@northern haste
 
The only time the elements used offensively was with Nightmare Moon and Discord. Messing with their magic caused the events that led to Twilight becoming an alicorn. And then they were returned to the Tree to act as batteries until this season.
 
The elements have been non factors for three seaons, and only actively helped defeat evil three times in all this time.

@Data Expunged  
a deus ex machina is something that comes out we were told about the elements of harmony before we knew any of the characters.  
also they were only used 3 times in the first Four Seasons

@Data Expunged  

 
You are way overblowing how often they used the elements.

Aw hell, the return of the overly convenient Deus Ex Machina Pieces. I hope to God that they wont use it as frequently as the first few seasons. I was not a bit fan of the endings/beginnings of them because of the fact that the situation is always resolved with the Elements of Harmony and, when the Tree of Harmony required them, I was glad. Now that they’re back, I’m afraid that conflicts will be resolved with them again like before and the conflicts will lose any sense of creativity that they recently acquired through these recent seasons.

It’s nice to see the ol’ harmony gang back together again…even if it means having to clean up their goofed-up friend’s mess…

@Background Pony #DDA7
 
Because its motherfucking Starswirl doing the retrieval, all the characters are surprised by the event, and they voice their concern that the Tree might not survive if the elements were to be lost.

@thorondragon They might get removed again, then put back after Chrysalis is dealt with.

@FlutterButterButt  
nah, elements need to go back to the tree.

Well, now they can deal with chrysalis in season 8

@Background Pony #D39B  
considering all we have seen of the tree thoguh, with its whole create shit at will and directing ponies, i wouldn’t be surprised if the tree would simply take on another form if it was destroyed. it seems to be it’s mo.

@Background Pony #DDA7  
>> Can anyone explain why it’s not a problem here?
 
Because here they are planning to sacrifice the tree. The entire point of keep the elements in the tree was about to keep it alive.

@Kaden Bayne Vanciel  
eh it could work. it is a land of magic and an ancient one at that.

@Background Pony #DDA7  
Think the primary issue in the comics was that they did not fuckin work in the comics, and in fact for compeltely idiotic reasons betrayed the mane six cause…. reasons.  
And even thinking that they had the foresight is giving them too much credit. That entire situation was shit.
 
Besides, the idea of using the elements may not have been something they wished to consider, especially so shortly after they were returned. And even here it is twilight just going along with her idol’s plan instead of realizing the issue of it.
 
And there is no double standard there considering she once worked closely with an eastern unicorn. Mythology mixes and changes all the damn time. THough yea it isn’t adressed in the show.
 
Greta’s redesin is just them being fuckin lazy though. All they would have to do is using god damn GOOGLE to look up what she looked like.Not to mention it is a crappy reference to the chicken halk at the same time.

Anyone remember issue 50 of the comics when they also retrieved the Elements, and all the fuss that caused (why didn’t they do this when Tirek and Discord were a problem)? Even aside from all the other complaints (their being worfed to let Starlight save the day), I’m not seeing anyone complain about retrieving them here. Can anyone explain why it’s not a problem here?
 
Did anything in the episode suggest they never removed the Elements before then, thus decanonizing it and making the comparison pointless?
 
Am I giving them too much credit by speculating they put the Elements in issue 50 AS foreshadowing (the very next comic arc tying into the season finale means they likely knew about this when 50 was being written) or so we wouldn’t complain as much (perhaps we were meant to expend our anger in the comic so we’re be too jaded to mine here)?
 
Dare I inquire if the comics are being held to a double standard of criticism (show messes up Meadowbrook’s race and ethnicity, we let it slide, comic mess up Greta’s design (headcanon’s they’re two different characters named Greta), well then everyone loses their minds!)?

@thorondragon No. I meant Titans, like in the 20-year-old Disney film, the first one I’ve seen in my life since I was a kid, “Hercules”. Titans that were sealed by either the pillars, or their ancestors, either before or after the pillars were born. The royal sisters, and others, can’t possibly have knowledge on their existence.

@Kaden Bayne Vanciel  
i would imagine they would be beings like celestia, luna, and discord. beings of elemental power. maybe even the predecessors.  
hell they could work with discord being the last one of them. maybe their powers were spread out amongst other beings.

@Kaden Bayne Vanciel
 
Considering when it was leaked, yes.

@SunnySide  
The tree was dying… (S4 Premiere)

WHAT WAS THE POINT OF PUTTING IT IN THE TREE THEN

@thorondragon Thanks. Still, I have a question regarding Equestria’s connections to Greek mythology. Does the land have Titans?

@Kaden Bayne Vanciel  
Its not cloning exactly. Its evolution.
 
The tree has evolved beyond Starswirl’s intentions. STarswirl was, and likely is sitll, an instrument of order. but order alone is not enough, In order to stop the pony of shadow, Starswirl sacraficed himself and his allies.  
But the tree is about creation and evolution. How many foes have become allies now? Because the tree is not Light. It is a mix of light and darkness, order and chaos.  
The pillars of light planted a seed in a chaotic forest that could not be controlled, and from this marraige of order and chaos, grew Harmony.
 
Here is something to think about. Twilight mentions how the elements would lose all thier strength and prehaps vanish if they banished the pony of shadows into the void…  
Celestia performed banishment magic too on nightmare moon. PERhaps not as powerful as the pony of shadows at his prime, but powerful.  
And when twilight found them once again, they were all but stone, lifeless. And they were broken. True the element of magic had seemingly been spared, but otherwise they were lost.  
And then the mane six ccame tgoether, and the leements were reborn, and their form changed to match them
 
Then when the elements were returned to the tree, the tre made a box. the box became a power for them to access agaisnt tirek, and the box itself became a castle, which thus created a map that the tree speaks through.
 
I bet that if the tree were to die, it would simply take on another form. A form more suited to what needed to be done next, and to promote harmony.

@ChuymaruZ  
Toy tie in that likely didnt do too hot and was forgotten.

@ChuymaruZ I’m wondering that as well. If we were to ask the writers about that, what would they say? Also, I think that in the MLP franchise, magic can replicate itself. So the original rainbow power might’ve been cloned, the cloned version becoming the cutie map. There might be working duplicates of the elements of harmony in a mine, with new elements like trust, faith, peace, hope, etc., already shaped like cutie marks of probably the CMC, Lyra, Bonbon, Coco, Vinyl, Octavia, Starlight, Sunset, the rest of the Unicorn five/six, and the rest of the keyholders. Those are my theories.

so… what happened with the rainbow power?…

@Gian Song Yim Is the leak tag necessary? The episode comes out tomorrow in the U.S. The series is U.S.-Canadian. And Derpibooru is French-German.