My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 3 Wrap Up

Fillies, gentlecolts, and foals of all ages, welcome once again to another edition of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic recap/review. Well, it’s over already. After a mere 13 episodes, we’ve come to the end of the third season of Friendship is Magic. And what a season it was. filled with Crystal Empires, clones, bullies, villain redemption, scary stories, wonderbolt academies, family reunions, dragon codes, MORE villain redemption, pet sitting, games inspectors, and finally ascension to royalty. So with so much done this season, was it a quality season? Or were there some cracks in the foundation of the series? Let’s take one last look at the season with the wrap up of the third season.

This will be broken into four parts this year. A look at the changes from this season, the best and worst episodes of the season, the pros and cons of the season, and finally a look at what may be in store not just during the downtime, but what season 4 may entail.

CHANGES FROM SEASON 2 to SEASON 3

This season seemed to focus squarely on two ideas. Redemption, and finality. Redemption was definitely a major factor in the handling of several characters throughout the season. This season brought back two key villains in Trixie and Discord. And by the end of their respective episodes, the characters were changed to good guys. Trixie apologetic for her actions, and Discord redeemed when he feared the possibility of losing Fluttershy as a friend. Another case of redemption came from a new character named Babs Seed, who while more a bully out of fear of being bullied herself, was redeemed at the end of the episode “One Bad Apple”.

Now on to finality. There was a reason this season was 13 episodes. It was intended to be the final season, ending the show at the dread 65 episode number. The show’s massive success however has earned the show a fourth season. This sadly hurts a lot of ideas going into season 4 when you look at a lot of what really got wrapped up in many ways during season 3.

Rainbow Dash got into the Wonderbolt Academy, and came out of it proving herself to be worthy. A lot of that arc has ended, and it’s unclear if the show really needs to go back to it until they actually make her a member of the Wonderbolts. Another thing they finally did was have Scootaloo’s admiration for Rainbow Dash go all the way by having Dash mentor her. And while there’s still many things that can be done with that, I do think no episode will top Sleepless in Ponyville in terms of that level of importance to Scootaloo’s character. At least until the show finally lets her fly.

The show is doing away with villains by either redeeming them, or straight up killing them. Discord and Trixie were given a face turn, while King Sombra, villain of the season premiere was straight up blown to smithereens. I’ll have a lot more to say on this later in the article certainly.

And of course, the biggest change in the series that leads to this whole feeling of finality is Twilight Sparkle becoming a princess in an episode that truly has a finale feel to it. Everything about it, especially the last 10 minutes gives a great sense of finality to the major development of Twilight. No longer being the faithful student of Princess Celestia, she is now a member of royalty alongsid her her mentor. Twilight’s story, at least it’s original intentions, has ended, as has the importance of “Friendship is Magic”.

Other changes include another step up in the animation quality. Taking flash animation to the best of its abilities with some great camera angles, and some beautifully animated scenes like a scene where the wind blows through Twilight Sparkle’s Mane during the “Failure Success Song”. The show also dabbled in CGI with the timber wolves, and they blended in almost seamlessly with the rest of the series. DHX Media have stepped their quality animation game this season, that’s for certain.

Another change is the fact that the importance of the letters to the Princess has seemingly become minimal. In fact, a whole two episodes even had anything resembling a letter to Celestia. Granted, that was starting to show by the end of season 2, but this season, it was kind of crazy to see such a lack of a push for what was the essential importance of the series. Another mild bit of finality perhaps?

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TOP FOUR EPISODES OF SEASON 3

It’s time for one last look at the episodes of season 3. What were the best and worst? Now, while  this was a shorter season, I’ll focus on just four episodes each. The rankings are based on the votes of the posters of the Freakin Awesome Network Forums.

BEST

#4: Too Many Pinkie Pies

Worried that she is unable to be everywhere at once for her friends, Pinkie Pie finds the mirror pool, which gives the power to clone herself. However, this plan to ensure fun for her friends turns into a fiasco as the more Pinkies there are, the more chaos ensues in Ponyville. Eventually Twilight Sparkle finds a way to get rid of the clone Pinkie Pies, and the real Pinkie is the last pony standing.

The first episode following the season premiere, and the only Pinkie episode of the season, it turned out to be better than most expected. Although truth be told it was nowhere as quality as some of the Pinkie episodes before it. Although there were some funny moments, and it definitely deserves its strong rating.

#3: Magical Mystery Cure

Twilight Sparkle wakes up to discover her friends have all switched cutie marks and are now trying to live out these new destinies. She realizes it was due to her reading part of Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished spell. Twilight sets out to fix the mistake and finish the spell. She manages to save her friends. She soon learns from Princess Celestia that her destiny is fulfilled, and becomes a princess alicorn.

This episode was a far better one than most expected. A musical episode filled with a good variety of song styles. Sadder songs, more upbeat ones, and touching songs. And while some are still very against Princess Twilight, it’s definitely a change to get used to for others, many are optimistic. Seeing what could be to come in the future for her and the show.

