Episodes playing more into their strengths than weaknesses

[Dark Qiviut 22,433]

The well-known formula of the show is the main character(s) of the episode undergo a conflict that shows off their flaws or situations at their weakest, and they must overcome that flaw at the end to develop. But one thing this show doesn't do often, and should be shown a lot more, is characters playing into their strengths in their episode more than their flaws. Instead of showing them overcoming a flaw, show them what they're really good at to solve the plot. One of the first episodes to play this line is Magic Duel. But a good chunk of season five episodes played the characters did that since, including:

1. Wonderbolts Academy (Season 3): Probably the weakest example, as Dash had to overcome a flaw here, but also showed off easily some of her strongest moments.
2. Party Pooped: Pinkie was really dedicated into giving the yaks their best representation and went north to Yaktakistan, only to fail at the end.
3. Rarity Investigates!: When Dash was at risk of expulsion, Rarity showed off her best qualities to help find the true culprit and acquit Dash. Her attention to detail, understanding of the detail, and noticing things that others don't were crucial into the mystery plot. The ability to eye the littlest things and dissect them is an art in itself; Rarity captures that perfectly.
4. Crusaders of the Lost Mark: When Diamond Tiara was at her lowest point, the CMCs decided to check up on her and convince her to lead to a much better path and future. Their decision to help Diamond Tiara after all the cruel things she did to them shows a lot of maturity on their parts.
5. The Mane Attraction: Easily the best AJ episode yet. But one thing it does very, very well is prove how her stubbornness isn't always a flaw. She suspected something was wrong with Coloratura because she wasn't in character, stuck with it, and eventually found out with help that Svengallop was just using her It's the first episode to use her stubbornness as a strength, and it should be done more.
6. The Cutie Re-Mark: The Cutie Map showed off Twilight's ability to lead as an Equestrian princess. This one shows it off the best. When she couldn't fight fire with fire against Starlight (who was always one step ahead), she had to stop her in other ways. The way being showing her the fate of the future if Starlight kept sabotaging Dash's Sonic Rainboom. From there, Twilight really proved how much she earned the title as Princess of Friendship.
7. Gauntlet of Fire (Season 6): Thus far the best Spike episode. A good chunk of his episodes involve him screwing up and figuring out his place in Equestria. Here, Spike's best strengths are put to task, including saving Ember from drowning, helping her pass dangerous tasks, and choosing to get involved in the Gauntlet so Garble doesn't win it and declare war on Equestria.

(Yes, 'Shy showed off significant development in Flutter Brutter. Yet, since it's a Zephyr episode, it doesn't count.)

 

Now, characters overcoming their flaws isn't a problem in itself. Unfortunately, this season, a good chunk of episodes feature them encircling the same problems to overcome over and over again, sometimes at the cost of their characterization and intelligence. The ReMane Six are now part of a council to spread the Magic of Friendship within Equestria and abroad. The CMCs got their cutie marks and intend to help others get them. When it comes to life, closed adventures don't theoretically exist. We should see more episodes where their best qualities dominate.

 

So, here are two questions:

1. What characters do you wanna see show off their strengths more? Can be (any or a few of) the Mane Eight, Luna, Celestia, secondary characters, CMCs, or another character.
2. Which episode ideas can you come up with that exhibit them? Remember to try to make them fit the atmosphere of the show.

[Megas 27,698]

I'd love to see more episodes like this for Rainbow Dash instead of having entire episodes like MMDW, Newbie Dash, and 28 Pranks Later that dedicates the entire episode bludgeoning her with a sledgehammer and humiliating her for her flaws and instead of letting her get back on top they push her down further

[cmarston1 5,959]

Even if it isn't one of my all time favorite episodes, (although it is one of my favorite season 5 episodes), Canterlot Boutique does a great job at showcasing her best.

Particularly through the Rules of Rarity displaying how dedicated that she is dedicated to her craft and how she values putting as much time and effort into each and every dress in a from of art in order to help other ponies express themselves and bring out the best they can be because of that.

This was the season that made Rarity my second favorite of the mane 6, and this episode does a great job at proving why I love her character.

