What if the Friendship school, and Pillars never happened?

[Props Valroa 25,970]

Since I have always had an extreme dislike for the Friendship school and the Pillars, what if that just never happened? No Cozy Glow, no Friendship school, no pillars? What if the characters just continued on the path they were previously, with the school and pillars never existing in the show

[Cagey 4,205]

The writers were running out of ideas, so the show would have probably either come up with some other gimmick to work off, or it would have probably done a lot more episodes like “Non-Compete Clause.” 

[Misty Shadow 7,064]

I don't have an extreme dislike for either, but I definitely understand people's frustration with the School of Friendship more than the Pillars. The Pillars provide some cool lore, while the school setting's just not all that interesting. Regardless, with or without either, they still had plenty of time to build up the villains more with less filler episodes, so it's clear the plot that many fans were hoping for was just never in their best interest. 

[Props Valroa 25,970]

@Cagey @CloudMistDragon

The pillars are supposedly supposed to be ancient legends when during their battle with Tirek they performed extremely poorly. Starswirl behaves like some old guy instead of the legendary, powerful, and wise wizard we were lead to believe he was. I feel like the lore of the pillars was done so poorly. 

[Evil Pink One 12,949]

If the pillar and the school is gone then some of our friends here wont exist... So i dont want those gone even if i don't like it that much.... But i do like pony of shadows...not stigien... Just the shadow

[Megas 27,050]

They introduced the Pillars and then proceeded to throw them away with a new set of 6 characters that they also decided to half-ass. Honestly when I first heard of the School, I just thought it was going to be run by the Pillars for them to spread their teachings, experiences, and wisdom, something to give them a place in the modern Equestria. And really that sounds a ton better than the direction they went with, just really a huge waste of potential(though that can describe much of the show :?)

[Evil Pink One 12,949]

...hasbro got alot of money from mlp... So its true potential (making money) is huge... And a big success.... So what do you mean waste of potential? @Megas 

[Megas 27,050]

Oh, and since I seem to mistake the title for another topic, the problem was just more than adding a lot of dumb things that brought down the value of the show, it was a really poor direction in general. The show was just being flooded with some really bad episodes both with and without these additions and unless they were gonna have people that cared to follow what was established nothing was going to improve.

Let's say you got rid of the school and the pillars entirely: You'd get rid of shitty episodes like Daring Done, Matter of Principals, Non-Compete Clause and 246 Great, but you would still have equally terrible episodes like Yakity Sax, Dragon Dropped, Daring Doubt and Father Knows Beast. You would still have the garbage Grogar Twist.

It wasn't the ideas themselves(and yeah, I'm aware of all the shit I've talked about with the School and the Student Six), but the issue lies in the fact that with the direction the show was going, the staff just didn't give a shit anymore, they'd make up something new and proceed to throw it away when they didn't feel the need to keep it around anymore. And if they did bring keep stuff around they did it in a way where no thought was put into the characters or story they wanted to tell, it was just to fill a quota. Problem was that the show needed people to actually follow through to the what new ideas they wanted to do without doing so in a way that was too drastic that would have just driven more people away. They needed to actually put effort into making a lot of these ideas work and when you see some of the things they made it was really obvious that some people just didn't give a shit.

Part of the reason why I love the first half of S7 so much was because if felt much different about what came before and after it. Like it actually felt like something you'd see from a show that grew up with its audience. I look at a good chunk of the episodes in it(and a couple sprinkled in the second half like Once Upon a Zeppelin and Marks and Rec) and I see a lot of ideas I've wanted to see for a while, a lot of episodes about growing up, dealing with family and their place in the world, a lot of stronger topics without feeling preachy, hamfisted or just terribly executed like in S8 or S9. This was a direction I would have loved to have seen the show take later instead of being so far up its own ass, being a big and epic adventure without any thought on how to get there

On 2021-02-27 at 4:02 PM, Kujamih said:

...hasbro got alot of money from mlp... So its true potential (making money) is huge... And a big success.... So what do you mean waste of potential? @Megas 

I mean from a story telling perspective. And besides, most of the money the show made came before all of these were even established. In fact a lot of what they established here either never even got toys or performed so poorly that it's what made Hasbro decide to cut the cord. The Pillars? The Student Six? Probably one playset that went straight to clearance. Hell Ocellus never even got a toy. Guardians of Harmony? Hasbro pushed for that pretty hard as it was to go with S6, but it landed in clearance aisles in no time. The movie? It made money sure, but the leaks showed they wanted and expected a lot more out of it in terms of box office performance(not sure by how much, but I'm willing to bet on something along the lines of the Bayformers)

[Props Valroa 25,970]

@Megas

I would have the Grogar being Discord Twist removed entirely. That was the most horrible, and shitty Twist I have ever seen. I'd make the real Grogar be there, and with Sombra never leaving his side.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,293]

We would have been guaranteed more Map Mission episodes with the CMCs, Starlight, Trixie, Cadence, family and other characters.  Map episodes where the CMCs and Mane 6 team up with few characters.  Very interesting Cutie Marks thrown in to interest us.  Worldbuilding and lore to new heights.  Use that also to build up very efficient villain team-ups and foreshadow the real Grogar.  That'll do for a true heroes and villains final battle without having to rush things.  Or it could be worse with time travel, terminators and spaceships that fire cool lasers  

[Sparklefan1234 161,616]

"What if the Friendship school, and Pillars never happened?"

I probably would have enjoyed the last two seasons of Friendship is Magic a lot more If the School of Friendship and Pillars never appeared. 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Sparklefan1234

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

I don't mind the Pillars all that much and the school at least looked nice but if getting rid of it means getting rid of my least favourite characters, the Students, then I'm all for it! 

