Friendship is Card Games: Accord

We return to the comics with a bang. Indeed, it’s the bang I was hoping to end the pre-Season 8 blogs on, but the timing didn’t pan out. In any case, the local answer to Sheogorath seems to be having a problem with his Jyggalag. Let’s see how that pans out.

Part the First: From Chaos Comes Order

Andy Price may be a great artist, but he doesn’t know how to spell “convergence.” I do appreciate the Star Trek reference, though.

Syzygy is an amazing word. It’s also unplayable in Scrabble using the base letter tiles.

Okay, hay fritters I can see. Carrot kebabs, no problem. But what’s the appeal in hay pie? It sounds like a bread sandwich.

I do enjoy Discord’s shameless medium awareness. Really should’ve read that contract more carefully before he signed it.

I do appreciate Fluttershy coming to Discord’s defense. While his showboating needed to be addressed, it could’ve been done much less harshly. Still, the stage is set for what’s to come…

Hmm. A syzygy usually involves planets, the Moon, and/or the Sun in alignment with each other and the Earth. Seeing a sidelong alignment is bizarre on multiple levels, not least its luminosity. Beautiful, but bizarre. Also, the “six lights” thing has me trying to associate each one with a different Bearer of Harmony, but even I think that may be reading too deeply.

A glowing, mysterious meteorite. Surely only good can come of this.
That said, I do like the design of the egg. Suitably disheveled for something draconequus-related, with Nyx-ish stellar details in its shadows. (The realm of the gods of Theros, not the OC.)

Ah. Stars literally aligned. I have to wonder what manner of magic they released, and what effects it actually had.

Accord’s design leaves a lot to be desired in my book. I suppose they wanted him to be recognizable as Discord, but him in a suit and monocle pales in comparison to some of the other possibilities out there. At the very least, make him symmetrical. That said, I do like the rectangular word balloons.
(Also, I personally would’ve called him “Concord,” but I suppose that does sound like he specializes in supersonic flight.)

I do love how saddened Fluttershy is by this change. Everything she knew and loved about Discord is gone. As far as she knows, he’s effectively dead.

Also, that one book’s title is mostly covered by Fluttershy’s word balloons, but I’m pretty sure that the title is Changelings, Shadow Demons, and 732 Other Things that Raised Property Values in Canterlot and Ponyville.

The architectural style in that “next day” panel seemed very different from Ponyville, but then I saw the Cheers sign. Certain allowances have to made for references.
Also, Derpy’s apparently part of a union.

Accord saying his magic “harmonizes”… I’ll come back to this.

Hmm. A silver wolf’s head, and a wolf superimposed over a star. I definitely feel like Accord’s cane is a reference to something, but I’m not sure what.

And there’s the first warning sign. It’s the same magic, with the same propensity for doing unpleasant things to ponies’ minds…

I do like Starlight being the most concerned about mind control. And yes, I’m aware of the irony. Hopefully she is as well.

I do love the picture of the Golden Oak Library in the castle. As for Spike’s dream, I can only imagine what kind of oil can affect gems.

I’m not sure what I like more in the breakfast panel, Twilight’s “I <3 Books” mug, the Elements of Harmony marshmallows in the cereal, or the Andy Griffith Show reference in a My Little Pony comic.

I don’t put much stock in that “Canterlot, 14 Miles” sign.

I do like Luna’s clear suspicion when she first meets Accord, along with Celestia’s “Please don’t smite this one” smile as she looks at her sister.

The ominous shadows and greater details as Accord announces his plan for complete mental homogenization are brilliant touches. His plan makes sense for him as well, not just as a spirit of order, but also because he retains all of Discord’s memories. All of the efforts that went towards balancing Discord out are now pushing the pendulum way too far in the other direction. (And I swear I’ve seen the mind smoke panel in Magic card art somewhere…)
Also, it looks like Accord took inspiration from Starlight not just in his removing of all differences, but also in the forced rictus grins on his victims. Speaking of, lovely touch with Pinkie being so horrified by the Accordance. Those are not happy smiles.

