Unpopular opinion time

@Beau Skunky  
Dying would have been great, but i would have settled for him losing his powers.
 
The fuckups are just too big to functionally act like they never happened.

@WyrmSpawN  
I think killing Discord off would just piss people off, and I don’t think he deserves death. If he does, then frankly so do the villainous trio, and many other characters.

Narf.

@WyrmSpawN  
@Beau Skunky  
I think it’s fair to say that Discord has always been a divisive character and he lacked significant character development throughout the series.  
I like his potential more than his presentation.

@Beau Skunky  
Him to either not do what he did, or to lose his powers premenantly as a result.

@Beau Skunky  
Deserve is a tricky word - a heroic sacrifice on his part might have worked or not. (It would at least have made a contrast to the faked one in the premiere.)

I guess the final message on Discord is that you can’t argue with God.

@WyrmSpawN  
Speaking of God, Discord x Celestia is a weird ship

@WyrmSpawN  
Him dying would’ve been a bit extreme so I would’ve settled with depowering him.

@Myoozik  
He gets depowered and turns into a pony. For no other reason than no one would see it coming.

@Beau Skunky  
Agreed. Just like how if Discord deserves so many second chances then so does the trio.

@Brass Beau  
Yeah, but it also sends a slightly off message.

@Latecomer  
The shows “come to our way of thinking or die” implication isn’t one?

@Brass Beau  
Well, generally it’s just the evil ones who die.

Even when Discord was a villain I don’t think he was that evil. Lord Tirek assaulted crowds of ponies. stole their magic, and was a destructive, literally power-hungry, tyrant who’d of left Equestria a burning wasteland if he won.  
Chrysalis was a war-mongering queen, whom tried to steal some other girl’s beloved, struck fear into her own subjects/children forcing them to be her army, (poor baby Thorax) and tried to conquer Equestria.  
Sombra was a war-mongering king, whom enslaved an entire rare race of pony.
 
Discord was a cosmic troll, whom made it rain chocolate milk, made pigs fly, and make Big Mac think he is a dog. Say what you want about him, but I see no implication he was a mass-murderer like other villains, and such.  
The fanbase’s fanfics, and such honestly exaggerated how villainous he was, he was almost nothing more then a comical nuisance like Q or Batmite, or Mr. Mxptlk.
 
Also, I don’t think he needs to of done a self-sacrifice, or be permanenty depowered, or turn into a normal pony, (ugh) to redeem himself, and that might be too much. He already risked his life/safety several times in the finale. It’s like you guys only notice his bad traits, and never any of his good. (In “What About Discord” despite it’s confusing nature was nice to see him get along with the mane characters, and I liked it when he befriended Spike & Mac. In the comics I liked it when he befriended the CMC too, shame that never happened in the show.)

@Beau Skunky  
Considering the way he was remembered by the ponies, the fact that he was willing to brainwash the M6, the fact that he didn’t get the hint that he must have been causing much damage from seeing Celestia and Luna constantly try and stop him, In one of Starlight’s alternate timelines using Celestia and Luna as his playthings and seeming to have no qualms putting the students in danger “in A Matter of Principles” and thats not even counting his regressions. I think he was just as evil as the rest.
 
Despite that I used to actually like his character and more then happy with him being reformed until he just kept doing bad things and getting away with them.
 
I think this noticing bad traits thing came up after we saw the way Cozy, Tirek and Chrysalis’s were handled as he was used as a form of comparison. Because if someone like him can be reformed then surely they deserve at least a try.

@Background Pony #7CFD  
He was a jerk, but I still feel those actions don’t seem as evil as the others.
 
I also disagree that he “gets away with everything,” considering as I mentioned he’s been called out by the Mane 6/Celestia, and even Fluttershy, (he’s still learning) and has had comeuppance, like Tirek betraying him, or getting sick, blasted by Starlight, or something. Unlike other villains, he also has genuinly felt bad for doing wrong things before.
 
As for the villainous trio’, they don’t really come off as even wanting to reform IMO, nor ever felt bad for anything they ever did, (Chrysalis even snubbed Starlight, when given the chance) did way worse things then him, and what’s done with them is done. No amount of begging to reform them is going to change that.
 
Honestly even if they were reformed, then half the fanbase would STILL get mad, considering all the fans complaining about “too many reformations.” So no matter what, fans would get upset over their fate, and honestly we can’t reform every villain.
 
Also, what about Sombra? I hardly see any fans’ heart-bleeding over him, and he suffered a worse fate IMO. (In fact, I recall fans got mad when the IDW comics tried to make him more sympathetic, and such.)

@Beau Skunky  
Dunno. Post reformation, yea, he’s a horribly irresponsible jerk. But pre-reformation? I’d say he used to be bad to the core. He really showed no redeeming values before Fluttershy worked on him.
 
As for comeuppance, compared to again, the trio he got off very lightly. Getting called out could barely be considered a punishment and he seemed to shrug off Starlight’s banishment spell quite easily. In this regard many are again, using him as comparison.
 
As for the trio wanting to reform. Discord literally mocked Fluttershy for wanting to reform almost as soon as he was released. He most certainly didn’t want it and frankly, I think his reign of chaos was just as bad as whatever the trio had wanted. I most certainly wouldn’t want to live under him during his more evil days. And again, people are emphesizing his bad points to show why they felt that the trio’s treatment was unfair and wrong and while there would be dissent. Also I think its worth noting that Chrysalis almost accepted Starlight’s hoof. I don’t think she was in the mood to bluff at the time.
 
