MLP Episode Review: Keep Calm and Flutter On. OR... Striker's Ranty Rants of Ranting · 5:54pm Apr 28th, 2016
Okay, folks. First review of two. Are you ready?
I got nothing really pithy to say for setup. Let's just get to it.
Keep Calm and Flutter On
We open in Ponyville. Pinkie, Rarity, Dash, Twilight and Spike are there, and Celestia's coming! Pinkie even polished her hooves. We learn Fluttershy is helping Applejack with a 'mishap' as Sweet Apple Acres. Celestia's late, but it turns out she's got an important visitor. Spike suddenly spots who the visitor is. It's Discord!
Oh, prepare for pain.
After commercials, "With all due respect, Princess Celestia, how could you bring Discord here?!" Okay, Twilight. ALL my love and respect, there. Yes, what the fuckity-fuck are you thinking? Celestia is aware the last time, Discord caused 'serious havoc'. Gee, understatement of the fucking millennium. Dash, Rarity and Pinkie all call her on that. Good, grow thicker spines. Although Pinkie's is no whipped cream to go with the chocolate milk rain clouds. Eh, thought's there.
Celestia says she understands. No, you don't. If you did, you wouldn't have thought of this plan and decided to entrust his victims to it. "But I have use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil."
...
The part of Princess Celestia today will be played by Doctor Doom/Red Skull/Lex Luthor/Darkseid/Mongul/Magneto/holy shit that's a pretty skeevy reason. No, seriously. Not out of the goodness of your heart? Not out of pity or compassion? Because you'd have need for it? Also, what need? Speak up, NOW! For some insane reason she wants the Mane Six to do that. Spike has a perfectly natural freakout about this, but Celestia has the Elements of Harmony for them. She's even cast a spell so Discord can't take them and hide them again. Yeah, because that worked out so well last time. Celestia asks where Fluttershy is, because she apparently might be the best to reform him. Dash is skeptical as all get-out. And asks, "Really?" Celestia gives no answer. No, give her an answer! RIGHT NOW!
SO AM I!
With that segue, we cut to Sweet Apple Acres. Turns out some beavers have built a dam and there's flooding of the orchards. Fluttershy is negotiating its removal. Fluttershy takes the beaver's side in Applejack apologizing for calling him a 'nuisance'. Why... Dash zooms in and tells them to get to Ponyville. There, Celestia says she's confident Fluttershy can, "get him to use magic obediently, of his own free will." Wait, what? How the fuck... I've gone cross-eyed. And she... goes off to a Summit. No, no, you do not drop this off on them with no warning, then go fly off to some fucking meeting Luna could probably run! Get your ass back there!
No, she flies off. And... they decide to release him. Wow, guess that whole, "Learn when to question Celestia's orders," lesson really didn't take. Twilight tells them to keep their Elements on at all times. And... they release the bastard. The evil bastard. And not five seconds in and he's already causing shit. He mocks them putting their faith in Fluttershy. We also learn he had his sense while being frozen.
If you think I have any sympathy for him after the atrocities he's caused, no. I don't.
Twilight threatens him with petrification. I say zap the bastard and toss him into Tartarus. Fluttershy tries the Stare on him... despite earlier it wasn't something she could control. In one of the only good moments of this episode, Discord no-sells it. Twilight says she can convince Celestia turning him back into stone would be for a good reason. Twilight, that's why she left them with you in the first place. Great continuity! Discord turns the animals back to normal... and then mind-fucks with the beavers from before.
He goes to stay with Fluttershy. "Oh, dear," she says while looking right into the camera. Yeah, and water is wet. After commercial, we're at Fluttershy's cottage. She's getting things ready. Discord lounges about and says he wishes the others would be more considerate. Yes, because the ones you also mind-raped and violated should definitely be considerate of you. Dash says he's trying to drive a wedge between them, "Like he always does." What, that one time in season two? There are some... amusing visual gags, and Discord does abuse Angel, but other than that... he's a lying asshole. The others leave her alone with Discord. No, don't leave her alone with him! That's the wedge! Fkluttershy thinks the best way is to be kind to him. In the background, chaos erupts. Because, you know, Discord.