 

For characters that I want to see the best of would have have to be Princess Celestia, as she is pretty much dead weight at this point and can be written out of the show, and FIM would be completely the same at the same at this point.

All I want to see is one episode dedicated to her and giving her actual character development.

But sadly the writers would rather just have Rarity steal screentime from every other character this season.

If she doesn't get an episode this season, than she is a lost cause.

[ponylaces 1,870]

I know this has been said before, but Rainbow Dash is a character we see a lot more weaknesses than strengths be addressed in her episodes. Her confidence, strive, loyalty, and determination should be praised more in episodes. Instead, she comes off as arrogant, oblivious, or selfish at times. We've seen the other Mane 6's strengths being used to their advantage a lot, but I feel that Rainbow gets forgotten when it comes to this. Episodes like Rainbow Falls, 28 Pranks Later, and MMDW show off more of her negative traits than positive traits and it can get pretty annoying.

 

Also, Starlight. We've seen more of her weaknesses than strengths in the episodes she has appeared in, so it would be nice to see some of her strengths as well even though she's still a fairly new character.

Edited August 16, 2016 by PonyLaces

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,621]

Spike has been rather brilliant overall in this season, because of this very thing. Focusing on his strengths more, on his positive aspects. It has been wonderful to see it and now I wish we could see it for more characters. Rainbow Dash has apparently forgotten nearly everything she has learned so, damn it. Seeing her in a more positive light and showing us her wonderful side, that would be cool. Not appointing brand new writers for huge events would also be welcomed. Starlight, we need pretty any positives from her. We really haven't seen any, except maybe her ability to actually feel guilt over what she did. Other than that, they haven't shown much to convince me to like her.

[FizzyGreen 909]

While i very mich agree, that the time of learning about friendship is over, i have to say, that the current problems they are facing are more something like "casual-life-problems". A slice of that is also good, but if they do it too much its gonna turn into exactly that. Some casual show where you learn something about life like sometimes in How i met your mother or something.

But i digress.

 

Stuff that was already said, only repeated in my words

 

 

Though the Mane 3 were extremely out of character in Ponies before card. It really does feel like the writers are pushing flaws for content. But pointing out flaws all the time surely isn't right. Of course, it's not that extreme in the show but from personal experience i know, that if your flaws are pointed out constantly, you don't necessarily improve. Infact, it even gets worse, you start thinking badly of yourself, you stop believing in yourself and you start being worse at everything.

 

What i am trying to say with that is, if the characters would shine some more, the whole series would shine alot more.

 

 

I would personally like to see Rainbow Dash more positively, because right now she just seems like a b***h to me.

Edited August 16, 2016 by FizzyGreen

[Thrond 3,263]

Rainbow Dash really, really needs to show off her best qualities. The writers haven't done that since "Wonderbolts Academy," which was three seasons ago. Some form of difficulty within the Womderbolts or regarding her Wonderbolt status would be much appreciated.

 

Of course, what I'd most like is for the mane six to explore new dimensions of their previously established faults, so as to represent their growth and life changes.

 

[*]The Mane Attraction

[*]The Cutie Re-Mark

[*]Gauntlet of Fire

 

As much as I wa t characters to show their good side, I found these three episodes pretty stale and formulaic, though "Cutie Re-Mark" perhaps less so. "The Mane Attraction" in particular feels to me like it does nothing that makes any particular difference, so though it's still charming, it has an overwhelmingly minor feel which lessens my investment. "Gauntlet of Fire" was only slightly better for me because of its worldbuilding, while "The Cutie Re-Mark" at least had Starlight's reformation, which I still adore, to give it something I'm invested in.

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

See here's the thing, outside of Applejack, none of the other characters feel like their flaws are being focused on much more than normal. Yes Rainbow's been painted in a pretty negative light a few times in S6.... but she is in pretty much every season, seriously look at her S4-5 episodes things from Daring Don't, to Tanks for the Memories, to Griffonstone (where she's not painted too negatively but she's basically in the wrong about just about everything) all show Dash as particularly flawed.

