SETTING THE WRONG EXPECTATIONS - Why MLP G5 Does NOT Have Wasted Potential (Part 1) 

I used to have the wrong expectations for Make Your Mark. I remember sometimes being disappointed that the show never answered the questions we had about what happened to Equestria. But I learned that I needed to accept the show for what it is, not for what I want it to be. If we make up expectations for a show and then get mad at the show for not going with our made up expectations, it's not the show's fault, it's our fault. The moment I stopped wanting to show to be something it's not and accepted it for what it is, is the moment I started to really like G5. Make Your Mark is different from G4, and that's okay. It's a good thing that it's different. It stands on it's own as a great series with great characters and stories that sometimes even got more emotional than FiM ever did. I only ever tried once in G4 during The Perfect Pear. But I found myself crying 3 or 4 times in Make Your Mark. G5 is great, and it always will be, whether people choose to accept it or not.

Your defense of G5 is and will forever be admired. Fly on, Hawk. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the only thing being wasted here is your breath. Continue the fight, regardless. We're behind you every step.

This generation has so much great potential just like with g4 ❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉

thanks for shutting down the g4 fans arguments against g5 and I'm excited for part 2.

The only wasted potential is Hasbro not having the money to spend on G5

The king’s back at it again 💪 thank you again for the work you do

Once again, great analysis video! It just helped me appreciate G5 even more than I already do, especially when you pointed out Sunny's arc and her connection to Opaline, I never even noticed that before. Keep up the good work and looking foward to part 2

This video is just beautiful. You really outdid yourself again ^^ Thank you

I would also like to add that, especially as a very passionate Zipper, I was completely taken aback by the argument that Zipp should have become queen by the end of MYM, because I don't remember ever even having considered that as a serious possibility. Even if we ignore that being the complete opposite of what she wants and who she wants to be, it seems simply absurd to think that she would have become queen after essentially just one single season of the show (23 episodes+4 specials, which is a number we already knew from the atomic cartoons production pipeline before chapter 1 was released, so it's not just retrospective bias in this case).

To be fair i do like the g5 we got like i do hear some say "we got robbed" when it comes to the original g5 concept but like its kinda for the better since at least in g5 we got new characters rather then just rebooting the fim cast and you know that other plan stuff just glad g5 is more a part 2 of fim then a reboot but i do think you have a point i mean they just angry just because they expect g5 to be all about lore lore lore like sure it can sometime but also can be fun and enjoyable like fim did they're were episodes that were just fun one no lore or anything just fun

We need more g5 appreciation

Great breakdown. A lot of people seem to forget that G4 had a lot of unanswered questions within itself that fans loved speculating and writing fanfiction about. The unanswered questions in G5 allow for the same opportunities and it looks very intentional that that's how it's meant to be

I am glad that both shows of G5 became a success. Both being a hit when released and kept being hits as well. "Make Your Mark" getting a high ranking as a top 10 show in many countries when released, and most likely all the way to the end as well, yeah, that is a success. And "Tell Your Tale" is still going of course. And the fact that it got a higher success rate than "Friendship is Magic" for the intended and general audience, and even some older fans alike, is a massive shock. Did not see that coming. Never thought G4 would be beat like that, for anything. Beating "Make Your Mark" makes some sense, I guess. But, yeah, G5 became a huge success, and we are so happy about it.

They wanted to make this show a sequel because of the previous show's success, which makes sense, I guess. But personally, this show feels like its own thing sometimes because it is so different from the previous one. Yeah, Discovery Family got in the way of some of the issues, with sucks, but hey, I think they still did a great job with what we got in the end. It may not have turned out the way they wanted, no matter where they wanted to air the show, unless on the same channel/network of course, but yeah, they most likely did not want to do that for some reason, and/or did not want to pay too much money to someone else, because of legal issues. Or maybe because of where they released the film, they thought it may work to do that with the show, even though the movie was supposed to be released in theaters, and we all know what happened, and why the move happened. The result of legal issues may have still happened in the end.

When the G5 movie came out Hitch came so close to being the best character but was missing a certain spark. Which is where Sparky came in and solidified Hitch as my best character.

tbh i think what did limit g5's writing was the fact was it was in 3d. im actually kinda glad they made tyt the main show. its so much cheaper and easier to make new places to explore and other races to befriend.

I wish in the cooking show episode forgot the name. You missed talking about how it helped Misty realized she has been abused by Opaline and needs to find a way out.

