S03:E01+02 - The Crystal Empire

[roptiriolg 49]

Hmm yeah for now Luna takes a more supportive role and not main as seen in Season 2 as well

[: Fluttersweet : 60]

I hope soon, Luna gets her own little shining role as a hero. I know she had the 2 part Nightmare Moon bit, but that was her as a villain. We haven't seen her do much hero work (unless you count the scene in A Canterlot Wedding where she was guarding Canterlot, but you only saw about half a minute of her there) and she's one of my favorite characters. I just hope she has a bigger role soon.

[SapphireDragon 10]

That awkward moment when your main villain only says 5 words during the whole show.

[Windy Scamper 403]

This episode was okay, but seriously, they could have done better. After leaving us bronies and pegasisters with an amazing season 2 finale, my expectations were really high.

 

Here's what a Canterlot Wedding had; Amazing songs (BBBFF, This Day Aria), very well planned out villian, suspenseful plot ((fake)Cadence turning out to actually be evil, Twilight being locked away, finding real Cadence, Elements of Harmony being stopped, Shining Armor and Celestia's defeat..) and it was just overall amazing

 

And then we get the Crystal Empire; the villian has two lines (evil laughing and NOOOOO), the first song was meh and it wasn't quite able to match the awesomeness of Canterlot Wedding. The whole thing that was better than it was the title sounded cooler.

 

So yeah. Crystal Empire was good, just not great.

[Beth Sycamore 28]

 

You know, Sombra kept reminding me of Ganon from the Legend of Zelda series. Kinda creepy.

 

'

Y/know,I'd like to see a MLP character that does resemble LoZ's Ganondorf,maybe a unicorn or alicorn,named Ganonhoof. and also maybe an earth pony named Bink,and a pegasus named Gelda.

 

vote yes,or vote no?

[Sunny Fox 5,935]

'

Y/know,I'd like to see a MLP character that does resemble LoZ's Ganondorf,maybe a unicorn or alicorn,named Ganonhoof. and also maybe an earth pony named Bink,and a pegasus named Gelda.

 

vote yes,or vote no?

 

I'm going to vote no, but I like the creativity. I just think it would be a little bit too overt to have such close parallels of Zelda characters. Some more subtle shout-outs would probably be quite funny though.

[TheLionPaladin 164]

I liked this episode but was really disapointed by King Sombra. He had a interesting back story and looked awesome yet turned out to do very little damage in the episode, had a boring voice actor and had no were near as much....mmmmm....style as the others so far.

[RainbowDash2 1]

MLP just got exterm

 

Deth

 

I was scared there was going to be no more

[irobern2857 95]

Im pretty sure that the amount of logic that was shattered in this episode gave me brain cancer. such a random awesome episode.

[crazitaco 596]

I still kinda liked Sombra as a villain, even if he didn't have much "development"

I keep thinking that perhaps the dark magic Sombra used was so toxic that it corrupted him and destroyed his mind and personality. Celestia even mentions that his heart was black as night, perhaps refering to his lack of a soul? i don't know, i'm merely speculating.

Also, i think he might return, or atleast his dark magic may corrupt someone else. Sure was fun watching him go all explodey though :3

ERMAHGERD EXPLERSERN

Edited November 19, 2012 by crazitaco

[Sunny Fox 5,935]

I have a theory. I think the Crystal Empire reappearing now is not an accident, but a result of the fact that Princess Cadance got married. Apart from the timing being exact (it would take time for news to come from the Arctic, another real world name drop, so it's possible that it happened at the same time as she became a ruling (i.e. married) princess, the crystal ponies seemed to recognize her as "The Crystal Princess", her cutie mark contains the Crystal Heart, and when she turned into a Crystal pony herself at the end, her mane rearranged itself into the same style as she wore at her wedding.

 

Any thoughts, or has someone already come up with a similar theory?

[Sky Blaze 28]

'

Y/know,I'd like to see a MLP character that does resemble LoZ's Ganondorf,maybe a unicorn or alicorn,named Ganonhoof. and also maybe an earth pony named Bink,and a pegasus named Gelda.

 

vote yes,or vote no?

 

I've always thought of "Gelda" as a unicorn.

Oh, well! Although, I can't stop thinking about how Ganonhoof would indeed make an excelent alicorn.

[DashieDude 12]

I thought it was a great two part start up to season 3 i do wish they would have done more with Luna and Celestia. they just stood in the castle....

