(Song Used: Minerva - Deftones)

Ah, finally. We’re here to the final part. The Top 5. You’ll get to see the episode I personally rank as the absolute best of the show. Funnily enough, it just so happened that in the Top 5. Each season got at least one episode in the Top 5. And I never planned it that way from the start. That’s just how it ended up. But I like it that way because it still feels each season get’s it’s due. Now if you’ve been crossing out the episodes through the process of elimination. Or at least keeping in mind which episodes have not shown up yet, you’ll know what episodes are in the Top 5. The question is just what order will I put them in?

(A bit of a warning that what I say for the episodes ranked #1 and #2 are particularly long. For the most part I think I’ve kept things fairly short for most of the episodes in this list. But when it finally came to getting to the Top 2 I have to kinda explain myself why they’re where they are. Especially since one of those two is one of the most divisive episodes in the show’s history)

This is one of the most important episodes in the entire series for plenty of reasons. And I don’t just mean because it was relevant to the recent Season 5 Finale. This episode we get a background on every one of our main characters, we get out first look into how these characters grew to be where they are now. It doesn’t hurt to see the utter adorableness of all the Main 6 as fillies either. But getting back to backgrounds. Here’s the breakdown for each character.

We learn from Twilight’s just how she became Celestia’s student, the birth of Spike, Twilight’s Parents (I’m still waiting for them to make a proper speaking appearance like they did for Pinkie’s Parents in Hearthbreakers. Please make it happen Season 6!), and it helps that the entire flashback is one of the most entertaining scenes in the show with Filly Twilight going Avatar State after being startled by the Sonic Rainboom. It’s probably obvious since Twilight’s my favorite pony, but it’s far and away my favorite of the flashbacks. Do you know one of the quickest ways of making me smile? Give me a pic of happy Filly Twilight. You can thank this episode for that in the first place.

From Applejack’s we learned there was actually a time she was a bit of a rebel and didn’t want the farm life. But when she tried the city life with her cousins of the Orange family (Because get it, between Apple’s and Orange’s?) she ended up regretting that and finds she really does think the Apple farming was for her. But still from the way you see Applejack you never would of thought AJ might have actually tried something different because she often seems like she’s just been ok with being the farm pony she’s been for her entire life. Suggesting there is a little bit more depth to her then meets the eye, even if it hasn’t helped enough in regards to popularity polls.

From Rainbow’s you learn she may have known Fluttershy a little earlier then some of the others. As well as seeing chronologically the first time she performed the Sonic Rainboom (Even if of course we already saw the Sonic Rainboom in the titular episode).

From Rarity’s we learn that Rarity’s had high expectations for making costumes and/or clothing stand out more. (Though to be honest I feel this is kind of the weakest of the flashbacks since the whole horn dragging Rarity is kinda weird as we don’t see it that much for other Unicorns who got their Cutie Mark. As funny as it is we got funny stuff like the gifs of Filly Rarity showing up in random places)

From Fluttershy’s we see how she discovered her love of Animals and even get a fairly sweet song. Also nice to note Fluttershy’s filly design is the only one that’s a bit of a different model then the others. Fluttershy as a filly looked closer to a baby deer which kinda fits. It may also be due to Fluttershy having been canonically said as 1-year older then at least Pinkie. But otherwise it definitely shows a design as meek as Fluttershy must of been at that age.

And from Pinkie’s while it would prove to be true anyhow, there was people debating if there was a bit on unreliable narrator-syndrome especially when Pinkie said “And that’s how Equestria was made!”. We see Pinkie’s family for the first time (No Maud Pie, but likely because Maud was made for Season 4, though again like I said before it could be Maud just arrived late back then) and we even learn there was a time Pinkie wasn’t the cheery self she always was. But somehow the sight of Rainbow’s Sonic Rainboom made her permanently the cheerful pony she’s almost always been. For those who like to debate that there’s an unreliable narrator thing going on, it is possible Pinkie could of exaggerated events when telling the story. But by now we can tell a lot of it has to be true given we’ve seen Pinkie’s family and everything.

Really the only problem I have with this episode is Scootaloo’s kind of an annoyance wanting to see nothing but Rainbow’s cutie mark story and no one else’s while Sweetie and Apple Bloom are happy to hear everyone’s. But otherwise this is one of the most important, most heartwarming, most cute, and most interesting episodes in the show. It is far and away my favorite episode of the 1st Season. You may have noticed I’m not as big on the 1st season as some people may be given the 2nd best episode of the 1st Season just barely misses the Top 25. I just do think that a lot of the other seasons improve upon a lot over what Season 1 had. But I won’t deny there are really awesome moments that still hold up. And I say Cutie Mark Chronicles is a huge one on that end of things.

Season 5 as a whole was an interesting season. I think in terms of quality it’s more consistent then any Season before it. There are no episodes I would say are one of the worst episodes in the series. Seasons 1 and 5 are the only seasons without one episode in my Bottom 5 (Though to be fair, Season 1’s worst in this list would be #6 so it’s just barely there while my least favorite of Season 5 just managed to make it to #100). However at the same time I wouldn’t say it was a season full of really great episodes aside from a select few. Only four episodes from the Season made it into the Top 25 in this list. Granted that’s better then the measly one that Season 1 got under that same statistic. But to put this into perspective. Season 3 managed to also get four episodes into the Top 25 and it had much less episodes to do it in. And both Seasons 2 and 4 got 8 each in the Top 25. I’m not trying to say of course Season 5 was a bad season at all, but I would certainly say it’s a step down from Seasons 2 and 4 at least. It’s a good ways above Season 1, and because it was a full 26 season it certainly has an advantage over Season 3 as well. It makes Season 5 at least for me feel very middle of the road.

