IDW Comic Issue #24 review! · 9:37pm Nov 7th, 2014
Well, between finally writing a new chapter of About Last Night, I got another review out.
The comic begins with Fluttershy deciding to take the Cutie Mark Crusaders on a nature hike because it’s always the quiet ones that turn out to be masochists. The foals are looking forward to seeing dangerous animals, but Fluttershy says they’re going to learn and observe from a distance. Then, a meteorite crashes into her front yard because Fluttershy said an ironic sentence.
No, really, it’s Discord, as we find out after a pretty good gag involving the schematics of names. Then, after Discord pulls a crick out of his neck, he announces he’s there for his and Fluttershy’s weekly hangout session. Given the dialogue here, I’m hoping this is supposed to be before Twilight’s Kingdom.
Fluttershy reminds him that their meetup was cancelled for the week because she was taking the CMC on a field trip. Discord “realizes” (I’m assuming he’s lying because Discord) he accidentally went back in time. He tries to push the plans, but Fluttershy puts her hoof down and says it’s a CMC only field trip... which Discord can come on after being made an honorary Crusader in Friends Forever #2.
Of course, Discord quickly gets bored with Fluttershy’s droning and encourages the foals to poke an alligator. I got to say, Discord is funny as always, but Fluttershy’s expressions as she deals with these antics are pretty good too. Discord proposes taking over the field trip since, being immortal, he knows lots of animals that Fluttershy can’t show. She’s reluctant, until he worries about running into a harmless dragon sized butterfly, to which Fluttershy agrees instantly.
There’s a slight hiccup then: don’t lampshade your foreshadowing, writers, unless you’re purely playing things for laughs.
Discord summons a time machine, and kicks Dr. Whooves out, because if there’s one thing IDW is better at than milking licensed properties dry, it’s shoving in fandom nods. And Discord says they can’t change the past, which gives the three little delinquents free reign to do whatever. This should be fun.
They end up in ancient Anugypt, where they’re immediately arrested for something Discord did long ago. So apparently Discord’s powers have decayed so much that even when he was evil his rule wasn't the pain and suffering Return to Harmony hinted.
Well, it might be because Anubis is apparently on his power level. Yeah, they’re taken before him and Discord doesn't just teleport them away because... reasons. Sweetie sees some hieroglyphs of Anubis holding NightMare Moon’s cutie mark while cats worship him.
The King himself is angry at Discord for betrayal, apparently with the cats. Discord says he did it because Anubis was too obsessed with order, and seeing a cat in the rafters, whispers to Fluttershy to keep his head down.
The cats attack en masse, and the leader, Baast, guides them out. Wait... cats can talk? Is Rarity a slave owner?
By the time machine, Baast... apparently was in a relationship with Discord.
Okay, time out: was this back when Discord actually lived, or has Discord been time traveling since he’s been freed? If it’s the former, why was friendship such an alien concept to him? He must have cared about Baast on some level if their dialogue is any indication. If it’s the latter, why aren't we told that?
Sweetie all but guesses the same force that corrupted Luna is corrupting Anubis, and Baast doesn't like Fluttershy because she believes she’s Discord’s girlfriend. Oh boy, the last time a writer tried shipping, we got the NightMare Rarity arc.
Discord goes too far into the future, where we get... Cyberponies. Wow. Then Discord takes theme to the Kelpie City of Coltlantis. Hey writers, make sure the horse puns work.
Then we get dinosaurs. While Fluttershy is geeking out, a large Roc swipes up the CMC, and Discord doesn't just poof them back because... reasons. Then Fluttershy passes out while trying to catch them, because... reasons. Yeah, it says she’s tired, but it seems to come out of nowhere.
Discord gets an idea and whistles. Then we cut to Fluttershy waking up to see the CMC are safe and Discord talking to a butterdragon named Hubert. He explains that Hubert was his friend before Fluttershy and he saved the girls.
There’s two things wrong with this. First, it makes it clear that Discord had friends before Fluttershy. Yet in Keep Calm and Flutter On, he clearly doesn’t know what friendship is. He’s completely caught off guard when he realizes he doesn't want Fluttershy to be angry with him. What has she done that Baast and Hubert haven’t? Did he have some horrible falling out with them later? Well... see below. And second, a climax off screen? Lame.
