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| Four seasons later, this kind of thing was happening for real |
Written by Dave Polsky
19 Jan 2013
My original rating: 8/10 (=★★★★)
IMDb score: 8.0
The one with the Discord table lamp
Thoughts: There was a three-week break between "Spike At Your Service" and this one, so anticipation had had time to build. In the event, the first ep of 2013 turned out to be much more important than anyone really appreciated at the time. Even some of the little things, like at the end where Fluttershy says Discord is "a real sweetheart once you get to know him". However, I have more problems with the bulk of the ep than I used to. Rarity does have a point when she says Flutters is being "silly and gullible" – it's not at all hard to imagine her gamble going horribly wrong, although personally I think that would nullify her promise not to use her Element, so it probably wasn't quite as dangerous as it seems. Still, I think it might have been more convincing from the 'Shy of a few seasons later; here, it all feels a tad forced. There is a lot of fun in this episode, from the continuing subplot with the beavers to the Beauty and the Beast nod with the candlesticks. Rainbow is enjoyable as the main sceptical voice, too. Discord himself has become less of an outright threat than he was in S2, perhaps partly because he recognises that Twilight has more power to counter him, though that's theorising on my part. Not the near-classic I thought it was seven years ago, but still enjoyable. A high three, I think, though perhaps a part of that is because the likes of "Discordant Harmony" would never have beeh possible without this episode.
Choice quote: Pinkie: "Make that bunny cute again! Now!"
New rating: ★★★
Next up is "Just for Sidekicks", otherwise known as "the pet episode" and one of two remaining S3 eps for which my main thought at the moment is simply "Meh." Can it salvage some pride? Find out next time!
For all that this episode is shaky, as a lot of season 3 was, it's honestly really fun... and also one of the worst decisions the show ever made. :| Just think about all the terrible episodes about Discord being an asshole to people we could have been saved if they just hadn't let a fan write their goddamn episode. You're right that a lot of this felt forced, and that's exactly why.
ReplyDelete"Fluttershy says Discord is 'a real sweetheart once you get to know him'."
DeleteBut everything we see of him indicates he's a complete jerk. This is why the "show, don't tell" rule was invented. We're shown (over and over again) that Discord has no empathy, that he only stops screwing with everyone because he might lose something he values. (i.e. Fluttershy's companionship.)
But Fluttershy tells us he's secretly nice.
Sounds like a lot of abused women I've known.
Polsky strikes again.
Oh, oof, ow, right in the true.
DeleteI did appreciate this episode in that Fluttershy stood up to her friends, but not in as assertive a way as "Putting Your Hoof Down." I think this way suited her a lot better, where she feels like she's firmly in her element (no pun intended), and that gives her the confidence to hold her ground. On the bad side, it was the beginning of the "Discord is just an asshole to everyone because reasons" trend. And it was at Celestia's direction that the girls do this, also for fairly vague reasons, and afterward, it's like they forgot. He did come in useful at times, but mostly because of his own volition or Twilight goading him into action. I can't remember an instance of Celestia actually making use of him even though that was her supposed purpose.
ReplyDeleteThe only instance of Celestia's decision her paying off later is her choosing him to capture Tirek, but that doesn't count. It's too far ahead of this in the timeline for that to have been her intent, especially as she doesn't know he escaped until then.
DeleteMore importantly, Discord and Celestia actually NEVER personally interact in the show. The few times both characters are onscreen, it's usually other matters that are being discussed, and they are not talking directly to one another. The two occasions they do - the flashback in "Princess Twilight Sparkle", her scolding of him in "The Ending of the End" - are just about his bad actions, and are brief and surface-level stuff. Both of them talk about the other when the other is not present - Celestia here, being glad he livened up the Gala in "Make New Friends But Keep Discord", while Discord has several small moments in "Return of Harmony", here, and in the future - but they're always about the other's actions, not their characters. Discord is so character-tied to Fluttershy in the future that there's little agency with him, or unique relationships with others.
It might have been that Meghan McCarthy had concrete ideas about Discord's future that were later changed, or this episode was written without knowing what would be done with Discord in the future. Either way, it's a problem.
And yet... it's still a fun, good episode, in isolation. That becomes the problem - how fair is it to blame an episode when the true fault lies in the show's future in general, and not specific episodes, for botching what was promised here? Always quite the conundrum.
She just wanted her old boyfriend back. :V
Delete[Splitting this comment in two for word count reasons]
ReplyDeleteLet's just take the episode on its own at first. It is a lot of fun. Discord's sight gags, the Beauty and the Beast-like scene, and many other touches abound (Rarity primping herself in Pinkie's polished hooves amuses me greatly, and is exactly the kind of small detail so lacking on the visual side later in the show's run). Past the comedy, the script is a good one in isolation - the irritation of the others towards Discord is played out in a way that is far less grating and repetitive then it would often be in the future. I especially appreciate the timing of the dramatic pause when he realises he's lost Fluttershy, before he muses "Oh... huh... Well played, Fluttershy. Well played." It makes a resolution that's rushed in the script land better, and given how most future character arcs and growth for Discord would stumble, this one lands decently. And Fluttershy is at her best throughout - she is used smartly, in a manner that's easy to read as another step for her building on from "Putting Your Hoof Down". If she feels a little more assertive then in the next season, well, that's that season's fault, for slowing down her confidence growth.
