Season 9 Discussion Thread [NO SPOILERS, DF airings only]

Mr.Myoozik
StarTrix Forever! - Derpi Supporter
Silly Pony - Celebrated the 13th anniversary of MLP:FIM, and 40 years of MLP!
Shimmering Smile - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of Equestria Girls!
Solar Hero - Went above and beyond for the Solar Deity, drawing from the power of the sun itself to bring balance to the fight against the Lunar Insurrection (April Fools 2023).
Flower Trio - Helped others get their OC into the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
King Sombra - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Crystal Empire!
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Princess of Love - Extra special version for those who participated in the Canterlot Wedding 10th anniversary event by contributing art.
Tree of Harmony - Drew someone's OC for the 2022 Community Collab

Music Connoisseur
@DerpyFast  
Yeah I think that’s it, I really didn’t feel much for it. Of course this is all based off of first impressions, so my opinion could change.
 
@DerpyFast  
Oh yeah definitely. If it wasn’t for Spike helping Thorax realize that he can share and spread love instead of taking it away from them, then all of Rquestria would’ve been sucked out of its love by Chrysalis and replaced with her subjects.
DerpyFast
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Wallet After Summer Sale -
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2018) - Celebrated Derpibooru's six year anniversary with friends.

Now that I really think back on the first scene of Fluttershy, it’s all there.
 
She’s reluctant to give constructive criticism to one of her birds.  
She’s anxious and has a hard time introducing herself to Twilight.  
She’s overjoyed at getting to meet a baby dragon.
 
Then in Sweet and Smoky, she’s able to stand up to Garble, she has no trouble introducing herself to both Princess Ember and to Garble, and there’s the aforementioned thing with the baby dragons. This episode is a perfect bookend for Fluttershy.
AWGear
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
An Artist Who Rocks - 100+ images under their artist tag
The Magic of Friendship Grows - For helping others attend the 2020 Community Collab
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab

The Devil's Advocate
@DerpyFast  
I’d say it would be, if they finally came out from the “We don’t know what assertive means, so have FlutterBitch for the most part instead” phase. They are soo close to having a trurly “assertive” fluttershy, yet they keep missing that perfect sweet spot.
rdibp
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2018) - Celebrated Derpibooru's six year anniversary with friends.
Birthday Cake - Celebrated MLP's 7th birthday
Not a Llama - Happy April Fools Day!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2017) - Celebrated Derpibooru's five year anniversary with friends.

Kerfuffle lover
GREAT:
 
  1. Sparkle’s Seven  
  2. Frenemies  

 
GOOD:
 
3. The Beginning of the End  
4. She’s All Yak  

 
OKAY:
 
5. The Point of No Return  
6. Sweet and Smoky  
7. Uprooted  

 
AVERAGE:
 
8. Common Ground
LeoNero
Lunar Guardian - Earned a place among the ranks of the most loyal New Lunar Republic soldiers (April Fools 2023).
Crystal Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Preenhub - We all know what you were up to this evening~
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2019) - Celebrated Derpibooru's seventh year anniversary with friends
A Tale For The Ages - Celebrated MLP's 35th Anniversary and FiM's 8th Anniversary

Shine On U Crazy Diamond
Might as well
 
  1. The Beginning Of The End: A  
  2. Uprooted: C  
  3. Sparkle’s Seven: A  
  4. The Point Of No Return: B  
  5. Common Ground: C  
  6. She’s All Yak B+  
  7. Frenemies: A+  
  8. Sweet And Smoky: B
AWGear
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
An Artist Who Rocks - 100+ images under their artist tag
The Magic of Friendship Grows - For helping others attend the 2020 Community Collab
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab

The Devil's Advocate
Alright…  
Can someone PLEASE explain it to me why everyone thinks soo low of the “Common Ground”? It really keeps me up at night. :/
AWGear
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
An Artist Who Rocks - 100+ images under their artist tag
The Magic of Friendship Grows - For helping others attend the 2020 Community Collab
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab

The Devil's Advocate
@rdibp  
It can be a few things:  
  1. Trademark issues,  
  2. A mess up on writter’s part,  
  3. A reference to the polish language where “Smok” means “dragon”.
     
    My mind tells me it’s the first or second one, my heart wants it to be the third one :P
rdibp
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2018) - Celebrated Derpibooru's six year anniversary with friends.
Birthday Cake - Celebrated MLP's 7th birthday
Not a Llama - Happy April Fools Day!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2017) - Celebrated Derpibooru's five year anniversary with friends.

Kerfuffle lover
@AWGear  
It’s just an episode that I think could’ve been better. Having it focus more on Quibble, Wind and her previous father would’ve made it an interesting episode. However, everything revolving around buckball and the predictable outcome makes it a drag to sit through.
 
