Why I Hate MLP Season 8

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

 

Why I Hate MLP Season 8

 

I'm a fifteen-year-old pegasister, and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is my favourite show. I love it more than anything, which was why I was so utterly furious how Season 8 just completely ruined the show for me. Get ready for a good, long vent here, because I've been yearning to write this all down for ages.
 

The School of Friendship

For starters, the School of Friendship. Just about the worst idea in all the history of worst ideas. You can't teach friendship in a school! Friendship cannot be taught, it can only be learned. I mean, Twilight didn't learn friendship in a classroom, neither did Starlight, or any of the other ponies. Friendship is unique to everyone, and it is something you have to experience and discover for yourself and learn from it as you go. And the school appears to teach it like a school subject, with tests and papers and exam questions, and eventually graduations. That's just not how it works. The most one can do to help someone learn about friendship is give them advice and guidance when they need it, but in order to learn, they have to learn it for themselves. Friendship isn't something that can be taught in a classroom like a school subject. Twilight of all ponies should know that. 

And did it never occur to anypony that making a School of Friendship would turn out very much like Fame and Misfortune, with a whole lot of competition and ponies completely missing the point, because the students would be more focused on getting better grades than others than actually learning about friendship? Because that's what happens in school, and I doubt this one would be any different.

Also, at the end of School Raze, Twilight says "If friendship were easy to learn, we wouldn't need a school." Seriously!? Nopony never needed a school to learn friendship. There's never been a School of Friendship before in all recorded history, and I am certainly not going to believe that nopony in all of Equestrian history has ever learned anything about friendship until the School was made. In fact, that's what the entire series has been about: discovering and learning new things about friendship. Or at least it was, until Season 8 came along. 

Plus, how the heck do the Mane 6 have time to teach at the School? Applejack has a farm to work on, Rarity has three boutiques in Equestria to run, Fluttershy has an animal sanctuary to take care of, Pinkie Pie has Sugarcube Corner to work at and parties to throw, Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt and also has weather to clear, and Twilight has her royal duties. Plus, what about the Cutie Map? It just sends ponies off to random places at random times, which means the teachers have no idea when they'll have to suddenly run off and leave the school!

Another annoying thing I've noticed about the show since the School was introduced. They make it out like friendship is a thing that ponies own, and that ponies are the only ones who know anything about it. Twilight, at the beginning of The School Daze, says "The world is filled with so many different creatures who know nothing about friendship." Where on earth did she get that idea from? Just because they're not ponies, she immediately assumes they know nothing about friendship? I mean, OK, I guess I could understand dragons and griffons, because they are known for their aggressive and unfriendly natures, but I don't get why she would think yaks or Hippogriffs would have any trouble making friends, and as for the changelings, we've already seen how far they've come. Also, the show makes it out that the Mane 6 are the only ponies in Equestria who know anything about friendship. And the CMCs. I mean, they say in Marks For Effort that the CMCs have already mastered the curriculum without even going to the school, but 99% of the ponies who go to the school are either teens or full-grown adults, and the CMCs are about ten or eleven, so I don't get how that works. The show basically makes it out that the protagonists of the show are the only people who know anything about friendship at all. That really bugs me.

The Young Six

The Mane 6 seem to have been replaced as the main characters with Yona, Sandbar, Gallus, Silverstream, Smoulder and Ocellus. Sure, they're pretty great characters—or at least Yona, Smoulder, Ocellus and Gallus are. I don't care much for Sandbar, he is rather boring, and as for Silverstream, she is obviously just an exact copy of Pinkie Pie. And although (most of) the Young Six are great characters, the show seems to revolve around them now, instead of Twilight and the others! It was bad enough in Season 7, when the show became from Starlight Glimmer's point of view instead of Twilight's, but at least there were still some great episodes about the rest of the Mane 6. In Season 8, everything seems to be about the Young Six and the School of Friendship. They've completely taken over everything. I have barely seen a single episode that has a plot about the Mane 6, even less, a plot about the Mane 6 that doesn't revolve around the School of Friendship. The show is supposed to be about Twilight Sparkle and her friends, not some school and students!
 

Episodes

 

Spoiler

I am pretty peeved at the terrible quality of nearly all the Season 8 episodes. OK, A Hearth's Warming Club and The Sound of Silence were pretty terrific, and there were a couple of good moments in The Maud Couple and A Matter of Principals, but practically all the rest have been just terrible. Season 8 doesn't even reach up to the standards of Season 1, let alone Seasons 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. Sure, Season 1 was pretty average, and not much excitement, but there was nothing in the episodes that shouldn't have been, and there was at least a point to them. And besides, Season 1's episodes were just a little below average, whethers Season 8's are detestable. 

Also, quite a few episodes are just exact copies of previous episodes, with the ponies just learning the same old friendship lessons all over again, as if the previous episodes didn't even happen. Non-Complete Clause was just an exact copy of Fall Weather Friends, and Father Knows Beast was just an exact copy of Dragon Quest. I mean, the dialogue is practically identical. "Who I'm supposed to be." "What it means to be a dragon." "What I'm supposed to be doing." But what about in Dragon Quest, where Spike learns that who you are isn't the same as what you are, and he realized that Equestria was his home, and also knew exactly who he was supposed to be? 

