"The ultimate battle for the fate of Equestria is coming!"
— Twilight Sparkle
Written by Nicole Dubuc
A unicorn chef is seen walking towards Canterlot, only to be stopped by Chrysalis in her unicorn photographer disguise. She says that with the recent crop blight, earth ponies have begun hoarding the food, leaving the pegasi and unicorns to fend for themselves. As he leaves in a huff, she returns to Grogar's lair where Tirek and Cozy Glow are waiting. Having sown fear and mistrust among the pony races, and Twilight's coronation being planned for that day, they decide it's finally time to use Grogar's Bewitching Bell that they have hidden away to enact their revenge. Having learned how to operate it from the book they stole out of the Canterlot Archives, they all absorb Grogar's remaining magic that was left inside the bell, transforming slightly in the process (Cozy becomes an alicorn, Chrysalis' eyes turn yellow-green, her horn constantly glows and her crown expands to full regalia, and Tirek grows to his third form). Grogar arrives sometime afterwards holding a small trinket that he claims will allow them to defeat the ponies during Twilight's coronation. However, he is ambushed by the newly empowered Trio, who use the bell to absorb his magic. While being drained, it's revealed "Grogar" was in fact Discord in disguise. Now powerless, he flees, considered not worth chasing down without his magic.
Meanwhile in Canterlot, the Mane Six are preparing for Twilight's coronation. However, during their errands they continue to run into stand-offish ponies who all give off an air of annoyance and paranoia when interacting with ponies not of their own race. As Pinkie finishes saying how upset the unicorn chef from the opening was towards an earth pony coworker, a disheveled and embarrassed Discord arrives. He admits that he was responsible for Sombra's attack, and brought Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis together under the guise of Grogar with plans to have them fight and be defeated by the Mane Six during the coronation. His plan was originally to give Twilight complete confidence in herself by vanquishing three villains working together at once, but it backfired when they hid the bell from him and stole his magic. Both the Mane Six and the Royal Sisters heavily chastise him for his recklessness, but admit that they have bigger problems to worry about at the moment. Twilight, whose self-confidence has been shattered upon realizing that her previous victories were all orchestrated, has Spike send letters to the Crystal Empire, School of Friendship, and the Pillars in order to prepare for the Trio's arrival.
Back at "Grogar's" lair, the Trio is deciding what to do with Discord's Chaos magic, as it's so volatile that no-one but him knows how to control it. Cozy volunteers to try it, and grows into a massive alicorn who immediately attempts to betray Tirek and Chrysalis. However, she finds herself unable to summon anything other than rubber chickens and talking pineapples, forcing her to return the magic to the bell. The three then decide to split up to each attack a different group separately. Cozy bursts into the throne room while Twilight is attempting to give an inspirational speech, and deals a powerful first strike with her newly-acquired alicorn magic. At the same time, Tirek attacks the Pillars and easily subdues them by absorbing their magic (even returning Rockhoof to his small form) before making his way towards Canterlot. Back at the School of Friendship, Chrysalis arrives to exact revenge upon Starlight. The latter manages to teleport them to a vacant mountaintop in order to avoid collateral injuries, and is able to bury Chrysalis under a small avalanche. Thinking she's defeated, Starlight turns to leave, only for Chrysalis to explode the snowbank and stun her long enough to cocoon her.
Back at the throne room, Celestia and Luna attempt to fight Cozy off with their combined magic, but she uses the bell to de-power them. The Mane Six retaliate by working together to keep her attention too divided to use the bell on anyone else, but before they are able to take it from her, Tirek and Chrysalis arrive to aid her. They taunt Twilight by revealing how they seeded discord among the pony races, before using their combined power to blast an enormous hole in the castle's roof. They proceed to crack Twilight's magical barrier and are on the cusp of killing her when Rarity manages to summon the magical effort to lift a large boulder and slam it into the Trio, freeing Twilight long enough for her to pick up a large piece of debris to use as a shield against the three's energy blast. Realizing they won't be able to hold for long, Twilight's friends order her to flee and find a way to defeat the Trio. Reluctantly, a distraught Twilight teleports away just as the three manage to destroy the debris shield.
