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The Pillars Were the REAL Villains

Clawdius

7,399 views

Star Swirl the Bearded and the Pillars of Old Equestria are taught as the ultimate heroes of pony history. But if you actually look at the lore, they created their own greatest threat, banished a friend out of pure ego, and left Equestria completely defenseless for a thousand years.

When they returned in Season 7, Star Swirl learned absolutely nothing — ready to repeat the exact same mistakes until Twilight Sparkle stepped in. Today, we’re taking a critical look at the legendary Pillars and why their self-righteousness caused more structural harm to Equestria than the villains they fought.

What do you think — were the Pillars just tragic figures of a harsher time, or were they arrogant hypocrites saved by Twilight? Let’s discuss in the comments!

#MyLittlePony #MLP #MLPAnalysis #StarSwirl #EquestriaLore

11 Comments

@EsmerayDreams-l3t 11 hours ago

I always felt iffy how quickly Stygian forgave the pillars, especially towards Starswirl. He felt worthless and was villainized without given a chance to explain. There could be a lesson that you don't necessarily have to immediately forgive someone but don't let what happened twist you into a monster. Stygian at least should be given time to heal and have therapy and Starswirl has to earn forgiveness. Him being forgiven easily still sets in that his actions and consequences can easily be swept under the rug. I know Stygian has wrote a book about his experiences but I feel like everything about all that was rushed and treated like a regular everyday issue like he wouldn't be traumatized by all of it.

@KamilZmarzly-im6jc 13 hours ago

One think, they were not aware of passing time after being banished with stygian
From their perspective they were fighting the Pony of Shadow, they commited the final sacrefice to fix what they created
And in next minute freaking Twilight releases it. No wonder why Starswirl was pissed

@OwenMiller-q2g 7 hours ago

Stygian honestly reminds me of Syndrome and his humble origins, just look at his first "monologue" before he got caught in the act,

"My name is not BUDDY!!! And it's not Incrediboy, either. THAT ship has sailed! All I wanted was to help you. I only wanted to help! And WHAT did you say to me?! ("Fly home, Buddy. I work alone.") It tore me apart, but I learned an important lesson: 'You can't count on anyone, ESPECIALLY your heroes! ...See? NOW you respect me, because I'm a THREAT.'"

@JaxsonEvans 10 hours ago

Were The Pillar Heroes FLAWED? Yes, but were they responsible for Stygian willingly giving into darkness and potentially endangering Equestria? No, like both sides are at fault.

@DezireThaniels 10 hours ago

Yeah star swirl did left Stygian hurt and I don't blame him.

@ViewerOnline101 8 hours ago (edited)

One minor mistake. When the Pillars and Stygian were sealed in Limbo, they didn't experience 1000 years. It was essentially a dreamless sleep state, where the moment between their sealing and release felt instantaneous to them. So they couldn't "reflect" during that time. Also, Starswirl was angry with and dismissive of Twilight because in her ignorance, she released the Pony of Shadows, the evil the Pillars essentially gave up their lives to stop. So he deemed that she didn't know what she was doing or talking about. It wasn't a pride thing. The Pillars were flawed heroes who made mistakes.

@Gami-licious 3 days ago

I think my only problem with this video is that you don't bring up their character arcs after the season 7 finale. They slowly grow to adjust to the new world and change their views. There's an entire episode where Rockhoof struggles with being out of time, going as far as to want to turn himself to stone because he doesn't think he belongs in the modern age and is just a relic of the past that belongs in a museum. This video portrays them as heavily misguided, which was true, but also ignores their character development afterwards.

Can't wait for the video next week where you claim chancellor neighsay was actually in the right.