The First Half of Season 7 v.s The First Half Of Seasons 1-6 (Episodes Only) · 3:41am Jun 22nd, 2017
Well, one half of Season 7 has already come and gone, at least for those who've seen the episodes early. Let's see how Season 7 stacks up compared to the other seasons, but before we do that let's see how the episode of Season 7's first half stack up right now. Like always, this isn't official by any means.
13. Honest Apple
12. All Bottled Up
11. A Flurry of Emotions
10. Not Asking for Trouble
9. Parental Glideance
8. Fluttershy Leans In
7. Celestial Advice
6. Rock Solid Friendship
5. Discordant Harmony
4. A Royal Problem
3. Hard to Say Anything
2. Forever Filly
1. The Perfect Pear
And now for the episode comparisons across all seasons, for each victory a season gets a point (or two points if it's a two parter or two episodes). The season with the most points will be the best season so far. Will Season 7 take home that title, or are there just too many good episodes from other seasons to compete with?
Episodes 1 and 2: Friendship is Magic v.s. The Return of Harmony v.s. Crystal Empire v.s. Princess Twilight Sparkle v.s. The Cutie Map a.k.a Cutie Markless v.s. The Crystalling v.s. Celestial Advice and All Bottled Up:
The winner is (in a close battle): Princess Twilight Sparkle. If "Celestial Advice" could stand on its own as a season premiere, it would fare much better than being paired up with "All Bottled Up" which dragged down the premiere as a whole and holds it back. "Princess Twilight Sparkle" still feels like that second pilot for the show, the start of Gen 4.5 if you will, and it remains the best two parter to date. It's a real shame, because "Celestial Advice" was likely going to be the two parter season premiere, but Hasbro said no, so Lewis and Songco had to salvage what they could from it and trim it down to a 22 minute episode, then hastily write something for the other episode, the end result being "All Bottled Up". It's ironic because "The Crystalling" last season had the inverse problem (if not for the two parter and the ending, you'd probably think the second episode would be completely different from the first one).
Episode 3: Ticket Master v.s. Lesson Zero v.s. Too Many Pinkie Pies v.s Castle Mane-ia v.s. Castle, Sweet Castle v.s. Gift of The Maud Pie v.s. A Flurry of Emotions:
The Winner is: Lesson Zero. To be honest only "Castle Mane-ia" stood any chance of really urspering "Lesson Zero" from its pedastal. "A Flurry of Emotions" felt like the poor man's "Baby Cakes" with hints of the poor man's "Lesson Zero" tossed in. I mean, "Lesson Zero" remains iconic, memorable, and quotable, a lot of us can still probably remember how surprising it was for this episode to delve so deeply into Twilight's pysche and show just how unhinged she was. Plus, "Lesson Zero" rectified a problem that had plagued Season 1, the only other episode to carry a major status quo change to it, was "Caslte Mane-ia", who's moral deliverly system got dropped after just a season.
Episode 4: Applebuck Season v.s. Luna Eclipsed v.s. One Bad Apple v.s. Daring Don't v.s. Bloom and Gloom v.s. On Your Marks v.s. Rock Solid Friendship:
The winner is (in a close contest): Rock Solid Friendship. I was really unsure what I wanted to win between "On Your Marks" and "Rock Solid Friendship", both of which promised changes to the status quo that weren't followed up on (though to be fair to "Rock Solid Friendship" there is nothing to suggest they won't ever bring it up again, there's still a chance Maud moving to Ponyville could get a mention). But I feel like "Rock Solid Friendship" delivered just slightly more, because "On Your Marks" sort of drifted about aimlessly for a while and its direction ultimately got revised with "The Fault in Our Cutie Marks" later on. Me thinks they should've held off on the moral about the CMC not doing things as a group until they were truly ready to move on from having group CMC episodes.
Episode 5: Griffon The Brush Off v.s. Sisterhooves Social v.s. Magic Duel v.s. Flight to The Finish v.s. Tanks for The Memories v.s. Gauntlet of Fire v.s. Fluttershy Leans In:
The winner is (no contest): Gauntlet of Fire. Come on, did you really think the Spike episode we'd been waiting for for years and the Spike episode he deserved after constantly being the show's butt monkey off and on throughout five seasons, was going to lose? Even assuming "Fluttershy Leans In" had been better, it would've taken a lot to justify demoting "Gauntlet of Fire". Heck, since that episode Spike has been on a roll, and here's to hoping it'll stay that way in the second half of Season 7.
