Okay, so this week, we've got "Dungeons & Discords" coming up, and that ought to be fun! I mean, it has both Dungeons and Discord, right? Maybe even multiple of him!

It looks like a Spike episode, and sounds like it's taking on Dungeons & Dragons, so it makes sense why Spike'd be there. The last show I saw do an episode like that was really good, so I'm hoping the same is true here. Should be fun to see them all rolling some 38 sided dice, anyways.

This episode is by Nick Confalone. There was a time when that wasn't a familiar name, but this is his third episode this season, and he did two episodes before that. He's behind Party Pooped, Hearthbreakers, No Second Prances, The Saddle Row Review, and now this one.

As usual, this is the official discussion thread, and any other discussion threads for this episode will be closed in favor of this one, at least for a week.

I think this'll be a good one. No telling till it airs, tho'!

--Sweetie Belle

5449635 Nick Confalone, huh? Time to party!

5449635 I haven't played many tabletop RPGs before, so a lot of the jokes will probably fly over my head.

5449635 ...why is she rolling two dice for a dexterity check?

that should be a 1d20 roll.

5449731 ... See what I mean?

5449731
That was an alternate universe (It's from the comics, IIRC, and Discord was taking the CMC through alternate universes at the time). Oubliettes and Ogres probably uses percentile dice there...

5449670
Depends on how well they write it! I'm sure there'll be jokes both for those that know roleplaying and those that don't.

--Sweetie Belle

5449748 Oh my god percentile dice are the worst.

And if they used percentile dice they'd have a base 8 counting system because that's an 8-sided die right there.

5449750
Well, it could be a ten sided die that we're only seeing four sides of.

Or, you know, I might've grabbed the wrong dice accidentally.

--Sweetie Belle

5449776 it's okay. We all make mistakes sometimes.

5449781
I actually prefer those d10 dice that have twenty sides. But then, those you can accidentally roll instead of a d20...

--Sweetie Belle

5449794

Also I don't think you can roll snake eyes on a d20. Or a d10.

I will be VERY sad if it's not Ogres and Oubliettes.

EDIT: WOOOOOOOOOO

(Also, cross-pollination between comics and show confirmed)

5449861 Maybe when rolling 2d20 or 2d10 dice, it's possible. Though not sure why you'd roll two sets, but hey.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to see Fluttershy acting like a normal pony for once, and not a vegan freak.

5449918 I'm guessing Fluttershy won't even been in it that much, based on the summary. I'm actually looking forward to see Discord hanging out with someone else besides her or Twilight.

5449635 This sounds like a fun just for the sake of fun episode. I'm excited

Big Mac's tribal dysphoria confirmed! Guy wishes he was a unicorn.

Compared to last week's disaster, this one was actually pretty fun. I felt Discord episodes have been a bit lacking the past few times and this one is a nice change. I'm curious now though, will we be seeing another episode of where the Mane Six went? I would like to revisit the Yaks again.

5450363 Maybe we will, but right now it doesn't look that way.

5449635

5449635

I figured out how this episode would end about ten minutes in. Still, it was good, and it really does illustrate how miserable unlimited power is without anyone to share it with.

(SPOILERS!)

It's time to break out the d20s and roll initiative.

This episode is pure fun. We've had episodes focus on Spike, Big Mac, and Discord individually, but not as a group. Having three male characters as the leads is another first.

The Mane 6 take a trip to Yak Yakistan, leaving Big Mac and Spike to have a guy's night in the castle. They invite Discord, feeling bad he's alone. Unfortunately for Discord, Spike and Big Mac's ideas of fun are staying inside and playing "Ogres and Oogliettes", a take on Dungeons and Dragons.

Discord shoos the idea of playing. Unable to sway Spike and Big Mac into reveling in what he thinks is a real night out (attending outdoor restaurants, dancing, etc), and getting more fed up with their reluctance, he decides to get revenge.

He sends them into their game world as the characters they play. At first they find this alternate reality awesome, until they realize the enemies they face can cause actual harm. When Discord eventually sends them back to reality, Spike and Big Mac tell him they have had enough. They admit he was invited purely because they felt sorry for him, and demand he leaves.

The Lord of Chaos obliges, only to realize he is once again alone. Big Mac and Spike themselves are guilt ridden, and decide to give Discord another chance. They apologize and continue their game. Discord even agrees to use his magic to bring the game world back to life, only toned down so as to not be dangerous.

The more I look at this episode, the more I appreciate it. There are of course the obvious homages to Dungeons and Dragons, a game I've played for years. But the episode does more than make it a reference. The various dice, the gaming mat, and the rules manuals are very D&D (the covers of the manuals are even a take on an actual Dungeons and Dragons rules book). The fantasy setting is nothing new.
What makes “Ogres and Oogliettes” so fun is the creativity (or lack of it) in Spike and Big Mac's campaign. Their character's mission is to save Princess Schmarity from the Squid Wizard, or Squizzard (1 point for guessing who Schmarity is a representation of.) Their characters are essentially wish fulfilled versions of themselves; Spike is a powerful mage named Garbuncle, Big Mac is a unicorn knight named Sir McBiggin. Oh, and the land the characters inhabit is “Spiketopia”. Everything is so silly and obvious, yet earnest. I've played very casual campaigns, and this is what they are like. The predefined settings of the stories and rulebooks take a backseat to the players inhibitions.

Another aspect of the episode to admire is the simulated world. Most shows would make a realistic recreation of the game's setting and characters. Dungeons and Discord has fun with the concept by making the simulation a life size version of the actual game mat and pieces, complete with dice, cutout trees and rocks, and enemies that are custom crayon drawings placed in wooden stands. I especially love when a barrage of paper arrows rain down on our heroes. The arrows are of course supported on sticks.

