Ranking the 26th episodes

[KH7672 1,604]

And finally episode 26 the ending of the series that either goes out with a bang or a whimper depending on how invested it keeps you for the rest of the series. Rogers joins for this batch of writers but it's interesting to note that the last episodes are mostly dominated by one man to both the dismay and delight of many 

I want to thank all those who stayed with me and kept up with the threads even after this last push to get them done. It has been a delight to read your opinions on individual episodes and how they rank against those of just the same number.  Hope you enjoyed it as well and again if ypu missed any just search the "ranking" tag to find them all quick any easy.
Anyway without further ado, my final ranking:

1. To Where and Back Again Part 2- My favorite finale continues to stay my favorite for both parts. This even more for the interactions and banter between Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and Discord. The adventure they go on through the Changeling hive is such fun, and every character gets to contribute to the rescue meaningfully. Then there's the confrontation with Chrysalis and she is much more delightfully evil this time around, however it still provides good parallels for Starlight's to talk with the villain about her own struggle with leadership and the internal conflict she overcomes. Even the new designs of the changelings I quickly grew to accept. It's a wonderful side finale not hindered by the lack of the Mane 6 but enhanced by those who they helped.

2. The Last Problem-  The series finale is one I consider fantastic just for the use of the time skip and flashback sequences I enjoyed. Each one of the Mane 6 got to come together for Twilight's struggle not just in the past but in the present with Luster Dawn. The emotions are wonderful especially with that ending song and it feels like a genuinely nice send off to the characters and their stories.

3. The Cutie Re-mark Part 2- Hey now my bias is showing. I guess this still stays high just for the enjoyable futures that we get to experience and the different confrontations Twilight takes with Starlight, but it's when we get down to the main reveal of the finale, Starlight's backstory, and the rest of the episode being a culmination of not just the Ripple Effect in play, but of the lessons Twilight learned in the season, specifically those cutie mark and friendship centric. I honestly was neutral to the whole resolution when it first aired but as things played out and the show continued, it still holds up as something to come back to that just needed more time to expand upon than one finale but that still doesn't mean it isn't still enjoyable to me.

4. The Best Night Ever- The other slice-of-life finale and it does a fine job of showing off the characters in the new situation that was built up throughout the season. Getting to see each have high expectations in their song and see each one dashed, is not only very realistic and relatable, but also how they overcome it shows just how strong their friendship is and continues the solid precedent by the premeire and for the rest of the series.

5. Shadow Play Part 2- The second part really involves the pillars and while there may be mostly standing around talking, it's used more effectively to advance the characters and get them involved in the story from Twilight's strive to please Starswirl, to the girls standing up for Twilight's resolve, to the other Pillars bonding with each of the Mane 6, to of course Starlight's role that she built up during the season in understanding both sides of the situation. The Pony of Shadows is really the only disappointment as he doesn't do much to be a threat. But that does work to Stygian's benefit of gainng empathy by the characters. It's also a resolution that didn't just say one side was right but that both sides were necessary for the best outcome with Twilight able to banish the darkness and Starlight able to save Stygian from banishment. Each character had a part to play in the end inspite of the unintended low stakes.

6. A Canterlot Wedding Part 2- The stakes raise immediately from the get go with this second part and this is when the finale gets good. From Twilight' interactions with Cadence to the changeling invasion making good on showing off the power of the army. To of course the song and it's reprise. Only wishng Chrysalis could've had a stronger on screen presence, but the Mane 6 get plenty of time to shine together more and it's a much more delightful experience.

7. School Raze Part 2- This takes a low downfall to being still enjoyable but not that fulfilling to two of those three groups that were built up in the first part only having one of them actually be relevant to the whole story. The CMC are quickly shoved off as a throw away distraction joke, and the Mane 6's struggle in Tartarus ultimately leads nowhere feeling pointless as an inclusion. Yes the Season 6 finale sidelined the Mane 6 too but it never kept cutting back to them like they were important. It knew where the story focus was and to expand on those characters and for the most part I enjoyed the Student 6's involvement with both Neighsay and Cozy Glow, I just wish it could've been more of the focus. But I can't say the Mane 6's interaction with Tirek wasn't at least interesting.

