It is time for a villain to win.

[DiscordAnarchy 770]

Oh Tirek. How we miss thee...

 

Seriously; one of the biggest letdowns of Tirek was just how easily he was defeated at the end of the episode. I firmly believe that a villain needs to actually win and show a distopian Equestria until the precious ponies are able to actually come up with a great plan to stop them that does not involve a magic "Win" button that is the Rainbow powers that we got when they defeated Tirek.

 

 

If we do get another serious hardcore villain (Preferrably Grogar), I'd like to see him actually conquer the world for a short time (at least past 2 episodes) to show what the world would be like under their cloven hoof before finally being beaten. I feel it was a missed opportunity for the writers to have Tirek lose when season 4 could have ended with his defeat thus leading to season 5's opening showing a better way to defeat him.

 

 

For all the Twists and Turns of a Master Plan

Villainous Victories are short at Hand

Time for the shadows to come from yonder

To rip and tear Equestria asunder

 

Let the ponies bind and fight

Without the win button within Sight

Plan and sneak, stealth and prey

Upon the evil is what I say

 

 

[NotoriousSMALL 1,984]

"I firmly believe that a villain needs to actually win and show a distopian Equestria"

 

That's exactly what Discord did, he won for a short time, most of the mane 6's personalities were reversed and with no one to stop him he made the world all flip floppity chaotic again.

[[NULL] 906]

I think we just need a longer third act.

I know that Meghan McCarthy is trying to keep the two-parters self-contained, but couldn't she just put in a "Previously on My Little Pony:" before the two-parter starts? That would save a lot of time.

Edited November 24, 2014 by SpaceOnion

[DiscordAnarchy 770]

"I firmly believe that a villain needs to actually win and show a distopian Equestria"

 

That's exactly what Discord did, he won for a short time, most of the mane 6's personalities were reversed and with no one to stop him he made the world all flip floppity chaotic again.

 

It lasted for one episode and only in one town. I'm talking about where a villain wins and we see the next episode based about a week later and at least 2 or 3 episodes dedicated to the good guys trying to get a plan together to take down the villain instead of these episodes that have the magic "get this and automatically win" endings.

[Sabrinie 391]

I would absolutely love to see this become a reality. I love things where villains are victorious. I'm not much one for happy endings, so it makes sense that I usually root for the villains of movies. But I think this would be a really interesting concept to explore in the context of Equestria. It would definitely be interesting. 

[Guest]

Speaking from an anecdotal perspective, I have a theory about what might prevent them doing this. Whilst bronies account for a number of the viewership, the show is also watched by younger children. When I was younger and saw my favourite characters in trouble (for example, Gordon in 'Thomas the Tank Engine' becoming derailed), it upset me greatly. Perhaps this might be a reason why the turmoil never continues past an episode/two-part episode, to avoid potential upset in the younger audience. Providing a quick resolution might provide comfort.

 

[sweetolebob18 724]

Yeah, I could see it as a whole season quest, but Tolkien is dead.  Also, you've got to remember this is a TVY rated show.  They've got to be pushing the envelope as it is.  Getting some of the season finales past the censors shows Friendship ain't the only thing magic around here 

[DiscordAnarchy 770]

Speaking from an anecdotal perspective, I have a theory about what might prevent them doing this. Whilst bronies account for a number of the viewership, the show is also watched by younger children. When I was younger and saw my favourite characters in trouble (for example, Gordon in 'Thomas the Tank Engine' becoming derailed), it upset me greatly. Perhaps this might be a reason why the turmoil never continues past an episode/two-part episode, to avoid potential upset in the younger audience. Providing a quick resolution might provide comfort.

 

 

 

Yeah, I could see it as a whole season quest, but Tolkien is dead.  Also, you've got to remember this is a TVY rated show.  They've got to be pushing the envelope as it is.  Getting some of the season finales past the censors shows Friendship ain't the only thing magic around here 

 

I do not accept this. Growing up, I witnessed a lot of dark DARK stuff in children's cartoons when I was but a wee little minion of chaos. We had characters being possessed and souls ripped out of them from Ghostbusters, we had episodes of Tale Spin that dealt with blackmail, threatening of murder, and conspiricies...

 

Hell - Care Bears had Satan in it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They're Back: A Dinosaur's Tale had kids signing contracts with their blood not to mention this scary moment:

 

 

And sweet Celesia, what about PaddyWhack?!?!?!

 

 

 

I know this is less the fault of the creators and more the studios and parents but that's the problem. These people are so over-protective of their kids that even the smallest hint of chaos/darkness is banned. Kids are no longer allowed to go out on Halloween (parents take them to malls and school/church events more now which kills me). Shows can no longer be scary/dark like they used too...

 

RAWR!

[CheeryFox 23,811]

Hm. Past a two-parter is something I wouldn't mind seeing but Shimmering pretty much made sense of things. 

[Celli 4,332]

Speaking from an anecdotal perspective, I have a theory about what might prevent them doing this. Whilst bronies account for a number of the viewership, the show is also watched by younger children. When I was younger and saw my favourite characters in trouble (for example, Gordon in 'Thomas the Tank Engine' becoming derailed), it upset me greatly. Perhaps this might be a reason why the turmoil never continues past an episode/two-part episode, to avoid potential upset in the younger audience. Providing a quick resolution might provide comfort.

 

I agree, this is pretty much why it wouldn't happen. Oh well.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

This is an interesting concept, and it has been done in "The Return of Harmony".

 

Of all of the villains other than Discord, I'd say King Sombra was the closest to winning. He had Twilight trapped and Cadance almost incapacitated, and it was up to Spike and Shining Armor (through use of the infamous Wife Missile) to finish the job. It had the best resolution and didn't resort to the use of a plot device to end it.

 

What I'd rather see is a villain with a clearer motivation, a deeper backstory, and a different agenda than just taking over the world. I want a villain we could understand and relate to, and see where exactly they went wrong, and instead of taking over the world, have their goal be to take over a single town or to manipulate the Equestrian system to favor them in some way, or even to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist (there was a topic on that a while back).

 

But even if it had to be another one of these "take over the world" villains, I'd love for them to have a good enough backstory so that the dystopic Equestria would be more understandable, and for us, more enjoyable, to see, especially in how the Mane 6 overcome it and other characters adjust to it. It is a very interesting concept.