Amazing job, dude! Let the G5 haters understand why this generation is so good. I look forward to the next part video for this defense of the G5.

Yay another g5 video

Thank you again for this defence video 😊

Okay, I get people not getting Sunny and wanting a more serious Hitch but thinking we were going to get Queen Zipp?! What the hay?! Long story short, G5 not answering all our questions is a good thing, regardless of whatever's going on with Discovery Family. It's a soft sequel that has its own story to focus on telling, MLP's not supposed to be lore-heavy, and what we got recently in TYT Season 2 proves that G5 does know how to expand on lore well despite that. I also enjoyed how the Sunny and Hitch sections felt inspired by my essays on understanding them better.

I have a few things to say about this discussion, so far: 1. While I still haven't gotten back into the comics, and as of right now don't plan to (At least not until you cover the comics on their own. I do have recommendations for completely unrelated comics and manga, if you're interested.), I find it pretty funny that you made a point about how people wanted Make Your Mark to have explicit focus on what happened to the remnants of FiM, rather than simply expanding on the worldbuilding of FiM through indirect contrast. Why? Because that is *exactly* what the first arc of the G5 comics was about: rediscovering what happened to Canterlot, and thus reintroducing to us the G4 world through Discord. Again, I haven't read past issue 5, so I haven't any thoughts on how this arc wrapped up, but if that really is what some fans wanted, they could have just gone to the comics and saw how it screwed up after the location-introduction aspect was done with and Discord was put front and center. 2. Ranking Top 10 on Netflix isn't an achievement of approval rating, neither with critics or viewers. It's an achievement in viewership and people rewatching it, and that alone. Netflix doesn't list any awards that Make Your Mark won; it didn't win any SAG awards, which I think it should have gotten, despite it being an animated show. The only award that it won, that I can find, was for Bahia Watson -- the voice of Misty and Peach Fizz -- winning "Outstanding Performance - Gender Non-Conforming or Female Voice" in the 2023 ACTRA Awards. And don't even get me started on the mixed reception of its viewers on IMDb (5.8/10 out of 634 reviews), Common Sense Media (5/5 from three parents, and 3/5 from seven kids), Rotten Tomatoes (68% overall audience score, and no critic score. Chapter 1 has 57% and three written reviews; Chapter 2 has 67% with four written reviews; Chapter 3 has 67% with one written review; Chapter 4 has 80% with four written reviews; and Chapter 5 and 6 have no approval ratings.), Amazon (4.4/5 from eleven global ratings, and only one of said reviews being written.), and of course Google Reviews (3.5/5 from 63 reviews, and 57% for the like and dislike buttons.). 3. Two of the comments you showed in this video, the first being at 0:35 and the second being at 2:18, remind of two things I'd like to point out, as both I agree with to an extent. I agree that people should be allowed to like what they like, and vice versa, but correct me if I'm wrong, but what you're doing is defending G5 with your own analysis, for the most part anyway. For as you've stated before, while not everyone on RU-vid or other sites has reviewed G5 unfairly, there is that overwhelming majority that is still at it. In an unrelated Discord server, I saw a user (Not gonna name them, as to protect their privacy) saying that they planned on making a response video to "Why Make Your Mark Chapter 6 Is NOT A Trainwreck: A Response To beatfox15" because, and I quote, "It's fine if this individual likes MYM, but lots of the points in this video are really poor and even gatekeapy at times." Which strikes me as odd because you've partially disowned the video, and unfortunately can't prove that you have disowned it anymore, because you deleted the video where you denounced your own behavior towards beatfox. I agree even more with javierfebronio8907's stance on Phyllis. We've discussed before how, while the characters that were given focus in Make Your Mark and Tell Your Tale weren't wasted, a few notable characters from its earliest stages *have* been. Again, that being Posey, Sprout, and Phyllis. I agree with all of the points that javier made on Phyllis here: How she could have dedicated herself to rebranding Canterlogic to help other pony races, instead of just abandoning the company and factory and leaving it open for the Mane Five to take it over, the latter of which you should address with the Strawman Has a Point/Designated Hero criticisms of Top Remodel (To which TV Tropes only cites Star Strike's review for that). How she could been the one to punish Sprout with community service, as outside of blurry wanted posters in early Tell Your Tale, we don't see how Sprout went from his crimes to being amounted to community service. How she could have been shown enforcing new rules and/or approving of Sunny's attempts at leading Maretime Bay, instead of just letting Sunny become the new leader in her place. And most of all to me, how she could have been shown getting along with Haven and Alphabittle, let alone other ponies in general. What was it that we got, instead, post-movie? Phyllis makes one cameo in Roots of All Evil, and serves as the main antagonist of MANE MELODY Karaoke Beauty Salon, where she is reviled for giving career-ruining reviews. And that's it. Also, that Tell Your Tale episode was also Posey's first appearance throughout G5 as a whole, depicting her as a minor antagonist for giving Pipp 3/5 stars, which Pipp took a bit *too much* notice of.

