This episode seems to have really humanized Discord. Before, he seemed more like a force of nature.

I still like the "Most of the time" caveat he throws in at the end. You can't take all the mischief out. At least he knows he's on a tight leash.

Yeah, like I said it worked because he HASN'T actually changed much. He didn't do a full 180 "I'm good now". He simply became willing to try and get along with ponies instead of just treating them as toys. he's willing to actually TRY and reform, but he hasn't actually done it. he's just working on it, and could still backslide.

Now what would be a safe application of chaos magic?

Hopefully we'll see.

It seems more likely that the chaos is in the application, not the magic itself; from a strictly pedantic point of view, fixing a lamp (even if it's a new form) is strictly against the concept of chaos, as was fixing Sweet Apple Acres.

I think Discord can create order as well as he can create chaos, cause that's what he does when he fixes the chaos he caused.

Basically, he's a reality warper, which means he's a deus ex machina. As long as he's around, we can't have BIG episodes like that ones in the premieres and finales without the audience thinking - why don't they just call in Discord?

Maybe the next big villain is going to be a reality warper as well.

Warper vs. warper. I like.

Oh Celestia has him off doing something and they can't get him thre in time, Or he just go "Eh not my problem" grabs some popcorn and sits back to watch the fun. he's still Chaotic after all

Best handwave ever.

If Discord's not going to be placed on the bus, I'm thinking maybe something similar to Star Trek's Q Continuum.

Only instead of Discord's kind wanting him to behave, they're upset cause he's not doing what he's supposed to be doing - creating discord.

And then, in the end - he decides to create discord amongst them so that they'd be too busy being mad at each other to bother with Equestria. And cause keeping watch on his kind is a full-time job, he's also effectively Put On The Bus.

Gotta wonder how many dragonequi there are left.

And here I thought Discord was one of a kind.

He might still be. In mythology we see all kinds of creatures that have a species name despite being unique or there being only a few.

The Pegasus for example.

Post of the Day #262

This makes too much sense.

. . .not really.

See y'all later.

Regarding the "was Discord nerfed?" discussion from a few pages back:

I think we need to keep his motivation in mind here. In the Ro H episodes, he was acting the way he did because he needed to split up the elements of Harmony to avoid being resealed, and as such basically jumped right to the extremes, and he only turned the world into his personal playground when he was sure that the elements were neutralized. In this episode, he had the elements hanging Sword of Damocles style over his head the whole time. He wasn't going to go totally insane with his powers until he was reasonably sure there was no risk of getting zapped, and by the time he reaches that point, it's tempered by Fluttershy. Basically, he wasn't nerfed; he was deliberatly holding back because he knew that if he did anything major (like fucking with the sun and moon) he'd get sent right back into the statue.

...you know, I do have to wonder what sort of sphere of influence Discord has. Given that most of the chaos happened in Ponyville (enough so that the, admittedly worst, people in Canterlot didn't recognize the heroes who stopped an elemental god), it can be assumed that he didn't do much to mess with, say, Appleloosa or any town other than Ponyville... so I wonder.

Basically, this is leading into wondering why Discord would ever physically present himself to the Element Bearers in any circumstance, since that's literally the only way they can affect him.

On the other hand he was able to influence the movement of the moon and sun, which implies a much larger range and sphere of influence.

It's 3AM and I am not in the mood for yet another Equestrian Sun And Moon discussion. XD But you're right, of course. I guess the only real answer is that the Element Bearers are likely to be right where the chaos is, and that's the most interesting place to hang out.

Either that or the Friendship Cannon homes in and would hit him even if he wasn't nearby.

Well it did undo everything that Discord did so it probably has some beyond visual range capability.