Stupid stuff that comes to mind that we want to post (pony version)

@DerpyFast  
The show had a lot of potential for spinoffs or changing direction.

@97blackbird  
Starlight’s circle of friends isn’t an episode. It started forming in S6, but really came into its own in S9.  
“The End in Friend” is S8.  
“The Legion of Doom” is the name of the group that came into its own in the S9 episode “Frenemies”.
 
@Brass Beau  
That’s what I loved about S8: the stories could just be about anything, and all of it tied back to The School in some way. I have the utmost respect for Faust’s vision, but they should have experimented way more after her departure.

@DerpyFast  
Things changed over time, but radical experimentation carried strong risks of losing what made the show good in the first place.

@Latecomer  
That’s what spinoffs are for.

I want my buggy spinoff
 
My Little Changeling: Love is Nutritious

@Brass Beau  
True - but they’re also risky in their own way. For instance, I’m doubtful as to whether the oft-suggested CMC spinoff would have been self-sustaining.

@Latecomer  
Seeing as how Twi and co. have become quite stale, I think that the worst thing they could do was stay the same.

@Meanlucario  
Stale to some. Evergreen to others. And there are ways they could have been regreshed a bit.

@Latecomer  
Stale to most. You could tell that the rot was starting to happen, and is why they added Starlight and the Student Six, the best editions to the show.

They were only stale from lack of imagination, and expanding them through other characters who could also be expanded.
 
Adding new characters is like planting more instead of fertilizing.
 
You should do one before the other, is what i mean.

@WyrmSpawN  
I stand by what I said about Starlight and the Student Six.

@Meanlucario  
I think that “most” is rather unproven. Starlight and the Students are good in their own ways, but for many, the Mane 6 are FIM.

@WyrmSpawN  
True, they could have done some focusing on the characters but the writers seemed pretty focused on plots driving the characters rather then the other way around. The lettlers, friendship journal, cutie map and school were all a pretty general way to set up stories but the characters felt like they were reacting to circumstances more often than actively striving towards their own goals. It also didn’t help that we didn’t get any stories about maintaining those goals when they were reached. And Pinkie and Fluttershy didn’t really seem to have goals. Some of those “problems” go as far back as season one but they definitely should have been addressed. Seasons four or five probably should have been the point where we really evolved the main cast and possibly set up the secondary cast to take over.

@Latecomer  
In the same sense that Ash/Red are Pokemon.

@Meanlucario  
Nope - but maybe to the extent Ash, Pikachu and Team Rocket are the anime.
 
 
@Brass Beau  
Some of them were pretty active in pursuing their goals - it was really just Twilight who was yanked around. And I don’t know if they all really needed grand ambitions.
 
And I maintain FIM should, as it was, have been first and foremost about the Manes from beginning to end.

@Latecomer  
Like friendship is only limited to the main characters. How long did it took for them to stop sheohorning Twi in every ep again?

@Meanlucario  
One season. And I do think they should have made more friends outside the group - like Fluttershy did with Discord and Tree Hugger.

@Latecomer  
Yes, the first season aka the one that people are going nostalgic for. It’s also the weakest by far, in my opinion. Even in season 2, there are only three ep where Twi is absence. She’s like the Skywalkers in Star Wars where my favorite parts of the series has the least to do with the beloved bloodline.

@Meanlucario  
Well, it’s one of my favourites. But while I love Twi, I do think the show benefited from not having to shoehorn her in.

@Latecomer  
Really, with the benefit of hindsight, there were several things that could have benefited the series as a whole and the development of the main characters. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie really got the short end of the stick in that department. New characters allowed for new dynamics but there were plenty of dynamics that were barely touched on.

@Brass Beau  
I don  
t think firesight was the problem with Shy, but not letter her be wrong.

@Meanlucario  
Well, that goes with the lack of character development. Oddly enough, Pinkie was often shown to be “right” with little exception. It really felt like those two couldn’t pull out of the archetype phase.

@Brass Beau  
Well, hindsight always offers roads not taken.

@Brass Beau  
Except when it was her vs Flutters.

@Latecomer  
But there’s no consensus on what made the show good in the first place.