S03:E10 - Keep Calm and Flutter On

[Starflower 323]

This episode had tons of awesomeness, and I really enjoyed it. Fluttershy in charge of Discord was just fantastic. This episode should have been a two-parter, tbh, but then, I still loved it. It's now on my top five episodes of all time.

 

I loved the ending, though. Discord realizing that Fluttershy was his only friend literally got me teary-eyed. I loved it!

[poniesforfun 716]

That's true, but once her eyes went all hypno-toad, she was just as brainwashed as everyone... the one who resisted the best is actually Rarity. Rarity turned away after her eyes went hypno-toad, and she even started to walk away from the diamond, her eyes back to normal. Only then did she look back and lose control.

 

Doesn't matter Fluttershy won because Discord couldn't have his fun. And he got angry in other words he was counter-trolled hard.

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

Doesn't matter Fluttershy won because Discord couldn't have his fun. And he got angry in other words he was counter-trolled hard.

Matters to me.

 

I never meant to imply that what Fluttershy did is not pretty awesome. My point about Rarity was not to take credit from Fluttershy. As you say, she beat Discord's attempted mind tricks, forcing him to overpower her, something no one else managed. But that was not really resistance either, she was just too nice for him even to get a grip. In other words, Rarity lost the tug of war, but she managed more than the other 3 did. Discord couldn't convince Fluttershy to even pick up the rope.

[poniesforfun 716]

Fluttershy bestpony!!!!!11 :DDDD j/k

 

But in all seriousness when Fluttershy turned Discord around it made me realize how strong she really was not in a coercive force kind of way but because what she had was the ability to have someone like Discord become her friend something Celestia and Luna couldn't do. She just seems like she can end wars without having to fight, the best answer to end a war imo.

Edited January 29, 2013 by poniesforfun

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

Fluttershy bestpony!!!!!11 :DDDD j/k

 

But in all seriousness when Fluttershy turned Discord around it made me realize how strong she really was not in a coercive force kind of way but because what she had was the ability to have someone like Discord become her friend something Celestia and Luna couldn't do. She just seems like she can end wars without having to fight, the best answer to end a war imo.

Hooray for Fluttershy! Hooray for Rarity! What is so great about the Mane 6 is that you can give examples of each of them being awesome!

 

Personally, I suspect that Luna and Celestia never even tried to befriend Discord before blasting him with the newly discovered Elements of Harmony.  That's why Celestia looks so guilty when Fluttershy says that "he is quite a sweetheart once you get to know him", because she never tried it herself.

[NavelColt 22,879]

Personally, I suspect that Luna and Celestia never even tried to befriend Discord before blasting him with the newly discovered Elements of Harmony.  That's why Celestia looks so guilty when Fluttershy says that "he is quite a sweetheart once you get to know him", because she never tried it herself.

I'm certainly up for believing this as well. The concept of Celestia being a bit on a high horse (hurr durr) and looking down on a character like Discord with a self-righteous attitude is incredibly believable for two reasons:

A: Discord and Celestia are the most opposite characters in the series. She is one of the most harmonic beings in the series, and he -is- chaos. She went from regal to no bullshit mode in three seconds when he showed up as a voice in The Return of Harmony. Clearly he riles her up on a general basis. She still doesn't completely trust that he's reformed for good at the end of this most recent episode.

B: This was over a thousand years ago. Celestia was younger and no doubt not nearly as wise as she is now.

 

The result was she probably saw him as the horrible tyrant many saw of him in The Return of Harmony, someone who could never be reformed; a spirit who could never, ever see reason just because of what he was, and what he enjoyed. The thing is, Discord doesn't need to be void of feelings to be the spirit of chaos. Chaos is neutral, and anything with that much intelligence is completely capable of more than what it enjoys doing.

[ItamiAngel-chan 4]

Personally, I loved the episode.

 

I was absolutely TERRIFIED when I found out that this episode would be airing, because Discord is my favorite character, and I was terrified that Hasbro would ruin him. Plus...I really, REALLY didn't like Fluttershy (go ahead, shoot me if you want, but notice that I said DIDN'T rather than DON'T).

