S03:E01+02 - The Crystal Empire

[Mile high 61]

shining armors horn looks like it has a std

[DrOphthalmos 497]

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but that was awesome! I kind of wish sombra had actually succeeded, but I have a feeling that would have been just way too dark.

 

Actually... that would have been awesome! We are used to seeing the villain get defeated at the end of every 2-part episode right? Imagine if this one time, the villain succeeds and the rest of the season was spent developing the villain's personality and having the rest of Equestria struggling to liberate the Crystal Empire.

[Rarietty 632]

Too many things to take in in one viewing.

 

One thing that really impressed me was the background music during this episode. It just seemed so much prominent than before. Also, this has to be by far the most visually impressive episode at well. I just loved how there were times when King Sombra almost looked 3D in a way. Also, I liked the reprise to I Wasn't Prepared much more than just Twilight and Spike singing.

 

I felt like such a prick when Shining Armor through Cadance into the air so that she could start flying, mostly because I was thinking about how awful a husband is if he just throws his sick, tired, starving wife into the air and expects her to start flying.

 

Seriously, 4 Gak commercials in a row? What kind of parent buys their kid pointless, sticky, gooey stuff that can get stuck in things like hair and fabric anyway?

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

Well, a good kick off to the season. Not as good as A Canterlot Wedding or The Return of Harmony but still pretty good. A loot of good comedy and moments involved, Spike got some well needed focus, and CADENCE WAS USED AS A MISSLE! My jaw dropped. I was kind-of hoping the Mane 5 would have to fight Sombra while Twi got the heart, and I was hoping for a bit more out of Sombra but I suppose not every villain can be Discord.

Highlights include

The Fluttershy Costume

Night Vision Goggles

Putting Applejack in charge of keeping the heart secret and making Fluttershy joust, clearly Twilight's organization skills are needed.

"Does anyone else want a horn"

The troll door

Spike's Spotlight

Cadence javelin

Twilight nuking the library

Applejack's so bad it's good pun

 

GIVE ME THE NEXT EPISODE!

[null1 606]

They looked like horses and were wearing bridles. I think they've gotta be rulers from other lands or something, at least I hope so.

 

Should be the case I guess, the bridle looked awkward to be honest.

 

Guys stop freaking out about sombra! If they had tried to make him like that he probably would've been too similar to discord or nightmare moon

 

You're right, this gives more mystery to Sombra, which I think is good, we know how evil the last characters were, but we don't know that much about what Sombra would do again, suspenseful uncertainty.

[Fubz 300]

A few random things I noticed which didn't make much sense:

 

If you're looking for a history book at a library, I don't think the most efficient way is to have all six of them just go randomly pulling books off of shelves. Most libraries are organized by subject; find the history section first and then have everyone look there.

 

If the crystal heart ultimately did not have to be delivered solely by Twilight, why did Celestia and Luna tell her that she had to do it by herself? Is it Trollestia striking again?

 

I also like how the mane six minus Twilight were told that they had to keep all the crystal ponies happy so that they could "activate" the crystal heart once it arrived, but by the time it did arrive, the crystal ponies weren't all happy and it didn't matter at all.

 

I did like that Twilight eventually thought to use some magic rather than climbing all the stairs; I was thinking that the entire time.

 

I thought that when Spike was picking up the crystal heart, his sweaty hands would cause him to drop it and break it, but I guess the sweatiness of his hands turned out not to be a plot point.

 

The crystal ponies were happy when the heart arrived because that's all they wanted for the whole time. A chance to see the heart. That's was their greatest desire, and just the sight of it was enough

 

It's crystal lol, you can't break that by just dropping it .-. Lol, but Spike owned it

[Indiana_Dash 81]

Great beginning of the third season. I supposed to see two good episodes with pretty lovable songs... but I wasn't prepared for THIS.

The episodes much exceeded my expectations.

Epic new quest. Epic new villain. Two adorable songs....

And of course Spike is our new hero C:

Edited November 10, 2012 by Indiana_Dash

[Flicker Sweet 3,391]

 

Should be the case I guess, the bridle looked awkward to be honest.

 

 

You're right, this gives more mystery to Sombra, which I think is good, we know how evil the last characters were, but we don't know that much about what Sombra would do again, suspenseful uncertainty.

 

Or he's just not that important

[Jokuc 8,172]

 

I'm serious when I say I want to make this a meme.

 

rofl you win the whole internet my laughs and everypony elses laughs.

 

ugh those gak songs.. they won't go away from my head lol

[Flicker Sweet 3,391]

What is this whole gakgakgak thing all about?

