Thoughts on The Crystal Empire parts 1 and 2 · 9:32pm May 27th, 2021
So, these episodes unpacked a lot in terms of lore in regards to the history of Equestria along with a lot of questions and interesting ideas. King Sombra at this point in the show isn't given much context he's a evil tyrant trying to take over the Crystal empire and I think overall is another interesting villain. As for the Crystal Empire it's disturbing to know that these ponies have been enslaved and tortured for Celestia knows how long before Celestia and Luna tried to saves them a thousand plus years ago. So seeing how depressed they look and how they were having PTSD and even calling Sombra "King Sombra" shows he is a force to be reckoned with. Also I found it intresting to see that Cadance was destined to be the princess of the crystal ponies with her cutie mark being an obvious tell to the Crystal Heart. So she was probably a descendant of the queen that used to rule the Crystal Ponies who probably got deposed by King Sombra.
Also seeing Spike be the hero was really cool! it could've been easy for the writers to have Twilight save the day but having her trust Spike to get the Crystal Heart to Cadance was excellent. Also the music was well done and I found the songs to be way more empowering then the ones in the season 2 finale. Overall, I enjoyed this season opener a lot I think that the season openers are always really good so it's hard to debate which one is the best. But, in my opinion this is on the top of my list just because it opens a lot of doors to more great episodes and stories involving the Crystal Empire along with Shining and Cadance's relationship plus a new interesting reoccurring villain.
Other thoughts
Rainbow Dash seems to be a natural jouster I wonder if an ancestor of her's was one or something lol
Imagine being a Crystal Pony and one day your a slave to a evil tyrant, then suddenly your teleported a thousand years into the future with no memory of the crystal empire's past just the fact you were a slave. I really feel bad for there ponies.
The nightmare sequence where Twilight failed the test and Celestia was angry at her was a very heartbreaking scene and well voice acted.
I thought it was cool in the beginning when that royal guard talks about it returning was awesome! I love the royal guards getting the spotlight and doing stuff! they're not useless