games," even if it's not the show's best episode. Can't really defend my soft spot for "Spike At Your Service," and "Princess Spike" is crap, but I don't even think "Gauntlet of Fire" is in the upper echelon of Spike episodes, and I feel kinda alone in that. 

 

 

Number 3.....Oh for God's sakes not this again. Okay, look. Hazing in the military is an average part of the experience, ESPECIALLY in the Air Force, which the Wonderbolts are an equivalent to. In the Air Force, when a new recruit screws up they get a nickname called a call sign that sticks with them, stemming from the incident that gave them the call sign in the first place. It isn't meant to be mean. It isn't meant to be cruel. It's meant to be a TEACHING METHOD so recruits don't make the same dumb, possibly dangerous, mistake. Are we done here? I hope so, because I really don't want to have to give this lecture again.  :fiery:

Preach. Putting Rainbow Dash, with her ego-masking-insecurity in such a military setting was inevitable, and even if I wish she brought more of her character development to the table, the idea is inherently interesting, and everything the Wonderbolts did in that episode beyond simply using the callsign was a reaction to Rainbow Dash's rookie arrogance. Certainly, the exact name chosen muddles things a bit, but you kinda have to consider that Rainbow barely even approached the Wonderbolts about what that name meant to her until the end. Could the episode have been done better? Oh, sure, in several ways. But I didn't even pick up on any pro-hazing subtext until it was pointed out to me, so I kinda struggle with that criticism. 

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Spike for me and obvious from the other posts are usually the episodes to start on.

 

They're just unfulfilling and forgettable and honestly I feel like Spike should deserve better.

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(edited)
I guess this isn't a particularly popular opinion, but "Princess Spike" is actually the only Spike episode I dislike. I'm very fond of "Owl's Well That Ends Well" and "Dragon Quest," I find "A Dog and Pony Show," "Secret of My Excess," and "Just For Sidekicks" to be very fun, and I even recall having some fondness for "Equestria Games," even if it's not the show's best episode. Can't really defend my soft spot for "Spike At Your Service," and "Princess Spike" is crap, but I don't even think "Gauntlet of Fire" is in the upper echelon of Spike episodes, and I feel kinda alone in that. 

 

Spike at Your Service is weird. I'd argue Spike himself is the only bad part of the episode, it has some fantastic interaction between the mane 6 imo 

Edited by Jefferson Steelflex
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The Cutie Remark Part 2: While I would seriously rewrite Part 1 as well (Get rid of Starlight's God-mod and the pointless opening) it does have an interesting premise. The problem with it is the resolution. Those last ten minutes force a character arc that was never even hinted at nor executed well. If you want to have Starlight have a redemption arc, set it up so the audience feels some sympathy with her before that. And then you cut down on the alternative timelines. In part one they work a bit better since we really only deal with the Sombra one. In Part 2 it's every other one and they all lack development and worse hinder what is suppose to be the main story line by becoming filler. Basically get rid of this episode and have a completely new ending for the story.

 

No Second Prances: Just the hypocrisy bugs me to no end. Twilight will trust Starlight but not Trixie, why? Because Trixie has an ego? Bullshit. That's like saying is that Trevor in accounting is worse than Jim Jones.  Sure Trevor's not the guy you want to hang out with after work but he's just a prick not a sociopath with intent on massive social harm. 

 

Bats!: Mostly because it decides to sidestep any sort of complex moral about the short term goals vs long term one with shade of moral gray areas and no easy answer to instead turn into a not particularly compelling horror story with a cliffhanger that makes no sense and hasn't really been brought back. 

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Spike as a character deserves better. 

 

What're you talking about? He's been doing great lately! Yes, a little bit of comic relief here and there, but hey, as long as he's not the joke in the episodes he stars in, I'm good. Everything else, no worries.

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Spike at Your Service is weird. I'd argue Spike himself is the only bad part of the episode, it has some fantastic interaction between the mane 6 imo

Yeah, that's just it. There's one scene of completely casual conversation between three of them which is just fantastic.

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This seems like a hating thread, but so be it:

 

1. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 - obnoxious brothers, the entire Apple family acting totally brainless, trite plot, OOC Pinkie. The song is good but it's not enough to want to see this least favorite episode of mine disappear forever.

 

2. Somepony to Watch Over Me - totally OOC AJ, overused plot. The Chimera isn't enough to save it. Buh-bye.

 

3. Leap of Faith - this episode wasn't horrendously terrible like my #1 pick above, but I really don't want to ever see the Flam brothers again, except for maybe chained to a wall in Twilight's dungeon. And Granny Smith is probably the least interesting character in the show, so that doesn't help this episode, either.

