Your Favorite MLP Episode: Final Match

[SuperUltimateBrony 351]

Final Match!

See the bracket here: http://puu.sh/1VGRo

 

Vote here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/203-cartoons-and-animation/65361610

Each day I will post one topic pitting two episode of MLPFiM against eachother. It's a contest to see which episode is the most liked by the board.

Todays's Matchup: The Return of Harmony Part 2 VS The Best Night Ever

Yesterday's Matchup: Too Many Pinkie Pies VS The Best Night Ever (26-24)

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

Well, none of my absolute favoritest episodes made it this far, but again, The Return of Harmony was such a powerful episode. It definitely made a marionette out of me and played with my emotions masterfully. Twilight turning grey was such a bleak moment, and it made their reharmonization all the more powerful. There was a decent amount of comedy spliced into it as well, and certainly enough heartwarming moments to make me squee .

 

Also, Discord. The interactions between the six and their interactions with him were so amazing, and the writing quality of this one really shone through. All of this in addition to excellent visuals, pacing and decent focus given to each of the six makes this episode worthy of winning the tournament, even if there are others that I like better.

 

In any case, thanks for setting up the tournament SuperUltimateBrony . I think I've gained a lot of appreciation for episodes I hadn't thought much of beforehand and it certainly deepened my love of the series and I think you deserve a round of applause for that.

 

(Take my word that I'm clapping for you.)

Edited February 4, 2013 by DashForever

[Circadian 1,273]

The Best Night Ever. We got the Gala songs, everypony in amazing dresses and lots of breakdowns/mental anguish. Loved that episode. 

[NavelColt 22,880]

Final match? As in, 'you're done making these threads after this' final match? xD

 

Return of Harmony. Discord. Boom. The S1 finale was really good, but one does not beat John De Lancie.

[Dr. Eggnog 203]

The Best Night Ever.  I love Return of Harmony, but Best Night Ever is just such a perfect episode that drives home the theme of friendship better than any other in my opinion.  The ending stands for the whole series, and it was after that episode that I put MLP in my top ten shows ever.  Also: "YOU WILL ALL LOVE ME!"

[Fresh Meat 115]

Darnit! I was really hoping S2 finale would be in that vote. Oh well, as predicted from probably a lot of people, all my votes go to Discord/Season opener in an instant. 

[SuperUltimateBrony 351]

Well, none of my absolute favoritest episodes made it this far, but again, The Return of Harmony was such a powerful episode. It definitely made a marionette out of me and played with my emotions masterfully. Twilight turning grey was such a bleak moment, and it made their reharmonization all the more powerful. There was a decent amount of comedy spliced into it as well, and certainly enough heartwarming moments to make me squee .

 

Also, Discord. The interactions between the six and their interactions with him were so amazing, and the writing quality of this one really shone through. All of this in addition to excellent visuals, pacing and decent focus given to each of the six makes this episode worthy of winning the tournament, even if there are others that I like better.

 

In any case, thanks for setting up the tournament SuperUltimateBrony . I think I've gained a lot of appreciation for episodes I hadn't thought much of beforehand and I think it certainly deepened my love of the series and I think you deserve a round of applause for that.

 

(Take my word that I'm clapping for you.)

 

Oh my! You're back. Well, I'm glad you've liked them. I may make a new tournament of something else. Maybe favorite MLP song? Making a favorite pony bracket would take months to do.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

Oh my! You're back. Well, I'm glad you've liked them. I may make a new tournament of something else. Maybe favorite MLP song? Making a favorite pony bracket would take months to do.

Ha ha, I never left . Yesterday I was hit by a crippling wave of laziness and I wasn't in the mood for typing anything so I just voted.

 

And I'd certainly be interested in another tourney if you felt like setting one up. There's actually something like a best pony tournament already over in Show Discussion called the Grand Pony Off, but music sounds good. Would it be songs from the show or fan music?

[hawkflame 3,310]

Darnit! I was really hoping S2 finale would be in that vote. Oh well, as predicted from probably a lot of people, all my votes go to Discord/Season opener in an instant. 

 

A Canterlot Wedding Part 2 met with the buzzsaw that was Return of Harmony part 2 a couple of rounds ago.  It's a shame, rally, because that would have been my ideal choice for a final matchup. 

