MLP Season 4 Rewatch Thoughts

Wow. That was quite the season. I have a lot of overall thoughts to say, but since this is a season I haven't talked about before, I'm gonna save them for after the episode thoughts to maintain suspense. Episode thoughts are in the same format as the Season 3 ones, except I'm gonna be talking about every episode instead of just the ones I want to cover, cause I wanted to cover most of them anyways.

Princess Twilight Sparkle - Epic, grand, absolutely gorgeous (both visually and musically), hillarious (Discord's first appearance as a "reformed" villain had to be excellent), the scene where Twilight gave up the Elements of Harmony was really powerful, and the episode explores Twilight settling into her role as Princess beautifully. And the Nightmare Moon and Discord flashbacks, while not really relevant to the plot, are extremely well done. Especially the former, which is one of my favourite scenes in the show. 9.5-10/10

Castle Mane-ia - This episode's a blast and very atmospheric. I also like that Twilight wanted to investigate the chest immediately after the premier. 9/10

Daring Don't - The Twilight Rainbow nerd off is the best thing ever. Plus, the lessons about not putting your heroes on too high a pedestal and the importance of trust are quite nice. 9/10

Flight to the Finish - The episode does take a little long to get going, and the pacing is a tad slow at times, but those are the only things holding the episode back from being perfect. The conflict/moral about dealing with a disability was extremely well done, teaching that while others may be able to do something you can't, you have your own strengths that make you "all kinds of awesome anyway." And honestly, the resolution scene was even more emotionally resonant than the one in Sleepless in Ponyville, the other competitor for best Scootaloo episode. It's pretty much equal to that episode in overall quality. Less consistent, but with higher highs. And the song is super good too. 9.5/10

Power Ponies - Pretty fun, but nothing special. The Flutterhulk moment at the end hard carries the episode. 7.5/10

Bats - The spooky vibe was amazing, the grey conflict was very nice, Flutterbat is awesome, and Stop The Bats is one of the best songs in the whole show. 9/10

Rarity Takes Manehattan - Amazing conflict and lesson. Coco's really cute too. Plus, first key episode!! 9/10

Pinkie Apple Pie - Fun and cute, but the writers really blueballed us at the end. 8/10

Rainbow Falls - The moment between Spitfire and Rainbow at the end of the episode was really cool. I don't really get why people hate this episode tbh. There are certainly issues, but I find most of them to be more nitpicks than anything. 8/10

Three's A Crowd - Twilight+Cadance+Discord = Amazing Episode. 9/10

Pinkie Pride - Enjoyed it less than I have in the past, maybe because I have a lot of these songs in my playlist so I've basically experienced a big part of the episode too many times. But still awesome. Really funny, energetic, emotional, with very enjoyable songs, and an awesome new character. 9-9.5/10

Simple Ways - Hillarious, with one of the better lessons in the show. Could be higher, depending on how much I'm feeling the humour. 9/10

Filli Vanilli - I don't really have the same problem with Flutterguy that I did in Bridle Gossip, cause this time her modified voice is painted in a good light rather than something to be made fun of. And other than that, it's just a really fun episode with a good lesson about taking baby steps, but Pinkie holds the episode back from being any higher. 8/10

Twilight Time - Kinda hard to explain why I love the episode so much. Something about the conflict and Diamond Tiara and Twilight being best pony and the CMC working towards their cutie marks in a smart way. 9/10

It Ain't Easy Being Breezies - Lowkey the best lesson in the show, or at least one of the best. 9.5/10

Somepony to Watch Over Me - This lesson is sooooooooooo confused with itself, but the Chimera scene was cool. 4/10

Maud Pie - Excellent humour, heart, and character. 9/10

For Whom The Sweetie Bell Toils - Sweetie Belle's jealousy is very realistic and well written, and I love the message about seeing things from another perspective. Luna's use in this episode is really good considering the parallel between her and Sweetie of constantly being in an older sister's shadow. And the production value is some of the best I've seen so far. 9.5/10

Leap of Faith - Granny is one of the best side characters, and Flim and Flam are some of the best tertiary antagonists. 8/10

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 - Super fun and goofy episode that teaches a valuable lesson about how everyone has a different way of learning suited to them. Definitely contrived that everyone knows more about the Wonderbolts' history than Rainbow, but that doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the episode nor does it weaken the moral. 9/10

Trade Ya - The character interactions and comedy in this episode are pretty awesome, but why can ponies be legally traded like objects? 8/10

Inspiration Manifestation - "I'm so excited, I'm sooo excited!" "And there you'll be by my side, just as you've always been here in Ponyville, your constant praise and admiration driving me to even greater heights, until there isn't an inch of Equestria that hasn't been utterly transformed by my...creative...GENIUS!" Crazy Rarity is lowkey better than Crazy Pinkie, even approaching Crazy Twilight levels of entertaining. And a lesson about telling your friends when they're doing something wrong? What else could I expect from a collab between Meghan McCarthy and Corey Powell but brilliance? 9-9.5/10

Equestria Games - There were a lot of things I loved about this episode, but what really made me think so highly of it was the moral about how appreciating yourself is more important than any external validation. It's probably one of my favourite lessons in the show, and really hit me when I got to that part of the episode. 9.5/10

Twilight's Kingdom - This finale is just epic. Twilight's worries as a princess flow very naturally from how she's acted about her role throughout the season, Tirek is an absolutely amazing villain (smart, intimidating, AND super entertaining), Discord's redemption arc is wrapped up very well with one last foray into villainy before a touching realization of what he's done, the whole episode feels like it has real weight behind everything that happens (due to a mix between the top tier writing, production value, and voice acting. Also the echoes in voices during important moments are verrrrry effective), there are some really emotional moments, and this is one of, if not the tensest episode in the whole series. This episode gave me more chills than any other before. It's truly a masterpiece, and probably the only finale to rival A Canterlot Wedding. Maybe even surpass it. 10/10

Rainbow Rocks - Sunset and Adagio hard carry this movie, they're some of the best characters in MLP history. This is a very common opinion, but Sunset has the absolute best redemption in the series. For one, her actions had actual consequences. Unlike most other villains, she isn’t instantly forgiven and treated normally. People are rightfully mad for what she put them through. But you can really see how bad she feels about the horrible things she did in the past, which makes her sympathetic regardless. And she works to earn her redemption, putting a stop to the infighting between the Humane 6 and helping them put a stop to Adagio once and for all. Also she’s adorable and TwiSet is the best ship fite me. Meanwhile, Adagio is the best villain, being extremely cunning, observant, manipulative, intimidating, alluring, and her VA is just perfect. The lesson about dealing with problems before they get worse is really good too, and the Dazzlings' songs are God Tier. Not to mention the comedy being pretty great (no offense ) and the movie possibly having better animation than any episode so far (Adagio in general and Sunset’s spin into her pony-up are soooo well animated). 10/10

If you hadn’t guessed, I do think Season 4 is better than Season 2 now. I was pretty 50/50 before, but this rewatch has really opened my eyes. The animation is noticeably better than ever, the key arc is really cool and gives S4 more of a feeling of progression than past seasons, the CMC/Spike are at their best in this season, and it's incredibly consistent (the average episode rating is roughly 8.9, while Season 2's is 8.7), only having 7 episodes I'd rate lower than 9/10, most of which are still great. My favourite episode is a toss up between Twilight’s Kingdom and Rainbow Rocks, but probably the former cause of just how intense it is, and my least favourite is Somepony To Watch Over Me. Overall, this is the first (and probably only) season I’d confidently rate 10/10. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn close.