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I'm still a little confused how Twilight became an Alicorn.


Azureth

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Clearly, there are several ways to become one. Did Celestia turn her into one? Or if it's simply due to doing something heroic then lots of Ponies do so how does that work? You see Twilight finishing the spell, the EoH zaps her, she gets transported to Celestia's limbo (?) then she gets turned into an Alicorn. Yet obviously you don't need those things to become one.

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Celestia told her in the episode that it was because she had created new magic, although that would raise the question of why Starswirl never became an Alicorn despite (apparently) creating lots of new magic, although not the spell in question as he never completed it.

I would suggest that the new magic Twilight created was not in fact completing Starswirl's spell but rather the creation of the magic of friendship, which is tied to, but not entirely dependent upon, the Elements of Harmony.

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12 minutes ago, Concerned Bystander said:

I would suggest that the new magic Twilight created was not in fact completing Starswirl's spell but rather the creation of the magic of friendship, which is tied to, but not entirely dependent upon, the Elements of Harmony.

Makes sense with what we saw in Shadow Play. Starswirl and company basically created the conditions needed for the Magic of Friendship to be created and discovered, but it took Twilight to complete it.

The vagueness we see with her ascension never bothered me that much because it reminds me of the mysticism elements of the Force in Star Wars. They love to explain 'around it' without explaining it directly. The one time they tried to give it a reason ... it backfired. 

JtPwtyC.png

 

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We should have been given a much more descriptive episode on how she became an alicorn. We were given two episodes crammed into one (one of which should have been made into two episodes). If I was to guess how she truly became an alicorn, it was both the elements of harmony and the princesses' magic.

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Yeah, I'm going to agree with @Jeric The less you look for a complete answer here the better. There's nothing that is really going to make satisfactory sense. Much like cutie mark magic, it's been written arbitrarily to suit grand narratives of destiny. 

 I have a feeling the show is gearing up to give us a reason nobody will be satisfied with concerning Flurry Heart's phenomenon anyways

 

 

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7 hours ago, Hierok said:

I think Starswirl the Bearded made her an alicorn. He made the spell which was the reason the elements send her to Celestia's dream world.

Actually no! His unfinished spell did NOT do that. It switch the EOH virtues and Cutie Marks around causing the Mane 5 to believe that their destinies were always the changed ones.

Important to note: Starswirl wrote the original spell long BEFORE the Tree and its future EOH were created. So we have no idea how he was trying out the spell, nor know the results that caused him to give up on it. Most importantly, we have NO canon indication as to WHY StarSwirl was making the spell in the first place. Maybe we'll learn why, maybe we won't. 

The important thing about StarSwirl's return in Shadow Play (at least in my eyes) is him realizing his "Once a Villain, Always a Villain" mentality was not the best, that his pride blinded him and made him misunderstood Stygian's original intentions, and that things can change over time. He and the Pillars disappeared no doubt when there were a lot more evil like with the Windegos that nearly froze the lands and the Sirens that spread negativity and distrust. Of course he would have that false mentality.

 

Edited by WiiGuy2014
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24 minutes ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

Actually no! His unfinished spell did NOT do that. It switch the EOH virtues and Cutie Marks around causing the Mane 5 to believe that their destinies were always the changed ones

It's really a matter of perspective really. The only reason we have to go on is that Twilight created NEW magic, something that she did by completing a spell sent to her by Celestia that Starswirl couldn't complete because he didn't understand friendship like she did. 

Taking those dialog bits into account, it makes sense that someone would consider Starswirl a progenitor of sorts, intentional or not. The same could be said of Celestia and even the ToH. 

Definitely not worthy of over emphasized punctuation in a rebuttal considering it's open to interpretation (which is what makes it actually interesting). 

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The way in which Twilight became a princess felt like they were jumping the shark even with all of the accomplishments made in such a small season, and the reasoning has always been about as clear as mud. I think you're meant to believe it's an easy to digest outcome since up until now, Twilight may as well have been a princess in some form or other. She grew up under the tutelage of the matriarch of the country, lived a sheltered life in her own ivory tower, and once the elements of harmony were introduced in Friendship is Magic 2, her element was a tiara. All before ever being corranated as Princess.

Even when Lauren Faust was in control of the show's direction, she had plans for Twilight to eventually succeed a retired Princess Celestia. I think it's believable that Twilight was meant to become princess, but when it happened I felt like that was meant to be a wrap-up for the show and her character. I didn't like the idea until I saw some honest development in the show with Twilight as a princess. As much as I don't like Tirek or his episodes, they were integral in underlining her role in Equestria's royal matriarchy.

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2 minutes ago, Sunset Rose said:

The way in which Twilight because a princess felt like they were jumping the shark even with all of the accomplishments in such a small season, and the reasoning has always been about as clear as mud. I think you're meant to believe it's an easy to digest outcome since up until now, Twilight may as well have been a princess in some form or other. She grow up under the tutelage of the matriarch of the country, lived a sheltered life in her own ivory tower, and once the elements of harmony were introduced in Friendship is Magic 2, her element was a tiara. All before ever being corranated as Princess.

Even when Lauren Faust was in control of the show's direction, she had plans for Twilight to eventually succeed a retired Princess Celestia. I think it's believable that Twilight was meant to become princess, but when it happened I felt like that was meant to be a wrap-up for the show and her character. I didn't like the idea until I saw some honest development in the show with Twilight as a princess. As much as I don't like Tirek or his episodes, they were integral in underlining her role in Equestria's royal matriarchy.

