My Top Ten Most Hated MLP Episodes

[Will Guide 21,325]

23 hours ago, CloudMistDragon said:

I actually like all of these episodes, but I understand why you would feel that way. I don't hate any episode of the show, there are just some episodes I find to be noticeably mediocre. My five (ten is a bit too much to me) least favorite episodes that I can think of off the top of my head are The Ticket Master, Boast Busters, The Mysterious Mare Do Well, The Cart Before the Ponies, and Fluttershy Leans In. No episode of the show fills me with genuinely ill feelings like a few did in the past. There's only a share that I find significantly more lackluster than other better episodes. 

Dude, I quite agree with almost every single word you said there.

Also, while the first time I watch "Hard to Say Anything" I hated it! Mostly for giving me the first impression that "Following Fairy Tales is stupid". As a lover of Fairy Tales, especially those adapted by Disney, watching the episode felt like a slap in the face. 

But after watching a few more times, I realized that the whole "Fairy Tales are stupid" moral was not the true moral as much as it was about "Get to know the other person and do what they think is romantic and don't treat them like a prize to be won". Even Feather Bangs was a better character than other antagonists like Disney's Gaston for example. When Gaston couldn't have his Belle for his wife, he ploted and even killed to get what he wanted. But not Feather Bangs. Once he's seen Sugar Belle has chosen Big Mac over him, he moved on to other ponies who were interested in him and it seems neither the CMCs nor Big Mac nor Sugar Belle will hold it against him. And in fact, I think it's important to treat people who you had no romantic interest in with friendly respect as we are all decent people.

In short, even some of the episodes I legitimately hated got better in my eyes as time went on.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,233]

I actually highly agree with many in the initial list here. Horse Play and A Royal Problem are the reasons why I hate Celestia now. Both of them were awful. Shadow Play was one of the biggest disappointments in the show for me. The obvious rushed feeling, Starswirl being so unlikable, all of the characters being morons for the sake of making Starlight be the hero, it was painful to watch. My second least favorite finale behind Season 5's, I don't even remember the name of that one because I simply want to forget that finale entirely.

For me, the episode that tops of the list of shit episodes is: Fame and Misfortune. By far the worst episode in the show and this episode took the throne from Newbie Dash, an episode I NEVER thought could be topped in awfulness. An absolute travesty in trying to tell a message, it comes off as arrogant from the writers, it makes literally every character involved look horrible and it ends on one the worst notes in the entire series. THIS is how you do everything wrong in FiM.

I may make an actual 10 list of the worst ones overall for me, but for now I wanted to point out my absolute most hated, because the ones I really hate, I REALLY hate.

[ggg-2 3,550]

Besides Fame and Misfortune, (which much of the fandom seems to hate anyway) I hate Hard To Say Anything and Break Up Break Down, Both take one of my two favorite ponies and make him act like a complete idiot. (I give Hearts and Hooves Day a pass because his stupid goofiness was the love poison's fault, not his.....that and CheeriMac but i digress)

[Thrond 3,257]

On 11/7/2018 at 11:57 PM, Twilight Luna said:

What About Discord?

Forgot about this one. I think it's supposed to be frustrating, but I found that quite unpleasant, and I felt it didn't really decide whether Twilight was right or wrong to mistrust Discord. Would probably swap out "Over a Barrel" for that one on my list above. 

On 11/7/2018 at 2:39 PM, Them's Seeing Ponies said:

Not everyone is going to hate Father Knows Beast, for example.

It's me, the one person who actually kinda likes that episode. 

 

 

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

22 hours ago, Kyoshi said:

I actually highly agree with many in the initial list here. Horse Play and A Royal Problem are the reasons why I hate Celestia now. Both of them were awful. Shadow Play was one of the biggest disappointments in the show for me. The obvious rushed feeling, Starswirl being so unlikable, all of the characters being morons for the sake of making Starlight be the hero, it was painful to watch. My second least favorite finale behind Season 5's, I don't even remember the name of that one because I simply want to forget that finale entirely.

