Season 3 · 12:52am Nov 11th, 2012
Adding to the madness accompanying this very special day, I felt it might be enjoyable to put up a review of the first episode. Spoilers abound.
Well, it's finally here; The Crystal Empire has risen. Quite frankly, if you enjoyed the season premieres/finales before The Crystal Empire, this will blow you out of the water.
Animation
Every imaginable animation trick is used. The auras of magic change, colors pop, and the Crystal Ponies look spectacular. Celestia's use of dark magic was both amazing and off-putting. Twilight's was equally impressive. Sombra, our evil villain, was absolutely incredible looking. Very ominous and all-encompassing. The magical auras are put to a lot of use here; Cadance's magic fades, Shining Armor has his power visibly blocked, etc. No immediately noticeable animation errors, but I feel that Sombra could have been improved, and during Twilight's song, her mane flaps in a way that's inconsistent with the style of the show.
9/10.
Sound
No noticeable improvements to quality (which is fine; the quality was already brilliant). Voices were good, the songs were well put-together. I wasn't a fan of the "Crystal Ponies History" song, but it did have some sweet harmonies and epically full chords. Sound effects were the usual, some sounded stock, others seemed to be put to exactly the right use. Sombra's evil laughter and hissy voice were cool, but maybe there was a little too much hiss. The guy's evil, but he's not literally a snake.
8/10
Characters
Twilight got explored a lot in this episode. Her OCD is well-placed (and enjoyably funny) at the beginning of the episode. Later on, her determination to do things as she's told, and to succeed in her own paths comes into conflict with her moral compass. She wasn't challenged TOO much in her decisions, but enough that it felt real. I also liked seeing her "Greatest Fear" moment at Sombra's Fear Door.
Spike finally got to be the hero as well, delivering the Crystal Heart to the Crystal Ponies, and causing the destruction of our antagonist. Seriously, Spike blew up a bad guy. Also what seemed to be a little shipping between him and Twilight, though that's probably just the brony in me talking. Still, Spike's Fear Door scene was brilliant as well.
The remainder of the Mane 6 did the usual stuff. Applejack hilariously tries to keep the Crystal Ponies from discovering the fake Crystal Heart, while the others attempt to keep said Crystal Ponies occupied with activities. Lots of fun hijinks ensue.
Sombra was sadly underused. We barely ever see him, and he doesn't DO much. I sincerely hope that he gets used a bit more in the future, in some way or another (though I doubt it, I mean, the freakin' blew the guy to pieces!).
The Princesses were really, really cool. Celestia using dark magic was awesome and terrifying. Luna got some interesting moments, and a bit of foreshadowing - could Luna be a new instructor for Twilight? Luna was sort of in the background, just watching everything unfold in front of her. Celestia was testing Twilight's skill and character, so that she could see if Twilight was ready for the next level of study (which explains why she didn't go and do things herself, I guess?).
8/10
Story
The Crystal Empire, a kingdom that disappeared just over 1,000 years ago, has reappeared. However, Celestia knows that the Crystal Empire could be dangerous. The Empire seems to have a huge influence over the world, and that influence can be good or bad depending on the emotions running within. If the community is filled with love and unity, then the empire is a beacon of light and wonder to the rest of Equestria. If the Empire is ruled by hatred and disharmony, then it's a black burn on the face of the world. So, Celestia sends Twilight to make sure that the Empire is what it is intended to be.
Twilight comes across a book that says a Crystal Fair is an annual tradition among the ponies of the Empire, and it is held to recharge the magical Crystal Heart, which gives them both defense from evil and allows their kingdom to flourish. However, she didn't realize that the Crystal Heart isn't a symbol; it's an actual relic that has the exact effect described in the book. Eventually, she finds said Crystal Heart, and tells Spike (despite Celestia's orders that she must do it without outside help, or risk failing the test) to use the heart and stop Sombra, the evil king who once ruled over the Empire, and caused it to disappear. They succeed, and everyone lives happily ever after, while Shining Armor and Cadance are declared the new rulers of the land.