Part the Second: In All Chaos There is a Cosmos, In All Disorder a Secret Order

Wonderful bit of continuity with Twilight’s plan, referring to not one but two Friends Forever issues. Luna was in Discord’s mind in their FF issue, while Twilight’s mind dive spell comes from her issue with Big Mac.

While I do love Pinkie sticking out her hooves as Dash airlifts her, I have to think Dash’s efforts would be better spent on a pony who can’t move at the speed of humor.
Also, sure is nice of Accord to wait politely as the ponies plan all of this out.

Amazing visual with the vast psychic cube.

I’m not sure what’s more disturbing, Vinyl’s face while part of the hive mind (though at least now she gets to speak) or Andy Price’s OC being part of it. You know it’s bad when the villain’s influence spreads past the fourth wall. That said, Accord’s face appearing on every member of the herd outdoes both.

Celestia’s indignant WAT face is something of a mood breaker, but Accord’s argument showcases the issue that’s driving him forward. He may call himself the spirit of order, but he still has all of Discord’s knowledge and memories. As such, he’s working off of Discord’s understanding of order. The key difference is that he takes that interpretation of order and thinks it’s a good thing.

… Wait a second. Did Rarity just teleport? Really not sure how to feel about that.

Hmm… Really not sure about Discord’s decision to reinvent himself. If nothing else, this sort of insecurity doesn’t feel right coming from him, especially not just because he bothered ponies. He enjoys doing that. It could be the conjunction’s magic affecting his mind, but this still feels off.
Also, Accord was apparently lying through his teeth when he claimed he wasn’t sure how he came about. That or those last memories didn’t make the trip.

Lovely detail with the army of Accords shaking icicles off of the panels’ edges withå the force of their tromping.

Huh. Jimmy Olsen pony. I don’t suppose Supermane can help? (Though Kryptonians aren’t protected against magic…)

Accorded Luna and Twilight do make for an excellent stinger page.

Conclusion: And Chaos into the Order Came

Aww, they stopped doing the rectangular word balloons for Accord and his thralls. That was a nice touch.

… So, why did the distraction monkey work?

Hmm. Really not sure about the exchange between Celestia and Starlight. That Celestia would consider Accord’s actions a success by any measure is more than a little disturbing, though seeing her sister and her student mind raped will understandably throw her off her game. That said, I wouldn’t call mirror Celestia a domineering tyrant. She was too impulsive and short-sighted to be called such. She terrorized rather than tyrannized. And even with Celestia so distressed, it feels really off for Starlight to tell the millennium-plus ruler of the nation who personally faced down King Sombra. that there are right and wrong ways to bring order.

Okay, I enjoy a good bit of continuity as much as the next guy, but four pages of thinking back on past incidents feels a bit excessive, especially when some of the points raised aren’t even accurate. For example, Celestia shouldn’t have needed Luna to tell her about the dark water incident when she was the one who sent Luna to deal with it in the first place.

Don’t worry, Pinkie, it’s a comic. No orchestra on hoof to play any ominous music.

Huh. What kinds of scrolls has Mayor Mare been getting from Canterlot, and how? Spike’s still at the Palace-Tree.

Wait, wait, wait, the Elements? When was that the plan? I knew about this ahead of time, but they still feel crowbarred in.

Why would it take Accord time to figure out teleportation when he has all of Discord’s memories? I suppose warping space isn’t especially orderly.

So. Let’s discuss the Elements backfiring, shall we?

There are times when a meme image perfectly expresses one’s feelings on the matter. This is one of them.

Accord at least claims to believe they’re an impediment to his cause, though Twilight’s absence will greatly impact their efficacy. And there’s some definite credit to that. If you compare Nightmare Moon’s reaction to harmonization by Celestia and by the Mane Six, the Bearers definitely seem to have an effect on the outcome, and Celestia’s track record with them certainly seems to be more towards order than balance. That said, Accord’s claims that the Elements are designed to restore order? By that logic, they could’ve never unsealed or summoned Discord. I’d say he’s working off of Discord’s flawed understanding of harmony, much as he does with order… but we’ll get to the problem there in good time.

Also, what’s this about a shield protecting Starlight? The closest thing we see to a shield is her in a circular panel when the Elements fire.

“Friendship is order, and order is friendship.” Well, that’s certainly a point in favor of flawed understanding leading to flawed execution.

