J. Michael Straczynski

Ed Friedman

Adam and Adora's grandfather, King Miro, returns in this special crossover episode, featuring both He-Man and She-Ra! All three family members must band together to save Etheria from the wicked plans of a Horde inspector.

Prince Adam (He-Man), Princess Adora (She-Ra), Madame Razz, Broom, Spirit (Swift Wind)

Horde Prime (mentioned only), Hordak, Mantenna, Shadow Weaver

various Eternians (including Tour Guide, young boy), King Miro, bird, Horde soldiers, Twiggets (including Spritina, Sprag, Sprocker), Horde Inspector Darkney, attack bots

Horde Inspector's ship, tank

Today's story begins not on Etheria, but Eternia - and in capital city Eternos's Hall of Kings! There, a royal tour guide is busily lecturing visitors on the rich history of Eternia's royal family - including one King Miro, the father of current King Randor. As the guide explains, Miro was out of the picture for a long time, having been kidnapped by the evil Enchantress; but just recently (see MU098's "Search for the Past"), Randor and Man-at-Arms had busted Miro out with the assistance of He-Man. Now, the former king is off wandering the kingdom, getting to know its people and places again. A robed stranger interrupts the guide's lecture to criticize the failings of old King Miro; when a listening young boy, offended at this unpatriotic talk, asks the stranger who he thinks he is, the man removes his hat and cloak to reveal... King Miro! The roaming royal has returned to the roost and wants to speak to Prince Adam.

The old king and royal heir greet each other warmly in the palace's courtyard, and Miro asks his grandson if the rumors are really true: is his long-lost granddaughter, Princess Adora, back? Adam confirms the stories, but explains that Adora is currently far away, in another dimension. Grandpa is not going to let such a thing stop him from seeing his little girl, however, so Adam agrees to take the fellow to see the Sorceress, who can help them hop a portal to Etheria. Don't you just wonder what Adora is doing right now? Well, thanks to the magic of scene transitions, you're about to find out! The Eternian princess is in the Whispering Woods with Madame Razz, Broom, and a little bird. Transforming into She-Ra, our heroine telepathically questions the bird, using an empty Hordesman's helmet as a memory refresher. Turns out the bird saw a Horde soldier and Hordak, in the process overhearing news of the imminent arrival of a Horde inspector, sent directly from Horde Prime. The rebels would certainly like to hear what this inspector has to say.

Meanwhile, the royal visitors from Eternia have popped out of their portal and into Etheria just within Darkside Forest, and very unluckily run into a squadron of Horde soldiers. The cruel bullies try to make Adam and his grandfather dance to the tune of some laser bolts, but the duo aren't interested; Miro showers the troops with water by the use of a well-thrown rock. The pair make a run for it before the soldiers can recover, but the squadron's leader sends a couple of troops to follow after the rebellious strangers and see where they go.

Where they go is, of course, Whispering Woods, and Adam is at last able to introduce Adora to her grandfather. Their meeting is heartfelt but brief, since the rebels are in the middle of planning to interfere with the Horde inspector's plans. The inspector, as Razz has informed them, has just arrived on the planet. He is one Inspector Darkney, and he brings with him a message of displeasure from Horde Prime, who really thinks Hordak should have taken care of that whole "Great Rebellion" thing by now. Hordak despises the inspector and is enraged by the whole situation, but manages not to express it directly to the Horde official (instead letting off steam by abusing poor Mantenna). Hordak even gives Darkney a tour of the Fright Zone, showing the be-monocled fellow the Slime Room and all its most loathsome monsters - potential weapons against the Horde's enemies. But Darkney is not particularly impressed and wants to push his own plan for dealing with the rebels. It involves using a generator to create a huge impenetrable dome over the entire Whispering Woods, thus locking the rebels inside and neutralizing their threat.

The next morning, those very same rebels, all unaware of the plot against them, are preparing to intercept the inspector at Crystal Mountain (where they seem to think he'll be); but they discover that Darkney has already showed up right outside their forest, and with some heavy machinery. The good guys' numbers are small, since all the rest of the rebellion is off at Devlan for some reason; so it's just Adora, Razz and Broom, and the Eternian visitors left to defend the woods. (The Twiggets are around, but they're busy acting as lookouts and confusing the two Horde soldiers who followed Adam and Miro into the forest.) The heroes decide to split up, in a configuration that makes it very easy for Adam and Adora to transform into their super-powered alter egos without their grandfather seeing.

