The First Half of Season 8 v.s. The First Half Of Seasons 1-7 (Episodes Only) · 5:58pm Jun 9th, 2018
I've been doing this for several seasons now, with half a season done it's time to see how Season 8 compares to all of its predecessors. Like always, this list is purely the result of my personal opinion, so feel free to disagree. First, let's look at how the episodes stack up for Season 8 from worst to best.
13. Non-Compete Clause
12. Marks for Effort
11. Fake It 'til You Make It
10. Grannies Gone Wild
9. The Mean Six
8. The Parent Map
7. The Break-Up Break Down
6. Molt Down
5. School Daze, Part 1
4. School Daze, Part 2
3. The Maud Couple
2. Surf and/or Turf
1. Horse Play
And now for the episode comparisons across all season. Same rules as before apply, the winner of each episode gets one point (or in the case of two parters, two points). At the end, we'll tally the points and the winner is whichever season has the most points. Despite its ups and downs, will Season 8 be able to take home the crown, or is it possible that other seasons just have too many strong contenders to beat out?
Episodes 1 and 2: Friendship is Magic v.s. The Return of Harmony v.s. The 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 v.s. School Daze
The winner is (in a close contest): Princess Twilight Sparkle. While Season 8 started off stronger than Season 7, which broke the tradition of two parter season premieres, it's become clear that the school theme touted so heavily in the premiere will not really come into play that much after all. "School Daze" still addressed most of the criticisms people had of the idea, but at the same time it does feel like a concept better suited to a spin-off and the introduction of so many new characters hasn't always boded well for other shows in the past. While "School Daze" is a strong third right now, it was really only a contest between "Princess Twilight Sparkle" and "The Cutie Map", and of the two "Princess Twilight Sparkle", much like "School Daze" did a lot to reassure fans nervous of new concepts introduced at the end of Season 3. And it set up the hints of an overarching narrative that the writers would ultimately back out on.
Episode 3: The 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 v.s. The Maud Couple
The winner is: Lesson Zero. "The Maud Couple" came closer than any episode in this slot prior to it to knocking "Lesson Zero" off its pedestal, but it's padded out in a lot of spots (which seems to be a reoccuring problem for Season 8, almost like the writers can't quite fit their concepts into a twenty two minute time slot). Still, there are areas of heart that I really appreciate it for, it would've been so easy to cheapen Pinkie's conflict and make her solely in the wrong, or make Mudbriar extremely unlikeable and justify Pinkie's behavior, but the episode did enough to avoid either of those extremes. However, "Lesson Zero" was the beginning of the growing of the beard for the show and the first big change up to the status quo. It was also one of the last episodes that Lauren Faust was a contributing factor to, and I'd say it still serves as the best introduction to the show for newcomers.
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 v.s. Fake It 'Til You Make It
The winner is (in a close contest): Rock Solid Friendship. While some of its appeal has dried up in the wake of "The Maud Couple" (which at times could feel like it was rehashing the plot from this episode), it's the one that captialized the most on its change-up to the status quo. Luna was absent for the rest of Season 2 after "Luna Eclipsed" aside from her brief cameos in "A Cantelort Wedding", Babs Seed was forgotten and discarded after Season 3, Daring Do being real was a concept that got better in later episodes but for Season 5 she wasn't present, and "Bloom and Gloom" and "On Your Marks" hinted at things that mostly were discarded in the Crusaders' next appearance, and represent how they've gone in a bunch of different directions since getting their cutie marks. "Fake It 'Til You Make It" tried to recapture the success of "It Isn't The Mane Thing About You", ignoring the fact that said episode was a fluke that could've easily bombed. "Rock Solid Friendship" still has a lot of good things going for it, especially with Maud and Starlight.
Episode 5: Griffon The Brush Off v.s. Sisterhooves Social v.s. Magic Duel v.s. Flight to the Finish v.s. Gauntlet of Fire v.s. Fluttershy Leans In v.s. Grannies Gone Wild
The winner is (no contest): Gauntlet of Fire. Even after "Molt Down", "Gauntlet of Fire" remains the best Spike episode, the one that plays the most to his strengths and the only one not bogged down by attempts at comedy or questionable writing decisions that plagued even the best of Spike episodes prior. "Grannies Gone Wild" could never hope to compete with that, but much like "Fluttershy Leans In" it seems like it isn't really trying. And surprisingly, I believe they have the same writer, G. M. Berrow.
