Why did Discord betray the Mane 6?

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I think Discord did it so Twilight could realize her key and use the rainbow powers to defeat Tirek with her friends, that's just my guess though.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

He was swayed and tricked by Tirek. 

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

He was swayed and tricked by Tirek. 

That too, anyone find it odd that Tirek doesn't look like Scorpan, I read on the wiki that Scorpan is a gargoyle and Tirek is a centaur. 

Edited May 31, 2014 by MLPFanatic34

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

There are a few points that I think we can consider in regards to the reasons for Discord's betrayal:

 

1. Credit has to be given to Lord Tirek himself. One of the things that made him such a strong and cunning villain is that he is a great manipulator, AND he has the power to back it up. In a sense can you blame Discord? He might have been reformed, but he wasn't infallible. Had he stood against Tirek like the alicorns did he could've very well ended up in a similar state to that of King Sombra.

 

2. Again I want to being up his reformation. We had seen time and time again that while he didn't mind helping the mane 6, he also had his own plans. Remember "Three's A Crowd?" He pretty much lied the entire time and put both Cadence & Twilight in harms way. I can somewhat relate in that I have dealt with people who are overcoming serious problems, but usually end up reverting back to a previous state for one reason or another. They seem like they're better, but eventually they fall back in a destructive cycle. Similarly while we see Discord give hints to Twilight & co., about the lockbox, he did it in his 'own' way. So, to me, his betrayal was VERY believable.

 

3. Kinda relates to #2 in that even if he was greatly reformed, he isn't perfect. Just like Luna when she transformed into Nightmare Moon, Discord can easily fall back into evil I believe.

[Darker 1,351]

Well, Discord is kinda dumb. He got tricked the same way twice in the past.

 

Also, Tirek would allow Discord to do any chaotic bullcrap he wanted, after all, Discord had understood the magic of friendship and saw this as an opportunity to be go bonkers again, while having a good friend on his side.

 

The friendship of the two best MLP:FiM villains didn't last long, of course. Tirek was way too bad-ass to have a friend who's pure trash to you.

 

 

 

That too, anyone find it odd that Tirek doesn't look like Scorpan, I read on the wiki that Scorpan is a gargoyle and Tirek is a centaur. 

In the original G1 pilot Scorpan was Tirek's best henchmen, and was a human that was turned into monster.

[Singe 2,111]

Even though Tirek tricked Discord, he did make a valid point that the friendship with the ponies had an obvious ulterior motive which was to constraint Discord from being himself.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

This seemed more in-character for Discord than anything. Remember when he said "most of the time" when he vowed to use his powers for good?

 

In "Princess Twilight Sparkle" and "Three's a Crowd", it was obvious that Discord wasn't fully reformed, and continued to take pride in annoying the ponies and testing their wills for personal entertainment. For a better understanding of what reformed Discord is as a character, look up any video of Q in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "Tapestry" and "Q Who". This Discord better resembles Q than before his reformation.

 

So it's in this vein that Tirek challenges Discord's bad boy cred by telling him that this new thing called "friendship" that he just discovered is a form of control used by ponies for their own ends. Tirek proposes an alliance with Discord by promising him something he never had as an ally of the ponies: freedom.

 

Tirek is really good at manipulating by telling Discord exactly what he wants to hear, deep down inside. In the case of Discord, however, he shows himself to be a master manipulator throughout the series, but his character flaw is, in great irony, his own tendency to be manipulated. He is very deftly pushed towards his own reformation by Fluttershy.

 

Discord took advantage of his inner desire to use his powers to his own ends by siding with Tirek, a desire which, since his reformation, was known to still be within him. He thought Tirek was going to give him both freedom and a new brand of friendship, until Tirek betrayed him and took them both for himself.

[A goat 323]

Because they treated him like garbage, why else would he betray them?

[PinkieAwesome 65]

Because he thought Fluttershy was best pony, but it turned out, Rarity was best pony, and he couldn't live with his sins.

 

Or, Tirek just was an extremely good puppeteer as well as Discord wasn't truly reformed. Judging by his actions after the matter, though, he seems to be *truly* reformed this time.

Uh no more like pinkie is since they have more in common

[ANGEL33 87]

He was a gigantic ass that's why. Now that he's truly reformed. That's shrunk to being a social ass.

[Castle Bleck 19,366]

I'm actually wondering why (it appears that) Discord got off scot-free for betraying Equestria and creating the worst possible scenario for the entire crisis.

 

Didn't look so scot-free when Tirek gave him The Worf Effect and later trapped him in one of those bubbles to wallow in regret.