What is the best season?

[Tailsfan1990 1]

What my little pony season is the best season in your opinion and why?

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

Season 7 by a landslide, and it's not even finished.

If I had to discount that, I'd say season 4.

[Thrond 3,257]

2. Clearly 2. There's not even competition, really. Even the best seasons since then couldn't reach 2's level. 

[Tailsfan1990 1]

1 hour ago, KillerKingBakudan said:

Season 7 by a landslide, and it's not even finished.

If I had to discount that, I'd say season 4.

 

1 hour ago, AlexanderThrond said:

2. Clearly 2. There's not even competition, really. Even the best seasons since then couldn't reach 2's level. 

Which one? I'm so torn.

 

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Season 5. An abundance of really-high-quality episodes that season, some of them among the greatest of the entire series. Twilight, AJ, and the CMCs had their best episodes. Castle Sweet Castle, Scare Master, and Slice of Life are criminally underrated. This season began showing the characters as teachers or leaders more than learners, and their appearances are either sharp or some of their best. Starlight Glimmer is the best villain of the series, and her reformation is one of the best in the series.

[Hierok 11,829]

Season 2 is definitly the best. Lesson zero, Canterlot wedding, Hurricane Fluttershy and many more. And ofcourse the return of harmony, the best episodes of the series. 

[Adderbane 120]

4 deserves a mention for tying the finale, premier and episodes between together so well, and being the only season to really have an arc.

5 I think has the highest average  quality of episodes I think.

6 has the majority of my favorite episodes, (though 7 could change that) but also some not so great ones that bring the quality down somewhat.

 

[PacificGreen 1,163]

Season 5 for me. I think the story arc involving Starlight, as well as the new ponies we got that season (Tree Hugger, the griffons, the Princess Spike ponies, Wind Rider & Stormy Flare, Coloratura), really did it for me. I mean, it's good that we keep getting lots of new characters, but I felt like season 5 was the perfect balance in terms of how many characters we'd had at that point- not too many to keep track of. Plus 2015 was kind of one of my favorite years overall, so maybe I'm just looking at that season from a more positive lens.

Season 6 also had a lot of good eps, though, and Season 7 kinda got off to a rocky start but really improved by the second half.

For a while, I figured Season 4 was my favorite - probably because it had the best finale and an interesting story arc with lots of theorizing to be done. It was also the first season that started after I started watching the show.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,151]

As it stands right now; season 5 is the high mark for me. Along with Starlight's story, the various new characters & such, the biggest thing that struck me were the emotional highs. Whether it was Rainbow Dash's acceptance of Tank's hibernation, the CMC finally obtaining what they had sought, Rara finding her true self again, or even Starlight's redemption, there were plenty of moments that not only made me cry, but hit me in the chest.

THAT is why season 5 is tops. Only seasons 2, 7, and maybe 4 come even close. Season 1 was a solid, if flawed, foundation. Season 3 was too short with mixed quality, and season 6 wasn't terrible, it lacked much to really grab the attention aside from Spike and the finale.

[Megas 27,064]

Not to long ago it was season 5. Now it's season 7, by far

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

Season five still has my favorite moment in the series, but season seven is so closely tied with five I’ll have to watch both over again to pick a winner.

[Prospekt 10,984]

I'm gonna have to say Season 2 followed by Seasons 5 and 4. Season 7 could potentially steal one of those top 3 spots but I'm going to wait until I've watched the non-leaked finale before I place it.

[Hierok 11,829]

1 hour ago, Prospekt said:

I'm gonna have to say Season 2 followed by Seasons 5 and 4. Season 7 could potentially steal one of those top 3 spots but I'm going to wait until I've watched the non-leaked finale before I place it.

Trust me. You will love it. 

Spoiler

S7 finale spoiler

Spoiler

Really. If you haven't seen this, do not look!

Spoiler

Judging by your avatar

 

[cmarston1 5,951]

I have always really been a fan of season 4, which is still my personal favorite.

However season 7 is a really close second.

[Peter16373 103]

Originally my favorite season was season 5 but than Season 7 happened and stole that spot now this is my favorite seasons in order from least favorite to favorite.

7. Season 3 (7/12)

6. Season 1 (9/25)

5. Season 2 (13/24)

4. Season 6/ Season 4 (16/24)

3. Season 4/ Season 6 (16/24)

2. Season 5 (18/24)

1. Season 7 (21/24)

Edited October 22, 2017 by Peter16373

[Spilight98 166]

I actually have a list that counts all ''great'' episodes. In my opinion of course.

Season 1 - 4

Season 2 - 3

Season 3 - 1

Season 4 - 6

Season 5 - 5

Season 6 - 10

Season 7 - 6 ( so far )

So according to this list my favorite season would be 6

[Thrond 3,257]

Since we're ranking, and I've now seen all of season 7: 

1. Season 2 (21/24 enjoyed, 88%)
2. Season 1 (20/25 enjoyed, 80%)
3. Season 6 (17/24 enjoyed, 71%)
4. Season 3 (8/12 enjoyed, 67%)
5. Season 4 (15/24 enjoyed, 63%)
6. Season 5 (11/24 enjoyed, 46%)
7. Season 7 (10/25 enjoyed, 40%)

Again, season 2 remains uncontested. 

