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Get out of bed you sorry sacks of sh(fine, upstanding human beings) and watch some Godd(colorful and happy) ponus with the rest of your manch(fine, upstanding broneis).

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I'll make a meta post here. I still lurk Pony General more than any other thread in part, because it is still more active than any other thread (although, it rivals the first Pony General in terms of the time it's taking to get through it. Not complaining.) However, I don't participate as much, in part due to the fact that I have discussed many of these issues before. Some of you have novel ideas, but I didn't really want to reintroduce my own. BSoD is probably the best example of a user with attributes of an "oldfoal" and a user that is currently active.

I've also noticed that some of y'all need some color (lol its funneh cuz im black) in your posts.

Here is an image.

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And in case you're impatient and don't want to wait/are afraid that YouTube uploads may suddenly become harder to get to in Season 3, then here is a list of live streams.

You have about 5ish minutes to get into a room though, so good luck.

My Little Pony, My Little Pony,

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

HERE WE GO, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

Rev up those ponies.

Darn, why must Season 3 begin in mid-term. Have to watch later after all that. You guys have fun.

Um…

I wasn't prepared for that exchange between Luna and Celestia.
 
Previously discussed topics are now canon?

>MFW I figure out today is season 3 day

Jeez, this episode is practically a musical. Two songs in the first half hour? That's Canterlot Wedding levels of singing. Must say, though, BBBFF and This Day Aria are better songs in my opinion.

FUUUUUUUU
IT ENDED.

Oh well, that was pretty bucking awesome. (Oh look, my brony-side is showing now.)
Friggin cliffhangers. At least we got to see the main villain.

Dude, it's an hour-long, split up. GET BACK ON A STREAM NOW!

EDIT:

>Name is now Butt Stallion

Another edit:

Did anyone just see that last season promo? "One pony will discover her true destiny…" With a shot of Twilight…

That alicorn episode is looking more and more likely.

THE BOOK! It is driving me crazy!

Well apparently I just neglected my studies and I must say that is one fine premiere. Assume discussion now.

…Well?

I didn't really like King Sombra. No personality, only three or so lines, not even a defining villainous feature. Just basically generic evil. Every other villain – Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and especially Discord – had characteristics that made them stand out as a villain and by extent made them memorable characters, but he was just… forgettable.

Other than that, it was pretty good. A lot of foreshadowing about Twilight, if you noticed. Loved Rarity in this one.

My heart…

IS EXPLODING

CANTERLOCK ENGAGED

MY BLOOD IS A THOUSAND DEGREES OF PURE EMOTION

IF THIS KEEPS UP I WILL EXPLODE THE REST OF ME

CANNOT SLEEP… MUST POST PONIES… THEN BURN THROUGH TIME AND SPACE TO NEXT EPISODE

RRAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH

He'll return but not in his 100 percent.

(Trying to discuss episode without story spoilers) The art was great (though there was a particular part in the first part were the animation looked too fluid for my liking). It certainly allows for more toys from Hasbro. Unfourtunatly, we really didn't know much about the bad guy (honestly, all I really know about him that he was a bad guy, and that's it). Also, the art direction with him, I liked him at the beginning when we first really see him compared to the way we see him in the second part. Also, question: is the spolierey stuff that was in the Hub Commercials still considered proper spoilers (after the episode is on Youtube and what not)?

What's good from me point is that he's the first lawful evil villain. A true tyrant.

Dischord was chaotic evil "the world will burn"

Nightmare moon was just a "I will win, no excuses!" Neutral Evil

…Chrysalys was similar.

Somber not rounds it out. So all bases are accounted for.

WHY HE WASN'T GIVEN MORE LINES AND MORE PERSONALITY IS A TRAVESY

meep

I mean…

We pretty much have to stretch out what little we've seen further than is normally nessacary

But I can probably assume the "sadist king" angle where he's pretty much the villain assumed to do things like… Psychological warfare, physical torture, and forcing other to do things against their will while still leaving them fully aware of what is happening.

Use your imagination on that last point.

In fact… Wouldn't it be interesting if his dark affinity for shadow may have lead to something involving Luna?

Like,..

He may have caused nightmare moon!

It's easy for similar things to corrupt each other after all.

