Rank the seasons.

[baba_booey 4,301]

This is probably subject to change but:

1. Season 5

2. Season 7

3. Season 9

4. Season 8

5. Season 4

6. Season 3

7. Season 1

8. Season 2

9. Season 6

[Astralshy 24,703]

I love all the seasons :>

From best to worst

1. Season 7
2. Season 5
3. Season 4
4. Season 2
5. Season 1
6. Season 3
7. Season 9
8. Season 6
9. Season 8

[Lone Traveler 88]

My basic opinion on the show is that I love the first 4 seasons, but once twilight got her castle the show really declined. Season 5 was good, but not as much as the first 4 seasons, and it got worse as it went on. Seasons 6-9 were all just okay. I probably only liked about 40% or so of the episodes, the show as a whole lost the charm, direction, and good writing the first 4 seasons had. The biggest issue was that the character arcs were basically all complete by season 5 and they couldn't find interesting things to do with the characters. The interactions between the main characters had become stale and was no longer as interesting or charming. The show tried to do new things with Starlight and the Friendship school, but I don't think it was handled well for a number of reasons. There were still enough good episodes in these seasons to make it worth the watch (as much as a slog as it was), and I do give the show credit for staying consistently okay in the seasons and never getting outright bad unlike other long running shows. However, I still wish it would have ended at season 5 or so that it could have been a great show all the way through. Overall, I would rank the seasons:

1: Season 4: Episodes were consistently great with very few duds, the season's arc was very well handled and made for great character growth, and the premiere and finale were amazing. The episodes constantly did creative and interesting things and they paid off nearly time. it had the charm and humor present in the previous 3 seasons, but with more consistently great quality, better animation, and a great tone. It also had the best variety of songs of any of the seasons. Outside of the premiere and finale, standout episodes include Pinkie Pride, Bats, Three's A Crowd, and Flight to the Finish. Amazing Season.

2: Season 3: I don't understand why people don't like this season. I always hear that it was " rushed"  but Magical Mystery Cure and Keep Calm and Flutter On are the only episodes here that actually feel rushed to me (though I love both those episodes despite their flaws), the rest of the season was filled with mostly great episodes that had the same great quality and style as the great episodes in Season 2. I prefer it over Season 2 because there was only 1 episode here I actively disliked (One Bad Apple) compared to Season 2 having about 6, and the episodes were more consistently great here. Sleepless in Ponyville and and Too Many Pinkie Pies are two of the all time best episodes, and episodes such as The Crystal Empire, Magic Duel, and Wonderbolts Academy are amazing too. Amazing Season.

3: Season 2: Was filled with many amazing episodes (Hurricane Fluttershy is my favorite of the entire show and Canterlot Wedding isn't far behind) and did a great job expanding on the characters and mostly improved the writing quality, animation, and humor from Season 1. However, it is held back from being as good as the following two seasons because while seasons 1, 3, and 4 had only a few bad episodes for me (3 in S1, 1 in S3, 3 in S4), this season had about 6 I disliked (including Dragon Quest, my least favorite of the first 5 seasons). Still, the numerous amazing episodes more than make up for that. Great Season

4: Season 1: Although it is more consistent in quality than Season 2, the best episodes here are nowhere near as good as the best of the following 3 seasons, so I'm still comfortable with ranking it below it. That being said, the episodes were consistently very good, especially in the 2nd half of the season. It also has a distinct charm that was slowly lost as the show went on (which was completely gone by Season 6) and did a great job introducing the world and characters. Great Season

5: Season 5: This is where the show started to go downhill. After Twilight's character arc was basically completed in Twlight's Kingdom, and the others did not have much room to grow after the key arc, the show lost its sense of purpose. There were still plenty of amazing episodes (Amending Fences, Slice of Life, Scare Master, Rarity Investigates, Make New Friends But Keep Discord) but also a good amount that were just okay. (Made in Manehatten, Castle Sweet Castle, Bloom and Gloom) There were no actual arcs here outside of the premiere and finale (I don't count the other map episodes since they are standalone). The episodes Do Princess Dream of Magic Sheep and The Cutie Re-Mark had amazing concepts but were very rushed and disappointing with serious story issues. Episode quality is still overall good, and the show still has some of its old charm, but the golden age of MLP was clearly ending at this point. I would consider this season the transition point between the great first 4 seasons and the mediocre to okay seasons 6-9. Good Season.

