S07:E12 - Discordant Harmony

[Hierok 11,831]

4 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

And eventually it's own spinoff series "the Adventures of Sneezy Pinata in the Chaos Realm"

And we call the people who watch it Pinaties

[CypherHoof 26,483]

1 minute ago, Hierok said:

And we call the people who watch it Pinaties

Indeed. Hasbro will love it, they can expand the merch into an entire range of extremely fragile, sweet filled brushables

[Music Chart Fan 819]

Overall, I suppose this is an okay episode. It's nice to see Discord working toward a relatable purpose other than just being an annoying and condescending jerk (even though he still does that a bit in this episode). It's also good to see a bit more of Fluttershy and Discord hanging out, since they are supposed to be friends, and it seems like that might be referenced in the show more than it's been actually demonstrated. And, on a bit of a side note, I did find the tea shopkeeper fairly cute, especially her voice and her sky blue eyes and matching scarf. However, one big thing in the episode that I didn't understand is why Discord seemed not to even try to save himself as he was apparently fading out of existence. Also, while others have said that this episode helps to explain why Fluttershy is good friends with Discord, I didn't find the explanation for that in this episode very satisfying. Finally, as is par for the course for me, I didn't find a lot of Discord's antics or attempts to be funny particularly entertaining. 

First, as mentioned above, I don't understand why Discord, after seeing that he's fading away, appears not to be concerned about that and carries on acting "normal" or just standing there. He doesn't try to be chaotic (to the extent that he can), nor does he even actively give Fluttershy any ideas on how to be chaotic on his behalf. He can obviously see that Fluttershy doesn't want him to act "normal" and is trying to save him. Is he incapable of trying to save himself, or even being overtly worried about it? Is his acting "normal" and fading away some kind of self-reinforcing loop that he can't break out of?

Next, when it comes to Fluttershy's and Discord's friendship, I haven't really seen their compatibility or how they would relate to each other, given how different they are and how little they have in common. And while this episode tries to provide some explanation, I'm still not really convinced of the value that Fluttershy in particular gets out of the friendship. Probably the main explanation that Fluttershy gives for why she and Discord "make sense" is that Discord opens her up to "so many more possibilities and impossibilities". So, to my understanding, Fluttershy is essentially saying that Discord inspires creativity in her. But this raises a couple of issues that I don't quite understand. First, for what purposes, or to what ends, would Fluttershy use this Discord-inspired creativity? And, relatedly, do Discord's random chaotic antics actually spur useful (rather than pointless or counterproductive) creativity toward these purposes or ends? If this is a (or the) main benefit that Fluttershy gets, I struggle to see it as much to hang a close friendship on.

Discord also points out that he and Fluttershy "don't make sense to anypony else", and Fluttershy acknowledges this, but also rather summarily dismisses it. However, this seems like a problem which might require more consideration than that. Anyone who knows Fluttershy and isn't aware of her friendship with Discord could question them about it, and it could become tiresome to defend themselves over and over, particularly if they can't come up with an easily-deployed and compelling argument. Furthermore, other people may (prematurely) conclude that Discord is carrying out an elaborate plan to mess with Fluttershy, or even something more sinister. (And many of Discord's prior actions haven't done him any favors in that regard.) So this seems like something that Fluttershy and Discord would actually need to think more about, and they perhaps would want to come up with a strategy for dealing with it.

Now for a few other miscellaneous observations:

Did Discord ever actually pay the tea shopkeeper for the ginseng tea he took? He had some bits appear in his hand at one point, but we never see him actually give any bits to the tea shopkeeper.

As I've seen pointed out by others, if Discord can conjure hard metal money out of thin air, he could really mess with the money supply and devalue everyone else's bits.

How did Fluttershy get to Discord's house in his realm? Did Discord leave her a portal and instructions on how to get there?

Finally, it sure is convenient that Discord has a hammer and nails and safety equipment just laying around for Fluttershy to use. Also, it seems a little hard to believe that a few hastily hammered-in nails are going to hold heavy furniture to the ceiling. Furthermore, what is Discord's ceiling made of, such that it can hold the weight of heavy furniture by a few nails? It doesn't seem like your typical ceiling tiles or plaster would be capable of that.

[Soaring Symphony 372]

Does Cheerilee have a twin?

