Line #5 YMMV/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightskingdomPart2


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** Was Lord Tirek planning to betray Discord from the start or did he feel betrayed when he learned that Discord was omitting info on Twilight? In that same perspective, was his disgust towards his brother betraying him and Twilight protecting the traitorous Discord MoralMyopia, or simply him inferring AtLeastIAdmitIt about the half heartedness of their supposed friendship. Also, did he give his brother's medallion away just to manipulate Discord, or did he also want to forget the heartache his brother's betrayal caused him?
3	** Did Discord really join Tirek because he wanted to, or was it all part of his plan to help Twilight find her key? He was savvy enough to lead them to discover the other keys through their journal after all. In all it may seem a bit out of character for him to simply fall for Tirek's plan like that. And he may have omitted Twilight at first for this very reason. Another possibility is that he was following whatever whim struck him. You know, god of chaos and all.
4	** Was Discord [[FaceHeelTurn siding with Tirek]] a deliberate betrayal of his friends, or did [[TheFriendNobodyLikes none of them actually liking him]] (save Fluttershy) and [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn Celestia claiming she had him freed because he could be useful]] make Tirek's [[BreakingSpeech argument that their "friendship" was just a way to keep him in line]] seem legit? Helping is that seeing Shining Armor and Fluttershy [[EtTuBrute shocked and hurt by his betrayal]] caused Discord to [[HeelRealization regret his actions]].
5	** Was the stained glass window depicting Princess Twilight left by Celestia in a moment of carelessness and haste? Or did the pony master of the BatmanGambit deliberately set up the Twilight vs. Tirek conflict, to help her get the final key? It might be stretching it, but she might also have set up Discord against Tirek in a BatmanGambit as well.
6	* EvilIsCool: It is universally agreed that Tirek is one of the most exciting villains to be featured in the show, helped greatly by his awesome fight with Twilight in the middle of the episode.
7	* HilariousInHindsight:
8	** Some of Twilight's magic blasts seem eerily similar to Twilight's "Story Arc Climax" super in ''[[VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic Fighting Is Magic]]''. Doubly hilarious because the fight ''is'' the climax of the story.
9	** The dynamics of the battle between Twilight and Tirek, and the relative scale of the opponents, are much like those of the ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8er83h9Bbn8 between Rainbow Dash and Starscream]].
10	** Twilight's wobbly efforts at lowering the moon and raising the sun are similar to Twilight's lunar "puppet show" in the ''WebVideo/FriendshipIsWitchcraft'' short "Star Waving Mad".
11	** The first spell Twilight uses on Tirek looks suspiciously like a balefire bomb from ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria''.
12	* JerkassWoobie: Discord has always been a {{troll}}, but after Tirek betrays him and drains his magic, he finally gains some sympathy. Even though Discord betrayed all of Equestria, he still shows remorse and begs for the ponies' forgiveness.
13	* MoralEventHorizon: Lord Tirek crossed this by having Discord betray and imprison Twilight's friends only to similarly betray Discord and drain his magic. Discord remained sympathetic even before being betrayed as he had moments of conflictedness about it and only did so because he thought Tirek was a more compatible friend, while Tirek betrayed and rejected the friendship that redeemed Discord.
14	* ShockingMoments:
15	** Everything from the Golden Oaks Library's destruction and the fight scene that follows is definitely not the sort of thing most would think would ever appear in the show.
16	** As is Tirek causing the stained glass window depicting Princess Twilight to ''melt''.
17	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
18	** The idea of the magic bearing characters being temporarily BroughtDownToNormal could have made for interesting development (having only been dabbled with a couple of times before with Twilight). However the status of the characters without their powers is referred to only briefly, with the focus more on Tirek's rampage. Granted the fact Discord couldn't care less about losing his magic compared to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone betraying and losing his friends]] was enormous CharacterDevelopment in itself.
19	** The Mane Six's [[TheFriendNobodyLikes open hostility]] toward Discord all season long could have been acknowledged as [[ThenLetMeBeEvil a possible reason]] for Discord's betrayal and something for them to own up to, but it's never even implied. However, they are genuinely horrified when they see Discord being betrayed, implying that they actually did have some real feelings for him.
20	** A number of hints are dropped through both episodes that Discord's betrayal was part of a ploy to help his friends, such as him lying to Tirek about not sensing Twilight's collection of the alicorn magic and hiding Twilight's existence from Tirek until he couldn't avoid it. However, if he really was a FakeDefector, he never discloses this to anyone, as once he's drained of magic the episode presents him as having truly fallen for Tirek's lie and thinking [[WeCanRuleTogether they would rule together]].
21	* ToughActToFollow:
22	** ''Twilight's Kingdom'' is a common choice for the best episode of the series, and meant that the Season 5 finale and beyond had a lot to ensure up to. A big point of contention being the HeelFaceTurn of the BigBad, since Discord got a far better received one here despite it being only a subplot in comparison.
23	** "Twilight's Kingdom" also left such a huge mark and had [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore the single biggest status quo shattering event]] in the show, that it led to some fans declaring FanonDiscontinuity over the rest of the series. Even the best received of the later seasons never quite reached the heights of Season 4 and its finale. It also effected reception of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 the 2017 movie]], which took a lot of influence from it in terms of plot and scope.
24	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Let's just say it's obvious where a fair chunk of Season 4's budget went. The effects in these two episodes are some of the greatest yet seen in the series.

Context YMMV / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightskingdomPart2