How should the plot go in Season 3?

[Marcusaralius76 150]

I've been hearing a lot about this idea for the show lately. A lot of people on other sites think that the writers should make a single continuous plot for the whole third season with one major lesson. How do you guys think the plot should go?

 

 

 

 

Personally, I like the current episode system with each being its own story and occasional references to past episodes. Though I think it would be interesting if they tried making a story arc go farther than just two episodes. Thoughts?

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

I wouldn't do a pure story arc until later seasons; I would hold that off until season 4. For now I would like to see some short stories to start us off.

[♥.:Yulaiyre:.♥ 290]

I think that a short story arc would be nice ^^ I always enjoyed it when they did that for the first episodes of each season, and I would love to see more of that sort of stuff ♥

[Shankveld 4,945]

I like the way they do things currently ~

[Eenohay 318]

Well, considering that when I first watched the show, i made it with the assumption that is was gona be just one long story arc and then it turned out I was completely wrong and was left heart broken, my greatest wish is for them to finally do one.

[Rox 12]

I think they should try short story arcs and see how that turns out. I don't how I feel about a pure story arc.

 

Well, considering that when I first watched the show, i made it with the assumption that is was gona be just one long story arc and then it turned out I was completely wrong and was left heart broken, my greatest wish is for them to finally do one.

 

That was my first assumption as well.

[SXCJ40 125]

What If it stays episodic, but with some things in each episode that lead up to the season finaly

[Gingerpotato 889]

I like the layout of the seasons at the moment but episode story arcs would be pretty darn awesome. There is always the worry with those sort of episodes that they'd drag out the storyline but the MLP producers are better then that

[Jadefire 2,796]

I like what they did in Season 1: episodic format, but occasionally they'd make reference to the Grand Galloping Gala, which became the focus for the finale.

[WildCard 1,037]

I like how the storyline(I can't write or read the word "plot" anymore with keeping a straight face xD) is now, a bit more continuity would be great(like Reading Dash was)

[Iris Melody 90]

As much as I can imagine loving a pure story arc for season 3, I don't see it being handled well enough to my liking. I can see how the short story arc could do very well, though. That would also help keep it from getting stagnant, and have a bit of a different direction after 2-5 episodes, giving it more potential. If it were to remain purely/mostly episodic, well, I can't imagine creativity being creative for long enough.

 

I vote short story arcs! Maybe building to something, but at least it gives chance for twists and turns and development

[Yellow Diamond 7,561]

Is it wrong that when I read "plot" in the title of this thread, my mind jumped to the alternative meaning often associated with more... adult oriented material of MLP: FiM?

 

I'm going to go out on a limb, without any substantive evidence to back it up, and say this: the third season will either be fantastic or less than stellar; a dichotomy is going to be apparent. Season 4, should we be graced with yet another season, will balance out the show. But the third season will be the first one which will be regularly compared to the first two, resulting in judgment from the fan base.

 

Aside from this blind prediction, I think it should remain primarily episodic. MLP thrives when story arcs are inserted at climactic sections of the season, i.e., the beginning and the end. Continuity nods are great, though I think story arcs would begin to grow stale and throw too much focus onto one of the ponies rather than the whole of the Mane Six.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Thereisnospoon303

[Osaka Bomb 39]

I would definitely love to see story arcs that last for more than one episode. It'd be a nice change of pace, even though I am totally fine with them being purely episodic as well. I don't know about one lasting for a whole season. There's a chance that would be good, but I think I'd get arc fatigue.

[Jokuc 8,172]

I would love to see some short stories because that's what I enjoy the most. You know, those epic feeling of excitement you get every time a story based episode ends. "What will happen next? Oh my, this is so exciting I can't wait to see what will happen!" Atleast that's what I think. Also I would want to see more episodes where all ponies takes part, and not just one - three ponies which I feel it is like right now. I would love to see some Dragonshy-like episode again.

