S03:E01+02 - The Crystal Empire

[Key Master 25]

I was waiting all of season two for Spike to actually do something awesome. And finally, skydiving king explosion where spike and Cadence save the day.

[NavelColt 22,879]

So we all know by now that Sombra was kind of a disappointment. Can we talk about how friggin crazy it is that Celestia (and technically Twilight now) knows black magic? Why would she add that to her repertoire?

 

In comparison to the other three villains he was severely lacking, but I liked him enough anyway, personally. He was certainly more creepy and malevolent/ominous than the other three villains. Maybe he'll be explained more or brought back in the future, since the Crystal Empire is now a new territory that Cadence has a link to.

 

Because black magic is a category of magic you're going to encounter against evildoers It's good to know it, and be able to use it, so that you can be effective at countering it and dealing with it when you fight enemies like Sombra who are absolutely engulfed in black magic. My guess is Sombra studied black magic and let it consume him until he was nothing but a tyrant, whilst Celestia for example, clearly mastered the use of black magic, but is wise enough to know not to use it often, less it corrupt her, like the way it did Sombra.

 

Knowing black magic is also helpful in a general sense. Twilight only used it herself because she thought it was the key to opening that door.

 

Point of interest: Twilight didn't learn black magic, she just strained really hard and got it to work. My guess is black magic is normal magic, but with intense emotion poured into it, to make it dark. Twilight could probably end up using it much like Celestia who did it without breaking a sweat, if she practiced more often. Not something I'd be against seeing. The whole black magic concept is really cool.

Edited November 11, 2012 by ~Chaotic Discord~

[Inactive01 5,299]

"The Success Song"... My thoughts on it? In short, wow. But knowing me, wow is not enough. Why did it wow? Why did it amaze? Why did it inspire?

 

NOTE 1: I sometimes write Roman numerals like this (I-V-I). They represent chords within a given scale. In C major, this progression means (C mjaor-G major-C major) C is the tonic (I) and G is the dominant (V).

 

NOTE 2: I think there are POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD. Read with caution. I had to use the entire episode clip because I couldn’t find both the original and the reprise in the same video, so I apologize for any inconvenience.

 

 

(Original at 9:03, Reprise at 58:51)

 

Before we begin, a summary of the piece at both the beginning and end need to be shown. Both the original and the reprise begin the piece in G major before modulating to D major by the end of the piece. The original song at the beginning can act as the antecedent, or the question. The question here is Twilight’s ability to succeed on her “test”. The reprise is the consequent, the resolution of the question posed at the beginning of the show. With the confidence the gang have, you can tell they succeeded. The musical elements Daniel Ingram utilizes for this piece can basically summarize the plot in just a few minutes. That’s how beautiful successful pieces are. They can convey a person’s thoughts, highlight plot developments, and resolve the plot.

 

The original song's intention was to look into Twilight's mind and see her fears of failure. As such, the instrumentation, chord progressions, and tempo should reflect her pensive state when she ponders her ability to succeed in her test. Right at the beginning of the piece the piano begins with a smooth legato passage to ease into the piece. Legato, also known as slurs, gradually weave the melodies to convey meditation or preoccupation. As such, the piano’s legato welcomes us to her thoughts. The piano, woodwinds, and pizzicato strings also aid in these moods. From 9:37 to 9:58, Twilight conveys her confidence in easier magic and knowledge tests, supported by the slightly lighter mood conveyed by the strings and harp. She reverts back to her confused state at the end of the piece where the instrumentation becomes more legato and reserved.

 

As mentioned before, the scale of the piece is G major before a modulation occurs to end it in D major. Throughout this section, a very common Romantic Period element is used: borrowed chords. Let’s take the current scale used as an example. When you make a phrase, it can end in I-IV-V-I (G-C-D-G). However, I can easily “borrow” a chord from g minor by doing the following: I-iv-V-I (G-c-D-G). I have substituted the C major chord with a c minor chord. Such chords are commonly used to soften the ends of phrases, but they can also be used to convey doubt, tension, and confusion because borrowed chords “fogs” up the actual scale of the piece. As such, Twilight’s confusion synchronizes with the borrowed chords. Take 10:25 for example. After Spike acts as an echo to Twilight’s portrayal of her abilities (it’s used to confirm them by the way), the g minor chords resound throughout, and the dm/A chord rounds off the piece in tension; Twilight “isn’t prepared for this [test]”.

