My Little Pony's Justice 2 - Official MLP Thread v2

[Strickerx5]

Pretty entertaining episode imo.

Got a kick out of Rarity's shenanigans after realizing how much she has enjoyed Spike's company after all this time. Also found Spike and Gabby's friendship to be pretty damn cute as it was built off of a common interest and simply grew from there. The whole episode sort of had this form of love-triangle trope running through it and with Spike's long running thing with Rarity since season 1, I simply found the whole thing to be quite hilarious.

Also loved the semi-return of the drama couch gag from Lesson Zero.

As far as bad things... eh well, can't really say I have any honestly. Sort of just feel like the episode was a fun little idea that didn't really go above and beyond in any scene. A middling ride throughout with more little funny moments than not.

So yeah, overall a pretty decent and fun episode.

 

Also, side note, is it just me or did Tabitha dip into Luna territory with her VA work quite a number of times in this one? As in Rarity sounded like Luna verily often here. I mean, I realize she plays the two characters with what is pretty much the same tone (really only pitching things down for Luna) but it was strangely more noticeable to me here. Maybe all the heightened drama Rarity was outputting is what caused it, idk.

[AdventChild]

A Horse Shoe-In is this week’s episode and focuses on Starlight, Trixie, and the school…*inwardly groans.

And this episode was average.

I did like Octavia and Dr. Hooves appearing again and playing bigger roles. A bit upset that they could’ve been part of the faculty at least. And Phyllis, I guess.

Also, upset that Big Mac was just reduced to his old shtick in this one with little dialogue. Trixie being annoying, irresponsible and obviously doesn’t have the heart for it for most of the episode brought it down, even endangering the students. And feels similar to other Starlight focused eps before it with Trixie causing much conflict and being in the wrong. Sunburst being tacked on at episode’s end and the obvious lesson of how friends aren’t qualified to do everything. And with this being Starlight’s last focused episode, hadn’t changed my mind about her throughout the seasons. Still miffed about how Our Town and the ponies there got less focus than her, such wasted potential.

A middle of the road one.

[Strickerx5]

Gotta say, this was a pretty standard episode through and through.

Wasn't bad by any means. In fact, I was actively wondering where things were going to go as it had a bit of a bracket thing going on. Was very surprised to see Octavia get a good role in this one too. The episode also had quite a number of fun moments to it as well like that whole gag with Starlight and her plant.

The rest of the episode was just, rather tame all things considered. I can't really mark the episodes down for that but I guess I'm just at the point of, idk, expecting a bit more from these last few episodes? We're nearing the end here and not many of these episodes give off that feeling. Sure they're showing the characters setting up for their next/ final points in life but the episode plots themselves seem very trivial in comparison. Especially here considering that I think this is Starlight's last full on episode. Yet, it felt noticeably more by-the-books than most of her other ones.

If you were to have asked me a year ago or something what a final season of this show would look like, I'd give you episodes that go all in for each character. Like an episode involving some big, huge sporting event including the Wonder Bolts for Rainbow. Twilight tagging along with Celestia and Luna on some big royal adventure. The Student Six getting sent on their own Friendship journey. Rarity holding some huge fashion event in Canterlot. You know, big event episodes that focus in on their characters and give them some form of celebration or the like. We really haven't had that many episodes this season like that (really only the CMCs and Royal Sisters). Instead, we're mostly getting plots like, well, this one.

I don't know, it really isn't every day you see a show that has gone on for this long start to actually wrap things up in such a realistic way. There simply isn't that much to compare this all to. Most cartoons either get cut before the writers can give it a proper ending, go on for too long and sort of just fizzle out at some point with no real ending, or have one final episode where everything just gets wrapped up there. I can't think of many shows that actually spend the majority of their last season in this sort of final mood. It's sort of weird and is kind of bringing the mood down a bit ya know? Lol, like those final few days at summer camp or something. Everyone knows we're nearing the end, we're starting to pack stuff up, but we're still trying to squeeze in a few more activities before then. With us running down into the final month here, that air of finality seems to be holding strong over this one for me.

But anyways, enough doom and gloom bs from me lol. Overall, this was a pretty down the line episode.

[DabigRG]

This weekend's episode was A Horse Shoe-in. I sorta enjoyed it?

So Starlight is promoted by Twilight from Guidance Counselor into the role of Headmistress and thus rolls with the suggestion that she hire a Vice Headmistress to help her run the school. While it was fairly obvious/hopeful prediction that Trixie wouldn't get the job, I just figured they'd end up hiring a character without much purpose/relevance otherwise. Like Spoiled Rich, oddly enough, who I was surprised showed up only to drop out for as little time a she did. 

