Season 7 episode discussion - non-leaked/early version
Holofan4life 
I II II L
- Perfect Pear
- All Bottled Up
- A Royal Problem
- Discordant Harmony
- A Flurry of Emotions
- Fame and Misfortune
- Rock Solid Friendship
- Not Asking For Trouble
- Parental Glideance
- Forever Filly
- Celestial Advice
- Hard to Say Anything
- Honest Apple
- Fluttershy Leans In
Applepie1973
Nostalgia Purist
- Fame and Misfortune
- Forever Filly
- A Flurry of Emotions
- Parental Glideance
- A Royal Problem
- Rock Solid Friendship
- Celestial Advice
- Discordant Harmony
- Perfect Pear
- Not Asking For Trouble
- All Bottled Up
- Hard to Say Anything
- Honest Apple
- Fluttershy Leans In
Holofan4life
I II II L
- Perfect Pear
- All Bottled Up
- A Royal Problem
- Discordant Harmony
- A Flurry of Emotions
- Fame and Misfortune
- Rock Solid Friendship
- Triple Threat
- Not Asking For Trouble
- Parental Glideance
- Forever Filly
- Celestial Advice
- Hard to Say Anything
- Honest Apple
- Fluttershy Leans In
Applepie1973
Nostalgia Purist
- Fame and Misfortune
- Forever Filly
- A Flurry of Emotions
- Parental Glideance
- Tripe Threat
- A Royal Problem
- Rock Solid Friendship
- Celestial Advice
- Discordant Harmony
- Perfect Pear
- Not Asking For Trouble
- All Bottled Up
- Hard to Say Anything
- Honest Apple
- Fluttershy Leans In
rdibp 
Kerfuffle lover
- The Perfect Pear
- A Royal Problem
- Parental Glideance
- Celestial Advice
- Discordant Harmony
- All Bottled Up
- Fame and Misfortune
- Forever Filly
- Not Asking For Trouble
- Honest Apple
- Triple Threat
- A Flurry of Emotions
- Fluttershy Leans In
- Rock Solid Friendship
- Hard to Say Anything
Mildgyth 
Also, that foreshadowing for the next chnageling episode.
Senior Moderator
Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta
Celestial Advice:9.1
All Bottled Up:8.9
A Flurry of Emotions:9.5
Rock Solid Friendship:9.5
Fluttershy Leans In:8.5
Forever Filly:9.2
Parental Glideance:9.6
Hard To Say Anything:8.8
Honest Apple:8.7
A Royal Problem:9.6
Not Asking for Trouble:9.2
Discordant Harmony:9.5
The Perfect Pear:9.2
Fame and Misfortune:8.8
Triple Threat:9.3
Also, that foreshadowing for the next chnageling episode.
kleptomage 
Discordant Harmony - The best Fluttershy/Discord episode in a long time. It was nice to see Discord not be a dick for once and how Fluttershy has developed to the point that she appreciates his chaos.
The Perfect Pear - An excellent episode with great call-backs. One of the best of the season through I do think the show should touch on how Applejack lost her parents.
Fame and Misfortune - A terrible pile of cynical forced meta shit with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. I hate the boneheaded premise. I hate Twilight’s preachy lectures. I hate how it portrays all critics as unreasonable whiners when some of them have valid points. I hate how the writers used the characters as mouthpieces to vent their frustrations with the fandom. I hate how a single book makes all the background ponies into dumb bandwagoning jerks. I hate how it is cruel to Rarity and seems to think her character and reputation has not changed since the early seasons. I hate the bleak conclusion in which nothing is resolved and everyone suffered for no reason. I hate how fucking cynical and bitter the tone of the episode is. But perhaps what I hate most of all is the smug assholes who try to belittle anyone who says they don’t like the episode.
Triple Threat - I still don’t like the neon stag beetle design of the new changelings but more Ember is welcome. Unfortunately it’s another episode about Spike messing things up and the map is now trolling Spike for some reason. Spike starts the friendship problem but Ember and Thorax solve it on their own, making that side plot pointless except to the title. I believe that Ember having a hard time telling Twilight and Starlight apart is supposed to be a meta joke but seriously, can Ember not see that Twilight has wings and a different hairstyle? It was a mediocre filler episode.
The Perfect Pear - An excellent episode with great call-backs. One of the best of the season through I do think the show should touch on how Applejack lost her parents.
Fame and Misfortune - A terrible pile of cynical forced meta shit with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. I hate the boneheaded premise. I hate Twilight’s preachy lectures. I hate how it portrays all critics as unreasonable whiners when some of them have valid points. I hate how the writers used the characters as mouthpieces to vent their frustrations with the fandom. I hate how a single book makes all the background ponies into dumb bandwagoning jerks. I hate how it is cruel to Rarity and seems to think her character and reputation has not changed since the early seasons. I hate the bleak conclusion in which nothing is resolved and everyone suffered for no reason. I hate how fucking cynical and bitter the tone of the episode is. But perhaps what I hate most of all is the smug assholes who try to belittle anyone who says they don’t like the episode.
