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

[Amethyst Wind]

Some episodes I loved (Only for Sidekicks, Sleepless in Ponyville) while others I loathed (Keep Calm and Flutter On)

I think they learned their lesson with the half-season though and they'll take it slower and provide more characterisation next year.

As for the finale:

Spoiler: That is one mighty fine hat Rainbow Dash is wearing.

 

[kickyourass]

I thought that the season as a whole was excellent, the animation has gotten really amazing, it was always nice the difference between season 1 and season 3 is night and day. Most of the songs were wonderful but that stopped surprising me a long time ago. Besides Rarity all the main characters got some time in the sun (which is a shame since I've really grown to like Rarity), and they expanded their future episode possibilities by bringing back Discord and Trixie as possible recurring characters for the rest of the series (They also showed in Magic Duel that there are actual full-on horses in this world not just little ponies which opens up a flood gate of possibilities).

On the finale, I thought it was disappointing with a couple of really, really, excellent moments (Celestia's song nearly made me cry, she just sounds so proud of Twilight). I honestly think it would have been a whole other world of better if it was a two-parter so things could develop mores instead of just kinda happening. Even if they're planning to expand on all this in season 4, and despite how valiant the efforts of everyone were, that doesn't change the fact that the pacing of the episode is basically horrible.

There's almost 0 time spent on either the drama or humor in the fact that everyone's got their Cutie Marks and jobs mixed up (something that should either be emotionally scarring, hilarious or both). The solution to the problem is found and applied more or less immediately with almost no trouble whatsoever. Celestia, despite having probably the nicest part of the episode, goes through all that "It's time for you to enter a new life" stuff very quickly for such an auspicious occasion. And to top it all off everyone is instantly fine with it, this is a huge, life altering event on an enormous scale, there should be SOMETHING that SOMEONE has to say about it other then 'yay'. I mean there's not even a 'what's going to happen to all of us, your friends, now that you're an immortal goddess with royal duties' bit. There is so much potential here that's actually kinda painful to watch it all come out in such a disappointing episode and these are all problems that would more or less solved if they had a little goddamn breathing room. Even 10 extra freaking minutes would've helped out a lot.

I still love the show though, it's a massive disappointment but it'll take more then this or whatever that "Equestria Girls" thing turns out to be to kill my love for My Little Pony.

P.S. I don't want to be one of 'those guys' but I can not be the only one who got extraordinarily sick of how many songs were in this episode. I love Daniel Ingram's work but 'too much of a good thing' IS real, again if it were a two parter that gave us some breathing room in-between them all it would have been much more tolerable.

 

[kickyourass]

I hated the last episode, it was all just a tool for selling extra alicorn twilight toys to little girls. Also, obvious Mary Sue fan-pandering to bronies.

They should have remembered what made the earlier episodes good and give us more of that through this season. Also, they shouldn't have gotten so self-referential with more Trixie, and Luna, and Discord and cameos, they should have given us something new.

So they should have given us more of what we'd already seen, and they should have given us something new?

Princess Twilight is pandering Mary Sue to bronies?

Self referencing their previous characters is a bad thing?

Sounds a lot like...

OT: Loved it.

It's kind of amazing how three things so completely different can bring about roughly the same opinion. Good ideas with mountains of potential, that got fumbled and turned out disappointing. Not terrible, and in some aspects quite good (I kinda like some bits of Attack of the Clones), but disappointing all the same.

There was also a fan-reaction of Biblical proportions to each one, which is always fun to watch.

 

[Radoh]

Overall I liked this season for it was the one that I felt fleshed out the most of the background (I'm a lore whore, so what), although it REALLY showed that it was rushed. When that one writer told us that the finale was supposed to be a three parter I fully recognise what they meant. Seven songs in twenty minutes, several of which were used as montages really made what could have been a fantastic finale into just a really good episode.

 

[Hargrimm]

Pretty good overall. The openening two-parter was okay-ish, but Spike at your service sucked hard. The rest was pretty good with only magic duel, wonderbolt academy and sleepless in Ponyville standing out. I also liked that RD finally became a decent character and not a massive **** like a lot of other times.
The finale, while rushed, didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth at all. I don't get what the big deal is. Yeah, Twilight is now an Alicorn, so what? Ever since hearth's arming eve and the wedding episode, being an Alicorn doesn't seem to mean much. Even if she is a princess now, what's going to change? She's obviously not going to go somewhere else, why would she? The Crystal Empire is Cadance's business and Canterlot Celetia and Luna's. Where would she go? I think that she, being the Alicorn of magic/friendship, is just going to stay in Ponyville and do what she has always done: learn about friendship and magic.

