IDW Friends Forever #20 Review · 2:25am Jan 15th, 2017
By the Fall of 2015, the show was in its highly popular (though hotly contested) fifth season and the show seemed to be growing more mature as its target audience matured. Meanwhile, the IDW Comics, which had previously been seen as even surpassing the show in quality, had gone downhill fast. The main series had just wrapped up a two parter made to blatantly try and cash in on the popularity of Flutterbat within the fandom, and was preparing to unveil their first four parter since "Reflections" in the form of "Siege of The Crystal Empire" which would go on to become the new low point for the comics and a disgrace from which they have yet to fully recover. Meanwhile, the Friends Forever series seemed to have stumbled. Ever since Friends Forever #14 it seemed like IDW was incapable of cranking out an issue that was truly enjoyable or impressive, with many people considering the first issue of 2015 (Friends Forever #13) to be the best, which was saying a lot considering the issue had a few problems holding it back. So at a time when the future of the IDW Comics seemed uncertain, was this issue able to provide a light in the darkness and give fans hope that maybe things would improve, or was it only further proof that the comics were on a downward spiral? Well, let's find out.
We begin with Discord being aroused from his sleep in a rather rude way by Twilight, but she has her reasons. Discord has somehow inadvertently turned Ponyville into a chaotic wasteland, and he claims that he didn't intend to do it. The next day, Twilight explains to Princess Celestia that she believes Discord, since the chaos stopped as soon he awoke and opened his eyes, suggesting that Discord must've been sleepwalking. However, she also expresses her concerns that Ponyville can't go through that sort of thing again. So Celestia decides to call in an expert.
Said expert is Princess Luna, who shows up at Fluttershy's cottage (where Discord is staying), and she soon learns why she's never been able to infiltrate Discord's mind before, with a being as chaotic as him, it pays to be able to keep those who could thwart his ambitions out. However, she makes it clear she's here to provide dream therapy to track down the source of Discord's nightmare, she even claims she does this sort of thing with Twilight at least twice a month to help her with her anxieties (if that's true then Twilight, do yourself a favor and see a real therapist in the waking world, having anxieties that frequently isn't healthy. And you know what happens when your fears get the best of you). But in order to enter Discord's mind, Luna has to first knock him out, and she easily does so with a magic blast from her horn (Twilight was able to do the same to shock Discord awake earlier in the issue, guess Discord is vulnerable to alicorn magic, even if it cannot directly destroy him or turn him back to stone).
Much to Luna's surprise, Discord's mind is very disorganized, even for him. Discord reveals that this is because of his chaotic nature, and Luna waxes philosophy with him about harmony and chaos, and how he could use his powers for good. Something I think should be mentioned in counter to Luna's claims, is that harmony and chaos are more or less yin and yang, for without one there cannot be the other. And chaos is a necessary evil, for without it life would have no meaning, life would be predictable and pointless. The fact that you can't predict in advance where you life will go (you can make guesses but you'll never know for sure) is what makes life worth living. Sure, sometimes you can make the wrong choice and end up going down the wrong path, but if you only had the one path to take, there would be no point in making decisions. Anyway, philosophical debate aside, Luna and Discord are beset upon by business ponies who seem intent on utilizing Discord's chaos in an orderly business way.
Luna and Discord try to run, but Discord seems to be unable to take a hypnotic suggestion. Luna explains that in ponies dreams she is capable of implementing her own thoughts, but planting them into the subconscious mind in a way that makes the one having the dream believe they came up with it (the power of suggestion if you will, hypnosis in practice seems to depend on that mixed with the placebo effect. Tricking the mind into accepting a command or suggestion, and then making it feel like that command has always been there so the person doing it doesn't notice until after the fact). But Discord is intent on keeping Luna from getting to the source of his troubles, so his mind is throwing up all sorts of barriers and obstacles to stop her, even including turning into a child and a sudden brick wall (the animation in those panels, to me at least, seems reminsicent of Dr. Seuss).