 

The reprise is why I love the song so much. It's got a feeling of success and it was the perfect way to end the season opener. What's so different about the reprise? I mean, the melody was the same right? Well, of course, but the tempo was more upbeat, with a time signature of a fast 2/4 unlike the slow 2/4 experienced at the beginning of the episode. Such tempos are very common for lively pieces and genres like ragtime. There are also no minor chords present, conveying a sense of confidence and an achieved happiness. Furthermore, more voices were involved, representing unity, coherence, and conclusion. Such is a very common feature for endings of a musical or opera (Marriage of Figaro is an example). Adding the trumpets and the timpani right after the choral voices finished their last note also intensifies the final victory Twilight and company achieved. It was the perfect way to conclude an episode: a resounding reprise that answers Twilight's question of whether she'll pass her test with the Crystal Ponies.

 

Oh and I forgot to mention. The question-answer motif the piece portrays is very similar to how "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" utilized "The Bells of Notre Dame" to ask, "what makes a monster and what makes a man?" When I listened to the piece again I was wondering, "which other movie/show tried to use a song to convey the plot's theme?"

Edited November 11, 2012 by Derpity Derp

[akita-ken 581]

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed this already but why is Berry Punch in the audience crowd during the jousting tournament? Did she make her way to the Crystal Empire to crash the fair?!

 

Edited November 11, 2012 by akita-ken

[Rainbow Dirk 1]

My first and only thought for the entire episode was that the guards spoke.

And did things.

A<HJBSDLIFUNWEPO:IJCWUOFCW:LUF

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed this already but why is Berry Punch in the audience crowd during the jousting tournament? Did she make her way to the Crystal Empire to crash the fair?!

 

 

What about the fact that one of the crystal ponies shown when Celestia told Twilight about the Crystal Empire is clearly Apple Bloom?

 

[BaBaBrony 111]

I would have liked to see a crystal pony make a difference to the story on the level of the Mane Six. With a name and everything. Hopefully their civilization gets more screen time. Their library was awesome too. It may have been lost on Twilight at the time but, not only is it completely stacked with books, many of them are probably 1000s of years old and not available in Canterlot.

 

Shining Armor needed his black cloak to get everypony past that huge wall that separates the Crystal Empire from the rest of Equestria

Edited November 11, 2012 by BaBaBrony

[dad george 105]

I hope the whole "Twilight is gonna complete the holy threesome... eh... trinity with Celestia and Luna"-thing is not gonna happen. I don't want alicorn Twiley. Because if Twiley becomes a super special alicorn pone that is part of a holy threesome... eh.... trinity, then the other mane 5 aren't special anymore .

[Shining Star 33]

I hope the whole "Twilight is gonna complete the holy threesome... eh... trinity with Celestia and Luna"-thing is not gonna happen. I don't want alicorn Twiley. Because if Twiley becomes a super special alicorn pone that is part of a holy threesome... eh.... trinity, then the other mane 5 aren't special anymore .

 

Don't worry, all of them will always be important, I mean they all help each other with just about everything, and even if Twi did become an Alicorn, I don't think it would change much. I mean Twi is my fav pony, but I like the others and I couldn't see them getting left out even if Twi became an Alicorn. So don't worry.

[dad george 105]

Don't worry, all of them will always be important, I mean they all help each other with just about everything, and even if Twi did become an Alicorn, I don't think it would change much. I mean Twi is my fav pony, but I like the others and I couldn't see them getting left out even if Twi became an Alicorn. So don't worry.

 

But now Twiley is just the same as all the other ponies; they are all equal in power. If Twiley became an alicorn then she would be different from the rest, and thus there would no longer be this amazing sexy balance. While we now have 5 protagonists and Applejack, if Twiley becomes a super alicorn thingy we would only have one protagonist.

[BaBaBrony 111]

But now Twiley is just the same as all the other ponies; they are all equal in power. If Twiley became an alicorn then she would be different from the rest, and thus there would no longer be this amazing sexy balance. While we now have 5 protagonists and Applejack, if Twiley becomes a super alicorn thingy we would only have one protagonist.

 

Oh, so Applejack is now the Zoidberg of the Mane Six? This is a new low.

[dad george 105]

Just kidding about Applejack. It's just the whole "AJ is a background pony!!!!111!" thing. Lol.

[Discovery Dream 592]

Oh, so Applejack is now the Zoidberg of the Mane Six? This is a new low.

 

AJ doesn't deserve this! D: She's so nice and strong, how could no one like her? She's won tons of ribbons and a good citizen award for services to Ponyville.

[Mister Jack 566]

Twilight is most definitely not equal in power to all her friends.

