MLP Retrospective: Why Has The Show Gone Downhill? · 1:29am Apr 1st, 2016
If your familiar with my blogs you know that I am not particularly favorable with McCarthy's direction with the show. I've done a blog post in which I covered who was to blame for MLP's drop in quality, in which I ultimately decided it was McCarthy. However, one thing I feel I have not done in enough detail, is explain exactly why the show is worse off now than it was back when it began. This post is going to be more of a general thing, where I cover the main issues that are plaguing the show.
It's going to be divided into sections. I will state one reason and then explain why I think it is.
Flanderization of the Mane Six
When the show first started, what I really enjoyed was that the characters were not just stereotypes, but instead built on their archetypes. Twilight Sparkle was not a crazy nerd, who talked gibberish and wore glasses, she was instead a polite, friendly, girl who had a love for knowledge, and used it for the betterment of people. She had anxiety issues, among other flaws, but she was helpful, sweet, kind, and extremely likable. So in no way, was she the "nerd", she was much more than that. She felt like a real person, and she matured as season 1 and 2 went on from a closed minded obsessor in the first two parter, to a blossoming, confident, and lovely woman that we loved.
The other characters were also not stereotypes. They were people. Yes, there were the archetypes, but to a point every character is an archetype. You have the dashing hero, the damsel in distress, the cunning villain, the comic relief...... And in the same way you have the tom boy, you have the girly girl, you have the smart girl.... etc. For example, Rarity was a girly girl, but also hardworking, thoughtful, and carried an awful lot of wisdom whilst still making mistakes. Pinkie Pie was comic relief, but also a natural free spirit who brought joy into peoples lives.
But starting in season 3, the characters started to become flanderized. Most notably Pinkie Pie, who's free spirit and joyfulness was almost discarded, and she started to become "the random character." Her original traits only reappeared in her solo episodes. She also became more childish, before having the heart of a child, now having the brain of one as well. In season 5, her character had been reduced to literally the character that screams and blurts out random things.
Now with Twilight it's extremely interesting, because initially it wasn't flanderization but being made into a Mary Sue. In season 3 they started to make her flavorless, and by season 4, she was just "Princess" Twilight Sparkle and every single episode about her revolved around that. Her studious nature was not seen enough, however it was still in there, and to the right amounts in episodes like Testing, 1, 2, 3.
However, McCarthy heard the complaints that her nerdiness had been removed and she had become a Mary Sue, so in season 5 they basically did a 180. Making her nerdy traits completely consume her character so that almost all other traits were removed, and her 3 dimensional nature was completely gone and she was now just a stereotype. This continued on in season 6.
The others weren't as noticeable, but that's because the other mane six members have become less and less important. Which leads me onto my next point.
Reduced Role of the Mane Five
In fact, the whole word I'm using "mane 5" highlights this problem, because in the McCarthy years, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy became just the "mane 5" or "Twilight's friends".
In season 1 it was undeniable that Twilight was the main character, however the others were seen as just as in important. They were also seen as individuals, and as equals to her. They thought differently, acted differently, and were not "the mane 5" but themselves.
If you compare Return of Harmony, to say Twilight's Kingdom, one thing you'll notice is the role that the mane six play in it. Even though in Return of Harmony it is ultimately Twilight that saves the day, the episodes do focus around them as a group, and all of them are important. Whereas in Twilight's Kingdom, it's all about Twilight.
This started in a Canterlot Wedding, and was in every consecutive two parter until The Cutie Map, and then unfortunately returned to it later. Twilight is the star, and the others are "her friends." They often play a relatively minor role in the story, such as a few gags and scenes with them in, and then maybe at the end when they have to do the elements of harmony. They also think as one big hive mind, ignoring their complete differences, and it's only Twilight who is able to think independently. They are simply, the mane 5.