However, if there was one moment Season 5 had an episode that stood out so much that it presented us with an episode destined to be one of the instant classics in the show’s history. It has to be Amending Fences. It’s an episode I’d say is on a similar level to Hurricane Fluttershy in just how instantly beloved the entire episode is. You have awesome connections to events that were only mentioned in the pilot, the introduction of Moondancer who for once doesn’t have some crazy revenge against Twilight or evil plot in general like so many other counterparts (I’m looking at you Trixie, Sunset, and Starlight) that’s popped up in the series. Moondancer is simply an old friend of Twilight’s who’s heart was broken. Even if there was good reason for Twilight not being there since of course she was saving the world and everything, neither party in this episode were really in the wrong.  You could blame Twilight for not being a better friend before then, but you could also argue Moondancer may have been expecting too much from Twilight at the time. It’s probably by far one of the most realistic conflicts the show has ever seen as we can see the perspectives give each character their own story of what they did and how they reacted. Unlike the black and white of Trixie’s, Sunset’s, and Starlight’s motives there’s more grey between Twilight and Moondancer. And Moondancer herself is not an antagonist, or at least not in the traditional sense. While the lengths that Twilight missing her party could be seen as somewhat of a overreaction (Compared to Starlight after Sunburst left, Moondancer took it just fine though. Because, geez), and may give some people implication that maybe Moondancer secretly thought of Twilight as more then a friend if it was so vital for her to get to her party.

Aside from the main plot, other really enjoyable parts of the episode include the other ponies who were also Twilight’s old friends. Who didn’t even take Twilight’s leaving that far and even just assumed they moved on, we even learn Lyra was one of those friends and they make sure that didn’t confuse the people who noticed big details like how we see the background ponies that are Twilight’s friends sometimes in earlier episodes (A funny note is that Lemon Hearts, one of the ponies that is one of Twi’s old friends holds the Twilight Scepter from Princess Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps she wanted the memorabilia of her old friend?) because they go to visit Lyra from time-to-time. Also Minuette is definitely one of the most happy-go-lucky ponies you’ve ever meant, she’s kinda like a somewhat toned down Pinkie. Though speaking of which it turns out Minuette is friends with Pinkie too, Pinkie herself also playing a great role in the episode since she’s the one that plans the big party for Moondancer at the end.

There’s hardly anything wrong with the episode whatsoever, the only thing I could see it holding it back is there’s probably not a lot that will come out in the future unless we get significantly more appearances from Moondancer who’s only appeared for a short time in the Season 5 Finale since then. We can’t know for sure if there will be anything in the future that also comes out of this episode. But this episode isn’t #4 because of it’s impact on the future, but more so on it’s impact on past events prior to the show’s beginning which could arguably be just as impactful cause it’s connecting so much. It’s very possible the Moondancer party mentioned in the pilot was simply going to be a throwaway line that we didn’t need to pay much attention to that was only there to establish how anti-social Twilight was. But thanks to the success this show has done, the staff managed to make one conversation exchange from the very episode that started the show, realize there could be a consequence that deeply affects a character or two, and develop a fully new episode 102 episodes later that warms the heart of every fan of this show.

This is the final normal episode of the show. As the Top 2 are both specials/finales of some kind. But in terms of regular episodes go, this is #1 for so many reasons. I’ve said at least a few times in this countdown that a gripe I had with the first season is how Twilight is forced to appear in every episode due to how the friendship letters worked. It was probably made that way because Hasbro wanted to play things safe as well as the fact that Season 1 episodes had the E/I rating at the time that somewhat limited what the staff could do with the show. I believe it’s not farfetched to say that Faust probably wanted the show to be a little more adventurous like it kinda is now even as far as back then but again Hasbro wasn’t sure if that was the best way of going things yet looming over the show more then they’ve ever had (I do think Hasbro probably was more strict on the staff back then compared to now despite how many people complain about all the toy advertisements). Upon Season 2, the show was finally out of that E/I rating and right after Return of Harmony (Which is an episode that was once going to be the Season 1 Finale, perhaps explaining why all the friendship letters became so important) what does the very first regular episode of Season 2 do? It smashes the limits Season 1 had pretty much immediately.

Suddenly Twilight doesn’t have to appear in every episode (Sisterhooves Social, the first episode to not have Twilight in it whatsoever in fact was only 2 episodes after Lesson Zero), Suddenly the rest of the Mane 6 could write the letters, and suddenly they don’t have to necessarily have a friendship letter for every episode at all (Most Season 2 episodes would have them still, but they would pretty much disappear coming into Season 3, a temporary better replacement in Season 4, and pretty much non-existent in Season 5. This makes Lesson Zero the first episode in the series to immensely destroy what was the status quo prior to the episode’s airing. And I’m for one a huge fan of almost every instance that has happened since. And since Lesson Zero managed to break something what people thought would pretty much be the formula for the entire show pretty early on it set things up for the future where if there’s a big change that the show could go through. They go ahead and do it, not many shows like this are brave enough to make such changes because they fear alienating too many fans and all those changes can make the show feel entirely different from the roots that people enjoyed. While there are certainly those kind of fans that have felt exactly that way towards the many changes the show has gone through it’s clearly not a majority opinion given the show has not dwindled in popularity that much. I for one am one to think that nearly all the changes has been for the best and even prevented the show from becoming stale cause it keeps throwing things at our main characters that we want to see them react to and gives potential for future episodes in the series that make Discussion threads about episodes we’d love to see interesting.

Now of course the status quo breaking isn’t Lesson Zero’s only strength of course as otherwise it wouldn’t be #3. It is by far one of the most hilarious, entertaining, and insane episodes you’ll ever see in the series. When I saw this episode for the first time I was almost rolling on the floor laughing literally as we got to Twilight’s breakdown. Some who criticize the episode feel Twilight is somewhat flanderized for going so crazy over all this. But like I said long ago, I feel Flanderized Twilight fits more with how Twilight acted in Look Before You Sleep then in this episode. And in Swarm of the Century we do have a bit of a precedent even if of course it’s not that far. Though certainly enough to show that want to appease Princess Celestia is such a stress factor for Twilight that she’ll lose all rational thought as she cares so much about being a perfect student. Maybe those who don’t find themselves as interested in Twilight’s character may not care for that and may in fact make them like her less, but this is actually important to the episode. Because this IS that important at least in Twilight’s eyes. Even her friends underestimate how important this is to her and it becomes a very important part of the moral as they realize how much they screwed up when Twilight heads off for what seems to be discipline from Celestia.

