Celestia Character Analysis

After I posted the first few pages of Twilight’s Dollhouse, I received a few comments regarding how nothing in this story should or could have happened. Why? Because Princess Celestia should have seen it coming and stopped it.

Th following is going to describe my headcanon of Celestia, both of the princess we see on the show and in the fanfic. This is my personal interpretation of the character, and the one Kaidan chose for the story Dollhouse.

You don’t have to agree, but maybe this character analysis will help you understand the Twilight’s Dollhouse Celestia a little better. And who knows, maybe you’ll gain insight of the canon character, as well.

   Thoughts on Canon Celestia

Princess Celestia, so powerful she can move heavenly bodies. She is seen as a demi-god, if not the avatar of a goddess. Her hoofprint on Equestria is so profound that you could say she and her sister shaped it into what it is on Friendship is Magic. At least, that is how most of the ponies see her, not to mention the fans.

This Princess Celestia is a fraud.

Celestia in the show has never been all powerful, especially not enough so to be called a goddess by any standards. Her seemingly uncanny knowledge of what is going on and having the ‘pieces’ in place to counteract any threat to Equestria or herself is not proof of omnipotence, but good leadership and careful planning.

Many assume that because she can move the sun (and the moon in her sister’s absence) she must be extremely powerful. And, while this is probably true, we see numerous examples of her being ANYTHING but all-powerful in the show. Her initial capture by Nightmare Moon in the pilot episode, her inability to help when Discord steals the Elements of Harmony, and even Chrysalis makes quick work of her at Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding.

Some might argue that Celestia was acting weak in order to bring new heroes to light, like Twilight, the rest of the mane six, Cadance, and Shining Armor. In the case of Nightmare Moon I would say you might be right. Perhaps even with Discord. But when it comes to Chrysalis, the changelings were threatening not just her, her family, and the mane six. The changelings were going after the citizens of Canterlot. This is not the time to simply sit back and let the heir(s)-in-training take the wheel. This is where you shift into high gear and kick bug-pony flank, which she certainly tried and failed to do.

The only way that argument would be wrong is if she willing to put her citizens at risk, but someone willing to put the lives of their subjects at risk like that would not be so loved or revered by the ponies. So we are throwing out that particular thought.

Plus, if you look at the original fight between Celestia and Nightmare Moon when Twilight watches the past, Celestia was getting her hindquarters handed to her quite readily by her sister. While she was trying to talk down her sister and not harm her, she still needed the Elements in order to banish her to the moon. Why should a pony who can move astral bodies need the Elements of Harmony to banish another to the moon? Perhaps Luna is equally as powerfull and Celestia needed the extra 'boost,' but then: Why couldn't Luna simply teleport herself back?

My personal thoughts on this is thus: Celestia and Luna’s special talent is to move the sun and moon. Otherwise, I would say they are only slightly more powerful than other ponies because of the fact that they hold all pony powers: Unicorn magic, Pegasus Flight, Earthpony strength, and the special Alicorn magic, though what that entails has only been hinted at in the show.

And by looking at this we can say that she is not all powerful, which means we have to look at her reign in a different light.

And I pose to you that her greatness comes from learning from her own mistakes as well as a thousand years of political savvy, a millennium's worth of knowledge, and the wise decision to prepare for the future.

Celestia is the Princess of Equestria. We know she and Luna took the throne after they defeated Discord, however their acquisition of power is unclear. We don’t know if the ponies asked them to lead after their victory, or if they simply usurped the throne from the agent of chaos. We do know that she is a highly respected ruler among her people and has maintained power over her thrown for at least a thousand years. What is more, we are unsure as to whether or not Celstia and Luna were born alicorns or if they, too, earned it.

We know that there is a substantial military force in Equestria - the guard, led by Shining Armor (even if, so far, they have proven to be about as useful as storm troopers). We know she encourages study of both magic and the sciences, as evidence by Twilight Sparkle and her academy for gifted students. We know that she specifically trained and guided Twilight to become an alicorn in order to be a sort of reinforcement (and later, a front line) to herself, Cadance, and after the pilot episode, Luna.

This shows that Celestia’s leadership prowess comes from one especially important task: preparation.

Celestia knew that Nightmare Moon would return, and that she would need somepony to wield the Elements of Harmony in her place. She knew this would be coming for a thousand years. She also had to know that Discord would eventually be released from his statuesque prison, due to the fact that someone would either release him or that the entropy he wields would eventually break down the magic holding him captive. That wasn’t a matter of if, just when. And any country with competent leadership will be prepared for an invasion at any time.

Nor is she, as some seem to think, that she is a particularly great at reading and understanding ponies. While I agree that with a life more than a thousand years long she should know more than the average about the general pony condition, I’d like to pose that the opposite is true. She may see the various emotions and motivations of her citizens, but being so old and involved in running her kingdom she has become somewhat detached and only sees the surface.

