Thoughts on Twilight's Kingdom and the Best Character

Hello all,

So, season four has come to an end. Talk about going out with a bang! I don't think I ever expected to see such an action packed episode. I swear DHX was channeling DBZ for the brief fight sequence between Twilight and Tirek. Overall, I personally like the finale, though perhaps for some different reasons. It's not my favorite two part episode. More on that in a bit.

I won't review the whole episode, as I'm sure you've more than likely read quite a few at this point. Instead I'll recount what I liked and didn't like. The episode was well paced, and I greatly appreciated the bit of back story via story book scenes. Tirek was a well crafted villain, bringing the visible nastiness of Sombra, with the tyranny of Nightmare Moon. Not to mention his gradual transformation throughout was well done. I was surprised to see his character approaching an almost demon-like appearance (though Sunset Shimmer/Satan still takes the cake on that one) around the end with his horns. His ability to siphon the magical essence and the manner in which he did so was also delightfully brutal. And I really like the fact that the show has acknowledged that there is a more passive magic, but magic nonetheless for pegasi and earth ponies, which fits quite well with the lore of Legacy of the Pegasi. Also was nice to see the Wonderbolts attempting to take down Tirek, even if it was only to explain his capture of their flight magic.

The fight scene was outstanding. Seriously, we got opponents blasting each other through mountains. Mountains for Luna's sake! And I swear Twilight was channeling a spirit bomb with that massive death star attack (go read When Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike do Battle. Totally called that) that she used on Tirek. The attention to detail was really nice as well, with the destruction to the landscape, the crater from Twilight launching into flight, that awesome explosion when Tirek destroyed the library, and Twilight diving out of the fireball like it was Die Hard. Nice scene where she saw the attack coming through the telescope too.

The not so good. While I acknowledge that Twi didn't really get her own episode this season, I was a little irked to see that is more of 'only Twilight can do this' with Celestia straight up saying don't involve your friends. While I understand the plot reason were to keep her friends safe and this was to propel Twilight into her role as a princess more, the rest of the mane cast just felt shoved aside. They constantly harp on about how Twilight couldn't have done it without her friends, but that only ever seems to come at the last minute, or not at all if we look back to season three's finale. Personally I would've liked to see them working together against Tirek through the two part episode as a team (much like they did in the series opener against Nightmare Moon), that way it wouldn't have felt like all they had to do was show up, open a box, and bam, Tirek's back in Tartarus. But, then again, we have to have one character to more or less be the focus.

And now the best part of the whole finale. The best character. And its not a pony.

Discord totally stole the show. While he obviously didn't participate in the fight (but if he had it would have been awesome), his character was easily the strongest and most compelling. First of all, the Patton cameo was awesome. Now that I got that out of the way, we can move on to one of my favorite scenes. The scene with Discord in the alley confronting Tirek was amazing. The whole tone felt very different than the rest of the show. There are no ponies, here Discord is our focus, our champion, investigating a threat. It was almost a mini showdown between the two, two titans of the ancient past confronting one another on opposite sides. And Discord's creative dodge of Tirek's attack just screamed, 'I'm a badass because I didn't even blink!' Discord's betrayal was quite a bold move, but it definitely speaks volumes about his character. He still has quite a way to go. His remorse was genuine, and it was nice to see Twilight make a point of saying 'all my friends'. I had originally thought that Discord only appeared to betray the others in order to provide Twilight a means to obtain her key. I got it about half right, and it made sense that Twilight would redeem one of (if not the most) magical creature in Equestria.

The only thing that really, really bugged me, was Discord's eventual fall to Tirek. It was completely necessary for the plot, but I was more looking at it from a power standpoint. I've always considered Discord to be a god tier villain, completely in his own league. He's called the Lord of Chaos, but I prefer to think that he IS chaos. Realistically speaking, his power should be well beyond any living creature, since he is more the manifestation of the fabric of Equestria, as opposed to a villain from a far away country that can steal magic. This is also why I consider Season Two's opener 'The Return of Harmony' to be the best two part episode. Because Discord actually won. He had successfully neutralized each of the element bearers. And his method of 'ruling' really is the most threatening. In a more gritty, dark, and perhaps realistic depiction of chaos, Discord would simply lord over all in a wasteland of chaos. Whereas all the other villains have sought to conquer, control and rule in an established hierarchy, Discord's chaos would simply abound. There is a measure of hope if you are an enslaved crystal pony, a subject of the changeling queen, a subject under eternal night, or under the tyranny of magical demon siphon. While still horrible, they are still a system within which you exist, and could possibly revolt. Chaos has no such luxuries. Chaos is without bias. Discord would not care for the powers of others who would try to resist his chaos, he would simply tell them to do whatever they want; there is no hope when faced merciless chaos. This is why I still consider him to be the best villain. In a more dark route (which I'm sure many authors have explored, though I have yet to find), Discord without restraint would be quite terrifying. Something to explore in a future story perhaps...

So overall, great season finale. We've got a bit of a hiatus, but that just gives me more time to write. Progress has started on chapter 17, maybe we'll see it at the end of the month.

Until next time,

-secret89

Comments

[PoisonedIvy]

DRAGON BALLZ Z (ya that extra Z )

PUT YER HEAD DOWN IN SHAME! U JUST GOT OWNED BY A TOY COMPANY xD

Anyways, head down for one of the best reviews of the season 4 finale

It's nice to see that MLP is becoming more of some kind of drama action packed series