I think it really says something that in the Equestria Girls series the mane 5 aren't even in it, but instead their human replacements. Twilight stays the same person as in the show, whereas the mane 5 are just replicas who are interchangeable. Really shows how important these character are. In fact, they could all be replaced and in the majority of the modern two parters it wouldn't really make much of a difference.
One of the many things I loved about The Cutie Map, is that this was dropped, and it actually felt like the mane six were going on an adventure as equals again, but then in The Cutie Remark the mane six weren't even in it at all, their appearances were basically just cameos in alternate universes and for the song at the end. It really shows just how unimportant they are. In The Crysalling it's the same, just there for gags and a couple of stuff which could have been done by any other characters.
Treatment of Supporting Characters
The show's main supporting characters have been slowly getting worse and worse. I'm going to leave Discord out for the minute, and focus mainly on the characters who are "supposed" to be good.
The most obvious example of this is Princess Celestia, who has gone from a majestic goddess filled with kindness and wisdom, to a useless, selfish, ignorant, baffon who can't do anything without Twilight's help.
You could say this started in A Canterlot Wedding when she was defeated by Chrysalis, however, even though the fact that she was defeated was stupid, her actions and attitude towards Chrysalis in that scene are one of her highest moments in the entire show, and are the actions of a true leader. When she said how Chrysalis would not harm her subjects whilst lighting up her horn, that was Celestia!
I'm going to say it started in The Crystal Empire, where the entire plot revolved around Celestia lying to Twilight and putting her at an extreme disadvantage on her mission, which was to save thousands of lives which would have been in jeopardy if she failed, just so she could pass a bloody test to be a princess. In fact her actions in this episode were so despicable, that it's evident that she is pushing this through because she's a lazy asshole who wants Twilight to be a princess so she doesn't have to do as much work. She also didn't do anything to try and stop Sombra, sitting on her ass and waiting for Twilight to solve the problem.
In Princess Twilight Sparkle, she's taken away by some "seeds" which apparently the goddess of the sun cannot stop and has to be "rescued."
In Twilight's Kingdom she is so unbelievably incompetent and dumb that it's like she's on drugs. She says that Twilight should not assist Discord to defeat NOT Tirek, even though this guy until extremely recently was the greatest evil to have ever walked Equestria, and then, surprise, he joins up with him. What does Tia do next? Does she send out her guards or... maybe use her immense power to stop Tirek before he gets too powerful. No, she waits for him to grow larger than a pony, and then transfers all of her and the other princesses magic into Twilight, not realizing the risk of putting all the magic in one place, and then allows Tirek to get into her palace and send her to tartarus.
She is such an idiot in this episode, so in season 5 she was hardly in it at all. But then she made a stunning comeback in season 6, where the goddess of the sun, could not stop some chilly weather.
It's not just Celestia who's suffered though. Zecora, formally a pretty major side character who appeared more often than Celestia, has basically been written out of the show. Only appearing for extremely brief cameos. Zecora was originally Twilight's mentor, more so than Celestia as she appeared much more frequently. She was unique, dark, edgy, and mysterious. In season 3 she appeared about as much but then in season 4 she appeared once at the start and never again in the season, and then with season 5 basically not having her. It's completely evident why she was written out. She actually has a nice and natural design, which Hasbro couldn't use to make toys because it wasn't colorful enough, so she was scrapped.
Loads of other minor characters have not fared well, but these are the most severe cases.
Return To Less Complex Stories
Now first off, I will not say this is true for every episode of the newer seasons, because there are some good episodes in them, but as a whole, the show has been reverting back to much simpler stories similar to that of G3. If you take a look at some of season 5's episodes and G3, they are really not that different at all.
G4 initially when it started out, was based around incredibly mature stories which could be enjoyed by both adults and children. They were about friendship and the complexities of maintaining relationships, as well as struggles that different types of people faced. It wasn't a stupid children's show with stories about completely trivial things, they were stories about life.
