Sunday, 17 February 2019

Official confirmation: S9 of Friendship is Magic will be the show's last

For convenience as I don't have Facebook, I'll link to Equestria Daily's report. The news is no surprise to me and nor, I think, to most people – but there's an undeniable pang when seeing it there in black and white from an official source at last. It's going to be very strange watching S9 and realising that the end of the season will also mark the end of the entire show. (Maybe not G4, depending on what happens with Equestria Girls.)

We also have confirmation that the 2021 film will be made using CGI, another entirely unsurprising announcement. While I'd have loved another 2D film, that was only ever going to happen if the 2017 movie had been a major box office hit. And, bluntly, it wasn't. I'll still look forward to the film in two years' time. I just ask that: a) it gets a proper cinema release in the UK; and b) they call it something other than My Little Pony: The Movie. We already have two of those!

Of course, the MLP fandom won't be switched off when FiM closes for business. Inevitably more people will drift away and not everyone will stay to see what G5 has to offer, but I think plenty will. I'm glad I've been to UK PonyCon for the last few years, as that convention has really opened my eyes to the appeal of the older generations. I think that's a major reason why I'm looking forward to seeing what the next gen of the franchise has to bring.

And yes, I do think it's time for Friendship is Magic to wrap things up. While I still like the show a great deal and am certainly not one of those who thinks it all fell apart years ago, I also think this is the right move. As I said in an EqD comment, the time to leave the stage is when the audience still want more. This show has changed my life, and I'm not exaggerating its importance one bit when I say that. I hope its last season gives us something special.

4 comments:

  1. I think you've hit the nail on the head, similar to most people's reactions. To be honest I haven't really seen anyone claiming this will be the end of everything.
    I was picturing the final moments of season 9 in my head last night, and it does hit kinda hard. It's going to be a season full of 'the last this' and 'the last that'.

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    1. That's because you don't go on EqD. ;) Though to be fair, the comments under the post I linked to are overwhelmingly level-headed, which I was pleased to see.

      And yes. We'll have our last season premiere early on, so I'll probably use that to gauge how hard other stuff may hit me. The very last episode of all, though... that's going to be quite a moment.

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  2. Am I the only one who feel like this show is just ended not because of story progression? It's because some toy business decisions. (conspiracy theory)
    I'm belong to some few people who feel bitter about this news. So many thing they can explore, so many they have to fix but they just ignore it for the sake of inventing new characters and lore.

    Since season 5, CMC haven't do anything significant after they got their cutie marks. Season 8 just remind us how useful they are now. The student 6 look more useful to the plot than them with just some few episodes, they could be the next element themselves.

    Starlight had become main character in some premiere and finale, she was a significant part of the resolution. No need to hide the fact they really want to make Starlight look like she will be something "greater", like the 8th element, new princess blah blah but Big Jim denied that possibility so... after taking away some spotline that could refresh some old characters, I hope her last bang will be big. (reform Chrysalis could be her last bang but I bet it will rushed as heck because of time restraint)

    Pinkie Pie episodes are not very great lately, can they fix that in time?

    Student 6 will be put in the sideline so the mane 6 have their scenetime for some closure because this is the final so no point keep inventing new stuffs. Or will they try to wrap up over everything they created at this point? A season without filler and full of plot tighten episodes will help a lot. Concluding a emsemble cast show is not that easy, especically when you cant kill them off to cast them aside.

    Are there any last worst episode that drive me insane to kiss me goodbye?

    Sorry for the rant, I have to put this negative feeling in here so I don't have to put them in real life...

    This show will leave a void in my heart. It is the only few cheerful show I watched recent years... *sign*

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    1. It's hardly a conspiracy; "toy business decisions" have been running more and more of the show since at least A Canterlot Wedding.

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