Season 3 is the Best Season of MLP

[Lone Traveler 91]

NOTE: I no longer agree with this below post. I still really like Season 3, but I now consider it worse than Seasons 4 and 2, and my season ranking is 4>2>3>1>5>7>6>9>8

The entire time I have watched MLP, I have considered Season 4 to be the best season. However, I have also always thought that Season 1 and 2 also had clear advantages. They were more charming, more funny, and came off as more unique compared to other cartoons. They were what built the show and made so many people fell in love with it. However, I find Season 4 to have more creative ideas, more great songs, better animation, better writing, a fantastic conclusion to Twilight's arc, and a great season long arc developing the characters. These qualities for me were enough to make it my favorite season in spite of it sacrificing some of MLP's magic.

From my experience in the fandom, everyone's favorite Season seems to be 1, 2, 4, 5, and sometimes 7. I have rarely ever seen it argued that seasons 3, 6, 8, or 9 are the best.  In the case of 6, 8, and 9, this is because each of these seasons came after the show's peak in quality for most people and have clear issues. Even those who prefer the newer seasons usually agree that Season 7 is superior to those three. However, Season 3 is a different story, since it came right in the middle of MLP's golden era, the show's peak in popularity. However, Season 3 had one glaring issue that for most people made it the worse than the others: It only has 13 episodes. Many people like Season 1 the best for it being the show at it's most simple, earnest and charming, as well as introducing us to the world and characters which we love. Many like Season 2 the best for doubling down on the humor and charm of Season 1 with improved writing and animation. Many (including me up until very recently) like Season 4 for its fantastic conclusion to Twilight's arc, it's creative concepts, its constant songs, and its great character development. Season 3 on the other hand, lacks the clear indentity that these other seasons all have due to its short length and rushed nature. Season 3 certainly had many things to enjoy for people of course. It continued the great qualities of Season 2 while also being more ambitious. However, those who preferred the more simple and charming side of MLP generally preferred the full length season 1 or 2, while those like me who preferred the more creative and ambitious side of MLP generally preferred the full length Season 4. For all the great quality Season 3 had, there was no reason for anyone to consider it their favorite when longer seasons did the things that it did as well.

I have always found Season 3 to be underrated due to its short length. I personally have always considered it to be the 2nd best season of the show (behind Season 4). My previous reasoning for this was simple: I consider 7 of the 13 episodes to be among my favorites of the entire show. About 54% of the Season is top tier MLP content for me. On top of that there are 3 more episodes that I really like, and 2 I find okay, and only 1 I actually dislike. No other season of the show provides quality this consistent for me, even Season 4. Season 3 has episode quality better and more consistent than Seasons 1 and 2, as well as more creative and substantive plots and the same charm as those seasons. So I have always considered Season 3 the best of the first 3 seasons .While Season 4 has about the same proportion of episodes I really like as S3, I would only rank 11 of its episodes among my favorites, which is only about 42%. And I find the best episodes in Season 3 (Sleepless in Ponyville, Too Many Pinkie Pies, Crystal Empire, etc)) to basically be equivalent in quality to the best episodes in Season 4 (Twilight's Kingdom, Pinkie Pride, Rarity Takes Manehatten, etc). However, in spite of Season 3 having the best episode quality of the whole show, it also has clear disadvantages compared to Season 4. Season 4 has much more content, has a great season long arc,  a superior premiere and finale, and a satisfying payoff to Twilight's arc that is not rushed like it is in Season 3. Season 4's clear structural advantages and more content has always been enough to outweigh Season 3's advantage in episode quality, as Season 4 is still close enough in that department.

In the past I made a topic describing how I would split up the show into 5 different eras, based on its quality and focus. (https://mlpforums.com/topic/196366-rank-the-5-eras-of-friendship-is-magic/). I recently came across a similar topic by @Them's Seeing Poniessplitting the show up into 3 eras (https://mlpforums.com/topic/182379-which-era-of-the-show-do-you-consider-the-best/) in a similar fashion. I split up the first 5 seasons into the Faust Era (Season 1, first 24 eps of Season 2), The McCarthy Era (Canterlot Wedding, Seasons 3-4) and I put Season 5 into its own category. TSP on the other hand, called Seasons 1-3 the Faust Era and Seasons 4 and 5 the McCarthy Era. I thought about it, and I actually find this way of splitting it to be just as valid. 

I considered Canterlot Wedding (which was written by McCarthy and directly preceded Faust leaving) the start of the McCarthy era because the introduction of Candace and Shining Armor represented a big addition to the lore of the show and a shift in focus into more worldbuilding, action, and more substantive and serious stories. Canterlot Wedding and Crystal Empire together show Twilight's character shifting away from mainly just being a student learning about friendship. Season 3 had only a couple of friendship lessons at the end compared to Seasons 1 and 2 having them in nearly every episode. At this point Twilight had a good understanding of friendship and it was clear that Celestia had greater plans for her. The focus at this point was more on her developing her magic, abilities, and character. Season 3 also generally had episodes with more ambitious concepts than before (Too Many Pinkie Pies, Magic Duel, Sleepless in Ponyville, Keep Calm and Flutter On). 

