S09:E26 - The Last Problem

[Patty Thundersnow 4,164]

1 minute ago, Jedishy said:

So this episode hit me HARD. It was just perfect and frankly I am emotional enough to want to force choke a few neigh sayers. Ill post more thoughts tomorrow. But remember a Jedi can still use electric judgement....

 

This episode hit us all hard. made me bawl, but that's mainly because i'm naturally a very emotional person.

[Senko 459]

On 10/18/2019 at 4:12 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

and Rarity lives and sells fashion at her boutique in Yakyakistan.) 

When did it say she lives there?

[Dark Qiviut 22,405]

12 minutes ago, Senko said:

When did it say she lives there?

In the episode, she explained that coming down to Canterlot from Yaktakistan's more difficult than before, suggesting this trip is very common for her when meeting for the Council of Friendship. (Not to mention Yona and Sandbar live in the Boutique now.)

Edited October 19, 2019 by Dark Qiviut

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Just finished watching 3 finale episodes with my friend a few minutes ago. This three-parters are great, they handled it well. I will rewatch it more couple of times to find out what i missed but so far this finale, especially The Last Problem, is the good way to end the show.

There are few things the show missed out (to me) so the comic will take care the rest. Maybe some people will cry from inside because this is the farewell of the show but me, nah, the comic (season 10) still going so i will jump to the next hype train. The comics, the fan content will keep me interested when the G5 comes. 

[Totally Nyx 36,041]

I don't mean to be a downer, but this episode was awful. I tried to watch it, I honestly did, but I still only got half way before turning it off. They just stopped caring.

[Truffles 2,033]

On 10/16/2019 at 12:19 PM, JCKane said:

Though, makes me wonder, did I miss the 'climax' of Spike's crush on Rarity in that episode I missed?

Episode 19 dealt with that.

 

On 10/18/2019 at 12:12 AM, Dark Qiviut said:

A nitpick, but the adults are looking a little older than what they show. They're all at least in their mid-thirties if not closer to 40, but the giant bags under their eyes make them look like they're older than Bow Hothoof or Windy Whistles. Lighter, smaller, subtler lines under their eyes may work more to better match that range.

Those lines reminded me of Soarin, who has the same thing going on under his eyes. He's still able to fly for the Wonderbolts so he can't be too old, and I'd like to think the same is true for the ReMane 5. As for Bow and Windy, maybe they're big on wrinkle reducing creams? 

 

I've been on a road trip that began shortly before the finale aired, and since trying to type a long set of comments on a mobile device isn't my idea of a vacation, I'll say a lot more after I return next weekend. (I also have more to say about The Big Mac Question.) But I did like the remaining 3 episodes and was happy to see the series end with a proper denouement.

I suspect Twilight's coronation will go down in history as the only one where the new ruler of Equestria started her reign by falling off the tower balcony the moment she became ruler. 

[Will Guide 21,360]

On a side note, the Last Problem reminds me of some parts of the Final Season of ONCE Upon a Time. For one, it ends with all the people of different Faraway Lands coming together. In this MLP episode, the ponies, dragons, changelings, etc. were finally socializing. In ONCE, one final spell brought together the lands of Enchanted Forest, Camelot, Arendelle, Agrabah, Neverland, Wonderland etc. into one place

It also ends with a coronation. Here, Twilight is crowned the ruler of Equestria. In ONCE, Regina (who used to strike fear in people as Snow White's Evil Queen) is crowned the Elected Good Queen of the United Realms. Sunset Shimmer is a lot more closer to Regina's Once a Villain Reformed Character, but the connection is still there

And one last thing to point out, the ONCE final season was a slight reboot featuring a few characters being older after some time later. Just like how this MLP Episode shows what happened several years later.

In my experience, both these shows have been the show's I never missed a new episode on every weekend during their first run. Both shows may have ended, but they were fun none the less

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

I watched through the episode a second time with my mom, and I spotted something that I didn't see the first time around...

