Which is your Favorite Season Premiere?

[Odyssey 5,713]

Season premieres! They make up an important part to any show and give you enough storytelling to hook you into the next newest part of your favorite show. MLP is no exception.

So now that the S9 premiere has been around for a few months now, which one is your favorite?

[Cash In 21,505]

Season 2. There was something ominous about it, which was a good contrast to the very happy go lucky nature of season 1. Discord was a fun villain and his antics and goal s were pretty refreshing at the time.

Edited June 19, 2022 by Cash_In

[Will Guide 21,325]

Darn. Not an easy answer as I enjoy them all. Most of them introduce great new characters or story arcs. So I'm voting for a premiere that's not 2 parts and still leaves a big impression: Celestial Advice

The fact the ponies and Changelings are conserving, means a lot of potential ideas for what they're talking about

Twilight imagining possibilities for Starlight

Celestia's story and relatable concerns and worries

Plus Starlight officially graduates just like me at the time this episode came out

Edited July 8, 2019 by Will Guide

[Kion 7,374]

By far the Cutie map.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

I have to go with Beginning of the End on account that it was the season premiere that introduced Grogar to generation four. Sure, that might not sound like a good reason, but I have a strong passion towards old characters being given new life--same with old cartoons.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

The Cutie Map, without question. This entire, masterful story from beginning to end was to the brim of great humor, great characterization, the intro to the show's best villain at the time, and some of the best horror in family show history outside of Courage the Cowardly Dog.

[A Small Bear 60]

It's a tough choice, but I'm actually gonna have to say Friendship is Magic, less because I actually found the episode(s) entertaining and more because I have a lot of respect for them in how they set up and kicked off the show.

I'm actually much more of a finale gal. I don't think I particularly ENJOY any of the premieres, at least not the ones I've seen.

Edited July 8, 2019 by smolbear

[Tacodidra 59,792]

Not an easy choice, but I ended up choosing "The Beginning of the End". While some of the other season premieres have had most of the events in the second part, with the first part mostly being a lead-up to that, this one had a lot happening in both parts. It also had significant effects on the series continuity. And there are so many other things I enjoyed in it too – the returning characters, the portrayals of both the Mane 6 and the villains (I especially have to mention Sombra, who I found much more interesting than on his first appearance), some very emotional scenes...

It's one of the few premieres that I'd rank among the very best episodes in its season (I've generally preferred the season finales). "Return of Harmony" and "The Cutie Map" are my runners-up. I find "All Bottled Up" a bit debatable as a season premiere (though it did air on the same day as episode 1, so I guess it does count), but I'll also give it an honorable mention for being one of the most entertaining episodes, as different as it was from most of the premieres.

[Sparklefan1234 161,844]

My favorite season premier were the Season 2 episodes "Return of Harmony 1&2". 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Sparklefan1234

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

For me it's still the first. I like it a lot more than I should, despite the weird contrivances (that Applejack scene...) and overall more childish tone than the rest of the series. I'm just captivated with it's story, the intro and the general feeling it has.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,273]

Friendship is Magic, the original season starter. While it has aged somewhat with how it was presented, I simply cannot pick anything else. Far too much nostalgia fuels me on this one. It set the stage for a show that would make history. I feel like one of the only people that hates The Cutie Map.  Personally I also think The Crystal Empire deserves a special nod. There's just something about that one that I really like, could be the overall feel of mystery that it has. 

[A Small Bear 60]

16 minutes ago, Kyoshi said:

I feel like one of the only people that hates The Cutie Map.  

You're not alone. The overt political symbolism felt REALLY forced. I don't know about you but I don't want my kids watching an episode of a show where the whole concept of equality is outright vilified, and I don't want myself watching shit like that either. 

[Misty Shadow 7,084]

Surprised Friendship is Magic actually tied The Cutie Map before I voted. Even back when I first started watching the show, I never cared that much for the pilot and agreed with the popular opinion at the time that it was one of the weakest episodes. Though its corniness and plot contrivances don't annoy me like they did back in the day, it's nowhere near my favorite premiere. The Cutie Map on the other hand, has always been a favorite of mine. It will always fascinate me how they were able to work a plot about a Communist cult into a young kids show and it's so much fun to look back on the origin of Starlight Glimmer, compare her back then to how she is now, and marvel at how much she's changed. 

