Mini Re-Reviews: "The Crystal Empire - Part 2" - Season 3 Episode 2 · 11:14pm Apr 17th, 2020
SPIKE: "Oh yeah, I remember this! The time when I went from just another sidekick to a hero in my own right. And it showed all those naysayers you weren't a token princess either, Cadence!"
CADENCE: "Wait - who was saying I was just a token Princess?"
SPIKE: "Uh... the Shadowbolts?"
Even more then "A Canterlot Wedding", the two part of "The Crystal Empire" are meant to be thought of as one. Nowhere is this more obvious then the cliffhanger ending of the last episode getting resolved right after the recap and title song, with Cadence almost instantly getting a second wind and re-materialising the barrier (her expressions while doing so are great, it should be said). It still has a point - Sombra's horn getting chipped off and landing inside the barrier, gradually encasing parts of the Empire in dark, jagged crystals as the episode progresses - but were this episode one long, continuous episode, and not forced to use the cliffhanger that way, it wouldn't be so pervasive in its writing construction.
Still, that slight blemish around the start is but a minor quibble. For the most part, the same set of strengths and weaknesses from Part 1 apply to Part 2 of "The Crystal Empire". Like last time, the two biggest triumphs are the individual character moments and the world building. For the former, there are largely no quibbles, other then some mild overdone abrasiveness on Rainbow Dash's part during her and Fluttershy's Fair Joust. What I find most interesting is how, while some of the bits are individual moments (Rarity's assembling of the crafts, you know), most of them gain comic mileage from being constructed as mimi-scenes between pairings that have worked into the past and will work again. Whether it be Applejack coaxing Rainbow Dash down from a very horse-like defence of the fake Crystal Heart, or Rarity and Applejack exchanging witty barbs as they stall for time, of Fluttershy having the cutest whimper as Rainbow Dash holds nothing back, they're all chuckle-inducing, which largely makes up for the fact that none of them are as individually funny as the two highlights from last time, Pinkie's ninja skit and her Fluttershy suit. Something I didn't mention last time is how, in her episodes, Meghan McCarthy is so solid at handling ensemble pieces that balance the cast well and have them play off of each other (look at "Dragonshy", her debut episode and one full of that in an adventure-heavy 21-minute story that is still nominally a Fluttershy episode). For that reason, she was a good choice for the new showrunner, until the Executives converted her to their side at least.
More so then last time, however, we see the two-parter problem of Twilight getting heavily prioritised over the others. In Part 1, after the opening act, that was largely shelved as the group either worked together or were all split gathering intel or setting up the fair. Here, however, it has the skewed balance of a Quidditch game, where the antics of the rest is only a few runs higher then window dressing as the real focus is on Twilight the Seeker going after the Crystal Snitch. Compared to some future examples, it's not that noticeable, but it is there.
Thankfully, Twilight's MacGuffin hunt is pretty great stuff, so it's not a bother here, more for further codifying Meghan McCarthy's two-parter formula for the future. In particular, the sequence involving the Nightmare Door is one of the more horrifying moments in the show, conjuring an illusionary world of one's worst nightmares. I love it for the emotional breaking point it pushes our characters to, and how it subtly setups the role Spike will play towards the episode's end (were this a later season, you know it would telegraph it way too obviously). Even past the Nightmare Door itself, the notion of Twilight replicating Celestia's demonstration of Dark Magic after witnessing it just once, and then the failsafe of the door requiring the opposite kind of magic to penetrate it, and showing nightmares when more Dark Magic is used against it - very clever stuff. Where the world building here differs from last time is while that was through exposition, this is through implication, a rarer kind in a children's show, and it's something I really admire, even it's is mostly just tied to the villain and his traps, rather then the society as a whole, and thus unlikely to return in future episodes.
Speaking of which, let's address the elephant, or unicorn king, in the room. Basically from the moment this episode and the last one first aired, King Sombra has been considered a joke by much of the fandom, with lots of knee-jerk reactions at him, mostly on the grounds of not providing the sheer entertainment or engagement factor of either Discord or Chrysalis. And, you know, these criticisms are not without merit - the guy has no personality beyond evil king, it cannot be denied, and he has the flaw of all of his scary and effective actions being largely offscreen, mostly in the past or the protection he left around the Crystal Heart. For a lot of people, I think it was hard to reconcile these acts with the same spectral figure that hovers outside the Empire all episode, only to break in and lose rather quickly right after regaining a physical form.
Here's the thing, though - despite all that, I actually prefer Sombra to Nightmare Moon, going by their debut episodes. Blasphemy, I know, but Sombra is far more interesting, with every piece of background info about his slave-like rule, and his defeat, and his actions before his banishment fascinating. The depths of the puzzle to the Crystal Heart I already discussed, but then add it some stupendous can-you-believe-its-Flash animation, and the guy's tactical smart of using his horn chip to weaken the place from the inside, installing a tense ticking clock. Yes, Sombra as a personality and as a character threat is weak in this one. But as an obstacle to our heroes that pushed them to far limits and forces them to make tough decisions, and as a visually imposing threat, he's got the good.
