J. Michael Straczynski

Marsh Lamore

We've already learned about "The Problem with Power" and "The Price of Freedom;" now let's hear about "The Price of Power"! This one's a rip-roaring magical adventure, as our heroes and the elderly wizard Norwyn race to rescue misled apprentice Arden from the clutches of the wicked Shadow Weaver. On the way, we'll get some juicy backstory about the Horde's most evil sorceress!

Broom, Madame Razz, Princess Adora (She-Ra), Spirit (Swift Wind)

Mantenna, Shadow Weaver

Norwyn, Arden, various villagers (including Innkeeper Garv, musicians), Horde soldiers, attack bot, messenger bird, gargoyles, Dark Riders (and their horses), Nightfire, raven spy, darkstalker, tentacle thing

Horde truck, wagon, Horde ships

On Etheria, it's perfectly normal and not creepy for an old magician to let his young apprentice live in his cottage with him while the magician teaches the boy magic. So let's just get past that, shall we? In this specific case, it's old Norwyn the magician who's trying to teach young Arden; but the boy doesn't believe his teacher when Norwyn says that "easier isn't always better." The old man won't even let Arden use magic to help them gather firewood. Believing that Norwyn is stodgy and old-fashioned, Arden tries a spell as soon as the old man's back is turned, and generates a towering pile of twigs. The size of the pile really gives the game away two seconds later, when Norwyn comes back out of his cottage, ready to take the boy out for lunch at the local inn. A chastened Arden must kick the wood tower over.

At the inn, the magician and boy overhear a party of Horde soldiers throwing around the name of Shadow Weaver, who's sent the troops to collect supplies from the innkeeper. Arden is starstruck, because he's heard Weaver is one of the strongest magic-users on Etheria. When he asks Norwyn about the sorceress, the old man notes that she wasn't always so powerful; her current magic level was obtained over the course of a single night, through a mysterious process whose details Norwyn refuses to divulge. Tempted by the lure of easy magical expertise, Arden makes a snap decision and leaps from an upper floor of the inn onto the top of the Horde soldiers' truck just as it drives off. Norwyn, who's just stepped outside to look for his student, catches a glimpse of the little stowaway dwindling in the distance and realizes with dismay what's happened.

Time to find out what our main characters are up to! Adora is with Broom and Madame Razz in the rebel camp in the Whispering Woods. They're standing around a deactivated Horde attack bot, which Adora is hoping to reprogram to attack its makers. But before she can make any progress in this endeavor, the curious Broom pushes the robot's power button! Adora has no choice but to defend herself and friends from the still-evil and fully-armed machine, and so smashes it to bits with a well-aimed throw of her sword of protection. So much for that idea! What their next move might have been we don't know, because the heroes then spot a hawk-like bird circling overhead, which comes in for a landing and begins projecting a holographic message out of the jewel on its fancy collar. It's a tiny hologram of Norwyn, who urgently requests help from his old friend Razz. Madame expresses her determination to obey the summons, and our princess decides that She-Ra will likely be needed on this adventure. She therefore does her usual transformation and hops on Swift Wind's back for a trip to Norwyn's village of Alwyn.

Shadow Weaver, however, has already predicted she'll have visitors and taken steps in reaction. The young Arden hitched his way on the Horde truck as it wended its way up the winding road of the Nameless Volcano, the foundation on which Weaver's fortress is built. But he was spotted and nabbed by Mantenna and taken to Shadow Weaver's chambers, where she ascertained that the boy was under the tutelage of her old, hated teacher. Realizing Norwyn will be along soon to fetch the kid, Weaver is thrilled at the prospect of getting her own back. Impatient for her long-delayed revenge, the sorceress summons a trio of skeletal Dark Riders astride winged black horses and sends them in Norwyn's direction. They instead intercept our voyaging heroes! Razz, Broom, and She-Ra have to do some fancy flying to trick the evil monsters into hitting the ground, which happily causes them to disintegrate in a shiny flash.