On 10/13/2019 at 10:32 AM, Justin_Case001 said:

Oh, and TEMPEST!!  Now, I hated the movie, but I loved Tempest.  She was the only good thing about it.  I'm so glad she was there!  That was so cool.  Ol' Fizz Pop.  I didn't see those Celestia dammed pirate birds, or that f*ckin alley cat Capper, thank Celestia.  They don't belong in the FIM universe.  (If they were in the crowd somewhere, please don't tell me about it.  )

Spoiler

...

Spoiler

 

Oh well.  At least he wasn't actually in the episode.

I also noticed something else in the same scene that I thought was pretty cool:

Spoiler

Boom!

Spoiler

 

This is actually huge.  Do you know what this means?  Unless I missed some Easter egg, this is the first time that any EG character has appeared on FIM!  Now, I realize that they're not actually in the episode, per se, but nothing from EG has ever even been mentioned or referenced on FIM until now.  That means that EG has officially graduated from B-canon to just plain canon!  And that may be much to the chagrin of those who don't like EG, but I love it, so this I think this is cool.

Alright, that's it.  Catch you guys on the flippity flip.

[Will Guide 21,360]

3 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

Unless I missed some Easter egg, this is the first time that any EG character has appeared on FIM!

Pony Flash Sentry appeared in S4's Three's a Crowd and Twilight's Kingdom part 1

He even spoke in the latter. At 1:20

 

3 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

nothing from EG has ever even been mentioned or referenced on FIM until now. 

Also, the Sirens very clearly appeared in a flashback in season 7 finale part 2

1:57 of this clip

How can you miss that? It's so obviously in your face.

[FirePuppy 735]

I loved this episode. It was the perfect way to end the show once and for all.

[Senko 459]

On 10/19/2019 at 5:05 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

In the episode, she explained that coming down to Canterlot from Yaktakistan's more difficult than before, suggesting this trip is very common for her when meeting for the Council of Friendship. (Not to mention Yona and Sandbar live in the Boutique now.)

Hmm I missed that more reason to dislike and ignore it. I share my rant from Discord on the subject.

I cant see Celestia just handing rulership over like that Twilight's readiness aside it denies her years of memories with her friends prior to their death, years she'll never have a chance at again. All the experiences she missed out on having to rule e.g. Pinkie giving birth - No she was attending a conference in Maretonia. Starlight and Trixies wedding - No there was an emergency with that years swanifying Ceremony. Granny Smith's funeral - No she was negotiating a new trade agreement with the Griffons. Not to mention all the pet play picnics, weekends hanging out, camping trips or just plain everyday life moments where you need to be there to share them because you can't reproduce them after the fact.

I cant see Celestia even considering stepping down on a long term basis till they're gone. Not just to ensure Twilight can deal with ponies who'll be born, grow up and die before her eyes without closing herself off emotionally but to give Twilight that chance with Ponies her own age to share experiences and form memories to comfort her in the long millenia ahead because this is something she will never be able to replicate. Even if she makes new friends there will always be that subtle barrier because she'll have seen what they're going through before possibly many times. Just look at her interactions with her friends vs Luster Dawn. She cares for Luster but she'll never have the same relationship with her she does with Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack or Fluttershy. Even without the teacher/princess barrier Luster wont understand what its like to grow up in a world where an entire town can cower in fear before a friendly Zebra looking to do some shopping. It's not necessarily a bad thing that Luster lacks that experience but its just one example of the difference between an immortal and a mortal and its a difference that only grows more pronounced with time. Twilight needs this chance to be as normal a pony as she can for as long as she can because once it's gone it's gone for good. Not to mention how removing her from the dynamic affects her friends relationships as well. Take this fanmade animation by Agrol (I also recommend their other animations) . . .

