Bob Forward

Ed Friedman

Prince Adam's journey to Etheria to assist She-Ra in fighting off a Horde bombardment leaves He-Man trapped in a caved-in mine with some would-be rebels, stunned by a freeze ray, and seemingly doomed to asphyxiation. She-Ra had better hurry it up bringing the cavalry, or today's price of freedom will be one beefy blonde oaf!

Orko, Prince Adam (He-Man), Sorceress, She-Ra, Swift Wind, Glimmer, Bow, Kowl

Hordak, Mantenna

various Dryl villagers (including Collon), Horde soldiers, mine guard robot, waspoids, various rebels, Arrow

Wind Raider, Horde air ships, Crawler

Because it's always a beautiful day on Eternia, Prince Adam and his court magician buddy, Orko, are taking the Wind Raider for a spin about the great Fertile Plain that surrounds the Eternian royal palace. Before they get too far, however, Adam discovers two things: one, that Orko hasn't cleaned his room like he was supposed to, and two, that the Sorceress needs Adam at Castle Grasykull. He sternly orders Orko to beam himself back to the palace, then heads to the castle. There, the Sorceress informs the prince that his twin sister, She-Ra, is in dire need of his aid. There is great danger in Etheria! Asking no more questions, Adam requests that the portal to his sister's adopted planet be opened, and strides on through.

On the other side of the door, Adam finds himself in the ruins of a town still in the midst of being bombed! Having foolishly not transformed into He-Man before coming across, he's defenseless against the falling missiles, and a nearby She-Ra must dive to knock him out of the path of a deadly projectile. The heroine hardly has time to explain what's afoot, so desperate is the need of the villagers attempting to escape from this Horde attack; so as she runs off to do what she can, Adam says his magic words, insuring that two superpowered heroes are now available for rescue work. And a good thing, too: in addition to the bombardment, the town is also swarming with Horde troopers, on foot and in the air. He-Man and She-Ra advise the huddling villagers to run to safety in a nearby mine, then engineer a brief respite from the attack by toppling over a water tower and washing the troops away.

Gathered at the entrance to the mine, the twins and the villagers take a breather and discover that, on Hordak's orders, the Horde is now busily torching the already decimated houses below. He-Man learns that these citizens of Dryl are willing to sacrifice their homes to the Horde in return for their freedom. They used to be uncomplaining servants of Hordak, spending their days mining away in the mountain for etherium. But when She-Ra swooped in to rescue them from an overzealous, laser-wielding robot guard who was displeased with their productivity, the villagers determined that they'd had enough: they all want to join the Great Rebellion, and are willing to pay a high price for their freedom.

The situation now being clear to everyone, She-Ra decides the only way the people can make it to safety is if she flies off to fetch the rest of the rebels, currently all gathered in faraway Bright Moon. He-Man volunteers to stay behind and hold off the Horde while she's gone. She-Ra urges Swift Wind on as fast as he can fly, but the distance is great, and she's slowed down by some attacking Horde waspoids. When she finally does reach Bright Moon, she takes but a few moments to explain the situation to Bow, Glimmer, Kowl, and the assembled rebels, and then is off to the air again to rejoin her brother, sensing (through some twin telepathy, or Grayskull mysticism, or the Force) that he's in need of her assistance. Meanwhile, the entire Horde army, including Hordak and Mantenna in a giant Crawler tank, approach the mine entrance and demand the villagers' surrender. Confirming the people's resolve through their spokesperson, Collon, He-Man relays the response by means of a thrown boulder. An enraged Hordak orders his soldiers to open fire with their freeze rays, and He-Man is forced to stand at the entrance, deflecting the many beams with his power sword.

Eventually both sides tire of this stalemate, and Hordak has the idea to have all of his men and his Crawler vehicle fire all their beams at once. The plan is successful: He-Man is finally struck down by one of the freeze rays, and the concentrated assault collapses the mine entrance. Satisfied that his work is done, Hordak pauses to crabbily eject the miserable Mantenna from the Crawler, then orders a general retreat of his army. Inside the mine, the villagers are trapped; they'll soon run out of air, and He-Man is temporarily incapacitated! What to do? The people are at first panicked and angry, dismayed that their blonde protector is no longer able to help them and that She-Ra has (for the moment, at least) abandoned them. But Collon shames his fellow countrymen, reminding them that their would-be rescuers owe them nothing, and that if they want their freedom, they must learn to stand up for themselves. In a strained voice, the stunned He-Man reminds the miners that there is more than one side to a mountain, and they determine to use their mining tools and what strength the steadily thinning air affords them to try to tunnel their way out the back.

