spoiler What's your overall thoughts on season 7?

[Firedog 320]

While it's not over were getting pretty close.

 

Overall I think this season is pretty much consistently good, but I didn't really feel a ton of episodes knocked it out of the park.

 

Here is my season ranks based on what we got so far:

1. Season 1

2. Season 4

3. Season 2

4. Season 3

5. Season 5 or 7 

6. Season 5 or 7

7. Season 6

 

 

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

I think it is contender for the best season, it likely would be if it had a two part premiere. Most episodes have either been good or one of my favorites of the series

As it stands

Season 5

Season 7

Season 4

Season 2 or 6

Season 3 or season 1

[SugarCoatxMarblePie 701]

I would have to quantitatively analyze each season. I think 2/3/5 were worse but idr. Each season has some good eps.

Season 7 was very good. Not excellent, mostly, but very good so far. That other episode was the bomb tho lol.

Edited September 20, 2017 by SugarCoatxMarblePie

[DonMaguz 1,023]

I still have to wait for the last episodes, but so far it seems that it will be my favorite, I rank the complete ones as follows: S5, S2, S3, S4, S6, S1.

[Peter16373 103]

Currently it has blown away all my expectations.

1. Season 7

2. Season 5

3. Season 4

4. Season 6

5. Season 2

6. Season 1

7. Season 3

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Overall I would say that season 7 has been solid up to this point, and has potential stand amongst seasons 2 & 5 as the best ones yet. Of course some episodes were either meh or totally off the mark, but we've had FAR more good than bad at this point, and I hope that trend continues.

[Thrond 3,263]

Genuinely not enjoying it overall; up there with season 5 as my absolute least favourite season of the show so far, which is especially disappointing after I sorta dug season 6. Apparently I once again have the opposite of the popular opinion. 

1. Season 2
2. Season 1
3. Season 6
4. Season 3
5. Season 4
6. Season 5
7. Season 7

Edited September 20, 2017 by AlexanderThrond

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

3 hours ago, Firedog said:

What's your overall thoughts on season 7?

That it is a damn good season filled with both solid and enjoyable episodes. It has had a couple of weak ones and even one horrible one, but I expected that. Honestly I have really enjoyed it so far, and am optimistic S8 will keep things moving along nicely.

I am not ranking seasons. I find that just goofy to do.

[LeafFerret 3,382]

I can say it's definitely better than the last two seasons, since the show now has a new character to focus on and that Twilight doesn't have much of a role this season compared to previous seasons, that Daring Done? episode is probably in my top 5 favourite episodes at the moment.

[Jeric 46,856]

I'm still not ranking this one completely. But if the quality holds ... it will at least fight it out with Season 5 as my favorite. 

[Hierok 11,832]

This season is amazing, except for a few episodes like Triple Treat, Forever Fillie and Honest Apple which were horrible to watch. It is fighting season 1 now as my second favourite.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

This season so far (20 episodes) is a mixed bad, the good and the bad keep competing each other. Some eps are so amazing, some eps are just worse than average season 1&2 episodes. Amazing season for Starlight Glimmer, her major roles and supporting roles are better than S6, have more clearer direction. Secondary and background characters shine this season, Thorax is the best side character. Invididual mane 6 member episodes are still fine (mostly) but off the balance (Twilight didnt get enough loves). 'Legend of Magic' eps are bland (even the legends are cool but the eps themself are bland).

There are 6 episodes left, let hope they can make the season having better overall score, to compete S5. Any more than 2-3 bad/meh ep or a bad finale can drag this season on par with S3 in term of average score even it has superior episode counts.

Some amazing eps this season i need to mention:

Rock Solid Friendship

Parental Glideance

Celestial Advice

All Bottled Up

The Perfect Pear

Fame & Misfortune

To Change A Changeling

A Royal Problem

Discordant Harmony

 

Some 'booo' eps that i really want to mention:

Daring Done

Fluttershy Leans In

Triple Threat

Honest Apple

Hard to Say Anything (my guilty pleasure but objectively, its bad)

 

[ShootingStar159 2,157]

Way too soon for me to make that decision. The finale alone could make this the best season for me, and I'm still hyped for Zeplin and Uncommon Bond.