6: Season 7: It suffered from having a lot of just okay episodes that told decent stories but were lacking the humor and charm needed for me to really enjoy them, and there was no interesting arcs. That being said, there were only a few outright bad episodes, the episodes that were good were really good (Health of Information and Shadow Play especially) and there were some very creative and new concepts here. Okay Season

7: Season 9: Had a streak of really great episodes during the first 3rd of the season (Beginning of the End, Sparkle's Seven, Frenemies, Common Ground) but the rest of the season is just okay. The Young Six were given almost no development (even less than in Season 8), so the season spent a lot of time with bland stories with characters who had already completed their arcs years ago. The Ending of the End's Discord twist was beyond awful and character damaging for Discord. So much more could have been done with having all the creatures unite in the battle, and Grogar could have been a really cool villain if he was real. That being said, The Last Problem was a great although flawed finale. Okay Season

8: Season 8: Filled with many uninteresting episodes that lacked humor and charm, with a lot of character problems. Barely any episodes are given to developing the new characters, instead there are just uninteresting stories with the Mane Six and CMC, whom have no room to grow as characters. That being said, there are still plenty of good episodes here, especially the ones that actually develop the Young Six. The fact that this season tries more new things than Season 6 (despite not giving it anywhere near enough development as it needed) narrowly puts it above Season 6 for me. Best Gift Ever, Hearth's Warming Club, and Sounds of Slience are all amazing episodes. Mediocre Season

9: Season 6: Had the exact same issues as season 8 when it came to having uninteresting and unfunny stories with the main cast whom already had full development. Applejack's Day Off, Pony Point of View, and The Carts Before the Ponies are probably the 3 most boring episodes of the entire show and feel like episodes of a generic toddlers show. Starlight's development is not handled well at all since she has barely any positive interactions with any of the mane 6 outside of Twilight. The premiere is a boring rehash of The Crystal Empire that lacks everything that made it great. That being said, I still do not consider this season to be bad. There are some amazing episodes here such as Gauntlet of Fire, Stranger Than Fan-fiction, The Saddle Row Review, and To Where and Back Again, that still make it worth watching overall. Mediocre Season.

Edited October 19, 2021 by Lone Traveler
Typo

[phantompone1148 126]

1) Season 5
2) Season 4
3) Season 7
4)Season 9
5) Season 6
6) Season 3
7) Season 2
8) Season 8
9) Season 1

[Landi 598]

These rankings shift around a bit for me, but as of now, here is what they are:

1. Season 2 - This season is a true example of all the good aspects of the series. It took an already great first season, and expanded upon it, being even better. While there are a few bad episodes this season, there are so many great ones that really helped to give this series its identity. The characters were given great development, the stories were fun and impactful, and the episodes overall had this iconic charm to them. I think that this season really was MLP at it's best.
2. Season 1 - This series really started off with a bang with it first season. While the episodes were on the basic side, they still managed to do a great job at developing this new main cast along with building the world and entertaining its audience. Definitely a great start to this series.
3. Season 4 - While Twilight becoming an alicorn did negatively affect her character and her dynamic with the rest of the group for me, this season still managed to hold on to that fresh feel of the first few seasons. Plus, this season has some great episodes, with Twilight's Kingdom and Pinkie Pride being two examples.
4. Season 5 - This is when the show started to lose some of that original charm, but luckily it still brought lots of great stories and character development to the table. Plus, it's a fairly consistent season throughout.
5. Season 7 - This episode had some really amazing and memorable episodes in it that I still rewatch to this day. That being said, the second halve is considerably weaker than the first, and it doesn't quite have that original charm anymore. Still though, I'd still consider this a pretty solid season.
6. Season 3 - Like season seven, this season has a few really outstanding episodes that are amongst my favorites. That being said, this season's shortcoming are it's short length and inconsistency.
7. Season 6 - This season definitely has a bit of a drop in quality from those before it, but I don't hate it. Despite its numerous shortcomings, this season still has a few great episodes and moments that help make it average to slightly above average in my opinion.
8. Season 9 - This is the first season on this list I'd say I dislike. There are many bland, forgettable, and poorly written episodes that make up this season, with only a handful of good ones to compensate for that. Still, if there is a positive to this season, at least it was an improvement on season 8.
9. Season 8 - This is definitely the worst season for me. First off, this season heavily focusses around the extremely bizarre, downright terrible concept known as the school of Friendship. Then it adds a whole new set of main characters who are bland and just take away screen time from the more interesting characters. Then on top of that, the screen time the mane six did get often completely butchered their characters . Add that to the season's lineup of mostly bad to lackluster of episodes, and you have the worst season of MLP.

