Mane Eight Ranking, Version 6 · 1:36pm Jun 10th, 2018
Well, it's time to update the rankings again. Suffice it to say, the events of Season 8 (and to a lesser extent the movie) have really given me a lot to think about. You'll be surprised at some of the changes here. Here's version 5 from the end of Season 7, let's see what changed. It probably goes without saying, but this list is the result of my personal opinion so please respect it.
8. Applejack
Why she stayed on the bottom: Poor Applejack, her only focus episode of the entire first half and it was the worst of the whole bunch. She wasn't much better in "Grannies Gone Wild" either, her "rules" meant any potential plot threads got shut down before they could go anywhere. And of course, Applejack remains basically unchanged from last time. There's really nothing they can do at this point to develop her character without it seeming forced. It's really saying something when even Fluttershy had more of an actual presence in the movie than she did.
7. Rainbow Dash
Why she stayed the same: You know, despite becoming a Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash hasn't exactly shown much of her character growth recently. And they haven't really done anything with her as a Wonderbolt since her debut in "Newbie Dash". I will give some credit to "Grannies Gone Wild" for having her actually follow Applejack's rules and abandon her personal desires. But "Non-Compete Clause" was one of the most insulting potrayals of her character since "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well". The movie wasn't particularly kind to her either, they stuck her in her default personality more than was needed and made her kind of dumb. And no, "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3" does not justify that, because that episode back pedaled from Rainbow having a learning disability to just her learning in a different way.
6. Twilight Sparkle
Why she moved down: Ooh boy, Twilight has really fallen from grace if she's in third to last. The movie alone wouldn't have done this to her, although it clearly had trouble deciding whether Twilight's supposed to be the cynic or the only sane one, and tried to have it both ways. The end result was a scene that never should've been written, a scene that was ten times worse than the infamous scene from "A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1" (which itself was rehashing a similar scene from "Lesson Zero" except there it made sense for the rest of the mane six to brush off Twilight's concerns as it was clear Twilight was losing it. And even then, Applejack at least showed signs that she was worried). But what we've seen of her in Season 8, she's become almost a parody of herself. In "School Daze" she doesn't listen to her friends despite having just gone through a situation where not listening to them was a bad thing, but listens to Starlight who gives her tough love. In "Non-Compete Clause" she rightfully calls out Rainbow Dash and Applejack, but on a whim stupidly believes they've learned their lesson even though she later reveals she knew they were competing even after she left. In "Marks for Effort" she accuses the CMC of intentionally giving Cozy Glow the wrong answers, refuses to let them tell their side of the story, and kicks them out of her school, all while not telling them what Starlight ends up telling Cozy Glow. And in "The Mean Six" her role amounts mostly to just giving a friendship speech to solve the hastily introduced conflict. If not for "Surf and/or Turf" which demonstrated her maturity in willing to let the CMC handle things on their own even though she was chaperoning them, "Horse Play" which addressed her idol worship of Celestia and the dangers it could have, and "Molt Down" which had her show genuine concern for Spike, she might have even ended up on the bottom. I can't say she was flanderized in this season, because flanderization is a process that develops over time, and involves constantly exaggerating a character's flaw or flaws to the point where they become said character's only trait. Twilight isn't at that level yet.
5. Spike
Why he moved up: He largely moved up because Twilight moved down. As great as he was in "Molt Down" and even at times in "The Break Up Break Down", those are just two episodes out of a total of thirteen where he was in the spotlight and did great. "School Daze" treated him decently, but it's not clear what kind of role he's supposed to have in the new school. He was not present in "The Maud Couple", "Grannies Gone Wild", "Surf and/or Turf", and "The Mean Six", and had a mostly pointless role as the butt monkey of sorts in "The Parent Map" and "Non-Compete Clause". And then of course there's "Horse Play" which saw his so called friends use him to distract the audience. And while it was nice to see his new wings be acknowledged in "Marks for Effort", he was just there for one joke and that was it (aside from when he drops the diplomas). Plus, his new wings didn't come with a change in height or voice, they just feel like a tacked on addition so his character arc can be more or less complete. Which is why I can't put him higher.
4. Starlight Glimmer
Why she moved up: Again, she's mostly moving up because Twilight moved down. I'm starting to get sick of her being the only one with any common sense. It seems like lately, Starlight can only function if everyone else is incapictated, removed from the story, or complete idiots who can't think for five seconds. The only time it made sense was "The Maud Couple" because they'd already established her friendship with Maud, so she was the only one who could believably try to help Pinkie. And even then, she was not the one who solved the conflict. I still don't think her being a guidance counselor was a good idea, especially since "Marks for Effort" has made it so that she's now as useless in the grand scheme of things as Spike. And "The Mean Six" had her as a pack mule, yet despite this supposedly being the episode where Chrysalis gets revenge on her, Starlight never once encounters her and Chrysalis never tries to do anything to Starlight. "Horse Play" also had her just being there, because Applejack was the voice of reason for a change (and honestly, she plays the role better than Starlight). "The Parent Map", surprisingly, avoided the usual pitfalls of Starlight focus episodes, and does go a ways toward explaining her backstory and motivations (not that it excuses the horrible things she did). After Season 7 seemed like it had pinned down Starlight's role pretty well, Season 8 seems to be struggling to decide what to do with her.