To talk about the main conflict for a second, this is the surprisingly narrow foundation the episode is built on. Starlight was either gonna cave and pick Trixie or be forced to pass her over because of how unprofessional she is--the latter was the more sensible and in character resolution. I guess the issue is that it is such a straightforward resolution outside of simply making her Guidance Counselor that you're basically just sitting through it to pass time and maybe see a few funny moments. Dr. Whooves, Octavia, and for some reason Big Macintosh also tried out for the position and for what it's worth, I thought the scenes of the candidates actually taking on the school duties in their own way were vaguely interesting. In the end, I honestly never thought about Sunburst for some reason and neither did Starlight apparently. And as messed up as it is, I got a laugh out of the final moment.

As you guys have been saying though, if this is the note Starlight and Trixie(also Sunburst) go out on...man. What a muddled waste of a intricately troubled character this has been. Like, I really kinda appreciated her in the various niches they found with her, but you can tell they barely figured out quite what to do with her half the time, much less really build on it. It didn't help that there seemed to be these various distractions that plagued her character once she became recurring. And while they somewhat got their act together in the seventh season, there's the unfortunate impairment of t.

 

[AdventChild]

So this week’s is Daring Doubt featuring who else, Daring Do,as well as RD and Fluttershy.

This is one of the weaker Daring Do eps. Still prefer Stranger Than Fanfiction overall.

I did like the jungle setting and stuff happening with the environment as well as some of the side characters, but that’s about it.

Writing wise it was mostly average and not a strong plot for Daring Do’s departure that basically rushes much of the subplots involving her with Caballeron and Ahuizotl and their reformations feel tacked on in the process as well. The humor gets affected as well. Again, like with Horse Shoe-In with Starlight, it felt like a weak ending for Daring Do. Speaking of artifacts and relics, why not a Daring Do episode where she is on an adventure with any or all The Pillars esp. with their knowledge/lore/experience of Equestria's past? There are many potentials and opportunities with that kind of setup for an Indiana Jones-esque adventure.

A ‘meh’ episode overall.

[Nintenboi]

No offense to you MLP fans but, if you want to talk about MLP, you can go on some MLP forums.

Here's a link to a popular forum site:

https://mlpforums.com

[DabigRG]

28 minutes ago, Nintenboi said:

No offense to you MLP fans but, if you want to talk about MLP, you can go on some MLP forums.

Here's a link to a popular forum site:

https://mlpforums.com

What do you mean?

[Strickerx5]

3 hours ago, Nintenboi said:

No offense to you MLP fans but, if you want to talk about MLP, you can go on some MLP forums.

Here's a link to a popular forum site:

https://mlpforums.com

We have a Chit-Chat section here for a reason.

 

Anyways, I have to say I quite enjoyed this episode. Kept me guessing till the end.

I can't really say I hold any Daring Doo episode in the highest of regards but I always did find the routes they took to make the entire character more than just a simple Indiana Jones clone to be rather inspired all things considered. That drive took center stage in this episode and led to some pretty interesting turns in the narrative.

Though, if there is one thing I'm a bit confused by here, it had to be Caballeron's actual overall plan here and some of the steps he took during it. I mean, if his overall plan with the book was to defame Daring then I don't really know why he'd choose Flutters to go on this temple heist. I know it can probably be explained through "he's just a greedy guy" or something but even then, is it really that hard to come across pegasus henchmen? I don't know, most of the story beats seem to check out with some thought but quite a number of points seem kind of forced.

Like, why on earth would Caballeron willingly wear that truth telling amulet in the first place if he knew he was up to no good? That sort of seemed like lazy writing all things considered.

But yeah, overall I did quite enjoy this one. Kind of funny how Daring Doo is probably getting a better ending episode than some of the main characters are.

[DabigRG]

Last weeks episode was Daring Doubts and it kinda felt like a vaguely interesting zigzag.

From the beginning, I thought the story was just gonna be a rather predictable smear campaign like the Sonambula episode, albeit with an admittedly escalating bit of meta via Dr. Caballeron(or Martingale) becoming an author himself. However, it suddenly took a more inspired turn with Fluttershy offering to understand his side of the story, which gets him to reveal himself and bring her along on his next adventure. Whether he truly was a bit misunderstood or just obviously using Fluttershy's sympathy to benefit from his initial scheme seemingly on the fly, it was neat place for the episode to go forward.

Where it starts to lose me, even acknowledging the somewhat protracted "because you were nice to us" setup, is Ahuitzotl. At first, I was sorta lifted once his cat minions showed up so it wouldn't just be Caballeron again, but then they get him in on the revision. It kinda reminds me of the Deadly Six except in the other direction: what seemed like some doofy over the top monster/crytid is actually a particular perturbed guardian of the area. I mean it's a more fascinating interpretation that let to the ending being pretty funny, but...wasn't this the same thing that tried to shroud his own land in endless sunlight?  

