"The Crystal Empire" is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the of the Canadian-American animated television series as well as the fifty-third and fifty-fourth episodes of the series overall. Both parts of the episode were first broadcast on The Hub on November 10, 2012. It was written by Meghan McCarthy, and directed by series director James Wootton. The show follows a studious unicorn pony named as her mentor guides her to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight becomes close friends with five other ponies:,,,, and. The episode centers on the reappearance of the Crystal Empire after previously being cursed over a thousand years ago by its tyrant ruler before his banishment. Fearing that the power of the Crystal Ponies could be used for evil, sends Twilight Sparkle and her friends to help and to protect the Empire from King Sombra's attack. On its initial airing, the episode achieved some of the highest viewership for the Hub, and continued a growth in viewership for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic from the previous year. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics. While many enjoyed the story the episode had to offer, the emotional disconnect and one-dimensional nature of the villain were cited as detractors.
Plot
Part one
learns of the reappearance of the Crystal Empire. Previously the home of the Crystal Ponies over one thousand years ago, the empire had been taken over by the tyrant unicorn who enslaved the ponies and threatened to take over Equestria; Celestia and her sister had sealed King Sombra away in ice, but Sombra cursed the empire to vanish as a last effect. Now that it has reappeared, Celestia and Luna both fear that Sombra will reappear as well and re-conquer the empire, becoming too powerful for even them to defeat again. Celestia assigns her student with a test of her ability, and hers alone, to help her brother Prince Shining Armor and his wife Princess Cadance to protect the empire. Twilight travels with her friends, as well as, to the arctic where the empire is located. Sombra appears as they near the city, but Shining Armor arrives and protects them as they race for cover within a magic shield around the city. Though they are safe, Shining Armor is afflicted with a dark magic which disables his powers. The mares and Spike meet Princess Cadance at the castle, where she has been enchanting the shield without sleep and little food. Twilight and her friends spread out to ask the citizens about how to protect the empire without Cadance's magic, but find that the Crystal ponies are afflicted with a spell that has erased their memories of anything before King Sombra's reign. Twilight finds a book about the Crystal Empire's past, learning of a Crystal Fair used to raise the spirits of the Crystal Ponies. She and her friends go about to recreate the fair; Twilight assumes that one aspect, a Crystal Heart, is a ceremonial piece and constructs a crude version of it from crystal. As Cadance's magic starts to falter, the fair starts, and the Crystal Ponies soon cheer up and remember their past. Rainbow Dash overhears one discuss part of the ceremony of the fair where they would channel their elated feelings into the Crystal Heart to protect the Empire; Rainbow races back to warn Twilight they need to find the real Crystal Heart, and Twilight discovers that the page about the Heart's powers has been purposely torn out from the book. Just then, Cadance's magic shuts down as she collapses in Shining Armor's arms, allowing King Sombra to surround the Empire.
Part two
With Shining Armor's support, Cadance re-engages the shield, though a slice from King Sombra's horn lands within the shield and slowly starts to taint the land. Twilight instructs her friends to keep the fair going while hiding the fake Crystal Heart, while she goes and looks for the real one by herself, assured that this is the test Celestia has given her. Spike insists on coming along, promising not to help in any way. Twilight surmises that King Sombra had hidden the Heart in the castle, as the Crystal Ponies had feared his reign and would never had entered it. Twilight's unique abilities with magic allow her to pass through several traps laid by Sombra, including a magic door that shows a pony's darkest fear and a seemingly infinite staircase, until she and Spike reach the top of the castle. They find the Crystal Heart waiting for them, just as Cadance exhausts her magic completely. As Sombra invades the Empire, Twilight goes for the Heart, but becomes trapped by a wall of dark crystals that prevent her escape when Sombra is alerted to her attempt, while the Heart falls at Spike's feet. Twilight frets how to escape the trap in time before realizing that the only solution is to have Spike deliver the Heart to the ponies below, even though she believes this will cause her to fail her test to Celestia. Spike races ahead of King Sombra's attacks, but falls off with the Heart. Shining Armor throws Cadance at Spike and the Heart; she catches both in time before King Sombra can get there, and glides down to the base of the castle, the Crystal Heart restoring both her strength and magic. Quickly placing the Heart in its proper place, Cadance addresses the Crystal Ponies as their princess and instructs them to power the Heart. The positive feelings from the ponies cause the Heart to be recharged, and King Sombra shatters, causing him to explode. With the Heart restored, the Crystal ponies regain their crystalline appearance, and the effect extends to Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, and Twilight and her friends, giving them appearances similar to that of Crystal Ponies while they remain in the city. Twilight and her friends say their goodbyes to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor and return to Canterlot. Twilight finds that while Spike has been considered the hero of the adventure, she has passed her test, having demonstrated self-sacrifice by putting the interests of others ahead of her own. Twilight rejoins her friends as they celebrate her success while Celestia and Luna look on, with Luna holding a mysterious book.
Production
The episode was written by Meghan McCarthy and directed by James Wootton. Jayson Thiessen served as supervising director. The episode marks the first time that series developer Lauren Faust had no input. Faust had previously served as executive producer during season one, and as consulting producer during season two. Scenes from "The Crystal Empire"—most notably the empire, King Sombra, and Pinkie Pie as a spy—were shown at the My Little Pony panel at the 2012 New York Comic Con. Episode writer McCarthy and others stated that they were interested in world-building the history of Equestria, since they were not bound by previous series, and that this episode would explore other parts of Equestria.
Broadcast and reception
Ratings
Both parts of "The Crystal Empire" first aired on The Hub on November 10, 2012. The first episode was the most viewed season premiere of any Hub show upon its airing, with about 578,000 viewers across 323,000 households; the overall two-part episode achieved around 200% growth in all demographics compared to the previous season. This was marked improvement from the series' previous record holder, the two-part second season finale, "A Canterlot Wedding", which was viewed by 483,000 and 475,000 viewers respectively.
Reviews
Noel Kirkpatrick of TV.com found that while the two-part episode provided a good adventure and several moments of comedy, there was an emotional disconnect between some of the plot elements, such as the lack of connection between King Sombra's rule and Twilight and her friends, or on the impact of Celestia's test on the events. Daniel Alvarez of Unleash the Fanboy awarded the episode five stars out of five and called it "a truly great premiere to a great show" with a premise that "is pretty much perfect". He did, however, criticize King Sombra, noting that the character "has virtually no backstory, and is just there". Alvarez did enjoy the design of the villain, calling it "pretty good like a demonic unicorn", but ultimately felt that was the only positive thing about the character.
Home media release
The two-part episode is part of the "Adventures in the Crystal Empire" Region 1 DVD by Shout Factory, which was released in stores on December 4, 2012. The DVD also includes the episodes "It's About Time", "Luna Eclipsed", and "Sonic Rainboom". It has also been released as part of the complete Season 3 DVD set.
