Larry DiTillio

Ed Friedman

In a flashy, action-packed conclusion to the five-part introductory story, Skeletor and Hordak join forces to cause major mischief in Eternia. As soon as that's out of the way, it's back to Etheria for our heroes, to have a big showdown with the Evil Horde! What special powers does our new heroine possess? Will she help the Great Rebellion achieve its long-term purpose, or will she choose to stay with her new-found Eternian family?

Princess Adora (She-Ra), King Randor, Queen Marlena, Cringer (Battle Cat), Prince Adam (He-Man), Man-at-Arms, Teela, Spirit (Swift Wind), Sorceress, Bow, Queen Angella, Kowl, Glimmer, Madame Razz, Broom

Webstor, Kobra Khan, Skeletor (Chef Alan), Beast Man, Hordak, Tri-Klops, Trap Jaw, Shadow Weaver

Eternian guards, various rebels, assorted Etherian forest animals (including bear), Twiggets, Horde soldiers

Collector, Wind Raider (mentioned only), Horde flyers, batmeks, destructo tanks

In the palace complex at Eternos, as the reunited royal family get to know each other, the Evil Warriors Webstor and Kobra Khan abruptly drop from the ceiling of a hallway, surprising a pair of Eternian guardsmen. Khan knocks them out with his sleeping gas, leaving the way clear for a striding Skeletor and a skulking Beast Man, who is wheeling a gigantic cake. To complete the illusion, Skeletor disguises himself as the royal chef, Alan, and his minions as assistant chefs. In these disguises, they walk in on the royal family as the foursome (Randor, Marlena, Adam, and Adora - with Cringer for good measure) are enjoying their first meal together, Adora telling silly tales of Madame Razz and the king reminiscing over past exploits for his newly found daughter. They're surprised by the arrival of the huge cake, which seems too big for four people; maybe that's because it's actually HORDAK! The villains reveal themselves, and a blast from Hordak's cannon arm stuns the four Eternians. Cringer evades the beam and dashes away, calling for help, so Hordak must hurriedly grab his prize, Adora. Tri-Klops, hovering outside the palace in the Collector, zaps a hole in the side of the building, through which the evil crew rush out and away. Man-at-Arms and Teela come running, but arrive too late to stop the kidnapping.

Afterwards, a weeping Marlena droops in her throne while a grim Randor speaks of leveling Snake Mountain to get back his daughter. Man-at-Arms counsels subtlety, arguing that a small attack team will have better success; and He-Man arrives with Battle Cat to offer his services and promise Adora's safe return. Heartened, Duncan rushes off to Snake Mountain with the blonde hero, an eager Teela following at their heels.

At the evil fortress, Hordak is preparing to pass through the portal that Skeletor has opened to return to Etheria; he just needs the minions to hand over Adora. But Skeletor refuses, explaining with devious glee that there has been a change of plans. Once again betraying his old mentor, Old Bonehead has his minions shove Hordak through the portal without his prize - Skeletor has decided the royal princess is too valuable a bargaining chip to give up. A very distressed Adora appears to faint, and Skeletor assigns Beast Man the task of carrying her seemingly unconscious form to a dungeon cell while he makes the ransom call to Randor. We quickly learn, however, that Adora was feigning her faint (it was a bit of a feint, you might say), and she slips out of her chosen cell just in time to lock poor Fur Face inside of it.

With amazing luck, the escaped Adora immediately happens upon Tri-Klops and Trap Jaw, who are walking off to take her power sword to a lab for further study. She nabs the sword without being detected and makes her transformation into She-Ra, then heads down to Skeletor's den, where he's having trouble getting the king of Eternia on the horn. She brazenly tells the villain not to bother, as Adora has already been rescued. A few other people who didn't really have to bother have also entered Snake Mountain: He-Man, Battle Cat, Man-at-Arms, and Teela. They are just heading for the fortress's throne room when they have to dodge the flying bodies of Skeletor and his minions, who have all been defeated by She-Ra. Introductions are made between the heroes, and He-Man helps She-Ra to assure anyone who might be wondering that Adora is "safe." Presented with what he classifies as a "female He-Man," Skeletor declares this the worst day of his life. Man-at-Arms and Teela laugh at him. (This is the closest thing to an ending joke that we're going to get, so laugh it up!)

It's been real; but Adora realizes that her true home, the home she grew up on, is Etheria, and she can't abandon it to Hordak's tender mercies. Bidding a tearful farewell to her parents and brother, and with many promises to return, she heads back to Castle Grayskull to thank the Sorceress and catch a portal home. It seems that this is goodbye to everyone; but after stepping through the door into her own world, she finds that Adam and Cringer have followed her, keen to help out in the impending battle against the Horde. Seeing Horde ships flying overhead, the siblings decide their alter egos are needed, and so treat us to a complete and inspiring double transformation sequence. The powerful twins arrive in the base in the Whispering Woods just as Glimmer and Bow discussing their attack plan to rescue the castle of Bright Moon and put Glimmer's mother, Angella, back on the throne. Seeing that they have two blonde demi-gods on their side, they realize the time has come to just charge the place. But first, a bunch of frightened animals come charging out of the woods, including a bear who seems intent on attacking the humans. This gives She-Ra the opportunity to discover that she has the power to communicate with animals - and it turns out the forest creatures just want to help in the battle. Okay then.