 

[Meight08]

I liked it but i feel like it should have been a two parter. There were also surprisingly many songs.

Also Why are there so many bronies on this website who don't use the chat group ;_;
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/chat/MLP-Friendship-is-Magic
It desperately needs more new blood

 

[Leemaster777]

*Massive Snip*

Hey, feel free to disagree with me. Those are just the episodes that I didn't particularly care for. And hell, I'll even admit that the Babs Seed song was probably the best part of that entire episode. Daniel Ingram is Daniel Ingram, after all.

 

[SweetShark]

*Massive Snip*

Hey, feel free to disagree with me. Those are just the episodes that I didn't particularly care for. And hell, I'll even admit that the Babs Seed song was probably the best part of that entire episode. Daniel Ingram is Daniel Ingram, after all.

Cool man, thank you for respecting my opinion. Sorry if I sounded really negative to my previous post.
I hope the next Season to be equal awesome as the last one [for me anyway].

*Leave to go to my Fighting is Magic OC version Thread*

 

[MetalGenocide]

I think they did pretty well, considering it was in just half of the usual time frame.

 

[ShadowKatt]

(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?

I would like to say I really liked the episodes "One Bad Apple" and "Games Ponies Play". Lackluster the episode "One Bad Apple" having one of the catchiest song I ever heard in the whole season? Or in the episode "Games Ponies Play" that we actually see Rainbow Dash and Twilight have a very important development for their personalities, equally important to them?
Sorry, but I will disagree with you on this one.

Anyway, I am really, REALLY happy about this episode I watched just now from Youtube! The episode had a very successful pace that make all the song equally important. All the songs was great, with my favourite of course "A true, true friend"!!!
I had a little problem with the "Matrix" feeling when the Mane 6 had their memories back and when Celestia bring Twi to......the room of The Architect? The Architect had a special love for ponies it seems....

But the most awesome moment of course of the episode was when the Twiligh at the end of the episode said "Everything's going to be just fine". You know why? The team behind the MLP series heard the fans about the concerns they have about the "Alicorn is BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD THING TO DO IN MLP!!!!"!!!!

And I will say this to the people they had fear about the transformation of Twilight from unicorn to an Alicorn:

Do you really thing THIS deserve so much hate and concern? It was hinted from the FIRST episode of this Season something like that will happen.
Do you thing because Twi become an freaking Alicorn, she will suddenly disappear from the show or not be with her friends anymore?
You know what, let this happen!!!
Reason? We already saw the writers of the show they put so much effort to make all the episodes enjoyable and they care abouttheir fans!
So even in Season 4 would see the most episodes the Mane 5 be alone without Twilight or episode with only Celestia, Luna and Twi only on it, I don't care because the Team behind these ideas, direction,writing,animation,voice actors,etc, are awesome people and they trying their best bring something new and different to the table without making it worst!!!!

Thank you for listening.

I'm going to agree with you, but for different reasons, because though I'm a HUGE MLP fan, I'm not quite as invested as a lot of people seem to be. I think this has been an overall lackluster season overall and I think that Alicorn Twilight is a bad idea overall, but I'm also prepared to accept that this could still be the end. The writers are fallible and they can make mistakes, and there's no reason, until season 4, to really believe that the rushed storytelling of this season didn't do a lot of damage to the story and characters. HOWEVER, that being said, season 4 is already signed. It's already scheduled for 26 episodes, so with that in place they may be able to fix a lot of the damage they've done.

 

[skylog]

I get the feeling that the reasons for this season being rushed are due to corporate higher-up putting their foot down, so one can't really blame the people who actually create the show. Many of the episodes (Keep Calm and the finale in particular) needed a helluva lot more breathing room.

But every show/game/franchise has its low point, so hopefully this was it. Not only that, but I'm elated that Twilight became an alicorn. Rather than following the procedure for most half-hour television where everything returns to the status-quo, here things are actually, permanently changing, and those changes will have a profound effect on the character's futures. So, while this season's finale was lackluster compared to the previous two's, it's made me more excited for what's to come than the previous two have.

 

[SweetShark]

I'm going to agree with you, but for different reasons, because though I'm a HUGE MLP fan, I'm not quite as invested as a lot of people seem to be. I think this has been an overall lackluster season overall and I think that Alicorn Twilight is a bad idea overall, but I'm also prepared to accept that this could still be the end. The writers are fallible and they can make mistakes, and there's no reason, until season 4, to really believe that the rushed storytelling of this season didn't do a lot of damage to the story and characters. HOWEVER, that being said, season 4 is already signed. It's already scheduled for 26 episodes, so with that in place they may be able to fix a lot of the damage they've done.