Continued in "The Ending of the End – Part 2".
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: Twilight begins to believe her past victories/accomplishments were this upon finding about Discord's Engineered Heroics scheme.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: By the episode's end, the villainous trio have conquered the Canterlot Castle and imprisoned all its defenders sans Twilight, who narrowly escapes.
- Apple of Discord: The villainous trio have been continuing the work they began in "The Summer Sun Setback", manipulating the three pony tribes into distrusting each other.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Discord's Chaos magic. It is one of the most powerful forms of magic but only Discord himself can properly control it. When it is given to Cozy Glow as a test, she can't make it work the way she wants it to and begs Tirek and Chrysalis to take it back.
- Batman Gambit: Discord is revealed to have performed this on both sides. As Grogar, he brought Tirek, Cozy, Chrysalis, and King Sombra to teach them to work together in order to become a more dangerous force to Equestria (Sombra went on his own and was vanquished once more). In truth, however, he orchestrated this as a final test for the Mane Six, and especially Twilight. Unfortunately, the former worked a little too well, especially when Grogar's bell was used to take Discord's powers.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: When "Grogar" returns to his lair, he tells the villains they must work together to succeed. As Chrysalis sneers, the three of them are way ahead of him on that.
- Beehive Barrier: Twilight's Deflector Shields have a noticeable hexagonal design to them. Might be even a Halo Shout-Out.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Celestia is pretty much raging with fury when she learns about Discord's actions throughout the season.
- Big Bad Triumvirate: Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow, though they squabble so much they might as well be a Big Bad Ensemble.
- Bigger Stick: Despite becoming an alicorn herself, having to fight three other alicorns probably wouldn't have put Cozy Glow's odds in her favor. However, she surprises them by having brought along Grogar's bell, which drains Celestia and Luna's magic and instantly renders them powerless.
- Big Damn Heroes: When Twilight is in the villains' grasp and is about to face her final fate, Rarity saves her life last-minute by throwing a boulder in the villains' faces, causing them to release her.
- Big "NO!": Twilight screams when Luna and Celestia are drained of their magic by Grogar's bell.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: When Discord runs away from the villains' lair, Cozy Glow suggests that they go after him, but Chrysalis says that he can't do anything without his magic. As a result, Discord makes it to Canterlot and warns the others about what's going on — not that they seem to care if he does or doesn't.
- Brief Accent Imitation: Discord's rather poor rendition of the villain trio's voices during his flashback.
- Brought Down to Normal:
- Discord is drained of all his magic by Grogar's bell.
- Later, all the Pillars are drained of their magic by Tirek. This happens quite literally to Rockhoof, who reverts to his tiny form without his magic.
- Cozy Glow uses the bell on Celestia and Luna, draining them of all their magic.
- Card-Carrying Villain: When "Grogar" asks why the others didn't tell him they had his bell:Cozy Glow: We're villains! Duh.
- Clipped-Wing Angel: Defied. Cozy Glow turns into a gigantic alicorn Equinoid Abomination after draining Discord's magic from the bell... only for her Chaos magic to be uncontrollable and relatively harmless. She quickly reverts back to her mere Empowered Badass Normal state.
- Continuity Nod:
- The helm and boots of Cozy Glow's chaos-powered form resemble those worn by Nightmare Moon. Her magic beams are also the same color as Discord's magic when Tirek drained it out of him in "Twilight's Kingdom -- Part 2".
- While evacuating the School of Friendship, Starlight and Trixie have the students descend into the cavern beneath the school where the Young Six first encountered the spirit of the Tree of Harmony.
- The combined attack Celestia and Luna attempt to use against Cozy Glow visibly resembles the spell they used to banish King Sombra.
