WARNING!! DISCUSSION OF MULTICOLORED MINIATURE HORSES IMMINENT! THOSE WHO ARE EASILY DISTURBED BY BRIGHT COLORS PLEASE PLACE YOUR HEAD INSIDE OF A MILITARY THEMED DUFFEL BAG AND BEGIN TO HYPERVENTILATE!
...ALSO THERE BE SPOILERS!
So the show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has been pretty hot stuff for a while now. I myself was a pretty big fan, having watched the first season at least 3 times. It was quite above par. The show had an endearing art style, likable characters, decent plot, and a cute charm that one couldn't help but adore. But then the creator, Lauren Faust, left the show. I, like most fans, hoped that this wouldn't mean that the good times were over -- one person doesn't make a show, right?
Well, as season two ran it's course it became more and more clear that the show I loved was dying. Characters that had always been so well defined became inconsistent. In fact, Twilight Sparkle was horribly flanderized in the very first episode not directed by Faust, Lesson Zero. She goes so absolutely batshit insane over the fact that she missed one little deadline (that I might add was never specified in her original assignment) that she actually puts the town in danger and Celestia has to step in to clean things up!
Now, if this had been an isolated incident I would have just chalked it up as the one bad episode that every show has, but it set a precedent of sloppy writing and asinine plots that snowballed as the season went on. Baby Cakes: two babbys that -- straight from the womb -- could give Twilight and Rainbow Dash a run for their money in magic and flying respectively. A Friend in Deed: Pinkie sets out to absolutely *ruin* an innocent donkey's life just so he would be her friend and actually manages to get her way at the end. Putting Your Hoof Down: the entire town decides that it is cruelty to Fluttershy day, and Fluttershy responds by getting lessons on how to be a complete asshole. MMMystery on the Friendship Express: half of the mane six prove themselves to be complete jerks with no regard for anyone or anything than full-filling any desire that pops into their selfish little heads as the completely destroy the cake that the, er, Cakes poured hours of blood and sweat into for the competition. And then there was the Canterlot Wedding. Oh man, here we find out that Twilight has a long lost brother who actually wasn't lost and that she loves so very dearly that she never thought to even mention him *anyone* before this time, even in passing.
The finale of season 2 was the point that I decided I couldn't be a fan of MLP anymore, the show had just become too ridiculous to watch. All of the charm is gone, and the characters are exaggerated shells of what they once were. The plots, while they were never fantastic, are now completely ludicrous -- yes Celestia, let's take the God of Chaos that took two whole episodes just to wrangle back into his stone shell and just for the heck of it let's turn him loose in the vain hope that he can be converted into a good guy.
To wrap things up, I want to know what the bronies and ex-bronies of the escapist think of MLP now. Has it jumped the shark or is it just as good as it ever was? If you feel it is past it's prime, is the departure of Lauren Faust responsible for this decline in quality?