Story - J. Michael Straczynski & Teleplay - Bob Forward

Marsh Lamore

When the cat's away, the mice will play! That is, when Horde Prime goes on vacation, Hordak will attempt to use his boss's warship to mount a conquest of both Etheria and Eternia. In response, everyone - She-Ra, He-Man, and Skeletor - will scramble to try and stop him.

Prince Adam (He-Man), Sorceress, Bow, Princess Adora (She-Ra), Spirit (Swift Wind), Kowl, Broom, Madame Razz, Glimmer, Orko (PSA only)

Horde Prime, Hordak, Mantenna, Skeletor, Multi-Bot

various rebels, Twiggets (Sprag, Spritina)

Velvet Glove, Horde flyers, Horde spacecraft, wagon

It may be true that crime doesn't take a holiday - but Horde Prime does! He's been waiting for this particular two-week vacation, to the planet Tropica, for several centuries, and he's finally all ready to depart. There's just one last detail to take care of: the supervision of the greatest ship in his armada, the Velvet Glove. It is for this purpose that Prime summons Hordak, extracting a promise from the Horde commander to watch the ship while he's gone - without touching or using it! - to ensure it stays undamaged. (Unlike the last ship Horde Prime loaned to Hordak - see 67048's "Birds of a Feather.") Hordak solemnly promises, but we all know he has no intention of keeping his word. Sure enough, as soon as Prime is away on his cruiser, Hordak is already confiding in Mantenna his ambitious plan to use the warship to take over not only Etheria, but Eternia as well!

Unluckily for Hordak, his boasts have not gone un-eavesdropped. The Sorceress herself has heard Hordak's plans, and is worried enough about them to summon Prince Adam to Castle Grayskull so she can play back a recording of today's opening scene. She knows that the Velvet Glove is the most powerful warship in the galaxy (believe me, by the end of this episode you'll be tired of hearing people say that!), and could potentially make Hordak's dreams of a two-planet conquest come true; so she urges Adam to He-Man up and get over to Etheria to help his sister. He readily obeys.

In fact, several people on Eternia heard of the designing schemes for the planet's takeover, and none of them are happy about it. One of the least enthused happens to have a skull for a face. That's right, Hordak's old student Skeletor caught his former boss plotting on the desktop dome, and is quite miffed at this outsider moving in on his territory. Skeletor decides that he can turn the tables on Hordak if he just heads over to Etheria and takes that ship for himself. So the stage is set for a multi-character convergence!

But what of the people of Hordak's first planetary target - Etheria? The rebels in Whispering Woods, including Bow and Princess Adora, are alerted to the approaching danger when the huge, hulking shadow of the Velvet Glove begins to blot out the sky above their heads. Sensing that her alter ego will be needed, Adora rushes to a quiet part of the forest with Spirit and makes her full transformation. So She-Ra atop Swift Wind begins a flight up towards outer space, where the Horde warship sits in orbit. Before she can leave the planet's atmosphere, however, Hordak (with the assistance of minions Mantenna and Multi-Bot) has already activated the ship's gigantic freeze ray. She-Ra must change her sword of protection into a giant shield to block the high-caliber beam, and the force of the blast sends her hurtling back to the ground. Blasted from Swift Wind's back, She-Ra bows under the unremitting power of the weapon. Spying his blonde enemy through his own Hordak Brand binoculars, the Horde commander instructs his minions to keep cranking up the power on the freeze ray. Not even She-Ra can withstand the full force of the beam, and when she gives in, all the Whispering Woods will be put on ice!

Just when it seems our heroine is indeed about to fall, she receives a helping shoulder and back - from He-Man. Hooray! The twins' combined strength holds up She-Ra's shield and holds back the icy beam. Up in the Velvet Glove, Hordak is angrily instructing Multi-Bot and Mantenna to pour on the juice; but he doesn't realize that his helpers are being taken out of commission behind his back. It's Skeletor! The bony sorcerer announces himself to his enemy, and the two begin a duel to decide who will have control over the valuable warship. They recklessly trade laser blasts and magic bolts with each other, in the process wrecking the interior of their prize and convincing Mantenna that he and his buddy Multi-Bot would do better to teleport out of there and sit out the rest of the day in the Fright Zone.