[FedoraMemes 582]

Watched about half of it so far. It has a nice plot build up, however, I'm thinking that it's not all that exciting at the moment. Hopefully it will have more action as it progresses further and make my reaction video a lot juicier.

[Two-of-Hearts 168]

I have a theory. I think the Crystal Empire reappearing now is not an accident, but a result of the fact that Princess Cadance got married. Apart from the timing being exact (it would take time for news to come from the Arctic, another real world name drop, so it's possible that it happened at the same time as she became a ruling (i.e. married) princess, the crystal ponies seemed to recognize her as "The Crystal Princess", her cutie mark contains the Crystal Heart, and when she turned into a Crystal pony herself at the end, her mane rearranged itself into the same style as she wore at her wedding.

 

Any thoughts, or has someone already come up with a similar theory?

 

 

I've been wondering that myself. Is Cadance the defacto ruler of the Crystal Empire now? I'm thinking that the last ruler before King Sombra took over may have been exiled or fled from King Sombra, and that last ruler had descendents, of which Cadance is the current bloodline descendent, which would explain her having the title of princess despite not having a kingdom of her own.

[ShyForever 282]

Okay.

I'll be that guy.

I actually LIKE King Sombra.

...

I'm sorry, I can't type this with a straight face!

If only he had more than 5 lines in the whole two-parter!

[Whimsical 24]

I really wished we saw more of King Sombra, but at the same time it was nice not to see too much of him He was kind of mysterious to me and I liked that.

 

Otherwise, the episode was all around great! Ranbow's jousting, the beautiful empire, the crystal heart - and best of all Crystal ponies!! Loved them in crystal form.

[dekutree64 711]

Here's a theory that I'm not sure has been mentioned yet... I've heard that Lauren Faust said sometime that Nightmare Moon was more of a possession, taking advantage of Luna's jealousy, rather than Luna herself turning truly evil. I've also heard people ponder the idea that Sombra corrupted her at the time they initially banished him, which would make sense considering that both happened approximately 1000 years ago, and that Sombra and Nightmare Moon both turn into clouds of mist.

 

So... what if it's all connected? Celestia and Luna whip Sombra, he curses Luna, Celestia banishes Nightmare Moon, time passes, Nightmare Moon gets free, mane 6 break the curse, which inadvertently breaks the seal on the crystal empire as well. That would explain Luna's desire to be involved with the crystal empire situation (revenge and/or preventing something similar from happening to Twilight).

 

Also interesting that the mane 6 connecting with the elements of harmony (and thus disconnecting them from Celestia and Luna) is what let Discord out... so really, 3 of 4 villains so far were freed in order to get Luna back. High price to pay, but worth it after 1000 years of loneliness.

 

It still doesn't really explain Cadence, but I suppose she could either be a long descendent of the crystal empire royal family (maybe their princess was rescued and brought to Equestria before banishing Sombra?), or a princess who vanished with the empire being reborn in the current era due to the seal starting to weaken 20 years or so before Nightmare Moon's escape.

[kirbyboi 587]

Maybe we'll see more of King Sombra in the next two-part episode. I hope we do, as he barely made an appearance. I liked his design too, so it's a shame.

Edited November 25, 2012 by Pixiesong

[Loriem 639]

I will just copy and paste what I said of FOB...

 

Here, I will write a sort of review on season three, were I list what I thought was good, bad, and pointless.

 

So, let's start by going from beginning to the end.

 

Part before the intro was normal I guess, just showing there is a problem and stuff, not good or bad really.

 

Okay, now let's get to Twilight once again freaking out because she is terribly afraid of failing a "test" Celestia told her she would do. Now, it was kind of funny, but I am one who finds it a bit ridiculous how much all of them seam to fear the Princess, when she usually acts all forgiving and such. But I won;t go on a full on rant on that, so let's move on.

 

Now when Celestia told Twilight about the Crystal Empire, at first, I did get the feeling she has more plans for Twilight later in the show, based on how she words this whole thing as a "test".

As for other thoughts, I already noticed some people mentioning this but the line "Even I don't know much about the Empire." being followed by her showing a hologram of the ENTIRE friggin city, was slightly moronic. Either she was lying, or that scene is just plain awkward.

Now, when she showed off the effects of the type of magic through theEmpire, that scene was just generally cool. Basically, showing one has the capability to cast some evil willed magic seams like it may be foreshadowing for more plots than this. But otherwise, it was basically an overdone presentation of the effects.

One thing that confused me, and likely MANY others, was when Luna gave Twilight a glare, either she was being a jerk due to normal frustration, or there is something on her mind that could be foreshadowing, but I did not catch much in the episode.