That being said, splitting it after Season 3 also makes sense because while the tone of the show barely shifted between 2 and 3, there was a very noticeable shift between Seasons 3 and 4. And of course Twilight became an Alicorn. While the storytelling and focus shifted in Season 3, the show felt just as cartoony and whimsical as in Season 2. I said in my post on the eras of the show that Season 3 and 4 are less charming and cartoony than Seasons 1 and 2. I now realize that I was only partially correct; this difference only actually applies to Season 4. Season 3 is in a weird middle ground of having the superior narrative focus, storytelling, and creativity of Season 4, but the superior tone, charm, and humor of Seasons 1 and 2. Season 3 is supreme in both of these categories in my view, while Seasons 1-2 and 4 are each only supreme in one of these categories. Season 3's advantage here is something that I have previously never really thought about. I previously thought of it as a mixture between S1-2 and 4, when it is actually the best of both worlds now that I analyze this. And I think that having these qualities is the reason Season 3's episodes were so consistently great for me compared to every other season. 

Once I started analyzing this, I started seriously questioning myself. Is Season 4 really the best season? Season 3 has it solidly beat in episode quality. Just like Season 4, it is very creative and fun with its concepts with more substantive stories. Unlike Season 4, Season 3 fully maintains the charm and uniqueness that Season 1 and 2 had. It has the best qualities of both the Faust and McCarthy eras.  Most of Season 3's episodes would have felt completely in place during Season 2, just on the more ambitious side of that season. For all of the great qualities Season 4 has for me, the fact still remains that it sacrificed a level of charm and earnestness that initially hooked me into the show, and is less memorable than Seasons 1-2 despite me finding it better. Season 3 did not have to sacrifice this magic. Yes, Season 3 is flawed. While I adore Keep Calm and Flutter On and Magical Mystery Cure, they were still very crucial episodes of the show that were sadly rushed. It was really dumb to have 2 Spike episodes and no Rarity episode. Season 4 has a superior premiere and finale, and Season 3 lacks its story arc. But for all of Season 3's structural weaknesses, I frankly find the charm and episode quality to make up for it. MLP is at its heart a comedy and feel good show. Most people enjoy it for that rather than specifically for its writing quality or structure. So I will prefer the more charming , but rushed and uneven Season 3 over a more structurally sound but less charming Season 4. 

I now consider Season 3 to be the best season of MLP, which is extremely impressive considering it has half the episode count of every other season. It is crazy how a simple realization and change in perspective managed to change an opinion of mine that I have firmly held for years. Is there anyone else out there who considers Season 3 the best season? I would really like to know, since I don't know if I have seen an argument before for it being the best. By the way, my season ranking is now: 3>4>2>1>5>7>9>6>8

Edited July 12, 2023 by Lone Traveler

[Megas 27,568]

It's definitely one of the most underappreciated. 2 of my all-time favorite episodes were in S3, Sleepless in Ponyville and Wonderbolts Academy, as well as my favorite AJ episode is Apple Family Reunion. Magic Duel is somewhat overrated just because of Trixie but it's still a good time and Zecora got a lot of love. A lot of episodes I feel get more flack than they deserve too, notably Spike at Your Service(I honestly think it's one of the show's funniest episodes), MMC, Just for Sidekicks and Games Ponies Play I still think are a good time.

Only episodes I really have problems with are One Bad Apple and Keep Calm and Flutter On, and even then the latter is really less on the episode itself and more the impact the change the episode had on the rest of the show. OBA is the worst episode of the season but it still came with a really fun song.

So yeah, S3 is a fun time, wouldtakeoverS6/10

[Sparklefan1234 169,837]

Magical Mystery Cure is my favorite episode in all of Friendship is Magic so season 3 has a special place in my heart for that alone. 

[EpicEnergy 23,179]

I enjoyed season 3 for the most part, it's not my most favorite season but it's still a very good season in my opinion.

[Cash In 22,230]

I think Season 3 is underrated. The main thing it has going against it is the fact that it's half a season. I think most of the episodes are quite good, with there only being two that I don't really like that much. Also, I thought MMC was fine. I know people love to complain about it, but I really didn't think it was the worst thing to ever happen.

[Astralshy 26,441]

I like season three. I also agree with that it's underappreciated / rated by many despite some really good episode they are in.

There are no episodes I dislike, though I didn't like "Spike at your service" too much, to be honest. There is "Sleepless in Ponyville" - a episode I love dearly. Also this seasons features two entangled episodes "Just for Sidekicks" and "Games Ponies plays". Showing two different points of view of the same story line is really interesting and no other season has done something like (or do I forget something?). So these things really count to seasons three favor in my opinion.

If I critize this season for anything it is its length. Just half the episodes and the closing episode of season three is really great in my opinion but it could have been much more with a second part to it.

All in all I really like s3, but it lacks runtime and this doesn't count towards its favor in my opinion. Also - for me at least - there are other seasons which contain many more great episodes which I just like more. So as much as I like season three for me it's not the best season, far from it. On my list of fav seasons it would be directly in the middle if it would have been the regular length. Like season three is it's just one spot below the middle position with 5 seasons above it and 3 below it.

But don't misunderstand: I love seasons three it is really a great one.

[Splashee 28,563]

It was the first season I watched live. It started the the best, with the high point at Sleepless in Ponyville, but after that, I was quite disappointed. And as the season ended too quickly, so did the fandom of that time as well.