>>12658
Well, life has been long and a bit complicated for me, but I am finally here and ready to do a start to this season! Part of what took so long is that I had somewhat elaborate plans for this review, I wanted it to be something long and somewhat high effort. I have partly succeeded. Though I can say with my aforementioned difficulties I am probably going to be more relaxed about things this season compared to last. Anyways, without further ado, onto Season 2!

The Return of Harmony
Confusion
Evil
Chaos!
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, respectively, attempting to describe discord, and unknowingly, Discord.

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.

The opening segment itself was okay. I liked the CMC having a little cameo (though it would have perhaps been nice to see them reacting to this later) and possibly being the reason Discord was released at that moment. 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. This is just me speaking wax poetic (or rather, a lack of wax poetic) on what is a very minor aspect of the episode.

Now, we get to the Mane 6 and their reactions to the chaos that is now just starting to spread. Something that I now appreciate after watching this twice is the partial set up for some of the conflicts we see later. Rainbow Dash saying that she would help them out first before Cloudsdale and Spike suggesting they give up only for Twilight to press on and organize the group.

>>12660
My possible (not 100% certain yet) favorite scene in this episode, Celestia giving the backstory on who Discord is and Discord making his dramatic appearance. From the different angles creating a sense of epicness and dramatic, Celestia's seriousness, and Discord's appearing on the stained glass windows, it was all pretty elaborate and creative by the show's standards and I wonder how complicated it was to pull off. Discord's stained glass form I imagine was pretty easy to rig and make in one afternoon, but the different angled shots (like above, or slightly to the side), I wonder how much of a pain that was in rigging in animation? {Compare to top down shots in Suited For Success}. Again, I stress, I am far from an expert on anything flash or animation in general.

The Fall of the Elements
Now we are in the maze. This is going to sound stupid, but I didn't really click how this directly parallels Friendship is Magic with Nightmare Moon directly tempting and attempting to mislead the Mane 6, expect this time it works... kind of. The morality here is a little complicated.

Applejack
She is the first to fall by believing a lie. I can see Applejack, facing such an great evil, being open to receiving any kind of help and advice. She clearly has an off feeling with the apple creatures but becomes distracted by their vision. Breaking her. Unlike her trial of honesty back in Friendship is Magic Part 2, I don't have a problem with this.

Pinkie Pie
Rather straightforward. Pinkie Pie has insecurities that are already established. If she thinks her friends could abandon her she can be tricked to think her friends would laugh at her. Discord gave a slight push and then she becomes discorded.

Rarity
A little silly how quickly she succumbed, though in her favor, she did put up a fight for a second as opposed to completely folding, which might make her slightly "better" than Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Though, the fact she gave in so quickly to a temptation might reflect worse on her. Albeit, mind control seems to play a part in this. Speaking of mind control...

>>12661
Fluttershy
This is what I mean by the morality being complicated a bit: Fluttershy does not take the bait at all. Discord, impatient, just pokes her and she is cruel now. Fluttershy never gave into anything or was tricked, she was forcibly compelled. It seems like mind control plays a part in most of the ponies when they are discorded, as they not only become detached from their elements but seem evil in other ways (Applejack being possibly greedy when she says that they should split Tom 6 ways between them. All of them working together against Twilight and being weirdly childish, they aren't just acting immoral or corrupt, but a bit out of their minds and out of character. Though with the others, Discord still had to get his foot in the door. Here, I would argue that Fluttershy is innocent. This one might be the weakest as there is no moral lesson or clever writing, but I hold no judgement against this episode and it frankly would be hard to picture Fluttershy being mean via prompting in the way Discord did the others.

Rainbow Dash
I like what they did with this one! Rainbow Dash's loyalty to Cloudsdale versus her loyalty to her friends feels like the perfect moral trickery. Rainbow Dash is technicality acting out of loyalty either way, even if she is clearly making a mistake regarding the situation. Again, the mind control aspect here complicates for me on how much I can render a judgement on their characters.

I'm going to review these two parts as one episode this time as I want to lead more smoothly into the next part here, so rating for this part only at the end. Rainbow Dash departs and thus, Discord wins the game. The maze disappears while Discord gloats and laughs. It leaves Twilight Sparkle confused and hurt, and sets up for...