 

OKAY FOLKS! We have a song, let's see if it is good!

Alright, I personally feel, it was kind of pointless. I mean, it seamed like it did not add hardly anything to the plot, other than more about how Twilight is not totally confident. They could of used this time for something more productive, but I assume they wanted to try to entertain the audience more with this. Although, the song only entertained me a bit, it felt fairly cheesy. And that's all I have to say about that.

 

So, when the group reached the snow area, I was kind of eh. Then, they were attacked by the King Sombra. This seen was kind of thrilling, I will give it that, basically just introducing the villian. But, let's go on with the villain himself. They did not have him do HARDLY ANYTHING! I like antagonist, they bring allot to a show, game, book, or movie. He was more around to be generally threatening looking, but he did not say much at all through the episode. It seamed kind of lazy in general character design to just say "You know what, let's make him a big scary dark cloud that pretty much laughs and growls, and only says a couple lines because we don;t want to develop another character." I know I a probably being harsh here, and I will give some credit that they showed some of the villain's intelligence in the search for the crystal heart, But I will go on that later.

 

Now, WELCOME TO THE BEAUTIFUL FREAKING EMPIRE! This reminds me ALLOT of the city in Wizard of Oz, except, I can't remember it's name. But I have to say this place is very well designed.

 

So, when they meet With Princess Cadence, I do find it a bit unnecessary for them to do that dance thing, but I guess it isn't a big deal.

 

Now, INTERROGATING THE CRYSTAL PONIES! I found this bit kind of entertaining.

So, they then went to the Library, and searched for the book. I can see why Twilight was the only one to find it successfully, as all the other picked up random ones. Do they not have a Dewey Decimal system? Or did non of them know how to use it?

 

After that, they began the crystal fair with a SONG! And, I LOVE THIS SONG! It had great background music, and the lyrics fit well. Not to mention it was a GOOD way to continue the plot here.

 

So, the crystal ponies start remembering things because they are feeling joy. This is kind of a good idea, considering the show's basis.

 

Then, they find out that they need a specific crystal heart. Makes sense, I thought the pilot here would end to early. So, we get into some action, as things start to intense with the protection weakening. Now I was expecting some more of the villain, but, he was basically shown as a dark crystal growth across the city. Might I mention he does say one line here, but, seriously? Wait, I already voiced my opinion on the villain, moving on.

 

I would like to point out one spot here that was done better in a season 2 episode. of all people, Rainbow Dash makes Fluttershy joust. SERIOUSLY! I thought Rainbow had better development by this point. As I point in "hurricane Fluttershy", I expected Rainbow to be a jerk at Fluttershy the whole time, but, I was surprised she actually showed some compassion in parts of the episode. Here, it is just as I expected then, and is just kind of annoying to me, even if it is for comedy.

 

So my thoughts on the search for the crystal heart, I was impressed. The way it was hidden, and the obstacles Twilight had to face here made some sense, and even showed some villainous personality. I also like how they worked with the types of magic, and were she had to, and did not need to use it. The part were she sees her worst fear at the moment was very intriguing as well. I made my points about her fear, but I definitely felt this was a good scene.

 

And, when they find it, I was VERY impressed by how they turned the plot here. They changed it from "Your the chosen one and s***, you have to do this, no one else." to putting the safety of everyone else first. THIS IS A VERY GOOD LESSON.

What I did not like Is how Twilight could not see it was a good lesson until Celestia had to tell her face to face.

 

Then, they put the heart back, King Sombra almost won, well, sort of, he mainly made a bunch of black crystal thing appear everywhere. But, he basically give the classic "NOOOOOOO" and blows up. hehe, If your thinking good for the kingdom, you get glossy hair, if your thinking negative at it, you blow up. No, I won't try to justify that. And yes, I don;t like King Sombra's design because he did not effing have one.

 

OVERAL THOUGHTS---

Animation- HOLY F***ING BEJESUS THIS IS AMAZING! The crystal empire's design is great, and HOLY EFFECTS! They worked REALLY hard on the animation with this one, which proves they have VERY talented artists.

 

Plot-Hmmm, Good, just above average. I like the lesson allot, and the main thing with the Empire's importance and stuff is okay. But there were multiple parts that did not make too much sense, I hope this has to do with foreshadowing of future plots. Although, I REALLY think it would be useful for Celestia to make a list of all the enemies she and Luna defeated in the past, then give it to Twilight to just get ready to deal with them, but that would not be fun. And, HOLY CRAP! I just realized they actually killed a villain for once, I guess that makes sense since there was hardly a villain.

