YMMV / Skylanders Academy

• Accidental Aesop:
  • Eric Rogers has said that the reason people couldn’t recognize Eon in "Beard Science" is because he values his beard so much that he feels invisible if he doesn’t have it, which manifests into reality and truly makes him a nobody. While the episode is mostly saying that everyone has something exceptional about them, it is also saying “Don’t base your entire existence on that one exception. If you lose it, there is nothing left about you”.
  • "Return to Cynder": If something is really weighting down on you and you worry how it will affect your future, it is best that you talk about it and share it with someone. Cynder was very anxious about joining the Skylanders because her father is Malefor, but during her first real fight, Spyro unknowingly makes her reach her breaking point over it due to him never knowing that piece of information and simply thinking Cynder was just nervous about becoming a Skylander.
• Ass Pull:
  • At the beginning of the season 2 finale “Touch of Evil”, Malefor suddenly is established to have magic that can find other realms. Due to his limited appearances in that season (only in "Return to Cynder" and this one), Malefor’s powers are never brought up at any point between the two episodes and if he didn’t have this power, the episode wouldn’t have happened, preventing all the disasters that would follow in the next season.
  • Dark Spyro being "cured" in the penultimate episode before the 2-part finale. The episode immediately preceding it showed Dark Spyro giving in to his conscience that had been steadily growing since the beginning of the season. The Wumpan Puzzle Box even opened for him, giving logical proof that he had pretty much gone back to the side of good and regained his Light, which was stolen by Strykore to make him Dark Spyro in the first place. But come the beginning of the next episode, he's 100% evil, and the cure for his condition amounts to a simple potion that ends up separating his Good and Evil halves.
  • Similarly to the first point, Cynder having psychic powers that can locate the Lost Island of Arkus, which necessitated her appearance and rescue in part 1 of the Season 3 finale as the protagonists weren't able to look at the map to the place before Kaos took it. There was never any foreshadowing of Cynder's psychic ability in the series nor there was any indication that it's a nod to the games she's appeared in.
• Awesome Music: The opening theme, Harmony, is totally catchy and upbeat. There's even an awesomer extended version.
• Broken Base:
  • Crash Bandicoot being Suddenly Voiced, the opinion is split into three teams: 1) Hate the voice as his muteness was the charm of his character, or at least feel that his inelegant blabbering in the Radical Entertainment games was better, or 2) Okay with the idea of being voiced, but wanted him to have a better voice actor, and 3) Those who genuinely like Crash's voice and are glad he can interact with the cast more fluently.
  • Showrunner Eric Rogers revealed that Spyro and Cynder aren't going to fall in love with each other in the show and are set to only be friends. While some of the fanbase doesn't mind this, the vocal fans who adored the original Spyro and Cynder pairing from The Legend of Spyro series say they would stop watching the show altogether because of the series not implementing Spyro and Cynder's love connection they liked so much. However Spyro and Cynder were never in a relationship in the entire Skylanders franchise to begin with, not even in the IDW comics.
  • Was the ending to the show good? Some dislike how it ends on a cliffhanger, with Spyro and Eon going to meet Spyro's family and that it will never be seen through after all the build-up it had gotten in previous episodes while others like it because it works well as both a possible continuation to a fourth season and as a series finale because of how the story arcs in season 3 were wrapped up.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Hex was already a popular character, but she and Skull are considered two of the funniest characters in the show, despite very minimal screen time.
• Fanfic Fuel: In light of the show ending at Season 3, a plethora of stories emerged from the news of the show's cancellation.
  • Spyro and Eon's journey to meet with Spyro's dragonkind.
  • The future of the Skylanders Academy.
  • Kaos's imprisonment. Will he break out again?
  • Malefor being still at large and his relation to the other dragons.
  • The Doom Raiders return to cause more havoc.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: More than a few fans have admitted that this show made them ship Spyro and Stealth Elf.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • In "Space Invaders", after Stealth Elf is believed to have perished, Eon willingly plans to shave his beard to make the ultimate sacrifice in her honor. Three episodes later, he loses his beard and we see that he is pretty much invisible without it, so it was probably for the best that he didn't shave it off.