Down below, our superpowered heroes are surprised when the freeze ray suddenly lets up. She-Ra whips out a telescope and trains it on the Velvet Glove, catching a glimpse of Hordak and Skeletor fighting through the window of the ship. Realizing that they can't let either of their villains win this fight, the twins decide they have to get up there. He-Man announces that he has just the thing for that: it's an indestructible and infinite grappling line (a present from the Sorceress - aw, that's nice). With just a few wind-up swings, the beefy hero tosses the grappling hook all the way up into space, and it catches on a handle-like projection at the bottom of the Glove's hull. She-Ra volunteers to climb up the rope while He-Man holds it steady planetside. It's a long climb into the void, and at a certain point She-Ra has to change her sword into a space helmet (complete with air tank, we assume) so she can continue to breathe.

What our heroes don't realize is that the sound of the grappling hook hitting the ship distracted Hordak just enough that Skeletor was able to get the drop on his foe and zap him unconscious. Now in full control of the Velvet Glove, Old Bonehead takes a brief moment to effect some repairs on the control panel, then decides it's time to begin his own conquest of Eternia. He therefore begins flying off with the ship, towing She-Ra and He-Man along with him. She-Ra has finally reached the ship and clings on by the convenient bottom handle; He-Man, after enduring an uncomfortable drag through the forest at the end of the rope, digs his feet in on a mountaintop. Skeletor notices that his flight has been impeded and uses the ship's video screen to discover that the trouble is due to his old enemy. How did He-Man get down there? No matter! The full thrust of the Glove should be enough to shake even Eternia's biggest beefcake loose! Skeletor opens the throttle all the way.

She-Ra, gathering the gist of the situation from her spot at the bottom of the ship, decides she should really get off her butt and do something. Spotting a massive asteroid that's about to float into the projected path of the warship, She-Ra times her moment carefully and cuts the "unbreakable" grappling line (I guess it's nice to have a magic sword). The Velvet Glove, no longer held back, leaps forward at full speed - directly into the asteroid. That sucker is totaled! (Fortunately She-Ra makes it through the accident miraculously unharmed.) Inside, the shaken Skeletor is coming to the mortifying realization that his plans for world conquest have just gone up in smoke. In addition, it seems the Glove's reactor was damaged in the collision and is about to go critical. Skeletor, standing over the still-unconscious body of Hordak, decides that he will just have to settle for letting his hated former teacher explode, and teleports his way back to Eternia.

Meanwhile, She-Ra has climbed her way up to the control room window just in time to watch the bony villain make his getaway. She makes a choice she's already made a couple of times in the series, to save the life of her greatest enemy, and pries open a hole in the hull. She grabs Hordak and a convenient space helmet when they fly out with the ship's air, then dives with the helmeted Horde leader back down towards the planet. They escape the explosion of the warship, but the pair still have to survive their re-entry into the atmosphere. She-Ra trades her sword-helmet for a sword-shield in order to absorb the heat that was beginning to toast her bottom; then, once that danger is over, exchanges her sword-shield for a shield-parachute.

As our heroine floats gently back to the surface, she's met by He-Man. He realized something was going on up in space when his grappling line suddenly gave way, knocking him off his mountaintop (thanks, Sis). Concluding She-Ra must have cut the line herself and will soon be plummeting back to the planet, our hero hitched a ride on (the suddenly reappeared) Swift Wind. He's just in time to catch his sister landing with her surprising payload - Hordak. The pleased He-Man is already measuring the Horde leader for a jail cell, but at this point Hordak finally wakes up and makes a quick and prudent exit via his full-body rocket form.