Unexpected, inexplicable shot at Sunset Shimmer. And, by extension, Starlight herself; she’s basically calling herself a rehash of Sunset, which isn’t at all the case. Sunset got the hang of the whole friendship thing a lot faster, for one. It’s nice to know “Mirror Magic” shot this down as the foolishness that it is. (Still, it’s the closest we’ve seen to a purely pony story acknowledge Sunset’s existence, or anything Equestria Girls related up until “Shadow Play.”)

And here’s where things really fall apart. Starlight’s argument is a good one… but if she were right, then why didn’t the Elements work? And if she’s wrong, then why does she convince Accord? You know it’s bad when the characters not only explain the narrative contradicting itself in fine detail, but the climax hinges on that explanation. It feels like they wanted to shoehorn in a Starlight vs. order incarnate final confrontation, worked backwards from there, and got lost on the way.
Of course, this storyline was written by Ted Anderson, the same fellow who brought us the facepalm-inducing wonder that is Anon-a-Miss, so I suppose I should be grateful that this didn’t have a PSA slipped in somewhere along the line.

I admit, Twilight and Luna in a Hasbro box is pretty darn amusing. Though I have to wonder what happened to that last vestige of Discord between getting cornered by the army of Accords and now.

Very nice to see Applejack apologize. She was the most vocal about Discord’s troublesomeness, after all.

Huh. You know, I think that last splash page is the first time we’ve seen Chief Thunderhooves (or any buffalo, for that matter) since “Pinkie Pride.” And I’m not even going to ask about Spike’s Shriner car.

In all, this one’s a pretty darn good adventure arc, full of menace and meditation on the law-chaos axis… but that contradiction in the conclusion leaves a terrible taste in my mouth. I suppose it’s actually appropriate to herald Discord’s return with logical inconsistency, but it still frustrates me. Still, I’ll try to focus on the positive. For example, I have new cards to share:

Cub Reporter 1W
Creature — Pony Scout
When Cub Reporter enters the battlefield, investigate. (Create a colorless Clue artifact token with “2, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.”)
T, Sacrifice three Clues: Search your library for a legendary card, reveal it, and put it into your library. Then shuffle your library.
He may be young, but he’s already made some impressive connections.
1/2

Set Right 1W
Instant
Return to the battlefield target permanent card in your graveyard sent there from the battlefield this turn.
Accord’s initial acts seemed harmless at worst.

Harmonic Backlash 2W
Instant
Destroy target enchantment or attacking creature. If that permanent is white, exile it instead.
The will of the Elements is a strange and alien one. Though it often aligns with pony interests, that is not always the case.

Uniform Regiment 2W
Creature — Chimera Soldier
Devoid (This card has no color.)
When you cast this spell, you may pay 1C. you do, destroy target tapped creature.
Accord’s mental defenses punish any deviation from the norm.
2/3

Extension of the Accordance 3W
Creature — Pony Drone
Devoid
First strike
Extension of the Accordance’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of colorless nonland permanents you control.
Individuality is a thing of the past.
*/*

Infinite Cubicles 3WW
Enchantment
Devoid
Creatures can’t attack you or a planeswalker you control unless their controller pays X for each of those creatures, where X is the number of colorless nonland permanents you control.

Fabulous Flicker 1U
Instant
Exile target creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under your control. Counters remain on it as it moves to exile and the battlefield this way.
”A stitch in space saves its share as well.”
—Rarity, Bearer of Generosity

Internal Bureaucrats 1U
Creature — Chimera Advisor
Devoid
1C: Scry 1.
”It’s all so meticulous. So beautiful in its organization. It pains me to undo this.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
1/1

Hypnosis Field 1UU
Enchantment
Whenever one or more creatures attack, those creatures get -X/-0 until end of turn, where X is the number of attacking creatures.
Accord’s influence spread through Canterlot, dulling minds and eroding wills.

Cosmic Convergence 2U
Sorcery
Each player shuffles their hand into their library, then draws cards equal to the greatest number of cards a player shuffled into their library this way.
”Aligning stars release a tremendous wave of magic into the universe. It is a time for celebration and reinvention.”
—Princess Luna

Rise and Fall of Our Town 2U
Enchantment — Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — Turn target creature face down. (It becomes a 2/2 creature.)
II — Gain control of target face-down creature.
III — Turn target face-down creature you control face up.

