Ranking The Reformations of FiM, From Worst to Best (Version 7)

Well, Season 9 has given me a lot to talk about in regards to redemptions/reformations, most of it not very good. But we'll get to all of that when we get to it (and in many cases it won't take long to reach the newcomers or the ones moving down). Here's the previous version, from the middle of Season 9, like before I'm not counting the reformations/redemptions of any comics exclusive villains and as always this list is purely the result of my personal opinion so please respect it. We've got three new redemptions/reformations to consider, bringing the total up to 21.

21. and 20. Discord (Redemption Arc: Keep Calm and Flutter On, Twilight's Kingdom Parts 1 and 2, Discord and the Ponyville Players Dramarama, Make New Friends, But Keep Discord, What About Discord?, IDW Friends Forever #2 and #20, To Where And Back Again Parts 1 and 2, Discordant Harmony, IDW Main Series #57, A Matter of Principals, The Best Gift Ever, The Beginning of the End Parts 1 and 2, IDW Main Series #75-#78, The Summer Sun Setback, The Ending of the End Parts 1 and 2) and Pony Trixie a.k.a The Great and Powerful Trixie (Redemption Arc: Magic Duel, Friends Forever #6, IDW Main Series #21-#22, No Second Prances, To Where and Back Again Parts 1 and 2, Friends Forever #36, All Bottled Up, To Change a Changeling, Uncommon Bond, Road to Friendship, Nightmare Knights #2-#5, Student Counsel, A Horse Shoe-In)
Why they moved all the way down to the bottom: *Sigh*, and to think you were doing so well with them, Season 9. But their last outings really brought down their redemption arcs. For Discord his entire plan to "help" Twilight completely undermined any idea that he might have learned, and for Trixie seeing her continue to act like a self centered jerk who only makes things worse for Starlight just made me wonder why Starlight bothers to stay friends with her. Quite frankly Discord and Trixie deserve each other and no one else, both of them have the same problem of not learning from their mistakes yet claiming they're "reformed". I despise them both equally because of their developments, but if I had to absolutely pick one who worse it would be Discord. At least "The Ending of the End" and "The Last Problem" offer hints that maybe Trixie has been reigned in, whereas Discord basically gets off scot free for endangering Equestria because he was trying to "help" Twilight gain confidence!

19. and 18. Garble (Redemption Arc: Sweet and Smoky) and Ahuizotl (Redemption Arc: Daring Doubt)
Why they're both so low: Both of these are redemptions that no one wanted and that fly completely in the face of what was previously established about their characters. For Garble it's that he was really just a misunderstood beatnik poet, and Ahuizotl it's that he was actually trying to protect the basin's treasures. Nevermind the fact that Garble willingly did immoral things and took pleasure in doing them, like smashing phoenix eggs or bullying Spike. And nevermind the fact that Ahuizotl at least once went outside the basin to attack Somnambula Village in Southern Equestria, to say nothing of the many times he opposed Daring Do without so much as a hint that he was anything other than a villain. But I've seen people try to justify what we saw of Ahuizotl prior, particularly the heat wave he was going to unleash on the entire basin, they claim it would not harm the treasures and would keep all life out. But even if you subscribe to that idea it's still a huge leap. Still, it's better than any justification you could get for Garble.

17. Vignette Valencia (Redemption Arc: Rollercoaster of Friendship)
Why she moved up: She only really moved up because we had some really bad redemptions in the show, nothing else about her changed. She really didn't deserve to be reformed, she got everything she wanted after being a control freak. I still don't have much to say about it because I've stated my case a couple versions back about why this one didn't need to exist. Hers just isn't the only one that's officially canon now.

16. King Sombra (Redemption Arc: IDW Main Series #34-#37)
Why he moved up: His redemption arc is officially uncanonized as a result of "The Beginning of the End" and for that I'm grateful! His redemption arc in the comics took everything great about his Fiendship is Magic issue and ran it into the ground! I could probably leave him off the list since his reformation is officially not canon anymore.

15. Juniper Montage (Redemption Arc: Movie Magic, Mirror Magic)
Why she moved up: She only really moved up by virtue of not being in the bottom three anymore, like Vignette Valencia she moves up simply because there are worse reformations that outclass hers. She was never really a threat to begin with, she was just made into an antagonist to try and tie three Equestria Girls specials together into one "movie".