- The way Twilight conjures a Deflector Shield large enough to envelop all her friends at once while facing the villains is reminiscent of a similar force field created by Starswirl when confronting the Pony of Shadows. Also the fact that it shatters like glass under Chrysalis' attack mirrors the way Starswirl's barrier was destroyed.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Cozy Glow taunts Celestia and Luna of being this trope in how despite the two of them being The Royal Sisters and Alicorns, their reliance on using their Pegasus Flight and Unicorn Magic (and never resorting to Good Old Fisticuffs through their Earth Pony Strength) has led to them being beaten time and again.
- Cross-Referenced Titles: To "The Beginning of the End – Part 1".
- Curb-Stomp Battle: When the villains split up to go after different targets, Tirek has by far the most one-sided fight against his opponents, with the Pillars barely able to slow him down.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Starlight is ultimately defeated pretty quickly by Chrysalis once Chrysalis lands more than a glancing blow on her, but she does make Chrysalis work for victory by using Teleport Spam and collapsing a snowdrift on top of her.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Discord tries to use his powers to show everyone what he overheard the villains saying as he fled their lair, despite having been drained of his magic. After he snaps his fingers and nothing happens, he resorts to mimicking their voices and telling the others to "use their imaginations".
- Darkest Hour: Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy have drained Discord of his magic, defeated all the Pillars and Starlight, and Twilight is forced to flee while her friends hold off the villains.
- Department of Redundancy Department: When Discord admits what he's done, Rarity calls him a "beastly beast."
- Determinator: Twilight toward the villains during the attack in the throne room.Twilight: You can attack us and we may fall, but Equestria will still stand united in friendship. And we won't stop until we defeat you, no matter how many ponies you take down!
- Didn't See That Coming:
- "Grogar" is surprised to see that the villainous trio had actually found the bell.
- The villains are surprised to see that Grogar was actually Discord the entire time. Lampshaded by Tirek after the reveal.Tirek: That was unexpected.
- Didn't Think This Through: It is revealed that Discord was pretending to be Grogar, and gathered the other villains together intending for them to act as a final test for Twilight and her friends to give them the boost in confidence needed to rule Equestria. Though he was essentially setting the villains up to fail, he never considered the possibility that they would succeed in recovering Grogar's Bell and keep it for themselves — or that they would figure out how to use it against him.
- Divide and Conquer: The villains spread rumors behind the scenes to do this to Equestria.
- End-of-Series Awareness: The episode title itself points out this is the end of the show, while simultaneously working as a Call-Back to the first two episodes of the Final Season, titled "The Beginning of the End."
- Engineered Heroics: It is revealed that Discord was doing this for Twilight and her friends throughout the season. To help Twilight gain the confidence to rule Equestria, he pretended to be Grogar and brought back several of her worst enemies, thinking if she beat them when they were working together, she could handle ruling the country. He was still there to act as a "safety net" for them if they needed him, like when he helped against Sombra, so things would not get too bad. But his plan blows up in his face when his "recruits" betray him and drain his magic, causing everything to spiral out of his control.
- Evil Laugh: Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow share one upon being powered up by the Bewitching Bell.
- Evil Gloating: The villains all reveal to Twilight and her friends how they have divided the ponies by spreading rumors behind the scenes, thus leaving them with no backup against them.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Discord intended to use the other villains to boost Twilight's confidence by setting them up to lose against her. This blows up in his face when they use Grogar's bell to supercharge themselves then steal his magic.
- Foreshadowing: The reveal that Grogar was Discord in disguise was hinted at a few times earlier this season:
- Back in part 2 of "The Beginning of the End" when Celestia and Luna decided to delay their retirement, Discord was frustrated that he was waiting for something big to happen.
- In "The Summer Sun Setback", as he watches Twilight as she punishes her friends for not telling her about the disasters, he is annoyed when she doesn't freak out. Also, he mentions to himself that Twilight should be ready for whatever happens next in a knowing tone, like he knew something bad would happen and Twilight would need to face it.