Twilight screwed up too, in fact there’s no doubt she screwed up the most in Lesson Zero then any other character. I’m not saying her friends are more at fault for what are definitely Twilight’s actions. Maybe she even deserved a bigger punishment then she actually got, though from my point of view I feel the way she’ll probably remember the whole thing will be enough of a punishment on her because her attempts to appease Celestia even if for only a brief moment did the opposite. Disappointing Celestia is Twilight’s greatest fear, the fear door in Crystal Empire showed that. And as such the events of Lesson Zero will probably haunt her a long time regardless of her success in the future. The best thing about mistakes however is that you learn from them, and I’d say for certain Twilight has learned from Lesson Zero. There are moments in the show after Lesson Zero where if Twilight had still been her Pre-Lesson Zero self she’d very much had start to go crazy or even have moments where she would actually have a good reason to go insane as she did but she doesn’t simply because she’s learned self-control since then. Perhaps the breathing exercise that Cadence teaches Twilight from Games Ponies Play (Probably the only thing from that episode that was really that substantial) being all part of that.

I also can’t forget Lesson Zero as being one of the few episodes where Spike really shine, he properly tries to get Twilight to snap out of it and even is the one that contacts Celestia at the end when things were getting out of hand. It is a real shame that the show rarely gives Spike such awesome moments like he has in Lesson Zero as it shows the potential the character could have if the writers put effort into integrating him. But anyway, Lesson Zero broke the status quo, it provided a great lesson for Twilight to learn, and absolutely deserves a spot as the best episode of Season 2 as well as one of the best we’ve ever seen in the series.

Well we’re finally here, I’m about to address what may just be my most controversial placing in this entire list. Magical Mystery Cure AKA the one episode that was part of the reason the fandom was in such turmoil for every single day after Season 3 ended until Season 4 started is as high as #2. I know how crazy this must sound, that only one other episode is better in my opinion then the episode depending who you ask either loves to hate, likes and/or even loves it but acknowledges it could of been a lot better either because they weren’t as fond of some of the songs and/or they wish it was a two-parter. I’m basically implying I like an episode that is often a trigger for those who despise the fact Twilight’s an Alicorn and/or Season 3 in general is better then a lot of fan favorite episodes with this placing. I severely doubt there will that many people who agree this episode deserves this spot, I think there may even be people who like this episode about as much as I do that still think #2 is slightly too high for this episode. Heck I don’t even think if M.A. Larson, the writer of this episode himself saw this list even he wouldn’t agree with me as even he’s expressed that he felt it should of been a two-parter and everything. But allow me to explain why I do feel it very much deserves this spot.

First of all, if you asked me which episode caught the heart and soul of this entire series. I’d honestly say this was the one cause despite what easily could of been a forced toy advertisement (We’ll probably never know exactly what went into Twilight’s ascension in terms of behind the scenes, I do feel it’s at least somewhat less of a mandate that some people think) and turned it into a finale that makes people who enjoy Twilight as a character proud of her accomplishment. Similar to how when we first watched this show we thought we were just going to get a lame 22-minute commercial for whichever episode we watched first, but instead we actually got something that actually gives us fun characters to watch going through interesting situations throughout the show. Sure it’s easy to dismiss Magical Mystery Cure as a commercial for the Princess Twilight toy if you’re a casual viewer who doesn’t pay attention to a lot of the small stuff in episodes before it.

I suppose in that way it is a concern with this episode because with this kind of episode you kinda have to see every episode prior to all this or at least every episode that gives Twilight a good role before you watch this episode as otherwise seeing this episode when you’ve barely watched the show. It’s one of the few episodes that pretty much entirely goes against the safe approach Hasbro took with Season 1 where you can go into almost every episode without having seen the others and still get what’s going on. Magical Mystery Cure is very much a episode you have to be a big fan of the show to get every little detail the episode has to get everything and feel the emotions the episode is trying to convey to you. And if you prefer that the show not have such huge dependence on continuity and understanding what these characters have gone through to get this far then I could understand why you wouldn’t like an episode like this cause not only does it require you to pay attention more to previous episodes but it also begins to set a change in the show where continuity and character development are a lot more important.

I do think Seasons 4 & 5 have paid a lot more attention then ever to what happened in previous episodes then most episodes in the first three seasons. And I believe MMC is a huge harbinger of that change. Of which I personally think it’s a great direction the show has went since then. I think it’s safe to say this episode has a big impact, and I don’t mean just because Twilight gained and still has Wings and her Princess title since then. I also mean it has impact on previous episodes too. As I said already it takes paying proper attention to previous episodes to get what this episode is about. It’s because of Magical Mystery Cure you could see the first 65 episodes as the first grand saga of the series as Twilight’s rise to Princesshood. It also has effects on the past prior to the pilot which I implied in my blurb on Amending Fences that can be just as important.

Cause let’s be honest, before we knew there was even a chance Twilight became an Alicorn… Did we honestly know why Twilight was being tutored by Celestia in the first place? Was it really just to save her sister that one time and occasionally help take down more threats like Discord or Sombra and then just have a quiet rest of her life with her friends in Ponyville? I feel that wouldn’t of suited all those years of training that are implied to have happened, I honestly think the ascension to Alicornhood and becoming a Princess makes all this make sense. Celestia was grooming Twilight to be the next Princess of Equestria this whole time. All the struggles and obstacles in Twilight’s path from the time she became Celestia’s Student as a filly to the events in Crystal Empire were all part of her growth as a character where she’d finally be ready to endure the position of a Princess of Equestria.

