[S3 Spoilers] Do you think Twilight's becoming way too powerful?

[Flutterdasher 115]

I don't know...she couldn't seem to turn the apple into the orange. She got the frog and the bird but couldn't seem to get the apple. Lol I dunno but after all she could do that struck me as funny.

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

Um...I watched the commercial? Duh...? It was shown that she turned them into fillies, not Trixie like it was previously believed.

 

Never trust a commercial! Remember the commercial with Pinkie Pie going G3? They made it seem like she was talking to Fluttershy and Rarity when she did it, which was entirely untrue. Not that I think you're wrong, but one should keep in mind the possibility.

As for the dark magic, it caused her great strain to even do one zap, and that's because she hasn't actually learned, practiced and mastered black magic yet, she just saw the princess do it, and strained herself to be able to do her best mimicry of it.

 

The first time, yes, the second time (on the doorway) hardly seemed to tax her at all. She's a fast learner, and I think that's really the point. The more she learns, the stronger she gets. Edited November 18, 2012 by Full Spectrum

[KhaosSparkz 24]

OMG i just had a brain storm...... Picture this guys; so Celestia picked Twilight because she was a really unique and very gifted Unicorn, well maybe celestia is like training her up to be almighty and powerful, because maybe celestia can sense something so evil and really powerful that she will need Twilights magic to save the day or something xD Maybe they are building up to that immense battle scene. xD Or maybe she will become to powerful and celestia will have to banish her to the moon, because she is becoming dangerous xD

[Nixter 180]

Solution: MAKE THE OTHER PONIES ON STEROIDS

 

FLUTTERSHY, NOW WITH MORE ANIMAL MIND CONTROL THAN EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

RAINBOW DASH, NOW RAINBOOMS ALL THE TIMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

RARITY, NOW MAKING DRESSES AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT... IF LIGHT WAS FASTERRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

APPLEJACK, NOW WITH THE ABILITY TO MAKE UNLIMITED CIDER

 

PINKIE PIE... Oh wait she can slow gravity and stuff nvm.

[KhaosSparkz 24]

Or quite possibly maybe twilight is to be the next ruler of equestria hence why she is studying like crazy to learn how to cope with the stresses of life xD

[himanuts 165]

No, I don't. Her progression in magical power is coming as natural to me. Specially since there's backing that alot of what she learns is from books. Yes, she is naturally stronger than the average unicorn, but I think if any unicorn was as dedicated as her in improving their magic they'd be pretty strong themselves.

[Blindsight 142]

Her talent is magic, so it's just natural she is more powerful than other unicorns. Heck, she was more powerful than ordinary unicorns when she got accepted to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns!

We should also not forget that she's the main character AND that her cutie mark shows stars. It was also implied in the first episode of season three that Twilight has a special connection to the princesses (when their cutie marks float behind them). I think there's a reason why Celestia made Twilight her protégé... It wouldn't surprise me if she did became an alicorn herself at the end (or if she was offered to become one).

[ping111 124]

The only thing that bothers me about the idea that Twilight causes the filly epidemic is, well, that Twilight did it. The idea of "Twilight gets distracted while doing magic, bam, there's your conflict" is seriously getting boring. I mean, during the beginning of Return to Harmony, she just says "I have a new spell that will fix everything!" Where did she find that out? "IN CASE OF DRACONEQUUS INVASION, OPEN BOOK"?

[~Flutter Shy 8]

~Does not read comments because is to lazy : P

 

I think that Twilight is kinda getting a lot of power, but I mean she is Twilight Sparkle.

[kirbyboi 588]

Yeah, I was kinda confused where she could levitate herself using magic. Kinda defeats the purpose of wings, doesn't it?

 

 

But then again, with all that magic, she could become the next ruler of Equestria after Celestia has passed on. She is a very talented unicorn, and her cutie mark resembles her talent for magic. So of course she's gonna be super powerful with her magic. So at least she's living up to her cutie mark.

 

 

The levitating yourself thing kinda irks me mainly because it defeats the purpose of Pegasus's wings. But I'm not sure unicorns could hold that magic for long anyways. As the show goes on, Twilight learns more and more magic. After all, Celestia is her teacher, so that's expected from Twilight. Twilight could indeed be the next ruler of Equestria, so this is a SIGN!!!!

