Story - Michael Chase Walker & Teleplay - Larry DiTillio

Bill Reed

She-Ra investigates tales of a "monster" harassing some superstitious sea elves, and instead stumbles upon the pirate Sea Hawk, a mercenary hired by the Horde to steal supplies. Can rebel leader Adora convince this handsome scoundrel to change his traitorous ways - or will it take a lovelier, higher-kicking alter ego to seal the deal?

Princess Adora (She-Ra), Spirit (Swift Wind)

Captain Sea Hawk, Catra, Grizzlor, Hordak, Shadow Weaver

sea elves (including Mayor Guppy), pirates (including Swen), sea fairy, Horde soldiers

sailboat, Solar Sailor, Air Cruiser Number 1 (Horde blimp)

Ah, smell that sea air! She-Ra just loves it, especially from high in the sky on the back of her beloved Swift Wind. But what's this? Cries for help from voices raised in terror? They're coming from a sailing ship going down with all hands in the middle of the sea! She-Ra arrives to lift the sinking vessel and pour out some water. It's crewed by some little sea elves who are out far past their usual fishing grounds, and have gotten their hull stoved in by a razorfin. Our heroine swims the ship and its grateful crew back to safe harbor in the sea elves' coastal town of Seaworthy. There, she learns that the diminutive sailors have changed their habits because of a mysterious "monster" they've spotted flying - and swimming - by their more typical haunts. Promising to investigate the elves' vague and conflicting claims, She-Ra flies off into the darkening skies.

It doesn't take her long to spot what seems to be the source of the rumors: a sailing vessel with the face of a hawk carved into its bow, moored in a nearby cove. She-Ra lands to investigate and finds the ship's crew pilfering a sea elf storehouse - they're pirates! Using her empathic powers, She-Ra detects that one of the shorter members of the pirate band is sad, and decides that this piratic problem might best be solved by the less-imposing Adora. As soon as she's transformed, however, the princess is grabbed from behind!

Adora's captor proves to be the pirate captain, Sea Hawk, who is in the process of nabbing supplies to sell to the Horde, and doesn't believe the princess's claims that she has just gotten lost looking for Seaworthy. But the sad sailor she spotted earlier, Swen, butts in to offer her a ride to the town, and after some convincing the Hawk grudgingly agrees to take her on board their ship the Solar Sailor, dropping her only after they've made their delivery at Horde Harbor. As soon as the pair are alone, Swen lets Adora know that he's recognized her as a big-wig in the Great Rebellion, and requests that she try to win his captain over to the good side. Though at the moment he figures Sea Hawk would immediately turn Adora over to the Horde if he recognized her, Swen feels certain that he's a good man at heart and, with a little nudging, will change his mercenary ways.

Aboard ship, Adora makes a first attempt at fulfilling Swen's request. She takes a strong initial stance by accusing Sea Hawk of being a traitor for working with the Horde. When the Hawk argues that he isn't taking sides and has his freedom, Adora retorts that the Horde could take his freedom any moment they choose - using a nearby sea fairy as a visual aid for her lecture. Sea Hawk grumbles, but eventually agrees to think on what she's said. The ship makes port and the captain meets with his business associates: Catra and Grizzlor, who are accompanied by a small troop of robotic Horde soldiers. As the soldiers are off-loading the pirates' booty, they spot Adora, and a melee ensues. Swen tries to protect his rebel friend but gets zapped unconscious in the process. Adora finds herself surrounded by troopers on the ship's main deck. Sea Hawk, completely ignorant of the rebel fugitive he was carrying, at first resists the threatened seizure of his ship, but ends up grabbed by Grizzlor. Catra compels him to order his men to take Adora prisoner.