I guess if I can re-aim things toward being a bit more positive and thoughtful, this sorta brought to mind Stricker's "the best of a character's thematic offerings" suggestion regarding the previous episode. This is essentially a deconstruction on the Rainbow Dash oriented Daring Do mythos that ended up being more of a Fluttershy episode. Which probably isn't contributing for Rainbow in the slightest, but to be honest, I don't mind since I like Fluttershy a lot more. And while Ahuitzotl's inclusion ended up being weird, I actually thought the stuff we got from Dr. Caballeron's gang was truly faceted as well as funny. Even if it is a bit unclear where he stands when you think about it afterwards.

Also, was that Second in Command guy in previous episodes? I remember a guy with a hat, but his and the Opera guy's exact designs seemed a bit unfamiliar. 

On 9/21/2019 at 10:51 PM, Strickerx5 said:

Though, if there is one thing I'm a bit confused by here, it had to be Caballeron's actual overall plan here and some of the steps he took during it. I mean, if his overall plan with the book was to defame Daring then I don't really know why he'd choose Flutters to go on this temple heist. I know it can probably be explained through "he's just a greedy guy" or something but even then, is it really that hard to come across pegasus henchmen? I don't know, most of the story beats seem to check out with some thought but quite a number of points seem kind of forced.

Yeah, admittedly I didn't fully get that. Especially since I literally realized how rare it is looking back that Caballeron and his gang are all Earth Ponies rather than the other two picks.

Heck, it could've been an opportunity to bring back the Dropouts or whatever.

On 9/21/2019 at 10:51 PM, Strickerx5 said:

Though, if there is one thing I'm a bit confused by here, it had to be Caballeron's actual overall plan here and some of the steps he took during it. I mean, if his overall plan with the book was to defame Daring then I don't really know why he'd choose Flutters to go on this temple heist. I know it can probably be explained through "he's just a greedy guy" or something but even then, is it really that hard to come across pegasus henchmen? I don't know, most of the story beats seem to check out with some thought but quite a number of points seem kind of forced.

Eh, I honestly expected him to betray Fluttershy there anyway and therefore be betrayed himself.

[AdventChild]

This week’s MLP outing is Growing Up is Hard To Do, which is oddly enough the CMC’s final episode. The Last Crusade sounded like a fitting end for the CMC and this would’ve been switched. Goes to show how oddly managed this season has been.

A rather meh episode all things considered.

Probably the only thing to like was how cute Bloofy was and that was it.

The plot and message felt lazily forced and predictable esp. with the much of the writing and dialogue. Hay, it even says it smack dab in the episode’s title for goodness sake! Also, didn’t we get the whole grownups aren’t right all the time with Cart Before the Ponies? And the fact I had to reference that episode is troubling enough. The song was weak, the grownup designs were uninteresting and barely changed, and the B plot with the two kids and the pet felt shoehorned into to further emphasis how unsubtle the message is. Again, this doesn’t feel much like last episode for the CMC as much as The Last Crusade was. Probably would’ve been better if it were the CMC graduating from Cheerilee’s school or something. Lastly, I’ve read fanfics over half a decade ago that have age progression/grownup tf stories that were better handled than this.

A So-So episode.

[DabigRG]

On 9/21/2019 at 6:09 PM, AdventChild said:

Speaking of artifacts and relics, why not a Daring Do episode where she is on an adventure with any or all The Pillars esp. with their knowledge/lore/experience of Equestria's past? There are many potentials and opportunities with that kind of setup for an Indiana Jones-esque adventure.

 

Yeah, the Pillars just kind of existed for the Season 7 finale and never really did that much in or out of it.

Outside of Starswirl, of course.

[batson]

So, have you guys seen the leaked final episode or what?

[DabigRG]

1 minute ago, batson said:

So, have you guys seen the leaked final episode or what?

Not, those I have seen Youtube thumbnails or titles  in passing. It looks whacked.

[Strickerx5]

3 hours ago, batson said:

So, have you guys seen the leaked final episode or what?

I'm waiting on the US premier. I already have a good idea of what happens but I'm trying to ride this out and give the show the conclusion date the team behind it wanted. The least I could do at this point.

 

This week's episode is the last main CMC episode and honestly, while I wouldn't say its the worst way they could've ended with these characters, it was pretty leveled all around.

I think my biggest drawback with this episode is really how disjointed it all felt. There was a lot of jumping around from location to location just to simply get to Applalossa. They sort of lost focus on the CMCs at multiple points. A lot of the time they seemed to have been written as one character and it was rare for any of their specific traits to shine through. And, yes, I do think I'm taking more points off for this than I normally would due to it being their last episode but I don't really see that as unfair at this point.

Though, the rest of the episode was pretty solid all things considered. The premises and moral were great additions to show as even some adults could benefit from it lol. Plus, while they certainly didn't help the actual story along, the varied environments themselves were pretty interesting throughout the entire episode which I can appreciate.

Also, that monkey thing was both cute af and completely terrifying in its Looney Tunes antics.

So yeah, an overall average episode with a good morale on its shoulders. The other CMC episode this season probably would've been a better way to end with the characters but I wouldn't call this episode bad for that.

