Ranking the 3rd episodes

[KH7672 1,604]

With the series winding down and plenty of rank the "finales and premiere threads" I thought of something similar to do.

Picture this scenario: You have your favorite premiere and finale in mind now time to build the rest of your perfect season in order of course starting with episode 3. Feel free to rank them for each season or just which is your favorite.

I'm genuinely curious to see how this plays out for each number but I'll wait to see if others are as well first.

Also the writers are only provided for reference if this continues not to incite personal bias.

My choice would be "Lesson Zero" because it really was the perfect game changer of the series.

In order for me it'd be:

1. Lesson Zero

2. Too Many Pinkie Pies

3. The Gift of the Maud Pie

4. Castlemania

5. A Flurry of Emotions

6. The Ticket Master

7. The Maud Couple

8. Uprooted (yes I have a Student 6 bias)

9. Castle Sweet Castle (not even a bad episode but not much entertainment value with the best part being the Twilight and Spike moment with the Library remains)

[Will Guide 21,325]

Sorry but I enjoy Flurry of Emotion for one simple reason. The appearance of Shining Armor and Cadance with Flurry Heart.

The sound Twilight makes as she hops over to Flurry Heart at 1:04 is the cherry on top. That one little moment makes me as happy as seeing a whole episode and by that logic makes the Episode higher than the others

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Castlemania is one of my go-to favorite episodes! For some reason I always laugh at how Rarity says "She's with me" when Twilight acts surprised that Fluttershy is there.

 

 

https://mlpforums.com/topic/136414-funniest-lines/?do=findComment&comment=4044524

 

 

[Cash In 21,510]

Some quality episodes here.

1. Too Many Pinkie Pies - One of my favourites from Season 3. It's fun and I love the humour here. Might be my favourite Pinkie episode.
2. Caatle Mane-ia - They went with a different structure for this one and it works in spades. I love whole Scooby-Doo vibe.
3. Lesson Zero - Another fantastic episode. I don't like it as much as most people, but I can't deny the quality of it.
4. A Flurry of Emotions - I expected this to be a stinker, but this ended up being up really enjoyable.
5. The Ticket Master - The pilot got me interested in the show, but this was the one that hooked me. A bit by the numbers, but still a fun episode.
6. The Gift of the Maud Pie - I always enjoy the Manehattan episodes. This is where I started to like Maud as a character.
7. The Maud Couple - Fine. I don't mind Mudbriar, but the plot is a bit meh.
8. Castle Sweet Castle - Averagely Average.
9. Uprooted - Averagely meh.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Cash_In

[Here No Longer 5,270]

Lesson Zero easily. Most of the third episodes of this series have been unfortunately lackluster, but Lesson Zero is a definite exception to that.

 

My rankings of third episodes:

1. Lesson Zero
2. Castle Mane-ia
3. Ticket Master
4. Castle Sweet Castle
5. Too Many Pinkie Pies
6. The Gift of the Maud Pie
7. Uprooted
8. The Maud Couple
9. A Flurry of Emotions

Edited September 25, 2019 by Angus Delaney

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Lesson Zero's the best of the bunch of third episodes, but my favorite's Castle Sweet Castle. The humor, sentimentality, Spike and Twilight's chemistry, theme of what home is to someone, and moral are all very well done, and the resolution's a very heartwarming cherry on top.

[SharpWit 2,472]

Lesson Zero, classic Twilight being classic.

[Thrond 3,257]

"Lesson Zero" is something really special; it's honestly impressive that any other episodes in the show are that good. And I think "The Gift of the Maud Pie" and "A Flurry of Emotions" both come really close; I actually like almost all of these episodes, except for "Castle Sweet Castle." My ranking would look like this:

1. "Lesson Zero"
2. "A Flurry of Emotions"
3. "The Gift of the Maud Pie"
4.  "Castle Mane-ia"
5. "The Ticket Master"
6. "Uprooted" (I like this one way more than most people seem to)
7. "The Maud Couple"
8. "Too Many Pinkie Pies"
9. "Castle Sweet Castle"

[Buttonmash1973 1,024]

The Ticket Master as it might had been my very first FiM ep. I seen

[Moonlight 7,279]

Voted for Lesson Zero but honestly... I've always had a soft spot for Castle Sweet Castle 

[bigbertha 410]

1. Lesson Zero- Still my favorite episode of the show. The tension, the animation, the voice acting, and just everything is absolutely perfect (10/10)

2. Too Many Pinkie Pies- This episode is just hilarious. This was back when Pinkie could actually hold an episode on her own and she does a great job doing that (9/10)

3. The Maud Couple- The first half sucks but the second half is really great (7/10)

4. A Flurry of Emotions- One of the best season 7 episodes because it actually has jokes that work and because Flurry Heart is cute (7/10)