Our heroes aren't too broken up that Hordak got away. For one thing, they'll need a bad guy to fight in tomorrow's episode; but also, they're all pretty sure that Horde Prime is going to be very mad at the commander for smashing up another valuable ship. Sure enough, as Adam and Adora are enjoying a lovely feast with their rebel friends in the camp at the Whispering Woods, they can just about hear the sound of Hordak getting punched out the window of the Fright Zone by his enraged overlord. Prime had a lovely vacation, but Hordak's poor excuses are enough to spoil anyone's good mood.

• Hordak: You can trust me, your Galactic Highness. / Horde Prime: Oh - can I now? Your performance against the rebellion has been less than admirable. / Hordak: That will soon be changed, Horde Prime. / Horde Prime: It had better.
• Hordak: There he goes: Horde Prime, the ruler of the galaxy, off for a two-week vacation on a tropical planet. Two weeks! Two weeks in which I alone will control the Velvet Glove, the most powerful warship in the galaxy.
• Skeletor (reacting to Hordak's plans to conquer Eternia): Sooo, that blasted Horde bully-boy; that conniving claim-jumper! Eternia is mine to conquer! Mine!
• Hordak (to Mantenna): Don't bug me, you bug-eyed boob!
• Skeletor: And speaking of helping myself: I intend to help myself - to this ship!
• He-Man: We'll have to think of something, and right away, before either one of those two evil monsters gets control of the most powerful warship in the galaxy.
• Skeletor: And with this ship in my command, the whole galaxy will soon fall before the awesome might of Skeletor. Hail Skeletor! (laughs)
• He-Man: They say I'm the most powerful man in the universe - and I guess now I'd better prove it.
• He-Man: I hope she knows what she's doing. / Swift Wind: She-Ra always knows what she's doing.

• Skeletor shakes his fists, three-quarter view: Celebrating the formulation of his own plan to steal the Horde flagship
• Skeletor laughs, head back: The loop of Skeletor's head leaning back is used to show him crying "Hail, Skeletor!" to himself

One full
Before Adora's transformation we get Prince Adam's - which is a partial one, since it's missing the Cringer/Battle Cat sequence.

I don't know where Loo-Kee was today, but it wasn't in this episode. Maybe, like Horde Prime, he was also on vacation. In an unusual situation that hasn't occurred since before Loo-Kee's entrance in the series (67006), the elf does not appear at all. No matter how hard you look (and, folks, I looked pretty hard), you won't find him!

Taking over the PSA duties in Loo-Kee's absence are She-Ra, Orko, and He-Man. Perhaps there's a reason why Loo-Kee didn't want to get involved in today's message, because today - as He-Man notes - it's about "something that's very personal." He and She-Ra explain that your body is your own, and you shouldn't let anyone else touch it "in a bad way." Yes, they're talking about what you think they're talking about. When Orko promises retribution on any potential pedophiles, She-Ra points out that it can be difficult for children to open up about these kinds of things, and He-Man (while pointing aggressively at the audience) urges those who've experienced a bad touch to "tell someone you trust." Unfortunately, the list He-Man provides of people kids should trust (parents, doctor, teacher, counselor, minister, rabbi) very likely includes the person to blame.

Horde Prime appears in person
MOTU crossover
Landmark Episode: I honestly didn't want to tag this one a landmark, because there have been better stories; but I think the unique situation surrounding Loo-Kee and the PSA tips it over into requiring this label.