[Lone Traveler 88]

23 hours ago, Landi said:

Season 4 - While Twilight becoming an alicorn did negatively affect her character and her dynamic with the rest of the group for me, this season still managed to hold on to that fresh feel of the first few seasons. Plus, this season has some great episodes, with Twilight's Kingdom and Pinkie Pride being two examples.

Once Twilight got her castle and became the official Princess of Friendship in Season 5 I do feel that her arc was basically complete and her character became a lot more boring from Season 5 on. She was definitely more interesting as an awkward nerdy student exploring Ponyville than as a stagnant know it all princess, and it was a huge factor in the show's decline. However, I would argue that Twilight's character did not suffer until Season 5.

The Season 4 premiere and finale had her go through a great arc of finding her role as a princess that was compelling and felt very natural for her character. Since she still lived in the treehouse this season and her princesshood was rarely directly addressed outside of a few episodes, I think that her character still felt the same in Season 4 as in the first 3 seasons, if not as fresh as in the seasons before. In the first 4 seasons she was my favorite pony, in the following 5 she would probably be my 2nd least favorite. I completely understand why people prefer Seasons 1-3 over 4, and I do think that those seasons were more charming than 4, but for me 4 makes up for it with better writing and animation along with more consistent episode quality.

[Woohoo 33,408]

My ranking, even though I haven't watched the show in years...

1. Season 4
2. Season 7
3. Season 5
4. Season 2
5. Season 1
6. Season 3
7. Season 8
8. Season 6

I still refuse to watch the rest of Season 9. 

[bigbertha 411]

1. Season 2: I think I've already said enough about this season. It represents everything I want out of the show. Outside of how well written the mane six are, the season does a great job with its new characters (for the most part). It's able to build off of the already solid base of season 1 while adding so much new stuff to the table. Great stuff all around.

2. Season 1: I think this is actually more consistently good than season 2, but season 2 just has much higher highs and its lows still aren't that low. So season 1 is very focused on the relationships between the mane six. It's all about establishing these dynamics for the rest of the show to build off of. And it is fun to see these characters bounce off each other. They're all well defined and funny. It's a good start for later seasons to work off of. 

3. Season 6: This is certainly surprising. You'd think that someone so firm in thinking that the show got worse over time would put season 6 lower, but no. I actually kinda like this one. I guess the main problem with the season is Starlight, but she's not in it that much. She has the premiere and finale, No Second Prances, Every Little Thing She Does, and maybe A Hearth's Warming Tail, but that one's debatable. The rest of the season is spent doing the same old routine with the some old characters, but in a good way. There's just a lot of really fun stuff here. Even with the episodes I don't like, there are only 5 that I think are just too boring or genuinely frustrating. I find the rest of the weak stuff to be at least interestingly bad which is certainly better than what seasons 8 and 9 can say. Does this compare to seasons 1 and 2? No. But I do think it's easily the best season after that point.