8. Twilight's Kingdom Part 2- And now for part two with get a slightly personal edge over Part 1 just for providing at least much more introspective on Twilight and even Discord's struggle but that's it. Nothing else about this finale interests me at all. Especially the scene EVERYONE talks about being the Twilight vs. Tirek showdown in that it's all flashy and "exciting" but leaves virtually no impact on the story. The rest of the Mane 6 do nothing on screen, the princesses make a decision that does nothing but elevate Twilight to plot importance that for this being her Rainbow Key episode I wish she could've actually contributed to the rising action more like the others did for theirs instead of being strung along by it. It's the finale that prioritizes story and substance over most characters and completely loses me from the get go.

Edited November 25, 2019 by KH7672

[Megas 27,743]

Opinions aren't too different from the last thread, though generally speaking I find the second parts to be a whole lot weaker

1) Best Night Ever - The only finale that isn't too busy having its head lodged up its own ass. No end of the world apocalyptic threat or anything, trying to be bigger than it needs to be. It's just the girls trying to have a fun night at a fancy party. I really wished we had more finales like this. Also it had one of the best songs in the show

2-3) Canterlot Wedding and Twilight's Kingdom - pretty much the show going "look how actiony we can be!" with little to no substance

4) Shadow Play - Not a fan of what they did to Starswirl and the PoS is a PoS. However this gets an bump from the others for handling Starlight better than the rest, she gets a good bulk of focus, but not enough to overshadow the rest of the cast, nor is it done to make her look better. Hell if I'm being honest, TWABA might have been better if this was made first

5) Magical Mystery Cure - It's a mess but it was one made with a lot of well known issues during development that M.A. Larson has been really open about. At the very least it tries to be fulfilling

6-9) The rest - I just hate the goddamned rest, I don't think I need to elaborate on TWABA or School Raze, but Cutie Remark's explanation for Starlight's actions were so awful that it made me ambivalent towards Starlight throughout most S6. I haven't seen the Last Problem(and no, I don't ever plan on watching it) so my opinion on the episode doesn't hold much weight, but I've already been spoiled on what happens and I really hate it. I don't like how it separates the mane 6, I don't like the explanations of what happened in the past and what will happen in the future. Future Twilight and Spike look fucking awful. I hate how they confirmed that Twilight will outlive her friends despite McCarthy saying she won't. And the whole thing just feels really depressing. Not bittersweet or anything, I don't feel sad that this is the end of a journey. I'm sad that this where they're gonna end up at and I really hate it

Edited March 23, 2021 by Megas

[Sparklefan1234 172,088]

I voted for "A Canterlot Wedding Part 2".

Honorable mention goes to "Best Night Ever". 

[ChB 18,557]

Canterlot Wedding, no question. Incredible storyline, awesome character arc for Twilight, and a musical that will never lose its charm.

[Rushing cash 836]

Again, I love all these episodes, but the last problem is number 1 on the list here with a canterlot wedding a really close second(on a given day I may switch them).

[Here No Longer 5,276]

I don't know if I missed the other thread, or I just don't remember it, but here's my list I guess (ranking every two-parter as a whole episode rather than by their parts, also have still not seen The Last Problem and am considering not watching it after the disaster waiting to happen that is Pony Life got announced ):

 

1. Twilight's Kingdom (So people are actually hating on this episode now? What? )

2. To Where and Back Again (I really do find this episode to be one of the episodes in this series that gets so much hate for reasons that almost want to make me like the episode more than I already did to begin with because they're pretty much always either immaturity on the part of the hater or just a bunch of confabulation.)

3. A Canterlot Wedding (If it weren't so badly ruined by portions of part 1, this would easily be number 2 over TWaBA)

4. The Cutie Re-Mark (The hate this episode gets is remarkable to me, because I really don't see what makes it so bad.)

5. Shadow Play (The fact Shadow Play is this low is really an indication of how generally good the finales are. Even if the episode does have its problems.)

6. The Best Night Ever (I don't know why so many people seem to think this is a good finale, when it just meanders and really doesn't go anywhere.)

7. School Raze (Oh I wish I had the time to really rip into this one for just how bad it is, but I'll just say these two things: The unnecessary Tartarus section apparently needed to exist to do nothing to progress the plot for some reason and Cozy Glow apparently needed to exist to be just the show's WORST villain BY FAR.)

