My Season Eight ratings · 2:25am Apr 3rd, 2019
With season 9 starting this wekend, I think it's high time I made my opinions on season 8 known. So here we go:
1: The Sounds of Silence: I totally adored this episode. We got a whole new species introduced (the Kirin looked amazing, and their Nirik forms were suitably scary), a terrific lesson, and a wonderful character in Autumn Blaze. Rachel Bloom did a great job, especially with the song. In my opinion, this was the best episode of the season, and I really hope we get to see more of the Kirin in Season Nine.
2: The Hearth's Warming Club - This gave us a wonderful look at the individual Young Six members' traditions, with a little mystery element thrown in. I didn't expect Gallus to be the culprit, but his reasoning behind the prank was heartbreaking. He just wanted to spend a little more time with his friends, in the first place he felt he truly belonged. From this episode on, Gallus became my favorite member of the Young Six.
3: What Lies Beneath - Right behind the previous entry in awesomeness, we got a look at the Young Six's fears, doubts and insecurities, and saw them grow and bond more as friends. My favorite moments were Smolder accepting her "cute" side (and using it to help Ocellus), and Gallus encouraging Silverstream (and the adorable hug that followed. The reveal that the Tree of Harmony was a fully sentient being was the icing on the cake, as it showed that it can take a direct role in spreading harmony.
4: The Mean 6 - The long-awaited return of Chrysalis... who turns out to be a lot less effective (and a lot more dotty) without her army. The Mean 6 were a nice call-back to the Discorded Mane Six, and Mean Twilight's scheming was a delight to watch. The Mane Six had a lot of fun moments too (like Applejack's overzealous attempts to help Starlight get ready for camping), and their working through the arguments incited by their counterparts actions was really sweet. And let's not forget the Tree of Harmony wiping out the Mean 6. It was as awesome as it was freaky.
5: The Parent Map - A friendship mission with Sunburst and Starlight. As if that wasn't good enough, we finally got a look at where the two grew up. Their parents were hilariously overbearing, but their reasons turned out to be totally believable. And that brief shot of Starlight's former bedroom was utterly hilarious.
6: Horse Play - Our first Celestia episode, and one that was full of funny and awkward moments. Celestia's complete inability to act (despite her adorable enthusiasm) was a nice little flaw, and seeing Twilight desperately trying to work around it made for a lot of great scenes. And Celestia managing to save the play in the end was amazing, showing just how good a leader she really is.
7: Molt Down - Spike's big episode. Anyone who's struggled through puberty can relate to his problem scales, and voice issues. It was nice to see Peewee again, and we got some great Spike/Smolder interaction (even if their talk didn't exactly ease Spike's fears). Of course, the best moment was when Spike got those wings, and put them to good use in fending off the Roc. And Twilight assuring Spike that she didn't ever want him to leave was really sweet.
8: Surf And/Or Turf - The CMC getting their own map mission, and a return trip to Mount Aris. This episode had a lot of fun moments (mostly involving Twilight's personality), and a great song. An Terramar's problem was an interesting allegory to the struggle kids of divorced parents go through, and the CMC hit upon a novel solution.
9: The Break Up Down - Another Hearts and Hooves Day-based episode, at long last. Big Mac and Sugar Belle are one of my favorite pairings, so seeing them sharing such a sweet scene after all the confusion was really nice. But Discord was the real star of the episode, going from being dismissive of love to helping save Big Mac and Sugar Belle's relationship. This may actually have been his best showing yet.
10: A Rockhoof And A Hard Place - After Star Swirl's return in "Friendship University", it was great to have another Pillar-focused episode. Not only did we get a nice little story for Rockhoof, but we also learned what the rest of the Pillars have been up to since "Shadow Play". It was really to see Rockhoof seemingly unable to fit into the modern world, but at the same time, Yona's hero worship of him, and eventually managing to convince him that he does belong, was really sweet.
11: Road To Friendship - Another great Starlight/Trixie episode, with a really catchy song (marking pony Trixie's first singing role, to boot). We finally got to see Starlight acting as Trixie's "great and powerful assistant", and while their trip lead to some harsh words between them, their reconciliation was quite well done (and their "friendship chant" was pretty funny too).
12: School Daze (Part Two) - This one started out heartwrenchingly sad, with Twilight utterly depressed over the school being closed. Good thing Starlight was here to tell her just what she needed to hear. It was touching to hear the Young Six had all run away from home so they could stay together, and the Mane Seven (and Spike) saving them from the Pukwudgies was awesome. And the "School of Friendship" song was really amazing, perfectly encapsulating the spirit of the school.
13: School Daze (Part One) - I enjoyed how this directly followed on from the events of the movie, and the Young Six were great new characters. Though Twilight's "by the book" style generated some tensions, it was nice to see the Young Six bonding with each other. I could tell from the beginning I wasn't going to like Neighsay, and he proved it by closing the school due to his own prejudice, making for a harsh cliffhanger.
