Theory The power of Chaos

[The Pinball King 2]

In My little Pony: Friendship is Magic there is a character of particular interest to me. Discord. The spirit of chaos, master of random, former ruler of Equestria and... apparently Tirek’s dumb puppet. It seems to me that the series likes to say that Discord has immense magical ability but chooses not to use it. The purpose of my query is this: exactly how powerful is Discord? Is he powerful but lazy or something else?

 

I have always loved Discord; it takes real guts to steal the Elements of Harmony from Canterlot Castle. It seems that Discord’s power is awesome and fantastical but at the same time horribly ignored. In his introductory episode he is not only of stealing the Elements of Harmony from the most defended place in Equestria but also can remove pegasus wings and unicorn horns with minimal effort, a literal snap of his fingers.

 

Instead of immediately wiping out his enemies, however, he chooses to toy with them and make them try to get the Elements back. While they wander through the Canterlot garden labyrinth he chooses to taunt them further and we see that he can taint the hearts and minds of ponies with a touch of his finger. Eventually the Mane 6 power through and get the Elements back and revert him to his stone prison. But why did he just stand there and let himself be turned to stone? He knew what those relics were capable of and chose to sit on his throne while an obviously dooming rainbow arched above and headed straight for him.

 

Outside of his introductory episodes we see he is able to bend and break the very laws of physics, also with minimal effort. He makes houses spin like merry-go-rounds, can duplicate himself and much more. Yet when Tirek confronts him he uses his fantastic magical power and the obvious clues that his “friend” dropped before he made his move and... let’s his magic be drained from him. If my theory holds true then Discord should have been able to draw strength from the chaos around him because we know he can and confront him again but he doesn’t. He is in a helpless state for the rest of the episode.

 

In the circumstance that Fluttershy is threatened, I have no doubt that the crust of the Earth would roll and quake and the heavens would summon clouds to hide from his rage. But we never see Discord in a combat scenario so I’m reduced to scouring the internet for an answer. If anyone can give me clarification or criticism I’m all ears but please tell me if Discord is just powerful and aloof or something!

 

Sincerely,

 

The Pinball King

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

3 hours ago, The Pinball King said:

In My little Pony: Friendship is Magic there is a character of particular interest to me. Discord. The spirit of chaos, master of random, former ruler of Equestria and... apparently Tirek’s dumb puppet. It seems to me that the series likes to say that Discord has immense magical ability but chooses not to use it. The purpose of my query is this: exactly how powerful is Discord? Is he powerful but lazy or something else?

 

I have always loved Discord; it takes real guts to steal the Elements of Harmony from Canterlot Castle. It seems that Discord’s power is awesome and fantastical but at the same time horribly ignored. In his introductory episode he is not only of stealing the Elements of Harmony from the most defended place in Equestria but also can remove pegasus wings and unicorn horns with minimal effort, a literal snap of his fingers.

 

Instead of immediately wiping out his enemies, however, he chooses to toy with them and make them try to get the Elements back. While they wander through the Canterlot garden labyrinth he chooses to taunt them further and we see that he can taint the hearts and minds of ponies with a touch of his finger. Eventually the Mane 6 power through and get the Elements back and revert him to his stone prison. But why did he just stand there and let himself be turned to stone? He knew what those relics were capable of and chose to sit on his throne while an obviously dooming rainbow arched above and headed straight for him.

 

Outside of his introductory episodes we see he is able to bend and break the very laws of physics, also with minimal effort. He makes houses spin like merry-go-rounds, can duplicate himself and much more. Yet when Tirek confronts him he uses his fantastic magical power and the obvious clues that his “friend” dropped before he made his move and... let’s his magic be drained from him. If my theory holds true then Discord should have been able to draw strength from the chaos around him because we know he can and confront him again but he doesn’t. He is in a helpless state for the rest of the episode.

 

In the circumstance that Fluttershy is threatened, I have no doubt that the crust of the Earth would roll and quake and the heavens would summon clouds to hide from his rage. But we never see Discord in a combat scenario so I’m reduced to scouring the internet for an answer. If anyone can give me clarification or criticism I’m all ears but please tell me if Discord is just powerful and aloof or something!

 

Sincerely,

 

The Pinball King

Something interesting about the Tirek situation, it doesn't line up with anything we have seen of Discords power, Tirek being on par with Twilight yet seemingly more powerful than Discord, a being who is immensely more powerful than the 4 alicorns. Notice how Tirek didn't turn on Discord until he had the mane 5, I believe this is because the "light" of the mane 5/6 being so far beyond anything else in Equestria, by absorbing the mane 5, he had magic that discord couldn't contend with, not more raw magic ability though.