Wow I guess you're definitely right about this...

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1 hour ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

Actually no! His unfinished spell did NOT do that. It switch the EOH virtues and Cutie Marks around causing the Mane 5 to believe that their destinies were always the changed ones.

Important to note: Starswirl wrote the original spell long BEFORE the Tree and its future EOH were created. So we have no idea how he was trying out the spell, nor know the results that caused him to give up on it. Most importantly, we have NO canon indication as to WHY StarSwirl was making the spell in the first place. Maybe we'll learn why, maybe we won't. 

The important thing about StarSwirl's return in Shadow Play (at least in my eyes) is him realizing his "Once a Villain, Always a Villain" mentality was not the best, that his pride blinded him and made him misunderstood Stygian's original intentions, and that things can change over time. He and the Pillars disappeared no doubt when there were a lot more evil like with the Windegos that nearly froze the lands and the Sirens that spread negativity and distrust. Of course he would have that false mentality.

 

The switching could also be ment to switch himself from Unicorn to Alicorn. It hadn't succeeded because it was not yet compleet.

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59 minutes ago, Hierok said:

The switching could also be ment to switch himself from Unicorn to Alicorn. It hadn't succeeded because it was not yet compleet.

Somewhat intriguing. Imagine if an Alicorn transformation spell was his first attempt at defeating the Pony of Shadows. It may not have worked because the spell needed friendship ... or the avatars of friendship through the Elements. They plant the seed and go on to find another solution, and the whole time Starswirl was actually planting the actual ingredients he needed to complete the spell. Twilight would have not only being able to do some editing work, but actually had all the pieces to invoke the actual spell at the same time ... New magic. 

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I would actually dispute a claim made in Shadow Play.  Starlight said that Twilight earned her wings by completing on of Starswirl's spells, to which Twilight agrees.  Clearly this is not the case.  What Twilight did in MMC was to undo the ill effects of the incomplete version of the spell, I very much doubt that Starswirl created a spell with the sole purpose of correcting the mess made by an incomplete version of itself, that makes no sense at all.

It would make far more sense that Twilight earned her wings by (as Celestia said) creating new magic, not finishing old magic.  The cure that she found to the effects of Starswirl's spell was the magic of friendship, and although she used the Elements of Harmony to administer that cure, it was not the power of the elements themselves that cured the Mane Six, they were instead a reminder, or a symbol, of the bonds of friendship that had joined their fates together, and it was this that cured them of the effects of the spell.

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23 hours ago, Azureth said:

Or if it's simply due to doing something heroic then lots of Ponies do so how does that work?

I think this is what's implied, but since we saw her cutie mark on the tree... I dunno, the sentient ley forces which govern Equestria marked her at birth or something, and then transformed her after her 100th great feat. Best not to question it. 

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I think a pony (any race) becomes an alicorn when they unlock the ultimate level of a magical force/concept. The Magic of Love for Cadence, and in Twilight’s case, the Magic of Friendship. I don’t include Celestia and Luna there because I believe they were born alicorns.

Celestia probably saw the potential in Twilight (or maybe straight up saw her actual fate if you believe in the prophetic!Celestia theory) and set her down the path towards improving herself. Starswirl’s Spell could not be finished without the understanding of friendship that Twilight had, and once she unlocked that, she was transported to Celestia’s ethereal plane in order to ascend to alicorn status.

There’s even a theory that the beams that hit Twilight literally destroyed her physical body. What we saw talking to Celestia was Twilight’s soul, and when she ascends, her new alicorn body is magically formed for her.

Edited by ShadOBabe
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The doylist explaination is that the script was changed to extend the lifespan of the series. Originally Twilight's assention had nothing to do with Starswirl and was supposed to be the series finale. That was Larson's plan anyway. However the higher ups changed the script cause 5 more seasons.

 

The watsonian explaination is any pony can become an Alicorn. Maybe it has something to do with fully realizing your cutiemarks/ talents full potential.

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 I think that all of the forces had to be aligned in the right way at the right time. The magic of friendship, Starswirl's spell, the energy released when each cutie mark was switched back to the rightful places and Twilight's own personal evolution.  It all happened in just the right way at just the right time.

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It's been awhile since I last watched Magical Mystery Cure, however IIRC Celestia said that Starswhirl didn't completely understand Friendship.  Going by the season finale, that certainly seems true.  This implies that power alone isn't the sole criteria.

Twilight fixed his spell, got blasted by the Elements & seemingly vaporized. It's kind of vague whether it was Celestia or the Elements (that is, the Tree of Harmony) that raised Twilight to an alicorn.

I don't think Starswhirl knows that Twilight completed his spell.  Small bet -The idea that Twilight is, in some ways, better than him, he won't take it well.  Still, one good has come from this. It puts paid to the idea that Starswhirl became Discord. (and IMO, that's a good thing)

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I always thought that Twilight was under Celestia's last test (since "The Crystal Empire") and, when she proved herself in MMC, Celestia released Twilight's potential which gave her the wings and the title.

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Don’t think about the contents of the episode too closely as it’s not very consistent. What is known is that her becoming an alicorn was the result of her completing the spell (as stated in the season 7 finale), which doesn’t appear to do anything else so I can assume it’s the direct result of the spell. Supplementary material suggests certain achievements can result in being transported to the realm where one is then transformed, but I wouldn’t too much into it. 

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