4. Season 3: This one kinda skirts the line between early season and middle season. It's left in that middle ground where it has some elements of both. That puts the season in a very unique place. I think this season is pretty evenly split between good and bad. It has one of my favorite episodes of the show, but it also has Magical Mystery Cure. So yeah. Kinda mixed, but I feel more positive about it than negative.

5. Season 4: This season is decent. Aside from a couple exceptions, I don't think the good stuff here is that good, but it works. I'd say that about the season as a whole. It works though many problems are starting to show. There are a lot of episodes that are either frustrating or boring and the good stuff just isn't quite good enough to justify them. But the good stuff also takes up a large chunk of the season so I don't know. This is another mixed season, but I think it really is just Pinkie Pride and Testing Testing 1, 2, 3 that make me like it overall.

6. Season 5: This season is really bleh. There's a lot of really boring stuff with some annoying stuff mixed in there. The good episodes mostly aren't that good and the season is a slog overall. But I do appreciate that there is a level of effort still put into things. There are a lot of interesting ideas even if most of those don't work. Also Pinkie's characterization is mostly on point.

7. Season 7: While the second half of the season pretty solid, the first half destroys the season overall. It honestly feels like the show hit burnout by this point. Also there's the awful "legends of magic" stuff. I'd rather have a season that fails in interesting ways than a season that's just boring.

8. Season 9: Here's where we hit the big nosedive in quality. At least season 7 has a decent second half. Season 9 has three really good episodes that keep it above season 8 and give it some level of value. Aside from those three episodes, this season sucks. The arcs are handled horribly and were just bad ideas from the start and a lot of the characters go out on pretty weak notes. 

9. Season 8: Just the fact that the school is in this season and Yakity-Sax exists should be enough to make this the worst season. Add on an attempt to replace the mane six, character regression everywhere, a tone that just feels wrong for the show, and good episodes that are barely good, and you've got a season that I can easily just pretend never happened and lose nothing.

[Lone Traveler 88]

22 hours ago, bigbertha said:

Season 3 Season 5: This one kinda skirts the line between early season and middle later season. It's left in that middle ground where it has some elements of both. That puts the season in a very unique place. I think this season is pretty evenly split between good and meh/bad. It has one of my favorite episodes of the show, but it also has Magical Mystery Cure The Cutie Re-Mark. So yeah. Kinda mixed, but I feel more positive about it than negative.

Dang, with only slight altercations this perfectly describes my opinion on Season 5, lol

[Monsoon 1,650]

Best to worst

1.  Season 2

2. Season 4

3. Season 5

4. Season 6

5. Season 3

6. Season 1

7. Season 7

8. Season 9

9. Season 8

[Megalobronia 118]

1. Season 6
2. Season 5
3. Season 3
4. Season 2
5. Season 4
6. Season 9
7. Season 1
8. Season 7
9. Season 8

[Player the FNFL Boi 108]

Note that I like all the seasons, even the last 3 on this list, so here's my opinion.

 

1. Season 4

2. Season 3

3. Season 2

4. Season 5

5. Season 9

6. Season 6

7. Season 1

8. Season 7

9. Season 8

[The Second Opinion 269]

WORST to BEST 

I used to think this one out episode by episode ^//^ Strap in...

9. Season 8 - The back half of the show, with its revolving door of writers grasping at straws and trends, always had trouble finding a direction. But after the noble attempt to refocus the story and its lore from season 7, this season became the nail in the coffin, with a big "well, that was fun. Now how about a friendship... school!" And it was right back down the aimless rabbit hole of "More new characters! More one-off locations for world-building-or-something-I-guess! Talk about Gesture at modern societal issues, but more lukewarm than PBS 30 years ago!"

But if the individual episodes had all slayed it, I'd be here saying "It shouldn't have worked, but it did." Instead, they were a little worse than all of the above implies. The obnoxious your-oh-so-hip-uncle-is-trying-to-make-you-laugh comedy of Yakkity-Sax, The Maud Couple, and Horse Play, the lame fight-brainlessly-over-a-forced-conflict "stories" of Non-Compete Clause, Friendship University, and several more... We had to turn to the guy who invented the yaks for an episode that felt like meaningful growth between main characters (The Washouts), and he did it with every bit as much forced cheese in there.