 

I've been pulling for Return of Harmony Part 2 throughout the tournament, and I have no intention of stopping now.  It's simply the best written, most dramatic, most thrilling episode of the entire series.  It just plays the viewer on an emotional level.  It took the viewer for a ride, and what a ride it was.  This is the episode that put Twilight and, well, Friendship in general to the test, and while it was really difficult, both withstood everything Discord threw at them and ended up triumphant.  Speaking of Discord, he was such a charismatic and engaging villain, and John De Lancie played him note perfect.  And it's message about friendship was probably the biggest and most important of all:  that it's not always easy, but it's damn well worth fighting for..

 

Then they wrap it up with a near shot by shot Star Wars reference.  Awesome. 

[Dr. Vojislav Seselj 691]

Discord! I'm howling at the moon, and sleeping in the middle of a summer afternoon

Discord! Whatever did we do to make you take the world awaaaaay

Discord! Are we your prey alone

Or are we just a stepping stone for taking back the throne

Discord! We won't take it anymore

So take your tyranny awaaaaay!

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

I love both, but I voted for The Return of Harmony part 2.

 

More chaos, more drama and a good way to open that long awaited Season 2.

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

It's sad to say, but this was a fairly easy choice for me.  Return of Harmony gets my vote.  It felt so much bigger than BNE and the lesson at the end seemed to be much deeper.  Both were good though (not quite as good as Sleepless in Ponyville, grumble, grumble....).

 

And with that, thanks SuperUltimateBrony for making these matchups.  Voting in these had become a daily occurance for me, and it will be sad to see it end.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Return of Harmony gets my vote again, even though I liked the Best Night Ever. But, Discord really did do good as a villain in the 2 parter.

[Stellafera 3,836]

Lolwut is this, give me a challenge like Putting Your Hoof Down vs Suited For Success or something. The Best Night Ever was an average episode. Was it good? Yes. Did it feature a truly dark deconstruction of everything that the Mane 6 cared about and especially on Twilight's leadership skills before awesomely reconstructing them at the end? Actually, sort of, but it did not do it as well as The Return Of Harmony Part 2.

[An Old Head 4,816]

Nyurgh, late to the final topic.

 

So we have the episode that wraps up the season for until after the summer, and the episode that re-introduces the season for the episodes to follow. Which one, for me, does a better job at what it's supposed to? Neither of them. Which one was generally a better episode? Also neither of them. They are both outstanding episodes, and here's why.

 

The Best Night Ever, being the final episode of the season, simply had to be a spectacle and a wrap-up of the season we've all followed if it were to be a good episode. I think it did it magnificently. The musical number, at the start, was pretty much screaming at you "You've followed and loved these six ponies for twenty-five episodes, and here's exactly why." The episode then split off in six directions - yet even then it's got a solid timeline and precise linearity. Loved it.

 

The Return Of Harmony Part 2 was the episode that would sum up our two-part entry into Season 2, long awaited after the fandom had a summer to ferment into something very special - even though I wasn't a Brony at the time, it's a given that the anticipation was enormous. I'm semi-quoting from a previous post I made on Return of Harmony Part 2, but we wanted all of our characters to come in and say to us "It's me! Miss me? Remember what I'm all about?" and re-ignite our thirst for the upcoming episodes - and it got it absolutely smack on the nose. The interactions between corrupted Mane 6 took and shelved our levels of disbelief and made it hilarious, the villain Discord was a definite homage to online trolls (as well as being a fantastic villain), and the ending was just so damn epic.

 

I was expecting to write so much more for each episode, with more complex reasons, seeing as this is the final and all. But hey, it's drawing to a close, and what I really want to say is - this has just been so much fun, cheers SUB!

 

I'll be voting for The Return of Harmony Part 2.

[Wingnut 6,992]

And, fittingly, DashForever has the first reply to the final match. 

 

I actually thought this was going to be a tougher call.  Before I started reading everybody's well stated thoughts on this vote, I was leaning toward The Return of Harmony Part 2.  But now that I have read them all, in a way I'm a little surprised The Best Night Ever made it to the finals.  It's kinda ironic that the two finalists are just two episodes apart.  I'm still a little sad that Hurricane Fluttershy didn't go all the way.  But for all the reasons posted above me, I am satisfied that we have picked a worthy choice to be named our favorite MLP episode ever. 

[Zygen 6,066]

I liked Return of harmony more then The best night ever, both where great episodes, but I think Return of harmony was overall just much stronger. It is kinda a different approach of an episode though to be honest, kinda hard to compare. I mean Best night ever was more comedy oriented, and Return of harmony was more trial and adventure and more emotion in it.

