Don Heckman

Lou Kachivas

Some reckless posturing by Bow puts a whole village full of Twiggets in danger, prompting the somewhat guilty archer to head off for a vacation - only to discover the Horde up to even more shenanigans involving Twiggets. A little of the old Bow magic - with just a sprinkling of science - can solve this problem!

Princess Adora (She-Ra), Spirit (Swift Wind), Bow, Kowl, Glimmer, Queen Angella

Catra

Twiggets (including Spunky, Spritina, Sprocker, King Sprite, Queen Sparkle), Horde soldiers, Bright Moon guards

Horde jeeps and tanks, Horde "sneaker"

We find our heroine, Adora, with her horse on a hill overlooking the village of the Twiggets. She has learned that Bow is enjoying a self-satisfying visit with the friendly forest people, but our princess does not approve - Bow is a Great Rebellion big shot, a huge prize for any passing Horde task force, and plus his amazing good looks make him instantly recognizable. She goes into the village to remonstrate with him (apparently with no concern for her own, potentially much greater, recognizability) and finds the archer delivering a music lesson to Spunky the Twigget by a well. On the pretense of performing a parting magic trick, Bow instead conducts a science lesson on sound frequencies, demonstrating that the right twang of his harp can cause a drinking glass to shatter. Who knows? Maybe this information will be useful later!

Before Bow can move on to rubbing his feet on the carpet and giving people electrical shocks (the natural next step for fun science lessons - right?), Adora's dire warning comes true - some Horde soldiers and Catra show up. The rebels split up to meet again back at base, but Bow is accosted by the soldiers. They question the "musician" hanging by the well, with Catra eventually revealing that she does, in fact, recognize Bow, from the climactic Battle for Bright Moon. Seeing that he's been rumbled, Bow tries to make himself scarce through the ample use of sparkly glitter powder. Meanwhile, Adora finds a quiet spot in the woody village to say her magic words, and She-Ra joins the fray. Our heroine embarrasses Catra and the Horde soldiers, smashing up some tanks and narrowly preventing the enemy from rounding up and carting away the innocent Twiggets to the Fright Zone, as punishment for consorting with rebels. Bow assists by shepherding the almost-prisoners to the safety of the Whispering Woods.

Afterwards, Bow is somewhat guilty about having endangered his sylvan buddies, and makes an overwrought comment about the rebellion being better off without him. His frenemy Kowl thinks this is a great idea: why not take a vacation to the Mystic Stones? It does seem like a good time to keep one's head down. Bowing (no pun intended) to the sense of this idea, the archer begins the journey right away, forcing his carping bird to accompany him. They're wandering the countryside at night when the pair espy a strange glow in the distance, among some ruins. Stealthily approaching for a closer look, they discover Horde soldiers supervising a party of laboring Twiggets! Why are the forest people lugging around mysterious machinery in service of the Horde? Bow declares his intention to investigate, while Kowl urges caution. In the end, the bird is sent off to inform Adora, and Bow decides to infiltrate the camp - in disguise. He garbs himself in a blue wizard's robe and star-dotted peaked cap, complete with gray beard and mustache, then strolls into the ruins, posing as a traveling magician.

At first, Bow's deception works a treat: the soldiers love his tricks (whatever they may be - all we get to see is him pulling a ribbon from his sleeve), and between times he manages a quiet word with little Spunky. The Twigget reveals that his people are being forced to aid the Horde under duress: their royal couple and leaders, King Sprite and Queen Sparkle, are being held hostage! Plus, their work involves building a terrible Eclipse Beam, a laser which will be powered by an impending eclipse of Etheria's moon, and whose beam is capable of piercing Castle Bright Moon's magical defenses. Bow realizes he needs to sabotage the device as quickly as possible. He hustles Spunky off to free the royal couple while he distracts the guards. But before the hero can do anything further, he's once again spotted by Catra. The feline foe strides up, tears off Bow's disguise, and has him restrained.

