Episode Re-Review: Discordant Harmony · 5:01pm February 17th
Season 7 had been up, down, and all around in quality up to this point, the longest such period of inconsistent writing quality stretching all the way back to Season 1 when the show was still trying to find its footing. It almost feels like Season 7 was originally going to be a half season, which would explain why it was the only one not to get a two parter season premiere. It being ordered while Season 6 was still in production likely had something to do with the theatrical movie taking longer to finish than anticipated (though by this point a release date had been set). Meanwhile, with U.S. airings taking a summer break after "Not Asking for Trouble", early airings on Treehouse T.V. in Canada had also stopped, with this and the next episode being the last ones that would air before their U.S. airings in August (until leaks started happening in the second half of Season 7 around September/October). With all that going on, the Fox brothers Michael P. and Will were returning to pen a Discord episode, something they had never done before. Their most recent episode had been "Forever Filly", Season 7's best episode up to that point. But Discord was a character that carried with him a lot of baggage, and as can be attested from episodes before and since, when mishandeled he can almost singlehandedly destroy an episode's reputation. Many regard this as the last time Discord was a well written character. In light of what Seasons 8 and 9 would do to Discord, has this episode deserved its reputation? Or was it a canary in the coal mine about what lie ahead for Discord? Well, let's find out.
The episode begins with Discord having another Tuesday Tea at Fluttershy's cottage and being his usual, chaotic self. Soon, however, he decides that he should return the favor and host a tea party at his place. In fact, he doesn't want to wait until next Tuesday, he'll do it right away. To that end, Discord leaves Fluttershy to get everything ready. And in doing so he spends a lot of time talking to himself.
So Discord goes around shopping for what he'll need. His first stop is a tea store to buy the tea. He's quite disappointed when the singing jinsie tea doesn't actually sing, so he takes it upon himself to correct that oversight.
Then he goes to buy a tea kettle, and he actually pays for it with bits. After that, Discord goes to a party supply store, where he does things like make the napkins glow and fold, and makes the pinata sentient (weirdly enough, it's very obviously voiced by Andrea Libman using her Pinkie Pie voice, but Pinkie Pie also cameos in this episode with a speaking role).
However, when Discord goes back to his place, he begins to worry that everything is too chaotic for Fluttershy and that it won't make her feel comfortable. So he calls in a bunch of other Discords to help him re-decorate, turn everything normal.
It also involves getting rid of all the things Discord just acquired for the tea party, including sending the singing jinsie on a trip around Equestria and chasing away the pianta with bats because "pinatas hate bats". From there, he proceeds to get his hair styled, and then tries on various outfits. One of them is actually a nod to King Henry VIII, the English king infamous for beheading his wives when they kept producing daughters and not sons (thus denying him an heir).
Ultimately, however, he settles on a red sweater famously worn by the late, great Mr. Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood fame.
Everything is now ready, and just in time since Fluttershy shows up at that very moment. She's naturally quite surprised (and even a bit dismayed) to find everything so normal. Then, suddenly, when Discord goes to refill Fluttershy's cup, he drops the kettle. To his surprise, he finds himself becoming transparent and see through. As it turns out, if Discord isn't being chaotic, he will slowly cease to exist and fade away.
This does seem to raise a contradiction considering Discord wasn't chaotic before: When he was drained of all his magic by Tirek, and when Chrysalis' throne prevented him from using his chaos magic. But I think the difference is that in those cases he was forced to not be chaotic, whereas here he's choosing willingly not to do so. And by choosing to not do so, that is what's causing him to fade away. So, since Discord can't be chaotic, Fluttershy takes it upon herself to be chaotic. And it works.
Back to his usual self, Discord brings back everything he was going to use for the tea party originally. And he confesses that he was worried that him and Fluttershy didn't make sense as a result of other ponies questioning how he could be friends with her. Fortunately, Fluttershy reassures him that he makes sense to her, and that's all that matters. Interestingly, she's not the least bit surprised or weirded out when Discord reveals he still has a full body suit of Fluttershy that he had on the whole time.
And the episode ends with Fluttershy and Discord enjoying a chaotic tea party together, even having to catch their sandwiches with butterfly nets.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the episode? I wasn't kidding when I said this was the last time Discord was written well. For what ends up being his only episode in all of Season 7, he's really good in it. Seeing him go to such great lengths to try to change himself just for Fluttershy, worried about whether they can truly be friends if other ponies are skeptical, it's a nice touch and a way to build on his character development. And yes, the episode provides plenty of ship fuel for FlutterCord, even more than there already was. It being a Discord episode also means there's a lot of wacky visuals, and they don't disappoint. However, I feel like they might have unintentionally shot themselves in the foot with this episode. By saying and showing that Discord needs to be chaotic or else he will cease to exist, that might have unintentionally given the last two seasons ground to show Discord at his absolute worst, claiming that he had to do it because that's just him being chaotic.