 

Edited August 6, 2017 by Soaring Symphony

[Brainstorm 4,108]

I enjoyed it, it sorta had a Alice in Wonderland reference. 

53 minutes ago, Soaring Symphony said:

Does Cheerilee have a twin?

 

Twin? Don't know, most likely cousin or a different pony at looks similar.

[Hierok 11,831]

6 hours ago, Soaring Symphony said:

Does Cheerilee have a twin?

 

I think she does. They look a little to similar in my opinion

[CypherHoof 26,483]

8 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Overall, I suppose this is an okay episode. It's nice to see Discord working toward a relatable purpose other than just being an annoying and condescending jerk (even though he still does that a bit in this episode). It's also good to see a bit more of Fluttershy and Discord hanging out, since they are supposed to be friends, and it seems like that might be referenced in the show more than it's been actually demonstrated. And, on a bit of a side note, I did find the tea shopkeeper fairly cute, especially her voice and her sky blue eyes and matching scarf. However, one big thing in the episode that I didn't understand is why Discord seemed not to even try to save himself as he was apparently fading out of existence. Also, while others have said that this episode helps to explain why Fluttershy is good friends with Discord, I didn't find the explanation for that in this episode very satisfying. Finally, as is par for the course for me, I didn't find a lot of Discord's antics or attempts to be funny particularly entertaining. 

I don't think it explains why Flutters and Discord are friends; it demonstrates it quite well, but doesn't even attempt to explain it.

Discord thinks he understands Flutters and what she likes, and to a great extent this is true; Flutters wouldn't want her house to be like Discord's.  What he failed to understand is that Flutters doesn't want Discord's house to be like hers, she wants his house to reflect him (and was visibly disappointed when it wasn't).  She was also pretty accurate on how it should look, from her knowledge of Discord, so both are demonstrating knowledge of and acceptance of the other's likes and dislikes. This is an important part of friendship.

 

8 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

First, as mentioned above, I don't understand why Discord, after seeing that he's fading away, appears not to be concerned about that and carries on acting "normal" or just standing there. He doesn't try to be chaotic (to the extent that he can), nor does he even actively give Fluttershy any ideas on how to be chaotic on his behalf. He can obviously see that Fluttershy doesn't want him to act "normal" and is trying to save him. Is he incapable of trying to save himself, or even being overtly worried about it? Is his acting "normal" and fading away some kind of self-reinforcing loop that he can't break out of?

Next, when it comes to Fluttershy's and Discord's friendship, I haven't really seen their compatibility or how they would relate to each other, given how different they are and how little they have in common. And while this episode tries to provide some explanation, I'm still not really convinced of the value that Fluttershy in particular gets out of the friendship. Probably the main explanation that Fluttershy gives for why she and Discord "make sense" is that Discord opens her up to "so many more possibilities and impossibilities". So, to my understanding, Fluttershy is essentially saying that Discord inspires creativity in her. But this raises a couple of issues that I don't quite understand. First, for what purposes, or to what ends, would Fluttershy use this Discord-inspired creativity? And, relatedly, do Discord's random chaotic antics actually spur useful (rather than pointless or counterproductive) creativity toward these purposes or ends? If this is a (or the) main benefit that Fluttershy gets, I struggle to see it as much to hang a close friendship on.

"

Not sure how close a friendship this is for Fluttershy. She is a good friend to Discord, but then, she is a good friend to everypony she knows and three quarters of the wildlife. Which isn't to say she isn't a genuine friend to Discord of course - nobody could imagine Flutters faking something like that - but while that WAS her choice, it was also a deliberate strategy to meet Celestia's request to reform Discord.  She has learned to work around his chaotic nature (like asking him to help her clean up, when what she really means is "undo all this mess before you go") but, as she knows Discord isn't going to do anything to actually hurt her, and can fix anything that gets out of hand literally by snapping his fingers, appreciates and enjoys the fun he brings into her life - because it IS in carefully controlled small doses that have no long term consequences.  Many groups of friends have one like this - the creative one, the one that suggests things to do and places to go and sometimes gets the group into trouble, but brings something to the group which would be much less fun in their absence.