“She’s All Yak” is an episode with a predictable premise, yet that one was actually entertaining.
AWGear
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
An Artist Who Rocks - 100+ images under their artist tag
The Magic of Friendship Grows - For helping others attend the 2020 Community Collab
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab

The Devil's Advocate
@rdibp  
I actually found “She’s all yak” to be a pain to sit through. Humour was cringy and the premise was overdone.
 
Common Ground on the other hand had nice jokes coming from quibble, good new cast of characters and a moral/story that was very grown up for MLP, yet it was tackled with respect. It was a safe 10/10 would rewatch again.
Chrysipuff

I kind of like Chrysalis
@Twi Clown  
Can the writers kill off a tragic villain tho? That’s the question.  
They killed off Sombra twice before he could show any redeeming qualities, for all we know, he’s considered a worthless being.
 
@AWGear  
Glad I’m not the only one who never liked the whole “Fluttershy acts nasty because character development”.
rdibp
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2018) - Celebrated Derpibooru's six year anniversary with friends.
Birthday Cake - Celebrated MLP's 7th birthday
Not a Llama - Happy April Fools Day!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2017) - Celebrated Derpibooru's five year anniversary with friends.

Kerfuffle lover
As much as I love “Frenemies”, the ending has me worried about what can happen in the future.
 
It will go down in either two ways. Either Grogar is dumb because he believed in the villains lie about not getting the bell despite being able to see everything through his magic ball, or Grogar has been aware of their lie and the villains are dumb for not being able to see that coming from a guy who can see literally everything.
 
It’s a lose/lose situation on both sides.
AWGear
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
An Artist Who Rocks - 100+ images under their artist tag
The Magic of Friendship Grows - For helping others attend the 2020 Community Collab
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab

The Devil's Advocate
@rdibp  
Yep, I said that right after the episode came out.
 
The idiot ball joined the game, now it’s picking the team it wants to join.
 
@Chrysipuff  
Thier main problem is that they tend to go too far into the “flutterbitch” category. Assertive person isn’t someone who yells at others or gets phisical, but a person who can stand thier ground and say what they think in a respectable manner.  
This episode had moments when Flutters hit that sweet spot, but they were mostly a split-second moment in between of the Flutterbitch talk.
AWGear
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
An Artist Who Rocks - 100+ images under their artist tag
The Magic of Friendship Grows - For helping others attend the 2020 Community Collab
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab

The Devil's Advocate
@rdibp  
I prefere Dumb Grogar, as:  
  1. It’s one character getting the the idiot ball instead of 3,  
  2. Besides Cozy, I think Grogar is the worst MLP villian,  
  3. I think that Chryssi (with being insane) and Tirek (being a shadow of his “Twilight Kingdom” self) have suffered enough of character ruination.
rdibp
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2018) - Celebrated Derpibooru's six year anniversary with friends.
Birthday Cake - Celebrated MLP's 7th birthday
Not a Llama - Happy April Fools Day!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2017) - Celebrated Derpibooru's five year anniversary with friends.

Kerfuffle lover
@AWGear  
The episode did begin with Grogar saying to Tirek, “I don’t believe any word you say” so maybe that could be foreshadowing.
AWGear
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.
A Lovely Nightmare Night - Celebrated the 12th anniversary of MLP:FIM!
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
An Artist Who Rocks - 100+ images under their artist tag
The Magic of Friendship Grows - For helping others attend the 2020 Community Collab
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab

The Devil's Advocate
@rdibp  
It could be a really nice forshadowing, but I don’t think that making 3 scheeming masterminds into a complete idiots is a good trade off :c
rdibp
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2018) - Celebrated Derpibooru's six year anniversary with friends.
Birthday Cake - Celebrated MLP's 7th birthday
Not a Llama - Happy April Fools Day!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2017) - Celebrated Derpibooru's five year anniversary with friends.

Kerfuffle lover
I wonder what Smolder’s reaction would be if she ever found out that Garble once tried to kill a baby pheonix.
AC97
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition

@rdibp
 
The fact that they stated their plan onscreen tells me their plan is more likely to go south, whereas if Grogar knows more than he lets on, he didn’t outright say it himself so far.
 
It’s in something like the top 10 rules of stories: if your plan was stated onscreen, it’s likely to go wrong if it creates drama, which would be the case here, since Grogar doesn’t seem very nice.
 
I’d put it more on cockiness than idiocy on their part if it goes wrong, which isn’t exactly unprecedented with probably at least two of the three, especially regarding Chrysalis, who suggested the backstab.
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