Episode 6: Boast Busters v.s. The Cutie Pox v.s. Sleepless in Ponyville v.s. Power Ponies v.s. Appleloosa's Most Wanted v.s. No Second Prances v.s. Forever Filly:
The winner is: Forever Filly. Believe me, it wasn't easy justifying knocking off perhaps the only episode of Season 3 that everyone likes (the rest are in contention), but "Forever Filly" did something that the show has consistently failed to do countless times before, do a conflicting loyalties story and make both sides sympathetic and likeable. Both Rarity and Sweetie Belle were sympathetic, and we could see where both of them were coming from. Their A plot was so good that you kind of overlook the fact that the B plot didn't really break up the sad undertone this episode had.
Episode 7: Dragonshy v.s. May The Best Pet Win v.s. Wonderbolt Academy v.s. Bats! v.s. Make New Friends, But Keep Discord v.s. Newbie Dash v.s. Parental Glideance:
The winner is: Wonderbolt Academy. Thanks to episodes like "Dungeons and Discord" and "Discordant Harmony", I no longer feel the need to give "Make New Friends, But Keep Discord" a point and use it to argue what Discord episodes should be about. The writers seem to know now how to make him likeable and tell good stories with him, without going overboard on the visual gags and/or pop culture references. So the next best option was the original intended conclusion for Rainbow's character arc "Wonderbolt Academy", and an episode that could still stand to have its development remembered more often. "Parental Glideance" held itself together because of that, but in the process it made Rainbow Dash perhaps too likeable in a story that she was supposed to be in the wrong on. It's sad too because the recent IDW comic for the main series just used Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistles far better than their own episode did.
Episode 8: Look Before You Sleep v.s. The Mysterious Mare Do Well v.s. Apple Family Reunion v.s. Rarity Takes Manehattan v.s. The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone v.s. A Hearth's Warming Tail v.s. Hard to Say Anything
The winner is: Hard to Say Anything. Sure, it's not completely without fault and SugarMac isn't exactly the strongest ship (I'm still gonna pine for CheeriMac simply because I don't think either Big Mac or Sugar Belle would be able to commit to a long distance relationship, it's just not in their character). But if the CMC regressing in mentality and tossing in perhaps a little too much cringe comedy hurt this episode, than the moral and execution (not to mention the insanely good song) easily made up for it. Love isn't like a fairytale, and it's not a popularity contest, nor is it about dramatic gestures. In this day more than ever, that message is something people need to hear. Whoever you plan to spend your life with as a romantic partner, you've got to make sure you take the time to get to know them as an individual and love them for who they are. Plus, I'm always a sucker for more Big Macintosh speaking roles and better character for him.
Episode 9: Bridle Gossip v.s. Sweet and Elite v.s. Spike at Your Service v.s. Pinkie Apple Pie v.s. Slice of Life v.s. The Fault in Our Cutie Marks v.s. Honest Apple:
The winner is (no contest): Slice of Life. This 100th episode special was a love letter to the Brony fandom, and what could've easily been annoying and poorly written fan pandering, was instead a well written and well told story that in a lot of ways may have been a case of lightning in a bottle. But who knows, considering Season 8 will see the show cross the 200th episode threshold, maybe the writers will find a way to surprise us when that big milestone roles around? As for "Honest Apple", the less said about it the better, aside from Rarity's guitar shredding and a few funny moments from Photo Finish, nothing about it was tolerable.
Episode 10: Swarm of The Century v.s. Secret of My Excess v.s. Keep Calm and Flutter On v.s. Rainbow Falls v.s. Princess Spike v.s. The Saddle Row Review a.k.a Saddle Row and Rec v.s. A Royal Problem:
The winner is (reluctantly): A Royal Problem. I was really tempted to say "Keep Calm and Flutter On" was still better than "A Royal Problem" especially considering some of the griveances I have with it (it definitely needed fine tuning and someone else to look at it rather than just Lewis and Songco themselves, even the best of editors won't always catch their own writing mistakes). But for every thing "A Royal Problem" did wrong, the things it did good manage to outweigh it and make it shine. I just have to hope that this experiment isn't a one season only thing, we NEED more royal sisters focus episodes, preferably a solo Celestia one. No Twilight, no Luna, no Starlight, no Spike, no anyone. Just Celestia herself, either as a haughty prankster, or a motherly, caring figure.
