many people believe the reason he wasn't really focused on was because the episode suppose to focus deeply on Twilight (to also foreshadow her future) and her test. imagine if they had toned down how much of a "villian" he was, like if he was just some nameless dark shadow that was going to overrun/destroy an ancient empire. twilight's mission being the same thing. it wouldn't have mattered if it had a name - it would have been a "test villain"
i think the problem they did was over-hyping the villain inside the episode. they made him out to be the next big evil thing, but the reality was he was just some ancient dictator with dark magic. if it had been more of a vague plot device, it probably would have been received better.