At last, Luna is able to clear up the hurdles a bit. Discord finds himself in a dream reality where he is an office employee, and Celestia is his boss. A rather wicked one at that, as she forces him to work overtime when he's supposed to be picking up Fluttershy and the kids. When Discord snaps out of that dream with Luna's help (she dresses up as the terminator and I could imagine Tabitha using her Photo Finish voice when she says "Come with me if you want to see the truth."), Luna reveals a series of doors, all clearly marked, which lead to different dream realities. She encourages Discord to pick the door that is most important, clearly indicating one that is all chained up, has caution tape on it, and has a "Do Not Enter!" sign. But instead, Discord picks a bunch of different doors, each focused on a reality where he is with one of the mane six. For Rarity, he imagines being a business partner of hers, until he decides he's had it with being used by her and sabotages her work on a fashion show. For Twilight, he imagines being the star of a sitcom where he messes with her life (kind of feel like this is pointless, I always do hate episodes where they make it so that Discord is trying to ruin Twilight's life for the sake of it and then hastily tries to twist it into a friendship lesson. It's why "Three's A Crowd" and "What About Discord?" were failures). For Rainbow Dash, he imagines helping her fly by giving her a jetpack but things go wrong. And for Pinkie he imagines helping her with pranks, but apparently he messed up badly enough to make her mane and tail go flat and cause her to swear off pranking (kind of feel like these two realities should've been switched around, Rainbow Dash is always more of a prankster than Pinkie and while Pinkie has never expressed a desire in flying it would make more sense for Discord to aid her with a jetpack than it would for him to help Rainbow Dash who can already fly well on her own).
Before Discord can see what the door marked with Applejack's cutie mark holds, Luna snaps, dropping the reference to Monsters Inc. when she calls Discord by Discord P. Sullivan. She then instructs Discord to open the door he's been avoiding, the one causing his nightmares. He reluctantly does so, and in a clear reference to Main Series #24, he's with Fluttershy and the CMC just paling around and having fun. Luna fails to see how this is a nightmare, but Discord reveals that it's because he cares about them here. Addressing what the show never touched upon, we get an exploration of Discord's guilt for his actions in "Twilight's Kingdom". Discord believes that because of his willingness to side with Tirek against the ponies, it means that he will inevitably betray anyone he cares about, so he might as well not care at all. Luna, however, delivers the cliche but heartfelt "A monster wouldn't feel concern for others." speech, reassuring Discord that he's better than he gives himself credit for. Upon returning to the waking world, Luna narrates a letter to her sister about how her interactions with Discord triggered a realization in herself about the way she sees her own past transgressions. Realizing now more than ever before that the night is just the opposite of the day, and she need not hide herself away for fear of what she did in the past or what she might do in the future. The comic ends with Luna bringing forth the night, and Discord showing up to keep her company by offering to beat her in a card game.
And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, it easily shines and is probably one of the last times in recent memory that the comics actually did something the show never did! The subject of Discord's guilt over his betrayal in the Season 4 finale really should've cropped up at some point in Season 5, but it never did and I feel like that was a huge waste considering it was likely originally going to be Discord's big defining moment post-redemption, when he firmly cemented himself as a good guy. But then, when the decision was likely made part way through production to shift the focus to Twilight (likely due to the fact that they realized they hadn't really addressed her role as a princess and didn't want to leave that hanging before Season 4 concluded) they had to find a way to take Discord out of the picture and thus it was probably decided to have him join Tirek and become a secondary antagonist. It did provide an interesting contrast and showed some growth for him (old Discord wouldn't have been able to be manipulated by Tirek as he would've felt he had no use for friends), but his betrayal going unaddressed definitely didn't do him any favors and time will tell if his first truly selfless act coming in Season 6 will be any kind of sticking point, or if it'll just be a one time thing (I'm hoping for the former, especially if it means we can move away from Discord learning about friendship and focusing more on his interactions with characters besides Fluttershy and Twilight.). That bit aside, Luna and Discord interact perfectly, like with Friends Forever #2, #3, and #6, we get a good feel for how the characters contrast but also a sense of how they are similar (which is what any goods Friends Forever comic should do). Everyone is in character, including Twilight who actually believes Discord instead of accusing him. Luna even acknowledges late into the issue that she deemed Discord a lost cause, but it's clear that she no longer thinks so after helping him out. And this is probably Discord at his most vulnerable, his most emotional, a chance for him to truly show that beneath his chaotic exterior and admittedly selfish desire to mess with others for his own benefit, he does have a heart. Considering Luna's other Friends Forever issues have been mixed or terrible (Friends Forever #7 kind of felt like a rehash of "Luna Eclipsed" for Luna and Pinkie, Friends Forever #14 didn't even deliver on interaction between the least explored pairing in the show, and #28 was a perfect example of what happens when you give a comic to people who clearly don't bother to put in any effort), it's nice to see at least one that could actually utilize her properly. Reflecting on and respecting her growth in the show, while still giving her a chance to learn something and accurately contrast with someone else. So I'd say you should definitely pick this issue up, it easily ranks in the top three (narrowly losing out to #3 and #2 for the top two spots) for Friends Forever and at a time when the IDW comics were getting worse and worse, this issue probably singlehandly restored faith in them, for a while anyways.
