spoiler Was Stygian possessed by a god of some kind?

[PonyMage 228]

I feel like the episode was heavily hinting at this.

• Stygian says that a shadow "spoke to him." This could just be general edginess, but it also suggests he merged with a sentient being, not just dark powers.
• The ruin they fell into at the Hollow Shades had an image of what appeared to be a shadowy beast upon the wall. Stygian said this ruin was where he met the "shadow," which means the ruin predated the Pony of Shadows. Therefore, the building was not erected to honor the Pony of Shadows, but something else (logically, the "shadow" which resided there).
• The Pony of Shadows is more snakelike than other ponies, not to mention much bigger and composed of darkness. If Stygian had simply been powered up by his dark emotions, these would be odd effects.
• The Pony of Shadows apparently wants to completely obliterate all existence to return the universe to oblivion. That seems a bit blown out of proportion, even by Stygian (or Starlight's) standards.
• Also, the Pony of Shadows did not disintegrate when they pulled Stygian out of it, but was instead sucked into the Limbo and sealed away. If the Pony of Shadows was just Stygian powered up by darkness, why would his pony body be capable of being separated from the snakelike body? Rather, it seems something used Stygian as a host to gain power until it was strong enough to sustain itself without Stygian (even seemingly trapping Stygian within itself).

This goes more into headcanon territory, but I also feel the Hollow Shades is likely to have been inhabited by a cult dedicated to this "shadow" god. They were the ones who built the temple, and Stygian found their cult and joined it, eventually being used as a vessel. The cult would desert the place and dismember once they realized their god had been banished by Starswirl and the others.

[Will Guide 21,360]

Here's my thoughts:

Both Star Swirl and Starlight were right in a sense. StarSwirl knew the Darkness needed to be banished before it could potentially destroy the Realm of Equestria, but Starlight also realized that Stygian could be saved. So, once Stygian was freed by the Power of Friendship, it was "Bye, Bye, Darkness."

Although, there might be more being of Darkness out there waiting to influence evil doers.

Edited November 27, 2017 by WiiGuy2014

[King of Canterlot 9,603]

This is an interesting theory, that does have a point when it comes to the darkness being a sentient thing. As we see after Stygian was freed from the darkness, it didn't dissipate or cease to exist, as it would have if it was only a part of Stygian's emotions. However, it doesn't dissipate or cease to exist, and even though this span of time is very short because it was banished a few seconds later, it does prove that this darkness is it's own sentient being that can exist outside of a pony if necessary. 

[Brainstorm 4,106]

Stygian was possessed, never evil. The Pillars didn't know until they heard Stygian's part of the story.

[Prospekt 11,018]

My headcanon has been stolen! D:

Jk. Mine is very similar. I do believe something "possessed" Stygian in some way. Kind of like Nightmare Rarity in the comics--Rarity becomes possessed by some nightmare spirit that had once possessed Luna in the same way. While Nightmare Rarity doesn't seem to be canon, because the show itself has always attributed Luna's fall to her own jealousy rather than some demon, it's a fascinating premise. I'd like to think that a similar sort of demon is responsible for Stygian's transformation into the Pony of Shadows.

[Jeric 46,850]

I see it like the personified entity of ... well ... darkness ... physical and emotional. It's part The Nothing,  part Venom, and part Dark Side of the Force. We've seen no shortage of this concept in fantasy and sci-fi fiction. Though I can't say that I was struck with images of a non-mythological deity. 

9 minutes ago, Prospekt said:

. Kind of like Nightmare Rarity in the comics--Rarity becomes possessed by some nightmare spirit that had once possessed Luna in the same way.

As Prospekt pointed out in the above quote, we have an analog in FiM. It's not even original within the brand. XD

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

Its shame that the shadow got banished in the end of the finale, i just wish The Pony of Shadow is just a part of something larger than life, it could be responsible for Nightmare Moon incident and Sombra, its a missed opportunity.

[Pinkie_Pi 348]

It seems that there are a few direct references to Greek Mythology that don't seem to go much further, there's Cerberus, Tartarus, and now Stygian, which literally means from or of the river Styx.  The River Styx is the river in the Greek Undeworld (not Hell, there's a huge difference, that the Dead must actually cross to reach the their final resting place.

By the way Tartarus is Greek "Hell."

[Hierok 11,831]

I still believe 'the shadow' is Grogar. He convinced Stygian to join him and put a spell on him, so he would not tell anybody of Grogar, so he would stay save. The same goes for Nightmare Moon.

[Goat-kun 2,527]

The unholy spirit of Dindu Nuffin. It's a low level creep you'll often see haunting people who got triggered by first world problems in magical girl shows.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

The Pony of Shadows is just Stygian and the Darkness put together, so yeah of course the temple predates it. As a side note the wall with the picture of the shadow pony on it looks very much like a circular door... possible future story elements?

I thought this was kind of obvious tbh, the Shadow is "ultimate evil" it is the literal manifestation of Darkness, in the same way that Discord is the manifestation of chaos in the show. So of course it is a god-like being. The cult idea is interesting though and I would like to see it used as a future 2 parter to bring back the shadow.

Shadow Play was interesting because it was as high fantasy as this show has ever been, it was literal Dark vs light, not sun vs moon, not Harmony vs Disharmony, pure Light vs Darkness. Light doesn't have a form, it is the semi sentient force of good and harmony that uses the tree/elements as a conduit for it's power. The Darkness is just a force lurking, waiting for you to stumble upon it.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

Maybe he was possessed by the Equestrian version of Nyarlathotep. But probably not. That would be too pessimistic.

[PonyMage 228]

It's interesting to see everyone's thoughts on this. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who had an idea of this sort. It's interesting the episode hinted so much that the darkness was a symbiote/being of some kind but never outright stated it.

19 hours ago, The Gobok said:

I still believe 'the shadow' is Grogar. He convinced Stygian to join him and put a spell on him, so he would not tell anybody of Grogar, so he would stay save. The same goes for Nightmare Moon.

 

I think Grogar might have been deconfirmed from ever appearing in the main series. In "A Flurry of Emotions," the storybook Spike read to the kids featured a villain named Grogar. I think that might have been the show staff's way of using Grogar's name without actually making him a character.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

3 minutes ago, SpookySpoop said:

It's interesting to see everyone's thoughts on this. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who had an idea of this sort. It's interesting the episode hinted so much that the darkness was a symbiote/being of some kind but never outright stated it.

 

I think Grogar might have been deconfirmed from ever appearing in the main series. In "A Flurry of Emotions," the storybook Spike read to the kids featured a villain named Grogar. I think that might have been the show staff's way of using Grogar's name without actually making him a character.

While I don't believe the shadow is Grogar, it is simply just the embodiment of dark magic/darkness itself. I wouldn't say Grogar is impossible. The Pony of Shadows was mentioned waay back in Castle-maneia and it came back albeit in a different form (although I do believe that was Stygian we saw, in the same way we saw the pillars at Stonehenge.

[Brainstorm 4,106]

I'm glad that Stygian and the Pillars are a team again.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Brainstorm

[Toastypk 923]

It feels like both a willing thing and an unwilling thing.

He wanted it at first,but you could see him trying to break free, and the shadow wouldn't let him.

Am I the only one who think's Styg's mindset is eerily relatable? I've had moments where I've felt wronged or spurned and had bitter thoughts. Not to the point of literal shadow, but the sentiment is there.

Edited December 18, 2017 by Toastypk