What About Discord Episode Review · 12:00am Nov 10th, 2015
When I first heard about the premise of this episode, I was worried. I thought that Twilight was going to think that Discord was up to something and would try to stop whatever scheme she thought he had cooked up. Thankfully, this episode doesn’t delve into that plot. So is this episode better than expected? Let’s find out.
We start off with Spike and Twilight preparing to reorganize the library . . . again, despite doing so just a month ago. Naturally, Spike complains, saying that a claw massage and a back rub would be a better use of his time. Twilight dismisses this, but says that they might be able to squeeze in a claw massage.
After the obligatory title sequence, we see Twilight and Spike exiting the castle, with Spike commenting on the sun. Twilight says that they’ve been in the castle for the past three days organizing the library. She makes a comment on Spike taking up two hours for a claw massage, but Spike insists that it was worth it.
Shortly after this, Twilight and Spike run into Rainbow Dash and Discord, quite literally, in fact. The two of them give off some witter banter that leaves Twilight, and more or less, the audience, confused. Rainbow Dash flies off and, for whatever reason, Discord gives Twilight a sinister look as he says goodbye to her, then he disappears. Okay, that was weird. No wonder Twilight would think that Discord was up to something.
After this, we get two more scenes identical to the one involving Rainbow Dash and Discord. We see Discord palling around with Twilight’s friends, all of them laughing about an incident that happened over the weekend. Frustrated and confused, Twilight goes back to her castle to think about things. She says that Discord being friends with Fluttershy and the others doesn’t make any sense, and I’m inclined to agree with her. I’m not confused about how they became friends. What I’m confused about is how all of this came about. What, did Discord go up to them one day and say, “Look, I know we haven’t been on the friendliest of terms lately. Let’s get together and hang out?” I wouldn’t be surprised if Fluttershy had been the one to organize this little get-together. She seems to be more aware than anyone else that her friends don’t particularly like Discord very much.
Twilight calls Discord and her friends together for a meeting. She says that the only reason she doesn’t find Discord’s shenanigans funny is because she wasn’t there herself. Naturally, this brings up the idea of time travel from Pinkie Pie, which Twilight immediately shoots down, stating that time travel is something that must not be messed with. Whether this was a callback to the episode “It’s About Time” or foreshadowing for the season finale is unclear. Either way, I like it. Instead, Twilight suggests them recreating what happened over the past three days. Needless to say, they agree.
They go to a restaurant and at first have trouble remembering what table they sat at. After finding it, Discord points out that the tablecloth is a different color from the one it was a few days ago. Rarity agrees, remembering that she had commented how the menu had clashed with it. Leave it to Rarity to point out something like that.
As agreed, the others reenact the situations that they found so funny, but, alas, Twilight can’t find the humor in it. According to the others, she will never find it funny because she wasn’t there.
Back at the castle, Twilight is still musing over what could have caused her friends and Discord over the course of three days. Because she has a tendency to overanalyze things, she comes to the conclusion that Discord must have put her friends under a spell. Oh, boy, this is what I was afriad of.
After this, I got something that I wasn’t expecting: a cameo from Zecora. She insists that maybe Twilight’s friends aren’t under a spell, that maybe their friendship with Discord is genuine. Nonetheless, she agrees to help Twilight, giving her a potion that will break Discord’s supposed spell. This confuses Spike, who asks what is in the bubbling cauldron. Zecora admits that it’s mainly just for show, which I got a laugh out of.
The following morning, Twilight calls all of her friends to her castle. She walks in, stating that they’re going to have some fun, but before that can happen, she says she has to break Discord’s spell over them. Again, this is what I was afraid that this episode was going to be about. Thankfully, Twilight gets called out on the trash she’s spreading. As she’s pouring the drinks, she rambles on for so long that she doesn’t realize that the cup she’s filling has overflowed, thus causing the potion to spill all over Spike, who doesn’t really react to it at first. I thought this was a funny moment.
Not surprisingly, Fluttershy is pissed that Twilight would even accuse Discord of such a thing. In a similar vein, Rainbow Dash says that Twilight is insisting that her friends are so stupid that they don’t know when they’re being toyed with. I’d like to make a special mention to Applejack’s line, particular because it was so funny. When Twilight proposes her idea, Applejack asks her, “What kind of fertilizer have you had your nose in, Twilight?” She seems to be asserting that Twilight might have gotten high off of fertilizer, which opens itself up to a lot of funny fanfics. Rarity simply pours out her portion of the potion, but, again, I must give out a special mention to Pinkie Pie. As she drinks the potion, her speech becomes slurred and her body movements become sluggish, giving the impression she’s getting drunk or being drugged by the potion. Again, this is something that I found funny, especially since immediately afterward, Pinkie comments on how delicious the potion is and asks Twilight for more.
Discord charges in, telling Twilight that her friends had alerted him to the fact that they would be spending the day together. Immediately on his arrival, the others walk over to him and began laughing with him at one of his jokes, causing Applejack to smugly retort to Twilight, “So much for that spell theory, huh?”
