Worst My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Episodes

The Top Ten

Putting Your Hoof Down

I absolutely loathed this episode. Easily my least favorite of season 2. Mysterious Mare Do Well was bad, don't get me wrong, but this was beyond aggravating. Don't get me started with Angel abusing Fluttershy. At one point she kicks her out of her own house! Almost all of the background ponies here are turned into complete jerks! Fluttershy loses all logic while she's in assertive mode in the second part and the first few minutes of the third part. At one point she kicks the garbage wagons, getting the two ponies covered in trash, instead of flying over them! But the absolute worst part was when Fluttershy completely chews out two of her closet friends, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, verbally! Then, they just forgive her and put the blame on Iron Will instead! This was irritating to watch! UGH! Only season 5's What About Discord is worse than this. I am never watching this episode again.
28 Pranks Later

This episode is just a 22 minute fight to see who can be the most unlikable. I wasn't rooting for anybody by the end! Yeah, some of Rainbow's pranks were very mean-spirited (I'm looking at you, brick sandwich), but others like the sewing machine cake were harmless and funny, but everyone reacted just as negatively, which makes them look uptight and petty.
The townsfolk took it REALLY far in response. I mean, making someone think they made an entire town sick, possibly without a known cure? So you'd think I'd end up feeling sorry for Rainbow? But she continues to try and justify the prank by saying "it was supposed to be funny" until literally a second before the town reveal they were pranking her.
The entire ending just screamed "Status Quo Is God" cliche with that forced laughter from everyone, and I can't believe how patronizing Rainbow's apology scene felt, even for a kids' show. I don't know if the writers think Rainbow is a bit dense or the audience is a bit dense, but it should not have taken her that long to realize what the town were trying to achieve here!
The Mysterious Mare Do Well

I don't really HATE this one. It isn't good, it's a little bad, but it's not AWFUL, like SpongeBob's "One Coarse Meal", Fairly Oddparents'
"Fairly Odd-Pet", Sanjay and Craig's "Fart Baby", or Family Guy's "Screams of Silence".
The humor is pretty good, but a little short on timing, everything else is average, but to put it all on Rainbow Dash is just unfair. This episode got its priorities mixed up. Rainbow Dash should be able to get a little arrogant if she wants to; it's who she is, and she's got every right to do it, considering she's saved a
crud-ton of lives. The other Mane 6 should have sat down, stayed calm, and had a talk, and not upstage her to the point where everyone forgets about her and she gets depressed. Instead, they almost get her KILLED to try and teach her a lesson that she doesn't need, they brag about themselves (which wasn't revealed to be them yet) when Rainbow's clearly upset, and they make HER seem like the bad person here. I don't hate this one, but I definitely thought it was wrong that Rainbow Dash is supposed to be taught a lesson, when everyone else is being a hypocrite, forgetting about her, and sending her into a depression.
Dragon Quest

Three quotes can show how horrendous this episode is...
"'I don't act like other dragons? '"
"'Oh, not even close.'"
"'But why would you want to, Spike? '"
1) The main six show no respect for Spike and are in the right 2) "All dragons are bad, all ponies are good"
3) Rainbow Dash gets beaten up by Fluttershy 4) Flanderization 5) "One group represents a whole" 6) "Dragons are too rare to study" 7) Cruelty to Spike 8) Filler 9) Predictable Plot 10) "Boys<Girls" "Teenagers<Adults"
Cringe-Inducing Audio: 0
Cringe-Inducing Visuals: 0
Lackluster Writing: 6
Annoyance: 6
Disturbing Content (Out of Place): 2
Unnecessary Cruelty: 5
Rancid Morals: 4
Low Production Values: 0
Unfortunate Implications: 10
Character Derailment: 9
Animated Atrocity Points: 42/100
How is this NOT the most hated episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?!
Yakity-Sax

What was the moral of this episode again? Oh right, encourage someone to do something that makes them happy even if that something is making everyone else miserable. Also, Pinkie has never overreacted to this degree! She's never actually started to lose her color! This is so stupid and makes Pinkie look really selfish. The only saving grace this episode had was the scene where the main 6 minus Pinkie ask Maud where Pinkie went, but even then the episode is still the worst I can think of off the top of my head.

