My overall thoughts on season 7 · 11:21pm Oct 23rd, 2017
Be warned that this post will contain spoilers for the finale (which I have watched, but of which will also be covered with spoiler tags). Just a heads up.
That said, I thought I'd compile my thoughts on every single episode from season 7, all 26 of them. I'll be giving a sentence or two for each one summing up my feelings, as well as a grade out of 10. And remember, these really are short, so it's nothing in-depth or anything.
1) Celestial Advice: First season where the premiere isn't a two-parter. An all-around solid episode with some great Celestia moments, but if you're expecting something extravagant, you'll be disappointed. 9/10
2) All Bottled Up: A bit of an awkwardly structured episode, but it's saved by some good writing for Trixie and Starlight. The main six didn't need to be here, but the song was nice. 8/10
3) A Flurry of Emotions: It was a good episode, but Shining Armor and Cadence were positively grating. 7/10
4) Rock Solid Friendship: It's a funny Maud episode. What else do you want? 8/10
5) Fluttershy Leans In: A boring Fluttershy episode that left me feeling unsatisfied. What a surprise. 4/10
6) Forever Filly: Its heart was in the right place, but I wasn't very fond of the way Rarity was characterized. Not bad, but not necessarily rewatchable. 5/10
7) Parental Guidance: This episode had some really high highs and really low lows. The humour was on point, I liked Rainbow Dash, but her parents just bogged nearly everything down. 7/10
8) Hard to Say Anything: I liked this episode a lot more than I think I should, especially the third act. 8/10
9) Honest Apple: A good Rarity/Applejack episode. Not much else to add. 7/10
10) A Royal Problem: With maybe the exception of Twilight, every character was amazingly written. Celestia stole the show. 10/10
11) Not Asking for Trouble: Hell of a lot better than the last Yak episode. 7/10
12) Discordant Harmony: A very good Fluttershy/Discord episode. Unfortunately some parts really dragged. 8/10
13) The Perfect Pear: This is some next-tiered writing. 10/10
14: Fame and Misfortune: No matter what I say I'm going to piss someone off. Look, Fame and Misfortune was meant to be judged for its meta themes, and with that in mind, this truly is the most alpha episode in the show. 10/10 for the meta; 6/10 on its own merits
15) Triple Threat: Thorax sucks: he has no leadership traits and yet we're supposed to pretend that he's competent enough to lead an entire race of reformed changelings. Other than that, this episode was awesome. 9/10
16) Campfire Tales: This episode felt like filler, but it's not. So... yeah. It was alright. Some of the legends were better than others. 6/10
17) To Change a Changeling: I was rooting for the unreformed changeling all along. But... eh, the episode could've been better executed. 5/10
18) Daring Done: A legit good Daring Do episode. I mean, not that the other ones were bad or anything, but I really liked the parallels to Civil War. 8/10
19) It Isn't the Mane Thing About You: I enjoyed this one a lot, further cementing Rarity as my favorite character. 9/10
20) A health of Information: I honestly can't think of much wrong here without devolving into nit-picking or my anti-Fluttershy bias. It was simply a well written, well paced, interesting episode. 9/10
21) Marks and Recreation: A great CMC episode that tackles a huge head-canon I'm sure many of us had. I enjoyed Rumble's relationship with Thunderlane, too. 9/10
22) One Upon a Zeppelin: Damn, the last-third of season 7 is straight fire. Twilight, Twilight's parents, Cadence and Shining Armor, Iron freaking Will—all absolutely a joy to watch. 10/10
23) Secrets and Pies: A surprisingly entertaining slice of life episode featuring Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. It's silly, sure, but that was the intention. 9/10
24) Uncommon Bonds: There was a really good dynamic between Starlight and Sunburst here. Some moments were pretty cringe, but whatever. 8/10
25&26) Shadow Play: Here's where I break my rule of one or two sentences. Let's get to business:
This has got to be my second favorite two-parter, falling just short of Twilight's Kingdom. I read this one comment on Equestria Daily which perfectly sums up my thoughts, so instead of expressing what I think in my own words, I'll copy and paste:
FIM's canon is created and rounded on the fly, so it's a huge compliment when this episode is able to make it all look preplanned. This isn't a simple good-vs.-evil story at all. The entire conflict contains several side plots, but weaves them together so well that nothing falls out of place. Every line has spunk and purpose. Even though the stakes are high, the snappy dialogue and varied characterizations provide a boatload of well-done humour. To have the Elements of Harmony be the Pillars' heirs is a genius idea.
But what it does best is how it builds up the Pony of Shadows's backstory more and more, beginning with an excellent homage to the pilot's opening, treating Ponehenge as the Pillars' final resting place (a reference to the possible origins of Stonehenge), and not treating the PoS as some generic villain. Tying the whole plot into a friendship problem in Part 2 is the best plot twist of the series, because it brings Starlight into the conflict and humanizes the story even more.
Starlight has her best appearance to date: She shows off excellent detective skills, understands something was fishy with the entire conflict, and gets very emotional after Star Swirl casts Stygian off as irredeemable; it's my top moment of the second half. While other villain backstories are often isolated or rather short, SP doesn't leave theirs alone and expands it with each scene, deepening the conflict. When Stygian explains he felt like an outcast in the team for being so weak physically and magically, the story takes such a round turn, and goes back to Celestia's line from MMC: Star Swirl doesn't understand friendship. Starlight's whole arc (much higher quantitatively than S6 and better written by far than in S6) made it feel properly built up.
How Haber successfully balanced out fifteen characters (not including side ones and Stygian) in 44 minutes astounds me. SP gets better with every re-watch, and the conflict makes more sense each time you think about it. It's what To Where would be had it been written well. Best two-parter of the series.
I'm really freaking shocked right now. Season 6 was my least favorite season for a number of reasons. There were just too many bland or even bad episodes it offered, and overall it left a bad taste in my mouth. Season 7 not only redeems that, but it stands as one of the best seasons this show has produced thus far.
I'm genuinely hyped for season 8 now. Come on, FIM, show me what you got!
I really did enjoy the finale as well. Definitely one of the best. Season 8 can't get here soon enough!