I actually think  a good half of the cast could use more episodes focused on their flaws again, like when was the last time Pinkie got an episode focused on her flaws? Twilight's gotten a bit of it recently in stuff like Amending Fences and No Second Prances? And you know what? I find THAT Twilight WAAAAYY more entertaining than the kind of Twilight we see in most of the two parters or in the majority of her supporting roles, who I think is one of the show's msot boring characters nowadays. So sign me up for much more flawed Twilight please.

And Rarity, my favorite character I love seeing her shown positively but practically the only Rarity starring episode to use her flaws much AT ALL in the last 2 seasons was Spice up Your Life... and it was all born from her being selfless and generous anyway, she just took "help the resturant succeed, save this family's business" in the wrong direction. For the most part since Season 4 or so it's pretty much felt like the writers are frequently just bashing the audience over the head with how great a pony Rarity is. To some extent that was necessary due to how much trouble people had getting the character, and it definitely DID work to make the audience like her a hell of a lot more and thankfully unlike Twilight, super virtuous Rarity is just as fun and hilarious as more flawed Rarity. But still there comes a time when Id like to see a less super virtuous Rarity again. I think Rarity has enough of a fanbase at this point to have some episode focused on the more flawed sides of her personality again.

 

O and someone mentioned Starlight Glimmer, I think both the Crystalling and No Second Prances do a decent enough job of showing both her strong and weak points.

 

 

Can't comment much on Fluttershy since outside of 3 episodes she's been almost nonexistent in Seasons 5 and 6. Though Flutter Brutter was definitely a very great and positive portrayal of her (and yes it WAS A Fluttershy episode, Zepyhr exist to facilitate and show Fluttershy's character growth)

Edited August 17, 2016 by M'gann M'orzz

[VengefulStrudel 1,486]

I'd love to see characters put their strengths to the test more often.  While I like seeing them overcome their flaws, playing to their strengths would be just as interesting to watch for me.

 

From the top of my head, there are 3 characters that I really want to see play more to their strengths:

- Fluttershy: I loved that she was more assertive and bold in Flutter Brutter, and I really hope to see her keep it up like that in future episodes. It was refreshing to see her not be a doormat for others.

 

- Spike: I think he needs some more love. He's been the goofy sidekick who messes up quite a lot (cough Princess Spike cough), seeing him be competent in Gauntlet of Fire was very much appreciated! I also liked that it showed his sense of honor, by saving Ember and helping her, as mentioned in the OP.

 

- Rarity: I like to think Rarity can detect subtle things, such as in body language, posture, speech, etc , thanks to her attention to detail and keen eye. Seeing her put that to use some more, like in Rarity Investigates, would be pretty neat.

[Truffles 2,033]

I'm going to agree with all the comments on Rainbow Dash - she's been regressed to her Season 1 and 2 form and only seems to be exhibiting flaws lately to make the stories that involve her work. I'd like to see her loyalty tested - that is, she remains loyal to another character despite others having misgivings about said character, and her proving she was right in the end.

 

Actually, that's sounds a lot like the premise to "The Times are a Changeling," and I suppose they could have substituted Rainbow for Spike there. But Spike works out a little better in this instance since he can relate to how a changeling living among ponies feels. It's ironic he was temporarily the Element of Loyalty, because he exhibits it in much the same way.

 

Speaking of Spike, normally I would include him too as a character that needs an intervention, but they've really addressed a lot of the issues this season with only a few episodes where he's been conspicuously absent when he should have been part of the story. (Saddle Row Review and No Second Prances - I'm looking at you. =| )

 

We learned that friendship is really important to him - perhaps due to his being close with Twilight and taking her new role upon himself as well - when he met Ember, so much so he was willing to risk his life to prove his point. And now it appears the same is true with the upcoming episode in a few days, though it's not the other character he has to convince this time - it's an entire city full of ponies.

 

We don't know yet how he'll be portrayed in "Dungeons and Discords," hopefully this run of great Spike episodes won't falter.

 

Finally, Applejack is pretty much in the same boat as Rainbow, so she could use an instance of her honesty solving the problem again. Although that premise already sounds a lot like "Inspiration Manifestation." I'm almost ready to proclaim a South Park-like saying and declare there's nothing left to do because "Spike already did it." XD

Edited August 17, 2016 by Truffles