Who is Starlight Glimmer? · 2:28pm Apr 5th, 2015
Who is John GaltStarlight Glimmer?
This question was what I found most intriguing after watching the Season Five premier. Unlike a lot of other pony villains who were clearly just being evil for evil's sake or seeking world domination, Starlight was different. She seems like a relatively normal unicorn, perhaps with above-average magical abilities, but certainly not one with world-threatening powers like Nightmare Moon, Discord, or Tirek. Although she created a society in which she has installed herself as the leader, gaining power over other ponies didn't seem like her ultimate goal. When her cutie mark stealing ability was introduced—especially given her interest in the Mane Six's cutie marks—I thought that she might have some plot to gather the magic from ponies' cutie marks to cast some kind of spell to grant the the unlimited powers that most villains seek, but that never came to be.
Instead, Starlight's only concern seemed to be helping ponies through her vision of friendship. And to some extent, she succeeded in that goal. The villagers mention that they were unhappy and lonely before joining Starlight's, but found community and a place of belonging in Starlight's village. She is in this way very much like Twilight Sparkle; both have their own concepts of friendship, and both are trying to spread their gospel of friendship across Equestria. Just as Lightning Dust and Trixie represent alternate visions of Rainbow Dash and Twilight had their lives gone differently, Starlight could conceivably represent what Twilight may have become had she remained friendless and picked up the wrong books. Starlight genuinely wants to help ponies and seems more of a well intentioned extremist than some totalitarian dictator.
There are two main differences that set Starlight and Twilight apart, however. First, Starlight forcibly takes the Mane Six's cutie marks (perhaps implying that not all who joined the village did so voluntarily). She also prevents ponies from leaving the village, as in the case of Party Favor. This is probably the biggest reason why we should consider her evil.
The second difference is, of course, in her vision of friendship. Namely, Twilight has the right vision of friendship and Starlight has the wrong one. It would have been fascinating if this were the only difference between the two. What if Starlight did not steal the Mane Six's cutie marks, forcing them to act against her? Would they still have tried to liberate the village and convert the villagers to Twilight's brand of friendship? While the writers have made it clear that Twilight's destiny manifests itself as her mission to spread friendship across Equestria, the tale of Starlight Glimmer hopefully provides a cautionary tale to Twilight and her friends throughout the rest of the season.
Starlight Glimmer is sort of the anti-John Galt. While John Galt leads an individualistic rebellion of voluntary defection from a society sinking into collectivism, Starlight Glimmer forces Ponies into collectivism as a rebellion against a society which is already individualistic and free. And she's also an anti-Twilight Sparkle, in that Twilight believes in friendship between Ponies who enjoy and take advantage of their diverse talents, while Starlight believes that friendship is only possible between Ponies who have rendered themselves virtually identical.
2948615 Yes, you're right that Starlight Glimmer represents the antithesis of John Galt. However, given the themes of individualism and exceptionalism in the episode, I couldn't resist alluding to Ayn Rand.
I can't believe SG was over a year ago. :P
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Just over one year ago SG was the great and glorious leader of her own
cultvillage. Now, she's fallen to being Trixie's assistant in her magic shows. What a difference a year can make.