Better possible explanation for Discord's actions

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

I think there is a better explanations for discord's behaviours for resurrecting Sombra and eventually leading up to destroying the elements of harmony, the three villains threatening Equestria.

Discord already knew how easy it is to hide and manipulate the elements. And the mane six's mental reliance on the elements as practical items didn't pull out the full potential inside them. If the elements were broken or corrupted during the three villain's invasion, they might have lost. Eventually, destroying the elemnts and experiencing using the elements without the gems led them to win and Twilight undefeatable.

I know it's just my headcanon and the show didn't explore any of this so no excuse for Diacord's poor decisions, but just thought that's the most realistic explanation. What do you think of this?

[Rushing cash 836]

Using the villains to destroy the elements and therefore forcing the main 6 to fight without them and fulfilling their full potential can be included in what discord said to them in the finale, that he wanted to bust twilights confidence, if she saw how powerful she can really be without them, that will surely give her confidance. 

You can also go with what dr.,wolf said on youtube, the way discord acted suited his character. Was it wrong? Yes, but it plays well into his character.

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

It would've been more honest I think if he had been doing the whole thing to try to "trick" the villains into learning friendship (which almost happened at one point).

What happened seems even more dangerous than anything that went on when Discord was 'ruling' over Equestria. Sombra alone is a dangerous mofo and could have potentially killed thousands.

It's even underhanded for the sake of the villains, since they were basically goaded into attacking and used as disposable pawns. I wouldn't have expected Discord to still be such a sociopath after all this time.

[BastementSparkle 20,328]

I'm not sure he actually intended for the Elements/Tree to be destroyed like it was, but he definitely wanted the Mane Six to learn how to use their Friendship powers without them. He specifically told Twilight that she didn't need the Elements to defeat Sombra the first time and he didn't think using them was "Handling things on their own", so he definitely always planned for them to win without the Elements.

[Ganondorf8 11,356]

Discord didn't expect Sombra would end up destroying the Tree of Harmony along with the Elements. As Grogar, all Discord wanted was for the villains to work together in order to give Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six one final challenge that would prove that they were ready to handle ruling over Equestria. Unfortunately, Discord didn't take into account that the villains had their own ideas in addition to their treacherous natures. Had he either planned things out better or even knew in advance what was going on, things might have turned out differently than what we got.

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

3 minutes ago, Ganondorf8 said:

Discord didn't expect Sombra would end up destroying the Tree of Harmony along with the Elements. As Grogar, all Discord wanted was for the villains to work together in order to give Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six one final challenge that would prove that they were ready to handle ruling over Equestria. Unfortunately, Discord didn't take into account that the villains had their own ideas in addition to their treacherous natures. Had he either planned things out better or even knew in advance what was going on, things might have turned out differently than what we got.

Yeah.

[Oblivion 20,269]

Discords always sort of been a chaotic neautral so it's likely he does have the shinanigans he does just to see whatll happenand because he can, and as far as he knew he was unbeatable and literally had the power of at least an imp maybe even further! So he never expected he could lose so easily just because of a magical item.

[Ittoni 538]

I still believe that he actually wanted to see if the trio could be reformed. Why else would he wanted them to become friends. Yeah to become stronger together but also... friends??? isn't that counterproductive to his plan and isn't it the entire philosophy of equestria and twilight the princess of friendship? it's like shooting yourself in the foot. It was actually working but he didn't count on Chrysalis to flip her mind and convince the others that friendship is a decease and all her drama. If it were not because of that, they would have probably had the bases for redemption before the end of the conflict.

Also he's all powerful. Like, crazy powerful. So it's obvious that he would be overconfident on saying "everything will be fine" until a bell eats your magic. Even if they retrieve the bell, he was going to "use it", or fake use it at least, like all his illusions, since none of them knew how to use the bell. They had to sneak into the library to learn how behind Discord's/Grogar's back.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Ittoni

[TBD 17,256]

There’s simply no justification to Discord’s action. To try and come up a logical reason for his poor decision making is far fetched. 

Simply he can’t help causing a little chaos 

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

I also have trouble believing they were able to outsmart Discord. Look at how sometimes the Mane 6 talk about him and then suddenly his head is in a painting or something, "I heard that." They were a time bomb ready to go off at any moment and he didn't watch them more closely? Seriously?

[Misty Shadow 7,941]

Though I disagree with the fandom's visceral reaction to the twist about Discord, I agree that the way it is written is frustratingly vague. One of the few things I don't like about Season 9, not everything should be left up to the viewer's imagination and side material. However, what my imagination tells me is that Discord had to have been trying to reform the villains through fighting the Mane 6. He must know Sombra pretty well, since he had a spell that could bring him back, and sent him to the Crystal Empire alone in good faith that he wouldn't kill anyone. As for the Tree of Harmony being destroyed, he could've known about that and still not been guilty of its death. It's strongly implied that the Tree's destruction was its destiny, since Twilight needed to realize that she didn't need the Elements. 