[pinkieshyrose 58]

i woukd say no but in the new pinkie pie episode pinkie does somthing to twilight and twilight basically either kills or teleports a bird msking me think shes going to far that and her black magic bay be sugessting somthing a predict a night mare sparkle

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

Twilight is bound to run into more obstacles, both magical and personal, before she becomes a major force all by herself. Her power is growing, but she still has to learn how to handle it and I hope they'll be exploring that more in the near future like Wingnut said. Seeing her use the dark magic efficiently on her first try (and so casually) was a strange moment. I think Celestia would be worried if she knew.

 

I don't have a problem with powering up Twilight, not if they power up her friends accordingly. My issue it that even though Twilight has always been the "main" character they seem to be ramping up her importance relative to the rest of the 6. This I wholeheartedly disapprove of. I miss the Discord episode, where it was clear that ALL of them were equally necessary to save Equestria. Now it's all like

" Ok guys, make some baskets and pass out some horns, Spike and I'll go take down the psycho dark lord. Oh, but don't worry about us, cause we don't need you"

It just rubs me the wrong way.

 

True, but remember that Celestia told her it had to be "you and you alone" who ultimately solved the problem.

[Sepraxian 36]

Wow, 36 replies and almost nobody ever mentioned the complete and total chaos Twilight Sparkle unleashed upon Ponyville in "Lesson Zero", a whole season ago.

I think it is clear as day that she is capable of doing things that are really, really powerful. But it will have no bad impact on anybody, because friendship.

Although it would be satisfying to see her go insane and wreck havoc for a bit, like so-called Dark Sonic from Sonic X.

Edited November 18, 2012 by Sepraxian

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

Twilight is bound to run into more obstacles, both magical and personal, before she becomes a major force all by herself. Her power is growing, but she still has to learn how to handle it and I hope they'll be exploring that more in the near future like Wingnut said. Seeing her use the dark magic efficiently on her first try (and so casually) was a strange moment. I think Celestia would be worried if she knew.

 

 

True, but remember that Celestia told her it had to be "you and you alone" who ultimately solved the problem.

 

I understand why Twilight did what she did, my objection is to the show taking that direction. What I liked about the pilot was that it made it clear that while Twilight was the best thing since sliced bread, she couldn't have made it far without some amazing amigos to back her up. Imagine if the pilot had consisted of Twilight running off to smack Luna down and the rest of them had stayed behind to prevent the town from descending into anarchy. Not only would that have had an inferior message, but in my opinion it would also have been an inferior episode.

 

Of course this is just my opinion, I'm just afraid that it will become a trend. I guess it didn't help it for me that A Canterlot Wedding focused disproportionately on Twilight as well.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

The great thing about Twilight is that the writers stay true to her character without so much as turning her into a poor pony's version of Celestia or even a Mary Sue. Her progression in magic is natural - after all, it is what her mentor expects of her, but at the same time, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to "advance to the next level of her studies". Is she powerful even as a young mare? Indeed she is. At a young age, she's already mastered how to conjure up force fields, perform levitation spells, self-defence spells (of varying intensities), and even turning the molecular properties of anything and replacing them with something else.

 

But magic is a mysterious thing, even to beings (in this case, Equestrians) who are essentially built upon magic. Just what is the full potential of it? Nopony knows. perhaps not even Celestia herself. At this rate, even if Twilight does end up ruling one day, will she surpass Celestia's magical power? Can she unlock all parts of her gifted power quickly? If so, how will she do it? Twilight herself is no ordinary unicorn, after all. She is the Element of Magic, and was instrumental in saving Equestria not only once, but a grand total of four times from threats across the globe. It is expected of her to come up with spells that would normally be unusable by your average unicorn. Just think, how many unicorns can you say could create barriers with just as much strength as Shining Armour himself? Not many. Make no mistake - Twilight's character/personality prevents her from being shallow and overpowered. As powerful as she is, she still has her flaws. She'll freak when things aren't going her way, and precision is an absolutely must for her. She has glaring weaknesses from this angle and it's easy to exploit - yet she finds a way to learn from all of them somehow.