• It's rare that today's story writer (and co-creator of this series), J. Michael Straczynski, shares the credit with anyone; but today he shares it with Bob Forward, who's credited with the teleplay. Forward co-wrote two special MOTU scripts (MU085 and MU110) and has so far given us five memorable POP stories. So we've got a bit of a writing supergroup on our hands today! Let's see what they can do.
• For me, this episode has been a long time coming, mostly because of its strange sequencing on my DVD set. Per the coding and its air date, this should have turned up as the 18th episode in POP's first season. However, it was the focus of some reordering, seemingly due to the evolution of the character Modulok. The 18th slot was taken by Straczynski's script "Gateway to Trouble" (67035), in which the many-limbed crimson scientist switched sides from Skeletor to Hordak. Later, what should logically have been 67024 (the 24th episode) was swapped for 67042's "Enemy With My Face" (also a Straczynski script), in which we see Modulok trying to regain his boss's approval after being demoted to "Horde cook" in the aftermath of his defection. I had assumed today's episode, like the 67024/67042 swap before, would make a direct exchange with its substitute and end up as the 35th episode; but that slot was instead taken by 67058's "Black Snow," which again featured our friend Modulok. 67058's writing duties weren't down to Straczynski, but his fellow show creator Larry DiTillio. Now, finally, in the 58th slot of the season, we get this story, and I get to find out whether it was worth the wait. (And this concludes my lecture on the reordering of She-Ra episodes in Season 1. Though there will be one more tiny sequence swap before the season is over!)
• The episode opens with what seems to be the reappearance of Monstron, the giant vehicle and Horde flagship that Hordak borrowed from Horde Prime (with such disastrous consequences) in 67048's "Birds of a Feather." However, as we eventually learn from Horde Prime himself, this is not Monstron but its sister ship, the Velvet Glove. Here, as with its predecessor, we see the ship changing hands from Prime to Hordak. (The fact that Prime makes a reference to the previous occasion with the sister ship, from Episode 48, helps explain why this episode has been shifted so deep into the first season.) Surely history is not doomed to repeat itself? Well, at least the odds are probably against both versions of the vessel ending their lives smashed into a large mass of rock... right?
• We learn a couple of interesting facts from Horde Prime's further ramblings: one, that there's a holiday planet named Tropica (which I imagine as being a lot like Star Trek: The Next Generation's Risa); and two, that - if we're to take his words literally, and not accuse him of hyperbole - Horde Prime has been alive for over 500 years. That's how long he says he's been waiting to go on his vacation. This is similar to the casual way Broom tossed around centuries when discussing the antics of his friend Madame Razz, in 67052's "The Wizard."
• Another thing we learn about Horde Prime - Mantenna and Hordak both dub him "ruler of the galaxy." That's a pretty impressive reach for that one robotic hand!
• The spaceship in which Prime leaves for his vacation looks to be the same type of ship Glimmer's father Micah used to escape from Horde World in 67046's "Micah of Bright Moon."
• Surprisingly, instead of turning to our rebel friends in Etheria after the opening villain scene, we shift settings to Eternia and meet again our MOTU friends, Prince Adam and the Sorceress. We saw both of these characters not that long ago (per my DVD sequencing), in 67055's "Loo-Kee Lends a Hand." Clearly we are in for another crossover tale today!
• Also listening in to Hordak's boasting, just as the Sorceress was (does no one on Etheria or Eternia have any privacy?), is Skeletor, not far removed from his memorable appearance in 67056's "Of Shadows and Skulls." He proves himself just as annoyed with his former teacher and competing dictator here.
• There are many familiar faces among the pack of Etherians who are dismayed by the appearance of the Velvet Glove. As is often the case in crowd scenes, I see Palos the Cave Dweller from MU033, Mallek from MU024, Yarrow from MU070, a standard bearded old man, and that pigtailed young lady who I can't quite place but who has definitely shown her pigtails on several previous Filmation occasions.
• "I don't know how high you can fly," She-Ra remarks to Swift Wind just after her transformation, "but we're about to find out!" She-Ra, are you still suffering some after-effects from Adora's bump on the head in 67057? You should already be well aware that Swift Wind can fly into space, because the pair of you have been there - at least twice! It happened in the opening of 67032's "Friends Are Where You Find Them," and in the conclusion of 67028's "Bow's Farewell." (Further annoying inconsistencies about this will be discussed in the commentary.)
