This video gives a critique to G1 of MLP.

https://youtu.be/Eh26aaHK2Wg[/youtube]

It certainly had its charm and has a lot of retroactive greatness.

Since I watched this video, there are some areas I agree and disagree with that person's take. From my perspective, it would have been nice if G1 was really telling a story, because I felt that that the way it was done was sort of random be it the specials, movie, or even series. In other words, despite having this generation dedicated to mostly to adventure, it was pretty hard to know if there was really an endgame here. I won't argue against the pony characters, because so many only were around for a particular episode and never seen again while others just existed only a few times making it hard to give any real development for them. Maybe if Hasbro found a way to keep the ones from the pilot, that could have given them more development, but that wasn't the case, because none of them appeared again due to them losing the copyright laws making it difficult for them to appear again, though we do see characters such as Megan, Spike, and the Moochick again after this. Although I do sort of agree with Megan being boring, I feel that it wasn't done intentionally. Perhaps if she was given a backstory, that might have made her character better, but knowing the way Hasbro does this franchise, that's usually not the case with a lot of main characters no matter what generation they do be it past or present, which really can give the viewers more of a reason to why they are there in the first place. Even when she was introduced, I always felt that she was this hero by accident, because I know that when Firefly left looking for someone, she didn't give an idea of who she was really looking for and just wound up taking whoever she saw at first sight, which happened to be her. Still, I feel that the reason she was there in the first place and not adapted in any later generations was mainly to get viewers used to the franchise due to it being something new at the time, because it felt that after that, the idea of a human companion no longer felt necessary, so it was sort of like saying to her that there was no longer a future for you and that character almost went down the memory hole if not for hardcore fans reviving her with screencaps and fanart with some of which having her with the more recent characters despite not being part of the show itself. Another thing is that I don't get that when they had to change the animation, they also had to change Megan's appearance as well each time she came up. Seriously, I don't get what was wrong with what she wore originally because it pretty much did show what her background was not to mention seemed appropriate for the adventures she had as well as having to ride some of the ponies when dressed as a cowgirl whereas having the frilly overalls just felt more like trying to overreach to a target audience by making her look more girly, though I personally found that not only not being age appropriate for her, but felt pretty dated for a show of its time. If they had to give her overalls, then why not a design that girls her age and at that time would wear instead of what she wound up with? One other thing, I always felt that G1 or at least its series never got a proper ending especially when the second season barely had any episodes compared to the first, which always made me feel as if there was supposed to be more following after what became the last episode, but we'll never know because it wasn't continued. Overall, G1 may not have been perfect, but it was something for its time, though it's still the darkest out of all the other generation especially for being a kid's show, but that could have been due to having little regulations at the time by the FCC as opposed to what exists now.

Since the person who made that video mentioned the End of Flutter Valley, I might as well give my take on it. I know that this was created to be a follow up to the original MLP the Movie, but I feel that there were a lot of downsides to this. Unlike the movie, this gave more screen time to the minor characters such as the Flutter Ponies, witches, and Bees whereas the base and major characters get a backseat here. Meanwhile, Spike, the Bushwoolies, and the other ponies are just looking for ways to get around but are trapped for the most part due to the Furbobs, who are the cousins of the Bushwoolies, being too scared of the Stonebacks, who are dragon-like creatures that they have been fearing. The majority of this follow up is mainly the Flutter Ponies trying to get back the Sunstone from the Bees, because their claim is that if they don't, Flutter Valley will go bad after sunset if that's not the case. However, for the Bees, the Sunstone is hurting Bumbleland in the long run as Queen Bumble's troops have to get her honey the way they were doing before they got that said stone as it raised the temperature there. Seeing that it caused a fire, they now know that it has to be returned by any costs. After Sting learns how to fly thanks to Morning Glory, she does go with her to help get Megan, but both find her too big for either of the two to her ride them, so they get a blanket to carry her instead. Megan's main role here is just to be the one who carries Sunstone back as if nobody else was able to do that for some reason. As they get reunited with the rest of the group, they come across Ahgg, who is a giant spider that the witches used in the movie, almost stops them from entering Flutter Valley. Thanks to Megan's help, the Furbobs no longer fear the Stonebacks and even use them as a way to help them get the Sunstone back. Although the Sunstone does get returned, Queen Bumble does want it stolen again despite what it did their land in the long run as if she didn't learn from previous mistake, but Queen Rosedust claims that it doesn't have to be the case as the Bees no longer have to be at odds with them and can come to Flutter Valley whenever they want to for getting nectar. After this was all done, they once again sing the song "From the Sun" as they did in the beginning only with others now in it, though I don't see why they had to sing it once again. The witches themselves aren't seen again after this and just return the Volcano of Gloom for unknown reasons, though that did make them the only villains in G1 to appear more than once unlike many others who were just for one episode. Overall, I felt that this didn't have to be done as a follow up movie, but rather just a regular episode that could have been about half of that. I can understand trying to give more to the minor characters, but there should have been a balance here to which there wasn't. In other words, I didn't like how the plot for this was stretched for more than it had to be.