 

But I found the way the episode played out to be quite satisfactory, if not a bit rushed. But in regards to it being rushed, that's rather to be expected when you have to fit everything into a 22 minute episode. And, I can actually say that I love Fluttershy now! :3

 

I think my only true qualm with the episode was the storm of Fluttercord shipping that ensued afterward. Of course, part of my resentment towards this is the fact that I'm a die-hard DiscordPie shipper. But that's not the point. My point is, regardless of my shipping preferences, I simply cannot see Flutter and Dizzy being a couple. Best buds, heck yeah. But not lovers.

 

And...yeah. That's my two cents. 

[SweetJeans88 408]

oh i had issues with this one

 

firstly, this should have been a two-part episode.  discord was a big enough villain to give him a 2 part premiere, but to "reform" him took only 30 minutes?

 

secondly.. hes not evil.  hes true chaos and therefore neutral.  selfish certainly, but leaning neither towards good nor evil.  if by some chance the antagonists thus far would join forces, discord is just as likely to help them as not.  hed switch horses in the middle of the stream, and maybe help the underdogs just for kicks.

 

 

third... i was irked by the "4th wall breaking" he and fluttershy did at the beginning.  two of them, too close together--but discords is at least forgivable because hes just kinda beyond the norm anyways.  

 

 

i would have liked to have seen him use his powers for good and enjoying it a little. it would have eased the transition for me.  it just felt like he and fluttershy were friends just because she said so.  friendship is backed up by action, and i think a little giving on his part (without the forced do it or else) would have made it more believable.

Edited February 1, 2013 by SweetJeans88

[rainchaser1216 0]

i enjoyed the episode very much cause one:flutters reformed discord and two:flutters is my favorite pony from the mane 6 and three:discord is not as evil

[TheAnYPony 22]

A bit late, but here is my video-review for this episode:

 

http://youtu.be/fChDGdqtbkI

[Equus 91]

Let me be honest. When I read the synopsis, I thought "Oh lord, this could be either really great or an unprecedented disaster" - but I was kind of excited, as Fluttershy is my fave of the Mane Six and Discord is my favourite villain. When I actually saw the episode, it became clear that it was going the 'really great' route - not that the FiM crew has ever let me down once, of course. Discord was in-character and provided PLENTY of amusing moments, and Flutters piled on the d'aww factor insanely high.

 

My only criticism of the episode: It should've been a two parter. No ifs ands or buts. It's the ONLY episode with a major villian that's not a two-parter thus far. The pacing was rushed all the way, but the ending was so forced and rushed that, while still great, it lost so much potential. The resolution was far too quick; friendship is magic and power, yes, but the thought that an ancient evil entity deity-thing embodiment of chaos and disharmony itself that's presumably been around for way over a milennium (though stoned most of the time. c wat i did thar) that has power equal to or greater than the princesses can be converted to good by a few lines of calm dialouge and a few days of friendship with a gentle pegasus (Element of Kindness, yes, but I disgress) seems slightly absurd. Now, I can see how it would work given a little more time and more little moments of clarity like the first heart-warming "We're... friends?" moment at the dinner table, but he went from "I'm FREE! I can do WHAT I want, WHEN I want!" to "...losing the only friend I ever had ;-; Imma be good now" in under a minute. Then again, that is pretty chaotic - quite in-character - and our Flutters could melt ANY heart by saying "we're friends".
 

All in all, could be my favourite of the season, along with Sleepless in Ponyville and a couple others, but we'll have to give it some time to see how well it holds up. I'm guessing it'll hold up well.