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. Forever Filly v.s. Surf and/or Turf
The winner is: Forever Filly. "Surf and/or Turf" is a tricky episode to pin down, from a world building standpoint it's really good, and from a character standpoint it's one of Twilight's best outings in a season that so far hasn't been particularly kind to her, though the CMC's plot mandated friendship failure feels like an unnecessarily tacked on conflict. It's the story that hurts the episode, particularly when they admit that the conflict is largely irrelevant and can easily be rectified. It kind of feels like the episode existed solely to show off Mount Aris and Seaquestria, and the writers were told to just make up a story on the fly. "Forever Filly" in comparison, though it marked another change in direction for the CMC, did what previous episodes had failed to do and did a conflicting loyalties story where both sides were relatable and understandable. It's really saying something when it's able to knock out the one episode of Season 3 everyone agrees was the best "Sleepless in Ponyville" which was the first Scootaloo focus episode and layed the foundation for the dream realm, a concept recently explained in the fourth Ponyville Mysteries book (which also offers an explanation as to the origins of Nightmare Moon).
Episode 7: Dragonshy v.s. May The Best Pet Win v.s. Wonderbolts Academy v.s. Bats! v.s. Make New Friends, But Keep Discord v.s. Newbie Dash v.s. Parental Glideance v.s. Horse Play
The winner is: Horse Play. After over seven seasons, we finally got our Celestia focus episode, and it was every bit what we could've asked for. Twilight's idol worship of Celestia was something that I doubt anyone would've expected to be addressed until the very end of the show, but this episode played to Celestia's strengths and felt like the sort of conflict Twilight would create. Really, the only thing to really dislike about this episode, is the Spike abuse. Plus, there are times when "Horse Play" can get a bit heavy handed with its message. But while episodes like "Wonderbolts Academy" and "Make New Friends, But Keep Discord" may put up a fight, they simply can't match the heart of this episode. It's really saying something when the one least tied to the theme of Season 8 is the first one to score a point for it.
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 v.s. The Parent Map
The winner is: Hard to Say Anything. Now that we've gotten to see more of SugarMac, this episode has been boosted considerably, and some of its flaws are easier to tolerate (namely the CMC regressing in maturity, and the attempts at cringe comedy). "The Parent Map" can't even really claim to take second or third though, because while it avoided the worst case scenario for David Rapp, it still feels questionable that they would let Sunburst be called by the map with no explanation. And the conflict with the parents, though handled better than "Parental Glideance" is resolved so abruptly at the end that it feels jarring. "Rarity Takes Manehattan" was Rarity's long overdue return to the spotlight, and "A Hearth's Warming Tail" breathed new life into a concept everyone thought was dead. Heck, "The Parent Map" loses out to "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" because that episode was the first map mission and comes from a time when the map had potential instead of just being a plot device.
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 v.s. Non-Compete Clause
The winner is (no contest): Slice of Life. I didn't think it would be possible to sink lower than "Honest Apple" but "Non-Compete Clause" proved me wrong. There's no defending it, it is easily the weakest link in this round. "Slice of Life" would be hard to top anyways, because for the 100th episode of the show the writers and animators went all out. It was a fitting love letter to the fandom, even if at times it could feel like fan service (I like to think of it as fan service done properly, it's a shame we haven't gotten more stories like this. Maybe one a season).
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 v.s. The Break-Up Break Down
The winner is: Keep Calm and Flutter On. Yeah, shocker of shocks, right? "A Royal Problem" has been knocked off, and not by Season 8, but by Season 3. Well the thing is, "A Royal Problem" was the royal sisters episode we wanted, but not the one we likely needed. It didn't exactly play to their strengths, it felt more like a hybrid, a testing of the waters to see if a royal sisters focus episode would be accepted by the target audience. And honestly, it would've been best to cut the middle man and made the sisters act more mature, because in the episode they act more like petty teenagers than they do sovereign rulers. "Keep Calm and Flutter On" now comes back into that void, largely because it pays to remember that Discord is supposed to be reformed now, he's not supposed to keep acting like an a-hole who only cares about himself. I suspect that the reformation of Discord in that episode, was another case of the writers doing it under the assumption there wouldn't be another season. But it still pays to remember episodes that treated Discord better, instead of just using his reformation as an excuse to have him do bad or selfish things. I don't expect him to completely change, but I expect him to at least act like he's on the side of good now. That's part of what dragged down "The Break-Up Break Down" for me (alongside the misleading title and the subplots that didn't really go anywhere).