I know that it will sound like I'm sort of defending Megan here, but after watching another of Peace Petal's videos on ranking generation, I feel that he doesn't know everything about her. As someone who has actually watched G1 with where she actually appears, Megan does come as someone who is a caring person and sometimes even acts as a mother to the ponies even if it's not directly. Also, she isn't very selfish or narcissistic when it comes to adventures and knows where her limits are. In other words, she doesn't act like she is holier than thou just because she is considered the savior of Ponyland and the keeper of the Rainbow of Light. Even with that powerful artifact, she doesn't have to rely on it much as it wasn't used much in the series except in one episode, The Great Rainbow Caper, compared to everything before it, though it's really Danny who is using it while she places it back into the locket and claims that it needs to be used wisely due to not always being available that makes my theory on needing to be recharged when returned a possible head canon. Originally, she was supposed to use the Rainbow of Light to help defeat Lavan in episode, The Quest of the Princess Ponies, but an energy wave that hit her made her drop the locket, but she was fortunate enough that the Bushwoolie that was presumed dead was still alive and returned to Paradise Estate with the locket to give back to her. I will admit that there may have been some episodes where she could have easily used it and got it over with, but know its limits, the villains probably will laugh at her if they see that it can't be used due to not being fully recharged, which is why she was lucky enough to have other ways to win such battles without relying on it. Some may ask why neither Scorpan nor the princess ponies knighted her for her help in saving them, but that was mainly because there was never a reason for either of them to do so nor was it ever found to be necessary, plus I don't think Megan would have cared either way in the claim that helping them alone was probably good enough for her. The only thing I might not have liked about her is the lack of a backstory to why she was there in the first place, but knowing this franchise, that's usually not the case, and that continues with other generations as well as the more recent ones aren't an exception to this. Still, it would have been nice if there was more for her when G1 ended, because if not for fans she would have gone down with the ship when it sank especially seeing that she was never going to adapted into anything more recently such as the FiM series, which might have been the best chance to bring her back again. Sometimes, I do wish that some of the fanart, fanfictions, or even fan made videos that shows her with G4 characters was something that actually happened, but that's probably just me saying that. Now that IDW didn't have her make an actual appearance in the crossover series and wont' be doing anything else G4, the missed opportunity has turned into a lost opportunity to see her interacting with the newer characters beyond anything that was made by fans. Overall, I still believe that after G1 ended, it felt as if she got a big divorce from the franchise as it felt that the only reason, she was there originally just to get viewers used to the franchise, but after it ended, it was like saying that she was no longer needed as now everyone knew about it while the idea for rebooting her never came up again when later generations came resorting to only cameos and references to her only, but no real appearances. Again, this is just the way I tend to perceive her, plus I feel that she is pretty underappreciated especially for only existing in one generation as if there was no love or future for her beyond that.