3. Fluttershy
Why she moved down: It's probably a bit unfair to rag on her for one bad focus episode, but "Fake It 'Til You Make It" was trying to mask its true form behind a concept that would've worked for someone else. I thought we'd moved past the "Fluttershy learns to stand up for herself" plot rehashing after Season 5 reused it so horribly in "Scare Master". But "Fake It 'Til You Make It" also tried to be the poor man's "Putting Your Hoof Down", except it ended up using Fluttershy's assertiveness to make her a bully who puts down others at the slightest offense. I absolutely despise the "I was only acting" excuse, because the raccoons sure as heck didn't think it was an act, they thought Fluttershy really meant it when she called them rodents and told them to go back to the forest. All "Fake It 'Til You Make It" accomplished was laying the foundation for Fluttershy's role in "Horse Play", but we really didn't need that sort of build up. And in "The Mean Six", Fluttershy stupidly wanders off without telling her friends or without any sort of way to mark a trail so she doesn't get lost. While she didn't get much to do in the movie, there was one scene where she was able to reduce a storm guard to tears, so at least that counts for something.
2. Rarity
Why she moved up: This time around, it was really hard to decide the top two. There were a lot of things I could hold against both. For Rarity though, her mistake was a much bigger one in my opinion, and one she should know better than to make. Why would she entrust her boutique in Manehattan to Fluttershy and not specify exactly what she expected? After what happened with Applejack in "Honest Apple" you would expect Rarity to not take chances and make sure she spells out what she wants. Plus, why did she ask Fluttershy so late, but asked a whole bunch of other ponies who were probably even less qualified to run a boutique than Fluttershy? You would think Fluttershy would've been one of her first picks. Her role in "Molt Down" also wasn't the greatest, she was just there to get Spike to go outside and attract the roc, and then be the damsel in distress for the climax, and the way they did this ended up contradicting what was previously shown of phoenixes. Thankfully, her concerns about Spike in that episode mostly made up for it, and for the rest of the season she was pretty good. Heck, she was probably the only one who did anything of noticeableness in "The Mean Six", packing only a tiny saddlebag of supplies and sticking up for Starlight against the clone Applejack. However, while in the movie she was able to charm Capper and turn him to the side of good, Rarity was a lot more vain and dramatic than she usually is. It wasn't as bad a default as some of the other characters, but it still showed. By process of elimination, you can probably guess who tops her.
1. Pinkie Pie
Why she stayed on the top: Like I said, it was really hard to decide between her and Rarity for the top spot. Pinkie Pie hasn't been majorily bad this season, but at the same time there hasn't been much good of her to talk about. The best I can think of is her sticking up for Fluttershy and comforting her when she's crying, that is the kind of Pinkie Pie we need to see more of. Yes, she's random and bouncy, but that's not her only personality trait, you can tone it down. "The Maud Couple" was a mixed bag for her, because on the one hand it pushed her faults more than was probably necessary (she way overreacted to the news Maud didn't want a surprise party for her birthday, and her antics earlier on felt like padding), but on the other hand it would make sense that Pinkie would get jealous and frustrated if Maud got a boyfriend, and Maud really should've told Pinkie (or at least tried to tell her) years before she ever met Mud Briar. If she really didn't like surprise parties so much, she could've mentioned it to Pinkie, and while she would've been upset she would've come to understand that it's what makes Maud happy. Compared to Rarity, her mistake feels more like an honest one than a stupid one. And as for the movie, Pinkie had both extremes. She was really loud and kind of dumb in some scenes, but in other scenes she was surprisingly mature and they played to her strengths. I don't think anyone would've guessed that she would be the one to call out Twilight for not trusting her friends. It's just too bad that the entire call out scene was done so poorly. Ultimately, by a hair, Pinkie remains on the top. But depending on how episodes like "Yakity Sax" play out, she could very well end up being dethroned.
And there you have it. Come back tomorrow, when we'll update the rankings for the student six. But, spoiler alert, not much has really changed for them.
It's rather sad that Twilight fell so hard.
My ranking for them has not changed at all:
Starlight
Twilight
Pinkie Pie
Spike
Fluttershy
Rarity
Applejack
4880124 Indeed it is.
Here's my Mane 8 ranking: (It hasn't changed at all ^^;)
Pinkie Pie (50th Favorite for me :P)
Spike (49th Favorite for me)
Rarity (45th Favorite for me)
Fluttershy (43rd Favorite for me)
Starlight Glimmer (28th Favorite for me)
Rainbow Dash (13th Favorite for me)
Applejack (11th Favorite for me)
Twilight Sparkle (2nd Favorite and still remains being my favorite Mane 8 Member for me <3)
4886426 So is Number One Sunset Shimmer?
4886583
that's right! Sunset Shimmer will always be my #1 <3