Of all of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Mgaic's' nine seasons, Season 3 stands out. Not because of the overall quality, like the previous two seasons and the next six there is still the mix of good or more and disappointing episodes, so in terms of consistency it's about the same. But because it's the shortest season (lasting 13 episodes instead of the 26 of the other eight, indicating early cancellation was considered?), that it was the first season to not have imput from Lauren Faust, of its big character arc for Twilight and because the show started to take a darker turn.
'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' did at least one two parter for each season, two for most seasons and tending to either to be season openers or finales, and personally love most of them. The two part Season 3 premiere "The Crystal Empire" is not one of the best, it is still being quite good with a lot of fantastic things. It is not one of the best two parters though, one of the weaker ones for me, with a few frustrations too along the way. This first part displays all the two parter's good and bad things, in a solid first part that could have been even more than it was.
"The Crystal Empire: Part 1" has an awful lot of good, even great things. The animation continues to be beautifully coloured, richly detailed in the backgrounds and clearly drawn with a lot of care and love, even looking more polished and atmospheric than the previous two seasons (and the animation was great in them too). Especially the gorgeously designed Crystal Empire itself. The music is always dynamic with the action and beautifully varied in mood. Loved the songs just as much and they are quite infectious and don't screach the episode to a halt, the failure song is particularly good and one of the best songs of the early seasons. "The Crystal Empire: Part 1" does a wonderful job with the world building, where one is fully immersed.
Also loved the moral of the whole two parter. It is such a relevant and easy to relate to moral, this is something that the show was very good at on the most part, and it is handled with force yet also sincerity. The dialogue is amusing and poignant often and the story compels enough with a good deal of emotional impact. Lifted by the character writing and interaction. Really related to Twilight, who is a character of many shades (found this to be the case for much of Season 3 and the show in general) and is one of the main source of the episode's past. Pinkie Pie is often hilarious and Rarity is funny yet benevolent. Spike serves a purpose and is helpful and quite likeable. Cannot fault the voice acting, very rarely did.
For all those great things, there were sadly drawbacks in "The Crystal Empire: Part 1". Other than his voice acting (courtesy of Jim Miller) and his brilliant entrance, Sombra is a missed opportunity for a villain, underdeveloped and very forgettable with no threat posed and his character design takes getting used to.
Did feel generally that there was too much going on and the story tended to feel over-plotted and rushed. The ending is attention grabbing yet abrupt, and on a more nit-picky note Rainbow Dash can be a little too brassy and a few of the jokes grate.
Concluding, promising start to a solid but uneven two parter but there was something missing. 7/10