Darkney and Hordak start up the generator and turn on the enclosing dome: our heroes are trapped! In the exciting battle which ensues, Razz and Miro must figure out how to fight off some little flying Horde attack bots by using tiny mirrors which Razz inexpertly conjures. On the other side of the forest, He-Man and She-Ra join forces. Our blonde beefcake swats the ground with his power sword to weaken the base of the dome, so She-Ra and Swift Wind can lift the whole gigantic thing off into the sky. He-Man is then free to step over and smash the shield generator to little bits. No more domes for you! Inspector Darkney decides it's time to regroup back at the Fright Zone, and Hordak turns to his rocket form to fly off and join the other. (The poor lost Horde soldiers end the episode still trapped in the Whispering Woods, after a brief but elusive taste of freedom.)

With the day saved, and the royal twins back to themselves, Miro decides he doesn't want to overstay his welcome, and bids his granddaughter a tender farewell. Adam and Miro go back through their portal, and a glowing Adora, her heart full, gallops Spirit off through the woods.

• King Miro: It's true then, Adam? You really found my granddaughter? / Prince Adam: Yes, Sire; but Adora is still a long way away, on another world, called Etheria. ... / King Miro: It's been so long since I've seen Adora. Why, she was just a baby.
• Madame Razz: Oh deary my, I can't see anything with this helmet on. / Broom: Hm. In that case, maybe you should wear it when we're flying. It might help with our landings. / Madame Razz: You know what would help our landings even more? / Broom: What? / Razz: A new broom!
• Mantenna: But Hordak - that's the third viewscreen you've blasted this month!
• Mantenna: You know, at Horde Academy they told us you should laugh at trouble. All the best - I mean the worst - evil villains are always laughing. (Tries out a villain laugh)
• Princess Adora: My... grandfather? / King Miro: I've dreamed of this moment for years. There is so much I want to tell you. / Adora: And there're so many things I want to ask.
• Inspector Darkney: I bring a message from Horde Prime. The rebel forces on Etheria have become a problem. They are to be taken care of once and for all - immediately!
• King Miro: The fight of my children must always be my fight.
• King Miro: Adora, these have been the most exciting days I've ever had. And though I must now return to Eternia, I want you to know that I will return. When the day of your great battle with Hordak comes, call for me. I wish to stand beside my granddaughter on that proud day.
• Spirit: Would you not rather fly? / Adora: Not today, dear Spirit. I'm afraid we'd run into my heart. / Spirit: Ah, so your heart flies. / Adora: It's soaring, Spirit; soaring!

N/A

One partial (missing Spirit/Swift Wind sequence), one full/combined
The second transformation is a full one but is also interweaved with Adam's transformation into He-Man, similar to what we saw in 67005 - though not identical, since our blonde beefcake is tigerless.

2:36 - Loo-Kee shows up early this episode, hiding among the branches of a tree on the far left of the screen, in the royal courtyard at Eternos. ... What the hell are you doing in Eternia, Loo-Kee?!
Did I spot him? YES!

Loo-Kee tells us that today's story was about family - "people working together as a team" - regardless of the fact that Miro didn't actually work together with his grandchildren, because they were busy in another part of the forest hiding their secret identities from him. Loo-Kee tells the viewers that their family is "the most important team in your life." So make your dang beds, kids!