In Season 8, the makers just seem to have forgotten all the important facts from previous episodes, and just seem to be calling back to old episodes for new ones, since they don't have any decent ideas. Not that their Season 8 episodes are decent ideas, naturally.

 

OOC Characters

One of my biggest moans about Season 8 is how outrageously out of character so many characters are. They don't act like themselves, they don't sound like themselves, their vocabulary ranges are off, they do things that the real characters would never do, and it's basically like they've been replaced with changelings. Also, all the OOCness seems to happen to the best characters in the show!

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle has, in Season 8, developed a nasty habit of making wild accusations at ponies, blaming them and punishing them for things they never did (e.g. the CMCs, the Young Six), and not even apologizing for it afterwards. Granted, this isn't the first time she's done it, given her appalling behaviour in What About Discord?, but that was because she had let her jealousy cloud her judgement, whethers in Season 8, Twilight seems to have started making unfair accusations like that on a regular and unprovoked basis.

She also seems to have forgotten practically all the friendship lessons she has learned in the series, such as: "Trust your friends over logical explanations, even if it's something you can't explain." Or "It's not good to jump to conclusions. You could end up blaming somepony for something they never did." In fact, she was the one who taught Pinkie Pie that lesson in MMMystery on the Friendship Express.

She also seems to have become very haughty and arrogant, and seems to doubt and belittle and misjudge her friends a lot, seeing "could" over "would". Such as Marks For Effort. She actually thought the CMCs would pull a prank like that on Cozy Glow, even though they would never even dream of doing something like that. And the CMCs said they didn't do it. That should have been good enough for Twilight.

Princess Celestia

Don't get me started on what Celestia has become. To be fair, it didn't start in Season 8, it started in A Royal Problem, and then became permanent in Season 8, just like Twilight's. Celestia has turned from a wise, regal princess into an immature little kid. I'll complain about A Royal Problem first, how she would bicker with Luna like they are a pair of spoiled brats, and even do the whole "Hah! I was right and she was wrong!" thing, and all the mock surprise like "And yet you know exactly what it's like to be me?! Oh, please!"

And let's not forget that cringeworthy and disgusting abomination of an episode Horse Play. What was the point of it, anyway? To see Celestia become some dumb schoolkid who can't tell she's a bad actress and just likes to make a fool of herself in front of everypony? I felt like I had to wash my eyeballs after watching it. That definitely isn't Celestia. Bickering and gloating and acting like an immature little brat! Celestia is a princess for pony's sake! 

I mean, let's just take a look at who Celestia used to be:

"I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart."

"I know it must have been difficult to see your friends leave for Ponyville without you. You may no longer be my student, Princess Twilight. But I hope you know that I will always be there if you need me. Just as I hope that you will always be there when I need you."

"I loved having you as a student. You challenged me and taught me just as much as I taught you. I am embarrassed to admit it, but I was afraid if you made friends.....you wouldn't need me anymore."

THAT is Princess Celestia. Sure, Celestia has always had two sides, one a wise, regal princess and teacher, and the other a more informal, fun-loving side, but no matter which side she is on, she still acts like the same PERSON. She acts like a spoiled, arrogant little brat these days. Like how Discord has a mischevious, annoying, showman side and also a caring, sentimental side. No matter which side he is on, he still acts like the same person. Celestia does not act like herself in Season 8 or A Royal Problem. 

Discord

Discord is my favourite character, and I can't stand what the makers have done to him. He has had not just one, but two different colours of OOC. The first one showed a little in Dungeons and Discords, then again, a great deal more, in The Break Up Breakdown. He just seems to be a pessimist who doesn't care about anyone else. 

I mean, we all know Discord. Discord is a hilarious, enthusiastic lover of showmanship, who also has a sentimental side and a deep caring for friendship. But in those two episodes, he acts like a sulky teenager, showing nothing but negativity and disinterest, and finding disgust in friendship and anything sentimental. Plus, since when does Discord's vocabulary range revolve around slang words like "cool" or "sappy"? Just compare his behaviour in those two episodes to his normal self in, say, Keep Calm And Flutter On, or Twilight's Kingdom, or To Where And Back Again. Do they really seem like the same draconequus to you?

His second OOC colour occurred in A Matter of Principals. Unlike The Break Up Breakdown, he does act like Discord, but was OOC in a different way. He doesn't act like he is supposed to these days. Pulling all those horrid pranks on Starlight and terrifying all the students and making everything impossible? Discord would never do anything of the likes of that! Discord is a nice guy these days! OK, sending Twilight or Applejack or Rainbow Dash on a fake Map mission does kind of sound like exactly the sort of thing Discord would still do, but the rest just isn't. He would never do that to Fluttershy, let alone any of that other stuff. That is something the Old Discord would do. NOT the Reformed Discord! 

And to Starlight Glimmer, of all ponies! Discord really really really likes Starlight Glimmer! Why would he do that to her? Why would he do that to anypony? Discord is a nice guy these days! He only uses his chaos magic for good these days, and the worst he ever does is pull a few pranks and occasionally be a little annoying. He isn't mean or nasty or intentionally try to make ponies miserable. Totally OOC.