We also have to remember that a Princess in Equestria is an entirely different definition then in most media that contains Princesses. Part of the reason people complained about Twilight being a Princess is just the word Princess in itself because if you don’t pay attention to what exactly the Princesses do in the show’s history then you’d think of the stereotypical look at Princesses such as the real life ones who really only Smile and Wave until they ascend the throne as Queen’s after marrying a Prince or the Disney kind that while there are certainly badasses who just happened to be Princesses in Disney’s long history there are a few and there that needed saving like the traditional depiction of Princesses have been and/or a kiss from a true love to break a curse on them. But looking at what the Princesses that we learn even before MMC is that that they defeated Sombra and Discord, hell a 3rd Princess (Cadence) outright finishes Sombra likely for good in Crystal Empire. And the Princesses have led Equestria and kept it generally peaceful for at least a little over a millennium, and leading a nation certainly is not easy so to not have Equestria have some part of it where their is dissent with Celestia’s policies and/or threats from nations outside Equestria (Such as the Yaks, Dragons, Griffins, etc.) should absolutely be considered amazing work especially when you consider for the longest time Celestia’s had to take care of that all alone after she banished Luna. Sure there had to have been Cadence, but I don’t think she got into any big royal duties until the Crystal Empire returned. As heck Cadence was an Alicorn at the time she was foalsitting Twilight back in the day.

This kinda gets into how when Lauren Faust was first developing the show she wanted Celestia to be a Queen, not a Princess. However Hasbro felt that making Celestia’s title a princess rather then a queen would make her sound more like a good character cause they thought kids may go the Snow White logic of Princesses being good, and Queens are evil. But if you really think about it despite the title change from Princess to Queen, it’s pretty obvious that Celestia pretty much is a queen. And the same goes for the others. Luna, Cadence, and Twilight are all Queens as well. Perhaps there might of been less complaining if the status was Queen instead of Princess, or at the very least Celestia and Luna were Queens. While Cadence was a Princess until she took command of the Crystal Empire, becoming Queen after defeating King Sombra and Twilight at the moment is still a Princess while everything around her still gets settled (Twilight may have her castle now but she doesn’t have her own guards yet. Though that can even be saved for events saved after the show’s end. Remember that Cadence was foalsitting when she was an Alicorn. Not everything has to come so quickly).

At the same time though you could argue that leaving them all as Princess actually properly equalizes the leadership not to mention makes sure that the term Princess does not always have to follow the stereotype that some Disney Princesses have unfortunately instilled in everybody’s minds. While their title doesn’t say they’re Queens, it hasn’t stopped them from doing things that a Queen in-charge of a country would do.

One last thing regarding Twilight becoming one of the Alicorns is it may make it seem like Cadence feels out of place when Celestia, Luna, and Twilight are are kinda centered around time of days. But I for one think Twilight being an Alicorn actually helps Cadence fit in because what is most often considered Cadence’s title? Princess of Love right? Well what if I told you Twilight was a Princess of Love as well? And no, I don’t mean in terms of being so romantically involved you silly shippers, I mean in terms of a different type of love from Cadence’s domain. I feel Cadence is the Princess of Romantic Love, while Twilight as the Princess of Friendship is more so the Princess of Platonic Love. It helps that through the marriage with Twilight’s brother that Cadence and Twilight are sisters, sisters-in-law maybe but sisters nonetheless just like how Celestia and Luna are sisters too. So because of this all four of the Princesses are connected in some way with one another. Even with the new baby Alicorn being introduced this Saturday she’’ll have that connection with the other Alicorns.

While there’s no doubt our 5th Alicorn coming up this weekend will make people think Alicorns are becoming less special, I do think they’re making sure they don’t get too far with them. I feel they won’t have a rather sudden debut like Cadence had again, as they did at least warn us Cadence was having a baby with The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows. This may even be the first time we actually learn about Alicorn biology in the show for the first time which has probably been desperately needed so there’s a lot less confusion. As nearly all the big drama events aside from Last Round-Up Derpy and Equestria Girls have been Alicorn related. While having some things cleared up will no doubt cause Drama amongst those that don’t agree with the show’s official Alicorn canon no matter what they do, it will be good to have something at last.

One last thing on the Alicorn Princess is that I feel it’s great we get to see Twilight actually really earn her status rather like most Princesses where they were just born royalty. That reason alone I think will always make her Best Princess for me (Even if that’s slightly made kinda biased since Twilight was my favorite pony to begin with). But moving on to other things aside from the impact the episode had and just about everything regarding Alicorn Princesses this episode isn’t #2 in this list just because of all this as there’s still the very substances within the episode such as the Music, the Plot, and also the emotions the episode has you go for.

I don’t want to dwell too much on the music since that’s probably one of the most subjective things as many people tend to have different tastes in Music. Though I don’t feel it’s any use arguing with people who developed their opinions based on the music whether positive or negatively because that just means they value music more then should be normal. Even though the episode is a Musical, I feel the Music is not the most important thing about the episode as the Musical format is mainly so they can use the transitions that music can give you in order to express everything they can within the 22 minutes of airtime. If they had tried doing this without the Musical format the episode would be so much worse because of how much exposition they’d have to try to squeeze into 22-minutes. In a musical you can have many songs and have simply one-line with the proper mood-swinging music to show how you’re supposed to feel and see just what is happening and still get what is going on. Regarding my thoughts on the Music in the episode, I feel most of the songs are definitely on-par with the quality of music the show has had in the past. Though there’s two songs I certainly praise above all else and still consider one of the best pieces of music in the series. That would be “I’ve Got To Find A Way” and Celestia’s Ballad.

The former is one of the few songs that feels like aside from it’s rather short length (Though an extended version does exist) could easily be something you listen on the radio as there’s no obvious reference to ponies and it sounds like it’s in a genre that at the time the show never covered. And Celestia’s Ballad is just beautiful in every sense of the word not just for the song alone but the entire scene I feel is one of the best the show has ever seen as while it works perfectly in context with the show as it’s already an excellent tribute to what we know Twilight’s done prior to Magical Mystery Cure, even out of context it’s very much a great song because you could see it being about a mother who’s seeing their son and/or daughter off to College or whatever great accomplishment they fulfilled upon growing into adulthood.

I even feel as a whole that Magical Mystery Cure has the best overall song quality even compared to the other two musicals in the series (Pinkie Pride and Crusaders of the Lost Mark) cause while I’m not saying any of the songs from those episodes were bad aside from the two songs I already praised there is the fantastic tracks of What My Cutie Mark is Telling Me as well as True, True, Friend. The latter of which I feel is up there with Winter Wrap-Up and Best Night Ever for best group songs in the show. Again with Music being one of the most subjective things in media I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on this subject but it certainly helps that I fairly enjoy the execution of the music that we got in the episode.

