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spotto| Celestia Tier | Awesome Tier | High Tier | Mid Tier | Meh Tier |
SEASON ONE Green Isn't Your Colour The Cutie Mark Chronicles Party of One SEASON TWO Luna Eclipsed The Last Roundup Hurricane Fluttershy A Canterlot Wedding P.2 SEASON THREE Sleepless in Ponyville Magical Mystery Cure SEASON FOUR Pinkie Apple Pie Maud Pie Make New Friends but Keep Discord Rarity Investigates! Brotherhooves Social Crusaders of the Lost Mark SEASON SIX The Gift of Maud Pie Saddle Row Review A Hearth's Warming Tail Buckball Season SEASON SEVEN Rock Solid Friendship Parental Glideance The Perfect Pear Fame and Misfortune SEASON EIGHT The Washouts SEASON NINE The Last Problem | SEASON ONE Bridle Gossip Suited for Success A Dog and Pony Show Sonic Rainboom The Best Night Ever SEASON TWO The Return of Harmony P.1 The Return of Harmony P.2 Lesson Zero Sisterhooves Social Secret of my Excess A Friend In Deed It's About Time A Canterlot Wedding P.1 SEASON THREE Magic Duel Wonderbolt Academy Just For Sidekicks SEASON FOUR Flight to the Finish Pinkie Pride Simple Ways Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 Equestria Games Twilight's Kingdom Pt. 1 Twilight's Kingdom Pt. 2 SEASON FIVE The Cutie Map Pt. 1 The Cutie Map Pt. 2 Tanks for the Memories Slice of Life Amending Fences The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows Hearthbreakers The Mane Attraction The Cutie Re-mark Pt. 1 SEASON SIX No Second Prances Spice Up Your Life Stranger Than Fanfiction Every Little Thing She Does Viva Las Pegasus SEASON SEVEN All Bottled Up A Royal Problem Triple Threat It Isn't the Mane Thing About You A Health of Information SEASON EIGHT The Mean Six The Hearth's Warming Club Friendship University School Raze Pt. 1 School Raze Pt. 2 SEASON NINE Sparkle's Seven Common Ground Frenemies Sweet and Smoky Student Counsel A Horse Shoe-in The Ending of the End Pt. 1 The Ending of the End Pt. 2 | SEASON ONE Applebuck Season Griffon the Brush Off Dragonshy Look Before You Sleep Swarm of the Century Winter Wrap Up SEASON TWO May the Best Pet Win Sweet and Elite Hearth's Warming Eve The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 Read it and Weep Hearts and Hooves Day Putting Your Hoof Down Ponyville Confidential SEASON THREE One Bad Apple SEASON FOUR Castle Mane-ia Bats! For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils Inspiration Manifestation SEASON FIVE Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? Scare Master SEASON SIX Gauntlet of Fire 28 Pranks Later Dungeons & Discords Where the Apple Lies Top Bolt To Where & Back Again P.1 To Where & Back Again P.2 SEASON SEVEN Celestial Advice A Flurry of Emotions To Change a Changeling SEASON EIGHT The Maud Couple Grannies Gone Wild The Break Up Break Down Molt Down Marks for Effort The End in Friend Road to Friendship Sounds of Silence SEASON NINE The Beginning of the End Pt. 1 The Beginning of the End Pt. 2 The Point of No Return She's All Yak Going to Seed Between Dark and Dawn The Summer Sun Setback She Talks to Angel Dragon Dropped Daring Doubt | SEASON ONE Friendship is Magic P.1 Friendship is Magic P.2 The Ticket Master Call of the Cutie Fall Weather Friends Feeling Pinkie Keen Stare Master The Show Stoppers Over a Barrel A Bird in the Hoof SEASON TWO The Cutie Pox Family Appreciation Day Baby Cakes SEASON THREE The Crystal Empire P.1 The Crystal Empire P.2 Too Many Pinkie Pies Apple Family Reunion Keep Calm and Flutter On SEASON FOUR Princess Twilight Sparkle P.1 Power Ponies Rarity Takes Manehatten Three's a Crowd Twilight Time Leap of Faith Trade Ya SEASON FIVE Castle Sweet Castle Bloom and Gloom The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone Party Pooped Canterlot Boutique What About Discord? The Hoofields and the McColts The Cutie Re-mark Pt. 2 SEASON SIX Newbie Dash The Fault in our Cutie Marks P.P.O.V SEASON SEVEN Fluttershy Leans In Forever Filly Not Asking for Trouble Discordant Harmony Daring Done? Marks and Recreation Once Upon a Zeppelin Secrets and Pies Uncommon Bond SEASON EIGHT School Daze Pt. 1 School Daze Pt. 2 Surf and/or Turf The Parent Map A Matter of Principals A Rockhoof and a Hard Place What Lies Beneath Father Knows Beast SEASON NINE The Last Crusade The Last Laugh 2, 4, 6, Greaaat A Trivial Pursuit Growing Up is Hard to Do The Big Mac Question | SEASON ONE Boast Busters