[Princess Lintsalot 73]

Guys stop freaking out about sombra! If they had tried to make him like that he probably would've been too similar to discord or nightmare moon

 

You're wrong. It's perfectly possible to come up with an original villain, aside from making a cackling mess.

I'm going to go ahead and prove that right here:

Sure, it's not possible to have Sombra in person overly much at the beginning of the episode, mainly because of the force field. It would have had a way more profound effect, though, if Sombra had managed to trick his way in instead of just waiting outside and cackling. Say. for example, planting an impostor crystal heart inside the palace. From Celestia's description, it can easily be inferred that Sombra was a tyrant, but also that he was ruthless and cunning(You can also see this very well when he finally does show up. notice the abject terror on the ponies' faces?) Why not display those traits a bit more in the rest of the episode?

 

Sombra, as I see it, could easily have been a real monster- and not all too similar to Discord or NMM. Cunning, but not necessarily a puppeteer controlling everything from the background. As it was, he was way too one-dimensional to give much substance to the episode, other than providing a sense of urgency.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Studio B has some sort of thing for stealth-based video games. Let's see, we have... Ninja Gaiden-esque Rainbow Dash from Read it and Weep, Solid Sparkle (Metal Gear Solid) from It's About Time (even her MANE matched the role), and now Pinkie Fisher (Splinter Cell) with the signature suit and hell, her nightvision goggles fit the role perfectly.

[DrOphthalmos 497]

If you're looking for a history book at a library, I don't think the most efficient way is to have all six of them just go randomly pulling books off of shelves. Most libraries are organized by subject; find the history section first and then have everyone look there.

 

Perhaps Crystal Ponies haven't come up with the Dewey Decimal system yet - they are 1000 years behind the times. Maybe alphabetical doesn't work either - their writing looks downright cuneiform.

 

Lol, obviously you are right - there should have been some sort of "history" section though they certainly had no help from the librarian finding it. Perhaps they were still busy figuring out which section they were in when they stumbled across the book.

 

As for all the GAK GAK GAK, I blame us for not buying advertising space. Surely at least some of us own some businesses?

Edited November 10, 2012 by DrOphthalmos

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,694]

Rarietty mentioned one thing I forgot, the background music. It was a lot stronger and more prominent than anything I've heard before.

[Fubz 300]

rofl you win the whole internet my laughs and everypony elses laughs.

 

ugh those gak songs.. they won't go away from my head lol

 

I just muted the stream whenever it came up, also the livestream chat was too quick, does anypony have any idea how many were watching? On the second stream I think it peaked at 9 point something k

[Starswirl the Trixie 974]

Courtesy of Derpiboo.ru

http://derpiboo.ru/147541

[Batbrony 15,994]

I get everyponies complaints about Sombra, but at the same time, even if I did want to see more of him, his presence as it was still worked for me. I don't think any other villain in the show has really ever had such a continuous sense of foreboding for so long in two episodes as Sombra did. The suspense throughout both episodes was amazing, and even from a distance, the guy was a major threat; he basically had every single thing that could've spoiled his plans covered, and some of his traps were downright devious and evil, especially that door that shows you your worst fears! While the few times he actually appeared throughout the episode were disappointing overall, the suspense that you felt throughout both episodes, even in the midst of the Crystal Fair, was great, and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. So while as a villain himself he had a lot more potential to do more, I overall love the role he played in the execution of both episodes.

[BaBaBrony 111]

I liked it. The songs were nice and the animation is showing marked improvement. The crystal empire is pretty legit. Too bad Sombra was so dopey. He sort of reminded me of Galactus from Marvel comics. I hope he comes back as a proper villain like Chrysalis and Discord.

 

Speaking of Discord, I hope he comes back too. Like a reformed Discord who is no longer interested in total global chaos. Instead he's happy to just mess with the Mane Six.

Edited November 10, 2012 by BaBaBrony

[Music Chart Fan 818]

The crystal ponies were happy when the heart arrived because that's all they wanted for the whole time. A chance to see the heart. That's was their greatest desire, and just the sight of it was enough

 

It's crystal lol, you can't break that by just dropping it .-. Lol, but Spike owned it

 

Well, if seeing the crystal heart can give them enough happiness to provide the power for protection, then why is the fair necessary at all? I guess because the history book says so.

 

And the crystal heart that Twilight carved earlier was broken by Cadence landing on it (albeit probably with a fair amount of momentum), so the crystal isn't impossible to break. I was more imagining the crystal heart slipping out of Spike's hands and falling off the edge, and I think there's a chance it could break in that scenario.

