Why are season 1 and 2 largely considered the peak of the series?

because they are

>>42261770 (OP)
Because they are

>>42261770 (OP)
That's how it goes with all TV shows. And then it gets stale before it finally does some jumping-the-shark last ditch effort.

>>42261770 (OP)
S1+2 was focused on comfy slice-of-life and solid character-centric episodes. S3 was rushed and unpolished because they thought it was going to be the end. Everything after that started including these season-spanning arcs that drifted away from self-contained stories. Also the writing quality started to drop, with most episodes feeling low to mid, with the exception of a handful of standout episodes.

>>42261770 (OP)
Bandwagoners got in around these seasons and got out before real fans. simple as

>>42261773
fpbp

>>42261770 (OP)
Because they are.

>>42261770 (OP)
Go to bed, mom.

This tells a different story. Season 4 supremacy.

Season 4:
>Featured by far the most amount of songs of any season of the show, and the songs are consistently great and varied.

>Took risks and was very creative with really fun and varied concepts for episodes.

>Very solid mix of episodes for each of the mane six, plus Spike & the CMC. Every character got great development in at least one episode. All of the characters got great episodes to shine in without exception. (especially impressive is that this season managed to have both two great Spike episodes (Inspiration Manifestation, Equestria Games), and two great CMC episodes (Flight to the Finish, Twilight Time), even though both of those episode types tended to be meh in seasons 1-3.

>Has a more action packed and mature tone, while at the same time not sacrificing any of the characterization and fun that makes the show great (unlike the later seasons).

>The episode quality and consistency is easily the best of any season. Outside of a couple bad episodes and like 3 meh ones, basically everything else was flat out great.

>Twilight was just as nerdy and likeable as before, and her treehouse was still there. She also got great development in the premiere and finale that undid the issues with the rushed Season 3 finale. (Both episodes clearly established how Twilight was not actually very happy with her role as princess, and it took the whole season for her to find her place.) None of the issues with Twilight's character were actually noticeable until Season 5.

>It also fixed the rushed Discord reformation by making it clear in his appearances how he was not fully reformed,was really only even liked by Fluttershy, and still loved annoying others with chaos. These issues built up well to his relapse in the finale, with him realizing that the fun of being evil wasn't worth losing his friendship with Fluttershy. Such great development.

>That season premiere and finale were two of the most fun two-parters of the show. The arc with the keys was a great way to tie the season together in a non-intrusive way that even highlighted great character development.

>Animation quality is probably the best of the entire show, being higher quality compared to the previous seasons while also not trying too hard or seeming stilted like later seasons.

Basically, Season 4 took the great qualities of Seasons 1-3, and pumped up the music, animation, and action, took more risks in general, balanced the characters and developed them fantastically, fixed the issues caused by Season 3, while not sacrificing anything that made the show great previously. It is easily my favorite season for these reasons. Even Season 5 (which I still think was pretty good) began dropping the ball in comparison, and seasons 6-9 basically felt like a whole different (and worse) show.

>>42262175
As someone who's watching the show for the first time, season 4 has a very distinct change in tone that's turning me off a little. The previous seasons felt like they were at least trying to be timeless even if they did fall short, whereas season 4 is very clearly made in 2014 and it wants you to know that. I'd imagine at the time that was exciting for fans but over a decade out from that point it feels distinctly more poorly aged than the previous seasons. I'm sure that aspect gets worse later from everything I've heard but it is a genuine turn.

>>42262175
man before eqg you could poll 16,000 people about any bullshit in the show like your pic
its called complete and utter suffocation

>>42261789
this but unironically

>>42261789
>having standards makes you a fake fan and a bandwagonner
Stop huffing braps, glimmerfag. It's killing your brain cells.

>>42261770 (OP)
In my view, season 2 is where the start of a lot of the problems people would come to complain about in the later seasons began. The falnderization, the rest of the mane 6 being reduced to power-ups for Twilight, the shoehorning in of new characters who supposedly always existed and were important yet have never been mentioned before. They hadn't yet grown big enough for people to be bothered by them en mass yet, but it's where the poison was first swallowed, and each following season just slowly grew worse.

>>42262318
The whole show was riding by the seat of its pants the whole time, the thing is that season one by definition didn't have the frustration of seeing the status quo get pushed around by writers trying to write something new on top of it. The show was never built to last, that's just the truth, as disappointing as it is.