#2: Sleepless in Ponyville

Scootaloo wants nothing more in the world than to finally have Rainbow Dash be like a big sister to her. Howver when they go camping along with Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Applejack, and Apple Bloom, Dash tells scary stories that get Scootaloo frightened, and having nightmares. However, thanks to the help of Princess Luna, Scootaloo finally admits her fears to Rainbow Dash, who offers to finally take the little filly under her wing.

One of the things I said in the season 2 wrap up that I was hoping for in season 3 was a Scootaloo episode. The character had never been given a chance to shine. And this was definitely worth the wait. Finally giving the character some development and traits to her other than just being “rainbow Dash Junior”. The addition of Luna to the plot was also well handled, and didn’t just feel like she was shoehorned to the story. This is one of my personal top favorites in the entire series so far. I really hope season 4 can actually continue on this near sisterly relationship for Dash and Scootaloo.

#!. Magic Duel

The Great and Powerful Trixie returns to Ponyville with one goal. And that’s to get revenge on Twilight Sparkle for humiliating her. She challenges Twilight to a duel. And despite Twilight’s best efforts is unable to defeat this suddenly more powerful Trixie. It’s discovered that Trixie is using a powerful alicorn amulet to increase her strength, so Twilight manages to out-cheat the cheater. And in the end, Trixie apologizes for her actions.

This was one of the most anticipated episodes of the series, as a lot of people were waiting for Trixie’s return to the show. I wasn’t really as invested going in, but still, when it was all said and done this was a great episode. Filled with action, humour, a solid pace, and plenty of crazy things that only seem to have been picked from the minds of even the craziest of bronies. The redemption at the end still bugs me, but I can live with it since Trixie was never pure evil, but just a jerk braggart. In the end of it all, Magic Duel delivered, and was the best to come from season 3.

WORST

#4. The Crystal Empire

Princess Celestia gives Twilight Sparkle the ultimate test. She and her friends head to the Crystal Empire, a place that has returned after vanishing 1000 years ago. Their mission is to rejuvenate the spirits of the crystal ponies, while also dealing with the revived King Sombra, the unicorn that enslaved the empire. Twilight sacrifices her chance at success to let Spike save the day, King Sombra is literally killed off, and in the end Twilight passes her test.

This two part season premiere was very lacking. Perhaps it was the story. Perhaps it was the lacklustre villain in King Sombra, who only just laughed and said “Crystals”. Or perhaps it was just hard for anything to really shine especially since the vibe coming off since the season 2 finale. Either way, it just didn’t live up to any expectations.

#3: One Bad Apple

Apple Bloom’s cousin Babs Seed comes to Ponyville for a couple weeks, and this gives her hope that Babs will join the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But that changes when Babs starts to bully the trio all of the time. The crusaders try to get revenge on Babs, but soon learn that Babs was only bullying them for fear of being bullied herself. In the end, everyone gets along, and Babs becomes a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

While this was an okay episode as well, it wasn’t an extremely strong one either. The main issue being that it was hard to warm up to Babs even after the explanation was given for her bullying actions. Despite a catchy song by the  Cutie Mark Crusaders, as well as a montage done to a modified version of the A-Team theme, it was still not enough to earn this much favor with the fans.

#2: Spike At Your Service

When Spike ends up in the Everfree Forest, he almost gets eaten by a pack of timber wolves. But before he’s gobbled, Applejack saves his life. Believing in his dragon code, Spike offers to help Applejack forever, despite making more of a mess than helping. Applejack isn’t fond of the charity, feeling that she doesn’t feel right making him work for her. Eventually Spike manages to save Applejack from timber wolves, and the two are even.

This was the first of two Spike episodes this season, and easily the weakest. The problems being that for someone who is known to be a very competent assistant like Spike, having him fumble around and cause bigger messes does seem out of character. Spike has always had a hard time having solid episodes based on him, and this was no exception.

#1: Games Ponies Play

The mane six return to the crystal empire. With the empire hoping to land the Equestria Games, Princess Cadance asks that they help impress the games inspector. However, the group unkowingly grab the wrong pony at the train station, and almost cost the town the games. But all comes through in the end, and the crystal empire will host the games.

Now, this episode is by no means as bad as something like The Mysterious Mare Do Well from season 2. But the real issue is that it’s such a filler episode. Not too many of the jokes are all that funny, the pacing is wonky in a similar fashion that most episodes would suffer through in season 3 (we’ll get to that momentarily), the plot is too cliche even for this show, and I wish we would have seen more of how the games work, and not just trying to kiss the flank  of the games inspector. didn’t help matters that this was the episode before the big Princess Twilight Sparkle ascension. In a season with some rough fillers, this one for many was definitely the worst of the bunch.

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Now it’s time to break down the pros and cons for this season. Last time I did this, I broke it into an even 4-4. This time around, there are a couple more cons as compared to pros. In fact, I can only really give three pros to five cons. So let’s get to it.

PRO

1. This season finally had a Scootaloo episode as previously mentioned. This now means that every main character, not counting princesses, has now had an episode based around them. I’m all for that level of equality among episode stories. And while this season didn’t provide that well enough given the trite amount of episodes, having Scoot get her moment was a pro in my eyes.