[DabigRG]

Speaking of YouTube, I'm also seeing a few thumbnails that the Dazzlings come back. Someone's not gonna be happy. 

But sheesh, I haven't seen anything EG since the Mark Beaks episode and that music video about Sunset in the rain. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I'm not just seeing thumbnails for vague clips, but there are now videos for songs and specific moments from what is almost certainly the finale. How many episodes do we have left?

Anyway, that brings a question to mind: Given how this is apparently gonna end, how do people about G5 supposedly using rebooted versions of the same six characters as the main cast again?

[Strickerx5]

This episode really surprised me.

From the moment they started out with The Office styled interviews (like they did with the P.P.O.V which is also another great episode), I knew we were in for an absolute treat. This is honestly the kind of episode I wish the show had done more of. You don't utilize characters because you have to fill some quota. You use them because they make sense to be there and add something fun to it all. If you were to tell me a few years back that one of the final episodes would star Big Mac, one of the ponies from Starlight's village, Spike, Discord, the CMCs, and gd Mrs. Cake I'd give you all kinds of weird looks (back when it seemed illegal to go one episode without seeing Twi) but it really is where these later seasons shine.

Each character in this one played off one another so well. Led to some very comedic moments with nothing feeling forced. Plus, Big Mac getting with Sugar Belle (right next to his parent's joined tree) was so incredibly touching like wow.

Like, look at my boi BG, he made it! XD

If I had to call out one downside it'd probably have to be Discord though tbh. Like, I greatly enjoyed most of his remarks throughout the episode but some of his actions did draw out a "...really man?" from me. Like, nothing about creepy talking apples made him think that this probably wasn't the best way to propose to someone? I mostly chalk these moments up to Discord still being so out of touch with actual feelings but it still did make me roll my eyes a bit admittedly.

Also, is it just me or did Cheerilee get a raw deal with these last few seasons? First her school is up-shown by Twilight's and then Big Mac official is with someone else. Like wow lol

So yeah, overall this was a pretty great one. Had a boat load of both humorous and touching moments throughout.

 

And with that, we're officially entering the last week of the show. I have... a lot of feelings going into this but I feel that they're best saved for after these final episodes (so probably expect one long ass post coming from me soon). For now, all I'll say that it's been one hell of a ride. Hopefully it ends strong.

[AdventChild]

This week’s episode is The Big Mac Question, the final normal episode before the finale/epilogue of the series, focusing on Big Mac and Sugar Belle’s growing relationship which is something I kinda lack interest in.

I found this episode to be alright.

I only liked much of Discord’s shenanigans, Big Mac speaking more, and the moral and references to the Perfect Pear.

Again, the plot revolving their relationship, I didn’t find much interest in. Though while it was nice to see Double Diamond, Party Favor, and Night Glider, I’m still peeved that they were underutilized and didn’t have much focusing on them after their debut, yet Sugar Belle got more screen time just for being with Big Mac. Some of the writing felt kinda force even with Discord’s apple monster and the CMC’s involvement. Also, the wedding felt tacked on last minute.

Just an okay episode.

[Strickerx5]

Well a bit of a warning or heads up or whatever but Hasbro/ DHX just had yet another massive leak. This time, nothing was spared. Scripts, reversions to scripts, cut episode ideas, animatics, flash objects, notes, messages between crew, music, ect. dating back to even pre season 1... wow.

I don't think it really maters as far as spoilers go because, well, this is the final week of the show but hey.

Personally, I'm sort interested to see what bit of production facts come from this. Have only seen a few things pop up over my usual channels but even from that a lot of choices made have been given a bit more context (for better and for worse).

 

Also... I swear to Moon these things have been happening each October for the last 3 years now...

[MetalSkulkBane]

4 hours ago, Strickerx5 said:

Also... I swear to Moon these things have been happening each October for the last 3 years now...

Spooooky XD

[Kevin]

Well.....it's over.......

If you had told me 9 years ago that I would fall in love with a show featured multi-colored ponies, I would have laughed and thought you were crazy. Yet here I am 9 years later crying about the show ending.

This show has made a tremendous impact on me that will stick with me for the rest of my life and leave me memories that I will carry with me.

When it first started, I was a year into my current job, just started solo travelling, and still living at home. Now here I am 9 years later, in a successful career, having travelled the world, and am now living on my own.

MLP has given me the opportunity to meet new people whom I've become great friends with. It has helped gotten me through a sudden passing of a close friend of mine and getting out of a very toxic friendship. I've learned so much from i and it has gotten me through the best and worst of times.

Even though the show itself may be over, I'm not saying goodbye, but instead "see you soon!".

Finally, instead of being sad that it's over, I'm happy that it happened.

Thank you, MLP.

[AdventChild]

And thus our equine journey ends with The Ending of the End and The Last Lesson today.

Starting off with the Ending of the End.