[JH24 385]

5 hours ago, BornAgainBrony said:

I also have trouble believing they were able to outsmart Discord. Look at how sometimes the Mane 6 talk about him and then suddenly his head is in a painting or something, "I heard that." They were a time bomb ready to go off at any moment and he didn't watch them more closely? Seriously?

It's possible that Discord's time with Fluttershy dulled his instincts and made him more naive. He probably assumed that he was the only one who could activate the bell and when they failed to retrieve it probably believed they would be harmless until Twilight was ready, and that his reputation as Grogar would be enough to keep them in line.  

The season 2 Discord was overconfident, but he would have been able to smell a betrayal from miles away.

2 hours ago, CloudMistDragon said:

Though I disagree with the fandom's visceral reaction to the twist about Discord, I agree that the way it is written is frustratingly vague. One of the few things I don't like about Season 9, not everything should be left up to the viewer's imagination and side material. However, what my imagination tells me is that Discord had to have been trying to reform the villains through fighting the Mane 6. He must know Sombra pretty well, since he had a spell that could bring him back, and sent him to the Crystal Empire alone in good faith that he wouldn't kill anyone. As for the Tree of Harmony being destroyed, he could've known about that and still not been guilty of its death. It's strongly implied that the Tree's destruction was its destiny, since Twilight needed to realize that she didn't need the Elements. 

I feel the same way, although in my personal headcanon I added that Discord was always close watching Sombra and the Mane 6 throughout the premiere, and only revealed himself in the end when they were about to confront Sombra in Canterlot. Except for the Tree of harmony, I believe he would have intervened if either Sombra intended to kill Crystal Ponies or if the Mane 6 would have lost before they reached Canterlot.

It would explain in my mind why Grogar left after sending Sombra away in the first half of the premiere.

Edited October 24, 2019 by JH24

[Hierok 11,832]

16 hours ago, BornAgainBrony said:

I also have trouble believing they were able to outsmart Discord. Look at how sometimes the Mane 6 talk about him and then suddenly his head is in a painting or something, "I heard that." They were a time bomb ready to go off at any moment and he didn't watch them more closely? Seriously?

This is also what me bottered the most. He should have atleast had a bigger fight before his magic was drained...

[nightshroud96 124]

20 hours ago, Hierok said:

This is also what me bottered the most. He should have atleast had a bigger fight before his magic was drained...

Honestly I kind of wished the same for Luna.
Like getting to do much more during the crisis than just losing her magic and then kind of distract the trio while being magic-less.
 

[Hierok 11,832]

30 minutes ago, nightshroud96 said:

Honestly I kind of wished the same for Luna.
Like getting to do much more during the crisis than just losing her magic and then kind of distract the trio while being magic-less.
 

Well, it showed the smarts of Cozy, but agree with you. 

[Brainstorm 4,112]

On 10/23/2019 at 1:44 PM, BastementSparkle said:

I'm not sure he actually intended for the Elements/Tree to be destroyed like it was, but he definitely wanted the Mane Six to learn how to use their Friendship powers without them. He specifically told Twilight that she didn't need the Elements to defeat Sombra the first time and he didn't think using them was "Handling things on their own", so he definitely always planned for them to win without the Elements.

I don't either, I think the elements and tree getting distoryed was an accident, like Discord said, "He wanted Twilight to see how strong she can be." Yes, what he did was wrong even with good intentions, but Discord was trying to show that he can change.

We do learn the elements and tree is still alive, it became the Harmony TreeHouse.

Edited October 25, 2019 by Brainstorm

[Ittoni 538]

19 hours ago, Brainstorm said:

I don't either, I think the elements and tree getting distoryed was an accident, like Discord said, "He wanted Twilight to see how strong she can be." Yes, what he did was wrong even with good intentions, but Discord was trying to show that he can change.

We do learn the elements and tree is still alive, it became the Harmony TreeHouse.

He was just trying to do what Celestia does. Put her in danger so she learns something and then feel proud of her.

He just messed it up.

[nightshroud96 124]

37 minutes ago, Ittoni said:

He was just trying to do what Celestia does. Put her in danger so she learns something and then feel proud of her.

He just messed it up.

Along with the fact Celestia doesn't pluck up villains that weren't threats to Equestria for anytime soon and stage the whole thing.

[Ittoni 538]

43 minutes ago, nightshroud96 said:

Along with the fact Celestia doesn't pluck up villains that weren't threats to Equestria for anytime soon and stage the whole thing.

Except for Discord himself but not for twili, for Fluttershy.

[Megas 27,761]

According to the leaks, there actually would have been a good reason

Spoiler

Instead of retiring, Celestia and Luna's time in the physical plane were numbered.

