Help! My Heart is Full of Pony! - Villains · 12:54am Jun 1st, 2019
An Evil League of Evil forms as baddies come together to stop The Good Guys. It's an old trope dating back to the earliest days of serial fiction, but there's something extra special about the way MLP is using it this season.
Frenemies was a game-changer, at least in terms of how MLP handles its villains.
First of all, we get to see what Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow are like in their downtime - how they actually interact as people. Showing us their squabbles, developing their similarities, their differences - letting these three very different villains slowly discover what they all have in common - it breathes life into these characters - gives them a whole other dimension.
It somehow manages to make their shared goal of conquering Equestria, and subjugating Twilight Sparkle oddly relatable, and almost...wholesome.
They even had a friendship-lesson of sorts. Tirek, Cozy, and Chrysalis each got to enjoy a brief moment of bliss, whereupon they expressed how good it felt to work together. There was real worry in Tirek's voice when he called to Cozy, warning her that he couldn't hold the portal open very long. There was real tenderness between him and Chrysalis when he returned her magic to her, purely out of loyalty (and sympathy).
In that shining moment, we get a peek inside the mind of a villain of Equestria, and an opportunity to see why reform can be so alluring for them!
You see, MLP: FiM takes a reductionist view of morality. It's not a statement on the conflict between Good and Evil in our hearts, but rather the conflict between friendship and solitude.
Villains in Equestria literally cannot enjoy the full benefits of fulfilling companionships. So, of course they reform!
In real life, some of the most heinous monsters of human history still maintained the ability to show warmth and kindness to their friends. This shouldn't be surprising...After all, the difference between virtue and villainy is, more often than not, defined by how we treat our enemies, not how we treat our friends.
As much as I would like for MLP to explore these gradients of friendship and virtue, simply put, it's beyond the scope of the show.
When Chrysalis cried out "Nooo!" and gave a tirade against the temptations of friendship, I realized something. As cheesy as it may seem - as hokey (and almost redundant) as it may sometimes get to reform villain after villain after villain, that same oversimplification is also one of the show's greatest strengths.
The show is making a symbolic statement on the power of friendship.
I'm not sure whether any of these villains will be reformed at the end of the year, but now, having seen it through their eyes - I completely understand why so many of Equestria's villains choose to reform. The alternative is just plain...lonely.
Discuss. -Sprocket
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A very nice analysis. I enjoyed the episode in general and the look we got at them, but I hadn't considered it in quite this way; thanks. :)