 

 

And yes, it's true. I would rather watch "Princess Spike" over "Leap of Faith" or the other two episodes above, even though it suffers from the same cliche plot and brainless character syndrome like the ones above. I generally avoid it when I can.

 

Same goes for "Spike at Your Service." At least it had a cool start and it's pretty good past the scene of Spike trying to fix Rarity's sink. I swear I'm going to sit down and make an edited version of that episode someday that just dumps the 7 minutes or so of Spike acting incompetent, then it will be a really fun watch.

 

Also "Spike at Your Service" has the honor of originally having a Dave Polsky treatment that instead featured him being a competent helper for Rarity, but that script got tossed for some reason.  :confused:

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Number 3.....Oh for God's sakes not this again. Okay, look. Hazing in the military is an average part of the experience, ESPECIALLY in the Air Force, which the Wonderbolts are an equivalent to. In the Air Force, when a new recruit screws up they get a nickname called a call sign that sticks with them, stemming from the incident that gave them the call sign in the first place. It isn't meant to be mean. It isn't meant to be cruel. It's meant to be a TEACHING METHOD so recruits don't make the same dumb, possibly dangerous, mistake. Are we done here? I hope so, because I really don't want to have to give this lecture again.  :fiery:

 

Yeah, the hazing and Dash getting stuck on solo detail are positively mundane to anyone with military experience. Honestly, the crap she pulled at the show was straight-up discharge-worthy in the real service, and her initial mistake was easily punishable by UCMJ, since it was disobeying a direct order. If anything, to a service member, Rainbow Dash may as well have gotten off scot-free, since the stupid nickname and the solo detail would have happened anyway. This rather nuanced depiction of how members of the military relate to each other is actually really cool, because it shows that there's more than one way to be friends.

 

The only thing that frustrates me about the episode is the fact that half the episode is ten excruciating minutes of self-humiliating dramatic irony on the part of Rainbow Dash. In general, I find this kind of humor to be unbearable, and Newbie Dash takes some kind of sick pleasure in dragging it out. But if I'm honest, I don't think it would be a thing if not for MMDW, anyway, that being the episode that first took Rainbow Dash's insensitivity and dialed it all the way up to a complete lack of self-consciousness (I'm serious, the whole show would seriously actually be so much better if that episode had not happened). Even so, the segment does show how Rainbow Dash expressing, if indirectly, her admiration for all five of her friends in turn. I feel like it was a very well-intentioned segment that was just executed in the laziest and most painful way possible. In the end, I don't think it destroys the whole episode. Incidentally, you can skip that whole part and still have a really great, if short, episode.

 

This doesn't make it a good episode, by any stretch, but I really only find an episode truly detestable if the redeeming qualities can't stand on their own. I suppose this would put Spike at Your Service and What About Discord down on that end, as well, but it's hard to pick just one episode to put in my third spot.

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This is perfect. There are only 4 episodes I truly dislike in the series, so bam, here we go the worst 3.

 

-Not Easy Being Breezies. There really isn't much to say about this one other than the fact its sooo boooorrriing. I'm not even kidding you, I almost fell asleep, I was so bored. I didn't care about the breezies and Fluttershy was being more unbearable than usual. Awful

 

-Tanks for the Memories. I wrote this in another topic very recently, but I will again very briefly. "Mosey" episode of Horseland did everything 10000x better. Tanks for the memories was a disgrace on the "grief" topic that other shows somehow seem to get right, where this one just shat all over everything it was trying to do.

 

-Applejack's Day Off. I am an AJ fan here, so Bias levels are over 9000, but AJ was completely retarded this episode. I'm not saying that to be offensive, she was literally stupid this episode. Dancing like a chicken and hanging the food over a string? Really? AJ would never do something that dumb. She has always been the de facto leader of sense and ingenuity in the series, especially when Twilight breaks out, which she does very often. An utter disgrace to an already mediocre episode.

 

Honorable mention (I'm gettin' #4 in here)

 

-Pinkie Pride. I think this was really more due to people over-hyping it, but it was all very eh. Pinkie's friends just abandoned her for cheese? And cheese himself claimed to be "envious" of Pinkie while stealing her friends? I don't buy it.

 

We'll this really brought out the negative in me. I got to find a 3 favorite episode thread now.

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