MOTU crossover
Landmark Episode

• He-Man scholars will be able to tell right away that this episode is going to be special - because they'll remember that the "King Miro" of the title is Adam and Adora's grandfather, introduced in MOTU episode "Search for the Past" (MU098). They may also remember the name of the writer, J. Michael Straczynski. He's a rather famous fellow in his own right, but in the Filmation world he can be credited with the scripts for 9 episodes of MOTU, and he co-created the She-Ra character and universe along with Larry DiTillio.
• You'd think getting to see King Miro would be exciting enough for one episode; but as an amazing added bonus, we begin today's story in Eternos's Hall of Kings! This hall was introduced back in MU097's "The Time Wheel," when the Eternian royal family all recalled having seen the ancient King Tamusk's statue there. In this episode it seems that all the statues have been moved to the back room for cleaning, since the only exhibits on display are painted portraits.
• Thanks to the Royal Tour Guide (at least that's what I'm calling him), we get to hear the names of many other previous rulers of Eternia: "King Eldon the Wise, King Volnar the Bold, King Freenorn the Strong." The guide also conveniently gives a curious young boy a quick plot summary of MU098, Miro's episode.
• Once he removes his disguise and reveals himself, King Miro (we find) is dressed identically to the way he was in MU098. He ended that episode by telling his family, with whom he had just been reunited, that he intended to ditch them in favor of wandering Eternia and seeing what he'd missed during his lengthy imprisonment by the evil Enchantress. Apparently one thing he didn't do during this peripatetic existence was consider any new fashion statements.
• As I noted in the "Where's Loo-Kee?" section, we discover that our elusive little friend can apparently transport himself at will between the two different dimensions that contain Etheria and Eternia. This suggests that he is a more powerful being than we might have thought! After all, most people have to consult the Sorceress to be able to make the journey between the two worlds. I know Loo-Kee is going to get a chance to star in his own episode of the series eventually, and we'll even meet his family; so perhaps then we'll get some more insight into the abilities of this interdimensional entity and his kind. (When we do finally get to Loo-Kee's episode, 67055's "Loo-Kee Lends a Hand," we'll find his transportation abilities and his knowledge of our characters' secrets disappointingly lacking, seemingly in contradiction of evidence such as that shown here. And we'll have to wait until 67071's "Loo-Kee's Sweety" before we meet any other members of Loo-Kee's clan.)
• In 67004, when the Sorceress was telling Adam and Adora the story of their birth and infancy, she listed out the only people who still had any memory of Adora's existence: Randor, Marlena, Man-at-Arms, and herself. Note that King Miro was not on the list! Nevertheless, he arrives at Eternos apparently fully briefed on and cognizant of the existence of his granddaughter, so we have to assume that the Sorceress just failed to mention him among her non-amnesiacs. (Actually she failed to mention him at all, which raises some chronological problems; keep reading for more on that.)
• Adora has been constantly reminding us in the beginning of every episode since 67004 that there are several people who know her secret, among whom are "Madame Razz and Kowl." But up until this episode, there's been no proof of this claim. In this story, we finally get to see Adora prove herself right by making her transformation into She-Ra right in front of Madame Razz - and Broom.
• She-Ra again communicates with an animal in this episode, something we first learned she could do in 67005. In that story She-Ra described her power as more empathic than actually telepathic - a sensing of feelings rather than a full-on mental dialogue. This carried through into 67007, where she sensed the fear of the human pirate, Swen. In 67011, She-Ra seemed to be able to give precise battle plans to a pair of net-carrying eagles. In this episode, she does in fact carry on a full-on mental dialogue with an orange-and-red bird. Perhaps she's getting better at animal chatting as time goes on?
• Horde Prime, mentioned for the first time in 67011's "The Peril of Whispering Woods," is on everyone's lips again in this episode. It seems he even has inspectors sent out to his many occupied worlds - or at least to the ones that are proving difficult to govern, as in the case of Etheria.
• Mantenna makes a passing comment which informs us there is a "Horde Academy" where - we assume - the non-robotic soldiers of the Horde are trained.
• Hordak again shows the great happiness he gleans from dropping people down trapdoors. He did it to Sorrowful in 67012 and he did it to one of his soldiers - one that brought him good news - in 67010. Here, he does it to Mantenna - twice.