Flim & Flam

Flim and Flam are my second favourite characters in the show, and nopony was as shockingly out of character as they were in Friendship University. It was just so not the Flim and Flam we know! They don't act like themselves in the slightest. What with treating Twilight so cruelly, and blackmailing her and threatening to destroy her reputation. Flim and Flam may be conponies, but they would never do something like that! And don't get me started on their bad attitudes. Flim and Flam would never be so nasty to anypony. Flim and Flam are positive, enthusiastic showponies who, despite their deception, are actually really nice and good-natured. They would never be so mean and nasty and grumpy and bad-natured, and would never do something like blackmail! I mean, sure, deception is their thing, but blackmail is just cruel, and Flim and Flam would never do that to anypony.

And does anybody notice how tacky their speech is!? Flim and Flam are professional showponies with elaborate speech and high-standard vocabulary range, always speaking using long professional words like "Indispensable" or "Hypothetically" or "Unimpeachable". In Friendship University, their speech is just so messy! They say stuff like "I guess" and "Sure" and "Nah" and "Yeah". Flim and Flam don't talk like that! They don't say "Yeah", they say "Precisely" or "Indubitably" or "Unquestionably", or at the very least, "Indeed so".

And it's not just their vocabulary that's been ruined. What happened to the bounce in their voices!? They just talk like flat, regular ponies in Friendship University! Plus, they don't say anything simultaneously, they don't talk super-fast like they're supposed to, and to top it off, they don't even finish a single one of each others' sentences! Ruined!

And Flim and Flam running a School of Friendship!? Really!? That is just the most twisted, ridiculous, terrible idea ever! A School of Friendship in itself is the Sistine Chapel of worst ideas ever, but FLIM AND FLAM RUNNING ONE!? Seriously!? Flim and Flam are deceptive salesponies who cheat the bits out of ponies with genius marketing scams, not friendship teachers! And just take a look at their pathetic scam! Flim and Flam are genius mastermind tricksters! The scam in Friendship University just seems so petty and simple, compared to the elaborate schemes they have previously performed. And to seal it all off, they even fell for the classic "confession through bragging" ruse! Flim and Flam are masterminds! They would never fall for something they practically invented!

And that part when they were selling their papers and they were just being total grumps to the buyers (which is also something Flim and Flam would never do), Flim says:

"Come back for the rest when you can afford it." 

And, I mean, he's just so cold! That's definitely not the Flim OR Flam we know! The real Flim and Flam would have said something like:

"Come back tomorrow, my good sir, where my brother and I shall very gladly grant you these fine and, might I add, quite superlatively remarkable scriptures, for the right price, naturally!"

THAT is the kind of thing Flim and Flam would say. Their vocabulary is completely off, as are their attitudes.

Lightning Dust

Lightning Dust wasn't quite as OOC as some of the other characters, but she still didn't act like the Lightning Dust we used to know. I mean, we all know Lightning Dust is very reckless, but the word "reckless" has two meanings. It can mean only looking out for yourself and not caring about the consequences of your actions on other ponies, or it can mean not giving two hoots about your own safety and just not giving a second thought before you put yourself in serious danger. In Season 8, Lightning Dust has gone from the former to the latter. Lightning Dust is an egotistical and often careless pony, certainly, but in The Washouts, she has gone from a pony who doesn't care who gets hurt as long as she is the best, to a pony who says you shouldn't give a hoot about your own safety and tries to put herself and other ponies in danger, and wants them to ignore safety and get hurt, and encourages ponies to put themselves in danger, rather than just not caring who else gets hurt as long as she doesn't.

Spitfire

Don't even get me started on Spitfire. That whole scene in The Washouts with her screaming her face off at Scootaloo just totally freaked me out, because she was SO out of character. Sure, we all know Spitfire likes shouting, but she likes shouting in a professional, superior, "I'm the boss" kind of way. She acts like she's got a screw loose in The Washouts, what with all the "whoop-de-doodle-doo"s, and screaming the same sentence three times. It was just absolutely insane. 

Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie wasn't exactly a full-time OOC character, but a lot of her Pinkie Pie jokes are getting very OOC, not to mention utterly weak. Let's look at her normal Pinkie Pie talk, shall we?

"I let my imagination run away from me all the time. And then it comes back. With cake!"

"I'm gonna love it five-ever! That's even longer than four-ever!"

"What if somepony else gets the package by accident and then she remembers us instead of Rainbow Dash and then she  becomes our new friend? And then the real Rainbow Dash won't ever know that she used to have friends and she forgot them!"

Those are classic Pinkie Pie jokes. Now let's look a some of her Season 8 jokes:

Twilight Sparkle:
Section one-forty-seven, paragraph two states that teamwork is a key part of friendship. And section two-two-nine, paragraph nine says outdoor activity reinforces learning. Add that together, and what do you get? 

Pinkie Pie:
Ooh, ooh! Okay, let me see. One-forty-seven, two-twenty-nine, carry the two... Three hundred and eighty-seven? 

That's just so weak! And not Pinkie Pie in the slightest. If anything, the characters would be the other way round.
 

Songs

The songs have gotten considerably tackier in Season 8. MLP songs used to have the most incredible tunes and absolutely amazing lyrics. Just take a look at some of the previous songs's lyrics. For example, The Pony I Want To Be.