 

All of the aforementioned questions will be answered soon enough, though. Magic isn't just limited to Twilight's own individual self. It's the bond she shares with her friends and family that make it truly powerful and all that more worthwhile to keep studying.

[Genepool 224]

I would say yes, but with this recent episode i'm having my doubts. Despite it being done for comical reasons, she seemed to have difficulty turning that apple into an orange. This implies that while she is quite powerful with the ability to potentially learn any spell, she still has to practice. I'm actually curious what her proficiency with the magical wing spell would be at the moment to be honest.

 

Also, even though she is powerful, Twilight does have flaws that keep her out of the Mary Sue territory. Only thing that would push her into the undoubtedly "Mary Sue" territory would be Twilight becoming an Alicorn.

[DashieDude 12]

Ya i do but she is kind of the mane character and she is magically gifted but i do think that she is way to powerful comparably.

[silvadel 1,393]

In the first season Twilight sparkle had issues performing magic.

In the second season Twilight sparkle performed magic.

In the third season Magic had issues with Twilight Sparkle.

 

Yes she is starting to become the Norris of the mane 6.

[ShyForever 284]

I have a feeling that Twilight is performing these spells this soon in case Celestia turns evil. Twilight would be prepared, you know?

[PurpleBaconEater 37]

Um...I watched the commercial? Duh...? It was shown that she turned them into fillies, not Trixie like it was previously believed.

 

the commercials also showed pinkie pie doing her "crazy-face" to rarity and fluttershy. but that did not turn out to be true.did it?

 

Before you comment, know that I'm not trying to bash Twilight in any way.

 

But...don't you guys think she's becoming a little bit too powerful?

 

I mean, she can conjure wings, teleport herself and other ponies LONG distance, levitate things well, and now she can change the laws of gravity, use dark magic, and even turn full-grown mares into temporary fillies (as seen in the upcoming Trixie episode commercial).

 

That's...like, a bit too powerful, I think. She had limits in the sixth episode, but now she seemed to be able to conjure magic without breaking a sweat.

 

Discuss.

 

.... dont forget that twilights element is magic. how else is her character supposed to develop? That is her character's complete essence!

 

Well I do think she is becoming a little over powerful, but remeber, it's only been one episode, there is not telling what might happen between now and say some later episodes. She could lose all her power or something. But for the time being she is a little overpowerd, it seems more powerful that Celestia at times, but I guess that could be expected from the "Main character"(Notice the air quotes there...). It would be nice for them to either limit her some, or make the other characters as well a little more powerful.

 

I don't have a problem with powering up Twilight, not if they power up her friends accordingly. My issue it that even though Twilight has always been the "main" character they seem to be ramping up her importance relative to the rest of the 6. This I wholeheartedly disapprove of. I miss the Discord episode, where it was clear that ALL of them were equally necessary to save Equestria. Now it's all like

" Ok guys, make some baskets and pass out some horns, Spike and I'll go take down the psycho dark lord. Oh, but don't worry about us, cause we don't need you"

It just rubs me the wrong way.

 

never thought of it that way.

so true.

i just wanted to say twilight is the element of magic and she always studied every single day every single opportunity. and she has struggled. but she works her flank off so i think a more noticeable character development in twilight makes sense. also,she has always had immense ability. (remember her getting her cutiemark) she is just learning to harness and control it. as long as they stick together she could become a friction ailcorn and i wouldn't give a buck.

[8ballgremlin 20]

OMG i just had a brain storm...... Picture this guys; so Celestia picked Twilight because she was a really unique and very gifted Unicorn, well maybe celestia is like training her up to be almighty and powerful, because maybe celestia can sense something so evil and really powerful that she will need Twilights magic to save the day or something xD Maybe they are building up to that immense battle scene. xD Or maybe she will become to powerful and celestia will have to banish her to the moon, because she is becoming dangerous xD

Or maybe Celestia is actually dying but hides the fact from her subjects. Perhaps she's picked out Twilight as her replacement, after all so many things go wrong in Equestria and Luna can't handle all of the daytime stuff as well as the night stuff and still get rest.

[SBaby 660]

Before you comment, know that I'm not trying to bash Twilight in any way.

