Unpopular opinion time

More interested in Gallus’ backstory than anyone else’s rn. Maybe humanize Cozy Glow.

@Egil  
So far it consists of the characters in his life. Oh, wait.

@GenericArchangel  
I would have agreed on ‘no Celestia focus episode’ back in season 2, but the problem is that her mystique has already been thoroughly ruined by having her be totally useless (or even actively unhelpful) for nine seasons. Essentially the only thing you can really do for her now is humanise her, because it’s really hard to see her as this perfect goddess that she used to be.

@Philweasel  
Nowadays, it’s nearly the other extreme.

@PonyPon  
The irony is, for all people complain about Horse Play treating her as an idiot, it’s actually still a step up for her. At least she got to show competence at the end.

@Egil  
Alongside Smolder, he’s the other member of the student six who’s had any development.

@ILoveMyoozik  
Counter: Yona.

@ILoveMyoozik
 
Meanwhile Sandbar feels almost like he’s deliberately written as bland as possible as a gag.

@ILoveMyoozik  
I would hesitate to make them too complicated at this stage in the narrative. Gallus serves as their representative as a ‘cast herd’, and Smolder makes for an important secondary character for Spike (to do the dragon related stuff that Ember is inappropriate for), but there rest are kinda there to make six and provide easily understand character archetypes to play off events.
 
Given six new characters deep personalities is pretty much begging for them to become a plot tumor, which was already a dangerously likely possibility. They’re meant to complement the mane 6 and the narrative, not take it over.

Ocellus is still better than them all though.

@Jarkes  
That’s my initial impression too, if “The Hearth’s Warming Club” is any indication. He’s a bland character on purpose and that episode exploited it for humor.

@ILoveMyoozik  
His sister is utterly adorable though.

@Egil  
His backstory is that Griffins can’t be trusted to not kill their children so that old guy raises all the young ones and he only has room for a few so he made Gallus live outside

@Egil  
What, this cutie?
 

@Vivace  
Secondary Counter: No.

@ILoveMyoozik  
Yep

@ILoveMyoozik  
Mhm.

Rather than Gallus I would have liked another story focused on Gilda.  
Hell, a story where Gilda and Ember bond over their mutual love of fights and brawls after they meet and immediately beat the everliving crap out of each other would have been a sight to see, especially if later they have to take care of a very delicate diplomatic mission over a mutual issue with a different race, and Rainbow Dash plus Spike tag along to keep an eye on them and get sure that Gilda and Ember don’t turn the mission into an international incident by punching the other race’s diplomats or something.

I hope we don’t get an overabundance of Twilight in season 9 like we did in season 8. A quick reminder that she appeared in 23 episodes last season, and had major roles in nearly half of them. And some of them was just for the damn sake of it. She absolutely did not need to have major roles in Surf and/or Turf, A Rockhoof and a Hard Place (which really should have been an AJ episode), and The Washouts.

@Spinny  
You always seem to be so worried about that.

@ILoveMyoozik  
Did she even have a major role in S&oT? All she did was get the CMC to Mount Aris.

@Penguin Lagann  
False.

@ILoveMyoozik  
He’s like the token pony XD

@Dustcan  

I hope the Rainbow of Darkness is a thing. It probably won’t but I did like a updated, although obvious, concept of it.
 
@ILoveMyoozik  
I never cared about number of appearances, only that they appear and do something worthy to the episode’s narrative in that time. Seems a little petty to care so much about number of appearances, as if it alone means anything other than “how many columns/rows will THIS color be” for any known practical purpose.