• Hordak transformations: Our evil friend shows off his transforming powers a few times in this episode, changing both his left and right arms into cannons on different occasions, and changing his body into a rocket at the story's conclusion.
• J. Michael is just clogging up my lore section with this episode. Hordak, in giving a tour of the Fright Zone to the Horde Inspector, shows off his "Slime Room," which contains a long list of creatures we've never heard of before: "bog waddlers, slime scrapers, swamp crawlers, howlers, creepers, and screamers." There're also some genetically created critters, like the "disgusting" one that bears an amusing resemblance to Hordak. We see a few monsters, but it's hard to tell which of the many names Hordak lists go with which creature.
• The Horde inspector, Darkney, looks like an old-school Prussian general from the early 20th century, with an uptight bearing, a spiked helmet, and a monocle.
• "I just wish the others were here," Broom comments during the rebels' planning meeting. By "others," he apparently means every single other rebel in Etheria - they all seem to be gone. There are a few Twiggets, Razz and Broom, and Adora - that's it. Adora doesn't even count the Twiggets among their numbers. Everyone else - Bow, Kowl, Glimmer, the anonymous collection of peasant-looking people who sometimes get animated into crowd scenes in the Whispering Woods - are "on a mission to Devlan," as Adora notes (Devlan being the site of 67006's "Duel at Devlan").
• I was worried that Mr. Straczynski was going back on some of the rules of the Whispering Woods established in 67011, when he has the pair of Horde soldiers just walk into the forest. In 67011, the woods fought back against any Horde attempt to penetrate them. But it turns out that the trees are still enchanted, and rather cruelly trap the Hordesmen inside by moving around and getting them lost. In fact, the episode ends with the pair still lost in the woods - if they're not robots, then they're going to need to draw straws soon to see which of them gets eaten by the other! (I assume all the edible berries in the woods are also moving themselves out of reach of the Hordesmen.)
• We hear the location of the "Crystal Mountain" mentioned as an Etherian landmark where the rebels plan to intercept the inspector - which is quite a coincidence because there's one in Eternia, as well! Teela mentioned a Crystal Mountain in MU058's "The Once and Future Duke." He-Man also had to venture to the Crystal Mountains to find MU064's "Remedy."
• Spirit makes a late appearance in the episode, probably in order to lend She-Ra the air power that makes her so versatile. He's also integral to the moving final scene.
• This episode affords us a brief glimpse of yet another style of Horde tank, in the scene where Hordak and the inspector are setting up their force field thingie. In the background is a very generic, all-gray model with a long barrel on its central gun and what looks to be a closed maw of pointy teeth just beneath it. It's not the vulture-faced "destructo" or the Hordak-faced Horde tank we've come to recognize.
• When Miro introduces himself to Hordak and Inspector Darkney, Hordak sniffs, "Impossible! I knew of only one King Miro, and he was trouble." This calls to mind a necessary chronological fact that I hadn't really considered before: namely that, in order for Miro to have been in the picture long enough to know Adam and for Adam to remember him, he must have been around when Adora and Adam were babies. Therefore, it seems that Miro must have been the reigning king during the war with the Horde, unless he had for some reason already ceded his power to his heir, Randor - an unlikely thing for a king to do. This state of things seems to be at odds with the Sorceress's backstory in 67004, where Randor was ostensibly the ruler of Eternia and Miro did not get mentioned. On the other hand, Hordak does not seem to recognize the elderly Miro on sight, and knows him only by reptuation - so I guess it's possible that "Prince" Randor was out in front commanding the armies of Eternia during the Horde War, while Miro administrated in the background?
• The Horde make use of some "attack bots," bat-like robots with laser eyes, which haven't shown up before now. These fellows will appear again under the name "capture bots" in 67036's "The Unicorn King."
• Broom uses the classic Eternian expression "by the Ancients" - which just sounds weird coming out of his mouth. Do Eternia and Etheria share both landmark names (like the Crystal Mountain) and a collection of idioms? His choice of expression will prove even odder when Etheria is shown to have its own team of ancient wise guys, the "First Ones," who will first be mentioned in 67021.
• Believe it or not, Horde Inspector Darkney will return! We'll see him again in the much later - and wonderfully entertaining - 67087's "The Inspector."

