This past weekend, the wait for the Season Three premiere ended, after a long 6-7-month hiatus. This is the first season where Meghan McCarthy has a more significant role for the series, and so far, despite Sombra being an underwhelming antagonist, the season premiere was excellent. Character development was one of the premiere's strengths, and Spike and Twilight got some much-deserved interaction together, which some fans wanted to see more of. There's been a lot of talk about what Spike did during the second part of The Crystal Empire. While most people seem to agree that he saved the day, there's a vocal number of people that do not believe he deserved any credit. I've been hearing some say, "All Spike did was walk a few steps." or "Cadance should get all the glory!" or "Twilight's the hero, not Spike!"
I'm going to explain why he earned it. You have to start with how it began -- Twilight allowed Spike to accompany her to obtain the Crystal Heart. She originally said that she had to do this alone. However, she later reconsidered to let her #1 assistant to join her. The next thing that happened is when the two saw the illusions -- the first one was with Twilight approaching a door, and she appeared to have returned to Canterlot to have Celestia approach saying that Twilight failed the test. Fortunately for Twilight, Spike was able to get Twilight's attention and realize that it was not reality for her. Moments later, Spike had to deal with an illusion himself with him fearing that he'd no longer be wanted. Thankfully, Twilight responded that she would never leave Spike behind. The next reason would be after the two make their ascend up the stairs, Twilight tried to get the Heart herself, only to be trapped by Sombra's black crystals. That leaves Spike as the one to deliver the Crystal Heart. He didn't just take a few steps, he descended from significant heights. Seriously, he could have been killed. Yes, Shining Armor did toss Cadance to prevent Spike from death and the Heart from going into the wrong hands, but that doesn't mean Spike's heroism should be discredited. Without him, not only would Twilight have failed the test, Sombra would have been victorious. I'd say that stained-glass is definitely earned. He doesn't get enough love as it is.
For those that don't want to give Spike credit -- why do you feel that way? Do you hate him as a character so much that you refuse to give him credit no matter what he? I sense that there's a bit of prejudice, but maybe that's just me.