Triple Threat - I still don’t like the neon stag beetle design of the new changelings but more Ember is welcome. Unfortunately it’s another episode about Spike messing things up and the map is now trolling Spike for some reason. Spike starts the friendship problem but Ember and Thorax solve it on their own, making that side plot pointless except to the title. I believe that Ember having a hard time telling Twilight and Starlight apart is supposed to be a meta joke but seriously, can Ember not see that Twilight has wings and a different hairstyle? It was a mediocre filler episode.
LightningBolt 
Senior Moderator
Undead inside
@kleptomage
Right on the money for Fame And Misfortune, I agree.
Right on the money for Fame And Misfortune, I agree.
gingerninja666
Kaze ni Nare
@kleptomage
I get why some people dislike fame and misfortune, but I still have a hard time seeing it as cynical or ending bleakly. It ended with Rare pretty much saying “Oh, these people will move on to other things soon.” It ended with everyone moving on with their lives and the cast taking solace in the fact that they earnestly managed to touch the hearts of several ponies.
It’s not as totally upbeat as many are, Iguess. But I thought that made it stand out. It’s definitely not a style I’d want the show to keep for many episodes, but every now and then I’m ok with something like this.
I get why some people dislike fame and misfortune, but I still have a hard time seeing it as cynical or ending bleakly. It ended with Rare pretty much saying “Oh, these people will move on to other things soon.” It ended with everyone moving on with their lives and the cast taking solace in the fact that they earnestly managed to touch the hearts of several ponies.
It’s not as totally upbeat as many are, Iguess. But I thought that made it stand out. It’s definitely not a style I’d want the show to keep for many episodes, but every now and then I’m ok with something like this.
Background Pony #1F6E
Why are Starlight and Trixie confronting Pharynx, instead of Thorax doing it himself?
cheezedoodle 
…Indeed.
Moderator
TagZombie: AC15, Atk +8
The Perfect Pear seemingly answers the fandom question: “How AJ’s parents look like”
…Indeed.
kleptomage
@gingerninja666
What about all the freeloaders on Applejack’s farm?
What about the business Rarity lost from ponies boycotting her?
What about ponies harassing Fluttershy?
What about the mob camped outside the castle?
What about everyone laughing at everything Pinkie says?
It is unbelievable that all that trouble and grief ended with the credits and tough to reconcile with the optimistic nature of the show that it would have gotten so bad in the first place.
I do not say this lightly, but Fame and Misfortune has to be ranked with Princess Spike and The Mysterious Mare Do Well as one of the worst episodes in the show’s run.
What about all the freeloaders on Applejack’s farm?
What about the business Rarity lost from ponies boycotting her?
What about ponies harassing Fluttershy?
What about the mob camped outside the castle?
What about everyone laughing at everything Pinkie says?
It is unbelievable that all that trouble and grief ended with the credits and tough to reconcile with the optimistic nature of the show that it would have gotten so bad in the first place.
I do not say this lightly, but Fame and Misfortune has to be ranked with Princess Spike and The Mysterious Mare Do Well as one of the worst episodes in the show’s run.
EquestrianScholar
@kleptomage
I did not see any of the cynicism or mean-spiritedness you seem to be talking about with Fame and Misfortune, and I’d go so far as to question whether or not we actually saw the same episode as I found it much more lighthearted in its humor than that.
I did not see any of the cynicism or mean-spiritedness you seem to be talking about with Fame and Misfortune, and I’d go so far as to question whether or not we actually saw the same episode as I found it much more lighthearted in its humor than that.
LightningBolt
Senior Moderator
Undead inside
@EquestrianScholar
I like dark themes and angst as much as the next person, but I fail to see how “depression so bad it leads to stress sewing while crying endlessly” is ‘light-hearted’.
I like dark themes and angst as much as the next person, but I fail to see how “depression so bad it leads to stress sewing while crying endlessly” is ‘light-hearted’.
EquestrianScholar
@LightningBolt
I meant light-hearted in the sense that it was poking fun at the fandom.
I meant light-hearted in the sense that it was poking fun at the fandom.
LightningBolt
Senior Moderator
Undead inside
@EquestrianScholar
Except I’ve heard all those arguments it had before to the point where it was nothing ground-breaking and felt forced more than anything.
Except I’ve heard all those arguments it had before to the point where it was nothing ground-breaking and felt forced more than anything.
Kanye West 
Thicc Thighs Connoisseur
@kleptomage
I think the joke is that the wings don’t make a difference either….foreshadowing??
I think the joke is that the wings don’t make a difference either….foreshadowing??
gingerninja666
Kaze ni Nare
@kleptomage
I got the impression that a few days passed and everyone who had been doing all this got on with their lives and things went back to normal.
From my own experience, I once got so embarassingly furious at Fallout Equestria Project Horizons that I screamed directly at the author on a public forum and got banned from the site. Now? Project Horizons barely pops into my head, and whenever it does, I don’t feel any kind of anger towards it. I got on with my life.