For me, the episode that tops of the list of shit episodes is: Fame and Misfortune. By far the worst episode in the show and this episode took the throne from Newbie Dash, an episode I NEVER thought could be topped in awfulness. An absolute travesty in trying to tell a message, it comes off as arrogant from the writers, it makes literally every character involved look horrible and it ends on one the worst notes in the entire series. THIS is how you do everything wrong in FiM.

I may make an actual 10 list of the worst ones overall for me, but for now I wanted to point out my absolute most hated, because the ones I really hate, I REALLY hate.

I agree with you totally and utterly, except I did rather like the Season 5 finale. I can't stand what Celestia became in those two episodes, and I totally agree with all of that, especially how Starlight seemed to be the only one with an ounce of intelligence. And yes, Fame and Misfortune was dreadful. To be fair, I adored the song Flawless, but the rest was detestable, especially how ignorant and rude the ponies all were about the Mane 6, and how nopony would give them some privacy or do anything but complain that they made mistakes, like they're supposed to be saints or something. Totally agree.

22 hours ago, ggg-2 said:

Besides Fame and Misfortune, (which much of the fandom seems to hate anyway) I hate Hard To Say Anything and Break Up Break Down, Both take one of my two favorite ponies and make him act like a complete idiot. (I give Hearts and Hooves Day a pass because his stupid goofiness was the love poison's fault, not his.....that and CheeriMac but i digress)

I agree with you about The Break Up Breakdown, it was dreadful.

[Script Chime 182]

On your point for Father Knows Beast I think the issue was that this time the lack of dragon culture had a tangible consequence. Being teased for being raised by ponies is one thing but not understanding things like the molt that occurred and not being able to do advanced flying techniques (Even though he was able to do them when he first got his wings which is its own problem) has to be even more impactful. I would compare it to not having a phone for most of your life and when finally do get one you don't understand how a lot of the functions work.

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

14 hours ago, Script Chime said:

On your point for Father Knows Beast I think the issue was that this time the lack of dragon culture had a tangible consequence. Being teased for being raised by ponies is one thing but not understanding things like the molt that occurred and not being able to do advanced flying techniques (Even though he was able to do them when he first got his wings which is its own problem) has to be even more impactful. I would compare it to not having a phone for most of your life and when finally do get one you don't understand how a lot of the functions work.

That's not the same thing. Because getting a phone just means getting something new and learning how it works. It does not mean entirely changing who you are. Look here, see?

Twilight Sparkle: You never acted like that.

Spike: That's because you raised me. Now I finally have a chance to see how I'm supposed to be.

Twilight Sparkle: I don't think you're supposed to be any different than who you are.

Spike: Maybe you just don't like that I have a real parent now.

But what about the end of Dragon Quest? 

Spike: Dear Princess Celestia,

Seeing the great dragon migration made me wonder what it meant to be a dragon. But now I realize that whoI am is not the same as what I am. I may have been born a dragon, but Equestria and my pony friends have taught me how to be kind, loyal, and true! I'm proud to call Ponyville my home, and to have my pony friends as my family.

It's just a bucketload of mistakes. Besides, if he had any questions about dragon biology like the Molt or flying techniques, he can just ask Smolder, or Twilight can write to Ember. Simple as that. That's not the same thing as forcing yourself to change who you are.

 

 

Edited November 11, 2018 by PurpleWonderPower

[Script Chime 182]

On 11/11/2018 at 4:39 AM, PurpleWonderPower said:

That's not the same thing. Because getting a phone just means getting something new and learning how it works. It does not mean entirely changing who you are. Look here, see?

Twilight Sparkle: You never acted like that.

Spike: That's because you raised me. Now I finally have a chance to see how I'm supposed to be.

Twilight Sparkle: I don't think you're supposed to be any different than who you are.

Spike: Maybe you just don't like that I have a real parent now.

But what about the end of Dragon Quest? 

Spike: Dear Princess Celestia,

Seeing the great dragon migration made me wonder what it meant to be a dragon. But now I realize that whoI am is not the same as what I am. I may have been born a dragon, but Equestria and my pony friends have taught me how to be kind, loyal, and true! I'm proud to call Ponyville my home, and to have my pony friends as my family.

