@Background Pony #ED5E  
Does trying to KILL Spike on two separate occasions fall under “being insecure”? If Garble really was just a teddy bear under his tough exterior he would only go just far enough to make the other dragons respect him. Why did he go so far as to hang Spike over sharp stalagmites when he could have easily just pushed him out of the way and no one was there to see it?
 
There comes a moral point where even if he was doing everything for everyone’s approval, the thing’s he’s done or attempted to do are so horrible that it doesn’t matter.
 
 
Also, why is the person making the case that Garble is more than just a bully doing so by insulting others?
 
Sidenote: this episode’s biggest sin is for all the crap Spike has to put up with since all the way back in season 2, Garble is the one who gets his story wrapped up in a neat little bow. There is no shaking hands, or apologies given to Spike. For all the crap he’s dealt with Spike gets bubkis.

@Scpx  
Ember doesn’t, actually, her character is fairly consistant, which is mainly “Dragon who is doing what she can to make friendship work while also fighting with the natural combative nature of a dragon.”
 
It’s Smolder who ends up contradicting things and making up rules on the spot that directly conflict with a prior episode/same episode she’s in.

Haven’t watched much of the latest seasons but it does seem from what I gather that Ember is particularly prone to contradict established facts and or herself.

Many bullies are insecure.  
Garble was no exception.

@Background Pony #B4ED  
I agree, but to be fair this is hardly the first time or even the worst character we’ve seen in the show get forgiven like this.

@Background Pony #ED5E  
Yeah, I agree. I feel like in future appearances, Garble and Spike would be learning to be friendly with one another, without necessarily ever being close enough to be friends.
 
Too bad this was probably Garble’s last appearance in the show - I would have loved to see that, just like I love how Spike and Smolder have bonded over the past couple seasons.

@Background Pony #B4ED  
Yeah, that’s all I’m seeing here. Sweet and Smoky is another episode that just makes up rules on the spot and is trying to get us to look for something that was never there.
 
Garble could instantly shut up any of the other dragons who would even TRY to harass him.
 
But the most damning evidence against him is how Spike has done nothing but nice things to him, even against his better judgement. Ember had empathy and repaid the kindness, while still being rather stiff and restrictive about it. Garble never did and only took advantage of it.
 
Did he learn the power of friendship in any manner when he saw Spike and Ember working together got the scepter? No.
 
Lets go to Shadow Play. RD and Spike want the Tidus. Garble won’t give it, but then makes a deal that if he is beaten in the lava surfing race, he’ll give the shield. Spike wins. Does Garble give the shield? No. Instead, he uses a loophole to attack Spike because he’s irritated with him.
 
The other dragons never thought lesser of him and even when RD toted the whole “finder’s keepers” thing, the other dragons just kinda nodded their heads and went “True, you did say that.”
 
There isn’t a single moment, a single second, where Garble is EVER toted as having anything deeper than that in his personality.
 
Gilda and Trixie DID. Gilda would only do the cheer for Dash and was obviously hurt when she found out Dash was the one who pranked her. Trixie showed gratitude when she was freed from the alicorn amulet. Those were seeds planted to say that there was more to them.
 
Garble has no such “seed,” he’s been painted as pure vindictive opportunist, and intentionally so because none of the writers ever planned to make him “good”.

@Jonny Manz  
To be fair, he IS (was ?)an asshole try hard bully teen, maybe if there is subsequent Garble appearance, he’ll have a more cordial attitude to Spike, i honestly dont see them being the best of chum but at least burrying the warpath axe like Harry and Draco did. Thats the kind of character Garble is: a Draco Malfoy, not a Attila the Hun wannabe

@Background Pony #B4ED  
That’s what the episode explicitly explained but you’re too stubborn to get it. You CAN be under cultural/social pressure and be the zealous one to overcompensate, that does add up that what the episode showed that Garble had a lot to loose hierarchically if he didnt constantly thump his chest

@Background Pony #B4ED
 
This guy gets it.

Garble is constantly shown leading and is always the aggressor (when Spike showed up Garble was the first one to pick on him). The idea that he’s doing all that in reaction to the other dragon’s peer pressure doesn’t add up. Plus even if that was true - Garble never apoligizes for any of the things he’s done to Spike even in that same episode even though Spike has been nothing but kind to him. The idea that Garble should get a free pass for all the horrible things he’s done just because others pick on him is pure bull.

I see no contradiction.

@Daneasaur  
He does.That’s what Sweet and Smorky established,dragon law contribute to peer pressure.Pay attention

@Background Pony #ED41  
Except he isn’t. He has no peer pressure. He can do anything he wants because he’s the strongest. So says dragon law.

@Daneasaur  
The angle is not “He’s a nice guy” it’s “he’s overcompensating because of peer pressure”

This is perfect.
 
Thanks for neatly summarizing why folks don’t buy the whole “he’s really a nice guy!” angle.

Uh uh that was the point they were trying to make.Turns out Garble is hiding things from his sister and is constantly bombing his chest to not appear as a wuss in front of his pals