Unpopular opinion time

In terms of episodes that I don’t know how someone could hate them. What lies Beneath and Hearthswarming Club.
 
I’ve seen some people dislike the Students so much that they dislike any episode revolving around them.

@gingerninja666  
I disliked what lies beneath for the tree.

@WyrmSpawN  
Care to elaborate?

@Latecomer  
The thought of it having a conscience was a bit much to swallow. Especially one that only shows itself to the students.
 
Not it’s current representatives, not even its creators, but these other punks.
 
But i could have handled that if it didn’t have a root system dungeon it used to basically torture the kids into being friendly after it got the vague impression that they were doubting their bond(which i will remind everyone they made in a day).
 
I’m well-aware at that point in the show it’s the popular rule that you just accept some concepts the show throws out, but i just couldn’t let that shit go.
 
The Tree itself is quite literally a metastasizing cancer on the show’s lore ability to tell stories.
 
And yes, IDW is only making it worse.

I think the Tree is an interesting concept, though I would have liked it if it was something that had always been there like Discord than created. Like the Pillars found the Tree and took the symbols of their elements and fused it with their relics, and when they were going to confront the PoS gave it back (like how the Mane Six gave back the Elements in “Princess Twilight”).
 
Yeah, you’d think the Tree would deem the Mane Six worthy enough to talk to, but apparently only the Young Six are special enough, and special enough to have a clubhouse made from its corpse. Though Twilight got a super shiny castle so I guess it evens out.
 
Tbf, the Mane Six became best friends and worthy enough to wield the Elements of Harmony in one night.
 
Totally agree on DW not helping.

@WyrmSpawN  
Well, it clearly had some kind of “understanding” - how else would the Map work? It evolving from that over time wasn’t so strange. And as for showing itself to the students… well, they were the ones who needed it, then, and clearly being groomed as new Bearers.
 
And I don’t see how it hurts the ability to tell stories. How could you have told that episode’s story otherwise? Some fear-projecting cave in the Everfree?
 

 
 
@Background Pony #7FAB  
It’s still vague enough I play it this way. They “planted a seed”, sure, and “fed” and “watered” it, but where do seeds come from?

 
Very true. But for me at least, it kind-of felt less than they’re settling into their roles as eventual bearers naturally and more like shoving in my face how super-special they are with the justifications that they deserve it not really being that good. It didn’t help that almost all of their episodes have them acting more knowledgeable about friendship than their actual teachers.

@Background Pony #7FAB  
There could have been more “mentoring” going on, I guess. But I suppose that after 7 seasons, the viewers already know how awesome the manes are. It’s the newbies who have to prove themselves.

Gauntlet of Fire was a pretty good episode. It was one of the few episodes from season 6 I actually enjoyed. The premise, the fact that we see a new world, the dragon designs, some funny lines… It was pretty good.

Not a fan of Sweet and Smoky. Not a fan of Smolder on her own but her relationship with Spike was okay and going back to the dragon lands is a plus for me. But friggin’ Garble. Bleh.

The Spike eps I like are:
 
Owl’s Well That Ends Well  
Secret of My Excess  
Dragon Quest (except for the moral)  
Just for Sidekicks  
Princess Spike (guilty pleasure)  
Gauntlet of Fire (borderline)  
The Times They are A’Changeling (likewise)  
Triple Threat  
Molt Down  
Father Knows Beast

@EquusStorm
 
Honestly, even for their species, the bats are pretty damn destructive. The likely reason they’re migratory is because their habitats themselves don’t last long enough. AJ and her family had a right to defend their orchard, the one they they themselves built and thus was never part of the bats’ habitat anyway.
 
@Kiryu-Chan
 
I hate Grannies Gone Wild’s implication that Applejack did something wrong. She didn’t. Hell, she did the opposite of wrong as far as I’m concerned.

@Spinny  

 
She gave Rainbow Dash a list of rules that pretty much boiled down to “These old farts are so feeble that they need to be treated like toddlers”. Particularly “Don’t let them out of your sight, EVER!”. In essence, she displayed the same level of unforgivably overprotective behavior that we saw in “Somepony to Watch Over Me”, but against adults. Why would it be “the opposite of wrong” to prevent them from living life to its fullest in order to delay their death for a little while longer?
 
Plus Applejack was well aware that Rainbow Dash wanted to ride that roller coaster, but her offer to cover for Rainbow came with strings attached that would have left her with no time to actually do so (the rule “Don’t let them out of your sight, EVER!”, if actually followed, would have left Rainbow with little to no time to herself).

@gingerninja666  
Well that’s stupid

@Myoozik  
Emotional reactions usually are. Not much can be done about that.

@Brass Beau  
true that. i learned that the hard way

IMO, “The Magic of Friendship Grows” song was the perfect way to end the series, even if I’m not a big fan of “The Last Problem”.

@DoctorWTF
 
She didn’t want to prevent them from living life to the fullest, its just that AJ didn’t entirely know how much excitement they could handle, especially given how Granny Smith tends to injure herself whenever she overexerts herself.
 
Additionally, Applejack is well aware of Dash’s tendency to put herself first and that she would have forgotten all about the grannies the moment she got there, so she knew that the only way to get her to comply was to be stern with her. However, AJ also expected that her grannies would tire themselves out, and that when Dash would be able to ride the coaster. So yes, there was strings attached, but AJ was selflessly covering for her classes and all she was really asking was for Dash to be responsible for once.

@Spinny  

 
Then she shouldn’t have entrusted them to Rainbow Dash if she was so concerned about their well-being.

@DoctorWTF  
Dash does seem to be an odd choice. I’m assuming the others had responsibilities AJ wouldn’t be able to cover. Her concern was definitely understandable but still a bit overbearing. The grannies are very familiar with Applejack’s stubbornness so they probably wouldn’t have tried to pull some of the things they did with AJ around, as well. And since Granny is aware that RD is “the fun one” they probably thought RD would be willing to go along with what they wanted. Kind of a mixed bag of assumptions on the Apple family but nothing too crazy. Pretty sure every show with a snarky septuagenarian and adult descendant has done a similar plot.

While G3.5 isn’t that good; its theme song is one of the best in the franchise.

I’m pretty sure the point of Grannies Gone Wild was that RD learns that just because people are old doesn’t mean they still can’t have fun.
 
Also the sequel comic sorta justified AJ’s overprotectiveness

@Don’t  

My Real Pony