I think that the backlash wouldn’t be nearly as bad had they reformed because even for those that hated them, they would still get a happy ending for the heroes. And really, with Frienemies and the whole learning to work to together thing they had a far better setup for reformation then previous villains like Starlight and Discord ever did.
 
I for one was happy to see him back when Celestia announced his reformation, but his later regressions and how those three were treated in comparison really soured him for me.

@Beau Skunky  
Oh, he’s rarely malicious (though he totally can be), but he has a total disrespect for the stability of the world and the power to change it at a whim without caring about how if affects others. I don’t think he murdered any ponies during his reign, but I also think the death rate balooned.
 
And his mistakes in Season 9 are simply too big to forgive lightly, especially as forgiveness is in short supply from him. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stoning spell” and so forth.

@Latecomer  
As I said before, his mistakes in S9 had no malicious intent, bit him in the butt, and seemed to of been done to ensure he never does anything like this again after the finale, giving his character closure, and a lesson to learn.
 
@Background Pony #7CFD  
I think you, and others are taking that one brief moment in “Frenemies” where they “almost learn the lesson of the week” too seriously, as honestly the way they shrug it off afterward comically made it seem like a joke, and a sign that they disliked anything “nice,” and wouldn’t wanna reform. And honestly that doesn’t make their other actions, (which were worse then Discord’s arguably) any more easily forgiveable. (I can also say, if you can’t forgive Discord, how can you forgive them?)
 
I remember fans cheered when Chrysalis snubbed Starlight, because they were genuinely afraid of her reforming, and I’ve seen pics here of Cozy or Chrysalis begging to be NOT reformed uploaded by fans here, so yes, there would be drama if they did reform.  
Heck, I remember some fans being against not only Discord reforming at first, but also characters like Sunset, Diamond/Spoon, Trixie, and especially Starlight. So there’s actually quite a few against remorming characters even if it makes sense or is canon.

@Beau Skunky  
Comedic or not it still happened. The trio still had to be snapped out of a potential revelation. Its canon and its more potential for reformation from them then pre-reformation Discord ever got apart from maybe that “I don’t petrify ponies” line that on hindsight also makes him out to be a hipocrit.
 
And judging from what it would be like living under Discord’s reign, I think his actions were equally as bad as theirs. At least he actually got to have his reign of terror. I’m not saying their actions are any more forgivable then pre-reform Discrod’s. I’m saying that if Discord deserved so many chances then so do those three and the fact that Discord came off as such a huge hipocrite and bad person made many hate him.
 
There would be drama, but I doupt it would have been as big as it is now. I found that there were more images and predictions and memes of them reforming then those that said that they shouldn’t. Because them being reformed means that the people that hated them could still get happy endings for their liked characters.
 
And again, none of the other characters reforming had as much drama as this.

@Beau Skunky  
Reformation wasn’t really a problem for me. Discord wasn’t really a problem for me. Even the fact that Cozy wasn’t even offered redemption at the end of season 8 didn’t bother me.  
The wasted potential of the villains and poor handling of redemption arcs overall is what bothers me.  
Discord was and for the most part remained a jerk. That’s fine. But he was used as the antagonist of almost every episode he was in. That got old fast. That episode where he wanted to host tea? We needed more like that.  
And as for the villainous trio? Turning them to stone felt like an ass pull. Maybe for Tirek, but I have trouble believing Thorax wouldn’t want to try and reform Chrysalis. And what did Cozy’s parents think of their daughter getting such severe punishment?  
There’s some unfortunate implications if you think about them. The ending was fine for me until I did that.

@Background Pony #7CFD  

 
Actually, Starlight reforming is still getting drama to this day. Ironically, even some whom are wishing the Trio being reformed want her dead.
 
I dunno, it just feels like a double-standard that some fans are like, “This villain deserves redemption, but this canon one doesn’t.” It almost comes off like some of them are contrarians wanting to go against canon, no matter what. (Not saying they all are, but some fans are.) So I believe that, and the anti-reformation crowd, would’ve been upset regardless.
 
Though, despite my arguments here, truthfully I wouldn’t of been against them reforming, if it was done well, but there just wasn’t enough time left in the series to develop that, without it feeling like a random last second thing.
 
And technically, they aren’t dead, so someday, maybe they can be paroled from their rocky fate. So fans are still free to think that. (At least, they didn’t die like Sombra or Storm King.)
 
@Brass Beau  
I suppose they could’ve done more with them, and not left those things hanging, but what’s done is done.  
I think a staffer on Twitter implied Cozy might not have parents. (Maybe she killed them?) So I do wonder about that too.
 
I think Discord’s had some sympathetic, and nice moments, (in fact, I felt the Mane 6 were kinda rude to him sometimes, like in the S4 finale, “An’ don’t come back!” So I almost don’t blame Discord for siding with Tirek) but I agree more episodes like that would’ve been better.

@Beau Skunky  
Well, I think we’ve come to a reasonable consensus.  

@Brass Beau
 
The implications are way beyond “unfortunate.”
 
Putting Cozy in Tartarus was straight up fucked up.