Discord, by contrast, seems to value his relationship with Flutters to an obsessive degree - I mean, we appear to be well into creepy stalker territory here, which is a scary thought when it involves a being with near-unlimited power and little self control.  That he loves and idolizes Fluttershy is a given - and understandable even without the circumstances, given how adorable Flutters is - but Discord doesn't seem to have even the concept of degrees of engagement. Everything he does, he does full throttle, with no regulator or often any brakes, and that applies to his relationship with Fluttershy too - its 110%, full on, all the time, and I doubt Discord could even grasp the concept of it NOT being like that.

The opening scene here is instructive; Fluttershy has gone to some effort to set up the weekly tea party for them, making the rather odd sandwiches for Discord and having a chaise longue with embroidered pillows for him.  He chastises his fingers for making an impolite noise, and when Flutters is out of sugar cubes, he offers to replace them (and doesn't object when she says no) rather than just snapping his fingers and having it happen. For a creature lacking any sort of respect for boundaries, he seems curiously respectful of those implied by Flutters hosting a tea party for them. 

This theme continues into his shopping trip. He is Discord, after all, he doesn't need to go shopping, he can just make whatever he wants appear wherever he wants.. nevertheless, he goes shopping, and gets advice from various individuals along the way (some of which are also Discord of course)

 

8 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Discord also points out that he and Fluttershy "don't make sense to anypony else", and Fluttershy acknowledges this, but also rather summarily dismisses it. However, this seems like a problem which might require more consideration than that. Anyone who knows Fluttershy and isn't aware of her friendship with Discord could question them about it, and it could become tiresome to defend themselves over and over, particularly if they can't come up with an easily-deployed and compelling argument. Furthermore, other people may (prematurely) conclude that Discord is carrying out an elaborate plan to mess with Fluttershy, or even something more sinister. (And many of Discord's prior actions haven't done him any favors in that regard.) So this seems like something that Fluttershy and Discord would actually need to think more about, and they perhaps would want to come up with a strategy for dealing with it.

i doubt it would get any further than "Well, that's Fluttershy for you" and moving on to the next thought.

You could make a similar case that Flutters is psychologically manipulative and feel sorry for Discord for being so dominated by her. Of course nobody WOULD, because Flutters is so adorable... erm,hold on...

 

8 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Now for a few other miscellaneous observations:

Did Discord ever actually pay the tea shopkeeper for the ginseng tea he took? He had some bits appear in his hand at one point, but we never see him actually give any bits to the tea shopkeeper.

I would assume so. He has no other reason to have bits in his hand (after all, what would he use them for?) and upsetting Flutters' teapony would upset Flutters.

 

8 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

As I've seen pointed out by others, if Discord can conjure hard metal money out of thin air, he could really mess with the money supply and devalue everyone else's bits.

Assuming he does, he could as easily be moving existing bits from elsewhere.

Clerk: "Erm, my Lady Celestia, there appear to be nearly a thousand bits missing from the royal treasury, and a large gold statue of a llama in their place"

Celestial: "<sigh> Discord...."

Really though, it only matters if Discord's additional currency significantly adds to the total in existence, and while Discord IS generous with bits, its unlikely to happen very often or at more than what Filthy Rich would consider "petty cash" levels.

 

8 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

How did Fluttershy get to Discord's house in his realm? Did Discord leave her a portal and instructions on how to get there?

 Given the mailman can deliver there, it is presumably known (if only to mailmen)

  At a simpler level - Flutters knows how to get there because Discord wants her to know how to get there, and if you are Discord that is enough.

 

8 hours ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Finally, it sure is convenient that Discord has a hammer and nails and safety equipment just laying around for Fluttershy to use. Also, it seems a little hard to believe that a few hastily hammered-in nails are going to hold heavy furniture to the ceiling. Furthermore, what is Discord's ceiling made of, such that it can hold the weight of heavy furniture by a few nails? It doesn't seem like your typical ceiling tiles or plaster would be capable of that.

  Ah, practical concerns.

  I think we are meant to just skip over those parts, and assume the Discord Workgang left them conveniently on hand.  Or just make the assumption that, if it would work for Pinkie back in the real world, it will work for anyone in the Chaos Realm - which probably says some interesting things about Pinkie, too...