Now remove Twilight from Ponyville and it just doesn't happen. Dash doesn't find another reading material, Twilight doesn't get a nice little insight into her friend and this is something which simply can not be recreated or even occur as naturally when they are seperated by both her duties and her distance from them. It doesn't even have to be major events just a simple matter like a new Daring Do book coming out is no longer something she can chat with Dash about as they read it or while attending a Daring Do convention together. This has all been permanently taken away from her and them. Twilight gets just one chance to experience life with Ponies who have the same experiences she had growing up or who view her as a pony first and a princess second to deny her that is not just cruel but it diminishes all of them as a pony. However she'll have centuries to rule or help rule after the ponies she grew up with are gone.

I can now add to this speculation on whether if she hadn't had to move to Canterlot would Rarity be living in Yakyakistan afterall she opened stores in Canterlot and Manehattan without leaving the Boutique perhaps now she has a reason to avoid Ponyville because of sad memories ir perhaps she just wasn't as close to the others any more?

Edited October 21, 2019 by Senko

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

That was the best FiM season ending ever.

[FirePuppy 735]

28 minutes ago, Buttonmash1973 said:

That was the best FiM season ending ever.

Yeah, but the sad news is, with that out of the way, it's now the end of the road for My Little Pony until the next announcement in the future.

[Nightfall Gloam 18,260]

Loved this episode. I won't lie though, did get pretty emotional seeing the ponies grow old and Twi being a legit princess now. The song at the end with the book closing basically brought me to tears. Will greatly miss this show and the fandom. 

[Will Guide 21,360]

I said many times before. This has been an incredible series.

And to use an scene from 1959 Animated Sleeping Beauty:

(Fan 1 cries)

Fan 2: Why, Fan 1.

Fan 3: Whatever is the matter, friend?

Fan 1: After today, this will be the final episode and we won't have any Friendship is Magic.

Fan 3 (starting to get emotional): Oh, Fan 2!

Fan 2 (struggling to hold back tears): Now, now, we all knew this day has to come.

Fan 3: But why did it have to come so soon?

Fan 2: After all, we've been with the show for 9 years.

Fan 1: Nine wonderful years!

(All fans shed tears of bittersweetness)

[Justin_Case001 4,889]

On 10/20/2019 at 11:18 AM, Wolf Guide said:

Pony Flash Sentry appeared in S4's Three's a Crowd and Twilight's Kingdom part 1

Also, the Sirens very clearly appeared in a flashback in season 7 finale part 2

How can you miss that? It's so obviously in your face.

Oh.  Right.  I forgot.    Still, I think it's a bit of a different precedent to show Sunny, cause if you've never seen EG, then you'd never think anything of the pony Flash cameos or the sirens on FIM.  Pony Flash would just be a completely random guard, and the sirens would be just another mythical beast.  But if you've never seen EG, then you'd be like, "Wait, who's that bacon-haired mare in the montage?  What's she doing there?"  Eh, maybe that's a bit of a stretch.  Guess I was just wrong.  But I'm pretty sure that was the first appearance of Sunset of FIM, and that's still cool.

[Star Petal 215]

Totally did not expect to have the three main bad guys NOT be reformed at the end. 
Also, I got questions and complaints. 
1. WTF?! Middle aged ponies? GAH! why did cheese and Pinkie, and 

2. Are Rainbow Dash and Applejack a pair? This ending HEAVILY imploy this. Especially at the end where rainbow dash and applejack talk about "chores" and dash has her hoof on aj's head at the end. 

3. I WANT MORE TRIXIE...why no show how everypony else ended up like? 

[dragoonanime 39]

I was thinking that Twilight and her friends would rule together from Twilight's castle after the first episode this season. I was surprised when Twilight moved back to Canterlot and kind of became the sole ruler.

[Ganondox 899]

I liked this episode much more the second time I watched it. One thing I noticed the second time that I didn't notice the first time is WHY her coronation was a disaster - it was directly due to Twilight teleporting her friends with her on the train due to her missing it due to crying with her friends before. I think that's really powerful, because it unambiguously sends the message that it was more important for Twilight to have that moment with her friends than for her coronation to go well. Here we get to see the consequences of the choice and the interpretation of those consequences, which is really what makes the choice meaningful, and reveals the values underlying the choice. I also really like the song at the end, Twilight has such a beautiful voice. Overall, it's exactly what I expected from the final episode of the show, and they pulled it off well. 