- Forgot About His Powers:
- When being attacked by the Mane Six and the Legion of Doom, respectively, neither Cozy nor Twilight think to just teleport themselves to safety. Best exemplified when Twilight is in the villain's clutches, and doesn't even at least bother to teleport out of their grasp; only Rarity had her head on straight for this.
- When the Mane Six are held captive, the villains don't even think of using the bell or Tirek's powers to Mana Drain them, thus allowing Twilight to escape.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Discord's plan was to build up the Legion of Doom so that Twilight could defeat them in order to gain confidence. Unfortunately, the villains proved craftier than he anticipated and used Grogar's bell to drain his magic.
- Grand Finale: This episode is part one of the three-part (previous finales were only two-parts) finale of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
- Heroic Resolve: Rarity, who up until now has only ever used her magic for dressmaking and other fairly light tasks, manages to summon the magical strength to hurl a boulder at Tirek when he and the other villains are on the verge of killing Twilight.
- Hijacked by Ganon: In a plot twist, we learn that Grogar, the new villain introduced in the beginning of Season 9, was Discord all along (who's been a recurring character ever since Season 2). This is revealed when Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Tirek betray him and usurp the role as the final main antagonist for themselves, which would probably make this a Double Subversion.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Discord impersonated Grogar so that Twilight could defeat the Legion of Doom and gain confidence in ruling through her victory, only for the villains to rebel against him and defeat him, especially because he left them unsupervised for too long, as Tirek lampshades.
- How Do I Shot Web?: When Cozy Glow takes Discord's Chaos magic, she becomes a massive alicorn, complete with a deeper voice, appearing to be a major threat. However, when Cozy tries using the magic, all she does is create rubber ducks and chomping pineapples. Tirek takes the magic back, telling Cozy that Discord's power is too chaotic to control.
- I Can Rule Alone: The villains affirm their alliance is to only work together until their enemies are defeated, then they divide the conquered territory in three between them and each rule their own separate kingdom alone.
- In a Single Bound: When the villains begin their attack, Tirek travels by leaping long distances. This is also how he dismantles Somnambula's attempt to warn the others, clearing the distance between them with a single jump and blocking her path.
- Instant Expert: Cozy Glow has no trouble using her new alicorn magic in her fight with the Canterlot guards, being able to stun Twilight with one shot, conjure a shield around herself, and even open up a portal to the outside. She still gets put on the ropes by the Mane Six due to being Unskilled, but Strong.
- It's All About Me: When Discord says he has Good News, Bad News, he says that the bad news is that he's lost his magic, but the good news is that Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow now have all the power of Grogar's bell. When Rainbow Dash incredulously asks how that's good news, Discord responds that anything that isn't about him losing his magic is good news.
- It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: Discord's defense for his actions. It doesn't go down too well with the heroes.
- It's Personal: The battle between Starlight Glimmer and Queen Chrysalis. The latter wants revenge on the former for the events of "To Where and Back Again".
- I Warned You: Tirek objects to the idea of using Discord's Chaos magic, declaring that taking it all would be "madness" since it is impossible for anyone but Discord himself to control. After Cozy volunteers to test it and fails miserably, Tirek smugly asks if she still thinks using it is a good idea.
- Let Me Get This Straight...: Said by Luna when she recaps what Discord has confessed to, and Celestia continues it when Discord interrupts partway though.Luna: Let me get this straight. You wanted to boost Twilight's confidence, so you brought back Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek to attack her?!
Discord: Don't forget Sombra.
Celestia: And while you united these three villains, you pretended to be Grogar?! - Levitating Lotus Position: When Starswirl the Bearded receives Twilight's letter, he's seen levitating thanks to self-telekinesis with his hind legs crossed.
- Mana Drain: Grogar's Bell can steal the magic of any creature in a manner similar to Tirek, then transfer it to another with the right spell. Presumably, this is part of how Grogar became such a threat.