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 v.s. Molt Down
The winner is: Molt Down. "Party Pooped" was never a strong contender in the first place, it was just that the competition wasn't much better. "Molt Down" was surprisingly good, though it is a rough draft in need of refinement, especially in Smolder's role (she deserved to be in this episode more than Zecora and Rarity). Heck, there's one scene where Rarity is talking normally despite having supposedly lost her hearing. And it's not because of Spike either, it's because of phoenix feathers. But this contradicts the fact that we've seen ponies and other creatures hang out with phoenixes before and never lose their hearing. The stuff with Spike's lack of volume control quickly wears out its welcome, and all Smolder amounted to here was exposition about the molt. Having her interact with Spike would've made this episode a lot stronger. But considering this episode respected Spike, treated his concerns seriously, and had others around him treat him with respect (especially Twilight who demonstrated a great deal of concern), I'm willing to overlook those flaws and put this episode here as the winner of this round.
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 v.s. Marks for Effort
The winner is (in a close contest): Pinkie Pride. "Marks for Effort" never had a chance to begin with, it was always going to be a race between "Pinkie Pride", "Amending Fences", and "Discordant Harmony". Even if "Marks for Effort" hadn't dropped the ball so badly, there was little chance it could hope to compete with the big three here. In the end, "Pinkie Pride" had the most going for it. It was a Pinkie Pie episode that came at a time when her faults were starting to get pushed more than what was needed, and it helped to rescue her from the jaws of character exaggeration and flanderization. Plus, it was a musical episode starring Weird Al, and he did not disappoint as "Cheese Sandwich". "Amending Fences", though it feels like an alternative 100th episode of the show, suffers a bit from Moondancer's behavior and unfairly blaiming Twilight, though her breakdown mostly makes up for it. And "Discordant Harmony" well the conflict was believeable but it would've been even stronger with anyone other than Fluttershy, the only one who's been willing to accept Discord as he is.
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 v.s. The Mean Six
The winner is (no contest): "The Perfect Pear". Lightning will probably never strike twice, "The Perfect Pear" is near impossible to top. But "The Mean Six" still has no excuse for not putting its best foot forward, because it ends up feeling more like an afterthought, and a very disappointing conclusion to the first half of Season 8. Even "Magical Mystery Cure" as rushed as it is, feels like it did more with its one part than "The Mean Six". And considering that with the exception of "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" all the episodes here are of strong quality (even "Fall Weather Friends" and "Baby Cakes" are good slice of life, underrated classics for me), "The Mean Six" sticks out like a sore thumb.
And so, here are the results for this comparison: Season 1 - 0 points. Season 2 - 1 point. Season 3 - 1 point. Season 4 - 3 points. Season 5 - 1 point. Season 6 - 1 point. Season 7 - 3 points. Season 8 - 2 points. Seasons 4 and 7 are tied for the lead with 3 points each, Season 8 takes second place with 2 points, while Seasons 2, 3, 5, and 6 all battle for third with a point each, leaving Season 1 bringing up the rear with no points. If I gave a point to "A Royal Problem" Season 7 would have the lead, and if I gave a point to "Rarity Takes Manehattan" or "On Your Marks", Season 4 would have the lead. Surprisingly, Season 8 sits in a close second, just a point behind both leaders (though if either one scored one more point and took the individual lead, it would drop to third). So it looks like Season 8's actually doing alright for itself, though that's largely because it has so much competition to take points away from each other. We'll have to see whether it can stand out more in its own right in the second half, or if it might end up becoming the first season in my opinion to not top the previous one.
And there you have it. Come back tomorrow, when we'll update the mane eight ranking. Suffice it to say, the events of Season 8 and the movie have changed my opinions on some of the characters quite a bit.
Here's how I rank the episodes, from favorite to least favorite:
The Parent Map
The Mean Six
Molt Down
Marks for Effort
School Daze
Surf and/or Turf
NonCompete Clause
Horse Play
The Break Up Breakdown
The Maud Couple
Fake It Till You Make It
Grannies Gone Wild
As for my picks:
Premieres: School Daze, which not only had my pick for second best premiere villain, but the student six are great.
Episode 3: The Maud Couple, since I find it even funnier than Lesson Zero
Episode 4: Rock Solid Friendship. It's the most solid episode. (ha)
Episode 5: Tanks for the Memories. It's the most emotional
Episode six: Surf and/or Turf.
Episode 7: Parental Glideance
Episode 8: The Parent Map. I just love everything about this episode.
Episode 9: Slice of Life. Obvious.
Episode 10: Royal Problem. I love Starlight interacting with both sisters.
Episode 11: Molt Down. Not much competition.
Episode 12: Pinkie Pride. While Marks for Effort is higher up in my overall list of best episodes, Pinkie Pride would be the one I'd rather watch if I had to choose between the two.
Episode 13: The Perfect Pear. Obvious.
So for my tallies, season 8 and season 7 both tie with 5 each.
Season 5 is in second with two points.
And season 4 is in third with just 1 point.