Working against time and their own weakening strength, the Drylites desperately swing their pickaxes, while a feeble He-Man can do nothing but look on. At last, the miners break through to open air - they've found a way out! At the same moment, however, the fragile tunnel, lacking proper supports, begins to collapse. The people rush to widen the hole, and Collon drags He-Man to his feet to try to get him out. But He-Man decides that the only way to rescue the others is if he stays behind to hold up the falling ceiling. Urging Collon away, the barely recovered hero braces the roof of the mountain against his powerful hands. At the far end of the tunnel, She-Ra finally arrives (drawn by the sound of the collapsing mine), shoving wide the opening in the rocks and allowing the villagers to escape to safety. And none too soon, for the entrance crumbles away under a shower of rocks. A dismayed Collon must inform She-Ra that He-Man is still trapped inside. The horrorstruck heroine dashes to the pile of fallen rock, frantically tossing boulders aside. Finally digging her way into the remains of the tunnel, she finds her brother squatting in a low opening, still determinedly holding up the mountain.

The siblings enjoy a heartfelt reunion, and She-Ra props up the mountain with a couple of timber beams, then attempts to help her brother out of the rocky would-be tomb. Just as it seems that the danger is over, however, the whole top of the mountain crumbles inward, and the mine is again sealed off. Outside, the villagers and Swift Wind have a few brief seconds to assume the worst and begin weeping animated tears, before the rocks bust open and He-Man and She-Ra emerge unharmed. Whew!

Now that everyone is safe, the rest of the rebellion finally arrives. She-Ra tells Collon and his people to look around themselves, and explains that they have tunneled their way out into the Whispering Woods, the Great Rebellion's magically protected base. They are free and safe now! As Bow conducts the grateful villagers to their new home, He-Man announces that it's about time for him to skedaddle. She-Ra bids him farewell and sends her love to their parents; the twins share the hope that some day they can all be reunited in peace. It's Prince Adam who then returns to the royal palace of Eternia in his Wind Raider, where he finds a miffed Orko stuck cleaning up some paint he spilled. The Trollan chafes under his own perceived lack of freedom, and an amused, knowing Adam informs his friend that sometimes freedom is hard work; but "It certainly is worth it."

• Prince Adam: It's always a beautiful day on Eternia, Orko.
• He-Man (to villager): Your concern is appreciated, sir, but this is our job.
• She-Ra: Hordak is quick to punish any of his troops that don't win.
• Hordak: Safety?! Nothing is safe from the wrath of Hordak!
• He-Man (shocked at She-Ra's decision to abandon Dryl to Hordak's flamethrowers): But their homes - their possessions! / Collon: They mean nothing. Houses we can build again, He-Man, and as for our possessions, we gladly traded them for one thing we did not have: our freedom.
• Collon: Freedom is the most valuable thing we can have. It never comes easy; we have to work for it. We can be grateful for the help of She-Ra and He-Man, but we should never expect it. We can never have freedom unless we can count on ourselves.
• He-Man (wryly, of the mountain he's been holding up): I'm sure going to miss this place. I was getting - kind of attached to it.
• She-Ra: Please give Mother and Father my love. I look for the day we'll all be together. / He-Man: That day will come, She-Ra. Some day, all of our worlds will live in peace, and there will be no reason to fight or to fear what tomorrow may bring. / She-Ra: I pray it will be soon.
• Orko: What's a guy got to do to get a little freedom these days? / Prince Adam: Well, Orko, you know sometimes freedom is pretty hard work. But then again, it's worth it. Yes, Orko - it certainly is worth it.

