Thoughts on "The Return of Tambelon" and Bronies' Fascination with Grogar

I decided recently to subject myself once again to the horror that is G1 MLP. This time it had less to do with The Elements of Harmony and Savior of Worlds by RK_Striker_JK_5. This time it was based on something I've noticed among my fellow Bronies.

"The Return of Tambelon" is typical G1 MLP fare. Awful songs, flat characters, plot holes, and other things that don't make sense. Just so Luna-d@mnded Celestia-awful! There isn't much here that ended up being picked up by MLP:FIM. Maybe that pony sending a message to Megan in a dream might have inspired Luna's dream walking, but probably not. But one thing from this episode stands out in particular: the token villain Grogar.

Grogar is an evil ram sorcerer who is the ruler of the lost city of Tambelon who tried to conquer Ponyland 500 years prior before he vanished to the land of darkness for some reason. The source of his magical power is a magic bell and that is never explained.

While I really enjoyed Tirek from the G1 MLP pilot, Grogar didn't really appeal to me. While yes he is kind of dark and does try to kill his donkey assistant Bray on a couple of occasions, he also threatens to banish him to the land of darkness. Seems kind of inconsistent to me. His motivations are unclear. Why does he want to take over Ponyland? Why does he want to send all its inhabitants to the land of darkness? He is a rather flat character himself. He doesn't have much of a background either.

I've heard it said somewhere that Grogar is supposedly the best villain from G1 MLP. After watching "Return of Tambelon" I find that rather surprising. Tirek I would understand. But among the other villains, like Hydia and her daughters Reeka and Draggle from My Little Pony: The Movie, he doesn't really stick out. I also find even more surprising what I suspect is the result of this assessment.

There a quite a few Bronies who seem to have a fascination with Grogar and sometimes his donkey assistant Bray. There is a group here on FIMFiction dedicated to stories about Grogar. There is quite a bit of fanart about Grogar on Derpibooru, depicting him in a G4 fashion. Even more fanart on Deviantart. I think I've even seen Grogar described or depicted as a necromancer, something not mentioned in "The Return of Tambelon". They've even added this as a fanon to him. It might be fair to say that someone unfamiliar with MLP:FIM might believe that Grogar was part of MLP:FIM as well. Why is this though? Why do Bronies like Grogar so much?

Thinking about it, Grogar is the archtype of the typical MLP:FIM villain. Like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra, he tried to take over some place. Ponyland in Grogar's case. Equestria in Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Chrysalis's cases. And the Crystal Empire in Sombra's case. Like Sombra ruled over the Crystal Empire, Grogar ruled over Tambelon. He ended up being banished, and then comes back to try it again. Just like Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Sombra. In his case though, Grogar was gone 500 years. Everyone else 1000 years, Lauren Faust's favorite length of time apparently. "The Return of Tambelon" is even a two-part episode, just like every MLP:FIM episode that features a villain.

We know now that the writers of MLP:FIM pay close attention to the fandom. Given the following Grogar has among Bronies, could it be possible the writers of MLP would consider bringing back Grogar? I don't know. I wouldn't say it's very likely. Still, if they did, I'm sure they would do something cool with it. Grogar has a lot of potential, something they didn't take advantage of in G1 MLP. I'm sure a lot of people would be happy to see a MLP:FIM version of Grogar.

Do any of you have any thoughts on "The Return of Tambelon" or Grogar in general?

God bless you all. God bless America. And God bless Equestria.