Nightmare Moon: Why So Stupid?

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

So I just re-watched FIM Pt. 2 and I remembered once again how dumb NMM acts. She can manipulate all these things (manifest into thorns, make scary tree faces, cut hair off, and shape herself into evil ponies), but she never just, er, "takes care of", the mane six. She could have just had the manticore chase them into the river or she could have cut the rope to the bridge while they were walking on it, or she could have just shown up and started shooting magic beams. Bam bam bam! There ya go, no more Twilot Sporkle.

 

So why doesn't she just try to kill the mane 6? Does NMM take after her ever-trolling sister? Is she dumb? Was the darkness within her "clouding her vision"? YOU decide!

Edited August 18, 2014 by LZRD WZRD

[Nuke87654 1,849]

So I just re-watched FIM Pt. 2 and I remembered once again how dumb NMM acts. She can manipulate all these things (manifest into thorns, make scary tree faces, cut hair off, and shape herself into evil ponies), but she never just, er, "takes care of", the mane six. She could have just had the manticore chase them into the river or she could have cut the rope to the bridge while they were walking on it, or she could have just shown up and started shooting magic beams. Bam bam bam! There ya go, no more Twilot Sporkle.

So why doesn't she just try to kill the mane 6? Does NMM take after her ever-trolling sister? Is she dumb? Was the darkness within her "clouding her vision"? YOU decide!

Major plot induced stupidity is the answer.

[Pastel 7,627]

The first 2 episodes were very bad IMO (relatively speaking), Nightmare Moon is my least favorite villain, and as you pointed out she could've killed the mane 6.

Bad writing, that's all.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Blobulle

[Fractured 2,683]

Cause it'd be a bummer if our main characters died in the second episode.
Joking aside, characters powers in the show aren't really on par with what they could potentially do. All of the villains are; can you imagine what Discord would've done to the residents of Ponyville absent a PG rating?

[Abia 258]

Chrysalis, Sombra and Tirek were really the only villains to exhaust their full potential and pour all their energy into conquering Equestria; Nightmare Moon and Discord didn't do much when you consider how powerful they really are. While I don't see Discord stretching further when the PG rating is lifted (he uses his powers quite lazily, I think, and more enjoys playing with ponies than directly hurting them), Nightmare Moon definitely didn't give it her all. You could attribute it to her inner self knowing that what she was doing was evil, but that'd be giving the writers a little too much credit. The first season premiere wasn't all that great, considering. 

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

Cause it'd be a bummer if our main characters died in the second episode.

Joking aside, characters powers in the show aren't really on par with what they could potentially do. All of the villains are; can you imagine what Discord would've done to the residents of Ponyville absent a PG rating?

Yeah but it's not a problem with Discord since he actually IS a troll. With NMM, it comes across as, dare I say it, bad writing

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

If we're going that far, just think of the exact reason why the crystal ponies fear King Sombra. VERY dark stuff, IMO.

 

But it is a kids show, I guess, though MLP villains aren't always the best examples of intelligence; Sombra & Tirek being the exceptions thus far.

[Silverrida 35]

The only thing that could stop NMM were the Elements of Harmony which is the first thing she went to check on when she was released. She slowed down the Mane 6, got there before they did, and effectively destroyed them.

 

Why would she kill Twilight and co. any more than she would kill anyone else? Her whole shtick was jealousy; difficult to have ponies appreciate the night when they're dead.

 

I actually think she was pretty smart to go after her literal only weakness. Most villains don't even care to guard their MacGuffin. She just pulled a Discord; she severely underestimate the ability they had. This is also most humorously and clearly manifested in the single line: "You're kidding? You're kidding, right?"

Edited August 18, 2014 by Silverrida

[Nuke87654 1,849]

The only thing that could stop NMM were the Elements of Harmony which is the first thing she went to check on when she was released. She slowed down the Mane 6, got there before they did, and effectively destroyed them.

 

Why would she kill Twilight and co. any more than she would kill anyone else? Her whole shtick was jealousy; difficult to have ponies appreciate the night when they're dead.

 

I actually think she was pretty smart to go after her literal only weakness. Most villains don't even care to guard their MacGuffin. She just pulled a Discord; she severely underestimate the ability they had. This is also most humorously and clearly manifested in the single line: "You're kidding? You're kidding, right?"

 

Now that angle would make NMM look alot better.

[Jeric 46,835]

 

 

This is also most humorously and clearly manifested in the single line: "You're kidding? You're kidding, right?"

 

That quote actually was my highlight of the episode (Love part 1 ... part 2 was just ok)

 

Perhaps Luna was struggling with the Nightmare Force internally and pulled her punches?

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

If we're going that far, just think of the exact reason why the crystal ponies fear King Sombra. VERY dark stuff, IMO.

 

Remember that door? It's heavily implied he cast a similar, mass-scale curse on the Crystal Ponies to keep them in line. In other words, he likely forced each of them to endure their own personal Hell... repeatedly.

[Luna 831 465]

because it is a kid show and little kids would be traumatized if that were to happen.

 

[paradoxical 1,735]

Only Hemi-headcanon

 

Celestia is not immortal.  She is a series of allicorns with normal lifespans.  The current incarnation is 1) tired of the farce, 2) having difficulties finding and suppressing the allicorn set of genes, 3) other.

 

And she doesn't want to make the lies anymore. 

 

She fabricated the series of challenges to test Twily for taking over the leadership.

 

None of the challenges are real.