It was meh

Even though Discord had some moments, the whole Grogar reveal feels like a writing cop out in a sense and that the villain trio got powerful of that from Discord’s poor friendship making ideas. A ton of tropes from other finales/openings are found here as well from Princesses rendered useless, Twilight doubting herself, Rainbow beams, etc. The Pillars were there but Stygian seemed absent and were easily defeated. The action was average.

A somewhat lackluster two-parter.

As for The Last Lesson, it’s somewhat same with the finale, though not particularly a fan of grand time skips. *Remembers the Digimon Adventure 02 final ep. Probably preferred it if didn’t had that flashback format and just be the coronation with a flash forward. I’ll still say that Unicorn Twilight > Alicorn Twilight esp. with her looking like a recolored Celestia in this. Blech! Not a fan of the song at the end as well. And the plot was standard too.

[Your Vest Friend]

Me, 2010: Applejack and Rainbow Dash have green and magenta eyes, that means they're destined to end up together. 

*9 years later, they actually get together*

Me, now:     

[Strickerx5]

Well, end of the line. After 8 years (I personally started following this show in 2011), I watched the final few episodes last night and… wow. I have a bit to say here. I’m going to try and keep things as condensed as possible but with this probably being my final real thought post on the show, there’s a lot of ground to cover so apologies in advance.

Also, this shouldn’t need to be said but of course now that this is all out there I’m going to be throwing spoilers left and right so be warned.

I’m going to be splitting this one up in sections so grab a nice cup of tea or something and let’s get to it.

The Finale

I’m going to be frank here, I was actually pretty worried about this one. It’s no real secret that the show’s track record with finales has been shaky over its later half. There are often a number of issues I take with even the, overall, good ones so seeing that this was going to be the penultimate of the show… yeah, there was a lot riding on this.

First off, Grogar being Discord was something that honestly did catch me a bit off guard but I’m not entirely sure how to feel about it tbh. Looking back, his eye brows should’ve been a giveaway but they really didn’t hint all that much towards that being a possibility throughout the season like they normally do with these sort of reveals. But anyway, this opens up a lot of questions. While it was a neat surprise, you gotta question Discord’s mentality with all this. You leave three villains basically unmonitored for what has to be weeks and you don’t expect the worst? Discord’s cause for wanting to prove to Twilight that she could handle the worst is just but that was still a terrible plan on his part.

Like, you’re going to introduce them to a deus ex machina McGuffin, the likes of which would make the gd alicorn amulet blush, that can literally take away magic and disperse it between them and he didn’t think that could at all backfire massively?

Now, I’ve been an advocate of reformed Discord for a while now. His antics are often hilarious and, for the most part, him being reformed but still not fully giving a shit about how he interacts with others and uses his powers has been an interesting ride. Though here he was just flat out given the stupid ball. Personally, I don’t think that this was a great way to end his character even though he did get a standout moment in that cave. Actually, if it wasn’t for that moment I’d be a lot more miffed about this.

Though, speaking of being miffed, let’s go back to that bell because holy shit talk about seeing a problem form in real time. It’s like the very moment the villains spill its true power, all the times the princesses got shafted just flashed before my eyes. I mean the writers just couldn’t help themselves this one last time could they? Princesses get nerfed again and I’m just stuck wondering why the writing team literally has it out for them at this point lol.

But hey, in what must be a standout moment in the entire show for me, they actually get a chance to hold their own against the 3 villains for a bit. It’s mostly off screen and it’s implied that they couldn’t keep it up (even with the OP Twilight 2.0 that is Starlight backing them up) but hey, better that than nothing I guess. Plus I’ll give bonus points for the writers not doing the whole cheap “kill off one or both of them to help give the main character a boost of fighting spirit” bs that some (myself included for a bit) were theorizing would happen. Gotta count your blessings folks.

Also, the bell was a lazy plot device, even with the buildup. I wish they had went with something a bit cleverer for the last big hurdle of the show.

What makes that last point all the more negative is that they really did have a good idea going with the whole “turn the different pony species on one another” idea. They even brought back the windigos and everything! I have no idea why that wasn’t used more as the driving force of conflict. Not only does it expertly pull in past continuity and drive home what really is the biggest enemy to friendship, but it’s also timely af. Though, I will say that the way it was handled was still good (especially with bringing in the student six to solve it) so I’d count this as more of a missed opportunity than anything.

Now, as for the main three villains, gotta say they played their parts verily well in the episode. The dynamic the three had in certain scenes was great to watch. Though, with that being said, I feel like key traits of theirs were lost overall in the team up. I believe the biggest offender of this was Chrysallis who really had the most to be mad about. She’s been in the show since season 2 and really does have a beef to pick with each main part of the cast. Though here she had to share screen time with the other two and it left so many opportunities on the table.

