Unpopular Opinions Regarding the Show

[bigbertha 410]

-I have no idea why people dislike Flurry Heart. She's just a cute baby and she doesn't need to be anything more. I've heard arguments that she messes with alicorn lore, but that makes no sense. It's simple genetics. 

-Putting Your Hoof Down is decent

-The Cutie Re-Mark is one of my favorite finales

-Season 3 is the best looking season

-Season 3 in general is really solid and my 2nd favorite season

-I like Fake It Till' You Make It

-I hate what the show has been doing with Celestia recently

-The show isn't good overall

[JH24 385]

- I still think "Newbie Dash" ranks as one of the better episodes for Rainbow Dash in terms of character development.

- It still irks me that Starlight was treated much more leniently by the Mane 6 than Discord ever was.

Edited August 7, 2019 by JH24

[CypherHoof 26,479]

1 hour ago, bigbertha said:

-I have no idea why people dislike Flurry Heart. She's just a cute baby and she doesn't need to be anything more. I've heard arguments that she messes with alicorn lore, but that makes no sense. It's simple genetics. 

It gives an important part of alicorn lore - that alicorns were previously made, not born - that contradicts a LOT of fan headcanon, not least because it also contradicts some of the stuff in the books.  there isn't anything not to love about Flurry Heart herself though (and Applegeek's reaction to the heart shattering is epic...)

 

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-Putting Your Hoof Down is decent

It shows a side to Fluttershy many fans didn't want to see.  She lets her new-found assertiveness training go to her head, and as one of the most OP ponies in the Mane 6 (and that's saying something!) you really don't want that to happen.

 

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-The Cutie Re-Mark is one of my favorite finales

Its an important episode in Starlight's development, and the last few scenes (where she accepts she is on a self-destructive path and places herself and her fate in Twilight's hooves) are some of the best in the show - but the various distopias are painful to watch or re-watch.

 

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-Season 3 is the best looking season

-Season 3 in general is really solid and my 2nd favorite season

I feel one of the great tragedies of the show is how they cut short S3 and rushed Twi's ascension; had they had more time, I am sure they would have made it less forced - but the "unfinished spell" is a massive cop-out; on it's own, it is a decent episode, the ascension of Twi, with celestia celebrating her achievements and growth, nothing wrong there, but joining the two and making one frankenstein's monster out of them? blech.

If they could have had a set of episodes where Twi had to show her mastery of an Element (where the resolution required Twi to be more honest than she wanted to be, or show loyalty to spike say) for each Element, then a final episode where she demonstrated her mastery of Magic (not unlike Boast Busters) would have fitted better.

 

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-I like Fake It Till' You Make It

I could see the trainwreck coming and it made me uncomfortable, first time though, because Hoof Down.

On a rewatch, I could see Fluttershy adopting each persona due to her insecurity, and "method acting", and just like Hoof Down, she took things too far, but I could see where she was going with that (each persona had given her success and more confidence, and if a little worked well, maybe a lot would work better?). While I didn't think much of SnootyFly, FlutterGoth and HipsterShy were awesome (and adorable, in their own ways)

Where I still dislike the episode is after she has discarded her personas, she is fitted for her "warrior of inner strength" dress, and then is mean to the bratty fashion pony; she has apparently forgotten the lesson she learned in Hoof Down, that she can use her inner strength to be strong and not be a doormat, without having to be aggressive or mean.

 

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-I hate what the show has been doing with Celestia recently

I am not too sure where they are going with that. They started early at normalizing 'tia's relationship to her subjects (look at the scene with the Cakes, way back in season 1, where she fools them into refilling an already full cup, but also note how terrified all the ponies are of offending her; clearly, she has not always had or wanted such a good relationship with her subjects, and you have to wonder if Luna has had something to do with that)

Horseplay though, was... odd.

 

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-The show isn't good overall

In my opinion, the show was and is one of the best; since the very early days, the writers have taken the fandom into consideration, and that is a good thing (look at Derpy for example, although I still don't think the retroactive edit was justified) but it occupies a unique moment in time - it came into being just as it became possible for something like the Brony fandom to happen; it had a cohesive storyline, compelling and complex characters, a simple and wholesome moral fabric and a simple but effective graphical style that pushed the boundaries of what you could do in Flash animation.

