A good comparison of similar events.
 
( Also, Discord and Glimmer are the ‘rogue elements’ )

Ehhh, don’t see it.

@KnightMysterio  
the 7th was Spike. Discord wasn’t even mentioned as one of the 7 friends she had….nor did he even appear at the end.

@joethehero2
 
Starlight’s on permanent parole. She has six (seven if you count Discord) parole officers keeping an eye on her at all times now.

I still don’t see how these are the same, or even similar.

First: At least Discord was already being punished when he was reformed (stone curse/having his magic drained by Tirek).
 
Second: At least when they did this ending in Legend of Korra, it was part of Korra’s character development (changing from a fighter to a diplomat) and it was either implied or outright stated that Kuvira was going to prison for unleashing a giant robot with a spirit energy laser cannon. At least have Starlight have to do community service to her old town.

@Red-Supernova
 
So then what constitutes good for those who are in the grey, the result or the motive? If the result, then your Discord with being a tool to teach a lesson. If Motive, then your Starlight where she wants equality and happiness but well…you see what happened. Discord clearly in the grey area and he’s not going to go full “white and light” since people had ulcers during that episode for that reason.

@drumpowa  
Well the thing is despite my complaints about Discord, I don’t really hate him as much as I claim to.  
I thought he would be the perfect candidate for a reoccurring villain since because it feels so satisfying to see him get his ass handed. But then Keep Calm and Flutter On happened and while I was upset, I tried to see how he could be written as a good guy. BUT the writers haven’t convinced me in any way why I should like him as a good guy.
 
@Trickquestion  
Yes! And that’s why I think Chrysalis has better redemption potential than what Discord ever had.

@Cirrus Light  
Well, Twi has tried to put Discord under brainwashing forceful reformation.

@Cirrus Light  
Or they could be more shallow then Pinkie because they were literally born yesterday.
 
Regardless, you have bested me in this debate.

@Trickquestion  
To be fair, because of the Chinese Room Argument you can’t prove that they were sentient. I mean, you can’t prove that anything is sentient, but I think the fact that they’re merely magical illusions or reflections is kind of implied by it being the “mirror” pool, and how they were so much more shallow than Pinkie.

@Cirrus Light  
You are right, it does get tricky once both sides are convinced they are fighting for justice, but in situations like this my first point of referral is who has the most human right’s abuses under their belt.
 
Remembers the time Twilight murdered all those Pinkie Pie clones
 
Well played sir, you’ve left me without an argument to stand on.

@RatioDaze  
@Trickquestion
 
I think Ratio brings up a really good point. From Starlight’s perspective, it’s Twilight that should’ve been punished to teach Twilight empathy about having her kingdom’s core precepts torn apart and her reign stolen out from under her.
 
Both of them were ideologically opposed, and thought they were fighting for a greater good. So I don’t know if it’s really fair to punish Starlight, on those grounds.
 
I will admit, though, once she started making it a personal vendetta out to take away Twilight’s friends… Well, actually, that kind of is Starlight punishing Twilight by doing the same thing to her - removing her friends. So in some sense, Starlight was actually just doing exactly what you mentioned justice is about…

@Trickquestion  
Originally Discord was a force of evil character, and he was reformed and redeemed. Who knows, maybe one day Chrysalis will get a similar treatment. the series isn’t over, so they may do more with these characters.

@RatioDaze  
I could agree with you on Sombra since he was explicitly a discount-bin Sauron but I don’t really see the distinction here. If anything, I think Discord, the self-proclaimed “spirit of chaos” who warps the physical landscape around him, is closer to the idea of “force of evil” than Chrysalis, a deceiver who had to verbally and emotionally manipulate herself and her followers into position to enact her plan, which had a clear motive behind it.

@Trickquestion  
I meant more they try to push the idea as a lesson for people watching, that others can learn from their actions and be redeemed. in the cases of Tirek, Sombra, and Chrysalis, they’re seen as less normal characters and more as forces of evil. Those whose only purpose is to do harm. No they aren’t seen as redeemable, but their roles are a bit different, and weren’t made to be relatable to the audience.

@drumpowa  
I can forgive how fast some things happen in this show given the time restrictions they have. they had to fit a lot of stuff into 42 minutes of showtime, so sometimes things can feel rushed. it’s even more apparent in the musical episodes where more than half of the episode is songs

@RatioDaze  
The biggest problem is that it all happened way too fast. Which for all of my Starlight defending, I do agree with. I’m not spewing venom but it is valid.

@RatioDaze  
The show doesn’t really push the idea that ANYONE is redeemable. I mean the idea is not even brought up in regards to Tirek, Sombra, Chrysalis or even the FlimFlam brothers. Who gets redeemed on this show is pretty much entirely dependent on character popularity and toy possibility, not any kind of consistent moral system.

I think it makes sense that Starlight wasn’t punished for her actions. this show really pushes the idea that anyone is redeemable, and that a lot of the time, it’s better to show empathy and kindness to those who do wrong. To relate to them and try to show them the error of their ways. No one is perfect, and mistakes can be learned from.
 
Everyone has a reason for their actions, and people don’t usually think of themselves as the villains in their own stories. Starlight believed that she was setting things right with Twilight by destroying her friendships, because she felt that Twilight destroyed what she had with her village. Giving equal punishment for what she lost.
 
There were a lot of things that Starlight did wrong, but it shows that Twilight feels that with a little guidance and friendship, she can be set on a better path.

@drumpowa  
I don’t care what his sense of morality is, I just want him to stop ruining everything around him.

@Trickquestion  
I’ve always felt like his morality, is still somewhat off the traditional black and white. So even as he learns, he has to get on a more traditional good/evil scale.

@Cirrus Light  
He has his moment, sure, but he didn’t change afterwards. He’s still enough of a callous bastard to throw the mail pony in the dimension hole for crying out loud! That’s pretty indefensibly evil the way I see it. Discord had his little pity party, but he either didn’t suffer enough to actually get through to him what it’s like to be on the receiving end of his powers, or he’s a hopeless sociopath and needs to go back to stone.

@Trickquestion  
Discord was sorry with the Tirek deal because he was betrayed, just as he’d betrayed his new friends, and even made a little speech about friendship and how he “see now” what a mistake he’d made, and gave Twi something that his sincerity caused to become magically charged enough to become a key to defeating Tirek - That’s pretty solid proof of his honest reformation. If it wasn’t sincere, if he hadn’t learned his lesson, I doubt the gold thingy would’ve become magical.
 
The rest of your points are pretty good, though. They require a solid level of personal interaction with the power figure and the condemned, though. Fortunately, Equestria has lovable power heads like Twilight, Cadence and Celestia. Unlike reality…

@Cirrus Light  
Well, as kind of a general response to 1 and 2, punishment shouldn’t simply be about making people even and then letting them be on their way. Punishment needs to be a prelude to MAKING someone better, to, in a sense, tear them down before building them back up. I also think punshiment should sort out people who are capable of changing and those who aren’t. Upon being punished, someone who is capable of changing should have a moment of realization that this is how it feels to be victimized, and that should make them regretful of their past actions and desire repetence. People beyond helping will rationalize away their guilt, blame their punisher for delivering their just rewards, or even blame their victims. So yes, sometimes punishment makes people bitter, but those people are beyond helping.
 
That’s why the shows approach to reformation actually upsets me so much, because I do believe some people can be reformed, but the show is just horrible at it. Look at Discord, who even after his experience with Tirek has clearly learned nothing about how much his behavior impacts people around him and by my standards is simply impossible to ever make good, and people beyond change are wastes of time and compassion.