Were you satisfied with King Sombra as the antagonist?

[None42069 520]

They had good ideas with him. He wasn't a powerful being like Discord. He wasn't an alicorn like Celestia and Luna. Also, he wasn't motivated by any dark power like Nightmare Moon, food like Chrysalis or nature like Discord. He was a normal pegasus who simply went evil. Not only that, the only way to defeat him was with Celestia and Luna.

 

The other weapon the ponies could've used was the crystal heart but Sombra stole it and hid it inside the castle. Why there? Because no pony would dare look in there. Even if they did, they'd have to be a unicorn to go further (the empire was mostly if not all earth ponies) and be able to use the same type of magic as Sombra to reveal the staircase. When they do reveal it, they come across a moving door that needs to be magically opened. The unicorn would think of using Sombra's magic but that would activate his nightmare trap.

 

If they'd manage to get through, they'd have to climb to the top of the tower to reach the Crystal heart (LONG way up.) A pony would get tired easily. Finally, assuming the pony would reach the top, they'd most likely try to grab the Crystal Heart itself. Unfortunately for them, stepping inside the circle traps them in there and teleporting out sends them right back in. It also alerts Sombra himself and most likely, he would get there before the pony got out.

 

If it weren't for Spike, he could've won and taken over again before (probably) being banished by Celestia and Luna again. Speaking of, back when he was defeated the first time, he had a backup plan that brought the empire with him.

 

If Chrysalis is good at infiltrating, Sombra was good at planning. I'd hate to see those two working together. Too bad he got killed at the end.

[K3WRO 79]

No, he is the whole reason the episode was disappointing, along with spike being a hero and the lack of interaction with the main plot block they call the crystal heart, and stairs, I bet King Sombra loved stairs, His cutie mark is stairs. never mind that.

 

I mean, even before the episode aired he was a load of crap. He looks like an overdesigned OC, His personality didn't template those of Chrysalis, Discord and Nightmare moon, unlike those villains, he wasn't enjoyable in screen, he didn't have brilliant lines just growls and roars, and he had little to no influence on the mane six.

 

Well, He could of been a much more better villain, I kinda like his subtext of being a cruel heartless leader who took the empire by force, enslaving his own people. He's comparable to Hitler in some ways, but that's like comparing discord with joker, it's just not gonna work.

 

That was my rant, at least he was like the only villain who actually dies or something

[The-Master 1,176]

They stole the idea for my OC that I made! I put a lot of work into that guy! The only difference is that they made him look like emo David Bowie from Labyrinth and then gave him the character depth of Nicholas Cage. Seriously, what's up with that?

[Bananashy 79]

I wasn't satisfied with him. I liked him, that's for sure, (enslaving the crystal ponies to fill the empire with fear and hatred, with probably a bigger motive in mind since it is said that the empire's state will reflect on all of Equestria ) but he makes me want more. I do feel his lack of character development was intentional, and, if it was, they did a pretty good job. They could have at least elaborated a bit more on his past, though. He'll probably be a recurring villain, since he was able to regenerate through even a small part of his horn, and his horn was shown blowing off to parts unknown. If this is true, boy, I'd be glad. Love to see more of him.

 

Overall, he was a good villain, but he could have been elaborated more.

8.5/10

[Xievie 498]

I'm eagerly waitingfor his return. If you played attention, his Horn blasted off after his defeat. This may mean his Horn will do something, and/or he may return.

[MrFox 44]

He's like Boba Fett.Looks cool, sounds cool but if you ever need him to do anything, he is a little bitch who gets his ass kicked way too easily.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,694]

No. King Sombra was the biggest letdown of the premiere for me. I knew he wasn't going to be another Discord, but I thought at least he would have a personality and history of his own. Instead he was just a shadowy evil thing that did more laughing than talking, and we never found out how or when he came to power, whether he started out bad or became that way later, how he related to Celestia and Luna in the past, what he was doing for a thousand years...nothing. He provided a sense of urgency, but nothing more.

[Fridge 382]

I actually get a sneaking suspicion that we may be seeing more of him and that he was in someway tied to Luna becoming Nightmare Moon. This timing of him being defeated 1000 years ago and Luna being imprisoned for 1000 years seems more than coincidence. Throw in Luna's want to deal with him and the look she gave Twilight make me think there was unfinished business there.

 

The reason I suspect he might return is within the episode we see that if a section of his horn is severed he can grow a crystal and spread. Well we saw that his horn was intact and flung into the distance so to me... not dead just incapacitated for now.

