MLP G5 Discussion and Speculation Thread

@Shimmering Spectacle
I don’t know that he is?

@Shimmering Spectacle
Has this been confirmed by anybody? Rabid Sprout fanboys have been trying to speak it into existence, but unless I missed something, he’s been fully absent from post-movie promo.

@Litrojia
No, there has been nothing to confirm that Sprout has become part of the mane cast, nor if he’s even bee redeemed.

it just seems to be the annoying part of his fanbase that’s pushing this idea

@ichiban iceychan 1517
i agree it’s ridiculous to see that, when they want a antagonist character be part of the main one without it any bit of redemption, and in order it be part of the main characters, that character must first earn that redemption before joining NOT after, that’s how starlight did when she redeemed herself, several times too.

I’m pretty sure that, if the Mane 5 gets a sixth member, it’ll be an unicorn. We already have two Earth Ponies in the group! And unlike some may say, Sunny Starscout’s power-up was temporary. So, she doesn’t count as an alicorn or unicorn!

I really don’t think we need a unicorn, because that would be a slippery slope towards an excessive use of magic later.

@Ring Team
Slippery slope is an overused argument. Nobody said that a second unicorn had to be magic-focused. Heck, with magic being gone for so long, it’s unlikely there’d be a unicorn able to do that many spells for a while.

I don’t see why we need a 6th member anyway, the cast is fine as it is

@ichiban iceychan 1517
Agreed. No law of television dictates six main characters.

@ichiban iceychan 1517
Agreed. I think it’s simply a concept that fans got caught up in due to G4.

Having less main characters can be a good and easy thing especially when it comes down to balancing out screen time and development.

Argyle is revealed to have been basically pony Mr. Rogers.

Reaction?

@Background Pony #EB00
That’s actually no less or more than what we have of his characterization now.

Could you see it?

@Background Pony #EB00
I guess, beyond the fact no one likes him especially besides his daughter.

@DaddyMakesMeEUHH
Having said that, would that mean everyone is the main character in the entire g4 series?

@Phoenixflambe
No lol. Every character in g4 wasn’t a main character, they aren’t the focus in most episodes. That doesn’t mean that writers can’t develop their side characters (they definitely should). I’m more or less referring to the “Applejack situation.”

@DaddyMakesMeEUHH
So are they just occassional protagonists when the writing calls for it?

@Background Pony #EB00
I think they might utilize him in flashbacks. Like if Sunny is having a hard time there’s gonna be a moment where she remembers a lesson taught to her by Argyle or whatever.

@Background Pony #B75D
For some episode, yes. Sometimes Fluttershy was the main focus of an episode where she had a problem and then learned a lesson, sometimes it was some other character/s. But that doesn’t negate the fact that Twilight will always be the main character of g4.

@ichiban iceychan 1517
The problem with not having a sixth membet in g5 comes from the fact that it rides g4’s lore coat tail. G4 had a rule of six. Six main ponies, six elements, six pillars, six students and so on. If g5 did not want to follow this, they should have not relied on g4’s lore and started their own.

If you look at g1 to g3, they’re all independent from each other so you can have humans or an older Spike and it doesn’t matter. G5 is not independent. Imagine an iteration of ninja turtles and theres only three of them with no explanation. Or power rangers with just four of them. It disrespects.

@Litrojia
From what I’ve gathered, the stock promo art that’s constantly recycled was out sourced. The cgi models are slightly different from the movie rigs. They’re also quite old. Some of them were made when Pipp’s eyes were still red.

Oddly enough, Sprout also had “unfinished” promotional material but they were never used despite having cgi artists outsourced to make it. Considering the movie had a lot of unfinished talking points, my guess is Sprout’s redemption arc is part of the main series and since it hasn’t happened yet, promoting it would be literally spoilers.

@hironakamura
Why is there an obligation to carry over one arbitrary element from G4 just because there’s a link to it? Who says G4’s “rule of six” can’t be left in G4? MLP certainly hasn’t established a precedent like that for intergenerational continuity, and unlike franchises like TMNT, they already threw out the mane 6 as the main characters. Your example is like if they kept all of the mane 6 but Applejack as MCs in G5, which absolutely would be a problem.

This whole notion of a need for a sixth character has been pissing me off for a year now.

@hironakamura
That could be the case. The post I was replying to seemed to assume that Sprout as a main character was confirmed, which hasn’t happened yet. At this point, it’s more of absence of evidence rather than evidence of absence, but it’s looking unlikely to me that he’ll instantly be integrated into the group as some seemed to be hoping for.

Dino Thunder had no sixth Ranger, which broke Power Rangers’s tradition of six Rangers every year.
Mlp doesn’t even have the excuse of tradition to stick to having six mains.