When was Discord "officially" reformed?

[SteveMorison 404]

I would say he cared about friendship and Fluttershy seeing him as a friend after keep calm and flutter on, but throughout season 4 he seemed to still be looking for anyway he could cause chaos and disharmony as long as he could find a loophole or not be exposed by one of the mane 6, so he was able to keep Fluttershy as his friend. I think how much he actually cared about Fluttershy herself grew during the course of season 4, in Princess Twilight Sparkle he could barely bother to remember her name or which pony she even was, but by Twilight's Kingdom he obviously was hesitant and even felt bad for betraying Fluttershy and even the other ponies, even before he was betrayed himself by Tirek. In Make Friends But Keep Discord it was obvious by this point that he was good friends with Fluttershy and did not seek to disrupt the lives of the mane 6 or any other pony anymore (though he still enjoyed chaos when it arose). He still however didn't seem to understand the nature of friendship and harmony, and still had an attachment to the dark and dangerous (e.g. His homeworld).

[Pastel 7,630]

After Twilight's Kingdom, otherwise he wouldn't have betrayed the ponies.

I don't think he will betray them again, however, I think he will always bother them a bit just for fun.

 

Plus, he's still learning what friendship really is in the new seasons (Make New Friends But Keep Discord)...

Edited August 13, 2015 by Blobulle

[碇 シンジン 27,431]

I would say after Twilight's kingdom, it was Twilights desicion of Friendship that made Discord understand the values behind it and thus the key to the chest <3

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,438]

Twilight's Kingdom would be it. I had this feeling throughout season 4 that he was not reformed completely and it seemed clear that they had more planned, then the finale happened and boom, he now seems to truly appreciate friendship. :3 That is an awesome idea too, I think he is a wonderful character for moral lessons like that.

[Xeltor23 704]

Twilight's kingdom, and it's so sad they made him such a victim

[Quinch 1,120]

I'd say at Keep Calm and Flutter On. Here's the thing that bothers me, though - even after that, everyone but Fluttershy still treats him like trash. After that, every time we encounter him, he's been nothing but helpful, even if it is in a really annoying {to experience, at least}, roundabout way. Instead, everyone automatically assumes he's out to screw things up for everyone like nothing's changed. So even by the time we hit Twilight's Kingdom, his entire reformation is perched on the rickety pillar of Fluttershy's friendship. Hell, the entire Smooze situation would have been avoided too if anyone else had bothered to befriend him.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

Keep Calm and Flutter On in my books.  If anything though, Make New Friends but Keep Discord shows he's still got a lot to learn so the whole "official reformation" being a one and done thing is kind of moot to me. 

[cmarston1 5,959]

He was somewhat reformed in Keep Calm and Flutter On but personally I believe that he was fully reformed in Twilight's Kingdom Part 2.

Particularly this scene:

 

[SteveMorison 404]

I'd say at Keep Calm and Flutter On. Here's the thing that bothers me, though - even after that, everyone but Fluttershy still treats him like trash. After that, every time we encounter him, he's been nothing but helpful, even if it is in a really annoying {to experience, at least}, roundabout way. Instead, everyone automatically assumes he's out to screw things up for everyone like nothing's changed. So even by the time we hit Twilight's Kingdom, his entire reformation is perched on the rickety pillar of Fluttershy's friendship. Hell, the entire Smooze situation would have been avoided too if anyone else had bothered to befriend him.

Faking illness in an attempt to ruin Twilight and Cadance's weekend, helpful.

[Quinch 1,120]

Correction, faking illness in order to test whether or not Twilight actually cares enough about his welfare to put in effort for it. If memory serves, Cadence's visit was just a coincidence, as it also happened on the rare occasion when Fluttershy was unavailable to "cure" him. His MO is a lot like Celestia's in that regard, in which he withholds information {or outright lies because, well, chaos} in order to put others in a situation where they can't help but learn a valuable lesson.

 

Twilight's behaviour throughout the whole episode was also quite telling too - she made no effort to hide the fact that she saw taking care of him as nothing more than an unwanted chore. Cadence had fun, but in all honesty, I doubt Discord knew her nearly well enough for that to be a planned side-effect.

