 |
| The shadows in this early scene were really remarked upon back then |
Written by Meghan McCarthy
10 Nov 2012
My original rating: N/A
IMDb score: 8.4
The one with Pinkie's Fluttershy costume
Thoughts: Here we go with Season 3! This is a premiere that's had a slightly indifferent reception in some quarters, but which seems to have been rehabilitated a bit in the fandom in recent years. It certainly has its good points: for one, it's visually pretty lush, and I remember the feeling that it was a step up from S2 in that regard being noted at the time. Sombra's first appearance is genuinely frightening, especially given he manages to cripple Shining's horn, and the flashback to him overseeing his chained slaves is quite shudder-inducing too. At this point you really do have hope he'll be one of the best villains ever. Shame it doesn't quite work out that way. Dark magic gets the first of only a very few outings in FiM, and it's quite a shock to see Celestia wield it. A couple of songs, neither in the very top tier overall but both pretty decent. Spike gets to sing for the first time, too! There are certainly a few weak points here, such as Twilight just happening to fail to notice a very obvious missing page. Celestia's vagueness about Twi's test and Luna's unexplained frowns are a little annoying, too. Still, overall it's good entertainment, with not merely Pinkie but Rarity providing many of the laughs, and the cliffhanger at the end is pretty nail-biting as these things go. I don't think it does quite enough for a four, especially as it's a little disjointed, but I certainly place it in the upper reaches of the threes.
Choice quote: Cadance: "One of these days we need to get together when the fate of Equestria isn't hanging in the balance."
New rating: ★★★
Next up is, of course, "The Crystal Empire, part 2". We'll see how Sombra's plans work out (or not) and whether I still think the episode was something of a missed opportunity.
I would definitely class this as one of the weaker season openers of the show. One of the biggest problems I have is that Rainbow Dash seem to acting like she doesn't want to be in The Crystal Empire.
ReplyDeleteHmm, that's an interesting point. I suspect it shows up more for major RD fans than it does for me, though. I just saw it as comic relief. Conversely, when Fluttershy does something along those lines it probably annoys me more than it does most!
DeleteA.K.A the one that introduced an entirely new tribe of pony to the series, and then merely fobbed them off to a princess just to give her something to rule.
ReplyDeleteI actually quite like "The Crystal Empire". The Crystal Empire and its ponies and lore remain one of my favourite missed opportunities of the show, getting quite a good dose of explanation (especially around the Crystal Fair and its purpose in activating the Crystal Heart) and mystery (where do crystal ponies feature in Equestria's past, why is it an empire when it was ruled by royalty, what exactly was the curse that made them vanish for a thousand years).
To be fair, it's obvious in hindsight most of these mysteries were just empty plot holes, because the show kept making the same mistake of introducing stuff and never elaborating on it. Became a bit too obvious after a couple of seasons. For the time, though, the Crystal Empire felt like a breath of fresh air.
Still, there is a surprisingly nice slice-of-life element during this first half, where much of the story wanders about with the Main Six, just getting to know the empire and set up a fair for its unhappy citizenry. The Season One premiere did something similar with the first episode just getting to know the main cast before the adventure took over, and I think it works well here too.
As for the villain, I actually like King Sombra. He's not meant to be a particularly deep or personality-based character (like Princess Luna and Discord respectively): more like a malevolent force of nature, and I think the best move in that scenario was to just go all out. He's as subtle as the colour black, but he does his job terrifically.
Unfortunately, what weakens it for me (apart from how isolated its feints at crystal pony lore turn out to be in the long run) is the whole "just a test" angle. An epic-scale adventure like this needs to be treated with total seriousness, but Celestia and Twilight's characterization here runs counter to that by trivializing as some sort of personal exercise. The two-parter can't have it both ways: either Sombra is that much of a threat, in which case prioritize, you know? Treat him as such, and don't pointlessly muddle Twilight's thinking in the middle of a crisis. Or this is a test of Twilight's selfishness, in which case the episode shouldn't be investing so much in how nasty Sombra's defences are and what the threat would be to the rest of Equestria. One way, the drama's sucked out of the situation: the other way, Celestia looks irresponsible and reckless.
Overall, this is a perfectly fine adventure two-parter, and while it has some flaws, I have a good time with it.
I think that last sentence is more or less where I stand overall, though of course the details are different, and I reserve judgement until I've rewatched part 2.
DeleteIt's a high four-star for me. But, I love the added history, tribe, magic lore, and slightly darker tone, and I have a strong preference for the adventure-type episodes, so my reaction shouldn't be a surprise.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best laughs I've gotten from the series was Fluttershy's little dance of horror when she realizes what she's standing on (essentially a deflated version of herself). Who ever animated that is a frikkin' genius.
The only reason that it isn't a five-star is that I think they flubbed the aesop a bit. (Yes, I'm rating the two episodes together. I can't see a good reason to seperate them.)
I did waver a bit before giving this a three; it only just misses a four. The "missing page" thing irritated me more than it probably should have done. On the other hoof, one thing I really liked and omitted to mention was the crystal ponies' designs. A shame we saw that so little in the future -- I believe Jim Miller said at some point that it just took too much time to animate them.
DeleteThis one's always pretty forgettable to me. Not only did it start a bunch of world building that the show would barely ever do any more with, but it has Celestia basically being an asshole. She's already read a letter about how Twilight gets so worked up about things, so she's either being painfully oblivious or deliberately pushing Twilight's buttons. My other main beef with it won't come in until part 2, so I'll save it for then. It's fine enough, but it doesn't hold up well enough on examination for me to rate it above average.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't Celestia's finest hour, I agree. Though not the last such occasion in the series...
Delete