• She-Ra spin kicks the viewer: Destroying the guard robot
• He-Man juggles his sword: The unsheathing part of the animation is used as He-Man demonstrates his determination to defend the miners
• He-Man picks up and throws a rock: In answer to Hordak's ultimatum
• He-Man smiles close-up, looking at the viewer: The usual pose is used first for a very unsmiling moment, as He-Man urges the Dryl villagers to flee while he holds up the crumbling mountain. The pose is used again as He-Man thanks his sister for saving him.
• Adam smiles close-up, looking at the viewer: For the third and final time, this time using the Eternian prince, and this time with an actual smile, as he makes his ending, ironic comment to Orko about freedom.

Zero (!)
The first two episodes of POP, 67001 and 67002, featured no She-Ra transformations because the current She-Ra did not yet exist. Other episodes with no on-screen transformations (67004, 67016) still featured both Adora and She-Ra. This episode is so-far unique in that Adora never appears at all, since She-Ra remains transformed during the entire runtime. (As a consequence of this, we also never see Spirit.) There is, however, a partial He-Man transformation, missing only the Cringer/Battle Cat sequence (since Adam is flying solo today). She-Ra will again remain She-Ra throughout the entire episode in 67058's "Black Snow."

If you're wondering whether MOTU ever pulled this same trick, they did: He-Man was He-Man, and Battle Cat remained Battle Cat, during the entirety of MU016's "Reign of the Monster."

19:07 - Were I to assign difficulty levels to Loo-Kee's hiding spots (which I really should do, except that it would likely prove a very subjective and inexact rating system!), today's would rate a "Beginner" or "Novice." Though he certainly took his time making an appearance, a face-forward Loo-Kee, staring at us from well in the foreground, is seen at the left side of the screen, barely concealed amid some foliage.
Did I spot him? YES! You'd better believe it.

Loo-Kee's lesson today could very easily have swerved into an ultra-patriotic, militant propaganda-fest about how our country's armed forces pay the ultimate price for freedom, and we should be @#$%# grateful for it, thank you very much. A cautious Loo-Kee steers well clear of this emotional minefield, which would have weighed down the already weighty story, and instead urges us not to play with matches or lighters. As we saw by the burning houses in today's episode, fire is nothing to take lightly. (And neither is freedom! But Loo-Kee don't wanna talk about that.)

MOTU crossover
Landmark Episode: I really don't want to keep adding episodes to the landmark category, but I can't seem to help myself. The emotional intensity of this plot all but demands it!

