Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight has a few similarities with the My Little Pony's Friendship is Magic series that I want to address, mainly that Discord and the Joker are both "agents of chaos" in their individual worlds. Outwardly both characters are the antagonists and carry the plot whenever they are featured. This brings me to an existential query of if chaos can upheave the status quo, should we embrace these harbingers of disruption or shun them? To simplify this concept I will use the character development of Discord from MLP and his friendship with Fluttershy to contrast his actions against Batman verse the Joker in the Dark Knight film series. One changed to be a valuable peacekeeper, while the other became a terrorist. There's begin.
To describe who is Discord in the MLP universe, he is a character of disharmony and an instigator that has magical capabilities. He first appears in the second season of the show and is subdued by the "mane six," despite his best efforts. Discord begins in the series as a villain and evolves to be a much-needed asset to the leads by way of his magic and knowledge after Fluttershy offers him the stability of friendship that he lacked in his life. Discord as a reformed character does have some lapses into the underworld every so often but always returns to his new group of friends. For me, Discord represents the positive pathways that change can be used toward like technology, social reform, and quality of life improvements. This sort of change makes the world a better place when properly harnessed for the greater good, but does tend to spring forth from uncertain sources at times, which can be fear-inducing when not reined in for beneficial means.
On the other side of the coin that is change is the Joker, formerly known as Mr. Jack Napier. He is the representation of change that turns into continuous havoc. The Joker is unhappy with his lot and uses criminal enterprises to achieve sorted exploits. He wants to destroy the status quo in order to stop the oppression that it has unintentionally dealt him. The Joker goes from a causality of the system to a bigger problem for the world to handle. Disruptive change can have a purpose, but it can not carry on for too long without demolishing all that is good and becoming toxic. The Joker is too invested in utilizing dark deeds to make much use of to Gotham City in any productive means. This all the more provokes Batman to halt Joker's catalytic role in the city's anarchy. Ultimately, the Joker is the disastrous element of change that makes change something to be feared because it does not save or protect, but instead takes away what was once cherished and replaces it with danger and uncertainty.
Discord as a character is like the Joker in that both began as a means of unrest and destruction. Yet one became a respected friend and the other a thorn in the side of the law-abiding. Does the city of Gotham have an elitist problem, yes does the Joker address it in a productive manner, no he simply creates more causalities much like his former self to be disenchanted and left to suffer. What are your feelings on agents of chaos? Do they cause more harm than good, what historical chaos lead to positive change in the world? Leave your comments in the Conspiracy Meow! site forums.