14. The Shadowbolts of Crystal Prep (Redemption Arc: Dance Magic)
Why they stayed the same: With Equestria Girls likely to wrap up for good soon it really is a shame that they didn't get focused on much, even though they were billed in "Friendship Games" as the anti-Rainbooms. I still can't overlook the fact that Indigo Zapp was inexplicably absent, and the fact of the matter is that even without Cinch around they still willingly stole someone's else idea and tried to pass it off as their own for their own benefit. So they can't really claim that they were only bad under Cinch because they were following orders.

13. Chancellor Neighsay (Redemption Arc: School Raze Part 2, The Ending of the End Part 2)
Why he moved up: He seemed to be leading the charge to take on the Legion of Doom in the climax, and did so while willingly working alongside other leaders so I'd say that counts towards his redemption. It's a lot better than what we got in "School Raze Part 2" when as soon as he was reformed he just departed, never to be held accountable for his actions. Kind of a shame that he wasn't the one they used for the Pinky and the Brain reference in "The Ending of the End".

12. Gilda (Redemption Arc: The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, IDW Friends Forever #24, The Hearth's Warming Club)
Why she stayed the same: Griffonstone is still a run down mess populated by selfish, greedy jerks. Gilda, Gabby, and Gallus have not been able to build it back up into something worthwhile. Maybe it happened off-screen sometime after the Legion of Doom's defeat, but more likely Gallus becoming Captain of the Royal Guard means he doesn't live in Griffonstone any longer and Griffonstone is still a bad place. I actually talked about this in my top ten forgotten plot points and top ten forgotten characters lists, but it's sad to think that Gilda wasn't able to accomplish the task given to her after her redemption.

11. Dr. Caballeron (Redemption Arc: Daring Doubt)
Why he's so high: Caballeron's redemption is pretty par for the course as far as the show is considered. It's not anything we haven't seen before. I do think it could work, we don't know for sure how the offer to partner up with Daring Do worked out and given how cold Daring was to Rainbow Dash in "Daring Doubt" it's possible that she brushed Dr. Caballeron aside when he desired to help her. And then it became a case of creating your own worst enemy, since Caballeron may have felt spurned and resented Daring Do for it. But they show that he could work as an asset to her, largely due to his knowledge of historical ruins helping Daring fill in her own gaps. If we got to see more episodes of the two together after Caballeron's change of heart I think they actually could sell us on the reformation being genuine. It kind of reminds me of how Sly was able to recruit and befriend The Panda King in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, Panda King admits that he resents Sly for ruining him but Sly points out that they've both changed since their first encounter and they should talk it out. Over time they come to an understanding and let go of the past. The same could be true with Daring Do and Dr. Caballeron.

10. Babs Seed (Redemption Arc: One Bad Apple, Apple Family Reunion, IDW Main Series #21-#22, Friends Forever #13, Bloom and Gloom, Friends Forever #36, The Last Crusade)
Why she stayed the same: It seems there's quite a few cases throughout Season 9 where the animators weren't paying attention or were not in the loop. Case in point, Lil' Cheese was supposed to be a colt but no one communicated that to the animators who used a filly model instead (as well as gave the mane six bags under their eyes that they were not meant to have). So Babs Seed not having her cutie mark in "The Last Crusade" was not an isolated incident or a one off thing. And aside from that nothing else really changed about her character. I have to wonder if much like Diamond Tiara and SIlver Spoon the writers pitched ideas of things to do with her, and Hasbro shot them all down.

9. Tempest Shadow a.k.a Fizzlepop Berrytwist (Redemption Arc: School Daze Part 1, IDW Main Series #67-#68, IDW Nightmare Knights #2-#5, The Ending of the End Part 2)
Why she moved up: I kind of feel like there was a missed opportunity to reveal Tempest as the leader of the back up to help the mane six in the final battle against the Legion of Doom. And even if they were on a tight schedule surely they could've dropped Emily Blunt a line and had her record a few lines briefly. Those details aside she was definitely the most welcome addition to the huge ensemble cast during the final battle, the one most accustomed to leading others into battle and fighting alongside them. I still wish they'd done more with her in the comics, but maybe there's hope for her yet in Season 10 next year?