• Today's writer already gave us two other MOTU crossover POP scripts in 67003's "She-Ra Unchained" (a particularly thrilling story featuring the first mid-episode on-screen She-Ra transformation) and 67015's "He Ain't Heavy." And before that, he contributed to two landmark MOTU scripts in MU085's "The Rainbow Warrior" and the crucial MU110's "The Problem with Power." Today's story seems like an intentional bid to match or outdo the dark, tragic tones of MU110 (oft cited as the best He-Man episode, in which Adam is tricked by Skeletor into surrendering his power sword). Get your tissues ready, folks!
• If you jumped right into this episode without watching the title sequence, you could be forgiven for thinking that you'd stumbled into an episode of He-Man. We open on the royal palace at Eternia, witness a very typical conversation between Orko and Prince Adam as they fly in a Wind Raider, and then visit Castle Grayskull and the Sorceress. Were our Filmation animators and writers missing those old familiar MOTU people and places?
• Orko makes his first Filmation appearance since the end of the MOTU series (MU130), and his first appearance in the POP series. We find that he is still the same old Orko, shirking his room-cleaning chores and causing disasters wherever he goes.
• The Trollan does manage to successfully (we assume) teleport himself out of a moving Wind Raider and back to the palace. His attempt to perform a similar trick in MU103's "The Good Shall Survive" was also ultimately successful, but fraught with uncertainty.
• Eternia's Sorceress (your and my favorite bird lady) appears for the first time since a brief cameo in She-Ra's sword gem in 67035 (which, by my sequencing, comes before this one).
• In addition to the MOTU characters heretofore named, we also get multiple references to Man-at-Arms, and at the end of the episode She-Ra asks He-Man to remember her to her parents, King Randor and Queen Marlena. As far as we know, Adora hasn't been to visit them since they parted so tearfully in 67005.
• With amazing consistency, the portal in Castle Grayskull that Adam uses to travel to Etheria is the same one he used in 67001 - you can tell because it has a very distinctive (and creepy) spider decoration lurking at the top.
• Adam uses the unfamiliar expression "By the grace of Eternia" in reaction to the Horde bombardment. I would have expected to hear the more common "By the ancients!"
• We see the Horde making use of actual rocket-type bombs in this episode, making the scene at Dryl look like London during the Blitz - or Dresden during its firebombing. As I've already said - dark!
• Swiss army sword: She-Ra turns her sword into a shield (and back again) to block an incoming missile. Later, she turns her weapon to a staff to smash some waspoids. This marks the first appearance of the shield form of She-Ra's sword, a particularly common transformation that she'll use again and again in the series.
• It's He-Man who has the idea to sweep away a battalion of Horde troopers by knocking over a water tower; but you'd really think She-Ra would have thought of it first, after all the times Glimmer bragged about her own use of a water tower for the same purpose, in 67025's "Small Problems."
• A few more vehicles to add to the growing Horde fleet today: the soldiers are seen flying around in some sleek open-top air ships, just a little larger in size than a Wind Raider. Also we are treated to yet another Horde tank in the form of Hordak's very impressive "Crawler," a gigantic treaded vehicle with a huge swiveling turret and (naturally) an oversized replica of Hordak's face on the front. It's a very awesome and toyetic vehicle design which Mattel once again passed up on.
• We see backpacked troopers with portable flamethrowers, which I vaguely thought might have been used before in 67026's "Book Burning," but now realize were used to spread the shrinking powder in 67025's "Small Problems." The air ships, the Crawler, and the flamethrowers will all appear again, in 67079's "Romeo and Glimmer."
• This episode introduces the mineral "etherium," twin to Eternia's "eternium." Collon notes that the Horde uses etherium "to power their machines," just like the original imagining of eternium described in MU042's "Double Edged Sword." (Eternium was later - and inconsistently - co-opted as a particularly strong building material, by "The Gamesman" of MU069.) The citizens of Dryl toil away in service of the Horde, mining the stuff - until the straw that breaks the camel's back comes down.
• That straw involves a new Horde robot, a hulking armed guard who looks very similar to the Cylons from the classic sci-fi TV series Battlestar Galactica (1978). Very similar. Like, MCA, who apparently owned the rights to Battlestar, could have sued Filmation over this robot, it's so transparently a Cylon - that is, if it weren't for the fact that MCA had by this time already been sued itself, by George Lucas, for their own show being a ripoff of Star Wars. Heh. The things you learn from Google...
• We've seen the Horde employ several small-scale attack robots, including the "attack bots" of 67013 and the "spy bat" of 67015. Today adds another to the list, with the "waspoids." They look pretty much like you'd imagine with a He-Man-level name like that: robotic wasps.
• If he were back in Hordak's throne room, the luckless Mantenna (who, after all, is only trying to lighten the situation with a little laughter) would surely have been the victim of Hordak's favorite punishment, a trapdoor. Hordak has used this on Mantenna time and again - though most recently it was Grizzlor taking the fall, in 67021. Since the pair are off-site in Hordak's Crawler, our dictator has to settle for a reverse trapdoor: he flings Mantenna out the top of the vehicle via a spring-loaded platform. "Now that's funny!" grins Hordak - proving that the use of a reverse trapdoor can bring him as much joy as the regular kind.
• She-Ra, off on her mission to round up a rescue party, is anxious to get back to He-Man: "I can feel he needs me. I sense a great danger." Whoa, whoa! Speaking of people ripping off Star Wars; these twins don't have a Force bond! They are twins, however; even on Earth, IRL, there are tales of twin siblings having psychic connections like this over long distances. Speaking as an identical twin myself (honest), I can't say I've ever experienced this telepathy. But maybe that was the angle Mr. Forward was going for here. We'll see She-Ra making use of this psychic bond again, over an even longer distance, in 67083's "She-Ra Makes a Promise."

