First Thought on Season 9

My reaction to learning Sombra was coming back:

My reaction to Sombra in Season 9:

Comments

[Shimmer_Bolt]

I had the same thoughts.

[Frazzle2Dazzle]

Ditto to that.

[RainbowSparkle3]

Gonna quote Awesomo3000 here.

On one hand, when the Season 9 trailer showed he was coming back, I thought he worked better as a one-off villain and didn’t really need to return. Not to mention when the premiere aired, it was clear the show staff had completely redesigned Sombra’s character; he went from a looming Sauron-type entity who said very little to a pompous, bombastic and very talkative king. In short, a Saturday morning cartoon villain like Discord and Chrysalis. I get this was done to appease the fans who hated him for his lack of a personality but he now feels like a totally different character. As if an entirely new villain should’ve been in this role.

But with that said, it is pretty entertaining. It took me a while to get used to the new voice by Alvin Sanders but looking back at it, he’s having a lot of fun with the role so I can’t fault him. I mean, just listen to how much he savours every evil laugh he does.

Not to mention Sombra does retain his cunning from his debut. In particular, pretending to be defeated so he could give the Mane Six a false sense of security and follow them back to the Tree of Harmony to destroy it along with the Elements. This is the same plan Chrysalis tried and failed to pull off in The Mean Six and yet Sombra did it effortlessly without even knowing of the Tree’s existence (even if his damage was undone in the very next episode). Not to mention how easily he conquered both the Crystal Empire and Canterlot. When’s the last time an MLP villain simply waltzed in and sat on the throne? He then set up all those hypnotised citizens as guards, making the Mane Six unwilling to potentially hurt innocent civilians to get inside the castle. And although it was a dirty trick (and planned on Discord’s part), Sombra shooting his dark magic directly at Fluttershy in order to make Discord let his guard down was pretty smart. So I guess seeing him commit such horrible deeds and make ponies suffer onscreen does make his defeat all the more satisfying.

So yeah, as I said, half and half. Completely rewriting Sombra’s entire character was very jarring but ultimately led to an effective villain role to kick off the final season.

He's not nearly as intimidating or menacing as before, but he is still entertaining, smart, hammy, powerful, and effective.