I thought it was interesting how the griffons were presented as dwarves, with their greed, dwarf bread, and especially with the lost treasure being like the Arkenstone, complete with the society falling apart once it was lost. It seems the idea is that griffon society is now made up of separate city-states, like it was before the treasure was acquired, which is how we have guys like Gustav from "MMMystery on the Friendship Express". The worn down griffons we saw had interesting designs, and I hope we see more griffons from these other cities. The flashback with that cyclops monster was neat, and it's a shame the monster is long dead.
I liked Twilight's role in this episode. It is odd that she wouldn't know about the current political situation of the griffons, especially when griffons do regularly visit Equestria. Do they just think it's rude to ask them? Pinkie was surprisingly intelligent in this episode, which was a nice change. Dash was OK, I guess.
Gilda was vilified by the fanbase more than seemed warranted for what she did (probably because she was the worst we got in season 1 in terms of jerks), so I was glad to see her make up with Dash and Pinkie, and it didn't feel out of character. The "The Last Crusade" part with her reaching for the treasure was cute.
Still, I just found the episode to be OK while watching. Maybe I'll appreciate it more on a second viewing.