Ashamed at his betrayal of the idealistic young lady but seeing himself as having no choice in the matter (since Catra has threatened his ship and crew), Sea Hawk does not protest as the prisoner is walked off his ship. With a final warning that the pirate captain watch his ass, Catra departs, and the Solar Sailor sets sail. A torn Sea Hawk somberly ruminates on the quarterdeck. A defiant Swen, manning the helm of the vessel, argues that by giving up Adora the pirates may have kept their freedom, but they have lost their pride. Swen's words hit home, as do the remembered words of Adora. Finally swayed into action, Hawk orders his man to turn the ship around and set it aloft. The Solar Sailor spreads its solar sails and soars into the sky (try saying that five times fast), on a course to intercept Catra and her prisoner.

Catra, all unaware of any danger, is happily counting her chickens. She calls up her boss Hordak and lets him know that she has captured his number one fugitive, and expects a big reward in return - which she fully plans to cut Grizzlor out of, even though they had a standing agreement to split the bounty. Even as she's discussing this with the furry oaf, her air cruiser shudders under the impact of the pirate vessel, which has sneaked up from above and behind. Sea Hawk boards the Horde craft, and after fighting his way through Grizzlor and a few Hordesmen, locates Adora's cell and breaks her out, handing her back her sword. Just as Adora is warning him to watch out for Catra, the feline felon appears. To protect his rescuee, Sea Hawk stuffs the princess into a closet and tries to take on Catra alone; but after Catra destroys his expensive laser cutlass and puts on her cat goggles, the pirate decides to make a run for it.

Away from prying eyes in the convenient closet, Adora decides it's the perfect time for She-Ra to make a return. Her heroic alter ego busts out of the room and quickly takes care of Catra, then saves Sea Hawk from a falling length of piping. The starry-eyed pirate is thrilled to meet this ravishing rebel female, and happy to agree to her request that he join the Great Rebellion. She soon makes her farewells, however, suggesting that Hawk meet Adora on the air cruiser's bridge so they can return the defeated pair of Horde members to Hordak. Together, that's just what the princess and the pirate do, with Adora making a taunting video call to her archenemy to let him know his failed minions will be delivered soon. Sea Hawk wistfully looks forward to meeting She-Ra again, and Adora cheekily predicts this will mark "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

• Captain Sea Hawk (to Adora): You look too smart to be lost and too beautiful to be an elf. / Princess Adora: I'm also too big!
• Princess Adora: No one on this planet will truly be free - including you - until the day that Hordak and his evil empire leave this planet forever. / Sea Hawk: You speak bold words, woman. I will think on what you say.
• Sea Hawk: I'm sorry Catra, I was - thinking about that little sea fairy.
• Sea Hawk: I had no choice, Swen. The Horde would have arrested us all. At least this way we still have our freedom. / Swen: Yes, captain, we still have our freedom; b-but captain: we've lost all our pride.
• Hordak: That is our policy: rewards for success, punishment for failure. But do not fail, Catra!
• Sea Hawk: Broil me in butter and call me a flounder - that was a close one.
• She-Ra (to Hawk): I want you to stop helping the Horde and start helping the Rebellion. / Sea Hawk: Me? But I'm a pirate. / She-Ra: You're also clever, and not afraid of the Horde; and I suspect that in your heart, you'd rather fight for freedom than profit. ... / Sea Hawk: All right, She-Ra; from now on, Sea Hawk is with the Rebellion.
• Sea Hawk (of She-Ra): Hmm. Quite a lady.

• She-Ra spin kicks the viewer: To smack a falling pipe away from a dazed Sea Hawk

One (almost) reversed, one partial (missing Spirit/Swift Wind sequence)

2:22 - In the establishing shot of the town of Seaworthy, Loo-Kee can be seen at the very top of the screen, just a tad left of center, curled around a branch.
Did I spot him? No!

Loo-Kee optimistically extrapolates from Sea Hawk's conversion the lesson that "If you look for the good in people, you usually find it - and you might just find a new friend."

Sea Hawk episode
Changing hearts and minds
Love is in the air: Since POP addresses traditional romance much more directly than MOTU ever did, it's worth calling it out with a special category. Today's flirting between Sea Hawk and Adora/She-Ra certainly qualifies.
Landmark Episode: Since this one introduces us to the recurring character of Sea Hawk.

• Both writers credited on this episode are MOTU veterans. Michael Chase Walker brought us MU106's "The Bitter Rose;" and if you don't know who Larry DiTillio is by now, then you should go back and search him up!
• We learn of the existence of sea elves (small, pointy-eared fellows who apparently like to go sailing) and their town, named Seaworthy. The elves also mention a razorfin, a creature which He-Man met - at least in robotic form - in MU032's "Search for the VHO." It would be interesting to learn how the species managed to proliferate on both Eternia and Etheria!
• The sea elves seem more than a little reminiscent of MOTU's Widgets. She-Ra and Swift Wind treat the little people with the same patronizing condescension that He-Man and his friends reserved for Squinch and his pint-sized compatriots. It's a similar case of what should be a fully mature race of creatures being depicted as child-like, silly, and easily panicked.
• In SOTS - or 67005 - it seemed that She-Ra could communicate with animals. But the way she described it was that it was as though she could sense what they were feeling. In this episode, interestingly, her power is used to sense what a human pirate (Swen) is feeling. This sort of puts her powers in the same dubious category as those of Counselor Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation. (For a differing conception of She-Ra's communication skills, see 67013.)
• In a situation which may or may not prove unusual, the episode begins with She-Ra and Swift Wind already transformed. (This will happen next in 67010.) A few minutes in, we nearly witness She-Ra's transformation back into Adora - but as He-Man did back in MU105's "No Job Too Small," our heroine chooses to walk behind something before making the change. Note that it took MOTU 105 episodes to even consider showing us this reversed transformation, and POP only 7.
• This episode brings us the first appearance of Sea Hawk, the trouble-loving pirate who will prove a recurring character in the show. Watchers of the Netflix reboot series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power will remember his goofiness there ("Adventure!!"); but this version of Sea Hawk starts out as a mercenary working for the Horde. For this reason, in this episode only, I've listed him among the bad guys.
• Sea Hawk - and, for that matter, the sea elves - will return in the well-named "Return of the Sea Hawk" (67016).
• Though this episode eventually gives us a rather lengthy list of Horde members, the only rebels to be seen (at least until the Hawk's change of heart) are Adora and her beloved steed. We won't see such a low rebel count again until 67017.
• Sea Hawk catches Adora asking a question of Spirit and remarks, "So, our mysterious lady talks to horses, does she?" This seems to imply that most horses and animals on Etheria don't talk - which falls into line with the innkeeper's surprise at Adam's talking tiger in 67001. It also suggests that the fact Spirit can talk (as established in the previous episode, 67006) is unusual and would give the pair away as having secret abilities. Though Adam was definitely cavalier about his own secret identity, he never had to worry about his talking tiger giving anything away, as Cringer's powers of speech seemed to go unquestioned back on Eternia - so this looks to be an added source of stress for our rebel princess! (However, see 67011, which seems to contradict some of my assumptions here. In later episodes it seems as if Spirit being able to talk is no big deal.)
• "You can send your robots to collect them," Hawk says to Catra, unambiguously identifying the Horde soldiers as mechanical, not biological. Later we have confirmed visual evidence of the fact, as Sea Hawk smashes and slices some to bits. It will be interesting to see whether the idea of the soldiers as robots holds consistent for the rest of the series. There were suggestions in earlier episodes that there were live men under the armor - particularly scenes in 67001 and 67006 that showed them hanging out in taverns, presumably drinking and eating pie; and the scene in 67003 where He-Man steals the armor off one of the soldiers - would he be able to do that if it were a robot? Indeed, even later in this same story we find a row of Horde soldier helmets hanging on a row of hooks within the blimp - why would robots need a hat rack?
• Sea Hawk's pirate cutlass has the cool sci-fi feature of a retractable laser blade. Cough - light saber! - cough. We've seen MOTU making use of this Star Wars-ish weaponry as well, as far back as the pilot episode (MU004) - though I have to admit the Hawk's version is sweeter-looking than anything Duncan waved around.
• Speaking of cool sci-fi features, we discover in the latter half of the episode that the Solar Sailor - which until now seemed to be a mere wind-powered, seagoing vessel - actually has "solar sails" and can fly through the air! It's still hard to see how the sea elves could have mistaken the thing for a monster, though - perhaps they suffer from congenital near-sightedness.
• We find that Catra and her Horde compatriots are lumbering around the atmosphere in a massive blimp, which she identifies as "Air Cruiser Number 1." Its lack of maneuverability proves a huge disadvantage when the Solar Sailor swoops in from above and behind - you're not going to execute any Immelmann turns in that tub! (See MU085 for more on the Immelmann turn! And, for another Horde blimp, check out Hordak's sweet Doom Balloon in 67021's "The Stone in the Sword.")
• Note that unlike Skeletor, who has been very dilatory with searching his own prisoners on previous similar occasions (see for instance MU085 or MU111), the Horde actually disarm Adora. This leaves Sea Hawk to return the sword of protection to her, which he obtains... somehow.
• Though Sea Hawk is greatly swayed by the words of Adora, he appears greatly swayed by the looks of She-Ra, dubbing her "quite a lady." Later, he seems quite anxious to meet She-Ra again. We'll have to watch for this romantic angle in his subsequent appearances! (Indeed, see Sea Hawk's next appearance in 67016, which features a seemingly - and shockingly - very definitive settling of the romantic question.)
• Adora's final line of dialogue, "Something tells me this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" (topped off by a classic Filmation wink), is of course identical to Humphrey Bogart's iconic final line in Casablanca - a movie jam-packed with iconic lines of dialogue. There isn't just a similarity in words here, either; in the final scene of the movie, Bogie's Rick speaks this line to the Vichy collaborator Louis Renault, who has just shown himself to have solidly switched sides by saving Rick's butt. Sea Hawk has likewise just switched sides in Etheria's conflict after rescuing Adora, and can look forward to several more episodes assisting the rebels - and the beautiful She-Ra.
• Believe it or not, this last line will not be the only time that POP references Casablanca; see 67030.

