Analysis: Celestia's Competence Part 1

 Spoilers for multiple episodes, up to and including Twilight's Kingdom.


 Let me start this off by saying that I really like Celestia. I think that, even with her flaws, she has been a good mentor to Twilight, and I enjoy episodes where she appears.

 Everything that follows is based on my own opinions. I am not affiliated with the show or anyone who has worked on it.



 Many have questioned Celestia's competence as a leader, and her ability to defend her subjects.


 It's hard to test the claims of inability to rule, given how infrequently we see any political elements in the show. Looking at how many episodes have her offscreen, and how often she speaks of summits and conferences, it can be inferred that she is spending a significant amount of time actually, you know, ruling. Combine this with the fact that her rule has lasted a thousand years, and I must assume Celestia has at least some level of political savvy. 

 The lengths she goes to in order to "liven up" the Grand Galloping Gala does make me wonder, but I can do nothing but speculate on that point.


 On the other hand, many of the claims of her inability to defend her subjects seem to be correct. In the show, each time a new threat appears it's defeated not by Celestia, but by those supposedly under her protection.


 There are the the Royal Guards and the Wonderbolts, who are supposedly there to protect the ponies of Equestria, but most of the time, they're taken out by the antagonist in a few seconds. 

I won't list all the cases of their ineffectiveness, but I will address them further in Part 3.


 Before we list them off, let's address A Canterlot Wedding. I think it's true that Twilight's friends should have at least listened to her, Celestia only became aware of things when Twilight ruined the rehearsal and made "Cadence" run out crying. Once Chrysalis revealed herself, Celestia waited until she had all the info she needed before taking action, but the changeling queen was already too powerful. I can't really fault her for that one.

 There are other episodes I could include,such as Secret of My Excess or Bats! but most of those are isolated, have Celestia offscreen, or take place over a short enough time frame that she didn't need to get involved.

 I find it interesting how many of these situations involve Discord. More on that in Part 2.

 Here we go:

• Friendship is Magic: Celestia knew in advance that Nightmare Moon would return at the Summer Sun Celebration, yet she herself did not appear until after the Mane Six used the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon, returning her to her original form as Luna.
• Dragonshy: She ordered the Mane Six to convince a dragon to leave the area, without even putting in an apperance.
• The Return of Harmony: Upon finding out that the "spirit of disharmony" was free, Celestia brought the Mane Six to Canterlot to have them use the Elements of Harmony against Discord. When she discovered that the Elements had been stolen, she let the Mane Six go off in search of them, while she stayed in the castle. Admittedly, she sent back Twilight's letters to give her what she needed to defeat Discord, but that just brings up more questions.
• The Crystal Empire: Celestia sends Cadence and Shining Armor to hold Sombra at bay. She also send Twilight and the mane six, but tells Luna to remain in Canterlot, explicitly stating that it's a "test" for Twilight. Perhaps Sombra was less of a threat than implied, but a lot still hung on Twilight's success.
• Keep Calm and Flutter On: She left Discord in Ponyville, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stay close by to monitor him. She also bet a lot on Fluttershy (best pony, but still).
•  Equestria Girls: She sent Twilight, still dealing with her transformation into an alicorn, into an unfamiliar world without any preparation, briefing, or support, in addition to giving her a very short time to accomplish her goal.
• Twilight's Kingdom: She sent Discord to contain Tirek. Discord was supposedly reformed, but again, "spirit of disharmony." I don't really understand why you would send an inherently magical creature against someone who drains magic. And after Discord turned, I don't understand her plan. What was twilight supposed to do with all that magic? That part was never explained. Sure we got that cool battle, but was that the plan all along? I just don't get it.

 In addition, there are numerous episode that show Celestia being either unaware of, or slow to respond to potential problems in Equestria. Such episodes include the parasprites in Swarm of the Century, and Cerberus in It's About Time (which allowed Tirek to escape in the first place.)

 All of this shows that Celestia is likely unqualified to be Equestria's guardian. Even when she does respond competently, it's often too late to do any good.

 There's just a couple other things I have to wonder.

 Does Celestia realize just how close things have gotten to disaster?

 Time and again, the villains are beaten moments before their own victory. With Celestia being so powerful, I'd think problems could be dealt with before they became that severe.

 Could Celestia be less powerful than the show has implied?

 It could explain why she hesitates to directly involve herself. A Canterlot Wedding provides some evidence to indicate this, with Celestia directly attacking Chrysalis only because she had no other option.

 What do you think? Is there anything I missed?  Are any of these understandable, or should Celestia have better plans for these kinds of situations?

 One last thing:

 What if Celestia did plan all of this?

 Read part 2 here.

 God bless.