RoseLaflesh

A lot of people have said that the episode felt rushed, and initially I agreed. Within 20 minutes, Discord goes from an amazing (or terrible) villain, to a "good guy." The premise is nigh-impossible to believe, and many felt it should have been a two-part episode as such. After watching it for the second time though, I feel that, like season 3 opener, the obvious point was not actually the message the writers were trying to convey.

I feel as though instead of turning Discord from Good to Evil, instead they (read: Fluttershy) taught Discord compassion. Previously, Discord was a character who had the powers to do what he wanted, when he wanted. Did he conquer Equestria and make his own empire? Did he amass any sort of fortune or fame? What he did was have fun. Looking at his character, I would say it was easy to see him as a very young child. He did that which amused him, not so much ignoring or reveling the suffering of others, but being oblivious to it. Granted, turning the Mane 6 grey was a pretty dang evil thing, but that could be written of as a form of self defense; they were trying to "hurt" him, so he hurt them first. Still a very childish method.

In Keep Calm and Flutter On, Discord started off in an identical form, though with a proverbial gun to his head: if he misbehaves, he goes back to being imprisoned. What Fluttershy did was to take away this threatening situation, temporarily at first by letting Discord make himself at him inside her cottage, and then more permanently when she promised not to use her Element against him. She treated him with patience and tolerance, asking things of him rather demanding. Once she called Discord her friend at the dinner party, he realized how differently she had been treating him. At Sweet Apple Acres, when Discord froze the water, he was thinking only of only the fun that could be had and not the disruption it would cause to those around him, something that would be considered 'childish' by almost anyone. I feel an impossibly important and subtle note was that when he offered Fluttershy the skates, he did it as an activity two friends could do together to have fun. When he finally realized how his actions upset Fluttershy, and finally realized how he was about to lose his only friend, Discord gained the understanding of compassion and empathy. Discord was able to see how his shenanigans directly affected the ponies around him.

In this way, I feel Discord did not turn from evil to good. I would not even say that Discord was ever truly evil, simply immature and unable to truly grasp the impact of his actions. A child does what it does because it is fun for whatever reason. Once you teach a child to think about how his/her actions and how they will affect others, that child is more likely to act restrained and more composed. Discord is still the same chaos-loving draconequus that he will always be, but I feel as though draconequus, like ponies and people, are social creatures that seek the acceptance of their peers.

I completely agree that Discord wasn't really evil to begin with because chaos isn't naturally evil. True chaos is random. I like the comparison of him to a child. It makes perfect sense. I've never thought of it that way before, but it fits.

I really enjoyed this episode. Discord's antics being a big part of that. Although, I really want to know what Celestia needs Discord for. I think there's something going on with Celestia that's either going to show sometime by the end of this season or in the next one.