The Season 4 Conspiracy *Speculation*

[TheGr3ml1n 57]

Hey all, I'm back again with another crazy conspiracy theory, one that (as far as I know) hasn't been proposed yet, and it has to do with the "foe" mentioned in the synopsis of the S4 two-parter. Any possible spoilers this may reveal is just a result of speculation.

 

Bare with me here, this post may be a bit long... 

 

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The Rumor

 

Long ago, in fact before the start of season 3, there was this crazy rumor floating around. One that started due to a supposed leak from an intern on the show. This theory, was that Discord was in fact a corrupted form of Starswirl the Bearded, due to some leaked lines that were to be performed by John De Lancie.

 

From the second I heard this, I thought it was quite an intriguing idea. Yet, it seemed highly improbable.

 

The credibility of this rumor seemed to drop considerably, when Meghan McCarthy stated that Discord was not in fact Starswirl. Furthermore it seemed unlikely, with the reformation of Discord, that this theory had any real merit. Not without stretching it considerably. And so I resolved that the whole thing was likely false and that any supposed lines leaked were just a ploy to get the guy who "leaked" them a lot of attention.

 

However, something changed my mind. Not enough to make me accept the entire rumor as fact, but enough to make me think that maybe this leak wasn't entirely wrong, instead it was likely misinterpreted.

 

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Back around the time of Season 3's finale, a name started popping up quite frequently on the net. It was the name of a toy character that seemed to have quite a lot of backstory for never having been on the show. A lot of people thought that this character was an up-and-coming villain from the S3 finale. That was, until, Meghan tweeted that this character was never going to be on the show (which served to confuse many). Since she's the show-runner, most people left it at that.

 

This character, was none other than Sunset Shimmer.

 

 

There have been other cases where leaks were "apparently" denied by the show staff, but to a certain extent turned out to be true. Not because they lied, but because they denied specific parts of the rumor.

 

What made me consider that Starswirl had any upcoming role in the show, was how fast questions about Starswirl were shot down at various writer's panels. Each time he's brought up, the writers seem to deny all knowledge of him, or state "how could he be alive? He'd have to be thousands of years old."

 

This is true. However, we also know that Starswirl is MLP's version of Merlin. Merlin's true name is Ambrose, or Emeryst. Both of which translate as a synonym for "immortal".

 

 

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The Conspiracy

 

Now, I know what you're thinking. "The writers wouldn't put that much thought into the show. It's still just a kids show". This is quite true, it is just a kid's show. But it also seems to have quite a surprising amount of depth. Patterns seem to pop up frequently in the show, things that unless you were to really analyze the show, you would never notice.

 

One of these patterns seemed to lend credence to the idea that Starswirl may be involved in Season 4. A certain chart of every villain in the show so far, and how each represents the opposite of a specific Element of Harmony.

 

 

If we're to take this chart as completely true, and we're to believe that the writers indeed intended for this to happen (and it isn't in fact due to some freakish coincidence), then that means that the next major villain would have to be both a male character, and represent greed.

 

Why would Starswirl represent Greed? Well, if you remember back to the Season 3 finale, we hear Celestia mention that Starswirl's greatest masterpiece was never finished, because he never understood the concept of friendship. However, later it's revealed that the very same spell Starswirl spent all that time trying to perfect, when completed by Twilight, successfully transforms her into an Alicorn.

 

This would seem to imply that Starswirl had quite an interest in power. Specifically, the power of an Alicorn (which we have yet to see a male version of, btw). And we all know what an obsession with power can lead to...

 

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All of this is fine and good, but you may be asking yourself, what does any of this have to do with Luna's flashback appearance in the comic-con animatics? I have an entirely different theory about that, and I could write much more on it, but this post is probably long enough as it is. Basically, I view the flashback and Luna's transformation as precedent for what occurs with Starswirl (basically to explain how he could become evil). Who knows, maybe Starswirl had his part to play in Luna becoming Nightmare Moon.

 

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Alright, now that all that's out of the way, lets get into the supposed leak itself. The link to it comes from Discord's Domain, and was posted by the well-known Sweetie Bot. It shows many lines that are apparently made by Discord, that imply he was once Starswirl.

 

http://eqmegathreads.blogspot.com/2012/12/rumor-possible-discord-lines.html

 

There are several theories here on how Discord could possibly be Starswirl. And as far as i'm concerned, they're all somewhat plausible.

 

But I don't believe Discord is actually Starswirl.

 

Let's pretend for a moment that none of the lines are from Discord. Instead, imagine that Starswirl and Starswirl alone is the one who says them in the season premiere. Well, then you may ask yourself, why does Starswirl sound so similar to Discord? (This starts crossing into headcanon territory, but then again, this whole theory is pretty crazy anyway.)

 

I believe Discord is actually the result of some form of experiment by Starswirl. An experiment to try and realize the "ultimate power". In his quest and obsession for trying to discover the key to this power, he creates a creature of chaos. Furthermore, his creation is formed from a part of himself. So in a way, Starswirl is Discord... only not.