 

But...don't you guys think she's becoming a little bit too powerful?

 

I mean, she can conjure wings, teleport herself and other ponies LONG distance, levitate things well, and now she can change the laws of gravity, use dark magic, and even turn full-grown mares into temporary fillies (as seen in the upcoming Trixie episode commercial).

 

That's...like, a bit too powerful, I think. She had limits in the sixth episode, but now she seemed to be able to conjure magic without breaking a sweat.

 

Discuss.

 

Well, she's been developing her magical skills over the course of three seasons, and spell casting is her special talent.  So of course she's going to become more powerful over time.  So I'm not exactly sure what you were expecting with her character.

 

I don't think she's a Mary Sue, as some people claim.  For one thing, she has alot of character flaws, such as an obvious OCD issue and getting injured more easily than any other cast member.

 

I won't comment on the Trixie episode yet, as there are still people that haven't seen it.  But suffice it to say, that stuff gets explained in the episode.

 

 

Not to mention, if you want to get into Mary Sue territory (this was your idea, not mine), Celestia could be considered to be WAY more of a Mary Sue than Twilight is.  She literally has no flaws, and every time she seems to display a flaw, 'it was a just test all along'.  I love her character, I think she has a great personality for royalty, but you can't deny this.

 

I'll make you guys a deal though.  If I ever see Celestia legitimately fail at something or display a major character flaw, and I mean actually FAIL or actually display a real FLAW that affects her performance at something, not just be defeated by an enemy that has an assist from something else, I'll stop calling her a Mary Sue.

Edited December 9, 2012 by SBaby

[DireDoe 48]

I think the biggest question at this point is, "Do Twilight's flaws balance out how powerful she is?" At this point I would say yes. She has a few basic spells at her disposal (with a couple exceptions, like when she reversed gravity for herself), but remember that most of the major spells required her to research them and study them up.

[Anadu Kune 668]

She still shows considerable effort when performing spells. The strain is most obvious in her performing black magic. She also shows considerable effort in performing the gravity spell. In Too many Pinkie Pies she expresses how difficult the spell is to cast. In magical duel she shows signs of physical exhaustion after performing her animal trick. She also shows signs of such physical exertion after lifting the cart and performing that water balancing act. It is also apparent from that episode and the animations that many of the spells she cast require considerable concentration. Also note that many of her spells are not instantaneous.

 

There are a few things I think we can say for certain in the way magic works in MLP.

1.) That it causes physical and mental exhaustion.

2.) Spells can take considerable concentration to perform. 

3.) the larger an item is the harder it is to lift. 

4.) Magic is effected by the emotional state of the pony performing it(Cutie Mark Chronicalls, Ticket master, Feeling Pinkie Keen)

 

All of those that I mentioned above are limiting factors. Everything I could think of at the moment that we probably can say we know are factors that limit Twilight. In fact in magical duel Twilight cant solve the problem herself she needs her friends to help showing they are important. 

 

I think I should also mention that it is not clear that Twilight can teleport over long distances. The best feat of teleportation I can recall is in Dragon quest and from the way the scene played out the distance traveled seems ambiguous. 

 

So to answer the question no. I think when you examine the way magic seems to function it is limited or has limiting factors. Twilight has has some crazy abilities, but they take considerable effort to perform. It seems clear from Magical Duel that there are defiantly points where magic is not the solution even against magic.

[Jeddaven 42]

I think the biggest question at this point is, "Do Twilight's flaws balance out how powerful she is?" At this point I would say yes. She has a few basic spells at her disposal (with a couple exceptions, like when she reversed gravity for herself), but remember that most of the major spells required her to research them and study them up.

Don't you think it might seem a bit spontaneous, still? I love twilight (she's my favourite pony, and might even be my waifu if Hinata Hyuga didn't exist. Haha.), but I think her earning of skills, I think her learning of them should be slower and more gradual in the future. It's not a huge issue for me, and it doesn't really need to be corrected since it's only very little so. In my opinion, at least. In other words, I don't care how powerful she gets, as long as it takes time and she doesn't randomly learn spells as a form of Deus Ex Machina. She's certainly not a Mary Sue, if that's what you mean.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Jeddaven