If I'm a diamond
Then why do I feel so rough?
I'm as strong as a stone
Even that's not enough

There's something jagged in me
And I've made such mistakes
I thought that diamonds were hard
Though I feel I could break

Would you believe
That I've always wished I could be somepony else?
Yet I can't see
What I need to do to be the pony I want to be

I've been told my whole life
What to do, what to say
Nopony showed me that
There might be some better way

And now I feel like I'm lost
I don't know what to do
The ground is sinking away
I'm about to fall through

Those are incredible, high-quality lyrics that fit perfectly with the tune, and also add loads of feeling into Diamond Tiara's problems. They use word play and metaphors and loads of creativity. In Season 8, the lyrics of tons of songs are just so unbelievably tacky. For instance, Friendship Always Wins.

This school of friendship is for all of us
A place where we belong
Where we all learn to share and trust
The only rule here is to find your way
And friendship always wins at the end of the day

The lyrics are just so bland and unadventurous, not to mention unoriginal. They just don't put any feeling into the words like they did in previous songs, and a lot of them sound so forced into the tune.

And about tune, I've come across several songs that absolutely fail at it, the principal one being Friendship U. The song writers really lost their touch with that one. Like I've said about Flim and Flam above, their speech is tacky and messy and common, as were the lyrics of their song, and don't even get me started on the tune. OK, I'll admit that the tune of the three choruses was pretty terrific, but the rest just had absolutely no rhythm, beat or timing, and just sounded like someone had cut up a bunch of totally random song clips and stuck them together badly. I'm honest when I say it was painful to listen to.

I'll admit the two Season 8 songs I did love were A Kirin Tale and Your Heart Is In Two Places.The tunes were terrific, and the lyrics were really, really interesting. They sounded and felt like MLP songs. But those were the exception. All the rest have really tacky lyrics, and just sound like someone is talking with music in the background, the words don't meld into the tune like they used to. And a lot of them are out of rhythm, except maybe the chorus of Friendship U. But that one just for tune, the lyrics and style are still pathetic and don't sound right at all.
 

Reformation

One of the reasons I've always loved MLP so much is because they reform villains. In every TV show you watch, there are always villains you want to be good guys. In MLP, it actually happens. And I think the makers did a perfect job of reforming villains: they reformed all the villains who should be reformed: Nightmare Moon, Discord, Gilda, Trixie, Starlight Glimmer, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, changelings, etc, but you wouldn't want to see villains like Queen Chrysalis or Lord Tirek to turn nice and friendly, would you? The makers did a perfect job of who should be reformed....until Season 8. There were certain previously featured antagonists that should definitely have been reformed in their next appearance, and, as usual, Season 8 ruined everything.

Flim & Flam

I've mentioned Flim and Flam are way out of character in Friendship University, and yet another thing that really bugged me about the episode was that Flim and Flam didn't even reform, even after they made friends with Applejack and Fluttershy in Viva Las Pegasus. I always hoped Flim and Flam would return again in Season 8, but my expectations were crushed. Their fourth episode should have been about Flim and Flam's reformation, not some stupid University of Friendship, not to mention they're suddenly bad guys again. Not only does it not tally with the timeline in the slightest, but it's just getting old.

In The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, I had absolutely no idea what they would do, since they were new characters. In Leap of Faith, I had a suspicion they were up to no good, but couldn't be sure, since I didn't know them too well, and since their tonic did seem to work. Then in Viva Las Pegasus, Flim and Flam were having a friendship problem and arguing, so I didn't think they would be antagonists, then their teaming up with the goodies was also brand new, but in Friendship University, their school being a scam was just too predictable. 

Friendship University was their fourth episode, and they weren't antagonists in their third episode. They can't be antagonists, then turn allies, then just be antagonists again as if it never even happened. That just doesn't work. Sure, to have two episodes with ingenious scams, then a "team-up-with-the-goodies" episode for a third is fine, but a fourth episode with the same old hackneyed scam plot as before, and it's just too predictable, and also doesn't tally with the timeline. They've gone too long without reforming. Their fourth episode should either have been about their full reformation, or Viva Las Pegasus have been their last episode. 

Lightning Dust

Ever since Wonderbolts Academy, I've been wishing and wishing that Lightning Dust would one day return. She was just one of the coolest characters of all time, and I especially loved her friendship with Rainbow Dash until she started being reckless. The thing is, Lightning and Rainbow were close friends, then broke up, and MLP is a show about making friends, not losing friends. All the broken friendships in the series have been resolved, (e.g. Gilda, Sunburst, Stygian, Luna) and Lightning Dust's should have too.

When I found out Lightning Dust was returning in The Washouts, I was ecstatic. Then when she didn't reform, I just thought "Oh, COME ON! After all these years, Lightning Dust FINALLY returns, and she doesn't even reform!? Wasted! Utterly wasted!"
 

Specific Episode Complaints

Mudbriar - The Maud Couple

The Maud Couple was one of the less-detestable episodes in Season 8, but I thought Maud's new boyfriend Mudbriar was quite a detestable character. I mean, hey, I'm glad he makes Maud so happy, but to be honest, I'm totally on Pinkie's side. There's nothing wrong with being a little pedantic, but Mudbriar was being so obnoxious and stuck-up towards Pinkie, acting like he is more deserving of Maud than her, and all he ever says about someone's hard work and accomplishments is "Technically, this is wrong with it." There is no reason to constantly correct someone so rudely like that, when it just does not matter, and his ridiculous nonsense about "stick abuse" and things like that really bugged me.

