So, MLP season 3 is finally over. What are your thoughts on the season?

[Leemaster777]

(Note: This topic WILL contain spoilers for the final episode. You have been warned.)

(Note 2: If you're only entering this topic to hate on MLP, turn around right now. Trying to have a legitimate discussion here.)

So, with Season 3, arguably the most controversial season for the show yet, out of the way, let us take a moment to reflect. What's your opinion on this season? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Personally, if I had to sum up the season in a single word, it would be "mixed". Now, don't get me wrong, there are PLENTY of good episodes this season. "Too Many Pinkie Pies", "Magic Duel", and "Sleepless in Ponyville" being standout great episodes. But then again, there are a few episodes I would charitably describe as being... lackluster. "One Bad Apple", "Wonderbolts Academy", and "Games Ponies Play" come to mind, in my opinion.

Now obviously, the show isn't solid gold 100% of the time, but the quality of episodes did seems a bit wonky this time around. "Crystal Empire", "Keep Calm and Flutter On", and today's episode, "Magical Mystery Cure" were all somewhat flawed episodes in my mind, despite not really being bad at all.

I'm not saying that the show is getting worse by any means. I have full confidence that Season 4 will be great. I'm just saying that I hope they don't do another short season like this again. I feel like, since it was so short, the flaws in the show seem to stand out more.

As for the finale itself, I liked it, but as I previously noted, it's rather uneven. It kinda felt like two episodes smashed together, with one half being about the cutie mark swap, and the second half being the coronation, and the two halves don't really feel THAT well-connected. Neither is BAD, but it was noticeable in my book.

So yeah, my opinion is that this season is mixed, but still overall fairly good. Not as good as Season 2, but still good.

What about the rest of you?

 

[Chrono212]

Derpy @ 20:30

That's all I cared about.

jk jk, I really like the "a true, true friend helps a friend in need" song.

The build up was great! Even though anyone with even a passing interest in brony websites had the whole alicorn thing spoiled, it was still tense and suspenseful.

Although it's a shame that we won't be able to see right away where they're going with this.

Still, it leaves something to look forward to.

 

[Worgen]

I really enjoyed season 3 but allot of the episodes felt like they needed to be at least 2 parts, like the discord one and the finale. I would say that it had more episodes I really enjoyed then any other season but WHERE THE FUCK WAS MY RARITY EPISODE?

 

[Melon Hunter]

It was pretty darn good, given the shortened length of it. Rainbow Dash got a wonderful amount of character development in Sleepless in Ponyville and Wonderbolts Academy (and even better, the Academy episode didn't destroy Rainbow's dreams for some angsty 'oh, you don't always want what you wished for' ending), we finally got a Scootaloo episode, Corey Powell got introduced as a writer (she wrote Sleepless and Just for Sidekicks, both of which were awesome).

I would have said there was a lack of decent songs, but then I just watched the finale. Good grief, that was a lot of songs. Decent ones, too! I'm looking forward to Season 4, whenever it comes out, but Season 3 didn't disappoint. Perhaps not the same impact as Season 2 due to only having 13 episodes as compared to 26, but it was far better than some doommongers would have you believe. Also, as Worgen said, some single episodes could have done with being 2 parters, such as the Discord reformation. However, Rarity can wait. She had plenty enough screentime in Season 2!

 

[Aris Khandr]

The finale is the dictionary definition of "rushed". It could have really done with being a two-part episode. The rest of season three, as with all seasons, had ups and downs. But I feel that the finale kind of ends it on a sour note.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Inb4 EN rant

Anyway it doesn't suprise me that the third season is a notch down compared to the last two but this is natural when it come to TV shows most of the time (I mean look at LOST, Heroes and other shows).

I have notice there were only one (I think) letter to the Princess about a lesson on friendship and some episode wasn't exactly focus on the subject on friendship aswell. I suppose that isn't a bad thing consider it wasn't like that lesson got send to the Princess in the first place.

Also I have notice that this season is no longer canter to the fans per say compared to season 2. Ok yes season 3 did answer some questions that some bronies wanted to see like Appljack getting her own song and more screen time for Luna and etc, it's mainly the absent of a certain crossed eyes Pegasus (she was like Where's Wally? in season 2 which I liked) which I blamed it on those people who view her as offensive (don't cared if she's only a cartoon character but she is NOT an offensive character)!