I love your interest in Generation 5 I appreciate it enormously too and I live the story of Sunny Starscout with rigor and determination I also like everything that we have been told about Opaline Arcana and Twilight Sparkle In any case I can't wait to see what happens next in October 2024 with you of course 💋 you deserve a lot of support

Your dedication is much appereciated!

VERY excited for this!!! Though I won't be able to watch the premiere sadly. btw Congrats on 900 subscribers!

18:46 Woah 😮 Last Problem Twilight in MYM 3D Not a bad design 😊 though I would add a little more thickness to her proportions personally but that’s just me. Also, that facial expression reminds me of that smile Opaline did when she was trying to get Misty to come back to her 😂I loved it then and I love it here❤

Wow. I didn’t know you were at 900 subs. Congrats dude

hey, thanks for replying to my comment a while back. I'm gonna start making videos. also thanks for sticking up for g5 and all the content you make. /)

you make a lot of valid points and for all of the episodes not a thought of G4 is in my mind unless a character or location is refrerenced in G5 episodes. this might be a not so good idea, but if fans REALLY want G5 to "make sense" they should just tell hasbro to make a spin off series of G5 that focuses on G4 and they should get back to me of how that went

Looking through the comments since this video came out, I am surprised to see that there is actually some debate going on. Granted, not all of said debate *is* an actual debate, but rather are just people posting their negative or at least not entirely positive thoughts on G5. But there is some debate, mainly when you respond to some of the more negative or critical comments, and some people debating with each other without you being involved. Regardless if I agree with their points, or find their points to be valid at all, it's a relief to not be the only one that is debating in the comments for once. Yeah, almost all of your subscribers are G5 fans like yourself, but I hardly see them disagreeing or at least asking for clarification with your points at all. also, happy Pride Month!

Hawk I just want to say your the best RU-vidr ever to review g5 unlike the hater’s you someone with a fresher and more positive mindset you also don’t act as childish as the hater’s

are you going to make a video on why sunny claiming the factory isn't a crime like some people claim if you know what I mean.

I will say as Sunny biggest defender MYM not being a 25 season show so you miss like example 5 Sunny episodes lets say in S1 or something along that lines to help better define her. Rewatching TYT I was shocked at how much of a leader and role model she was so her TYT episodes really boosted the MYM ones. It is shame both shows got spread out this way. But now that MYM is done with this and TYT you can read her better as a character.

YES YES YES!!!! I dont feel like I have much to add to what you said cause its pretty much everything Ive been saying as well!! G5 feels so well planned out and deserves far more credit than it gets. Cant wait for part 2 and hear about Izzy (I have a notebook filled with notes about her, ive always wanted to make g5 videos but i work 2 jobs i barely have free time as is ;-; )

I think mlp G5 especially the movie is MID but it has some nice life lessons & has really stuff i connect to,the show & the movie speaks about it themes in a mature way and it also got catchy songs, colorful & engaging characters. The VIllain isn't terrible shes also mid. Despite me thinking mlp g5 is average+ most mlpg5 reviews are hypocritical,nonsensical & foolish at the point that they are unbearable to watch or straight up annoying.

Ok then, great viewership of the shows, but what about the toy line? You know, the original purpose of the cartoon according to Hasbro? How's that doing? 🤔 (Thinking of some reports, as well as my own experience, of there being very little presence of MLP merch in the toy aisle in stores. . .)