What was even the moral of this episode? Here's how I would've written it: Pinkie is actually awesome at playing the instrument, like Busindre Reel awesome! The Yaks don't like it, because they never like anything new and different from their traditions. Now Pinkie desperately tries to show the conservative Yaks that music can build bridges by showing them that their instrument is capable of bringing joy to all races if a beautiful song is played on it. At least that's a moral I can get behind...
One Bad Apple

This episode is by far the worst Season 3 episode and in my bottom 3 episodes of the show. Babs Seed is a one-dimensional bully with a personality thinner than a piece of cardboard that feels no remorse.
Oh, but Babs had been bullied in Manehattan for being a blank-flank! We were wrong to try to get back at her for what she did! Explaination does not equal justification. But I'm honestly not surprised with how bad the moral was, as telling a bullying story is nigh impossible to get perfectly. The episode is not very funny or entertaining and the only part that I actually liked was the song, "Bad Seed".

This is an episode that knows what it wants to do, but it has absolutely no idea how to do it. It seems to want to teach two morals, and it fails miserably at both.
First, there's the moral that two wrongs don't make a right. Well, if that's the case, then why did Babs get off scot free for bullying the CMC? And don't say it was because she was being bullied back at home because 1) the CMC technically have the same excuse, and 2) Babs was shown to take things even further than DT or SS without their influence. Babs' background explains her actions, but it in no way excuses them, which is not a sentiment that the episode shares.
Then there's the moral that if someone is bullying you, you should tell someone about it instead of fight back. Okay, fair enough, but here's my question: what if that doesn't work? What if the adults don't believe you, thus leaving you helpless, or what if the bully decides to retaliate again because you were a snitch? Sometimes standing up to a bully is the best way to deal with it, but this episode seems to think that that makes you a bully in return. Granted, the CMC went a little overboard in their revenge plan, but the episode seems to generalize its sentiment.
Honestly, this was an episode that was doomed to fail from the start. Bullying is not an easy topic to discuss, because every situation is different. You simply can't generalize something like this, and especially not in 22 minutes. Like I said, the episode knows what it wants to do, but it has no idea how to do it, and it comes across as teaching horrible lessons to kids. The song is honestly the only thing that keeps this episode from being completely terrible. It may not be the worst technically (either Boast Busters or Rainbow Falls holds that distinction), but it is the episode that I hate the most.
Ponyville Confidential

I used to despise this episode. While I don't hate it as much now, it's still not M.A. Larson's best work.
The story feels clashed together. The first few minutes are filler. The Mane Six are annoyingly hypocritical, and I really don't like Diamond Tiara in this episode. I know that's the point, but dang, is she annoying.
Despite that, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are in character, and the episode delivers a surprisingly mature lesson about how to deal with gossip. As an M.A. Larson episode, this one sucks. I mean, we're talking about the same guy who wrote The Return of Harmony, The Cutie Chronicles, and Magical Mystery Cure.
But as an episode in general, I'd put it in the meh category.
Baby Cakes

I really hate this episode because THOSE BABIES is not a pony! They are still 1 year old or newborn but they finally can use their wings and horn! Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are way more OLDER than those babies but they can't use their wings and horn properly. Also, they both also make Pinkie Pie cries which makes this episode even worse! Flurry Heart is way more better than those babies because her mother is an Alicorn (the strongest pony in Equestria) and her father is a Unicorn (but still have some powerful powers too) and also her parents is a ruler in Crystal Empire. But Mrs Cupcake and Mr Carrot Cake is not an alicorn,a unicorn and a pegasus. But why their kids is a unicorn and a pegasus? MLP LOGIC!
The Last Problem

Since the entire final season beforehand has given Twilight the biggest role in Equestria that makes her worry so much, you'd think it'd all go logically well to see how it all makes sense now, right? Well, if you ask me, you'd be wrong. Instead of spreading all of what's revealed here from the beginning of the season, we're given a bunch of unnecessary SHOEHORNS worth of plot points put in out of nowhere at the VERY LAST SECOND! Everything wrong with this catastrophic disaster of a series finale feels so rushed that apparently no one had time to think, "Hey, maybe we should do an entire rewrite on the finale itself... or on the final season as a whole! "
I'll just say: Worst Cartoon Finale EVER!
A Trivial Pursuit

Why must the "goofy" facial expressions be so ugly in this show? They don't match the animation style, they come off as more desperate for a laugh than actually being amusing, they're unpleasant to look at, and they're so overused. This episode was the final nail in the coffin for those stupid expressions, as well as Jerkass Sparkle's character derailment.
Say what you will about modern SpongeBob (Seasons 10 onwards) and its goofy expressions, but at least they actually match the show's silly nature and art style - and some of them can actually make me smile at times.

Literally, Twilight has THE worst character development in Season 9, and this episode certainly doesn't help as she's literally a selfish idiot in every sense of the way throughout!