Outside, there's natural doubts to the effectiveness of this. Dash thinks they need a backup plan. Dash has the smartness ball this episode. Inside, Discord is... eating paper. Fluttershy, for some insane reason, is heading out and leaving him alone. I wish I had words for how stupid that is. We also see a foreground shot of EVIL BEAVERS running about. And inside, yes, Discord reveals the blindingly obvious. He's playing Fluttershy.
At Golden Oaks, we learn the paper Discord was eating were the pages of 'reforming spells' Twilight had.
Wait, 'reforming spell'? What the fuck is that? What does that do? Why do you have them/know about them and god this explains why you love Cadance's love spells so much and...
Twenty-one
There's a reason 'Imperio' is an Unforgivable Curse! Back at the cottage, anyone who gets vertigo should not watch it as Discord has begun spinning it around in midair. And everything inside is crashing about. "You said to make myself at home while you were gone." Oh, for the love of Mike. Fluttershy devolves into Doormatshy and says to feel free. He does some more wedge-driving, because of course he is. Twilight calls to Fluttershy from outside, and she rescues Angel and flies outside to a naturally-concerned Twilight. Fluttershy says they're making great progress, by giving him a little space to be himself.
Fluttershy, how thick are those blinders you got on? Spike tells her about the reforming spells, and she's... pretty nonchalant about it, and even says he's considering being reformed. she says she has to give him the benefit of the doubt. Why? He's shown how untrustworthy and sadistic he is! She invites them over a dinner party that evening. She bets her manners will have improved by then. Fluttershy, I have this bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. And she'll even have him put the cottage back on the ground! Oh, goody! There's probably nothing left inside that's intact!
Later that day, they go to the cottage. Inside, Discord tries to swipe Twilight's crown. Later on at dinner, Discord animates several serving dishes. Dash gets gravy dumped onto her lap and probably need burn treatment. Then candles attack her. "There's something fishy going on." And a fish-shaped serving container spits soup into Twilight's face. Applejack says it's only doing what Discord is making it do. "Now let's not jump to any conclusions." Three guesses on who said that and the first two don't count. Spoilers, it's Fluttershy. I now need to hit her with a cruise liner and escalate.
Fluttershy... says Discord's far from perfect, but none of the are giving him a chance. And this is where I see red. Not that I wasn't seeing red before. Discord has shown himself to be an absolutely vile creature, fully-aware of the evil he's doing but not giving one wit. Fluttershy, you don't give a 'chance' to someone like that, especially considering his past atrocities, and his current actions! Dash asks what the hell's going on, and Fluttershy says... that's what friends do. Wait, you're friends?! Since when?
And Discord says he's never had a friend before. Gee, I don't know why you wouldn't! You're only a mind-raping, environment-destroying, manipulative, remorseless, egocentric piece of shit who uses sapient beings like toys to get your jollies. You only treat everything and everyone like your own personal playthings. You turned friends against each other and then reveled in Twilight's breaking. I'm so shocked you never had a friend before. No, I don't feel one damned lick of sorrow/sympathy for him!
Angel comes in and pantomines trouble at Sweet Apple Acres. After commercials we go there, and it's a mess to say the least. Dash confronts her, and Fluttershy snaps. "Do you all think I'm a silly, gullible fool?" Yes, yes I do. Hell, the others can't even really say no. Discord rides by on water skis, and now I wish I was listening to the Go-Goes. Fluttershy calls him out on his behavior, and tells him to fix it. He says sure... if she promises to never use her Element of Harmony against him. Fluttershy... agrees.
Wow. That action was so stupid I'm not sure there are words invented to describe it. She tosses it, and Spike catches it. Spike's kind! He's the new Kindness and Element of Common Fucking Sense! So Discord, naturally, breaks his word and turns it into an ice rink. Fluttershy loses it, but says she still will not use her Element against him.
