YMMV / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S9 E24 "The Ending of the End – Part 1"

• Accidental Aesop: The ponies turning against each other after the villains spread rumors about each species can be seen as a warning against taking rumors at face value and not trying to confirm information from random sources.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Celestia's anger at Discord's plan despite similarly using villains to test the heroes. Too outraged to realize how similar they really are? Was it how he actively and deliberately made the remaining more dangerous threats while she used already-active threats? Or was she only upset at how badly his plan backfired as opposed to its intent?
  • Was Sombra really resurrected by Discord's magic during the Season 9 premire or was he just a manifestation of Discord's power that he used to intimidate Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis into following "Grogar"?
• Broken Base: The Grogar twist. Some revile it, seeing it as undoing Discord's Character Development and wasting the buildup to the long awaited fan favorite villain Grogar. Others defend it as in line with Discord's character flaws and that there wouldn't be time in the finale to do Grogar justice anyway. Others dislike it but dismiss it as minor flaw in the overall Series Finale quality.
• Catharsis Factor: Given how "Grogar" treated them all season, it's quite satisfying to see the villains finally turn on him (with an impressive display of teamwork) and drain him out of his power. And for those who don't like the Discord twist, it's equally satisfying to see him realize his plan has blown up in his face.
• Evil Is Cool:
  • Cozy Glow with alicorn powers easily qualifies, especially her attack on Canterlot Castle where she delivers a Curb-Stomp Battle to the Royal Guards and drains both Princesses of their magic.
  • Tirek also qualifies during his own Curb-Stomp Battle against the Pillars of Equestria.
  • Chrysalis has probably the best appearance-upgrade after absorbing her share of the bell's magic, gaining larger wings and full royal regalia.
• Fan-Disliked Explanation: Grogar is revealed to actually be Discord in disguise, with the whole Legion of Doom thing merely being a Batman Gambit/False Flag Operation to give Twilight Sparkle a confidence boost. This drew a lot of ire from fans, as it not only pulled the rug out from under viewers who were actually happy to see Grogar in the show and had been looking forward to him, but it also throws Discord a big Idiot Ball with the reveal that he united several major villains (and two of them were ones imprisoned that he set free) and convinced them to work together to be a more dangerous threat to Equestria, which backfired horribly. He also did all this specifically so they could attack Equestria and Twilight could defeat them, as he thought it would boost her confidence, when he could have done this to try and reform them himself. That Discord was so easily outsmarted by the Mean Three and caught off guard and depowered without a struggle makes him look even more incompetent.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • What, if anything, was that artifact that Grogar/Discord obtained to replace the bell?
  • What happened to the real Grogar if this one was nothing more than a persona, and could he conceivably return? Considering that his bell was supposed to be the real deal... Grogar was supposedly banished by Gusty the Great, but where he was banished to exactly and if it would be possible for another villain to free him is unaddressed.
  • So if Discord was Grogar the whole time, does that mean the Sombra at the beginning of the season was real or just a duplicate made from Discord's magic? And if it's the former, does that mean Discord can bring anyone back to life?
  • Rarity actually states that Celestia and Luna letting Twilight rule is the first passing of power in thousands of years, meaning the Royal Sisters had to inherit Equestria from, well, someone. This could also lead back to the Brony fandom's age old question: who the heck are Celestia and Luna's parents?
• Fanon Discontinuity: Some fans have chosen to imagine the twist of Grogar being Discord in disguise as well as the whole finale never happened, especially with the twist confirming that everything bad that happened in the finale and throughout the season, from the villains teaming up to King Sombra destroying the Elements and the Tree of Harmony to the villains making ponies turn on each other and bringing back the Windigoes to them claiming Grogar's bell and deciding to use it to destroy Equestria, was all Discord's fault. The effect on the villains is similarly detrimental, as they got a lot of character development throughout the season, and their abusive treatment from Grogar even made them somewhat sympathetic, only for the finale to undo all of that in favor of making them completely irredeemable. Not to mention, some of those fans legitimately wanted to see the Mane Six go up against Grogar for years, only to not get it when it was perfectly set up.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Many critics of the Grogar twist compared it to Snoke from The Last Jedi for "subverting expectations". Come The Rise of Skywalker it turns out there was another similarity.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Some fans were disappointed that Grogar's Bewitching Bell's main power was stealing magic; an ability already shared by Lord Tirek and by the Storm King's Staff of Sacanas. Many were expecting it to have more interesting powers.
