Ranking the 5th episodes

[KH7672 1,604]

Let's keep this discussion rolling with the fifth and for me this was actually pretty difficult...well except for one.

Plus it's interesting to see we've got a lot of repeated names too. I guess Ms. Berrow must have really liked those fifth episodes in the later seasons 

1. Flight to the Finish-It was such a close toss-up between the two crusaders episodes but I have to give it to the much more inspiring one, with the a great Scootaloo lesson, wonderful antagonistic behavior from DT and SS, plus the song. It's enough to edge out an episode starring my favorite pony! 

2. Sisterhooves Social

3. The Point of No Return

4. Guantlet of Fire

5. Magic Duel

6. Griffin the Brush-Off

7. Grannies Gone Wild

8. Tanks for the Memories- And this isn't even low for being bad, but for me the emotion at the end is the strongest part, everything else is just okay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Fluttershy Leans In-This episode was real start of Fluttershy's change in characterization and an absolute down-spiral for my enjoyment of her character ever since. I can't stand this episode and there really are so few episodes like that for me but this is one of those few and it might even be the worst of them.

[Tacodidra 61,262]

"Flight to the Finish" is one of my favorite episodes in the whole series, and also one of the most emotional. "Gauntlet of Fire" also deserves a mention – it was one of the strongest episodes in season 6 (even my favorite at one point) and among the best Spike episodes.

[Here No Longer 5,276]

None of these episodes are really favorites of mine, (all of them are at least OK IMO though) but here goes:

 

1. Grannies Gone Wild. 
2. Fluttershy Leans In. (I think the episode is very underrated)
3. Flight to the Finish.
4. Magic Duel.
5. Gauntlet of Fire.
6. The Point of No Return.
7. Sisterhooves Social.
8. Tanks for the Memories. 
9. Griffon the Brush off

Edited September 25, 2019 by Angus Delaney

[Thrond 3,263]

1. "The Point of No Return" - This is such a great, insightful take on perfectionism that its only problem is the show's other great, insightful takes on perfectionism that came before. Also, Twilight worrying about an overdue library book is just an inherently funny idea. 
2. "Sisterhooves Social" - This is a perfect example of that season 2 mixture of great gags and genuine insight. Rarity realizing how much she cares about Sweetie Belle is the kind of simple but affecting story that this show doesn't really do anymore. 
3. "Flight to the Finish" - I'm glad this show addressed Scootaloo's disability so early in its run, and the way this goes about it is really sweet. And this is absolutely one of Rainbow Dash's best appearances. Love it when she's supportive and introspective. 
4. "Griffon the Brush Off" - This is still really early in the show, so it's still rough in some areas, but it's where the show first started to add nuance to its characters, even if the quirks hadn't quite solidified yet. Like a lot of early season 1, I mostly find it really funny.
5. "Grannies Gone Wild" - On the other hands, this is an example of the loose characterization that sometimes plagued the later seasons, but it's consistently funny and has a good moral. Spirited old people are always delightful to me. 
6. "Gauntlet of Fire" - I still think this one doesn't do anything particularly interesting - it's a bland adventure where Spike saves the day by acting noble and ultimately learns nothing. But there's a lot of cute and funny moments that make it a fun watch. 
7. "Magic Duel" - This has its moments, but it seems like mostly fanservice to me, and I generally wish it had more substance. It generally comes across as empty spectacle to me, and I feel like it doesn't dig deep enough into Trixie's motivation, but it is fun. 
8. "Fluttershy Leans In" - This is barely a story, so I'm honestly not sure how it got produced. It kinda seems like it exists only to show how much Fluttershy has progressed, and I don't care. But at least she isn't annoying or stupid in it. 
9. "Tanks for the Memories" - I genuinely find it a bit insulting that this show has a story about grief in which nobody died. I don't want to watch a show that has to talk down to its audience. Plus it's really hard to sympathize with the lengths Dash goes to when Tank will just be back in a few months. 

[Sparklefan1234 171,960]

Sisterhooves Social is my favorite Rarity episode &

 

Gauntlet of Fire is a Rarity/Twilight Sparkle team-up episode so they are the top two for me.

 

Fluttershy Leans In & Tanks for the Memories would be in my least favorite/bottom spaces. 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Sparklefan1234

[ChB 18,557]

My Top Three:

1. Sisterhooves Social - One of the most memorable and iconic slice of life episodes about sisterhood.

2. Gauntlet of Fire - One of the best Spike episodes (if not the best). Very interesting adventures and challenges.

3. Grannies Gone Wild - Loved Granny Smith and Rainbow Dash here. They played their roles really well.

[Moonlight 7,287]

I have such a soft spot for The Point of No Return, and the lesson about perfection (and the way the lesson was presented) is one of the best lessons in the whole show imo

[Will Guide 21,362]

16 hours ago, KH7672 said:

Fluttershy Leans In-This episode was real start of Fluttershy's change in characterization and an absolute down-spiral for my enjoyment of her character ever since. I can't stand this episode and there really are so few episodes like that for me but this is one of those few and it might even be the worst of them.