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

That was a great welcome back to Discord after waiting for months, where John Delancie talked about a comeback of Discord.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

You know, initially I felt that Discord's reformation felt a little forced and rushed, but after something a friend of mine said on one of my blog entries I've changed my mind. Discord is kind of like my little brother, in that he loves to cause chaos, but he also loves the reaction that he gets to his chaos. I believe that the reactions that he got were very important to him, and filled some kind of need for him. Anyway, Fluttershy is really the only person he was unable to provoke and because of this I think he wanted to break her most of all, to prove that he could do it without cheating, to prove her wrong, and to prove that trolling people was enough for him. However Fluttershy in spite of his antics was genuinely interested in becoming his friend, and when he finally broke her down and she decided that she'd had enough, he was shown the clear difference between the satisfaction of breaking ponies and the satisfaction of befriending them. He had what he wanted, but it wasn't anything like what he expected.

 

It's sort of similar to this scene (one of my favorite scenes in anything really) where the Joker finally managed to make Batman laugh. He realized that it wasn't exactly something he wanted to happen more often.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP5I6aPy-y8

 

Now that I've thought about it in this way, I'm really satisfied with Discord's reformation and happy that he can be making more appearances. He's still lovable, funny, chaotic and interesting, he's just no longer evil. Seems like a fair trade for probably getting more episodes out of the guy

Edited March 15, 2013 by DashForever

[Cantankerous 106]

While a reasonable defense can be mounted for Discord's reform as Dashforever and I have articulated (our arguments compliment each other), there's no getting around that a lot of smart people like Strebiskunk, Digibrony, and AnYPony watched this episode and didn't understand what the point was supposed to be. The idea was not clearly communicated. I already admitted as much but this failure of communication has only grown to bother me more since then. 

 

*sigh*

 

I've cooled off on this episode since my initial enthusiastic response. Perhaps I fell victim to diminished expectations. Before I began watching I actually said to myself "Alright, let's get this over with" and when this episode ended up not being THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING. I got a little over excited. 

 

Oddly, Polsky's contribution to the episode holds up best (with one big exception). Since it's the general story that struggles and Polsky wrote the teleplay it's actually his contribution that so enamored me to this episode. Shame he promptly went and shitted over my good graces with Games Ponies Play. 

 

As for where Polsky screwed up, it's at the end when Fluttershy says Discord can be a real sweetheart and everypony tries to hide their grimace. This is a point Strebiskunk made in his review and it's a good one, I'm loath to admit. They ended the episode by showing none of the main six except Fluttershy have accepted Discord and that's kind of messed up. One could counter "They never said they were his friends!" and while that's true it remains a terribly antithetical note to end the episode on.   

 

While Strebiskunk's on my mind I'd like to take a look at the other moralistic issue he had with this episode, that Celestia was trying to force friendship on Discord when up until this point the series has emphasized friendship happens only organically in its own time. This argument is weaker. Take into account the unique circumstances and recall this line "But I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you could get him to use magic obediently of his own free will." What this is is giving him a change at redemption. Sure he's under watch but it's no different than parole. Note that being under watch doesn't rule out the possibility that an organic friendship will develop, it's obviously not ideal conditions but it was the only shot DIscord had. Considering the alternative is leaving him trapped (concious!) in stone releasing him was the humane (if reckless) thing to do. Stebiskunk's argument doesn't entirely fail though because Celestia didn't release him for humane reasons but only self-serving ones

 

So... what's my opinion of this episode? In truth, I'm unsure. Despite good underlying ideas the execution fails to sell those ideas. Over time, as my surprise that the episode wasn't worse wore off it became harder to overlook how much better it could have been. Altogether, the range of possibilities for my final verdict ranges from "okay" to "good". It's going to take time to decide yet. 

Edited February 19, 2013 by ByTheTides

[Jokuc 8,173]

Well I did like this Episode but I just don't like this whole idea of Discord becoming good again. I mean he shouldn't care for friends when he is the master of chaos. I enjoyed to watch the episode but I didn't like how things turned out with Discord .I would have liked the episode better if it ended with him trying to make chaos again and getting turned back to stone.