  • Eon's message to Spyro regarding his friends saying that this isn't goodbye but is not going to see them for an extended period of time in the Season 3 epilogue is much harder to swallow in light of the series cancellation afterwards.
• He's Just Hiding: The fact that Spyro survived the massive explosion created when he and Dark Spyro blew their fire breath at each other gave viewers the implication that the latter also survived the explosion and is out there somewhere.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • In a year with not one or two, but three video game movies which were either flops or So OK, It's Average, the fact that the show is fast-becoming beloved is this. See Win Back the Crowd below.
  • In the episode "Sky Hard", Gary Skylandersson is nominated for "Hero of the Year" at the Skylands Awards because he stayed at home when he had a cold. It is mostly played up as a joke, but one and a half years later, it became clear to the world how important it is to avoid others when you are sick and how much good that can do.
• Just Here for Godzilla: It's very likely that many people are only watching this for Spyro's first ever TV role (or for Crash Bandicoot's appearance). Bonus points if they never played a Skylanders game. Some viewers have also noted their interest in Wolfgang being voiced by Metallica's James Hetfield.
• Narm:
  • Dark Spyro is voiced by Jason "Dipper Pines" Ritter, making him funny (and even adorable) to hear, rather than threatening. This was made intentional to differentiate between Dark Spyro and the good Spyro, though - the former, while still working for Strykore, clearly takes issue with his methods and decides to side with his friends... At which point Strykore takes control.
  • The many times the characters will refer to another being "gone" can get jarring after a while because of how much a euphemism for death is used.
• One-Scene Wonder: There's a reason so many tropes on both this and the main page deal with Crash Bandicoot guest-starring in episode 12 of Season 1.
• Replacement Scrappy: Some see Bad Breath this way and see him as nothing except an excuse to make burp jokes, feeling that he could be replaced by a character from the games like Wrecking Ball or Stink Bomb to get the same effect. It doesn’t help that he gets more screen time and focus compared to the other cadets and passed his graduation in the first episode while Hex, an already fan-favorite from the games, didn’t.
• Signature Scene:
  • Admit it; Crash Bandicoot's very appearance is probably why you even heard of the show.
  • Also, Cynder and Malefor's debut in Season 2.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • Not everyone was happy with Crash Bandicoot's ability to speak. This is ignoring the fact that we've heard him talk occasionally, including in the opening cutscene of his very first game. Granted, his dialogue thus far has only consisted of a singular "Uh-oh!" or "Whoa!".
  • Speaking of voices, not everyone is happy with the voice changes most of the characters got.
  • Spyro and Cynder not falling in love. To Legend of Spyro fans who are major fans of the shipping and followed Skylanders, they consider this very detail to be a reason Season 2 will not get much views. This is also ignoring the fact that Spyro and Cynder were rebooted into different characters in the Skylanders franchise and only see each other as friends, as was originally intended in The Legend of Spyro.
  • Some Spyro fans didn't like that Cynder was written as an Actual Pacifist in the Skylanders Academy canon, and preferred her being an edgy Blood Knight as she was in The Legend of Spyro and the main Skylanders canon.
  • To some Spyro fans, Malefor not resembling any of his previous incarnations. In here, he is portrayed as an evil dragon king and father to Cynder as opposed to his non-comedic, fallen chosen one persona in The Legend of Spyro trilogy. Malefor in Academy is also dark violet, and has volcanic veins.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Each Skylander in the toyline has a personal bio describing their backstory, some of which were really interesting. Outside the one time where Jet-Vac makes brief mention on why he doesn't have his wings in a "I thought everybody knew moment" to Spyro early on, no content from these bios is ever mentioned or used in the show so far, be it for the main cast or the many Skylanders used as backgrounds characters. Noteworthy examples include Roller Brawl, who in her official bio joined the Skylanders trying to get revenge over Kaos being a Stalker with a Crush who kidnapped her brothers when they tried to protect her, and Hex, who was one of the few people to defeat Malefor.