Episode 11: Winter Wrap Up v.s. Hearth's Warming Eve v.s. Just For Sidekicks v.s. Three's A Crowd v.s. Party Pooped v.s. Applejack's "Day" Off v.s. Not Asking for Trouble:
The winner is: Party Pooped. While "Not Asking for Trouble" did do something to make the yaks not one note, it didn't exactly paint them or Rutherford in a good light (which is why I'm having a hard time buying the fact that in the recent comic arc he suddenly cares about his subjects well being, how did he get to that from letting children starve because he wouldn't admit he needed help?), and again none of these episodes are truly solid. But "Party Pooped" is the one that has the fewest flaws behind it, and though Pinkie may not be at perhaps her greatest in terms of character, she makes up for it with some good comedic moments and an interesting look at her hidden depths (might still like to see a TwiPie episode exploring Pinkie's organization skills in comparison to Twilight, the two are more alike than they might think).
Episode 12: Call of The Cutie v.s. Family Appreciation Day v.s. Games Ponies Play v.s. Pinkie Pride v.s. Amending Fences v.s. Flutter Brutter v.s. Discordant Harmony:
The winner is (in a close contest): Pinkie Pride. "Discordant Harmony" put up a strong fight, as did "Call of The Cutie", but in the end we all knew it was gonna come down to "Pinkie Pride" versus "Amending Fences" both of which were strongly written episodes that remain universally praised. It would've taken a lot for "Discordant Harmony" to come close, and indeed it did come close, third place is a worthy title to take away from this fight. But in regards to "Pinkie Pride", I think there's something about it that carries it to victory, perhaps it's the slightly more upbeat and cheerful tone throughout the story.
Episode 13: Fall Weather Friends v.s. Baby Cakes v.s. Magical Mystery Cure v.s. Simple Ways v.s. Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? v.s. Spice Up Your Life v.s. The Perfect Pear:
The winner is (no contest): The Perfect Pair. Was there ever any doubt "The Perfect Pear" was gonna win? The feels were real, the story was solidly written, and everyone was in character. Even the likes of "Magical Mystery Cure", "Simple Ways", and "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" couldn't hope to compete, and even "Baby Cakes" and "Spice Up Your Life" had no chance, "Fall Weather Friends" certainly couldn't have expected to even have a shot at winning. "The Perfect Pair" was everything we hoped for and then some.
So the point tallies are as follows so far: Season 1 - 0 points. Season 2 - 1 point, Season 3 - 1 point, Season 4 - 3 points, Season 5 - 2 points, Season 6 - 1 point, Season 7 - 5 points. Even if we gave episode to "On Your Marks", Season 7 would still be in first place, as it stands it's clearly standing out right now (though some episodes had tough competition to overcome) with 5 points, followed by Season 4 with 3 points (last time around Season 4 dominated the first half, I think it's safe to say Season 4 was strongest in its first half, but had a really bad second half, whereas Season 5 had a rocky first half despite a few solid episodes, but an insanely strong second half) for second, and Season 5 with 2 points for third. Alas, Season 1 sits in dead last, with Seasons 2, 3, and 6 all tied for second to last with a point each. Season 7 has a commanding lead so far, but will it hold onto that lead in the second half, or will Seasons 4-6 steal away enough points for one of them to be crowned a winner? Heck, could Seasons 1 or 2 possibly stage a come from behind win in the second half? We'll have to wait and see.
Here's how I rank this season so far:
1. The Perfect Pear
2. Royal Problems
3. Parental Glideance
4. All Bottled Up
5. Rock Solid Friendship
6. Hard to Say Anything
7. A Flurry of Emotions
8. Forever Filly
9. Celestial Advice
10. Not Asking For Trouble
11. Honest Apple
12. Fluttershy Leans In
13. Discordant Harmony
As for the comparisons:
Episodes 1 and 2: Friendship is Magic v.s. The Return of Harmony v.s. Crystal Empire v.s. Princess Twilight Sparkle v.s. The Cutie Map a.k.a Cutie Markless v.s. The Crystalling v.s. Celestial Advice and All Bottled Up:
For me, it easily goes to Celestial Advice and All Bottled Up. One was an episode most fans were waiting for, and the other was an excellent Starlight and Trixie episode.
Episode 3: Ticket Master v.s. Lesson Zero v.s. Too Many Pinkie Pies v.s Castle Mane-ia v.s. Castle, Sweet Castle v.s. Gift of The Maud Pie v.s. A Flurry of Emotions:
Winner: Lesson Zero, due to being the funniest.
Episode 4: Applebuck Season v.s. Luna Eclipsed v.s. One Bad Apple v.s. Daring Don't v.s. Bloom and Gloom v.s. On Your Marks v.s. Rock Solid Friendship:
Winner: Rock Solid Friendship by a land slide.