It's just about time for the cavalry to show up; which of course it does, in the form of Adora. Acting on Kowl's intelligence, she has raced to the location on horseback, approached the camp on foot, seen her friend in peril, and finally resorts to her magic words. She-Ra comes bounding in on Swift Wind. The Twiggets, aware that their king and queen are now safe from harm thanks to Spunky, turn on their keepers, pelting the Horde soldiers and Catra with logs and oranges. It's a mad house! Bow, having been freed thanks to the Twiggets, warns She-Ra of the doomsday weapon, and she smashes it with one well-placed spin kick. The problem is, it was a fake! Catra conveys this unwelcome news to the rebels via loudspeaker, as she circles above them in her getaway vehicle. The real Eclipse Beam, it seems, is located just by Bright Moon - and it's too late for them to stop it! The eclipse begins, and the beam opens fire on the castle. Queen Angella, her daughter - and the entire rebellion - are in grave danger!

There's only one thing for it: She-Ra will just have to move the moon. She flies into space astride Swift Wind, turns her sword into a grappling chain, snags the heavenly body by the lip of a likely crater, and begins towing. This heroic effort (mostly achieved by her horse - let's give the credit where it's due) manages to lessen the eclipse for a few brief moments, before the pair lose their grip and tumble away. But this weakens the weapon just long enough for Bow to enact a plan he concocted with Spunky, whipping out his harp and using some Horde gear as an amplifier to make use of that sound frequency bit from the beginning of the episode. When he plucks just the right note, the Eclipse Beam explodes (what? it's science!), and the Horde is once again foiled.

Afterwards, our victorious friends gather in the throne room of Castle Bright Moon: She-Ra, Bow, Spunky, the Twigget king and queen, Angella, and Glimmer. Exchanging thanks, the rebels congratulate themselves, and She-Ra moves forward, clearly preparing to plant a kiss on the person she feels helped her most. Bow thinks it's himself; but his lip-puckering is all in vain. He's passed up in favor of Spunky, who gets a light smooch on the hat. She-Ra then advances toward King Sprite, but his angry wife tugs the monarch away before any hanky-panky can commence - while wielding a rolling pin, no less! And they all laughed...

• Bow (of Kowl): He sure moves fast when the going gets rough.
• Bow: Full power, Spunky!
• Bow: It's She-Ra - on the moon! (Bow gets all the good lines today)
• Bow (to She-Ra): Boy, when you promise the moon, you deliver.

• Bow runs away from the viewer: Heading towards a strange light in the woods
• Adora runs away from the viewer: Also heading towards that same strange light in the woods
• She-Ra spin kicks the viewer: To smash the phony Eclipse Beam

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

1:35 - Loo-Kee clearly wanted to knock off early today, as he shows up almost as soon as the episode begins, lazing on a tree branch in the bottom right corner of the screen and looking away from us at Twigget Village.
Did I spot him? YES!

Loo-Kee makes the preposterous claim that part of this episode had a basis in real, provable "science," by referring back to Bow's experiments with sound frequencies. Yes, the same episode that depicted She-Ra going into space and towing the moon out of its orbit is intended as a poster child for science. Okay, Loo-Kee. We'll head on over to our local library and look into this.

Hordak-less episodes in Season 1: Catra is doing solo duties for Horde leadership today.

