@Lightning Stripe
unless they aren’t her parents. for the longest time in the Fandom: everyone considered Changeling society to operate on a Hive structure with Chrysalis at the top and all of the other Drones and Infiltrators that make up the Hive itself to be her offspring, yet at the same time not be considered true children. There would also be Lesser/Proto-Queens: a specialized Caste of high-ranking Changeling close to the same influence as the True Queen herself is that can also help in breeding newer generations of Drones and Infiltrators that the True Queen can treat as her children if proven competent enough. If anything, Ocellus is a juvenile Proto-Queen: quite possibly the very LAST of the Proto-Queen Caste.
how ruthless the Changelings were in To Where and Back Again ? carefully consider the implications of Chrysalis’ brutal treatment of her subjects: she could have also instilled that same belief into any of the other Lesser and Proto-Queens that are inside of the Hive to keep them in-check and preventing herself from being overthrown by pitting the Proto-Queens and Lesser Queens against one-another enough to keep them from teaming up to overthrow her. The sole reason why we didn’t see these Proto-Queens and Lesser Queens at all in the Hive was because they were all off in separate chambers having fun with the rare Breeding Males that the Hive has at their disposal: Changelings are all considered to be Female and therefore normally don’t have a set gender as we understand the concept: they use their transformation preference to determine what they identify as along with having the proper equipment necessary to fulfill both roles when disguised: yet the Drones are naturally sterile, while the Infiltrators have a 50/50 chance at fertility due to their selective breeding process that could also allow them to become Lesser and Proto-Queens should the situation call for it. Breeding Males however make up a small percentage of the Hive, and due to the low-birth rates for Breeding Males, are usually kept secluded deep within the Hive for their own protection: them being even more protected than the Egg Chambers are.
Back to the events of the episode: when Chrysalis was defeated and the events later stated by Thorax that there were still Changelings being resistant to the changes that his new Faction was undertaking: this could be a more PG explanation for what was really going on: without Chrysalis to keep the Lesser and Proto-Queens in check, many of them decided to break away from the Hive to set up Hives of their own, not wanting to follow Thoraxs’ new Changeling Ways while at the same time aware of the threat that is now posed by the Royal Sisters, the Equestrian Military, the Elements of Harmony, and the Crystal Empire: as much as they hated one-another they all secretly hated Chrysalis even more and had non-verbal disagreements with her half-baked and incompetent plans of conquest and invasion that they all felt was both a disgrace to the ways of the Infiltrator Caste that they all came from. These Proto-Queens all broke away and fled into hiding with enough Drones and Infiltrators that willingly followed after them to start their new lives. Unfortunately, many of these smaller Hives wouldn’t be able to sustain themselves or even to survive: they were either wiped out by predators like the Maulwurf, killed by the Storm King when he began his invasion through the southern region of Equestria (how else would The Storm King manage to outfit his forces with Magic-Resistant Armor unless it was taken from these Proto-Hives: most-likely ripped from the carapaces and chitin of the dead or still-living Changelings before getting fashioned into armor and barding?), or hell: one Proto-Hive was too close to another Proto-Hive and the two Proto-Queens engaged in a civil war that wiped both of them out.
This is where Thorax and Ocellus step in at: Ocellus was the youngest of the Proto-Queens, too young to be of the age to reproduce, and also impressionable enough to want to befriend the Ponies like Thorax wanted, he saw an opportunity to bring the two races even closer by sending Ocellus to the School of Friendship as the unofficial ambassador to the Changelings in Equestria that would assume all of the prestige and power as the next Changeling Queen once she comes of age. This would also serve to explain why he was so reluctant to try and go to war with the other nations once Ocellus went missing: she is not only the youngest of the Proto-Queens in the Hive, but she could very well be the LAST of them. Most of the other Proto-Queens I had mentioned before being killed off by Predators, invading forces, or even by rival Proto-Queens seeking to enact their personal revenge: with any other Proto-Queens that managed to survive for so long being too elusive or well-hidden that they can’t be found even through traditional Changeling methods. This would very-quickly become a tragedy to the Changelings if the Hive ends up without its’ Queen to lead them even if its a Proto-Queen, and if Ocellus ends up dying before she reaches the age where she would be able to breed new generations, than the Hive will have no choice but to resubmit themselves to Queen Chrysalis once again.
“I feel I must remind you that it is an undeniable, and may I say a fundamental quality of Man, that when faced with Extinction: EVERY ALTERNATIVE IS PREFERABLE!” -Dr. Leonard Church, Red Vs. Blue, Reconstruction
@Prometheus labs CEO
We still don’t even know how diverse the changeling family tree is..
