Oh man Hascon (all the spoilers ever) · 9:29pm Sep 9th, 2017
If you've seen the season 8 animatic, you know what I'm talking about. I'd link to it, but it seems the videos are being taken down rather briskly, so I won't bother. To save you time... the Queen is back!
All I really want to say about it here is something crazy. Something that there is a one in a million in a million chance of happening.
But... let's say they wanted to fuck with us.
I mean really fuck with us...
This was kind of a, you know, absolutely HUGE spoiler for the next season, right? Something we won't see for another seven months. And they just ruined the big reveal of the next premiere before we even have a basic synopsis of the last two episodes of this season. The only hint we even had that the changelings were coming back last time was when the synopsis was released for the season six finale, and even then all it said was that 'an enemy from the past' was returning. They're generally not big on spoilers.
So... if they really wanted to fuck with us... that's a good Chrysalis in the animatic. Obviously there's no way to tell what she's planning here, but maybe she has some sort of surprise planned to thank the Mane Six. The real twist is going to be her reappearance and 'reformation' in this season's finale.
Couple of random things I noticed in the animatic:
Either Chrysalis's acting skills have gotten majorly better since she was Cadance, or she is legitimately trying to be nice. Note the absolutely sincere repetition of 'Please forgive me'. She also seems to know exactly what they're up to in whatever this building they're in is—she mentions that they're going to be 'part of history' (okay, that's kind of ominous, but Starlight already did the time travel thing), she says something about Twilight and 'her teachers', and at the end leaves saying she knows how busy they are.
Now, obviously the idea here is not to give away the game too soon, and if Chrysalis is going to be coming back repeatedly she needs to be a bit better at imitating ponies in order to actually be a legitimate threat. Also, as opposed to all the other times a changeling has replaced someone, she actually seems to have done her homework this time. Still, considering that everything we've seen, from the show to the books to the comics, show that changelings are kind of, you know, absolute shit when it comes to actually imitating other ponies, it's kind of a weird break to change that now—especially if you're going to immediately spoil any surprise it would generate by revealing it seven months early.
Also, notice her reaction to Starlight. Or rather, her absolute lack of reaction. Not even a scowl or a glare or a grumpy look—just complete indifference. If her goal here is still revenge on Starlight, just utterly ignoring her is kind of an odd way to act. Of course, if you've been following my other insane theories, it does fit in well if she's befriended the Mane Six but still wants nothing to do with Starlight (kind of a 'forgive, but not forget' situation (I did post something about that idea, didn't I?)).
Finally, her crown is back when she transforms at the end.
Now, obviously, this is just an animatic. They're roughly blocking out the scene using a script that probably isn't finalized yet. So things like her crown being back and her not having a full range of facial expressions is easily explained away by that.
And even more obviously, this is just me projecting my biases and wishes onto a 40 second clip of a rough animatic for an episode that won't air for seven months.
On that note, let me try to break down how likely this all is.
On the 'not at all likely' side: Well, I'll be honest, I don't have much, other than the feeling that they simply aren't going to allow any changelings who are black and have holes to be good guys. Like I've said, I think they have marketing guidelings (a typo, but the pun made me laugh so I'm keeping it) and style rules for the show, and they all say that good guys can't be dark colors. Luna and now Pharynx, and to a lesser extent Discord, seem to be the only exceptions to this rule, and even then they're just navy blue and tan, rather than a dark gray/black. And second, the whole point of a preview like this is to build hype for the next season and keep people watching, and what better way is there to do that than to reveal the return of a popular villain?
On the 'kind of likely' side: Like I've said, this was a major spoiler. This ruins any chance at a surprise when the episode airs. Considering that the whole point of changelings is that you don't know who they are until they reveal themselves, why show this particular clip? They could have easily gone with a clip that doesn't show anything—like how the clip for the season five premiere was basically the map calling them to Starlight's town and then Pinkie displaying her stealth skills to scout it out. So why not just show, say, the song for this episode instead? (I'm assuming there's going to be a song; now that the movie is done, they're going to be putting more songs into the show again) What's the point in ruining the big twist of the episode seven months early, even if it does get revealed right away in the show?
The only thing about this concept is, it makes me nervous, because this whole setup is a little too much like To Change a Changeling. I doubt the Mane Six would have accepted Chrysalis as a friend by this point, so having her go through the trouble of giving them a gift of some kind in order to win their forgiveness and full acceptance seems like it would be leading up to an ending just like Pharynx's, where she turns into a skittlemoose.
Still, it's a fun thought, isn't it? It would be the ultimate mindfuck, the greatest troll in the history of television. You preview a clip that seems to show a returning villain planning her revenge—except you carefully control the context of that clip to avoid revealing that instead of revenge, she's turned good and wants to give a gift to her friends.
