Season 6 Roundup · 6:46pm Oct 23rd, 2016
Now that the finale has officially aired, I guess it's time to have a little review. Remember when I presented my wishlist for the season?
#1 A Twilight Velvet episode (She had two lines in the season premiere. So shut up, I'm counting it!)
#2 A Sparity episode
#3 A Celestia episode
#4 Something that makes me cry tears of joy like the CMC episode last season.
#5 An M.A. Larson episode that makes all the bronies shout "LARSON!!!" at the top of their lungs. (Yes, I know M.A. Larson didn't write any episodes this season. But I'll give it this one. We'll get back to it later.)
#6 I want one of the Mane 6 (doesn't matter which one) to get into a romantic relationship with a character that is already established in the show, that this relationship matters, and that it lasts for more than one episode.
2 out of 6, with a lot of goodwill thrown in there. Yet, I still loved the season. So maybe this wishlist format isn't really suitable. Let's do something else, shall we? How about an awards show!?
Rookie of the Year
I was sceptic when I learned that Starlight would be a permanent addition to the main cast. It also seems to have been a late decision, as many episodes that were not specifically made for her seemed to just forget her.
But she's a flawed character, a character that is a little too fast on the magic trigger sometimes and has a lot of demons about her past left. And she's managed to set herself apart from Sunset Shimmer, who is a character I really like. So I didn't want an inferior copy running around in the show when we had Sunset being awesome in the movies already.
If not before, the season finale clinched it, perhaps the best season finale we've seen yet and Starlight had to carry most of it. And she did so brilliantly.
Most Character Development
Of course it's Spike. If you read my post about why he's the secret protagonist of MLP a while back, you'll know my reasoning already.
Spike befriending and giving Thorax a chance once again turned out to be crucial. There's another elment I've noticed this season. Spike seems to be a vessel to bring pony values to other species. Others do it on occasion (Pinkie with the Yaks, or RD and Pinkie with the griffons), but generally it falls to Spike to be a bridge between species. This season he's brought friendship to the Dragon Lands, given Discord a second set of friends and risked his reputation to help a changeling. That unconditional first step towards making a friend makes Spike special, being even more open and tolerant to those who are different than the Mane 6.
Honorabe Mentions for Most Character Development go to Fluttershy, who seems to have found the perfect balance between her natural shyness and assertiveness this season.
Most Adorable Character
Need I say more? Flurry Heart is sooo cuuute!!! Although Baby Thorax came in a close second.
Best Song
Luna's Future. No contest.
Best Episode/ Best Social Commentary/ Most Feels
Also no contest, at least as far as regular episodes go. The Times They Are A Changeling. An almost perfect episode.
Plenty of other good episodes like Saddle Row Review and Dungeons and Discords, too.
Honorary M.A. Larson Award
Told you we'd get back to that one. Yes, thanks to Thorax' new status as a quasi-royal and the spontaneous evolution of an entire species, Josh Haber and Mike Vogel have won the coveted M.A. Larson award for this season. (The only cringe-worthy moment of an otherwise perfect season finale. But I'll let it slide.)
That's it for my thoughts on the season as a whole. What did y'all think of it?
This was an excellent season
It wasn't quite as variable as season 5. That one went from "utterly wretched" to "spectacularly amazing", while season 6 merely went from "bad" to "really great". But I'm okay with this.
Of course, it would be nigh-impossible for anything to top the sheer amazingness of "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", simply because there aren't any other quests that have been going on for the entire show that they can resolve. But they did show that they have built a rich enough world that they can keep coming up with new stories and not have it feel forced. And that includes stories that show us new sides of the old characters, like Spike. And while Starlight Glimmer put in a very strong effort, between his three big episodes I think Spike definitely deserves to be named MVP for this season.
I think maybe a special reward is in order for "Best use of poorly-used characters" for how excellently they used Spike, Discord, and Trixie.
Yeah, that one was a tall order, and the Thorax episode came damn close. But I guess the CMC getting their marks just spoke to me emotionally a lot more. By contrast, Times Are A Changeling and To Where and Back Again are damn near perfect in terms of story-telling. So I enjoyed them a lot more intellectually.
Has some flaws such as filler episodes like P.P.O.V., but aside from that, this was a pretty good season to me.
Season 6 was pretty good my only problems with it was Starlight not being seen in certain episodes and Newbie Dash making me cringe (seriously that episode can die in a fire). All in all I give it a 4 out of 5.
4268005 I liked P.P.O.V. honestly and it is a slice of life show filler episodes are pretty common.
4268045 I would have been okay with the episode if it weren't for the surprise out of place reveal of the bunyip. It felt like a too convenient answer, a deus ex machina if you would.
I'm a bit sad that the changelings have to turn into these multicolored superhealthy beings. Having beings that are sort of icky is fine! But I guess their toys wouldn't sell as well. But on the other hand they can be changed slightly from their original form, to show their transition into something different. Like fuller wings, some colored portions of their bodies, that kind of thing. This seems a bit too hefty an alteration.
4268155 but the bunyip was the best part to me and kept the episode from being too predictable it just reminds me how good the show is with its humor
No. The Times They Are A Changeling was a terrible episode. Not only did it repeat a lesson already taught, but it confirmed why the Changelings themselves are an inherently flawed, paradoxical species that should not exist in the show's lore.
4269171 Well... damn.