One thing though that still remains an issue is that nobody ever asked Twilight if she wanted any of this, Celestia just shoveled the responsibility on her and the only question posed was if she was ready for it, implicitly assuming that it is something she will eventually do. I don't think Faust would have let that pass if she was still on the show because the lack of consent in the whole process just goes against her philosophy, and she enforced avoiding much more minor problematic content like ensuring the ponies in Ticket Master didn't apologize for wanting to go, but rather for harassing Twilight. For this reason, even though I find it a beautiful ending for the show, I don't really see it as Twilight's canonical fate. (Note that the term canon can also refer to works in a collection written by the original author, which differs from how it's used to refer officially in-universe material, and that's the angle I prefer because it keeps a single creative vision in-tact.)

[Senko 459]

On 10/22/2019 at 7:16 PM, Star Petal said:

I WANT MORE TRIXIE...why no show how everypony else ended up like? 

S

Sadly this seems like all we get of her.

9 hours ago, Ganondox said:

I liked this episode much more the second time I watched it. One thing I noticed the second time that I didn't notice the first time is WHY her coronation was a disaster - it was directly due to Twilight teleporting her friends with her on the train due to her missing it due to crying with her friends before.

Which is the point I made earlier unless she's living with her friends she'll miss out on so much and she'll never get another chance for it.

[Discovery Dream 592]

I liked it : ) I’m glad everyone ended up happy. I never doubted they would but it’s nice to see a definitive happily ever after. 

A nice lesson in “things change but friends still connect with each other”, as someone who recently went away to college it’s nice to see. 

Not to be a loser but the implied Fluttercord really sent me, I care about them ;_; Also really excited about Appledash, platonic or romantic. Mega cute. Neutral on Cheesepie.

Overall wow the horses love each other 🦄/10

[Senko 459]

7 hours ago, Bas said:

Just watched it.

It has a nice, albeit melancholic ending. I did miss a call-out to fans and bronies, TBH, similar to the ep100.

It also showed that everypony, including us IRL, can stay friends even if each of us goes our own ways.

Also, that young mare was just Twi v3.0.

This leads me to def to believe G5 will be a continuation, either before or after E26.

My guess is that the CMC or y6 will be either mane or very reconcurring characters with the old m6 appearing as cameos or advisors. 

Looking at the shot above, I am guessing the CMC will achive something given that thing AB is wearing around her neck.

It also looks like we got a glimpse on how ponies age - comparing AB to the m6's age. I am actually surprised how muhc older the m6 got, relatively speaking, they look like humans in 40s, while AB looks just like 10 years older compared to what she was before. To me, it just looks like  the adult ponies aged more than the yungsters did.

Except Trixie is probably around the same age and in the image I posted she looks a lot younger. I think they just "aged" the mane 6 more because they were in the spotlight longer and being used to show "time has passed" wheareas the CMC just made a guest apperance as it were. Of course the CMC age is . . . inconsistent let us say. THey're all old enough to basically run their own business and be taken seriously by adults on advice about their children yet their too "young" to go to Appleoosa alone.

[Sh Pie 65]

How appropriate that my 100th post is on the third and conclusive part of the series finale!

This was a decent episode, but I feel like it didn't leave much to the imagination. Presumably set about 20 years in to the future, it feels detached from everything I've come to know about this world and its characters. We've already seen Twilight get her wings and Spike get his wings. Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt, Fluttershy has the sanctuary, Rarity has the boutique, Starlight is the headmare.... oh yeah, and AJ still has her hat.

With all this change throughout the series, was such a drastic time skip necessary?

R.I.P. Granny Smith? Damn, that's sad. Realistic, but sad.

It's totally plausible that Pinkie and Cheese could have developed romantic feelings for each other during the time skip, but I can't just invest in a ship without seeing its foundation or having an existing bias towards it, which I didn't.

