Ranking The Reformations of FiM, From Worst to Best (Version 2) · 5:48am Nov 11th, 2017

Well, after the events of Season 7, some characters have given me more to comment on in regards to their redemption arc. Plus, we got another reformation, more or less, from the Equestria Girls franchise, which definitely got people talking. Here's the first version, from a season ago. Before we begin, let me make clear that I'm not going to cover King Sombra's redemption arc in the comics, or any of the other reformations of villains featured in the comics. Even now that the IDW comics are in canon with the show, I'm not going to consider redemptions that they started (let's face it, the King Sombra reformation arc SUCKED). Also, like all my lists, this one is the result of my personal opinion.

10. Trixie (Redemption Arc: Magic Duel, No Second Prances, To Where and Back Again Parts 1 and 2, All Bottled Up, To Change a Changeling, Uncommon Bond)
Why she moved down: It's funny, I didn't have a problem with Trixie at all prior to Season 7. Even in episodes like "No Second Prances" and "To Where and Back Again" where she was pushing her luck, I legitimately felt like her heart was in the right place despite her intentions, and that deep down she truly could be a good pony. But then came "All Bottled Up" and "To Change a Changeling", and Trixie actually managed to legitimately piss me off! What I got out of those episodes, is that Trixie clearly hasn't bothered to put in the effort to change, she just wants to take advantage of Starlight's trust in her to settle some petty feud with a pony who saved her life TWICE! And does Starlight or anypony else call Trixie out on it, no! Trixie has to be flat out told in "All Bottled Up" about her problem, and then later she admits to learning nothing. And in "To Change a Changeling", she's still as boastful and selfish as ever, to the point where she somehow thinks she can play good cop to Starlight's bad cop, and then later throws Starlight under the bus for a decision they both arrived at! Heck, she starts off the episode making it all about herself! "Uncommon Bond" put her back on the right track, but we still had that line from her about being judged for her past, which after her prior bad behavior, she's not qualified to say such a thing! Maybe Season 8 can fix for me what Season 7 broke.

9. The Shadowbolts of Crystal Prep (Redemption Arc: Dance Magic)
Why they were added: They may have been of questionable villany in "Friendship Games", but their actions in "Dance Magic" were definitely villanous. But surprisingly, it was their redemption in the special which ended up being the thing that stood out the most. It does feel legit, but it would've been nice to see them work for their redemption a little more. Also, Indigo Zap was absent from the group for unexplained reasons.

8. Princess Luna (Redemption Arc: Friendship is Magic Part 2 (Mare In The Moon), Luna Eclipsed, Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?)
Why she moved up: Well, she mostly moved up because Trixie moved down, and The Shadowbolts were added. Nothing's really changed in regards to her redemption arc. It's just that with a new one that was relatively weak, and another that ended up being dragged down by the events of Season 7, Luna got lifted up just a little. Technically, we got the return of Nightmare Moon this season, and fittingly enough it was in an actual nightmare. But even that got overshadowed (pardon the pun) by the inclusion of Daybreaker.

7. Babs Seed (Redemption Arc: One Bad Apple, Apple Family Reunion, Bloom and Gloom, IDW Comics Main Series #21-#22, Friends Forever #13, Friends Forever #37)
Why she stayed the same: Can't really move her one way or another when she's had no major focus anywhere in official content since her redemption. Yes, more of it was shown in the IDW comics, but it was started by the show and even continued for a while (at least up til Season 5), so it counts. I really do hope we're gonna see Babs return in Season 8, that and more of a presence for Diamond Tiara are two things that NEED to happen!

6. Gilda (Redemption Arc: The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone)
Why she moved down: She's moving down because others are moving up. Gilda's redemption is probably what helped to propel "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" up to the higher levels of Season 5 (alongside the knowledge that it would be one of Amy Keating Rogers' final episodes before she left the show for a job at Disney). Gabby suggests however, that Gilda hasn't really been able to spread a lot of friendship to Griffonstone. And the less said about her only inclusion in Friends Forever, the better, because it's among the issues that bombed because the writers used it as a dumping ground for their bad OCs.