That said, I consider What Lies Beneath and Sounds of Silence an S-tier pair that any season would've been proud to have as its crown jewels. With their help, "average" might be fair overall. But this is the only season that has me reluctant to give it even that.

8. Season 6 - Season 5 petered out with no "phase 2" plan for the new features it introduced and a redemption so lame, its only real defense was a "you guys r so mean/I want to LIKE the idea of a new woobie character who helps da good guys!" backlash to the backlash. Season 6's solution? "Ugh. Just stay the course or something, I guess, whatever."

Starlight learned a similar lesson about 3 times and then starred in the big finale, the new map, places, people, and prejudice-angle-or-something continued to go in and out with no real impact, and the mane 6 (singlehandedly responsible for the brony fandom) faded out so hard, it gave rise to the heartbreaking "I actually like the side characters better" trend. As such, the predominant note here was episodes that weren't bad but were pretty lukewarm. But it had its good ones, like Dungeons and Discords and Viva Las Pegasus, and even a few great ones, like Stranger Than Fan Fiction and that surprisingly tight finale.

7. Season 3 - This is actually one of the most pointed drop-offs I've ever seen, after how well season 2 had its finger on the pulse of its fun little character intricacies and where it wanted to take them. But it's a couple places up my list, for a handful of the best episodes in the show: Too Many Pinkie Pies (hilarious and brilliant), Sleepless in Ponyville (enthusiasm in the littlest details, let alone forging the show's best sister bond), Keep Calm and Flutter On (mostly successful birth of another all-time character dynamic), and Wonderbolts Academy (if not for Pinkie Pie and that face-plant ending...).

Otherwise, when it wasn't telling iffy-to-passionless formula stories (Apple Family Reunion and the Equestria Games 2-ish-parter), dressing up in empty, pandering fan-service (Magic Duel), or slipping into terribly told tales of godawful comedy and characterization (Spike at Your Service and One Bad Apple), season 3 spent just a couple episodes trying to chew on its mandate to close out Twilight but then actually not, with results that sometimes felt painfully insincere. They pulled off some style-over-substance achievement (especially the slightly underrated Crystal Empire), but even if Magical Mystery Cure is the equivalent of a nice, cheap all-you-can-eat cake binge, it honestly makes me unhappy. It feels like being lied to, by someone who thinks you're an insecure dipstick.

6. Season 7 - Healthy step up in quality, here. Season 7 was a noble attempt to dig into the locations we'd seen in the past, the character dynamics, and even the implied "larger forces" that had been sitting on the table for a bit, and focus them into a plot, with points of progress and growth and climactic conflicts to get excited about. The results could be a bit "in theory." Particular touches like drowning Celestia in "just like you"-isms for "character development," or meta commentary in Fame and Misfortune that didn't care about making sense in context, or a few forced morals really did get the more cynical reviewers to declare the new writing team shallow "art school brats." But that finale really drove home how much weight they added back to everything happening, and just how strong and exciting a story they could now use it for. And episodes like Discordant Harmony, To Change a Changeling, and yes, The Perfect Pear delivered the goods as well. (Also, I LOVE Secrets and Pies. Don't @ me, false-moralizer types )
 

5. Season 5 - It was coming off the most hype-creating finale to date. It had all the current star players, from MA Larson to Meghan Mccarthy. It started with a bold, daring episode addressing serious issues, a la "baby's first Vonnegut." Alright, no, Cutie Map is a capitalist propaganda message, which is one of the safest and least original ways to play "bold and daring" and not even the first cartoon to try it, after episodes like See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey took any controversial hype to be had there. But it made for a high-stakes chess game. And it introduced a mysterious new conflict generator, in the map itself. So...?

