If Tirek had Discord's powers, then...shouldn't he have won the fight?

[ManaMinori 4,143]

What I'm wondering is why Tirek didn't use Discord's magical abilities once he had claimed said power from him. (since you'd think that taking one's power would also transfer over the abilities) For instance, he took the magic that all 3 raced of ponies rely on as catalyst for their individual strengths- the magic pegasi rely on to boost their flying abilities, the magic earth ponies use to tend the earth, and the magic unicorns use to perform magic. But in taking Discord's power- seeing as how he is the god of chaos, would't it- given that the magic is chaotic in itself, which we've seen- transfer its abilities over to the next person that can utilize them? (unlike the pony's powers, which isn''t like Discord's magic)

 

And given that Discord has already shown to take away pony's wings, horns, ect, as well as manipulate time and space, then Tirek- with Discord's stolen powers- could've easily zapped the horn right off Twilight's head, hidden the Tree of Harmony's box, ext.

[Nuke87654 1,849]

What I'm wondering is why Tirek didn't use Discord's magical abilities once he had claimed said power from him. (since you'd think that taking one's power would also transfer over the abilities) For instance, he took the magic that all 3 raced of ponies rely on as catalyst for their individual strengths- the magic pegasi rely on to boost their flying abilities, the magic earth ponies use to tend the earth, and the magic unicorns use to perform magic. But in taking Discord's power- seeing as how he is the god of chaos, would't it- given that the magic is chaotic in itself, which we've seen- transfer its abilities over to the next person that can utilize them? (unlike the pony's powers, which isn''t like Discord's magic)

 

And given that Discord has already shown to take away pony's wings, horns, ect, as well as manipulate time and space, then Tirek- with Discord's stolen powers- could've easily zapped the horn right off Twilight's head, hidden the Tree of Harmony's box, ext.

 

Just because he was able to take away their magic doesn't mean he'll immediately put them to use when he feels he can do better with other spells. I mean, the guy managed to ensnare to sap all of Discord's magic so at that point he was the stronger mage and that was before he took Discord's magic.

[Grapz224 137]

also, Tirek can't fly, yet he took the flight of How many Pegasus?

[ManaMinori 4,143]

Just because he was able to take away their magic doesn't mean he'll immediately put them to use when he feels he can do better with other spells. I mean, the guy managed to ensnare to sap all of Discord's magic so at that point he was the stronger mage and that was before he took Discord's magic.

but he didn't actually do any better with the spells that he used. He was on par with Twilight. And it was shown that he was cunning in the first act, so you'd think he'd take a page from Discord- as cunning as we've all see him be- and come up with an alternate method to put the powers he stole to work.

[Ribbonfree 2,383]

The way I see it, Tirek's power probably just saps the raw magic that ponies use, versus actually stealing the power itself. He uses that magical power to fuel what actual abilities he has (all seemingly centered around explosions) but doesn't actually have access to the specific abilities granted by the magic he stole. The magic he steals is just a battery.

[The Crimson Cross 7,532]

I think that the way Tirek absorbs powers doesn't directly manifest in him, but he just absorbs the magical ability of ponies. Well, we didn't really see him using Discord's powers but maybe he didn't know how to use them yet.

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

Didn't Tirek snap his fingers to summon the Mane 5, Spike, and Discord in bubbles at one point?

 

P.S.,

Edited August 22, 2014 by A.V.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Seems like they're equal but Tirek would win since he could steal magic. 

[The Crimson Cross 7,532]

Didn't Tirek snap his fingers to summon the Mane 5 and Discord in bubbles at one point?

 

Good point, perhaps he didn't think it necessary to troll around the way Discord does. 

[Larkybird~ 734]

Didn't Tirek snap his fingers to summon the Mane 5 and Discord in bubbles at one point?

 

P.S.,

Good point. Perhaps he did use a hint of Discords magic.

Ps. I love you for posting that clip. >:3

[Nuke87654 1,849]

but he didn't actually do any better with the spells that he used. He was on par with Twilight. And it was shown that he was cunning in the first act, so you'd think he'd take a page from Discord- as cunning as we've all see him be- and come up with an alternate method to put the powers he stole to work.

 

Whose to say Twilight's bubble shield can't protect her from those spells? Also, the fact Twilight has the Alicorn magic itself should also mean she can pull of several abilities not shown such as intangibility, mind attack, etc.

[Ace O. Jade 122]

Those abilities are limited to 2nd Stage Super Saiyans.

[pony.colin 156]

You'd figure that taking the powers of an chaotic god like Discord would have meant Tirek already won the battle.

 

What I was thinking as well.

 

So I only have two conclusions at the moment.

 

1. Tirek took Discord's powers, but was severely under-using them.  He was only using them to power his own brute force type of power (the basic fighting that you see at the end with him vs. Twilight). 

 

2. Or he plain just didn't know how to use them properly.

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

When I saw the episode, I thought it was weird.

