*Spoilers* Did anyone else feel bad for Sunset Shimmer?

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,243]

Throughout the film, Sunset Shimmer is a bit.....evil. Well, REALLY evil, given what her intentions were. Given that she was a student of Celestia and she was banished for being, well, evil, she must be hated at all costs! The ending though, tells a different story.

 

I am sure I am not alone here, but did anyone else feel really bad for Sunset Shimmer near the end after she was defeated? Call me a wimp/wussy/thingpersonofoverlyemotionalness, watching the film a second time, after she was defeated, that part nearly made me cry, it was very close. (Was watching with a friend) Truly, the way it was delivered, was quite well done. Really, Shimmer never understood the magic of friendship of course, but this is probably what caused her to become what she did. In terms of not knowing friendship, I can relate to the feeling well. I have went through most of my life having almost no true friends. Luckily, I have a few now, but for the longest time, it was not so, so in a way , I can relate to Shimmer's feelings, in that I did not even know the first thing about friendship and still do not know many things.

 

So, am I alone with that? I found that part to be very sad and it made me feel sorrow for the character, even after what she had done. That shocks me quite a bit.

[DaReaper 1,943]

It was more of feeling happy for her at the end she is finaly gonna know friendship but i still wonder what happened to her counterpart

[Homura Akemi 974]

Not really. I felt like her whole spiel of "I don't know how to make friends!" was super cliche and she deserved what she got. It kind of reminded me how in Magic Duel when Trixie asked Twilight for forgiveness. Being someone who has always disliked Trixie, just because I just don't like her, and Shimmers being so much like her, I didn't see any reason to feel pity her. I will add I don't dislike Shimmers particularly in the way I dislike Trixie, I honestly don't care for her much because I find her a bit forgettable.

[RockinRarity 1,605]

I didn't feel bad for her, but I can understand why someone would.

 

She only felt remorse at the end because she was blasted with the friendship rainbow. She never learned about the magic of friendship, but I'm not certain if it was because she never had a chance, or if she just didn't want to.

 

I think that I would feel bad for her if I knew what her life was like as Celestia's student, and before.

 

And, like the poster above me, I don't really like Trixie that much either. So that may have something to do with it as well.

[Blue Moon 6,336]

I agree with you much here, Kyoshi.

 

 

Sunset Shimmer was supposed to be hated. But the end made me feel really bad for her as well. She honestly never knew anything about friendship and I agree that it was probably a big reason on why she did what she did and became what she became. Friends are an important thing in a person's life and it must be horrible not having any. That is why I felt pity for Sunset Shimmer at the end. I'm glad that she will finally know what friendship is through the mane 6 human counterparts. But I would still love to see the backstory for Sunset Shimmer and see what happened to her.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

She deserved everything.  I really didn't feel sorry for her, because it was a very meh ending to such a great character that should'v gotten so much more.

[Esk 201]

No. She knew exactly what she was doing with the position of fear she (somehow) acquired at Canterlot High. Her redemption at the end was just a case of rushed and cliched writing, just like Nagisa Misumi said. She wanted power through fear, not friendship and unity.

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I sort of felt sorry for her, only in the fact that she didn't have any friends and realized all the damage she caused, but I really wish they'd have done more with her character and backstory, other than that, definitely prefer her over Trixie, I don't know why, but Trixie annoys me, even after she was sorry and apologized to Twilight.

[RockinRarity 1,605]

My initial reaction to Sunset Shimmer's redemption at the end of the movie was that it was cliched, but then as I thought about it, I realized that Sunset's redemption was very similar to Nightmare Moon's.

 

Damn. Celestia sure knows how to drive ponies away... :/

[Dreadmallon 353]

   Honestly, I didn't feel very bad for Sunset Shimmer. I found it hard to believe that just simply being defeated caused her to go into a mental breakdown about how she knows nothing about friendship. Especially how less than 20 seconds prior she had been gloating about her power, and saying that friendship is useless. In my opinion, the scene was just rushed. But we all see things differently, I suppose.

 

   However, I cannot say she had the chance to make friends, unlike others. She was driven by her own personal greed and power. Such corruption drove her away from her mentor, Princess Celestia, who we know to be a sympathetic, accepting, kind, etc. mare. I do not see how the influence of teenagers could've steered her in the right direction from that. A gigantic blast of magic however...

Edited June 28, 2013 by Alkryn

[Capt. Snuggle Gruff 101]

Wasn't too sure how i felt about her redemption, I mean yeah its in a magical land with friendship and all, but still I think someone that evil wouldn't want to change that quickly.  

 

My initial reaction to Sunset Shimmer's redemption at the end of the movie was that it was cliched, but then as I thought about it, I realized that Sunset's redemption was very similar to Nightmare Moon's.

 

Damn. Celestia sure knows how to drive ponies away... :/

But then again you're right about Luna.

[Esk 201]

I didn't feel bad for her, but I can understand why someone would.

 

She only felt remorse at the end because she was blasted with the friendship rainbow. She never learned about the magic of friendship, but I'm not certain if it was because she never had a chance, or if she just didn't want to.

 

I think that I would feel bad for her if I knew what her life was like as Celestia's student, and before.

 

And, like the poster above me, I don't really like Trixie that much either. So that may have something to do with it as well.

