Why is Sunset Shimmer the element of Mercy?
OKAY HERE IT IS!! sry for taking so long i had prom prep + prom + and now its my last day of high school EVER!! but here we go!! I also do have a rebuttal section in mind but i didnt wanna make anyone wait any longer
Here is why i think sunset shimmer is the element of mercy as opposed to empathy or forgiveness! First i will begin to describe what i think these words mean. So it is somewhat personal Connotations, but i think i will make sense
Mercy as defined by google is ‘compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.’ my personal definition is a bit different, mercy to me is not necessarily forgiveness. It's what you sometimes give before you forgive someone. To me, mercy is refusing to harm or punishment to someone who may deserve it regardless of how you feel. Basically, not acting on rage and being the bigger person. You're emotions are not resolved, but you aren't making the situation worse.
Empathy is understanding someone elses emotions/emotional situation
Forgiveness is resolving your anger towards a person. Disregarding it as a thing of the past and leaving it alone.
Now, to me, the holders elements of harmony all represent their elements but they are also shown their element or taught their element repeatedly. Twilight does teach others magic n friendship, but at the same time she is continuously taught it. Rainbow dash shows loyalty, and then she has a fanclub aka ponies who are loyal to her. Rarity is generous, and then strangers are generous to her.
Sunset shimmer to me was shown mercy as opposed to empathy or forgiveness. I don't think anyone necessarily understood why she wanted all that power. Twilight sparkle understood her not knowing the first thing about friendship, but neither twilight nor anyone else in this movie Understood her need for power. So this was not empathy. And sunset shimmer was not forgiven as we see in rainbow rocks. People still did not want to be around her, even twilight and the gang were a bit awkward and distrustful around her. She was in the process of being redeemed but in the hearts of everyone she had not completely redeemed herself. And so this was not forgiveness. What they did show her was mercy. Although everyone was frustrated and traumatized, and Twilight could have decided to bring her to Tartarus or throw her in human jail, they did not. Because despite their emotions and distrust they chose to be the bigger person and choose mercy over punishment. (Although rebuilding that section of the school can be viewed as punishment, i think it is moreso
Sunset shimmer also does not always show empathy or forgiveness. There are a lot of occasions where she does! But with situations such as the dazzlings specifically, i do not think she has forgiven them for their actions. And i do not think she is significantly empathetic of gloriosa. (This is my opinion based on my connotations) She listens, she acts without punishment and Helps people. Not always because she understands why every character does what they do, but because she was shown that kind of mercy and believes others should be shown it too. I will say, her powers she got Do give great fuel for the empathy element idea though🙂↕️ . I just think that instead of her magic powers being directly related to her element in that way, they just help her act as her element. Having a magical empathetic flash into someones mind can help you be more merciful because then you know how Not to hurt them further, what Not to take, what Not to say etc. Understanding someone can help you be merciful but it is not crucial.
Also, to add onto this she shows mercy even in low stakes situations which i think also means something. Applejack isnt only honest in a ponykind threatening situation, pinkie makes people laugh on the regular. These things will still be challenged, but I think in order to embody an element you must live as that element even in normal life. And sunset does this with mercy. She has anger issues and can very easily just rage at everyone. Her mercifulness is tested when her friends make her upset and she could take it out on them. She can be violent and just easily angered and this helps create a very interesting aspect of her personality. This is her continuous test. How merciful can you be?
Another reason i think she represents mercy is because of her backstory pretty much serving as a parallel or allusion to the fall of lucifer. Sunset shimmer and Lucifer morning star fallen angel guy are almost 1 to 1. High ranking follower/student/child of a god that betrays/rebels against said god due to being too prideful? Yeah that's them. Where they differ is that God did not show lucifer mercy. He was betrayed and did punish lucifer by casting him out of heaven. Celestia on the other hand did not banish Sunset, and likely wouldn't have done so due to regrets abt her sister. Celestia shows a lot of mercy towards Sunset despite likely being frustrated and never even orders for Sunset to be punished. Sunset leaves on her own and Celestia leaves her be. This is mercy.
And so that's why I think sunset better represents mercy! Maybe later i will explain why mercy is a good trait to have for friendship and harmony 🙂↕️