Screeching Distraction 2U
Creature — Monkey Illusion
Flash
When Screeching Distraction enters the battlefield, tap up to two target creatures.
Thankfully, what it throws is as unreal as the rest of it.
1/1

Contract Renegotiation 2B
Sorcery
Target creature’s controller sacrifices it unless that player pays 5 life.
”If you want me to stick around, you’d best make it worth my while.”

Discord’s Return 4BB
Sorcery
Put target creature or planeswalker card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control.
Chaotic 3B (You may cast this spell for its chaotic cost. If you do, choose its target at random.)
“Did you miss me?”

Flame Juggler 2R
Creature — Chimera Shaman
T: Flame Juggler deals 2 damage to any target. Flip a coin. If you lose the flip, Flame Juggler deals 2 damage to itself.
”If there weren’t any risk, there wouldn’t be any point to the show.”
0/1

Grand Eruption 2RR
Sorcery
Grand Eruption deals X damage to each creature, where X is the number of Mountains you control.
”You don’t want to know how rock farmers fertilize.”
—Pinkie Pie, Bearer of Laughter

Djinn of the Basket 2G
Creature — Djinn
Trample
When Djinn of the Basket enters the battlefield, target opponent gains 8 life.
He’ll grant any wish expressed in the form of a lunch order.
4/5

Sealed Snowglobe 2
Snow Artifact
T: Add C.
2, T, Sacrifice Sealed Snowglobe: All permanents become snow until end of turn. Draw a card.
Even the one scrap of chaos left in Accord’s mind expressed itself through tiny flakes of stasis.

Chimeric Pupa 3
Artifact
T: Add W or U.
WU: Put a hatchling counter on Chimeric Pupa. Then if there are three or more hatchling counters on him, exile him, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner’s control.
Accord, Spirit of Order
Legendary Planeswalker — Discord
+1: Up to two target creatures can’t attack or block until your next turn.
-2: Scry 2, then draw two cards.
-6: Exile all creatures, then manifest those cards.
4

Magnificating Sparkle Scanner
Artifact — Contraption
Whenever you crank Magnificating Sparkle Scanner, fateseal 1. (Look at the top card of an opponent’s library. You may put that card on the bottom of that library.)

United Consciousness WUB
Sorcery
This turn, your opponents can’t cast spells or activate abilities and play with their hands revealed. You may play cards from their hands this turn and may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast those cards. Exile United Consciousness.

Invasion from Beyond 2GU
Sorcery
Each player may put a creature card they own from outside the game onto the battlefield.
”The question has never been ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ It is ‘What will happen should others find us?’”
—Princess Luna

The Reflection War 3UB
Enchantment — Saga
I, II — Create a token that’s a copy of target creature an opponent controls.
III — For each creature you control, each opponent sacrifices a creature with the same name as that creature.

Perfect Accord 3UURR
Sorcery
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Untap all creatures and gain control of them until end of turn. Until end of turn, they have base power and toughness 3/3, become colorless, lose all abilities, and gain haste.
”Isn’t it so much nicer when we can all get along?”
—Accord, spirit of order

Cubic Plateau
Land — Mountain Plains
(T: Add R or W.)
Cubic Plateau enters the battlefield tapped.
Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

Mishmashed Hotel
Land
As Mishmashed Hotel enters the battlefield, choose two colors.
T: Add C.
2, T: Add one mana of each chosen color. (This adds two mana.)
”A good compromise leaves both parties equally unsatisfied.”
—Marion Mare, mayor of Ponyville

Comments

[Speckle]

I think Rarity was opening a portal rather than actual teleportation.

Also, can we appreciate the fact that Pinkie Pie escaped via 'slide'?

[garfan]

the element didn't work because, despite one idea I once had, subbing in a former bearer isn't a good enough substitute for the current bearer

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

It was written by Ted Anderson, the reason I don't read the comics much. What did you expect?

