Were you satisfied with King Sombra as the antagonist?

[Wingnut 6,734]

I was expecting Sombra to confront Twilight at some point in part 2 and say a few words about how pathetic she is and that there is nothing she or her friends can to to save the Crystal Empire. Am I disappointed that it didn't happen? Not really. Having a face to face meeting between the pro and antagonists is too predictable. He doesn't live up to Discord or Nightmare Moon but I was satisfied with him. Not everybody in the MLP villain gallery is going to be a Darth Vader, Lex Luthor, and Megatron level bad guy.

[DashPony 359]

While i'm not entirely satisfied with him for the fact that he was mostly in the background the entire time, I will say that he seems to be the first truly evil villain we have seen so far. Enslaving ponies? Destroying their kingdom without even lifting a hoof? That was awesome!

 

The premier was amazing. It more than makes up for the fact that he wasn't the best villain

[Guest]

i loved the episodes but the villain just wasn't used at all. the rest of the episode made up for it but i liked his voice so it was a shame we couldn't hear from him

a good episode, very entertaining but the villain just didn't do it

[Taco Horse 116]

I was expecting a lot more from King Sombra, but who's to say that he wont be back for the season finale? We know the synopsis for most of the season already except the finale, maybe Sombra makes a return to try and take over Ponyville.

[RagingTwilight 101]

I never had high expectations for him in the first place, so I was satisfied overall. I remember when I first saw a picture of King Sombra months ago, he just didn't grab my attention. He certainly looked menacing, but he seemed to be lacking something the other main villains have. To be honest, I don't think there is much that could be done with him to begin with, save for possibly expanding on how he came to power, but I don't really care enough to want to find out.

 

Nevertheless, the fear of impending doom worked for me and I really enjoyed the season premiere, despite the uni-dimensional villain. The episode needed a villain, and he served that purpose - for better or for worse. The focus on the show has always been the Magic of Friendship and happiness; too much emphasis on a villain this dark may have been pushing the envelope.

[Boxxi The Brony 119]

I didn't like him, as stated before, BLAND! Not to mention he gave Shining Armor

Horn Herpes as said in some random comment I read.

[: Fluttersweet : 60]

King Sombra looked really badass and promising when I first saw him. While I think he could have played a bigger role, the things he did and said did in fact leave me quite satisfied.

 

As they were approaching the Crystal Empire, I like how they presented that 'looming danger' sense. In fact, they did a fantastic job of maintaining that feel throughout the premiere. Apparently the things he did were pretty horrific- when Twilight was talking to one of the Crystal Ponies, they got a migraine and paralyzing fear when they tried to even remember what King Sombra had done to them.

 

Also, he says my slaves at one point. This means not only has he a heartless leader, he is so far the only antagonist that (to our knowledge) has made ponies his slaves. I think that alone ranks him pretty high up on the evil villain scale. To further reinforce my point.. NMM simply wanted ponies to enjoy the night as much as she does, although the way she wanted to do so was 'evil.' Discord liked to play tricks and reign some chaos and watch ponies fight, but he never really harms anypony. Chrysalis is probably the most evil, having her own army and being more powerful than Princess Celestia.

 

All in all, I'd say I give King Sombra a 6 or a 7 out of 10.

[Bright Honor 2,419]

Sombra was ok. He had a great design and it is nice to see a pony villain. However...he just simply didn't do much. The fact that he had like 2 lines doesn't help either. He had/has lots of potential, but imo in this premiere he felt like a plot device than a real villain.

[Half-Note 273]

While the episode was amazing, they definatly should have given more story to Sombra than "Evil king who was turned to shadows then freed."

[Charming Knight 56]

At least I was not the only person who thought this at the end of the premier, they built it up like he was some ultra evil BA like, at the end after he was defeated I felt cheated kinda, that he was gone that easy... I was really hoping for something more epic! along the lines of a ultimate battle, not a Oh look *Boom* he is destroyed... Like what was that!? so anti-climatic... I mean sure, there was some Epic foreshadowing of some events! and did anypony else notice the Book Luna made appear at the end of the episode before spikes last line? THAT is what makes me wanna see whats going to come on during the season!

[Zanther 15]

I have mixed feelings on him. As many pointed out, he had great potential but they didn't do much with him. I will agree that in terms of evil, he ranks high cause of enslaving and all that. DO I wish he did more? Yes. His death(?) was underwealming. I almost do hope they bring him back later (along with Chrysalis).

[Koori 156]

I wasn't exactly satisfied. I liked how Celestia pictured King Sombra, but it's also the reason why I then kinda felt disappointed as King Sombra didn't really do anything except approach creepily at the crystal castle. I was kinda hoping something more of a... ... I don't know... a bit more interaction between King Sombra and the Mane 6?

 

And furthermore, just how long was King Sombra actually on screen? On first episode he wasn't that much and while he WAS on screen more on part 2, all he did was growl or laugh menacingly. Nothing more.

 

So... compared to how Celestia pictured King Sombra to Twilight, I expected much more from him.

[Lightning Fluttershy 1,844]

Not really. For someone who looked as badass as him, I wish he had more speaking scenes. I felt like he was really underdeveloped. We didn't get a good sense of his personality or feelings or anything from just looking at him.

[Doctor 22]

He was cool... Wish he could of done more and had more lines to say other than just one word or whatever. It was still good though he just looked like an Awesome Villain. Just didn't get to do much on his come back.