Owl's Well That Ends Well SEASON TWO The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well Dragon Quest MMMMystery on the Friendship Express SEASON THREE Spike at Your Service Games Ponies Play SEASON FOUR Princess Twilight Sparkle P.2 Daring Don't Rainbow Falls Filli Vanilli It Ain't Easy Being Breezies Somepony to Watch Over Me SEASON FIVE Appleloosa's Most Wanted Princess Spike Made in Manehatten SEASON SIX The Crystalling P.1 The Crystalling P.2 On Your Marks Applejack's "Day" Off Flutter Brutter The Cart Before the Ponies The Times They Are a Changeling SEASON SEVEN Hard to Say Anything Honest Apple Campfire Tales Shadow Play Pt. 1 Shadow Play Pt. 2 SEASON EIGHT Fake It 'Till You Make It Non-Compete Clause Yakity-Sax SEASON NINE Uprooted |
UPDATED FOR WHOLE SERIES YAY!! As of 04/26/2020
Because season three is only half a season by episode number standards, every half of a season will be ranked as opposed to a season overall. That way season three actually stands a chance. :D
Season one, first half episode tiers
0 Celestia, 1 Awesome, 6 High, 5 Mid, and 1 Meh
When starting out MLP, I found it fairly decent enough, but the only awesome tier episode, Bridle Gossip, was what sold me to the show. This episode nailed it in terms of writing and comedy, and so from then forth I knew I'd be watching the show for a while, hoping for more episodes of this calibre. Fortunately MLP ended up so good a tier was invented even higher than awesome; those episodes were those that blew me away or passed my criteria with flying colours.
Season one, second half
3 Celestia, 4 Awesome, 0 High, 5 Mid, 1 Meh
While the mediocre episodes stayed equal in number, the average soared out and exceeded my expectations exponentially. Green Isn't Your Colour used to be Awesome tier, but I found that episode while not mind-blowing, is one of the most flawlessly written episodes in the entire series, so it deserves its place. Cutie Mark Chronicles dares to tell six backstories within twenty-two minutes and somehow knocks the ball out of the park. Party of One takes your expectations and stomps on it. After season one? I am definitely looking forward for more.
Season two, first half
1 Celestia, 5 Awesome, 4 High, 2 Mid, 1 Meh
Season two started off marvellously, but did not blow my head away as the second-half of one did. Even so, it's a very tall task to meet up with how that portion of the season fared, so there was nothing wrong with this half either. Luna Eclipsed did very well with its premise of bringing back a fan-favourite, previously mostly fanon character. The season two première also annihilated season one's, so there was also that. When you start off that well, the expectations are without a doubt quite high.
Season two, second half
4 Celestia, 2 Awesome, 5 High, 1 Mid, 1 Meh
Only one terrible episode every thirteen is mighty consistent of MLP, but just like season one the second half blows the first out of the water. You've got the Last Roundup, no doubt with some flaws but quite possibly the funniest episode in the series. There's A Friend In Deed, making you smile, smile, smile so much you overlook Pinkie's stalker-ish tendencies. Hurricane Fluttershy is finally a heartwarming and well-written outing for a character whose episodes usually aren't that great. And the finale of season two has too many amazing songs, badass fight scenes, and super cool villain designs for you to realize any plotholes. Season three certainly has some large footsteps to fill.
Season three
2 Celestia, 3 Awesome, 1 High, 3 Mid, 4 Meh
Notice how every Celestia-tier episode of the second-half of season two is great, but there's a catch for every single one of them. That should have been a tell-tale sign that while entertainment remained high, writing quality was likely going to dip quite soon, and so here season three is. Even though there are still some damn amazing episodes that are way better than the first parts of season one, the four terrible episodes cannot be ignored. But there are the very highs and the very lows because Sleepless in Ponyville is probably the best written episode in the entire series. Unfortunately, we have a disappointing première, a bad Spike episode that used to be the Rarity episode, and my least favourite arc of the series: anything to do with the Equestria Games. Unfortunately it takes up much more of season four...
