S03 E01-02: "The Crystal Empire"

[weesh]

Wow... so there was about 30 seconds of just the word "crystal" being repeated... (well and one chrystaly) Who knew LOL.

I counted, and I got 68, but I skipped the "previously on mlp" section. Sorry if that ruins a future contest : )

[EquestriaForever]

Hello.

I would like to just throw in my two cents on the episodes if that's alright.

I loved them. Absolutely and totally they were awesome. I could nitpick, but that would just detract from my enjoyment, and I see no reason to do that.

As to Sombra, I liked him. I agree that he didn't have much "Personality" but what he did have, was "Presence". The man was power, corruption, and fear personified. Think about it... He banished the Crystal Ponies for a thousand years, and left such a deep and damaging impact on their mind that they couldn't remember ANYTHING before his rule, and had nothing but the memories of pain and horror beneath him... How evil is it to rob someone of their memories of joy? How wicked is it to take away their culture and identity and leave them with only sorrow?

The man was what he wanted to be. Powerful, feared, all-possessing... His character was in his actions and what he did, not how he interacted with the Mane Six. And honestly, I thought he was terrifying and imposing as all get out.

As for the actual episode structure, as I've already said I loved it, especially that little part with Celestia and Luna interacting with each other. I loved Twilight and Spike interacting, I loved how Spike saved the day, I loved how Rarity totally went gaga over the Crystal Empire, and I loved seeing Celestia use dark magic... ... That has SO much potential for future episodes, and so many possible implications...

And finally, I believe that while they might have started out as Earth Ponies, the Crystal Ponies are likely by now their own unique form of pony. Their crystal sheen is probably permanent with the curse gone, and even when they aren't shining, their eye structure is different from a normal pony, as well as their manes.

[Dessa]

I counted, and I got 68, but I skipped the "previously on mlp" section. Sorry if that ruins a future contest : )

CURSE IT ALL. We'd been working on that contest for weeks.

[weesh]

CURSE IT ALL. We'd been working on that contest for weeks.

Oh man, I was just trying to be silly.

[Dessa]

I was too.

[weesh]

Oh you! I fell for that hook line and sinker.

[Gear360]

You it's interesting about this episode. It was one of my favorites so far. The other openers may have had stronger villains, but this one was a different story, it wasn't villain driven so it didn't need a colourful villain like Discord.

Sombra was perfectly dangerous. I felt his impending presence throughout the episode, and the stress he was putting on the characters.

For those of you who think he wasn't bad enough, I point you to the one crystal pony that ran from the crowd when he returned. That pure fear, that level of terror was all the development he needed. Her reaction when she ran smack into him while running away? Possibly the most powerful moment in the episode.

Overall, a VERY good episode and highly underrated.

[weesh]

For those of you who think he wasn't bad enough, I point you to the one crystal pony that ran from the crowd when he returned. That pure fear, that level of terror was all the development he needed. Her reaction when she ran smack into him while running away? Possibly the most powerful moment in the episode.

Ah, a good observation, and one that I missed.

But my vote for the most powerful moment was Twilight selflessly passing the responsibility to Spike.

[weesh]

Time to beat a dead horse:

I went over to watch MLP with some kids tonight, and the idea was brought up to watch this episode, and the 6 year old boy was staunchly against it because he thought Sombra was too scary. So we watched the daring do episode instead.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

This actually doesn't surprise me at all. I'd said from the very beginning that the technique of keeping a villain at the edges of the story, hiding in the shadows and lurking as an ever-present but rarely seen threat, is a classic suspense/horror movie technique. It might have worked better on adults if they hadn't thrown in the confrontation at the beginning with Shining Armor, which lessened some of the "unknown factor," but I can see a child's imagination taking the role that was left unfilled and filling it in with their imagination.