 

But Return of harmony had Discord, and many great moments, so yeah.. It wins for me.

[Rarietty 632]

I'm going to miss these polls, and I'd like to thank SuperUltimateBrony for setting these up. It was really interesting to see how my favorite episodes fared and to see everybody else's opinions (even if there were some polls and results that I completely disagreed with. *cough coughbasicallyeverypollwithSleeplessinPonyvilleinitcough cough*)

 

They're both amazing episodes, and I see why both of them were able to make it this far. Return of Harmony part 2 was awesome due to the villain it introduced and that awesomely heartwarming scene where Twilight rereads the friendship lessons. Best Night Ever was a good first season ending, mostly due to the music and the humor. The ending was kind of rushed, and I could see it being better if it were a two parter. Still, they're good episodes. Far from my favorites, but still excellent nonetheless. 

 

So, I guess I'm going with Return of Harmony. It well exceeded my expectations, and although I don't think it's the best two parter (I may be in the minority for this opinion, but I like both Canterlot Wedding and Crystal Empire more) it's still epic. 

Edited February 4, 2013 by Rarietty

[Chuckles4lyfe 441]

I can't believe that this is going to be the final poll  . It was great fun voting and seeing what everyone's favorite episode turned out to be.

 

My vote has to go to Return of Harmony Part 2. Even though I loved The Best Night Ever, I felt that it tried to do too much in too short of an amount of time. The season 2 premiere on the other hand, WOW! If you want to introduce someone to the show, give them this episode to watch. This episode has a special place in my heart because it was the very 1st MLP episode that I've ever watched. Needless to say, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for The Mane 6 and Discord .   

[Rainbow Dash Loyalty 1,275]

Last poll? :C Well it was fun while it lasted...

I vote Return of Harmony Pt 2, I loved the Gala song but The Return of Harmony had a better, stronger story to it. I like 2-part episodes more as well because the first part gets you really pumped up for the 2nd and last part of the episode. The villain in the episode was most definitely the best protagonist in the series so far, Discord's humor and power were such a good combination and John de Lancie was the perfect voice actor.

 

[Wingnut 6,992]

Hey SUB!  How much longer until the poll closes then?  When it's done I guess you'll just post the verdict here to be followed by final discussion.  It's not necessary to start another thread just for the results. 

 

"When starting a thread, please make sure you have enough content to spur a discussion.  Items like this should go into a blog or a status update.  This is an automatically generated message by the way." 

 

Our mods do a good job of minimizing clutter, but that (slightly paraphrased) line gets me every time. 

[SuperUltimateBrony 351]

And it appears that the favorite episode of My Little Pony goes to The Return of Harmony Part 2! I can't say I'm that shocked. Almost everypony loves Discord.

 

What were your opinions on the outcome, and the polls in general.

 

Please list any new ideas that you'd like to see, as well as suggestions on how to make them better.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

Well, I agreed with a good chunk of the polls but dramatically disagreed with a few others. For example I was hoping Wonderbolt Academy, Sleepless in Ponyville, Hurricane Fluttershy and The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 would go farther, but if The Return of Harmony has to win then I'm ok with that. It deserves recognition even if it isn't my absolute favorite.

 

As for the future and if we were to do thisfor season 4, keep the consolation round that you implemented partway through and maybe seed some of the better performing episodes from this tourney, to further limit the possibility of say, Magic Duel vs Sleepless in Ponyville in the first round.

 

Are you doing a music tournament at some point BTW?

[hawkflame 3,310]

I think the right episode won.  Return of Harmony was really well constructed, with a great villain, and everything- the comedy, the drama, the spectacle was jut done so satisfyingly that I find it difficult to imagine anyone voting against it. 

 

I think the polls generally were done very well. Sometimes the one I voted for didn't win, but it usually lost out to another great episode. The only one I took issue with was Return of Harmony part 1 losing out to Read it and Weep.  Really?  I mean, seeing the introduction fo Derring Do into the canon was great, but I don't see how that compares to the release of Discord and the Mane 6 being sent into the Maze of Nightmarish Mindfuck. 

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

I'm happy with the overall outcome.  It wouldn't be my first pick for the winner, but it certainly wouldn't be my last.  In fact, I would have been happy if either episode in the last match had won.

 

As for recommendations for the future, I wouldn't really know.  I'm not terribly knowledgable on the mechanics of tournaments.  I will say that it was nice to give episodes that were defeated in the first round a second chance (even if that still didn't end up saving Sleepless in Ponyville...).