Talk:The Crystal Empire - Part 2/@comment-67.11.244.141-20121111045220/@comment-186.105.221.201-20121111202856

Personally, I'll give it a 8.5/10...

My opinion on your four points:

- Fair point. The only thing I might say in King Sombra's defense is that he acted like some kind of presence villain (something like Sauron in the LOTR, only in a MUCH SMALLER scale). I mean, he did say like three lines (and the longest one was like three words long), yet he DID take over the Empire a thousand years earlier, he DID curse it to make it vanish, and he DID scare the Crystal Ponies enough for them to be emo and stuff. And, during the episode, he DID make both Twilight and Spike face their worst fears (that's why I think Twilight was so nervous/scared about passing/failing the test during Part 2), and all that. The whole episode kinda focused on the Mane 6 while they were trying to prevent Sombra from taking over the Empire again; his menace was always present. As a "presence villain", I think he was more than "Ok". Not "great", but more than "Ok". Yet, he still IS my least favorite villain so far since we never get to know his story or motivation. Or even know a bit about his personality. And I don't think "he was some kind of shadow most of the episode" works; hell, even Doctor Who's Vashta Nerada have more personality development and lines in one single episode than Sombra, and they're shadows too. In a way.

However, I wouldn't say he will never reappear. Even if he's dead (btw, I found that funny. They actually killed someone on My Little Pony. Not in a bloody way, but blowing up still counts as dying). I mean, he was alive by then, yeah, but a single fragment of his horn was enough for him to partially take over the Empire with shadows while the shield was still going on. And, at the end, when he blew up, his horn remained intact. Who knows, he MIGHT be able to come back in a future. It's not like someone coming back to live using a single part of his body has NEVER happened before in TV history. If he does, I'd love to know more about him then, he has A LOT of potential. If he doesn't, well, I'll be disappointed.

- I actually enjoyed the songs... Yet I'm still trying to overanalyze (?) the first one in order to find some logical explanation to Spike just jumping in the song even if Twilight didn't answer his question. Maybe the fact that she started singing somehow made him realize she hadn't failed -which made him happy-, that she was only like that because the "test" was something far more difficult than what she had hoped, but I'm just guessing and I'm not quite satisfied with that answer. But yeah, I agree with you that the songs felt kinda tagged on, ESPECIALLY the first one. However, I think the "Crystal Fair" one was good. Setting up the Crystal Fair with a song is far more enjoyable than doing it in a "normal" way, without song... For me, that is. The last one, the "Failure Song" Reprise, was also enjoyable as a song to finish the episode. It does feel tagged on, but not as much as the first one. This is all my opinion anyway, though based on your point.

- The Crystal Ponies reappeared after a thousand years been missing, and King Sombra kinda cursed them so they had no memories from both his rule and the times before him. If they are getting happy and all, and remembering everything, and suddenly they discovered that this "Crystal Heart" is in reality a stone, and that King Sombra managed to get in the Empire again... It's more than just "not keeping them entertained all the time". I think they would just crumble down in the blink of an eye, utterly terrified of the possibility of being enslaved again, with nothing to help them at sight.

- Agree with you on that last point. If Cadence IS somehow the present "pony incarnation" of the Crystal Heart (given her cutie mark), or maybe the reincarnation of the previous Crystal Empire ruler (Queen?), then Cadence hanging on to the Crystal Heart with magic CAN be explained by that. Maybe her connection to that "element" gave her the boost to "regain power" out of nowhere. It's still not quite a logical explanation, but, since it has to do with magic, there's no need for a logical explanation. It does says here in this page that seeing the Crystal Heart gave her some power, after all. Now, if she isn't any kind of incarnation nor is she connected magically to the Crystal Heart, we've got quite a plot hole here. I still liked the fact that it weren't the Elements of Harmony the ones who defeated Sombra at the end, but a completely different entity with assistance from the ponies who are connected to the elements. Having the elements saving the day at the end would have been a little bit "Deus-ex-machina" IMHO, again, and the third-in-a-row out of three season openings so far in which we see them saving the day.

Please, don't think wrong of this reply, I didn't intend to be rude; I just wanted to give my opinion on the four points you mentioned. I'm sorry it this felt rude in any way D:

Now, I'd gave this episode an 8.5/10. I loved the pacing of this one (it felt, for me, less rushed than the previous three). I also liked the fact that it was Spike, not Twilight, the one who saved the day at the end. Even if Twilight sent him. Also, the moral of this episode is one of my personal favorites so far, the importance of self-sacrifice, putting the Empire's and Equestria's fate before Twilight's personal interests. Like "R Martin" said, it also delves a little in Equestrian Geography, and it also shows us that even the Princesses knowledge has its limits, in contrast to the omnipresence, omniknowledge they seemed to had in previous seasons. And I also like the "suspense" vibre I've got with this episode. The "Story arc" thing. Celestia and Luna talking about Twilight being close to ready for the "next level in her studies", King Sombra's horn remaining intact when he blew up, and that misterious folder/book that materialized next to Luna at the end.