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2* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Did Fluttershy only say those harsh things to her friends because she knew it would upset them, or does she deep down ''really'' think that Rarity and Pinkie Pie's special talents are frivolous and pointless, and she could only ever express it while in her assertive mode? Worst of all, does this episode imply that Fluttershy is a BitchInSheepsClothing? That said, if she did she probably thinks it's [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E13MagicalMysteryCure less frivolous and pointless now.]]
3* BaseBreakingCharacter: Angel's treatment of Fluttershy ([[GettingTheBoot literally kicking her out]] of the house because he wanted a cherry). It can either come across as funny slapstick, not even abusive, or [[DomesticAbuse mean]].
4* BrokenBase: Some viewers saw Fluttershy's meanness in this episode as a needed thing to drive the plot, while others thought it went too far and/or that she should have been mean to the ponies who gave her grief before, rather than different ponies entirely.
5* CrossesTheLineTwice: The fact that [[FisherKing Fluttershy's cottage and garden withered and died in response to her?]] Not funny. The fact that ''all that somehow happened in two hours tops?'' Funny.
6* DesignatedVillain: Perhaps intentional; Iron Will was just doing his job the entire episode, teaching Fluttershy to be more assertive and claiming his payment when he thought she was satisfied with the results. One could argue that his threat of violence against her was merely a bluff to get his money, especially since when Fluttershy explained that she wasn't satisfied and thus had no obligation to pay, Iron Will respectfully backed down. To put it another way: Iron Will is an antagonist, but not a villain. Despite this, TheMerch considers Iron Will an outright villain on the same level as the show's major antagonists.
7* DracoInLeatherPants: Some fans interpret Iron Will as being a perfectly upstanding entrepreneur and say the onus is entirely on Fluttershy for taking his 'product' too far. While Fluttershy does admit her share of responsibility, Rarity and Pinkie Pie are also in total agreement that Iron Will is a charlatan peddling terrible advice and is directly responsible for the bad behavior of an easily manipulated 'doormat'. While real-world debates about use versus intent can get ''lively'', the script makes its stance on Iron Will pretty clear.
8* EpilepticTrees:
9** The two ValleyGirl ponies that show up early on have the exact same coat and eye colors as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Since Rainbow wasn't in this episode, it's lead to... [[https://www.deviantart.com/from-yesterday-xx/art/Disguise-288597981 suspicions]].
10** Iron Will teaches that to be assertive (and therefore an object of admiration), you should yell at people who do things like bump into you instead of getting out of your way. Previously, what character who was obsessed with being seen as cool did the exact same thing to Fluttershy...? Maybe Gilda wasn't really a complete jerk, maybe she'd just recently taken the assertiveness course! Trixie incorporates a lot of Iron Will's act and presence as part of her stage show. [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether Just how many ponies took this course?]]
11* GeniusBonus: Iron Will's first appearance is inside a maze. He's a minotaur. In Myth/GreekMythology, the original minotaur was imprisoned in a labyrinth. While "maze" and "labyrinth" aren't technically the same thing (a maze has multiple paths, whereas a labyrinth has one path that gets concentrically smaller) they've evolved into synonyms over the centuries.
12* HarsherInHindsight: Fluttershy's lament "I am the monster" becomes this after she turns into a [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E7Bats vampire]].
13* HilariousInHindsight:
14** In the end, Shy uses The Stare on Angel to get him to eat. Fans have drawn her doing this in her "get him to eat a carrot" scene in "Dragonshy" since that episode.
15** It may be this or HarsherInHindsight, depending on your point of view, but Fluttershy calling Pinkie's destiny "frivolous" becomes pretty karmic when she finds out [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E13MagicalMysteryCure how hard it is.]]
16* JerkassWoobie: Sure, New and Nasty Fluttershy is a jerk, but given how the other townponies (sans Pinkie and Rarity) and her ''pets'' treat her, can you blame her? At least, until she took it too far.
17* MemeticMutation:
18** The shot of Iron Will giving a thumbs up to the camera has been snowcloned into an advice animal.
19** Also, in a similar vein as "Disco Discord" from "Return of Harmony, Part 1", clips of Iron Will dancing to different music have been making the rounds on Youtube.
20* NeverLiveItDown: This episode sealed Angel Bunny's reputation for many as an [[KarmaHoudini unpunished]] {{Domestic Abuse}}r, with the fact that he was acting [[JerkassBall worse then usual (along with near everypony else)]], some fans' claims that it was more in the lines of a child slapping away his food, and every appearance since having him [[TookALevelInKindness act nicer]] or [[TakeThatScrappy receive karma]] doing little to sway them.
21* ReviewsAreTheGospel: Almost nobody outright hated this episode before WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter reviewed it. Before his review, consensus was it was not one of the better ones, but still relatively harmless. Afterwards, it became one of, if not ''the'' most hated episode of the show.
22* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The music used to introduce Iron Will is very similar to the opening bars of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4 "Eye of the Tiger"]] by Survivor.
23* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVt9tFj3HA4&context=C4d4be4eADvjVQa1PpcFPKZ2eSz6waVYSim7E45fIEDxKPwo_U9RA= The head turn scene analyzed in this video]].

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