Now I'm not saying all episodes back then were good, and indeed there are some episodes in the later seasons which are very mature and complex. But overall the amount of maturity in the seasons as a whole has decreased. Take a look for example at Castle Sweet Castle, it's about some ponies decorating a castle, something that sounds like something out of G3. What about The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows, when it's about Pinkie Pie just having to hold in a secret the entire episode with a bunch of gags.
Again there are exceptions to this rule, The Cutie Map was without a doubt one of the most mature and intellectual episodes in the show. However it was completely ruined by a non nonsensical, shallow, follow up.
Basically the level of storytelling has decreased. The effort put into a lot of the episodes has decreased, a lot of them have shifted to childish comedy as opposed to proper moral lessons.... etc.
Reformations
I have no problems with the reformation of villains if 1) that villain is a type of villain which can be reformed, and 2) it is written well. But almost every single villain reformed in modern MLP has ignored at least one if not both of those things.
The first villain to be reformed in McCarthy era MLP was Trixie, however, despite being an iconic character, she has not been seen again, and her role in MLP is now in EQG, where she's basically the same as before.
Discord is more problematic. I have already discussed in detail his reformation. Whilst compared to most of the others, his reformation was done okay, his character was completely incompatible with reformation.
The other villains reformed include Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Gilda, and Starlight Glimmer. Gilda was actually done okay, she is a character which could be reformed and it was done okay. DT and SS also could be reformed, but it was done absolutely horrifically. Starlight Glimmer should not have been reformed and it was done dreadfully. Starlight Glimmer is the worst reformation because it failed on so many levels, on a storytelling perspective, a show perspective, and a character perspective.
What we are left with is all of MLP's villains being thrown away with bullshit reformations which 99% of the time fall completely flat.
Destruction of the World
This is really the thing which makes MLP beyond the realm of return as of now.
Whilst the mane six being flanderized and overall Twilight centrism could be rectified, the world cannot be unless everything post season 2 is retconned.
In the beginning of the show, Faust created a world. A world which was immersive, a world which was interesting and fun, a world which was believable, and a world which had lore which has clearly had a lot of effort put behind it. If you look at any of Faust's sketches you will see the amount of dedication which was put into this universe. Everything was so clearly laid out, and by A Canterlot Wedding, after the developments of season 2 which added in so much lore which made the world what it was, it was an expansive world. We knew the origins of Equestria, the master of evil, the two royal sisters who stood up to him and created harmony, the one which turned bad, but then was freed by the mane six. They also put in little bits, which were developed throughout episodes. We learned about Starswirl the Bearded, we learned about the Everfree Forest and how mystical it is. It borrowed loads of elements from greek mythology and built from it this fantasy world. The reason why fanfiction around MLP is so large is because the world was so great, it was so easy to write stories and adventures which would take place in this universe.
In season 3 and 4 (started 3, but mostly 4) however, the world started to be ruined. They kept on having villains randomly return without any explanation, had contrivance after contrivance, made episodes about anything they goddamn wished without thinking about the consequences of the universe, added in incredibly cheesy plot lines, and fucked with the timeline.
In season 5 they promised they would explore the world, I though this was when they were going to make everything make sense and give explanations to everything. I was incredibly wrong. It instead fucked with it even more, from the underwhelming Griffon Kingdom, to the comical stupidity of Slice of Life, to the absurd season finale. It was official. It had passed the point of no return. The world of MLP was now a contrived, cartoony, mess of a universe which has no consistency whatsoever and has completely spat on everything Faust worked so hard to create.
I think you should mention how the writers have been listening to the fans too much i.e. the fanon references in Slice of Life
Agreed with everything. About Zecora, I think that maybe we are going to see her in the next EQG movie, which will explore the Ever Free forest in the "human" world. Yuppy
3839986 I wouldn't have minded it if had been done well. I was initially excited for Slice of Life, because I love the background ponies, (that is, when they're written well and have character beyond muffins and humans.) I thought they would do it well, I was very wrong. The problem is not the fanon per say, it's the way it is handled and how it is effortlessly shoved in there.