[Emerald Flame 380]

A couple of short story arcs would be nice, but I think that the majority of the episodes should be episodic. No need to fix what's not broken.

[Radiance64 7,051]

I like the way they do it now, but considering the only multi-episode arcs are currently the 2-part Season 1 and 2 premiere episodes, and the fact that the Season 2 finale will also be a 2-parter, it gives me the impression that the show creators might be willing to experiment more with multi-episode arcs in the future, and I'd definitely be ok with that too.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

Is it wrong that when I read "plot" in the title of this thread, my mind jumped to the alternative meaning often associated with more... adult oriented material of MLP: FiM?

 

 

Quite honestly, that was my first thought too.

 

Anyway, I would dearly love for there to be episode arcs in the third season. Heck, if the entire third season was one long episode arc, I could fully accept that as a good reason for why it's only half the length of first two seasons. Only thing is, I'm not sure what they could do to make it a story arc without interjecting some new villains and turning it into an action/adventure show.

 

Which wouldn't be a bad thing at all, it'd just be difficult.

[Eenohay 318]

Quite honestly, that was my first thought too.

 

Anyway, I would dearly love for there to be episode arcs in the third season. Heck, if the entire third season was one long episode arc, I could fully accept that as a good reason for why it's only half the length of first two seasons. Only thing is, I'm not sure what they could do to make it a story arc without interjecting some new villains and turning it into an action/adventure show.

 

Which wouldn't be a bad thing at all, it'd just be difficult.

 

Not difficult at all, a one story arc would probably follow this structure: There's a big bad guy and in order to defeat him they need certain artifacts, so they must travel the world (hopefully outside equestria) in order to find him and defeat him. Each episode can have a new small villian or problem. One of them should be recurrent and be of great importance in the end in order to make things more interesting, and also having one of the ponies leave the good side temporarily would be great too. Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie would seem to work the best for this, I'd say Rainbow but she is loyalty...

Edited March 10, 2012 by Eenohay

[Fire_Fly 499]

I like the way the episodes are now, but I don't think I'd mind short story arcs. Actually, that might make the episodes more interesting, given the story arcs the show's already had (basically the 2-part episodes at the beginning of both seasons) had more development.

 

Turning season 3 into one continuous story might be too much of a stretch from seasons 1 and 2, though. I'm not sure if fans are ready for a saga.

[Dany Heatley 160]

Have more two-parters and have all 6 main characters in each episode... not just one or two.

 

and to the story arc idea... episodes are already way too short IMO

[Aureity 3,055]

Story arcs tend to stick with me more. Yes, there are many single episodes that I could point to and say, "That was an awesome episode," but I feel that a story arc gives characters more depth, since you're not throwing throwing them in twenty-minute situations (There's only so much you can do with a 20-minute story plot). If you take a look at Season 1/2 Episodes 1 + 2, you'll see that the stories can develop more, and go into further detail, and that made the endings in Episode 2 all that more rewarding-if it had been a single episode, I doubt it would have been half as good. 10 minutes would have been the evil guy showing up and talking and causing havoc. Five for the mane six going to stop him/her, and five for the end battle. Time constraints are the bane of every episode.

[Raiyny Day 71]

I'd like to see it stay the same, but have a small 2-3 episode story in the middle of the season That would be cool

[DerpyMLP 1]

I Think the episodes shold continue as they are, with a little more arcs in the season, not just the two episode story at the very beginning.

[Randomiser 115]

If they could pull it off well one continuous arc be great, but I personally like the 2-episode format used on the premieres. It's a good time-frame to develop a story, without getting stale (my only worry with the season arc is that it could drag on). I find a lot of the individual plots creative as it is, and I wouldn't want that to be stifled to fit into a tight storyline. Allusions within the episodes leading up to a larger problem might be nice.

[Kazuki Fuse 534]

I think the plots should get bigger

 

No but seriously, I like it the way it is right now. I already die having to wait a week for a new episode, having to wait a whole week for the next part in a continuing arc would be traumatising.