..... you know if I didn't know you any better dude I'd say you have a hate boner for Siege of the Crystal Empire. Like it's the new Flash Sentry for the fandom. I liked it and feel that most who hate it are doing it because they don't want villains to be redeemed despite the series being, you know, about how the Magic of Friendship being the reason the heroes overcoming their trials. And that redemption is available for those. Yes on one hand some people can't be redeemed but Sombra was basically pushed and shoved into his life and was only told that he was what he was. I liked that the ending had him reject it and that him leaving is basically him trying to redeem himself. But if you think it's just ham fisted then whatever.
4383179 It's not that Sombra was redeemed that's the problem, I'm all for a good redemption story. It's that Radiant Hope is a glaring Mary Sue of the worst degree, her actions directly endanger everyone and she is constantly proven wrong, yet in the end she gets everything she ever wanted because the plot said so. She was willing to commit treason against her home nation just on a whim that maybe her old boyfriend wasn't as evil as she'd been lead to believe, even though he enslaved an entire kingdom and turned the previous ruler of the Crystal Empire to stone, then blasted her to pieces in front of her!
4383234 And thus you glossed over that she was manipulated by what are essentially demons.
4383239 Still doesn't change the fact that she chose to believe them without any proof or evidence, and she never even tried to argue her point to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. She just assumed these demons were right and that Sombra could be good, and that meant it was perfectly okay to betray her nation and bring him back, while also not giving herself any way to control him or reign him in case he was indeed beyond saving. She was a massive idiot, and her actions should've caused her to be thrown in jail for treason, she did not deserve her happy ending. And no, I'm not saying this just because she's a girl, if she were a guy nothing about the situation would've changed, she (or he in that case) would still be guilty of everything mentioned above.
4383262 We know that these demons were evil but the fact that they were nothing BUT kind to her and she got to, seemingly, know them for over a thousand years is proof of how convincing they can be. It'd be like if someone who didn't know about Discord met him and he convinced them he was merely a spirit that was hunted and hurt with no other indication of proof aside from supposed 'lies' that everyone else was told about him. And then being trapped for a thousand years with him? Yeah that'd be enough to make them trust him. On top of that it's fear that you might be wrong. Now imagine being told by them that the stallion, or mare, you saw go evil is still able to become good. You just need to do some small little things for them in order to save them.
4383292 So she should just believe these creatures that only she could see and had never met before? And she should just take what they say at face value and not do any research on her own? At the least if she had told Princess Cadence and Cadence had said no, Radiant Hope would've had a reason to do everything she did, and even then she could've maybe appealed her case to Celestia and Luna. And when she was proven wrong when Sombra returned, she should've tried to stop him, not side with him because she was in love with him. She brought him back to life, so everything he did after that would ultimately be her fault as well. And that's to say nothing of the false promises she made to some ponies who were down on their luck, and even one that had posed a direct threat to Equestria in the past. It's bad enough that Iron Will was painted as an antagonist when he was the only one who did nothing wrong, but it's even worse that he and Flim and Flam were willing to commit treason even though they care about their reputation. Lightning Dust is questionable, I could see her being suckered into helping if it meant getting revenge on Rainbow Dash, but I think even she would at least second guess herself if it came to betraying Equestria. Chrysalis is really the only one who actually had any justification for being in the team up, and it's really saying something when she was the only one who reacted rationally to Radiant Hope's behavior.
4383312 You're missing the part where NOBODY TOLD HER WHAT THESE THINGS WERE. They were BURIED and HIDDEN from all public knowledge so once again. NO REASON TO BELIEVE THEY'RE ANYTHING BUT WHAT THEY TELL HER. But no. That's fine we just blame a mentally manipulated mare for being used to conquered the world without her realizing.
4383316 Doesn't matter if no one told her what those things were, she still chose to not ask anyone to see if they were willing to support her. She just decided on a whim to believe these creatures and bring back Sombra on a whim that he might not be so bad. And she ignored everything he did after being brought back that proved he was indeed evil, she even sided with him against the princesses, allowing him to turn them to stone! Radiant Hope is a massive idiot and her actions do not match her justifications at all! If she does have a mental condition (and I highly doubt she does as she was competent enough to do everything she did) it's that she's far too blindly trusting and just chooses to ignore what doesn't fit her pre-conceived notions! You cannot defend her when she blantantly sides with Sombra even after it becomes clear he is indeed as evil as everyone said he was! Yes, it sucks that as a child he wasn't all bad and that maybe he could've been saved, but it was abundently clear that there was no good left in him when Hope brought him back and she did not deserve to be rewarded for committing treason!
4383330 Okay. Fine. No that's fine. I'm glad I know someone who's willing to throw an emotionally unstable person under the bus because they feel that BEING IMPRISONED IN A DIMENSION WITH ONLY THESE CREATURES AS COMPANY is them being 'stupid'.