Edited November 10, 2012 by Doctor

[Sepraxian 36]

We've barely seen his abilities. He barely talked about anything. His impact was never seen directly.

We've seen a part of Nightmare Moon's eternal night.

We've seen Discord turning land into crazy place, as well as turning ponies to their bad side.

This guy did nothing of mention.

 

He's a cheap variation of Windigo colored like a Homestuck troll.

[Octavia's Cellozoid 1,488]

He WAS a little under(played? Acted? Idk...) ... And he didn't have many lines, your right. I loved his design though. So much so that I drew him!

Season 3 inspired me to draw Sombra, take a look at my progress!

http://mlpforums.com/topic/38469-drawing-sombra/

 

Edited November 10, 2012 by Octavia's Cellozoid

[pinkiefan1287 610]

Sombra was pretty cool looking villain, but they could have used him a little more in the episode. Still the show has always given us a villains that act deferent in some way. Sombra was just another one of those ideas.

 

You have to admit he was pretty smart to hide the crystal heart with such cleaver traps. The other thing I like about him was that he was a unicorn, just a unicorn. It was just cool that he was the same species as them.

[Party Cannon 874]

Time constraints. Though I think it's not a very good excuse as the other 2 part episodes had better villains, the writers can argue that they had to flesh the Crystal Kingdom/Empire out more instead of more time with Sombra. Like someone (somepony) mentioned in this topic, not every villian is supposed to be as bad/severe as the others.

 

By the way, anyone else get the Silent Hill vibe with him? The roar being like the sirens and blackness descending upon the town/city?

Edited November 10, 2012 by Party Cannon

[Tom 890]

When Sombra was introduced, we seen him rule over the crystal kingdom and enslave it's inhabitants but sadly he never really got any lines. So he was underwhelming by the end.

 

 

I think he has a lot of potential and I'm sure there'll be fanfics that explore him some more.

 

[Zeruis 53]

First of all, I love his design. Even though he appeared only as a shadow most of the episode, I would've liked him to be shown more as a unicorn. I honestly thought that "worst fears" door was going to be powerful. That element should have been shown with other characters. All in all, I liked King Sombra.

[Java Jive 440]

I feel he had only one purpose, to pose as an outside threat. This episode was focused almost entirely on Twilight's race against time to protect the Empire, her test. There was too little time made free for Sombra to be fleshed out, most of the episode(s) showed the crystal fair. There is still a chance for Sombra to return in another form, but i am largely referring to what was left of him at the end. His horn. Even a small piece of it spreads dark magic.

 

Even if he was given more lines, i'm not convinced it would have helped Sombra's case to be a "better" villain. I think he would've been just as bland. He was already beaten once, he is totally evil. Thats currently all you need to know about him. If he needs to get fleshed out, he needs his own episode.

Edited November 10, 2012 by JavaJive

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

Eh, I feel like the focus was mostly on Twilight's development and on the Crystal Empire, and Sombra was just the force that drove the plot. Definitely not as good as the other villains but he was ok, not gonna rip on him but I feel like they can do and have done better.

[Princess Lintsalot 73]

I suppose I'll present an argument for both sides, as I do see one:

 

I've already posted elsewhere that Sombra was really a letdown, and this certainly still does apply. He was underacted, generally reduced to evil cackling and short lines in general. Celestia's description made him seem pretty awe-inspiring, but it really just flopped. What kind of villain puts their most-guarded treasure on the top of an open-topped tower, I ask you? Sure, he set traps to stop just anyone from taking it, but any old unicorn and pegasus working together could easily have gotten it out. By the events of the episode, he's a cackling maniac, effective only because he can still induce fear in the crystal ponies.

 

Now, that may seem a bit harsh, so I'll at least mention some redeeming values now. He really showed himself as insanely powerful- for one, he is partly insubstantial, and can form and reform at will. He also managed to sneak his way in, even if by accident(getting part of his horn cut off.) He certainly qualifies as the most powerful unicorn yet seen. He even had enough foresight to set a bunch of traps and time-wasting devices inside his castle, leading to Twilight nearly getting there too late. Sombra really did lend a sense of urgency to the situation as well, especially after the force field failed.

 

If anypony even cares about my personal opinion as well, I'd give it too:

Sombra really had a lot of potential. It was implied that he was a ruthless cunning tyrant. What better villain could you want? Of course, I understand that they couldn't do overly much because of time constraints, but they could have put him in a more flattering role than this, maybe had him directly attack one of the characters, or monologue a bit? Maybe that would be a bit cliched, but it couldn't have gotten much worse, after all. Sombra made for a lackluster villain by all counts, though with a character like that, I'd see great fanfic potential out there.

[Hat988 105]

He could have been replaced with a snowstorm or something natural. Not many complain about snowstorms having little character. It might have been a better choice for the writers.

[Genepool 224]

"Leaving doors open" is what I garnered from Lauren Faust's DA page posts and her interviews. Sombra's defeat was rather easy, yet it also easily leaves things open for his return. As we've seen before, Luna was cured from Nightmare Moon, Discord was re-stoned and Chrysalis was banished to the badlands/wastelands. With King Sombra it seemed as though was vaporized which doesn't fit well with the show, he also got his body back.

 

Overall i'm disheartened with how little air time he head and few lines of dialogue. However, with that defeat being rather minor it definitely feels like the MLPFIM crew is leaving things wide open.