>>42261770 (OP)
hmm I swore I saw this image yesterday but with big tits

>>42262323
To borrow a phrase from another show "It could've been great". Season 1 was the foundation of what could have been a pretty great show, but the writers simply weren't prepared to actually handle all of it. In hindsight, I'd say the biggest problem with season 1 was how it sort of set up half the cast for failure in terms of development. Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy all start well enough, but the other half of the mane 6 were just doomed from the start. Rarity and Rainbow Dash both have the problem of having effectively already completed their arcs. Dash wants to be the best flier and join the wonderbolts, and right out the gate in the first episode, she's already the best flier in all Equestria. Rarity wants to be a famous fashion designer, and she's already a master tailor who makes amazing designs adored by everyone who sees them. It's like taking a Buu-saga Dragon Ball character and dropping them way back in the Red Ribbon Army-saga. They're already reached their peak, and there isn't any higher to go. It gimped any possible development for them. As for Pinkie, despite what a lot of her fans seem to believe, Pinkie has been a gag character since season 1 too. The only episode that gave her any depth was Party Of One, and that didn't come til right at the end of the season. But in just about every other episode, she's nothing but a walking punchline. Of all the mane 6, Pinkie is easily the one who changed the least over the course of the show, because there was never really anywhere she could have been taken.

>>42261770 (OP)
Season 1 is literally perfect. That's what drew most people in. They broke what they promised in later seasons, but that doesn't make Season 1 any less perfect.

>>42261770 (OP)
Why don't you go and watch the show and find out, dearest secondary?

>>42262362
I wont watch a show for little kids. Only here for mares and snowpity

>>42261770 (OP)
they are not. the narration is primitive, the entire plot is just to show that each pony has a different personality, as an adult it's tiresome to watch.

>>42261770 (OP)
Because her pussy was still smashable back then

>thread starts with "why"
>it sucks
i love having this thread every four hours

>>42262296
Don't you dare slander his good name by associating him with that nonsense! And he'd never be caught dead without the flag!

>>42261770 (OP)
Because they are.

>>42262175
Yeah S4 has great consistency, and did not yet suffer so badly from the character issues of later seasons. Discord should have been fully redeemed after Twilight's Kingdom (i.e. not being a total prick to his friends). I think the issue with S4 is that while the episodes are consistently good (with only a couple exceptions) there aren't that many stand out episodes, so I think a lot of people overlook the Season. Honestly, I think Meghan did a pretty decent job with S4+5. The main issues with S4 was the realisation that the long teased Equestria games would be a Spike episode barely about the games, and the destruction of the Golden Oaks Library.

>>42262323
I do feel like everyone forgets about that. The show was basically always on the edge of being cancelled until around the movie and by then it was already gonna be over after 9 season. The entire show was a hodge podge of ideas from different creatives and various levels of corporate fuckery. Like season 3 kinda sucks partly because the studios thought it was end of the line and so they speed ran twilight’s arc, when it didn’t end they just built off of that but it kinda didn’t work because most characters had their arcs finished. The later seasons suffer partly because the show kinda became obsessed with keeping the adult audience while also trying to be what it originally was so it feels a mess.

>>42262338
Dash is a fast flier constantly crashing into things and lazier than most neets. Rarity wanted to expand her business and more importantly, worm her way into high society. Which was what the whole point of the Gala was to her. They had room for improvement but the show validates their faults after S1. If it was subversively smart like BNE then Dash would never have became a WB and Rarity would've learned you don't need stuffy nobles to feel important. But its a toy commercial at the end of the day and a vehicle for art and porn for the other half of the fandom.

>>42262376
gay

>>42262175
This. Ignoring the overused "tHiS iS nOt A gIrLs ShOw" moment of season finale, S4 is pretty solid.

>>42262296
Season 1-2 was when it was 'the new thing' for bandwagoners like you. Easy to get into to feel like you're part of a trend but not out of genuine interest like the long term fans

>>42262599
>Dash would never have became a WB
I cannot describe how frustrating it is watching Wonderbolts Academy and seeing that they did all the setup for a better story but then since every episode needs to have a happy ending the Wonderbolts just decide to be like 'actually... nevermind, you're right, being reckless in pursuit of victory isn't what we want after all even though we were clearly praising it before'.
It was all there for the taking, but since season 3 was the end of the show they had to wrap up the arc.

>>42262599
>They had room for improvement but the show validates their faults after S1.
You hit the nail on the head. Dash and Rarity have no physical struggle, they're already at the peak of their respective trades. Dash is the greatest flier and Rarity is the best fashionista. Since there is no room for physical struggle or improvement, the only type of struggle they could have was an internal one, where their personality flaws are what prevented them from achieving their goals. But as you pointed out, the show just validated their faults instead. Rarity's flaw is supposed to be her vanity and superficiality, but at no point were those flaws ever inhibiting her from her career dreams. Dash's is her arrogance and impatience, but again, at no point do those flaws actually stand in the way of her Wonderbolt aspirations. So they have no physical struggle, as they've already reached their peak, but then they have no internal struggle either, because their flaws never actually ended up being road blocks in their goals. People may find Twilight and Applejack boring, but their flaws at least actually inhibited them. We had multiple episodes showing how Applejack simply couldn't do somethings on her own, and she needed help from her friends to achieve her goals, and all of season 1 was about Twilight learning what it means to be a friend. With Dash and Rarity, they started the series already at the finish line of their character arcs, all they had to do was take one step and they'd win. There ultimately wasn't really any reason Dash and Rarity couldn't have achieved their goals in the first season, especially since achieving them didn't even change anything in the first place.