Season four, first half
1 Celestia, 3 Awesome, 2 High, 6 Mid, 1 Meh
The terrible episodes have improved and the series is more mediocre than ever, but hey it's still an improvement! Pinkie Apple Pie is an excellent showing that brings with it good writing, quality humour, and a Pinkie Pie I haven't had to complain about since Baby Cakes. Applejack's family is finally shown to be flawed at times, and this episode begins an excellent showing by both Pinkie and Applejack throughout the season. There are misses unfortunately, but it's usually relegated to the still-running...
Season four, second half
1 Celestia, 6 Awesome, 1 High, 2 Mid, 3 Meh
Now updated to include the rest of the second half! Maud Pie has been officially promoted to Celestia tier, though I dunno if that's because of the episode or my tastes have softened. The last five episodes I did not include all ended up in Awesome tier, so that gives the second half rather high marks, but similar to the first half there is again only one Celestia-tier. Still, the second half was a very strong showing and it is a very solid half compared to the others. Unfortunately it had the most "meh" episodes since season three, which skews my opinion.
Season five, first half
1 Celestia, 5 Awesome, 1 High, 4 Mid, 2 Meh
This half was all over the place. There were a decent amount of good episodes and plenty of mediocre episodes, but very few I felt neutral about. Only one Celestia and two Mehs, but that's less than last time at least. A fairly good showing for the first half of season five, I'd say.
Season five, second half
3 Celestia, 4 Awesome, 1 High, 4 Mid, 1 Meh
If it weren't for that terrible finale ending I'd have said season five's second half is my favourite season-half by far! But alas, some things cannot be. The second half of season one still reigns supreme as my most favourite portion of pony episodes there is, but this one did come close.
Season Six, first half
3 Celestia, 3 Awesome, 1 High, 1 Mid, 5 Meh
Wow talk about your super high highs and especially your super low lows. I always considered Season Six middle of the pack but it does have a surprising amount of Celestia-tier episodes, so there's that. Still I wasn't impressed by the premiere and a good portion of the episodes. I'm actually struggling if Flutter Brutter should be a tier higher, but Fluttershy's family is irritating and I'm annoyed this episode of all episodes had a song, soooo...
Season Six, second half
1 Celestia, 2 Awesome, 6 High, 2 Mid, 2 Meh
Then after the great contrast of the first-half we have a very mediocre second half of the season, but sometimes no super highs and no super lows is a good thing. This part of the season is notable for having introduced the only activity that will put Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy in the same episode for once. Of course then the series goes and gives us more on Buckball only to have Ponkers and Floots preoccupy the background for the majority of those so my dream of ever having a PinkShy episode is forever crushed...
Season Seven, first half
3 Celestia, 2 Awesome, 2 High, 4 Mid, 2 Meh
First half of season seven is not bad, not bad at all. This time it is notable for having my all-time favourite episode in the entire series, The Perfect Pear, and honestly that episode just overshadows absolutely everything else in this half..It even makes up for the fact that the premiere was relatively mundane, but that doesn't really affect the rankings overall all too much.
Season Seven, second half
1 Celestia, 3 Awesome, 1 High, 5 Mid, 3 Meh
And now the part of the season where I dropped MLP for two years, back in late 2017. I had finished the zeppelin episode and never found enough interest to continue on with Secrets and Pies despite it being a Pinkie Pie episode. I finally watched Secrets and Pies in 2020 of April, and boy was it hard to get through this stretch. The final few episodes of seven, especially the finale since I wasn't into the Pillars of Equestria subarc at all, and going into season eight were especially hard to watch. I fell asleep for a few, and even skipped through others that were just that uninteresting or bad.
Season Eight, first half
0 Celestia, 1 Awesome, 5 High, 4 Mid, 2 Meh
Wow I was almost considering dropping MLP again when going through these episodes. The new school arc was just terribly uninteresting to me, especially the new characters though later on in the season and also in nine I warmed up to some of their episodes. Some Mane Six focused episodes were surprisingly awful like the Fluttershy episode in Manehatten that subverted my expectations in the wrong way, and the RD/AJ episode with the field trip that BOTH put me to sleep AND I had to skip through.