8. Wallflower Blush (Redemption Arc: Forgotten Friendship)
Why she moved up: It looks like we finally got that extended version of "Invisible", though I have yet to hear it. Apparently, Shanon Chan-Kent is used for a lot of songs throughout the show and its spin-off, usually demos before they have the full song worked out (it was recently revealed in a leak that she sang the original version of "A Kirin Tale" before they brought Rachel Bloom in and basically reworked it into what we got). I bring up that detail since there's not much else to say about her character. Chalk her up to another casualty of the Equestria Girls franchise not building on anything it did or developing its characters.

7. Stygian (Redemption Arc: Shadow Play Part 2, A Rockhoof and a Hard Place, IDW Nightmare Knights #1-#5)
Why he moved up: Kind of odd that he didn't show up to aid the pillars in the final battle at any point, but he was there to watch Twilight be corinated. Maybe he helped organize them and get them all ready, but there's no lines to indicate one way or another that he did that. He and many others move up because of the newcomers and a few long standing additions moving down.

6. Princess Luna (Redemption Arc: Friendship is Magic Part 2 (Mare In The Moon), Luna Eclipsed, IDW Main Series #5-#8, Friends Forever #7, Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, Nightmare Knights #1-#5)
Why she moved up: Although she still appeared throughout Season 9, the most we got of Luna's past was a brief appearance of Nightmare Moon in Twilight's worst fear in "The Beginning of the End, Part 1". And since we're only talking about redemption arcs and not overall character, there really isn't much else to say. That's fine though, because Luna's redemption arc was poorly focused on to begin with and it would've suffered the same way "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" did to introduced it again so close to the end.

5. Equestria Girls Trixie (Redemption Arc: Forgotten Friendship, Spring Breakdown)
Why she moved up: At least human Trixie seems to have learned her lesson about boasting and being a jerk. Even if she was just there in "Spring Breakdown" she now looks like a saint compared to her pony counterpart. And she was the one who dropped the mask first and let us see the vulnerable individual that lies behind it. Heck, with human Trixie it feels like they did everything right where pony Trixie went wrong over the course of the show (even down to her initial bonding with Sunset Shimmer).

4. Sci-Twi (Redemption Arc: Legend of Everfree, Forgotten Friendship, Equestria Girls Series), 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, Shadow Play Parts 1 and 2, School Daze Parts 1 and 2, Marks for Effort, A Matter of Principals, Road to Friendship, The Beginning of the End Part 1, Student Counsel), 2. Diamond Tiara (Redemption Arc: Crusaders of the Lost Mark, Ponyville Mysteries: Schoolhouse of Secrets and Tale of the Timberwolf, IDW Ponyville Mysteries #3, The Last Crusade, Spirit of the Forest #1-#3), 1. Sunset Shimmer (Redemption Arc: Rainbow Rocks, Friendship Games, Legend of Everfree, Forgotten Friendship, Equestria Girls Series)
Why they all stayed the same: There's really no point in making them all separate when they're all occupying the same places as before and there's no new additions to talk about (I know that the next Equestria Girls special got leaked, I haven't seen it yet). Sci-Twi started out promising but quickly just turned into someone for Sunset Shimmer to talk to in order to understand her problem and come up with a solution. Starlight Glimmer definitely turned the corner and finally put her past behind her, but outside of "Student Counsel" showing her concern for the students and how far she's come there weren't many extra details added in her few appearances in the back half of Season 9. Diamond Tiara did indeed get to be the focus for the third and final issue of "Spirit of the Forest" and she did a fantastic job, hopefully the main series comic writers will find uses for her like that without needing to worry about Hasbro saying no. And Sunset Shimmer remains basically the breakout character of the Equestria Girls special, the one that in turn inspired Starlight Glimmer in the show, and basically became the only reason to keep watching the Equestria Girls franchise after it stopped doing movies (they had plenty of chances to develop the other characters but they never really did). By this point there's really no need to repeat myself, each of them are where they were last time.

And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll update the rankings for the Top Ten Stallions.