• Appearing for only the second time in the series is Multi-Bot, Modulok's customizable mechanical creation introduced in 67058's "Black Snow." He's another good reason why this episode should rightly be placed as late in the season as it is, since She-Ra - and, by extension, her audience - was clearly meeting Multi-Bot for the first time in the previous story.
• Swiss army sword: She-Ra uses an exceptionally large version of her sword's shield form today, in order to block the Death Star-level bore of the Velvet Glove's freeze ray. Later, and for the first time ever, she changes her sword to a space helmet (again, more about She-Ra's time in space in the commentary).
• Hordak transformations: In a subtle use of his metamorphic abilities, Hordak pops a pair of high-tech binoculars over his eyes to better see how She-Ra is faring under the attack of the Velvet Glove. There are more transformations to come...
• Coming soon after their big showdown in 67056, we again get a one-on-one battle between Skeletor and Hordak!
• Hordak transformations: As with his last battle with Skeletor, Hordak resorts immediately to some body transformations to tip the balance. His first move is the old arm cannon, quickly paired with the same giant Horde-logo shield he used in 67056. But in this case, we won't get to see the Horde commander do much flexing of his chameleon muscles, as his battle with Skeletor quickly devolves into a simple shoot-out.
• We find She-Ra watching the enemy duel through the use of a telescope. Just noting as I don't think I've ever seen her using one before. She certainly needed help to be able to see all the way up into space and spot Skeletor and Hordak tussling inside the Velvet Glove.
• Hordak and Skeletor have fought several times now, and naturally their battles have decided nothing - because we need to be able to see the same characters every week, in the same positions of power. But if you've been paying attention, the win-loss record seems to be leaning decidedly in Skeletor's favor. The pair's first battle, at the end of 67004's "Reunions," was a draw; but it led to Skeletor's betrayal of his supposed partner - and his theft of Adora - in the beginning of 67005. In 67035, their next meeting, Skeletor lost Modulok to Hordak. The pair fought again, a duel which again proved inconclusive; but Hordak ended the episode with his evil plot thoroughly foiled, while Skeletor returned home with his feathers mostly unruffled. Skeletor's last two encounters with Hordak, in 67051 and 67056, were much more decisive, and left the Horde commander respectively poisoned almost to death and unconscious in a cage. Today, as in 67056, Skeletor wins the duel - in this case by zapping the unwary Hordak with his havoc staff. Dang, Bonehead! Maybe Horde Prime should consider swapping up for a more... purple administrator of Etheria.
• Skeletor's defeat of Hordak, and subsequent abandoning of the Horde leader to an explosive fate, leaves She-Ra once again with the necessity of saving the life of her archenemy. We've seen her do this time and again, not only compassionately allowing Hordak to live, but even helpfully returning him to his fortress (this happened most recently in 67051). Thankfully, at least in this case Hordak doesn't get dropped off back home. In fact, according to He-Man, the heroes actually intend to keep him a prisoner! If they'd managed this, it would have been a first.
• We recently got to see Bow ride Swift Wind solo for the first time (67056); today we get to see He-Man do it!
• Swiss army sword: As she makes her smoking-hot re-entry to Etheria's atmosphere, She-Ra again turns her sword into a shield. The shield is then converted to a parachute of the same basic shape.
• Hordak transformations: Hordak turns into his classic full-body rocket shape in order to make a Skeletor-like getaway.
• For the third time in recent memory (see 67051, 67052), our rebels end the day at a fully spread banquet table in the middle of the rebel camp - giving our animators a chance to sneak in cameos for many of the regulars (Kowl, Broom, Razz, Glimmer, and even some Twiggets).
• As you may have noted by scanning the "Where's Loo-Kee?" and "PSA" sections, today is a very special episode in that Loo-Kee does not appear in it at all, even in his usual camouflaged cameo. His PSA duties are taken over by She-Ra, Orko, and He-Man, who do it while standing in what appears to be the courtyard of Eternia's royal palace. This is the first time since 67005 that Loo-Kee has not appeared, and the first time ever that a POP PSA was not delivered by Loo-Kee. It is also a very special PSA, which the show producers must have felt would not have sounded right coming from a cute little elf.