@Jacob

I think there might be an understanding (at least for this forum/thread) that we won't have to worry about spoilers once the episode airs, because people can generally get into live streams or they'd only have to wait an hour or so for hi-res YouTube links.

However, I think that only applies for episodes that have already aired.

However, that's how I think we did it before. Since there are a lot of newer posters, then I think that could be up for discussion.

EDIT: Actually, maybe what's behind the spoiler shouldn't be spoilered, because it was an ad.

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With that in mind, I need to let those episodes sit for a while. So many things to consider and so many opportunities for art…

@Zeroblue: That doesn't do much for me, though. Hasbro really set a high bar for villains with the last three, and Sombra didn't even get close to clearing it. I didn't get any sort of read on his personality. He just seemed like a fanficton-type "villain for the sake of having an villain" character to me.

Take Discord, for example. If you asked me to describe him, I would say that he had control over the very fabric of reality and could control personalities. He used those powers to essentially cause chaos, in a Heath Ledger's Joker "there is no plan" kind of way. He didn't actually want anything. He just wanted to cause some evil. His personality broke through for me, in a really powerful way.

Even Nightmare Moon, who has less personality than Discord, made it up with a tragic backstory that really made you feel for her even while she was Nightmare Moon.

Chrysalis makes up for her total lack of backstory with a strong performance as imposter Cadance, and her personality post-reveal is still strong.

Sombra, on the other hand, has an extremely boring and vague backstory and no personality to make up for it. Ok, so he took over the Empire. Why? Why does he look like he's made out of steel? What is he even like? Three lines and a few appearances as shadow – possibly his only defining feature – don't tell me any of that. There was so much opportunity to make an interesting character, and they totally blew it. I'm disappointed after how much they hyped him. He could have been replaced with any generic villain, complete with their powers instead of his, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

@Twilitlord the Chef Pony, I agree. If you have seen Mr. Plinkett's review of the Prequels, he asks people to describe certain characters only by personality traits, nothing physical. They could generally describe original trilogy ones and go on quite a bit about them, while New trilogy, they were lucky to get a single word. Evil is the only non-physical word I can describe Sombra with. (Although based on the way he looks, he may not actually be a crystal pony. With the exceptions from the mane six and Shining Armour (temporarily) and Cadance, there were no ponies in the crystal empire that were unicorns.

Also: anyone else like how they pretty much stated that Cadance is actually from the crystal empire. I don't know how many fan theories that wreaked, but I should be interesting.

Should I create an entry?

Alright, so what I'm hearing is that this episode was kinda the worst of the premieres. It seems that Sombra sucks as a villain. Everypony, if you had to give the premiere a rating (A, B, C, D, or F), what would it be and why?

@Twilitlord: Yeah, he's kinda bland as Villains go. But generic villain or not, the venture wasn't an entire waste.

Good Points:
-He posed a clear threat. Almost won.
-His goal was clear, and menacing. "Take over Equestria".

As such, his existance at the moment is to ratchet up the tension of the episode. He's no discord, of course, but I doubt that was the intention.

He's the most action oriented villain so far. And that was probably the intention.

From here, they could go anywhere with him, as little is established. And as the episode on its own was done well enough to excite the audience, then there will be no shortage of fans trying to make their own spin on him.

…Which leads to two good points.

-If left as he is, as in, generic, a good fan can spin him anyway they want, as a blank canvas villain. And the fans can see in him whatever evils, or redemptions they want to see. And although Not every fan fic can hit right, some will pull off some great visions of him.
-If they don't intend to leave him blank, they may utilise whatever fan speculations and projections to spin him into a more interesting character next time he shows up.

So… yeah, he's not great. But right now he doesn't have to be. All he needs to be right now is "the most dangerous threat so far".

Its probably not the take we're used to. But considering how much the rest of the episode is different from what we normally see from the show. It's not that much of a problem, provided the episode itself was good.

…And if you prefer action and tension based entertainment. Then this episode did pretty well.

Edit: @Chowzburger (or however you spell that)

Pretty much I rate the episodes as a "B". Pretty much an episode that got my heart racing faster than ever, even if the villain didn't leave an impression other than a generic threat. Fast pace, looming threat, time limit. Yeah, that works for me. And his seeming threat to enlave an entire nation and beyond is a great way to develop a general sense of danger. As opposed to other episodes that although greater in some cases, ussually miss out on that last part.