However, I feel like a good counterargument to that is that while Discord still needs to be chaotic, he's not supposed to be selfish and ignorant of the consequences. The whole point of his reformation back in "Keep Calm and Flutter On" was that he agreed to think about others, not just himself, and that he promised to use his magic for good instead of evil. Him only caring about himself and being ignorant of the consequences is him regressing back into being a villain. And episodes like this show how he can be his chaotic self without crossing the line. It's saying something when the Fox brothers of all writers could understand Discord better than the likes of Nicole Dubac, Michael Vogel, and Josh Haber despite the three of them more or less being the show runners in Seasons 7 through 9. Granted, "A Matter of Principals" was already very likely in development by the time this episode hit the air, so they may not have been relying on this episode to justify Discord's actions in that episode. But it's easy to see how this episode might have convinced the other writers that it was okay to write the Grogar twist, when in fact it didn't.
Within this episode, there is also a not so minor problem. Fluttershy has already shown on multiple occasions that she accepts Discord for who he is, that she is the one pony who continues to believe in him even when everyone else is skeptical of him or doesn't trust him. So Discord in fact has no need to go to the lengths he goes to here, Fluttershy would already be happy no matter what he did. Maybe that was intentional, a bit of irony: Discord doing something that made no sense and that he had no need to do, being chaotic when he didn't need to be, because Fluttershy already liked him as his chaotic self. But I feel like this episode could've been boosted just slightly if Discord were entertaining or hosting someone like Twilight (who he's always been messing with) or Princess Celestia (who was responsible for letting him out again in the first place), someone he might have reason to impress or look good for. In fact, if it were Twilight, this could've been spun as him trying to make up for the destruction of the Golden Oak Library all the way back in "Twilight's Kingdom".
Now, I don't really hold the events of later seasons against this episode. Like with "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", I'm not mad that future episodes didn't do more with the changes brought about (even knowing that Hasbro was responsible for shooting down ideas about Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon), and the episode is still really strong as it is. But I wouldn't say it's completely flawless as a result of what I mentioned. It ultimately gets a borderline A/A+. It's still really enjoyable, but it does have its flaws.
Well, next week is a re-review I bet you're all looking forward to, my re-review of "The Perfect Pear". Do I still consider it FiM's all time best episode, or has it been knocked off its pedestal? Come back next week to find out.
Yeah, this is easily Discord's best episode post-reformation. I mean, the worst thing he does is dump a whole lot of bits on the tea set store pony, but compared to some of his other jerkass moments it's really not that bad.
Also, you know what this episode reminds me of? Frannie 911 from American Dad. If you've never seen that episode or just don't remember it, here's the main plot summary:
* After Stan disowns Roger for destroying his study, Francine tries to reconcile their friendship by pretending the latter was kidnapped so the former will come to his rescue. However, Stan never shows up, forcing Francine to put up with Roger's jerkass attitude. Stan eventually reveals that he knew about Francine's plan all along and convinces her to put her foot down to Roger, which she does by giving him an ultimatum; be nice or be kicked out of the family. Reluctantly, he agrees to these terms and becomes a nicer person. However, as time goes by, Roger becomes very sickly, culminating in him collapsing after fully restoring Stan's study. On his deathbed, he reveals that his species need to, as he puts it, let their "bitchiness" out, otherwise it turns to bile and poisons them. To save his life, the Smiths convince him to be a jerk again, which he does by insulting Steve's dancing.
For me, I can't help but find this episode a bit boring, but I can't really explain why
Looking back, I think “Discordant Harmony” was quite possibly Discord’s defining moment as a reformed character, next to his appearances in “Twilight’s Kingdom” and “To Where and Back Again”.
I can see what you mean by this. Then again, much of the reason for why is because I would’ve loved for there to be episodes giving greater exploration for Discord’s relationship with other characters more than just Fluttershy.
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We do get Discord's friendships with Spike and Big Mac.
I thought Jim Miller was the showrunner from the second half of season 5 to 9, not Nicole Dubuc, Michael Vogel, and Josh Haber?
Kinda weird in Josh Haber's case how he ran into problems with Discord, considering he'd been a writer on the show since season 4 and already did pretty well with Discord in To Where and Back Again Part 2. Though to be fair, To Where and Back Again and The Big Mac Question are the only times Josh wrote for Discord so it probably wasn't his fault for why Discord fumbled near the end.
5769205 Jim was show runner, still. But Josh Haber served as story editior, and he, Michael and Nicole all wrote many of the most important episodes in the show's last three seasons, including the Season 9 finale of which the Grogar twist was part of. And they were responsible for penning the episodes/specials that painted Discord in such a bad light.