History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1

* KnightOfCerebus: Out of all the previous Knights in the show, Lord Tirek truly stands out, considering he's literally stealing everypony's destiny by robbing them of their magic and cutie marks.

Twilight is then summoned to Canterlot by Celestia to inform her of Discord's betrayal. With no one to stop him, Tirek has free reign to drain ponies across the land. Soon, he will come for their alicorn magic, and with it will be unstoppable. To prevent this, Celestia sees there is only one option: the princesses must give up their magic so Tirek can't take it!

** Many people feared that someone may have been able to escape Tartarus, ''especially'' when Cerberus was away, for a while now. Cue Tirek to confirm those fears.

* UnexpectedCharacter:
** ''Tirek''. Considering Creator/{{Hasbro}} lost the rights to a lot of their G1 properties, a revamp of the original G1 villain (or at least a character based off him) certainly counts.
** Scorpan, here re-imagined as Tirek's brother, also counts, due to having ''less'' a role in the original story than Tirek, but here being the one responsible for his original defeat.

* BeQuietNudge: Applejack hit Spike on the head for making Twilight feel worse by questioning her not-so-importan task of rolling out the royal banner for the visiting dignitaries.

* MythologyGag: Tirek was originally the villain in the first ''WesternAnimation/{{My Little Pony TV Special|s}}''. Scorpan is mentioned in Lord Tirek's backstory, and both have designs very reminiscent of their original forms. In a larger sense, this two-parter is a celebration of the 30th anniversary (late by one month) of ''My Little Pony'' as a cartoon franchise.

* BoundAndGagged: Triek ties up the earth ponies with his lasso to drain their magic.

->Special Guest Star: Creator/JohnDeLancie as Discord
->Written by Meghan [=McCarthy=]

'''''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 TO BE CONTINUED]]'''''

!!Continued in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 "Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2"]].

* DealWithTheDevil: Lord Tirek sweet talks Discord into making a deal. Discord supplies the power source for Tirek, and in return, Discord gains freedom and [[WeCanRuleTogether world domination]] alongside him. [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 It goes about as well for Discord as you'd expect]].

** The five "gifts" given to the Mane Five at the end of their highlight episode -- Rarity's spool of thread, Rainbow Dash's Wonderbolts badge, Pinkie Pie's rubber chicken, Fluttershy's flower, and Applejack's coin -- become five of the six Keys to the mysterious box.

* LikeABadassOutOfHell: A classical mythology variant, since Lord Tirek escaped from Tartarus.

* CerebusRetcon: In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E20ItsAboutTime "It's About Time"]], Cerberus leaves the gates of Tartarus, where the most evil beings in all of Equestria are imprisoned. The whole thing is PlayedForLaughs when [[FluffyTamer Fluttershy tames him like a cute puppy]]. Then this episode comes along to reveal that Tirek, ''the'' most catastrophic threat Equestria has faced yet, managed to escape while he was gone.

* ObnoxiousSnarker: Discord when he admits to eavesdropping on Twilight. The Mane Six are either not amused or [[SarcasmBlind simply don't get it]].
-->'''Discord:''' Woe is me! Will I ever learn the intricate nuances of being a good friend?

* ShooOutTheClowns: Pinkie Pie is quite possibly the one member of the Mane Six with the ''least'' amount of speaking parts throughout the whole two-parter, presumably to keep the mood serious.

* AscendedFridgeHorror: Many people feared that someone may have been able to escape Tartarus, ''especially'' when Cerberus was away, for a while now. Cue Tirek to confirm those fears.

-->'''Tirek:''' I am [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/{{Titles}} Lord]] [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/TNames Tirek]], and I will take what should have been mine long ago.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Even if Tirek's name is unknown to ponies of modern Equestria, the [[NamesToRunQwayFrom/KNames initial T and terminal K]] give a sense of foreboding, and he [[VerbalBusinessCard introduces himself]] as [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/{{Titles}} Lord]] Tirek.
* NarratingThePresent: Tirek does this briefly in his [[CharacterEstablishingMoment introduction]], pondering the thoughts of his first on-screen victim.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: In his first scene in the episode, the BigBad introduces himself as [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/{{Titles}} Lord]] [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/KNames Tirek]].

* HannibalLecture: How Tirek seduces Discord to his side, complete with WeCanRuleTogether, as seen below.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. Twilight spends most of the episode lamenting how she hasn't been given much to do as a princess other than "smile and wave" and unfurl a banner for some visiting dignitaries, and is especially distraught when Celestia tasks Discord over her with tracking down the escapee from Tartarus. Twilight is finally given a role at the [[{{Cliffhanger}} end of the episode]] when the other princesses inform her that [[WhamLine they must rid themselves of their magic]] to protect it from Tirek.

* TricksterMentor: Discord seems up to this again, manipulating Twilight towards trying to open the chest from the Tree of Harmony.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: The original Tirek was the long-running king of this trope for awhile. This Lord Tirek seems to live up to the original's vileness, as a creature quite literally from the pits of the Underworld.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Twilight's eventual title and role is all but spelled out in the Princesses' song in the beginning. "Know that your time is coming soon/As the sun rises, so does the moon/As love finds a place in every heart/You are a Princess, you'll play your part." [[PowerOfFriendship What is to love as the moon is to the sun, and is also, y'know, a pretty regular theme in this show?]]