So have the writers completely given up on the elements of harmony/Rainbow

>>30506411
They haven't needed it/Hasn't been available.

Season 5 started with just a fucking unicorn, not really worthy of being OP, and ended with Twilight fighting her solo without her friends in a timespace that didn't allow her to use them.

Season 6's opener's main problem was the lack of Crystal Heart, which the Element of Harmony couldn't make. What, were they going to shoot the snow?

Then it ended when they were all defeated before they could get a hold of the Elements, which Chrysalis was very aware of to keep them away from/keep them from accessing by the fact she also pulled that exact same trick in season 2. She knew of rainbow power no doubt, so she made them unable to be used.

Now season 7 just plain didn't have a real conflict at the start, so what's there to shoot with magic superbeams?

>>30506411
Its a full SoL series now with adventure movies

>>30506411
>So have the writers completely given up on the elements of harmony/Rainbow Power?
Yes.
As you have seen, the writers opted for the lowest hanging fruit standard for season 05 onwards and on this season we didn't even had a real opener.

They don't care, they don't want to care either. All they care about is churning out the cheapes, easiest, crappiest ideas ever so they could get paid fast.

All fantasy elements that made the original seasons so specials have been axed out to make the series much easier to write, anon. Forget fantasy, mythology or anything you would expect from the original setting: now it's plain and boring SoL that works the same here or in any other cartoon becaise it's THAT generic.

And you can't dislike or much less criticrize anything or the staff will throw a fucking tantrum online.

>>30506705
I miss adventure
The elements of harmony were indeed fucking dumb though

>>30506411
EoH--->Tree of Harmony-->Rainbow Power-->Table/ Castle

In other words, they became the table. Possibly also the thrones.

>>30506811
Since I am a faggot with no life I went to every season's episodes and counted how many as you said where slice of life that little had to do with the fantasy of Equestria's world
Basically every episode that would have been perfectly normal to find in another show that wasn't mlp

in season 1 I counted 11/26
in season 2 I counted 10/26
in season 3 5/13
in season 4 18/26
in season 5 14/26
in season 6 15/26
in season 7 (for now) 9/13

Now, the episodes I chose and my parameters may not be absolute but I don't think I'm too far away

Soooo there are indeed many but to me it seems that outside of season 7 (for now) the authors didn't "give up" on the uniqueness of Equestria

Of course this is not the only thing that express the quality of a season, there are many more things to take into consideration and this is just a single aspect but on this matter I think the current season is the only one we should be worried about, I think McCarthy will bring season 8 on more safe tracks maybe

Also have you noticed how so many thread become a war on past and modern show even if the subject wasn't that?

>>30506811
The elements of harmony are THE laziest form of writing by being literal deus ex machina and all the heroes need to get rid of the bad guy. By giving them up, the heroes actually have to be creative with how they beat the big bad instead of just standing in a circle and holding hands.

>>30508306
I don't think you know what a dues ex Machina actually is.

Really, I don't think the elements are as bad as everyone says they are. They've only ever really been used seriously once, against Discord, and even then he was smart enough to realize that as long as he kept the mane six away from each other, the EoH were pretty much harmless. Even before they were removed, the mane six never used them again. Yes, they're an 'I win' button, but the majority of the time the mane six are nowhere near the button, and have to overcome the villain to press it. And really, I like how it was a nice balancing tool to stop Twilight from being the only one creative or smart or strong enough to beat the villain, and then doing it entirely without her friends help. At least with the elements, she had to interact with her friends to solve a problem.

>>30506411
Rainbow powers were a temporary power up since they are just the EoH with the power residing in the ponies themselves rather than gemstones, and since the ToH needed the power back to heal itself, it took the powers back after the ponies no longer needed them.

>>30506451
There were several instances where their lives have been in danger and it would have behooved them to use it.
Pinkie and Maud running from the eels.
Dash when she thought she was about to be eaten by zombies.
Dash when facing Caballeron and the temple dangers.
They could have used it to help Luna & Celestia stave off the snow storm.
Dash & Pinkie when trying to retrieve the griffon treasure.
When they legitimately thought they were being chased by a monster in Nightmare Night.

>>30508397
>Pinkie and Maud running from the eels.