But the real meat of any episode is of course the story, and there’s technically of course two plots that start and are finished by the end. First of which is of course the Cutie Mark switch that makes up most of the episode that starts from the beginning of the episode until the end of True, True, Friend where the Mane 6’s Cutie Marks are switched, perhaps their entire history replaced with new memories that unfortunately have left not just them but the entire town of Ponyville miserable. I think most people wish this had been it’s own episode especially to really show us everything on how this affected the ponies, but I feel with what we get we still very much get the emotion required to know that this isn’t something they’re happy with at all and thus the satisfaction during True, True, Friend as each of them get their real Cutie Marks back. Some complain what the Cutie marks do to the ponies doesn’t make sense sometimes such as Rainbow’s cutie mark making Rarity do fancy things with clouds rather then give her speed or something like that. But I think we often forget just how vague Cutie Marks can be and how they could be interpreted multiple ways. A rainbow streak coming out of a cloud could very well match with a pony aiming to put a fashionable touch on clouds in the sky. Swapping Cutie Marks doesn’t have to necessarily mean Rarity has to have Rainbow’s talent straight-to-straight like that because first of all, that’s kinda impossible without wings, but it also shows that a Cutie Mark’s meaning can depend on how the very pony sees it. And this actually comes back upon Season 5 when we see Trouble Shoes think his Cutie Mark means bad luck as opposed to the Rodeo Clown talent he actually got.

And if I may connect this is all real quick to Twilight’s destiny, the Cutie Mark she got in her flashback she got after her magical burst of power which definitely shows enough of how Twilight is full of magic, but if you pay close attention to the scene the mark does not appear until after Celestia has taken her as her student. Which could mean her Cutie Mark also relates to being tutored by Celestia possibly even groomed into being something by Celestia in the future. It’s not something that would be picked up at first, but it certainly is a possibility. And I feel that’s an excellent look at Cutie Marks that sometimes the moment they get their Cutie Mark isn’t the only time in the Pony’s life where they realize everything about their destiny. Giving them a lot more depth then simply being the indicator of the character’s job and/or personality. So once again another concept in the show that’s been there for a while gets subtly expanded upon thanks to this episode.

After the Cutie Mark Switch though of course is Twilight’s ascension. It takes less time from the episode then the switch does (Because any follow-ups to Twilight’s Princesshood would be elaborated on in Season 4 and beyond. Mainly the Season 4 opener) but nonetheless this part of the episode is particularly important because this is the point the episode is supposed to tug at your heartstrings.

Do you know what the ultimate purpose of Magical Mystery Cure was? It wasn’t to sell to us a new toy, it wasn’t to add more depth to Cutie Marks, it wasn’t to give us a grand musical and ending to the shortened season. Though the episode certainly achieved those in part, the real reason was this: To make us proud. Not proud of ourselves, or the show (Of which Episode 100 probably fits both of those more). But proud of Twilight. I think an interesting question to ask anyone regarding of this episode is if they cared enough about Twilight as a character to feel the emotions the episode wanted you to feel throughout the episode.

Cause this episode is very much a tribute to Twilight’s character and everything she’s gone through since she became Celestia’s Student and/or since we first saw her in the Pilot. If they were not, I think it’s a little more understandable why they may not like the episode because they’re disconnected from how the episode wants you to feel. But if you did, even if you were worried about what this change was going to do to her you were reassured that she’d stay the same (Twilight even asks if there’s a book about being a Princess somewhere, great way to show that Twilight’s still our Twilight not too long after her ascension) and I think regardless on your feelings about the ascension you could at least find yourself smiling during Celestia’s Ballad which happens to be the final scene Twilight is a Unicorn. (Quick Fun Fact: The day Party Pooped aired was the day Twilight officially was an Alicorn for longer then she was a Unicorn counting the Pilot’s airing date as the first day)

I think another great scene however is Twilight’s speech to the crowd, one concern about her being a Princess is she’d start thinking she’s on a higher level then her friends just because of that. But straight at the end she tells them to come up on the Balcony with her and gives them the proper credit that they deserve for helping her in getting this far. Her friends themselves are proud of Twilight as well (I feel Rainbow’s line of “Twilight’s got Wings! A new flying buddy!” was more important then it sounds because not only is that the first immediate reaction from her friends to her ascension. But it tells us what could be coming up in the future) and the group hug they share together being incredibly heartwarming. Even Shining Armor gets a solid line in with “Liquid Pride”. And from there we get one last reprise of the Morning in Ponyville song that reassures us everything’s going to be fine (The only part of the episode I dislike is kinda part of this scene when Twilight flies into the camera because that could of meant Twilight somehow knows flight without the proper training for it. Luckily Season 4 (Or well, ok technically EQG1 reassured us first) showed us that wouldn’t be the case.).

All-in-all despite all the controversy, Magical Mystery Cure remains one of my all-time favorite episodes of the show for so many things from the impact it’s had on the entire series, the entertainment value from all the music and fun moments, and all the heartwarming moments that make us proud that a purple pony gained wings. I still think if I ever get someone criticizing my list that Magical Mystery Cure being #2 will probably get me the most scrutiny out of anything else. But I hope I at least properly explained why I feel MMC at least should be in the conversation for Top 10 in the series regardless of the controversy that may have surrounded it. Though with all things said with how much I’ve been gushing over this episode in this entire thing how can there be another episode above it cause from the way I’ve been talking it’s almost as if I put Magical Mystery Cure at #1. That’s because in some ways, the effect Magical Mystery Cure would not be as complete without #1. I think MMC did enough to well deserve it’s #2 spot, but it’s the #1 Episode that I feel truly completes what I’ve been saying all along ever since MMC aired. At this point it’s probably easy to know what it is considering it was a pretty big episode that I didn’t get to yet. But nonetheless… ladies and gentlemen. My #1 Episode of Friendship is Magic is…

That’s right, Twilight’s Kingdom. While no episode of the show is perfect. Twilight’s Kingdom is the only episode I feel has the argument of being the closest to being perfect. It perfectly gives closure to all of Season 4 and perhaps Season 3 as well. I mentioned at the very tail end that Twilight’s Kingdom fulfilled what I’ve been saying all along about MMC in the end. And what I mean by that is things such as Twilight being the Princess of Friendship.