So Discord takes everypony home. The End.
Okay... this needed to be at least two issues. This could have been great at exploring Discord’s life before he was imprisoned. But like The Journal of the Two Sisters, it raises more questions than it answers, the big one being why was Discord portrayed as such a powerful and dangerous figure in his first appearance when we see him as just an eccentric creature here? Why did his friendships not stop him from being evil? It doesn't seems they ended badly since he was still on pretty good terms with them. Have the Nightmare Forces been at this with more than just Luna and Anubis?
Why not make issue #24 all about Anugypt, use the pages to fill in the back story, then make issue #25 about prehistoric times? I want to like this issue, but... all these questions.
Well, judging by the preview image, the next issue will be epic.
By Sunday, along with a new chapter: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. That’s the film, the DVD, and the novelization. So I’ll make it. Seven things in seven days.
They wouldn't happen to be riding sharks, would they?
As far as your questions regarding Discord's friendships before Fluttershy, seeing how the comics aren't canon with the show I doubt it's worth getting riled up over.
This is a good issue, but you're right about how it raises some questions about continuity.
Why do few people mention that Baast is the chaotic cat form of Twilight Sparkle? It brings a whole new reason to the fact Discord constantly mess with Twilight every time the two are in the same 50ft^2 area, outside the fact Twilight is Piscard if Discord was Q.
I actually have an explanation for how Discord can call these creatures he met before his reformation 'friends' and still not know what friendship is come "Keep Calm and Flutter On".
He had those relationships and bonds then, but he didn't understand what they were, and they didn't hold real value for him, because they judged him as a being of chaos, not holding him to the same behavior restrictions as normal creatures. They never got angry with him for hurting them, because they never expected him to be very reliable. Then came Fluttershy, who referred to him as a friend and showed him what friendship is really like. Then, in retrospect, he realizes all those creatures he knew before were actually friends, and that's actually why he led this trip back, so he could see them all again and see that they were indeed his friends as he'd come to believe once he learned what friendship was from Fluttershy.
2580566 This is a much better explanation for the "never had a friend before" issue than anything I could have come up with, makes sense to me. As for the other point, that Discord could have used his powers to save them from danger at any point but doesn't do it until the end, it's a legitimate criticism.
I think the idea is, Discord is really bad at thinking tactically and strategically (who here with Discord's powers couldn't wipe the board against any other power we've seen in the show or comics). He is chaos, he doesn't plan well at all, and he never really worries about anything being a threat to him until it is far too late. I suspect whenever he is in danger on his own, he doesn't use his powers until the last possible second, just for laughs (although whether he could protect 3 foals and Fluttershy in a fight with a being like Anubis who raises the Sun and Moon is a different question). In the end, Fluttershy points that out to him, that he needs to actually protect the foals and act responsible, instead of just blithely thrusting them into danger and trusting it will work out, just because it always works out for Discord. Once Discord decides to act, the outcome is so pre-ordained they don't bother showing it to us. I think the lesson in this story is now that Discord has learned not to harm others with his powers, the next step is to help others.
I definitely agree this should have been a two-parter, with lots more worldbuilding and focus on Anugypt.
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Actually, I think the explanation for Discord not protecting them is based in his character. He's out to have fun. Where's the fun if a God solves everything with the snap of their finger-type-appendages? Certainly the Crusaders would get bored easily if he automatically protected them from everything...
Also, we go back to the events of "Princess Twilight Sparkle", where he could have fixed everything or at least pointed them all in the right direction when they first summoned him, but it would have robbed Twilight of a very important lesson that she needed to learn.
I think it's the same thing with Discord in any other situation. When it comes to Discord, there's no such thing as genuine adversity - short of what happened with Tirek - so he has no real way to grow when he can fix anything with a snap of his fingers. So the only growth he can experience is growing with others as they face adversity.
2581214 That makes a lot of sense. I don't know if it really contradicts what I'm saying, but that does explain a lot about his behavior, and his desire to hang around ponies all the time, good or evil. He needs mortals for perspective, in a way.
I assumed that Fluttershy passed out because in 'dinosaur times!' there was a lot more oxygen in the air and the strenuous breathing caused her to pass out