Season 1 being a C, Sympathetic villain was Enough to make it good for me. but the low tension factor and general ease kinda broke it down a bit. And as I mention often. Its all "When you're ready… take your time."

Season 2 was probably a B+, having a fun villain while the team slowly desended into despair. (Or twilight did anyways.) But doesn't recieve an A for the fact that time on their side. But a general sympathy for the hardship they all go through makes it great.

The Wedding Was probably an A. Overwhelming odds, check. Glorious Villain? Check. Heroes on brink of destruction? Kinda, so check. Tension? Yeah. Pulling on our heartstrings as we see Twilight's heart break again? Check. Real danger? Well… Sorta, so I'll put that as a maybe. After all, the changelings may have tried to take over Canterlot. But that was kinda so they could use them to sustain themselves. Such motivations tend to prefer that one stays healthy, and compliant. And downright going ahead and kicking the dog doesn't do anything for their motivations. So the threat comes with a hint of "This could be bad, but we'll survive this. It may not be pleasent, but we'll live." So it doesn't get an A+

Back to Somber. He downright goes ahead and crushes their very spirit. Which is argueably more threatening than just enslaving for food.

…So… All in all, I'm not disapoined. I know it could have been better. But since when has that ever stoped one from enjoying something? We can't let the could have beens make us forget that we have some great things right now.

… I don't know how to end this so…

:3

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Let's not embed and then quote the seizure-inducing gif several times, please. Besides, it's just hard to look at every time someone comes to view the thread. Thanks.
-Verbose

Good greif Pinkie! You didn't just break the fourth wall! You killed it, desecrated its corpse, rebuilt it, smashed it down again, and blended up what remains into a smoothie and used it to feed hungry reality warpers!

I mean, I'm surprised my screen is still intact.

SO MUCH GAK

OH GOD WAT IS THAT???
GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME
IT'S COMING AT US

Also this:

>mfw Right before I watch Season premiere

Aww yeah…. Poni tiem.

>mfw after watching premiere
Oh, hi there, Mr. Handgun. Please say hello to my mouth

Srsly, wtf?

Sombra sucked. Oooooo, I make black crystals and turn my peeps into slaves but between the 3 songs, someone forgot to explain why I'm being a douche. I have zero character development. Behold my bland, and generic gravelly voice. Quake in fear of my "Danny Phantom" rip-off color palatte. Bitch plz.

For comparison, let's look at Chrysalis. Chrysalis got two episodes as well, but her design was smokin' and fit her character as queen of a starving nation, her palate (black, bright green, dark pine green and cerualean) made her dark but made her look appealing and uniform, her voice was unique and complimented her bug-queen persona; and, lastly, she had a reason to invade and be a Lady Jerky McBitchpants.

I don't know why Cadance was there and why the Hub made her the "Pwincess" of the Crystal Empire. She looks nothing like the crystalline and Hellenic-patterned designs of the Crystal ponies. Isn't the ruler of a kingdom supposed to, you know, be from the same cultural background of her subjects?

And Studio B committed two cardinal sins with their musical numbers. Having the characters say the same damn thing they just said before the song, but this time in C sharp, and trying to use songs in place of fundamental story building.

At least the Crystal ponies had some nice designs. Hellenic hairstyles and medieval traditions go surprisingly well with each other. Kind of like ranch dressing and hot wings.

tl;dr HUB, Y U NO GIVE US MOAR CHRYSSY?

Guise. Guise.

AN ANCIENT EVIL AWAKENS.

I didn't have high hopes for Sombra but I figured they'd at least try characterize him beyond the generic 2edgybloodhorn villain that he looked like. I seriously don't like to complain about stuff like this, but it didn't really feel like a season premier kinda deal to me because of that. I was basically like "Come out of the damn evil clouds, start talking shit about everyone and tell us your story already!" through half of the episode. Also I dunno what to say about the songs, man. I liked Twilight's towards the beginning, but the other one just seemed kinda off. The crystal empire was nice, everyone did cute things that made me smile and I thought it was entertaining enough nonetheless, but it just seemed unpolished in areas that were hard not to notice, I guess.

