Ashen Pathfinder

Locking this; there is no potential for civil discussion or discourse here.

As open minded and accepting as I usually am...that song was absolutely atrocious, and the video was way too jumpy for my tastes. I mean is seems like they had so many scenes to put it and just...it didn't work out at all. And that song...bad. IIRC, Ingram was no longer working on EqG at this point, and...it shows in this case.

Guys; I'm disappointed. Bring on the StarTrix!~ Source: https://derpibooru.org/1993415?q=startrix Source: https://www.deviantart.com/ev04kaa/art/Interesting-Book-792706128 Source: https://www.deviantart.com/thediscorded/art/Reformed-Lovers-786258857

An overall solid episode; with little to no problems for me as I watched. Gotta say; season 9 is hitting it out of the park for me!

I've noticed from this that Gusty's mane is wavy; similar to Mistmane and the royal sisters. I wonder about her overall character now and just how significant she was in her time.

Honestly, as someone who considers King Sombra as best pony of the whole franchise and has developed an idea of who and how he is, I really wasn't disappointed in the least. In fact; I quite loved what we were presented with! Though, if I have one critique, Sombra didn't finish the job when he should've. He destroyed the tree and had the Mane 6 where he wanted them...but just left them. For being the ultimate planner and great tactician he is; that was a HUGE blunder. Granted, he had a backup plan in messing with their minds in invading Ponyville and mentally enslaving the citizens of Ponyville and Canterlot had their desired effect in deflating them further (really; only Discord saved them there). But still; blunder is still a blunder. That aside; I was perfectly happy with how he was portrayed. While he never said much and was completely goal-driven in "The Crystal Empire," I can accept his more ego-driven personality in the S9 premiere. I mean, we get small glimpses of that in S3 and S5, but it's enough for me to buy it here. Plus, even with that personality, he is still goal-driven. He invaded the Crystal Empire like no one's business and actually succeeded! Had he not been an apparition in S3; I doubt Cadance would've stood much of a chance. Likewise; Canterlot stood no chance, especially with the royal guards not wanting to attack the Ponyville citizens; GENIUS move on Sombra's part there. Not to mention; I LOVED how Sombra was not impressed at all with Grogar. I mean, Chrysalis and Tirek were definitely intimidated, but not Sombra. Everytime I see that scene; I just have this satisfied smile on my face. So, in the end, I was perfectly happy with Sombra in season 9. He was still at his tactical & strategic best, was only defeated due to Discord's interference, and left enough of an impression on everyone that even Canterlot's defenses needed to be reworked. Yeah, he blundered in not finishing off the Mane 6 when he shouldn't have, but he had backup plans in place to help mitigate that. In the end, I still love my Shadow King. <3

Unless Gusty was in a similar situation to the Pillars I doubt we'll be seeing her anytime soon. She's probably similar to other legends like Commander Hurricane and Clover the Clever in that they played an important part in Equestrian history, but unlike the Pillars they actually lived out their lives. Though, during the flashback bit with Grogar's bell, I did notice a little detail with Gusty. Remember the mane? It was flowing similar to Luna, Celestia, and Mistmane! Maybe it's possible she has a similar life span to the alicorn sisters? Hard to tell, but it's an interesting detail to have.

To be fair I get where he's coming from. We've had an image of how Sombra was personality wise and held onto that for quite a few years; basically almost since the season 3 premiere itself with the FIENDship and Siege comics going further to establish that. Admittedly I was taken aback when the S9 trailers aired with Sombra, but I've accepted it as, in my mind, his overall personality judging from the show itself was largely a blank slate based on a form that was, at best, a smokey apparition or lich. Yeah, he laughed in the heroes face quite a bit in the S9, but he kinda had them where he wanted them until Discord gave his speech. So yeah; personal preference pretty much. :p

OMG; this episode was AMAZING! For me; best episode of the season! And to top the premiere is QUITE the feat!

That's pretty much my view. I may be in the minority, but I was never really expecting the show to go into an actual season-long arc. I mean, even in the seasons that technically had an 'arc' with was extremely spread out with the majority of the episodes being slice-of-life and largely disconnected from any arc-related episodes. Season 9 pretty much follows my expectations on that.

Grogar's been doing this a LOT longer than any of the other villain on the show; I really don't see him being off'd anywhere near that easily.