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

I typically don’t look very positively towards season premieres. Maybe it’s that a big part of it is to set up the rest of the season,  but I almost always walk away somewhat unsatisfied or underwhelmed.

 

The two big exceptions are Return of Harmony, which was an excellent self contained adventure, and The Cutie Map that pushed the boundaries of the show in ways I wasn’t expecting. Of the two though, I think the Cutie Map is my favorite.

[Lucky Bolt 34,914]

Princess Twilight Sparkle and The Cutie Map are both tied for me. Why? Nostalgia. Going back and rewatching either of them takes me back to the days when I was so new to the fandom. 

[Here No Longer 5,270]

No question, this goes to Return of Harmony.  

 

In order though (counting both episodes composing S7's premiere as one):

S2 (RoH) > S9 (BotE) > S5 (CM) > S1 (FiM) > S4 (PTS) > S7 (CA/ABU) > S8 (SD) > S6 (Crystalling) > S3 (CE)

Edited July 8, 2019 by ~Angel Dust~

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,543]

1 hour ago, Lucky Bolt said:

Princess Twilight Sparkle and The Cutie Map are both tied for me. Why? Nostalgia. Going back and rewatching either of them takes me back to the days when I was so new to the fandom. 

"Princess Twilight Sparkle" alleviated most of the concerns of the show losing its way. "The Cutie Map" is easily the most thought provoking premiere.

[bigbertha 410]

There are only 2 premieres that I actually like: Friendship is Magic and The Crystalling.

Out of those two I'd say Friendship is Magic is better, but even then I wouldn't call it a good episode. MLP just doesn't do well with premieres.

My premiere ranking: S1>S6>S7>S2>S3>S5>S9>S8>S4

Edited July 8, 2019 by bigbertha

[Oleks 1,983]

I'm torn between Return of Harmony and The Beginning if the End. But the former introduced one of my favorite characters of the show and generally has more memorable moments, so I'll go with it.

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

8 hours ago, smolbear said:

I don't know about you but I don't want my kids watching an episode of a show where the whole concept of equality is outright vilified, and I don't want myself watching shit like that either. 

What happened there is opposite of that. Are you truly equal if someone forces you to be lesser than you are? Are you truly equal if they brainwash you into conforming in a cult? Are you truly equal if those leading make you live in fear? Are you truly equal if you’re not allowed to disagree? Starlight forced them to live in her falsified version of equality. Those ponies lived in total fear of her, who had total control of everything they did. Breaking free of that cult was the first time they tasted true equality (the freedom to create, speak their mind, and be themselves, all without threat of persecution) in Celestia knows how long.

[A Small Bear 60]

27 minutes ago, Dark Qiviut said:

What happened there is opposite of that. Are you truly equal if someone forces you to be lesser than you are? Are you truly equal if they brainwash you into conforming in a cult? Are you truly equal if those leading make you live in fear? Are you truly equal if you’re not allowed to disagree? Starlight forced them to live in her falsified version of equality. Those ponies lived in total fear of her, who had total control of everything they did. Breaking free of that cult was the first time they tasted true equality (the freedom to create, speak their mind, and be themselves, all without threat of persecution) in Celestia knows how long.

That's all well and good but that's a conclusion you have to come to and justify on your own. The language and symbolism used in the episode quite explicitly demonizes equality and never outright praises it, it's never really said or implied that Starlight didn't create a properly equal society or that her idea of equality was wrong. The way I see it, I feel like the episode depicted a very uninteresting, base-level dystopia that upholds values such as "equality", "freedom", and "harmony". You could argue that since other episodes place such a heavy emphasis on the importance of harmony, equality (like harmony) was depicted as being misrepresented, but I'd argue the episode never really makes that very clear. 