[Kadeda 178]

I don't like the school... i don't mind the pillars. They probably should have stayed legends though. Pony of shadows could have been pretty beast as an actual villain that came back when they did the spell... but the pillars didn't. It felt like that was the danger of the spell to me. They just summon the villain and he's beastly.

At the same time I wouldn't have minded a few episodes of star swirl bumming around equestria every now and again.

It's like they took the ideas and made the worst decisions with them. "We just introduced 7 new characters and new places to the world... let's immediately add 6 more and keep them all in ponyville." Seemed dum.

[Toastypk 920]

Regardless of how people may or may not have liked how the school was done, it was sort of a natural progression to the show I think. Spreading the magic of friendship to more than just their own worlds.

Plus we get cute and likable characters like Sandbar, Silverstream, Yona, etc. as well.

And the Pillars really sort of tie a giant amount of the show together in an RPG-ish way.

[Landi 597]

For one, if they did take them out, the last two seasons would've most likely been much better. I know I for one would've enjoyed them a lot more. The School of Friendship especially took away from the good storytelling of the show by inspiring lackluster episodes and taking away from the point made at the beginning of the show (friendship is something you learn through experiences rather than in a school). Plus it took good screen time away from the mane six and replaced them with the student six. As for the Pillars, I didn't actually mind them, but if getting rid of them means also getting rid of the School of Friendship, then I'm fine with it.

To keep the show from going stale, the writers could've found a better way to teach lessons and help worldbuilding. For instance, maybe the mane six could explore more places and ponies INSIDE Equestria (Fillydelphia, Cloudsdale, Stratusburg, etc.). Just an idea.

[JMTV99 1,348]

For me, then this whole school and The Pillars thing would've never been part of the show in the first place. I don't know why the writers thought adding a school is a good idea? That just Fairly Oddparents style of officially running out of ideas. Right down to The Student Six taking more of the spotlight than The Main 6. The Pillars I don't really care about. They just better off being omitted rather than being part of the story.

[Splashee 28,537]

Season 7 for me was the best one, except the ending, due to the Pillars. The entire shift from going from episodes such as A Royal Problem, Fame and Misfortune, Rock Solid Friendship, Discordant Harmony, The Perfect Pear, and even Tripple Threat, to just send that season into reinventing the Mane 6 using a stupid plot, and somewhat completely forget what Season 5-7 had built upon. I don't like the pillars attitude towards Twilight and Starlight. The Shadow enemy was cool but the plot and redemption was figured out and solved way too quickly. Also, adding the link to Equestria Girls didn't help things.

The school of friendship and the Student 6 were not a thing I wanted for Season 8 and 9, and took away potentially better stories. By then I was tired of the normal episodes but wanted some world building. Including new characters when old ones weren't done with, was infuriating at best. But Cozy Glow was really well written.

An example of episodes that didn't even acknowledge the school of friendship, and completely changed the landscape of MLP and this very forum was the episode Sounds of Silence, and it proved FIM still had it after all those seasons!

[Toastypk 920]

Wow, you know, I never really knew how much flack people have had for the Pillars before.

And here they're one of my favorite of the groups of characters and thought they tied the show together in a very Final Fantasy-esque way.

[CastletonSnob 3,024]

We could have had more episodes with Thorax, Ember, and the Pillars. Instead, they become irrelevant after Season 7 because of the School. That's not even getting into how making a school to teach non-ponies about friendship has some serious White Man's Burden undertones.

The School of Friendship was one of the biggest mistakes the show made.

Edited May 12, 2021 by CastletonSnob

[JMTV99 1,348]

1 hour ago, CastletonSnob said:

The School of Friendship was one of the biggest mistakes the show made.

That, and along with Discord's 'redemption'.

[Megas 27,050]

On 2021-05-10 at 2:32 AM, Toastypk said:

Wow, you know, I never really knew how much flack people have had for the Pillars before.

And here they're one of my favorite of the groups of characters and thought they tied the show together in a very Final Fantasy-esque way.

I think people were more upset at how wasted they were, which I think is fair

[Evil Pink One 12,949]

Fans wanting more world building.

Hasbro tested it... Fans hates. Hasbro stops.

Fans wants past history. Hasbro tested it fans hates it. Hasbro stops.

Hasbro needs money. Fans hates the idea.... Hasbro still continues because money is important.

Hasbro stops listening to fans.... Understandable... 

Fans are pretty scattered at what they want... Can't please them all...

 

 

[Kadeda 178]

On 2021-05-12 at 9:44 PM, Kujamih said:

Fans wanting more world building.

Hasbro tested it... Fans hates. Hasbro stops.

Fans wants past history. Hasbro tested it fans hates it. Hasbro stops.

Hasbro needs money. Fans hates the idea.... Hasbro still continues because money is important.

Hasbro stops listening to fans.... Understandable... 

Fans are pretty scattered at what they want... Can't please them all...

 

 

It's because it's done in the worst way. Who the hell asked for a school of friendship?

[JMTV99 1,348]

17 minutes ago, Kadeda said:

It's because it's done in the worst way. Who the hell asked for a school of friendship?

Nobody.

[Evil Pink One 12,949]

@Kadeda @JMTV99

If nobody asked for it then why was it there?...

Hasbro asked, that's who. The one who spent their money to keep this show aired and exist.

And the only way we can do is through not supporting hasbro. OR buy the mlp franchise.

And is it hasbro's fault? No.

Because they need money, that is obvious. And where the money is that's where they'll go.... And who has the money? Us.

Same as illegal sharking logging and green house effect.... It's our fault.