Writers Shifting Views on Alicorns

[Fhaolan 4,468]

A lot of people are posting about the concept that Twilight has ascended to demi-godhood, or that her rank change to Princess has irreperably damaged her character.

 

I believe that if Lauren Faust's version of Alicorns was still the version the current writers are using, then this would be true. However, I believe that the writers have deliberately de-valued both alicorns and princesses through the last two seasons to the point that Twilight's transformation is not as impressive in-show from the character's perspective as it would have been otherwise.

 

Depowering of Alicorns: The defeat of Celestia by Chrysalis. Chrysalis herself seemed surprised by this, which leads me to believe that the characters had in-show bought into the Celestia is powerful PR, while the 'reality' is that while she has a special talent with the Sun and is exceptionally long-lived, her actual power-level isn't as impressive as billed.

 

Depowering of Alicorns: Cadance. Again, while Cadance has a special talent with love spells, she is definately not in the top tier of power level. She can barely hold Sombra at bay, with him being 'just' a unicorn. She could not resist Chrysalis before Chryssie got the powerboost that brought down Celestia. Also Cadance does not appear to be effectively immortal in the same manner as Celestia and/or Luna, as she aged normally between the flashbacks and 'now'.

 

Depowering of Alicorns: Hearth's Warming Eve. Prior to Celestia and Luna, normal unicorns controlled the Sun and Moon. While those two have special talents around that, making that control easier, their roles were filled by non-alicorns for a significant span of time.

 

Commonization of Princes: Blueblood. Blueblood is a prince, but not an alicorn. He also appears to have no direct authority beyond simply being a 'noble'.

 

Commonization of Princesses: Cadance, again. Cadance, while being a princess, was employed as a foal-sitter. This was actually pointed out in the episode itself with filly Twilight mentioning that Cadance was a princess, and Cadance brushing it off as not being that big of a deal. I believe that in-show, the characters honestly believe that to be true.

 

Commonization of Alicorns: The Alicorn that originally consumed (but not created) the love poison used in the Hearts and Hooves day. This was not been disputed as an animation error like the alicorns I list later. It's technically possible that this Alicorn was Celestia or Luna, but this is unlikely given the story involved.

 

Commonization of Alicorns: Animation errors that the writers can, if they want, claim to be evidence for even more alicorns. In a Lesson Zero flashback, a filly in Twilight's class is an alicorn. In another flashback in Canterlot Wedding, several guards are alicorns. Interestingly, all of these are Twilight's flashbacks, so this may be her mind playing tricks, inserting alicorns where there actually weren't any.

 

Commonization of Princesses/Alicorns: Not in show, but the toy of Princess Skyla in the G4 line of toys. Put last because it's not in show, so only counts as 'pattern and practice evidence', not as direct evidence.

 

Adding this up, I believe that Alicorns (and Princesses) are no-where near as important in-show now as they were when Lauren first put pen to paper, and that it is likely that the writers are going to continue that devaluation process through the first episodes of Season 4 in order to accomodate the transformation and rank change without significantly impacting the ability to write further slice-of-life episodes.

 

I expect to see 'flashbacks' or Celestia/Luna driven history lessons that show more alicorns and princes/princesses in various positions and level of authority in Season 4, all specifically to address the fans' confusion over Twilight's transformation. (And all the fans, not just Bronies.)

 

[Note: This essay does not mean that I believe the Alicornification of Twilight was the correct decision. If I was the writer-in-charge this should have been left as the series closer, not a season closer. Or at least done this during a full season, rather than a half-season, and put more references in during the season to build up to it.]

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,346]

Very interesting write up. This actually makes a lot of sense, and to me, it would be a great way to get rid of concerns. Perhaps it could lead to other episodes as well, involving Celestia and Luna more and Cadence as well. I am tired of seeing this whole 'they are royalty, so automatically treat them different' thing. Luckily, it seems they are stepping away from that with Cadence and Shining Armor, for the most part.

 

As a side note, as far as I know, this actually was originally going to be the end of the series. The princess Twilight thing was planned since the beginning and the S3 finale was written in 2011.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Kyoshi

[Shanks 10,811]

While I have expressed concern over twilicorn whether her character is irreparably damaged by becoming a Mare E Sue is too soon to tell even if we were to take into account that the rules around alicorns are a bit different than Lauren Fausts original vision. Chrysalis was able to defeat Celestia because she drained a large amount of energy from both Cadence and Shining Armor, without this energy it is unlikely she would have been a match for Celestia or even if she was the fight would have been a lot more even.

 

It is reasonable to assume though that Cadence is not as powerful as Celestia though it is also reasonable to assume that she as an alicorn is a bit more powerful than most unicorns.I don't remember there being any mention of normal unicorns controlling the sun and moon anywhere but don't dismiss that possibility entirely as King Sombra was a unicorn but was powerful enough to pose a threat to even Celestia and Luna.