So far though I'd put it up with two and five as one of my favorites.

Edited September 20, 2017 by ShootingStar159

[M'gann M'orzz 745]

Fighting it out with S5 for most consistently solid season so far.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,704]

I've definitely been enjoying a decent amount of it. I have some fairly negative opinions on some episodes that seem to be mostly liked, but episodes like Parental Glideance and Perfect Pear are easily some of my favorite episodes of the whole show and a couple of very solid episodes like Campfire Tales and To Change A Changeling help, the rest I either like for what it is or disliked. A Royal Problem was a huge disappointment for me and Fame and Misfortune was a disaster, so this season does have its blemishes.  Forever Filly and Rock Solid Friendship are in the 'Meh' category for me.

I am not sure how I would rank it compared to the other seasons, but I could at least give it a rating of 'Pretty good' thus far.

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

Great Episodes this Season (My Opinion):

• A Royal Problem
• It Isn't the Mane Thing about You
• Perfect Pear
• Discordant Harmony
• Fluttershy Leans In

 

Terrible Episodes this Season (My Opinion):

• Hard to Say Anything
• Daring Done?
• Honest Apple
• Flurry of Emotions

 

 

How I think the Season has gone in general:

Episodes 1 and 2 started of to be a fairly decent premiere, though things went downhill with "Flurry of Emotions" and never really went back to even decent quality (with one, controversial, exception), until after "Honest Apple". Though since that episode, the only really bad episode there's been has been "Daring Done?" and even then it's not really atrocious... So, not bad (it was initially), but certainly not up to par with the standards that are set by Seasons 2 and 4. Best episode goes to "A Royal Problem", and Worst goes to "Hard To Say Anything."

 

 

Where I think this season lands among the other seasons:

1. Season 4
2. Season 6
3. Season 2
4. Season 1
5. Season 7
6. Season 5
7. Season 3

Edited September 20, 2017 by Barik the Luigineer

[DANUTERCISD 204]

its a good season, i'll put it as my 2nd favorite until i watch the whole thing

[DJ_Bonebraker 183]

Not going to give any final judgements until the season is over, but so far, it seems to me that the writers & other show staff have been, for the most part, bringing their "A" game this season, and even as it stands now, it's definitely in my top 3 along with Season 2 & 5.

 

[Dark Qiviut 22,444]

An update of my two posts is in order.

---

In order from best to worst, good episodes are in bold, mediocre in normal, bad in italic underline:

1. The Perfect Pear
2. Parental Glideance
3. Discordant Harmony
4. It Isn't the Mane Thing About You
5. All Bottled Up
6. A Flurry of Emotions
7. To Change a Changeling
8. Triple Threat
9. Celestial Advice
10. Not Asking for Trouble
11. Campfire Tales
12. Rock Solid Friendship
13. Forever Filly
14. Daring Done?
15. A Health of Information
16. Fluttershy Leans In
17. A Royal Problem
18. Honest Apple
19. Hard to Say Anything
20. Fame and Misfortune

TPP and PG are among the seven greatest of the entire series; TPP is both the best episode of MLP and one of the greatest Western cartoon episodes of all-time. Honest Apple falls out of the bottom-20, while Hard is in the bottom-20. Fame, OTOH, is the third-worst episode of the entire series.

So, what did it do right?

