Discord, the true God of Equestria

[Cwanky 17,469]

People have always said that Discord is an antagonist, villain and somehow evil or still evil. I  respectfully wholeheartedly disagree and think that you miss the bigger picture.

 

Discord's been described as the god or a spirit of chaos, even as chaos itself personified. After seeing Princess Twilight Sparkle 1 & 2 (ugh I hate saying that name  :comeatus: ) a lot of my previous doubts and questions, at least regarding Discord, were answered. Discord's true role is not as a villain or even an antagonist. If anything he's been testing Equestria, including Celestia and Luna to see how well they can rule the land. 

 

Since some may have not watched the episode I'll hide the video:

 

 

 

 

W/o spoiling too much, when Celestia and Luna sealed Discord into stone for the 1st time, he didn't seem 1 bit surprised that they would use the Elements of Harmony. Hell, he didn't even seem scared, sad or angry at the moment he was petrified. Barring the fact that he's Discord and thus a joker, of all things a villain or antagonist would be expected to do, even him, he was laughing at his defeat. 

 

Considering that as a spirit (or god) of chaos, that Discord has seemingly omnipotent power, he may have foreseen that he would be defeated. Perhaps he could have destroyed or at least hidden away or guarded the Tree of Harmony. Hell, he didn't even bother to teleport away and dodge Celestia and Luna's attack, which was telegraphed to him very clearly and with plenty of time to react or respond with his own defensive measure. By all means, save his underestimating of the Celestial sisters, even with the Elements of Harmony, Discord still could have easily won, but let himself lose.

 

Now fast forward to The Return of Harmony Parts 1 & 2. Here's the part with the adorable CMCs:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CdvswXF9Yw

 

Now 1st off, Equestrian national security is REALLY bad, they didn't do too much in A Canterlot Wedding either or Secret of My Excess so this isn't a surprise to me, if they can't properly protect a very powerful villain that terrorized the citizens for centuries. Secondly, if the Elements of Harmony were so effective against Discord, why was it that all it took for him to break free or weaken the spell trapping him was some minor discord between the CMCs? Maybe it has to do with the Elements of Harmony only having a lasting effect for 1000 years, just like Luna's banishment to the moon, but that was broken apparently exactly after a specific period of time. My personal view is that Discord could have potentially broken free of his prison anytime he wanted, and just chose to observe Equestria during his whole imprisonment. He only broke out when he saw "the chosen one" potential in Twilight Sparkle and chose to test her and her friends.

 

Regarding the 2nd defeat of Discord, I can't help but notice the similarities here. He was defeated again by the Elements of Harmony,  and Discord likely could have stopped the attack but chose to get hit. In both instances after he was freed Discord didn't seem angry or vengeful at all, but happy and amused. The notable difference:

 

1st time:

 

 

2nd time:

 

 

The 2nd time, Discord actually showed fear and shock. My explanation for this is that he actually knew about the Elements of Harmony this time and how friendship empowers them. He basically did as much as he could to brainwash, stop and hinder the Twilight and the Mane 6 from uniting to stop him as friends, and yet Twilight endured and prevailed, and thus so did her friends with the resolve of their friendship. 

 

Outside the context of the cliched, "oh no villain is surprised that good guys managed to overcome his/her obstacles and threats  :comeatus:" until you watch Keep Calm and Flutter On. Not only does Discord not truly understand what friendship is, deep inside he actually desires it, and thus is so surprised to see that despite everything he threw at the Mane 6, their friendship helped defeat him, with the Elements of Harmony being empowered by that friendship. By the way if their's a good takeaway from the Season 4 premier episodes its that - the friendship and integrity of the friends, not some destiny, magic or artifacts like the Elements of Harmony, is what always brought them together and helped overcome their obstacles and problems.

 

This brings us to the Season 4 premier. Spoiler alert.

 

 

Discord was actually the 1 responsible for planting the seeds of discord, the tentacle plants invading Ponyville and the Tree of Harmony all the way back during his 1st defeat w/ Celestia and Luna. While he could have stopped the plant invasion the whole time, it would have served no purpose. It would have just been like giving a man a fish, instead of teaching a man how to fish. Even after he forsake his original plan, Discord found a chance to use it to test the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle and see how she and her friends would solve the problem.

 

 

Of course you could argue that Discord was always the observer (impartial or not) the whole time watching Equestria and testing it, like God. Remember that even when he was trapped in stone, he could still hear just about anything and everything going on outside. Discord ruling Equestria for centuries may have just his way of testing the Equestrians to see how they would defeat him, and he hardly put up a fight once Celestia and Luna came up with a solution. Personally I feel it was partially the ponies' own fault for selfishly arguing and dividing themselves as seen in Hearth's Warming Eve. I feel this division, which still persists to some extents, drew Discord towards Equestria and allowed him to feed upon it and eventually take over.

 

I do not truly feel Discord is evil, nor good for that matter. To me that's a very narrow and shallow label analysis for someone who's so complex and well, discordant as Discord is. He's very much proven himself to be very much like a God of sorts that watches over Equestria and the Mane 6 and Season 4 confirmed that for me.   

[Scootalove 10,684]

I've got to agree with you. Discord is like a trolling teacher who you might not see as someone supportive in your best interest but, he is there to teach you a lesson or two even when he is chaotic/neutral in the reformation department. Sometimes it's hard to understand someone like Discord but, it's worth knowing about him.