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

RaineV1

@Holofan4life  
Daring Do officially is a fictional character to the vast majority of pony kind. So the ponies complained to Yearling, the creator of the character, about not telling the true story about a fictional character.
GenericArchangel
Alicorn Squadron - For supporting the site
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Princess of Love - Extra special version for those who participated in the Canterlot Wedding 10th anniversary event by contributing art.
Artist -
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.
Bronze Supporter - Bronze Supporter
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition

Moderator
Free the Tantabus
I like Daring Do, a lot. This wasn’t the send off I wanted. She has never had an episode with a character other than Dash, and her writing was sidelined for two half assed redemption arcs. I like the message, but it was worded poorly.
Poison Trail
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Elements of Harmony - Had an OC in the 2022 Community Collab
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Wallet After Summer Sale -

In keeping with the minimal effort that was put into the episode, I’ll just copy paste what I wrote about it already.
 
I went through the episode wondering if the episode had been given to a novice writer with the mention “You gotta end this arc”, after which they checked the synopses of previous Daring Do episodes, thought “Well, DUH, time to get some friendship up in that bitch” and came up with a plot within 5 minutes before patting themselves on the back for a job well done.
 
Fix-fics are what happens when someone believes they can come up with a better ending than what’s already out there and imagines a new plot that, for all intents and purposes, shows complete irreverence to the source material.
 
Just like how Scott can’t just shoot Austin Powers in the face or a random Stormtrooper can’t just score a lucky headshot on the main character, the conflict shown in the Daring Do arc isn’t one that can be solved in an afternoon with all parties realizing that their rivalries happen to be so paper-thin that despite all the plotting and the adventures, all it would’ve taken to put a stop to it all was for anyone, as any point in time to seek out peace.
 
It’s especially baffling when Daring’s lifestyle is equally “looting” and writing, which of all hobbies would be one you’d think would lead to said solve-all “revelation”. But nope! Turns out it was friendship all along, and they were just too stupid to realize it.
 
Thank goodness that this writer figured it all out and blew the whole thing apart, for without their insight we’d have been stuck with an arc that has, heaven forbid, foundations on which to stand on and characters with deeper personalities than “We’re just waiting for a main character… no, not that one… to show us that friendship is the key”.
Holofan4life
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 -
Artist -
Verified Pegasus - Show us your gorgeous wings!
Preenhub - We all know what you were up to this evening~
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Wallet After Summer Sale -
A Perfectly Normal Pony - The best thing about being an anime mod is you get to eat babies for free
A Tale For The Ages - Celebrated MLP's 35th Anniversary and FiM's 8th Anniversary
Equality - In our state, we do not stand out.

I II II L
  1. A Horse Shoe In
     
  2. Between Dark and Dawn
     
  3. Student Counsel
     
  4. Frenemies
     
  5. The Summer Sun Setback
     
  6. Sparkle’s Seven
     
  7. Daring Doubt
     
  8. That’s A Laugh
     
  9. 2,4,6, Greaaat
     
  10. The Point of No Return
     
  11. A Trivial Problem
     
  12. The Last Crusade
     
  13. Common Ground
     
  14. She talks to Angel
     
  15. Dragon Dropped
     
  16. Sweet and Smoky
     
  17. She’s All Yak
     
  18. The Beginning of the End
     
  19. Going to Seed
     
  20. Uprooted
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
If anything this made Daring Do look like the bad guy this entire time. Hey RD, what do you think of your hero now?
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
Decided to drop it a bit down the list. I still like it, but yeah it is pretty flawed.
 
GREAT:
 
  1. Sparkle’s Seven  
  2. Between Dark and Dawn  
  3. Frenemies  
    ––––––––––––––––  
    GOOD:
     
  4. The Beginning of the End  
  5. The Summer Sun Setback  
  6. Going to Seed  
  7. She Talks to Angel  
  8. A Horse Shoe In  
  9. She’s All Yak  
    ———————————  
    OKAY:
     
  10. The Last Laugh  
  11. The Point of No Return  
  12. A Trivial Pursuit  
  13. Student Counsel  
    14. Daring Doubt  
  14. Sweet and Smoky  
  15. Common Ground  
  16. Dragon Dropped  
    ——————————  
    AVERAGE:
     
  17. The Last Crusade  
  18. Uprooted  
    ————————————  
    BAD:
     
  19. 2, 4, 6, Greaaat
Holofan4life
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 -
Artist -
Verified Pegasus - Show us your gorgeous wings!
Preenhub - We all know what you were up to this evening~
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition
Wallet After Summer Sale -
A Perfectly Normal Pony - The best thing about being an anime mod is you get to eat babies for free
A Tale For The Ages - Celebrated MLP's 35th Anniversary and FiM's 8th Anniversary
Equality - In our state, we do not stand out.

