@dynamicv True, her point that, unless they do turn Twilight and Cadance to stone in public, then nobody will ever believe them, does hold water. However, it would still be pragmatic to kill them them where they are now, or at the very least, kill them in a publicly seen place that ISN’T the Crystal Dais. Where there might be the chance of the Crystal Heart, or SOME kind of Macguffin being used to stop them, could work the best (the Crystal Dais probably acting as a focal point and amplifier for the love of the Crystal Ponies in conjunction with the Crystal Heart).
And what I mean by the “Made of Evil” thing, is that more often than not, beings like the Umbrum in fiction who are “Made of Evil” will put on a giant spectacle in order to deal decisively with their enemies. The problem with spectacles like this is that it leaves you VERY open to being thwarted at the last minute. The Umbrum, so assured of their own power in the situation, are firmly grasping the Villain AND the Idiot Ball in this situation, because they think that just because Twilight and Cadance are captured, that means that they’ve won.
Sombra, on the other hand, has not only been beaten twice, but he’s learned his lesson from both times. The first time he was beaten by Celestia and Luna, he IMMEDIATELY took them out of the picture as soon as they showed up. He didn’t even fight them, straight up “Nope!” them into stone. The second time he was beaten, it was thanks to Twilight, yes, but it was also thanks to ALL of her friends, including Spike. Twilight’s captured and been rendered powerless, BUT WHERE ARE HER FRIENDS? Sombra doesn’t know, and he knows that since they are out there, they CAN do something to stop him and the Umbrum.
It’s why he wants to go ahead and take out Twilight and Cadance right now. Even if Twilight’s friends show up again, they’ll at least be without their friend. If Twilight is allowed to reunite with her friends, then Sombra knows that she’d find SOME way to stop him. It’s this Dangerously Genre Savy nature that made it almost impossible to defeat him the second time, because he’d laid all those traps around the Crystal Heart. But the Umbrum have apparently firmly clasped the Villain and Idiot Balls here, and since they seem to overrule him despite calling him Emperor, he has to go along with it.
@TricornKing
But isn’t the whole point of Twilight’s ruse based on giving them a valid reason why the “pragmatic route” will supposedly backfire on them? She already gave them a reason based on logic and history, it has nothing to do with them being “made of evil”, whatever that could mean.
I like that Sombra at least is Genre Savy enough to immediately realize that this proposal from Twilight is unnecessary and could backfire on them all, while the Umbrum are so “Made of Evil” that they don’t consider that it might be better to just go the pragmatic route than doing the “big public display of evil”. Curious to see if that’s picked up on in the rest if the issue.
@Background Pony #974B
The comic has almost been completely posted here what are you talking about?
Also I usually like IDW’s stuff but some of their comics including this one are awful and I’m not going to pretend it’s a gem when it’s not that just breeds bad writing even the show makes bad episodes sometimes and those get judged as well, so no I’m not “looking to declare this comic is bad too quickly” the ending cannot save a trainwreck no matter how good it is.
@dynamicv
I’m considering that as well. If Radiant Hope still has the Crystal Heart, luring the Umbrum into petrifying Twilight and Cadence on the Heart’s dais would put them in a position where the Mane Six could save Twilight and Cadence before they can be petrified, grab the Heart, restore it to the dais, and with the Crystal Ponies gathered to originally assume they were about to see the rest of the Royal Family be petrified forever, they instead use their strength to vanquish the Umbrum for eternity, restoring Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor back to flesh and blood, and saving the Empire once more.
Sombra already seems wary of Twilight’s intentions. He knows she’s luring them into a trap, but can’t do anything about it with Radia giving the orders, and being the one who has now picked up the Idiot Ball.
@anonymous-pony
Indeed. Though i will say there are parts that were utterly unnecessary. Celestia and luna being turned to stone is one of those asinine contrivances. Because we know celestia and luna kicked his ass long ago, and likely they would be stronger than then.
Hell the show displays how false a prospect sombra being that powerful is. True they make him a threat by making him crueler, but he is not able to just defeat Celestia. They likely fought during AND before the war, and if they could not make a decisive victory, as both sides have their reasons, it is implausbie sombra could beat TWO alicorns at once.
