For those who do not know, the Umbrum are what Sombra was created from. they made him in the guise of a pony so that they could destroy the crystal heart and take over the world.

Now, the reason for this thread is that, whilst i was at work on Monday, a thought occurred to me about the season 5 finale, specifically, the sombraverse. remember how sombra was putting his subjects into those suits of armour where the eyes glowed green.

Originally, we think it's mind control, but, what if it isn't? The Umbrum are never specified in form to my knowledge, though that could be because i haven't read the comics that followed after Sombra's Origins, so my thoery is that the Umbrum have no actual bodies of their own. What if, since this may be the case, those suits of armour aren't meant to mind control the crystal ponies, but to give the Umbrum their own bodies?

It's not much of a theory and i haven't gone too much into detail, but what do you think? Is the armour a means by which sombra is giving the other umbrum the chance to have their own bodies or is it just simply mind control?

5418951

Most likely mind control.

5418951

That's an interesting thought. More bronies should think seriously about the official comics.
For the Umbrum, while they are shadowy beings, they have the ability to form a body if they choose so. They appear as skeletonized horses (Damn dark, you know, for kids!) usually:

So, the armors don't serve as vessels for them. However, mind control is also very unlikely, cause King Sombra has the ability to sow fears in his subjects and he can control them that way. He wouldn't need any armor with mind-controlling magic.
Still, the thought of the Umbrum in the Crystal Empire War timeline is interesting..... He didn't set them free yet when Twilight was there, but he most likely would have done so at some point to win the war.