Sure while I am annoyed like most people that this season only got 13 episodes but I still fine a rare gems in some of the episode (I love the Sleepless in Ponyville episode).

Either way I eagerly await for season 4 which I can assume it will be aired this Autumn / Winter.

 

[Dangit2019]

I'm not sure how alone I am on this, but I freaking loved today's episode.

If I had to criticize, I felt like the conflict could have gone a bit longer (about a quarter of the episode was just "Twilight has wings now hurray").

It would be nice if I could get some clairvoyance as to how the rest of the show is going to work out. I'm pretty sure that Twilight isn't going to abandon her friends, or watch them all die of old age like some of the naysayers keep insisting will happen, but I would like to know how this is going to play out. Is she just going to be a ruler in Ponyville, or is the whole gang just gonna pack their crap and move to Canterlot? This might annoy me until season 4 comes out.

Overall for the season, I like it a helluva lot more than everybody else seems to. Yes, there were hit-and-miss episodes, but every season had those (Look Before You Sleep, Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, etc, etc.). I feel like since we got less episodes, with a big hiatus in between, it feels like we got cut short.

Anyways, with the next season supposedly having the regular 26 episodes instead of 13, I see things going pretty smoothly.

P.S. Favorite quote of today's episode

"Twilight has wings now!" - Rainbow Dash

It seems that RD has a better grasp on reality than the shitstormers on /mlp/. I find that funny.

 

[Camaranth]

Overall I thought the season was pretty good but that finale was really rushed.

It feels like the first 15 minutes was a different episode, and that a lot was cut out to cram in the coronation bit. I'd like to criticizes it some more but I can't come up with a better way they could have made it. While the swapping bit need longer, the coronation couldn't be stretched out to a full episode.

I can see season 4 opening with Twilight returning to Ponyville after being away attending to royal responsibilities, no idea where it'd go from there. Not that this show has any overarching plot lines.

Favourite part of the finale: spike listing all possible previous plot devices and twilight rejecting them. Way to shut up the moaners.

 

[scorptatious]

As you said OP, this season was sorta mixed for me. There were quite a few great episodes, but there were some not so great episodes.

I personally didn't like "Spike at your Service". But I really liked "Sleepless in Ponyville."

As for the finale, it gave me mixed feelings, on one hand, the songs in it were quite good, and I really like the overall story and message it had. So overall, I found it to be a very good episode.

On the other hand though, it did feel a little rushed, and I feel that such a huge moment in Twilight's life should have been saved for the very last episode in the series. So I'm kinda afraid that the writers placed themselves in a corner on what they could do with her now.

Still though, I'll remain cautiously optimistic for what Season 4 has to offer.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I'm still watching the first part, but I have to ask...when the cutie marks were switched, why did Applejack become a tailor? Rarity's special talent is finding gems, not making clothes. Shouldn't she have become a miner?

 

[Yal]

The finale really epitomizes Season 3's primary flaw: They kept cramming more than 22 minutes of story into just one episode. It led to all kind of whiplash like the Discord episode, but also characters exaggerated or just plain broken like Spike in Spike At Your Service. That episode really needed a slow buildup of him underfoot, trying to be helpful and failing (think Sweetie Belle in the Sisterhooves episode), but instead we got one short scene of him as a complete failure to move things along quickly.

I hate, really hate, to tell them to be less ambitious, but if making the show a serial is off the table, maybe they need to be less ambitious?

Best episode overall was probably Sleepless, it's really solid all the way around, but I think my personal favorite is One Bad Apple. Adorable CMC shenanigans pushes enough of my buttons to make me overlook the flaws.

 

[TJC]

Besides not making a lick of sense, the episode was okay at best. I mean, because five ponies aren't doing their jobs properly, ponyville is on course to complete destruction rivalling Discord's powers?

And none of the family members were surprised or even questioned that Pinkie Pie downright destroyed Sweet Apple Acres? Sweetiebelle wasn't wondering what the hell happened to her sister or why Applejack was ruining her business?

