As season three dwindled down, John de Lancie returned to voice Discord in Keep Calm and Flutter On. Fluttershy is the central character and pony responsible for “reforming” Discord from a chaotic, dastardly villain into a chaotically neutral character/mild antagonist. Conceptualized by Teddy Antonio and written by Dave Polsky, the path to Discord’s “redemption” made sense in some way, and there were plenty of clues leading towards it, all the meanwhile being contained via a very cramped pace.

Some of the strengths are as follows:

1. The characters, but one (I’ll explain it later), are in character and alive. Every single one of them, from Applejack to Discord to Fluttershy, acted like them. Their roles, behaviors, and responses made sense throughout. And it even kept going up to the very end although Discord was “fully cured.”
   
2. There was so much foreshadowing. It wasn't one surprise to another. Each event led to another and made the episode feel complete. Here's what I mean:
   1. 
      
   2. The Angry Beaver who didn't give a dam about Applejack's farm. This event hinted the huge dams and flood later in the episode.
      
   3. Discord's sneaky trick with his tail. When he snapped his fingers, the beavers were put under a trance, and they built the dams that flooded Sweet Apple Acres (which Discord later froze into a lake of ice).
      
   4. Discord eating the paper. This foreshadowed Twilight's plan to forcefully reform Discord, and he was one step ahead of her plan. When Twilight and the others left, they conversed a backup plan to forcefully reform him in front of Fluttershy's door. I won't be surprised if Discord heard them and, with his magic, stole the spells and ate the paper.
      
   5. Fluttershy declaring Discord as a friend. Discord intended to be buddy-buddy with her, but Fluttershy's words to Discord were kind and sincere. For a cold character such as Discord, it's something that he almost never hears and notices: actual warmth in conversation and belief that his exterior and treacherous trickery can be broken down by kind words and attitude. But he still manipulated the Mane Six and severed his trust she had for him. That line he spilled as Fluttershy rejected his manipulation and stormed off broke down the last bits of that block of cement and put that moment in the dinner party to full circle.
      

[*]The Deus Ex Machina was defeated early. One of Too Many Pinkie Pie's biggest flaws came midway, where Spike discovered the book from inside a secret cupboard that led to the Legend of the Mirror Pond. The trick of Twilight forcing Discord to reform (only to have it being eaten) was an extremely clever and hilarious take in poking fun at this plot device.

[*]For once, Fluttershy isn’t depicted as a cowardly Timidshy. Instead, she’s Flutterbrave. For the first time since Return of Harmony, Part 2, Fluttershy’s character development was front and center. She didn’t act or behave weakly and spinelessly. She had the gall to go out there, act within her Element, and behave in a way that shows who she should be instead of who she was since RoH2.

[*]Discord's plan to manipulate Fluttershy into having her promise not to use the Elements of Harmony against him, only to have this plan both work AND fail. When he was released, he composed a plan to trick Fluttershy and take advantage of her kindness and assertiveness. All of those tricks were used in order to embarrass and humiliate her friends and convert her to his side. However, in the dinner party, he began to enjoy her company, and he was starting to at least have a heart for friendship, for his heart was as cold as stone. This enjoyment of her company made him spill those lines and compassion.

[*]The game he played worked for him, but also against him. "Well-played, Fluttershy. Well-played" is the best line in the entire episode (perhaps the entire season, with the exception of "I quit!" from Rainbow Dash and that line from Granny Smith in Apple Family Reunion dictating the possibility of not having so many family members attending the next reunion) proved how she beat him in his own game.

That said, there are two obvious flaws. I’ll explain the smallest of them first before explaining the most obvious objective flaw.

1. Celestia in the beginning of the episode is out of character. She’s supposed to be portrayed as a wise, kind ruler with good judgment and good reasons for her motives. Her motive for having Discord redeemed is short, weak, and unconvincing, thereby making her look rather unintelligent. By default, the Mane Six should’ve questioned Celestia even more, but doing that would’ve sacrificed the short amount of time needed for Polsky to develop the script.
   
2. The pace is TOO DAMN FAST and too unrealistic. From the get-go, the entire plot held its collective breath, but instead of giving it time to exhale and calm down, it was on the verge of passing out. Writing a great pace for storytelling is a lot like aerobic exercising. You start the pace nice and slowly, but not too slow to where you plod on the treadmill. Afterwards, you slowly build up your momentum and energy, and you start to lose some fat and build up that cardio. For a couple of minutes, you race and make your heart pump quickly. But instead of doing it for so long, you slow down, allow yourself to compose, and take a sip of water from the bottle or thermos beside you. By doing this method, you let the oxygen flow.
    
   However, the person doing the exercise routine, which is the pace in KCaFO, didn’t take any time for water and held his breath, then exhaled for a quarter of a second, and then suddenly held it for another minute, if not longer. This kept on going, and the plot never had time to breathe and calm down for a short amount of time.
    
   Because of the very quick pace, Discord’s redemption was developed inorganically. Here is a guy who’s been the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony for as long as King Big Bang created the Earth and the entire pony canon. He gave Celestia, Luna, and all of Equestria such hell, he was sealed as a stone statue for a millennia. When the seal broke, Discord never relented, creating such delicious havoc and would’ve beaten the Mane Six if Celestia didn’t send the friendship letters to Twilight Quitter. Then in a matter of around twelve hours, Discord went from a villain to a chaotically neutral antagonist? While the path and ideas to redeem Discord make sense, the poor pace gives it very little sense.
    
   Discord's redemption would've been much better if the plot was slowed down, altered, split into two parts (just like another episode that’ll come up soon), and have the duration of his redemption last for more than twelve hours. Instead of constant rapid and quick sequences to the point where the viewer can't fully grasp the actions and consequences during, slow down the pace and space out the chaos so the audience catched up.
    
   Have Fluttershy converse with the others and maybe have a scene where Discord can talk about his coldness and love to make lives hell. Maybe have him create some chaos, but then think otherwise and keep the magic chaotic but fun. He can still have his moments, but he’ll feel warmer to the others and vice-versa. The development of Discord's friendship with Fluttershy would feel more natural and not as compacted as a tall man squeezing inside an old Geo Metro three-door.
   

Keep Calm and Flutter On continues the pace of presenting really bold ideas into Season 3, the others being Magic Duel, Wonderbolts Academy, and Magical Mystery Cure. There was great characterization, abundant foreshadowing, and an appearance of Fluttershy as if she had character development instead of character regression. Discord, meanwhile, still retains his character, but is now more mellowed. With him no longer a block of stone, the writers have ample opportunity to create loose roles and gags for him in season four. While it was a great idea conceptually, the cramped pace really injured KCaFO’s plausibility, and expanding it to a two-parter in script and two-to-three-day event in canon would’ve made Discord’s development sensible and much more organic in execution. Altogether, an objectively okay, yet very weak, episode.