When She-Ra and Razz finally reach Alwyn and the old wizard, Norwyn tells them of his missing apprentice and Arden's probable defection to Shadow Weaver. Norwyn has been teaching magic for so long, it seems, that two of his past students were Castaspella and Shadow Weaver. Weaver turned evil and betrayed Etheria to the Horde, and when Norwyn tried to stop her he earned her eternal enmity. Now the old man is sure Weaver will corrupt Arden just to spite her old teacher. Their mission now clear, She-Ra makes room for Norwyn on Shadow Weaver's back and they all take flight for Weaver's lair at Horror Hall.

During the journey, Norwyn offers more details of the old days in Etheria. Back when the Horde first began to attack the planet, the people's hope lay in their Council of Kings, who went into hiding at a secret base. Only a chosen few knew of the base's location - among them Norwyn and his pupils, Castaspella and Shadow Weaver. Weaver was turned by the Horde: in return for giving up the Council, she got herself zapped by a power gem - the source of the overnight power boost mentioned earlier. A younger Norwyn, discovering the betrayal, interrupted the process when it was only a third of the way complete, and destroyed the gem - but Weaver had already been mutated into the eerie creature she is today.

Everybody got that? Good! Arrived at Horror Hall, our well-informed heroes begin to make their way through the snaking tunnels of the volcano. There they encounter the imposing Nightfire, a two-headed dragon with lightning beam freeze rays coming out of its eyes, whom She-Ra nevertheless easily defeats by jumping between the heads, tricking the creature into shooting itself. By this time, Shadow Weaver has pleased the eager Arden by agreeing to take over his magic lessons, and has even begun teaching the boy a few lessons on the darker sorts of magic, including how to control a darkstalker and (perhaps somewhat imprudently) how much he'll have to sacrifice to get where she is. This last lesson - the "price of power," if you will - she imparts by revealing to the boy her own withered and disfigured face. (We don't get to see, but based on his reaction, it must be pretty gruesome under that hood!) Informed of the imminent arrival of Norwyn and his entourage by a spy bird, Shadow Weaver tells Arden she has a "surprise" for him and walks him out to one of the paths outside the fortress. She-Ra busts down a nearby wall, and the two parties meet at last.

In the thrilling climax, while the heroes look on, Shadow Weaver turns to Arden and offers him a gem. All he has to do is take it, and he will have power just like hers - just as easily. Then Arden can strike down his old teacher, and Weaver's revenge will be complete! Norwyn urges his pupil once again not to take the easy path, for it is hard work and perseverance that get us the only things worth having. The lesson finally sinks in for the boy, and he refuses Weaver's offer. Frustrated but not defeated, the sorceress then attacks her enemies, first by conjuring life into the stone gargoyles dotted on the heights above them, then by entangling Norwyn in tentacles that burst from the ground. She-Ra and Razz must battle and dodge the gargoyles until Madame finds a moment to grab Arden and fly him to safety.

As soon as she does, Norwyn acts. It seems the mighty magician was simply biding his time until he knew his charge was safe. Revealing the true extent of his powers, Norwyn easily shatters the tentacles holding him and dazzles Shadow Weaver with a shimmering blast of light. The old teacher reminds the cowering Weaver that he always said the light was stronger than the dark; it is a lesson she refused to learn - to her ultimate cost. Sadly expressing pity for the corrupted woman, Norwyn teleports himself and his friends out of danger. Back at the village, the abashed Arden is surprised to hear that Norwyn is willing to continue teaching the boy - that he is even proud of what Arden did today. Arden (Norwyn declares) has the makings of a "first class sorcerer." She-Ra gets in the last word by calling Norwyn a "great teacher."