 

The lines stated by Discord in the supposed link sound very plausible. They sound very much like they could be in the actual show. The only thing is, they don't sound exactly like Discord. In fact, they almost sound more logical than anything you'd normally hear from him. The lines also refer to themselves several times as Starswirl, but not specifically Discord.

 

Add to that the fact that the press release of the episode lists all the voice actors involved, but yet none of them listed are shown as the "mysterious foe" in the synopsis. Unless, of course, John De Lancie is playing Starswirl's lines much like how Tabitha is playing Luna's lines (Luna's not mentioned in the cast list, yet we know for a fact that she's in the episode).

 

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TL;DR

 

To make a long story short, my theory is that Discord was an accident, created out of the power-hungry greed that Starswirl gained later in his life. In an effort to become all-powerful (possibly in a quest to become immortal), he created Discord out of a part of himself. And much like history has a tendency to cover up the flaws of certain celebrities, the latter years of his life might've been erased from history, including his possible descent into madness.

 

Now, again, I realize how far out this theory may seem. However, there are many things that seem to imply that if not this, something similar occurred. If the writers really wanted to add a plot twist to the series, they could add that many of the things that have occurred in the past, such as the Alicorn Amulet, as well as the escape of Cerberus the three-headed dog (which BTW occurred in an episode that had a lot to do with Starswirl and consequently had the sound effect that is commonly associated with an appearance by Discord) are somehow connected to Starswirl.

 

Let me know what you guys think. I know that if I were a writer on MLP, I would definitely add in a plot twist like this. I also know that it may seem like a bit much for a show like MLP. But who knows... Meghan did state that something crazy and unexpected was going to happen in the season premiere, if it wasn't leaked first... 

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BTW, some of the pics may be a bit out of context. I just wanted to add them in to make the post a little less wall-of-texty. 

Edited November 11, 2013 by TheGr3ml1n

[Scootalove 10,684]

I've always wondered about the Season 4 villain too, it could be someone we have not seen before or someone from a character's past to signify something that we should know about the character. I'm really intrigued to know about the villain, and see if the villain won't be as typical or similar as the villains from the past.

[The Prime Reaper 179]

Do you wanna hear a nearly true conspiracy theory?

 

Hasbro has been working to erase the adult and teenage fans out of MLP. They fear that we are making more enemies to hate us like religion, government, politicians,... In another word, we are annoying to them and Hasbro doesn't want their reputation to be diminished. So they have been constantly doing things that opposite to the fandom from alicorn to equestria girls and removal of derpy.

Especially the removal of Derpy,it was considered the high act of treason to the fans. Their most beloved character is now removed to non-exsistence, many people raged because of her vanishment in season 4 promo.

The most notorious treason for this conspiracy is Hasbro always works against us,the bronies.

[TheGr3ml1n 57]

Do you wanna hear a nearly true conspiracy theory?

 

Hasbro has been working to erase the adult and teenage fans out of MLP. They fear that we are making more enemies to hate us like religion, government, politicians,... In another word, we are annoying to them and Hasbro doesn't want their reputation to be diminished. So they have been constantly doing things that opposite to the fandom from alicorn to equestria girls and removal of derpy.

Especially the removal of Derpy,it was considered the high act of treason to the fans. Their most beloved character is now removed to non-exsistence, many people raged because of her vanishment in season 4 promo.

The most notorious treason for this conspiracy is Hasbro always works against us,the bronies.

 

Hmmm... I don't quite agree with that. If it were true that Hasbro wanted to completely remove us from the equation... how do you explain things like the comic-con exclusive Derpy? The comic-books, aimed almost exclusively toward us? The allowance of we-love-fine merchandise? The six appearances by Derpy in the Season 3 finale? The copyrighting of names such as Lyra Heartstrings, Doctor Hooves, and Steven Magnet? The launch of Enterplay trading cards and games, with tons of references hidden in them?

 

If anything is true, it's the opposite. I'm worried that Hasbro misunderstands how to appeal to both fan bases. The best example is actually EqG, since it's been stated several times that part of the reason it exists was the overabundance of humanized art by the fanbase.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

How much longer is it? 12 days until the premiere of S4?

 

If you're right, I'd shit my pants.

 

I think it's very possible, too. So much evidence, man...

 

It's like a Phoenix Wright game.

 

No...but I think you could very well be correct.

 

Spooky.

[GONEFOREVER 518]

Well, for the next season's villan I'd be interested in seeing some sort of team-up between a few of the previous villans. It would be interesting to see something like discord and king sombra working together....

Edited November 12, 2013 by Dolosus

[DND 2,354]

Wow... my mind was kinda blown. I never thought of the villains in patterns anymore than just an even amount of genders that happen mostly at premieres and season finales. I've also had a very big hunch with that whole past vision thing with Luna, that this whole new Elements of Harmony 'discovery' may as well be tied with Starswirl. 

[Jamesblorg39welsh 125]

Wow... This looks like a cartoon where a teacher draws on a blaclboard and its covered in random crap but I doubt discord is star swirl but star swirl appearing wouldn't be crazy