- Motivational Lie: Discord arranged the villainous alliance so the Mane Six could defeat them, and Twilight would gain the confidence to rule.
- Mythology Gag: The artifact that Grogar brings to his lair looks near identical to the Flashstone from the My Little Pony 'n Friends four-part episode "The Ghost of Paradise Estate".
- Near-Villain Victory: The villainous trio blow up Canterlot Castle, depower most of the heroes, and turn ponies against each other. Twilight is forced to flee while the rest of the Mane Six, the princesses, and Discord all stay behind to hold off the villains.
- Never Say "Die": Cozy Glow says she's going to "wipe the floor" with the heroes during her attack.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Discord's plan to boost Twilight confidence not only ultimately has the opposite effect he intended, but has created one of the most dangerous threats Equestria has ever faced.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: The first thing Cozy does when she barges into the castle throne room is blast Twilight in the face.
- No Ontological Inertia: When Cozy Glow gives the Chaos magic they took from Discord back, everything that she made with it immediately vanishes.
- No-Sell: Tirek doesn't even flinch when Starswirl, Mistmane and Mage Meadowbrook bombard him with attacks.
- Not Helping Your Case: When Discord confesses to the Mane Six, Spike, Celestia, and Luna how he united several of their former enemies, while he is being called out on it by the angry princesses for uniting the three villains, he points out not to forget Sombra, since he brought him back to life too.
- Oh, Crap!:
- "Grogar's" reaction when he sees his recruits had the Bewitching Bell the whole time, and now they know how to use it.
- Discord when he realizes that he can't use his magic anymore.
- "Oh, Crap!" Smile: Discord gives the villain trio a sheepish smile and wave after his magic is drained and he realizes the gig is up.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Twilight's friends are surprised that she's so calm about her impending coronation.
- Spike immediately acknowledges the oddity of Discord actually walking to Canterlot.
- One-Winged Angel: The trio undergoes one upon being powered up by the Bewitching Bell. While it's downplayed for Tirek, who merely pumps up to his third form, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow undergo more radical changes, with Cozy even becoming an alicorn.
- Ow, My Body Part!: After Discord arriving on foot, he complains while rubbing his hind paws...Discord: My aching metatarsals!
- Pet the Dog: Tirek decides to share the Bewitching Bell's magic with Chrysalis and Cozy Glow instead of taking it all for himself.
- Power Incontinence: Cozy Glow is unable to control Discord's Chaos magic at all.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Tirek, who constantly obsessed over power, suggests leaving the Chaos magic they drained from Discord in the bell, since nobody but Discord himself can control it properly.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
- Cozy Glow gets a villainous one when she faces Twilight in the Canterlot Castle.Twilight: Cozy Glow!? You're-
Cozy Glow: About to WIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOU! - Starlight gets a beautiful one when she faces off with Chrysalis.Chrysalis: Just the headmare I wanted to see.
Starlight: You didn't make an appointment. - And then, towards the end of the battle:Chrysalis: You'll pay for that!
Starlight: Put it on my tab. [drops a ton of snow on Chrysalis]
- Cozy Glow gets a villainous one when she faces Twilight in the Canterlot Castle.
- Reflective Eyes: When Twilight is in the villains' grasp and are close to nearly killing her, their magic auras are briefly reflected into her eyes.
- The Reveal: Discord was Grogar the whole time!
- Rhymes on a Dime: Chrysalis indulges in rhyming while looking for Starlight Glimmer.Chrysalis: Starlight, star bright. Where's the pony I want to fight?!
- Secret Test of Character: It's revealed Discord disguised himself as Grogar and freed Cozy, Chrysalis, Tirek and Sombra to test Twilight on her bravery and leadership to see if she's ready to become the new leader of Equestria before her coronation. Of course, the good guys are not happy about it, especially given they only learn this after things have spiraled completely out of his control.
- Shadow Discretion Shot: A couple.
- First is one in which the villain trio transforms into their One-Winged Angel forms after being powered up by the bell.