Yup, originally they were actually supposed to die, and this was supposed to tie to Discord. Something to do with balance, but because of the long standing harmony, we was supposed to go with the princesses as well. Everything he pulled in S9, he did so because it would cause some, well Discord, and as a result he wouldn't have to leave. And particularly he wouldn't have to leave Fluttershy. I don't know what happened for them to not do this? Maybe they chickened out, maybe Hasbro declined it(given how S9 went and how it has a lot of consistent mistakes, and how they've openly talked about how they gave them more creative freedom, I'm leaning towards them chickening out). Instead of changing their plans into something more coherent, they decided to half ass what left they could do with this

 

[nightshroud96 124]

7 minutes ago, Kiryu-Chan said:

According to the leaks, there actually would have been a good reason

  Reveal hidden contents

Instead of retiring, Celestia and Luna's time in the physical plane were numbered.

Yup, originally they were actually supposed to die, and this was supposed to tie to Discord. Something to do with balance, but because of the long standing harmony, we was supposed to go with the princesses as well. Everything he pulled in S9, he did so because it would cause some, well Discord, and as a result he wouldn't have to leave. And particularly he wouldn't have to leave Fluttershy. I don't know what happened for them to not do this? Maybe they chickened out, maybe Hasbro declined it(given how S9 went and how it has a lot of consistent mistakes, and how they've openly talked about how they gave them more creative freedom, I'm leaning towards them chickening out). Instead of changing their plans into something more coherent, they decided to half ass what left they could do with this

 

Spoiler

If they really did originally planned to do that, then I feel even more iffy.
Honestly it still didn't sit right with me about Luna retiring, but the fact the original idea was she has to leave the world of the living pretty much is even worse.
It makes the 1000 year bit Luna lost due to the Nightmare Moon mess stung much worse for her due to a 1000 years she could have experience life was lost because of mistakes. Her and Celestia living at least a REALLY long time would make the 1000 years not so bad but if it turns out the fact Luna would not have much long to experience life will hurt. 
If they actually went with this, they really should have it so Luna is definitely not fine with this.
I mean, she has just returned from the moon and been back in Equestria for a few years at best. Her being smacked with the news that she can no longer be able to be among the physical living especially after what she went through, no way she would accept this easily as Celestia would. 
 

 

[Brainstorm 4,112]

2 hours ago, Ittoni said:

He was just trying to do what Celestia does. Put her in danger so she learns something and then feel proud of her.

He just messed it up.

Yes, but, Discord probably thought he could handle it with his chaos powers and made sure he had a Plan B if something went wrong. He didn't think they had a plan of their own.

[JH24 385]

4 hours ago, Kiryu-Chan said:

According to the leaks, there actually would have been a good reason

  Hide contents

Instead of retiring, Celestia and Luna's time in the physical plane were numbered.

Yup, originally they were actually supposed to die, and this was supposed to tie to Discord. Something to do with balance, but because of the long standing harmony, we was supposed to go with the princesses as well. Everything he pulled in S9, he did so because it would cause some, well Discord, and as a result he wouldn't have to leave. And particularly he wouldn't have to leave Fluttershy. I don't know what happened for them to not do this? Maybe they chickened out, maybe Hasbro declined it(given how S9 went and how it has a lot of consistent mistakes, and how they've openly talked about how they gave them more creative freedom, I'm leaning towards them chickening out). Instead of changing their plans into something more coherent, they decided to half ass what left they could do with this

 

 

Although the concept in itself is interesting, I'm kinda glad they didn't go that way; it feels sort of out of place. If I remember correctly the princesses were no longer connected to the Elements, it wouldn't make sense that Discord would be forced to go with them when they die. It would also be a depressing end.

Interesting concept, but I can understand they went for something else instead.

Edited October 26, 2019 by JH24

[nightshroud96 124]

3 minutes ago, JH24 said:

 

  Hide contents

Although the concept in itself is interesting, I'm kinda glad they didn't go that way; it feels sort of out of place. If I remember correctly the princesses were no longer connected to the Elements, it wouldn't make sense that Discord would be forced to go with them when they die. It would also be a depressing end.

Interesting concept, but I can understand they went for something else instead.[/SPOILER}

Spoiler

Speaking about the bit of the princesses are no longer connected to the elements, I wished the show touched on it more.
Like maybe an episode of Luna feeling like its her fault she and Celestia are no longer connected to the elements. Maybe the tree sends them on some trials/tests in order to restore this connection or gain some harmony-related power.  I mean, their cutie marks were on the tree of harmony and they wielded the elements before. They should at least get SOMETHING. Sadly it seems like after they lost their connection to the elements, the sisters are chopped-liver now in terms of harmony-related stuff.
At least include them in the finale rainbow laser.