Season 9 Discussion Thread [Warning: SPOILERS!!!!!]

this season had really some missing characters

@NeoEnvy  
Yeah, both in terms of some side characters and even some background ponies.

@PonyPon  
The Griffinstone were the only kingdom with “poverty issue in Equestria” and maybe the Changelings with famine. But it was only Chrysalis method.

@Hakirayleigh  
It’s weird, i don’t recall seeing one poor person in the show’s run.
 
Correct me if i’m wrong, of course.

@PonyPon  
Maybe in the flashbacks of the Heart Warming episodes…There are a lot of ponies with squeals and hungry.

@The Equestrian Zodiac  
meh its just a bad final season for me

I’m still mad about Grogar being Discord.
 
NOBODY asked for that twist. I have no idea why the writers thought that would be a good idea.

@Background Pony #2AC9
 
Subverting expectations, I guess.
 
Back in the day we’d call that “Shoddy writing and storytelling which somehow got past being shut down in it’s early stages by anyone even remotely competent”, but nowadays it’s like… “Oh, that’s totally gonna take viewers by surprise, who cares about how you can blow more holes into it than swiss cheese when you start thinking about the logistics of said plot twist?”.
 
It’s like taking concepts such as foreshadowing and character development, then flipping them on their head just to get that “Gotcha!” moment and self-gratification in the immediate airing of the episode, only to vanish right afterwards as the community stops being shell shocked and begins to demand answers.
 
Controversies cause a lot of noise to be made and take relatively little effort to pull off, so it’s no wonder we see it picking up as a trend within the entertainment industry.

@Background Pony #2AC9  
can see why season 9 will end bad

@PonyPon  
If the problem couldn’t be solved with friendship, then of course the show wasn’t going to look there. Maybe change one or two of the yak background references?

@Background Pony #2AC9  
How do you know no-one did? I’d seen similar theories, albeit with Celestia. And it certainly solves him being horrendously uninteresting compared to his minions.
 
 
@Poison Trail  
Was it just a twist for the sake of a twist, though, or did they just want to get Grogar out of the way once he was no longer needed and depower Discord?

@Latecomer
 
I’d also like to point out that one of the earliest and most widely accepted fan theories ever was that Celestia LET the entire series premiere happen, and allowed herself to be kidnapped by Luna, solely so that Twilight would make friends and harness the elements.

@gingerninja666  
Yeah, I’ve never liked that sort of thing. (I’m sure she’s a schemer, but success should mostly come in spite of that flaw IMO.)

@Background Pony #2AC9  
It was some WWE tier bullshit that would have made Vince McMahon impressed

@Kiryu-Chan
 
More like Vince Russo.

Because Russo was obsessed with twists that not only did nobody ask for, but didn’t even make sense.

@Latecomer
 
If they wanted to pull off the twist as a way to both get Discord out of the picture and the streamline an immediate conflict, then they would’ve made it so at least some sort of foreshadowing was done.
 
Instead of setting it up properly, we instead get a pathetic lampshade via Tirek saying “Well, that happened, LOL”.
 
Yknow, I think I’m gonna make that the third theme of season 9:
 
3) Hand-waving poor writing and storytelling via lampshading.
 
Same thing that happened in 2,4,6 Greeeat. Entire damn thing was a mess, but hey, since Twilight points it out in the end I guess that justifies it, right? RIGHT?

@Poison Trail  
Well it’s possible it was decided on mid-season, once it became clear the other three were infinitely more interesting then the old goat. The point would be the same though.
 
It does make a degree of sense* if you look at it as basically Discord’s plan from Best Gift Ever writ large, though - that worked out well enough.
 
*Except for including Sombra, which is one reason I’m open to the possibility of it being a mid-season switch.

@Latecomer
 
I think it’s arguable they had the twist in mind as soon as Frenemies, if they didn’t by the time of the premiere. There was probably a reason Grogar was never directly shown hurting/being rough with anyone not an evil scumbag, and he was less interesting to contrast with the other three villains based on his screentime, seeming to be a “boring Evil Overlord,” obviously intentionally so in hindsight.
 
In any case, Grogar specifically appeared after Discord expressed frustration with how comforting Twilight always goes in the premiere.

They building Grogar since the premiere. Season 9 was doing great, few bumps on the road like the past season but it was going so well then the writers give us this plot twist in episode 25.
 
I’m okay with how they end it but I still question it why they do that twist, they should have let Grogar be the main villain instead of Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy glow maybe redeem one of them or maybe two, like Tirek and Cozy glow. Chrysalis however with her in full of hate for Equestrian she maybe the only one would be turn into stone.

why would discord end up as Grogar anyways

@NeoEnvy  
maybe to trick them into getting the bell, so he can take away all their magic

@Background Pony #EBAE  
The three of them were far more interesting than Grogar - shoving him aside for them was a plus. The only questionable point is the method and how it affects Discord’s character in troubling ways.

>Grogar wasn’t interesting
 
Tirek was a one-dimensional villain in the S4 finale, and he was still a great villain. Not every villain needs to be a complex, tragic figure.

@Background Pony #2AC9  
Thank you!