I respect your opinion, but why do you think "Alicorn Twilight" is a mistake? I think it is great opportunity to see new things from the show not only from the perspective of Twi, but from the view point of Celestia and Luna as well.
Think of the new stories they can bring to the table that involve the daily life of Celestia and Luna or even old stories and adventures that involve the princesses before they meet Mane 6.

Also I expecting new characters that play an important role to the episodes of the new Season, plus this give new opportunities to see new villains more frequently than before [plus King Sombra maybe will return].

Heck, I will be the one I will say we need new main cast also to the new season to make it more enjoyable and to see something different for a change. Heh, maybe that why Hasbro want to make the "Human-ponies" spin-off after all:

Maybe they want to use the original voice actors of MLP to the new series and use new voices for the Season 4.
It is a long shoot for saying this, but damn if I am right, I must change job and become a medium XD

In other words, I don't afraid the big changes that Season 4 will bring to us. I will be one of the many [I believe] that I will see the whole situation with a clear mind and I will love it [I hope ].

Thank you once again for listening me.

 

[Zealous]

Eh, decent. The finale was paced oddly like many of the episodes this season, but apart from that it was pretty good.

So yeah, if the finale had been split in two and padded out a bit (there was no real conflict, one quick musical number and Twilight knew exactly what to do) I think it would have been a bit better. Not a really big deal in the grand scheme of things though.

I'm interested to see what they come up with for season 4 though.

Oh also, INB4 EternalNothingness?

Edit: Also there was a major oversaturation of songs. I'd say around half of the dialogue on the entire episode were sung.

 

[Pyramid Head]

...they should have just let it die after season two. It sucked in season two, in season three it just became blatantly obvious that the writers for Hasbro are less qualified than the officials the NFL brought in during the referee lockout.

 

[Little Woodsman]

I get the feeling that the reasons for this season being rushed are due to corporate higher-up putting their foot down, so one can't really blame the people who actually create the show. Many of the episodes (Keep Calm and the finale in particular) needed a helluva lot more breathing room.

Pretty much this. I felt that this season suffered greatly from the talent being diverted to other projects,
resulting in the shorter season, resulting in several 'meh' episodes but they still managed to do some solid episodes,
a couple of really good episodes and (IMHHO) two absolutely out of the park hits. (Sleepless & Keep Calm)
Though even one of the hits (Keep Calm) really honestly looked as though it was supposed to be a two-parter
that got cut down to one, due to that diversion of talent.
Finale looked like it was also actually originally conceived/planned as a two-parter and then got cut down.

Oh, and the response of an actual little girl (my daughter) to Twilight becoming an Alicorn;
"It shouldn't matter as long as she's still really good at figuring things out and using magic."

 

[Rooster893]

I thought it was all right. It wasn't as good as the first 2 seasons, of course, but it was still enjoyable. "Sleepless in Ponyville", "Just for Sidekicks" and "Magic Duel" were my favorites.

 

[Kavonde]

There were some great moments--Rarity, as always, provided the best comic relief--but it definitely felt like a two-part episode that they tried to cram into twenty-three minutes. It got Moffat'ed, and it suffered for it. All my complaints with the episode, from the massive amount of songs to the lack of time spent on the switched cutie marks story to the lack of buildup for Twi's promotion, could have been addressed if the episode had had room to breathe. Alas!

That said, Twilicorn opens up some really interesting world-building possibilities in season four. I'm holding out hope for a tour of Tartarus, myself. And all those story threads and Fridge Horror moments they glossed over will give the 'fic writers tons of material to work with. Silver linings and all.

 

[Dreadman75]

My response pretty closely mirrors the consensus so far. Was it bad? Not necessarily. Did it feel rushed? Oh, god yes! It should have been a two-parter.

That being said: Despite the fact that the whole of season 3 felt rather rushed. (Who's idea was it to cut season 3 down to 13 episodes anyway?!) There were still some episodes I liked. I liked the opening two-parter despite a lackluster villain, I liked One Bad Apple, I liked Sleepless in Ponyville and Magic Duel as well. And I'm still eager to see where the show will go from here. (Very glad to hear season 4 will be back to a full 26 episodes!)

On the Twilicorn note...