The Newcomers

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2, 4, 6, Greaaat

You know it's going to be a bad episode if the title card doesn't sound like it's excited. Anyway, it's just another "Rainbow Dash is a moron" episode (at least she didn't put the students lives in danger this time). And if that weren't enough, we also get to see Twilight manipulate Rainbow Dash, and was put in the right for doing so.

Yeah Rainbow Dash's character portrayal in this episode was kinda embarrassing.
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Daring Doubt

This episode has good humor, good story, and is a fun time overall. In my top 5 best mlp season 9 episodes. It does not deserve to be ranked as one of the worst!

I've found a new worst episode of the entire show right here! Reforming Caballeron is one thing, but reforming Ahuizotl?! REALLY! I'm gonna echo off VoiceOfReason and Thespio on this one: "This is without a Daring Doubt (pun intended) the WORST way you could have had a final Daring Do episode! It fails from a story standpoint, it fails from a character standpoint, it fails from a moral standpoint, it's just all-around horrendous! "
Yeah, my thoughts, exactly. Worst. Episode. Ever.

The Contenders

The Last Crusade

To be fair, this was actually pretty good. We finally get to know Scootaloo's parents.

The implications of Scootaloo's parents being child neglecters really brings this episode to a huge low.

Like Stare Master and Make New Friends but Keep Discord, I find the Crusaders to be OOC here.
Boast Busters

This episode is just wrong. Seriously seriously wrong. The Mane 6 were acting like jackasses as a pathetic attempt to villify Trixie, not to mention they acted like hypocrites, (Hey, let's 1-up the show-off by being an even BIGGER show-off! :D). Also, Spike's constant fanboying in this episode gets really grating REALLY fast. This episode also introduced Snips and Snails, my most hated characters in the whole show, (Yes, I hate them more than Diamond Tiara, SUE ME! ). Finally, the ending where these two earn mustaches is so insulting it would fit better in a modern SpongeBob episode, not to mention sends out some highly unfortunate implications, (Hey kids, if you send a gigantic monster into town to attempt to destroy it, you get rewarded for it! )
I am honestly baffled how an episode this bad can even exist. BY FAR the show's worst episode.
A Bird in the Hoof

This episode has got problems of it's own, first of all, I know Fluttershy has to be kind and care for animals, but even she would know VERY better to ask Celestia if she could borrow Philomena rather than KIDNAPPING HER! Not to forget, Philomena was CRUEL to pretend to be dying AND eventually "die" and suddenly just manifest, revealing that it was just a stupid stunt. Maybe it was to teach Fluttershy a lesson not steal, but it already KILLED the episode for me.

It's not the worst of the show in terms of narrative, moral or characterisation, but let's look at the primary goal of this show: entertainment. How many of you can honestly say you were entertained by watching a sick bird for a good 15 of the 22 minutes?
Between Dark and Dawn

Love the story, great humor, and Luna and Celestia have a nice conflict with each other. This is in my top 5 mlp season 9 episodes and should not be ranked as one of the worst!

The Princesses pretty much learned nothing from A Royal Problem. Their fighting just came off as even more petty and childish.

I'm really tired of those facial expressions that are supposed to be "meme-worthy." They're so ugly that they don't even look like they belong in a show like this.
Princess Spike

Honestly if she did so much work for the festival in such a short amount of time that she's exhausted, that's piss poor scheduling.

This episode was just a rehash of Just For Sidekicks, where Spike acts like a greedy idiot.

This should be in the top 20, if not the top 10. Worst Spike episode in the whole series.
The Point of No Return

As much as I didn't like Sparkle's Seven, at least I can see why people enjoyed it. This episode, however, has nothing to enjoy. The story is boring and unoriginal, the cameos by Moondancer and Derpy are just there to pander to older fans, the humor with Twilight panicking is unfunny (as usual), and the message, while okay, feels rather forced. It just feels pointless!

Worst episode of the show. This plot was done way better in Amending Fences! It is simply pointless in EVERY possible way. This just goes to show that Friendship is Magic's crew/writers really HAVE run out of ideas after all.
What About Discord

This is my least favorite episode for many reasons. The jokes would've made sense if we actually knew what discord and the others did. Sure, we get told about two, but how are they funny? And the peanut butter thing? No explanation because I don't know. Every second discord was on screen, he made me feel hatred for him. He was an annoying, unlikeable in this episode. The ending wasn't funny, made little sense, the joke there wasn't funny either, twilight was being stupid, spike barely even did anything to try and calm her down, and to be honest, the ending would've been much better if discord didn't get a happy ending. This was a train wreck, and the new writer definitely messed up.
Somepony to Watch Over Me