2. I was glad to see Discord back. Granted, I wasn’t overly fond of the end of his episode, but I do think that he’s one of the best characters the show has, and hopefully the outcome of the episode does mean more of him in the future.

3. Once again Daniel Ingram provides some great music all throughout the season. While only four episodes this season contained episodes, at least the season finale’s whopping seven tracks made up for that lack. And what a variety of genres, catchy pop numbers, country hoedown style music, and even some sad and sombre tunes. Ingram and company has yet to disappoint. Bring your best for season 4.

CON

1. NO RARITY EPISODE!  Anyone who knows me well enough knew that this was going to be my first con of the season. My issue isn’t so much the lack of a Rarity episode, but the fact that I prefer that a season at least takes time to give everyone a focus, especially the mane six. But I guess giving Rarity the spotlight would take away from the two frivolous Spike episodes. Severely disappointed in this decision. Hopefully season 4 has at least 3 or 4 Rarity episodes to make up for this miscarriage of justice.

2. Last season had amazing character development. Lessons stuck, and ponies seemed to grow from experience. This season, not so much. Sure Twilight evolved, and many could say that Dash’s decision to quit during Wonderbolts Academy was a sign of major character evolution, but I can’t really say much changed for the rest. Fluttershy and Applejack remained the same with really nothing new to work on. Rarity was a lot snobbier and lazy in comparison to previous seasons where she was never as bad. And Pinkie became the walking randomness machine, and that has already begin to jump the shark in quality. Pinkie’s more of a flanderized character than ever.

3.  Redeeming villains just did not sit well with me. Especially Discord. Now, while it can be easily said that Discord was more just a creature who enjoyed chaos, and was never a true villain, but I don’t fully see that. His first appearance saw him turn the ponies into corrupted versions of themselves, and turn Ponyville into his own nightmarish world. That aspect worked. And if done with a better outcome than in “Keep Calm and Flutter On”, this turn may have felt stronger. But it just feels so out of the blue, so poorly stitched together, that it never gets any gravity to it. It just feels like a rushed mess.

4. Most of the season felt rushed.  Stories that could have lent themselves to extra parts weren’t given them, and even the two part season opener was so thrown together that it never had the right amount of gravity that it was going for. And the blame for all of that is squarely put on fact that this was a mere 13 episode season. That means so many ideas were thrown into stories that never feel like they have the narrative  they should have, and they mostly feel like a mess.

5. Killing off the letters to Princess Celestia was a bad idea too. I know there were two in the season, and that the show is moving forward from that idea, especially in season 4. But for this season, the absence was extremely noticeable. This was such a vital part of the series itself. Teaching the many important lessons that the characters learn as the series progressed. Seeing how quickly they killed that format following the end of the Lauren Faust era is quite disheartening when you think about it.

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So, with the season over, what’s to come for season 4 and beyond? Well, the biggest pieces of news have broken over the past few weeks involving Hasbro finally planning to branch the My Little Pony franchise to an older age group, and that is also expected to involve itself to season 4. A planned change in the show’s IP is under way that will officially usher the end of the “friendship is magic” moniker. Which makes sense now that the arc of Twilight learning about the magic of friendship has passed on.

But what really got people talking was the emergence of this image.

While Hasbro hasn’t fully mentioned much on it, there is constant news and rumours about a spinoff franchise for My Little Pony called Equestria Girls. This franchise will see our favorite ponies as humans. This is a clear attempt to try to compete against the massively successful Monster High franchise. Will it work? That’s hard to tell. Especially with the heat that it’s starting to gain from the brony collective. But when it’s set to make its appearance in Spring of this year, we’ll know for certain.

There was also a blurb of a TV movie, but it’s unclear if it will be for My Little Pony or Equestria Girls. Only time will tell on that.

And for those feeling 8 months will be torturous, and it will, IDW has just what you need with their My Little Pony comic series. The comics have already become such a massive hit that they’ve spun off a micro-series that will feature stories based on each of your favorite ponies.

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Season 3 was not a horrible season by any means, but it was certainly lacking some of the magic the other two seasons had. Maybe it was the rushed episodes, maybe it was the stories that never felt as energetic as the previous seasons. Maybe it’s just a case of the magic that attracted the show in the first two seasons slowly fading. Or maybe it’s just a case of the one season of a show that doesn’t hit all cylinders.

Or maybe it was just the perfect example that it was time to start moving this franchise forward. That maybe the friendship is magic aspect was starting to die out. That’s what does give me some optimism for season 4. Could this new change of IP really lead to a fresh start? We’ll find out soon enough.

But even if I wasn’t fully satisfied, I still had fun, and I still enjoyed the entire season. As always, the group at DHX Media did a fantastic job giving us another good season. And while some people are abandoning the pony ship after this season, for me, I’m still just as attached, and just as eager as ever to see what the future has in store for this show. And I’ve got a feeling season 4 is going to be one fun ride.

Once again, thanks to everypony who read these reviews, and support my work. You’re the reason I keep up this job with such enthusiasm and enjoyment. See you in 8 (hopefully less, but looks like that) months with season 4.