Season Eight, second half
1 Celestia, 4 Awesome, 3 High, 4 Mid, 1 Meh
Eight redeems itself somewhat with a much stronger second half and a great finale. Unfortunately it is also infamous for the first Pinkie Pie episode that greatly aggravated me. Had it merely just been about the obnoxious instrument playing, or the repeated focus on Yaks for Pinkie episodes I'd have just left it as mediocre, especially since the dialogue and interactions/humour in the episode was quite good, but the tone-deaf moral and this being Pinkie's Pinkamena comeback being such a letdown really dragged the episode back down to Meh tier.
Season Nine, first half
0 Celestia, 5 Awesome, 6 High, 1 Mid, 1 Meh
Though there were no Celestia-tier episodes, the first half of nine was quite solid. From the start of an ongoing villain arc to the surprisingly mature moral in Common Ground, there were no episodes I really had a problem with. The one Meh-tier episode was only there for simply being rather droll, and thus I ended up skipping through a bit. I'd prefer more episodes like Sweet and Smoky where one of the kids from class is focused on, as opposed to a group episode. I do not know them well enough to care about their dynamic, similar to Ticket Master in season one that came way too early in the series for that type of episode.
Season Nine, second half
1 Celestia, 3 Awesome, 4 High, 5 Mid, 0 Meh
A lot of the final episodes in MLP were judged unfairly, simply because I had the expectation of "THAT'S the last Rarity episode ever?" or "THAT'S the last CMC episode ever?" which were episodes that would otherwise be satisfactory, but being the last showing of so-and-so character is a bit of a let-down. There were no truly awful episodes though, and the ending was quite good especially the epilogue, so the episodes meant to curate the most emotion had great showings. I was too emotional in the epilogue to truly let the random ships and weird Spike design to bother me. They were in-sequential in the grand scheme of things.
And now, which half ranks where in this completely arbitrary list?
1. Season one, second half
2. Season five, second half
3. Season two, second half
4. Season four, second half
5, Season six, first half
6. Season seven, first half
7. Season two, first half
8. Season three
9. Season five, first half
10. Season eight, second half
11. Season four, first half
12. Season nine, first half
13. Season nine, second half
14. Season six, second half
15. Season seven, second half
16. Season one, first half
17. Season eight, first half
An new fresh opinions after the series has ended... indeed I have them! I definitely liked earlier seasons better than the later ones, but no regrets in finally finishing MLP. I wonder if I could put the specials like Best Gift Ever and Rainbow Roadtrip somewhere... I'd probably put the former in Awesome and the latter in Mid. Best Gift Ever had many great interactions and felt like a classic almost, whereas I fell asleep into Rainbow Roadtrip due to its dreadfully slow pacing. There were a lack of laugh-out-loud gags and my favourite two ponies were put together and then given the least interesting of the new characters. I do love me some Kerfuffle though. I also have many EQD opinions but no place to put them either. A certain villain of a special came up who looked exactly like how unkempt my hair is and how I'd dress and even partially my high school personality it was WHACK yo, so spooky. Still despite some very controversial episodes and a mixed ending for most people, my greatest disappointment is still no specific Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy focus episode. Everyone else got one somewhere, but these two main characters, members of the Mane Six, of a show titled FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC, in a government position called the COUNCIL OF FRIENDSHIP, in all of nine years never got an episode together. No map episodes helping others, no conflict between them which would have been great, like some sort of introvert, extrovert lesson for instance... the ONLY thing I got is that they are the Lebron James of their world (meanwhile there is a show in EQG where they are cheerleaders, lol) but even in THOSE episodes they still aren't the main focus. Sadness, it is I!
Like who cares if they end up in other ships or whatever in the finale, I just wanted SOME form of evidence they were friends somewhere! Like a single episode dedicated to it! My only solace is in the last two seasons the two hugged each other a lot more and there was more physical instances of affection, but no true story that took place between them. I am forever sad.
Below is 2016-2017-ish era text, so not as relevant now. See ya Gen 4 of MLP! We had some goooood times.
See, that's why everyone hates season three! It doesn't get a chance to find its footings like every other season! It started off middle of the pack and had it been given thirteen more episodes it could've been a very strong season. P: But yes, I appear to enjoy second halves more than first, but that's usually because of the excellent finale two parter I tend to enjoy. In fact, despite season five's poor finale, its second half still manages second place in this list! Had this finale been better it may have been the best stretch of pony episodes yet. None can compare to Party of One, Green Isn't Your Colour, or Cutie Mark Chronicles' little stretch in wondrous quality. A massive improvement over the first half which is dead last on this list. So basically, the reason I got into the show is because as the first season went on it shot up in enjoyability dramatically. Season one didn't even get an action packed finale two-parter and it is the king. I dunno if I'll ever see ponies in the same way I did in that part of the series again. I certainly hope so, but my realist in me says no.
