• watches PPG clip*

Bubbles: I like ponies!

Ah, it all makes sense now. Discord is Him!

If reverting everything at the end would mean going back to the season 1-style Slice of Life episodes, and treating this one as a sidequest, I just can't see how that would be "the worst kind of sucker punch".

@zerky: I know Niles is a pronghorn, but he mentions kudu Flameshaman setting their savannahs ablaze in demonstrations of power when new leaders come to power. It's a very cool idea.

You have a problem with the adventuring episodes?

Discord actually reminds me a lot of Him. The way he stroked Twilight's face seemed very reminiscent of Him playing with Bubbles' pigtails

edited 12th Sep '11 3:00:59 PM by gingerninja666

Oh My Gosh! Nerdgasm. That clip is awesome. Now I whant see that episode even more that before (and wories free).

And fact that John de Lancie voiced him. He is MLPFIM version of Q.

And just like original he is not true villain, have hidden motives, what may be good for Mane Cast after all (anyone who watched TNG know what I'm talking), so he is not some Complete Monster or Knight of Cerebus. That's my teory and I stick with it.

I think the concern wasn't that things will go back to normal, since that's pretty much going to happen regardless, it was that Discord might decide to undo everything himself which sort of robs the cast of their victory. It's more satisfying to see the characters beat the villain than it is to have the villain just stop bugging them because he's had his fun already.

edited 12th Sep '11 3:04:49 PM by Crowfall

I'm still a little torn on Discord after seeing the clip.

The Good: It's frickin' Q! The voice, the mannerisms, the powers, it's FRICKIN Q! And while I can mostly see where the episode's going, just having him as the villain is all kinds of awesome.

The Bad: Then again, they could easily overdo it like early TNG, making Discord into such a Large Ham that he goes from "awesome" to "a joke." And the design...I can see what they were aiming for, but it doesn't look too impressive. Nightmare Moon might have been less effective, but she was at least looked like a major threat.

And sorry to bring this up again, but is he sticking around the whole season? Because frankly, I don't think it would work. He's powerful enough as an effective one-shot, but anything beyond that will only suck out any sort of threat he might carry. HIM was a good villain for Powerpuff Girls, but that was because the show was built to support characters like that. If the first season was any indication, this show...isn't.

Discord is the best pony :D

He is not Q. His performancee might be an Actor Allusion to him, but you can't use that as a basis to say that the characters are the same

He was sealed away by the Princesses. That doesn't happen to good people, or even bad people knowing those two. You have to be doing something incredibly evil to warrant that kind of punishment

I swear, people see him acting goofy and they instantly jump on the "He's not evil!" bandwagon

edited 12th Sep '11 3:09:52 PM by gingerninja666

Even worse are the people who are upset that he isn't something straight out of a grimdark fic.

I know, right? Yes, he's goofy. But this is a show aimed at little girls. Even at worst, he was never going to be really really evil. And again, we have no idea what's going on in that clip other than Discord is playing a "game". We have no clue what's at stake, or why the cast is "playing". Just because he acts goofy doesn't mean that he isn't powerful.

edited 12th Sep '11 3:16:41 PM by JapaneseTeeth

I call him not evil because of his similarity to Q.

And what I saw on that clip sujest to me that it more that just Actor Alusion and more like Expy. For me he is Q, that my teory

And I call him good, because Q wasn't good in TNG.

I knew that will hapen, fans hyped him as Cosmic Horror Evil Overlord and we got Q Expy, not same thing.

edited 12th Sep '11 3:20:52 PM by DeathCloud

Seriously. In a one minute clip he did more to hinder the cast than Nightmare Moon did in her entire episode. So anyone who thinks he isn't threatening isn't paying attention.

Why you complain about this so much ? I haven't seen any comment sujesting that he is not threatening

I've made two posts about it. That's not really a lot of complaining. And I wasn't referring to people on this forum.

Discord and Celestia should have a troll-off.

I imagine something like this may actually happen. I cannot imagine Celestia meeting him without the two engaging in some creative verbal sparring.

How do you explain the And I Must Scream punishment that the sisters gave to him? Unless he's evil they'd have no reason to do that. Don't assume he's Q just because he acts like it. That's absurd!

She seems far too pissed off at him tbh

edited 12th Sep '11 3:26:35 PM by gingerninja666

COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF WMG. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Apparently this was supposed to be the Season Finale. It was apparently written, storyboarded, animated, voiced, and printed during that season's production, but was held back in exchange for "Party of One" and "Best Night Ever."

Perhaps this was meant to be the Grand Finale?

The show begins with Twilight going to Ponyville, making some friends, and defeating a villain. The next twenty-two episodes focus on the building relationships between the new group of friends while handling smaller crises such as the Ursa Minor or the dragon, ending with the ponies going to the Gala. Then, an extremely powerful villain appears and uses the same character development against the ponies, turning them against each other by exploiting their weaknesses and breaking their friendship apart. Only in the end, they manage to get back together and defeat him, seal him back up, and go back to Ponyville closer than ever.

The last few My Little Pony shows were only marginal successes, with only the first G1 cartoon receiving any real acclaim from anyone. So, it was obvious going in that this show probably would receive the same lukewarm reception. When it became a huge hit, the executives ordered that a second season begin production. Thus, "Return to Harmony" was shelved as the Season Two premiere (giving the staff more of a buffer and allowing the season to start a few weeks earlier than expected) and added two "normal" episodes to fill out the twenty-six ordered for the first season.

I know I'm way wrong, but hey, it's a fun theory anyway.

edited 12th Sep '11 3:33:18 PM by dGalloway

He don't look like it was bad for him. Q also was viewed by allmost everyone as evil dick who should be at least locked in such prison, and he may deserve it.

And Dis Q (:D) not only act like Q but also have similar powers and what he done to Mane Cast propably result in some character building road.

edited 12th Sep '11 3:36:30 PM by DeathCloud

^^That... actually may not be so far off the mark.

Nice teory, you should ask Lauren about this, if that true she may confirm it.

edited 12th Sep '11 3:40:35 PM by DeathCloud

I personaly don't see the point in making him good. This series needs a good villain every now and then. I'm all for adding sympathy to antagonists (as you should know Death) but evven I just want to see a fun bad guy this time. Leave the moral ambiguity alone. You're basing you're entire theory on the fact that Discord acts like Q, which is nothing short of absurd

edited 12th Sep '11 3:41:13 PM by gingerninja666

I say it again. I don't think Discord is good, just like Q wasn't good guy.

And it more than just acting like Q.

@Gallo, that's not really spoiler or theory...I think all of that is fairly well known information among fans. (Well, except for the part about the reason behind the decision to shelf Discord for 2nd season, I'm not sure if that clearly was the main reason.)

And on another note: Celestria/Discord conflict have some similarities to Vorlon/Shadow conflic from Babylon 5.