A Starlit Theory... Or "How Speculating on an Antagonist's Backstory May Lead to an Intriguing Revelation"

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BLOG CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON 5 PREMIERE! PLEASE LEAVE IF YOU, FOR SOME ODD REASON, HAVE NOT YET WATCHED THIS EPISODE.

So, the long-awaited Season 5 premiere aired last weekend. And while not my favorite of all the premieres, I’d be hard pressed to hate it. Its slightly scary atmosphere, comparable more to the first two comic arcs rather than the show itself, kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. And Starlight Glimmer, a character I simultaneously hate and like at the same time.

But one of the main things that’s been brought up about this equalist mare is how little we actually know about her. Are her intentions as pure (all things considered) as we are led to believe? Why does she act the way she does? Do her actions and philosophy more reflect communism or a cult?

And perhaps most importantly: What could these answers mean to the larger picture?

Before we get into the mind-blowing bits, let’s dissect Starlight Glimmer’s character and try to speculate a backstory for her. First, we take into account her modus operandi: the removal of a pony’s cutie mark and special talent, all for the sake of “equality.” I think by the end of the episode, it’s safe to say that this is a mare who does not practice what she preaches; even her excuse as to why she still has her cutie mark (to use the magic effectively) is flimsy at best.

Going back to the communism argument, it kind of reminds me of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, in which, after taking over a farm, one animal group, the pigs, essentially become the tyrants they were (supposedly) rebelling against, arguing that, while all animals are equal, “some are more equal than others.” Sound like anypony we know?

Part of me has to wonder if Starlight’s goals even started out as pure to begin with. Did she just take in several ponies who, like her, felt isolated because their talents appeared to eclipse everypony else? And as time went on, did she start to lose herself, her initially noble, if flawed, goal becoming akin to hostile takeover?

A quote from near the climax of the episode might help.

Notice the way she talks about the ponies feeling “better than everypony else.” She says it with such venom that I can’t help but imagine she had gotten caught on the wrong end of this kind of relationship, multiple times in fact; resentment to a general attitude doesn’t fester after a single occurrence.

But why should Starlight, of all ponies, feel inadequate? She’s a unicorn with power enough to remove a pony’s ability to do that special something that makes them unique. Clearly, she has magic to spare. And her ambiguously shaped cutie mark does hint at being powerful in magic. We may be talking about yet another of Princess Celestia’s students! (Okay, maybe not.)

But then, what does one do with a lot of magic? Every other pony in Equestria either has a hobby or a marketable skill. But magic? Based on the types of spells we’ve seen Twilight perform, I can’t imagine a lot of practical uses for things like, say, the creature hybridization spell or “Number 25.” Hardly useful in everyday life. Or even as a biweekly thing. Heck, the only magically inclined unicorn I’ve seen make regular use of her powers is actually Trixie, a stage magician.

Or is that the point? With everypony else’s cutie marks representing talents that one can use on a regular basis, Starlight might have felt left out. Her one, special talent, the thing that makes her who she is, is not something she could share with others. And feeling isolated from others through little to no fault of your own never works out for the better. Though, again, having magic that surpasses that of most unicorns is nothing to sneeze at. I can easily assume this mare has an ego (with a hint of inferiority complex) that would make Rainbow Dash go, “Girl, get over yourself.”

The way I see it, Starlight’s plan was more of a revenge plot for her imagined mistreatment at the hooves of those “elitist” ponies (or maybe less imagined, but still aimed at the wrong ponies). The plan was simple; take a bunch of ponies who feel their talents have gotten them nowhere (or breed resentment that leads to this mindset), remove the “problem,” and have a whole town of ponies who will hang on her every word. She would be beloved by many and rule over them, as is her right. And it would only be a matter of time before she managed to take all of Equestria under her sway.

(Now the specifics of Starlight’s plan are never really revealed, nor what her end goal truly is, but I can all but safely say that this is as close as we may get until [and if] she ever returns.)

But as I came up with this theory, something deeper sprang to mind, something that may have implications for the series as a whole. If what I’ve determined is true, then it reveals a frightening pattern that we seem to have missed completely.

Magic-adept unicorns are more likely to become anti-social egomaniacs.

Now, we’ve all made the comparison between Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, how the former could have turned out like the latter had things gone differently. But Trixie is also an anti-Twilight as well, praising her talents and stroking her own ego to a ludicrous degree that, if left unchecked, could lead to disaster (and did).

So, to recap:
Trixie was a showboater, believing her talents made her the most powerful pony in Equestria.
Sunset Shimmer believed her power made her destined for greatness to the point where she went against Celestia’s wishes in her bid for power.
And as I’ve just speculated, Starlight Glimmer may have had plans to subjugate all of Equestria for the sake of making herself feel above everypony else.
And if Celestia is to be believed, Starswirl the Bearded was unable to finish his alicornation spell because he never understood the impact and power of friendship.
Even Twilight Sparkle, the one who learned to embrace friendship, started out as a loner who cared more about acing her next exam than socializing with her fellow students.

I’m going to take this as a warning whenever a new powerful unicorn shows up.

It’s amazing how thinking of a character’s backstory may lead to some interesting new information.

This is CF signing out.