Aside from him forgetting that Rarity knows exactly one proper spell (outside of telekinesis). Or that behaving orderly kills Discord.
Also I haven't been able to track down the newer issues or series.

[Maran]

If I'm not mistaken, there were some buffalo in the background in the Troubleshoes episode.

Anyway, I might give this comic a pass. It sounds like an interesting concept, but a bad ending can ruin an otherwise good story for me.

[Dustcan]

Unexpected, inexplicable shot at Sunset Shimmer. And, by extension, Starlight herself; she’s basically calling herself a rehash of Sunset, which isn’t at all the case. Sunset got the hang of the whole friendship thing a lot faster, for one. It’s nice to know “Mirror Magic” shot this down as the foolishness that it is.

Shot it down...by proving it correct? Starlight's speech here, and specifically this panel, boiled down to "You can't be friends with copies of yourself." Come Mirror Magic and we see stark differences between Sunset and Starlight and they hit it off well.

Starlight's speech to Juniper at the end even hit the same high notes as her speech to Accord, so there's that.

The bigger question is when did Twilight get a hold of a pony Sunset photo.

[Lurks-no-More]

About Rarity teleporting, that's pretty clearly an art goof. I'm pretty sure they meant for Starlight to teleport and Rarity to come along for the ride.

[FanOfMostEverything]

4888734
That just raises the question of whether portals are more or less impressive spacial magic than outright teleportation.

But yes, Pinkie's slide was fantastic.

4888746
That still doesn't explain why or how they activated enough for Accord to hijack the harmonious carrier wave.

4888750
To be fair, these comics came out more than half a year before "Discordant Harmony." And Rarity has demonstrated more than one non-telekinetic spell: Illusions ("Suited for Success",) object repair ("Rarity Takes Manehattan,") object summoning ("Lesson Zero," unless she keeps fainting couches stashed all over Ponyville,) topological transmutations that convert a sheet of fabric directly into a dress shape ("Sweet and Elite,") storing images in crystals ("Castle Sweet Castle")...
Her figurative spellbook isn't nearly as full as Twilight's, but she's no one-trick pony. That said, teleportation is certainly pushing it.

4888756
Excellent point; some buffalo did laugh at the young Troubleshoes's pratfalls. So it's only been three years since they showed up on the show instead of four. Huzzah.

And this does have some amazing visuals, as expected from Andy Price. If nothing else, give the stuff on Derpibooru a look-over if you haven't already.

4888773
What I mean is that "Mirror Magic" disproves the implication that Starlight and Sunset are virtually identical, and thus could never befriend one another.

And yeah, where, when, and how did Twilight get a photo of a pony Sunset making that face?

4888774
Presumably, yes. The thing is, errors in comics linger. It's not like the Prince of Traffic Control, who's only there for a second or two. The Rariport is there forever.

[zimmerwald1915]

4888773
It's completely unfair to suggest that Sunset and Starlight are copies of one another. They are, however, both copies of Twilight. Don't ask me how the transitive property plays here.

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

4888780
I had forgotten about some of those. Mea culpa. Main point still stands- those are all directly related to her profession/talent (and one is easily waved off as a gag). She doesn't have the raw magical power for teleportation.

[Dustcan]

4888780

And yeah, where, when, and how did Twilight get a photo of a pony Sunset making that face?

Either Twilight asked Celestia for a photo of Sunset, of which there would only be ones of a smug villainess, or Twiggles secretly enjoyed Sunset's bitchswag and asked for a specific pose during an unseen Equestrian get-together.

[DannyJ]

Accord’s design leaves a lot to be desired in my book.

....Eeyup.

I do love how saddened Fluttershy is by this change. Everything she knew and loved about Discord is gone. As far as she knows, he’s effectively dead.

You will note, however, that she is the only one significantly upset by this, and that in general, the cast are perfectly fine with Discord being gone forever and replaced by someone else. Doesn't speak well to their supposed friendship, does it?

I do like Starlight being the most concerned about mind control. And yes, I’m aware of the irony. Hopefully she is as well.

