) Before I head off for work tonight, here is the promised preview I mentioned earlier for Peace and Isolation. Enjoy!Season opener · 8:52am Nov 11th, 2012
To sum up in a word: damn! Definitely one of the best episodes done so far.
Pros:1) the songs were well done, especially the last one. It was actually stuck in my head for a good hour after hearing it, which is a rare feat. Also, everyone who wanted to hear AJ or Rarity sing, they got their wish.
2) Lots of hints and allusions through the show, it seemed. Talks about bringing Twilight's learning "to the next level", the cutie marks behind the princesses and twilight, that book they were holding at the end, all seem to seem to point to the "Twilight becomes an alicorn" theory.
3) Nice amount of group dynamics and interactions shown. Each of the mane six gets a moment with the other five, which is something I haven't seen in the previous episodes. The amount of bonding between spike and twilight was particularly heartwarming.
And 4) Spike ftw! Able to save the day at the last minute, as twilight realizes its more important to finish the mission than save her pride, and getting the Heart down before the Empire fell.
Cons: 1) Sombra- or rather, the lack thereof. Sure, he was always on the outskirts of the shield, and he definitely seemed evil enough, but he barely did anything. Each of the past villains had some form of big monologue, some form of epic battle before they were beaten. But just as it looks like that's about to happen, the heart is activated and he's beaten. Further,whatever lines he speaks are all echoey and hard to understand. It just doesn't seem like he was very fleshed out.
And 2), and this one irritated me to no end, the name "the Crystal Empire". It wasn't an empire, it was a city! The actual definition of the word can be defined as one of three things; a nation-state that conquers other nations, a monarchy ruled by an emperor, or a nation-state in control of a vast amount of land or power. Russia, America, Rome and Great Britain are perfect examples. Calling the crystal ponies home an empire is like calling Singapore an empire. Or Monaco, or the Vatican, or Luxembourg. As important as the city may have been, it is hardly worth being called an "Empire," when all of Equestria is merely a "kingdom".
Anyway, I just wanted to vent that out. Can't wait for next week's episode.
mcKnight out.
I thought they could have done more with Sombra as well (although, he did have some pretty awesome traps). Maybe he'll come back in the finale
As for why it's called the Crystal Empire... Well, that's a good point. Maybe there's more of it we haven't seen (Although, reading this post gave me an idea for my own "God Emperor comes to Equestria" fic).