I II II L
@ILoveMyoozik  
I mean, it made sense. The villain was trying to paint things in his favor because he thought he was in the right, Fluttershy trusted him because she can be naïve at times, and the niceness of Fluttershy turned the villain good. I thought it made completely logical sense and gave character development to the villains.
GenericArchangel
Alicorn Squadron - For supporting the site
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
Princess of Love - Extra special version for those who participated in the Canterlot Wedding 10th anniversary event by contributing art.
Artist -
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.
Bronze Supporter - Bronze Supporter
My Little Pony - 1992 Edition

Moderator
Free the Tantabus
@Holofan4life  
It is, in that sense, a good Fluttershy episode. Maybe even one of her best. But Daring Do’s story isn’t over, and I still wish we had seen her paired off with different characters. If this had come last season, I’d be kinder to it, but as is, this is one of the few times I will criticize an episode for being in S9.
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… I didn’t expected new episode so start out well, become a bit blad in the middle and end in a ridiculously idiotic way.
 
Before I start complaining though, there is one thing I need to call out. There seems to be some kind of favoritism in Hasbro right now. This season only, Fluttershy had at least 3 episodes (This one, “Sweet and Smokey” and “She talks to Angel”) where she is the character who is nothing but good and will solve the episode’s problem. During the same season, Rarity had 2 episodes (“She’s All Yak” and the one with Spike and Gabby) where in both of them she was the villian of the episode. In first one she came out as slightly racist and in the other one she came out as a jelous attention seeker. With this being the final season, I would expect all of the main characters being treated equally, instead of one being treated as always a hero, and the other main character (Element of GENOROUSITY) being treated as the jelous villian.
 
Now, to the episode at hand. I think that I can only describe it as a ton of Wasted Potential. It started out as a fantastic idea for a story that the “perspective” of the one telling it is what can change the whole meaning of the events. Going by the old saying that the “History is written by those who are victorious”.
 
Then, that idea is thrown into dirt when it comes out that Cabbaleron is really useing Fluttershy, which makes him look just like another “typical villian”. And ofcourse, because the staff writters are biased towards Fluttershy, she has to be the one to redeem him, because she is apparently the only one able to redeem characters that weren’t more than the antagonists (Garble and Angel) untill now. Seriously, Fluttershy is the only character, who only in one season managed to Redeem 4 villians (not counting the 3 stallions in Cabbaleron’s group), which is insane. If they wouldn’t wirtten Rarity and Twilight out of the “Sweet and Smokey” (which made no sense, since up untill now, they were the duo that always went with spike to the Dragon Lands) it would be much more bearable. Now, it’s just ridiculous.
 
Then, for most part the episode follows a pretty basic story, that wasn’t too bad untill the Auizothl ( or however you spell his name) appeared and well… He was himself. He’s not a really a deep villian, but he was never supposed to be one. But now, apparently he’s getting a “Redemption story”.
 
Yes, that concept makes no sense what-so-ever, especially since, might I remind you:
 
Daring Do: So let me guess: Ahuizotl has put you up to this? You're stealing the ring to give to him so his hold on the Fortress of Talacon will be good for eight centuries as foretold by prophecy!  
Dr. Caballeron: Close, but... no. I'm going to sell this to him, make a bundle, and retire from archaeology in splendor.  
Daring Do: [grunting] Caballeron, you fool! You're dooming the valley to eight centuries of unrelenting heat! 
 
HE WANTED TO BURN DOWN THE VALLEY FULL OF INNOCENT ANIMALS, ONES WHO FLUTTERSHY SHOULD WANT TO PROTECT
 
This is the issue with redeemind characters which never were supposed to get an redemption arc. It can go a few ways. Ethier:  
A) It works out pretty well (Angel)  
B) The arc is a bit forced since it never was hinted at (Garble)  
C) The arc makes no sense based on character’s previous actions (Auizothl)
 
Was it a bad episode? Not really. What it tried to do, it did pretty well. What I take issue with, is what it tried to do. It wasted a perfectly good chance to tell the story about how perspective matters in the story, and then it tried to force something much wierder at the end of the episode.
 
So, in the end. Would I recomend it to someone? No. Will I rewatch it? Probably not. Was it a bad episode? Not really.
 
If I were to put it on a 1 - 10 scale, i’d go about it like this:
 
Based on the flow of the episode: 8/10  
Based on the idea for the episode: 2/10
 
5 episodes to go. Can’t wait to the next week ^^
Interested in advertising on Derpibooru? Click here for information!
KilianKuro Commissions!

Help fund the $15 daily operational cost of Derpibooru - support us financially!

Syntax quick reference: **bold** *italic* ||hide text|| `code` __underline__ ~~strike~~ ^sup^ %sub%

Detailed syntax guide