[Batbrony 16,054]

Good morning, everypony, and welcome back from the U.S. mid-season hiatus of MLP Season 7 to another edition of "Batbrony Reviews"!  Well, we had a double heaping of some truly exceptional MLP goodness yesterday (well, rather I should say we had a heaping of great goodness followed by a mountain of "HOLY BUCK THAT WAS THE MOST AMAZING INCREDIBLE SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN!!!" but, eh, details, details), so let's not waste anymore time and dive right into the first new episode of the day (and first new Discord episode of Season 7, I should add).  Without further ado, this is "Discordant Harmony."

So as far as Discord episodes go, I actually have to say this one was oddly... simple for him.  Now, I don't say that simply because of how it was executed alone or how he behaved, no no, I'm saying that the actual conflict around which the entire episode revolved was oddly simple.  Don't get me wrong, there were some complex character developments at play, especially in the third act, but what was technically the central conflict around which everything revolved?  A tea party.  Yeah, Discord decides he wants to host Fluttershy, his best friend, for a tea party at his place for once because they always hold them at her house instead.  I have to admit, I'd be hard pressed to think of a Discord episode that has had a more straightforward conflict than that.  Of course we all know that since this is Discord we're talking about, nothing about what happened in the episode's execution was truly "simple," but I think most of you know what I mean.

So Discord wants to host Fluttershy for a tea party, and really (given how the episode concluded) if he'd just stuck with doing everything he did to start off, everything would have gone smoothly.  The first act is largely Discord just bamfing around town gathering supplies for the tea party, and that alone amused me quite a bit, just the fact that he was doing it at all; think about it, Discord has shown multiple times that he can manifest whatever he wants to out of thin air, so he most definitely DID NOT need to shop for those supplies.  My working theory is that either (1) he wanted to actually buy the supplies to add a personal touch to his tea party with Fluttershy, ya know, act like she mattered enough to him to go out and get those things rather than just pop them into existence, or (2) he was bored and just wanted to buck with some ponies.  Anyways, he gets some supplies and of course adds his own chaotic touch to them, until of course he's met by Pinkie Pie.

Apparently her name is Jasmine Leaf... can we seriously, PLEASE get more of her?  If only for her adorable mane and accent alone!!!

This is where things take a turn.  Pinkie offers admittedly good advice that as long as Discord makes Fluttershy feel comfortable, she'll have a fun time.  Unfortunately Discord of course interprets this as meaning that she'll never enjoy herself at his place given how, well, absolutely bonkers it is, so he goes about tidying it up as only he can... with six of him, of course.  By the time he's done, he's so normal that he's pretty much Mister Rogers (no really, I'm 99% certain that's exactly what they were referencing with his "normal" look), and, well, his place is as... not-Discord as it could possibly be.

As boring as normal Discord may have been, I will forever be grateful for this delicious reference 

This leads to exactly what you'd expect... that's right, Discord almost fades from existence.

Yeah, in a curiously dark turn in the third act, Discord quite literally almost ceases to exist (which, now that I think about it, if that had happened I'm pretty sure that Fluttershy would have been stranded in his realm as well, leading to all kinds of uncomfortable questions about what her fate might have been in that event).  Heck, he can't even really do anything about it himself once he becomes too normal, so it's all up to Fluttershy (who was already weirded out by his out of character behavior) to literally bring the chaos back into his life.  This whole bit is easily the best scene of the episode and illustrates a lot about how both characters have grown as a result of their unusual friendship with one another.  So of course Fluttershy succeeds, the day is saved, Discord more or less gets his groove back, and they get to have the tea party at Discord's that they both always wanted.