It’s at this point that Twilight has decided that she’s had enough, and she begins ranting at her friends and Discord about how she’s angry that she missed out on what was obviously a fun time her friends had with Discord. She says that as the Princess of Friendship, she shouldn’t be jealous. However, her friends tell her that it’s natural for her to get jealous from time to time.
After this, Discord reveals that he deliberately asked Twilight’s friends not invite her to their get-together because he didn’t want her to be deserved. Applejack asks him point blank whether or not he had any intention of making Twilight feel left out, and he asserts he didn’t.
We then get a scene of the Mane Six laughing together as a result of Twilight joking around with them at her own expense, leaving Discord bewildered. However, we end the episode on all of them laughing together.
So, what did I think of this episode? This episode really exceeded my expectations. I thought that this episode was going to be nothing but Twilight asserting that Discord had put some kind of spell on her friends and being antagonistic towards him. However, that idea isn’t expounded upon until the end of the second act, and it’s quickly dropped.
While I did like this episode, I found it kind of dull. Nothing is really at stake here. It’s just Twilight trying to figure out why her friends and Discord are such good buddies all of a sudden. While I have enjoyed this season, I will admit that this season has a lot of dull episodes. It’s not that these kinds of episodes are bad or anything; they’re just not all that entertaining. Some notable examples include “Canterlot Boutique” and “Made in Manehattan.”
I’m probably one of the few who believe that Discord would have better served as a recurring villain for the Mane Six, seeing as how he’s the embodiment of everything that they stand against. Nonetheless, I will say that it is very nice to see Discord finally bonding with our heroines, almost as if that whole incident back in “Twilight’s Kingdom” had never happened. I know that some people might take issue with this, but, for me, it wasn’t a problem. Yes, he made a stupid mistake, but they forgave him in the end and moved on with their lives. These aren’t the kinds of ponies who are going to hold a grudge against someone. Well, okay, maybe Rainbow Dash, but that’s to be expected of her.
I found Twilight’s dilemma in this episode relatable. Which one of us hasn’t gotten so wrapped up in a sotry that we’ve missed out on spending time with friends and loved ones, and ended up missing something really great as a result? I know that’s happened to me more than enough times than I can count.
This episode made me hungry to see an episode of Twilight bonding with Discord. I know that, technically, “Three’s a Crowd” could be counted as one, but I’d like to see an episode with only Twilight and Discord simply getting to know each other, and maybe becoming better friends as a result. I’d say Discord knows Twilight pretty well, seeing as how he seems to know that she likes dancing. Otherwise, why would he have been dancing with her in “Three’s a Crowd?” In a similar vein, I would like to see an episode with Discord bonding with the other Princesses, particularly Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Discord’s friendship with Celestia was hinted at in “Make New Friends but Keep Discord,” but I’d really like to see an example about it. He may even have romantic feelings for Celestia, as shown in “Twilight’s Kingdom, Part 2” where he gave her a bouquet of flowers and winked at her. This has, no doubt, led to several fanfics in which the two of them are shipped together. Similarly, Discord has also been shipped with Twilight and Fluttershy, naturally.
And speaking of Twilight and Fluttershy, next week they are being summoned to settle a dispute between two feuding families. I can only imagine how excited Twilight must be. But, is it just me or am I the only one getting flashbacks of “The Divide” from Avatar: The Last Airbender whenever I read the summary for this episode? I’m hoping that it goes better than “The Divide.”
I am mostly afraid that they wasted writing material with Twilight's new found arrogance.
I just really hope this doesn't mean that, that part of her is completely solved already. I would love to see more of it.
(sorry, I read a really harsh review of someone and it is bothering me extremely)
3534432 I think you're talking about her attitude. For example, in "Make New Friends But Keep Discord" she tells Discord, "This night is very important to me, Discord. Keep it under control." I can understand her getting bored due to being cooped up in a castle all day, but she acts like she has nowhere to go and nothing to do. What about hanging out with Lyra or spending some more time with her Canterlot friends?
3534544
I more meant that she seems to have regained her humility.
3534559 That may have been the lesson she was learning in this episode, that just because she's a princess doesn't mean that she isn't immune to having negative emotions. This kind of internal conflict would actually make a great fanfic between her and Luna.
3534567
Indeed and they could have pushed that much further. After all many accuse Twilight of being too perfect.
3534579 I've never understood the "Twilight Sparkle is a Mary Sue" argument. Maybe it's because she's my favorite character, but she's been shown struggling to do a lot of spells. The only reason why she was able to pull off Rarity's gem-finding spell so easily is because I imagine that spell is a relatively easy spell to pull off. After all, magic isn't exactly Rarity's area of expertise.
3534717
since becoming a princess.
3534834 Yes, the argument that Twilight is a Mary Sue has been getting thrown around a lot ever since she became a princess, but ever before that, people accused her of being a Mary Sue.
3534836
whatever.