5. Castle-Mania- It has its moments, but not enough to be fully enjoyable (6/10)

6. The Ticket Master- Kinda like The Maud Couple except the first half isn't as bad and the second half isn't nearly as good (5/10)

7. Castle Sweet Castle- It's not that bad, but it's pretty boring (5/10)

8. Uprooted- It's a rip off of Castle Sweet Castle except this episode is even more boring (4/10)

9. Gift of the Maud Pie- This is one of my least favorite Rarity appearances. She's just so exaggerated and it doesn't help that Pinkie is really annoying too (4/10)

 

[Sparklefan1234 161,861]

Castle Mane-ia is one of my favorite episodes from Season 4. Perfect for Nightmare Night, IMO. 

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

My list is not so different, why should it be? Right!?

1. Lesson Zero - Not just one of the best Mlp episodes but one of the greatest cartoon episode of all time.

2. Too Many Pinkie Pie - Very funny and yet disturbing episode at the same time.

3. Castle Mania - Classic Haber episode. Cannot mention that guy without mention this ep.

4. The Gift of the Maud Pie - Great sister dynamics and good chunks of humors.

5. Castle Sweet Castle - A bit boring but it has a good heart. I cried inside a little bit during the end, it's just so heartwarming.

6. Maud Couple - Stick boi is not that bad and the moral is actually relatable.

7. A Flurry of Emotions - Very cute episode, this ep made me like that little abomination...

8. Ticket Master - A funny episode, a standard season 1 episode, nothing really wrong about that...

9. Uprooted - A reason this ep belong to the lowest top of 3rd episode, even lower tier of the entire show, not because it was bad, it's because it doesn't belong to this stage of season 9. 'The tree is still alive' reveal should belong to the mid-season, not right after the premieres, worst episode placement. If the mane 6, royal sisters, the Pillars who should be in this ep don't give a damn (this ep made it looks like it) then why should I?

 

[Megas 27,064]

Lesson Zero sorta paved the way for episodes going forward after S1

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

Since I haven't listed the episodes, might as well. This was a lot harder than I thought. Liked episodes in bold, "meh" in regular, disliked underline.

1. Castle Sweet Castle
2. A Flurry of Emotions
3. Uprooted
4. Lesson Zero
5. Maud Couple
6. Castle Mane-ia
7. The Ticket Master
8. Too Many Pinkie Pies
9. Gift of the Maud Pie

[Rushing cash 824]

Lesson zero. By a country mile, one of the best episodes in the show to me. 

1. Lesson zero- 10\10
2. Too many pinkie pies- 8\10
3. Castle mania- 8\10
4. Castle sweet castle- 8\10
5. Maud couple- 7\10
6. The ticket master- 7\10
7. A flurry of emotions- 7\10
8. Gift of the maud pie- 7\10
9. Uprooted- 4\10

 

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

1. Lesson Zero A+.
2. Too Many Pinkie Pies A+. A very close one. It was hard to decide. Entertainment, character, lesson are all great in this.
3. The Ticket Master A. A rare incident where all the mane six are being selfish, and they are all lovable at the same time. (ok maybe not Rarity tbh I didn't like her in the early seasons but still)
4. Gift of the Maud Pie A. An emotionally strong episode. Rarity makes every episode better when she's in it.
5. Maud Couple B+. It actually worked very well on me. It completely put me in Pinkie's position when she's being wrong and it's almost an impossible task.
6. A Flurry of Emotions B. A decent episode with common sense and logic behind characters even for when they are being wrong.
7. Castle Mane-ia C-. Bunch of things happened, and none of it mattered.
8. Castle Sweet Castle C-. It was dealing witg a subject that was impossible to not make us emotional, yet it feels underplayed and less satisfying when covering such a huge loss. (and made Castle Mane-ia pointless)
9. Uprooted F. Completely opposite of what I said about Too Many Pinkie Pies. I don't want this episode to be anyone's introduction to MLP.

[Thrond 3,257]

On 9/15/2019 at 11:03 PM, AlexanderThrond said:

1. "Lesson Zero"
2. "A Flurry of Emotions"
3.  "The Gift of the Maud Pie"
4.   "Castle Mane-ia"
5. "The Ticket Master"
6. "Uprooted" (I like this one way more than most people seem to)
7. "The Maud Couple"
8. "Too Many Pinkie Pies"
9. "Castle Sweet Castle"

Ok, ok, maybe I'll go into slightly more detail.