Now, at first glance this episode seems utterly predictable.  I mean, what it boils down to is "Friend A misunderstood Friend B and thought they wanted Friend A to behave one way, when Friend B already loved them for who they were and wanted Friend A to act their normal self."  That is a very, very, VERY recycled plot formula in television for all ages, appearing in shows ranging from animated cartoons to sitcoms aimed at family or adult audiences.  So yeah, anyone who does believe that, in many ways, this episode is predictable, they're not wrong.  It is, and yet I still found it to be quite exceptional.  Why?  Execution.  Really, that's about it, the episode was just executed incredibly well.  John de Lancie was phenomenal as usual as Discord (I particularly appreciated some of his subtle touches here, such as the fact that his "Discord 2.0" a.k.a. "Discord with glasses" had an ever-so-slightly lower, more mature and serious sounding voice than Discord himself did) and brought the laughs as we've come to expect by now from this character.  His chores about town and tidying up his place were probably his two funniest scenes, and I especially enjoyed seeing Discord screwing around with ponies besides Fluttershy and the Mane 6.  Frankly, it was hilarious how nonplussed most of the other ponies dealing with him seemed at this point.  I mean on the one hand some of them seemed curiously unaware of what his chaos magic can do (odd considering he more or less lives in Ponyville and has been screwing with that city for years), but on the other hand they definitely didn't treat him like a threat either, more like an annoyance.  His party supplies and the alterations he gave to them as well were also quite a hoot, particularly the singing Ginseng tea bags and the sapient pinata (also, "Pinatas hate bats" is easily the best line of this entire episode ).

 

Not sure if best beehive or worst beehive ever.  Hmmm... best beehive. 

The other part of it that made it really exceptional in execution was Fluttershy herself, particularly in the third act.  Now, it may seem predictable, even Mary Sue-ish, that Fluttershy would just want Discord to be himself, but the way they delivered it was actually quite smart and clever.  You actually got the sense that, if this were Season 1, Fluttershy maybe would have preferred a perfectly normal tea party, but this is Season 7 Fluttershy who's been friends with the Lord of Chaos for years, she is much less rigid in her own wants and needs.  Her explanation that not only would she expect Discord (in fact, she seemed to look forward to it even) to host an incredibly crazy, chaos-filled tea party at his own home, but that she'd come to truly appreciate their differences as they'd grown in their friendship, was one of the smartest pieces of Fluttershy writing we've had in some time.  It showed that she's really not as predictable as we might think she is sometimes, and that even if she herself may seem like the most mild of characters, that doesn't mean she wants or expects everyone else in her life to be like that.  What she showed us is, just like with all of her other friends, while she's completely comfortable with who she is and how she lives her life, she enjoys the variety and spice that they bring to her life as well, including Discord in all of his chaotic ways.  Plus I won't lie, Fluttershy trying to (and somehow succeeding in) channeling her "inner-chaos" in order to save Discord was not only touching, but hilarious cute as well.

Oh Fluttershy, you so crazy 

Overall, this was a solid start to the second half of Season 7, and really, I think it would be getting much more attention than it has if it weren't for the episode that came directly after it.  Unfortunately for "Discordant Harmony," it had the bad luck of preceding what may possibly be the most important episode of MLP ever.  But we'll find out more about that in my next review.   Tune in next time (which should be today) for a very, very special edition of "Batbrony Reviews."

[Music Chart Fan 819]

@CypherHoof,

I agree that this episode demonstrates in a few ways that Fluttershy and Discord are friends - Discord puts significant effort into (what he believes is) making Fluttershy comfortable, Fluttershy shows some understanding of the kind of chaos that Discord would create, Fluttershy says she likes Discord as he is, etc. But I guess seeing that still kind of leaves me wondering why exactly Fluttershy likes Discord as he is, and why Fluttershy has spent this much time with him.

For example, what exactly do Fluttershy and Discord do at these tea parties week after week after week? I guess Fluttershy could talk about what she did that week, and maybe Discord would try to riff off of that and play the wacky/funny man, such as how he made puns in the beginning of the episode. But if that's all that Discord really does, then it seems like that shtick would wear out sooner or later. Other than that, does Discord sympathize with, elaborate on, or give advice for Fluttershy's conversation topics? I don't know that we've really seen him do that much at all. This also raises the question of what Discord does with all of his time. Does Discord do things week-to-week that Fluttershy would find interesting or relatable?

I suppose the idea might be that it can be good to have friends who differ from you in some respects, but it seems to me that friends would still need some common understanding and experience to build off of. And maybe that's what I'm not quite seeing with Fluttershy and Discord.

[CypherHoof 26,483]

4 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

@CypherHoof,

I agree that this episode demonstrates in a few ways that Fluttershy and Discord are friends - Discord puts significant effort into (what he believes is) making Fluttershy comfortable, Fluttershy shows some understanding of the kind of chaos that Discord would create, Fluttershy says she likes Discord as he is, etc. But I guess seeing that still kind of leaves me wondering why exactly Fluttershy likes Discord as he is, and why Fluttershy has spent this much time with him.