• Today's writer, Don Heckman, is a MOTU veteran who gave us three late Second Season scripts (MU105, MU117, MU129, about, respectively: Evil-Lyn shrinking some heroes, a fairy tale come to animated life, and a young person who learns to love their job at an animal sanctuary). This is the first of an impressive 9 scripts that he'll contribute to POP. Over the course of watching those nine episodes, I'll learn to dislike his writing intensely; but at this point you'll find me still blissfully open-minded.
• Looks like we'll be diving into some deep Twigget lore today! First we learn that there is an actual "Twigget Village," so apparently they don't just hang out among the trees in the Whispering Woods when they're not aiding the rebellion. I don't want to accuse anyone of plagiarism, but I have to note that the Twiggets' tree-based homes, with trunk-spanning slatted footbridges, are awfully similar to those of the Ewoks...
• We also meet our newest named Twigget, after 67017's Sprint. Though I've misidentified Twigget genders in the past, this one has to be male, because he's shirtless. He can also play a flute (which says nothing one way or the other about his gender). His name - and I am not making this up - is Spunky.
• Bow again reveals his talent at basic magic tricks - something that has come up in 67009, 67019, and 67023 - when he is easily persuaded to show off for little Spunky. To be fair, though, in this case his "trick" isn't really a trick, but more like an episode of my favorite Filmation educational series, Science Hunks. This is Professor Bow's first time being the host; that duty usually goes to He-Man. Bow teaches Spunky about sound frequency using terms and claims whose veracity is questionable. The lesson is one of those seemingly throwaway moments that eventually prove crucial to the plot.
• Adding to the growing list of Horde vehicles, today the fleet is augmented by an open jeep with a turret gun attached to the back. In its first appearance, the jeep's turret gun doesn't appear to have any room behind it for a gunner to sit at the controls, though a later scene shows a scaled-up model with room for plenty of guys. We also see what I've been calling the "wide-bodied" tank model, most recently spotted in just the previous episode (67027); and the more typical Hordak-faced tank. The latter has been somewhat redesigned to include a giant top turret, so that She-Ra can eventually peel it off to reveal a compliment of Horde soldiers underneath. How many Horde soldiers does it take to drive one tank? Recall that the tanks were rather inconsistently described as pilotless "robots" back in 67012.
• Stooping to some more typical legerdemain after his stuffy science lesson, Bow makes himself disappear through the use of some pink sparkly powder. Now that's magic! Hilariously, the powder or smoke bomb disperses into a smattering of pink hearts - our macho man's trademark. In fact, Bow's magical proclivities will play an important role throughout the plot, as we'll see later when he puts on his unexpected magician's disguise.
• For a while it seems like, even though we're in the midst of what has definitely been referred to as a "Twigget Village," it has a population of exactly one - the fresh-faced Spunky. But we do finally catch a glimpse of a party of additional Twiggets being marched away by Horde soldiers. They include an old bald male Twigget, a baby Twigget, Spritina, and what looks to be an elderly spinster Twigget. A little later, Bow speaks to a small pack of Twiggets (what's the collective noun for a bunch of Twiggets? a branch? a thicket? a grove?), all of whom look more or less like Sprocker.
• We again have evidence of the magical defenses provided by the Whispering Woods itself - a concept that was introduced in 67011's "Peril of the Whispering Woods." The trees and bushes grow up out of nowhere to block Catra in her invading jeep.
• Kowl suggests a vacation at "the Mystic Stones," a new Etherian location.
• More Twigget lore: apparently the Twigget government is a monarchy, with a king and a queen. We meet King Sprite and Queen Sparkle when little Spunky breaks them out of jail.
• We are introduced to a Death Star-style weapon in the "Eclipse Beam," which also calls back to 67022's "The Crystal Castle." In that episode, we learned that Queen Angella's ability to protect Castle Bright Moon depended on power provided by Etheria's moons, and that an eclipse could sever that connection, leaving the castle defenseless. I guess when you have multiple moons (and by the way, just how many moons Etheria has is an open question - in 67022, contrary to what was seen in previous episodes, there were three of the things whirling around up there, making for a "three body problem"), you get to have plenty of eclipses, because there's another one about to happen, just like there was in the flashback related by the earlier tale. In this case, the eclipse will serve to power the Horde's doomsday weapon.
• When the Twiggets are finally inspired to turn on the Horde and fight back, we are rewarded with further and more varied Twigget character designs, with some of the critters sporting a face-circling wreath of leaves like a lion's mane. We are also again reminded of Return of the Jedi's Ewoks, since the Twigget fighting methods (swinging large logs on ropes as battering rams, throwing small projectiles at armored soldiers) definitely seem inspired by those man-eating space teddy bears.
• Today Catra makes use of the Horde "sneaker," an aircraft which will also eventually show up in the Christmas Special. It's a helicopter that's sort of shaped like a very elongated foot (among other things it's shaped like, the foot being the most innocuous and family friendly).
• Making a late appearance in today's episode are the ever-relegated-to-the-background rebel leaders, Glimmer and Queen Angella. Oh no! Our castle is under attack! Come and save us, She-Ra! What did we ever do without you around? ... Lead the Great Rebellion, maybe?
• We find that She-Ra (and Swift Wind) can survive in the vacuum of space, just like He-Man (and we'll have proof of this again in the Christmas Special). For contrary evidence, suggesting that She-Ra cannot survive unaided in the vacuum of space, see 67018's "Horde Prime Takes a Holiday."
• Swiss army sword: She-Ra changes her sword of protection to a chain and grappling hook.
• Well, this is it, people. She-Ra gets to have her own moment of absurdity by repositioning her own heavenly body. He-Man scholars may recall (I know I certainly do) the absolutely ridiculous trick the blonde oaf pulled back in MU091, when with very little provocation and very little need, he rocketed up into space to shift the orbit of one of Eternia's moons. In this story, She-Ra tows her own moon by means of her sword grappler and some helpful pulling by Swifty. Interestingly, She-Ra's attempt proves less successful than He-Man's, implying the male hero is the stronger of the two - or, possibly, that Etheria has heavier moons.
• She-Ra's trip to the moon will be reused in the almost-clip-show-but-not-quite that is 67073's "The Time Transformer."
• An odd moment of almost-romance for Bow comes at this episode's stinger joke, when She-Ra seems to be about to lean in to kiss the mustached archer, but instead passes him up to plant a platonic smooch on Spunky's brow. She then makes for King Sprite, prompting some threatened reciprocity from the king's wife.