Now, I’m not saying that Princess Celestia is a sociopath, far from it. She interacts well with ponies, and does her best to be understanding and kind. However, the argument that ‘she would see the signs,’ even after her long lifespan has been disproven MULTIPLE times in the show. Allow me to list a couple of examples.

The first example I’d like to mention is during the Royal Wedding episode. The only pony, and I mean, the only pony that held ANY suspicion that Cadance was not who she claimed to be was Twilight. Not Cadance’s personal staff, not her beloved Shining Armor, and not her adoptive aunt Princess Celestia. And while I know it was exaggerated because MLP is for all intents and purposes a kids show, the signs were all there and glaringly obvious.

The second and most obvious example is dictated in the beginning of the very first episode. She did not see that Luna felt shunned by the ponies that they ruled. She did not see that her very sister was falling into an ever-deepening pit of depression from feeling cut-off and unloved. And while it is not explicitly stated, there are hints in the show that, perhaps, Celestia herself didn’t give Luna the attention that she needed. Celestia’s inability to notice this is what allowed Nightmare Moon to come to power in the first place.

And I would like to discuss one last thought regarding canon Celestia before moving on to her role in Twilight’s Dollhouse: the joke that goes around that she makes Twilight and her friends do all the work.

Frankly, this not true at all. For the most part, Twilight has been focusing on her studies of friendship since day one while only occasionally being asked to save the kingdom. Princess Celestia, on the other hand, runs the kingdom. Or rather, I imagine she manages it.

Celestia has been running the kingdom for a millenia, and who knows how old she is past that. We’ve already discussed the fact that while she is powerful, she is not the most powerful creature in Equestria and that what she IS is smart. Instead of taking on issues herself, she sends the best and the brightest to take on the challenges Equestria faces. This way she can stay behind and continue to run the kingdom, not allowing the day-to-day to be completely thrown off by one obstacle or another. What is more, this allows her to see the big picture, put ponies where they need to be to ‘work their magic’ so to speak, and only leave the sidelines when all other options have failed.

This is what a great manager does. They let those who are competent enough to handle the problems take them on while they themselves take on more all-encompassing and potential future problems.

So the long and short of it is: Princess Celestia is not an all-powerful Goddess, but a wise and benevolent leader.

    Celestia in Twilight’s Dollhouse
    (Warning: Minor Spoilers)

Withstanding the invasion of a changeling army. No big.

Seeing to the downfall of the avatar of chaos. Twice.

Thwarting her sister’s plan to usurp her throne and bring about everlasting night. Foals Play.

Living thousands of years and seeing those around her die? Comes with the territory.

Dealing with any death should be a breeze, then. Right? Not necessarily.

We already discussed canon Celestia’s inability to see emotional turmoil and extreme changes in behavior. In a situation where a pony would be expected to grieve, it isn’t a surprise that a pony with such low emotional intelligence would miss the signs of a potential suicide. Especially when she would be grieving, herself.

Many argue that Celestia, having lived for ages, would be used to death. Kaidan and I both agree this is the case. The death of the average pony no longer phases her, and this would mostly be due to the fact that she distances herself. But the ponies who died in Twilight’s Dollhouse were not average ponies. There were her niece and nephew-in-law. One still young and the other supposed to be as immortal as herself. Ponies that she’s allowed herself to grow attached to. Probably the first ponies in centuries that she had allowed herself to actually become close to besides her sister.

Kaidan and I also have a headcanon that Celestia may have had plans to help Shining Armor reach his own alicorn state. This is for various reasons, most which I would rather discuss in a future analysis regarding Shining Armor himself. I will mention that marrying an immortal alicorn princess is one of them. Suffice it to say, with this as a potential plan Celestia may also blame herself for not training Shining fast enough. She may also subconsciously blame Twilight. Why? Because Celestia saw so much potential in the young unicorn that she focused entirely on helping her reach her ascension instead of also dedicating time to her family. This is not necessarily a logical blame, but when it comes to grief it is rarely logical.

In Twilight’s Dollhouse one of the things we see happen is that Celestia distances herself from Twilight and Cadance. Some readers have seen this as an extremely out of character move for the Princess. I, on the other hand, do not.

Different people react to sadness and grief in different ways. Some need to be in the company of others, receiving comfort and to give comfort to others who also felt the loss. Others need time alone, to let themselves feel and come to terms with the loss on their own terms. It seems to me that, given the previous glimpses into her personality and need to display that she is a strong leader, that she would likely be one of the latter.

It comes as no surprise that she would throw herself into leading the kingdom while distancing herself from those closest to her. She would want to show Equestria that she could still lead through this loss. She wouldn’t want to face those who reminded her of what she had lost and potentially even her own shortcomings.

Do you agree with this analysis? Do you have your own thoughts? Questions? Feel free to write in the comments below!