I can only theorize here, given it doesn't really go into detail, but I suspect they have both grown into their respective roles over the seasons since Flutter On - While this started out as a duty for Fluttershy in order to give Discord a reason to not want to run riot, it has become a weekly ritual that they both enjoy.  Flutters is a classic introvert - withdrawn except where her expert subject is concerned. Hosting a weekly tea party for Discord is something she would organize and plan out painfully the first few times, but after it became routine, there would be comfort in that routine. Having to make small talk to Discord would again be painful for her at first, but she would quickly settle into a routine there too, and I suspect in many ways Discord will be a good listener, if only because he wants to know as much about Flutters and what she has done that week as possible.

 

4 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

For example, what exactly do Fluttershy and Discord do at these tea parties week after week after week? I guess Fluttershy could talk about what she did that week, and maybe Discord would try to riff off of that and play the wacky/funny man, such as how he made puns in the beginning of the episode. But if that's all that Discord really does, then it seems like that shtick would wear out sooner or later.

Well, we know that they don't (for example) talk about Discord's chaos based magic, because that came up as a possible other-friend subject in Keep Discord, but from the same episode we do learn that Flutters loves to hear what randomness Discord has been doing that week and can remind Discord of things he has told her about in the past.  So, I guess it hasn't worn out yet.  Nor does it really need to, because the point isn't what is talked about, or even the tea party itself, but friends spending time together doing SOMETHING (just like Starlight wasn't having a baking lesson in ELTSD) - that Flutters genuinely likes hearing about Discord's extreme lifestyle and living a little, vicariously, is a big part of her personal growth since the early days of the series, and presumably Discord equally likes hearing about Fluttershy resolving minor problems with her animal friends, if only because he enjoys being a close enough friend to Fluttershy that she WILL talk about things like that with him.

So what is actually happening is that two friends get together on a Tuesday afternoon to reenforce and deepen their friendship - they talk about things, and eat and drink (not that I imagine Discord NEEDS to do either) but that isn't the point.

 

4 minutes ago, Music Chart Fan said:

Other than that, does Discord sympathize with, elaborate on, or give advice for Fluttershy's conversation topics? I don't know that we've really seen him do that much at all. This also raises the question of what Discord does with all of his time. Does Discord do things week-to-week that Fluttershy would find interesting or relatable?

I suppose the idea might be that it can be good to have friends who differ from you in some respects, but it seems to me that friends would still need some common understanding and experience to build off of. And maybe that's what I'm not quite seeing with Fluttershy and Discord.

Hard to see what some mane 6 friendships have in common (other than Twilight of course) - rarijack for example. 

It's possible that the fluttercord relationship has settled on a weekly tea party because they don't have much in common, but they can share enjoyment of tea and finger foods while talking about their separate worlds.

[takai 1,060]

Not a fan of this episode. I'm not too hot on Discord because of how many times his character has changed over the years either. Fluttershy felt out of character here.

[Sonic5421 423]

Great episode for Fluttershy and Discord.

It is clear that Discord has to survive on his chaos. If he doesn't, he could fade away and cease to exist as a result. He wanted to make a tea party that Fluttershy would enjoy, but when he asked Pinkie for advice, he kind of took it the wrong way and wanted things to be like how Fluttershy does her tea parties. Had Fluttershy not realized that chaos could bring Discord back, he would have vanished.

It was funny how Fluttershy acted like Discord and caused mischief and chaos to restore Discord back to normal, as she deeply loves Discord for how different they are from each other. Fluttershy likes things nice and organized, while Discord thrives on insanity and chaos. Shows just how much the bond between them has strengthened since Fluttershy helped Discord reform all the way back in Season 3.

I'm giving this episode a 9.5 out of 10 for the zany antics of Fluttershy and Discord.

[ImpctR 155]

An episode with Discord and Fluttershy is automatically a Fluttershy episode for me, so my bias about it makes me give it a 5/5 although I have some remark in how it was.

But first, the nice things. Discord made me chuckle with all the tricks, nothing unexpected but the tricks themselves were hilarious. I liked how he trolled the new old lady pony at the bench.