In the big concluding fight, the rebels storm Bright Moon Castle, contending with destructo tanks, batmeks, Hordesmen armed with stunner beams, and a very ornery Hordak and Shadow Weaver (the other Horde captains having inconveniently all decided to take a personal day that day - that's the last time we let Grizzlor manage the work schedules!). It takes the help of He-Man, She-Ra, the Twiggets, Bow, Glimmer, Angella, the animals, and the rebel army (it's possible that Madame Razz helped a little but I saw no evidence of it) to make it past the weapons of the Horde and into the castle. At the battle's lowest moment, She-Ra's trusty steed Swift Wind is struck by the bolt of an eagle-eyed Horde gunner, and seems about to die; but She-Ra discovers another new power - that of healing - as at her touch, the horse is restored to full life.

Once the rebels have broken inside the castle, a foiled Hordak cries that they have simply won a battle, not the war, then changes to his rocket form and zooms away, leaving a frightened Shadow Weaver to find her own magical method of escape. Bright Moon has been retaken! The rebels begin a celebration, the details of which few of them will likely remember come the morning; but a more somber She-Ra watches the party from a distance, her brother at her side. He-Man realizes she has no intention of returning to Eternia, and She-Ra agrees: what Hordak said was true. There is a long, two-season fight left to fight here on Etheria, and she has to stay and see it to the end. Promising to aid each other whenever they are called for, the siblings bid a fond farewell, and She-Ra flies off into the sky, confident that her associated toys are about to fly off the shelves.

• Teela: Where's Princess Adora? / She-Ra: Uh... she's, uh... / He-Man: Oh she's safe. / She-Ra: Right! Right. Safe.
• Skeletor: A female He-Man? Oh, oh! This is the worst day of my life! / Teela and Man-at-Arms: (Laugh)
• Adora: Oh, Mother; I know how hard this is for you and Father. But now that I know of you, I can come back when my world is free. / Randor: And how long will that take? How many more years will we be without our daughter? / Adora: I don't know, Father. But if it was Eternia under the boot of the Horde, could you leave the fight before it was over? / Randor (embracing her): I wish you could stay - but I understand. And I'm very, very proud of you.
• Hordak: No! It's not true! (zaps control console) The Horde cannot be beaten like this! / He-Man: That's where you're mistaken, Jarhead.
• She-Ra (after Hordak and Shadow Weaver have run away): They'll be back. And I'll be waiting.
• He-Man: You are not returning to Eternia with me, are you? / She-Ra: I can't. Hordak was right: One battle doesn't win a war. And it's a war Etheria's fighting. I'm needed here, He-Man; at least for now.
• He-Man (holding up his sword): Farewell She-Ra, Princess of Power! / She-Ra: Farewell He-Man, dear brother!

• He-Man jumps on the back of Battle Cat: Just after his transformation; and again, part of the animation is used as he prepares to smash some robots
• He-Man punches the viewer: To take out a Horde tank
• He-Man smiles close-up, looking at the viewer: In his final conversation with She-Ra

One partial, one full
The partial transformation, only missing the Spirit/Swift Wind sequence, occurs as Adora tries to break out of Snake Mountain. Later, Adora makes her first full, standard transformation before the episode's big ending battle, though it's still a unique one as it has been inter-cut with Adam's He-Man transformation - and it still has the no-Jawbridge variation in the background painting.

N/A
In the first five episodes comprising the Secret of the Sword movie, Loo-Kee does not appear.

N/A
There are no PSA segments for the first five episodes.