On paper, the entire idea actually shouldn't have worked. Introducing an entirely new race of ponies, a new villain, and telling Twilight not to get help from her friends in the final moments all go against what makes a good idea. But the producers pulled it off well. The episode involves a lot of questionable things; Twilight and Celestia use dark magic, which actually winds up being helpful. The other ponies act slightly out of character (Rainbow Dash telling Fluttershy to get up and go another round of jousting bordered abusive), and not always in a good way. However, the whole thing came together, despite all of the problems.
Things I liked:
- Foreshadowing of Luna as a new teacher for Twilight
- Shining Armor and Cadance actually have a position of power now
- The stylized look of the Crystal Ponies
- The nod to science, as crystal generally takes on the traits of the rocks around it as it grows
- Spike was legitimately useful
- Rarity acted crazy
- Dark Magic used, and not in the usual "Oh holy crap dark magic it must be evil" type way throughout the episode
- They didn't pussy out, and actually killed the bad guy
Things I didn't like:
- Underused villain
- Underused Mane 6
- Cadance and Shining Armor just sort of declared themselves leaders
- Rainbow Dash abused Fluttershy. Not cool, man
- Luna needed more screen time
8.5/10
So, I give the episode an overall 8/10.
Any opinions from you all on this episode?
You're gonna hammer in the Rainbow Dash jousting Fluttershy aren't you?
Oh well anyway, enough of that... Time for a counter talk... Though I must admit that I do agree with you on a lot of points in the episodes(BTW Thank you so much again for sending me that link!!) However I did like the Crystal Pony History song... I thought it was cute.
And my eyes really did pop outta my skull when I saw not only Celestia but Twilight use dark magic. Though I'm pretty sure that, that is probably gonna get a lot of attention fast. And with the door to the worst fears... SpikeXTwi ship? Really? If anything it shows just how close the two are, despite not being even remotely related. I mean Twilight practically RAISED Spike, and to me, though we couldn't see it, that scene was genuinely heart breaking to hear from Spike about being kicked out. AND when Twilight confirmed that, that was a fear never to be realized. Honestly I thought that there was a little more Sparity in there when Rarity saw Spike falling down the castle with the crystal heart and called out for her "SPIKIE WIKIE!!"
And yeah they did sorta underplay the main 6 and King Sombra a bit... Which really bugged me with how much they built his character up. And I don't think Cadence and Shining Armor just declared themselves rulers... I think they were sent there to guard it from the castle, and the crystal ponies declared them the crystal princess(and by them and mean Cadence... seriously her freaking cutie mark is the freaking crystal heart!).
One thing you forgot to mention... And actually a fact that I think is being pretty much overlooked, is a matter of King Sombra... He's a freaking unicorn... sure he was turned to shadows... But he was a freaking unicorn. Not some other newly discovered creature made from darkness in the heart of ponies(though I'm pretty sure he turned into that in the end..) just a greedy, evil unicorn. UNIcorn NOT another alicorn... which is impressive on the creative teams part, to not just go with what was the easiest and create a whole new evil alicon gary-stu. But yeah he was majorly underplayed... So much so that I couldn't even freaking enjoy his death scene for all it was worth because of just so little we saw of him, but how highly he was played up. Really I think his death was mostly predictable and quick... Now if we were to have some actual scenes from the past... Now that would be awesome! And a lot more thrilling to the his threat of darkness.
So yeah... All I really have to point out of your points... Really I mostly agree with all of your points. I was genuinely impressed with the season 3 kick-off and I can't wait for more to come(hopefully my mom will have gotten the Hub by then... again hopefully)... Though what is it with everyone and Gak jokes? Seriously!!
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By the way... Since I'm pretty sure you're gonna ask regardless... NO!!! My curse did not work on King Sombra. Okay? Discord will always be number one villain in my heart!!
492373
From what I understand, there were about a billion commercials for GAK (which is pretty much Floam without the foamy beads). From what I understand, it got more screen time than Sombra did.
494238 Out if all the things to reply back to it had to be Gak? I already figured that out... But damn that's bad when freaking slime toys get more screen time than the villain.