Random thought on the gift: Chrysalis collected hairs and photos from each of the Mane Six. So, the obviously thought is voodoo dolls/clones of some kind. The evil applications are obvious, but think about the good applications, especially in the context of her "I know how busy you all are" quote. Maybe this is Chrysalis's version of Starlight's 'throw magic at something to fix the problem' strategy, and she's trying to create copies (as befits a changeling) of them to help with their workload. Again, this is obviously just me making things without context fit my preconceived notions, but it's still a thought.
Also, how perfect is 'reformed Chrysalis' going "Now I have everything I need to give my friends a thank-you present!" followed by ten full seconds of evil laughter.
Part of me wants Chrysalis to be reformed and another part of me wishes she stays evil. Either way, I would shit bricks.
I read a Youtube comment that provides a very interesting theory: the animatic was showing a flashback, specifically the moments leading up to the season six finale.
Here's the commenter's elaboration. While details in animatics may be written off as generalizations, there's still the possibility of her crown being intentionally placed there to show that this takes place before her defeat. Next, the nonchalance she shows towards Starlight is further validation to this theory, because Chrysalis had stated how she didn't think Starlight was worth replacing before she defeats her. So this could be showing Chrysalis gathering photos and hairs of the Mane 6 to give to the drones that will replace them, a prologue of sorts to said finale. Perhaps changelings need some genetic code to make more authentic disguises or use less energy for them, and that is why the hairs are needed.
With that in mind, here's my piece. This theory points to the conclusion that the Season 8 opener will be a Chrysalis origins episode, showing her rise to queen of the hive, her point of view of the events leading up to the Canterlot Wedding and her foalnappings of the princesses & co., and ending with her plotting for revenge or the revenge itself.
For me, the "optimal" situation for her is that she realizes that the reason she keeps losing is that she keeps underestimating the other ponies surrounding her targets. Therefore, she'll decide to take the slow approach and learn everything she can before acting. Perhaps she'll go with "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" ideal, take the form of a pony, and become Starlight's friend until the right time to strike. Whether that would twist into her unintentionally learning the magic of friendship and provide a window for redemption, or if this will be seen as going too far and she's put down, I cannot say.
Of course, they could just go for a simpler revenge plot instead, but I can't even see a two-parter being enough to provide ample time for origins and revenge. Still, it's another theory to consider.
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I'd love to see her reformed, as long as she stays basically the same. You know, like Discord did.
But if the only option is moosebug, then yeah, definitely want her staying evil.
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It's an interesting idea, but you have to pretty much throw it out the window because they're in that 'friendship academy' thing. If you haven't seen it, there's a pdf around of one of Hasbro's investor meetings that shows the outside of the building. You can also see it kind of lazily photoshopped into the end of the animatic, when Chrysalis is walking into the forest. So if the animatic is a flashback from before season seven, I'd have to wonder where that building's been all this time and why no one's mentioned it.
As far as the crown goes, I think she'll keep it because it's so much a part of her design. It's iconic, and her not having it at the end of the finale was, as someone once posted in a comment here to me, more of a symbol of what she'd lost than anything else. There's also the fact that changelings can apparently create articles of clothing when they transform—see the two times Chrysalis has changed into another pony—so it may literally be a part of her.
Your "optimal situation", though, reminds me of what I was kind of hoping to see this season—Chrysalis replacing Starlight herself, the intention obviously being to ruin Starlight's relationship with all her friends as revenge. You even had the same idea about unintentionally learning about friendship; I pictured her trying to destroy Starlight's friendship with each of her friends, but every time she actually ends up 'falling' for them and crossing them off her list of 'ponies to destroy as revenge'. Then some big villain shows up in the finale, and all the friendships she's accidentally made take over and she ends up defending them. Then of course queue her being reformed, but handwaving away the transformation thing.
More origin story on Chrysalis would definitely be cool, though, especially if it humanizes(ponyizes?) her a bit more. Starlight is famous for having the worst reason for turning into a villain ever, but they could make up for that by giving Chrysalis a good reason for being the way she is. I mean, To Change a Changeling already kind of set things up for that—maybe the reason she was so aggressive and made all her changelings into warriors is because that's what she had to do for the hive to survive in the past, and she just never changed her ways. She never considered friendship as an option before because it would have literally meant death when she was starting out as a Queen.
Options that none have seen to thought of: It's a 'what if' like in the last season starter OR it's a dream.
Hey, her acting skills were fine! Watch that scene where she pretends to be hurt that Twilight interrupted that wedding rehearsal and tell me that wasn't fine acting.
I'm not sure if she just didn't bother the rest of the time or had different assumptions about how Cadance would react to the pressure of a wedding than most people who've seen her. To be fair, literally no one thought she was an imposter, even Twilight.