• Narm:
  • Celestia exclaiming "Stand down, Cozy Glow!" would sound more effective if it was said to a villain with a more threatening name, but considering the nature of Cozy's, it's hard to take too seriously.
  • The scene where everyone else holds the debris shield to allow Twilight to escape is this for some. The shield is not only hit with the same blast that levelled more than half of the castle earlier, but now is also assisted by two others just as powerful, making the whole scene scream Plot Armor.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Cozy Glow becoming an alicorn when empowered by an Artifact of Doom. That's exactly what happened with the Big Bad of the Ponyville Mysteries novels released the year prior.
  • After the show ended, series creator Lauren Faust revealed it was Celestia who freed Nightmare Moon in the first episode, meaning Discord isn't the only one guilty of freeing villains to test the heroes. While Lauren herself later said that her word no longer applies due to no longer being the main showrunner, the retraction still implies that it was her original plan for Celestia.
• One-Scene Wonder: Chaos Cozy Glow gets less than a minute of screentime, but she sure is memorable.
• Rooting for the Empire: Some fans will admit to rooting for the villains here, partly because of the Discord twist and partly because of how great it is to watch them go all-out and almost win.
• Signature Scene: The Reveal that Grogar was Discord in disguise. The debate over this twist being the most predominant and talked about part of the finale.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Many fans were furious that Grogar was really Discord in disguise, making the buildup of another classic G1 villain all for nothing just so the writers could try surprising the audience with a twist. Some even unfavorably compared it to The Last Jedi "subverting expectations".
  • The Pillars since their debut in "Shadow Play". They could have been the Anti-Hero Substitute team to the Mane 6, showing their way of fighting to demonstrate how they kept Equestria safe. Instead they were defeated so quickly and easily by Tirek with barely any stories of valour on their side outside of the Sirens' banishment. Stygian, their strategist didn't even make an onscreen appearance, implying that they went Leeroy Jenkins as their plan of attack against Tirek was Attack! Attack! Attack!.
  • After many years of suffering the Worf Effect, many have anticipated to see Celestia and Luna duke it out against the very same villains who took them down during the show's whole run to finally demonstrate why them undergoing The Worf Effect is actually scary instead of just being told it is a bad thing... only for them to be easily disposed of in a heartbeat yet again.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Even those who didn't mind Grogar being Discord felt that it would've been better if Discord's reason for recruiting the other villains was instead a way to try and reform them the same way Fluttershy did to him years ago and the same way Twilight has been doing it with other previous villians throughout the whole series. The episode "Frenemies" was all about the three becoming closer as friends and considering he didn’t know they had Grogar’s Bell until it was too late, it would’ve both helped bring his character development full circle and lead into the finale better as opposed to just trying to help boost up Twilight's confidence as the new ruler of Equestria.
  • Despite Discord's Trickster Mentor methods showing the potentially disastrous consequences, it's never brought up that Princess Celestia had been doing the exact same thing all series. Doing so could have better emphasized Twilight's struggle with self-doubt over her accompaniments being staged and give Celestia a bigger role acknowledging her fallibility that would make Twilight worthier of the throne. Or at least given Discord better justification for his poor plan and forgiveness.
  • Being the one who befriended his brother Scorpan and convinced him to forsake his part in Tirek's plan to drain magic from the ponies of Equestria and take it over, which ultimately led to him being sealed away the first time, Starswirl the Bearded has surprisingly little interactions with Tirek. You'd expect Tirek to show utter contempt toward Starswirl and view him as a personal enemy. The fact that Starswirl was responsible for Scorpan's Heel–Face Turn isn't even brought up here.

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