As much as I still praised it back then, there are people who had a point in saying MMC didn’t truly establish just what Twilight was a Princess of. And it didn’t help that throughout a majority of Season 4 it still wasn’t established, and perhaps for what was somewhat of a legitimate common complaint about the season is that Twilight’s new status wasn’t being as acknowledged as often as we thought it would. Twilight wasn’t officially the Princess of Friendship until Twilight’s Kingdom gave her that title. Though one thing I can say is that for fans like me it was pretty obvious that Twilight was going to be the Princess of Friendship and/or Magic just by remembering what this show has been about and/or just remembering the title of the show. And while it kinda sucked that Twilight’s princesshood wasn’t getting as addressed as they thought it would I actually feel it could be seen as an intentional way of easing us into the change. Not everything is instantly different upon getting back to Season 4’s regular episode. As Twilight still has that tree library with no castle (Until you know… the episode that I’m talking about here), she doesn’t do very many royal duties other then the trader exchange in Trade Ya, and she’s still able to participate in the everyday lives of her friends like she was before. Some people might criticize in that Magical Mystery Cure didn’t change enough immediately for Twilight and thus may make it feel like the change was pointless.

But we have to remember that Princesshood in Equestria isn’t a short-term thing like a Presidency where in the 4 years (Or if you do a good enough job, 8) you’re expected to instantly start bringing in changes to the country. A Princesshood in Equestria is a lifelong thing (Even if we don’t know exactly how long Alicorns live, though we don’t even know how long regular ponies live. We assume it’s around our own life expectancy but we don’t know that for sure. For all we know Granny Smith may be over 200 years old). When Celestia, Luna, and Cadence became princesses I don’t think there was any moment they weren’t Princesses afterward. And they probably had a good amount of years to transition from their lives before they were Princesses into the leaders they became. So there’s probably room for some amount of leniency towards time of Twilight getting what every Princess has. Sure as much I would like to see Twilight have her own Guard force in the show, this is something that can potentially wait if need be. I doubt Cadence had guards when foalsitting Twilight (Otherwise that would be a kind of intimidating foalsitting atmosphere).

At the same time I think some of the same people who complained about Twilight’s status not being acknowledged enough might have also complained if they had addressed it more often then they did in most of Season 4. Imagine if everyone in Manehattan stopped what they were doing to ogle at the new Princess. Not only would it be rather awkward, but it’d be a distracting sideplot that hardly had anything to do with the episode at hand. Also realistically all the Mane 6 would be celebrated in the streets everytime they walked out because of how many times they’ve saved Equestria. So to be honest the response the Manehattan ponies had I feel is less of a problem relating to Twilight’s new status as it is where the citizens hardly ever recognize what the Mane 6 have done for Equestria. It’s just that if they were recognized for everything they did, the show becomes a lot less interesting. The Wonderbolts would probably already have Rainbow in their ranks cause the publicity of having a public hero be a part of them would be good for them. Then the problem comes from that the characters don’t feel they properly earned what they’ve strived for at the end and simply got the favors thanks to simply helping Twilight save the world. There’d be no room for character growth. If you see Twilight’s title not as recognized as it could be as a flaw of Season 4, that’s ok, but I feel it’s not quite as bad as some of the flaws from previous seasons. And to be honest, the Equestria Games arc I think is the bigger flaw of the Season. And even that’s not a big deal since that’s just three episodes even if one of those three was Rainbow Falls. And it’s technically not even Season 4’s fault since it was Season 3 that started the whole thing.

Regardless even if you still felt it was a legitimate complaint, Twilight’s Kindom pretty much erases that by pretty much making it the point of the episode. Twilight tells her friends as well as the other princesses that she doesn’t feel she’s done all that much nor does she know what her role as a Princess is. Which leads into the song Play Your Part which is sang by all four Princesses. While I wouldn’t say it’s the best song in the series I feel very much like it’s a very sweet song nonetheless, heck it probably even satisfies the crazy Luna fans as she actually gets to sing for once.

It’s after all that though we are introduced to Tirek. Which I have to say instantly became and still is my favorite villain in the show. He’s by far the biggest threat Twilight has faced then anything that became for and so far since. He’s manipulative, and when he’s grabbed enough power he’s by far the strongest villain (You could almost see him as a G-Rated version of Cell from Dragonball Z. I mean G-rated in that when Cell absorbed people they met terrible fates. But aside from outright killing those whose power he absorbs, Tirek could be fairly compared to Cell in a few ways. With a little bit of the Super Buu aggression), While Meghan McCarthy’s new villains have been criticized in the past, Meghan seems to be really good at taking somebody else’s villains and putting her own spin on them. She used Discord to great affect in the Season 4 opener, and in this episode she takes Tirek (Who was the main villain of the very first MLP Movie back in the 80’s) and really ramps him up to pure greatness. If it wasn’t for the keys of which the Mane 6 has gained and been building up to, then Tirek would of been utterly unstoppable since he practically had nearly all the Magic in Equestria prior to being blasted. The moment when Tirek took Discord’s Magic could very well be a metaphor for how he overtook him for my favorite villain.

Though speaking of Discord we should probably talk about him in the episode, I think it’s thanks very much to this episode that Keep Calm and Flutter On doesn’t feel as bad as it could have felt. Cause this episode shows a legitimate good reason for Discord to be reformed for good cause we see him look away even as he sees most of the Mane 6 (Note that probably especially includes Fluttershy) that he betrayed when Tirek takes their magic. Then his heart being utterly broken as Tirek betrays him in turn, even after Tirek had given Discord an item that he described as a symbol of Trust. Only for Tirek to reveal that it was Scorpan’s (Tirek’s Brother), who had betrayed him long ago. (I do wonder if we’ll see Scorpan show up. I feel that’s a character that might be really great to see as I doubt bringing back Tirek is going to be a strong possibility. Would help us learn a little more then what we got of Tirek’s backstory). So upon Twilight finding her friends stuck in bubbles, even after what Discord had done she demands Discord be freed as well despite the fact she could have easily left him in there for punishment for the betrayal this action pays off, as now it’s Discord’s turn to pass off that symbol necklace. This time giving it to Twilight as a sincere gift of trust between them. I think this doesn’t feel as special if you have not seen the Season 4 Opener or Three’s a Crowd because in those episodes you get a look at what Twilight and Discord are like as opposing characters. Twilight could of very well gone selfish and remember all the times Discord annoyed her and combined that with the fact Discord helped Tirek ruin Equestria to deny Discord her friendship.

