Something I don't understand about the Crystal Empire...

[Spikey-Wikey 378]

I'm sure most of you know about the Crystal Empire (as in the location). There is something I've been wondering about it for quite a while...

 

How is it an Empire if it's just a city...? A kingdom is one country ruled by a monarch, while an empire is many different countries ruled by a monarch. If it's just a city how is it an Empire?

Edited September 16, 2015 by Little Riolu

[SpikusFyre 486]

Well it does probably extend out to the nearly uninhabitable arctic wasteland surrounding it, but seeing as nothing really happens there you just never see it.

[PoisonClaw 8,153]

Kingdom and empire seem to be synonymous with one another (despite apparently having different definitions) so I think the two are pretty much interchangeable and Crystal Empire sounded better than Crystal Kingdom.

 

Or maybe it was an empire at one point before Sombra took over and they just kept the name.  

Edited September 16, 2015 by PoisonClaw

[Lunar Echo 10,334]

I think it's an Empire, and there are other regions to it.

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,698]

My headcanon is that the Crystal Empire used to be large and powerful empire. However, overtime, for whatever reason, Crystal Empire gradually became weaker until the empire only had its capital city remaining. I'm thinking Crystal Empire is much like what Roman and Byzantine empire used to be. Is still called an empire but in actually Crystal Empire as we know in show is shadow of what it used to be.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Luna the Great

[cmarston1 5,951]

That's a good question.  I don't really know why this is the case.  Maybe there is a lot of things we aren't seeing on screen that would explain why it is an empire rather than just a capital city.

Either that or the empire isn't the most important location in the show and thus this type of question won't be given an answer any time soon if at all.

[sweetolebob18 724]

It may be like the ancient Greek city states.  IMO, the city was the capital of the empire.  These days, the empire is just a frozen wasteland

[Daring_Do 552]

Twilight even says in the episode something like "You want me to protect an entire empire?"

 

When the "empire" is just a city... Yeah, I don't understand the logic in going out of their way to confuse kids like that. Wasn't this show supposed to be vaguely educational at some point or other (if only to comply with broadcasting)?