I... am not fond of this aspect, mostly because Starlight doesn't seem self-aware about this. She may look back on what she did in Our Town with shame, but her flirtation with non-consensual and mind-altering magic continued well into season seven, and this was published before any of that. Given that this mare would later swap the cutie marks of the Royal Sisters without their permission, her getting up on her high horse with Accord about free will comes off to me as more hypocritical than ironic.

Wonderful bit of continuity with Twilight’s plan, referring to not one but two Friends Forever issues.

One of the few things I really liked about this arc.

Hmm… Really not sure about Discord’s decision to reinvent himself. If nothing else, this sort of insecurity doesn’t feel right coming from him, especially not just because he bothered ponies. He enjoys doing that.

This, absolutely. For a story centred around Discord, this arc really doesn't understand Discord. To a lesser extent, I had this problem with Discordant Harmony too, but at least in that case he was changing himself for Fluttershy, the pony he cares most about in this world. Here there's no such excuse.

Accorded Luna and Twilight do make for an excellent stinger page.

I like the imagery, but this twist mostly just annoys me. It renders the entire subplot about entering Discord's mind pointless, because nothing is accomplished. It's just an excuse to remove Twilight and Luna from play and make way for Starlight to save the day. Granted, it's better than how Where and Back Again did it, but that isn't saying much.

Hmm. Really not sure about the exchange between Celestia and Starlight. That Celestia would consider Accord’s actions a success by any measure is more than a little disturbing,

And even with Celestia so distressed, it feels really off for Starlight to tell the millennium-plus ruler of the nation who personally faced down King Sombra. that there are right and wrong ways to bring order.

Another example of other characters being made into idiots to make Starlight look good. I am trying to not keep harping on this point, because I seriously don't have as much of a problem with Starlight as I used to, but this comic is a microcosm of everything that was wrong with her redemption arc.

Wait, wait, wait, the Elements? When was that the plan? I knew about this ahead of time, but they still feel crowbarred in.

"Crowbarred in" certainly feels accurate. This was the first time the Elements of Harmony were used in years, and until this point, we didn't even know it was possible to remove them from the Tree and use them again (Shadow Play later did this too, but this comic came first), so this really came out of left field. It also raises all manner of questions and causes all sorts of problems. For example, if they could just take the Elements out of the Tree all this time, then what did they need the Rainbow Power for? If Celestia can still wield the Elements alone, then what does she need the Mane Six for? How long did everyone know they could do this? How did they find out? And most importantly, why would Ted Anderson dredge up these long-buried plot devices and create all these problems only to have them be completely ineffective and pointless?

That said, Accord’s claims that the Elements are designed to restore order? By that logic, they could’ve never unsealed or summoned Discord. I’d say he’s working off of Discord’s flawed understanding of harmony, much as he does with order… but we’ll get to the problem there in good time.

This bothered me more than anything else. Maybe I've just read too many of Alara's stories, but I'd think that Discord of all characters would recognise the difference between order and harmony, given that he separately identifies himself as an opposite to both (Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony). Of course, I think we all know the real reason for Discord's conflation of the concepts, and why the Elements of Harmony didn't work on him: If Anderson doesn't understand the difference, of course the characters and world he's writing about wouldn't.

Also, what’s this about a shield protecting Starlight? The closest thing we see to a shield is her in a circular panel when the Elements fire.

So, there you go, folks. Disregard everything I wrote in Just Dodge! because it doesn't matter anymore. Canon confirms that the Elements of Harmony can totally be stopped with a regular shield, and that every magical supervillain that ever got hit by them was just an idiot.

And here’s where things really fall apart. Starlight’s argument is a good one… but if she were right, then why didn’t the Elements work? And if she’s wrong, then why does she convince Accord? You know it’s bad when the characters not only explain the narrative contradicting itself in fine detail, but the climax hinges on that explanation. It feels like they wanted to shoehorn in a Starlight vs. order incarnate final confrontation, worked backwards from there, and got lost on the way.

Accord arc in a nutshell, yeah. It certainly didn't feel like they wanted to write an an arc about Discord.

Of course, this storyline was written by Ted Anderson, the same fellow who brought us the facepalm-inducing wonder that is Anon-a-Miss, so I suppose I should be grateful that this didn’t have a PSA slipped in somewhere along the line.

Careful, FOME. You're almost starting to sound like me.