As the show has grown, it has spread out; we have explored new races (while not really seeing much of old ones; we still know only of one Zebra and one Minotaur, but have yaks, hippogryphs and two varieties of changeling), the crystal empire (and ponies), and now Kirin.  We have had the Table and it's friendship missions, finally met various parents and aunts, and seen the return of the Pillars. Some are unhappy that the show has grown beyond its core of the Mane 6, in Ponyville and sometimes Canterlot, solving problems with friendship (or failing that, a rainbow-coloured bitchslap) but I don't think you could carry 9 seasons (and specials, and spinoffs) on just that. For a show that essentially exists to sell toys, that isn't bad.

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by CypherHoof

[bigbertha 410]

1 hour ago, CypherHoof said:

I feel one of the great tragedies of the show is how they cut short S3 and rushed Twi's ascension; had they had more time, I am sure they would have made it less forced - but the "unfinished spell" is a massive cop-out; on it's own, it is a decent episode, the ascension of Twi, with celestia celebrating her achievements and growth, nothing wrong there, but joining the two and making one frankenstein's monster out of them? blech.

If they could have had a set of episodes where Twi had to show her mastery of an Element (where the resolution required Twi to be more honest than she wanted to be, or show loyalty to spike say) for each Element, then a final episode where she demonstrated her mastery of Magic (not unlike Boast Busters) would have fitted better.

Yeah despite how much I like season 3, Magical Mystery Cure is a mess. It's the first example of the show rushing to a conclusion without enough build up. Twilight was not originally  supposed to ascend that early into the series and it shows. The staff tried to shove some progression into season 3 with The Crystal Empire and Magic Duel to an extent, but it still comes off as unnatural because it's clear she wasn't supposed to ascend for a while.

 

1 hour ago, CypherHoof said:

I am not too sure where they are going with that. They started early at normalizing 'tia's relationship to her subjects (look at the scene with the Cakes, way back in season 1, where she fools them into refilling an already full cup, but also note how terrified all the ponies are of offending her; clearly, she has not always had or wanted such a good relationship with her subjects, and you have to wonder if Luna has had something to do with that)

Horseplay though, was... odd.

Having Celestia show different sides of her personality is fine, but at this point she feels like a completely different character. Instead of working off the foundation set by the early seasons, I feel like the staff are wiping the slate clean and starting fresh with her. Between Dark and Dawn is the worst example.

1 hour ago, CypherHoof said:

As the show has grown, it has spread out; we have explored new races (while not really seeing much of old ones; we still know only of one Zebra and one Minotaur, but have yaks, hippogryphs and two varieties of changeling), the crystal empire (and ponies), and now Kirin.  We have had the Table and it's friendship missions, finally met various parents and aunts, and seen the return of the Pillars. Some are unhappy that the show has grown beyond its core of the Mane 6, in Ponyville and sometimes Canterlot, solving problems with friendship (or failing that, a rainbow-coloured bitchslap) but I don't think you could carry 9 seasons (and specials, and spinoffs) on just that. For a show that essentially exists to sell toys, that isn't bad.

One of my big problems with the newer stuff is how unfocused it is. The show doesn't want to abandon its roots so there's still a lot of slice of life stuff, but it also wants to do story arcs. This has caused problems in every season since season 3. Season 3 rushed Twilight's ascension. Season 4 ignored Twilight's ascension for most of the season. Season 5 ignored Starlight for most of the season and explained nothing about the Cutie Map. Season 6 also ignored Starlight for most of the season. Season 7 started the pillar arc halfway through and only characterized one of the pillars past one basic trait. Season 8 barely characterized the Student Six past basic tropes and ignored Neighsay and Cozy for most of the season. And while season 9 is definitely doing the best so far at actually addressing its story arcs, it's too little too late.

And that's just the seasons failing at their current arcs. The pillars got one followup episode in season 8 that just hand waved away most of them without giving them any more personality. The Student Six are still as basic as ever. Nobody cares about the Cutie Map anymore. And the School of Friendship is being shoved off to Starlight to make room for a new arc of the Main Six being put in charge of Equestria, something that has not been built up to in the slightest. The staff is so obsessed with throwing in new ideas that they ignore what they've already established. Why not have another flash back episode with the Main Six? What was the dynamic in Ponyville before Twilight showed up? Let's check in with Gilda and see how Griffonstone is doing. Let's check in on Diamond Tiara. Let's look at Pinkie Sense again. How about Discord's past? Or Celestia and Luna's? Are there more Zebras than Zecora? How about another look into Equestria's past, maybe picking up where Hearth's Warming Eve left off? We still don't know that much about Starlight's past. The Crystal Empire is still shrouded in mystery. Dark magic completely vanished after The Crystal Empire aside from one bit in Princess Twilight Sparkle. Why can't we explore different kinds of magic like that dark magic and get some material out of that? I'm sure it'd be more interesting than the pointless, underdeveloped new additions we've been getting. 

