The Chrysalis Debacle

[Stardust Balance 7,716]

(Copy and pasted from my blog post on Fimfiction.) 

Let's talk about our 'favourite' evil Changeling Queen,

Spoiler

now disgraced and currently trapped in stone.

Image Link: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.deviantart.com%2F14-bis%2Fart%2FQueen-Chrysalis-300172008&psig=AOvVaw3BqjLvMTjT7bkoXpBnY-f3&ust=1651183502333000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCJjuwoOgtfcCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

 

Now, when it comes to ideal redeemable villains, this creature appears to be the favourite of these topics. I've seen it loads of times: Debates how she's the most repent-able, fics depicting her redemption from the most realistic to the most ludicrous. How, of all the MLP major villains, Chrysalis is seen as the most capable of being turned to good and can change as a better Changeling.

...I don't get it.

I haven't watched all of season nine yet - life's like that - but from what bits I've seen and things I've heard, nothing tells me she's any more redeemable than the other big bads.

Because people feel sorry for her? Being outcasted and shunned by her kind was her own doing. She brought that on herself and even then still attempted to commit evil acts. She doesn't have my sympathy.

Because she's a mother? Being a parent doesn't automatically make a character redeemable. And you all saw how she treated her children. As pawns. Disposables. She willingly attempted to drain one of her children's happiness out of spite. She was an abusive, manipulative, controlling parent who cared nothing for her spawns, just for her own power and status.

Because she's the most 'attractive' big bad? Hello, you guys seen Sombra? Who wouldn't want a piece of that?

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fknowyourmeme.com%2Fphotos%2F1570137-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic&psig=AOvVaw2CasfKpzJ89SG7oqwJ8UyC&ust=1651184012956000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCPDMm_ihtfcCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD 

 

Jokes aside, contrary to what people may believe, a character isn't capable of becoming good just because they're good looking. How many fics use that trope to redeem a villain based on their physical appearance?

Because she has 'depth' to her villainy? Nah, she's pure evil, straight and simple. Her goal of supplying sustenance for her species no longer mattered when she made it clear in season six the only person she cares for, is herself. As far as I can tell, Chrysalis wouldn't give a rat's behind whether or not her children starve.

So what is it? What makes Chrysalis so appealing to people outside of those, that almost every fic sees her reformed or with shades of grey? What am I missing? I'm genuinely curious, I'd love to know.

[Props Valroa 26,021]

I never really viewed her kind as 'Evil'. That is far too basic and uninteresting. She's a mother who was raised in a cruel environment born from their species limitations. We do not know where the Changelings came from, so it is safe to say where they came from was a land far more hostile. I will forever look down upon them being reformed. They should have never been reformed. I do not like how they look. Thorax ruined the changelings for me.
 

I really didn't like where they went with the reformations. I wish they had the changelings as literally being incapable of love, being incapable of something that ponies had take for granted. That would lead to a more interesting perspective. It's not morally wrong for the changelings since they lack the ability to even conceive that moral. Would be interesting for Chrysalis to have taught Twilight that concept, as she clearly hadn't considered that. Either through defeating Twilight and Twilight finally sees why Chrysalis is the way she is instead of some 'villain'.

I do not like the terms villains, heros, etc, it's all so basic. I want something with depth, nuance. I will not allow myself to water down my understandings of things within those simple and over-used terms.

If one is in a society of starvation, lack of resources, and was born into thinking certain ways for generations - one can understand why the changelings are the way they are. To me, it is biology, not magic, which I know is 'canon', but I reject many things in the canon out of my own personal dis-satisfaction. 

Edited June 16, 2022 by -Solstice-

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

It's sad but in real life, people do give "attractive" criminals more sympathy as well. If Chrysalis was ugly, she may not get as much sympathy as she does now. That's not the only reason she's seen in that light, however, I believe people are just invested in what her past could have been like. People are in a constant state of wonder when it comes to her past since it is never indicated whether she was always evil or if she had a traumatic past that brought it on. However, that doesn't excuse her behaviors, especially when Starlight gave her the chance to start over.

[Rumpelstiltskin 45]

I used to feel pretty much the exact same way you did about her before the season 6 finale, and then when he saw her the few times before she officially returned in season 9 I started to feel bad for her. 

 

She lost everything and just couldn't accept it. We saw she couldn't do anything by herself. How often do you suppose she tried some insane scheme like with the Mean Six clones and failed miserably each time? And the worst part, why I feel bad for her, was that she was all alone. Karma hit her hard, but still I couldn't help but pity her. I really wanted her to find a new purpose in life with Tirek and Cozy and maybe find some small happiness and slowly come around, but the writers botched that badly.