To be honest, I couldn't get through this episode. The only other episode that I stopped watching halfway through was Putting Your Hoof Down, and that's deservingly at number 1. However, I'm frankly surprised this isn't higher on the list. Applejack is supposed to be the practical one in the group, not some freaky stalker! Besides, Applebloom has gotten herself into plenty of situations way worse than simply being left home alone, so Applejack's behavior is irrational and stupid. It was just grating to watch. I could buy Applejack being a little bit apprehensive, but nowhere near this level. NOTHING warranted this behavior. This is paranoia I would expect from Twilight, not Applejack. It wasn't funny at all. In fact, nothing in this episode was funny in the slightest. I'm done. This episode sucks.
A Canterlot Wedding Part 1

I hate everyone in the entire episode, including Twilight's friends, Celestia, Shining Armor, etc. simply because no one listened to Twilight! Well, you're supposed to be her friend, so at least LISTEN to what she has to say, discuss it, talk it over and stuff. So much for 'true friendship' when you can't even listen to a friend and their problems! I mean, those guys were obsessed with becoming bridesmaids that they didn't see Twilight having a hard time, and didn't support her. Not even Celestia suspected Cadence! I mean, even if it sounds stupid- that Cadence is a 'fake' (which she was) then there must be a reason your 'most faithful student' is telling you something! And I've just completely ranted about this entire episode. Still, I do not regret a single word- the episode was- quite frankly- crap.
Applebuck Season
Hearts and Hooves Day

The song didn't appeal to me, and the silly-talk was extremely fitting for this episode, but for the most part, it made my face cringe with agony. I don't necessarily hate it, it's just that it doesn't appeal to me. It's the same thoughts on what Scootaloo thinks of songs. I didn't like it.

It was cute... Ish. This episode just bothered me, considering I ship Fluttermac (don't go hating). But the really disturbing thing about this episode is that in Equestria girls, they made Cheerilee a teacher and Big Mac a student. Ever bother to think about that? Disturbing.
Frenemies

What's worse than a catastrophic episode about villainous characters pacing around (The Mean 6)? An unneeded spinoff to a catastrophic episode about villainous characters pacing around. Tirek, Chrysalis, & Cozy were all immature and argumentative idiots, the song (Better Way to Be Bad) derails the former two for the worst (since the very latter was already terrible to begin with), and learning a friendship moral like what they learned at the end should NOT be something done on villains who are NOT destined to be reformed!

Boring, unfunny, stupid, and painful. Way to go making the villains lame, writers. Season 9, so far, is just a huge disappointment. This episode, along with Sparkle's Seven and The Point of No Return were the just the worst. The only episodes that I actually found good so far were Uprooted, Common Ground, and She's All Yak.
Non-Compete Clause

I suppose the moral was "learn from others' mistakes and make it better". But instead we got an episode about two irresponsible teachers who endangered the lives of their students. In real life, they would be fired and never allowed to work ever again. But in MLP, they only get a mild slap on the wrist and left in charge, even though Twilight knew they were competing all along. That could easily be misinterpreted by kids as "the end justifies the means", and that's a horrible moral to teach!

Yeah, this one was a waste of time...
The Ticket Master

Disney's Weekenders already did this plot, and it was just as stupid, because the characters acted stupid. Like in this one. Here's an idea: "Dear Princess Celestia. Thanks for these wonderful tickets, but I've already made more than one best friend here in Ponyville (as you should know, because you've already met them at the end of Friendship is Magic pt. 2). Could you send me 4 more tickets, so we can all go? Thanks in advance. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Problem solved... oh wait, we wouldn't have an episode then.

I don't like this episode! It shows how greedy the ponds can get! Pinky pie, applejack, rainbow dash, rarity, EVEN FLUTTERSHY! She was honest and kind about it but still! They learned a lesson in the end and I know that's what they do every episode but this was not so good
Filli Vanilli

Great job, Element of Laughter, making your friend cry by accentuating her worst fears.
I really want to say Pinkie was out of character in this episode, but actually it was slap bang in the middle of a pattern. For quite a lot of Season 4, Pinkie was either being obstructive (see also Castle Mania) or just pointlessly childish/distracted (see Three's a Crowd, getting distracted by a balloon for no reason. There was also an episode where the rest of the cast were searching for something and she was doing a colouring book instead of helping).
Pinkie Pride notwithstanding, Season 4 handled Pinkie's character pretty terribly, but this is the only episode where it felt genuinely mean-spirited, as opposed to just thoughtless or childish.