Great, you jackass. Discord's won. You're an idiot with zero common sense, and I hate you here. She snaps and says she's not her friend. He does some gloating and manages to talk himself into realizing he's lost her as a friend... and we get another asspull here. Despite not really caring and simply using her and even fucking admitting he was using her, he says he'll lose the one friend he ever had. So he caves like a house of cards in a twister.
Bullshit.
Our final scene is Discord pledging to use his magic for good instead of evil. Most of the time. Spoilers, he never really did.
Thoughts/rant
Okay, before I start, let me establish a few things.
1. Discord is NOT Q. He is based off of Q, they share the same actor, they are NOT the same character. I hate that fanon.
2. Celestia, in the show, and that's what counts, cannot see the future. In the premiere she 'saw the signs' of Nightmare Moon's return, which were four big-ass stars moving to the moon. And we have NO connection between her and the prophecy. As for Twilight's Kingdom, she had a vision of the present, which she mistook for a dream and had to have Luna tell her otherwise. So that's functionally useless, too. And hell, if her plan in those episodes was the best she could come up with with foresight? Zap Brannigan's got a thing or three thousand to teach her.
3. Discord's actions were of his own choice, his own free will. And quite frankly, even if they weren't, the sheer amount of damage he causes necessitates him getting locked up.
4. With the exception of the very end of Twilight's Kingdom and Make New Friends but Keep Discord, no. He's never really shown any inclinations towards 'reformation'.
5. Don't blame his victims for not wanting to associate with him. I had to leave my house whenever my ex-stepfather came by to get stuff after he left.
So, this episode is... yeah. You can probably figure how much I loathe it. It's stupid in just about every single way. Celestia's actions make no goddamned sense. She doesn't explain a damned thing to the Mane Six, doesn't elaborate on this so-called 'use'. And by the way, that is just so... supervillain of her. Not out of compassion or kindness or second/third/fourth chance, but she has a 'use' for his magic. Wow. And of course freeing Discord brings almost nothing but misery, chaos, destruction and almost the complete subjugation of Equestria under Tirek.
Strike Two
Fluttershy might actually come off worse, here. She acts rather like an abuse victim, which is actually sensible considering she is an abuse victim where Discord's concerned. But at the end, where she said she wouldn't use the Element of Kindness against him? After he broke his word? Fluttershy, that IS when you use it! He broke his word, first! It's like Megatron and Optimus at the end of Dark of the Moon! Optimus was NOT in the wrong killing Megatron when Megatron showed his word meant nothing by betraying Sentinel!
As for him and not having any friends before now? Gee, I wonder why. [/sarcasm_on_full] Could it be he's a willfully evil piece of crap who treats everyone and everything around him like toys? That he thinks only of himself? UGH!
The end was a complete asspull. Just an asspull.
And before anyone says I'm against redemption or reformation, lemme lay some facts on you:
My third-favorite Avatar: the Last Airbender character, behind Suki and Iroh? Zuko.
Two of my favorite characters in the Transformers franchise? Dinobot from Beast Wars and Blitzwing from Transformers G1 Animated.
My favorite character in Stargate: SG1? Teal'c!
I will go with redemption and reformation, if it's done well. Discord, with the exception of the tail-end of Twilight's Kingdom, was NOT done well.
Now, I could go on. Lord know I could go on. I have mental rants about him not being all that 'chaotic', and how he gets passes for his acts while the Canterlot populace gets excoriated. Instead, I'll cut this off and leave this with you. Instead of my usual picture with my toys, I leave you with this unaltered screen-capture...
This was a deliberate choice by the people behind the scenes. It says it all.
Next up, Magical Mystery Cure.
"What need" Tirek?
Needless to say I disagree with 100% if this review and am convinced you were mainlining methamphetamine or some dumb shit to come up with half of this. Way to go at your complete failure to accurately analyze an episode. (As a reviewer this should be your stated goal, not motivation being "I hate discord so lemme yell for ten minutes".)