I can't stand that message of the episode, how it doesn't matter what Pinkie thinks of Mudbriar because he makes Maud happy. I mean, obviously you can't stop your sister from hanging out with a guy you hate, but there is absolutely no reason Pinkie should have to put up with his rude behaviour towards her, just because he makes her sister happy.

Fluttershy's Characters - Fake It 'Til You Make It

I thought the plot of Fake It 'Til You Make It was quite ridiculous. Adopting different outfits and personas somehow consumes your mind and splits you into different characters? Really? That is just ridiculous. That sounds more like something that would happen in Teen Titans Go. Personally I LOVE Teen Titans Go, it's one of my favourite shows, mostly because of all the bad jokes and silliness, but Teen Titans Go episode plots can be as crazy, twisted, weird, insane, ridiculous and impossible as they like, whethers My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has its limits, and doesn't revolve around silliness and craziness like Teen Titans Go. It just doesn't fit.

The CMCs - Surf and/or Turf

The CMCs getting called by the Cutie Map really bugged me. I loved how the CMCs were a subplot, with their own little adventures and problems and goals revolving around cutie marks, that had absolutely no involvement with the main plot. But now they have been brought into the main plot, with the Cutie Map and the friendship quests, and all the saving Equestria business. I don't like that. They are just junior school students who devoted their lives to helping ponies get cutie marks. They shouldn't be involved in all that.

The Cutie Map - Surf and/or Turf 

The Cutie Map shouldn't call Starlight, Sunburst or the CMCs. The Map is connected to the Tree of Harmony, the Tree is connected to the Elements of Harmony, and the Elements are connected to the Mane 6. They should be the only ones sent off on friendship missions. Also, the more random ordinary ponies it summons, the less special it seems.

Also, the Map had literally NO purpose to send the CMCs to Mount Aris/Seaquestria. The CMCs never even did anything to solve the problem. Twilight was the one who solved the problem by saying Terramar didn't have to choose, and if you remember, the Map specifically only ever sends who is needed and nopony else is allowed to go, because between each other, they would have everything they need, whethers if Twilight hadn't come to supervise them, the problem would never have been solved. That's not how the Cutie Map works.

Starlight's Parents - The Parent Map

I detest the idea of Starlight Glimmer still having parents. If you remember, this is the same pony who was once a supervillain who stripped ponies' cutie marks and brainwashed them into believing that special talents lead to bitterness and misery. Can you really picture the supervillain Starlight from The Cutie Map and The Cutie Re-Mark going back to visit her parents and being called "pumpkie-wumpkie" by her dad? I doubt she was still in touch with them while she was being downright evil, so I don't get why she would suddenly be in touch with them now. Do they even know what she's been up to and what's been happening? Because I certainly don't think he would be mollycoddling her like a five-year-old after her supervillainy. If anything, I would have thought he'd be scared of her.

Sure, Sunburst still having parents is fine, because Sunburst is an ordinary pony with an ordinary life story, whethers Starlight is an ex-supervillain. I mean, you wouldn't want Discord to still have parents, or Trixie, or Flim and Flam.

Spike's Wings - Molt Down

This is just more of a personal opinion, rather than a complaint about Season 8's bad quality, but I didn't like the idea of Spike getting wings. I like how he's Twilight's little innocent sidekick who skips at her side and rides on her back, and getting wings kind of ruined that for me. I also don't think his wings really suited him. 

Injustice - The Mean 6

Injustice and wrong accusations are something I. Will. Not. Stand. For. There has never been an ounce of injustice in MLP. When there is a wrong accusation, it is always sorted out in the end, and the real culprit is found, e.g. A Canterlot Wedding, Rarity Investigates, Marks For Effort. But in The Mean 6, Chrysalis and the duplicates were never discovered, leaving each of the Mane 6 still thinking it was each other that said and did all those horrid things. That is not OK. 

Princess Twilight Is Treated Like Crap - Friendship University

It makes me so furious to see how Sugar-Honey-Iced-Tea Twilight is treated in Friendship University, and, come to think of it, several other episodes. Celestia, Luna and Cadance are always treated with bows and utmost respect, so why is Twilight treated like some dumb everyday pony? Ponies scowl at her as she comes through the crowd, and just plainly insult her! 

"You'd think the Princess of Friendship would be friendlier."

How DARE they say something like that!? That's absolutely outrageous! You do NOT say something like that in front of royalty! That's like saying: "You'd think the Princess of the Sun would be prettier," in front of Celestia! That's just insulting royalty! That shouldn't be allowed!

And would the Princess of Friendship really try and sabotage a school out of jealousy? Really? And would a princess of Equestria really make accusations at a pair of con artists unless she knew what she was talking about!? Seriously! Why is Twilight treated like Sugar-Honey-Iced-Tea, when she should be treated with the utmost trust and respect!?

Sans-Applejack - Friendship University

Yet another complaint I have about Friendship University: Where the heck is Applejack!? Flim and Flam have always been Applejack's personal nemesis! Since when are they anypony else's problem!? And since when do they appear without her!? A FlimFlam Brothers episode without Applejack is like a Discord episode with no finger-snapping!

Plus, not only is Twilight the one who takes them on instead of Applejack, but Twilight and the FlimFlam Brothers somehow seem to know each other perfectly, even though they've only ever seen each other once, at the cider event years ago, and they never even met each other or even spoke to each other! They act like they know each other personally, which they certainly don't! When Flim and Flam first jump through the paper, Twilight says:

"Flim and Flam. Of course!"