• The Sorceress chooses a particularly stilted way to give Prince Adam her news: "I am receiving signals of distress," she announces. So, you mean distress signals, yes?
• In the continuing trend I'm noting of our heroes failing to make their superpowered transformations promptly enough (I accused Adora of this same fault in just the previous episode, 67028), today it's Prince Adam falling down on the job. The Sorceress clearly warns the prince that he's headed into a very dangerous situation when she opens the portal to Etheria; yet Adam bumbles on in as his normal self, and has to be saved from death-by-shrapnel by a quick-thinking She-Ra. "I'll have to become He-Man," the rescued Adam declares. Um yes you will, genius.
• I spoke earlier in the lore section about the writer/animators missing He-Man; it really seems as if that might be the case when you look at who's responsible for the majority of the heroism and action in this episode. We begin in Eternia with Adam, whose help is needed by She-Ra. When he arrives in Etheria, He-Man takes charge of the situation, telling the villagers that he and his sister have things under control, coming up with the idea to knock over the water tower, and bravely holding the mine against the attack of the Horde. Even after he's been stunned by a freeze ray, it's He-Man who contributes a crucial part to the villagers' escape plan. Later, he's the one who holds up the entire mountain while the villagers get to safety. Yes, She-Ra arrives in time to help him out of the mountain, but the cavalry she spent all that time fetching proves basically useless. This story almost seems to be trying to show off He-Man's comparatively superior skills, perhaps in defense of a complaint I heard referenced in the Power of Grayskull documentary that the buff stud started to seem emasculated next to his powerful twin sister.
• She-Ra takes so long returning to He-Man's side because, as she says before leaving, "all the other rebels are in Bright Moon." When she does finally get a hold of Bow and tells him their destination, Bow knows where Dryl is, but declares that "it will take some time to get there" - clearly it's meant to be some distant location on Etheria. However, when the miners break through on the other side of Dryl's mountain, they find themselves in the Whispering Woods! So are we to believe that the distant Dryl is actually right next to the rebels' camp in the magical forest? That's... questionable. Though we've never had their relative locations spelled out in the show, you really would think that Bright Moon and the Whispering Woods were pretty close to each other.
• Let's spare a thought for Mantenna, people. Hordak ejects the minion from his vehicle just before departing the scene, so we have to assume the many-legged fellow is left stranded in the ruins of Dryl. It's a long walk back to the Fright Zone!
• A frantic She-Ra digs through the rubble of the collapsed mine to find her brother, shouting for "He-Man!" But when she finally breaks through and finds him crouched among the rocks, using the last of his strength to hold up the entire mountain, she touchingly gasps, "Adam!" There's something really special about this scene; it's so moving that I'm hardly bothered by the fact that, in saying his other name, She-Ra is clearly equating Adam and He-Man. (I've often grasped at vague hints in the series that He-Man and Adam could potentially be considered different people.)
• When, at the end of the episode, She-Ra is telling Bow that she had "a little help" in rescuing the people of Dryl, she adds, "It was all in the family!" It's very obvious she's saying this because He-Man is her brother - but Bow isn't supposed to know that! The only family connection he's aware of is the sibling one between Adora and Adam. I'd argue She-Ra has thoughtlessly endangered her secret identity with this offhand comment.
• He-Man's final comment about their some day no longer having to "fear what tomorrow may bring" is hard not to read in a Cold War context, since at the time this show aired that conflict was still very much in play.
• The final act of heroism in today's story is actually displayed by Prince Adam, who, after having spent all day as He-Man rescuing a village and nearly dying multiple times, still has energy left to take Orko for a Wind Raider ride.
• This is an emotionally powerful and resonant story, covering some mature topics and grippingly depicting He-Man's true heroism and willingness to sacrifice himself for the greater good. We also get some strong scenes showing the deep connection and love between He-Man and his sister. So it would be petty of me to find reasons to criticize this story, right? Well, if you've read a few other entries, you'll know that such considerations would never dissuade me from some good nitpicking! Basically, it's impossible not to compare this episode with MU110's "The Problem with Power" (their titles are even parallel in structure), and I think it suffers by the comparison. MU110 covered similar important themes of sacrifice, and doing the right thing in very difficult and challenging situations; but it also delved pretty deeply into He-Man's character and the lore of his power. This episode is somewhat lacking in the latter. But that's the only weak point for me, in what will likely prove to be one of the best episodes of this series.