I think Flutter Brutter is so much better at showing Fluttershy's development

[Oleks 1,993]

1. Tanks for the Memories – a brilliantly structured episode covering - in disguise, but still - a very serious topic. I really enjoyed it. 
2. Sisterhooves Social – an uplifting and endearing (can I use this word to describe an episode? oh well) episode with great dynamics between characters. Also, Sweetie’s voice cracks are magic.
3. Griffon the Brush-Off – after finishing this episode I understood that I’m stuck with MLP. It’s a long story, but it’s a very special episode to me.
4. Magic Duel – probably my favorite S3 episode. Back when Trixie’s appearance was a reason for celebration, not a norm. And she totally delivered (she still does).
5. Gauntlet of Fire – a good episode about Spike. Something we never thought we’d get. I’m glad that now we have a bunch of them.
6-9. Flight to the Finish, Fluttershy Leans In, Grannies Gone Wild, The Point of No Return – I don’t particularly love or hate any of them, but I’ll definitely won’t skip them when I’ll binge-rewatch the series. 

[Thrond 3,263]

2 hours ago, Will Guide said:

In my opinion, it likely would have had a better chance if instead of Fluttershy suffering actual Aesop Amnesia, it featured a friendly Changeling using his Shapeshifting abilities to take on different Store employee personas because he thought he needed to do so to serve all those customers, when really he just needed to be himself. Sure, it's an obvious lesson but since it's a Changeling, who until S6 Finale were taught to decieve ponies, the lesson would be a new experience for him. Wouldn't you agree?

No, no, "Fluttershy Leans In" is the one where she builds the animal sanctuary. 

[Will Guide 21,362]

2 hours ago, AlexanderThrond said:

No, no, "Fluttershy Leans In" is the one where she builds the animal sanctuary. 

My mistake. I just fixed that

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

1. Griffon the Brush-Off A. It has a satisfying conclusion with dynamic characters and interactions, it has a deep understanding of relationships and has a good lesson. Entertaining. Every character is in their prime and represents themselves in the best way. It has a solid story structure that works, and it is so full of meaningful moments, it almost feels like two times more of a content compared to the weaker episodes.

2. Sisterhooves Social A. The dynamics between the sisters feels genuine. It's fun to watch Sweetie Belle and Applebloom interacting with their sisters. It doesn't disappoint and it delivers a worthy conclusion of the premise.

3. Gauntlet of Fire A. A unique case of expanding the lore contributed to genuine entertainment. It was because it was about the characters that we cared (and making us care) and them struggling to go through obstacles. Spike truly shines throughout this episode and he has his moment to be genuinely awesome and competent. Ember is such a strong, memorable, likable new character with a good backstory. Characters going to a totally new and different place helped the story being fresh and unstrained.

4. Tanks for the Memories B+. Rainbow Dash flying with Tank while holding hands in the song is such a special and iconic moment. Rainbow Dash displays her genuine and more passionate love towards something which was what she lacked and should have shown more often as a character before.

5. Flight to the Finish B-. It is an emotionally heavy episode, and it does things right, but Diamond Tiara went too far IMO. Family Appreciation Day feels better because she gets what she deserve, this one feels a little bitter.

6. Magic Duel B-. Averagely flawed and averagely functional story. This perfectly captures the tone of season 4 imo. It's less of an internal journey and more of an external one.

7. Fluttershy Leans In C. A prime example of an episode which fans love but I was indifferent. Many people liked it because it was rewarding and almost therapeutic for people who wanted Fluttershy to get bold. I do think she has to change some day, but this episode only works for that purpose and for a standalone episode, it is very generic and boring.

8. The Point of No Return C. It felt like a 10 minute episode stretched out into a 20 minute episode. Not horrible, but I don't find it interesring.