Ah well, if it's at least as good as parts of seasons five and two, I wouldn't mind too much.
Everything below this is hopelessly outdated. I may or may not update it in the future.
And now a ranking of episodes by character!
There will be clear-cut episodes of that character and episodes they share with one another. Otherwise the episode could be a CMC or Mane Six group episode, or even something else like a day in a limelight episodes.
Twilight Sparkle
Ticket Master, Boast Busters, Winter Wrap Up, Feeling Pinkie Keen (w/Pinkie), Lesson Zero, It's About Time, A Canterlot Wedding Pt.1, The Crystal Empire P.1, The Crystal Empire P.2, Magic Duel, Magical Mystery Cure, Three's a Crowd (w/Discord/Cadance), etc.
0 Celestia, 5 Awesome, 1 High, 3 Mid, 3 Meh
Twilight's episodes are iffy because she could be the main character in literally all the two-parter episodes. It was a tug-o-war between some of these episodes being Twilight episodes or Mane Six episodes, or even of someone else like the wedding episodes. The Crystal Empire is an especially difficult episode to place. I ultimately decided it was one since it's the test Twilight needs to pass so she can become an alicorn princess at the end of the season plus songs, but the episode itself was throwing a carnival and then searching for a magical artifact, so it didn't seem to have much on Twilight's characterization. Anyway Twilight is my least favourite Mane Six, but that doesn't mean I do not enjoy her episodes. Even if there are no Celestia tiers there is a good spread among the rest, with some awesome and some just meh. I have little to comment about her character itself, so moving on!
Rainbow Dash
Fall Weather Friends (w/AJ), Sonic Rainboom, May the Best Pet Win!, Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, Read it and Weep, Wonderbolts Academy, Daring Don't, Rainbow Falls, Testing Testing 1, 2, 3
0 Celestia, 3 Awesome, 2 High, 2 Mid, 2 Meh
You'd think with the Awesome category being coloured the same as Rainbow's coat she'd have all and every awesome episode. Alas, it is not to be, but besides having no mind-blowing episodes RD's showings have been very balanced so far. If the episode deals with Rainbow Dash's Wonderbolts dream the episode will very likely be pretty damn good...everything else is unfortunately a crapshoot. (I don't include Rainbow Falls as a part of the Wonderbolts arc. They were just there to complicate things and cause conflict, but whether of not Rainbow Dash is in their team has no bearings about her status as a Wonderbolt-to-be. it's a key episode AND an Equestria Games episode more so than Wonderbolts)
Applejack
Applebuck Season, Look Before You Sleep (w/Rarity), Fall Weather Friends (w/RD), The Last Roundup (w/Mane Six), Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 (w/Apple Family), Apple Family Reunion, Bats! (w/Fluttershy), Pinkie Apple Pie (w/Apple Family & Pinkie), Somepony to Watch Over Me (w/Apple Bloom), Leap of Faith
2 Celestia, 0 Awesome, 4 High, 3 Mid, 1 Meh
Okay that was just sad. Look at those episodes and how many of them AJ has to share. I had no idea until I organized her episodes like that! You're probably wondering my criteria for what episodes are shared or where the other characters are simply supporting. Leap of Faith is strictly an AJ episode because her family doesn't need to learn a lesson about honesty or anything. It's her key episode after all, so it has to be only AJ! (Kind of sad that one of her only solely focused episodes was so dull though @_@) Whereas in Pinkie Apple Pie everyone learns some kind of lesson so it's really about all of them equally! Apple Family Reunion though is about AJ screwing everything up, while everyone else is just there. So there you have it. I almost didn't include The Last Roundup. That episode, had it actually focused on AJ, would make more concrete sense to be here, but because it focused on the rest of the Mane Six it's a shared episode. If I hadn't included it AJ would have one (SHARED) episode in season two. Goddamnit AJ. Usually all the family episodes ARE Applejack episodes though, but sometimes more standalone AJ would be great. Unfortunately what we do have of standalone Applejack isn't that good. In fact, her episodes shared with more and more people (Last Roundup/Pinkie Apple Pie) are the best of the bunch while the worst usually are her standalones. The sole exception is her very first episode, Applebuck Season. Even so AJ is definitely a character who plays off well and works well in a group setting, so if she's in the episode she is always welcome.