Also, as a side note, I have to say that I’ve kind of done a 180 on Cozy over the last year. Before, I had originally found her to be a unique villain. While I still think that the overall role she played in season 8 was indeed interesting and a general fresh take for the show, seeing her character go on beyond that point has been rather tiresome to me. I believe it really is the fact that she has no backstory unlike the other two that really did her in for me. She’s just a mad, psychopathic child with nothing more going for her. Her “friendship” with the other two isn’t even great as she tried to double cross them here. I remember a theory people had a bit back that she would actually be revealed as Chrysallis which, imo, would’ve been the better route to take in the lead up to this (and in season 8 really with that mean six episode now that I think about it). Now, she had no reason to be evil and just ended up feeling sort of tacked on to the other two simply due to her being one of the last few “villains” left in the show.

While I’m on them, I’ll also bring up how their defeat was handled. Obvious princess bias aside, I’m sort of meh on it all. Like I get how people can take issue with Discord getting off scott free for leading them to that point, stone really being a low key dark thing to end on when you really think about it (especially for Cozy), and there definitely being better ways to have handled it but honestly… I just can’t bring myself to care too much. They got the classic cartoon villain punishment for now. While I’m hoping more is done with them in the comics (mainly with Chrysallis), I could take it or leave it tbh.

Which brings me to my final thought for this, the mane six. Honestly, I greatly enjoyed how this seemingly wasn’t actually told in the perspective of Twi fixing everything but really in the perspective of the group. When most of the characters are in a certain place, those scenes take place there. We don’t follow up with Twilight until her friends get there which is huge. Not only does it add suspense to whether Twilight has a plan or not, but it also gives the five a chance to actually be the heroes of Equestria themselves. It all made for a much more balanced ratio of screen time than most of the other two parters had.

So I’ve rambled on here but where does this all leave me… Overall, I think I can say I was satisfied to sum it up. There were definitely some issues I had with it (like with just about every two-parter) but for the most part, it was strong where it mattered and was a worthy last big blow out for the show. Though of course, in a surprising twist, we got one more actual episode following it.

Epilogue

The final episode… you know, thinking about that alone got me a bit but after watching it… yeah, I got a bit choked up I’ll admit. That final song and ending on a shot of the book man… really did make it feel like the end of an era.

Liked how they turned the coronation on its head a bit. Lead to some good laughs from me but yet still managed to feel meaningful in the end all the same. Also appreciated them acknowledging the hurt actual moves and change can bring on their own. It’s an important morale to end on really.

As for the time jump aspect… I don’t really know what to say about all of… THAT. I will say that it was nice to see that the other 5 had gone on to do great for themselves and that Spike basically became the stud he dreamed about back in season 1 lol. As for Twi… pff

Look, I’m trying to be a bit more sentimental in this part but wow, Celestia 2.0 install complete. I honestly can’t believe they went there with her, right down to using the same body model too lol. I mean, it works I guess. The new ruler of Equestria should realistically look the part after all this time. Hell, the growth spurt she got after her ascension to alicorn status probably should’ve been the giveaway way back when for me. Though, then they went and made her act exactly like Celestia too. Shit had been hinted at throughout the season but it was still a real bruh moment.

Even went as far as to give Twi her own Twilight 3.0. New, improved! Able to read a thousand books per minute and can cut down an entire two-parter’s worth of life morals into a single flashback! Complete with a shiny mane, light motif cutie mark, and wifi XD

But in all seriousness, I think this was an, overall, solid way to end her character. It’s been clear for years now that the show was moving away from her bookworm antics and while I still prefer early seasons Twi, this was a proper end to the character that these writers were building.

So yeah, overall… a pretty sweet ass episode to end one sweet ass show.

…

And Luna basically came back from the moon to only having to work for what was probably less than a decade, and now has an eternity of retirement ahead of her.

I kept telling y’all

Some of you doubted

But in the end the same story was told to you again and again

The Moon always wins.

It’s too late to repent!

THE BOIS OF THE NIGHT WILL NOT BE LOST

Another time for the people in the back

Luna.

 

Season 9 and the Show overall

What can I honestly say about season 9 at this point? I think by the post made by both me and others on here over the past few months, I don’t think it’s that surprising for me to say that this wasn’t as strong of a season to end on as we all would’ve liked. There were some definite stand out episodes but, then again, that can be said about every season.

There are only a handful of episodes that I can actually say I would recommend to someone wanting to jump into the show. Due to which, while I can’t say it’s my personal weakest season of the bunch, I don’t think it’s anywhere near the top either. It hit things home where it counted, but overall, eh ngl, it was more of a chore to watch certain episodes this time around.

 

Which brings me to my final thoughts on the show in general. It’s honestly been one hell of a ride. While I could probably go on here (like I really already have with this post), I think it’d just be better to leave the retread where it is, across this entire thread (and the massive original from back in the day). I’ve shared most of my thoughts regarding this show here since basically the beginning so I don’t think there’s a real need for me to somewhat copy and paste all of it in this already massive post lol.