1. Starlight. Not only more use of her, but writing her better, too. To repeat from before, she's the best written of the Mane Eight. Her worst appearance comes from To Change by quickly assuming Pharynx is irredeemable and then coming up with such a boneheaded plan that risked their hive. Her best is from Fame for being an active part of the cast and showing how far she's come as a character.
2. The characterization of Dash, Rarity, and AJ has (mostly) returned to form. Dash is the most consistent, despite some hiccups.
3. Fluttershy continues her streak of improvement. Discordant Harmony and Health are among her best in the show.
4. When one-shots are written well, they're really written well. Spearhead, Bow, and Windy are excellent. Toola and Coconut are fine child characters.
5. The Perfect Pear = a work of art. The perfect episode for the perfect pair.
6. Up until Fame and after it, all the morals are okay. More about that in a bit.
7. Discordant Harmony and Mane are two of the biggest surprises this season.

And the opposite?

1. Many one-shots are really poorly written. Hard Hat, Dandy Grandeur, and Wrangler are one-note, stereotypical, or both. They're only there just to betray FS's trust and vision. Lily Lace, Starstreak, and Inky Rose are the stereotypical valley girl, trendsetter, and gothic girl, respectively. Strawberry Sunrise is an asshole for the sake of being an asshole (and by extension, implicating a stench of spite from Rarity). Stereo Pop is a sloppy, dated parody of teenage!Bieber, and he sucks as a character to boot.
2. AJ from Honest Apple is her worst characterization to date. She's the Bearer of Honesty for not being afraid to tell the truth if her friends needed to. Here, she was callous and evil; she enjoyed shredding the fashion designers' proud work, including going as far as proudly destroying Lily's feather hat. We're in S7; she shouldn't have to learn a lesson of tact.

3. On 6/13/2017 at 11:39 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

   Big Mac and the CMCs are equally atrocious in Hard with their worst characterizations in the series, too. Big Mac for following through on the CMCs' schemes to woo Sugar Belle. (Mac, sexual harassment isn't funny!) The CMCs for literally believing that fairy tales are how-to guidebooks.

4. On 6/13/2017 at 11:39 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

   Celestia was great in Advice, the same can't be said in A Royal Problem. She and Luna are out of character here. Is it fine for them to bicker as sisters? Totally. But their bickering crossed the line into being personal attacks; each of them treated each other's important roles in Equestrian society as not just pointless, but wasteful, too. On top of that, they never understood that THEY were the friendship problem until Starlight told them directly to their faces, and even then, they were still too dumb to get it till later. (Seriously, Snips and Snails are smarter than them here!)
   
   When did they finally get it? When they witness Starlight's heartbreaking nightmare. (Them telling her she did the right thing all along not only suggests that transferring their talents against their will was a good idea, but also treats Starlight's emotional pain as an afterthought.) Their lack of appreciation for one another makes no sense, since Luna feeling jealous of her sister and lack of appreciation are why she turned into NMM in the first place. You'd think at their age, they'd figure something out. Their complete incompetence completely kills the episode.

5. Lost potential in many of their episodes. Even when they're good and polished, there's a missed opportunity or oversight in them.
   1. CA: Either cut Discord out or use him as a vessel to help teach Twilight a lesson.
   2. ABU: Clean up some of the pacing and have the B-plot flow more with the A-plot.
   3. Forever Filly: Rarity treats SB as if she was still some kind of foal who'll suddenly forget about her memories. The moral itself is really clumsy.
   4. FLI: Don't write FS's conflict so one-sided, simplistic, and quick. This could've been great, but it was so slow and empty that a triumph becomes wasted.
   5. TCaC: Starlight should immediately jump into Pharynx's defense when he describes how Thorax's hive took life-threatening danger for granted rather than assume he's a lost cause.
   6. DD?: Cabaleron's stubble and voice are so distinct that they'd recognize him if they weren't dumb.
   7. Health of Information:
      Spoiler

      The pacing, exposition, and moral were clumsy. Increase the stakes and not downplay it with poorly timed comedy.

