S05E07: Make New Friends But Keep Discord

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S05E07: Make New Friends But Keep Discord

Postby Wayoshi (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 2:57 pm

After finding out that Fluttershy is taking a new friend to the Grand Galloping Gala instead of him, Discord goes to extreme lengths to show that it doesn't bother him.


This thread is for discussion of this episode. The episode airs at 11:30 AM Eastern / 8:30 AM Pacific on Saturday, May 16!

Official preview clips and images are okay to post, as is speculation about the episode. In particular, an official general S5 trailer released in March focuses on this episode for 30 seconds, and this is fair game to discuss right away. More in the hidden tag:

Discord's "extreme lengths" entail bringing the Smooze as his own guest.

Here is that general trailer again, coverage is from 1:10 to 1:45:



Writer: Natasha Levinger
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Postby The Doctor (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 3:01 pm

Two things I want from this episode....

1.


2.
Smooze not being the antagonist/villain of the episode. I want him to be a nice guy.
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 3:10 pm

Wow...I was not expecting this to make a comeback. Hope we get some more Discord craziness and some call backs to the original film. :starity:
:plonk: Image :)
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Postby Octavia (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 3:36 pm

I'm worried that this episode is going to be a clone of Keep Calm and Flutter On, where Discord is a jerk and Fluttershy keeps making excuses for him, until finally at the end of the episode she's done with putting up with his bullshit and tells him to his face. Then Discord realizes the error of his ways and everything is happy again until the next Discord episode where he does the exact same thing.

But I'm willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt until the episode airs. They're usually pretty good about not rehashing old themes.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 3:37 pm

I still want to know who Fluttershy's new friend is. Out of the Mane Six, she's the last one whom I would expect to want to go to the Gala again, much less to bring someone to it.
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Postby Mr. Big (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 3:44 pm

For those who missed it, before season 5 came out, Hasbro released a set of trading cards that supposedly gave hints to what the characters are going to do in season 5. Bulk Bicep's card, for example, mentioned that he works at the Ponyville Spa, which did happen in "Castle Sweet Castle".

This is Maud's card:

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I wonder if Pinkie will bring Maud as her guest.
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 4:03 pm

That could probably work though it seems like the kind of storyline that would be done in a full fledged episode rather than a small subplot. :pinkieshrug:
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Postby Marimo (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 4:55 pm

ROBOT B9 wrote:That could probably work though it seems like the kind of storyline that would be done in a full fledged episode rather than a small subplot. :pinkieshrug:

It could just be brief mention, possibly not even brought up here but in the Pie family episode. One of the cards also mentioned how Bulk has a job at the spa which was just a short gag.
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Postby Durandal (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 5:05 pm

This episode title is weird
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Postby Bremen (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 5:06 pm

Marimo wrote:It could just be brief mention, possibly not even brought up here but in the Pie family episode. One of the cards also mentioned how Bulk has a job at the spa which was just a short gag.


If Maud is in this episode we better get at least a few deadpan Maudisms :maud:

Though I do think it could work just fine if she's not the focus of the episode, just hanging around with Pinkie Pie with a few spoken lines. The characters are a real strength of this show, and now that they seem to be trying to have more varied voice work it would be fun if we get returning characters just casually worked into episodes.
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Postby Perpetual Lurker (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 5:11 pm

Durandal wrote:This episode title is weird


It works if you emphasize the wrong syllable in "Discord", since it's based on the saying "Make new friends, but keep the old".
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Postby Frosthawk (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 5:35 pm

If Fluttershy's guest is in fact Maud then this will be the best episode. If it's not then eh.
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 5:45 pm

Wait, I just had an idea. What if this episode is going to be told from different perspectives, like Just for Sidekicks and Games Pony Play was? It's a longshot but... :ponder:
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Postby Wayoshi (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 5:47 pm

Frosthawk wrote:If Fluttershy's guest is in fact Maud then this will be the best episode. If it's not then eh.