9. Grannies Gone Wild D. I can't find any purpose of this episode. I wouldn't mind anything and I wouldn't have missed anything if this had not existed.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Sepul-Coloratura

[bigbertha 414]

1. Flight to the Finish- Solid drama combined with a great song. I really like how this episode handles Scootaloo's flight (7/10)

2. Sisterhooves Social- A fantastic Rarity performance is brought down by the sister dynamic feeling very one-sided (7/10)

3. Gauntlet of Fire- It's a fun episode, but it lacks emotional depth (7/10)

4. Magic Duel- It's a very shallow story, which is a big problem because of how stakes it is, but it's still entertaining to watch (6/10)

5. Point of No Return- Funnier than I was expecting, but it is another Twilight freaking out episode and the moral is too heavy handed (6/10)

6. Grannies Gone Wild- Extremely repetitive structure combined with largely dull jokes. But I guess there are a couple decent gags (5/10)

7. Fluttershy Leans In- Fluttershy's goal of wanting to build an animal sanctuary has never been built up and ends before I can get invested, Fluttershy is incredibly boring, and her views are never challenged (3/10)

8. Griffon the Brush-Off- The entire episode is about the moral and Gilda, the worst parts of this episode. Sure, Pinkie is portrayed really well and there are some good jokes, but when the core of the episode is broken, the episode as a whole is broken (3/10)

9. Tanks For the Memories- Hibernation does not equal death. Not even as a metaphor. And besides, Tank comes back in a couple episodes so any stakes the episode could've had are completely gone in retrospect (2/10)

[Dark Qiviut 22,444]

This one was too easy: Magic Duel. For over a year, this was my favorite episode of the show. It’s funny, shows great characterization of Twilight, and resolved the conflict in a really clever way (using illusion to make Trixie give up her amulet).

Like before, liked, okay, disliked. This is much trickier.

1. Magic Duel
2. Sisterhooves Social
3. Flight to the Finish
4. Point of No Return
5. GGW
6. Gauntlet of Fire (“like” is an understatement regarding all these episodes; I love them all!  )
7. Griffon the Brush Off
8. FLI (The extremely slow “plot” and Fluttershy being written in the right the whole time when she made some massive mistakes of her own completely undercut the conflict.)
9. Tanks for the Memories (I despise this one; being a pet lover, using Tank’s need to hibernate as an avenue for death was manipulative to the core.)

Edited September 25, 2019 by Dark Qiviut
Forgot I disliked FLI.

[Rushing cash 836]

Flight to the finish is definitely my favorite. 

Actually, I like all these episodes, my least favorite is a tie between the episodes G.M.Berrow wrote, they all are enjoyable episodes(7\10) but not as good as the others.

[Cash In 22,456]

Lots of quality episodes here

1. Gauntlet of Fire (S6) - It took them another four seasons, but we finally got another great Spike episode and it's one of my favourites from the entire show. Spike excels here without the plot getting in the way for arbitrary reasons.
2. Magic Duel (S3) - Highlight of Season 3. Trixie returning, but as an actual full on villain worked. It was a breath of fresh air having Twilight using her wits to deal with a huge issue instead of magic.
3. Grannies Gone Wild (S8) - Despite the name sounding like a porno, this was a really fun episode.
4. The Point of No Return (S9) - Great. Felt like an episode that belongs in one of the first 3 seasons, but I guess that's what they were going for.
5. Tanks for the Memories (S5) - I loved this one
6. Sisterhooves Social (S2) - Solid Rarity/Sweetie episode.
7. Flight to the Finish (S4) - Not one my favourites, but solid.
8. Griffon the Brush-Off (S1) - It's fine. Nothing amazing, but there are a couple of fun moments.
9. Fluttershy Leans In (S7) - This episode was so underwhelming. Flutttershy deserved better.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Cash_In

[Megas 27,742]

1) Flight to the Finish - It's got Scootalove, it's automatically top tier
2) Sisterhooves Social - A fantastic first episode for Sweetie Belle, on top of being one of the few Rarijack episodes that doesn't overstay it's welcome
3) Gauntlet of Fire - After seasons of Spike getting shat on, he definitely needed this one
4) Grannies Gone Wild - It sounds like a King of the Hill episode, which is awesome. Also RD joining the Golden Horseshoe Gals made a better episode than her joining the Wonderbolts, that's both awesome and depressing
5) Griffon the Brush-Off - Gilda's a fun bitch, makes Pinkie and RD a fun duo
6) Tanks for the Memories - I like the episode, it has lots of fun and cute moments, but I still think they should have bit the bullet and actually let Tank straight up die, because everything would make a lot more sense if he did
7) Point of No Return - Pretty inconsequential, doesn't really do much for me
8) Magic Duel - I never cared for Trixie in the slightest, so this does nothing for me
9) Fluttershy Leans In - Another "Fluttershy is perfect and right about everything" episode. Yeah it's kinda lame

[DonMaguz 1,023]

'Sisterhooves Social' definitely, 'Magic Duel' takes the second place on this one.