(and if you're wondering why Testing 1, 2, 3 isn't also a Twilight episode despite my examples above (whoever learns the moral is the episode protagonist) since technically she learned the moral of the week, I was thinking of how the rest of the Mane Six popped out of nowhere to help as well despite Twilight initially having a more prominent role, so technically they should have all learned that lesson even if only Twilight wrote in the diary. Then it got too complicated in my head so I said fuck it and made it a strictly Rainbow Dash episode. Yeah.)
Rarity
Look Before You Sleep (w/AJ), Suited For Success, A Dog and Pony Show (w/Spike), Green Isn't Your Colour (w/Fluttershy), Sisterhooves Social (w/Sweetie Belle), Sweet and Elite, Rarity Takes Manehatten, Simple Ways
1 Celestia, 4 Awesome, 2 High, 1 Mid, 0 Meh
It is not a secret that I like Rarity episodes. I think most people like Rarity episodes actually. Her character is regarded as one of the most three-dimensional, so obviously her episodes must be written quite well. She has a decent number of shared episodes too, all with just one other pony so she plays off well too! Even though Green Isn't Your Colour is the only Celestial-grade episode of the Rarity episodes, I think in terms of Rarity herself the best episode was Suited for Success, dealing with her generosity and such an episode being so well-identified with so many artists of so many industries. Rarity's voice-acting and singing is some of the highest quality of the series too, so if I were an objective media-consuming storytelling-loving robot she would probably be my favourite character. But alas, she is not.
Fluttershy
Dragonshy, Stare Master, Green Isn't Your Colour (w/Rarity), A Bird in the Hoof, Putting Your Hoof Down, Hurricane Fluttershy, Keep Calm and Flutter On (w/Discord), Bats (w/AJ), Filli Vanilli, It Ain't Easy Being Breezies
2 Celestia, 0 Awesome, 3 High, 3 Mid, 2 Meh
Ah Fluttershy episodes. People always have a problem with them being repetitive or Fluttershy forgets about her aesop or she's always overcoming fears. Well let me quickly debunk that again. Dragonshy is a fear yes, but of dragons and is her first episode. No sin. Stare Master has her overcoming the cockatrice yes, but the episode was about not taking on more than you can handle, and the cockatrice was just there to demonstrate her STARE, which was new at the time. Green Isn't Your Colour is jealousy/secrets, not fears. In fact she's pretty damn brave to become a celebrity for her friend. A Bird in the Hoof is stealing animals and jumping to conclusions. Putting Your Hoof Down is assertiveness, not overcoming a fear. This time it's about Fluttershy's doormat status. Hurricane Fluttershy is indeed a fear, but less of a "holy crap dragons will eat me" and more of a "oh god I am traumatized about flying in front of people because of dumb bullies". Keep Calm and Flutter On is befriending Discord. Bats! is not giving into peer pressure, Filli Vanilli is once again performance anxiety (the first sin), and the Breezies was about too much kindness.
That said, it doesn't mean Fluttershy episodes are good, just that the argument about them being bad isn't...I don't even know why it's so popular! It doesn't make sense! Anyway Fluttershy has no awesome episodes, they are either amazing or bad/mediocre, so yeah. She's still my second favourite though!
Pinkie Pie
Griffon the Brush Off, Feeling Pinkie Keen (w/Twilight), Party of One, Baby Cakes, A Friend In Deed, MMMMystery on the Friendship Express, Too Many Pinkie Pies, Pinkie Apple Pie (w/AJ and Apple Family), Pinkie Pride, Maud Pie
3 Celestia, 2 Awesome, 2 High, 3 Mid, 0 Meh
Wow, no terrible Pinkie episode to date. If one happens I'll be ranting about it until kingdom come. There are still some pretty mediocre ones I already rant quite a bit about, not to mention supporting character showings I can't shut up about, but let's talk the positives! Pinkie's first three episodes were of her being too clingy, too weird, and too unhinged. Then she had the standard responsibility episode, another ESPECIALLY clingy episode, and the standard investigation episode. I'm not too fond of her generic kids-show-like episodes, and prefer ones that delve into her character itself. Then she multiplies herself, tries to join a giant family, fights someone exactly like her, and pulls her sister out of nowhere. I wonder what they'll do with her next season? For some reason due to her strong showing in four, I feel she'll have underwhelming episodes in five, but that's just me being pessimistic I guess. I have nothing to say about her episodes because I already wrote a gigantic rant on it.
to be continued (with Mane Six, CMC, individual CMC, Spike, day in the limelights, adventure/lore eps and anything else!)
