YMMV / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S2 E1 "The Return of Harmony Part 1"

• 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 sociopath who is giddy over Mind Raping, breaking and generally torturing poor ponies For the Evulz who deserved his And I Must Scream fate? 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?
• 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.
• Common Knowledge: Because of their arguing over what the statue of Discord meant, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are often blamed for Discord's return. Even when it's later said by Celestia that it's because she is no longer tied to the Elements of Harmony. Though, it's possible the CMC's fighting pushed Discord's release further.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Discord, for many fans and for obvious reasons. An example is how his claim he didn't turn ponies to stone it treated by fans as an Even Evil Has Standards when it was intended as a Moral Myopia given all the other horrible things he did to them such they were forced to him to stone to stop him.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: 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.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • Discord. Where did he come from? How did he get so powerful? What was his past like?
  • Cheerilee says he's "a" draconequus. Does that mean there are more like him who may or may not be as powerful as him? If so, then what happened to them?
  • Just what happened during Discord's reign of Equestria?
• Fan Nickname: Fluttershy's easily-exploitable name gets another variation in this episode: Jerkass Fluttershy is "Flutterbitch". "Fluttercruel" is also seeing use, "Flutterbully" is also sometimes used. Surprizingly "Flutterbrute" is not, even though it flows well and Twilight herself called her a brute in the next episode
  • There is more - discorded Applejack is Liarjack, discorded Rarity is sometimes referred to as Greedity or Rarigreed, discorded Rainbow Dash is Traitor Dash or Rainbow Ditch, and discorded Pinkie Pie is sometimes called Meanie Pie.
  • Fans occasionally replace the c in Discord with a Q: DisQord.
• Genius Bonus: Applejack staring to the left, after lying, isn't just a random joke. It's a real psychological reaction.
• Growing the Beard: In an almost poetic nod to the Trope Namer, the introduction of fan-favorite Discord, the series beginning to develop a stronger sense of continuity, and the general humor and characterization on display compared to the first season having the Mane Six be more one-note mark a sharp increase in the series' quality and thematic presentation.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The hypothetical scenario of the Mane Six's friendship completely breaking apart in an illusion by Discord to Mind Rape Applejack. In the 2017 movie, we see the nightmare come true. The Mane Six do argue and fight and their friendship does break apart (temporarily). No Discord corruption needed, and it isn't a pretty sight. However, it's also just as easy to interpret it as just a fight (even if it is the biggest they've ever had), not their friendship breaking apart.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Fluttershy's terrified reaction to first seeing Discord's picture on the stain glass window is pretty amusing in retrospect, considering their current relationship.
  • This fan art introduced Q (and Picard) to the My Little Pony universe months before the premiere of this episode.
  • Discord tells Celestia that unlike her, he doesn't turn ponies to stone. In the finale, he is involved in the decision to petrify the arc villains.
• Love to Hate: Discord. Mostly because he is the first truly evil villain of the series.
• Narm Charm: Discord's last line of the episode is delivered while he's holding an inside out pink umbrella that also meows when he opens it. 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.
• 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.
  • 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...
• 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 are getting a lot better at Flash this season!

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