Discord gets to play both his witty and sarcastic role, plus show his genuinely demonic side, something we have not seen from him in awhile. Though I admit a few of the Discord moments seem off, like the random basketball reference.

Questions may be asked. Why would Discord, an intellect, be so opposed to a game of strategy like “Ogres and Oogliettes”, or why are Big Mac and Spike playing? My answers: Discord was disappointed the night was not going to be about going out on the town, and was therefore adverse to anything. Big Mac and Spike use the game as wish fulfillment, and an escape from the menial tasks they are usually required to do. This is especially true for Big Mac.

Dungeons and Discord is one of the better episodes of season 6 thus far.

Extras:
*The tiny Discord announcing his entrance cracked me up. It is just so silly.
*Looking away from D&D, the episode also shares coincidental similarities with Spongebob Squarepants, of all things. From Squizzard's name being similar to Squidward's, and Discord's inability to say he's sorry (look at the SB episode Fools in April).
*The dialogue is a mixed bag, but there are some good lines. Some of my favorites include Discord mentioning fedoras, and calling out Spike for his “romantic delusions”
*Although their campaign's goal is to save Princess Schmarity, she is never actually shown. Probably a good thing. If they were to represent her with a piece of paper on a stand, Spike's romance would be creepy. If they had her as flesh and blood, it would be out of place with the rest of the setting.
*I feel like Discord's orange suit and hat while at the restaurant is a reference to something, but I can't place it. I thought perhaps Jim Carrey's The Mask, but his suit was yellow. Any ideas?

5449635

"I think we should just close the door and let them finish" says the pony on TV, as the family watches.

"Mommy? Daddy? Why are you laughing" "WE'LL TELL YOU WHEN YOU'RE OLDER."

Discord has finally put his powers to good use… everybody should have a Mane Pet; they look so fluffy!

Finally saw it. About eight minutes in, was so happy I cried.

Also, LOVED it that Pinkie and Dash wanted in!

I kinda wish they would have done more nerdy D&D jokes for role players to get, but given the target audience I can get why they didn't. That aside, this is definitely the best Discord episode since Return of Harmoney. Confalone really did a good job of using Discord here as his entertaining chaotic neutral self without making him over bearing or muddying up the ending. Also, the ending didn't feel rushed. That's pretty good for an mlp episode.

What the heck was Discord's nickname for Celestia (he says it when he's pretending to cancel his plans so he can hang out with Spike and Big Mac)?

'Kay-kay?'

... I don't get it,

5452307
Well, Celestia starts with a ‘C’, so to annoy her, Discord spells it with a ‘K’, and instead of calling her ‘Kelestia’, he uses a diminutive version to annoy her further, hence ‘K-K’.
…Okay, I've no idea.

5452612
Considering it's Discord, that might be as good an explanation as we're going to get,

5452612

"We call her 'Old Garbo' 'cause she's nothing like her, see?"

--Dylan Thomas, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog ("Old Garbo")

Incidentally, this has to be one of my favorite Fluttershy moments.

5452779
Applejack has been giving her friends lessons, it seems,

Anyone else think it's funny that the famous 'Applejack eyebrow' was also directed at Discord, and also took place at the Ponyville train station?

5452779
Fluttershy has had some great I'm-not-dealing-with-your-shit faces this season.

5452307 Maybe KK is short for Ku Klux. Celestia is white, you know? She also banished a dark pony to the moon.

White pony supremacy!

5454169 5452612 5452680
Maybe it's just horrible mispronunciation of the word 'Cakey'... y'know, 'cause Celestia is addicted to cake,

Wow the same week Jontron reviews Dark Dungeons, a movie adaptation of an anti-D&D Chick Tract, I get to watch this episode.

Silly Discord! Doesn't he know all the cool kids play D&D... uh, I mean O&O? But I must admit, Spike and Big Mac were kind of short-changing Discord there. I mean, where was the pre-O&O rave?

Did anybody notice the similarities between this week's episode and Gravity Falls "Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons". ?

Also, can we have more Opposite Fluttershy?

5453392
When else?

5454810
In that they both involve D&D parodies?

When watching this episode, I was actually reminded of that episode of SpongeBob Squarepants where Mr. Krabs goes with SpongeBob and Patrick on a night out on the town, only to do lame activity after lame activity. I forgot what it was called.

And thus, the question repeated in my head: "Can you feel it now, Discord?"

Other than that... I actually found the episode kind of 'meh.'

5451686
And then there's Rainbow's line:
"Did you see Big Mac's sword!? I totally want in!"

Do the writers even realize what they've done!?

5455180

Do the writers even realize what they've done!?

Oh come on, it's just a kids' cartoon! I'm sure they'd never infer anything inappropr--

...okay forget I said anything.

5452779 I just love it when these characters make these kinds of expressions. They're always like, "Really Bitch?" I just end up chuckling.

This one was a good comeback, like for once we can actually get to see the inside (briefly) of the less dominated sex playing their hot shot roles for once.

Discord's really getting a bit sensitive each time when the word "care" and "friends" show up, he's truly a mastermind of even himself!

And the hardest level to pass in D&D (by the reviewers), is that the movies sucked if not for D&D hardcore fans.

Isn't that right? My friend.

5455123
Well, let me think. Both involved 2 hardcore addicts. Both involved others who thought it was lame. Both involved the game coming to life. Seems like they parallel.

5456509
That literally describes every cartoon D&D parody ever, though.

5456738
Maybe I don't watch enough TV, but this episode and Gravity Falls were the only too. Oh, and Bender's Game. Only three. Are there any others?

Hey, does anybody know what Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were supposed to be at the end of the show?