Wow, I can't believe nopony has mentioned the premiere yet on this thread. I only just watched it because I was at a tournament when it came out.
So, it was very well made. The cinematography, art design, all that was great. However I feel that it didn't have the same magic to it as the finale for season 2, the Canterlot Wedding, or either of the other two season premieres. I think one reason why this was not as powerful was because Sombra (that's his name, right?) had almost no background, and therefore was a really boring character (cue fanfiction authors.) Also, the reason why I liked the Royal Wedding so much was because they led us to expect that it was going to be just about Shining Armor and Cadance's wedding. They had all the advertising and made a huge deal about it. And then when it finally aired, I was like, oh my god what is going on. That is something that this lacked I think. I guess if they had spent a little more time on the concept of the Crystal Empire rather than introducing it all at once it would have been more cohesive.
Lol, I'm not disappointed. I purposefully avoided all leaked information about the episode so I wouldn't get my hopes up or whatever. It's nowhere near as good as the other three I mentioned, but the sheer excitement of the new season makes up for that. Maybe it's actually the "slice of life" sort of episodes that I really missed from the show. I guess I will find out next week (same bat-time, same bat-channel!)
Okay, can somepony explain what Gak is? I saw a bunch of memes about it yesterday and I kept expecting it to be some material that Sombra uses to trap ponies or whatever. But there was no mention of Gak in the whole episode... What in the world?
I WANT A FLUGELHORN