Misunderstood or monster?

(Please be nice, okay?)

7297485
Me, Misunderstood. I mean, what causes a filly to be like that?

Monster. No matter if she’s a filly, or what made her the way she is. She’s responsible of her actions, and she knew what she was doing is wrong

7297485
Misunderstood.

It's just so unfair that Hasbro abused her for all the wrong reasons. ;-;

7297485 I honestly can't say either way because the show never gave us an explanation. If you expect me to believe a child is an irredeemable monster, you have to give me some very good reasons. The show's reasoning was "Because... potatoes." and that's it.

7297497
I'm going to start using the phrase because potatoes in casual conversation.

7297499 I use it to emphasize the utter lack of a reason or explanation. It's another way of saying "Just because.", indicating that Cozy is evil just because the writers say she is, not for any other reason.

7297501
Which is very poor writing.

I always had a headcannon idea where Cozy Glow is actually a mare... but is stuck as a filly due to some disease... like Baby Doll... hence why she had friends, but then as they grew older she was left as a filly and was refused adulthood and friendship etc:

7297502 It is. I'd be willing to accept her either as misunderstood or as a complete monster if they were just willing to give a good reason for either one. As it is, I can't wrap my head around why as a solo villain she was the one who come the closest to succeeding and why she was the one who got capital punishment both times when other villains were either redeemed or allowed to slip away for the most part.

7297485
Monster with a cute facade. Which is not to say she's utterly irredeemable.

7297486
It's a mystery...

7297488
Did she? Her values seem a little warped.

7297502
She's hardly be the first villain like that.

7297513

why as a solo villain she was the one who come the closest to succeeding

Because people (like you) underestimated her. Oh, and Twilight's very lax artefact security didn't help either.

why she was the one who got capital punishment both times when other villains were either redeemed or allowed to slip away for the most part.

In the long run, I don't think any serious villains were let go. They changed or perished.

7297531

Because people (like you) underestimated her.

It was painfully obvious even without the leaked synopsis that Cozy Glow was a twist antagonist. It only made her inevitable reveal and the two parter centered around her scheme all the more painful to watch.

In the long run, I don't think any serious villains were let go. They changed or perished.

Discord didn't really change and he was left off the hook completely for his stupidity in Season 9, even giving Celestia and Luna the idea to turn the Legion of Doom to stone in the first place. And if I'm being honest, Tempest Shadow would've never changed if the Storm King hadn't been dumb enough to double cross her.

7297556
I'm pretty sure there were some people who were surprised. I was spoiled, so I can't tell myself.

Although badly portrayed, Discord is meant to be solidly an ex-villain by the end of the show.

And if I'm being honest, Tempest Shadow would've never changed if the Storm King hadn't been dumb enough to double cross her.

He did, though, so...

I think she needs a back story
after all the CMC, thought they failed as teachers only to be told cozy failed on purpose... then they find out through school raze that she failed because she doesn't understand friendship... (which leads me to the following logic) you cant teach the concept of friendship to someone who doesn't understand the concept of family (i think her parents back story might have something to do with her evil...

*Takes a deep breath*

I don't like Cozy Glow. The "twist" about her being the Season 8 villain could be seen coming a mile away and the whole OMG-she's-an-evil-child gimmick gets old pretty quickly. It's not even original. Also, she's just there. No backstory, or even a motivation other than being evil. Where did she come from? How does someone so young become so vicious? Why did she want to steal the magic from Equestria? How was she even capable of exchanging letters with Lord Tirek while the latter was in Tartarus? What compelled her to do so? All these questions and more will be answered never. As a villain, Cozy Glow is more annoying than threatening and is pretty lackluster. The only real nice thing I can say about her is that I like the work that her voice actress did but that's pretty much it. I know I'm going to get a ton of flak for this but if anyone has an issue with my opinion, I am more than willing to discuss this rationally.

She is the most adorable monster in the whole show.

7297505
So, you gonna write that story or...?

7297505
That..... That would actually make so much sense.

Someone needs to write this!

Against my better judgement, I will say this much: if the creators have/had actually read any material on magic practice, then it's pretty obvious what Cozy Glow could have or should have been. But given the unlikely nature of that, we're only left to wonder. I've still only got Season 8 to go off of, but I thought she worked fine for what she was: an example of a pony who uses pony herd mentality and their kind nature against them. Not an imposing leader wanting followers of her ideology like Starlight, not a predator like Tirek or Chrysalis, not a creature who draws power from his madness like Discord, but someone who can stir up an outrage mob and trick ponies into attacking an official. Also abusing his reluctance to fight back against civilians in the process.