I mean if Every Changeling is a offspring directly from Queen Chrysalis,
That would make for a very awkward family tree wouldn’t it?
I’m personally holding onto the headcanon that Ocellus is Chrysalis’s daughter and she’s a changeling princess.
@Background Pony #1C49
It’s probably just a quality That changeling queens have, after she’s taller and more powerful, why not the eyes. Plus the whole changeling conversion thigh is just a fandom thing
@orbsah
Maybe a ‘depowered’ changeling ruler like Chrysalis have eyes like that. Because in their weakened form they’ll need to intimade other creatures more hence the threatening design and eyes. And when they metamorph and become a changedling they get the standard bug eyes bc they are stronger and there is no need for such protection.
Oh man. What if it really will happen in the season 8 finale. Like this!
Chrysalis: I am your mother.
Ocellus: No. No. It’s not true. That’s impossible!
Chrysalis: Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Ocellus: NOOOOOOO!!!
This has always been weird to me. Harmonia axyridis IS a real ladybug, at least if you’re using the definition of “all coccinellids are ladybugs,” which you should.
The only reason I can think of that experts would say they weren’t is so people would feel less terrible about killing them.
PS: I had to look at an unnecessary number of beetles of both the true lady and fake lady variety to this and am now very uncomfortable.
I wonder if anyone noticed here that Chrysalis’ mark in her disguise is the fake ladybug, the Asian Lady Beetle that is known as a massive pest in the Americas.
@orbsah
If you watch the season 6 finale, this will make more sense.
Chrysalis is the former queen of the changelings, continually starved (as were her subjects) because the changelings used to take love rather than share it.But when a male changeling by the name of Thorax befriended Spike in the Crystal Empire (in the episode The Times They Are A Changeling), he came to discover (in the finale) that he was getting a “better” look. With the aid of Starlight Glimmer, Trixie and Discord, he was able to use the power of sharing love to reform most of the changelings and depose Chrysalis. And that is why the changelings of old (which were black, full of holes and looked as if they were rotting, possibly meant to resemble flies in some fashion) are different from the changelings of now (who resemble skittle-deer-beetles).
unless they aren’t her parents. for the longest time in the Fandom: everyone considered Changeling society to operate on a Hive structure with Chrysalis at the top and all of the other Drones and Infiltrators that make up the Hive itself to be her offspring, yet at the same time not be considered true children. There would also be Lesser/Proto-Queens: a specialized Caste of high-ranking Changeling close to the same influence as the True Queen herself is that can also help in breeding newer generations of Drones and Infiltrators that the True Queen can treat as her children if proven competent enough. If anything, Ocellus is a juvenile Proto-Queen: quite possibly the very LAST of the Proto-Queen Caste.
how ruthless the Changelings were in To Where and Back Again ? carefully consider the implications of Chrysalis’ brutal treatment of her subjects: she could have also instilled that same belief into any of the other Lesser and Proto-Queens that are inside of the Hive to keep them in-check and preventing herself from being overthrown by pitting the Proto-Queens and Lesser Queens against one-another enough to keep them from teaming up to overthrow her. The sole reason why we didn’t see these Proto-Queens and Lesser Queens at all in the Hive was because they were all off in separate chambers having fun with the rare Breeding Males that the Hive has at their disposal: Changelings are all considered to be Female and therefore normally don’t have a set gender as we understand the concept: they use their transformation preference to determine what they identify as along with having the proper equipment necessary to fulfill both roles when disguised: yet the Drones are naturally sterile, while the Infiltrators have a 50/50 chance at fertility due to their selective breeding process that could also allow them to become Lesser and Proto-Queens should the situation call for it. Breeding Males however make up a small percentage of the Hive, and due to the low-birth rates for Breeding Males, are usually kept secluded deep within the Hive for their own protection: them being even more protected than the Egg Chambers are.