On the topic of Sombra being a weak villain, I will agree that he falls under the "generic evil" type of villain and really had next to no screen time. Not to mention when I saw his design a few months ago I honestly thought it was a joke that some fan made up. I have a few counter arguments to make, though. For one, if Sombra was given back story and/or more screen time right off the bat then we wouldn't know nearly as much about the crystal ponies (which I think is more important). If screen time was taken up by Sombra then we wouldn't have as much information about the crystal ponies and we would instead be complaining about that. Second, a villain does not need to be complex and original in order to be threatening in my book. Original or not, enslaving an entire empire is scary and threatening. The crystal ponies reactions to even the thought of king Sombra was genuine fear, similar to the way a colony of mice would react to a hungry cat. You know some shit went down to make the ponies so genuinely afraid of him. I personally was on the edge of my seat when the climax was building up and Sombra was breaking into the kingdom. Third, sometimes a villain's traits are shown by what they didn't do on screen, rather than what they did do. Discord and Chrysalis (and to a certain extent Nightmare Moon) had plenty of screen time to show their work and show you why they are fit to be called a villain. Sombra's actions as a villain were much more subtle and you could tell there was a cool and calculated feel to how he did things. For instance, I thought the secret passageway in the palace that was only seen when the palace was under dark magic was pretty brilliant. The show could do so much with him if they ever bring him back. I'm not saying Sombra was the best villain ever, but he definitely wasn't the worst. In my book, he gets a solid C. If the show ever takes the chance to make him into a more complex character, the grade could be moved up to a B. As for the whole premier itself, I'll give it an A-. I really loved it a lot.

I forgot to mention another highlight of the premiere.

We found out Cadence has an alternative function:

In case of an emergency, ur waifu can become a javelin, Shiny.

Ignoring all your discussion because I'm just now watching it. Have to say, seven in the morning is the worst time for something of this magnitude – I have no problems waking up in time, but it's just early enough that I tell myself I can sleep another half hour because it's only six, and I end up sleeping past it.

So yeah, screenshot of the day right hurr:

First thing my trained animator eye noticed.

I find it interesting that the Mane 6 just killed someone, especially when it's a villain.

Ooooohhh~

Shinny.

What have we learned today, kids?

GAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAKGAK

@Crimson: I have to disagree. One of the things that stands out for me about MLP is its unique and memorable villains. With Sombra, there is nothing positive that is memorable about him. He reminds me of a bad OC: garish colors, extremely rough backstory, no personality, unusually powerful for apparent reason… The only way it could have been more bad-OCish is if he was an alicorn while they were at it. He's just not an MLP villain. Knowing nothing about him, the fact that he enslaved the crystal ponies just has no impact whatsoever for me. If they'd had him talk more and made him sound and act like a crazy, sadistic, and purely evil ruler, it might have worked. Instead, we got an episode where the most memorable part was an ad that got repeated twice every time it went on.

Verdict: C. It's not as bad as some episodes (Baby Cakes was pretty hard for me to watch, because Pinkie was characterized way off of how I envisioned her before I watched it), but it's a forgettable episode. The only reason's I'll remember it are because of it being a season premiere, Rarity's overreaction, and homing missile Cadance. And maybe Gak.

I for one, liked Sombra.
He struck me as more of a Lovecraftian 'force' instead of a 'character', and that is by no means a negative. My favorite part of the episode was when Twi and Spike were searching the castle for the heart. Sombra wasn't there physically, but he was there and I suspect he'll continue to be there in future episodes.

But I guess I get to put that on the "windigo's unpopular opinions" pile along with "Mare do well was a good episode" and "Skrillex is talented"

On a completely unrelated note, did anyone watch LPS? What's the verdict on that?

@Twili: This brings up another point I have, does every single villain have to be an "MLP villain"? I don't think so. I think the writers took a risk by going in another direction. It may not have worked out 100% and seemed lazy, but they did something different. Think about it, how many kids shows have an evil dictator that is trying to enslave an entire empire? (Avatar does not count, that's a show meant for preteens)
Basically, this image sums up my thoughts in a more obnoxious manner

Also, Gak was definitely not the most memorable thing I got out of that episode. For me, that honor goes to that nightmare door thing (I cried a little inside when Spike got so upset)

What Windigo said is also a point I meant to make but forgot to. His presence was always there, and was always a threat. It's kind of like the Elite Four in the Pokemon series. You don't even see them until the very end of the game, but people keep mentioning them and how powerful they are, and so their presence is always looming over your head. Does that make the Elite Four a crappy villain (for lack of a better word)? Absolutely not.