The thing I hate most about Discord are his apologists. He's not a victim. People don't react well to lying, manipulative, apocalyptic sadists who terrorize and endanger people. I put saying "Do you think if the Mane Cast treated Discord well, maybe he wouldn't have betrayed them" to be a G-rated level of tact saying "Hey Quagmire, do you think if your sister boned Jeff more, he wouldn't beat her up so much?".
I remember an image caption with Fluttershy's speech about her friends not giving Discord a chance having the word "Discord" replaced with "bronies". Considering the kind of things I've seen people accuse bronies accused of (perverts, horsefuckers and pedophiles), and Discord constantly lying, manipulating, undermining, betraying, endangering, terrorizing, etc even after his supposed "reformation', I wonder if the irony was lost on the originator of the image.
I like seeing to some extent assholes get their comeuppance, but not necessarily by people infinitely worse. I'd rather see Angel splash Discord in the face with infected Tatzulwurm venom than see Discord torment Angel.
"But I have use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil."
I think the biggest obstacle for reforming Discord's magic is Discord himself. Ironic, as Tirek demonstrated you don't need Discord around to have his magic.
Certainly a rushed episode.
With an even more rushed heel-face turn.
Sadly neither of those issues have improved.
Still not as bad as a Spike episode.
In Dungeons & Dragons, there are spells that can forcibly turn an evil creature good. Using those spells is specifically noted to be an evil act that will get you in a lot of trouble if anyone finds out.
I want to note here that the point of this episode was not to reform Discord. It was to set up his betrayal in s4. It wasn't a rushed redemption, because he wasn't redeemed at all.
Honestly, out of every character in the show, Discord is the only one I specifically never wanted to see redeemed, not because of what he's done, but because of what he is and represents; a force of nature, the chaos of a vast inscrutable universe. "Redemption" doesn't feel like an applicable concept, because he shouldn't be able to care. It almost feels perverse in a way, because it shouldn't be possible.
This episode was rushed to absolute hell I will not ever deny that. Most fans seem to have this "love it or hate it" relationship with it in particular. People hate that it was (Again) rushed but at the same time a lot of people like the relationship with Fluttershy and Discord that forms over several episodes. At least with Discord's later appearances we can say that he fits more into the "loveable asshole" type of character than totally evil (Though to be honest Discord I don't think was ever legit "evil" per-se in the first place, more like just oblivious to morality in general.) which I was more welcome to. And at least it can be said he wasn't 100% forgiven after even this episode, or the Tirek event because the other ponies maybe aside from Fluttershy have been shown to be VERY suspicious of him and threaten him on several occasions. (Sort of off-topic but some people say Discord got no repercussions in the S4 finale and that....annoys me. Because Tirek basically stole his magic and used him as a bargaining chip even though he didn't think Twilight would really care. It's sort of the world's way of saying to Discord "this is what happens when you're a total dick to your friends")
At least in later episodes regarding Discord's reformation, under the smug, confident, assholish exterior, I can at least somewhat feel that he's TRYING and still learning and isn't 100% perfect at this yet. (Which is more than I can say for other reformed characters that just did a complete 180 out of practically nowhere. And no Sunset Shimmer does not count because at least she had the excuse of getting blasted with friendship magic.) I'd say Discord's reformation was one of the "better" ones, but given the lineup of ponies that got the same treatment, that's not saying too much.
I may just be a biased dick because I love Discord to death, I dunno. Though this is an episode where I just say "If you want redemption done 100% right, you're looking in the wrong show." (Unless you count the Equestria Girls movies to be canon where Sunset Shimmer's redemption is pretty much amazing. But that had a longer running time so if they messed that up then there would be absolutely no excuse for it.)
This was an episode that screamed for a two-parter and much better writing. But, we instead got one episode of ass pull and visual gags. Had it been better done, it would have helped to establish Discord as "reforming, but occasionally needing to be reminded not to backslide."
And, a horrible theory on what Discord is from a Doylist point of view, at least to the writing staff of the show.
He's a Brony. More specifically, a male adult brony. He doesn't belong in the cute pastel world of MLP:FIM, he does things that are wrong, that make no sense to the target audience, and all in the name of his own, personal headcannon of fun. But he's needed because he generates lots of money for the show, so his evil is a necessary one.