To try and put a big bow on the key points, it’s honestly been one hell of a ride. From the official material to the absolutely phenomenal fan content, this show has entertained me for over a third of my life so far. It’s pretty easy to say that my life wouldn’t be the same if it were not for this show. It introduced me to so much content outside of itself. New people, artist, shows, music, entire series, ect. The impact it has had on my entertainment taste is immeasurable. They’ll never see this, but I really am grateful for both Faust and a number of the various teams at DHX over the years for that alone.

With that being said though, it’s no secret that the show did dip in overall positives as time went on for me. Now, I’ll still argue that, even in season 9, the show is far from bad or even mediocre at points. Though, there’s no doubt in my mind that the show was stronger back in the earlier seasons overall.

Now I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and after going back recently to rewatch some of the older episodes and with the recent leak that happened, I’ve basically boiled it down to one main reason as to why that is. Basically, the amount of people that have had a hand in the show over the years is varied to put it lightly. Writers and artist rotated in and out of the series over its lifespan and the end result shows this.

To be more specific, the show I just got finished watching earlier today is a completely different one from the show I got hooked on back in the days of Generations hype. The characters, world, that all remained but the overall feel of the show is vastly different. While I wouldn’t call the change bad for the most part (sound like a broken record here but there really are episodes that I consider to be some of the best in the show that aired even as late as this year), but it really is notable.

Going into some of the leaked material a bit, it’s clear that the earlier seasons had a lot more put into their planning than recent seasons did. Back then, writers coming on had to have watched the show to write for it. Each episode was also edited a bunch to try and keep a certain line of quality for each one. For the recent seasons, a lot of that was hand waved and most writers were basically given sparknotes for everything. While I get that, by that point, the show was massive in length and simply rewatching it would prove to be a big time sink, any other method that didn’t include that was always going to cause issues (especially with what they chose to highlight for each character’s main points… a bit of a yikes there tbh).

It’s clear that the more recent teams didn’t have the same drive working on this than the ones from previous years. It’s why the episode that was mainly coined by the VAs fared better than most of the other ones this season. That was a plot made by people who have been there since the beginning. A lot of the episodes simply didn’t have that. Now the exact reason for all this can be anything and if you really want that answer, the documents are getting out there. Though, personally, I’ve sort of realized that I don’t care to invest that time because it won’t change the end result.

But even outside the leaks, the problems were still lingering and clear; even in the mid years. It’s questionable at best handling of certain characters and themes, the dropping of certain big plot elements just to replace them with others, the lack of proper world building, *cough*AJ*cough*, the overabundance of plot and character retreads… all things that do honestly keep this show from being the near perfect thing that I myself thought it was back in the day.

But with all that being said, I’d be kidding myself if I didn’t consider the high’s to vastly make up for any faults it had.

Simply put, it’s a show that has meant a lot to me and I do feel that there’s a quantifiable reason for that. While it may not make it into many top cartoon lists in the future, it’ll always have a spot in mine for its sheer importance to my taste in general. When you follow something for this long, it’s hard to not let it get to that point.

I do think that this is a show anyone can, at the very least, enjoy. You’re going to have to avoid the rough spots it does have and, to put this on record, you should by no means watch every episode. Though, I will say that you won’t have to look hard at all to find quite a number of true gems in there.

There’s a reason this show became a bit of a phenomenon a few years back. The quality was, has been, and is there. It connected a lot of people together, including myself. That kind of pull can’t really be ignored. I think back to 2011 when no one thought this show would even do that well or go on for as long as it actually did. I believe that, if you were to go back and tell fans that the show was able to connect with people, even up to its end 9 whole years later, you’d see a lot of happy faces.

So yeah, one final time.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed my time with this show.

 

Tl:dr Luna forever

[MetalSkulkBane]

Ah, the last few episodes that I totally watched just now and now several weeks ago when they leaked.

"Ending of the End"
Ok, was Grogar/Discord thing always a plan? It's so random and nonsensical. Admittedly they they did nothing to build up Grogar through whole season. Also, are we going to completely ignore that Tirek already has power to suck powers from other and in fact already had Discord power?
Either way, it's really average finale.
Evil Trinity were cute working off each other, even if they didn't felt like proper 'final boss'. Windigos were a nice touch and ultimately I feel like "racism" plot was handled fine enough. I actually really liked Young Six and rest of the students bringing everyone together. It's good to see that this last seasons gimmick pays off.
On the other hoof it hits all the annoying cliches. Twilight doubting herself, everyone being useless (oh, Pillars. We hardly knew you) and the whole Discords thing (btw, I always hated his terrible comedian thing). And on top of that there is hardly anything new in this story. So all of it sums up to finale that is competent, but forgettable, which is sad thing to say about end of the whole show.