It should be the pony shown in the animatic in the OP
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Postby RudeCyrus (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 5:50 pm

I'm pretty ambivalent about this episode, because I think this show has done everything they could possibly do with Discord.
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Postby The Doctor (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 6:15 pm

The animatic showed the CMC as well, so one can theorize the mane 6 all gets to bring a +1


:awesomedash: :scootatrue:
:twasnothin: :anticipation:
:vogue: :ohboy:
:shenanigans: :geno:
:modesty: ???
:wingsright: :here:
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Postby Chronos30 (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 6:37 pm

Perpetual Lurker wrote:
It works if you emphasize the wrong syllable in "Discord", since it's based on the saying "Make new friends, but keep the old".


Like he said, very weird.
Emphasizing the wrong syllable is one of this show's favorite quirks though, especially in the songs. :pinkieshrug:
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 6:48 pm

The title of the episode sounds okay to me. Of course, I've never heard anyone speak "make new friends but keep the old," so I don't exactly have that pronunciation and delivery memorized in my head :-I
Wayoshi wrote:It should be the pony shown in the animatic in the OP

So is that supposed to be the pony in the bottom-right of the picture in this tweet? (There are really minor spoilers for future episodes in that picture, so beware.) It looks kind of like that's the case, but it's awfully hard to tell from just the animatic.
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 7:00 pm

Fizzbuzz wrote:The title of the episode sounds okay to me. Of course, I've never heard anyone speak "make new friends but keep the old," so I don't exactly have that pronunciation and delivery memorized in my head :-I


Sure you have

Image

Chronos30 wrote:Emphasizing the wrong syllable is one of this show's favorite quirks though, especially in the songs. :pinkieshrug:


Though this is notably less common now that they're giving Daniel Ingram more of a free hand in the lyrics part of the songwriting :ponder:
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 7:38 pm

Yeah, the title doesn't make much sense to me either. It's kind of an obscure expression and the pun doesn't really work for me.
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Postby Just Scuds (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 7:48 pm

rudecyrus wrote:I'm pretty ambivalent about this episode, because I think this show has done everything they could possibly do with Discord.


This.
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Discord is eternally pulling cheeks and egging others to lose their temper around him. And in Three's A Crowd, he's become this (omnipotent) child who doesn't know (or chooses to ignore) the difference between good attention and bad attention.
I don't know what else they can do with a character who can't stand to not be the center of attention.

On the other hand, this is the only character that can really ruffle Twilight's feathers while maintaining an air of
:excellent: :"Calmer than you are, dude."
which is fun in its own right.
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Postby Chronos30 (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 8:56 pm

For more Discord stories, look to Q maybe? But develop him a little first. Discord is way too childish now for some of Q's stories.

I was thinking Discord introducing the Smooze might be a little like Q introducing the Borg.

e: Maybe bring in other draconequii
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 9:08 pm

Eh, I think making him just a carbon copy of Q wouldn't work. They should try and go in their own direction with the character and just copying a character that's already been done note for note would seem predictable.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 11:06 pm

Chronos30 wrote:e: Maybe bring in other draconequii

I doubt we'll ever see this happen. Considering the way Discord has been developed, effectively as a quasi-deity on the level of Celestia and Luna, any other members of his kind seem like they'd be woefully out of place. The idea that there might be more creatures like him seems like one of those S1 ideas (The Return of Harmony was developed during S1, after all) that fell by the wayside and was forgotten as the show went on.
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Postby Marimo (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 11:23 pm

Fizzbuzz wrote:(The Return of Harmony was developed during S1, after all)

It was only animated with the rest of season 1. Return of Harmony was written during season 2's writing period.
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Postby Headless Horse (?) » Wed May 13, 2015 11:49 pm

I know what you mean, but I'm gonna choose to interpret it as I did at first, that it was animated before it was written :gotcha:
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Postby Master_Twig (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 12:06 am

Chronos30 wrote:For more Discord stories, look to Q maybe? But develop him a little first. Discord is way too childish now for some of Q's stories.