In hindsight, this was the beginning of the show losing its feel for what its direction was, now that "proving we, the new team, DO know how to level up Twilight to princess, proper!" had been achieved. The map and tree quickly lost all mystery and downgraded themselves from "conflict generator" to "conflict of the week generator." Starlight's character, for how the show seemed to be looking for a new star player, felt skimmed over and then laughably, forcibly asinine, compared to how nuanced and personal the intro episodes past connected us to our new main characters. (Did the writers buy that amateur fan critique, that achieving her greatest success meant Twilight was "done" as a character?) Most telling, imo, was its switch from REAL friendship as its bread and butter (it won't always be great, but it'll always be worth it, you won't always conquer the world but support each other anyway, you can't do it all, but just do what you can and they'll understand...), to heart of the cards melodrama and martyr-ly self-sacrifice, when it wanted you to know how important something was - like the crusaders winning the best destiny ever from their soap opera about comically evil parents. And that's before the handful of new writers forced this one to carry sandbags like Party Pooped and What About Discord, capsizing it down into the mid-tier.

And yet, it was only able to peter out so often, because it had so much muscle power in the first place. From the epic yet emotional scope of Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep to the humble and personal bonding-of-errors in Brotherhooves Social, from the hilarious and energetic Make New Friends But Keep Discord to the bleedingly sincere Mane Attraction, from the old school redemption in Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, to the little bit of everything in a loving package in Tanks for the Memories, this team had stories to flex. It really showed that they were largely more experienced and accomplished than anyone who swapped in after.
 

4. Season 9 - TBH, this one deserves a lot of its "the fun was finally wearing off" pushback. It tried harder than season 8, pushing to give us a worthy sendoff, but most of it only got back up to season 6's middle-of-the-road acceptability, with a few highlights. Still, I can't comprehend people complaining about there not seeming to be a final vision that came together, when it seemed bleedingly obvious several seasons back that that was the case. If anything, blame season 8, for squandering its one chance to get that train back on the tracks, if not every season that fell back on flanderizing Twilight's neuroticism, until of course this one had to use that for the final arc; it was the only thing they had.

Anyway, this one hopped a few places, thanks to a final vein of pure gold, starting with The Big Mac Question and its ode to deep bonds that can roll with and right past the punches. Ending of the End, while not the best 2-parter, is so sprawlingly epic, that its infamous twist is more of a sour note than a story-killer. And The Last Problem is the kind of delicate, deeply sincere little ode to going somewhere on a personal level, warts and all, no 10 minute ballads to yourself required, that wipes away the falseness of any Mystery Curing or the like. By the end, I felt like I got my completed, worthwhile character journey after all. But I recognize its a tough sell, even just on its face, to say it saved all three of its best for last.

3. Season 4 - There's a reason this one is a popular hindsight pick for #1. I don't go that far, because the first 11 episodes or so were a slow start. Castle-mania proudly did nothing, Rarity Takes A Soap Opera only gave me more Magical Mystery Pains, and multiple Bats! or Threes a Crowd type stories had their share of forced and lazy. But even from that opening 2-parter, you could tell this one wanted to prove what it was made of, after season 3, and give us the loaded, lovable stories it was capable of, about this protege and her friends growing into their role of Equestria's protectors.

Once it hit its stride, I was sold. The heart-singing triumph and tribulations of Filli Vanilli, the hilarious dry humor of the character-blueprinting Maud Pie, the equal parts funny and heart-tugging Testing, Testing 1,2,3, the insightful, utterly clutch hysterics of the underrated Simple Ways, the great use of Weird Al in Pinkie Pride, and of course, a finale that was so slam-bang, so overwhelmingly climactic, that people forget and underrate the nigh-flawless tightening-coil story it told to get there, full of suspense and impossible decisions for everyone to show what they're made of. That's what we call a good season.