• The opening premise of this story - that Horde Prime is going on vacation - is as incongruous a concept as Horde Prime fishing for good birthday presents in 67049 (which, I will add, was also a Bob Forward script). What do you do when you're a giant robotic hand and you want to unwind? What possible facilities could they have for this behemoth cyborg on the planet Tropica?
• Interesting to note Horde Prime's voiced displeasure with Hordak's lack of progress against the Great Rebellion. It leaves me once again contemplating the show's chronology, which is problematic at best with regard to Hordak's job performance. Consider that we learned in 67046's "Micah of Bright Moon" that Glimmer's father vanished when she was just a little baby, the king having been captured while fighting for Etheria's freedom from the Horde. This means that the struggle on Etheria has been raging for, at the smallest estimation, ten years (it is likely closer to 15 years, if you estimate Glimmer is 18 now and was, say, 4 or 5 when Micah was caught). We also can assume that the infant Adora grew up and became a force captain while living in the Fright Zone on Etheria, and during all or most of that time Hordak has been attempting to cow the population of this planet. Per my own calculations as to Prince Adam's age, coupled with the fact that Adora is his twin, the long-lost Eternian princess has been maturing for at least 20 years. So yes, frankly Horde Prime is well justified in his displeasure! Also remember that we have heard on multiple occasions - from the lips of Prince Zed in 67011, and from the appearance of a Horde Inspector in 67013, to name just a couple of examples - of Horde Prime's being just about fed up with Hordak. Why has the commander not been replaced or severely punished before now? Is Horde Prime having that difficult a time finding a suitable replacement? Have you tried ZipRecruiter, Primey? (For further confirmation of how long Hordak has been failing to fully subjugate Etheria, see the next episode, 67059.)
• The Great Rebellion should get down on their freedom-fighting knees and thank Skeletor for their deliverance. You heard me! As the series goes on, we're seeing more and more how the cordial abhorrence of Eternia's bony villain for his former master is a huge factor in the ruination of Hordak's evil plots and the general disruption of his dictatorship. As my discussion of win-loss records in the lore section indicated, we saw Skeletor nearly defeat Hordak entirely in the recent plots for both 67051's "My Friend, My Enemy" and 67056's "Of Shadows and Skulls;" and Skeletor made a pact with our heroes (albeit a very short-lived one) in order to foil Hordak in 67035's "Gateway to Trouble." Let's not forget, as well, that it's to Skeletor that we owe (however indirectly) Loo-Kee's speedy transport to Adam's bedroom, so that the elf could instruct He-Man to save the day in 67055. And of course, Skeletor will ultimately save Christmas in the upcoming Christmas Special.
• Just feel the need to point out that traveling between Eternia and Etheria has become awfully easy for certain people. Sure, the Sorceress can open a gate for He-Man: that's a well-established fact, and it's something she's been doing since the first episode of this series. But Skeletor can now apparently travel to Adora's adopted planet under his own power, and back again, with no need for Modulok's amazing dimensional gate of 67035. He also intends to use the Velvet Glove to just "warp" on over to Eternia for the purposes of his own conquering.
• What a great moment in the episode, when He-Man shows up to lighten the load for his sister! Love it. And it's quickly followed by the timely intervention of Skeletor, saving the rebels' butts once again!
• Mantenna makes what may very well be the smartest move of his entire career, when he teleports himself and Multi-Bot out of the Velvet Glove, thus absenting himself from the horrendous collateral damage of the Skeletor/Hordak showdown. (The teleport is accomplished by means of a button set into Mantenna's belt - you kind of have to wonder why he hasn't used that before to get out of some trapdoor dunkings!)