Okay, episode finished. Commence discussion.

King Sombra brought it a bit weak, but Crimson has a valid point – they sacrificed Sombra's backstory in favor of some more development of the crystal ponies (are we supposed to capitalize Crystal Ponies?), which is preferable given the time slot. There were a few scenes they probably could've done away with in favor of telling a bit more about Sombra, but he did well enough for a cut-and-dry villain. Won't say I'm entirely pleased; he struck me as the sort of character where "the only thing anyone knows about him is his blood-red horn." He's ambiguous, but there's not enough information to make that ambiguity scary. Oh well. I think Sombra could actually grow on me, though. He has the potential for that.

And I kind of thought Sombra had a cool design.

Sombra aside, it wasn't a bad episode, but there were still a few plot points I found a bit ridiculous, namely a good deal of interaction between Twilight and Spike. It was nice to see Shining Armor and Cadence come back, and since
<div class ="spoiler">
Cadence is now a true princess, given her changed cutie mark at the end, I guess she isn't entirely useless.

Also, Shining Armor is a badass as usual.

And one, final thing I got out of this episode? New favorite pony. Seriously, just about every single scene Pinkie Pie was in was hilarious.

I will agree that Pinkie Pie's Fluttershy disguise had my sides splitting

Sorry about not being in the topic to discuss ponies while the episode was going on. I was on the iPad playing ponies while watching the ponies.

I wish I knew Gameloft's E-mail addy if they have one, cause I'd like to know if they're going to add on to the app in the future.

Alright, you have a point. The "intangible force" idea did work really well. I do hope that future crystal pony (I'm not capitalizing it, they're just a race like the unicorns and pegasi, but we don't capitalize those) episodes have that idea of Sombra being there in spirit. If they do, they better characterize him more. The 4chan post has a point, but a bunch of those could apply just as well to Nightmare Moon. Plus "not fucking annoying" is very subjective. Discord was a douche, but he wasn't annoying imo. Chrysalis was a bitch, but not annoying. Nightmare Moon was actually kind of scary for me. I didn't get that from Sombra because they didn't do too much with him.

As for Gak (I don't know why I'm even arguing for this), get on my little brony, the last 10 posts are all gak last I checked. As a community, that stood out, apparently. I personally thought there were good moments in the show, like the door scene, but not enough to redeem the episode as a whole.

Also, Windigo, I enjoyed Mare Do Well, so you're not alone.

It's like watching that live-action Looney Toons film back in 2005. They used similar tricks with the zip-skins.

Also, I think the door at the bottom of the castle is like a sort of parallel opposite of the Mirror Of Erised. Rather that showing you the thing you want or need most, it shows you the thing you fear or hate most. And it's kept in a hidden place in the castle! How close can the reference be drawn to that! :D

@badsitrep
I don’t know why Cadance was there and why the Hub made her the “Pwincess” of the Crystal Empire

i give 8/10

what i really liked:

1) crystal ponies weren't annoying.

2) wife throw was awesome(Al bundy is proud)

3) the fair was ok(i bet some fan games and official might be made)

4) 2/3 songs was good(ending was kinda…meh)

what i didn't liked

1) lack of villain( c,mon, the stairs were more challenging than sombra)

and thats it.

I am more hyped for this Season than anything ever before in my life. I swear, in the sequence

I flipped out and I was so relieved Very few things can do that to me. Everyone can have their own opinions about Sombra, but in my book, he was just bad@$$ enough to not bore me, but not so much so that he distracted me from what I feel was the main focus of the episode.

Overall it was so very solid and the next episode can't get here soon enough.

I give the new episode 3 and half stars methinks. It gave me some good feels, and opened up some awesome potential episodes.

ALSO, SPIKE IS A HERO!!!

Hey guys remember when there was a picture of Trixie with a red necklace on her which was used as a promotional picture for the season. Well since Trixie is returning, there might be a possibility that she is going to try to resurrect Sombra. Maybe she'll do that so that she could get more power.