Can't use it solo and the others weren't there.

>Dash when she thought she was about to be eaten by zombies.

Can't use it solo and the others were obviously not going to help there.

>Dash when facing Caballeron and the temple dangers.

Can't use it solo.

>They could have used it to help Luna & Celestia stave off the snow storm.

Maybe? I don't know, wouldn't that just destroy the storm, period?

>Dash & Pinkie when trying to retrieve the griffon treasure.

Can't use it solo.

>When they legitimately thought they were being chased by a monster in Nightmare Night.

Seeing as Fluttershy was the monster, problem.

You're forgetting that the EOH or Rainbow Power never worked alone, when Celestia did it solo one time she lost the power forever and it obviously didn't work right.

>>30508397
The elements of harmony only work when all the ponies are together, don't they? Isn't that the entire point of them?

Also
>Dash & Pinkie when trying to retrieve the griffon treasure.
What the fuck is a magic rainbow going to do in a situation like that?

>>30508412
I don't think it was ever established they needed to be together to use Rainbow Power and it is supposed to be an upgraded version of the EoH afterall. But I can't prove that so I won't disagree either.

>>30508418
Well if it can defeat an all-powerful demon, I would assume it'd help them get through the cliffs' strong winds instead of just dangling from the ledge about to die.

>>30508387
>At least with the elements, she had to interact with her friends to solve a problem.
That's how she beat Starlight the first time. And how they fixed the Crystal Heart.
You don't need the EoH for the M6 to use team work.
Plus with the EoH currently out of commission, it also forces the M6 to explore more of Equestria to find a different magical artifact to solve their problem, like the movie is doing. So that also opens the door for more lore and world-building.

>>30508479
>Fixed the heart.

The mane six didn't even do anything in that finale. At most they distracted the crowd. It was just Twilight, the princesses and Starlight. Also Sunburst. I'm not saying that you have to have the EoH to have the mane six work together, it's just that without them, Twilight tends to overshadow the other five, because she's so much smarter and stronger than the rest of them. Like when they first found the Crystal Heart. Or fought Tirek. Or fought Starlight the second time. Or in Magical Mystery Cure. The EoH were a good excuse to say 'okay, here's why the rest of the mane six are here, instead of just Twilight and Starlight.' But now I'm getting off track from my original point.

I do agree that there's only so many times you can say 'oh, the mane six have to find the EoH to beat the enemy,' but they're hardly this machina that solves every problem the mane six have at the press of a button.

>>30508562
>The EoH were a good excuse to say 'okay, here's why the rest of the mane six are here'
Yes, but the EoH by themselves don't really require them to do anything other than stand there. It doesn't highlight them as characters or show off their talents.
The 1st time they went up against Starlight was a great use of Fluttershy because she used her diminutive stature to get Starlight to underestimate her inner resolve in helping her friends. That's what I like to see in teamwork episodes: the character's actually using their strengths to solve the problem.

My only point I'm trying to make is you don't need the magic macguffin to have a fun adventure that's inclusive for the whole cast. You just need creative writers. We had a great teamwork finale last season, so hopefully we get it again with the actual main characters this time.

>>30508624
> It doesn't highlight them as characters or show off their talents.

True, but you're focusing on the actual pressing of the button over the journey to it. In both the finals where they use EoH, (S1 and S2) the mane six show their characters quite powerfully. If Fluttershy had used her stature to trick Glimmer and gather the EoH instead, the story would be exactly the same (despite needing a little rewriting to make work.)

But I do agree that you don't need a magical mcguffin to have a fun adventure, despite you literally saying
>it also forces the M6 to explore more of Equestria to find a different magical artifact to solve their problem,
It does just come down to the writers. We agree on this point. I'm just saying that I personally think the EoH helped the writers to make fun adventures, based on how Twilight takes focus without them, and that they're not nearly as broken or cheap as people think.

>>30508686
I only brought up that point because you said you liked mythology and world-building and made it sound like you needed the EoH for that when any generic plot device can be used as an excuse to explore more of the world.

>>30508719
Ah okay. You confused me for someone else, I'm more of a staunch 'the ponies should never leave Ponyville' kind of guy, but I can understand why you'd bring it up now.