Greetings, I haven’t commented in a while, and this is a great time to change that. Over all i agree with you, but there are things i want to discuss. Lore and generational gap questions Correction, what happened to the other creatures is mostly unanswered, but to this point it hadn’t had to be. Now, however, after protective spells were broken, these question better be answered. And it is already happening in TYT, so i have absolutely no complains on this topic. “Story being about discovering old places would be counter productive to the narrative” Indeed, but don’t stop at extremes, they could've include just a little more. This would’ve helped to show how world have changed. Sure, such an episode wouldn’t fit in chapter 5 or 6, but before that it could’ve work. Zipp’s curiosity and keen eye, Izzy’s knowledge and respect of unicorn traditions, Sunny’s search for guidance in history and Misty’s knowledge of past from Opaline, all seems like elements, allowing to create interesting episodes about discovering past. Yes, i just want “Traditional unicorn sleepover” part 2 (it was such a good episode) :) Over all, indeed, they should have not make those too often, otherwise it would bee too much of a fanservice and would hinder story. But still, i can’t shake thought that they could’ve done more with it. ”Sometimes a mystery should be left for theories” - absolutely, but accent on sometimes. We still have some big questions like how Sparky’s egg ended up at Maretime bay. Since there aren’t many dragons, and those were sleeping anyway, I can’t think of proper explanation, and see this as a deus ex machina, rather than a mystery. Just like with Opaline’s three disappearance, if writers want it to be mystery, they must accent our attention on it, otherwise it seems like a plot hole. “G5 was never about discovering past, and Sunny being fascinated with ideas of past, rather than history” - i couldn't agree more, and I’m surprised how many people can’t see it. Sunny I always thought of Opaline and Sunny's dynamic as selfishness against selflessnes. Opaline believes she must rule because of her blood, but never she gave a single thought about her to be subjects. Sunny, on the other hoof, never wanted power nor fame, but she did all she can for the ponies. Her actions may be wrong, sometimes, but they always come from her desire to help others. Opaline is alone because she is selfish, not the other way around. So I’d arque that selflessnes is more important than friendship here, but those are synonymous, so its not that important. Hitch Yes Zipp But about Zipp I disagree almost completely and really want you to explain your point. Firstly, I’ll explain my take on character, so you better understand my opinion (This characteristic is based only on the movie). Zephyrina “Zipp” Storm Role: Main character (not protagonist) Physical characteristics Age: 20-30 Sex: F Home: Zephyr Heights - Palace Profession: - Interests: Flight Race: Pegasus Social characteristics Older princess and heir to the throne. Respected as part of royal family. Don’t want to become queen. Psychological characteristics Dreams and values: Truth. To bring flight and unity back. Positive Values: Courageous, Honest, Athletic, Observant Negative Values: Unsociable, Risky Neutral Values: Serious Special: Sometimes sarcastic. So, in my opinion, Zipp is not rebelling against becoming a queen, but against lies of her family. And she is taking active role in this - investigating abandoned station, releasing Sunny and Izzy, helping to steal pegasi crystal e.t.c. But after the movie flight is returned, lies are exposed and forgiven. Now she begins a new arc. She still don’t want to be a queen, but in the end of first chapter she agrees on a compromise with her mother - “...I just need more time to figure things out. To investigate magic. To explore who I am, before I’ll take on my royal duty…”. Here, her “rebellion” ends. MYM sets up arc of her growing as a person and learning to be a queen. (Or you saying she lied to her mother?) But if this isn’t enough for you, we also have TYT. In s1ep1 we see how she specifically hates attention and royal symbols. Probably because before her status was built on lies, and she felt unworthy of all this before movie. Even more importantly, in s1ep3 she don’t want to take charge of flight school, but in the end she is proud of her students, she even liked this job. (You know this feeling, when you helped someone with hard job, and you happy and proud, but don’t want to do it again? I think that’s it). So she is slowly warming up to being in charge. In s1ep17 she actually becomes a queen for a day! She realises how hard her mother’s job is and if that’s not part of her becoming a queen arc, I don’t now what is. Although, I am struggling to put these on Blake Snyder’s beat’s list, but I know it is parts of an arc! I believe, i proved that this arc is established in both shows, lets move on to how it “doesn’t fit Zipp” (not your quote). Firstly, you said that Zipp’s desire to explore and find truth is rebellious. Can you please elaborate? In my mind those concepts are not connected at all. Ponies are rebelling against something, Zipp isn’t stopped from exploring, so who or what she rebelling against? Why are you saying that queens can’t be rebellious? Just look at history. Peter the Great, for example, left Russia to learn from european masters as a commoner, (tsar leaving country was unthinkable back then) returned, and built Russian Empire in european image. Many nobles at the time hated him, but against their will, he ruled in his own way and led his country to greatness (it didn’t last long, but that’s story for another day). Or Napoleon, being a revolutionary hero and very progressive emperor, who fought against all of European monarchies. Or what about opposite - conservative in progressive’s ranks? Paul, was hated by everyone for destroying his mother - Catherine the Great’s legacy (enlightenment reforms) and creating military order in most spheres of life. There are many more examples of truly rebellious monarchs, but i hope you got my point. Zipp doesn’t have to do everything exactly like her mother (though Haven is a good queen), she can rule in her own way. You also said, that Pipp may be a better ruler and I really want to know why. She’s very emotional, doesn’t really think things through, and she just not fit to rule. Even more, Queen Haven is absolutely shure who is going to take her place, even knowing about Zipp resentment. She depicted as caring mother in both shows, so I don’t think she would make Zipp queen against her will if she had a choise. Now, from a creative perspective. Sunny and Misty already have arcs about being themselves, so why don’t have opposite one for a change? It is natural for Zipp's character. Even her main arc moves her in that direction - she calms down and accepts Misty. Just as she will with her duties one day. As you said "she wants to be more responsible and mature". So in the end, I believe people got mad over MYM not continuing arc established in TYT, and didn’t notice how it was reasonably postponed in MYM, to give room for another one. What will you say about all of this? I'm looking forward to see your response. Thank you and have a good day.