I get the feeling that the reasons for this season being rushed are due to corporate higher-up putting their foot down, so one can't really blame the people who actually create the show. Many of the episodes (Keep Calm and the finale in particular) needed a helluva lot more breathing room.

Pretty much this. I felt that this season suffered greatly from the talent being diverted to other projects,
resulting in the shorter season, resulting in several 'meh' episodes but they still managed to do some solid episodes,
a couple of really good episodes and (IMHHO) two absolutely out of the park hits. (Sleepless & Keep Calm)
Though even one of the hits (Keep Calm) really honestly looked as though it was supposed to be a two-parter
that got cut down to one, due to that diversion of talent.
Finale looked like it was also actually originally conceived/planned as a two-parter and then got cut down.

Oh, and the response of an actual little girl (my daughter) to Twilight becoming an Alicorn;
"It shouldn't matter as long as she's still really good at figuring things out and using magic."

Pretty much this.

I find myself constantly amazed at the logic children can possess. Even if that statement is one big "IF" I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly. I have to say you have a pretty sharp kid!

 

[Little Woodsman]

My response pretty closely mirrors the consensus so far. Was it bad? Not necessarily. Did it feel rushed? Oh, god yes! It should have been a two-parter.

That being said: Despite the fact that the whole of season 3 felt rather rushed. (Who's idea was it to cut season 3 down to 13 episodes anyway?!) There were still some episodes I liked. I liked the opening two-parter despite a lackluster villain, I liked One Bad Apple, I liked Sleepless in Ponyville and Magic Duel as well. And I'm still eager to see where the show will go from here. (Very glad to hear season 4 will be back to a full 26 episodes!)

On the Twilicorn note...

I get the feeling that the reasons for this season being rushed are due to corporate higher-up putting their foot down, so one can't really blame the people who actually create the show. Many of the episodes (Keep Calm and the finale in particular) needed a helluva lot more breathing room.

Pretty much this. I felt that this season suffered greatly from the talent being diverted to other projects,
resulting in the shorter season, resulting in several 'meh' episodes but they still managed to do some solid episodes,
a couple of really good episodes and (IMHHO) two absolutely out of the park hits. (Sleepless & Keep Calm)
Though even one of the hits (Keep Calm) really honestly looked as though it was supposed to be a two-parter
that got cut down to one, due to that diversion of talent.
Finale looked like it was also actually originally conceived/planned as a two-parter and then got cut down.

Oh, and the response of an actual little girl (my daughter) to Twilight becoming an Alicorn;
"It shouldn't matter as long as she's still really good at figuring things out and using magic."

Pretty much this.

I find myself constantly amazed at the logic children can possess. Even if that statement is one big "IF" I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly. I have to say you have a pretty sharp kid!

She's the absolute best.
I speak completely without bias or prejudice, of course. (grin)

 

[skylog]

My response pretty closely mirrors the consensus so far. Was it bad? Not necessarily. Did it feel rushed? Oh, god yes! It should have been a two-parter.

That being said: Despite the fact that the whole of season 3 felt rather rushed. (Who's idea was it to cut season 3 down to 13 episodes anyway?!) There were still some episodes I liked. I liked the opening two-parter despite a lackluster villain, I liked One Bad Apple, I liked Sleepless in Ponyville and Magic Duel as well. And I'm still eager to see where the show will go from here. (Very glad to hear season 4 will be back to a full 26 episodes!)

On the Twilicorn note...

I get the feeling that the reasons for this season being rushed are due to corporate higher-up putting their foot down, so one can't really blame the people who actually create the show. Many of the episodes (Keep Calm and the finale in particular) needed a helluva lot more breathing room.

Pretty much this. I felt that this season suffered greatly from the talent being diverted to other projects,
resulting in the shorter season, resulting in several 'meh' episodes but they still managed to do some solid episodes,
a couple of really good episodes and (IMHHO) two absolutely out of the park hits. (Sleepless & Keep Calm)
Though even one of the hits (Keep Calm) really honestly looked as though it was supposed to be a two-parter
that got cut down to one, due to that diversion of talent.
Finale looked like it was also actually originally conceived/planned as a two-parter and then got cut down.

Oh, and the response of an actual little girl (my daughter) to Twilight becoming an Alicorn;
"It shouldn't matter as long as she's still really good at figuring things out and using magic."

Pretty much this.

I find myself constantly amazed at the logic children can possess. Even if that statement is one big "IF" I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly. I have to say you have a pretty sharp kid!

She's the absolute best.
I speak completely without bias or prejudice, of course. (grin)

Dreadman beat me to it. Out of the mouths of babes....