[Will Guide 21,362]

I vote for Guantlet of Fire for showing more of the Dragon Lands and a bit of how they function as a society

[Lucky Bolt 35,070]

Grannies Gone Wild is easily my favorite here, not just because it's my favorite in the whole series, but it also contains some good AppleDash shipping fuel and Dash with the grannies was so cute. Plus...I can relate to Dash in this episode so much it ain't even funny 

[Astralshy 27,089]

The first two episodes on my list are really special and really close together, so kinda hard to sort them in order. I like all of these episodes :>

1. Flight to the Finish
2. Tanks for the Memories
3. Griffon the Brush-Off
4. Magic Duel
5. Gauntlet of Fire
6. Point of No Return
7. Fluttershy Leans In
8. Sisterhooves Social
9. Grannies Gone Wild

[bigbertha 414]

1. Magic Duel

2. Sisterhooves Social

3. Flight to the Finish

4. Griffon the Brush Off

5. Gauntlet of Fire

6. Point of No Return

7. Tanks For the Memories

8. Grannies Gone Wild

9. Fluttershy Leans In

[Landi 600]

1. Magic Dual - This episode is a very iconic one for me, and is definitely one of my favorites in season three. The way this episode developed Twilight's character and utilizes each of the mane six is great, and combined with an interesting premise and story, this episode is definitely an epic one.
2. Tanks for the Memories - While this episode has very mixed receptions, I highly enjoy it's humor and entertainment value. Plus, it has an amazing song and even brings back Cloudsdale and the weather factory, which are both very underutilized locations in the series (for perspective, I'm pretty sure even the dragonlands were given more total screen time than Cloudsdale, which is really sad).
3. Flight to the Finish - I'm a person who wished that Scootaloo was able to fly be the end of the series, so never seeing that happen was a little sad for me. That being said, this episode has a really deep story and gives Scootaloo some good character development, which I can definitely appreciate.
4. Sisterhooves Social - This is just a nice episode with an interesting moral on sibling behaviors. Plus, the character interactions in this one are pretty fun to watch.
5. Griffon the brush off - While it may be one of the more simple episodes in the series, it still packs in a fun and entertaining punch. Plus, it's a pretty iconic episode.
6. Grannies Gone Wild - This is probably one of the better episodes of season 8, but that's not saying to much. It has some fun parts to it, but overall it isn't anything special.
7. The Point of No Return - While this episode isn't necessarily bad, it isn't really good either. Just a very average episode that probably shouldn't have been in the last season.
8. Fluttershy Leans In - This is just a very bland and uninteresting episode with a very basic plot. I think it's goal was to show how Fluttershy has grown as a character, but in it she just comes off as boring.
9. Gauntlet of Fire - Ever since the dragonlands were introduced in Dragon Quest, I've never been very interested in them as a location along with the mostly obnoxious characters there. Due to to this, any episode that takes place there will automatically place fairly low in my rankings, and that's the case with this episode. I admit that I probably owe this episode a rewatch, but as of now there are no real redeeming qualities in this episode that I can remember.

This is a pretty solid batch of episodes for me. While it does have a couple bad ones, for the most part it's pretty good.

[Lone Traveler 91]

1: Flight to the Finish - Deals with the mature issue of Scootaloo being bullied for her disability beautifully and was very heartwarming.

2: Sisterhooves Social - The sibling bond between Sweetie Belle and Rarity is protrayed perfectly, the message is amazing, and its extremely heartwarming.

3: Magic Duel - Trixie is amazing here and the episode is just plain fun to watch. On top of that It managed to fix everything wrong with Boast Busters!

4: Griffon the Brush Off - Yes really. Although GIlda herself could have been written better, everything else about it is very fun and charming, and I love the bond between Pinkie and Rainbow. And I love how likable and well written Pinkie was, with how she genuinely reflected on if she was in the right and tried to help Gilda find friends.

5: Guantlet of Fire - Spike is written perfectly, the Dragonlands were a very fun environment, and Ember was great. Fixed all the issues with Dragon Quest as well!

6: Tanks for the Memories - Very sweet episode that managed to make Rainbow sympathetic despite her recklessness by showing how much she cared for Tank.

7: Grannies Gone Wild - Just a plain fun episode with characters we don't see much of and a likable and responsible Rainbow Dash.

8: Fluttershy Leans In - Kinda bland and uninteresting, it never feels like there are any real stakes or conflict since Fluttershy just immediately fixes everything about any issue presented, though it is still nice to watch.

9: Point of No Return - A rehash of Amending Fences but without the emotional impact. Its just kinda uninteresting, though the ending scene is nice.

So 7 episodes that I loved and 2 I thought were meh. Very solid batch overall!