Wow good job man. You raised some solid counter arguments to the criticisms of the show. I do think two things can be true at once & while you didn't counter every criticism, you definitely defanged them. Expectations can imfluence your reception & it is important keep it in check. I have a video on my own criticisms for the show, as well as thoughts on how it ended up the way it did, ideas for rewrites & a soft reboot. Feel free to check it out & debate me in the comments.

I would only partly call it wasted potential, but rather I call it creative differences between G5 and G4. They were going for something lore-deep but not as deep as G4, since TYT is intended to be a RU-vid series of shorts for easy viewing. Me, I saw some of TYT and I may get flak for this, but I hated how some of the stories were told; the Blockywockies felt like plot but not enough theme, and Allura not being a serious threat. However, for what it was trying to do, it sure was creative with it. It was Izzy venturing out of her comfort zone for new ideas, which intorduced us to something... aquatic. Very cute. However, it helps to put myself in a proper mindset for this series. I have to remind myself of the target audience. Growing up, I grew to hate most cartoon villains, being spoiled by the likes of Roodaka (LEGO slipped a dominatrix into a children's franchise): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-u9y0RSfjEGw.htmlsi=eoiP5erzmcv9bbNe On top of that, given what a sheriff like Hitch should have training on, if Oplaine is gloating and laughing, that would be a great time to do this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kQKrmDLvijo.htmlsi=jZcV9801YkaB5t1z But TYT is intended for children to watch on breaks, after school and/or on the way to school. FiM and MYM were intended for family viewing.

I'd argue that g4 has wasted potential in certain areas, mostly with Equestria Girls, they could've done so much with a superhero musical spin off, they just copied it. Example, when the pillars were giving us their view on why Stygian became evil, it showed the Dazzlings. Where have I seen them before? Oh right, in Equestria Girls.

“Why didn’t G5 commit to being a G4 sequel and explore old G4 locations????” A New Generation shows the group traveling past the Tree of Harmony, meaning they’re in what was once the Everfreee Forest, and the comics have them go to the ruins of Canterlot and meet Discord. G5 absolutely committed to being a G4 sequel, these locations just didn’t serve as necessary additions to the plot of MYM. The people making these criticisms are unaware of the fact that their criticisms are just objectively false because the comics exist and ANG literally takes place in what used to be the Everfree Forest.

tbh I don't hate g5 I just think that the g4 reboot would have been better

Will there be a part 3 or only 2 parts

in 2 days the new g5 console game zephyr height mystery will be released on consoles are you going to get it?