New TEA/HERB ponies! I liked them, they were so adorable in their reactions to Discord. I find her so cute. All these surprised stares make her so lovable.

 

Spoiler

 

(Finally?) Discords's house in the Chaos world. Not that it was not seen before but I like the environment here, looks very fitting with this horizon on the background, so props to the artists/animators. And the staircase that lead to a grid ceiling? (Sorry cartoon ceiling not ready yet, WIP)

 

This Fluttercord costume cracked me up the most: 

Spoiler

 

The reactions: So Fluttershy's going to Discord's house was almost like dating or that was what Discord was seeing. Fluttershy expected something different, that was expected for the episode or there would be no problem. I didn't like the singing teabags but it was just for the lolz, so it was also acceptable.

The way Fluttershy reacted to Discord's vanishing is how Fluttershy would do, so I think this was done quite well. The whole idea how Discord could have vanished had he continued to be so good and different was interesting and may open up a lot of possibilities or weaknesses of him. However, the question: why we never saw Discord starting to fade in if every time he did something like that he'd disappear?

 Overall great episode, the Fox brothers however, do not produce strong episodes and the thing about the episode, it felt like again nothing much happened, just a small problem, Discord was like: You don't like my making the tea party exactly like in your house? Ok -change the room back to chaotic- Fixed, The end. Kind of felt too easy problem for an episode with nothing much to solve, like 'You like it with cheese, ok I will put cheese /end of episode'. 

Edited August 6, 2017 by ImpctR

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

8 minutes ago, ImpctR said:

The way Fluttershy reacted to Discord's vanishing is how Fluttershy would do, so I think this was done quite well. The whole idea how Discord could have vanished had he continued to be so good and different was interesting and may open up a lot of possibilities or weaknesses of him. However, the question: why we never saw Discord starting to fade in if every time he did something like that he'd disappear?

I think the vanishing only starts to occur when Discord starts to completely go against his nature. It has nothing to do with him acting good or not, he can be good, he just has to be chaotic too. Even when he's being nice he's generally still being kind of wacky and weird and bending reality around a bit. Here, he doesn't just do a few normal things, he completely goes against his entire nature to appear "Normal" as he possibly can.

 Basically, he's fine to do some "Normal" or nice things, as long as he's still himself, but if he tries to completely deny his nature as a Creature of Chaos he starts to fade.

[Denim&Venöm 18,830]

Fun fact: This is one of two episodes where Pinkie Pie is shown walking.

[Jangocoolguy 433]

This is another episode that reminds us why we like FiM in the first place. It's a weak story with a moral/lesson we've seen before, and better, (not just here, but other kids' shows) made MUCH better than it should be by its star characters.  

It's (almost) ALWAYS a fun time with Discord. Fluttershy was in good form too. Lot's of cute/amusing/fun stuff here. 

I just hope that John D. and Andrea were paid double since they were almost the only VAs here.

[Justin_Case001 4,883]

So...there's nothing wrong with Discord conjuring up giant piles of bits to buy merchandise.  That won't have an harmful, inflationary effect on the Equestrian economy.  Nope.  Not at all.

Greetings, party ponies in the place to be!  I've been avoiding the forums because the danger of movie spoilers is too great.  (Sometimes I think I'm the only person on Earth who wants to be surprised.)  But I really want to keep up my episode reviews, so I'm just covering the recently discussed topics with my hand, clicking straight into the episode threads, and making my posts.  I can't even risk reading others' posts in here.  I just can't read anything until I've seen the movie.  So, I'm basically in dark mode, here.  Y'know, just fyi.

So, I actually really liked this episode.  It was predictable, but I didn't mind that.  It was very low key, but I liked that.  I was surprised that they chose to focus so heavily on Discord while having relatively little ponies.  This was probably a record for the least amount of pony screen time in an episode.  But I really liked that.  It was unexpected and interesting.  Maybe it's just because I'm such a Q fan, and I love watching Discord just screwing around.  I do wonder about the whole disappearing thing.  Does he really cease to exist if he acts normal for too long?  I'm not entirely sure I buy that.  Some part of me thinks he was doing that deliberately to see how Fluttershy would react.  What really made me wonder this was the expression of amusement and simultaneous approval on Discord's face as he watched Fluttershy trying to introduce chaos.  I dunno--I'm probably overthinking it.  Maybe he really does disappear if he acts normal.

