History YMMV / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn

** To a degree, Celestia. Discord is one of the very few things that can [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness make Celestia display fear and worry in front of her subjects]], and he outclasses her and the Mane Six in both power and cunning. Yet this episode makes it seem she made the decision to free and reform him essentially on a whim with no deliberation, nor does she bother to set up some sort of backup plan in case Discord neutralizes the Elements like [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 last time]].

** Discord's last statement before being frozen again in "The Return of Harmony" was a sarcastic "''Friend me''". That's Fluttershy's plan this episode. [[spoiler: And it works, to the point of Discord admitting Friendship ''is'' Magic.]]

** Furthermore, is this a good [[AnAesop lesson]]? How often has playing nice reformed RealLife enemies? It didn't work for [[WorldWarII Neville Chamberlain]].
*** Would it have been a good lesson ''not'' to reform him? It's just not something you can really agree on, here.

** Another complaint is that Celestia decides to redeem Discord seemingly on a whim. Seeing as [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Discord is one of the few things that can make Celestia visibly worried in front of her subjects]], this is rather jarring.

*** Furthermore, is this a good lesson? How often has playing nice reformed RealLife enemies? It didn't work for [[WorldWarII Neville Chamberlain]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Was [[spoiler: Fluttershy]] pulling a XanatosGambit the whole time, [[spoiler: assuming her loyalty to Celestia trumped her promise to Discord and she would have used her Element on him if he didn't reform.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Not the whole reformation plotline, mind you. However, some fans who were hoping to learn about Discord's origins, or see him [[FoeYay interact with Celestia again]] felt somewhat let down that the episode was almost entirely focused on Discord and Fluttershy.
** With regards to the episode itself, people were expecting to see Discord try juggling his usual chaos with still being Fluttershy's friend, perhaps trying to convert her to his way of life, but the story just comes to an abrupt end instead of going anywhere with that.

Return to the mane article [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn here]]

** With regards to the episode itself, people were expecting to see Discord try juggling his usual chaos with still being Fluttershy's friend, perhaps trying to convert her to his way of life, but the episode just comes to an abrupt end instead of going anywhere with that.

* AcceptableTarget: Angel. Most fluttershy fans were pleased to see him maltreated probably because of his behaviour in ''Putting your hoof down''.

** The complaint comes down to many fans feeling that Discord stops at the end simple because Fluttershy asks him to, without sufficient buildup for why Fluttershy matters that much to him.

* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Fluttershy]] may have pulled one, [[spoiler: assuming her loyalty to Celestia trumped her promise to Discord and she would have used her Element on him if he didn't reform.]]

Return to the main article [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn here]]

* HilariousInHindsight: Reforming Discord was an unusually common FandomSpecificPlot for bronies, and the show's premise makes it a canon concept at the very least.

* CanonSue: Fluttershy had [[CommonMarySueTraits shades of this]] before, but it's really prevalent in this episode.

** Ironically, [[Fanfic/BrokenSpirit one of them had Fluttershy be the redeemer.]]

* FanficFuel: [[spoiler:Now that [[HeelFaceTurn reformed]] Discord is officially canon, that ought to be quite useful to fanfic writers.]]