• She-Ra/Adora seems to lead a remarkably carefree life for a rebel freedom fighter. Last episode, 67006, she had a casual sleepover with her friend, then began a lazy day with a hearty breakfast and a morning ride. In this episode, another ride on Swift Wind seems to have taken up most of her day, as we see sunset coming on in the wake of her rescue of the sea elves (and her subsequent search for their so-called "monster" takes place in the dark). She-Ra's fighting for the rebellion seems to come about more by accident and in reaction to problems she stumbles across than to any seeking out of trouble on her part. Shouldn't she be out there trying to blow up Horde rail lines or something? (Indeed, the reactive nature of She-Ra and the Great Rebellion in general will be a continuing theme in the series.)
• The sea elves' leader is one Mayor Guppy, which is just an awesome name. I'd vote for him!
• Did we all see just how close Adora came to exposing her secret identity in the opening minutes of the episode? Sea Hawk grabs the princess from behind mere seconds after she's done her reverse transformation. It just goes to show that you shouldn't try doing sneaky things in the bushes near a pirate raid - pirates are sneaky too.
• On the subject of Adora's change - she reverts from her She-Ra identity under the seeming hunch that she can do more good in her less powerful form. It's hard to understand what would make her think that. Perhaps, unlike her brother, the princess is trying not to rely too much on her super-powered self (He-Man is a crutch!). In the end - as with all such good-guy hunches - her instincts prove correct, since it's Adora's capture that proves the trigger for Sea Hawk's literal and figurative about-face.
• Swen's assessment of Sea Hawk seems convoluted and contradictory. He tells Adora that he didn't reveal her identity to the captain for fear the pirate would "turn you over to the Horde, first thing;" but a few seconds later Swen is strenuously arguing that the Hawk is "a good man" who can be convinced to join the rebellion.
• I was just talking about the sophistication of this show as compared to MOTU in the previous episode, 67006; and this episode exhibits that quality in spades. One impressive example is Hawk and Adora's use of the sea fairy as a simile for freedom. Hawk claims he's as free as the fairy, and Adora briefly traps the thing in her hands to show how easily the pirate's freedom could be taken by the Horde. Later, as he speaks with Catra, we see the captain distracted by the flitting fairy, clearly with his mind still turning on Adora's words. He gazes at the fairy again after having betrayed Adora to the Horde, suggestively telling Catra that he's "starting to understand a lot of things." Good stuff!
• Melendy Britt's voice work for Catra in this episode seems pushed to the extreme in terms of the amount of "rowr"-ing involved. Exhibit One would be Catra's radio call to Hordak: "Air Cruiser Number One - rowrrr - to Horde Headquarters. Come in - rrROOOWWWRrr!!! - Hordak! This is - RRRRRROOOOOOWWWWWWWWR!!!!!! - Catra!"
• Catra's insistence that Sea Hawk order his men to capture Adora is entirely unnecessary, since the rebel is already clearly surrounded by Horde soldiers on board the ship. She has nowhere to go and no choice but to surrender, with or without any commands from the Hawk. You can argue that by forcing the Pirate Captain to do as she says, Catra is punishing him, belittling him - and simultaneously making him betray his passenger.
