What's the deal with Cozy in Marks for Effort? · 9:09pm May 2nd, 2020
Halfway through writing my fanfic that focuses on Cozy Glow's backstory, I re-watched “Marks for Effort” to get a better feel for the character. This was my first time seeing the episode after watching everything that came afterward, and it didn't help me understand the character any better than I had before. Viewed in this new context, Cozy's characterization in this episode seems like it was designed primarily to trick the audience. I'm legitimately not sure if she really needed help with her friendship assignment, or if she really cared if the CMC got into the School of Friendship. She certainly doesn't show any concern for the CMC after this episode, despite calling them her friends. Knowing her future behavior makes it hard to watch “Marks for Effort” without assuming she has an ulterior motive. But what could that motive be? To what extent is she lying, and why would she try to get the CMC accepted into the school? Maybe I'll figure out the answer if I re-watch the other episodes that include her.
If you have any ideas about what was going on inside Cozy's head, I'd love to read them.
You're right. It was meant to trick the audience. It's just that the audience in question was the school faculty. Cozy wanted to cast herself as Starlight 2.0 in their eyes, now extra-cute and travel size! She just needs a little extra attention, and don't you just love the way she ingratiates herself to you? The Crusaders were stepping stones for Cozy, and this episode was all about her stepping on them. Even her apparent remorse was just part of the show, the better to cast herself as another repentant little hellion for Twilight to work her magic on.
The main three things I ultimately garnered from the episode:
It's far from a flawless appraisal—I imagine somebody could easily poke a few holes in it—but I think it could help contextualize some stuff, at least a little.
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I mean, "Completely abandoning the crusaders once they weren't useful stepping stones" is pretty reasonable.
And a fake reformation is more cunning than a lot of the villains. What's the quote?
"You can lie effectively by promising what they want, by studying them down to the bone and using their own story, or by first establishing yourself as a terrible liar"?
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Great point. I think I was trying too hard to see how this fit into her scheme of working with Tirek to steal Equestria's magic. This wasn't a means to a specific end so much as a way to lull the faculty into a false sense of security.
The Tree of Harmony was supposed to be destroyed in the Season 8, but they moved that to Season 9. This would explain Cozy leaning of the Tree in "What "Lies Beneath" but failing to account for it in her plan. Cozy had to have leaked Twilight's lesson plan in "Friendship University", no one else had the will or opportunity, despite it being irrelevant to her plan. My impression is that these were meant to setup something, like a more nuanced Cozy, that didn't make it into the final product.
In-universe, I'd say she got into contact with Tirek after "Marks for Effort", and the change in her characterization is his influence.
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Interesting points. I didn't realize that the Tree of Harmony was originally going to be destroyed in Season 8. This is getting into spoiler territory for my upcoming fanfic, but if you don't care, I've set Cozy and Tirek's first encounter back in the S4 finale when he goes around stealing magic. However, they could have become pen pals much later than that.