Manly Spike's "WHAT?!" sounded weird. I guess Cathy isn't accustomed to his deeper voice. It was a good effort though.

So many years of character development and none of us get to see it. I get what the moral was going for, that change is both inevitable and a part of life. The end of MLP is definitely a big change for us bronies. I was 12 years old when Season 1 started. I have watched this show loyally for almost half of my current life span. From Season 1 to 9, we've seen these characters learn so much about friendship and at the end of last episode, they're the characters in whom I'm invested. Change happens, whether it's good or bad, but it happens gradually. The start and the end aren't as important as everything that happens in between.

That said, as far as gratuitous time skip finales go, this wasn't terrible. The flashbacks to Twilight's coronation were just what I needed to stay invested in the plot. Even in the unfamiliar future, the song was a great emotional way to end the series.

Middle-aged Rarity has a grey streak in her mane. Hmmm, I wonder if that means she's the oldest of the Mane 6?

My Little Pony may have reached its end, but My Little Human isn't quite over. I'm definitely tuning in for more Equestria Girls next week! I also found out today about the upcoming sequel to the MLP movie, which I hope can provide the closure this series deserves. So there's definitely more exciting content to look forward to!

A lot of shows have a focus on the subject of friendship, but none that go as deep as MLP. Friendship is such an elaborate and wonderful thing. To paraphrase Twilight, there will always be darkness. There will always be sadism and prejudice in our hearts. But with generosity, kindness, laughter, honesty, loyalty and magic, we can overcome our vices and change for the better. The show will live on in us and the morals we have learned.

[bwrosas 252]

The Ending of The #MLPSERIESFINALE: The Collage of Characters

[doomie-22 19]

On 10/18/2019 at 6:46 PM, Dark Qiviut said:

I've seen Newborn Cuties online. Nothing from any MLP generation can be compared to that shit mountain. NC's by far the worst thing to ever come out of My Little Pony. The Last Problem is nowhere close to either that level of quality or any of the worst-of contenders in this series, and that is a fact.

The only crime committed by "Newborn Cuties" was being overly cutesy and saccharine. At least it didn't show a child being turned to stone or a supposedly reformed villain getting away with endangering innocent lives by helping three known criminals escape, giving them access to a superweapon, and allowing them to run ranpant, thus only endangering even more innocent lives and leading to a war breaking out. Seriously, if anyone deserved to be turned to stone in this finale, it was Discord. 

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Wrong. She often works with Spike, but as the episode showed and stated quite a bit, every single one of them meets up once a lunar cycle. Despite how busy their lives are, they all manage to work together, meet, and help each other as they rule Equestria. Twi's the de facto princess, but her friends are always there to help whenever they need it.

No. The finale strongly implies that they have all drifted apart and moved on with their lives. They only meet up once a moon. It doesn't help that the finale strongly implies that Twilight and Spike will be subjected to having to watch all of their friends slowly one by one in only a few short years due to all of them dying of old age while they're forced to go on living. This in spite of the fact that we were promised that Twilight would not outlive her friends. 

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That would've truly been awful. This show has been meaningful for a lot of people. If they went with that idea, then they're telling us, "We don't give a damn about this show and will rather throw it away." DHX cares about the quality of the writing, the story, and how much FIM means to those young and old. Bronydom's passion gave them the passion to create and deliver the best they could.

They stopped caring about this show years ago. And if they truly cared about the quality of the show, they never would have hired writers who A) had never seen the show knew nothing about the show due to having never watched it and C) primarily came from a background of working on live-action TV shows and thus, had absolutely no experience working on an animated TV show due to having never worked on one before. 

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1. Faust was never fired. She left on her own volition and went to work elsewhere.