 

Twilight is fighting with her own magic, plus the magic of Princesses Luna, Celestia and Cadance.

Tirek has the magic of who knows how many ponies and Discord's magic.

And they tied... Didn't make much sense to me.

 

I'm not worried that Tirek can't snap his fingers and do the stuff Discord does, but I expected him to be absurdly more powerful because Discord snaps fingers and stuff happens. Like changing day for night like it's nothing while Twilight was struggling to move the moon and the sun.

 

I thought that a direct comparison could be done, the princesses just being collectively insanely powerful, specially because Tirek grew a lot more when he took their magic than when he took Discord's magic.

 

EDIT: Maybe Discord's magic is limited by the rule of funny?! 

Edited May 15, 2014 by moonlightavenger

[Forlong 1,725]

He absorbed Discord's magic, not his talent with it.

[The Crimson Cross 7,532]

He absorbed Discord's magic, not his talent with it.

 

I suppose that makes sense seeing as Twilight struggles to rise the sun despite the fact that she is using Celestia's magic.

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,671]

Maybe Tirek just doesn't know how to put Discord's powers to full use, likewise how Twilight was never taught to lower the moon and raise the sun. For Tirek, it all came down to magical power. I mean come on, Tirek doesn't seem like an adequate fighter. If you take Tirek and Rarity and drain away all their magic, Rarity could totally kick his flank.

 

 

 

 

 

But I'm getting a little off the subject. Tirek may have taken Discord's magic but for Discord, it's his creativity that really makes his magic shine. That creativity isn't something Tirek can take from Discord. Isn't it Discord's creativity with his magic that made him such a formidable adversary to begin with?

Edited May 15, 2014 by SunBurn

[Jammo 986]

He absorbs magic as an unrefined arcane energy. He doesn't steal powerS but he does steal power. He's an energy sponge. Either he lacks the knowhow to use these kinds of magic, or his body can't release it in any other way besides raw energy.

[Magnum Flare 553]

What I think is that Tirek absorbing powers, but then the powers are converted to his kind of magic

[LED Dasher 228]

The way I see it, Tirek's power probably just saps the raw magic that ponies use, versus actually stealing the power itself. He uses that magical power to fuel what actual abilities he has (all seemingly centered around explosions) but doesn't actually have access to the specific abilities granted by the magic he stole. The magic he steals is just a battery.

 

I agree with this. Tirek simply sapped the magic from various ponies and used it to give himself more energy. When Tirek took Discord's powers he did not gain his abilities, but made his own abilities stronger.

[Silver Letter 1,830]

I am not sure what to think with this. Discord was proven to be more powerful than the Alicorns in the season opener. Lord Tirek absorbing his power alone should have made him untouchable by Twilight even if it's just raw power and not ability.

[Ianpiersonjdavis 512]

Yes, this greatly annoyed me in the finale as well but for whatever reason instead of just ABSORBING all of the princesses powers like he should have done it the first place given his immense power at that point instead of wasting time fighting Twilight he did seem quite incompetent at using it for anything other than purely destructive purposes-like making a cage or something to trap her in.

 

So maybe Meghan thought he was already overpowered enough as he was without having him utilize Discord's chaos magic, assuming he actually knew how to use it.

[Jaytheforth 10]

What I'm wondering is why Tirek didn't use Discord's magical abilities once he had claimed said power from him. (since you'd think that taking one's power would also transfer over the abilities) For instance, he took the magic that all 3 raced of ponies rely on as catalyst for their individual strengths- the magic pegasi rely on to boost their flying abilities, the magic earth ponies use to tend the earth, and the magic unicorns use to perform magic. But in taking Discord's power- seeing as how he is the god of chaos, would't it- given that the magic is chaotic in itself, which we've seen- transfer its abilities over to the next person that can utilize them? (unlike the pony's powers, which isn''t like Discord's magic)

 

And given that Discord has already shown to take away pony's wings, horns, ect, as well as manipulate time and space, then Tirek- with Discord's stolen powers- could've easily zapped the horn right off Twilight's head, hidden the Tree of Harmony's box, ext.

I think Tirek was outperformed by Princess Twilight.  Twilight had to ceade her power to Tirek in order for him to take her power; all of the Alicorn magic, plus her own Twilight magic and Twilighticiousness was more powerful than Tirek.  Apparently, all of the Alicorn magic in Equestria was more powerful than both Discord's, Tirek's, and all of the ponies's in Equestria's power.

[TwilightDreamer 69]

That is a possibility but even with Discord's magic, it's just pretty much as some would call batteries that can help him fight against Twilight during his fight. Not only that, with all of the magic and power he'd stolen, he's only on par with/equal to Twilight since she has the extra alicorn magic from Celestia, Luna and Cadence. 

[~ Dr. Ocsid ~ 690]

Tirek devours the magic, eats the power of discord. Are you able to fly after eating a birds wing? Nope.