Why was Discord reformed?

[Soaring Symphony 372]

It's common knowledge to bronies everywhere that the character Discord is based on Q from Star Trek The Next Generation who, just like Discord, was played by John Delancy and overall, shares Discord's abilities and personality. Because of this, I'm pretty sure the main reason Discord was reformed is just because The shows writers Discords character ark to mirror that of Q. However, that still leaves a huge question unanswered. Within the context of MLP's canon, what reason could celestia possibly have for reforming Discord?????? She said she did it because she thought his abilities could be used for good instead evil.

WHAT THE BUCK DID SHE MEAN BY THAT!!!!!!!!!!! You saw what Discord did to Ponyville in "Return of Harmony".

How the hay could that possibly be used for good?????? What do all you fellow bronies and pegasisters think???? Do you guys have any ideas about this?????? I'm completely lost!!!!

 

Edit: You guys really seem to have misunderstood the question. I'm not asking why the show's writters made the decision. I already know the reason for that. They did it for the fans. Discord is a really popular character in the brony fandom and there's a lot more you can do with a reformed villian then a straight up evil villian. The question I'm trying to ask is this. What reasons did CELESTIA have for reforming Discord??? What is Discord able to do that would convince Sun Butt that freeing him was even worth the risk????????? I know he's really powerful, but he's powerful in a destructive kind of way. It just doesn't make much sense to try to get the litteral Embodiment of Chaos to accept harmony. What might have convinced Celestia that it would be a good idea?????????

Edited March 16, 2015 by Serenade

[Discordian 6,015]

Why have one of the most powerful creatures alive anywhere but under your thumb? It keeps him in line so he's not causing worldwide panic and they have a powerful force on their own side.

[Lisa 5,553]

It's common knowledge to bronies everywhere that the character Discord is based on Q from Star Trek The Next Generation

 

No it's not. Who is Q? Not every brony is a fan of Star Trek.

__________

 

Anyway, why not? It's better for him to be reformed than kept evil. There's no point in keeping him evil if it's possible for him to be good.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Flitter

[Moonlight 7,288]

If you had the possibility to change someone powerful and put them on your side you would definitely do it. Plus, Discord more or less just likes having fun, which he can still do now without full-on harming anyone that didn't deserve it. 

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Obviously the writers had no idea what Celestia could mean, they just wanted him as an asset for the story and humor. But at least they did a good job in-universe of actually reforming him. Might be the first time in the series that the power of friendship solves a real problem.

[Soaring Symphony 372]

No it's not. Who is Q? Not every brony is a fan of Star Trek.

I'm not a treky either. But the Discord/Q comparison has been brought up hundreds of times all over the YouTube MLP analysis community. Naturally, Because of that fact, I just assumed that most Bronies had heard about it one way or another.

[Leonard Smix 421]

I dont think the writers never nearly wanted to make Discord like Q.

 

 

They wanted to reform him for plot, thus ultimately, the fact that he was reformed was put to use in the season finale of season 4. That was my favorite piece of the plot as well, so.. The writers made the right decision, though i dont like reformed discord, he makes for a really good story. 

 

 

I'm not a treky either. But the Discord/Q comparison has been brought up hundreds of times all over the YouTube MLP analysis community. Naturally, Because of that fact, I just assumed that most Bronies had heard about it one way or another.

 

Many bronies see the analysis community as "too strict", i for one dont, but, you cant rely on the analysis community for a bunch of facts, for they arent the face of the brony community.   

Edited February 28, 2015 by MrTrevorrMC

[Discordian 6,015]

I'm not a treky either. But the Discord/Q comparison has been brought up hundreds of times all over the YouTube MLP analysis community. Naturally, Because of that fact, I just assumed that most Bronies had heard about it one way or another.

I know I don't analyze things nor do I watch other people do. The only things I use Youtube for are music, AMVs and animated shorts.

 

I still don't know who Q is nor do I think it's relevant.

 

I gave my answer though. Take it or leave it.

[Soaring Symphony 372]

The only things I use Youtube for are music, AMVs and animated shorts.

I know this question is way off topic, but I feel the need to ask it anyway. What the heck is an AMV???????

[DragonFlyer 329]

Hm...I felt this question was partially answered in "Twilight's Kingdom" when Celestia called on Discord to track down Tirek. We learned then that he can sense magical imbalances, a power that I'm guessing is exclusive to him. That's probably something Celestia wanted to make use of. But was that all? I doubt it. Discord is pretty darn powerful and simply put: having him as an ally instead of a foe is good for all of Equestria. What gets me is, no matter what she hoped to gain from it, why Celestia suddenly decided to try reforming him. Why she felt it was even worth the risk. What made her think "Gee I bet Fluttershy could tame the Master of Chaos!" You could imagine that there is more history between Celestia and Discord than we know or - and personally I like this theory - that Luna witnessed something in Discord's dreams that made her think reforming him was even remotely possible. After all we know he was conscious when in his stone imprisonment so dreams would be entirely plausible, right? Perhaps in dreams something was hinted at or given away, something that made Celestia think the element of kindness could truly be the key to unlocking a change in Discord. These are just theories of course and now I'm rambling. But I enjoy rambling so I'm not sorry. XD

I'm hopeful we'll get more answers in season five.

[Discordian 6,015]

I know this question is way off topic, but I feel the need to ask it anyway. What the heck is an AMV???????

Anime/Amateur Music Video. Taking clips from a show, video game or whatever and editing the clips to match a song. Results will vary. There are very good ones out there and really shitty ones too.