There is the matter of the other directions this one should have taken. This episode was compiled in a hurry (the timing suggests it wasn't added until Alicorn Twilight was, and when a 4th season was also commissioned - given how pointless it would be to bring Discord back in the show's 4th last episode, that fits perfectly), so the script's scars aren't exactly surprising. Celestia's claim that a reformed Discord would be handy isn't false, but that the episode makes it's raison d'être so transparent does hurt quite a bit. Future knowledge plays into this - it would have been so, so much better had Discord been brought back for a confirmed threat against Equestria, with Celestia's goal being getting him on their side for that. The threat didn't even have to be in this episode, it could have been the basis for what became "Princess Twilight Sparkle" (about which I have plenty of other things to say). That Celestia and Discord NEVER personally interact in the show's future undermines it too (the flashback in "Princess Twilight Sparkle" and the scolding in "The Ending of the End" both being only about his actions).
So, the episode being a transparent setup episode does hurt it a bit, even in isolation (drinking game: take a shot every time someone says the words "reform" or "reformed"). But it's still watchable - in isolation.
[Comment continued from above points]
DeleteAnd now we come to... this episode's effect on the show's future. Discord being reformed and added to the show's cast could have worked (my favourite fix is having the events of "Twilight's Kingdom" permanently de-power him to only slightly stronger then Twilight), and he's fun, I get why they wanted him back. But the decisions taken in nearly every future appearance of his ensures it doesn't work. Firstly, there's the overdone-but-true complaint of "why wasn't Discord there?" for every major future threat he's not around for. During Season 4, the way the events of the Premiere and Finale played out got around him not fixing the problem. But afterwards, they either ignored him altogether, or came up with some contrivance to depower him (I applaud the Movie for ignoring him, but that it had to do that in the first place...). And his future characterisation is really quite bad, especially post Season 4. Discord here isn't even the same character he was in "Return of Harmony", and he's largely a troll from here on out, either framing other character for being wrong in being angry, or the inverse. And it bleeds to other characters - Fluttershy gets so tied to him it robs her of some agency (as often happens when a character is too strongly linked to others - Spike suffers from this a bit).
And all that's just general things to do with Discord's future - there are specific episodes with his name on them that are true stinkers - "What About Discord?" "A Matter of Principles" - to say nothing of the brainfart Grogar twist that is such a bad concept, and was so botched in execution, that almost no one, not even fans of the later seasons, has liked.
M.A. Larson was totally right, Discord should not have been brought back. It could have worked, and had potential, but would have been very tricky, and like a lot of the show's narratives and setups, simply went to hay post Season 4, in a complicated but pervasive way.
That leaves us with the $64,000-question: how much do we blame this episode for the show in general down the line, and specific episodes? Most future appearances of Discord in dramatic contexts are easy to write him out of - make Grogar be real, have the quarter in "To Where and Back Again" just be a trio - it's really just the Season 4 Premiere and Finale that have him woven in deeply, but even they could be reworked. Given the show's later staff brought Trixie back after a long absence, I'm inclined to say they would have brought Discord back on their own - and in that context, he may have even remained a villain. Who knows? It probably wouldn't have been any better then what we got - it could have been worse - but it's worth thinking about.
In the end, I don't blame this episode TOO heavily. It could and should have been better, and really shouldn't have existed in it's current form. My ideal reform of Discord is in a two-parter that expands "Magical Mystery Cure" and takes the few elements from "Princess Twilight Sparkle" that actually matter - apart from anything else, there are many thematic and narrative reasons for having Discord's return and reformation, and Twilight's ascension, be an interwoven narrative, rather then have nothing to do with one another. But, this episode works well - in isolation. That may be faint praise, but praise it is.
The revelation that he and Celestia have never interacted absolutely floored me. :O Didn't he give her flowers once? Was that at the end of this episode? I think it was at the end of this episode. It's completely staggering.
DeleteAs for how Discord could have been used against major threats, I think the ironic ur-example would be the premiere of season 9, when the threat was his own fault, not that we knew it, but he was there to goad the mane six to greatness. Which, now that I think of it, is really just the premiere of season 4 writ large; the threat there was also of his doing (though considerably less interesting, if you ask me), and his role was to goad Twilight specifically into taking on more of the role that had been made for her. And I really liked him in that episode, which is about the last episode I think I ever say that about. c.c;
It's a "meh" episode for me aside from the couple of times the "abusive boyfriend" vibes got really strong.
ReplyDeleteThe worst thing is that it made Discord a regular thing.
That's a fair point. Maybe it's another part of why I don't love this episode as I once did. (I just hope that next season I don't also find I've lost affection for "Filli Vanilli"...)
DeleteI'm not as unhappy with Discord as you are, but there are a number of episodes where I can feel the writers (or Hasbro) went, "Hey, time for a Discord episode" and only then started thinking of an actual story.