• Bow laughs off Adora's idea of the Horde being able to recognize him, even though he's literally the only male rebel leader, the only rebel with that flamboyant mustache, and he constantly wears a very distinctive and revealing chest armor piece with a red heart in the middle. Also, he seemed a bit more concerned about the Horde recognizing him at the beginning of 67026's "Book Burning," where he and Adora rolled into Northland wearing potato sacks over their heads.
• Of course, after Adora's prophetic warning, Bow is recognized by the Horde - specifically for his appearance in the "Battle for Bright Moon" (67005). Which is odd, since we've seen him facing off against the Horde many times since then. I suppose the climactic battle that ended the SOTS movie was one of the more historic and memorable defeats of the Horde.
• The episode purposefully begins by showing us both Adora and her beloved steed, Spirit; so I was surprised when, a few minutes into the episode, Adora's transformation into She-Ra omits the horse. He was totally just there! Swift Wind does finally make an appearance for the final battle - but in a similarly confusing manner (see later comments).
• Animation error: During Bow's insistent and annoying spreading of pink smoke, he throws a cloud right in the face of a Horde soldier; but as the smoke spreads, the soldier vanishes from the scene entirely.
• Melendy Britt is having a field day today with her Catra voice. Oh, the yowling and growling! You have to wonder if she knocked back a few shots before stepping into the sound booth to record her lines, just to let the meows flow.
• Speaking of Catra, I really wonder how her cat goggles work. You would naturally think that just putting them down over her eyes triggers the cat transformation; but in today's episode, she puts them down and then spends several seconds yammering on before the transformation kicks in - so it's definitely not automatic or instant. Also - how does she change back to human form? The only option I can think of - batting the goggles off with one of her kitty forepaws - seems awkward.
• Animation error: During a sequence where some Twiggets are running away from a Horde jeep, Spritina and the elderly bald Twigget, about to head off the right side of the screen, teleport backwards for a brief moment, putting them closer to a sprinting Bow who has just moved in from the left side of the screen.
• Kowl avoids capture: Kowl and Bow have a rather confusing conversation after discovering the Twiggets working for the Horde, in which Bow actually tells his friend to go off and find Adora, and Kowl quibbles with him about the danger of leaving the archer alone. It seems that, even when Bow directly orders Kowl to run away from peril (his favorite thing to do), he still would rather argue about it than just do what Bow says. In the end, considering the advantages of the situation, Kowl does eventually depart - thus leaving himself free while Bow is ultimately captured.
• "The old magician disguise should work nicely," Bow says to himself before attempting to infiltrate the Horde camp. I pictured him wearing a second-rate disguise that still revealed his armor (recall that in 67009's "The Missing Ax," he thought a simple cloak would make him unrecognizable), or perhaps looking like a classic stage magician, with top hat and tails; instead, Bow straight up dresses himself as Merlin. I laughed out loud. It is one of the rare times where the animators actually completely change the outfit of a main character; in fact, it's such a good disguise that it's rather surprising how easily Catra sees through it. (Also: you're going on a vacation and everything you pack needs to fit in a single sack that you're carrying over your shoulder - and one of the things you brought with you is a full magician's costume? Do you like... role-playing, Bow?)
• It was fun to see the Twiggets living in their own little arboreal village; but after witnessing their way of life in action, you have to wonder why they're doing it. In the Whispering Woods, the Twiggets are safe and secure - or at least, safer than they seem to be on the outside. This story sees the Horde wading into the undefended village and easily lopping off the head of the Twiggets' government, thus forcing all of their people into slavery. Maybe consider relocating to the magically protected part of Etheria? I know it's hard to leave your homes, but - there's trees in both places, people.
• Do you think there are any Twigget parents who try to go against the ironclad custom of Twigget-naming by giving their baby a name that doesn't start with "Sp-"? Probably not; I suspect the Twiggets are a very hidebound people. Even names like "Spunky" and "Sparkle" are likely considered dangerously rebellious, just for not having the more traditional "Spr-" beginning (e.g., Sprocker, Sprag, Spritina, Sprint, Sprite).