• What's more unlikely than He-Man being able to toss a grappling line all the way from the surface of Etheria onto the hull of the Velvet Glove as it orbits the planet in space? The fact that Hordak immediately hears the grappling hook striking the outside of the gigantic ship!
• Also, the necessity of the grappling line is hard to understand. What happened to Swift Wind? She-Ra fell off the horse while she was attempting to block the freeze ray, but unless we're to believe that Swifty was put out of action by the dismount, he should be available for our heroine to ride up into space. Why resort to climbing a tightrope to reach the Velvet Glove? Note that Swift Wind conveniently vanishes the whole time the rope is being used, and appears again as soon as it breaks.
• I love that Skeletor's method of repairing the Velvet Glove's control panel is to open it and zap the insides with his magic finger. I also love that, while looking forward to his conquest of Eternia, he takes time out to hail himself (see memorable lines). Skeletor is a joy.
• In the second half of this episode I was struck with the same sense of frustration that I had near the end of 67033's "A Talent for Trouble." There, I ground my teeth as He-Man, who had been to space on numerous previous occasions without suffering any ill effects, suddenly claimed that he would be unable to breathe once he left Etheria's atmosphere. Today, we find She-Ra - who, as I noted in the lore, has already effortlessly flown into space on horseback at least twice - faced with the necessity of wearing a space helmet so she can survive in the vacuum. I call shenanigans! And yes, I realize that I'm angrily arguing that She-Ra, ostensibly a human, should be able to break the laws of physics and survive in space. But really all I'm asking for is a little internal consistency here, folks.
• You can't tell me that some animator didn't get a kick out of drawing She-Ra entering the atmosphere ass-first.
• I really wanted to like this episode, especially after being provoked to real anger and hatred by the previous story (67057), and it had a lot of things going for it: the writing team involved, the in-person appearance of Horde Prime, the MOTU crossover with He-Man and Skeletor, the battle in space, the Hordak/Skeletor duel... but I struggled with this one. In a sense, we've seen this Hordak-borrows-a-ship plot before, a fact that even Horde Prime was forced to admit in the beginning of the episode (see 67048). We've also just seen Hordak and Skeletor fight, and do a better job of it (see 67056). Then there were the inconsistencies with She-Ra entering and exiting space, and Skeletor's too-easy voyage to Etheria. It also bothers me that She-Ra caused the catastrophic head-on collision of the Velvet Glove with the asteroid while she was clinging to the ship, yet somehow wound up entirely unaffected by the crash. Another strange final issue: Horde Prime's punishment of Hordak clearly happens inside the Fright Zone fortress. How did Horde Prime get in there? He's a giant robot... thing... that lives in a perpetual fog. I thought he just hung around in an asteroid somewhere, or on Horde World. Now he's traveling on various spaceships, taking vacations, and entering Hordak's home. What gives? I'd let almost any inanity pass if it was all for comedic effect, but this stuff isn't.
• I will say this: I can't describe to you the immense relief that flooded through me when I realized, at the episode's ending PSA, that there was a reason I was unable to find Loo-Kee in this episode: he wasn't in it. (This was after, I must shamefully admit, purposefully scrubbing my way back through the episode a second time to try to locate him before watching the PSA, which even in my own mind is cheating.) Wheeeew! The streak remains unbroken! It's also solely this unique set of circumstances which earned this one the landmark tag, because otherwise I wouldn't have deemed it worthy.
• To avoid ending on a negative note, which I feel is unfair to this special episode, I do want to say that it had a lot of fun ideas. I love any story that puts us in space, and any MOTU crossover is a good MOTU crossover. I also don't want to suggest that I entirely hated the Skeletor/Hordak fight, because it was actually very funny to hear the two trading insults while blasting the ship to bits around each other.