[MechanicalDoom 300]

his magic is so powerful man he could basically stop any threat if he wanted to and also because they can make a lot more episodes with a reformed Discord compared to the evil one

[Justin_Case001 4,907]

Who is Q?

 

I still don't know who Q is

 

Oh dear, that is unacceptable.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10AkYK43Eh4

 

The truth is, you already know who Q is.  Q is Discord, and Discord is Q.

 

Incidentally, I think that the reason the Celesticord ship is popular is because of Q's chemistry with Janeway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8QQjJoRGVI

 

Just like Q, Discord is at his best when he's neither good nor evil, but just a troublemaking prankster.  A chaotic neutral.  I don't want him to lose that quality going forward.  I hope he remains mischevious.  Q became more good by the end of Voyager, but still remained mischevious, so I hope that's how they write Discord.

 

[ArcheoPony 76]

Popularity.

 

I'm guessing for more story possibilities.

[Pastel 7,630]

Discord isn't really evil (unlike the other villains), even in Return of Harmony, he was just playing with the ponies.

As he's very powerful, Celestia thought it was good idea to at least try to reform him.

It's quite common in TV shows that an enemy becomes an ally.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Blobulle

[DragonFlyer 329]

 

 

The truth is, you already know who Q is. Q is Discord, and Discord is Q

Discord is the reason I started watching Star Trek...aaand now I'm hooked. Q is the best. XD

 

Just like Q, Discord is at his best when he's neither good nor evil, but just a troublemaking prankster. A chaotic neutral. I don't want him to lose that quality going forward. I hope he remains mischevious. Q became more good by the end of Voyager, but still remained mischevious, so I hope that's how they write Discord.

^Agreed 100%!

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,162]

In the end you are sonly going to be able to do so much with him as a villainous trickster before it got old or downright stupid. Having him as a reformed character who continually struggles with the notion of friendship offers chances for some complex and entertaining storytelling. As we see in season 4, he was a neutral who never 'got' friendship until Tirek stabbed him in the back.

 

So yeah; it's a chance to develop him further.

[StoneCold 144]

Because he was a popular character

 

Well, Discord escaped from his stone prison once, so what's to stop him from escaping again? Maybe Celestia wants to change Discord, rather than having to deal with him every thousand years or so.

 

Either that, or she feared Tirek returning, and wanted Discord on her side.

[Arctofire 227]

I think the reason why they reformed Discord was to attempt to give him more screen time, and a reason to have more screen time. If he hadn't been he would have remained a one shot.

 

The concept sounded very bad on paper, and the reason why it sounded so bad on paper was because Discord was basically the embodiment of pure evil and disharmony. He was just so perfect as a villain, that reforming him sounded like it would be a huge waste.

 

While the concept didn't sound very good, they adapted it well, and gave him some well written conflicts to deal with. In Keep Calm And Flutter On, Fluttershy's compassion and good will lets her reach out her hand to Discord, and for the first time in his life, Discord has a friend. However, this friends of his disagrees with his previous actions, and not wanting to disappoint his new friends, but also wanting to stick to his moral code, a very well written conflict is written for Discord, and one which creates an overflowing story for him up until Twilight's Kingdom, and hell, he still isn't perfect, and could work on a few things.

 

Looking back on it, I'm really glad they made this decision, because otherwise we wouldn't have all these great conflicts for Discord. He's a tough character to reform, and that makes for a really interesting conflict.

 

If there's one thing I will say about him, it's that he seems to have become a little flanderized, even when he first came out of stone. In ROH, Discord was intelligent, funny, and creepy. I know that he's reformed now, so he can't be dark, but I rarely see any of that intelligence shining through, just his humor. He's still likable and all, so whether it's true flanderization is debatable, but he doesn't seem to have part of what made me love him so much in Return of Harmony.

 

But, he's still hilarious.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Arctofire

[Rebel the Wolfgirl 5,607]

I feel like the show has big plans for Discord.

Yep. Big plans, indeed. Also, Dislestia.

[Singe 2,111]

It's to use friendship as a way to keep Discord bound and use his powers for Equestria's kingdom's interests. Since ultimately they don't really have the power to stop him a second time if he goes wild. This is someone who could snap his finger and get rid of them any number of ways, if he wanted too.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Singe

[Skye 463]

Well, to me, I think the writers saw how well-received Discord was. So, they were like, hey! We should bring him back! But how? Character development!

[MysticShine 529]

I have no idea. They could have brought him back and still kept him a villain.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

1. They wanted to reform a villain.

 

2. Discord was the most interesting one they had, and extremely popular with the bronies.

 

It was an easy decision. And ultimately a good one, I think. I wasn't sure if it would work at first but they really gave his story a nice conclusion in S4.   I think he's run his course at this point, so bringing him back more than a few times would probably be superfluous. As great as he is, I'd like to see another villain get that kind of depth.

[DragonFlyer 329]

 

 

I feel like the show has big plans for Discord.

I have a feeling they have something big planned for Discord too. Especially since he was excluded from the upcoming "FIENDship is Magic" comics series. At first I was disappointed about that but then I saw this: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XA6qslLPVKI/VNEOjYyVgrI/AAAAAAABMpo/zMPwfYV-Bc8/s1600/Capture.PNG and it made me hopeful that the reason he's not getting a backstory in the comics is because they want to do something in the show (or even the movie, perhaps? ) Simply put Discord is a super fun character with a lot of creative potential. They've already done some fantastic character development on him and I can't wait to see what they have in store for the future.