)CountDerpy's FimFic Talk's #1: Discord's Plan and Somewhat Theory Ramble (Spoilers) · 5:50pm Oct 14th, 2019
Series Finale Spoilers Below
Hey everyone, CountDerpy here.
Discord has always been a character that has been hit or miss for me when it comes to MLP in general. Back in season 2 when he first premiered as the primary antagonist for the season opener he was immediately one of the best things the series had produced. Even when he was brought back to be reformed and had his initial interactions with Fluttershy that led to them slowly becoming friends (and seemingly lovers in the Epilogue), he was still very likable and enjoyable to watch.
In later seasons his once enjoyable hair-brained, chaotic antics started to drone on and while he learned his lessons each time it never seemed to stick and it felt frustrating. Some of it could very well be given to lack of general social skills and not effectively knowing how to put these new lessons in friendship to good use right away, but it always seemed to be a one trick show even if the theme was different each time.
So here we are in season nine, the final one. I feel to this point Discord has grown a lot and has shown to us and his new friends that while he does mess up a lot and he seems to make repeating mistakes, he does take these friendship lessons to heart and has good intentions even if his methods aren't really the correct ones. We see this take place in the opener of the season when he takes a fall, faking a devastating injury from King Sombra and using it as a catalyst to boost the spirits of Twilight and her friends, giving the the confidence boost to blast him into ash.
The method of faking an injury, getting the ponies worried about their friend, and potentially putting them in a losing situation is not the proper way of inspiring confidence in someone (Although I do agree if things had gotten out of control he would have been able to step in at any time and end it immediately). However, to Discord this is a logical conclusion, even if the conflict itself is manufactured and in a controlled environment, the confidence Twilight feels and boost in overall morale among the Mane 6 in general would be real and would quite possibly give them the push they needed to take the next steps to the end goal of making Twilight into the next ruler of Equestria.
Thus we get to the overarching plan of the entire season: Discord was Grogar the entire time.
This was the same plan Discord had with Sombra enacted on a larger scale with Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow, and to Discord's credit it had a bit of ingenuity behind it's design:
1. Sombra was obviously always meant to be a guinea pig that would be defeated by the girls as an example. The way that Discord just nonchalantly let him go on a rampage of Equestria, showed up and just casually handled the whole affair instead of treating it like it was an actual threat just screams that he understood Sombra would never listen to reason. He was always a lone wolf that manipulated others through magic and technology, rather than subterfuge, subtlety or deceit. Ergo, it made sense to use him to try to keep the other three in line.
2. Getting hold of Grogar's bell would be all Discord needed for his plan to be successful. Much like he would be fully able to take down Sombra should things go wrong, with the bell the other three would be incredibly easy to take down even with the other artifacts he gathered to power them up.
3. Most likely those other artifacts he gathered might have been closer to what Twilight used in her battle with Trixie and the Alicorn Amulet, just nothing. He may have infused them with a bit of boosting magic to make them a threat but nothing that would actually be worthwhile in the long run.
Finally, whether intentional or not, he was also trying to teach them the Magic of Friendship in his own way. "Grogar's" whole point throughout the season was that all on their own they would fail over and over again against Twilight and her friends, but together they would have a chance of defeating her. To their credit, when they all got together, planned to betray him and worked to overthrow Equestria as a team they did more damage than any one villain has ever done on their own. It was their moments of bickering, fighting over power and arguing over their next moves that ultimately lead to their downfall at the most powerful bout of Friendship the world has ever seen. However, I want to give Discord credit here and I think that in his own way he was hoping that if everything went according to plan that the dust would have settled at the end of a fierce but ultimately one sided battle. Twilight and her friends would rally together just as the four villains would rally together, each side using the power of friendship to fight against each other and at the end of it the bonds of a friendship built upon the tenants of Harmony would prove to be stronger than those built upon others (fear, deceit, mistrust, etc.). I believe he would hope this would not only be a moment of true confidence for Twilight, but also a moment of seeing the light for the villains an a moment to reform and forgive.
This is the beauty of Discord. While I will argue all day his ends do not justify the means at all, when you give a good look into what he was likely thinking it's surprising the patterns that you start to pick up on in the chaotic whirlwind that is his mind. Discord is a sweet soul when you get right down too it, he has a kind heart that took a long time to develop and it was amazing to watch his character growth over 8 season.
Agree with me? Disagree? Think i'm an idiot? Think I ramble? Let me know below!
I fully agree, read my latest blog, is similar