"Final Lesson"
.....well I feel it's appropriate ending, that would touch me if I was as into the show as during early seasons. Making coronation a disaster feels like a really dumb final plot, only to twist it into somewhat melancholic last bonding before big change. Also this slightly redeems episode with Scootaloo parents when I said we should have story about friends separating.
... of course it also diminishes last CMC episode. Why waste time showing us age-up CMC when we'll see that anyway? And that leads me to future part and MAIN THING that bugs me about this episode: Future Six designs suck. Wrinkles under everyone eyes? You couldn't come up with anything better? AJ isn't old, she just didn't slept in a month. Congratulation on showing growing up as something appealing show. Hey, remember that last time we seen Twilight Velvet? She was grandma to Flurry Heart, but still looked better than very fit and presumably childless Rainbow. Couldn'one them gain weight or something?
Just saying, I don't see toyline based on them. And IDK, Twlight looks kinda silly being this similar to Celestia.

Shipping Time!
- Pinkie and Cheese. Kinda shameless appealing to fans, they never showed actual romancing interest in each other, but we had long time skip, why not.
- Fluttershy and Dicord. Ok, that is perfectly understandable and earned. After all, she loves animals...I'm sorry.
- Rarity and Spike....NOT. Huh. I see logic behind this, but considering how much fan-pandering this all is, I'm surprised a little.
- Lyra and Bon Bon. It was shown in a back ground, looks sweet, LGBT and all that, perfect.
- Applejack and Rainbow.... yeah, I'm going to 'boo' this one. They were close friends, but they never felt remotely like a couple. At least no more than Rainbow/Fluttershy, Rainbow/Pinkie. No, MLP just really wanted to join Pride Parade, because every "progressive" show these days must have gay character by law. And every time this happens I have mixed feelings.
One hands: yes, we must be progressive, tolerant and stuff, I'm not gay, but I'm 100% behind it.
Other: Are you genuinely caring for The Cause, or just pandering? Just saying, everyone goes for marketable lesbians over male gays and that makes me think guy with a chart ordered it, not the  passionate writer with understanding for characters.
And this shipping has very strong "chart" stench behind it.

Final Thoughts
When I look at my playlist I see almost every song from seasons 1-2 and then maybe five from other seasons combined (Equestria Girls not included). So yeah, I'm not remotely as much into FIM as I used to. I think season 6 or 7 is when 'average' or even 'meh' became more common than 'good'.
I stuck around for three reasons.
1 I'm a dumb complesionist. Don't be like me kids, it's what big corporations want.
2 Fandom. For better or worse, fans accomplished some great things and I wanted to keep being up-to-date. I wish Sonic fans made half as much great songs (unless I'm missing something and if so, youtube algorithm is a garbage).
3 Sonic is my favorite franchise of all time because it's large, but comprehensive, filled with characters colorful in personality and design, with stories of fun and adventure, but capable of trying to be serious.
Nintendo franchises don't have those large fantastic casts. Marvel/DC comics can't keep consistent personalities, every new Robin is a stranger to me. Most cartoons end to fast before they create a large living world to actually immerse yourself. And with all that said, MLP FIM is the closest thing to copy that feat.  From Spike, Princesses, CMC, Big Mac, Zecora, big and small villains, down to all the wonderful background characters, Equestria feels like a magical place with it's own personality. Every episode seemed to introduce someone worth remembering.
And of course none of that would matter if Main Six weren't so damn likeable. If you look on superhero teams, usually some Wolverine really overshadows Cyclops. But this six is wonderfully varied, in designs, personalities, quirks and that what made this show so damn special. I might got bored of the stories, but those characters will always stay close to my heart. (Also, Sunset Shimmer. She's the best. I'm going to listen to "Let it Rain" again right now. Sunset forever).

[Dr. Mechano]

I'm going to miss this show now that it's over, even though - like many of you - I did definitely feel that seasonal rot toward the end. I guess when a series almost completely changes its writing staff over time, that tends to happen. But hey, I stuck it out to the end, and I honestly did still find plenty to enjoy, even in the show's final seasons. So I'd like to reminisce on the parts of MLP that mattered to me: The characters and stories that got me so into this show in the first place.

One thing that's been a constant for me since the beginning is my favorite MLP character: Rarity. I love what a nuanced character she was, how brilliant and creative she could be when she put her mind to it, what a savvy businesswoman she always was, and how completely over-the-top she could become when she got swept up in her ambitions. She was hilarious; prone to breaking into maniacal laughter or launching into hammy, verbose speeches. But she was also really well-rounded and sympathetic, and had a great balance of comedy and drama.

Plus, in the IDW comics, she had a brief stint as a luchador, which seems like an oddly specific trend among my favorite characters:

I loved the rest of the main cast, and quite a few of the side characters as well of course. But Rarity the fabulous fashionista is the one I'll miss the most. Ah well, there's still the IDW comics for now. Maybe I'll catch up on those.

I may not be as into the show as I was a few years ago, but it still provided me with a ton of entertainment, as well as a character who's still probably in my top ten favorites overall. Whether G5 will appeal to me like G4 originally did, we'll find out in time. But for now, thanks for the memories, MLP!