No, that's not what happened. Faust didn't put up with any of Hasbro's crap. She was very vocal about her disdain for Equestria Girls and this was the final straw for her, so she left. Hasbro needed a yes-man, so they gave Meghan McCarthy a promotion because they knew that she'd go along with whatever they wanted. The fact that they began work on Equestria Girls, as well as implementing a huge amount of changes to the show that nobody ever asked for (and believe me, I could write an entire essay on all of that) is telling. I mean, for crying out loud, this is the same company that canceled Littlest Pet Shop due to low toy sales despite the fact that it was getting great ratings, (thanks in no small part due to the fact that it was produced by the same people who made MLP:FiM) only to reboot it a couple of years later. And, no, I have still not forgiven them for that! 

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1. One person helped with all the ideas, but not one person is responsible for everything created. FIM was always a team effort. Even after Faust departed, people who worked with her promised to retain her vision, which they did for the rest of the run.

No. What they did was they took a great series and pissed all over it. Season 4-9 can basically be described as "fan service gone wrong." 

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Again, false. Even after those who worked closely with Faust left, people who loved to write and wanted to write for the show were given the chance to try to deliver for the masses. Sometimes they work, sometimes not. Nick Confalone, Mike Vogel, Haber, the Lady Writers, Hohlfeld, etc., all wrote a lot of great work, and they all came after Season 3. Despite the turnover, they were still able to write a good-quality show.

Yeah, up until they all left and they brought in the writers that would go on to write the crappiness that was season 8 and 9. 

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The final morals of each episode mattered. From the first to the last, every episode was a combination of entertainment and education, whether it had the E/I attachment or not. The characters drove the story, and what the characters learned echo to what the episode's lessons were supposed to be. Sometimes these lessons were simple like from Season 1, sometimes more mature like from S4 onward. Only two episodes of the entire show have no moral (Chronicles, Frenemies). These characters learned from those lessons, grew individually and collectively, and the audience grew along with them.

I could name several episodes that had no moral.

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Your whole rant jumped the shark the second you wrote this right-wing talking point.

1. Representation matters.In The Last Crusade, we got our very first canon same-sex couple. Both Aunt Holiday and Aunty Lofty are excellent characters that were never tokenized at any point, and they were extremely crucial to the development of The Last Crusade. Without their involvement, Scootaloo would've had to go to Shire Lanka with her parents and say a sudden goodbye to her friends back home.

What in the hell does LGBT representation have to do with this? There really wasn't any hints that they were a couple in the episode. The last shiw that should be incorporating political crap like that into its show is My Little Pony. This was done purely for fanservice. It doesn't help that they completely redesigned the characters. 

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1. Lyra and Bon Bon developed over the years, and in Season 8, their relationship really grew with little clues here and there. The Big Mac Question was the perfect time for them to pop the question together, and their announced marriage in the Foal Free Press was extremely heartwarming.

This is in spite of the fact that we never see any hints of them being romantically involved. They literally threw this scene in "The Big Mac Question" and "The Last Problem" purely for fanservice. 

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1. Over the seasons, FIM was validly criticized for sometimes acting imperialistic to other species, spreading their "better" culture to others around the world. In She's All Yak, the characters learned that their accidental tokenization of the non-ponies was only excluding the Young Six and pressured Yona into believing she had to give up her yak ways to do better. The lesson they learned (while not being unlikeable or intentionally imposing) was a long time coming.

This is why so many people had an issue with the School of Friendship idea. 

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1. FIM has always had a very liberal to left-leaning slant, both while under Faust and otherwise (she didn't create a blatantly blatant pro-feminist show for no reason), and the repulsive stereotype you attached on those with a similar ideology shows a massive lack of understanding FIM's construction from the ground up.

I honestly have no clue as to what the hell you're talking about here. What "repulsive stereotype" did I attach to what "ideology?"

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I don't think outstanding episodes like Flight to the Finish, Pinkie Pride, Slice of Life, Lost Mark, Saddle Row, Perfect Pear (the franchise's best episode), Horse Play, Sounds of Silence, Sparkle's Seven, Dark and Dawn, and this (along with the continuing improvement of consistently good quality from S7 onwards) help your case of G4 being "nothing but a huge mess."

