My Little Pony Friendship is Magic

Favourite pony out of the main bunch?

  • Twilight Sparkle

    Votes: 26 16.8%
  • Pinkie Pie

    Votes: 30 19.4%
  • Applejack

    Votes: 15 9.7%
  • Rainbow Dash

    Votes: 30 19.4%
  • Rarity

    Votes: 18 11.6%
  • Fluttershy

    Votes: 36 23.2%

  • Total voters
    155
Purple Yoshi said:
Well, that was boring. I wasn't really expecting much, to be honest, but it didn't feel that special.
And did they give a reason as to why Discord's plan only worked now? It just seemed rather lame "Oh, this was a plan I had centuries ago and it only worked now".

They did, Discord basically said he underestimated the strength of the Tree of Harmony. It held out that long before it finally worked here.

Also, seriousy? Boring? Both you and Nabber both kinda mentioned this. That just kinda seems like to me you both don't care too much about Twilight as a character if you got nothing out of this. This episode had far better pacing and even had less contrived stuff like alot of the previous two-parters did. In terms of storytelling, it managed to flow more smoothly then any two-parter before it.
 
well, the thing is I don't care about Twilight as a character. The show is a sitcom, so it hasn't been trying to develop the characters much, so I simply don't care about Twilight, especially when her problems are so hard to connect to.
 
Nabber said:
well, the thing is I don't care about Twilight as a character. The show is a sitcom, so it hasn't been trying to develop the characters much, so I simply don't care about Twilight, especially when her problems are so hard to connect to.

But they have developed. Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight for example are pretty different from who they were early in the series.

A part of Games Ponies Play shows how Twilight won't go full Lesson Zero again. And Wonderbolt Academy plus Hurricane Fluttershy showed Rainbow has changed for the better from her most of Season 1/Early Season 2 abrasiveness. There is character development in this show.
 
yes, but it's minor

i just don't particularly care for the characters in this show. that's just the matter of it.
 
Northern Verve said:
Purple Yoshi said:
Well, that was boring. I wasn't really expecting much, to be honest, but it didn't feel that special.
And did they give a reason as to why Discord's plan only worked now? It just seemed rather lame "Oh, this was a plan I had centuries ago and it only worked now".

They did, Discord basically said he underestimated the strength of the Tree of Harmony. It held out that long before it finally worked here.

Also, seriousy? Boring? Both you and Nabber both kinda mentioned this. That just kinda seems like to me you both don't care too much about Twilight as a character if you got nothing out of this. This episode had far better pacing and even had less contrived stuff like alot of the previous two-parters did. In terms of storytelling, it managed to flow more smoothly then any two-parter before it.

Well, yeah, 1. I'm not exactly a hardcore MLP fan, I just watch it sometimes and 2. just because it has good pacing doesn't mean it's interesting. I can't explain why I was bored by it, really. I guess it didn't feel epic enough? Like, when the vines were coming, we only saw the main characters' reactions to it, which kinda made it seem like it was just an ordinary problem and not a worldwide emergency.
 
Nabber said:
yes, but it's minor

i just don't particularly care for the characters in this show. that's just the matter of it.

Then I feel like you're not really watching it for what's basically the point of the show. The characters are basically the show's strong point. Sometimes it isn't the most consistent, but at it's best it still gives a strong sense of meaning seeing these characters bounce off their personalities with eachother with what situations happen to them. They each have distinct personalities, and while there's a few that arguable if they've had much development at all (Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie most of all) they do have at least some subtle change in which they're different from how they were in Season 1 when they were just learning.

Here's an example of all 6 in how I mean they've developed:

Twilight early in Season 2 could get stressed over the littlest thing to the point she'd go insane in Lesson Zero. In Games Ponies Play, with a tip from Cadence she manages to keep herself more calmer then usual despite the mistake of the wrong inspector. Granted that didn't really come in a good episode. But it was one good thing in what was otherwise a plain episode. (Speaking of which, you want a boring FiM episode? How about Look Before You Sleep or Apple Family Reunion?)

Applejack in Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 lets the others of the Main 6 help when in Applebuck Season she was stubborn to let anypony help.

Rainbow Dash as I said showed great growth in Wonderbolt Academy. Lightning Dust may as well been a mirror of Rainbow Dash had she never met the Mane 6. Still talented as all heck. But too much arrogance

Rarity from Suited for Success onwards has proven to be one of the characters with the most depth. She's the element of generosity but her lifestyle and general wants in life has sometimes challenged her. In no other episode is it more apparent then in Sweet and Elite when she has trouble deciding priorities between Twilight's Birthday Party or living her dream to hang with the Canterlot Elite.

Fluttershy finally put her trauma from being bullied as a filly past her in the climax of Hurricane Fluttershy.

And while Pinkie Pie is the hardest to see development for. Too Many Pinkie Pies was perhaps the first episode since Party of One to show a new side to Pinkie. We saw how different the real Pinkie was from the clones who are pretty much what people who may think she's a flat character is like all the time. But this shows she's not like that all all.

Some of the developments in the episodes aren't perfect, but they're there nonetheless. And proof this isn't just comedy all the time. These characters learn and grow, and that's more then most cartoons these days can say.
 
I had a feeling when Nabber said that SonicMario would list many example of how he was wrong.

And yeah, this show has more character development than many many many other cartoons of any ages. They just don't happen that often. Also even with Discord, he has had character development from when he was a villain. You also don't see many villain character developments either.
 
Speaking of Discord and character development, I was just discussing this on another forum, I feel like Discord kind of regressed in this two-parter. He doesn't seem like he's changed at all. It's one thing to say he'll still basically be Discord now that he's reformed, but it's another to try and play up the "is he good or is he bad?" thing. It's basically a huge slap to the face for anyone who liked or was emotionally invested in Keep Calm and Flutter On.

And that's BEFORE he mistook Rainbow Dash for Fluttershy, and called her "Shutterfly"... That one brief moment pisses me off so much, because it almost confirms my notions that they weren't taking Keep Calm and Flutter On seriously, and now we feel like idiots for being "fooled".
 
I don't think his personality progressed in the first place. But the fact that he's not, at least currently, trying to take over Equestria is good enough to call him "reformed" for me.

I still think the Discord thing with Keep Calm and Flutter On is kind of dubious. They may have done the "good or bad" questioning this time, but they better not do it constantly or at all from now on.