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

Discord is reformed but I like the fact that he didn't just turn into a good guy right away. He isn't evil bur he still likes to mess with people and can still cause chaos like in the episode with Treehugger

[SteveMorison 404]

Correction, faking illness in order to test whether or not Twilight actually cares enough about his welfare to put in effort for it. If memory serves, Cadence's visit was just a coincidence, as it also happened on the rare occasion when Fluttershy was unavailable to "cure" him. His MO is a lot like Celestia's in that regard, in which he withholds information {or outright lies because, well, chaos} in order to put others in a situation where they can't help but learn a valuable lesson.

 

Twilight's behaviour throughout the whole episode was also quite telling too - she made no effort to hide the fact that she saw taking care of him as nothing more than an unwanted chore. Cadence had fun, but in all honesty, I doubt Discord knew her nearly well enough for that to be a planned side-effect.

That was only his spin on it. It was clear through his expressions that he was dissapointed that Twilight and Cadance's weekend wasn't ruined.

[Quinch 1,120]

Hmm, that's a good point, actually.

 

https://youtu.be/04K_CISsDOY?t=2m38s

 

On one hand, he definitely was testing Twilight to see whether or not she was willing to put in effort for his sake. On the other hand, he was visibly jealous of Twilight's relationship with Cadence, to the point where he put her in a situation where {he thought] she'd have to choose between dedicating time to either him or her. But I can still see where he's coming from - as he points out, Twilight {nor any pony save one} never writes or calls or tries to include him in anything and throughout the entire episode Twilight makes little effort to hide that she's only doing it as a combination of duty and being bludgeoned over the head with a passive-aggressive stick.

[SteveMorison 404]

Hmm, that's a good point, actually.

 

https://youtu.be/04K_CISsDOY?t=2m38s

 

On one hand, he definitely was testing Twilight to see whether or not she was willing to put in effort for his sake. On the other hand, he was visibly jealous of Twilight's relationship with Cadence, to the point where he put her in a situation where {he thought] she'd have to choose between dedicating time to either him or her. But I can still see where he's coming from - as he points out, Twilight {nor any pony save one} never writes or calls or tries to include him in anything and throughout the entire episode Twilight makes little effort to hide that she's only doing it as a combination of duty and being bludgeoned over the head with a passive-aggressive stick.

Even if this is true, and I don't see why Discord would be jealous of a specific relationship between Twilight and Cadance, he will still clearly enjoying all the chaos going on in Princess Twilight Sparkle. Probably would have let those weeds destroy everything if he wasn't under surveillance of the mane 6. Edited August 13, 2015 by DashBandicoot

[Silver Letter 1,832]

 

 

But I can still see where he's coming from - as he points out, Twilight {nor any pony save one} never writes or calls or tries to include him in anything

Well, from Twilight's perspective, there might be something that had prevented her from accepting his friendship so easily. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVJu5pi9m9I

 

I would probably hate his guts for years.

 

He might be "reformed" but he's still willing to hurt others and is obsessed with attention, not friendship. Yes, he ruined Twilight's day with her sister in law on purpose.

[Quinch 1,120]

Well, if someone claimed to be your friend, yet never included you in anything, would you conclude that they were being sincere, or just paying lip service for the sake of... well, all I can think of is maintaining an image? If you saw that same person taking every opportunity to spend time with others, would you not doubt their sincerity?

 

As for the chaos caused by the plunder seeds, there's three things to consider.

 

First, they were initially sown during his "evil" period. While that does not excuse him from withholding information about them, there is no premeditation for them from his "reformed" self.

 

Second, there was no permanent damage as a result. Plenty of inconvenience and alarm {which in turn served to rally the ponies together}, but no actual harm. In fact, once it was over, he helped clean up, and being as powerful as he is, it can be assumed that all the property damage was undone.

 

And third, it was him that reminded Twilight that, princess or no, she still belonged with her friends, an action without which they would not have been able to stop the spread of the seeds or discover the Tree of Harmony. Again, he could have just infodumped, but it would run counter to one of the most valuable lessons from the pilot onwards - that there are lessons that can be taught, and there are lessons that have to be learned. Easy way isn't always the right way - sometimes, it's not a way at all. Celestia knew it when she sent Twilight into Ponyville, and Discord knew it then.

 

That's why I'm leaning against treating Discord as guilty until proven innocent. Yes, he's difficult to deal with, but that's his nature which he is neither inclined, nor obligated to change. And whenever a push came to a shove, when everything hung in the balance, he pushed it in the right direction - through others. Others he knows can do it in the first place, and needed little more than a reminder.

