My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2/E01 The Return of Harmony Part 1/YMMV

Alternative Character Interpretation: Discord. Is he the Spirit Of Chaos that's merely doing his job and not truly evil? Is he Celestia's former lover and another victim of her tyrannical habit of banishing/imprisoning people? Or is he just a sadistic, sociopathic Complete Monster who is giddy over Mind Raping, breaking and generally torturing poor ponies For the Evulz who deserved his And I Must Scream fate?
- An extension: is he just hard-wired to want chaos, just as the ponies are hard-wired to want harmony and peace? Is the casting of Discord as a villain a case of Written by the Winners?
  - To be fair, being hard-wired for chaos still results in... well, chaos.
Angst? What Angst?: Despite being subjected to an And I Must Scream situation, Discord seems unfazed by the experience and mentions his loneliness and boredom rather offhandedly.
Base Breaker: Discord gets this in some parts of the fandom. Is he a Laughably Evil trickster Physical God that's hilarious, or a Jerkass Physical God that only mind warps the Mane Six For the Evulz?
Draco in Leather Pants: Discord, for many fans and for obvious reasons.
Ensemble Darkhorse: It only took a one minute preview and a certain voice actor to make Discord widely popular.
Evil Is Cool: Discord has his fans for this reason and for being the first truly evil villain in the series.
Faux Symbolism: After all her friends have been corrupted by Discord, Twilight is shown carrying the massive rock Rarity insists is a giant diamond. It can be said that Twilight is quite literally and figuratively now shouldering the burden of the mission all by herself.
Fridge Brilliance:
- If one takes Discord's hint how to find Elements of Harmony from other perspective (ie. you as viewers), you will find 0:00 of first episode, which happens to be cover of guide to Elements of Harmony. Where Twilight finds Elements of Harmony? In the guide to them.
- Fluttershy says she's weak and helpless. This makes sense when you realize that alone she is weak and helpless; see how she reacted to Gilda's bullying when on her own. Fluttershy's strength comes from her friends.
Genius Bonus: Applejack staring to the left, after lying, isn't just a random joke. It's a real psychological reaction.
Harsher in Hindsight: After Discord gives his riddle, Fluttershy timidly asks if it's possible to go home. Given the twist revealed in the next episode...
Nightmare Fuel: The balloons!
- The talking apple piles, too.
- Discord in general once he shows his true colors. He's just so gleeful mind raping the six.
- Listen closely when Celestia talks about Discord's reign of terror. Really closely. There's screaming. Agonized screaming.
- Everything Discord does in the hedge maze.
Love to Hate: Discord. He's funny enough to like watching but the stuff he does to the mane cast is so cruel and terrible you will want to beat the tar out of him by the end of the episode.
- On the other hand, many fans love him because he is the first truly evil villain of the series...
Magnificent Bastard: Discord. Outwits everyone with the greatest of ease, all the while relishing in his evil and having a blast.
Moral Event Horizon: Discord treads the line when he plays on Rainbow Dash's emotions by showing her the destruction of Cloudsdale. It might be an illusion, but considering he's responsible for the crazy candy weather earlier in the episode...
- This one is made even worse when you think about it. By making Rainbow Dash abandon either her home or her friends to help the other, she's got no choice but to betray something she loves to save something else she loves. The others might have been able to avoid going against their Element Of Harmony but Discord gave Rainbow Dash no choice at all...
  - To compound this, he ensures things go his way by brainwashing Rainbow Dash before the choice has to be made...
Narm Charm: Discord's last line of the episode is delivered while he's holding an inside out pink umbrella. Normally, that'd make a scene less menacing, but considering his character and the delivery of the line, you probably won't be too distracted by it.
- This umbrella also meows when he opens it.
  - This fits with the fact that when Discord claps, each clap is a different sound effect.
Nightmare Retardant: It may fit his personality well, but it can be hard to take Discord seriously, even in his worst moments, because of his appearance, which includes half a set of buck teeth and a pink tail, amongst many other things.
- On the other hoof, it could also be a subversion, as you see what he looks like before you know what he acts like.
- The talking apples. It must be the bobbing.
Paranoia Fuel: Discord knows way too much about the Mane Cast despite being imprisoned in stone for over 1000 years...
- There's a slight subversion though. He doesn't know about Fluttershy's strengths; just that she's weak and helpless on her own.
Visual Effects of Awesome: Lauren Faust has apparently said a few of the scenes were thought impossible to do in Flash. The stained glass scene stands out as a likely example.
- The zoom-in on Canterlot is also pretty nice. Seems they're getting a lot better at Flash this season!

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