Episode 5: Griffon The Brush Off v.s. Sisterhooves Social v.s. Magic Duel v.s. Flight to The Finish v.s. Tanks for The Memories v.s. Gauntlet of Fire v.s. Fluttershy Leans In:
Winner: Tanks for the Memories, which is probably the third most feels-heavy episode in the series so far.
Episode 6: Boast Busters v.s. The Cutie Pox v.s. Sleepless in Ponyville v.s. Power Ponies v.s. Appleloosa's Most Wanted v.s. No Second Prances v.s. Forever Filly:
The winner is: No Second Prances.
Episode 7: Dragonshy v.s. May The Best Pet Win v.s. Wonderbolt Academy v.s. Bats! v.s. Make New Friends, But Keep Discord v.s. Newbie Dash v.s. Parental Glideance:
The winner is: Parental Glideance. Meeting RD's parents started it's victory, the comedy kept it there, and the stuff about Scoots' lack of support just hammered it in.
Episode 8: Look Before You Sleep v.s. The Mysterious Mare Do Well v.s. Apple Family Reunion v.s. Rarity Takes Manehattan v.s. The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone v.s. A Hearth's Warming Tail v.s. Hard to Say Anything
Winner: A Hearth's Warming Tail, which is easily the best retelling of A Christmas Carol I've ever seen.
Episode 9: Bridle Gossip v.s. Sweet and Elite v.s. Spike at Your Service v.s. Pinkie Apple Pie v.s. Slice of Life v.s. The Fault in Our Cutie Marks v.s. Honest Apple:
Winner: Slice of Life, for the reasons you listed about the episode itself, and not the competitors.
Episode 10: Swarm of The Century v.s. Secret of My Excess v.s. Keep Calm and Flutter On v.s. Rainbow Falls v.s. Princess Spike v.s. The Saddle Row Review a.k.a Saddle Row and Rec v.s. A Royal Problem:
Winner: A Royal Problem, no contest. This one, for me, was easily the second best episode of the series, until today's episode.
Episode 11: Winter Wrap Up v.s. Hearth's Warming Eve v.s. Just For Sidekicks v.s. Three's A Crowd v.s. Party Pooped v.s. Applejack's "Day" Off v.s. Not Asking for Trouble:
Winner: Not Asking for Trouble. While I liked Party Pooped, I found Not Asking for Trouble to be more pleasant.
Episode 12: Call of The Cutie v.s. Family Appreciation Day v.s. Games Ponies Play v.s. Pinkie Pride v.s. Amending Fences v.s. Flutter Brutter v.s. Discordant Harmony:
Winner: Pinkie Pride by a Landslide. Weird Al and great comedy creates a strong episode that, while no longer my favorite of the series, is still heavily rewatchable.
Episode 13: Fall Weather Friends v.s. Baby Cakes v.s. Magical Mystery Cure v.s. Simple Ways v.s. Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? v.s. Spice Up Your Life v.s. The Perfect Pair:
Winner: Perfect Pear, which was a feels trip all the way through, with a song that almost beat out The Pony I Want to Be.
So far, for me, Season 7 has 7 points (ha!), seasons 6 and 5 have 2 points each, and seasons 4 and 2 have 1 point each.
Even without this, though, I'd still say season 7 was the best one so far.
No other season has had 4 of the first 13 episodes be good enough to get into the top ten of the entire series.
Not for me. I loved both of these episodes.
I have to wonder if you have confirmation of this or if it's just a theory of yours because I haven't heard anything like that.
What? Why would anyone think that? How could anyone come to that conclusion?
I still consider "Lesson Zero" to be the worst episode of the whole series. Celestia basically forced Twilight's homework for her, and "Magical Mystery Cure" makes me hate this episode even more in hindsight. About the only good thing I can say about this episode was that it showcased why Twilight should not be a princess.
Well, like the letters to Celestia thing, there's only so much you can do with this idea before it gets stale. And don't you worry; this journal is getting a nice callback in "Fame and Misfortune."
Again, do you have confirmation for this idea or is this just another theory?
I actually really loved these two! Yes, they are embarrassing, they do get overenthusiastic, but their hearts are in the right place. Honestly, what parent isn't like that? We all have parents that do things that embarrass us, or they may be a little too enthusiastic. I found their characterization to be a realistic portrayal of how a lot of sports mom's and dads are.