She is, in essence, a good concept for an MLP villain. But as always, the execution was lacking in places, for reasons we can only speculate.

I do intend to briefly use her in an upcoming story, but it's a small role, so here's how I would have done it on the show/am doing it in the story:

Write in that Cozy Glow is a bodyhopper: a creature who reincarnates over and over again while retaining what they can of their memories, using a special spell at the time of death, usually by focusing on a symbol. And hey, wouldn't you know it, ponies come with symbols built in. Easy foreshadowing. Anyway, this is an obscure thing in occultism, Carroll outlined several modes of it depending on the target, but it's pretty common in fiction for villains to at least try it, so it's not like such a revelation would come out of the blue. I doubt the writers intended her to come across that way, and the concept is a bit gruesome for a children's show, but making her one after the fact would fix a lot of issues.

It would explain why she speaks like she's an old-timey movie star: her spirit last remembers that age. It would explain why she's so bent on world domination: she was already a villain before, and now she has a new body and some bits of sanity lost through the process. It would explain how she knew the magic draining would work: it's a form of necromancy, after all, she already had some knowledge from a past life. It would make petrifying her more palatable: there's no other way to get rid of her without her eventually incarnating into something worse. Can you imagine the damage you can do generation after generation if you just keep reincarnating, with a good chunk of your magical knowledge intact? You'd always move up the ranks fast, get chummy with leaders, and you'd be able to affect foreign policy over centuries, without anyone knowing which nation you're really loyal to or an enemy of. It would even help solve the mystery of her parents: Cozy Glow never felt like their daughter, because in reality, she wasn't. She just happened to be born in their daughter's body. Her thinking and acting like a grown-up villain becomes more acceptable because, again, she has the memories of her past lives. At least, some of them, it's not a perfect process.

Tl; dr: about 90% of the problems with Cozy Glow could have been fixed by a two-minute cutscene of the Student 6 learning about ancient evil ponies, one of whom was rumoured to be able to cheat death. One scene, and one picture showing a tower for a cutie mark, that's all it would have taken. Could have even gone so far as to make it a pony who isolated herself and call her Ivory Tower. Fits the cutie mark, fits the motif, and see above for the practical issues it'd solve.

But that's just me, obviously. Take it with a grain of salt, read the source material and draw your own conclusions.

A well written character that was introduced far too late into the show's run to be taken seriously as an endgame final boss. She's a skillful manipulator, strategist, and worst of all, tricked everyone in order to steal all of the magic including Celestia, Luna, and Discord's to become the most powerful being in existence.

But here's the problem: Why?

The show never gives her a proper motivation beyond "I wants power!" While every other villain, reformed or not, has had one. Discord likes to cause chaos for his amusement, Chrysalis enjoyed feeding as much as she could under the guise of helping the changelings, Tirek likely wanted to prove he was better than his kind-hearted brother Scorpan, and the list goes on.

For a filly to cause all of this destruction without a discernable reason, and force her way into endgame villain status alongside Chrysalis and Tirek (who have earned it by having multiple seasons of buildup) just feels wrong. Not to mention completely dropping the ball with King Sombra and not having him join them at all despite being far more significant to the lore than Cozy Glow. A child who showed up one season before the finale, has no clear motive, and we don't even get to see her parents or any sort of backstory whatsoever.

Which is why I am currently writing a story called Interviews With Equestrians that aims to address these exact problems. The point of the story is finding out exactly what caused her to be like this in order to redeem her.

TLDR. If she was a fully grown mare or had more buildup, she would've been cool. But as is? She's a sack of lost potential for MLP to tackle complex issues regarding unstable children.

7320073
She had a motive - to rule. That her actions were not that likely to result in that is probably because, well, she's a kid. And in Season 9, she added that old favourite, revenge.

(And if you find her motive insufficient for a filly, how would it be any better on a mare?)

7320227
Pretty bland and boring motivations we've seen in other characters before. (Chrysalis, Tirek, Trixie, Starlight, etc).

And if she were a fully grown mare, she might have had a backstory to draw from and explain why she was the way she was. But as it is, she's an entertaining, but flat character that was rushed.

7297485
I think misunderstood, but maybe it's a bit of both. She might have her demons, but I think deep down she wants to be good.

I think she's best pony.