She doesn't sound surprised in the least. It's like she knows them perfectly, and she "should have known". Twilight hasn't seen Flim and Flam for years, and doesn't even know them! A much more appropriate sentence would be:

"No way! It can't be! Is that....the FlimFlam Brothers?" 

Starswirl the Bearded - Friendship University

I've loathed Starswirl ever since Shadow Play, first because of his dismission of friendship and "Once a villain, always a villain." Although he wasn't any better after he reformed. Starswirl always seems to have a twisted mindset. Twilight Sparkle clearly states that Flim and Flam are obviously up to something, and Starswirl just dismisses it, saying she taught him to "look for the best" in a previous enemy.

I must say, Starswirl, that is just dense! There is a big, big difference between "seeing the best in somepony", and just being stupidly trusting and completely ignorant to the fact that they are up to no good!

Plus, he actually believes Flim and Flam over Twilight! Twilight tells him point straight that she is not envious and that Flim and Flam are obviously up to something, and she is just trying to find out what, and Starswirl just jumps to the conclusion she is lying and Flim and Flam aren't, just because of some picture of Twilight searching their office! There are, like, a million reasons that Twilight could have been searching through their papers, and two notorious con artists are likely to lie about it! Starswirl actually trusts them over Twilight! That's just appalling!

Zero Privacy - End In Friend

In End In Friend, Rarity and Rainbow Dash are planning a whole day of fun together, but then Twilight just says she is going to lead all her students to observe it too? No! That's just not OK! This was supposed to be Rarity and Rainbow Dash's day of fun! How do you reckon someone would feel if they planned out a special day of fun and quality bonding time just for them and their friend to enjoy, and then afterwards, found out that a dozen other people had been watching them the whole time? That wouldn't feel very nice. Plus, what about the lesson Twilight learned in What About Discord?? That moments of friendship cannot be manufactured so others can see them. It's just crazy. Why should Rarity and Rainbow Dash have to sacrifice their day of fun for that? 

I mean, do the Mane 6 not even have lives outside the School of Friendship anymore?

Pillars - A Rockhoof And A Hard Place

About the Pillars being so settled in in Equestria, I don't like that at all. I didn't like how they returned to Equestria in Shadow Play, and it seems so unnatural how they have all settled into the modern world like modern ponies. I would have preferred them to just have been historical ponies who did great things, but lived a long time ago.

Cozy Glow - School Raze 

If I must be honest, I did absolutely love the character Cozy Glow, and the finale, despite its appalling quality plot line, was rather entertaining, so I don't like to complain about it like I do other episodes, but I did find the idea of a filly no older than the CMCs being an evil supervillain with a wicked plot to drain magic out of Equestria quite and utterly ridiculous. That also sounds like something that would happen in Teen Titans Go, or another show that has no or next to no reality limits. The writers clearly didn't think it through whatsoever. Does Cozy even have parents? Where did she even come from, and how the heck did she become so masterminded and evil?

In a nutshell, Season 8 bites beyond compare.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2018 by PurpleWonderPower
Added spoilers for unreleased content.

[Iam 525]

You have made incredibly logical cause-and-effect explanations for practiclly everything, that was about to complain. I may had watched only episodes with Starlight in them, but the most awful thing I had ever seen was in S8 E13. I kindly ask: How the #### Starlight could be treated as a camel!? It's just NOT what the friends would do - they would help Her bringing baggages, but NO!

Also, I had suspects about something going on with characters I was watching, but I instantly stopped when I realisated that in S8 E14 Discord would be bullying (my interpretation of situations that came from the episode's description)... bullying Starlight. Make joke of Her. I was so taken-aback, because I knew that normally Discord wouldn't do such things!

I'm still fan of the show... no, go back, I'm still fan of the Starlight, but this season is for now baloney on the springs.

P. S. going back to episode 13 of season 8 - how easily the Mane 6 was provocated by Mean 6 behaviours? And how they didn't recognise the greyish fur? It's just stupid, if you ask me.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Iam
*P. S.*

[Conred 274]

I agree with most of the things, the  the Molt Down was a bad episode because 90% of it was just a Princess Spike with bad jokes and pacing, the wings are the all that saved it from 1/10.

However, i could still give this season a pass as the equally bad season as S6 as they both have a lot of bad episodes and few good ones. HOWEVER, the S8 finale is sooooooo stupid, so illogical so astonishingly bad, i can number entire page of problems that makes it the worse episode of not only entire season but entire series so far. This season finale alone drags this season on the BOTTOM of all season.

Heck right now it goes as follow

S2>S5>S1>S7>S4>S3>S6>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Equestria Girls>>>>Teen Titans GO>MLP Season 8

 

Just end this season and make the story editors work on Hanazuki or Littlest Pet Shop or anything far from MLP.

[ShootingStar159 2,156]

Wow. This is so heavily opinionated there isn’t even a point in trying to debate it. Except one thing...

Flim and Flam should absolutely have a crotchety old mother who hassles them over their shady business practices.

[Kevin Tang 2,426]

And that's why kids, MLP will end soon!

Although I haven't watched the whole season 8, the idea about the school of friendship is just plain stupid. I can't believe that you actually taught friendship at a formal learning institution. If it's a course, ok I can accept that. But no, they open a formal school for it? Oh please... Are you serious!?