*sighs* The CMC did not regress mentally. Yes, they got their cutie marks. That does not mean they have to grow up all at once, a lesson that was sadly lacking in "Forever Filly", an episode I hated because of the way the CMC and Sweetie Belle were portrayed. I liked "Hard to Say Anything" because the CMC were acting like what they are: kids. I hated "Forever Filly" because the CMC were acting like they were grown-ups in the bodies of three little fillies. "Forever Filly" could have worked had the lesson been, "It's natural to want to grow up and be treated like you're older, but just because you're getting older doesn't mean you have to grow up all at once. It's okay for you to be older and still like things from when you were younger." Unfortunately, the writer(s) appeared to have been taking stupid pills when they were writing this episode, so of course that nerve crossed their minds. It also didn't help that Rarity was acting like an idiot throughout the entire episode. I think we've found the sister episode to "Somepony to Watch Over Me."
Try season 9. You're off by a season. Season 8 will have 26 episodes, bringing the total episode count for MLP up to 195, meaning that the fifth episode of the ninth season will serve as the 200th episode.
There was nothing wrong with "A Royal Problem." About the only problem with it that I had was the name Daybreaker. Solar Flare would have been much more fitting.
Luna is the prankster among the two royal pony sisters. How would the writers manage to do a story of Celestia being "a motherly, caring figure" if they don't include Spike, Luna, Starlight, or Twilight? And anyway,we already got that in "Celestial Advice."
About the only episode in this group that's "truly solid" is Winter Wrap Up, so you are mistaken.
Pinkie was in top form in this episode.
I hated Pinkie Pride! I would take Call of the Cutie, Amending Fences, or Discordant Harmony over it any day of the week!
No, no, and no.
Not for me, it wasn't. I hated this episode.
4579539
Speculation, but it feels like that could be the case considering we've never not had a two parter season premiere before.
Most of the first half of The Crystalling is spent on Flurry Heart and how she's so special and breaks all the rules, and the other part is spent loosely on Starlight and Spike visiting Sunburst. But up until Flurry Heart breaks the Crystal Heart, nothing happens, and if that hadn't happened the entire first part could've seemed like a completely different episode compared to the second part.
Celestia didn't force Twilight's homework, she specifically said this season that she sent Twilight to Ponyville so she could realize her full potential and understand friendship. It was never her intent for Twilight to have a mental breakdown, and even then the worst Twilight did was make the whole town fight over an old doll, and thankfully Princess Celestia quickly put a stop to it before any real harm could occur. On top of that, Twilight owed up to her mistake, as did her friends.
This much is confirmation, the original ending was planned to have Rainbow Dash leave the Academy and never become a Wonderbolt, Merriweather confirmed such a fact in interviews. The ending was changed once they knew the show was coming back for a fourth season.
There's a difference between over enthusiastic and thinking you're the only fan in existence, Bow and Windy's actions were childish, immature, and could've put others in danger, yet somehow it's Rainbow Dash who's in the wrong for yelling at them?
I'm thinking of an episode either where Celestia explores her old castle, or she wants to get a good gift for Luna's birthday, as a way of making up for all their quarreling over the years. That seems like a motherly (or in this case sisterly) thing to do.
The song was good, but the rest of the episode was forgettable, especially in regards to the moral. What good is tradition if you can't get the job done on time?
What? How could anyone hate that?
4579752
Okay, not only would that have been stupid, it would have been cruel and would have pissed off a lot of people. Who was the idiot who decided that!?
I found their antics funny. It's not like they were hurting anyone. And, yes, Rainbow Dash is wrong for telling at her parents. You don't ever talk to your parents that way! This is also why I hated the Family Guy episode "Seashell Shore Party." If this were the real world, both incidents would have ended with both Rainbow Dash and Meg getting their asses smacked to the floor and picking up their teeth. Had this happened in both scenarios, I would have liked both episodes a lot more. Back when I was growing up, you showed respect to your parents no matter who they were or what they did. They didn't tolerate any backtalk. If you so much as raised your voice at your parents, you got sucker punched in the mouth for it. It's crap like this why kids are the way they are today, because we have a bunch of parents who are such pussies that they can't be bothered to discipline their kids by spanking their asses when they need it!
I'll admit that this episode had a lot of potential for developing Pinkie's character, but whatever potential there could have been was ruined by the iverabunfance of songs. This is why I also hated "Magical Mystery Cure." I don't like the musical episodes in general because the potential story and character development gets ruined by the iverabunfance of songs that just eat up time, meaning that the story isn't fully developed and the resolution is rushed.
4579810 So do you also hate "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" and "A Hearth's Warming Tail" for being musicals as well?
4579928 No, because they didn't have an iverabunfance of songs, their stories we're good and well-written, had nice character development, and what songs they did have did what musicals are supposed to do: tell you how the character is feeling and move the story along.
4579947 But that's what "Magical Mystery Cure" and "Pinkie Pride" did too!