Had I given the point to Marks for Effort instead of Pinkie Pride, season 8 would have had the clear lead at six, while season 4 would be out of the running.
Overall, though, I'd say season 8 is my favorite so far.
Just for fun, I also predicted which episodes would win out for me in the second half.
Without spoiling my predicted winners, here's what the total would be if my predictions are accurate:
Season 8: 10
Season 7: 10
Season 6: 1
Season 5: 4
Season 4: 1
Some of them look like they could swing either way between the current winner and the season 8 episode it would compete against, while others have almost no chance. But nothing is set in stone yet.
Ever since the Movie and Season 7 ended, MLP G4 has gone downhill slowly but surely.
EVERY single episode, except for The Parent Map, The Break Up Break Down, and The Mean 6, were absolutely garbage. The ideas Hasbro has created for Season 8, with the exception of those 3 episodes, were very poor and boring.
Hasbro is running out of ideas for the show, and there's evidence for it. If Season 9 is the final season of the show next year, part of me says " Good ", and the other side says " No! ", but I'm slowly getting to the point where I think " Good! " cause the show is dying. It needs to end.
This is just my opinion, please don't judge me, but I believe it's time for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic to end. Soon. If Hasbro reads this, I'm not a hater, cause I love your show so much, but you're shitting the bet.
4879876 It does seem like this is the end result of problems that started creeping up as early as Season 2, when Lauren Faust left the show and Hasbro got their way with the show's vision. Since Season 4, the story editor position has constantly switched and seems to have gotten increasingly ceremonious, which is a bad thing. Hasbro needs a middle man that can say no to their ideas, much like how Rob Rezentti played peace maker when Hasbro and Lauren were feuding over the show's direction. They messed with the Season 4 finale so Twilight would get a new castle instead of moving into the old one, forced Starlight's reformation at the end of Season 5, ordered Season 7 while Season 6 was still in production (though luckily Season 7 worked out for the better in the end), and now they've mandated the school theme that the writers didn't actually intend to focus on.
And considering what's been revealed about G5, I'm worried that Hasbro may be losing sight of what made this show so popular and successful. It was Lauren Faust who revived the franchise, because she wanted to avoid the pitfalls of usual girls cartoons. And while her vision for the show wasn't the greatest, she made up for it by assembling a team of writers she'd worked with to help. And now, all of them have left, and if what happened with Larson in "Fame and Misfortune" is any indication, Hasbro may not have treated them with the respect they deserved.
4879952
That's exactly right, but this is the problem here: Hasbro created MLP in the first place, so honestly, they can do whatever they want with the show, and that's one reason why Faust left.
The fact that Hasbro just spitballs their ideas down the road for each of their individual brands, not just MLP, but with Transformers, Littlest Pet Shop, and a couple others, is maddening. And they rush into things WAY too much. It's just like Treyarch with their Call of Duty games. Hasbro literally has shit the bet many times, and they don't care if it worries people like us.
And with what they done after Season 4 of MLP G4, Season 3 was supposed to be the finale, but the fans wanted more, and Hasbro had the money to bring more. That's when MLP had gone downhill, but the way I see it, after the movie and Season 7, they have been spitballing lame and non innovative ideas for Season 8, and possibly for Season 9. Especially with the revival of Grogar, an MLP villain I personally would wanna throw up on. Which is why I want Hasbro to end G4.
G5, we don't need it. Who the hell even asked for it? Not me! That's all I have to say about that XD
I'm not hating on Hasbro, even though I do, but this is just ridiculous in my opinion.
4879972 The sad thing is, now they've started to get it right with Transformers. They were doing well with Animated, it took a little getting used to but fans loved it and had it not been for the toyline failing and creative differences with CN, it would've gotten a fourth season. Transformers Prime was really good too, a combination of G1 nostalgia, Beast Wars writing, and Unicron Triology voice direction and use of CGI. The only mistake Hasbro made was canning at 65 episodes, the original plans were for a full Season 3, and THEN Beast Hunters. The Robots in Disguise follow-up suffers more from trying to be squeezed into the expanded universe without much thought for continuity. And Rescue Bots was a nice kid friendly Transformers, though the new Rescue Bots Academy spin-off will be interesting in that it will use the non-union New York talent that used to work for 4Kids.
Littlest Pet Shop though, the 2012 reboot was good even though it was drawing on many of the same talent from this show, it just never found the same niche. But the current reboot is a lackluster follow-up, and any potential it could have is squandered on Discovery Family which hasn't bothered to advertise it.
4879976
What about the Transformers movies? Cause those were great. 😄
And no wonder. LPS has gotten so much done to it after so many years.