    • After Strykore's reveal as Eon's brother, many fans were not happy when Aurora, who's backstory in the games is that she is Eon's niece, never appeared. Especially as that would make her Strykore's daughter and could have been an interesting plot.
  • Despite appearing as early as episode 3 of season 2, Malefor ends up having very little to do in the show despite having a connection to Spyro’s ancestors. Not even Cynder, his daughter turned cadet, brings him up at any point. So it’s never revealed if he has any evil motive or reason for the heroes to see him as one of their biggest enemies. In Touch of Evil, he gets a power that’s useful for finding where Spyro’s family went for no reason other than to give Spyro a reason to visit him and progress the story. And in season 3, he barely shows up as well, except for the pen-ultimate episode, where he has somewhat of a natural role as a part for helping Spyro grow after the events of Dark Spyro, but is still more of an obstacle for the Skylanders than a real threat.
  • Dark Spyro. It's clear that over time, he is developing his own conscience due to his time with the Skylanders rather than just being Spyro's bad side made manifest initially, which was why Strykore intervened. When the two dragons were separated, instead retaining any goodness he earned on his own, the good and evil sides became clear cut which reduced him to a Generic Doomsday Villain. After his battle with Spyro, he is basically forgotten despite never leaving behind a body.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Again, Crash Bandicoot's appearance. Apparently, it takes place during the events of his very first game, as he mentions his girlfriend Tawna in addition to Dr. Cortex. And yet, we don't even get a glimpse of what might be going on while Crash is stuck in the Skylands. Presumably, they're saving them for Crash's solo series.
  • Dark Spyro again. The fact that in the episode preceding his "cure" and restoration to normal Spyro he showed signs that he was becoming good again all on his own, and it took Strykor hexing him again to make him attack the other skylanders, shows that being good or evil is far from simple black and white. Yet, by the next episode, he's 100% evil, and all it takes is a potion to make things right. They could've come up with a new law of the universe that everyone has Light and Dark within them, and neither can be extinguished completely due to everyone having the capacity for good and evil. Instead of a simple MacGuffin hunt to fix things, they could've had a heavily dramatic episode where the other skylanders, particularly his two closest friends Stealth Elf and Master Eon, try and talk him back to the light and overcome the magic Strykor used in the first place. It could also tie into other characters and start casting doubt on who's really good or evil. Will Master Eon always be the incorruptible Big Good he appears to be? Will Kaos see the light and stop fruitlessly pursuing evil deeds to gain the respect of a man who isn't actually his father? It could shift the character dynamics considerably, but it's cast aside for a rushed finale.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Downplayed with Crash Bandicoot, due to the character's heavy promotion in Imaginators. Notably, it is pretty obvious he's not native to the universe in the series despite having the scenario in Imaginators.
  • More unexpected is a Skylanders version of Coco Bandicoot.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: The real parents of Kaos can come off as this. At the Season 3 finale, it's confirmed that Eon is Kaos' father as some guessed from the Season 2 finale, not Strykore. Considering the many implications given during the events of the series until then, a few consider that Eon's reason for not telling him to protect him from getting recruited by evil due to his massive potential from having both parents being magic users is a bit shallow. Not helping matters is when after the Core of Light is safe in the epilogue, Kaossandra who spent the entire season trying to reform her son Kaos never seemed to bat an eye when he was thrown into Cloudcracker Prison for still having a criminal record and it's implied that both parents never visited him or tried to convince him to turn good afterwards before taking up their respective jobs (Eon being sent to other realms meant that he is able to look for the purple dragons while bringing Spyro along and Kaossandra running the Skylanders Academy in his stead). Eon being blown to another dimension and just regaining the ability to manifest in the Skylands may gave him a pass in some regards but Kaossandra doesn't have such a luxury.
• Win Back the Crowd: In regards to the reputation of video game animated adaptations. The show is surprisingly well-made, and has subsequently been well-received, even among some of the more pickier individuals, and despite a few complaints, which add up minor in the grand scheme of things. Given the Poorly Disguised Pilot, one hopes if Crash does get his own, it turns out the same.

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