Back to the events of the episode: when Chrysalis was defeated and the events later stated by Thorax that there were still Changelings being resistant to the changes that his new Faction was undertaking: this could be a more PG explanation for what was really going on: without Chrysalis to keep the Lesser and Proto-Queens in check, many of them decided to break away from the Hive to set up Hives of their own, not wanting to follow Thoraxs’ new Changeling Ways while at the same time aware of the threat that is now posed by the Royal Sisters, the Equestrian Military, the Elements of Harmony, and the Crystal Empire: as much as they hated one-another they all secretly hated Chrysalis even more and had non-verbal disagreements with her half-baked and incompetent plans of conquest and invasion that they all felt was both a disgrace to the ways of the Infiltrator Caste that they all came from. These Proto-Queens all broke away and fled into hiding with enough Drones and Infiltrators that willingly followed after them to start their new lives. Unfortunately, many of these smaller Hives wouldn’t be able to sustain themselves or even to survive: they were either wiped out by predators like the Maulwurf, killed by the Storm King when he began his invasion through the southern region of Equestria (how else would The Storm King manage to outfit his forces with Magic-Resistant Armor unless it was taken from these Proto-Hives: most-likely ripped from the carapaces and chitin of the dead or still-living Changelings before getting fashioned into armor and barding?), or hell: one Proto-Hive was too close to another Proto-Hive and the two Proto-Queens engaged in a civil war that wiped both of them out.
This is where Thorax and Ocellus step in at: Ocellus was the youngest of the Proto-Queens, too young to be of the age to reproduce, and also impressionable enough to want to befriend the Ponies like Thorax wanted, he saw an opportunity to bring the two races even closer by sending Ocellus to the School of Friendship as the unofficial ambassador to the Changelings in Equestria that would assume all of the prestige and power as the next Changeling Queen once she comes of age. This would also serve to explain why he was so reluctant to try and go to war with the other nations once Ocellus went missing: she is not only the youngest of the Proto-Queens in the Hive, but she could very well be the LAST of them. Most of the other Proto-Queens I had mentioned before being killed off by Predators, invading forces, or even by rival Proto-Queens seeking to enact their personal revenge: with any other Proto-Queens that managed to survive for so long being too elusive or well-hidden that they can’t be found even through traditional Changeling methods. This would very-quickly become a tragedy to the Changelings if the Hive ends up without its’ Queen to lead them even if its a Proto-Queen, and if Ocellus ends up dying before she reaches the age where she would be able to breed new generations, than the Hive will have no choice but to resubmit themselves to Queen Chrysalis once again.
I wasn’t saying that every changeling is chrysalis’s offspring
We still don’t even know how diverse the changeling family tree is..
I mean if Every Changeling is a offspring directly from Queen Chrysalis,
That would make for a very awkward family tree wouldn’t it?
I’m personally holding onto the headcanon that Ocellus is Chrysalis’s daughter and she’s a changeling princess.
It’s probably just a quality That changeling queens have, after she’s taller and more powerful, why not the eyes. Plus the whole changeling conversion thigh is just a fandom thing
Maybe she used to be a pony, and regular born changelings have bug eyes.
Maybe a ‘depowered’ changeling ruler like Chrysalis have eyes like that. Because in their weakened form they’ll need to intimade other creatures more hence the threatening design and eyes. And when they metamorph and become a changedling they get the standard bug eyes bc they are stronger and there is no need for such protection.
Chrysalis: I am your mother.
Ocellus: No. No. It’s not true. That’s impossible!
Chrysalis: Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Ocellus: NOOOOOOO!!!
Guess that’s the point. I don’t think Ocellus knows.
This has always been weird to me. Harmonia axyridis IS a real ladybug, at least if you’re using the definition of “all coccinellids are ladybugs,” which you should.
The only reason I can think of that experts would say they weren’t is so people would feel less terrible about killing them.
PS: I had to look at an unnecessary number of beetles of both the true lady and fake lady variety to this and am now very uncomfortable.
Edited
That’s Fallout 4 Synth level paranoia right there.
Oh. Sorry.
I’d upvote your comment if I could.
I was talking about their eyes. Chrysalis has pony-like eyes while all changelings have bug-like eyes.
Huh, that’s a nice touch.
And Chrysalis confirmed for asian.
If you watch the season 6 finale, this will make more sense.
Chrysalis is the former queen of the changelings, continually starved (as were her subjects) because the changelings used to take love rather than share it.But when a male changeling by the name of Thorax befriended Spike in the Crystal Empire (in the episode The Times They Are A Changeling), he came to discover (in the finale) that he was getting a “better” look. With the aid of Starlight Glimmer, Trixie and Discord, he was able to use the power of sharing love to reform most of the changelings and depose Chrysalis. And that is why the changelings of old (which were black, full of holes and looked as if they were rotting, possibly meant to resemble flies in some fashion) are different from the changelings of now (who resemble skittle-deer-beetles).
Edited
Maybe because they are ladies, and bugs.