Ticket Master, Boast Busters, Winter Wrap Up, Feeling Pinkie Keen (w/Pinkie), Lesson Zero, It's About Time, A Canterlot Wedding Pt.1, The Crystal Empire P.1, The Crystal Empire P.2, Magic Duel, Magical Mystery Cure, Three's a Crowd (w/Discord/Cadance), etc.
0 Celestia, 5 Awesome, 1 High, 3 Mid, 3 Meh
Twilight's episodes are iffy because she could be the main character in literally all the two-parter episodes. It was a tug-o-war between some of these episodes being Twilight episodes or Mane Six episodes, or even of someone else like the wedding episodes. The Crystal Empire is an especially difficult episode to place. I ultimately decided it was one since it's the test Twilight needs to pass so she can become an alicorn princess at the end of the season plus songs, but the episode itself was throwing a carnival and then searching for a magical artifact, so it didn't seem to have much on Twilight's characterization. Anyway Twilight is my least favourite Mane Six, but that doesn't mean I do not enjoy her episodes. Even if there are no Celestia tiers there is a good spread among the rest, with some awesome and some just meh. I have little to comment about her character itself, so moving on!
Rainbow Dash
Fall Weather Friends (w/AJ), Sonic Rainboom, May the Best Pet Win!, Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, Read it and Weep, Wonderbolts Academy, Daring Don't, Rainbow Falls, Testing Testing 1, 2, 3
0 Celestia, 3 Awesome, 2 High, 2 Mid, 2 Meh
You'd think with the Awesome category being coloured the same as Rainbow's coat she'd have all and every awesome episode. Alas, it is not to be, but besides having no mind-blowing episodes RD's showings have been very balanced so far. If the episode deals with Rainbow Dash's Wonderbolts dream the episode will very likely be pretty damn good...everything else is unfortunately a crapshoot. (I don't include Rainbow Falls as a part of the Wonderbolts arc. They were just there to complicate things and cause conflict, but whether of not Rainbow Dash is in their team has no bearings about her status as a Wonderbolt-to-be. it's a key episode AND an Equestria Games episode more so than Wonderbolts)
Applejack
Applebuck Season, Look Before You Sleep (w/Rarity), Fall Weather Friends (w/RD), The Last Roundup (w/Mane Six), Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 (w/Apple Family), Apple Family Reunion, Bats! (w/Fluttershy), Pinkie Apple Pie (w/Apple Family & Pinkie), Somepony to Watch Over Me (w/Apple Bloom), Leap of Faith
2 Celestia, 0 Awesome, 4 High, 3 Mid, 1 Meh
Okay that was just sad. Look at those episodes and how many of them AJ has to share. I had no idea until I organized her episodes like that! You're probably wondering my criteria for what episodes are shared or where the other characters are simply supporting. Leap of Faith is strictly an AJ episode because her family doesn't need to learn a lesson about honesty or anything. It's her key episode after all, so it has to be only AJ! (Kind of sad that one of her only solely focused episodes was so dull though @_@) Whereas in Pinkie Apple Pie everyone learns some kind of lesson so it's really about all of them equally! Apple Family Reunion though is about AJ screwing everything up, while everyone else is just there. So there you have it. I almost didn't include The Last Roundup. That episode, had it actually focused on AJ, would make more concrete sense to be here, but because it focused on the rest of the Mane Six it's a shared episode. If I hadn't included it AJ would have one (SHARED) episode in season two. Goddamnit AJ. Usually all the family episodes ARE Applejack episodes though, but sometimes more standalone AJ would be great. Unfortunately what we do have of standalone Applejack isn't that good. In fact, her episodes shared with more and more people (Last Roundup/Pinkie Apple Pie) are the best of the bunch while the worst usually are her standalones. The sole exception is her very first episode, Applebuck Season. Even so AJ is definitely a character who plays off well and works well in a group setting, so if she's in the episode she is always welcome.