2. Season 1 - Is it possible that the one season the accomplished Lauren Faust and her chosen team made exactly the way they wanted, start to finish, with an entire show-bible drawn up in advance, which single-handedly created the brony fandom from nothing (before it was handed off to increasingly journeyman/inexperienced, writers who increasingly grabbed from the memes and politics of the moment), is just a tad underrated by the fans? Like how Superman 2, Rambo 2, The King Kong remake, The Amazing Spiderman, and endless others drowned out the originals for a while, a la the Simpsons’ line "I like this movie MUCH better than the one by that little girl, because I saw this one today?" I say, all you have to do to confirm it is add up how many major fan favorites, in their own words, came from this season: Best Night Ever, Party of One, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, Sonic Rainboom, Suited For Success, Fall Weather Friends, Winter Wrap Up, and Applebuck Season, at very least. In some corners, episodes like Dragonshy, Nightmare Moon's big pilot debut are in there too - though I would consider hilarious, full-power character showcases like Over a Barrell and Feeling Pinkie Keen at least as worthy. "But just those!" you say? Count them up, don't selectively remember. That's many if not most of the other seasons scored in the fan hall of fame.

But no, not just those. Season 1 set out to find that extra, personal bit of nuance in the archetypes in which we see ourselves, and it almost always did: How there’s an insecurity to over-competitiveness that’s more defensive than it means any harm, the people-pleasing anxiety in shy types that makes it hard for them to contradict people, even when they should, the “in-the-zone” factor in artistic creativity that can turn on and complicate something like a cleanup job… Don’t forget my favorite either, turning the nerdy shut-in from an archetype into the main character, with a full-course look at the snark, thoughtful leadership, clever wit, and delicate, sentimental sweetness  in such an imagination, under the plain Jane surface - plus, how it wasn’t some Scrooge-like intellectual snobbery or “geekiness” that kept her to herself but the pride she took in her work that suited her so much, while, nothing against other people, she just never thought she’d find a comfort zone anywhere else. That, inside an onslaught of creative, outside-the-box enthusiasm for the gags, conflicts, visuals, and casual world-building, were what was special about Friendship is Magic, not Dragonball Z and Lord of the Rings references or quote/unquote “more adult” stories.
 

1. Season 2 - Heck, everything I said about season 1 still applied, but this time, the team came in at full stride and by just a nose, beat their previous lineup on my card. Of the first 7 alone, only Cutie Pox wasn’t a downright knockout. Only A Friend in Deed was a full-on thumbs down, for me. Most of what criticisms I do hear are less “that was bad writing because [rules of storytelling]” and more “I wanted something more hugbox-y!” Some stories were indeed a little on guard to getting too sentimental, but still, MLP keeping it too real for the adult fans is one of the greatest things I’ve ever heard. But nothing was more real than having Twilight, in the finale, face the type of complex, no-right-answers dilemma that we adults dread every day, and fail, because she didn’t play her cards strategically - then succeed, because she still chose to put her loved ones’ well-being above her comfort zone. You can keep Magical Mystery Cure or Ending of the End; to me, that will always be where Twilight grew up.

Edited July 17, 2023 by The Second Opinion

[fluttershy_sparkle1 3]

1. Season 2: I just love a lot of the episodes, they all are very fun and not too awful. Also the premiere and finale were so good OMG!!!

Fav episode: A Canterlot Wedding 

2. Season 4: I loved the episodes so much and the premiere and finale were good as well. I think this season did amazing at making not boring or dumb episodes.

Fav episode: Trade Ya

3. Season 1: This season is so good for being the opening season. Most of the episodes are really fun like season 2, but some episodes were kinda mid which puts it a little under 2 & 4.

Fav episode: Dragonshy / The Cutie Mark Chronicles

4. Season 5: I love love love starlight!! I like the cutie map a lot too! I feel like some of the episodes weren’t that good or weren’t good at all + the finale wasn’t as good as others. But honestly I like it a lot so it’s gotta be up here!

Fav episode: The Mane Attraction

5. Season 6: I know a lot of people hate this season and I get it. Some episodes are really awful but I have to put it here because there’s some episodes that are about starlight which i really love!!

Fav episode: To Where And Back Again

6. Season 3: I love this season even though it’s low. I love some episodes but some are pretty bad and this season is shorter than any of the seasons so this is the highest i can put it.