Edited July 8, 2019 by smolbear

[CypherHoof 26,479]

1 hour ago, smolbear said:

That's all well and good but that's a conclusion you have to come to and justify on your own. The language and symbolism used in the episode quite explicitly demonizes equality and never outright praises it, it's never really said or implied that Starlight didn't create a properly equal society or that her idea of equality was wrong. The way I see it, I feel like the episode depicted a very uninteresting, base-level dystopia that upholds values such as "equality", "freedom", and "harmony". You could argue that since other episodes place such a heavy emphasis on the importance of harmony, equality (like harmony) was depicted as being misrepresented, but I'd argue the episode never really makes that very clear. 

Conformity isn't equality. Starlight was leading a cult, and ruling though fear; she had hypocritically kept her own cutie mark concealed, while taking away the special talents of all the villagers.

Now, she knows better; as she tells Chrysalis, "A REAL leader doesn't force her subjects to deny who they are; she celebrates what makes them unique, and listens when one of them finds a better way".  A cutie mark is the ultimate symbol of equality, because when we are ALL special, NONE of us are; because everypony has SOMETHING that is unique and special to them (even if some other pony has a similar skill, but a slightly different approach, just like Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich) you can appreciate the special skill of every other pony, without having to compete  In To Where And Back Again, Starlight comes full circle, not only returning to the village to show them her growth, but using the lessons she has learned in ponyville to aid an entire race to move to the next level of their development.  Ponyville lifts everypony UP to equality, not pushing them down to conformity.

(just ponyville though; it seems most of the cities are still full of self-aggrandizing morons)

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

2 hours ago, smolbear said:

it's never really said or implied that Starlight didn't create a properly equal society or that her idea of equality was wrong.

It’s shown in a few ways.

1. The drab setting. Usually, the show’s bright, pastel, and colorful. An environment such as Our Town’s was odd, both in the show’s context and canonically.
2. Recall how unnerved nearly everyone was when they arrived at Our Town’s doorstep. Their smiles were wide and forced, and all of the cutie marks were exactly the same. In addition, like Our Town itself, every pony’s hair was identically stylized and muted rather than colorful and individual. Starlight Glimmer, wielding the power, was the only pony throughout the village to have an unmuted palette and own mane and tail style, subtly outing herself as a hypocrite.
3. In their first meeting with her, Starlight claims the experience of Our Town was “true friendship” to the surprise of Applejack. For the first time, TCM showed Starlight’s warped, misguided idea of the magic of friendship. The song itself subtly points that out more — showing a mare’s fright after SG spotted her unwound mane, Starlight’s aversion to arguing, and cheerfully disguising forced mediocrity and totalitarianism as “equality.”
4. Starlight’s aversion to arguing takes one extra step in Act 2 of Part 1, as the Mane 6 debated over how to help them out. When their disagreement became briefly heated, the Our Town residents (in particular a mom and Sugar Belle) became unnerved.
5. In order to make the Mane 6 conform, she locked them all in a small house. You don’t achieve equality by brainwashing them, manipulating them, and stripping them of both their individuality and free will.
6. After Fluttershy exposes her, Starlight turned to delusion, claiming how she created harmony (despite the fact that harmony has existed in Equestria for centuries) and cut off Twilight in a fit of rage.

[Rushing cash 824]

My favorite premiere is definitely the beginning of the end, I  loved nearly every aspect of it, the episode just blew my mind. 

Ranked:

1. The beginning of the end- 10 out of 10
2. The cutie map- 10 out of 10
3. The return of harmony- 9/10
4. The crystal empire-8/10
5. Princess twilight- 8/10
6. Season 7- 8/10
7. Friendship is magic- 7/10
8. The crystalling- 7/10
9. School daze- 6/10 

[DonMaguz 1,023]

'The Cutie Map' hands down. The humor, the song, the creepiness, the best villain up to that moment, every main character perfectly well used. I won't say it has everything, but everything it has is top level FiM.

'The Return of Harmony' is a pretty decent second place. Discord is amazing as a villain and the lesson remains to be one of the most important to the protagonist Twilight Sparkle.

My third place is a tie between 'Friendship is Magic', for all it represents including the nostalgia, and 'Princess Twilight Sparkle' which also has top level humor and characterizations, including Discord as a troll for the first time.