>>12660
>The episode start, that quote was the first thing that stuck out to me, how chaos was something that was an attribute of Discord, rather than the defining one. Don't get me wrong, Discord did represent chaos and that was a major part of his character, but it was much more than that. He was evil and the opposite of harmony and the ponies morality and society.
In being the opposite of harmony, Discord is presented as entirely self-interested, and quite individualist. In fact, I dare say he'd be Max-Stirner-approved! But as a result of his character being the direct opposite of harmony in this way, working on his own without any use for friendship, teamwork or even wider society as a whole (or the laws of physics for that matter!), he doesn't really work for presenting an actual challenge to harmony all that directly. As I said in my post on part one, Chrysalis actually much more directly challenges and undermines harmony in a meaningful sense, ironically precisely because she's more collectivist: her character being conceived of separately from the idea of being the opposite of the theme of harmony makes her a much more compelling counter to that idea. Corrupted harmony, if you will (to steal a Fallout Equestria idea too), rather than simply the opposite of harmony. Which, in practice, is really the same as the absence of harmony it seems? Score one for the theological definition of evil. I think for me it really does all come down to feeling that Discord's character concept, and the threat he actually poses should have been two separate things, though I certainly understand why they remained tied together, it feels neat and tidy that way from a writing perspective.
>The segment wasn't my favorite though, my feelings for it are just average, it lacks something... but I don't have the words right now
I'd agree. In my opinion, the issue is it splits focus, so it feels more shoehorned compared to the rest of the episode. If I were rewriting this two-parter (not that I'm saying I could do a better job than the show writers, at least in this season, much as with at least these episodes I'm getting nitpicky with them) I would have the Mane Six taking a trip to Canterlot, perhaps to meet with Celestia (if Discord were simply due to break free like with Nightmare Moon, or some event was occurring soon that could risk his breaking free, that would fix my minor issue with a tiny argument apparently freeing Discord after over a thousand years, somehow never having happened prior, whilst also giving the six a reason to visit Celestia) and then having Twilight show her friends around her old home, and she could explain the statue to them as they tour the gardens on their way to meet with Celestia. Then, a small argument between them could produce the same effect we see in the episode. You could even keep Cheerilee's seemingly more metaphorical understanding of Discord for Twilight, it would make a neat contrast to her knowing about Nightmare Moon last season, as well as highlighting that there are things Celestia knows about that even Twilight doesn't!