Discord is a reality-bending god like being who can warp anything to his image unless there is a magic mcguffin rock in the way. As Starlight said "if Discord wanted to he could defeat the changeling army by sneezing" and that is why Discord isn't in two parters often  and unlike Celestia, it isn't a huge mystery as to why he wasn't there like say, Celestia and Luna because Discord could literally be in another dimension when something big does go down.

[ShadOBabe 19,022]

Discord is exceedingly powerful, but fatally arrogant, and oftentimes, selfish and ignorant like a child.

3 hours ago, The Pinball King said:

it takes real guts to steal the Elements of Harmony from Canterlot Castle

LOL, sure, if you’re a mortal. Discord doesn’t have guts; he has gall. Discord has never deliberately put himself in a position where he didn’t think he’d come out on top. All Discord has ever had to do in the vast majority of his existence is snap his fingers to get what he wants.

It’s only very, very recently for him that he’s discovered something he actually has to work for; friendship. When he was introduced, he literally could have done anything he wanted, but he was out for revenge. His arrogance bit him in the ass and he was stopped. And then when Celestia decided to give him a chance to be reformed, he attempted to use his warped understanding of friendship as a shield from consequences. But when Fluttershy renounced him, he quickly found out that friendship and people that really care about and connect with you was something he WANTED, but couldn’t materialize out of thin air.

So in a nutshell, Discord is insanely powerful, but reels it in because breaking the universe would piss off the people he cares about.

On a side note, Discord does not pull power from chaos. Chaos magic comes from within him.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

Just now, ShadOBabe said:

Discord is exceedingly powerful, but fatally arrogant, and oftentimes, selfish and ignorant like a child.

LOL, sure, if you’re a mortal. Discord doesn’t have guts; he has gall. Discord has never deliberately put himself in a position where he didn’t think he’d come out on top. All Discord has ever had to do in the vast majority of his existence is snap his fingers to get what he wants.

It’s only very, very recently for him that he’s discovered something he actually has to work for; friendship. When he was introduced, he literally could have done anything he wanted, but he was out for revenge. His arrogance bit him in the ass and he was stopped. And then when Celestia decided to give him a chance to be reformed, he attempted to use his warped understanding of friendship as a shield from consequences. But when Fluttershy renounced him, he quickly found out that friendship and people that really care about and connect with you was something he WANTED, but couldn’t materialize out of thin air.

So in a nutshell, Discord is insanely powerful, but reels it in because breaking the universe would piss off the people he cares about.

On a side note, Discord does not pull power from chaos. Chaos magic comes from within him.

I believe the non canon mlp comic says Discords power comes from his realm
it is non canon for referencing Nightmare Rarity, which is good because I thought the whole concept of Chaosville being a source of Discords power was stupid and contradicts Twilights Kingdom

[ShadOBabe 19,022]

Just now, Ryanmahaffe said:

I believe the non canon mlp comic says Discords power comes from his realm
it is non canon for referencing Nightmare Rarity, which is good because I thought the whole concept of Chaosville being a source of Discords power was stupid and contradicts Twilights Kingdom

Yeah, I can’t stand the comics. They’ve crossed a few too many lines for me. Any info from them I ignore (on the off chance I’ve actually even heard about it).

Learning about this, I agree. It’s rather dumb and less impressive to have Discord’s power have a source that isn’t just himself.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

Just now, ShadOBabe said:

Yeah, I can’t stand the comics. They’ve crossed a few too many lines for me. Any info from them I ignore (on the off chance I’ve actually even heard about it).

Learning about this, I agree. It’s rather dumb and less impressive to have Discord’s power have a source that isn’t just himself.

It would also mean if Tirek succed his magic, Discord could just...instantly have more, it makes no sense and I really hated that issue and what it did to Discord. The comics can be good, but anything other than Legends of Magic should never be considered as canon material

but on topic, Discord stronk, gets nerfed a lot.

[MidnightFire1222 2,274]

3 minutes ago, ShadOBabe said:

Discord is exceedingly powerful, but fatally arrogant, and oftentimes, selfish and ignorant like a child.

