Ranking the Seasons of Friendship Is Magic · 2:54am Jun 7th, 2020
I love ranking things and I wanted to do this for a while and really explain in detail how I feel about the seasons of the show and how they stack up to each other. So without further ado, from worst to best:
9. Season 6
I really don't think there's a truly bad season of the show. For something that went on for nine years I think the show kept up a remarkable level of quality that only few other cartoons or sitcoms can match. Even The Simpsons only had nine good seasons. That being said there still has to be a last place and for me it's clearly season 6. The reason for this is because I find it to be a largely forgettable and middling season that simply doesn't reach the heights of the others. I don't know if I would put a single episode from season 6 on a list of the top twenty best episodes from the show. It just doesn't have the same kind of high quality and standout episodes that other seasons do and then at the same time it still has its fair share of bad and meh episodes. I don't hate Carts Before the Ponies or 28 Pranks Later like some people do but they're definitely on the low end of the spectrum. There are some positives with season 6, such as Rainbow Dash becoming a Wonderbolt and her character arc evolving, and some good episodes like Gauntlet of Fire. I would say Starlight was the best thing about season 6 and all of her episodes are good but even she could've been better integrated into the cast and given more interaction with the other girls. Instead she doesn't really feel like a true friend until season 7. Also the season premier was one of the weaker ones and the finale, while better, still wasn't one of the best either.
Best episode: A Hearth's Warming Tail
Worst episode: Applejack's Day Off
8. Season 9
When it comes down to it I think there were just too many episodes in the last season that felt kind of wasteful. It still has much higher highs than season 6 but it's also kind of a disappointment in a lot of ways. There were things like the Young Six not being utilized or developed as well as the previous season (regardless of if you like or dislike them they felt like wasted potential to me in season 9) and did we really need two episodes centered around Buckball and another Daring Do episode? This is the final season, I wanted it to focus more on the core cast. I do like the decision for the two last regular episodes being ones that revolved around the CMC and Big Mac, the most relevant side characters after the main group, that was a good decision, but generally I was hoping for more impactful episodes than what we got with the rest. The first half of the season also started out fairly mediocre with only a few particularly good episodes. And Going to Seed which I actually liked quite a bit but still wasn't anything spectacular. I actually loved the grand finale and The Last Problem, I really did, so my complaints don't lie there. The highlight of the season was probably the interaction between the villain trio too.
Best episode: The Ending of the End (Both parts)
Worst episode: Sweet and Smoky
7. Season 8
So yes, even though I still think the show remained good throughout its run I definitely do think the last couple of seasons were a downgrade. I didn't really care much for the direction the show took and I still don't like the idea of the friendship school even though it was done fairly well, besides a bad season premier. The Young Six as well I have mixed feelings on, half of them became honestly quite good characters and the other half didn't get that kind of development. I think season 8 still overall did a good job on them even though I'm not crazy about their inclusion in the show in the first place. Besides just the bad premier the whole beginning of the season was pretty bad, it wasn't until we started getting episodes like Horse Play and The Parent Map that the season started to pick up, finally capping off with a great mid-season in The Mean Six and then coming back with a much stronger second half and ending to the season. Almost the last ten episodes of season 8 are all winners, some even truly great, and the finale was a huge improvement over the premier and season 7's finale. Cozy Glow was a great new antagonist for the show too.
Best episode: Sounds of Silence
Worst episode: Non-Compete Clause
6. Season 3
I feel bad for season 3. I think it has a really strong library of episodes but being only half as long as the rest hurts it. The last season with Twilight as a unicorn, it's almost surreal now. Season 3 has a strong opener with The Crystal Empire and then... it just keeps being good. There are some problems and one or two meh episodes that make the season feel worse than it is because it's so short but even the worst season 3 episodes aren't close to the show's worst overall. Spike at Your Service is one of the show's funniest episodes but it's marred by Spike being out of character in it. Trixie's return in Magic Duel is great but then she leaves for three seasons. Still, we got the fantastic Sleepless in Ponyville this season too. Great development for both Scootaloo and Luna. And then of course the finale, Magical Mystery Cure. It's rushed, bloated, and it's still the best episode of the show and totally emblematic of Friendship is Magic. Magical Mystery Cure to this day is my favorite episode. I feel like maybe one more episode leading up to Twilight's becoming an alicorn could've helped things but generally season 3 is still strong. The season is also responsible for turning Discord into a recurring member of the cast and "protagonist". I do love John de Lancie but in general I don't especially like how Discord was used in the show from here on.
Best episode: Magical Mystery Cure
Worst episode: Keep Calm and Flutter On
5. Season 2
You know some people say the later seasons are totally different from the older ones but I say the sharpest change in atmosphere, style, and feeling was right from the beginning between seasons 1 and 2. Season 2 had more pandering and referencing to older fans and in general had a more "excited" comedy style compared to the first season. It still has some fantastic episodes, some of the best, like the season premier, Luna Eclipsed, and Hurricane Fluttershy, as well as introducing the ever great Flim Flam brothers among some other good side characters. But at the same time I also always felt that season 2 had a lot of just downright bad episodes too like Baby Cakes and Dragon Quest (I actually don't hate The Mysterious Mare Do Well even half as much as some people though). And then there's the finale, I think it's a good finale but I don't think it's the best and I've never particularly seen Chrysalis as a great villain compared to a lot of the others the show's given us. Also the existence of Cadance as another alicorn and Twilight having a big brother, how they both just come out of nowhere and really don't fit with Twilight's established backstory or anything. A Canterlot Wedding is a great couple of episodes but I have mixed feelings on it because of these things. That's essentially how I feel towards the whole season. I don't like the fan pandering either and I really wish they never used the name Derpy in the show. Besides that though the entire main cast is great and has a lot of nice development. There's a lot of groundwork laid this season for later episodes.
