Season 7 Episode Discussion [Speculation, Discussion, Spoilers] (SPOILER YOUR LEAKS)

I liked Rockhoof and that’s it.

@SeraphimDawn
 
That might be interesting.
 
Personally, Somnambula’s voice caught me rather by surprise, but I quite liked it.

Hmm, you guys what moment(s) this season had caught y’all off gyard the most?

@Binkyt11  
Fluttershy getting shouted at for learning the same lesson over and over was a bit of a kick in the head. I didn’t think they would go that meta.

@Philweasel  
For me it was pretty much the extreme amount of meta from the episode, How relaxed the premiere was, Caballeron in general (making an entire village turn on one pony, nearly attempted murder to break his foe’s spirit, and the fact he is showing signs of going a little bit insane), how seriously Perfect Pear was handled, and just seeing Starswirl’s true nature. Looks like the Princess was right in that he didn’t know as much about friendship as Twilight did.

@Binkyt11  
Yeah, the Premier and Perfect Pear caught me off guard as well.
 
Starswirl not so much, because I’ve always headcanoned him as a bit of an smug douche after seeing just how involved he was in setting up Equestria. I mean he has absolutely no part in defeating the Wendigos, and then just swans in afterwards and installs a teenage puppet ruler that he makes sure to mentor personally? It’s the work of either a villain or someone of monumental arrogance and pride, and he never came across as a villain.

@Binkyt11  
Honest Apple caught me off gaurd by how bad it was, fucking hell. Also probably the Strawberry Sunrise bit from the same episode.

@Binkyt11
 
Fame and Misfortune and To Change a Changeling. Easily. I expected apple parents to be a really important episode. Same with Royal Problem. I honestly thought Fame and Misfortune would be this fillery nothing episode that would be overshadowed. Then it turned out to be ridiculous and meta and the controversial mass we know today.
 
To Change a Changeling was the episode I was the most scard for, because it packed every controversial thing into one episode. The Changeling fallout. Starlight as the main pony character. Then it turned out mostly ok (I loved it, but even though others weren’t that blown away the pushback was nowhere near as bad as I was fearing)

@Binkyt11  
How good Josh Haber’s material was, especially Shadow Play. His ‘play it safe’ tendencies that bogged down his earlier work for the show (and most of season 6 to an extent) seemed to just vanish in season 7.

@Magma_ERuptiOn  
I can see why Honest Apple wasn’t well received but I liked these two :D  

 
Also I’m surprised Strawberry Sunrise got off easy.

@Marx
 
I liked all the contestants and their models. And it was great to see Hoity Toity and Photo Finish again.
 
And Strawberry Sunrise is the best.
 
So yeah, I actually quite enjoyed Honest Apple.

@Background Pony #6B48  

 
Do remember he was also dealing with a whole stable of new writers. He didn’t write the whole season himself.

@Background Pony #6B48  
I do have a lot more faith in him after Shadow Play. Hopefully Nicole Dubuc’s solo work will be good as well.

@Philweasel  
So did this season.

@Binkyt11  
DAYMARE
 
AH-AH-AAAHHH
 
FIGHTER OF THE NIGHTMARE
 
 
AH-AH-AAAHHH

@Background Pony #6B48  
I don’t really know. His main problems still tend to stick around. I mean Shadow Play wasn’t all that risk taking. Haber’s main problems in two-parters are that he tends to exposition dump a ton in the first part, relies very heavily on lore and continuity for the set up while twisting it in whatever way he needs to to set up the story, and tends to have the second part focus be on the journey to confront the problem then actually confronting the problem itself, nevermind that he tends to focus his attention on Starlight while relegating the Mane 6 to more background roles.

@SeraphimDawn  
I want it to be like the same sphinx and they just live for a really crazy long time, but she over the years has mellowed the hell out and since come to live peacefully with ponies or something. Like, imagine how funny it would be if she was living with a big farming community and like “Yeah, turns out I can plow an entire field or clear an entire pasture’s worth of land in like five minutes, so they give me a ton of food in exchange” XD

I just realized. Shadow Play kinda makes canon that Starswirl is stronger than Twilight.
 
So… yeah. Being alicorn strong isn’t insurmountable for unicorns to reach in terms of magical force.

@gingerninja666  
They just have to be super older than an already young alicorn.

@EotD  
Well, dang if Shadow Play didn’t do a great job conveying the epic, lore-heavy tone.
 
The main problem I always had with him is how he tended to “play it safe”, meaning his greater work prior to this season were always instances where the concept alone was interesting by default. This seem to permeate the majority of season 6 since he always had some major involvement in the development. If he wrote “It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You” in season 4, I guarantee it would have been a lot more dull than what we got.
 
Also, Starlight really didn’t appear as much as I think she should have in season 6 (getting virtually no side roles), and that was when Haber was the sole story editor.

@Binkyt11
 
I was caught off guard by just how cool this bit looked.  

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your current filter.

 
A Health of Information repeatedly caught me off guard with how well everything in that episode worked.
 
I was expecting to feel a bit sad from The Perfect Pear. I didn’t expect it to get to me like it did.

@gingerninja666
 
I mean, Starswirl is definitely presented as being way above the norm for unicorns, but I definitely see your point. I thought it was pretty interesting how the Pony of Shadows said Twilight was almost as strong as Starswirl.
 
@PonyPon
 
This raises another question: is a unicorn’s magical strength a factor of the amount of time they’ve spent studying and practicing magic or is it more down to innate ability?
 
The impression I tend to get is that innate strength at least plays a role; if time spent studying and practicing was a determining factor by itself, I figure Sunburst would be a much stronger magic-user than he is.

@Goobington  
I didn’t care for it’s design all that much, but yeah that is an awesome scene :D

I’m always confused when people claim that Josh Haber is trying to shoehorn Starlight in whenever he can. I mean, it’s worth noting that in season 6, she only appeared when it was a starring role, only getting one or two voiceless cameos apart from that.
 
Meanwhile, season 7 - which only had Haber’s direct involvement rather late in the game - showcased her a lot more frequently.

@Goobington
 
That was some truly excellent animation. The show’s been really pushing the envelope with what you can do with Flash.