[silvadel 1,393]

A lot of people thought Cadence was a pegacorn (pegasus unicorn hybrid lacking earth pony magic) when she first appeared while Celestia and Luna had all three.  I mean if you have say a pegasus/earth pony you wouldn't know the difference except they would be exceptionally strong and probably even better with weather than a normal pegasus (hmm rainbow dash). 

[Fhaolan 4,468]

While I have expressed concern over twilicorn whether her character is irreparably damaged by becoming a Mare E Sue is too soon to tell even if we were to take into account that the rules around alicorns are a bit different than Lauren Fausts original vision. Chrysalis was able to defeat Celestia because she drained a large amount of energy from both Cadence and Shining Armor, without this energy it is unlikely she would have been a match for Celestia or even if she was the fight would have been a lot more even.

 

It is reasonable to assume though that Cadence is not as powerful as Celestia though it is also reasonable to assume that she as an alicorn is a bit more powerful than most unicorns.I don't remember there being any mention of normal unicorns controlling the sun and moon anywhere but don't dismiss that possibility entirely as King Sombra was a unicorn but was powerful enough to pose a threat to even Celestia and Luna.

There's the thing. Alicorns being more 'powerful' than unicorns is an assumption and is not actually stated in-show. It is implied via Celestia and Luna, but that implication isn't necessarily true.

 

Alicorns have supposedly the benefits of being Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. However, that doesn't mean those benefits are multipicative, they may not even be additive.

 

I have seen descriptions where an Earth Pony is a pony who is unusually strong, and has an affinity to growing things and animal husbandry. A Pegasis is a pony who can fly, walk on clouds, and can directly manipulate weather. A unicorn is a pony who can directly manipulate magic to varying degrees.

 

So an Alicorn could be a pony who is unusually strong, has an affinity to growing things and animal husbandry, can fly, walk on clouds, can directly manipulate weather, and can directly manipulate magic *to varying degrees*. It does not mean an Alicorn is stronger than any Earth Pony, faster than any pegasis, or more powerful than any unicorn. This Alicorn's abilities are now spread thinner across multiple facets, gaining breadth of ability at the expense of depth of ability.

 

Fluttershy has a stronger natural affinity to animals than most Earth Ponies. Rarity can manipulate weather, and Twilight can make ponies fly and walk on clouds all with their magic. And Zecora can apparantly cast some spells as well. This would indicate that the 'benefits' of being one of the specific races is a relatively minor boost on top of being simply 'a pony'. Individuals can exceed the average, of course, but if so then to maintain that average other individuals will be less stelar.

 

 

A lot of people thought Cadence was a pegacorn (pegasus unicorn hybrid lacking earth pony magic) when she first appeared while Celestia and Luna had all three.  I mean if you have say a pegasus/earth pony you wouldn't know the difference except they would be exceptionally strong and probably even better with weather than a normal pegasus (hmm rainbow dash). 

 

Actually I would have pegged Fluttershy as the Earth Pony/Pegasis Hybrid. A pegasis who is a relatively poor flyer, but who demonstrates unusual nurturing ability.

[Veylon 255]

I think this has a lot to do with how screwed up the concept of "Princess" has become in this setting. Originally (as we pretty much all know) Celestia was going to be a Queen. But Hasbro decided - apparently off-handedly - that she should be a Princess as Queens were associated with being bad.

 

But then, Hasbro decided they wanted Disney-type Princesses. Obviously, Celestia and Luna don't qualify, but they had set the standard that Princesses have both wings and a horn, so out-of-nowhere Princess Cadance had to have both.

 

And then, Hasbro wanted Twilight to be a Princess. In any normal setting this could be accomplished by her marrying a Prince and/or discovering some lost heritage. But this is My Little Pony where Princesses are a different sub-species from their subjects, so the only way for this to happen was for her to undergo some sort of magical metamorphosis.

 

Honestly, I don't think all that much thought was put into this beyond "MOAR PRINCESS" on the part of Hasbro. All the writers can do is try to put a veneer of sanity on top of a decision already made.

[Shift 4,271]

SHIFTING VIEWS?

 

 

Well, this just proves the writers are fickle. I was fickle about best pony until I read moonstuck. We can't change the past, but we can change the future. We just gotta keep on trudging foward.

 

Tara has already tweeted it won't change the feel of the show, and because there are so many, my headcanon is that there is an alicorn for each aspect in life. For example, an Alicorn of Magic [ Twilight Sparkle ] Alicorn of Compassion [ Cadence ], Alicorn of Earth, Alicorn of Weather, etc.

 

I disliked Cadence, but she's starting to grow on me, so...

[Dr. Love 88]

The reason i think she'll be over powered is because in Magic Duel i took notice that Trixie had all these superior magic powers because of an ALICORN amulet, kind of implies that alicorns ARE indeed very very powerful