Anyway, good fun episode.  And what fun for Fluttershy!  I'm so jealous.  Hanging out with Q in the continuum.  Wow.  Oh, and I just realized something--you know who would get along great with Discord?  Ye olde agent of chaos:

 

[CypherHoof 26,483]

15 hours ago, Denim&Venom said:

Fun fact: This is one of two episodes where Pinkie Pie is shown walking.

Must be more than just two, surely? There are plenty of scenes where she is walking in lockstep with the rest of the Mane 6, and I am pretty sure she walks in RSF.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

I watched this with my mom on Saturday and we both thought it was good. For me it was a second watch and it was definitely better the second time.

[Dowlphin 463]

At first this looked to me like just another "be yourself" episode, but I think it is more interesting to look at how it was the environment that determined whether Discord was present or fading. He tried to adapt and fit into something not him and started fading. Someone else, a friend, Fluttershy, brought the environment back to nourishing him where he couldn't do it by himself anymore.
I.e. sometimes we need others to lovingly do for us what we cannot do ourselves, to add a perception of us that we may have lost, and that might require tangible means, as shown in the episode when Fluttershy's words didn't make a difference. Words are about minds arguing, and in that game, if the problem is in the mind, the problem will always win. As was shown by Discord just countering any of her suggestions with words.

[Thaliel 116]

More discord is always welcome. That guy is really developpoing into a fav of mine.

[Dowlphin 463]

8 minutes ago, Thaliel said:

More discord is always welcome. That guy is really developpoing into a fav of mine.

I took a liking early-on, because I saw him as a(n inconvenient) teacher, a bit of a mirror or nemesis. He showed how Fluttershy should be the actual princess of friendship, how she believes in it as a concept instead of practicing it for personal benefit. I also like him because he and Pinkie Pie are related spirits.

And the episode couldn't possibly have been a downer for me anyway because, as I like to say, "There is no such thing as a bad Fluttershy episode."  <3  <3

[CypherHoof 26,483]

1 hour ago, Dowlphin said:

And the episode couldn't possibly have been a downer for me anyway because, as I like to say, "There is no such thing as a bad Fluttershy episode."  <3  <3

There are some "really less good" ones though. Leans In for example.  You could have an entire episode where there was no plot, just Flutters walking around being adorable for 20 minutes, and it would be better than Leans In.

[Dowlphin 463]

1 minute ago, CypherHoof said:

There are some "really less good" ones though. Leans In for example.  You could have an entire episode where there was no plot, just Flutters walking around being adorable for 20 minutes, and it would be better than Leans In.

To me Fluttershy Leans In it was full of little gold nuggets. I guess many didn't like it because there's not enough for the demanding mind. Fluttershy is food for the heart. Not everybody enjoys her tea parties, heh.

Your episode idea sounds great, too, though. I would watch that. ^^

[CypherHoof 26,483]

Just now, Dowlphin said:

To me Fluttershy Leans In it was full of little gold nuggets. I guess many didn't like it because there's not enough for the demanding mind. Fluttershy is food for the heart. Not everybody enjoys her tea parties, heh.

Your episode idea sounds great, too, though. I would watch that. ^^

It wasn't badly done, just painfully predictable. Flutters wants to do something nice for the animals. Flutters gets her plans ignored by louder, more assertive ponies that aren't listening to soft-voiced Flutters (and you would think they would know better by now, but no). Flutters runs out of patience and insists it is done right, then goes back to being adorable again.

Ok, so Flutters is just as OP as the rest of the mane 6, and possibly then some; we get it. Flutters tends to allow other ponies to overshadow her because she is introverted, unassertive, and lacks self confidence; we get that too - that's pretty much the one-sentence summary of her character. And of course she is able (if reluctantly) to step up and do what is needed, when that is the only option open.

The thing is, we already have seen this, repeatedly. It was a waste of a Fluttershy episode slot to show us yet again, when we could have had (for example) Flutters and another of the mane 6 solving a friendship problem for Treehugger at the Breezy Sanctuary, or Flutters consulting in the crystal empire for some rare animal there.