Fwelin 
"[@Copper Knight":](/1997686#comment_8045102
)
Movie 1 was about preventing Sumset from getting the crown and using it to overthrow Equestria. Saving the students was just a byproduct of stopping Sunset from achieving her goals, not the extent of the goal of the protagonists of the film. The characters didn't even know that the students were at any risk until the very end.
Movie 2 was about preventing the Sirens from regaining enough of their power to conquer the world, not the school. Mind controlling students was primarily a tactic to lure out the magic of the heroes so they could steal it, not an end goal in itself.
Saying these movies are about saving the school is like saying Superman vs "insert world-ending threat here" is about saving the city because thats where they fight.
Movie 1 was about preventing Sumset from getting the crown and using it to overthrow Equestria. Saving the students was just a byproduct of stopping Sunset from achieving her goals, not the extent of the goal of the protagonists of the film. The characters didn't even know that the students were at any risk until the very end.
Movie 2 was about preventing the Sirens from regaining enough of their power to conquer the world, not the school. Mind controlling students was primarily a tactic to lure out the magic of the heroes so they could steal it, not an end goal in itself.
Saying these movies are about saving the school is like saying Superman vs "insert world-ending threat here" is about saving the city because thats where they fight.