[Iam 525]

 

26 minutes ago, Kevin Tang said:

And that's why kids, MLP will end soon!

Although I haven't watched the whole season 8, the idea about the school of friendship is just plain stupid. I can't believe that you actually taught friendship at a formal learning institution. If it's a course, ok I can accept that. But no, they open a formal school for it? Oh please... Are you serious!?

I was skeptic also about the School of Friendship, but I didn't had any argument for debunking the idea, because the idea is fine... but... I understood today, that the friendship cannot be learned in institution form, because each friendship is individual, everyone's different, right? Is it a modern version of prussian system? 

[RulesofRarity 493]

I’m glad I’m not the only one whose been bothered by Celestia’s characterisation since “A Royal Problem”. The premise of Horse Play was supposed to be Celestia is a bad actress not that she’s a total idiot. 

Regarding Starlight’s father, I recall a post made here about Josh Haber saying her parents were absent during her childhood. The Parent Map completely contradicted this by making her father completely overbearing and lowkey creepy towards her. So now we’re left to wonder, why he didn’t notice his daughter completely cutting herself off from friendship and why he didn’t do anything to help her. 

As for Twilight, it’s a shame what the writers have turned her into. She SHOULD be the one teaching people about friendship, not the one in the wrong so that she or another character can learn a lesson about friendship. 

[gingerninja666 487]

1 minute ago, RulesofRarity said:

I’m glad I’m not the only one whose been bothered by Celestia’s characterisation since “A Royal Problem”. The premise of Horse Play was supposed to be Celestia is a bad actress not that she’s a total idiot. 

Regarding Starlight’s father, I recall a post made here about Josh Haber saying her parents were absent during her childhood. The Parent Map completely contradicted this by making her father completely overbearing and lowkey creepy towards her. So now we’re left to wonder, why he didn’t notice his daughter completely cutting herself off from friendship and why he didn’t do anything to help her. 

As for Twilight, it’s a shame what the writers have turned her into. She SHOULD be the one teaching people about friendship, not the one in the wrong so that she or another character can learn a lesson about friendship. 

I actually don't think that post is contradicted, because Parent Map ends with him saying that the whole reason he treated her like a kid is because he knew how hard things were for her after she left home, so he was trying to make her feel like a kid again, because that's the last time he remembered her being happy. So he hasn't always treated her like this.

[RulesofRarity 493]

13 minutes ago, gingerninja666 said:

I actually don't think that post is contradicted, because Parent Map ends with him saying that the whole reason he treated her like a kid is because he knew how hard things were for her after she left home, so he was trying to make her feel like a kid again, because that's the last time he remembered her being happy. So he hasn't always treated her like this.

But if that’s the case, he noticed that she was indeed upset and never enquired into why she was so upset to begin with. 

[gingerninja666 487]

6 minutes ago, RulesofRarity said:

But if that’s the case, he noticed that she was indeed upset and never enquired into why she was so upset to begin with. 

Exactly. That's why I don't think he was always a smothering overbearing parent. He doesn't seem to know her that much. He somehow missed that she was sad AS a child after Sunburst left. All he knew was that she left her home at some point during her teens, and that the last time he remembered her being happy was when she was a child. That doesn't sound like a parent who was always there for her for me.

[Will Guide 21,360]

@PurpleWonderPower

The opening post is way too long that it can make people not want to read it and I strongly disagree with so many of your points.

I understand that this is your opinion on S8, but can you please help shorten the size by putting your main content in spoiler boxes under each section heading, so that readers can easily see the section they want to read, click on the button and see your opinion on the matter.

Trust me, it will help keep your post from looking like an intimidating wall of text and look much more organized.

[Will Guide 21,360]

@starlightfan1

I disagree very strongly. The Season actually tried to do new things. Even when the outcome fails, the fact they at least tried to have the mane characters do new things, even give more races some focus, is always admirable to me.

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

Just now, Willusion said:

@PurpleWonderPower

The opening post is way too long that it can make people not want to read it and I strongly disagree with so many of your points.

I understand that this is your opinion on S8, but can you please help shorten the size by putting your main content in spoiler boxes under each section heading, so that readers can easily see the section they want to read, click on the button and see your opinion on the matter.

Trust me, it will help keep your post from looking like an intimidating wall of text and look much more organized.

Sorry, but no can do. I am a perfectionist person, and I always make sure to get every detail one hundred percent clear, and I'm not leaving a word of that out.

Also, this is not my opinion on S8, but a series of straight facts. Except for Spike's wings, which was just my opinion, all of these things are straight facts. You may not mind them, and maybe do not care, but they are, in fact, things wrong with the Season, and that is why I do mind.

[Will Guide 21,360]

Just now, PurpleWonderPower said:

Sorry, but no can do. I am a perfectionist person, and I always make sure to get every detail one hundred percent clear, and I'm not leaving a word of that out.

Also, this is not my opinion on S8, but a series of straight facts. Except for Spike's wings, which was just my opinion, all of these things are straight facts. You may not mind them, and maybe do not care, but they are, in fact, things wrong with the Season, and that is why I do mind.

In my opinion and experience, perfectionism tends to make people close-minded and refuse to see the others' POV. Not everyone thinks the way you do, nor should you force your views onto others.

AND I said, you can put your content in boxes and people can and still will read them.

