Unpopular opinion time

@Pepsi Twist  
It’s a shame. The writers let Discord and Trixie keep elements of their old personalities after being reformed and they’re stronger characters because of it.

@Crystal Neighybánya  
Agreed. I don’t even like reformed Discord much, but he still has a personality that goes both ways.

@Crystal Neighybánya
 
It’s weird… In some episodes she retains the snarkiness, but in others she doesn’t.
 
She also seems to have picked up some “brutal honesty” traits from Applejack and Rainbow Dash…

@Crystal Neighybánya  
Trixie is amazing

@Jarkes  
Starlight is at her best when she’s written as snarky, cynical and a little bit on the catty side. Starlight’s least interesting when she’s written as a full-on woobie or a Twilight clone.
 
@Applejack007  
I have no idea why the writers thought it would be a good idea to make Starlight a blank slate when she already had an established personality. Maybe the writers wanted to draw a line in the sand between pre-reformation and post-reformation Starlight, but there’s no reason she couldn’t have kept elements of her pre-reformation personality the way Trixie or Discord did.

@Crystal Neighybánya  
Maybe her initial evil was so heavy, they couldn’t imagine it working out personality wise with the pony they wanted her to be for Twilight.

@Crystal Neighybánya  
I’m not sure…but I’m used to Starlight being this way now. It’s like if Twilight suddenly started acting like her season 1-3 self. It would be jarring.

@Crystal Neighybánya  
The reason is that the writers really want you to sympathize with Starlight, so they go out of their way to make sure that you in some way always feel sorry for her or want to root for her, at least that is their intention. So to do so, remove any element that might make her look bad or unsympathetic, such as being snarky or dismissive as that makes her look ungrateful for her new chance at friendship, and thus not worthy of it. Of course because they are trying so hard to get you to like Starlight, it doesn’t stick with everyone since some aren’t going to be drawn to the character after her mishandled redemption.

I don’t understand the obessession with who writes what.

@Applejack007  
Used for prior and future judgments.

@EotD  
This is very much my own situation, and why I find myself so frustrated or annoyed with Starlight.

@PonyPon  
Eh…I don’t care who wrote it. I’ll judge the episode if I see it.

@HollowedIchigo, @Applepie1973  
It wouldn’t make any sense if they were, and goes completely against all the evidence that they are dead. Plus, if they were alive, it would be hard to justify them never showing up or being there to raise Big Mac, Applejack, and Applebloom. It would be contrived to have them still be alive, a plot hole, that flies in the face of all that has been shown.

@EquestrianScholar  
Would be like Bobby Ewing coming back in the shower.

@Magma_ERuptiOn  
I had to look up the reference, but yes essentially.
 
Though admittedly in the case of Bobby Ewing it is more egregious since he died in the hospital and there was a funeral, him appearing in the shower at the very end of the movie with how events played out is an issue much like how I feel Applejack’s parents appearing alive and well.

I… really don’t see the lack of cattiness and snark in Starlight. She was trying to be on her best behavior in her first two/three episodes, but since then her level of slight bitchiness has been steadily rising as she’s become more comfortable.
 
The latest episode in fact really reminded me (along with Secret Suite) of how she’s probably the character who kisses Twilight’s ass the least. She’s still grateful, but there are clearly a lot of things about Twilight that irritate her.

@Philweasel  

 
Yeah I think you forgot about a couple of characters  
 
 

Still nervous.

@EotD  
Heh, I have to say I forgot how snarky Rainbow Dash can be towards Twilight. And I should have said ‘Pony’, I wasn’t counting, say, Tirek or Ember.

If I beg hard enough will they not fuck this up? PLEASE!

To be a fly on the wall in their meetings…

@Philweasel
 
@EotD
 

@EotD  

 
I half agree with this. I think they’re trying to make Starlight likable because they want her as a role model, not as someone you would feel sorry for. If the character was sarcastic, cynical, or out right makes fun of other characters, she would not be an ideal role model for the little gurls.
 
Which is strange because there are characters on the show like RD who gets away with it most of the time and Rarity who is a more rounded character because she has a fair share of negatives and positives to her character.
 
I want to see an episode like Every Little Thing She Does where Starlight smiles at the magical chaos she causes and when Twilight scolds her all she says “Ah, yes… Friendship. I understand now.” And then turns around and leaves laughing to herself. Lol. Makes her look like she has mental problems consistently with her back story.

I think Star DOES have a certain level of snarkiness. I’m thinking of stuff like Rock Solid friendship where she was like: “YouknowwhatJalapenoredvelvetomlettessoundgross. I just can’t.” and in Royal Problem with “THEY’RE GONNA THINK I’M NUTS!” and “Gee, thanks for believing in me, Twilight.”

@hironakamura  
I want her snarky, not actively psychotic. Even as a villain Starlight only actively tried to harm others when her temper got the better of her. She started off her escape from her village actively trying not to harm her former cult members for example. Neither is she overly concerned with sadism, she only takes real pleasure in punishing Twilight, whom she had good reason to hate.
 
In fact the most baffling thing about her is she normally believes she’s doing the right thing, even when brainwashing her friends.