I just wanted to highlight that this is a good point, but I don't think the comparison is arguable. Whether Luna was a worse case is another story, though. (And I'm willing to explain my reasoning for that elsewhere so we don't completely derail the thread, if anyone happens to be interested.)
My point was that Luna and Starlight are both reformed villains and are somehow at opposite ends of the love/hate scale within the fandom. Luna even said she understands Starlight's struggle. Luna was reformed in the second episode and no one in the fandom seems to hold her past over her head (nor should they). Whether it's better or worse is definitely debatable but, like you said, is for another discussion. Why is she so much easier to forgive than Starlight?
I got that, which was mostly why I wanted to highlight what you said as being a good point. If Luna's past behavior is given some thought, one should be able to see why it makes no sense that she and Starlight Glimmer would be treated differently on that merit alone.
That's alright; it happens. Welp, here's hoping that the next season does Chrysalis' and Starlight Glimmer's characters some good. Oh, what I would give to see Chrysalis being a weekly nuisance to Starlight Glimmer, until things came to a head...
Reducing Chrysalis to a "weekly nuisance" would inevitably lead to the same type of villain decay that has plagued antagonist characters for decades. Like I said earlier, Chryssi's too good a villain to ruin with tired tropes and poor writing. What I'd like to see is Starlight slowly eased into a dueteragonist role, similar to Spike and the CMC. Then, after a season or two of her interacting more with the Mane Six, Chrysalis returns for revenged on a fully-developed main character, at which point viewers will hopefully be invested enough in the character to care what happens to her.
No, it wouldn't be inevitable: you're just not able to imagine a scenario where it could work well. If all she did was be a simple nuisance every week, I'd agree with you, but that's certainly not what I was thinking when I threw that thought out there without any details attached to it. (I mean, if Chrysalis is out for revenge, why would I think that that's all that she would intend to do?) I really don't care for Team Rocket types and the like. Should you happen to be interested in the details of what I had in mind, you're welcome to ask for them. Well, this is where we disagree, because I don't think she's a good villain. None of the villains in the show have even been decent. They're all shallow, (stereo)typical, uninspired antagonists attached to "tired tropes" and (with a more variable mileage value) poor writing. They do whatever is that they want to do just because they can, and/or for conquest just for the sake of conquest, and/or to attain power for the sake of victory/conquest, and/or justify their actions with stupid and/or petty things. (And in an attempt to ward away confusion: I don't mix entertainment value with a villain's antagonistic offerings. Antagonism can be entertaining, but our entertainment isn't antagonistic.) Chrysalis had potential to actually reach or surpass being a decent villain, which would have been a first for the show. Now, while I don't think she can't still pull that off, I seriously doubt that the writers could manage it with their current setup.
I don't think you're taking into account how important the "The Good Guys Always Win" trope is to a show like this. Chrysalis will never be used to her full potential because if she was, the heroes wouldn't stand a chance. I am interested, however, in hearing how you'd have Chryssi as a consistent returning antagonist without falling into the villain decay trap.
She lost her subjects, her magic-nullifying throne was blown into smithereens and, in spite of changelings being masters of disguise, they suck at infiltration. In other words, at this point, she probably couldn't suffer from any more villain decay even if she tried (though depending on the writers, she might find a way).
ENGARDE. Wrong? WRONG?! Hahaha. That's laughable. What she did was wrong? That's an UNDERSTATEMENT. SHE BASICALLY COMMITTED A CRIME. Messing with the space-time continuum is the WORST thing you can possibly do and it was made worse. By using it to screw up basically EVERYTHING. You don't deserve to be redeemed for doing something as horrible as that. BTW... As far as I'm concerned... (at least this is what I think in my 'headcanon' or whatever you guys like to call it) Luna was possessed. There's your obvious difference. Spoiler I'm waiting...
To be fair, if I went back in time with the intention to kill Hitler, I'd have good intentions, but it would screw everything up. Her intention wasn't to screw everything up, she was just very nearsighted at the time do to her lust for revenge. And don't tell me that's some trope-y nonsense seen in every story with a conflict. Well, it is, but it's a trope for a reason. Revenge is probably one of the best motivators, even if it's often not thought out well. Edit: No idea how my lit essay that I'm procrastinating on got attached to this post, but that's resolved now.
None of the alternate futures that appeared in the episode happened, because Starlight, when shown the possible consequence of what she was doing, chose to do the right thing instead of mindlessly pursuing revenge. Twilight Sparkle herself admitted that she wouldn't be able to beat Starlight on her own. Starlight could have easily done with the timeline as she wished, but she didn't. Instead, she chose to forgo her revenge because she realized that the fate of Equestria was more important than her personal grudge. In the end, it wasn't Twilight, or the Elements of Harmony, of some kind of magical deus ex machina that saved the day, but Starlight's own willingness to put the well-being of others ahead of her own desires.