 

But yeah, for these two episodes I was a little disappointed by him.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Fridge

[Spatsi 151]

To be honest, I was disappointed. I hoped we were going to find out something more about his personality. All we know about him, is that he's a unicorn and he is evil. He should also have some lines, besides "roaaar!" and "muahahaha!"

[Winterbass 763]

I was kinda disappointed about king sombra himself, but the role he played was great, the suspense! The drama! It was amazing. I believe he'll come back though, there's just too much potential to just throw him away.

Now about the King himself, he didn't really show a lot of his abilities, like previously mentioned, he's a master at planning, I don't doubt his own abilities myself, but he didn't really show off. He seems like quite the empty character right now, but he'll probably be back, he has to come back. I am glad that he's just plain evil, nothing can change that he's just evil and that's that. No ulterior motives, no revenge or anything. Just evil. We needed a character like that.

[roptiriolg 49]

Yes the king should have got some more of the role, it looks like he will not reappear though - based on how he was defeated and all

[Gamzee Master of the Faygo 20]

The fact of the matter is He fills one of the roles we hope to see filled later on when you know who comes back. It finally adds a villian that is acually "EVIL" not saying chryisalis wasn't evil She had her own purposes for being evil hive to feed and all that . Sombra was evil to be evil he was like the demon in pony form when it comes to evil. And hopefully he will make a return in bigger and better manner. As for his role in this episode. It was lacking. A few lines would of changed the entire show.

[Fridge 382]

Just thinking on somthing I mentioned earlier and has been dwelling in my head since I saw the episodes... what if nightmare Moon was caused by King Sombre? Infected her somehow. Perhaps King Sombre is a unicorn who in turn was infected himself by a greater power and this being what Twilight is being trained up for.

[Gamzee Master of the Faygo 20]

Just thinking on somthing I mentioned earlier and has been dwelling in my head since I saw the episodes... what if nightmare Moon was caused by King Sombre? Infected her somehow. Perhaps King Sombre is a unicorn who in turn was infected himself by a greater power and this being what Twilight is being trained up for.

 

The forums today so full of thought. I would like to think this as well. Along with the thought he may be back a little backstory never hurts as well.

[OkBuddy 586]

Was I satisfied with King Sombra?

The answer:

King Sombra was one of the least developed villains I have ever seen. Not just on the show, but out of of all the villains I've seen throughout my life so far. He should have spoken more so that we can at least see his personality. And when he did speak, I could barely understand what he was saying. And for goodness sake, his plot was flat out terrible. While most villains of the show want to take over Equestria or at least be a big threat, this guy didn't feel like a big threat at all. He only wanted to take over one city. ONE CITY. How lame is that? But he did do one thing that was cruel compared to the other villains of the show, he used slavery. So I would say he is the cruelest villain of the show, which is kind of bad-ass. So, I did like how he was cruel, but I didn't like how he lacked in character development.

[Fridge 382]

While most villains of the show want to take over Equestria or at least be a big threat, this guy didn't feel like a big threat at all. He only wanted to take over one city. ONE CITY. How lame is that? But he did do one thing that was cruel compared to the other villains of the show, he used slavery. So I would say he is the cruelest villain of the show, which is kind of bad-ass. So, I did like how he was cruel, but I didn't like how he lacked in character development.

 

You forget this is the one city which has magical effects across the entire of Equestria. So taking this one city has huge implications and you have to start somewhere, you know a staging ground sort of thing.

 

Your right though he could haven been characterised better, but I suspect he'll be back with a lot more flesh on his bones, so to speak.

[Nothing&NoOne 695]

I actually get a sneaking suspicion that we may be seeing more of him and that he was in someway tied to Luna becoming Nightmare Moon. This timing of him being defeated 1000 years ago and Luna being imprisoned for 1000 years seems more than coincidence. Throw in Luna's want to deal with him and the look she gave Twilight make me think there was unfinished business there.

 

Hmm. I was thinking about that when I was watching the show. King Sombra disappeared around the same time that Luna was banished; 1000 years.

 

"His heart was as black as night."

 

It really wouldn't surprise me if he and Luna were connected in some way. Hell, she could be working to help him. Maybe that's why she wanted to go with Twilight.

 

Perhaps we'll see more of him.

And Luna, hopefully.