They could have included them in this story though by having them come up around the part cadance and twilight are captured. That they are in direct combat with the Umbrum, and while they are able to kick a lot of ass, they are not powerful enough to break through them, and had to retreat to prepare for war.
THAT would be covering all their bases and preventing such a paradox.
@martianmister
Shrugs.
For starters why would there be a bunch of revolutions in a world that has one ruler in over a thousand years? >_<
Outside of that, the entire mother FUCKIN line of plot that has lead to this has been nothing short of gbarbage. The stuff with hope and sombra was itnersting and the umbrum are intersting, but the mother fucking ‘villains’ were totally a waste. The idea sombra could jsut petrify the REgal Sisters like that is sooo stupid that it is physically painful. And the idea that the bieng who has love magic could not fight against the beings hurt by love magic, is……… UGh.
Hell look at the current season finale. It utterly disproves the idea sombra could just do that. The timeline with the sombra war shows that sombra and celestia are on par to one another, enough that neither could have defeated each other. Because that is the only way a war would pan out. Sombra would want to eliminate such a threat immediately, and Celestia would not want to drag her ponies into a war. Only way it could happen if they were put into a situation where neither could have a decisive victory over the other.
So how the fuck could someone who cannot overpower one of the alicorns be able to overpower TWO of them? Because with luna, Celestia would have been able to easily dispose of sombra, having twice the power on her side.
I’m hoping Hope (see what I did there) does at least play a major part in saving the day.
It’d at least partially make up for her role in unleashing Sombra and the Umbrum (even if she was played for a fool all this time) in the eyes of the ponies, and in the eyes of the readers.
@Background Pony #974B
She was more biding time than doing nothing. And it could be theorized that her magic was too weak for the time being, especially considering that she could only levitate light items such as bouquets. Starved, deprived of fluids, injured, and not to mention physically exhausted from running around the caves, all of that strain will wear the mind down considerably. Basically, she couldn’t really fight something that’s been well-fed and magically charged in that condition. She knows that it’s a battle she’d be foolish to fight, but why not buy the time to allow the solution to present itself rather than go in guns (or horns in this case) blazing?
Don’t forget that she could’ve been down there in those caves for several days.
And considering the writers previous issues, I would say that this misleading tip could lead to them finding the others while dropping the idiot ball and letting the heroes win (which is the only way this will be resolved considering that this is the final chapter of the arc). If they had about 6 issues per arc, we’d see much better execution because that’s exactly how they write, so they have to find some contrivance to allow the plot to progress. The Chrysalis arc worked because they were more focused on trying to flow it all together, not to mention the fan demand of the Chrysalis return.
The Nightmare Rarity did well by most standards.
Reflections failed because of writing.
This one has already shown contrivances that were beyond asinine, so the failure is already obvious. They need more issues to properly flesh out solutions to the problems rather than simply MoF (Magic of Friendship) their issue away to progress the plot. Six issues would’ve gone in this order:
1: Twilight’s friends fail.
2: Villains argue and fight.
3: Twilight and her friends try to find a means of escape.
4: The truth is revealed about the Umbrum.
5: This issue goes here.
6: The resolution goes here.
By going through six parts, they are given more time to properly flesh out the scenarios and present a solution that doesn’t seem so abrupt.
@martianmister
I say that because there’s no other reason for Twilight to suddenly help the Umbrum hurt her cause better that makes any sense. Why would anyone go right from “I’ll fight against you until my last breath” to “petrifying us is fine, but let me help you crush my friends’ spirits more completely” if it’s not a trick?
Which is why Twilight told them the public stoning would have to be where everyone can see, which would include Hope, especially since she’s their new Empress.
@PonyPon
Hmm, I can see that happening if Twilight fails to do it herself and resorts to convincing Hope to help her. Or, Twilight’s plan is to convince her to do it to begin with.
For that to happen wouldn’t she need to know Hope was going to be their on the first place. They didn’t know Hope was going to be there til the last panel.