You know, Mr. Nightwing, you remind me of Sunny Starscout. Someone with firm convictions, a positive view of the world, and a determination to make other people like what you do. To make people see the truth. Me, on the other hand, I'm a bit more uncertain. I never liked G5, and I don't think I ever will. Does that mean I think it's a bad show? In my opinion, if a story helps somebody, then it's not a bad story, and this story helped you, so I can't say it's bad. But that doesn't make me like it. You're right to say that a lot of the criticism levelled at G5 was ill-thought-out and wrong. It's part of something that has come to the fore recently, which I call the 'hatedom'. People get invested in a previous property that was good, in this case G4, and then it ends and they get a new story that they don't like, so they hate on it, and yet keep watching it because they got invested in the last show. MLP: G5 does not deserve the hate it's getting, but it honestly doesn't really deserve the attention it's getting, either. If it wasn't for G4 most of these people would never have known or cared about some kid's show. It had the wrong audience tuning in right off the bat. Then again, it's not like G5 is some misunderstood masterpiece, either. It often struggles to have a coherent plot, good animation, and a well-delivered message. Maybe you can't see how the show could have been done better, but I certainly can. Let me give you an example. You mentioned how g5 answered the question of "Why did the pony tribes split up?" with "Because of Opaline's lies, they no longer felt safe near each other." And for you, I guess, that's enough. But for me it's not. "Why was Twilight unable to stop Opaline without having to give up magic? Didn't she have students, or students of students, that could have just rainbow lasered Opaline?" "By the time of G4, the pony lineages were so mixed that two earth ponies had a pegasus and a unicorn as children. How can you justify the three tribes splitting up over 'distrust' when it would require kicking out their own siblings, parents, children, and not just once, but over hundreds of years as latent genes cropped up? That's rather dark for My Little Pony, don't you think?" (This is leveled against G4 too, by the way). "G4 ended with the message that 'the magic of friendship grows'. Doesn't Twilight falling so easily to Opaline and ponykind being split up without some kind of crazy, reality-warping event invalidate G4's entire message? Didn't Twilight already beat villains who wanted to conquer Equestria by dividing it in The Ending of the End? What changed to make that possible?" And don't even try to explain all that away. It won't work. I just don't think the way you do. Like Sunny, you're so convinced that your own point of view is the whole story that you don't try to think of things from other people's standpoints. The fact is, you have lower standards when it comes to storytelling than a lot of people. It's no use telling a college "Look, this student's got a 60% grade, you should let him in", when that college only accepts 90% grade students. It's not that you're wrong about G5 being good, it's that 'good' means different things to different people. That's why your crusade isn't going to 'vindicate' G5. All the talking points and reasons in the world aren't going to make somebody like a show. That said, I do respect you as somebody who is willing to take the show on its own merits rather than complaining about how it doesn't live up to your standards. There's a place for both of us in the world, and I'm not going to look down on you if you don't look down on me. I'm not saying I'm the One True Critic, I just want you to understand where I'm coming from. You don't need to prove that G5 is a great story in order to be able to like it. Seriously, it's just ones and zeroes. The greatness lies in how you see it. And nobody should be ashamed of liking what they like. Anyway, thanks for the videos. I really have enjoyed them.

I loved G5 in some way, alone when you don't watch Generation 4, is good. But one question I WAS CONFUSED ABOUT... WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE CREATURES?1 I can understand ponies and dragons but WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS? LIKE THE YAKS, THE HIPPOGRIFFS, THE CHANGELINGS AND EVEN THE GRIFFINS WERE IN THE FINAL EPISODE OF G4, IF THIS WAS A SEQUEL MAYBE EXPLAINING WHERE THEY GONE TOO! And that is is all I want to know right now, everything else is fine in my book. And thank you for defending the good parts of G5.

Rather have what we didn’t get. The one issue is the HUB/ Discovery has the rights to FiM characters and hasbro can’t use them with paying. Hasbro decided to keep them out of the story as much as possible. I am happy you like Gen 5 but the original reboot idea would have worked and done better. I watched MLP MYM on Netflix just hoping it would get better so I imagine a lot of the views was from fans hoping it would get better. They destroyed the history, ruined the world FiM built. If they wanted a new story they should have put it in a different universe far from FiM. You covered the rights issue after I posted this.

As person who thinks that G5 has waisted it's potential, but for the same time defends G5 from an unfair hate, I'll tell my position. I think that for a sequel/legacy story it is essential to be focused on rediscovering the past. If it never does, it's not a sequel but a spin-off, that is focused on different location and is not connected to the main plot of the original story. And if it's a spin-off, then what's the point to place it into different era, making this whole story with Equestria's fall? This story could have worked with any background characters from FIM, that could be happening at the same time with FIM series. For me personally, the good example of a sequel story, are the Star Wars sequels. The reason is because the main characters explore the past by finding old characters: Luke, Han, Leia, and eventually become their successors after learning lessons from them at the end of the story.

I was actually starting like G5 but then MYM was dropped. I think if they'd kept going with it eventually we'd see the connections between G4 and G5. It was getting pretty good actually. I don't watch TYT because I cannot get passed the shite ass animation style. Even worse than G4.5 style. So I have no idea what the story is doing or how things are now. I don't really connect TYT with MYM, they feel like separate stories to me.