[SteveMorison 404]

Well, if someone claimed to be your friend, yet never included you in anything, would you conclude that they were being sincere, or just paying lip service for the sake of... well, all I can think of is maintaining an image? If you saw that same person taking every opportunity to spend time with others, would you not doubt their sincerity?

 

As for the chaos caused by the plunder seeds, there's three things to consider.

 

First, they were initially sown during his "evil" period. While that does not excuse him from withholding information about them, there is no premeditation for them from his "reformed" self.

 

Second, there was no permanent damage as a result. Plenty of inconvenience and alarm {which in turn served to rally the ponies together}, but no actual harm. In fact, once it was over, he helped clean up, and being as powerful as he is, it can be assumed that all the property damage was undone.

 

And third, it was him that reminded Twilight that, princess or no, she still belonged with her friends, an action without which they would not have been able to stop the spread of the seeds or discover the Tree of Harmony. Again, he could have just infodumped, but it would run counter to one of the most valuable lessons from the pilot onwards - that there are lessons that can be taught, and there are lessons that have to be learned. Easy way isn't always the right way - sometimes, it's not a way at all. Celestia knew it when she sent Twilight into Ponyville, and Discord knew it then.

 

That's why I'm leaning against treating Discord as guilty until proven innocent. Yes, he's difficult to deal with, but that's his nature which he is neither inclined, nor obligated to change. And whenever a push came to a shove, when everything hung in the balance, he pushed it in the right direction - through others. Others he knows can do it in the first place, and needed little more than a reminder.

One of the Vines was crushing 2 ponies at one point and he did nothing about it until Twilight came back. He only helped clean up because Fluttershy said he had to do it to remain friends.

 

Edit: Can we really be sure he was trying to help Twilight out, for all we know he could have been trying to send Twilight back into danger.

Edited August 14, 2015 by DashBandicoot

[Silver Letter 1,832]

 

 

would you conclude that they were being sincere, or just paying lip service for the sake of... well, all I can think of is maintaining an image?

I don't think they were. It was Celestia's will that Discord be freed in the first place. He reminded the ponies that they didn't want to disappoint Celestia by failing to "reform" him; that is the reason why they supported the idea. Fluttershy was the only exception that wanted to actually reform Discord.

[Quinch 1,120]

 

 

One of the Vines was crushing 2 ponies at one point and he did nothing about it until Twilight came back. He only helped clean up because Fluttershy said he had to do it to remain friends.

 

At this point it all comes down to is what-ifs. Would he have left the ponies to be crushed to death or prevent it? For all we know, he might have been surreptitiously delaying the vines in order to give Twilight time to return. Again, because he made the decision to point her back in the direction of her friends in need, I consider it more likely that it was an act of goodwill rather than malice. As for sending Twilight back into danger, remember that in Return of Harmony he demonstrated that he can easily either overpower or capture her.

 

 

 

I don't think they were. It was Celestia's will that Discord be freed in the first place. He reminded the ponies that they didn't want to disappoint Celestia by failing to "reform" him; that is the reason why they supported the idea. Fluttershy was the only exception that wanted to actually reform Discord.

 

Good point. Nobody but Fluttershy actually extended any kind of olive branch at all. Instead, he's been openly treated like a criminal on parole by everyone, not invited to anything or included in any activity, automatically suspected of everything that goes awry... for an unwilling social pariah, I'd say he's been doing pretty well.

[SteveMorison 404]

Just throwing this out there, anyone else think Futurama missed a trick not coming up with Discord first. Futurama is already a parody of Star Trek and has made countless references to the franchise, and Discord's reference humour and antics would be a good fit. Imagine it, "Good news everyone, you'll be making a delivery to the planet Q5, the Draconneques planet, beings so powerful they can change your entire personality for their suiting, enjoy".

[Conred 274]

I don't think he was reformed at all.

Reformation doeasn't mean "not causing bad things all the time" but is actually changing to be good. Discord is not good. He let mail pony get eaten by monster, he almost banished innocent hippie to another dimension just because he was overpossesive of Fluttershy. He still enjoyed Celestia and Luna suffering  in Twilight's kingdom or ponies being in despair in Princess Twilight Sparkle. He only learned to not betray Fluttershy and letting her meeting other friends. He still didn't changed much from Return of Harmony.