She had a chance to learn about friendship. Why do you think Celestia took Sunset under her wind prior to Twilight in the first place? She saw potential and great magical power in Sunset, and knew that the only way to put it to its full potential was to have Sunset learn and understand the importance of true friendship. As to why she rejected this, I'm just going to assume that Celestia trusted her enough to mention potential princesshood if she were to complete her studies, but Sunset thought, "forget going through all that, I want a position of power quicker than this." After all, Celestia did say that Sunset turned to dishonest methods after she "didn't get what she wanted as soon as she wanted it."

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,627]

Of course! I hated her throughout the movie,but at the end when she apologized 

and started to cry,i started to feel sorry for her!

 

Never feeling the power of true friendship can be harsh!

 

(wish we got more of a backstory for her)

Edited October 10, 2016 by PIKAQIU

[Crapplejack 136]

I felt sorry for her because it's hard to believe that she'll be accepted by anyone after all she did. 

Although I LOVED her throughout the movie, especially when she was being mean to Fluttershy, Hey I love Fluttershy too you know!

[RockinRarity 1,605]

She had a chance to learn about friendship. Why do you think Celestia took Sunset under her wind prior to Twilight in the first place? She saw potential and great magical power in Sunset, and knew that the only way to put it to its full potential was to have Sunset learn and understand the importance of true friendship. As to why she rejected this, I'm just going to assume that Celestia trusted her enough to mention potential princesshood if she were to complete her studies, but Sunset thought, "forget going through all that, I want a position of power quicker than this." After all, Celestia did say that Sunset turned to dishonest methods after she "didn't get what she wanted as soon as she wanted it."

 

You know what? I think that you are right. Sunset had more than a chance to learn about friendship while studying under Celestia. I doubt that Celestia would have skipped that lesson for her, since it became such an important aspect of Twilight's studies. I am inclined to believe that Sunset was a little spoiled growing up (more likely than growing up in a tough situation, knowing the kinds of students that Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns attracts), maybe sort of like Diamond Tiara in her entitlement, so she wanted the power fast. But she may have hidden her desire for power from Celestia, because she is smart enough to be manipulative.

 

More headcanon to store in my brain!

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

I did feel bad for her, mostly because I immediately liked the character and wanted to know more about her backstory. While the movie didn't explain near as much as I would have liked, it was still very clear that Sunset was led astray and destroyed every one of her relationships, such as with Princess Celestia and Flash Sentry. She's likely had a lot of issues with self-hatred and jealousy too, so she's definitely not a one-dimensional character. There's a lot of potential left for Sunset Shimmer, and I would hate to see it go to waste. I do hope we'll see her again in some way.

The fact that she's never had friends parallels Twilight Sparkle's situation at the beginning of the series, the only difference being that Twilight was always pure of heart, whereas Sunset took a dark and dishonest path, but Sunset still has a conscience. I'd love to watch the Mane Six help Sunset become a true friend. She could be an anti-hero of sorts. A character who has a darker and more stoic persona, but has a lot of good deep down.

Edited June 28, 2013 by Sugar Cube

[DarkParu 42]

Your not a lone, that scene made me really like her as a character at the end. I feel she didn't get enough time during the movie to develop and was just kinda being used as a random plot point throughout the entire thing. Then that last scene hit and i was just like, i want to see more of her, I feel so bad for her. So yeah i also got hit in the feels at that last scene.

[_Kurtis 636]

I did, 

but then I remembered that the human Main 6 would teach her about Friendship, and give her a chance to be a good friend.

So it's a happy ending for her. 

[Scootalove 10,684]

I did exactly feel bad for her since she was crying after she was defeated but, my opinion on her stays the same since the movie was rushed.

[Misty Shadow 7,069]

Not particularly. Not only did she get off kinda easy after everything she did, she also got a chance to get her own happy ending with the human counterparts of Twilight's friends. So yeah.

[CT-1138 3,179]

When she crawled out of that crater crying because she "didn't know here was another way", I thought she was kinda pathetic and was hoping for some last minute pity after all that she had done. However, once I saw that she was sincere are actually wanting friendship, I instantly forgave her.

[Azrael the alicorn 72]

Despite my hatred for the movie, i am actually kinda feel sorry for her.

She had a really good backstory to be a great villain, and i was kinda sorry that she didn't have the chance to meet again with Celestia to make peace with her.

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

I felt happy for her. The ending of Equestria girls was a happy one. Sunset gets to know happiness/friendship, Twilight gets to go back home with her crown, ect. 

[GoneForeverBye 184]

Why should I feel sorry for her? Not only did she not understand the magic of friendship (understandable), but she actually actively sought out to cause havoc and misery. Not to mention she went way out her way for her elaborate plan of enslaving a bunch of students and taking over a world inhabited by talking horses.

 

Anyhow, that particular moment could have been much better if she wasn't portrayed as an utter monster all of the time. Going from that (for an entire movie) to 3 minutes of "lol reformed" is just too jarring for me to believe and sympathize with her in any way or form.

 

Edit: perhaps this is why you feel sorry for her? That there will be people who won't forgive her despite her being sincere?

Edited August 29, 2013 by Oraigu

[Singe 2,109]

I remind myself that Sunset has always been an alien in the world. The only Equestrian in the whole world. She wins the Princess thing which was her dream and finds her niche in the world. Her corrupted aspect really is to make sure she keeps the Princess title as that is her niche in the world.