Episode Review: What About Discord · 5:02pm Dec 7th, 2015
Spoilers in your shoes. So funny. Much laughs.
No, seriously. Not that funny an episode. This is because, like Twilight, we're left out of the loop.
Twilight and Spike spend an entire weekend organizing the books in the castle's library, so obviously Twilight got enough books from Celestia in Rainbow Rocks. Even the one that was glowing and vibrating. Their booksortation means that they missed all the fun the others apparently had with Discord. We didn't see any of it either, so most of Discord's pun-related jokes fall flat. Except maybe for Fluttershy as an orange. That was kind of funny.
Twilight doesn't think it's funny at all. She spends a lot of time afterwards trying to analyse the jokes as her friends recreate the events of the weekend for her, in the interests of learning more about the Magic of Friendship. It's pretty clear, however, that Twilight is jealous, and that Discord intended for this to happen, and for Twilight to acknowledge that she could get jealous, even as the Princess of Friendship. But he was probably hoping for something a little more explosive.
To be honest I might've been hoping for something with a little more pop too: Discord is a reality warper, and even though he's now friends with the Mane6, and they usually treat him normally now, he could really do anything he wanted to with his powers. After 'Make New Friends,' which also dealt with jealousy, Discord's abilities seem a little underused here. The others in the Mane6 also seem abnormally insensitive to Twilight's feelings and Discord's intentions. Even Fluttershy, the most sensitive of the bunch, completely misses it. And it all drives Twilight batty, although not enough to attempt time travel, even if she could use Starswirl's spell again (and Starlight overhears them talking about time travel).
So... this episode just ends up making me anticipate the season finale even more.
In the end, though, the Mane6 let Discord have it for his subterfuge, and they create their own mild inside joke, at the end of which Twilight makes a small gesture to make peace with Discord anyway.
I give this episode a 6.5 out of 10: It's passable, but not particularly enjoyable.