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I really doubt they were thinking that far ahead. Remember, Larson wrote Magical Mystery Cure (or rather, what became it) thinking that it would be the last episode of the show, period. I kinda doubt that he would have thought that if season four had been a sure thing at that point.
For the record, I have always assumed that the "reform spells" work like the 3rd-Edition D&D spell atonement, and absent any other information on them I'll continue to think that. Hang on, lemmie dig up the spell's description...we'll leave out things like range and spell components and just function on the meat of the spell.
I'm kinda confused by the random "Twenty-one" in the middle of the post. Is this episode supposed to be worse than the rigged 50s' game show called "Twenty-One"?
Okay, normally I don't respond to anyone in my reviews here because I've pretty much said what I came to say. However, there's some things I wanna respond to this time around...
3903555 I lime Discord... well, that is to say, I love to hate him. I think of him in the same terms as Ted Dibiase or Jake 'the Snake' Roberts from the 1980's WWF. I wanna see them get beat... but I will PAY to see them get beat. Same with Discord.
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3903601 Okay, you two. Which is it? Do these spells run the gamut from 'good spells' to 'bad spells', or what?
3908049
I don't know about the other spells mentioned, but atonement specifically only works on willing creatures. In Discord's case the spell used would use the Redemption or Temptation part of the spell, which states that "no duress, compulsion, or magical influence can force the subject to take advantage of the opportunity offered if it is unwilling to abandon its old alignment."
Atonement only flags to the universe that you want to change your alignment and tells the universe to help you along by actually doing such without having to first pass through all the character-building events that normally precipitate a subconscious alignment change.
Within the context of Friendship is Magic, the atonement spell wouldn't have worked on Discord in the episode since he didn't actually want to change - though it would still have been useful in that if Twilight had cast it and Discord remained Chaotic Evil then Twilight would know that Discord had definitely been lying about wanting to change the whole time.
Hence his destruction of all said spells ahead of time - again, if the spells work as does D&D's atonement, which I choose to believe they do simply because Friendship is magic doesn't seem like the kind of place with forcefully changing someone's personality is allowed.
...
...interestingly it would also mean that the Wizard-like Twilight has access to and can cast Cleric spells. Maybe she's an Archivist?
3908049
3908283
I was not referring to atonement. I was referring to a spell that does forcibly change alignment. The specific spell I was thinking of was actually from Pathfinder, a game based on D&D 3.5e and referred to as D&D 3.75 but ultimately separate, rather than D&D itself; I'm not sure if I can dig up a spell from 3.5 that actually does force it, but I can find items, like the helm of opposite alignment. You put it on, and bam, your alignment is instantly reversed. This is actually considered a cursed item, and for good reason. I believe wish or miracle could also do it, if you're an asshole.
Actually, based on the caster level required to craft a helm of opposite alignment, we can speculate on roughly how powerful a spell a forced alignment change would be. It's CL 12, at which the maximum spell level available to any primary caster class is 6. Notably, both wizards and clerics have a powerful compulsion spell that is sixth level—the same spell by two different names, geas for wizards and quest for clerics. If you've ever seen Code Geass, you know where this one is going. It compels a creature to follow a specific course of action, and any day they refuse, they suffer and are weakened. This is a pretty objectionable thing to have happen to you if you're not willing, and while it's not quite fair to say that by association, another sixth level spell that affects behavior must be evil, the point is that it's about the same power level, and they're both compulsions, so we can conclude that the effects must be sort of in the same class. For the record, atonement is fifth level, a bit weaker.
In Pathfinder, alchemists have a supernatural ability called Change Alignment, which allows them to create a brew that will force a creature to become Good for ten minutes per level. The ability notes:
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3908831 Okay, legit thanks to both of you for responding. I appreciate it.
I should also point out that the type of spell it may or may not be has no bearing on me wanting to slap Celestia and Fluttershy with a tractor trailer by the end credits.