Ranking the Student Six Episodes (From Worst to Best) · 6:39pm Mar 3rd, 2019

Now it's on to some of the other characters that have gotten a significant number of episodes devoted to them. First and foremost is what was supposed to be the new mane six, but like many other things in Season 8 turned out underdeveloped and underutilized, the student six (also sometimes called the young or creature six). We've already explored how they stack up as characters, but what about their episodes? Well, that's what we're here to find out.

The student six got only nine total episodes of focus in Season 8 out of 26 episodes, four of them being two parters. My personal opinion is once again involved so please respect it, and I will not be including episodes where Smolder appeared solo (such as "Molt Down" and "Father Knows Beast") or "Horse Play" since the student six contributed nothing to the episode and had no actual lines. And we're looking at the episodes based on how well they focus on and develop the student six (if at all).

9. Non Compete-Clause (Season 8, Episode 9)
Why it's on the bottom: The student six may be the only thing saving this episode from being the worst episode of the entire show, but even then they're just along for the ride. They don't really do anything up until the climax, the most we get before that is them being put in danger (to the point where Yona almost drowns, I know I keep bringing that up but it's something that cannot be overlooked. It shouldn't have been in there in the first place and all it does is make Applejack and Rainbow Dash look even worse than they already are for not preventing it).

8. A Rockhoof and a Hard Place (Season 8, Episode 21)
Why it's not on the bottom: This episode starts out as a Rockhoof episode with the student six playing a contributing role to it, but as time goes by it's clear that only Yona is of importance and even then she doesn't really develop. She only connects with Rockhoof because she thinks he's just like him. That's fine for a start but they needed to go deeper, especially considering the role Yona ends up playing in the climax. Only Sandbar and Ocellus actually knew of Rockhoof's status as a pillar, so they were the only ones who actually originally cared about him. Again, Rockhoof in that episode was treated more like a problem for everyone to keep unloading on everyone else, with no one actually trying to figure out how to help him adjust.

7. A Matter of Principals (Season 8, Episode 14 in production order/15 in airdate)
Why it's in the bottom three: The student six sure did seem to get some of the absolute worst episodes of Season 8, episodes that seemed to suffer from making other characters look bad for the sake of trying to make the student six look good by comparison. But it doesn't work that way when the established characters have more personality and character than the new ones, them being bad doesn't tell us anything about the new characters. What few hints of development we do get come mainly in the form of the scavenger hunt towards the end, with things like Gallus seeing Spike hide one of the artifacts but he actually does know a bit of history, or Sandbar having a love of poetry. Even then they are mostly just there to be tormented by Discord, once again caught in the crossfire of a feud they know nothing about.

6. and 5. School Raze Parts 1 and 2 (Part 2 is lower than Part 1) (Season 8, Episodes 25 and 26)
Why they're not in the bottom three: In terms of this being a student six finale it's not entirely unsalvegable, though I still don't see why only they had to be the ones to save the day when just last season we had a finale where the mane six shared the spotlight with another mane six and didn't feel demonized or cheapened to make the other side look good. It's just that in order to get to that kind of finale everyone else has to be shoved aside without fanfare and written out in the most insulting ways possible that don't make sense. Cozy Glow also lacks any sort of chemistry with the student six, aside from them being the only ones who don't fall for her blatant lies (why anyone believes them is beyond me, you can't possibly expect me to think even adults would think a child is running a school all on their own). I also think Sandbar better examplifies loyalty rather than kindness, considering he could've ditched his friends but didn't (though him being locked up alongside them makes no sense considering Neighsay's character and beliefs). I'm not sure what Season 9 holds for them after this, the only trailer we have so far doesn't show them in any sort of role. At the least I hope they won't be discarded without fanfare.

4. and 3. School Daze Parts 1 and 2 (Season 8, Episodes 1 and 2)
Why they're in the top half: Even if this is also a mane eight spotlight episode, this two parter is all about introducing us to the student six and it manages to do a good enough job with them while leaving the door open for further development that was ultimately squandered. The only problem I have is that them being missing is a very underwhelming conflict since we know they're not in any danger and when they try to throw in one they don't tell us enough to warrant the investment (are puguwiks' quills poisonous or really sharp?). Silverstream also at the time felt like a poor man's substitute for Princess Skystar, and it would take time for the show to develop her character beyond that.

2. The Hearth's Warming Club (Season 8, Episode 15 in production order/16 in airdate)
Why it's not on the top: Sandbar's story falls flat because the joke doesn't work (they forgot to get us invested in the doll so we'd care about what happens to it) and Smolder sort of regresses here with her whole "I'm too awesome for friendship" behavior. But aside from that and the somewhat clunky set-up for the mystery this episode gives the student six some much needed development. Silverstream got the best story of the whole bunch but Gallus easily stole the spotlight with his heart breaking revelation that he's an orphan. It really does a lot to explain who he is and why he acts the way he does. But of course, there's one episode that tops even this one.

1. What Lies Beneath (Season 8, Episode 22)
Why it's on the top: Does anyone besides me think this should've been part of the Season 8 premiere? It shines the spotlight on the student six and develops them (minus Sandbar) pretty well, each showing their greatest fears and how it defines them as a character. It doesn't feel like it's retredding old ground and it manages to even build to the season finale with a promising stinger at the end. It's understandable the student six would doubt themselves, and even the Tree of Harmony gaining sentience doesn't feel weird considering how they explain it (have to wonder if they're going to follow up on this considering what lies in store for the tree in Season 9). So for all those reasons, I'm putting this in the top spot.

And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll rank the Princess episodes.

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