Tempest is a competent underling, while the Storm King is a clueless nitwit obsessed with merchandise and public relations, plus he doesn't pay his most effective worker. Is this meta commentary by the writers?

I "fixed" the scene where the Mane 6 and the Storm King scramble for the staff. I thought there was a curious editing decision where the rope going taut was put before Twilight's desperate lunge. It seems more dynamic if you reverse the order so there's cause and effect, at least to me.