 

Characters- Of the new ones, meh, I have voiced this, but, THEY WERE LAZY IN THE VILLAINS DESIGN! Just a friggin frightening looking dark could does not make for a unique villain, it is just beyond unoriginal, it is more as if there wasn't even a villain, just a dark storm or something. With the crystal ponies, they were average. You could very well tell they were scarred, but they also seamed, kind of, well, no, I won't say it. One thing I find odd, how come they were only around a thousand years ago, like Luna, but don't have the same odd medieval time accent? meh, not too big of a plot hole.

Oh yea, and more development with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor is good, I mean, they only existed since last season's ending, might as well develop them more if yah plan on keeping them around.

 

OVERALL- B-

[Modphase 1,270]

I'm back! Whew, it feels good to be posting again!

 

Now, there's something that's been on my mind since the episode aired, and well, it's a very stupid thought, but as stupid as it my be, it's so ironic I just can't keep it to myself.

 

 

 

Now, I know that it wasn't the storyboard artists intention obviously, but I noticed during the entire episodes quirky resemblences to the combine invasion in half-life (yeah, I know it's really stupid) So here is what I found. CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!..but then again, who hasn't played half-life 2?

 

 

 

 

1. When sombra was destroyed, large, rainbow colored rays shot out from the crystal tower. This is similar to when Gordon Freeman destroyed the City 17's administration complex (I honestly don't know what it's called, but it's the big tower you see throughout the game, you can't miss it)

2. The enslaved crystal ponies, similar to the enslaved human race

3. Spike, saves the crystal empire, similar to Gordon Freeman saving the world?

4. The black crystals that Sombra creates, to me, resembled combine architecture and the way they spread, also reminded me of the combine architecture "infesting" the earth. Similarly, the spell that Sombra casts on Shining Armor which prevents him from using magic, is similar to the stasis field that prevents humans from procreating.

5. King Sombra-the combine overlord.

 

 

 

 

See, I told you it was stupid! There were probably others which I forgot though.

Edited November 25, 2012 by Modphase

[angels_gal 204]

*jumps up and down excitedly* it's back! I have been waiting a very long time to be able to experience these episodes along with the rest of the fandom, and not just play 'catch up!" I really loved this episode. The animation was absolutely incredible. in fact i think it got better oh man oh man I squealed so hard in some spots!

[Spring Storm 276]

This was a really good two-parter. I loved the songs and the crystal ponies, and I hope we get to see more of the crystal ponies in the future.

 

But, MOTHER OF FORESHADOWING! We learned that Celestia has something planned for Twilight in the future. My theory is that she and Luna are, slowly but surely, preparing for Twilight (or possibly all of the mane six) to become the next ruler of Equestria. After all, Luna and Celestia are no longer connected to the Elements, so they're probably much less capable of protecting Equestria than Twilight and friends are. But, who knows, it could definitely be something else. I'm looking forward to finding out what was in that book Luna had.

 

For all those who are bummed out that Sombra wasn't very well-established, I have a theory on that too. While we did see him explode, his horn WAS NOT destroyed. Based on that, as well as a spoiler image of Trixie that was leaked, I think Sombra will definitely return within the season. So, fear not, for it seems we'll be learning more about Sombra soon.

[Z.J.A. 136]

I apologize if these points have already been brought up.

 

I was really unsatisfied with King Sombra in the season opener. For starters, we barely learned anything about him. Secondly, he was a "Mwahahahaha" I'm evil villain, which isn't even interesting or cool, unlike the other main villains. I think part of my dissatisfaction with King Sombra in general is that it is phrased as a "test" to save the Crystal Ponies. I also don't have nearly as huge an attachment to the Crystal Ponies as I did to other characters such as Shining Armor and Princess Cadence who were developed. I'm not saying that I didn't like the episode at all or that I won't be hanging off the edge of my seat for each next episode. However, I am really not attached to this episode in any significant way, nor do I think it is a particularly good episode, by MLP standards. Just my two cents.

[Victor van Dort 202]

Man, I remember like it was yesterday when there were only 2 pages of replies to this topic when I got up early to post on it and watch the premiere. Now looking back on it, I think I shouldn't have gone back to sleep after the episode was over.

Lol, he now has horn herpes

Wow, I feel like a legend being one of the first bronies to comment on Shining's CTD, especially since the bronies from Bronies react to season 3 premiere said the same thing.