Luna's own lust for power is what corrupted her! She was still Luna when she said, "There can only be one princess in Equestria. And that princess will be me." Only AFTER that did she become Nightmare Moon. Am I ringing any bells yet? She was eventually DEFEATED by the mane 6. Starlight made her OWN choice once Twilight appealed to her thus, restoring the timeline. If you ask me, I'd say they went out WAY farther on a limb to give Luna a second chance. And if you are going to laugh at what I have to say then at least present some hard evidence to back up whatever it is you have in your head. Also, spewing the same rhetoric over and over again doesn't change your opinion into a fact. For fear of this becoming any uglier than it already has, I'll just tip my hat and bid you good day, sir.
Luna was punished. She spent 1000 years on the moon. Starlight Glimmer got a pass or probation or something? Maybe she's on the Stanford swim team... On the crime thing, just to point something out... Murder and Attempted Murder are both crimes, regardless if the murder was accomplished or not. Destroying Time & Space vs Attempted Destroying Time & Space should be considered the same to me. It is kinda murder on a universal scale. Or for an unintentional crime as was posed - Manslaughter and Attempted Manslaughter are both crimes and both are punishable by law. I don't care either way anymore, but yeah, her judge should be disbarred.
Eh? I don't think that not allowing the good guy to win is a prerequisite for any antagonist to be used to their full potential. After all, someone's going to win or lose when all's said and done, and sometimes they both win or lose. What makes or breaks an antagonist is based less on their performance against the protagonist and more about how they fit within the context in general, because -- in the end -- they all function to oppose the protagonist. Whether they are simply better/stronger than the protagonist is not necessarily a bad thing, so long as it isn't too convenient and/or doesn't add anything (or anything much) beyond what it is. Even attributing the antagonist with (stereo)typical personality traits (egomania, megalomania, psychopathy/sociopathy, et cetera) isn't necessarily a bad thing either, since they are things that exist and what happens in another universe shouldn't be detrimental to another, unless there are multiple cases of reproduction in the same setting of a universe. That's mainly where the antagonists of MLP: FiM fail to be good antagonists, because they're all pretty much cut from the same cloth, and only the ones that get a chance at reformation ever attain anything that could be perceived as depth as characters. Now, with that in mind, and wanting Chrysalis to avoid finding something conveniently powerful enough to wash and repeat what the other antagonists and herself have done so many times before, as well as giving her depth from the only source that seems possible (because we certainly haven't gotten it from her past), here's my idea, based on her desire for revenge and why it is sought. By herself and without a conveniently-powerful/useful thingamabob and/or help from another being to aid her with any large undertaking, Chrysalis sets her sights on one target at a time, with the intention of tailoring her revenge for each one. She unerringly focuses on Starlight Glimmer first, who is largely blamed for her current predicament. Accordingly, she sets out in a disguise to befriend Starlight Glimmer, with the intention of betraying her once they're good friends (all while Starlight Glimmer's friendship lessons continue). In the meantime, Chrysalis creates misunderstandings and incidents that seem to be caused by Starlight Glimmer, in an attempt to make her lose her friends and standing in the community, and they often (or even exclusively) end up being a part of a friendship lesson, all while keeping up her act and being a supportive friend throughout it all. However, after a while, she notices that pretending to be nice to Starlight Glimmer doesn't seem to involve much pretending, and it's with mixed feelings that she enacts the final act of her revenge against her: the betrayal before the kill. While Starlight Glimmer initially denies the truth, she has made enough progress with her friendship lessons where she notices a sign that Chrysalis isn't being honest about being dishonest, and a fight ensues as she tries to reason with her to cross the line that divides enemy and friend, rather than being incapacitated enough by the betrayal for Chrysalis to follow through with her plan. Now Chrysalis is in denial, falling back on what had seemed so logical to her before, and -- perhaps -- there's also an element of fear toward change (for a touch of irony). Because Starlight Glimmer is reaching out with her heart, Chrysalis has no lack of energy, and realizing that creates a mental schism that causes her to escalate the power and ferocity of her attacks nearly to the point of becoming unhinged, in order to end the internal conflict more than the outer. All this leads to an epic, emotional battle, until things get so out of hand that the environment itself becomes a danger and Starlight Glimmer doesn't think twice about saving Chrysalis from one such danger. Chrysalis realizes that in Starlight Glimmer's rush to save her she wasn't simply being nice, but putting her own life in jeopardy for her sake. Their eyes meet in one of those eternal instances, and whether or not Chrysalis has her own transformation (I don't care either way), the apologetic relief in Starlight Glimmer's eyes finally spurs her into action without thought, saving her in turn. Afterward, she's still a bit confused about her feelings, and generally lost as far as the future is concerned, but this time she accepts Starlight Glimmer's hoof when she extends it. That about sums it up.
Perhaps. But the fact that it did practically destroy everything doesn't change how HORRIBLE what she did was. I'll take this as a win then. BTW... Just so everyone knows, if it wasn't obvious already... My opinion on these characters that are obviously jerks and/or NOT REDEEMED that, for whatever reason, this show seems to be expecting me to start liking with no reasoning WHATSOEVER (Discord, Trixie, Starlight) isn't changing. Likely EVER. The most appalling part of this, for me, is that this show is expecting me to like them with absolutely NO REASON WHATSOEVER. Yeah... I don't think so. With this I will end this as well. P.S.: I actually haven't even technically started playing Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice yet.