• Catra describes Adora as "the most wanted fugitive on Etheria" and a "rebel leader." Yet based on the show's chronology, she has barely clocked any hours as a member of the rebellion, and Sea Hawk has never even heard of her. Did Adora waltz on into the Whispering Woods and just take over, even though a few days ago she was ordering around Horde generals? I call shenanigans! Perhaps the Great Rebellion has several "leaders," of which Adora is one; and perhaps Catra's labels are all being filtered through the mind of Hordak, who we've already seen is obsessed with his erstwhile force captain (see 67004 and 67005, where he evinces a complete lack of interest in the treasures of Eternia in favor of recapturing the princess). (Actually, though this story may be presenting a step in the evolution or change in rank of Adora's character, she will eventually be labeled definitively as the leader of the rebellion; see 67017's "A Loss for Words.")
• I like the way Adora takes being captured with unfazed equanimity, telling Swen that it's no biggie and reassuring an apologetic Sea Hawk that she's "sure you did as you thought best." She clearly sees the advantage in the situation, realizing that Hawk's guilt over it will prove a powerful motivator in his change of heart.
• Sea Hawk's chosen insulting name for Grizzlor is "Piggy," which seems like an odd choice when you consider that the hairy guy has almost no physical traits in common with an Earth pig. Maybe Etherian pigs have fur and fangs! His nickname for Catra, "Whiskers," is much more appropriate - though both are disappointingly out-of-form with the historic MOTU insult structure of "[noun] face."
• Animation error: When Catra first confronts Sea Hawk in the blimp, she comes off as particularly creepy because her eyes have been filled in completely in black - the classic Hollywood cue that someone is possessed by a demon.
• So the Rebellion captures two high-up Horde generals and a gigantic Horde air cruiser, and then they decide to... send them all back to Hordak?! What!?!?!? "Oh hey, we noticed you lost these - here you go." Adora has shown some impressive skills at changing people's minds, but if she ever wants to end this war she's going to have to learn to actually take out some bad guys. (Sadly, this practice of helpfully returning Horde members to their home will be an oft-repeated failing of rebellion members, particularly She-Ra; in fact, another example is coming in the very next episode, 67008.)
• Hordak's reaction to Adora's taunting telebeam message at the episode's conclusion is very interesting. Skeletor would typically rage and rail at He-Man for having his plot overturned in such a way; but Hordak bypasses any such posturing, and doesn't even bother to threaten Adora, instead focusing his remarks on the unfortunate Grizzlor and Catra. "I'll be waiting to get my hands on those two," he comments - and then laughs, seemingly in pure amusement. Perhaps he is enjoying this fencing match with his pupil and former favorite a bit more than we'd have expected...
• This story of a cynical and pragmatic pirate's conversion to idealistic rebel is told with graceful concision and a surprising dollop of emotional truth. As I say, the She-Ra plots have impressed me thus far with their maturity and refusal to dumb down or gloss over complicated human inter-relationships and moral gray areas. Brava!