5. Discord (Redemption Arc: Keep Calm and Flutter On, Twilight's Kingdom Parts 1 and 2, Make New Friends But Keep Discord, What About Discord?, IDW Comics Friends Forever #2 and #20, To Where And Back Again Parts 1 and 2, Discordant Harmony, Main Series #57)
Why he moved up: I wasn't too thrilled with Discord in "Celestial Advice", he seemed to be messing with Twilight far too often even after knowing what happened the last time he tried to get under her fur and pass it off as teaching her a lesson. Had that been his only appearance this season, he probably wouldn't have moved up and might have even dropped down. Thankfully, we got "Discordant Harmony" and Main Series #57 which more than made up for it. We got to see just how far Discord's come since being reformed, and it really conveyed that he's FINALLY moving towards being reformed. Of course "Discordant Harmony" showed that Discord is still Discord, he's still intent to cause mischief where he can and there's still so much about pony culture he doesn't understand. If he keeps this up, he might just make it to the top three next time around.

4. Diamond Tiara (Redemption Arc: Crusaders of The Lost Mark)
Why she moved down: It's hard to really justify keeping Diamond Tiara high up, when she hasn't done a thing since her reformation in either the show or the comics. Perhaps the expanded media could do stuff with her in the tie in chapter books, such as the Ponyville Mystery series. If the first one could drop a bombshell about Scootaloo's family situation, and one of the upcoming covers can hint at a StarlightxCMC team up, I see no reason why Diamond Tiara can't at least have an appearance in one of the stories there. But who knows, maybe they're ready to have her do something in Season 8? We did get a noticeable non-speaking cameo from her this season, compared to a season ago, so maybe that's a sign that she's not gonna be completely forgotten and will return to the show in a big way?

3. Starlight Glimmer (Redemption Arc: The Cutie Re-Mark Part 2, The Crystalling Parts 1 and 2, No Second Prances, Every Little Thing She Does, To Where And Back Again Parts 1 and 2, Celestial Advice, Rock Solid Friendship)
Why she moved up: At first it seemed like Season 7 was gonna be the same as Season 6 for Starlight, and initial previews for "Celestial Advice" made it seem like she was gonna graduate right from the start and that would be. And for a while, she was handled poorly every single time she got the spotlight role, whether it be "All Bottled Up" (even if that's more on Trixie), "A Royal Problem", "Mirror Magic" (hands down her worst inclusion since being reformed), "Fame and Misfortune" (where she basically replaced Spike), or "To Change a Changeling". It was her performance in episodes like "Rock Solid Friendship" and "Triple Threat", which really made the case for her redemption and showed that she was improving. Then we had "Uncommon Bond" which signified a hopeful step in the right direction for her focus episodes, where she was likeable and relateable the whole way through. And even if they kind of overplayed it, she did get a good role in "Shadow Play", but it wasn't solely her victory. She'd probably have moved up to number two, maybe even number one, were it not for the fact that her backstory and behavior in "The Cutie Re-Mark" drag her down.

2. Sci-Twi (Redemption Arc: Legend of Everfree)
Why she stayed the same: There's honestly not much to talk about that I didn't talk about before. It was interesting to see her go back to Crystal Prep, but they really didn't touch much on this, not even when the Shadowbolts became reformed. A lot of what made her good before is still there, and as much as I may detest Juniper Montage and everything that happened to her (she was a pretty poor villain, so petty and childish with ridiculous dreams bordering on delusion, not to mention an awful monster design that failed to intimidate or even look otherworldly, to say nothing of her "redemption"), I could see Sci-Twi feeling something for her and understanding her point of view a little. As far as I know though, she hasn't really been the focus of the Equestria Girls spin-off series, she's only gotten one music video short to herself, and that's it.

1. Sunset Shimmer (Redemption Arc: Rainbow Rocks, Friendship Games, Legend of Everfree)
Why she stayed the same: Come on, as if anyone could top Sunset Shimmer? She's unquestionably been the big selling point of the Equestria Girls franchise since "Rainbow Rocks" solidified her redemption. But I feel like they're kind of overusing her in the spin-off series. They continue to make her so damn perfect at everything and anything, without ever previously attempting or working with it. She's teetering on the brink of becoming a text book example of a Mary Sue, because at this point what flaws can anyone name off the top of their head? There's an easy way to fix this though, now would be the perfect time to bring up her homesickness that was dropped from "Friendship Games". Maybe after the events of "Mirror Magic" and "Shadow Play", Sunset could struggle between her desire to return home, and her concerns about what protection the human realm will have in her absence. We also saw in "Rainbow Rocks" and "Friendship Games" that Sunset doesn't always understand things the same way the Rainbooms do (though "Legend of Everfree" showed how that could be a good thing), so maybe in one short she could actually be at odds with one of her friends because of that? It really wouldn't take much to give her a reasonable flaw.

And there you have it. Come back tomorrow, when we'll look at the Top Ten New Characters of Season 7.

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