It's just a bucketload of mistakes. Besides, if he had any questions about dragon biology like the Molt or flying techniques, he can just ask Smolder, or Twilight can write to Ember. Simple as that. That's not the same thing as forcing yourself to change who you are.

 

 

I agree partly with some of what you said but I'm going to stick to my point

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

1 hour ago, Script Chime said:

I agree partly with some of what you said but I'm going to stick to my point

I get what you mean, and I totally agree that Spike would want to learn more about dragon culture and dragon biology and what dragons do, but not change himself to be like that.

Edited November 11, 2018 by PurpleWonderPower

[Script Chime 182]

3 hours ago, PurpleWonderPower said:

I get what you mean, and I totally agree that Spike would want to learn more about dragon culture and dragon biology and what dragons do, but not change himself to be like that.

I'm glad we could see eye to eye on that part and now I understand what you were trying to say

[Singe 2,109]

A Friend in Deed/Amending Fences - The two Mane characters are too forceful in trying to make a friend when told no.

Wonderbolts Academy - This episode leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Wonderbolts and Spitfire are shown to be incompetent at running the academy when later they are rule followers. The only way for Rainbow Dash to beat Lightning Dust is by a coincidence her friends show up. Also there was this whole ending where RD gets a promotion reward while she's 50% responsible for the mess and she should have been penalized for not speaking up earlier. Lastly making RD the moral pony on recklessness.

The School Daze - Twilight never realizes and acknowledges she made mistakes when trying to open the school. The Young Six never faced any repercussions for the trouble they caused in the part one. Neighsay is one of those he has points and there is a history to look at, but he's a complete hate magnet because of current real life politics.

One Bad Apple - It was bad. Babs was bad, doesn't matter if she was a victim. Applejack for withholding the truth from the CMCs.

The End in Friend - Instead of letting RD and Rarity sort it out. The solution is that Twilight has to deceive her friends with some trickery. Which has in other series been the wrong thing to do.

Edited November 12, 2018 by Singe

[Kings&Hooves14 616]

I wouldn't say that I hate any of them.

Here are some I don't particularly care for (in no particular order):

10. "Putting Your Hoof Down." Surprise, surprise (does anyone like this episode?)

9. "Fake It 'Til You Make It." Does Fluttershy have some sort of mental illness? The writers went way overboard with Flutter's personas--made her seem like she needed to be institutionalized. It was a funny episode, though

8. "The Hearth's Warming Club." What the hell was with Twilight in this episode? This is a friendship academy, not a military base! Twilie's extraordinarily unfair and out of character behavior was just a cheap way for the writers to shove the students together for a "bonding episode"

7. "What About Discord?" This one was just...weird. The plot seemed embarrassingly forced. It was funny, though 

6. "Magical Mystery Cure." Totally forgettable; I don't really remember anything about this episode except that it was boring as heck (major problem for a season finale)

5. "P.P.O.V." AGH! This one was horrible! If this had been the first episode of MLP: FiM I watched, I may not have continued with the show. Okay, maybe I do hate this episode

4. "Father Knows Beast." I actually like this episode in a number of ways; the bit where Twilight's heart broke just destroyed me. That being said, Sludge was so unbelievably annoying that it made the episode hard to get through. I know that you were supposed to dislike him...but I wanted to dispose of the character in Game of Thrones fashion

3. "Triple Threat." I quite like this one save for one thing: am I the only one that felt as if pretty much everyone was being unfair to poor Spike? He had good reason to be concerned that Ember and Thorax would hate each other; he was just trying avoid an international incident. What else was he supposed to do?

2. "The End in Friend." Blah. This could have been an excellent episode. Unfortunately, it was extremely generic. Hmm...can something be extremely generic?

1. "The Mean Six." Another missed opportunity. This was basically just an inferior version of the "Return of Harmony" episodes

Edited November 12, 2018 by Kings&Hooves14

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

7 hours ago, Singe said:

A Friend in Deed/Amending Fences - The two Mane characters are too forceful in trying to make a friend when told no.