• I love the added touch that the mysterious figure who turns out to be King Miro is first seen standing in front of his own royal portrait. There does seem to be a bit of a continuity error involved with it, however, since the portrait of Miro that the boy points to, though identical to the one Miro is standing in front of, seems to be hung in a different part of the room.
• It's interesting that Miro takes some time to bad-mouth himself for having managed to get captured by the Enchantress. Clearly he's the kind of ruler who prefers people who don't get captured. It is nice that he's not so big-headed that he overlooks his own flaws. What bothered me about Miro's character in MU098 was his so fervently professing his love for his family while simultaneously choosing to abandon them, even though he'd hardly had time to get to know them again after what must have been about ten years' enforced estrangement.
• It would have been nice to get to see the Sorceress again. Clearly that's who Adam and Miro visit in order to catch their portal to Etheria; but she doesn't appear in today's episode. I miss you, sweet, helpless bird lady! (If you miss the Sorceress too, you can hop on over to 67035, where she makes her next sequential appearance.)
• I was glad that this episode finally gave us confirmation of Adora's claims from the episode opener about who knows her secret identity; but the confirmation, when it arrives, is more than a little underwhelming. What I was hoping to see was the actual moment that Adora revealed her secret - perhaps by mistake, with Razz walking in on her or crashing into her mid-transformation. It's disappointing to find that that dramatic moment must have already happened at some point between episodes.
• Mr. Straczynski is working with several past MOTU concepts which, oddly enough, come from scripts he did not contribute to. MU097's "The Time Wheel," which mentioned the Hall of Kings, and MU098's "Search for the Past," which gave us King Miro, were both co-written by She-Ra co-creator Larry DiTillio, not Straczynski. Still, he handles the borrowed ideas well here, giving us an important and very entertaining episode in classic Straczynski style.
• And of course, it's lovely to see our muscular friend He-Man again after all this time! I love these crossover episodes and hope there are more to come.
• Another entry in the continuing confusing muddle of whether the Horde soldiers are men or robots. In previous episodes they have clearly been robots - just the last one, 67012, being an excellent example of this. If today's soldiers are robots, they are surely very emotional ones. The group that Adam and Miro meet laugh uproariously, and get annoyed when Miro's well-thrown stone leaves them doused in water. (They don't short-circuit either, as you might expect wet cartoon robots to do. In contrast, check out 67026's "Book Burning," or 67069's "A Lesson in Love," in which a splash of water proves very detrimental to the Hordesmen.) The pair of soldiers who wind up lost in the Whispering Woods are clearly very upset by it - another very human reaction.
• I love the backstory of Hordak having developed a habit of smashing his viewscreens, a classic villain trait - about as classic as dropping one's minions down trapdoors.
• Animation error/continuity error: Just before Mantenna goes down the trapdoor for the first time, Hordak suggests that he move a little to his left. In the following shot, Mantenna instead moves to his right (our left) - which proves to be the correct direction. So someone doesn't know their left from right - either the animators, Hordak, Mantenna, or some combination of the three.
• Nice to see that, even with the big-brained He-Man here to help her, it's She-Ra who comes up with the plan to save the Whispering Woods. But I also find myself really wondering exactly how that plan worked out. We see She-Ra flying off with the lifted crystal dome, but we don't ever see what becomes of her. We have to hope that when He-Man smashes the generator, the dome evaporates; otherwise, it's very hard to see how our heroine could have ever gotten herself out from under the thing!
• Adora promises to send for Miro on the day that she's going to fight her final battle against Hordak. It's hard to see how they'd meet each other, since presumably she would need to turn into She-Ra for that event. Is she planning on revealing her secret to him?
• Adora's concluding and very emotional exchange with Spirit, where she admits that her heart is "soaring" high in the sky after her affecting farewell with her grandfather, is the kind of mature (though sappy) language we would never have heard at the end of a He-Man episode! At most, if it had happened in MOTU, Adora would have turned to the camera and revealed a single sparkling tear running down her cheek.
• I'm curious to see how Horde Prime's wishes are felt in succeeding episodes. In this story, he seems urgently desirous that Etheria and its rebels be conquered - but quick. Obviously this episode ends with his wishes very much left unfulfilled. Will he press the issue? Is Hordak in big trouble? Let's find out! (Spoiler alert: it seems old Primey was distracted by some other issues in his vast empire, since we don't hear from him again for a while; see 67027. As hinted in the lore, we'll also find Darkney being re-sent to Etheria for almost the same unresolved purpose in 67087.)