[NavelColt 22,879]

You know, it appears Sombra may have bitten the dust, as his defeat is the only defeat so far in which the villain was outright obliterated. However, for the sake of being overly-analytic because the material is there to do so with, I'm not so sure:

 

We already know from the beginning that Sombra is able to remotely control his horn or parts of his horn, even when they aren't attached to him. When his horn broke off due to Cadence's shield, it melted into black magic and sprouted some of Sombra's black crystals. He then used his own magic to make it snake up the Crystal Pony's welcoming crystal structure when he wasn't even on the same side of the shield as it was, and from there, it spread all over the Empire and began infecting things to turn into black crystal.

 

 

Then, when Sombra was blown up along with his black crystal infections, his horn was completely in tact, where as the rest of his body was destroyed outright.

 

 

I dunno, I don't think it's such a big stretch that he might be able to reform himself back as his shadow form, since his horn is shown to be fully intact. Him returning wouldn't be hard, either. Princess Cadence, a secondary character who is probably going to be in the series more in the future, is the princess of this kingdom of which Sombra is connected to. A bit of foreshadowing? Possibly. Not foreshadowing at all, and just showing his horn for the sake of showing that he was blown apart? Just as possibly. Something worth thinking about :3

Edited November 11, 2012 by ~Chaotic Discord~

[Shining Star 33]

I think all the ponies are strong in their own way. They all have abilities that give strength to the others abilities. So by their own they might not be so good, but together they are powerful. I agree Twilight with her magic is the strongest, but if not for the others she wouldn't get anywhere.

[hawkflame 3,310]

I thought it was one of the weaker episodes. Don't get me wrong, I loved the musicals and the characters all had very cunning parts, but I felt like this kind of took a step backwards into Season 1 territory.

 

Your post is pretty much exactly how I feel about the episode. IMO, there was so much new stuff thrown at us, it made it difficult for me to care about what was going on. Some of the Mane Six weren't given a whole lot to do, and it lacked the sense of ... emotional urgency, I guess? that the Discord and Wedding episodes had. By that I mean there was that point in the middle of both of those story arcs where it seemed that things could not get any worse for Twilight- the bad guy had seemingly *won*, she lost the support of all of her friends, and all hope was lost. Whether it was her friends all being turned into jerks, or being rejected by her brother and Celestia, you just felt that it couldn't get worse. Which made it that when things finally turned in her favor, it just felt all the more awesome. The season 3 premiere lacked that sense of desperation.

 

And of course there's the boring villain, which most of us have gone on and on about.

 

Not to say that there wasn't anything to enjoy here- I loved the setup, especially the beginning with Luna and Celestia, and visually it was amazing- I loved the design of the crystal empire and the crystal ponies, we had a pretty awesome *looking* villain. But the story itself? Didn't really make use of its potential.

Edited November 11, 2012 by hawkflame

[Beat Shock 581]

 

^Cadence castrated Sombra right there^

 

...

 

-back on topic

 

I believe this episode(s) was AMAZING! Great animation (as usual), great plot (as usual), great music (BETTER than usual), and a lot of action (as usual)!

 

And again I say, the only thing they failed on is Sombra. No epic battle, no villain speech, just "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" throughout the entire thing. We don't get to hear anything about his personal life, just that he took over the Chrystal Empire a long time ago.

 

And again, he looks like one of those newbie OC's that people make up these days...

 

SOMBRA = FAIL

[AegisReflector 886]

The thing that got me was the lack of the notable villain and quest. It just seemed like Twilight didn't really do any actual fighting or have an actual adventure. She just planned a festival, walked down stairs, sled down another flight of stairs, then got trapped by King Sombra and had Spike send the Crystal Heart to Cadence. For an episode that revolved all around her, her plotline was kind of anticlimactic and boring to watch. Spike was the true hero here, and for that, I APPLAUD that decision, but if you were going to go that route then you shouldn't have basically dedicated the season opener to Twilight.

 

Rewatching this episode (because I focus more clearly when I'm not doing a reaction video lol), I actually wanted to see the whole jousting tournament. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash duking it out sounds like a solid turn of events. Rarity and Applejack didn't have much to do, and Pinkie Pie was just as great as she ever was, providing random humor!