[null1 606]

Or he's just not that important

 

Or that. Maybe just put him away for later too, or he's done. I'm just ready for the rest of the season and what surprises are in store.

[Fubz 300]

I get everyponies complaints about Sombra, but at the same time, even if I did want to see more of him, his presence as it was still worked for me. I don't think any other villain in the show has really ever had such a continuous sense of foreboding for so long in two episodes as Sombra did. The suspense throughout both episodes was amazing, and even from a distance, the guy was a major threat; he basically had every single thing that could've spoiled his plans covered, and some of his traps were downright devious and evil, especially that door that shows you your worst fears! While the few times he actually appeared throughout the episode were disappointing overall, the suspense that you felt throughout both episodes, even in the midst of the Crystal Fair, was great, and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. So while as a villain himself he had a lot more potential to do more, I overall love the role he played in the execution of both episodes.

 

Yea, totally agree man It was so scary, especially with the fact that you always knew everything was failing at 3 different places. Was pretty Dramatic.

[Rascal 44]

That was awesome!

 

Sombra didn't seem like has was well planned out yeah he was worthy but was a real waste

 

The music was just beautiful

 

And Spike got a bigger role in this episode! long story short can't wait till the next one

[MatrixChicken 879]

Hmmm. Everypony's doing reviews... I'll try my hand at one.

 

Looks: 9/10 The animation and detail were absolutely wonderful in this one! There are a few spots where I think, "Hmmm, this could be a bit less cheesy", but overall, it was very good, at least comparatively.

 

Plot: 7/10 The plot was good, and I definitely got shivers at times. There were a few points, though, at which they had HUGE apportunities to do something absolutely amazing, but didn't. I loved the door of fear, and there were many other parts that seemed slightly darker than usual. However, they needed to make this a 3-parter. They just didn't have the time to make this the best it could be!

 

Music: 8/10 The music pieces were absolutely amazing. Some of the best so far. The one at the end surprised me, I wasn't expecting yet another song...

 

Villain: 4/10 Very poor, in my eyes. When he was chasing Shining and the mane 6, I was really excited for him. But once he reared his ugly head, all I could think was, yes, Bad OC. Not because of his looks, but his act. His voice was pretty stereotypically evil, and sounded a bit dumb. He could have been much scarrier, and more fun to watch, if he had a better voice, and some talking lines, rather than just, "MWAHAHAHAHA".

 

Humor:7/10 I didn't laugh as much as some other episodes, but that wasn't what this episode was about. For it being a more serious episode, I think my score is pretty fair...

 

Overall: 8/10 It was a good episode, ultimately... One of the best, however, I think I have to place it directly below Return of Harmony and A Canterlot Wedding. The lack of villain background was disappointing, but the looks of it, the animation, the detail, the design for Sombra, the "darker" parts were what made this episode. Also, some good quotes.

[Jokuc 8,172]

What is this whole gakgakgak thing all about?

 

Didn't you watch the livestream lol? gak gak gak!

 

Nah but it was a commercial about some weirdass slime kid toy and it went over and over again lol

 

GAK GAK GAK

[Fubz 300]

Well, if seeing the crystal heart can give them enough happiness to provide the power for protection, then why is the fair necessary at all? I guess because the history book says so.

 

And the crystal heart that Twilight carved earlier was broken by Cadence landing on it (albeit probably with a fair amount of momentum), so the crystal isn't impossible to break. I was more imagining the crystal heart slipping out of Spike's hands and falling off the edge, and I think there's a chance it could break in that scenario.

 

Well, if seeing the crystal heart can give them enough happiness to provide the power for protection, then why is the fair necessary at all? I guess because the history book says so.

 

And the crystal heart that Twilight carved earlier was broken by Cadence landing on it (albeit probably with a fair amount of momentum), so the crystal isn't impossible to break. I was more imagining the crystal heart slipping out of Spike's hands and falling off the edge, and I think there's a chance it could break in that scenario.

 

Well, if seeing the crystal heart can give them enough happiness to provide the power for protection, then why is the fair necessary at all? I guess because the history book says so.

 

And the crystal heart that Twilight carved earlier was broken by Cadence landing on it (albeit probably with a fair amount of momentum), so the crystal isn't impossible to break. I was more imagining the crystal heart slipping out of Spike's hands and falling off the edge, and I think there's a chance it could break in that scenario.

 

Haha yea Of course this time they didn't require a fair but for previous years yea, I mean you can't not have a fair for such a big event. Because they hadn't seen it for ages it was enough, but other years lets say because they'd seen it every day a fair was necessary and that's what the history book recorded.