Ganondox

We're probably going to get some answers regarding this next episode.

But we did have an entire episode was Twilight acting as Clover the Clever, he wasn't just mentioned and forgotten.

My theory is that the only reason Celestia held out for 1,000 years was so that she would be reunited with Luna. After that finally happens, she discovers they are too busy to actually spend any time together, so now she’s trying to push it off onto Twilight. The reason Luna needs to retire too is because that’s the entire motivation for Celestia retiring, they need to retire together.

To clarify, I wasn’t just referring to the actual exposition, I was also referring to all the lampshade hanging and meta-commentary. It was funny at first, but became too heavy handed fast.

I know, but that wasn’t when they had the helmets on, maybe it takes more time to fully brainwash them. Or maybe Sombra didn’t know they couldn’t undo it. Or maybe Sombra just didn’t think things through...

However, it’s pleases me that what Chrysalis did BUGS you.

I figure the issue is that the alicorn could then just free the rest, but then he could just separate them...

One thing I suspect is that his mind control might not work on alicorns, that would explain why he didn’t use it on Cadence or Twilight, or the people he imprisoned them with.

I noticed this too. Maybe we’ll get an explanation when the episode actually comes out, but probably not. The new elements do make more sense than the previous ones, so I think it was just an error.

I found his voice worked much better in the actual episodic than the animatic.

Considering she was name dropped in the premier as well, it’s very likely she will play some sort of role later in the season. I don’t know if she will actually appear, but they might at least make more references to how she defeated Grogar the first time around.

I think it makes sense why Cadence gave up. Sombra has already gotten a hold of her baby, and she didn’t want for her to be hurt, which could have happened if she attached him.

Naw, you just have a biased view on Sombra. Nothing had changed about the status of Crystal Empire’s defenses since Season 3, so your reasoning makes no sense. What actually changed is the status of Sombra, note who we see Grogar ritualistically revive him before he’s teleported to Grogar’s lair. Finally, you apparently didn’t notice, but I ALREADY filled in that plot hole in the original post, while I find that your response fails to address the fundamental problem.

He was mentioned in FiM previously as well. I think it was in the episode where Twilight was babysitting Flurryheart, he was the villain the book she was reading.

Sure you can, you shine a light on it. Anyway, your theorizing is completely irrelevant. The point is it’s clearly possible to take Sombra out of the picture whether he technically dies or not, it’s what the Crystal Heart did, and it’s what the second blast of harmony did, but apparently not the first.

Of course they didn’t, ever heard of never say die? “Return to the darkness” is a euphemism for death.

Oh yes, being an immortal shadow creature is why he needed Grogar to revive him...

I didn't like Sombra's voice in the animatics, but I found it to work really well in the actual show. I think it's the contrast with Grogar's voice that did it, it made Sombra sound cocky and proud rather than weak, emphasizing his youthful foolishness against Grogar's ancient wisdom.

I loved Cozy Glow, she was actually cute this episode, the friendship statue was the best. I think it's pretty obvious how the series finale is going to role out -> Grogar's plan will be successful, but the villain trio are going to form a genuine friendship and defeat him, probably by working with the mane six. I'm also guessing he's going to betray them once he get's his bell back, they wouldn't have mentioned it if it's not going to play some sort of role. I hope we get a three parter for the finale, with the first two episodes being action packed, and the finale being a slice of life epilogue. Overall, this episode was pretty good, main issue I found it a tad bit heavy on the expository dialogue. It also had several plotholes, but plugging them would probably have contributed more to the first problem, so here are my attempts are closing them: 1. First, the longest period of harmony in recent years doesn't make much sense on the surface, but it's probably implying that there has been more time in-universe between seasons this time than any other. 2. The fact that the Crystal Heart didn't repel Sombra this time. This one can also be resolved easily, it's due to him being a corporeal form this time around after Grogar resurrected him. 3. Why did Sombra survive the first harmony blast, but was killed by the second one? This one is trickier, and I have two solutions aside from blind luck, commulative damage, or the second blast being inexplicably more powerful, none of which I find to be satisfying. First is that Sombra was killed, but Grogar revived him again (as he was implying he would do after Sombra failed), but Sombra managed to sneak away without being sent back into the darkness as he also promised if he refused to obey. The issue with this is it seems to be a bit much to assume without seeing any of it. The other is that Sombra was just pretending to be harmony blasted the first time, but actually managed to evade it. The problems with this is it doesn't match the visuals shown, and that it doesn't explain why he did it the first time, but not the second. My headcanon is that he was killed and revived, but I'm getting the impression that writers intended the latter. 4. The next plothole is how did Sombra know where the tree was so he could take it out? The solution to this depends on the solution to the previous problem. If he was revived by Grogar, he could have learned from Chrysalis before sneaking away. If he evaded defeat, he could have stalked the mane six in the shadows. 5. Why would the pillars know how to take care of the Everfree when Discord planted the plunderseeds after the tree was grown? It appears that overgrowth of the Everfree Forest is an issue independent of the plunderseeds, which is supported by the fact that no plunder vines could be seen here, and apparently even without the elements the tree could hold back the Everfree. This means overgrowth of the Everfree Forest was a problem before the pillars assembled, so who knows what that implies. Maybe we'll get more answers relating to this next episode, as it relates to the destruction of the tree, and this problem was not resolved with the defeat of Sombra. 6. Lastly, why could the mane six invoke the power of the elements without the physical objects in this case, but not others? It appears that the spirit of the tree survived even though it's body was destroyed, and it then entered Twilight, notice the resemblance during her attack on Sombra. This also fits back with the series premiere, as the destruction of the previous physical form freed their essence so they could be reborn again. We're certainly going to get more information on this next episode, one of the teasers showed the student six being imbued with the powers of the elements.

I’m pretty sure Celestia retiring is actually Chrysalis, the facial expression she made when she announced it was odd, and the episode synopsis seems to mention a villain team up. That doesn’t explain why Luna is also down with it though.

Same. Never knew how much of a punch the theme lyrics could hold until the context was changed.