[hottemaxx 2]

In this episode we can clearly see how powerful Fluttershy is. Her understanding nature and her will of befriending Discord turned him good. and we are talking about discord a creature which made chocklate raind und changed day and night in a minute rythem

[Mitsukuni Haninozuka 0]

Loved This Episode So Much

Did you? N i cant believe discord and fluttershy are friends now- Best Episode  i have seen loved <3        

[NeuroTypical 64]

This was an excellent episode.  The writers understand human nature, and the nature of discord, better than a lot of folks.

 

Discord is not evil.  Nor is he good.  He's not orderly, he's not totally chaotic.  Discord, true to the dictionary definition, is a prankster who enjoys messing up other's plans, or making the planless suddenly need one.  He is the emodiment of a lack of harmony.  Dissonance for the sake of dissonance.  It's really nothing personal.  He really isn't too interested in taking over or ruling - just in inserting himself into your notions about how things should be.

 

And Fluttershy's tactic was brilliant.  Show Discord the importance of friendship by genuinely giving him yours, then see what he does with it, and let the consequences flow naturally.  He wasn't "reformed" as in he got brainwashed or fixed or punished until he got in line.  He was persuaded.  He didn't know the value of friendship until he actually experienced it and then saw it walking away hurt and angry.  When it finally dawned on him, he was willing to do whatever it took to preserve the friendship.  The cost of keeping FS's friendship, was to promise to use his powers for good (most of the time). 

 

It might seem that FS manipulated him, but consider.  Her friendship was genuine.  She didn't pretend to be his friend, she honestly became his friend.  And when he was going back to his old tricks, she was genuinely hurt.

 

My wife does social work sometimes with seriously messed up kids.  Her jaw dropped on this episode - because FS used the same principles she does.  Total, absolute, transparent honesty.  No pressure, no force, no manipulation.  The success or failure of Discord's rehabilitation rested solely on his shoulders.  The consequences were only those that he created for himself.  She didn't make him care about her, and she wasn't stomping off because she was trying to teach him a lesson.

 

Great episode.

Edited April 11, 2013 by NeuroTypical

[WarGrowlmon1990 94]

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Not just because it centered on Fluttershy, but Discord's reformation was well done. I agree that it would've been much better as a two-parter, which could've given us some information on Discord's past, but the episode was still good nonetheless. What I didn't like is how the other girls belittled Fluttershy's capabilities and automatically assumed that she needed rescuing. I'm still hoping to see an episode that reveals why Discord was the way he was in the first place. He clearly never experienced friendship beforehand. Maybe he was alone from birth (or at least as a young child) and was judged by ponies for how he looked, so he wanted to get back at ponies by pranking them and causing chaos. That's just a theory though.

[Mikahlee 12]

If he becomes a goody-two-shoes-for-Flutters, I'll literally find a Tartius, go to the dimension of Ponyville and slap Discord with a glass of chocolate milk. I loved the heck of the episode, but I feel it was too fast. I hope he just becomes a neutral character, since his chaos is pretty neutral in itself, and what will he do if he went good, completely? He wouldn't be as enjoyable(let's face it), and it wouldn't be like "him"; the writers better not strip him of his character- it'll leave me disappointed :/

[Supersandslash 9]

I listened to it several times and i'm still not sure if its dick or dip cord   but i'm more on the side of dip because it is a children's show after all  

[Derpycanon 1]

Now of course there gonna have discord appear in the world in season 4. Most likely he still will cause chaos to parts of the world. If he does he would do it I. Remote areas of the world.

[Starlight Song 43]

DISSCORDD!

Here we go.

This episode gives birth to Dicord (lol - kids show guys)

And "Am I? How odd of me..."

Super epic, but a little too jam packed for on episode, or only twenty two minutes.

[True Rarity 1,240]

One of the best episodes ever!

I loved how Discord was softened after he lost his one friend, which he had been very shocked to receive in the first place.

 

"Oh, alright. Friendshipismagic!"

~Discord 

[Castle Bleck 19,326]

If you recall, Discord is based off of Q, and Q was sometimes an ally to the Enterprise crew, so Discord's reform isn't out of character at all, really.

Edited December 6, 2015 by A.V.