Unpopular opinion time

@Ring Team  
TL; DR

@Myoozik
 
The best thing Dragon Quest did was set up a perfect follow-up episode where Spike takes care of PeeWee before sending him back to his family….
 
…an episode which, of course, never actually happened.
 
 
@Ring Team
 
Season 9 is definitely worse, IMO.

“

@Myoozik  
The whole episode was weird

@Ring Team  
A rather substantial response. I do hope you like Season 9 more (even though I don’t expect it).
 

 
Perhaps not definitive, but I’m about 80% sure at least?
 

 
This was significantly lacking compared to the previous season, yes.
 

 
I agree with some of them being… well, not too late as much as doable earlier, but not this one - it’s very specifically a late-show idea that would be no good earlier. (Whether it was good now is a matter of debate.)
 
Sorry that your expectations are so low. (But then, mine were higher and I just got disappointed, so…)

@Latecomer  
It’s from My Little Pony N’ Tales and the episode “Spike’s Search” which is pretty identical except that the dragons that Spike encounters were a bit more accepting and reasonable rather than just being standard bullies.
 
@DaddyMakesMeEUHH  
I’m not sure, I haven’t seen the episode myself, I just know this bit of info.

@Spinny  
Yeah, as George Harrison once said: “Isn’t it a pity?”

@Myoozik  
They were town-burning extortionists, though. Garble and his gang might have been ruder, but it’s hardly much of a contest.
 
(Spike’s Search does end a little better, but only because it addresses the possibility of other good dragons existing. Just as a theory, though.)

Why does it feel like even Spike and Big Mac had more development than Applejack?

@Background Pony #A678  
I thought AJ had some pretty good development

Did Spike get any development?

Nah, don’t worry. It’s not like it’s that big of a deal. Because, at least, when an episode is fun, it’s really fun.
 
And, speaking about episodes, I’m gonna make a quick Top 5 and a quick Bottom 6 of the episodes in season 8. Just for fun.
 
Top 5
 
5. A Rockhoof and a hard place
 

 
Because, even though not every joke works and some dramatic moments are too much drama-queen (or king in Rockhoof’s case), it shows an interesting premise about an ancient pony who’s trying to find his place in the modern world. Some jokes are great and the ending, while kinda predictable, it works.
 
4. Molt Down
 

 
Most jokes in this one didn’t work, especially in the second act of the episode. However, the concept is interesting, the opening was intriguing and the last 6 minutes were perfect.
 
3. Sound of Silence
 

 
The song was boring and kinda tedious (probably because it reminds me of the Sebastian song from The Little Mermaid, a song that I didn’t like from a movie I didn’t like), but I love the concept, the character design is cool and the story is interesting. I think most people should learn something from this episode, mostly Star Wars fanboys and anime fanboys.
 
2. The Washouts
 

 
Great episode for many reasons. It shows us a side of Scootaloo that we didn’t previously know and we asked what happened to her, it shows how quick a kid can change their interests, it shows a return of a character that actually makes sense instead of void fan appeasement and it shows the danger of how a little kid can be interested in a dangerous sport that sadly looks appealing for a kid (like some dangerous motocross competitions with fancy sponsors, for example).
 
1. Surf and/or Turf
 

 
Because it shows a relatable conflict about a Hippogriff who wants to know his place in the world, a beautiful location that shows some world-building in My Little Pony and some likeable characters. Sometimes the episode can be redundant, but it still works really well.
 
Bottom 6 (with no order)
 
-School Raze
 

 
Some extra points to show Twilight saying to Starlight that she might have done a spell wrong. But, despite being the last episode in the season, it fails to deliver an interesting story in a high note, it’s too long, the villain reveal is not that surprising and this is Chancellor Neighsay’s third appearance and he still doesn’t trust Twilight Sparkle after showing to him that she has good intentions. Keep in mind that he trusted the Flim Flam brothers before Twilight. How many episodes does he need to get to finally trust her?
 
-Non-Compete Clause
 

 
Because, despite we saw some character progression in between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the episode shows a couple of jerks worrying too much of a prize instead of worrying about the students. And it could have been an ok episode if you just simply change their attitudes, especially Applejack.
 
-The break up break down
 

 
Because, once again, it shows that romance stories are not the biggest strength of the writers. It’s an episode that exists because of a misunderstanding, which makes the episode incredibly boring. The final message is fine, but this episode didn’t need to exist. I’m pretty sure they wanted to lazily write this episode just because of the final message.
 
-Yakity-Sax
 

 
Because, like many Pinkie Pie episodes since Too Many Pinkie Pies from season 3, the story exists just to justify Pinkie’s noise. Instead of making an interesting episode about Pinkie Pie, this episode is an excuse for her to go insane. It also shows some void fanservice by showing Pinkamena Diane Pie.
 
-A road to friendship
 

 
Because, despite having an interesting premise, it’s overall one of the most boring episodes in the show. Also, if a character repeats many times “the great and powerful X”, that’s a sign of lazy writing.
 
-The mean 6
 

 
Because it had a blueprint from season 2 to make Chrysalis’ return work and, after ignoring her for many many years, it still failed on nearly every front.

@Ring Team  
Hmm… interesting choices. I think I agree about 50/50. Particularly Washouts, Non-Compete and Yakity Sax.

