My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 9 explained

Season Number:9
Image Upright:1.14
Bgcolour:
  1. A40D1A
Network:Discovery Family
Num Episodes:26
Prev Season:Season 8
Next Season:Friendship Is Forever
Episode List:List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes

The ninth and final season of the animated television series , developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on the Discovery Family channel in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 9 of the series premiered on April 6, 2019, on Discovery Family, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded with a three-part series finale on October 12.

The final season focuses on Twilight preparing to become the new ruler of Equestria before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's retirement. At the same time, an evil ram named Grogar recruits Twilight and her friends' worst enemies in a plot to take over the kingdom.

Development

On February 17, 2018, at the American International Toy Fair in New York, a ninth season was announced by Hasbro.[1] In a TV Kids Guide by Gaumont, it was confirmed that season nine will have 26 episodes.[2] At the following year's Toy Fair, it was confirmed that this will be the final season of the series.[3] The writing for this season began in late 2017.[4]

In a March 2019 Discovery Family press release, it was announced that Patton Oswalt and "Weird Al" Yankovic would return to reprise their roles as Quibble Pants and Cheese Sandwich, respectively.[5] According to series' director Jim Miller, Discord impersonating Grogar was planned since the beginning of the season, as they wanted Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow to be the villains since they had more connection to the main characters.[6]

Series finale

Upon the broadcast of the three-part series finale "The Ending of the End - Parts 1 and 2" and "The Last Problem", when asked if Applejack and Rainbow Dash were romantically involved in the future setting of "The Last Problem", Miller replied "it’s up to the individual viewer to decide what those two are to each other".[7] When asked a similar question regarding Fluttershy and Discord, Miller replied that it was "open to interpretation."[8]

Cast

Main

Recurring

Notes

Minor

Single roles

Multiple roles

Guest stars

Episodes

See also: List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hasbro 2018 Entertainment Brand Preview Live Blog!. The Illustrious Q. Equestria Daily. February 17, 2018. February 17, 2018.
  2. Web site: TV Kids Guide 2018-2019. Widescreen. issuu. 64–65. 2018-09-24. September 24, 2018.
  3. Web site: THIS JUST IN!. Hasbro. Facebook. February 16, 2019. February 16, 2019.
  4. Miller. Jim. TheBiggestJim. 1104144874452865024. 2019-03-08. We’ve known S9 would be our last since roughly the middle of S8 production. Writing on S9 began in fall of 2017.. 2019-03-08.
  5. The Final Season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Premieres Saturday, April 6 on Discovery Family. Albert. Jared. Miami, Florida. Discovery, Inc.. 2019-03-08. 2019-03-08.
  6. Web site: @The_Real_Jarkes It was planned from the beginning. You think we were going to let a brand new baddie (new to this Gen, anyway) be the one to take on our girls at the end? We wanted it to be those 3 to have that personal connection.. Jim Miller. Twitter. 2019-10-13. 2019-10-25.
  7. Web site: @CitizenArtist55 It’s up to the individual viewer to decide what those two are to each other. Gotta leave you with some things to debate!. Jim Miller. Twitter. 2019-10-13. 2019-10-25.
  8. Web site: @99akadams @CitizenArtist55 Open to interpretation.. Jim Miller. Twitter. 2019-10-13. 2019-10-25.