And that's not even getting into the slice of life stuff.

[Will Guide 21,325]

2 hours ago, CypherHoof said:

I feel one of the great tragedies of the show is how they cut short S3 and rushed Twi's ascension; 

The real reason Season 3 was only 13 episodes was because they were initially contracted to make 65 episodes which were spread over 3 seasons. 26 for S1, 26 for S2, and the remaining 13 episodes went to S3. The popularity of the show during the first few seasons convinced the higher ups to make more and so the S3 Finale had to be changed from its original ending to what we got in the end. Simple as that.

[RulesofRarity 489]

Shadow Play is probably the worst finale after The Cutie Remark, to be honest.

[heavens-champion 1,893]

I see no problem with villains being reformed. I mean, I get it, already. You hate forgiveness. But if that's not the case, than what is, because I pretty much expect most villains in a show about friendship to get redeemed. Come on. What's the big deal?

Edited August 10, 2019 by heavens-champion

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,543]

I generally think that Josh Haber handles Twilignt better than Meghan McCarthy.

[Lucky Bolt 34,914]

Tempest Shadow is grossly overrated. Her and Spitfire both 

[Sparklefan1234 161,656]

I feel like Sandbar is the most pointless/background character worthy out of all of the Student Six.

[Cash In 21,493]

I've seen a lot of people raise their fists at season 3, but it's a perfectly fine season. Its length did it a disservice sure, but it stands on its own.

Edited November 7, 2021 by Cash_In

[Them's Seeing Ponies 282]

On 8/12/2019 at 8:22 PM, TheAnimationFanatic said:

I generally think that Josh Haber handles Twilignt better than Meghan McCarthy.

I actually agree that Haber handles Twilight better than McCarthy - while her more exaggerated hammy nerdishness can become tiring, it's a superior vehicle for legitimate character focus and plotting compared to the bland mentor figure of S4 (a surprising deficiency given that McCarthy as a writer excelled with Twilight in the majority of the episodes she penned, particularly Lesson Zero, which basically codified the show's definition of Twilight heading forward) and, to a lesser extent, the following season, which possessed few of the traits Twilight exhibited during S1-3 (save for a handful of AKR and McCarthy's outings). 

[TheAnimationFanatic 3,543]

5 minutes ago, Them's Seeing Ponies said:

I actually agree that Haber handles Twilight better than McCarthy - while her more exaggerated hammy nerdishness can become tiring, it's a superior vehicle for legitimate character focus and plotting compared to the bland mentor figure of S4 (a surprising deficiency given that McCarthy as a writer excelled with Twilight in the majority of the episodes she penned, particularly Lesson Zero, which basically codified the show's definition of Twilight heading forward) and, to a lesser extent, the following season, which possessed few of the traits Twilight exhibited during S1-3 (save for a handful of AKR and McCarthy's outings). 

I should add that I meant no disrespect towards Miss McCarthy, who was responsible for many of Twilight's best moments, many of which are in S4.

I just think that Haber strikes the balance a bit better.

Edited August 16, 2019 by TheAnimationFanatic

[RulesofRarity 489]

On 8/10/2019 at 10:50 AM, heavens-champion said:

I see no problem with villains being reformed. I mean, I get it, already. You hate forgiveness. But if that's not the case, than what is, because I pretty much expect most villains in a show about friendship to get redeemed. Come on. What's the big deal?

I don't hate forgiveness. I hate forgiveness being handed to people who don't deserve it because they are toxic to not only themselves but everyone else around them.

[heavens-champion 1,893]

17 minutes ago, RulesofRarity said:

I don't hate forgiveness. I hate forgiveness being handed to people who don't deserve it because they are toxic to not only themselves but everyone else around them.

Care to elaborate on these toxic people?

[Solar Power 234]

• I can't stand Cheese Sandwich. He's probably my all time least favourite character
• I really dislike Zecora
• I liked What About Discord?
• Trade Ya is one of my favourite episodes
• Season 6 is my favourite

Edited August 17, 2019 by Solar Power

[Sparklefan1234 161,656]

I feel like the second half of Season 9 has been pretty boring so far. 

[Splashee 28,537]

2 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I feel like the second half of Season 9 has been pretty boring so far. 

It has also had writers I am familiarized with. Such a waste.

[Xe__or 4,376]

Tempest Shadow is a useless /badly written character

[Sparklefan1234 161,656]

Season 1 of FiM wasn't anything special. 