[ShadowPhoenix 153]

7 tops, even if I haven't seen the finale yet.

Stylistically, the show has improved itself over the course of seven seasons with major tonal shifts at the commencements of Seasons 2, 3 and 5. Each of these saw the show steadily improve in terms of pacing, snappy dialogue, humour, variety, narrative and maturity in themes, which greatly aids in the show's longevity.

Till this day, I maintain that if Season 3 had been 26 episodes long, it would have matched the great Season 4 in terms of quality, with only the episode of Spike At Your Service seeming off to me. It launched the first of three fantastic CMC dream episodes with Luna and tried something innovative with Just For Sidekicks/Games Ponies Play.

Season 5 surpassed all seasons that came before it with a huge influx of noteworthy premises, a huge animation bump and a cavalcade of continuity which was seen through by Season 6, although the latter has the advantage in fixing Spike, slightly better map episodes (especially, Top Bolt and Viva Las Pegasus) even if The Cutie Re-Mark outshines To Where And Back Again.

Season 7 is truly something else. It has by far the best usage of side and background characters to tell a cohesive story. It had recurring motifs and elements across multiple episodes with the most effective usage of foreshadowing. There are few things indeed to criticise this season and it only goes to show that this is one of the few shows, let alone animated series, that can not only sustain its quality but outdo itself over the years. I predict that Season 8 will be around the same quality, if not slightly better.

[Ivan The Adorable 304]

There's a lot of weird factors that affect enjoyment of a season as a whole for me. Based simply on gut, of how much I enjoyed the season overall at the time of watching, I'd say

4>2>1>7>3>5>6

This seems like a weird order probably, but there's a mix of emotional and analytical factors to explain it

Even if mechanically I might say some many newer episodes are better, a lot of them feel stale in terms of themes/storytelling after hearing so many similar stories and not innovative enough in plot/character developments to make up for it. Therefore Season 5 and 6 suffer most from this in my estimations. They both have some of my favorite episodes of the series, but also just long lapses of episodes I find dull or not noteworthy.

My enjoyment of seasons dwindles depending on the nebulous "how much Twilight sucks at doing things" factor. Season 5 started this spiral for me where she just started to become worse at things that it seemed she was able to do before. Even if I think Starlight has made herself valuable as a character now, her whole learning phase in 6 particularly tanked Twilight's competence and even in 7 Twilight is really bad as a teacher. A new, useful main character doesn't quite even out the diminishing of an old beloved character for me.

And to some extent this applies to the rest of the Mane 6 not having as prominent roles in the series. World is always second to characters for me. This is largely why Season 7 wouldn't appear higher, even if I do like the enhanced continuity and exploration quite a bit. The previous main characters just don't have a lot of groundbreaking episodes any more, and I miss that.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

4 > 6 > 7 > 5 > 2 > 1 > 3

[Jeric 46,834]

From most favored to least favored

 

Season 7

Season 5

Season 2

Season 4

Season 1

Season 3

Season 6

 

I enjoyed the lower seasons on the list, just not as much as the higher ones.

[Them's Seeing Ponies 282]

Judging by great/favorite episode count (chronologically, I didn't find any season 6 episodes that wowed me, so accept 'pretty good' in that case):

Season 1: Dragonshy, Swarm of the Century, Suited for Success, Feeling Pinkie Keen, Sonic Rainboom, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, Party of One, The Best Night Ever (8/26)

Season 2: The Return of Harmony, Lesson Zero, Sisterhooves Social, Sweet and Elite, Secret of My Excess, The Last Roundup, Read It and Weep, Hurricane Fluttershy, A Canterlot Wedding (11/26)

Season 3: Too Many Pinkie Pies, Magic Duel, Sleepless in Ponyville, Wonderbolts Academy, Magical Mystery Cure (5/13)

Season 4: Princess Twilight Sparkle, Daring Don't, Rarity Takes Manehattan, Pinkie Pride, For Whom the Sweetie Belle Tolls, Inspiration Manifestation, Twilight's Kingdom (9/26)

Season 5: The Cutie Map, Bloom and Gloom, Make New Friends but Keep Discord, Slice of Life, Amending Fences, Rarity Investigates!, Crusaders of the Lost Mark, The Mane Attraction (9/26)

Season 6: Gauntlet of Fire, The Saddle Row Review, Dungeons and Discords, The Fault in Our Cutie Marks, Top Bolt (5/26)

Season 7: Discordant Harmony, The Perfect Pear, A Health of Information, Once Upon a Zeppelin (4/26, technically better than season 6 because the four listed here were great (particularly Perfect Pear), while the five I listed in season 6 I feel were good, but not stellar)

So I guess in order:

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

[Cyandashie 128]

Seasons 1-3, more specifically 1. Those seasons just have a charm to me. Probably because I watched them all a long time ago and it's just a big nostalgia rush, but those seasons hold a special place in my heart.

[Pastel Heart 6,463]

Second season best season for me~ came at a good time in my life so I remember it most fondly, and those openings and beginnings are amazing

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

Season 2 is the gold standard for me for it's tone, quality, characters, comedy, lessons and how they don't take themselves too seriously but seriously enough.

During season 1, I liked the show, but season 2 made me really care and fall in love with the show.

Edited April 11, 2020 by Sepul-Coloratura