Instead, Twilight ultimately forgives Discord in perhaps the ultimate showing of Friendship. Thus unlocking the final key needed for the box that’s been building up the entire season. It’s kinda funny how at least in this list the Key Episodes both have the worst episode of the series rank-wise but it also covers the best. And since 3 of the other 4 are at least in the Top 50 it really makes up for that one large failure enough to make the Key Episodes by far the most successful Season specific arc this series has ever had. As all other kinds of arcs that showed up were either too small (Gala Arc in Season 1, Starswirl’s Book in Season 3, Map episodes in Season 5) or they faltered in some way (Equestria Games throughout Season 3 and 4).

Now the final result of what came out of box turned out to be two things that the fandom are still kinda lukewarm about: Rainbow Power and Twilight’s new Castle. The first of which because for some it may very well just be a really tacky looking replacement for the Elements, though so far we really don’t know that yet and Rainbow Power could very well be a one-time thing. Though it’s going to be hard to have any legitimate threats to Equestria if the Mane 6 can simply activate Rainbow Power at any given time, cause that was used to banish Tirek who we have to remember had absorbed almost, if not all the Magic in Equestria including the combined Magic of Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence. (Considering during their fight that was enough for Twilight to be equaling Tirek’s magical strength, that means Tirek got at least 2x as strong as he already was in that battle. And Rainbow Power takes him out in nearly an instant. Seriously, if the Mane 6 are able to use Rainbow Power at will then any villain no matter who they are coming in to attack Equestria head on would be fucked). Probably why they had to downgrade the villain to simply a renegade unicorn that was certainly bad but certainly doesn’t deserve to be blasted by Rainbow Power for Season 5. They probably need more time to figure out if Rainbow Power will come into effect again at any point because they may have just written themselves a bit into a corner in terms of magic power levels, the only hint we have that Rainbow Power is something the Mane 6 can activate at any time is Luna’s dream in Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? But since that was a dream, we don’t know if that really is how they can use it again. Luna may just be assuming that’s how it worked before. I don’t know if we will get any elaboration on how the Mane 6 can use Rainbow Power again, and while I am one of those who feel it is kind of a very tacky design for a superpower form. I don’t feel it impacts the episode that much in the longrun as I feel it’s no different from the items of mystical power that are established from the beginning of the two-parter such as the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart before we see them defeat Nightmare Moon and Sombra, only these are probably a lot better because we had an entire season to build up to Rainbow Power.

And as for the castle, there’s quite a lot of people who complain about how they just don’t like the design of the castle very much. Which I can understand if you care a lot about an aesthetic, but personally I have no problems with the castle nor it’s design. I did say way back regarding Castle-Mania that I wish that Celestia and Luna’s old castle was made Twilight’s castle because of it being such an Iconic location. But regardless the result is the same, Twilight has a castle now. Which was one of those inevitabilities upon Twilight becoming a Princess as I don’t think that tree library is probably befitting one of such a status (Regardless of what anyone who signed that #savetree petition unironically and/or not realizing that was a joke said). IMO, the Castle is an upgrade over the Library anyway. Maybe not in terms of simple design and aesthetics, but definitely in space for things. There could still be rooms in the castle we have not seen yet. Twilight can also have a bigger space for all those books she loves so much which I’m sure is always a plus for her. Plus there’s probably rooms that each of her friends can sometimes stay the night in. Each of the Mane 6 (Even Spike has a little one next to Twi’s! No idea how that works but I think it’s cute nonetheless) have their own thrones, so their own rooms certainly are possible. (Speaking of which I really love the whole Knights and the Round Table vibe of that throne room). By the way Rarity has said in the show she loves the design of it, as the character who pays attention the most to aesthetics then other ponies then those who disagree’s opinions are invalid (Ok, I’m just kidding about that). Once again we don’t know enough about Rainbow Power, and the castle is just another one of those Status Quo changes that some of us just need the time to get used to we’ve endured those kind of changes since Lesson Zero. So we really should be used to it by now. I think neither are a real flaw with the episode aside it from just being nitpicks and/or pet peeves.

But now that we’re done talking about Rainbow Power and the new Castle. There’s one more scene in the show I really want to talk about, and that’s the absolutely amazing fight between Tirek and Twilight. As a big fan of Dragonball Z and to some extent Avatar: The Last Airbender (Seriously a few things during the fight reminded me very much of when Aang was fighting Fire Lord Ozai in the Series Finale especially when Tirek threw those big rocks the shape of discs) this was an absolutely stunning fight to watch and no doubt one of the most entertaining scenes in the show’s history. A funny behind the scenes fact in the episode is there is something Hasbro did have to tell Meghan to cut out, but all it was is they didn’t want Twilight straight out punching Tirek in the face. That’s right the censors were told everything that was going to happen in this fight that if it was pitched back in Season 1 with the E/I rating probably would of never gotten through and the only thing they suggested to remove was Twilight outright punching Tirek. They still let the awesome laser battle that reminds us so much of the most insane battles you’d find in Dragonball Z and some really awesome action shots all-around slide just fine. While admittedly I would of liked seeing Twilight punching Tirek in the face too, it’s not a big deal when we still got the awesome scene that we got. I wouldn’t trade that fight for anything. And regardless of what some critics of this episode may say, the fight did serve a purpose in Twilight and Tirek showing just how strong they are with Tirek having absorbed most of the Magic in Equestria while Twilight not only has her own but the addition of Celestia’s, Luna’s, and Cadence’s.