14: School Raze (Part Two) - A solid finale. The Young Six really stepped up, foiling Cozy Glow's plan with their friendship (and an assist from the Tree of Harmony). While Tirek wasn't as threatening as he was in "Twilight's Kingdom", there was a lot of fun to be found in Pinkie annoying him into helping the Mane Six. And Neighsay's reformation was put together quite well, proving how flawed his prejudice was when a pony was the one who had him locked up, and the Young Six were the ones to save him.
15: School Raze (Part One) - I have to give the show props for what they did with Cozy Glow. I felt like there was something off with her in her first appearance, but I never imagined she'd turn out to be the big villain. The loss of magic across Equestria made for some high stakes, as did Neighsay taking over the school and locking up the Young Six (save for Sandbar). And Tirek's return was a nice addition, as was the reveal that he had been helping Cozy Glow.
16: Marks For Effort - A fair episode. The CMC's efforts to get accepted into the School of Friendship made for some decent comedy, and their seflessly helping Cozy Glow study was nice (though it turned south when Twilight accused them of giving Cozy intentionally wrong answers). The best part was Starlight's guidance counseling session with Cozy. she was so eager to help, and hit upon the answer to both the CMC's problems. It's just a pity their becoming Friendship Tutors wasn't followed up on in any other episodes this season.
17: The Maud Couple - Maud episodes are always good, though Pinkie kinda brought this one down a little with her hostility toward Mudbriar. I know some fans dislike him, but I enjoy his character, and he and Maud are really cute together. And it was nice to see Limestone and Marble get a little focus (especially when Limestone gave Pinkie some sisterly advice).
18: The Washouts - The return of Lightning Dust, Rainbow's jealous traits showing up again, and Scootaloo hitting her "rebellious phase". Quite a turbulent story. Lightning Dust proved that she hasn't changed a bit, endangering Scootaloo just to put on a good show. But she did get her comeuppance, and Rainbow regained Scootaloo's respect through saving her. And the "Scootaloo fan club" scene was really sweet.
19: Friendship University - Flim and Flam have never been my favorite characters, so their return wasn't exactly a plus for me (especially considering their continued putdowns, and even blackmail, of Twilight). But it was great to see them get their comeuppance. It was also nice to Star Swirl again. The old fella's really mellowed out from when we last saw him, and the scene with all the postcards he sent Twilight was a nice way to open the episode.
20: Fake It 'Til You Make It: It was a lot of fun seeing all of Fluttershy's different salespony personas (Hipstershy was my favorite), but seeing her lose herself in the roles (to the point where she insulted her friends) was a little harsh. Rarity's method of dealing with the problem, while simple, was also kind of funny. And at least Fluttershy learned to channel that inner strength the right way.
21: Grannies Gone Wild: It was good to see Granny Smith's fellow grannies again, but I felt like Applejack's instructions to Rainbow were a little too over-the-top, treating the grannies like they couldn't handle too much fun. On the other hand, Jack Pot was an interesting character, and Rainbow being accepted into the Golden Horseshoe Gals at the end was really nice.
22: The End in Friend - I didn't really dislike this episode, but it wasn't especially intriguing either. It was clever of them to point out how few episodes Rarity and Rainbow have shared, but I thought the argument between them got out of hand a little fast. I did enjoy seeing reconcile as they recovered the "lost" Amulet of Aurora (and learn a little more about each other to boot), though.
23: Father Knows Beast - This episode started out good, with some more Spike/Smolder bonding as she taught him the proper flying technique, but it went downhill not long after Sludge arrived. It was pretty clear that he was just pretending to be Spike's father to take advantage of him. But at least we got to see Smolder helping Spike to find out the truth, and another sweet Twilight/Spike moment at the end.
24: A Matter of Principals - After seeing Discord at what was arguably his best just a few episodes ago, it was painful to see him dragged back to an antagonistic role again, and even moreso that Starlight was the one who had to apologize, and even reward him for his behavior (which included endangering the students). On the plus side, we got to see Starlight show off her empathic nature by figuring out why Discord did what he did, and Spike and the Young Six were great supporting characters.
25: Non-Compete Clause - I was never a fan of the Applejack/Rainbow Dash rivalry, and bring it back after so long was a very bad idea, especially considering they didn't even learn their lesson in the end (despite the fact that Yona almost drowned, and they almost got eaten, due to their competing). If not for some good moments with the Young Six, this would have been the worst episode of the season.
26: Yakity Sax - Without a doubt, my most hated episode of the season. Pinkie was just so obnoxiously oblivious to the harm her terrible playing was causing, and overreacted to being told she was no good and should stop. But the worst part was the ending, where the Mane Five claimed they were wrong, and encouraged Pinkie to keep doing what she was doing in the first place. What kind of lesson is that?
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Actually, I do. She just wasn't at her best in that episode.