@Background Pony #A678
 
AJ was perfect to begin with. ;P
 
Seriously though, they did get to the point where they had to invent flaws for her, even though there were areas to work with. Buckball Season is a decent example.
 
@Ring Team
 
Road to Friendship is probably my favorite Starlight episode. StarTrix pairings >>>>>>>>>>>> Starburst pairings.

@Spinny  
Startrix play off really well with each other, but I think a problem with them is that they use the same old dynamic, Trixie is egotistical and doesn’t listen to Starlight, Starlight plays along and tries to keep calm because she doesn’t want to cause a big fuss yada, yada, yada too often. That’s part of why I like “Student Counsel” because they at least play their dynamic from another angle. “A Horse Shoe-In” unfortunately falls back into the same pattern as Startrix episodes, but at least it was entertaining.

@Background Pony #3B85  
Starlight as a straight mare for Trixie’s antics is a simple dynamic that I enjoy watching. They’re like Abbott and Costello: you know what you’re getting into when you see them together.

The episode “The Mean Six” is basically wasted potential for a revisit of a previously established concept. Rather than actually trying something new with the “Discorded counterparts” idea, they instead decided to go for a plot where the titular villains simply exist as padding to look like more is happening when there isn’t. As a matter of fact; nothing happens throughout the entire episode other than “character A talks to character B”, and because the only new content is basically five Discorded counterparts and a simplified Cozy Glow, there is ultimately nothing new introduced in this episode as they are all killed off by the end with the entire plot having zero effect on anything in the show.
 
Reading anything about the episode always makes me feel like talking about it again.

@Algebroot Neogears  
There was a headcanon that the events ‘taught’ the tree to make a fake twilight to talk to the students. Though we have no proof of it.
 
And I would argue it at least taught us the tree was willing to kill without hesitance.

@Algebroot Neogears  
There’s nothing really untrue about what you say, but different people will have different opinions on how much it matters.

@Latecomer  
Yeah. Looking at that post I recently made, I am now sure I’m obsessing over it too much. I have gotten a bit too attached to it after thinking about Mean Twilight. And looking at my own review of it, I should probably let it go and not really talk that much about it again. Especially since I talked about its storytelling like a broken record, reviewing it at least three or four times by now, unlike all other episodes which I only reviewed once.

@Algebroot Neogears
 
Did Cozy even appear on that episode?

@Mildgyth  
She didn’t.

By the way, side note: It’s kinda lame that the only website in the Internet where I can watch the seasons 8 and 9 of My Little Pony is also a website with very extreme conservative videos, so conservative that I don’t wanna describe them.
 
I won’t say the name of the website because that could make misunderstandings, but it really sucks.

I liked The Mean Six, I don’t know why it gets so much flak, it’s actually one of my favorite episodes of Season 8. If there’s an episode which does feel pointless and that nothing happens, then The Cutie Pox takes that title for me.
 
@Spinny  
Mines is To Where & Back Again.
 
@Background Pony #3B85  
It would’ve been really great if they did more with the two like have them band together to resolve a conflict like what they did with Starburst in The Parent Map.

So I started to watch the season 9 and I finished watching The beginning of the end. I said I wanted to start watching it next week, but my curiosity was too strong for my body to handle.
 
So, Celestia and Luna want to retire and to let the throne of Equestria to Twilight Sparkle. She starts panicking because of that big task. In the meantime, some new villain invokes Cozy Glow, Tirek, Chrysalis and Sombra for a new plan to conquer Equestria, but Sombra decides to do it on his own. However, he eventually is defeated by the Mane 6 for the power of friendship and determination.
 
Twilight and their friends don’t need the Elements of Harmony. They can fix problems on their own, without needing some amulet or scepter. Discord was right the whole time.
 
You know what? That’s actually freakin’ interesting! We imagined at some point Twilight on Celestia’s throne and being the princess of Equestria doing some princess duties. I’ve always imagined that since Magical Mystery Cure and I wondered if we were gonna see something like that in season 4. Unfortunately we didn’t get that back in 2014. This episode would make more sense in season 4. However, the pacing was so well done that I was intrigued by absolutely everything. I was always “what’s gonna happen in the next scene?”. I wanted to see more.
 
The only two problems I had with the episode is that Pinkie Pie still has her moments where she screams and makes forced bad jokes, but this is something I would expect, especially after season 3, 4 and 6. The other problem is that, while I think the new villain has an ambitious personality, his art design is kinda boring. It’s just saturated blue and saturated red. If I was designing him, I’d draw the same type of character, but a really desaturated green (to the point where he’s almost grey) and some magenta saturated details, just for complementary colors (magenta and green).
 
But yeah, I think that episode was really good! I didn’t expect that! I didn’t even mind that Chrysalis lacked that distorted voice from A Canterlot Wedding. And Discord for the first time was actually funny with some ridiculous jokes, some twists, etc. The episode was so good that I tolerated Starlight’s presence.
 
I’m assuming one of the last episodes will be kinda like Avengers: Endgame or something like that, like a big huge ultimate battle. That’s what I imagine after watching all these villains reunited. And I also assume some of the episodes in season 9 will be really cool.
 
But yeah! That’s a pretty good start! I think it was the first time since Princess Twilight Sparkle that I truly enjoyed the opening of a MLP season, and that was an episode from 2013.
 
EDIT: No, really. I know it’s just one episode and right now I’m too excited, but why are people saying the season 9 is one of the weakest seasons?