Wonderbolts Academy - This episode leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Wonderbolts and Spitfire are shown to be incompetent at running the academy when later they are rule followers. The only way for Rainbow Dash to beat Lightning Dust is by a coincidence her friends show up. Also there was this whole ending where RD gets a promotion reward while she's 50% responsible for the mess and she should have been penalized for not speaking up earlier. Lastly making RD the moral pony on recklessness.

The School Daze - Twilight never realizes and acknowledges she made mistakes when trying to open the school. The Young Six never faced any repercussions for the trouble they caused in the part one. Neighsay is one of those he has points and there is a history to look at, but he's a complete hate magnet because of current real life politics.

One Bad Apple - It was bad. Babs was bad, doesn't matter if she was a victim. Applejack for withholding the truth from the CMCs.

The End in Friend - Instead of letting RD and Rarity sort it out. The solution is that Twilight has to deceive her friends with some trickery. Which has in other series been the wrong thing to do.

I agree about The School Daze. But in Wonderbolts Academy, Rainbow Dash wasn't 50% of it, because she didn't have a choice. The rule is, wing ponies have to do everything the lead pony says, and if they don't they get disqualified.

1 hour ago, Kings&Hooves14 said:

I wouldn't say that I hate any of them.

Here are some I don't particularly care for (in no particular order):

10. "Putting Your Hoof Down." Surprise, surprise (does anyone like this episode?)

9. "Fake It 'Til You Make It." Does Fluttershy have some sort of mental illness? The writers went way overboard with Flutter's personas--made her seem like she needed to be institutionalized. It was a funny episode, though

8. "The Hearth's Warming Club." What the hell was with Twilight in this episode? This is a friendship academy, not a military base! Twilie's extraordinarily unfair and out of character behavior was just a cheap way for the writers to shove the students together for a "bonding episode"

7. "What About Discord?" This one was just...weird. The plot seemed embarrassingly forced. It was funny, though 

6. "Magical Mystery Cure." Totally forgettable; I don't really remember anything about this episode except that it was boring as heck (major problem for a season finale)

5. "P.P.O.V." AGH! This one was horrible! If this had been the first episode of MLP: FiM I watched, I may not have continued with the show. Okay, maybe I do hate this episode

4. "Father Knows Beast." I actually like this episode in a number of ways; the bit where Twilight's heart broke just destroyed me. That being said, Sludge was so unbelievably annoying that it made the episode hard to get through. I know that you were supposed to dislike him...but I wanted to dispose of the character in Game of Thrones fashion

3. "Triple Threat." I quite like this one save for one thing: am I the only one that felt as if pretty much everyone was being unfair to poor Spike? He had good reason to be concerned that Ember and Thorax would hate each other; he was just trying avoid an international incident. What else was he supposed to do?

2. "The End in Friend." Blah. This could have been an excellent episode. Unfortunately, it was extremely generic. Hmm...can something be extremely generic?

1. "The Mean Six." Another missed opportunity. This was basically just an inferior version of the "Return of Harmony" episodes

I agree with everything except Putting Your Hoof Down, as I did really like that episode, and although I enjoyed The Hearth's Warming Club, I totally agree with you about Twilight's behaviour, I mean, it's not fair to keep six students from going home like that, especially since she had absolutely no proof that any of them did it. Even though it did turn out to be Gallus, it could quite easily have been none of them, and then what, would they just be kept there indefinitely?

[Kadeda 178]

On 11/8/2018 at 1:57 AM, Twilight Luna said:

I don't have too many episodes that I absolutely hate.

What About Discord?: This episodes is infuriating on many levels. It feels like a slap in the face to Twilight fans. She's trying to find out why her friends would be friends with Discord after everything that he's done. They refused to say what they did that weekend and just repeat the same in-jokes the entire time and tell Twilight, "You had to be there to get it".  I'm sorry but you don't do that to one of your friends. The writers completely messed up on trying to make Twilight seem jealous. She felt left out and crapped on by her friends who were acting OOC. It felt very mean spirited towards Twilight just to prop up Discord's comedy relief. Discord was not trying to teach her a lesson. It was so he could be mean to her. No to mention, after Discord reveals that he manipulated all of them to do this to Twilight, they didn't care. Some friends.