 

 

[Oleks 1,993]

1-2. Twilight's Kingdom Part 2 – yes, I’m voting for this one because of the fantastic battle that only was topped by the series finale (was it though?).
1-2. The Last Problem – *sigh*. It wasn’t perfect, but it couldn’t be perfect anyway. To me it feels like most things in this episode are as they should be, even though it featured some elements I really, really didn’t want to see in the epilogue.
3. The Best Night Ever – a wholesome episode that proves you don’t need epic battles for a season’s finale to be good.
4-6. A Canterlot Wedding Part 2 – the time when love instead of friendship defeated the evil. A great episode, all in all.
4-6. The Cutie Re-Mark Part 2 – a very good episode with one serious flaw: the reformation seemed too quick. However, for me it didn’t really ruin the episode, and I really liked of the other things in it.
4-6. To Where and Back Again Part 2 – maybe not as epic as some of the previous finales, but still a very good one, IMO. I liked how the heroes worked together and had to think of the ways to tackle new challenges without magic.
7. School Raze Part 2 – same as the first part – too many plot holes.
8. Shadow Play Part 2 – same as the first part – too many characters, too little time. Also, the villain was meh, probably the most forgettable and vague in the history of the series. The whole Pillars and PoS arc felt incomplete, even though it was concluded. I guess the comics help with this issue, but the poll is about episodes, so…

[Will Guide 21,362]

7 hours ago, KH7672 said:

To Where and Back Again Part 2- My favorite finale continues to stay my favorite for both parts. This even more for the interactions and banter between Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and Discord. The adventure they go on through the Changeling hive is such fun, and every character gets to contribute to the rescue meaningfully. Then there's the confrontation with Chrysalis and she is much more delightfully evil this time around, however it still provides good parallels for Starlight's to talk with the villain about her own struggle with leadership and the internal conflict she overcomes. Even the new designs of the changelings I quickly grew to accept. It's a wonderful side finale not hindered by the lack of the Mane 6 but enhanced by those who they helped.

I agree with all of that. 

As for my own thoughts, this rescue mission made me come with my own story arc of rediscovering my Changeling Soulmate, C. Will Guide. And it's all thanks to Thorax for making Changelings my favorite non-pony race. And that is why this Season Finale is my personal favorite. As awesome as the final 2 part was in the calvery

[Thrond 3,263]

1. The Best Night Ever - The perfect season finale. A top-tier normal episode of the show, with a nonstop barrage of great jokes and a general abundance of charm, only with a specific focus on each of the ponies' everyday ambitions. It perfectly summarizes each of them as individuals, and then at the end, it provides a small note of finality for the season by showing us how close they had become over the course of the last 26 episodes. This episode epitomizes what makes this show great to me, and might be its very best episode. 
2. Twilight's Kingdom, Part 2 - This episode is just plain cool. The show wouldn't do anything nearly this exciting and intense until the season 9 finale. And unlike the season 9 finale, this has an emotional core I actually care about. These episodes use the abruptness of Twilight's coronation to their advantage, and make for a genuinely moving story about how she discovered that becoming a princess doesn't mean she has to give up her old life. I wish later episodes stuck with that...
3. To Where and Back Again, Part 2 - More or less resembles most other finales, except that it places way less emphasis on plot and way more emphasis on character. Watching these characters' banter is absolutely delightful, and yet unlike many of these episodes, there's a genuine sense of risk to it. Trixie and Discord sacrificing themselves so Starlight and Thorax can progress is something that just doesn't happen in the season 5, 7, and 8 finales. 
4. A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2 - This episode is just cool. It's got the great song at the start, and then there's one of the show's cooler fights. This one stands out above later finales because I find it a lot more lighthearted than the later ones; there's something just so serious about most season finales after this that I find way less charming. 
5. The Last Problem - I really do appreciate this. I like the moral about how friends can stay together even as their lives inevitably change, I like how seriously it takes Twilight's feelings, and I really like the flashback structure. Plus it's filled with cute and funny moments, and the disaster of Twilight's coronation seems only fitting. But I dunno, I never really felt like becoming a princess was a natural change for Twilight, and so it feels weird to see her leave her life in Ponyville behind for the sake of a career change that she never really asked for and that didn't seem particularly urgent. It feels forced, and it's always felt forced... but I liked this episode in spite of that. 
6. School Raze, Part 2 - No difference. Seeing the Tree of Harmony save the day after the students befriended it is nice, though. 
7. The Cutie Re-Mark, Part 2 - Mostly no change, but I do find the ending where Twilight takes pity on Starlight quite moving. 
8. Shadow Play, Part 2 - This part is just kinda dull; so much of it is exposition about one of the show's dullest bits of mythology, and the general conflict between Starlight and Starswirl is just so predictable. Was there ever really a chance that Starlight's argument wouldn't prevail? And is there any reason why Twilight & co. couldn't have considered her argument a little more? It still feels like an unnatural attempt to make Starlight look better in a season where she repeatedly made herself unlikable. Also it's boring. 

