I know there are some people and groups that are starting to do rewatch threads and reviews for episodes of the show, and maybe eventually I'll at least go back and touch up on my reviews from Seasons 1-4 (and possibly Seasons 5 and 6) to better reflect my opinions of them now that I've had more time to think about them, but for right now I don't quite want to do that. What do I want to do is go back and update some of my comics reviews from years past, particularly the early ones for at least

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So after a long string of episodes that were average at best and insanely bad at worst, the show really needed something to get it back on track. Surprisingly, the choice to do so was to a pilot episode for a planned spin-off, and Meghan McCarthy was tapped to write it. Given the success the CMC would go on to have within the show itself, was this episode the burst of quality the show desperately needed? Well, let's find out.

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Well, at long last the show decided to do a Spike episode. He had kind of gotten "A Dog and Pony Show" but nothing where he was the solo star. But who did he get to write his first focus episode? None other than Cindy Morrow, the woman who had gone from average at best with "Griffon The Brush Off" and "Winter Wrap Up" to just plain awful with "The Show Stoppers". But hey, M. A. Larson and Amy Keating Rogers could bounce back from missteps, so who's to say Cindy Morrow couldn't do the same?

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So after not being seen at all since the pilot, Princess Luna had indisupitably become the Brony fandom's mascot. Entire headcanons had been written around "Woona" based entirely on her design from Season 1 and what little we had seen of her in the pilot's closing minutes. But then this episode came along and would be Luna's official re-debut into the show. This episode was so popular in fact, that during the only major marathon The Hub ever ran (the "We Heart Ponies Fan Favorite Mareathon" in

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This episode had a good deal of hype surrounding its initial release, even though it ended up getting leaked by Apple ahead of its planned airdate. The Hub ran a marathon leading up to the special entitled the "We Heart Ponies Fan Favorite Mareathon", consisting of what people had voted as the ten best episodes of the show up to that point (with "Luna Eclipsed" taking the number one spot). Considering Season 2's second half had sputtering and the first half had ended with some of the most

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Oh boy, this episode. Even to this day it's still hotly contested with some regarding it as one of the worst episodes (if not the worst) of the entire show (it was one of only two episodes to get negative points when Mr.Enter was just a pony reviewer and one of only two he gave an Animated Atrocity scorecard to during that time) while others seem to regard it more fondly (or at least don't seem to hate it as much). This episode's production history is interesting, Charlotte Fullerton is

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So, after getting a Twilight focused episode I guess it was natural to have a Spike focused one too (probably not by design, just like I don't think they meant to have Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom focused episodes back to back). But Merriweather Williams was in the writer's seat, and by this point Merriweather didn't seem to have anyone willing to defend her writing. So, is it possible that time has lessened the sting of this episode like some of her other works? Well, let's find out.

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While Season 1 was drawing to a close, Lauren Faust was working on her plans for the grand finale for that adventure show she had wanted FiM to be. She didn't have much of a concept at first beyond just Twilight defeating Discord, an enemy even Princess Celestia couldn't defeat, and ascending to alicornhood and taking over from Princess Celestia right on the spot. Heck, Discord hadn't gotten much beyond just causing chaos. It was only once Lauren started binging Star Trek: The Next

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So, for the penultimate episode we got to see the Equestria Games actually play out, perhaps a sign of things to come in the next season for major developments (though I personally wouldn't be surprised if they meant for this to be in Season 3 originally when they working on a full season, and shelved the plans when it was cut to a half season). Ultimately though, it would end up becoming a Spike episode, a sudden and unexpected shift that was given no prior indication (leaks were almost never

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An unexpected development occurred after "Rainbow Rocks" came and went in theaters with better fandom reception, but not much else to its name. Hasbro and Discovery Family parted ways over The Hub, owing to the fact that the network had never lived up to the potential either company had wanted even in the era of cord cutting. So Hasbro gave up its stake in the network and control reverted back to Discovery Family, throwing everything into question. Although re-runs still continued on Discovery

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So, what was next for Season 1 after the weirdness and stupidity on display in "Over a Barrel"? Well, apparently this, an episode written by Charlotte Fullerton whose track record was very uneven. But hey, she was able to improve from "Look Before You Sleep" by writing "Suited For Success" which was the show's breakout episode. So maybe she could get Season 1 back on track? Well, let's find out.