(and if you're wondering why Testing 1, 2, 3 isn't also a Twilight episode despite my examples above (whoever learns the moral is the episode protagonist) since technically she learned the moral of the week, I was thinking of how the rest of the Mane Six popped out of nowhere to help as well despite Twilight initially having a more prominent role, so technically they should have all learned that lesson even if only Twilight wrote in the diary. Then it got too complicated in my head so I said fuck it and made it a strictly Rainbow Dash episode. Yeah.)
Rarity
Look Before You Sleep (w/AJ), Suited For Success, A Dog and Pony Show (w/Spike), Green Isn't Your Colour (w/Fluttershy), Sisterhooves Social (w/Sweetie Belle), Sweet and Elite, Rarity Takes Manehatten, Simple Ways
1 Celestia, 4 Awesome, 2 High, 1 Mid, 0 Meh
It is not a secret that I like Rarity episodes. I think most people like Rarity episodes actually. Her character is regarded as one of the most three-dimensional, so obviously her episodes must be written quite well. She has a decent number of shared episodes too, all with just one other pony so she plays off well too! Even though Green Isn't Your Colour is the only Celestial-grade episode of the Rarity episodes, I think in terms of Rarity herself the best episode was Suited for Success, dealing with her generosity and such an episode being so well-identified with so many artists of so many industries. Rarity's voice-acting and singing is some of the highest quality of the series too, so if I were an objective media-consuming storytelling-loving robot she would probably be my favourite character. But alas, she is not.
Fluttershy
Dragonshy, Stare Master, Green Isn't Your Colour (w/Rarity), A Bird in the Hoof, Putting Your Hoof Down, Hurricane Fluttershy, Keep Calm and Flutter On (w/Discord), Bats (w/AJ), Filli Vanilli, It Ain't Easy Being Breezies
2 Celestia, 0 Awesome, 3 High, 3 Mid, 2 Meh
Ah Fluttershy episodes. People always have a problem with them being repetitive or Fluttershy forgets about her aesop or she's always overcoming fears. Well let me quickly debunk that again. Dragonshy is a fear yes, but of dragons and is her first episode. No sin. Stare Master has her overcoming the cockatrice yes, but the episode was about not taking on more than you can handle, and the cockatrice was just there to demonstrate her STARE, which was new at the time. Green Isn't Your Colour is jealousy/secrets, not fears. In fact she's pretty damn brave to become a celebrity for her friend. A Bird in the Hoof is stealing animals and jumping to conclusions. Putting Your Hoof Down is assertiveness, not overcoming a fear. This time it's about Fluttershy's doormat status. Hurricane Fluttershy is indeed a fear, but less of a "holy crap dragons will eat me" and more of a "oh god I am traumatized about flying in front of people because of dumb bullies". Keep Calm and Flutter On is befriending Discord. Bats! is not giving into peer pressure, Filli Vanilli is once again performance anxiety (the first sin), and the Breezies was about too much kindness.
That said, it doesn't mean Fluttershy episodes are good, just that the argument about them being bad isn't...I don't even know why it's so popular! It doesn't make sense! Anyway Fluttershy has no awesome episodes, they are either amazing or bad/mediocre, so yeah. She's still my second favourite though!
Pinkie Pie
Griffon the Brush Off, Feeling Pinkie Keen (w/Twilight), Party of One, Baby Cakes, A Friend In Deed, MMMMystery on the Friendship Express, Too Many Pinkie Pies, Pinkie Apple Pie (w/AJ and Apple Family), Pinkie Pride, Maud Pie
3 Celestia, 2 Awesome, 2 High, 3 Mid, 0 Meh
Wow, no terrible Pinkie episode to date. If one happens I'll be ranting about it until kingdom come. There are still some pretty mediocre ones I already rant quite a bit about, not to mention supporting character showings I can't shut up about, but let's talk the positives! Pinkie's first three episodes were of her being too clingy, too weird, and too unhinged. Then she had the standard responsibility episode, another ESPECIALLY clingy episode, and the standard investigation episode. I'm not too fond of her generic kids-show-like episodes, and prefer ones that delve into her character itself. Then she multiplies herself, tries to join a giant family, fights someone exactly like her, and pulls her sister out of nowhere. I wonder what they'll do with her next season? For some reason due to her strong showing in four, I feel she'll have underwhelming episodes in five, but that's just me being pessimistic I guess. I have nothing to say about her episodes because I already wrote a gigantic rant on it.
to be continued (with Mane Six, CMC, individual CMC, Spike, day in the limelights, adventure/lore eps and anything else!)