MOTU crossover
Landmark Episode

• This is an abbreviated entry since the beginning of the series was already featured as part of the movie, Secret of the Sword. For a full analysis of the first five episodes of She-Ra, see my entry for the movie. What I will mainly be focusing on here will be the differences between this episode and the corresponding section of the movie ("Act V"), and connections to later episodes of the series.
• The standard episode opening is followed by a narrator-led recap of the previous story, just as happened at the beginning of 67004. Understandably, the recap entirely omits the Talon Mountain part of the episode.
• This version of the story has a new scene right at the beginning. In the movie, the royal palace sequence began directly with Skeletor's minions infiltrating the palace. Here, we get more of the royal family's meal, with Adora relating some goofy hijinks of Madame Razz. It's a little odd that Adora should be able to tell this story, since she literally just joined up with the rebels and Razz in the previous episode!
• The new scene also has our characters baldly stating the similarities between Madame Razz and Orko. Adora asks who Orko is, and Adam describes the little wizard, informing her that he's currently off visiting his uncle in Trolla - information we didn't have in the movie. This helps explain the court magician's complete absence from these adventures (though I like to think it was really down to a certain Trollan-hating writer whose name begins with an "L" and ends in "arry"). Hungry for more Orko? You will find him finally appearing in this series in a bookended cameo for 67029's "The Price of Freedom."
• Just as in 67002 with the background paintings for the interiors of the Beast Island prison, some backgrounds within Snake Mountain have been darkened compared to how they looked in the movie, presumably to make Skeletor's dungeons danker - or, possibly, just because the animation cels were exposed differently for the episode.
• As with previous episodes, the backing soundtrack varies in certain scenes from the music used in the movie.
• During She-Ra's battle with Skeletor and his minions, she gets in an extra line, telling Trap Jaw and Tri-Klops: "All right, that's it; no one around here knows how to treat a lady."
• A few seconds after this added line, there's an additional exchange between the reunited heroes, where they decide it's time to leave and Teela clearly gets a little miffed that she spent time and energy coming all the way to Snake Mountain for no good reason. This segues nicely into Skeletor's upset reaction (seen in the movie) about the horrors of a "female He-Man."
• If you're worried that this is the last time you're going to see Skeletor, don't fret; there are plenty of MOTU crossover episodes to come, and Skeletor will feature in more than one of them. He will next appear (based on my DVD set sequencing) in the landmark 67035's "Gateway to Trouble."
• After the heroes return to the palace and Adora is speaking with her parents, there is more added dialogue, as the princess discusses with her father the part Hordak and the Evil Horde played in her kidnapping, and expresses her concern that the royal couple could become pawns in the Horde's machinations. Marlena then adds her own stone-cold offer: "We're not afraid of the Horde, and we'll protect you."
• And yet more added dialogue: before departing Eternia, Adora is given the chance to convey some heartfelt thanks to the Sorceress: "You've given me the happiest moments I've ever had in my life, and a destiny worth fulfilling. I'll always be grateful for that." Our bird-headed lady has to wipe away a little tear after that speech!
• Hordak transformations: To escape the invading rebels, our villain changes to his rocket form to bust out of Bright Moon Castle (in the process ditching his witch).
• The battle for Bright Moon proceeds exactly as it did in the movie; but in the subsequent scene, as the rebels celebrate in the retaken castle, we get another added exchange. Angella and Glimmer agree that they owe their victory to He-Man and She-Ra, and then wonder where the heroic pair have gotten to, thus forming a perfect segue to the ending conversation between the super-powered twins.
• He-Man and She-Ra's final conversation brings us our last added bit of dialogue. He-Man points out the strange quirks of fate that left him as the protector of Eternia and have now made his sister the protector of Etheria, and posits that it was all "meant to happen like this." She-Ra agrees but wishes it did not require her separation from her family.
• This is the concluding section of She-Ra's introductory story, as shown in the movie. As such, and unlike the preceding episodes, it does not end with a "to be continued" message, or provide any previews of upcoming stories. After the episode ending we simply cut to the credits, which roll over the Crystal Castle background and are accompanied by the typical excerpt from the movie theme song. This, with very very few variations (see 67021), will be the way every subsequent episode of the series ends.

• Animation error? This one is so brief that I missed it when I was analyzing the movie. When Trap Jaw and Tri-Klops catch up with She-Ra, Tri-Klops speaks a line of dialogue. As he's doing so, his front-facing eye quickly jumps between its different shapes - square to triangle to circle - in abrupt succession, with no obvious rotation of his head piece. Possibly to cover what really seems to be an error, the Filmation audio people add in a tiny sound effect during the switch.
• In her added dialogue with her parents, Adora notes that part of what's convincing her to return to Etheria and sort out the Hordak problem is the continuing threat he poses to the Eternian king and queen. Interestingly, this emphasizes just how pointless it is for her to keep concealing her other identity. As I've argued for the same reasons with the Prince Adam/He-Man secret (see for instance my entry for MU003), the usual reason for keeping your superhero secret identity is to protect your loved ones, who would be in danger if their connection to you were known. But clearly, and as Adora states, Randor and Marlena are already targets!
• Even keeping those arguments in mind, however, the farewell scene between Adora and her parents is very well written and quite moving - Mr. DiTillio at his character-developing and realistically emotional best.
• As I observed in Act III of the SOTS movie, for all its attempts at putting women at the forefront, the series strikes a bum note by filling out the generic rebellion population entirely with male characters - a situation made particularly plain during the final battle. Our writer's observations on gender equality don't seem to have gotten much further than the mirror-universe situation depicted in MU039's "Trouble in Arcadia," where the ruling class of women bossed around the blue-collar men.
• I didn't note this in my analysis for the movie, but it occurred to me on this viewing that the titular battle for Bright Moon bears no little resemblance to the battle on the moon of Endor at the end of 1983's Return of the Jedi. Consider the similarity between the little Twiggets using pepper-filled arrows and forest animal friends to fight Hordesmen, and the Ewoks using low-tech weaponry and fallen trees to take down Imperial Stormtroopers. (We'll see more of this Twigget/Ewok connection when Bow visits a Twigget village in 67028's "Bow's Farewell.")
• Up until this point, my episode analyses have consisted mainly of comparisons to the SOTS movie, so in a way I don't feel like I've really started watching the She-Ra series yet. That will only truly begin with the next episode, where I feel I'll be blazing a whole new trail, as I remember very little of this series from when I watched it in my childhood. Exciting new adventures await, fellow travellers!