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

Something else I wanted to say! It's strange how no one but me seems to be questioning how Celestia is running her kingdom/world/part of the world/whatever. I like her okay and I don't want to bash her, but let's face it: this is like the President of the United States calling up six Girl Scouts (Mane 6), giving them the most powerful weapons on Earth (Elements of Harmony) and sending them off to resolve an international crisis with no pay and no backup. And it's not the first time. I mean, Celestia and Luna are arguably the most powerful creatures in Equestria and all they do is stand around having mysterious conversations while Twilight and friends run off totally unprepared into all these dangerous situations. I mean, doesn't Canterlot at least have an army? Shining Armor is captain of the Royal Guard. Where are they? I understand they're one with the elements and it's their destiny and everything, but still. Celestia seems to think that "testing" Twilight yet again is worth risking the fate of an entire town--excuse me, I mean "Empire." If that was the reason Luna objected to this whole thing, I hear her loud and clear. This is crazy. I came out of this thing doubting Celestia more than I ever did before. At least in the S2 finale she tried to help out.

Edited November 11, 2012 by TailsAlone

[Sorte95 46]

Also, I think that the songs were very good, and I liked the fact that they gave Spike a larger role in an episode, both plot-vise(other than his role in S2E10), and during the songs, because his and Twilight's singing voices worked pretty well together in my opinion.

[roptiriolg 49]

Awesome episode! After 'A Canterlot Wedding' this was probably one of the best episodes so far! Firstly, like every 2-part episode, it is one of the best but I liked the story of this King Sombra and overall the whole idea of the Crystal Empire. It's one probably ther best idea so far with this Empire.

 

I felt it as if I am watching some good fantasy movie, only in cartoon, it had very nice first half and action. Now, I agree with some posts above that somehow it was rushed - maybe because they started with deep and well thought story and it was great indeedm but then Hasbro realized they won't have time to prolong the defeat over Sombra and made it quicker.

 

Its quicker end is the only thing that felt not so nice but that's only because after the whole cool part 1, part 2 was expected to be that full and continuous. Still, I loved it, as well as every episode that has Luna <3

 

Also, I think that the songs were very good, and I liked the fact that they gave Spike a larger role in an episode, both plot-vise(other than his role in S2E10), and during the songs, because his and Twilight's singing voices worked pretty well together in my opinion.

 

The songs were deep, serious and mysterious, I loved them which is why I felt it as if I am watching some good fantasy movie

Edited November 11, 2012 by ImtR

[TopazReshiram 26]

I liked the songs in this episode. I really enjoyed that spike got to sing in the song I believe this is his first time singing if I'm not mistaken. The only thing I was disappointed about was I was hoping to see more information on King Sombra's ruling. I also would have liked to have seen more of his personalty.

[Zygen 6,066]

You know, it appears Sombra may have bitten the dust, as his defeat is the only defeat so far in which the villain was outright obliterated. However, for the sake of being overly-analytic because the material is there to do so with, I'm not so sure:

 

We already know from the beginning that Sombra is able to remotely control his horn or parts of his horn, even when they aren't attached to him. When his horn broke off due to Cadence's shield, it melted into black magic and sprouted some of Sombra's black crystals. He then used his own magic to make it snake up the Crystal Pony's welcoming crystal structure when he wasn't even on the same side of the shield as it was, and from there, it spread all over the Empire and began infecting things to turn into black crystal.

 

 

Then, when Sombra was blown up along with his black crystal infections, his horn was completely in tact, where as the rest of his body was destroyed outright.

 

 

I dunno, I don't think it's such a big stretch that he might be able to reform himself back as his shadow form, since his horn is shown to be fully intact. Him returning wouldn't be hard, either. Princess Cadence, a secondary character who is probably going to be in the series more in the future, is the princess of this kingdom of which Sombra is connected to. A bit of foreshadowing? Possibly. Not foreshadowing at all, and just showing his horn for the sake of showing that he was blown apart? Just as possibly. Something worth thinking about :3

 

Wow I never noticed this actually, Thanks for pointing this out. While it seems quite vauge, I think its a bit of foreshadowing. Why wouldn't they just destroy everything about him? I think its atleast a way for them to have it open for his return without it seeming way to bizarre.

 

However if hes destroyed he won't really be able to do anything with his horn will he?

[NavelColt 22,879]

Wow I never noticed this actually, Thanks for pointing this out. While it seems quite vauge, I think its a bit of foreshadowing. Why wouldn't they just destroy everything about him? I think its atleast a way for them to have it open for his return without it seeming way to bizarre.

 

However if hes destroyed he won't really be able to do anything with his horn will he?

 

The piece of his horn that got chipped off grew dark crystals all on its own so, again, I don't think it's a stretch for his entire horn to reform his shadow body. Call what you will, 'consciousness laid dormant inside his horn' or something else.

Edited November 11, 2012 by ~Chaotic Discord~