two Equestrias...wtf? I mean, sure, season 2 relied on more slice of life writing than season 1 but Faust also wrote it except the finale and a counted number of episodes. But keep in mind that the writing staff share a very different version of what they write and maybe their vision to write an episode with so much liberty, probably collides to the episodes placed around it. FiM presents flaws because it was hard to settle a defined line of its own direction.
In the seasons, you have it defined to write it but back then, you had any liberty to do whatever because it didn´t have that high regard save a big hype from unexpected fans. Larson said that Hasbro didn´t limit that freedom until McCarthy took Faust´s place. It had to be cohesive at some point. Season 2 by the way, uppers the target audience a bit because of the absence of the letters and 2 minutes getting wasted but that doesn´t disappear completely until season 4 with the pages for the diary every now and then. Until then, FiM barely changes its purpose in the first two seasons. For me, when it uppered the target audience was in season 4 because of the long arc for the Crystal Empire. I could say that season 3 introduces the setup but the results are seen a year later.
>I do remember a few times someone saying the show just wasn't the same for them now and a bit more negative the the commentators there but that was on 4chan if my memory serves me right 4chan has always been dramatic and I have seen chaotic conclusions and tons of doomposts saying that this show was over, there was nothing to redeem the tragic end of it. Some anons hold those years as fun but I see that there was as much drama as the post Twicorn days.
>it's amazing to me how they are treated now, being lumped together. Season 1 and Season 2 used to be treated as different eras by many in the fandom, with different many considering to be different characteristics to fan works that separated the too (though it varied in fanworks on how true a split actually was). I....just cannot see that either because they are not that different. Except maybe the slight lack of adventures (episodes like Dragonshy were missing), the general charm was there in season 2. The CMC were getting a better treatment, Fluttershy showed her two cents and we got to focus a little bit more on Spike and a few secondary/one off (back then) characters (Luna, Granny Smith...). It simply expanded the cast a bit and Twilight didn´t feel like an outcast to Ponyville anymore. Season 3 received a few changes that would become more relevant over time (Twilicorn, The Crystal Empire and the games arc for S4, Trixie´s 2nd part, Luna visiting the dreams of the CMC, Lightning Dust, Babs Seed...) and while it could be considered as the original 65 plan, the season was leading into another thing.
The beginning of the end for that innocent era of season 1 and season 2 started with A Canterlot Wedding when McCarthy relied on continuity for Cadence and Shining Armor and the introduction of the The Crystal Empire, leaving with Ponyville out with more frequency and extend the map veritably.