[Js250476 1,367]

Sorry I’m late but I wanted to thank everyone at MLP forums for doing these threads it’s been a wonderful journey for all of us I’m sure. And I can’t thank you all enough for having have be part of this community. Anyway in terms of favorite episodes Twilight’s Kingdom, Shadow Play, To Where and Back again, Canterlot Wedding are all masterpieces in there own ways imo. Last Problem probably is my favorite for making me cry and have a emotional headache the whole first time I watched it (I’m so glad I didn’t watch it early like I did Ending of the End.) 

[Jane 123]

The Best Night Ever, the episode focuses on the six, I think it's the only ending that does it, they don't put Twilight as the center of the episode or the savior of the day as they did in Twilight's Kingdom where the others don't do anything relevant and in fact they are ignored just like background characters, in A Canterlot Widdeng they all seem like gulliblewithout the ability to think except Twilight, the same goes for Magical Mystery Cure, where all are affected less Twilight. The Cutie Re-Mark is perhaps my second favorite ending since finally someone makes Twilight stop believing super powerful, and introduces my favorite pony, To Where and Back Again perhaps it would have been better if they had built an arch instead of taking out characters from nothing (Thorax). Shadow Play has many characters, and I think it would have been solved if from the beginning of the series the main characters had been 5 or 4 instead of 6, in addition to Sunburts, Spike and Starlight that they were fine, although it bothered me how Twilight idolized So much to Starswirl. School Raze is fine, my only question is how Cozy managed to send letters to the Tartar and how he managed to lock Starlight, also send a child to hell? The Last Problem is disappointing, Twilight is a terrible recolor of Celestia, they practically don't tell us anything about what happened to their lives, friendship now seemed to be a psychological dictatorship and I would have sincerely preferred that Celestia had ruled for another thousand years.

[Cash In 22,458]

I liked all of these. Even the one at the bottom had things that I did enjoy.

1. To Where and Back Again Part 2 (S6) - Part 1 was a little weak, but part 2 pays off big time. I don't mind it drifting away from the status quo, because it works well here.
2. The Best Night Ever (S1) - This was such a charming episode. Didn't need a super epic battle or anything to end the season well. This knows what it is and it excels at that.
3. Twilight's Kingdom Part 2 (S2) - It's Twilight's Kingdom.
4. A Canterlot Wedding Part 2 (S2) - It's A Canterlot Wedding.
5. Shadow Play Part 2 (S7) - Part 2 was far stronger than part 1. A few issues here and there, but I thought this episode was great.
6. School Raze Part 2 (S8) - Part 2 was far stronger than part 1. I know this one is generally disliked, but I actually enjoyed this a lot.
7. The Last Problem (S9) - I'm conflicted about this one. There are things I like and things I don't. Whatever said, the song was great and I shed a tear.
8. The Cutie Re-Mark Part 2 (S5) - The idea here had a ton of potential. Potential is the key word here.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Cash_In

[Astralshy 27,117]

All episodes are really good hard to sort them :> The ending of season 4 still feels as most impressive though

1. Twilight's Kingdom Part 2
2. A Canterlot Wedding Part 2
3. The Last Problem
4. To Where and Back Again Part 2
5. The Cutie Re-Mark Part 2
6. The Best Night Ever 
7. Shadow Play Part 2
8. School Raze Part 2