Ranking the Sunburst Episodes (From Worst to Best), Version 2 · 7:43pm Sep 9th, 2019
Well, Sunburst isn't getting another spotlight episode, not that anyone really expected him to. He served his purpose well though. With one last outing for him, he bumped his total of episodes up to 7. For those wondering why Maud Pie isn't getting her list updated, "Student Counsel" wasn't a focus episode for her despite her presence. That also holds true for Sunburst who really didn't do much in that episode. But what exactly changed for Sunburst with one more episode? Well, let's find out. Here's the first version, from February.
7. A Trivial Pursuit (Season 9, Episode 16)
Why it's on the bottom: Come on, you didn't really think this episode would end up anywhere else, did you? The rest of the list can stay the same, but this episode had to be where it is. Sunburst was just as arrogant as Twilight was in this episode, just not as outright freaking out. The fact that he tried to get Twilight disqualified on a technacaility shouldn't have been satisfying, but I guess Twilight and Sunburst deserve each other if they're that petty and shallow. Maybe that's the real reason Starlight didn't wanna keep score anymore, she was tired of Sunburst being so self centered and vain.
6. and 5. The Crystalling Parts 1 and 2 (Season 6, Episodes 1 and 2)
Why they moved up: Only really moving up because they're not on the bottom anymore. Sunburst's character wasn't quite nailed down here, he felt kind of like a male Moondancer. And the rest of Season 6 didn't do much with him aside from having him spout exposition. If he remained like that for the rest of the show I don't think Sunburst would've left much of an impression and probably not enough to justify bringing him back so much (besides him being part of Starlight's own circle of friends, along with Trixie, Thorax, and Maud Pie)
4. The Parent Map (Season 8, Episode 8)
Why it moved up: Now it's in the middle instead of the bottom half, but that's all that changed for it. It still feels like a stretch for Sunburst to be called by the map, especially when they don't bother to come up with an explanation or handwave. And that kind of unfortunately holds him back. He never would've gone back to reconcile with his mom if the map hadn't basically forced him to do it. Still no word on where his dad was for all of this, I still don't ship Stellar Flare with Night Light because of that detail (if not for the flashback to Starlight's childhood we could assume that Stellar Flare was a single parent too).
3. and 2. Shadow Play Parts 1 and 2 (Part 1 is better than Part 2) (Season 7, Episodes 25 and 26)
Why they stayed the same: If there's one thing about Sunburst's presence here that feels jarring, it's that he never sticks up for Starlight when she's being put down by her friends (not in an overly harsh way, mind you, but it's still a bit jarring to see her bring up criticisms and her friends brush them aside). I get that like Twilight he's blinded by idol worship of Starswirl, but considering this came just on the heels of him learning to spend time with Starlight and listen to her you'd think he'd be a little more sympathetic to her position. Other than that, Sunburst did great here. He truly felt like a sixth/extra ranger to the group. If anything, it felt like he got the role that might have otherwise gone to Spike (not that Spike could've done what Sunburst did).
1. Uncommon Bond (Season 7, Episode 24)
Why it stayed on the top: Sunburst's big day in the limelight, the episode that really added fuel for shipping him with Starlight (though it also launched some ships with Twilight, and a few poligamous relationships with Trixie and Starlight). At times it does feel like the other characters are shilling Starlight, but in actuality it feels tame compared to a lot of what she got in Season 6 and early Season 7 when she seemed to be capable of anything. But through it all, Sunburst felt great. Of all the plots to involve a friend of a friend making new friends, this one probably did it the best by keeping the cast small and focused. And they realized that having Sunburst befriend all of the mane six would've been too much of a stretch, so they shifted the focus to other characters. Sunburst really lucked out by getting three episodes in a row with a lead role at the end of Season 7.
And there you have it, come back on Saturday after the U.S. airing of "A Horse Shoe-In" when we'll update the rankings for the Starlight Glimmer episodes.
For me, it's:
1. Parent Map
2. Trivial Pursuit
3. Uncommon Bond
4. Shadow Play
5. The Crystalling
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yea the thing with sunburst in trivial pursuit is I think he acted that way in order to show twilight how pinkie felt, and really my issues with that episode are really that the lesson didn't hit as hard as ti needed too relative to how badly twilight acted
I'm guessing you'll also update the Trixie episodes on Sunday, right? And then the weekend after that, you'll update the Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Daring Do episodes.
5118677 Yes.