Magical Mystery Cure: I don't hate this episode. I'm just disappointed that this had so much potential to have great build up to Twilight ascending to be a Princess. Instead, it was a rush job by Hasbro to release the new Princess Twilight toys before working on the Equestria Girls movie. This is what happens when you concentrate on profit instead of the product and process. This should have been a two or three part episode. Make the viewer believe that she deserves to be a Princess instead of just being handed to her. At least they revealed the book at the end of The Crystal Empire, I'll give them that. The ball was completely dropped on this episode. It could have been so great but it failed and left so many plot holes you could see right through it. How did the Apple Farm turn to crap with Pinkie there? What happened to the other Granny Smith, Applebloom, and Mig Mac?

Father Knows Beast: An episode that slaps Spike in the face and regresses him to being an idiot. A random dragon crashes in Ponyville who just so happens to knows who Spike is and that he lives in a castle. You could drive a truck through the holes in this plot. If Spike wasn't portrayed as being stupid, then the "plot" would collapse upon itself.  But Spike has to be dumb enough to believe that this random dragon is his dad without question, think being his salve is how a father treats his son, and forgetting what he already learned before about being a dragon. Lets not forget that Spike pretty much spits in Twilight's face when she tries to help him. I don't know who's worse, Sludge or Spike.

Princess Spike: This one I do hate. Its boring, predictable, and cringe-worthy. Unfortunately, most Spike-centered episodes are like this. He's reduced to being an idiot and being self-centered which all backfires on him in the end. The episode could have been resolved in the first two minutes. Close all the doors and windows and put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. Problem solved. Instead we get Spike lying, scheming, and thinking only of himself.

Non-Compete Clause: Way to repeat the Fall Weather Friends episodes but make it worse. At least in that episode, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were having a friendly competition that they admit that they took to far. In this, they bicker with each other just so that they could get the students to vote for them to be teacher of the month. Way to reduce the characters to their season 1 personalities. These two would never act like this, especially when putting the lives of the students in danger.  And they never own up to it or apologize. Way to be honest and loyal.

Yakity-Sax: I think most agree that this is a horrible episode. Not to mention a bad lesson to teach children. If you enjoy doing something but your friends tell you that you suck at it, drop everything in your life and move away. What??

I think i agree with these being the general agreed upon bad episodes. .

[Thrond 3,257]

10 hours ago, Kings&Hooves14 said:

 10. "Putting Your Hoof Down." Surprise, surprise (does anyone like this episode?)

Ooh, ooh, I do!

 

[Singe 2,109]

14 hours ago, PurpleWonderPower said:

I agree about The School Daze. But in Wonderbolts Academy, Rainbow Dash wasn't 50% of it, because she didn't have a choice. The rule is, wing ponies have to do everything the lead pony says, and if they don't they get disqualified.

To me, it was more of RD held herself back from speaking up. The episode doesn't give a strong impression that she's being pressured to not speak out by Lightning Dust or Spitfire.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Singe

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

16 hours ago, Singe said:

To me, it was more of RD held herself back from speaking up. The episode doesn't give a strong impression that she's being pressured to not speak out by Lightning Dust or Spitfire.

Rainbow Dash held back from speaking up because Spitfire approved of what Lightning Dust was doing, and Spitfire said Lightning Dust pushes herself harder that Rainbow Dash, so Rainbow Dash follows Lightning Dust so Spitfire would think she pushes just as hard, but when it went from pushing yourself to just being downright reckless, she spoke up and did what was right.

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

On 11/12/2018 at 7:01 PM, AlexanderThrond said:

Ooh, ooh, I do!

 

So do I! It was epic!

[Singe 2,109]

6 hours ago, PurpleWonderPower said:

Rainbow Dash held back from speaking up because Spitfire approved of what Lightning Dust was doing, and Spitfire said Lightning Dust pushes herself harder that Rainbow Dash, so Rainbow Dash follows Lightning Dust so Spitfire would think she pushes just as hard, but when it went from pushing yourself to just being downright reckless, she spoke up and did what was right.