>>42262194
As the one you are replying to, this is a fair critique. Season 4 does have a different tone fron seasons 1-3, and I can see why others liked the show less.

Here is a thread I made about this change in tone:
https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/42060477/#42060477

>>42263554
>>42262599
>>42263152
Honestly, the show was validating their faults during season 1 too. Dash's laziness never impacted her athletic ability, nor does it cause her to fail at something she otherwise should have been able to handle on her own. And Suited For Success as an episode was basically all about Rarity always knowing what's best and why her friends should just listen to her no questions asked. Season 2 was actually a step in the right direction in this regard, as it actually had episodes that were about them learning from their faults and possibly growing out of them. But of course, the fandom reacted with vitriol because, how dare they have an episode where Dash's arrogance and inability to cooperate with someone actually cause problems for her for once in her life? I can't even fault the writers entirely for their mishandling of the characters, because it was the fandom that was adamant about these characters not having to fail and grow. Testing 1,2,3 is considered one of the best Dash episodes and the resolution of that episode was just sidestepping Dash's flaw of impatience and handing her an instant win button so she could pass the Wonderbolts entrance exam without having to change as a character. The fandom itself demanded that these characters never have to face their flaws and earn their way, it celebrated episodes where these characters were handed easy wins, and condemned the ones where they had to learn a lesson about their flaws. The fandom basically demanded that these characters be mary sues that always win and get what they want at the end, and so that's what the writers delivered.

>>42263594
I think I'm talking about a bit of a different thing than you. I'm talking about how there's a line where Scootaloo basically says she has resting bitch face without using those exact words, or how Ponyville now has a fast food place that looks like a standard McDonalds, or Rarity being obsessed with a 2010s hipster culture writer. Previous seasons had background gags that referenced pop culture but season 4 puts them at the forefront, the show functionally takes place in 2014.

>>42262175

>Season 4 is liked most in that poll from it airing during the peak of the show's views

>Seasons 4-7 are written like an uninspired Marvel movie with low brow humor and plots.

>It's like saying pop music is the best because it's popular, even though there's much better music out there.

>Season 1 & 2 have a certain art style, mood, and tonality that has never been replicated. It's unique. It got a cult following for being alternative, sprouting a counter culture. Basically, it's good...

>>42263152
One thing about Wonderbolts Academy that really bothers me that no one else ever talks about is how the episodes story only works because Rainbow Dash is written super OOC. In literally every single episode before and after it, Rainbow is practically defined by her inability to do anything slowly or carefully. She's impulsive, impatient, turns everything into a competition, and always wants to do things the fastest way without thinking of the possible consequences from doing so. But in this episode, and in this episode only, all of a sudden, Rainbow is super reserved and cautious, wanting to take things slow and carefully, telling Lightning Dust things like "Hey, it's not a race, we can just take our time". At no other point does Dash ever act like this, it's only done because if she was written to act the way she usually does, then there's no reason for her to not get kicked out alongside LD. Of course, no one complains about how OOC RD is, because this is one of very few instances where writing a character OOC actually makes them more likeable, but she is absolutely not written in character in this episode.

>>42263700
I do agree that they should've written it a bit differently, but I don't think it's that out of character for her. We've seen what happens when she has huge expectations on her in Sonic Rainboom, and this is literally her life's dream. The episode wouldn't work if she was having an anxiety attack the whole time but her being on the cautious side does add up, she doesn't wanna mess things up around her heroes.

>>42263733
But she doesn't act like it in other episodes where she interacts with them is the thing. Best Night Ever, Newbie Dash, the season 4 key episode I don't remember the name of. She's always been more concerned with showing off how great she is than being slow and by the book. Even at the start, she was being her usual self, it's only after she gets made the wing pony that suddenly her personality inverts and she isn't trying to go overboard anymore. Even in Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow wasn't nervous because there were big expectations on her, she was nervous because she didn't think she was going to be able to do a sonic rainboom. As soon as she pulled it off, she's right back to her usual bravado and it becomes a part of her normal moveset. Rainbow Dash never really had insecurity as one of her flaws, she genuinely does have a high opinion of herself and reacts with aggression towards anything that challenges her image. These should have been the flaws she would have to get over before being able to join the Wonderbolts, but instead she's just written with an inverted personality for an episode and all her flaws are swept under the rug.

>>42262633
What are you going to do about it, huh?

>>42261770 (OP)
why does Faust look dead inside?

>>42264583
Tell me when she isn't dead inside for once.

>>42261770 (OP)

I always find myself only rewatching seasons 1-4 at least once a year, and lurk on this board when i do, I get hit with nostalgia of my highschool years.

>>42261770 (OP)
S1 was good, but also the last time MLP was made without being tainted by bronies. Everything after that was made with the intent to also appeal to single, childless adult men in mind. Yes, even G%.