I'm not one who has a hard time suspending my disbelief but this whole episode just felt rushed at best and like an obvious plot to introduce the new twilight alicorn toy at worst. This needed to be a two-parter BADLY. What's up with the eye-flash thing? Didn't 5 of the mane 6 deserve at leasta couple more seconds of noteworthy flashbacks?

Also, was I the only one who tilted his head at the animation at times? It just felt... off somehow but I can't put my finger on it.

In any case, songs were nice (even though it felt tacky), episode as a whole? Meeeeeeh.

The season as a whole? my opinion varies heavily from episode to episode. The two spike episodes were cringeworthy but I loved the applejack episode and sleepless in ponyville was really really good as well. Still, it doesn't feel like Season 3 was on par with 1 and 2. Pity, really. :C

 

[jdogtwodolla]

I would say the season was clumsy in terms of themes and ending morals. I heavily enjoyed the season though.

This season spawned the only episode of the series I can't bring myself to watch again which was "Too Many Pinkie Pies". This finale episode was the first one in a while that I actually watched all the way through in enjoyment.

When the elements were engulfing Twilight I thought "this is going to be someones fan-art joke where they accidentally obliterate Twilight," and then I saw that it actually happen.

 

[Quaxar]

I am still not sure how to feel about this. Wonderbolt Academy, Magic Duel, etc. were great episodes but on the other hand the forced Discord and the absolute mess that was today's finale make me feel really bad about it.

My main beef with today's episode was far too many songs, not really much story-arch with the cutie mark crisis and suddenly she's an alicorn? I mean... really?
Not that I wanna whine how everything is doomed but I think until the fourth season can prove itself with a few good episodes that manage to reasonably integrate the new Twi into a story I gotta say... the finale kind of ruined it for me.

I still enjoyed the season as a whole, I just wished the Discord episode disappeared and the finale's plot was simply a better developed cutie mark crisis sans the whole alicorn princess crap.

 

[Zhadramekel]

I kind of liked the undercurrent of progression throughout this season. You know Twilight advancing her studies and becoming a princess, Rainbow Dash training to become a wonderbolt and Applejack seemed to be progressing towards the position of family matriarch (Apple Family Reunion). If there had been a Rarity episode this season, I'm fairly sure the same sort of thing would have occurred there.

Some episodes this season felt a bit rushed though, especially today's 'Magical Mystery Cure'. Quite simply, there was just too much to fit into one 20 minute episode, especially with six songs. But I liked the plot of it, and I was NOT one of the people who freaked out when they saw the Twilight = alicorn revelation.

 

[Crazy]

All I care about is that my music number wasn't all that bad, but I do find the slowness it has rather dull. But who cares about that, I finally sung my song! And to those who worry about Twilight being an alicorn, did you expect me to just keep her as a mage? Sillies...

 

[Lazy]

I liked most of it. Rainbow Dash got treated wa-ha-hay better this time around, and seeing as how she's my favourite character I'm pretty happy about that. Besides that it was pretty decent, and even the episodes that weren't that great weren't that bad either.

Except the finale. I really didn't like it. I wouldn't mind Twilight becoming an alicorn if it had been executed well, but... it wasn't. The whole conflict and resolution were silly and rushed, and in the end just come across as an excuse for Hasbro to sell a new toy. Although, I've never liked of the song numbers in this show and this episode was pretty much nothing but, so that may have coloured my opinion of it.

 

[AlbertoDeSanta]

The finale was pretty bad. It's honestly made me consider why I'm a fan of this show. As has the whole season. The season was rushed and had more poorly written episodes then good ones. I'm only going to watch the first few episodes of next season to see if they can pull their shit back together.

 

[AlbertoDeSanta]

Also, was I the only one who tilted his head at the animation at times? It just felt... off somehow but I can't put my finger on it.

Nope. The animations for Twilights wings were really messed up. To the point where they just bobbed uncontrollably when she walked.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Frankly something about it just didn't feel right. The season was okay, and the only episode I hate with the fiery fury of a thousands suns is the finale.

Seriously, that was just game over for me.

The S2 finale really stretched it for me with Cadence, but the villain was Disney evil so I let it slide. What happened today though? They can shove that right back up the hole it came out of. I will not be watching season 4.