[Solar Power 234]

A lot of these aren't unpopular opinions....they're opinions that are shared by many people.

[Them's Seeing Ponies 282]

SP has a valid point up there, but I'll bite anyway: 

- Season 1 is one of the show's most consistently enjoyable and stylistically effective seasons (moreso than more ubiquitous fandom favorites such as seasons 5 or 7). 

- Spike at Your Service contains some of S3's most effective comedy (courtesy of the mane six).

- A Royal Problem  is one of the weakest episodes of season 7.

- The Beginning of the End is a weirdly empty premiere which showcases the Lady Writers' typical weaknesses in a more glaring manner than usual.

- I admire aspects of the Lady Writers' episodes, but they're far from the show's best writers - I've often believed that their work lacks a specific degree of subtlety (which can lead to a polarizing style which exudes an off-putting cheesiness at worst) and tends to execute promising or creative concepts in a lackluster way (as implied above,The Beginning of the End  clearly displayed this exact issue in that it served to showcase a number of creative ideas merely shoehorned into a 44-minute runtime as opposed to being integrated and developed in such a way to create a natural flow and feel satisfying). 

- Season 5 is an ambitious and conceptually compelling but fundamentally problematic season. 

- The show's recent style of comedy (under Haber's and Big Jim's leadership) is arguably its most egregiously shortcoming from my perspective in that it repetitiously utilizes over-the-top meme faces and huge emotional takes (which is meant to be funny because... characters behaving generically crazy is gut-busting, I guess?), which resultantly recall a diet rendition of Friends (which was subjectively never a particularly great show to begin with despite the mechanics of its aesthetic, tone and universe gelling more consistently with said blunter style than FiM) as opposed to the greater variety of slier/less simplistic jokes employed by the earlier seasons. 

Edited August 18, 2019 by Them's Seeing Ponies

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

I hate that changelings suddenly broke off from having a hive mindset to being free thinkers. I argue passionately with others that this killed the shows lore. 

The inclusion of new species was a decision that was worse than anything Equestria Girls did.

even worse though is not including cat people in the show. I would sacrifice sea ponies for cat people. 

[RulesofRarity 489]

On 8/16/2019 at 8:53 PM, heavens-champion said:

Care to elaborate on these toxic people?

Sure. Basically every major villain post Rainbow Rocks baring Cozy Glow and the Storm King because at least they don't hide behind sad backstories.

Starlight - Would've reduced Equestria to a wasteland(or any of the other hellish alternate futures we saw, pick one) in order to achieve her petty revenge on the Mane 6 for ruining her "Utopia town" but gets forgiveness anyway because Twilight really had no other option but to talk her down.

Pony Of Shadows- Stygian is just a worse Starlight. He made no attempt to talk to the other Pillars about how he was feeling after they casted him out for stealing their stuff and then has the audacity to turn around and act like the injured party. Rather than trying to explain himself to them he expects them to be able to read his mind and then chooses to attempt to kill them.

Tempest Shadow- Tempest was fine before they made her into yet another villain who is still bitter over one situation that occurred in her childhood. Like the others her actions are shoved under the rug once forgiveness is offered to her.

Neighsay- A racist who insulted the leaders of the other nations but doesn't lose his job because he saw the error of his ways uwu.

The first three are just the same character with a different coat of paint, honestly.

 

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by RulesofRarity

[Xe__or 4,376]

20 minutes ago, RulesofRarity said:

Sure. Basically every major villain post Rainbow Rocks baring Cozy Glow, Grogar and the Storm King because at least they don't hide behind sad backstories.

Starlight - Would've reduced Equestria to a wasteland(or any of the other hellish alternate futures we saw, pick one) in order to achieve her petty revenge on the Mane 6 for ruining her "Utopia town" but gets forgiveness anyway because Twilight really had no other option but to talk her down.

Pony Of Shadows- Stygian is just a worse Starlight. He made no attempt to talk to the other Pillars about how he was feeling after they casted him out for stealing their stuff and then has the audacity to turn around and act like the injured party. Rather than trying to explain himself to them he expects them to be able to read his mind and then chooses to attempt to kill them.

Tempest Shadow- Tempest was fine before they made her into yet another villain who is still bitter over one situation that occurred in her childhood. Like the others her actions are shoved under the rug once forgiveness is offered to her.

Neighsay- A racist who insulted the leaders of the other nations but doesn't lose his job because he saw the error of his ways uwu.

The first three are just the same character with a different coat of paint, honestly.

 

 

I agree with this; their reformation was too easy.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Xeltor