Wow Faust, I thought you were smarter than that. If anything you should be worried about people thinking too much about you and not people forgetting you.
 
WE LOVE YOU!

But yeah - We feel ya, Faust…

@BP
 
BULLSHIT!

Hasbro got what they wanted; a redesigned pony show. They didn’t want someone taking chances on it rather than safely grinding out episodes so they got rid of her.

“she wanted it to be a magical girl style show with more action pieces and longer plots. the netword suits had other plans.”
 
Her panels at both BronyCon and EQLA say otherwise. As for people saying that she probably would have stuck to the season 1 characterization. I disticntly remember her saying on a DA post that she had plans/goals and achievements she wanted each of the characters to achieve over the course of the show.

Let it be said that there can be no doubt: Faust’s influence on the show is undeniable, and that without her, the show would’ve been far weaker, if it existed at all
 
That being said, there is one thing that few bring up when discussing her leaving the show: How does anyone know if the show would’ve been better with her staying on?
 
I’m not being dismissive here, but as someone whom is a fan of star trek in all it’s carnations, I was glad when Roddenberry was kicked upstairs after season 2 of TNG, as it allowed for richer storytelling.
 
What I’m saying is that although the creator is important, they aren’t the be-all and end-all of a show.
 
If I were to guess what would’ve happened if Faust stayed on, I think that K_A and AaronMK are right in saying that it would’ve stuck closer to the vision we got in season 1, at least regarding characterisation, progression, and development. Whether or not that’s a good thing is definitely YMMV.
 
In closing, There is no way to know how the show would’ve turned out had she stayed on, since at this point, it’s essentially undeterminable

Of course we would remember her! Regardless of what happens to this fandom, I know I personally will remember her for the rest of my days. :)

also nice source

>forget Lauren Faust
 
Is that even possibru?

@Takashi
 
Anyone prominent working on the content of all episodes current and forthcoming can be anyone you want to compare them too after, since my original analogy is rather flexible. And thought up on the spot with only two seconds of it put together.
 
So, you could call her Lincoln. Or Alexander the Great, or Abraham, or whatever you damn well please. Compare her to Obama for all I care so long as it is only done to illustrate her - or anyone else - being in the later “deviation” for previous policy.
 
 
@K_A
 
Valid points, and I recall a lot of my friends complaining at the increase of “modern” human technology present in the show like the construction cranes and what not. They had a lot to say about it ruining the immersion of the world presented as being sort of romantically medieval.
 
But this being a world of magic as well the fans can probably retcon them in within moments, and we probably have already. So we set up our own barriers.
 
Scootaloo being disabled physically is also a very attractive prospect to me that I hope isn’t destroyed. Hopefully in future episodes we’ll get a chance to have this explored for us. Like a Scootadash episode because Scootaloo isn’t making much progress in flying and the medical backstory is explored. But I’d honestly like her to remain unable to, since that makes me feel for her a lot more. It’d be a pretty sad element to the franchise that’s pretty damn good.
 
It’d also keep anyone from having to jump through immense loops to explain why Scootaloo couldn’t fly before when we were clearly shown so many pegasi fillies flying.
 
And I’ll have to agree that Lauren is very capable when it comes to the action-y/adventure episodes. Even IF we have a season with loose adventure elements to tie the episodes in closer together and increase continuity it’d be fun to bring her back on as a consultant or even something of a co-producer of the show. As applies to a full and feature length movie.
 
And as I said: we’ll see. We obviously don’t know the exact circumstances of everything. And if there’s a chance she’ll return to the show, we’ll see what happens.

There is still something behind the scenes we don’t know and may never know. But you are not forgotten Lauren.

Faust had some ambition for the show. I don’t know if that’s true now that she’s gone.

tl;dr
 
(We miss you, Mrs. Faust!)

This discussion makes me think…. I wonder if a larger story arc, whose possibility got me excited for a while since S3’s start, would be good for the show. The best episodes this season, including many of the continuity ties, may have been harder to pull with a larger arc going. Interludes for more episodic stories get jarring to me. (I speak here as an anime watcher.) Perhaps some good insight was involved in part of the decision to leave Faust’s direction.
 