- The second is when the trio use the bell on "Grogar" and steal his power, with his shadow changing before Discord falls to the ground.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The artifact "Grogar" returns to his lair with, intending to use it on the attack on Twilight's coronation, is destroyed by Cozy Glow before its purpose can be revealed.
- Shout-Out:
- Fluttershy sending geese against Cozy Glow and shouting "Fly, my pretties!" is reminiscent of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz.
- At the end, Discord channels Gandalf by yelling to Twilight, "Fly, you foal!"
- Shut Up, Kirk!: Cozy Glow mocks Twilight's speech about how strong her friendship is, asking her if she got it from a "daily affirmation calendar."
- The Social Darwinist: The ending part of the villains gloating to Twilight has shades of this, telling her that in the face of fear it is everyone for themselves and there is no room for friendship.Chrysalis: You know what's stronger than friendship, Twilight? Fear!
Tirek: 'Cause when you have to protect yourself, you don't have time for anypony else!
Cozy: Too bad you never taught that in school! - Society-on-Edge Episode: The episode starts with the three pony groups in Equestria on the brink of turning against each other thanks to the manipulations of the Legion of Doom. Chrysalis even smugly lampshades this during her "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Slasher Smile: All over the place, this part and the next, thanks to the villain trio. Especially in the picture at the top.
- Tears of Joy: Celestia and Luna shed these over Twilight having grown up and proving herself worthy enough to take their place as the ruler of Equestria. Spike also gets pretty misty-eyed when Twilight tells him how appreciative she is of him.
- Teleport Spam: Starlight relies heavily on this during her battle with Chrysalis.Chrysalis: Stay still so I can blast you!
Starlight: Oh, yeah, real motivating! - Tempting Fate: When Luna suggests telling Twilight about clearing out the royal suite, Celestia decides against it, stating that "Twilight doesn't need anything else to worry about today".
- Thinking Up Portals: Cozy Glow uses her alicorn powers to open a portal to dispatch of the royal guards, sending them falling into the moat outside the castle.
- This Is My Side: Discussed; before Tirek activates Grogar's bell, Chrysalis reminds them that their alliance only stands as long as it takes for them to defeat the Mane Six and anyone else who could pose a threat. Once that's done, they basically plan to do this to Equestria, each ruling their own piece of it solo and no longer interfering with each other.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- The villains gain the magic in Grogar's bell for themselves, gaining more powerful forms.
- Rarity manages to save Twilight during the climax, using her magic to toss a huge boulder in Tirek's face, forcing him to drop Twilight.
- Trailers Always Spoil:
- Before the episode aired, promos showed Canterlot Castle getting blown up by the villains.
- Other promos showed Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis in their powered-up forms.
- Trash the Set: Canterlot Castle gets destroyed by the Legion of Doom.
- Trickster Mentor: Deconstructed with Discord. After so many times when he'd created crises as "tests" for Twilight and her friends, he finally does it all by revealing he was Grogar all along, and created an alliance of villains to "test" Twilight and her friends and make sure she really was ready to take the throne of Equestria. Unfortunately, Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow betraying him and stealing his Chaos magic with Grogar's Bewitching Bell bites them in the ass hard, as they're now far more powerful than they would have ordinarily been and very nearly win. Instead of boosting Twilight's confidence like it was intended to do, Twilight believing that none of what she and her friends had done ended up mattering instead utterly shatters her confidence, putting her in a Heroic BSoD for a significant part of both this episode and the next.
- Trivially Obvious: When Cozy Glow tries (once again) to have the villains say positive things about each other, all that Chrysalis manages about Tirek is "He's... red."
- Troll: Twilight briefly teases Rarity by claiming she needs a "royal marshmallow-eating-contest gown".
- Understatement: Discord tries to downplay a lot the gravity of the incoming catastrophe and his involvement in it.Discord: You see, I might have made the teeeeeniest boo-boo. All very well-intentioned and noble on my part, of course, but—
Applejack: Get to the point, Discord.