That’s what I just assumed the crowd in Fame and Misfortune did, as Rarity alluded to.
I got the impression that a few days passed and everyone who had been doing all this got on with their lives and things went back to normal.
From my own experience, I once got so embarassingly furious at Fallout Equestria Project Horizons that I screamed directly at the author on a public forum and got banned from the site. Now? Project Horizons barely pops into my head, and whenever it does, I don’t feel any kind of anger towards it. I got on with my life.
That’s what I just assumed the crowd in Fame and Misfortune did, as Rarity alluded to.
EquestrianScholar
Well I still think Fame and Misfortune is either the best or second best episode of the season, after that of The Perfect Pear.
rdibp
Kerfuffle lover
@kleptomage
@EquestrianScholar
I don’t understand how some people views Fame and Misfortune as attacking those who have criticisms with the show.
It’s more parodying the behavior of these people, not the criticisms themselves.
@EquestrianScholar
I don’t understand how some people views Fame and Misfortune as attacking those who have criticisms with the show.
It’s more parodying the behavior of these people, not the criticisms themselves.
Background Pony #30B8
Fame and Misfortune - A terrible pile of cynical forced meta shit with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
Well, that’s… succinct. I’m going to have to disagree with you though.
I hate the boneheaded premise.
Why exactly is it a “boneheaded” premise? Twilight was originally allowed to stay in Ponyville to learn about friendship, after all, and as the current princess of that very thing, publishing the things she learned about it, along with the lessons learned by her friends, sounds like very much the sort of thing she should be doing. I mean, I get that it’s kind of a meta thing for Twilight to think that stories about her and her friends might be entertaining and help teach important lessons, but that doesn’t mean it’s incorrect or contrived either. Honestly, the least controversial thing about this episode should be Twilight wanting to provide friendship lessons to kids based on her past experiences.
I hate Twilight’s preachy lectures.
Then I have to ask if you’ve been paying attention, because that’s been an aspect of her character since… pretty much the beginning of the series. She even says as much in the episode “Luna Eclipsed”.
Twilight Sparkle: “It’s not over yet.”
Applejack: “What are you gonna do?”
Twilight Sparkle: “I’m going to do what I do best. Lecture her!”
That said, I don’t find her lecture in the episode “preachy”. For me she comes across as (understandably) frustrated trying to respond rationally to a crowd that has misinterpreted and misunderstood entirely what the journal was published for, and ponies who do not seem to know at times what their own point is.
Twilight Sparkle: “It feels like everypony in Equestria is missing the ‘friendship’ part of the friendship journals.”
I hate how it portrays all critics as unreasonable whiners when some of them have valid points.
I would hate that too, if I thought it was in any way something the episode portrayed.
Yet no one is arguing against the idea that critics of the show can have valid points. The problem being shown, however, is more akin to missing the forest for the trees. A fantasy reviewer criticizing a work for being unrealistic might be accurate, after all, but it misses the fact that the fantastic and farfetched is a fundamental aspect of the fantasy genre. The fan ponies shown in this episode have similar issues. Collectors who own copies solely because of the name attached, but haven’t actually engaged in the material. Ponies who can’t understand why multiple lessons would be needed to learn something, but don’t like it when the “character” actually changes. Reviewers who talk about unrelated ideas they think would have worked better, rather than the reality that actually took place. All capable of having a point, but as depicted, missing the significant issues that make what they have to say relevant.
Yet no one is arguing against the idea that critics of the show can have valid points. The problem being shown, however, is more akin to missing the forest for the trees. A fantasy reviewer criticizing a work for being unrealistic might be accurate, after all, but it misses the fact that the fantastic and farfetched is a fundamental aspect of the fantasy genre. The fan ponies shown in this episode have similar issues. Collectors who own copies solely because of the name attached, but haven’t actually engaged in the material. Ponies who can’t understand why multiple lessons would be needed to learn something, but don’t like it when the “character” actually changes. Reviewers who talk about unrelated ideas they think would have worked better, rather than the reality that actually took place. All capable of having a point, but as depicted, missing the significant issues that make what they have to say relevant.
I hate how the writers used the characters as mouthpieces to vent their frustrations with the fandom.
To be fair, if they were, they wouldn’t be doing anything the fandom itself hasn’t done before. That said, I doubt they’re actually using them as mouthpieces, or there would have been a lot more fanfiction rebuffs.
Besides, it is not the fandom that is the problem, merely the attitudes and actions of some fans.
Besides, it is not the fandom that is the problem, merely the attitudes and actions of some fans.
But perhaps what I hate most of all is the smug assholes who try to belittle anyone who says they don’t like the episode.
You know what? Fair enough. I disagree with you on the majority of the issues related to your interpretation of the episode, but I disagree with belittling you just because you didn’t care for it. I’ll argue, I’ll debate, I’ll quibble semantics, but I do not agree with insulting another side jest for disagreeing with me.
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