 

(This explains why Shining armor could beat Chrysalis, why they told Twily to hide rather than fight, and why nmm was lame.  [and why all this happened at once])

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

Remember that door? It's heavily implied he cast a similar, mass-scale curse on the Crystal Ponies to keep them in line. In other words, he likely forced each of them to endure their own personal Hell... repeatedly.

 

Great point, and my point exactly!

 

Though I miss the heavily-implied part, but that's normal for me. XD

Edited August 18, 2014 by PathfinderCS

[chirox the pony 1,334]

Well let's be fair here people, I mean if you were trapped on the moon for 2000 years and just came back to earth you would be a bit dazed as well.

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

Only Hemi-headcanon

 

Celestia is not immortal.  She is a series of allicorns with normal lifespans.  The current incarnation is 1) tired of the farce, 2) having difficulties finding and suppressing the allicorn set of genes, 3) other.

 

And she doesn't want to make the lies anymore. 

 

She fabricated the series of challenges to test Twily for taking over the leadership.

 

None of the challenges are real.

 

(This explains why Shining armor could beat Chrysalis, why they told Twily to hide rather than fight, and why nmm was lame.  [and why all this happened at once])

 

According to The Journal Of The Two Sisters, Alicorns aren't even immortal; they just age slow as Tartarus. Sadly, that still brings to mind the ending of The Green Mile (Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, etc.).

[Fractured 2,683]

Chrysalis, Sombra and Tirek were really the only villains to exhaust their full potential and pour all their energy into conquering Equestria; Nightmare Moon and Discord didn't do much when you consider how powerful they really are. While I don't see Discord stretching further when the PG rating is lifted (he uses his powers quite lazily, I think, and more enjoys playing with ponies than directly hurting them), Nightmare Moon definitely didn't give it her all. You could attribute it to her inner self knowing that what she was doing was evil, but that'd be giving the writers a little too much credit. The first season premiere wasn't all that great, considering. 

You'd be surprised what you could live through. In some ways, mind rape is even worse than physical pain. Look what he did to the Mane Six without ever touching them physically.

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

You'd be surprised what you could live through. In some ways, mind rape is even worse than physical pain. Look what he did to the Mane Six without ever touching them physically.

 

Yep, saying Discord did nothing significant or useful is like saying Fancy Pants is Blueblood 2.0.

[Heliodor 156]

I think it's just the first-few-episode-blues. It was the beginning of the series and there hadn't been time for it to mature. Basically, compare NMM to Chryssi and you get your answer! A Canterlot Wedding was the first two eps on steroids. The writers pulled out all the stops on pure evil. I think FiM just had some growing up to do

[Abia 258]

You'd be surprised what you could live through. In some ways, mind rape is even worse than physical pain. Look what he did to the Mane Six without ever touching them physically.

Yep, saying Discord did nothing significant or useful is like saying Fancy Pants is Blueblood 2.0.

Oh, pardon, that's not quite what I meant.  I only meant that I did not think that Discord would physically hurt any ponies--what he did to them in Return of Harmony was, I thought, about the extent that I could imagine him harming them. Tearing them down would be more intense, of course, in a non-PG version, but I believe that he would rely on mind games as a primary weapon. What he did to them in Return of Harmony was bad enough, and I only see him expanding along that direction. That said, I do think he uses his powers lazily, and think he is capable of a lot more than he actually does. Tirek sucked out a huge amount of magic, and besides... he can manipulate glass, break extremely powerful spells (stealing the Elements in RoH despite Celestia's protective spell), cause ponies to completely despair (the discoloration spell was clearly forced upon Fluttershy, meaning he would have been able to do the same thing to the others, had it come to that), rid ponies of their wings/horns, effortlessly and completely transform areas of land, manipulate the weather--heck, he even has the ability to overpower Celestia and Luna's control of the sun and moon! Yet, because of the lack of effort he shows while performing these spells, I think this is hardly the tip of the iceberg. I'm not sure if "lazy" is quite the right word to describe Discord's use of his own powers, but I certainly think there's potentially much more to his magic than what we've seen, and that his casual and silly use of this magic has led to his downfall several times--I think he could easily overcome the mane six and the Elements of Harmony if he worked hard enough on it. I think it's his personality that causes him to limit, albeit unconsciously, his magic, and he'd be a good deal more dangerous if he chose to take everything more seriously.

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

I think it's just the first-few-episode-blues. It was the beginning of the series and there hadn't been time for it to mature. Basically, compare NMM to Chryssi and you get your answer! A Canterlot Wedding was the first two eps on steroids. The writers pulled out all the stops on pure evil. I think FiM just had some growing up to do

Yeah, I feel this episode was confused about whether it wanted to be very serious and dark or a lighthearted adventure with some stakes added on.

[Gary S. 102]

Because deep inside she's a sweetheart

 

 

You really think she wanted to destroy Twilight? Nothing more than a powerful headbutt would have happened

Edited August 19, 2014 by Gary S.

[Sunny Fox 5,933]

Because the real Luna, deep within inside Nightmare Moon, secretly yearned to be returned to her sister's side, and so allowed the Mane Six to undergo their quest and unite against her rather than just, say, frying them alive with her control of lightning.

[John 793]

Lol I love the options.

 

But really, maybe the question should be addressed TO YOU, as:

 

WHY SO SERIOUS?  >:3

 

Will watch the episode (for the first time), come back, and edit this comment.

Edited August 19, 2014 by John

[Darker 1,351]

While Season 1 is the weakest of all, I really liked this first episodes. They tried to accomplis that Friendship is Magic, and they did it so beuatifully I loved this show for a short time.

 

However, this villain is like the others, sucks major crap balls.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Darker