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With "Reflections" done we're getting close to the end of these re-reviews. I'm only going to go up to Main Series #24 since I think all my reviews on the issues since then are still pretty relevant and still sum up the good and bad about them pretty well, at least for the ones I reviewed. The ones I didn't review I don't plan to ever review and others have already rightfully ripped them a new one.

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Season 4 was chugging along just fine five episodes in, the season seemed to be firing on all cylinders and although there were still divisions within the fandom most were accepting of the new changes. And now it was time for the first of what would be three Spike focus episodes for the season. Considering the reputation Spike episodes had garnered by this point, it was really worrying and concerning to have one now when only "Secret of My Excess" had been a success with Spike in the lead role.

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So, with Spike's own story taken care of, Dave Polsky was ready to write what at the time seemed likely to be the show's penultimate episode and a nod to Fawlty Towers in plot. Yet this episode was almost guaranteed to be overshadowed by what came next and what it would mean for the show and the fandom. Dave's most recent work had included "Too Many Pinkie Pies", the story for "Spike At Your Service" (which Merriweather Williams horribly revised) and a collab for "Keep Calm and Flutter

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There's no denying that as envelope pushing as Season 5 was, it did not end putting its best foot forward. Starlight Glimmer's redemption and inclusion into the main cast left a lot to be desired, and the theme of "Explore Equestria" hadn't really come into play outside of three map missions (one of which was retreading familiar ground within Manehattan). The big movie that had been announced by the time Season 5 hit the airwaves was starting to draw away a lot of talent, and many other old

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So after four episodes of at best good but not groundbreaking or envelope pushing, Season 6 was in desperate need of something to give it a boost in the arm. All attention was being focused on two upcoming episodes that would involve Starlight making a new friend and Rainbow Dash finally becoming a Wonderbolt. But first, a Spike episode was in order which should've been a recipe for disaster given the overall inconsistent quality of Spike focus episodes. And this one would be done by Joanna

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Never before or since was there an episode that was so greatly out of order between its production order number and its actual airing number. This episode was ninth in production order, but nineteenth to air for its season, a whopping ten episode stretch! Perhaps there's a reason for that though, because while Ed Valentine did write this episode the story is credited to both Meghan McCarthy and Josh Haber and both were very busy. It may also be because the original plans for this episode were

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So now Starlight Glimmer was getting a focus episode, an episode carrying rather high stakes considering how devisive she still was. And this episode was being touted largely for the return of a certain fan favorite character who fans had been dying to see more of since Season 3. Nick Confalone was writing this episode, and by now he'd proven himself to be a pretty competent writer. But not only did this episode go on out to be overshadowed by what came next, but nowadays it tends to be seen as

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For the third and final map mission of Season 6, we were going to be playing it safe once again and visiting the Wonderbolts academy with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. The two had last been paired up for "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3", not exactly the best outing for either of them. And Season 6 had last focused on Rainbow Dash during "28 Pranks Later" which was not a good showing for her. To top all this off, it would be our first Wonderbolts episode since "Newbie Dash". So a lot was working against

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So, just as Season 6 looked like it was falling apart at the seems after a season that had seemed to mostly not be taking chances, it was time to bring it to a close. Apparently, they thought it'd be a good idea to let Starlight Glimmer get a two parter all to herself, an honor that had not been given to any other mane six member besides Twilight (or even to Spike). Considering Starlight's two focus episodes had been hotly contested and hadn't exactly made her look good, there was cause for

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