1. "Lesson Zero" - That this still makes Twilight's motivations sympathetic even while she's doing weird crazy stuff is really impressive. 
2. "A Flurry of Emotions" - I think this is incredibly cute, and it's the first episode to properly address that maybe being a princess would be a bit stressful. 
3. "The Gift of the Maud Pie" - I just think this is a really charming and funny take on the old story. 
4. "Castle Mane-ia" - Like the above, I just find this really funny. I appreciate that there isn't anything serious happening in this one. 
5. "The Ticket Master" - Season 1 was a bit sketchy for a while but it's got a lot of funny episodes like this. Nowadays it seems pleasantly quaint. 
6. "Uprooted" - A little rote, but I do like the student six, and I think this does a fairly charming job of developing them a little. Not sure why it's so disliked here. 
7. "The Maud Couple" - The Mud Briar shtick got old fast, but the moral here is great, and there's a lot of funny moments, especially from Pinkie and Maud.
8. "Too Many Pinkie Pies" - This is slightly too much Pinkie Pie for me, but there's a weird darkness around the edges that I find amusing. 
9. "Castle Sweet Castle" - I'm just not sure this goes deep enough to be so low-energy, and I was never that invested in the tree to begin with. 

[Oleks 1,983]

1. Lesson Zero – fun, relatable, surprisingly creepy at times.
2. A Flurry of Emotions – I really liked Twilight as an aunt, and the episode had many funny moments.
3. Too Many Pinkie Pies - it gets the third place only because of that Pinkie's G1 face.
4-7. The Ticket Master, Castlemania, Castle Sweet Castle, Uprooted – all solid episodes, I can’t say I prefer one over the others.
8. The Gift of the Maud Pie – it could have been way more funny and creative, IMO.
9. The Maud Couple – no comment.

[Astralshy 23,558]

Again a clear winner for me :> Lesson Zero is definitely the best of these episodes here :> 

1. Lesson Zero
2. The Gift of the Maud Pie
3. Castle Sweet Castle
4. Too Many Pinkie Pies
5. Uprooted
6. Castle Mane-ia
7. A Flurry of Emotions
8. The Maud Couple
9. The Ticket Master

[bigbertha 410]

1. Lesson Zero

2. Castle Mane-ia

3. Too Many Pinkie Pies

4. The Maud Couple

5. The Ticket Master

6. A Flurry of Emotions

7. Castle Sweet Castle

8. The Gift of the Maud Pie

9. Uprooted

[Landi 597]

1. Lesson Zero - Easily the best of these (not that it has much competition). It's an amazingly fun episode that helps start an awesome second season.
2. Castlemania - While it isn't anything too special, it still is a fun episode that finds a nice way to involve all of the mane six.
3. Ticket Master - Not the most interesting episode, but it's definitely a classic
4. Too Many Pinkie Pies - It's a fun episode, but doesn't have much else to it.
5. The Gift of the Maud Pie - It's not the worst episode out there, but it's a pretty boring episode overall.
6. Castle Sweet Castle - Very dull and forgettable.
7. A Flurry of Emotions - This episode manages to be both annoying and forgettable, and it is barely ahead of number 8.
8. The Maud Couple - Not only is this episode feel pretty poorly written, it introduced Mud Briar.
9. Uprooted - This is a very annoying and pointless episode that is one of my least favorites that season.

Unfortunately most of these episodes were very forgettable and lackluster, and the only real standout here is "Lesson Zero".

[Lone Traveler 87]

1: Too Many Pinkie Pies (funniest episode of the entire show, and Pinkie is written extremely well here)

2: Lesson Zero (Twilight is incredibly entertaining and is has a wonderfully creepy but also funny vibe)

3: Castle Mania (A by the books episode with nothing very interesting or funny to me, but I liked the atmosphere enough so that I still enjoyed it. Style over substance overall.)

4: Ticket Master (It's alright. It has the classic Season 1 charm and did a good job with continuing to introduce the characters, but the plot was pretty slow and predictable, and although it is very charming it's not very funny.)

5: Uprooted (Its okay. Student six are somewhat charming and I like the message, but it's not very interesting as a whole and the ending was a bit of a cop out.)

6: Castle Sweet Castle (I feel basically the same about this episode as the above. While this has the advantage of a great song and a non cop out ending i rank it slightly worse since I feel there was wasted potential. It could have been a far sweeter and more interesting episode if it was focused more on reminiscing about memories.)

7: Flurry of Emotions (Bland and uninteresting, but I at least like Twilight and Spike here and it's somewhat nice to watch.)

8:  The Gift of the Maud Pie (Characters are likable, but its boring and predictable without much little good humor)

9: The Maud Couple (Pinkie Pie is annoying and unlikable, and so is Mud Briar, whose speaking tone irritates me to no end. Not much to redeem it here.

Edited October 21, 2021 by Lone Traveler