6. Fame & Misfortune is one gigantic clusterfuck. This ghostwritten script was so wrapped up plugging in as many real-life fandom references and sending a message to the brony fandom that it left the actual story behind. EVERYONE from Ponyville and Canterlot in the story is an out-of-character scumbag. Fluttershy was stalked. AJ's fanclub freeloaded on her farm and made them miserable. Rarity was boycotted and talked shit behind her back (one of whom was Daisy, who happily helps and compliments her five episodes later). Twilight was ignored, objectified, and visibly hurt by how her friends were treated. The "we're not flawless" moral is a loaded excuse to cover up some of the awful writing over the years. By stereotyping every adult fan and most fillies as caricatures of fans and using Toola and Coconut as tokens, it implicates that everyone who's a fan of FIM is a jerk unless you worship the show's values, or "true" fans are kids who take every message to heart without question. There's no care in continuity, tone, pace, lore, or characterization. Cut out the fandom references, and it's the show's laziest and most mean-spirited story. Add in the fandom references, it's a pure insult to the entire show and its primary demographic: children.

The order I have for the seasons is as follows:

1. Season 5
2. Season 2
3. Season 1
4. Season 7
5. Season 4
6. Season 3
7. Season 6

Edited September 21, 2017 by Dark Qiviut

[Zel 56]

I think I will need to wait after the season is finished to give a fair judgment. Right now I think I could be biaised since I really didn't like the last few episodes in a row... so I think I would be harsher than usual about season 7... I remember having enjoyed some episodes in the begining of season 7 so I guess it wasn't a totally bad season. That's all I can say for now 

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

It's...decent. It feels very much like a continuation of the better parts of season 6 and has more of a focus on humor, background of the world and secondary characters. The problem is that there is a distinct lack of focus on the Mane 6, ie the characters and reason I watch the show. So while it's not bad, it's not as appealing to me as past seasons because I don't watch this show for Celestia, Windy Whistle, Flash Magnus or Trixie. I watch it for Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity and this season while it does feature them, has them constantly separated and not interacting with one another. Spike has almost been left by the wayside after such a strong showing last season. The CMC conversely have been on fire. They've really come into their own. If Fluttershy wasn't so freaking amazing in her episodes, they would be the crowning point of the season so far.  This is why in my opinion the better episodes of this season have the Mane 6 interacting with each other or heavily featured secondary character.

Top 5 episodes (so far)

Discordant Harmony

Perfect Pear 

A Health of Information (Yes I watched the Russian Leak) 

Parental Glidance

Fluttershy Leans In

 

Bottom 3

Rock Solid Friendship

Fame and Misfortune

Honest Apple. 

 

Season ranking (best to worst):

Season 2

Season 5

Season 4

Season 1

Season 7

Season 3

Season 6

[cmarston1 5,959]

So far I have really enjoyed it.  It is definitely one of my favorites of the show.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

It's not so bad. I could skip certain parts of Season 6 and go on to Season 7.

[Star Petal 215]

It really does have some great episodes. I would say its probably one of the top 3 best seasons of mlp. Maybe not THE best season, but pretty close. 

[Thrond 3,263]

Inspired by @Dark Qiviut, here's my ranking of the season so far, alongside my out-of-100 numerical scores:

1. A Flurry of Emotions (93)
2. The Perfect Pear (83)
3. A Royal Problem (83) 
4. Parental Glideance (80)
5. Discordant Harmony (80)
6. Triple Threat (70)
7. It Isn't the Mane Thing About You (65)
8. Not Asking for Trouble (63)
9. Rock Solid Friendship (60)
10. To Change a Changeling (53)
11. Campfire Tales (53)
12. Celestial Advice (50)
13. Forever Filly (48)
14. Fame and Misfortune (45)
15. Honest Apple (40)
16. All Bottled Up (38)
17. Daring Done? (35)
18. Fluttershy Leans In (35)
19. Hard to Say Anything (25)

Only "A Flurry of Emotions" is up there with my favourite episodes of all time, but "The Perfect Pear" is pretty close and may rise up on a second viewing. On the other hand, only "Hard to Say Anything" is guaranteed a spot on my bottom 10, but "Daring Done?" and "Fluttershy Leans In" do have a shot as well.