Incidentantly, though he is often compared instead to Tirek, The Storm King is rather like Sombra, in terms of their weaknesses and strengths. Like Sombra, Storm King hd the issue of all of his terrifying and scary acts being largely offscreen and in the background, though there they weren't even dwelled on (small mentions like the concept of Storm Bucks was the most we got of how far his rule reached). And like Sombra, he doesn't last long in the flesh. There are differences - Storm King's past has no hints to give us to make him more interesting to explore, and he obviously isn't visually scary the same way. However, the visuals still strengthen his impact by given him all manner of power shots of how towering over the ponies. And finally, Storm King is fun to watch, with his mood swings and goofy-to-threatening vocal performance. So they're quite similar, and definitely flawed. But I like both Sombra and The Storm King. As one of five people to like the latter, hopefully I didn't lose all my cred around here by admitting that.
Getting back to the episode, the tension continues to escalate quickly but with fun moments of relief along the way that keeps it enjoyable (the gravitational slide scene is a hoot). And the balance between how Twilight's test plays out, with Celestia's real test being whether Twilight would allow herself to fail it it meant they won overall. And it allowed Spike to save the day! Compared to future episodes, Spike being a hero isn't dwelled on much here, more just Twilight's reaction to it all. And of course, Shining Armor and Cadence get an awesome husband-wife action moment, with the latter cementing her place as the right ruler for the Crystal Empire (it seems right to me hat her power over love magic inspired the Crystal Ponies enough to bond with the Crystal Heart and restore the kingdom at the end there).
A bit like last time, a quibble to be had with this episode is the abrupt shift back to Canterlot and the focus on Twilight's test. In the action, it was grafted on right, but once back there it felt once again like a holdover from a different episode altogether. Of course, this angle exists largely to setup the fact of what the season finale will entail, as far as Twilight being moved on to new and different things goes. So in a sense, it is from a different episode. Ah well, it's at least outside the action body of the episode, and the Success Song is a fine and enjoyable number. Just ends the episode on a far odder note then the relief back at the Empire did. In some ways, this two-parter could have done with 50 minutes rather then 44 (66 minutes would, of course, require mote plot and character material, even if recaps, title song and credits would make it barely an inch over an hour in terms of new animated content).
Part 2 of the "Crystal Empire" is basically the same as Part 1 in strengths and weaknesses. Usually Part 2 ends up being better or more remembered when it comes to two-parters, due to the setup being out of the way and the character and action moments being allowed to dominate. Here, it's largely a draw - the increased excitement is largely offset by slight discomfort from Twilight-prioritisation and mixed execution of Sombra (what works about him REALLY works, enough to make you wish the rest did), though it has the advantage of the juxtaposition between Twilight's test sequences back in Canterlot being far less pervasive. So, Part is is also a 8.5, and I'd be hard pressed to say which I'd prefer. Which is fitting. It is a two-parter, after all. No "Return of Harmony" or "A Canterlot Wedding" is this, but it is a really solid pair of fantasy adventure episodes all the same.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- Season 3's going to get really interesting fast! Until Discord returns, it still very much feels of the same mode as Season 2 and 1, with only slight tweaks here and there. So it mostly comes down to how the individual episodes fare. Even accounting for its reduced length, there are quite a few that are good enough, but not a whole lot more, especially in the back half. That said, there are at least a few near masterpieces in the weeks to come, so keep your eyes peeled for that! Some slightly wobbly episodes can be accounted to growing pains of a new showrunner more then anything, one who was keen to not yet deviate too much from what had come before, and had the show continued in this mode, I'm confident we could have had another Season 2-level triumph on our hands. But, that is for another day.
- I did a double-take upon seeing the stain-glass depiction in Celestia's throne room of Spike saving the Crystal Heart and bringing it to Cadence. I could have missed an example, but I don't believe that's seen much again throughout the series, if indeed ever. Even if those stain-glass depictions update and rotate on as regular a basis as Equestria is saved.
- To me, Twilight's "Stairs. Lots... and lots... of stairs." comment upon progressing through the Nightmare Door is especially funny, because though this episodes aired in November 2012, it would have been written around July 2011. That was barely a month after Kung Fu Panda 2 came out, and had a killer line from Po upon arriving handcuffed in the enemy tower: "Ah, my old enemy... stairs." No, it's probably not very likely that was the inspiration for this line that isn't as much of a full-on joke (you can never tell how much animation writers actually watch other kids' animation when they're working full-time - they often cite less child-oriented shows as their inspirations or what they're currently watching). But, I found it fascinating nonetheless.
Well I mostly agree about Sombra, except I think his flaws don't detract from the episode as much as you say, and the tension is the biggest strength, not character moments or world building. I also don't get why the episode being twilight centric is a problem. She's the main character in both the episode and the show, and giving more time to her was more entertaining, as her conflict is more interesting than showing the mane 6 trying to maintain the fair.
And I don't think that the abrupt shift back to canterlot really matters. It's just a bit of foreshadowing.
Always felt Celestia's line about "Far better I have a student that understands the meaning of self-sacrifice rather than one who looks out for her own interests" was a setup for Sunset Shimmer. In the first EG movie, Twilight showed she was ready to sacrifice herself, her life with her friends, and her Element to stop Sunset from using it against Equestria. Of course, without Magic, the Tree wouldn't have been able to fight off Discord's vines just months later ....