LOL, sure, if you’re a mortal. Discord doesn’t have guts; he has gall. Discord has never deliberately put himself in a position where he didn’t think he’d come out on top. All Discord has ever had to do in the vast majority of his existence is snap his fingers to get what he wants.

It’s only very, very recently for him that he’s discovered something he actually has to work for; friendship. When he was introduced, he literally could have done anything he wanted, but he was out for revenge. His arrogance bit him in the ass and he was stopped. And then when Celestia decided to give him a chance to be reformed, he attempted to use his warped understanding of friendship as a shield from consequences. But when Fluttershy renounced him, he quickly found out that friendship and people that really care about and connect with you was something he WANTED, but couldn’t materialize out of thin air.

So in a nutshell, Discord is insanely powerful, but reels it in because breaking the universe would piss off the people he cares about.

On a side note, Discord does not pull power from chaos. Chaos magic comes from within him.

That being said though, Discord does need some chaos around him for his powers to even work. Remember the episode where he invited Fluttershy to his house for tea? He thought she wouldn't like it or would be uncomfortable, so he redid everything and himself in order to seem more normal. As a result however, with everything being to orderly and having no chaos around whatsoever, Discord started fading away. While I don't doubt that Discord's power is his own and doesn't have some outer source, he does still need some level of chaos around him in order for his powers and personality to function properly.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

Just now, MidnightFire1222 said:

That being said though, Discord does need some chaos around him for his powers to even work. Remember the episode where he invited Fluttershy to his house for tea? He thought she wouldn't like it or would be uncomfortable, so he redid everything and himself in order to seem more normal. As a result however, with everything being to orderly and having no chaos around whatsoever, Discord started fading away. While I don't doubt that Discord's power is his own and doesn't have some outer source, he does still need some level of chaos around him in order for his powers and personality to function properly.

People often say your home is an extension of your own personality, at it is yours to decorate, so Discord changing his home was just an extension of changing himself, Discord is just a being with a surplus of chaos magic within him, he isn't a normal being per say, he has a body that can literally come apart like legos or glue, he is just a walking physical manifestation of chaos, take that away and no more Discord.

[Hierok 11,833]

4 hours ago, The Pinball King said:

Instead of immediately wiping out his enemies, however, he chooses to toy with them and make them try to get the Elements back. While they wander through the Canterlot garden labyrinth he chooses to taunt them further and we see that he can taint the hearts and minds of ponies with a touch of his finger. Eventually the Mane 6 power through and get the Elements back and revert him to his stone prison. But why did he just stand there and let himself be turned to stone? He knew what those relics were capable of and chose to sit on his throne while an obviously dooming rainbow arched above and headed straight for him.

This is just because his ego is bigger then an Ursa Majeur. He was to arrogant and underestimated the mane 6. Above all, he just wants to have fun. 

[Conred 274]

Discord is a child with huge power. He is often naive or overconfident so he doesn't plan other possible outcomes just like in S2. It is further explored after reformation - he act like a lost child at the Gala, he act like a lone nerd at Dungeons and Discords and his relationship with Fluttershy seem like a crush made by a 9 year old on his older classmate. Even Spike is more mature than him in this regard and he has literally a childhood crush on Rarity.

[Van123 29]

14 hours ago, Conred said:

Discord is a child with huge power. He is often naive or overconfident so he doesn't plan other possible outcomes just like in S2. It is further explored after reformation - he act like a lost child at the Gala, he act like a lone nerd at Dungeons and Discords and his relationship with Fluttershy seem like a crush made by a 9 year old on his older classmate. Even Spike is more mature than him in this regard and he has literally a childhood crush on Rarity.

Discord is a old man who acts like a little boy and he befriended a pony called fluttershy, had he not changed him to his good side like a friendly monster he would never have a friend. do not compare that with spike with rarity that was a loving relationship but it is pedophilia.

if celestia should not have changed him to his good side turning him into a friendly monster with the help of the ponies and with fluttershy would never pass new things and become friends with them.. don't compare that with spike with rarity that was a loving relationship but it is pedophilia because he is a boy and she is a teenager, discord and fluttershy are friends and their friendship is strong like all the girls who had a strong friendship with a monster in the animated series like Miko with Bulkhead had a strong friendship, he always and he protects her from all danger like discord with fluttershy (they act as if they are in love in some episodess) from Transformers Prime and sully with boo from Monster Inc he had a strong friendship, he always and he protects her from all danger. but no with the beauty and the beast because that is not the same thing.

Edited February 28, 2018 by Van123