Jump to content
Banner by ~ Ice Princess Silky

Do People Give Celestia More Credit than She Actually Deserves?


Cwanky

Recommended Posts

In the past both fans and critics of Celestia alike have been known  describe her as some nigh omniscient entity that does things for the best intentions, or knows how to manipulate them towards her advantage. Hence we get the infamous nickname Trollestia and the depiction of Celestia as a almost god like, if not already god like being, that ranges from manipulative, to sympathetic but almost always distant and delegating except when necessary or on her own behalf.

 

 

Often, readers and the audience are led implicitly to accept that everything will turn out fine, and the show is no exception. After all PG13 shows teaching morality are supposed to have happy and perfect endings right? …Just like Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

 

 

But past episodes have challenged this notion. Sure Celestia is still viewed, at least by the ponies, as some heroic leader that delegates her authority, and more than most of the time fails  to interact with her subjects and allies or lift a hoof, but more than ever now she shows flaws, making her if not mortal, then at least more 3 dimensional.

 

 

As we saw in A Canterlot Wedding, she could not foresee Queen Chrsysalis’ invasion, nor thwart it herself. The Elements of Harmony she sent the Mane 6 to get – useless and she herself overpowered and imprisoned.

 

 

Season 4 had plenty more of these moments. In the pilot she saw herself trapped with Luna in the chaos vines, and in the finale saw herself at the mercy of Tirek and Equestria on the verge of being conquered and destroyed.

 

 

Even the most hardline supporters of Celestia here should realize that in many, if not most of these cases, it would be an incredibly risky gambit for her to subject herself and others to grave danger just to have a plan play out. No that’s the writers’ jobs to be omniscient. Celestia is as flawed as anyone.

 

 

Do I want see Celestia fall and suffer? Honestly yes, I do. But its not because I’m some sadist that enjoys seeing her, (and Twilight), fail. I want to see Celestia develop more as a character considering that she plays such a major role in the show as a supporting character as I dunno, The Immortal Sun Goddess and Ruler of Equestria. Instead of having her as some archaic monotheistic god that we just blindly put faith into, why not have her be more relatable, like Dumbledore, who despite his wizened experience, knowledge and understanding was just as frail and petty a person as anyone else, with his share of mistakes that haunt him.

 

 

Lest people forget it, great leaders are defined just as much by their failures and flaws, as they  are by their successes. Just ask Caesar and Lincoln.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Lest people forget it, great leaders are defined just as much by their failures and flaws, as they are by their successes. Just ask Caesar and Lincoln.

 

Love that! What others call 'deconstructing heroes', I call humanizing the figure. With respect to Celestia, she is flawed ... but still a just ruler. I hope a future episode will explore Twilight's mistaken idolatry with Celestia and Starswirl. One of the greatest lessons you must learn is that the pedestal is a lie, and children start seeing their parents as flawed as they grow to understand the world. The same needs to happen here.

 

Respect Celestia ... give her cake if you must ... but she isn't perfect.

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, Celestia is very flawed, it's part of being a good character. As you have said, there have been many instances in the show where she is clearly not the perfect pony.

 

That being said, I don't think that she gets more credit than she deserves. She has a pretty impressive track record. We're talking about a pony who, with the help of her sister, has brought down an empire, defeated another seemingly god-like creature, and moves the celestial bodies. All of these qualities, epecially in a fantasy-based setting like Equestria, are god-like, and it's not hard to see why others would say that she is. 

 

Remember, even the Greek gods had tone, and I mean tons, of flaws.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Celestia definitely has her flaws.

 

Celestia had no choice but to imprison her insane sister, and it was only via the Elements of Harmony that she managed that much. I say “she had no choice,” although she did, actually, have a choice. Her other option was to be defeated, thrown down, and watch her people suffer under the iron hoof of an insane, jealous, and, deep down, terribly, terribly lonely mare. She could never defeat, truly overpower, her sister and break through the hatred that made her Nightmare Moon. With great power comes great responsibility; forced to choose between her love for her sister and the responsibility to guard her people, Celestia had to choose the latter.

 

Using the Elements of Harmony against her own beloved sister broke them, leaving them unusable until Twilight Sparkle and friends re-ignited them. Despite being supreme ruler, and ultimate sorceress, she was still a pony. She’d been bearing the burden of two ponies, ruling day and night, for a thousand years.

 

By this point, wracked with guilt, loneliness, and desperation, she likely went willingly, even gladly, as a chance to rest and perhaps even atone for her failure. Failure to love her sister enough to prevent Luna’s corruption, and then failure to redeem her. It might not have even been possible in the first place, but to someone as dedicated to her responsibility as Celestia, it would certainly have felt like a failure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Praise the sun!

 

Not completely sure, but looking from a Twilight-fanatic's perspective, Princess Celestia is Twilight Sparkle's mentor. Celestia helped Twilight Sparkle to become the princess she is today. Not to mention pouring on the feels in "Celestia's Ballad", or hugging Twilight at the end of "You'll Play Your Part".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Join the herd!

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...