Sup brahs? This is my first editorial on EQD, which is really exciting! First there were soapboxes, like regular episodes, and now the editorials are like full-on specials! Thanks Seth for this opportunity! I bet you're thinking Spike is gonna be my first editorial! *BUZZ* Wrong answer! Not yet! I wanna start off with these three! ;)
The Villain Trio consists of Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis - who have set Equestria into a state of disarray and close to destruction, and are now bound in stone until further notice. The series pretty much ended with three of them not being reformed, or show any signs of reformations, by the looks of the finale. Even though they were really close to being reformed in Frenemies, Chrysalis snapped them all out of it. Are they completely immune to reformation, or is there a chance for them?
Let's get into each villain and see!
Queen Chrysalis
Before the attack on the royal wedding, she said it was a day that she dreamt since she was "small". I'm not sure if she meant that literally or just saying that - whoever trained Chrysalis must have taught her the ways of the "Dark Changeling", so if it's something she learned from early childhood and stuck with that thought all the way to adulthood, changing her beliefs would be VERY difficult to do.
It's not impossible, but realistically, the odds are pretty slim. Think Darth Maul from Star Wars, he was taught the ways of the Sith during a very young age, and never showed signs of reformation, always obsessed with revenge and the death of the Jedi. She's no Darth Vader, who turned during adulthood and had some good in him. So there is really NO way for the ponies to reform her, at least not them directly.
However, Chrysalis does have a soft spot for her fellow changelings. The whole reason she ordered the attack on Canterlot is to feed her subjects with love. So even though she hates the ponies with a burning passion, she does show care for her changelings and is good leader to them, and always thinking about what's best for them (or so she thought). Thorax did mention that the changelings are ALWAYS hungry when they keep stealing love.
Did Chrysalis know there was another way? That, my friends, is unknown. But Thorax learned of the other way through Spike and the crystal ponies, and the changelings accepted the new way. Chrysalis didn't though, and because of her hate for the ponies, Chrysalis might have thought that the ponies brainwashed them. One thing's for sure, she is too proud to admit her wrongdoings, and all of her changelings going against her doesn't help.
Chrysalis has sworn revenge on Starlight and the ponies, but it was never said that she wanted revenge on the changelings. In the season 9 premiere, she introduced herself to Tirek and Chrysalis as "Queen of the Changelings, or [she] will be", that means she had plans to return to her hive. Because of her loneliness, Chrysalis started to slowly become insane - she might have always been evil and self-centered, but what she doesn't realize is that she NEEDS her changelings!
So, if Chrysalis has any hope to reform, only the changelings can do it. Of course she'd hesitate because of her former subjects' new colors and new attitudes, but it is more likely for her to listen to them than ANY of the ponies. I know Thorax and most of the changelings weren't happy under her rule, but I'm sure someone like Thorax could show mercy towards her, counting that he was an exiled changeling himself at one point. Not to mention, Pharynx and the renegade changelings did miss her, and probably still do.
Has the changelings ever had the chance to TALK to Chrysalis ever since their transformation stage? No, not once. So we don't know what would happen if they just talked.
Maybe Flufflepuff needs to be there for her to reform!
Lord Tirek
Tirek is very disloyal, untrustworthy, and has a huge thirst for power, though he seems to have a soft-spot for birds (as seen in Summer Sun Setback), and for family, because he misses his grandma, and judging from the season 9 finale, Tirek also has "daddy issues" - always wanting to impress his dad, King Vorak, but never got his approval. So basically, we got more lore from Tirek than Chrysalis and Cozy, which makes it easier to think of a possible reformation story for him!
Of course, within the comics, Tirek had a a huge amount of respect towards another centaur, Sendak the Elder, who was pretty much the one responsible for Tirek's will to take over Equestria in the first place. He was probably the "father-figure" he always wanted, since Vorak neglected him.
Judging from the season 5 finale, once he got all powerful, he laid waste to everything. Tirek obviously has alot of pent-up anger from being in Tartarus for so long and everyone he trusted abandoning him. If you think about it, Scorpan is actually just as much of a bad guy as Tirek for different reasons.
Scorpan's intentions meant well for the ponies, but he still abandoned his brother. We can assume that Scorpan NEVER came back for him, even for a visit. How do we think Scorpan feels about leaving his brother in a foreign prison? How would this affect his life back home? Would this mean a destruction of peace between the centaurs and the gargoyles?
We can plainly see how Tirek feels about the whole ordeal - but we never got Scorpan's side of the story, and the princesses' story on Scorpan and Tirek might not be 100% accurate because they're only offering THEIR point of view.
The relationship between the brothers was always a little shaky, but they still used to trust eachother and had respect for one other, but only to an extent.
In my personal opinion, I believe Tirek might be the easiest out of the three to reform. It takes Scorpan making peace with him, and King Vorak finally accepting his son and being proud of him, that could finally have Tirek stop his life of destruction and power. Tirek will still hate the ponies, but it won't make him a threat anymore. He'd just leave with his family and never return. Scorpan alone, however, it might be really hard for it to reform though. Tirek would still hold a HUGE grudge on him; but he's still his brother, and if Scorpan proves himself, he might win Tirek back - not easily, it would still be very difficult, but it could work!
Cozy Glow
Cozy Glow is the hardest to figure out, because we have NOTHING about her backstory. We just know she’s a clever and manipulative filly for her age. We don’t even know what happened to her parents.
However, she is a filly, and foals (like children) can easily learn stuff. What made her this way? Is she a spoiled brat that wants more, or has friendship always failed her to the point she became crazy and wants to get back at everyone who wronged her?
It really disappoints me that this character has no known motivation, other than just wanting power. She is the first to wanting to accept friendship from Tirek and Chrysalis, and probably planned on betraying them, but she was very motivated to becoming friends with Tirek after her imprisonment. Not sure if she really wanted to be friends with him, or just wanted to torment him for amusement, but it did seem possible that she actually admired the guy!
Cozy Glow is the middle-ground between the three in terms of the odds of reforming her. She's not as evil as Chrysalis, but doesn't have any known redeeming factors like Tirek. She's basically a mystery box. There are possibilities for Cozy to have a sympathetic backstory, but she always keeps it to herself to not show any weakness, since the only weakness she shows is fake weakness - or getting very close to being reformed in Frenemies.
We dunno her odds of her being reformed until we know her backstory, but knowing how FIM is, if we learn her backstory, it will definitely be sympathetic! Maybe it woulda been easier to accept her current fate if she was considered a "small adult pony", since children have more hope at changing than adults do.
Conclusion
So even with them imprisoned, their fate is NOT set in stone (pun intended)! If we know the Mane Six, they'll attempt to reform the three - at least Fluttershy would consider it! They're not gonna stay that way forever. Discord was thought to be trapped in stone and stay evil forever, but look how THAT turned out! Their statues didn't appear in the future scenes of The Last Problem, so their fate between the flashback scenes of that episode and the future scenes are not sealed!
I know most of the brony fandom don't care about reformation, and even if the Mane Six did attempt to reform them, there's a chance that maybe only one of them will reform, and the rest would stay evil - or two get reformed and one stays evil - or they all get reformed, or they all stay evil! We dunno for sure. But one thing's for sure: friendship isn't gonna be enough, and the Mane Six shouldn't be directly involved. The only ones who could reform them, are the ones from their past! Or in Cozy Glow's sake, find someone who really relates to her problem, whatever that problem is.