[Silanda 23]

In a word, no. He was an utterly simplistic, "muh-ha-ha, I'm evil" type of villain who would probably be twirling his moustache if he had one. He was given no real background, spoke about three words during the two episodes, and just felt like a plot device inserted to give some kind of threat to the mane six. I just hope that he returns in a future episode in a way that can redeem the character, because at the moment he's kind of a let down.

[Radiance64 7,052]

After thinking about it, I think Sombra might have been the first villain on the show who was trully effected badly by the Elements of Harmony- he was reduced to nothing but a big old shadowy blob, so the most he could do was spread his shadowy self around like some dark crystal-infecting virus, and the only time he could regain his true form was when he spread himself more into the empire and got near the Crystal Heart. So when you think about it, Sombra was more of a plauge than anything because that's all he could really do. So yeah, in that regard I was rather satisfied with him, rather original for the show imo.

[AegisReflector 886]

If I wanted a villain who's just a generic evil entity going around and saying "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" I would play Super Mario Bros. for Bowser.

 

Sombra wasn't an appealing character at all. Whether this was only a set-up for more things to come, whatever, but they should have given at least some depth of personality to Sombra's character. If you're gonna have a major antagonist to an episode, you need to make them interesting to get audiences hooked. I thought the episode was okay but certainly not as memorable as Discord or the Changelings.

[RockinRarity 1,605]

I think that it is all right that King Sombra didn't have a lot of lines or screentime. But I think that the first song and the reprise could have been cut to make time for the background of the Crystal Empire and King Sombra to be revealed - how did Sombra become evil, why did he take over the Crystal Empire, why did it return, etc. And there are ways to reveal those things without just adding more dialogue.

 

My guess is that Megan McCarthy had a longer episode to work with, but stuff like boring background information had to get cut if the directors wanted all 12 songs to be in the episodes. Perhaps if background is not revealed in a later episode, that she can reveal the background to us?

 

It makes sense for Celestia not to explain the background herself. If she doesn't know much about the empire, why should she know about the history of it? She didn't even seem to know about the Crystal Fair.

 

Just my thoughts. I know that everyone and their mom thought that Sombra was boring and there wasn't any background or reason, blah blah blah. But we can't change the episodes, so we will either have to hope that a later episode will reveal the past of the crystal empire and King Sombra, or the writing staff will just reveal that information themselves if the directors think that the background would be too boring and complicated for little girls.

[BlueFlame 28]

I didn't like how he only growled, grunted, or laughed evilly. If he had had more lines or something maybe he'd seem more intimidating, I just didn't find him very... I don't know... Scary.

Edited November 13, 2012 by BlueFlame

[Driz 1,552]

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I came to the conclusion that maybe Sombra wasn't actually as bad of a villain as I thought...

 

At first, of course I wished he had more lines and more screen time too, but perhaps this was exactly what made him a pretty decent menace: mystery. Think about it, he was just a mass of evil, dark smoke roaming around the Empire's outskirts, just waiting for the spell to end so he could charge and destroy everything in the way. In my honest opinion, that was a better concept than... well... Chrysallis singing her evil plan out loud, for instance. ô-õ

 

Not to mention he bucking exploded when defeated instead of being shot with a friendship/love beam. I personally enjoyed King Sombra as a villain.

[Winona the Dog 1,981]

King Sombra obviously needed more screen time and lines his only lines were "Crystals" "Ahh my crystal slaves" and my personal favorite " What?!?......NO!" Although i have to say his death was pretty gruesome for a kids show seriously he literally exploded compared to Discord/NMM and Chrysalis they make thier punishment look nice.

 

He looks like he is pretty badass as far as being evil goes since he actually imprisons the crystal ponies to be his slaves and his magic looks like a force to be reckoned with since it took Celestia and Luna to imprison him and the whole Crystal Kingomd to finish him off.

 

 

On a side note id like to beleive King Sombra isn't really dead though this is just a theroy because as we've seen it seems King Sombra has regenerative powers as seen when his horn got cut off and he grew it back after a few seconds. When the Crystal kingdom blasted him a piece of his horn came flying off in a random direction and im sure it wasn't eradicated within the whole blast. Now im not an expert in regenerative properties of things but in theroy do you think King Sombra could come back just from his horn? (I may post a topic of this theroy)

[hawkflame 3,310]

I think he *looked* cool, - those glowing green eyes coming out of that swirling cloud of darkness was frickin' awesome, and I think they did a great job of setting him up, but... that's it. Had there been a third episode where we really got to see him actually *do* something, that would have made a big difference.