Discord: You remember that whole thing with King Sombra? That was slightly my fault. And by "slightly", I mean... I brought him back.
Rarity: You did?! But why?
Discord: Well It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time. Which is why I also brought back three other villains who are now on the loose, and not really big fans of yours. So... my bad. - Unflinching Walk: Starlight Glimmer does this, but the explosion's shockwave knocks her down.
- Unskilled, but Strong:
- Cozy becomes an alicorn after gaining the magic in Grogar's bell. Though this makes her much tougher than before, she is still beaten by Twilight and her friends due to them keeping her off-balance during the fight while all she can do is blast at them randomly without any technique.
- Chrysalis too, relatively speaking. She's clearly a lot more powerful than Starlight and takes her out with a mere glancing blow, but the battle draws on a lot longer than it should because of the clear skill and tactical gap between them.
- Villain Has a Point:
- Cozy Glow isn't entirely wrong when she states that ponies with magic tend to rely on it rather than use their brains.
- Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow's combined speech to Twilight has its irrefutable points: Fear is a frighteningly powerful tool for dividing people. Because when faced with a crisis, they have no time for being friendly or charitable, only for self-preservation...
- Tirek has a point that the heroes often rely on "backup friends" and magic power-ups to save the day.
- Villain Opening Scene: The first scene of the episode focuses on the villain trio, beginning with a disguised Chrysalis getting a unicorn to turn against other ponykind, and the Mane Six don't even appear until over three minutes into the episode.
- Villainous Rescue: The Mane Six overpower Cozy Glow and have her dead to rights, but before they can take the bell from her Chrysalis and Tirek bust into the castle and bail her out.
- Vocal Evolution: When Tirek drains Rockhoof's magic and reverts him to his tiny form, Rockhoof's voice becomes much smaller and squeakier, and sounds like a teenager/young adult as opposed to the adult sounding voice he had previously.
- Welcome Back, Traitor: Played for Laughs; when Cozy Glow is given Discord's Chaos magic she declares herself stronger than Tirek and Chrysalis and tries to blast them, only to realize she can't control the magic and beg to be turned back. Tirek and Chrysalis return her to normal and continue with their plans as if nothing had happened.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Discord is revealed to be this to a tee since he gambled all of Equestria being at risk for the sake of Twilight being confident enough to rule.
- Wham Episode: Grogar was actually Discord in disguise the whole time, and released the other villains as part of a plan to boost Twilight's confidence.
- Wham Shot: As Grogar's magic is drained, he changes into his true form, revealing that Discord was Grogar the entire time.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Nopony is happy with Discord's confession that he brought together Equestria's worst villains in a bad attempt at boosting Twilight's confidence.
- The Worf Effect:
- Grogar's bell easily drains Discord, the spirit of Chaos, of all his magic.
- The Pillars are ancient heroes of Equestria and have defeated several dangerous threats like the Sirens, but even they are no match for a powered-up Tirek. Starswirl in particular; he was stated to be even more powerful than Twilight in "Shadow Play — Part 2", but here, his attacks can't even harm Tirek.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Mane Six, Celestia, Luna and Spike have no qualms about attacking Cozy Glow physically (Spike in particularly attempting to hit her with his fire breath, though he's also a child).
- Wrecked Weapon: Rockhoof's shovel shatters against Tirek's leg.
- You Fight Like a Cow: Starlight gives some battle quips during her fight with Chrysalis.Chrysalis: Ah. Just the headmare I want to see.
Starlight: You didn't make an appointment!
[...]
Chrysalis: Stay still so I can blast you!
Starlight: Oh, yeah, real motivating!
[...]
Chrysalis: Ugh! You'll pay for that!
Starlight: Put it on my tab! - Zerg Rush: Twilight and her friends overwhelm Cozy Glow by rushing her during the fight in the throne room. She might have the power of an alicorn but is still inexperienced with it and can't fight so many full-grown ponies and a dragon properly at once.