I was thinking Discord introducing the Smooze might be a little like Q introducing the Borg.

e: Maybe bring in other draconequii


The Draconequii Continuum? :gotcha:
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Postby Wayoshi (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 12:48 am

Fizzbuzz wrote:So is that supposed to be the pony in the bottom-right of the picture in this tweet?

Correct, those eyes are pretty recognizable from the animatic.
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Postby Bremen (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 2:36 am

Headless Horse wrote:I know what you mean, but I'm gonna choose to interpret it as I did at first, that it was animated before it was written :gotcha:


"Someone hooked a can of nitrous oxide into our HVAC system and the animators spent days producing scenes of buffalo dancing in tutus and rabbits with six foot long legs trampling Twilight Sparkle. Should we scrap everything and start again?"

"No, no, I'm sure we can work with this. The writers like a challenge."
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Postby Just Scuds (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 4:04 am

Headless Horse wrote:I know what you mean, but I'm gonna choose to interpret it as I did at first, that it was animated before it was written :gotcha:


:twonk: :"Discord has turned our dirt roads into soap!"
:-I :"Because that's clearly what's happening on screen, unless someponyelse has a better idea."
:pinkieshrug: :"This whole episode is playing out like a stream of consciousness fever dream so, sure, why not?"
Last edited by Just Scuds on Thu May 14, 2015 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby ROBOT B9 (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 6:15 am

I think it could be an interesting piece of character development if Discord was the last of his kind, so to speak. Maybe they'll go down that road sometime this or next season.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 11:20 am

Eh, I doubt I'd be too happy with that. "Last of one's kind" backstories are incredibly tragic and need to be handled carefully in order to not feel cheap. However, of all of FiM's characters, Discord is perhaps the most bereft of grace and tact, so I don't think there's any way such a story would work with him.

If his origin does get explained then I think he will just have been a manifestation of the primal chaos of the universe, existing since the dawn of time. The idea that there might be more creatures like him could have easily been a myth or other sort of misconception. After all, he did spend a millennium sealed in stone, so he couldn't exactly set things straight for anyone who might've gotten it wrong.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 11:34 pm

I'm surprised we still don't have any previews yet. Hell, I even went to the official Facebook page, but all that's up there so far is a picture of the Smooze taken from the animatic.
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Postby Wayoshi (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 11:49 pm

There will be a couple things tomorrow... didn't some eps this season have nothing until Friday?
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Postby londonarbuckle (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 11:51 pm

Fizzbuzz wrote:I'm surprised we still don't have any previews yet. Hell, I even went to the official Facebook page, but all that's up there so far is a picture of the Smooze taken from the animatic.


Maybe they didn't finish the episode and like half of it will just be animatic! :amazing:
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Postby The Doctor (?) » Thu May 14, 2015 11:53 pm

londonarbuckle wrote:
Maybe they didn't finish the episode and like half of it will just be animatic! :amazing:



:gotcha: Friendship is Magic 7-26. Inspired by the last two episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
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Postby Wayoshi (?) » Fri May 15, 2015 1:43 am

OK Fizz, since you really wanted it... I present, hippie friend.

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Postby The Doctor (?) » Fri May 15, 2015 1:46 am

:lol: Discord and Smooze are wearing the suits from Dumb and Dumber.

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Have to admit, I'm a little disappointed the hippie isn't one of the ponies from the Rarity Micro. Would have been such a neat little nod to the comics, requiring no real explanation.

They probably really wanted to make that Tree Hugger joke.
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Postby Fizzbuzz (?) » Fri May 15, 2015 1:50 am

Tree Hugger's cutie mark is a mushroom, right? I guess it's supposed to be a magic mushroom. :smirk:

It's nice to see that everyone got new dresses for this Gala, too.
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Postby The Doctor (?) » Fri May 15, 2015 2:12 am

So Smooze gets larger as he feeds...

I'm betting we're going to get a repeat of Celestia's "run" from Best Night Ever.
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