Fav episode: Magical Mystery Cure

7. Season 7: Some episodes i really dislike + i hate the premiere (Celestial Advice 😭). I feel like the highs aren’t really good like the others so it has to be here. 

Fav episode: The Perfect Pear

8. Season 9: I barely like any episodes to be honest. Most of them are just boring attempts at ending the series but I do love the evil 3 and the premiere and finale.

Fav episode: The Last Problem

9. Season 8: I just hate the friendship school. The young six should’ve had more episodes by themself instead of always being together. Some episodes were ok!

Fav episode: The Mean Six

[Rafa Stary 2,099]

After looking back again at the series, I think it goes by this now:

1. Season 2
2. Season 1
3. Season 4
4. Season 3
5. Season 5
6. Season 8
7. Seasons 6/7/9

Yeah, now I think Season 8 is the best one of the later half of the show, I have a problem with Seasons 6, 7 and 9 lacking in originality and relying way too much on fanservice, nostalgia and the rehash of old material. Season 8 despite how flawed it was, I still really appreciate how they tried to do something new with the Student Six and the School of Friendship, and I also think it was much better seeing Cozy Glow than Chrysalis returning, she also entertained me much more than Stygian, so for me she was easily the best antagonist we got after Glimmer 

[Player the FNFL Boi 108]

So, i just finished rewatching MLP again so here is my new season ranking

 

1. Season 9

2. Season 7

3. Season 8

4. Season 5

5. Season 4

6. Season 3

7. Season 2

8. Season 6

9. Season 1

[Iforgotmybrain 4,335]

1. Season 5. The peak of the show imo. Some of the best episodes of the whole series are here. Starlight and the Cutie Map are great. The best Luna episode is here. The best Rarity episode. And even the best CMC episode. Fantastic season.
2. Season 2. This and season 5 are very close. Again, some of the best FiM episodes of all time are in this season. Great two part episodes, The Canterlot Wedding especially so. I also feel like this season is what really propelled the Brony fandom into popularity.
3. Season 1. The simplest of all the seasons for sure, but I really don't think that's a bad thing. There's something really charming about the simpler episodes here and in season 2.
4. Season 3. This is a tough one to place for me. It's very short, obviously. But all the episodes are really dang good save for Spike At Your Service. I could easily see myself swapping seasons 3 and 4 on this list depending on my mood, so they're very close.
5. Season 4. This is a very middle of the road/consistent season to me. Almost all of the episodes are good, a few are even great, but I don't think it hits the same high notes that the other seasons ranked above it did.
6. Season 7. Kinda similar to season 4. A lot of just average or unremarkable episodes mixed in with some great ones like Perfect Pear and A Royal Problem.
7. Season 9. A decent send off season for the series. It does have some really not great episodes like 2, 4, 6, Great and Trivial Pursuit and overall you can just tell the writers were kinda running out of new ideas. At least it was better than season 8.
8. Season 8. Father Knows Beast, Yakity-Sax, Non-Compete Clause and A Matter of Principles, some of the worst episodes of the whole series all in one season, eek. This season also had the worst cases of character regression, imo. With the mane 6 acting more like their seasons 1 and 2 counterparts which just doesn't make sense for this late into the show. Even this season has good episodes, of course. Sounds of Silence being the obvious example.
9. Season 6. I think you could argue season 8 is a worse overall season. But season 6 ranks last for me simply because it represents when the show started noticeably going downhill, as I've stated before. Newbie Dash, 28 Pranks Later, Flutter Brutter, The Cart Before The Ponies, again, all some of the worst episodes the series has to offer. Yes, there are still good episodes. I quite like No Second Prances, and A Hearth's Warming Tale is the best Christmas episode imo. But I really don't think there's an episode that's on par with Sounds of Silence from season 8.

[cheesy boy 20]

not the most original ranking out there:

1.   season 1

2.   season 2

3.   season 3

4.   season 4

5.   season 5

6.   season 6

7.   season 7

8.   season 8

9.   season 9