Personally, I hated almost all of those episodes. "Sounds of Silence" would've been great had they not had Fluttershy acting so stupid. Her solution is literally the thing that the Kirin were already doing, thus it wouldn't have changed anything at all. "Sparkle's Seven" was bad due to literally over half the episode being nothing but exposition. And episodes like "Horse Play" and "Between Dark and Dawn" were bad due to ruining the character of Celestia and Luna. Episodes like "Slice if Life" and "The perfect Pear" were bad due to both of them being nothing but fanservice. "Pinkie Pride" was bad due to it being unmemorable and using the "guest star" gimmick that other shows like SpongeBob SquarePants have run into the ground..honestly, the only good episodes you listed were "Saddle Row Review", "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", and "Flight to the Finish." 

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The F&M episode concept and ideas given to Larson weren't his, and he disliked it for its mean-spirited tone and lack of lesson learned, but Larson complied to Hasbro's demands and wrote the whole script and song from beginning to end. There was no ghost editor or writer.

I never said there was.

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There is no such thing as a perfect season. Both Seasons 1 and 2 had plenty of crap in it. Boast Busters, Bridle Gossip, Owl's Well, Mare Do Well, PYHD, and Dragon Quest are each among the very worst of the show. Likewise, I already gave a list of some of the best after Season 3. Every season has its great and bad, some more than others.

I liked maybe eleven episodes from season one and six episodes from season two. 

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If I want to watch a truly godawful show, then I'll find Breadwinners, Sanjay & Craig, Allen Gregory, or modern Family Guy. FIM has been and will always be a million cuts above above them.

Oh, yeah, showing a child getting permanently turned to stone and having a supposedly good guy help criminals start a war and not getting punished for it are really top-notch quality wriitng. Seriously, none of the shows you listed have even come close to stopping that low. 

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This show continues to have a following that's tens of thousands of people deep, and you just reduced their current love for it to "they're just a cult following." Your diminishing of their appreciation for the show beyond the early seasons is insulting.

It's insulting that people are praising this finale. This is why some people refer to some of the fans that make up this fandom as being in a cult. It didn't used to be like that. It used to be where if you disliked an episode, you could openly discuss why you didn't like it. Nowadays, if you so much as dare speak ill of a new episode, you're treated like a leper. 

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Also, bronies as a whole do care about quality and know when something goes wrong. But FIM does maintain good quality. Even after Faust left during Season 2's production, this show did very well, then did roughly, then bounced back.

No, it didn't. Season 7 was a marked improvement over season 6, but seasons 8 and 9 are utter garbage, particularly for making everything that happened after season 4 completely and utterly pointless. 

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Whenever there was an episode that makes anyone wonder if it truly jumped the shark, it goes right back on track. Just a few examples.

