And it's not like we don't see enough of Sombra to know he's a threat, just from the traps and other stuff he left behind to gaurd the Heart, you can tell he is the most intelligent and competent villain so far. Yes he didn't get much characterization on screen, but just through seeing what he's done you know he's a force to be reckoned with. Yes I would have loved to see more of him in the present and had him make a bigger impact beyond ominous force of evil, but there wasn't time for that. Plus it's possible he's not actually gone.
Build a fool proof system, and the world will create a better fool.
My random thoughts
Who knows? Maybe Sombra will appear again in the season finale.
Side Note: Sooooo apparently, Gak is to this show what Morning Rescue is to
Madoka Magica.
Proud fanboy of anime/video games/scifi. Oh and of Rei Ayanami XD
I can kinda see how it might have been rushed a bit. It wasn't so much the plot set up, so much as it spent a bit more time expositing about the Crystal Empire than it did actually showing how it works. It felt at some points like there wasn't much at stake, since we never really get to interact with the Crystal Ponies in any meaningful way. Out of all of them, only the librarian felt like a real character. The others were all sort of interchangeable.
Hey, do not offend Gak; where do you think the Smooze came from?
Wouldn't you trust a smile like mine?
Sombra really has been the most competent villain so far - he didn't lose because he got cocky and just stood there/wouldn't shut up. Those traps he devised were pretty devilishly clever.
Hell, the librarian was pretty much the only one who said anything. The others were too busy channeling the spirit of Marvin...
Wouldn't you trust a smile like mine?
Those traps he devised were pretty devilishly clever.
Well, apart from the fact that he hid the powerful artefact that could defeat him
in his own throne room, on the basis that nopony would have been brave enough to search there.
And not only that: even if he for some reason had no better place available what reason could he possibly have had to put that gem
on display, at the centre of a big room in a tower with
open windows? I mean, the trap idea was great, I've got nothing to say about it, but couldn't he have used a fake gem for the trap and hid the right one, I dunno, inside a spare chamber pot?
But they seem to
know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.
Seconded. Sombra clearly knew what he was doing. He's the most competent villain seen so far.
Tealove is best pony.
Ask The Mane Six
Couldn't he have connected the scary door, the stairs and the traps to some
other place, though, just to have an extra layer of protection in case, of, I dunno, invading unicorn magical prodigies or angry demigoddesses?
edited 11th Nov '12 12:13:54 PM by Carciofus
But they seem to
know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.
@Carc: Honestly, it was a good plan because 1. noone knew where it was anyway, and 2. even if they did they wouldn't want to go in there to attempt to get it. Keep in mind he probably devised all the traps on the basis that he would be living in the castle, and therefore around to own anyone who tried to steal it. And keep in mind that not even the most powerful unicorn in Equestria could bust his magical ward on the heart anyway.
Well, as far as villains are concerned, the first was effectively insane, the second ws
batshit insane and the third only lost due to a deus ex machina.
edited 11th Nov '12 12:18:15 PM by VeniVidiPony
Wouldn't you trust a smile like mine?
Fair enough. Still, I think that it was in blatant violation of the
Evil Overlord List 
But in any case, I can certainly agree that Sombra was a far more careful villain that Nightmare Moon or Discord.
edited 11th Nov '12 12:19:29 PM by Carciofus
But they seem to
know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.
@Seraph I said more than just that.
Also, I find it interesting that Celestia and Luna decided to just brute force Sombra out rather than using the elements or the heart or something. I wonder what the significance of that is.
I wonder what Celestia's long-term plan is for Twilight. Do you think that Twalicorn is a possibility?
edited 11th Nov '12 12:24:38 PM by Carciofus
But they seem to
know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.
the third only lost due to a deus ex machina.
How's that a Dues Ex Machina? It's the same power source that made her so powerful in the first place.
Life is simple: it has no nontrivial normal subgroups.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Minus the dramatic mood dissonance that made Morning Rescue funny of course.