• I again have to wonder at Adora's dilatoriness in summoning She-Ra, just as I did in 67026's "Book Burning." The princess rides all the way to the Twigget slave camp with Kowl, knowing that her friend is in trouble, but retaining her non-superpowered form. She then spies on the situation, still as Adora. It isn't until the Twiggets are in full attack mode that she finally declares, "It's time for She-Ra!" It's well past time, young lady.
• Until the second She-Ra transformation progressed through its full sequence, I was thinking that Swift Wind was going to be entirely snubbed and not appear in this episode. Adora rode Spirit to get to Bow, but she clearly completes the journey to the slave camp on foot, with her mount seemingly left behind. It's a surprise, then, when a newly transformed She-Ra turns her sword on the (apparently very close) Spirit.
• You've got to love the charming loyalty of the Horde soldiers with the laser bazooka, who growl "This'll teach 'em to throw fruit at Catra" before opening fire on the Twiggets. Who knew the fierce feline could inspire such feelings?
• It's very amusing how Catra finds it necessary to circle her Horde sneaker around and around in the sky in a holding pattern so that she can deliver her threatening monologue to the heroes on the ground. Maybe you shouldn't have taken off, then? I've got to hand it to her, though, as her decoy Eclispe Beam really surprised me and left the rebels temporarily flat-footed.
• ... On the other hand ... maybe one of the reasons the false Eclipse Beam is such a successful ruse is because it doesn't make any sense. Catra set up a whole camp in the ruins, manned it with soldiers and enslaved Twiggets, all to build a machine that wasn't real? What if no rebels took the bait? The Horde accountants would have come down on her hard for all the pointless line items on her expense account!
• Continuity error/animation error: There's no reason to bother questioning She-Ra's ability to survive in space, OK? So let's not talk about it. Nor should we bother discussing her ability to affect the orbit of one of Etheria's moons. She's magic; she's a strong, independent woman; and we're not going to quibble over it. What does bother me is the following: firstly, Bow's wonderful line, "It's She-Ra - on the moon," is somewhat ruined by the subsequent shot of the moon, making it obvious that there's no way he can see her up there. I guess he just deduced her presence? Secondly, She-Ra's towing of the moon, which really relies more on the strength of Swift Wind than any of her own, is also made questionable by the fact that her sword chain doesn't seem to be attached to anything. She's not holding it, as both of her hands are gripping Swifty's mane, and the chain just sort of disappears into the front of the saddle. This is a very important connection which has to stand up to a lot of strain!
• This was a fun story, but I'm left with an impression that the writer approached the content half-heartedly and uncertainly, and ventured into some illogical arguments. The heedless Bow of the opening is clearly meant to set up his being greatly chagrined at, and chastened by, the role he plays in the near catastrophe at the Twigget Village. But his subsequent talk about the rebellion being "better off without" him, and offering to quit (which ties into the episode title, making it seem like this is the point of the story) doesn't really go anywhere, and seems more like a sop to his detractors than any serious intention on his part. It quickly turns into an opportunity for the supposedly guilt-ridden hero to go on vacation. Rather than learning a lesson from his brazenness, Bow's follow-up act is to walk directly into a Horde labor camp (albeit while wearing what I thought seemed an effective disguise).
• Similarly, Adora's claims that Bow puts people in danger just by showing his face ring hollow. Should he be creeping through the bushes all day, rather than fighting on the front lines in Etheria's struggle for freedom? And what about Adora? If anyone puts people in danger by her mere presence, it's Hordak's former favorite and current obsessive fixation. Regardless, even the youngest viewers of the show have to know that Adora's pleas for caution are not going to come to anything: what fun would it be to watch a series about a bunch of good guys who spend all their time hiding from danger and declining social engagements?
• All that having been said, I do love an episode that inspires this volume of commentary. If nothing else, Bow's farewell was thought-provoking!