[DonMaguz 1,023]

@PurpleWonderPower I had a blast reading your thoughts on season 8, too bad you feel about it that way.

I can see how FiM is such a big deal to you, but you seem to have stopped having fun with it because of thinking too much about it. I wouldn't say you should stop analyzing the show you love, but maybe you should try to have a bit more fun in getting entertained from it.

I agree with some of your points, but at the end I thought the season as a whole was entertaining and funny to watch, definitely not the best one though.

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

1 minute ago, Willusion said:

In my opinion and experience, perfectionism tends to make people close-minded and refuse to see the others' POV. Not everyone thinks the way you do, nor should you force your views onto others.

AND I said, you can put your content in boxes and people can and still will read them.

Whoah, there. Since when am I trying to force my views into others? For one thing, perfectionism means you want to get everything perfect, it has nothing to do with being close-minded. Plus, I am autistic, which means I see things the way they are. These are not my "opinions," they are just straight facts I have noticed. 

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

@PurpleWonderPower I commend you for making this post, despite the many areas I disagree on. I also want to add that your post successfully points out the various issues with season 8.

Edited September 15, 2018 by EpicEnergy

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

Just now, DonMaguz said:

@PurpleWonderPower I had a blast reading your thoughts on season 8, too bad you feel about it that way.

I can see how FiM is such a big deal to you, but you seem to have stopped having fun with it because of thinking too much about it. I wouldn't say you should stop analyzing the show you love, but maybe you should try to have a bit more fun in getting entertained from it.

I agree with some of your points, but at the end I thought the season as a whole was entertaining and funny to watch, definitely not the best one though.

I love MLP, and have a great deal of fun being entertained by it. That's why Season 8 was such a disappointment: because I didn't, and it just felt good to write all this down.

Just now, EpicEnergy said:

@PurpleWonderPower I commend you for making this post, despite the many areas I disagree on. It is heavily biased, yet at the same time your post points out the various issues with season 8.

Ahem, how, may I ask, is this biased?

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

8 minutes ago, PurpleWonderPower said:

Ahem, how, may I ask, is this biased?

I'll edit that part out of my comment. It turns out that, taking a second look at your original post, I mistook your reactions to certain things in season 8 as biases, when your reactions are simply your response to these things. Apologies.

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

Just now, EpicEnergy said:

I'll edit that part out of my comment. It turns out that, taking a second look at your original post, I mistook your reactions to certain things in season 8 as biases, when your reactions are simply your response to these things. Apologies.

That's OK.

[Will Guide 21,360]

@PurpleWonderPower

Love or hate what you want, but even bad seasons, shows, games, and etc. have their fans. That's why we have opinion and episode polls.

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

42 minutes ago, starlightfan1 said:

I 100% percent agree with you I hate season 8 to it’s the worst season for me and the finale Just made me hate the season even more. 

Thank you! I'm glad you agree! It's so hard to find people who think like me. Definitely the worst season ever. If I must be honest, I kind of enjoyed watching the finale. I hated the plot, and how a ten-year-old filly could somehow have an evil plot like that, and basically everything was wrong with it, but it was still kind of a fun episode to watch. But definitely, a very bad quality episode.

Just now, Willusion said:

@PurpleWonderPower

Love or hate what you want, but even bad seasons, shows, games, and etc. have their fans. That's why we have opinion and episode polls.

I know. Which is why I have never said I have anything against other people's opinions. This page didn't even have anything to do with opinions.

[Kadeda 178]

I personally disagree with a lot of what you are saying (When was Celestia acting like an immature kid? Why would you want everyone reformed?) but it seems like you've thought it through. I can give you that much but so far... I will say that I think season 8 is a very mediocre season. It's better than the worst seasons... (1,3,6) (Which for the record I still think are really good but something gotta be last.) but not quite on par with the best (5,7,4,2).

Edited September 15, 2018 by Kadeda

[Totally Nyx 36,040]

I agree with a lot of your bigger points up there, especially about the school and those six students. I think there's a major point to add that, at least to me, is more important than all of that put together. My Little Pony is a kids' show and is meant to just be a simple, fun show to watch. I don't hold it to the same standards I hold a lot of other shows/movies/books/etc. to. At the end of the day, all that matters to me is whether I got a good laugh or two and if the 20 minutes I spent watching it was worth it.

That said, season 8 still fell on it's face. I can count up to two, maybe three, episodes per season so far that were just stupid. They weren't entertaining in the least and left me wishing I had spent those 20 minutes watching paint dry instead. All of season 8's episodes have been like that though. Not a single one was worth watching.

There are a few other things I still hold more important, but I won't get into that episode 10 atrocity again. Main thing is, I agree completely that season 8 killed the show.

 

Rest in peace FiM era, you put forth a great show. :')

[gingerninja666 487]

1 hour ago, PurpleWonderPower said:

Whoah, there. Since when am I trying to force my views into others? For one thing, perfectionism means you want to get everything perfect, it has nothing to do with being close-minded. Plus, I am autistic, which means I see things the way they are. These are not my "opinions," they are just straight facts I have noticed. 

I myself am also autistic. That's not how we work. We aren't immune to bias or subjectivity, and our reads on things aren't always the rote truth. In fact, for a show like this, which is all about social interactions and situations, we're at a handicap because we can't read those as well as those who don't have autism.