The problem is that it was by the end of the episode after it crossed the line and RD was involved with causing the accident. It would have been better if RD stood up to LD refusing to do the tornado recognizing that it's too reckless rather then after doing it and losing control. A difference in showing initiative and sense on RD rather than that reactive response and conclusion.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Singe

[DonMaguz 1,023]

5 minutes ago, Singe said:

The problem is that it was by the end of the episode after it crossed the line and RD was involved with causing the accident. It would have been better if RD stood up to LD refusing to do the tornado recognizing that it's too reckless rather then after doing it and losing control. A difference in showing initiative and sense on RD rather than that reactive response and conclusion.

Yup, let's say the mane 6 weren't so absurdly coincidental on their arrival to the WBHQ and they arrived 30 minutes later... Rainbow Dash would most likely be excited to introduce her friends to LD and would have told them what a great record had they just broken.

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

16 hours ago, Singe said:

The problem is that it was by the end of the episode after it crossed the line and RD was involved with causing the accident. It would have been better if RD stood up to LD refusing to do the tornado recognizing that it's too reckless rather then after doing it and losing control. A difference in showing initiative and sense on RD rather than that reactive response and conclusion.

Rainbow Dash isn't allowed to refuse to do what Lightning Dust says. She has to do what Lightning Dust says because Lightning Dust is the lead pony and she is the wing pony. That's the rules of the Wonderbolt Academy.

16 hours ago, DonMaguz said:

Yup, let's say the mane 6 weren't so absurdly coincidental on their arrival to the WBHQ and they arrived 30 minutes later... Rainbow Dash would most likely be excited to introduce her friends to LD and would have told them what a great record had they just broken.

Even if the Mane 6 hadn't been there, the tornado would still have engulfed everypony like it did, because Lightning and Rainbow couldn't control it, and it span wildly out of control and destroyed tons of stuff, so Mane 6 or no Mane 6, everything would get destroyed and ponies been harmed or even killed. It's not a great record-beating technique, it's just flat out recklessness and disregard for safety and only caring about winning no matter what. That's just not OK.

Edited November 14, 2018 by PurpleWonderPower

[Singe 2,109]

9 hours ago, PurpleWonderPower said:

Rainbow Dash isn't allowed to refuse to do what Lightning Dust says. She has to do what Lightning Dust says because Lightning Dust is the lead pony and she is the wing pony. That's the rules of the Wonderbolt Academy.

I wouldn't say the rules stopped her, just that the writing had RD to be that way for the episode. Same how Spitfire was written to be rather absent from what was going on. The other cadets that got caught up were written to not really do anything more than give glares. Mane 5 were written to show up coincidentally to give RD that one scene to save face.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Singe

[PurpleWonderPower 81]

14 hours ago, Singe said:

I wouldn't say the rules stopped her, just that the writing had RD to be that way for the episode. Same how Spitfire was written to be rather absent from what was going on. The other cadets that got caught up were written to not really do anything more than give glares. Mane 5 were written to show up coincidentally to give RD that one scene to save face.

Do you even know what wing pony and lead pony means? The lead pony gives the orders and the wing pony has to do what they say. That's the rules. And the tornado, while not killing anypony, caused an extreme amount of destruction, and went way out of control, which could very easily have killed ponies. And about Spitfire, she approved on what Lightning Dust did because she didn't see Lightning Dust had harmed ponies, and that was when Rainbow Dash began to have doubts, but because Spitfire approved, she didn't say anything, but when Lightning Dust unleashed the tornado, that was when Rainbow put her hoof down, because that was going way too far.

[SpittyPie2005 3,923]

ok, but why is everyone hating on The Cart Before the Ponies?! I LOVE that episode!!

[CypherHoof 26,479]

17 minutes ago, SpittyPie2005 said:

ok, but why is everyone hating on The Cart Before the Ponies?! I LOVE that episode!!

I think that's fine, but I think it's also fine they don't like it.

It shows AJ, Dashie and Rarity in a really poor light, and highlights some of their flaws and competitive streaks. They are abusive to the three fillies who look up to them, and although everything gets corrected at the end, it is still painful to watch if you are fans of any of the six ponies involved.

But on the positive side, we get to see the three (now cutie mark enabled) fillies learn to stand up to their mentors, and the three older ponies learn not everything is about them. Character development for the win.