Best "Starting Episode" of MLP:FiM

Welcome, my good friend and opponent! [How ironic!] Dragonshy, a good choice, a tough choice to fight against--it is one of my personal favorite show. But enough chitchat, to the debate! We have equal burden of proof--my opponent cannot simply dwindle down Party of One, he must also support Dragonshy and raise it higher than Party of One in order to win this debate! A quick summary of the episodes in case you don’t watch the show, or don’t remember the episodes: -Party of One: Pinkie pie, the pink fun pony who normally bounces around happily and plans party, goes practically insane when she found out that they planned a party without her and did not tell her…(At the end it turns out it was her own birthday party) -Dragonshy: A dragon is polluting Equestria’s air while he is snoring in his sleep, and the mane six ponies have to stop him as soon as possible…. (Fluttershy, the pony who is very good with animals, uses her famous “Stare” to intimidate and pretty much force the dragon to get out, but she’s pretty polite considering she’s talking to a dragon) Now then, let’s start with my first argument then, eh? Why did I choose Party of One, you ask? (Other than the fact that it’s ranked number one on a poll about best starting episode of MLP, but that’s rather irrelevant to this debate). One word: Pinkamena. Or rather, maturity. Why this is good: We’re trying to present the show in the best way possible. People look at the logo, they look at the theme song, they examine the animation, and it really doesn’t speak anything but childishness and girliness. I admit it, I was fooled too. However, the reason Party of One dismisses this issue so well is a look on Pinkie’s dark side. While the episode doesn’t get off too much of a great “non-girly” start with Pinkie’s Singing Telegram, it’s rather cute and comedic, providing a little entertainment while dropping the audience’s guard in preparation for the creepiness. Through Pinkie’s interrogation of Spike, to spying on her friends, and finally voice-acting with inanimate rocks, the show quickly descends from happy-go-lucky to darkness--but not for long, all is solved with a logical explanation which was foreshadowed all along! Because of the seemingly innocent beginning, along with the childish theme song, but quickly showing of just how dark the show can be (this is indeed, one of the darkest episodes in season one and season two). It dismisses the audience’s thoughts about how the show is childish and naive, and replaces it with a sense of maturity and “not exactly 100% meant for children and young girls…” (Not to say children and young girls won’t enjoy this episode, just that this episode’s plot is made on a level above them) On the other hand, Dragonshy has…. well….really nothing much to dismiss the girliness of the show or the childishness. Fluttershy is scared from the very beginning, their montage is a bit silly and colorful, but doesn’t do any good other than having comedy and confirming the theme song’s “giveaway” that this show is childish. The scolding of the dragon seems good, but even still, it’s still a bit childish. In fact, the entire scenery from after the avalanche until the dragon finally flies away: The silly “Twilight and her friends do not have the time for this” Hop-Skip-and-Jump song, Rainbow Dashes’ arrogant kicks, Rarity’s greed/generosity, Pinkie’s party cannon, you see what I mean? Although good comedy slapstick humor, it really doesn’t do justice for the show, being rather light on the true complexity and darkness that other shows constantly have. Development Now let’s look at each episode’s development of the characters so we know them better to prepare for possible future episodes. Let’s present them in reverse this time. Dragonshy: -Fluttershy [MAIN FOCUS]: -Nervous, but willing to stand up to her friends when it’s necessary; Scolds the dragon but comforts when the dragon is in tears; a kind “animal mother” figure all-around -Pinkie Pie: she’s silly. (H.S. And J. Song; go in with the party cannon) -Rainbow Dash: She’s brave (dodges the avalanche, goes and kick the dragon) -Rarity: she’s posh. (Look at her clothing and the way she faced the dragon…) -Apple Jack: ...nearly absolutely nothing. Saves another’s life, but doesn’t really have depth into her character in this episode. -Twilight: She is focused on the task ahead. -Spike: There’s a little part about his taking care of the animals which does lead to another episode from his point of view, but really little personality development. Party of One: -Pinkie Pie [MAIN FOCUS]: A complex character--she enjoys planning parties for her crocodile and is silly, along with being hardworking. However, when she is suspicious, she goes to extreme lengths to find out what is going on, and eventually grows insane from thinking that her friends are partying without her. -Twilight: Clever, she strategizes and plans the party, while trying to not let Pinkie know of the party. -Apple Jack: She’s not good at telling lies….very penetrating look to her character, really. -Rarity: She’s polite and does not want to offend Pinkie. -Rainbow Dash: She’s quick and fast, and quite bold too, but apparently she can’t outrun Pinkie because of Pinkie logic. -Fluttershy: This episode shows more of her shy side. She’s surprised by Pinkie’s “totally inconspicuous” disguise, and nearly gives away the surprise party. -Spike: He is interrogated by Pinkie. It shows he’s a little egotistical, but he can be broken and bribed easily, even saying whatever Pinkie wanted him to say. He’s technically the main cause of the problem in this episode, but it’s really Pinkie’s paranoia. As you can see Party of One arguably, even just slightly, has more development to the characters than Dragonshy. Party of One forms a complex personality with the pony you’d think that is the happiest, deceiving the audience and letting them be eager to watch other episodes to see complex personalities and more haunting episodes. Dragonshy simply can’t achieve this. Leading to other episodes… This is important because of the layers added upon the episode making the audience transforming into a fan, being able to watch more and more episodes. Dragonshy centers on Fluttershy, and has a nice side plot with the animals, which is another episode, and of course Fluttershy’s stare within the Stare Master. Those are both excellent episodes, but Dragonshy branches out rather sparsely to pretty much any other episode. On the other hand, Pinkie Pie’s episode leads into looks of her other episodes-- Notably Baby Cakes, Feeling Pinkie Keen, Griffin Brush Off, A Friend in Deed, and perhaps the best single-part episode released yet, Pinkie Pride! [It has the highest rating on imdb out of all the single-part episodes...http://v.gd... --And note that it is also the third best episode of all time in MLP based on the ratings!] As you can see there are much more that can be gained due to the amount of detail they give within Party of One, in contrast to the rather low personality (in comparison) of Dragonshy. SUMMARY I believe I have made my points. Party of One is more mature, able to dismiss any viewer’s original thoughts of how Pinkie makes the show girly and childish, how the plot of a “party” seems lame, because the plot takes a twist to a dark side, resolving quite nicely and making the audience want to view more. On the other hand, Dragonshy may be a good episode in general, with plenty of comedy and action available to show that “MLP is a good show”, it does not show that “MLP is a good show for children and adults”, failing to really stop the viewer from thinking “eh….I suppose children/young girls will like this show…”. And furthermore, Party of One has more development of characters than Dragonshy. This leads to the ability to have more connections to later episodes and a good base to branch off from. Thank you for reading. I now turn the floor toward my opponent for his turn.