Eventually Tirek realizes that their fight would last forever if they continued, so he uses his trump card of showing he has Twilight’s friends captive. Saying he’ll free them if Twilight surrenders all her Alicorn Magic. Despite the pleas from her friends to not give in to their demands (In the middle of all this Discord having perhaps the most heartwarming message he’s said to Fluttershy in the entire series), she gives them up. But as of course we all know all isn’t lost as I mentioned before that freeing all her friends including Discord despite his actions earlier, led to the reveal of the final key that unlocks the box that have been building up since the beginning of the Season. Regardless of how cool it would of been to have the fight also have a DBZ-esque ending where the hero manages the strength to overpower the villain in one final beam struggle, that’s not the intent of this show. Twilight isn’t some Goku-esque hero that trains to be so strong no one can beat her in a magic battle 1-on-1 (As Twilight on her own can only be at most ¼th as strong as she showed in the fight against Tirek).

Twilight got where she is and through all her obstacles thanks to the friendships she’s gained since coming to Ponyville. Each of the other key episodes involved a challenge against the Ponies’ known element. Twilight’s element is Magic, and she’s the Princess of Friendship. The very title of the show says that they are one and the same. Though in some ways the impasse between her and Tirek does challenge both terms, Twilight has to give up her magic in order to free the friends she’s come to know. So while in that sense it’s not like she’s giving up friendship to help her friends it’s more so preferring the magic of Friendship over everything else. And in the world of Equestria there’s nothing stronger then Magic born from Friendship, and that’s basically what Rainbow Power was as a result. In some ways the power of Rainbow Power is still very much connected to the Elements since it came from a seed-like thing that grew out of the Tree of Harmony. The Tree of Harmony is where the Elements originally came from, it was strong enough to resist Discord’s vines for slightly over 1000 years. But you could say in exchange for fixing the Tree, the tree itself challenged our heroes to have another moment of ephipany for each of their respective elements so they could have the perfected strength of Friendship Magic in their grasp. Because of that, as much as I don’t like the looks of the Rainbow Power forms too much I still agree with their ultimate purpose.

If you feel there’s something wrong with that, then you’re watching the wrong show. This show is going to be somewhat cheesy in that regard that Friendship conquers all, if you weren’t looking for a show that does that kind of things then what were you watching this show for to begin with? Even in a lot of the really good regular episodes you’ll find some rather cheesy friendship dialogue between the ponies at times. In some ways it’s just part of the charm of this show that it celebrates such positivity. Such things is what drew us to this show in the first place because it’s something that can make us smile amongst a real life world that isn’t so cheery. I think Twilight’s Kingdom has every kind of quality and even all the bonuses of an excellent episode and I think it is the #1 Episode of the entire series. I can firmly believe that even after it’s been at least a year since.

Will something ever usurp it from this spot? I think it’s possible, but it’s going to be difficult. As Twilight’s Kingdom is just one of those episode that takes advantage of so many things that came before it at just the right time. I think even the movie in 2017 may have a hard time competing with this episode as a result, as remember that as I continue on using this list as a template for everything that comes in the future of the show from Season 6 and onward. I’ll want to see if they can outdo even Twilight’s Kingdom, but I’ll make sure and do the safe thing and not expect an episode as good or even better then Twilight’s Kingdom because at this point it’s unrealistic. Regardless if an episode ever surpasses Twilight’s Kingdom or not, the episode will still forever remain one of the few episodes to reach near-perfection. I cannot think of any episode more deserving of this spot then this one.

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Thank you to everyone who bothered to keep up and/or read along all this. It’s been a daunting task picking and choosing just where each and every episode I feel at least I gave a good estimate where I think they deserve to be. But I’m glad I did it. I’ve been wanting to do something like this a long time. Possibly as early as when we only had 26 episodes to go off of. There was a chance I would of never been able to do something like this had the show not been big enough to get that far. But luckily it did, and I will be more then happy to see if I update the list any further in the future. Remember that not every spot is exactly set in stone as of course we have an additional 24-26 (24 accounts for the Openers and Finales usually being Two Parters. Remember that in this list Two Parters count as only one episode) episodes and two movies confirmed. So no matter what happens, we’re going to see that same number of episodes being pushed out of the Top 100. And even some episodes in the Top 100 could rise or fall depending if any episodes provide any substantial impact in the coming future. It’s been nice being able to talk about each and every individual episode regardless if I loved the episode, simply liked it, found some rather average, or even hated it in rare cases. I’m pretty happy with how my list came out there may be some parts I’m still sketchy about particularly towards the middle of the Top 100 but that’s why I said some things aren’t set in stone. I could change opinions on some of these episodes in the future for the better or for the worse. I think for the most part the Bottom 3 and Top 5 might stay where they are unless a really bad or awesome episode shows up in future but we’ll have to see what happens. Again thanks everyone for reading, and I’ll be sure to seeing what’s ahead of us for Season 6 which is only days away now. ^^

P.S. If you have any questions regarding where or why I placed episodes where they are feel free to ask. As long as you’re generally respectful I’d love to talk about my entire list and even if you have a fair bit of criticism, I can keep it in mind in the future cause as I said the list will never be truly in it’s final version until the show has ended with no sequel show that takes place in the same universe (If say the next series is a thing where it focuses on the CMC grown to the age of the Mane 6 then that might be enough grounds to consider continuing the Top 100 even if the show has an entirely different title by then). I think it’s entirely possible I overlooked something  as I didn’t even rewatch the series whatsoever when making this list. And like I said earlier there are points especially towards the middle of the list where I could probably put episodes in any order and I’d be ok. Just again be respectful of my opinions, even if say one of your favorite episodes is in my Bottom 12 or vice versa I want you to keep in mind this has and always will be a personal list. I am not trying to say this is the definitive list of what are the best and worst episodes of the show. It’s how I view things, I did try to keep things somewhat subjective but that is really difficult and no doubt there may be parts of the list where bias may seem obvious (I’m sure the Top 5 episodes (For the exception of Cutie Mark Chronicles, but even then still has a significant Twilight related scene) being all Twilight centered episodes may be a big one. But remember that if I were ranking episodes purely on how much I liked the characters. Rainbow Falls and Mare-Do-Well would not be the Bottom 2 considering Rainbow is my 2nd favorite pony)