Truth be told, I was a bit underwhelmed by the season premiere, “The Crystal Empire pt. 1 and 2.” There were aspects of it that were really nice (how Twilight ends up needing Spike’s support and is willing to fail her test in order to save the empire), but the parts with the other ponies trying to stall the ceremony felt like the writers couldn’t figure out much for them to do after Twilight goes off on her own. I’m also not sure why Princess Celestia told Twilight she had to do it on her own when in fact doing it on her own would have doomed everyone. Last year’s hour premiere just had a better overall story, a better resolution and a far better villain. This year’s King Sobra has little to no presence (he’s just generically evil with no real dialogue) while John de Lancie‘s Discord was a huge personality who had a very clear purpose for his wicked deeds. So while I’m glad the show is back, the episode left me lukewarm.

But the one big ear perk for me was towards the beginning of the episode — Princess Luna and Celestia are discussing what has to be done to save the Crystal Empire. Luna questions if Twilight Sparkle can do what needs to be done and Celestia assures her sister that Twilight “will succeed at her task. And when she does, we’ll know that she is that much closer to being ready.” So the question is … ready for what?

Now, Luna and Celestia’s conversation was slightly vague and I’ve seen some online discussions suggest that it was actually Princess Cadence they were speaking about (Cadence has a huge part is saving the day in this storyline as well). However, during one of the new season commercials that aired during the premiere they go through a few up-and-coming moments, including the ponies magically de-aging, multiple Pinkie Pies and Twilight Sparkle’s destiny. So unless the commercial was part of the red herring to distract us from the actual reveal, it looks like Twilight is going to have an even larger role in the protecting Equestria.

In some ways, they’ve already been building up to this. From the very first episode Twilight has been the holder of the Elements of Harmony “big crown thingy,” arguably the leader of the group when they have to do their duties as the wielders of the Elements. In another episode she tries to hide just how talented she is at magic because she’s worried her friends will think she’s arrogant. It’s been highly implied that Twilight is well-above the experience of ponies her age and there’s definitely something extraordinary about her abilities. Was this fate the reason Celestia chose Twilight to be her apprentice in the first place? And at the very end of the premiere, we see Princess Luna lifting up a mysterious book … could that have something to do with Twilight “being ready?”

Throughout the series, I’ve appreciated that not all the episodes are one-shots. There are a few storylines that come back here and there in big ways. It looks like Twilight’s magic is going to be a much larger part of the overall arc of the season. I’m looking forward to it.

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