S3 has been excellent and memorable so far. At the very get-go of Faust’s leaving with Lesson Zero, the characterization has become more a lot malleable and dynamic depending on the setup–for better or worse depending on whom and about which character you ask, whereas Faust I think would have clung more to existing characterization. This increased dynamic has helped enable amazing episodes such as yesterday’s and the one before and the one before. The CMCs have particularly benefited under the new regime, as I enjoy watching new CMC episodes even more now.
 
I cannot agree with the notion that she would have limited the show to be just for girls or made it into a magical girl anime is simply not true. For example, Scootaloo was originally envisioned as a cripple who in fact will never fly. This explains a lot of things about her adaptation to scooters and why we see most pegasus fillies flying. The newest episode suggests otherwise since Rainbow Dash it implies that Rainbow Dash trains her in her spare time, now. That episode had an awesome ending, but I can’t deny Faust’s original vision was simply more consistent and had powerful thematic potential. The “Deer Episode” also mentioned elsewhere was also deep for a kid’s show.
 
I do think Faust’s absence has had one large downside: the setting. Newer human-like technology was specifically something Faust wanted to avoid. I believe the introduction of steam engines and construction equipment has ultimately weakened the setting. (To be fair, we did have a magic-driven computer with LEDs in FPK, and I could see Faust liking the premise of Super Cider Squeezy 60000. I think Faust was more set on avoiding human-like recent technology.) Also, I think Faust indeed writes action-oriented episodes very well, and she has co-written the strongest villain-based episode so far, Return of Harmony. This season’s premiere would have probably benefited greatly with her direction.
 
Overall, we cannot say whether the show has suffered or improved from her leaving the show. I would welcome her back with open arms if she were able and willing to dive back in, though. I would also have trouble accepting an MLP:FiM movie without her at least being a consultant.

@Aaron: So who does that make Megan McCarthy?
 
Lincoln?

@Background Pony:
 
>it would have stayed as a “little girl show”, and never become something of higher quality
 
I’m sorry,but this sounds like it’s filled with denial to me.
 
Gotta love how you (try?)forget this is still a little girl show that happens to be of higher quality.Because,hey,that’s what it is.

Reading through the comments: interesting points taken. Though I wonder what it’d be like if she was brought on for at least a little bit.
 
That said, at the very least you could describe her as the “George Washington” of MLP. This may not be at all an appropriate comparison in any form, but is the closest I can get. She at least set the foundations which I’m sure we’re all thankful for. Now it’s up, it’s set a course and… well… I guess we can argue if it’s any better.
 
Personally I think season 3 is vastly improved from two. I don’t feel there were as many “memorable” episodes in two. There’s a good handful in season one, as it’s turning out so far in 3.
 
But, we’ll see.

;_;7

she wanted it to be a magical girl style show with more action pieces and longer plots. the netword suits had other plans.
 
show is still great, would have been different though. it’s fine but i miss lauren.

Kinda thinking she got kicked off

The feels.

@ItsThinking
 
Some of the best eps in season 1 were the actiony types. I honestly dont think I’d mind a season long one. Well, maybe a short season like this one, but still there were too few actiony type episodes in the second season for my liking.

@Itsthinking  
What I mean is season 3. Things have got better, and the show still stick to single episodes. There’s a lot of continuity, but they were executed excellently. If Lauren were still on the show, it would have stayed as a “little girl show”, and never become something of higher quality, which is season 3.

“Thank you. I nearly killed myself on Season 1. Put everything I had into it. Nothing else mattered.” -Lauren Faust
 
“Aaw. Geez, thanks everyone! :*)”- Lauren Faust
 
I don’t think anyone can say that she regrets the time she spent on the show.

@Background Pony  
She wanted to take the show in a very, very different direction that I’m not entirely sure would have gone over as well. There would have been a lot more “actiony” episodes with season-long adventure arcs and reduced roles for many characters she didn’t think would fit within that.
 
The role she fulfilled in creating the world, mythology, and characters was a great one. However, it took a team to make FiM a reality.