1. Princess Spike blew. Badly. Soon after, Amending Fences aired, and it's one of the most popular episodes to this day.

The problem with "Amending Fences" is that it makes Twilight out to be the bad guy. Twilight realizes it was her turning down going to the party that caused Moondancer to clam up. For me, that's a problem because 1) Twilight was doing something more important — she went on to stop Nightmare Moon and 2) the episode (in Twilight and Moondancer's reactions) put all the blame for Moondancer shutting down on Twilight. This isn't helped by the fact that Twilight, in all the flashbacks with Moondancer as foals, is never shown as being like her friend, just her classmate. Apart from that one photograph Spike took, Twilight is never shown spending time (or wanting to spend time) with Moondancer outside of class. In these scenes and episode 1, in which Moondancer doesn't even appear (don't worry, we'll get back to that), Twilight behaves like an acquaintance and not a friend, and her not even being able to remember her supposed "friends'" names says volumes. In other words, the episode makes it seem as though introversion and preferring other hobbies/pursuits to making friends is always wrong, as there will always be that one person who takes it personally and makes their feelings your responsibility even if you were always civil to them (as Twilight was) and never did anything to give them the false idea that you were interested in friendship. Saying Twilight had a reputation as a bad friend feels unearned — a bad friend would be someone who pretended like they were someone's friend and agreed to go to [insert social event here], only to blow it off. Twilight didn't do that. To make matters worse, this party that was a big deal to Moondancer, that she herself threw? She didn't invite Twilight to it personally. All the other ponies did, which made it seem more like the invite was given in passing, rather than how the episode played it (that Moondancer really wanted Twilight in particular to show up). Not to mention, Moondancer had three other attendees all quite willing to be her friend! For her meltdown to be sympathetic I really needed more in the episode between her and Twilight, such as Moondancer having a secret crush on Twilight which would make her breakdown all the more sensible, because as it is, it resembles Starlight Glimmer syndrome in terms of reactions/character writing. The intended aesop is obviously well-intentioned: be considerate of other's feelings, even if it's something you think is no big deal yourself, but it's done to the extent that the series is implying you have to take total responsibility for other's feelings even at the cost of your own personal preferences (lone wolf Twilight, if they'd let her stay that way, obviously preferred her own space and books over a lot of studying, which I think is totally fine in moderation and is something the show has tried to represent before in "A Friend Indeed"). Introverts are often made the bad guy in shows like this, or have to change fundamentally, and this was just another example of it in how Twilight's old self is treated. The sole saving grace for me was the other ponies reacting more appropriately to Twilight's apology, and the great character animation in Twilight's expressions that show how much her confidence has grown.

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1. 28 Pranks Later and Cart sucked. Then Times airs, and it's the best Spike episode of the show.

The bad thing about "The Times They are a Changeling" is the fact that it completely rewrote its own lore just to make this plot work. 

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1. Fluttershy Leans In put FS in a terrible light. Parental Glideance airs not long after.

"Parental Glideance" was an abysmal episode. Like "Amending Fences" it paints the main character as the bad guy and tries to make the audience feel sympathetic towards Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles. This is in spite of the fact that these two snuck onto a military base without permission, constantly disrupted the Wonderbolts while they were trying to perform, including shooting off fireworks where there was a serious threat of them getting seriously hurt, including their own daughter, and attendees going deaf due to being in close proximity to the fireworks going off, among other things. The episode makes them.come off as extremely childish and immature for their age and then wants to paint Rainbow dash as being in the wrong when she very rightfully tells them to knock it off. Yes, she could've done this in a more respectful manner, but I can't blame her for losing her temper at them. It doesn't help that the writers were given a golden opportunity to resolve this conflict at the end, which they didn't go for. So, yeah, i do not like Bow Hothoof or Windy Whistles at all. Not helping this episode is that it implies that Scootaloo has never had anyone to cheer her on and tell her that she's good at anything, which seems to be contradicted by "The Last Crusade." The only good thing that I can say about this episode was that it at least painted the Wonderbolts in a positive light for once. 

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1. Fame & Misfortune? The rest of S7 was much, much better, and FIM never had an episode this low again.

Really? Because most people I know loved that episode and consider it to be one of the season's best episodes. 

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1. Non-Compete Clause is one of the most despised Pony episodes of all time. 

Seriously? I didn't much care for it much myself, but I didn't hate it. 

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1. The rest of the Season 8A was very, very solid.

No, it really wasn't. 

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There's no way to cut it here. Your tone-deaf rant tells me you don't understand the episode at all

Okay, whatever you say. How can anyone not understand it? It's basically saying that everything that happened before hand was completely and utterly pointless and it's strongly implied Twilight will outlive her friends. 

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and it's incredibly offensive to read a massive diatribe that gaslights the fandom and stereotypes the bronies that love the show beyond the so-called "glory seasons." 

Funny how I didn't do that.

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Whether you want to watch the show again or not is up to you, but if you ever do come back, I really recommend you watch it with a clear, non-bitter mind and not stereotype bronies.

I have watched the show with a clear, open mind, several times in fact. And I didn't stereotype anybody.  

Edited October 27, 2019 by doomie-22