As for my general thoughts this season:

• It doesn't really fix season 6's polish and consistency issues. I'm significantly more bothered by Rarity in "Forever Filly" than in "Spice Up Your Life," and nearly every other mane six character has at least one episode which really flubs their characterization. More importantly, the details in episodes like "To Change a Changeling," "Honest Apple," and "Forever Filly" are dubious at best, and several premises feel every bit as contrived as the worst of season 6. And that's not even getting into disorganized messes like "Fame and Misfortune" and "To Change a Changeling." 
• It's still very safe. Even "The Perfect Pear," as great as it is, shies away from actually confirming what happened to the Apple parents, and a good number of episodes are very predictable, like "Not Asking for Trouble" and even "Triple Threat." There's also a distinct lack of experimentation, as even when it switches up the setting like in "Not Asking for Trouble" or even "A Royal Problem," it follows a bunch of familiar plot beats. Only "The Perfect Pear" comes across to me like the writers really moving out of their comfort zone.
• There's a weird sterility to a majority of these episodes. An uncanny number of them feel reverse-engineered from the moral without accommodating the characters or better ideas which may come up. "Forever Filly" is my main punching bag in this regard, because nothing happens in that which doesn't tie directly into the moral, but "Daring Done?" dabbles in it too, and while "A Royal Problem" gets it right, it'd still be better with even the slightest bit of space to breathe. Some of the character issues in episodes like "Honest Apple" come across as the writers, whether through stubbornness or laziness, refusing to modify the story structure or moral to suit the characters.
• The second half is more varied than the first half. In the first half of the season, the majority of conflicts resulted from one character irritating another, usually without any sympathy or insight given to the irritant party. The second half, aside from "Fame and Misfortune," doesn't really engage in that, instead focusing on much more satisfying stories about ponies dealing with insecurity.
• Mane six are frequently used as ciphers. As an extension of some of the above issues, I think the reason some are losing interest in the mane six is because this season has very frequently used them as mouthpieces ("Daring Done?") or background elements ("Discordant Harmony"). The latter might not be a problem if it weren't for the former, but it doesn't feel like the mane six interest the current writers that much. There's still a few episodes which give them depth and use their personalities for humour, but it's disappointingly common for these characters to just shout bland exposition when they're not supporting characters in their own show. 
• The story premises feel like checking off boxes. Other people call this "long-awaited fan requests" or something, but to me it adds to the feeling of this season being dispassionate. Fluttershy gets goal? Mandatory Rarity/Applejack episode? Check. Applejack's parents? Yeah, sure, here. Spike is given responsibilities? Check. Even at their best, there's something fundamentally unimaginative about the stories which are being told here. 
• "Legends" stuff isn't terribly compelling. If this is supposed to be a story arc, it's really not all that energetic or creative. Half of these are super generic myths which aren't even original to the show. I don't really know how you lot are able to care about this. 
• Unfortunately, Starlight is used very poorly this year. Starlight's roles almost never enhance episodes. At best, her role could have been filled by literally anyone with minimal changes ("Rock Solid Friendship," "Triple Threat") and at worst, she can't be left alone without messing everything up ("All Bottled Up," "A Royal Problem," "To Change a Changeling"). I don't feel she has any positive traits which couldn't be filled by literally anyone else, and her negative traits don't make her all that endearing. I've always considered her presence a replacement, but I don't feel she suffices anymore. 
• With that said, Twilight is phenomenal. I'm sorry, I never liked how Twilight was written after becoming a princess. This season, she acts like she did in season 2, and I'm really thankful for it. 
• Twilight's the only overarching trend I consider positive, though; aside from that, the only thing keeping me from considering this season a total disaster is the fact that it still has a handful of decent episodes. I'm really not a fan.