Best episode: Hurricane Fluttershy
Worst episode: Dragon Quest
4. Season 1
Season 1 is special. It feels different from the other seasons. There's an innocence and genuineness and simplicity to it that none of the other seasons possess. With strong character writing and a fun cast it's no surprise the show was a success. Still, it's not like the first season is perfect and it doesn't reach the emotional heights that other seasons do. There are a number of just dull and aggravating episodes as well. I think the season did a good job a lot of the time though at doing typically cliche episodes and plots in a fun way, like with Bridle Gossip. The first season just has so much heart to it and great character interactions, and I like how it ended on a "normal" episode and not with the world ending.
Best episode: The Cutie Mark Chronicles
Worst episode: A Bird in the Hoof
3. Season 7
Season 7 feels like the spiritual successor to season 1 in some ways. Aside from that first season it's the most relaxed and it doesn't feel the need to do anything "new". All it did was give us a quality show. Season 2 had Twilight's friends start writing friendship letters to the princess, season 3 had Twilight's journey to become a princess, season 4 had the chest and keys, season 5 had the Cutie Map, season 6 had Starlight being taught as Twilight's student. Season 7 doesn't do anything like that. It feels like the first season that honestly didn't need to be made because every other base and plot from the beginning of the show was done now. Maybe that's why it turned out as good as it did. Starlight is again the standout character but even Discord got a great episode this season too and we finally got a Celestia/Luna episode. And biggest of all, an episode on Applejack's parents. There were a few meh episodes in the first half and I thought the finale was disappointingly bad with the worst villain the show has had but otherwise it really was a great season.
Best episode: The Perfect Pear
Worst episode: Shadow Play (both parts)
2. Season 4
Season 4 was a season of exceptionally high quality with some of the best episodes and very few bad ones at all. Despite a lackluster start we would soon get to some of the very best character episodes of the show with things like Rarity Takes Manehattan, Pinkie Pride, Rainbow Falls, For Whom the Sweetie Belle Tolls, etc. Along with some great "just for fun" episodes like Power Ponies and Bats!. The overarching plotline also gave us something really interesting to wonder about and look forward to, as well as seeing what things would be like with Twilight as a princess now. And then of course we get to Twilight's Kingdom, some people say it's the best and others denigrate it and say it's just flashy lasers. I do think it's a fantastic finale and I don't mind the more action bent it has because it's really the only time the show ever did that, it's okay to do it once for something special. And Twilight's Kingdom is really special, it feels like a true finale too, even though some things would've been left open I honestly don't think I would've minded if the show ended there. Only downsides to the season are some meh episodes, what keeps it from being the best season of the show is that the season in the number 1 spot is simply of overall higher quality. I also still don't like Daring Do being a real pony.
Best episode: Twilight's Kingdom
Worst episode: It Aint Easy Being Breezies
1. Season 5
To me at least this is unquestionable. Season 5 was spectacular, with even better episodes than season 4 and again relatively few bad ones along with the best season premier of any season and in my opinion a finale equal to Twilight's Kingdom and even superior in some ways. Season 5 also gave us the conclusion to two big character arcs, Rarity opening up a shop in Canterlot, and the CMC's getting their Cutie Marks. It should come as no surprise that those two episodes are two of the best of the season. It's just a fantastic level of quality the whole way through. The Cutie Map was also a good way to keep things fresh and have the characters travel. I have one minor complaint where I think it would've been thematically more appropriate if the last episode before the finale was the one where the CMC's got their marks but oh well. I also have mixed feelings on Slice of Life. A fun episode but it gets too weird at parts and I don't like when the show acknowledges the existence of the older fandom. Of course what really makes this season the best is Starlight Glimmer. The best and most interesting villain the show had, I only wish she was evil longer because she was really great like that. The show was smart to not try and "outdo" Tirek, instead creating a villain who was a normal pony with ideological differences from Twilight. Glimmer continued to be the best character in the show ever after.
Best episode: The Cutie Map
Worst episode: What About Discord?
5279600
The only things that I really liked about season 6 was Trixie and the changelings becoming reformed. In my opinion, I like Thorax and Ocellus.
5279621
What part of Starlight don’t you like?
You know, I may disagree on the specifics, but my own ranking mirrors yours.
Solid reasoning, as well.
5279636
In my opinion, Trixie might be slightly annoying at times, but I’m wondering how she was able to do magic without magic in the changeling hive. I don’t really favor Chrysalis and Cozy, but the fact that Cozy was able to almost remove all magic from Equestria without anycreature finding out that it was her was pretty impressive.
Wow, very different from mine, but at least you didn’t try to argue with future comments. I respect this rating for that. Also, as per the course when I see people raking things, I agree with what you like (4 and 5 are easily the seasons we ever got), but I don’t with the bad stuff (but mainly just Season 9 being so low, also 8’s my least favorite).
5279600
They don’t think Season 6 is shit, they just think it’s not as good as the other ones, they outright said there isn’t a bad season in MLP.
This strongly differs from my own opinion mostly because I don't like most of the last 2 seasons. I can't say that I strongly dislike the other seasons though although the movie was terrible.
Easy enough: Season 9 is the worst season ever for me. -_-