• Arden: It would be a lot easier if we used magic. / Norwyn (reciting the episode's moral in its opening minute): True, but easier isn't always better.
• Arden: Shadow Weaver! I've heard of her. She's supposed to have some of the strongest magic in all Etheria. Was she always that powerful? / Norwyn: No. She was a, uh, passable sorceress. But then, one night, all of that changed.
• Madame Razz: Norwyn taught magic for as long as I can remember. (whispering excitedly) One of his students was Castaspella. / Norwyn: The other was Shadow Weaver herself - before she turned to evil. She helped betray our planet to the Horde. I tried to stop her, and for this she has never forgiven me. She will take revenge - on me - or by turning Arden to the ways of darkness.
• Norwyn (providing further back story): It all happened shortly after the Horde first arrived on Etheria. Though we were outgunned, there was hope as long as the Council of Kings were safe. Only a handful of us knew the secret location of their base - among them, my students, Castaspella and Shadow Weaver. What we did not know was that Shadow Weaver had made a deal with the Horde. They would provide her with a power gem that would make her powerful beyond imagining. In exchange, she would betray the Council of Kings. I discovered what was happening too late. I destroyed the power gem, but not before she had taken a third of its power. It changed her forever.
• Nightfire (stating the obvious with wonderful aplomb): No! I hit myself!
• Shadow Weaver: To become as I am, you must be prepared to give up everything: friends, and other things. ... Ah, there is much to be sacrificed if you wish to become powerful. See for yourself what became of me when I embraced the darkness. (Lifts her hood)
• Shadow Weaver (holding out a gem to Arden): Take it! And strike out at Norwyn. It's so easy. / Norwyn: Yes, Arden: her way is easy. My way is hard. I never promised you otherwise. Because the only things worth having are the things you work for - like friendship; our friendship.
• Norwyn (to Shadow Weaver): See how your dark magic shatters before the light, just as your lies and your powers will one day be destroyed. ... I taught you that the light is always more powerful than the dark. You never understood that lesson; but you will - some day. And that will be the end of Shadow Weaver and the sorceress you could have been. Though I should not, I - I feel sorry for you.

N/A

One full

5:52 - Again hanging around in the spot where Adora gets changed, we see Loo-Kee standing by a Loo-Kee-colored plant in the Whispering Woods, on the right side of the screen, just as Spirit walks into view and the transformation sequence commences. Loo-Kee has been nearby for the transformation several times now, and as recently as the previous episode (67046). Also - see next episode (67048)!
Did I spot him? YES!

Loo-Kee chooses to sidestep the main lesson in today's story, which was clearly Norwyn's repeated words about how the easy way is usually not the best way, and that hard work is the only way to earn anything worth having. Instead, our elfin friend points us towards Arden's "mistake" in joining Shadow Weaver, and assures us that it's OK to make mistakes, as long as we learn from them. Though I'd argue there are some mistakes that are hard to come back from - like, say, shriveling yourself with a power gem.

Wayward child learns a valuable lesson: The wayward Arden has to learn the thing his teacher was trying to tell him in the opening minutes of the story - but like many young 'uns before and since, the only way this thick-headed kid can learn is by experiencing the consequences for himself.
Hordak-less episodes in Season 1
Landmark Episode: I just can't stop myself from tagging this one, as I enjoyed the heck out of almost every second of it. The backstory for Shadow Weaver is a definite argument in its favor, but it also has fantastic characters, gorgeous background paintings, and some fabulously Tolkien-esque dialogue to boot.

• This is show co-creator and famous sci-fi and comic book writer Straczynski's seventh of a total of nine POP scripts. (He also contributed nine MOTU scripts.)
• Today's magician/apprentice dynamic and lesson-teaching storyline recall the recent 67037's "The Anxious Apprentice."
• The inn Norwyn and Arden visit (apparently situated in the village of Alwyn) does not have the generic Etherian inn interior we've come to expect (by which I mean, the Laughing Swan franchise, seen as far back as 67001 but also many times since). It does, however, have a familiar innkeeper. According to Wiki Grayskull, he's the same "Garv" who delivered the message for She-Ra in the recent 67045's "Huntara."
• Arden, today's wayward child, has a character design (and especially a voice) that follows in the footsteps of many wayward children who've come before him: he shares characteristics with Melaktha's apprentice, Stanlan (MU040, among others); the easily swayed Tager from MU088's "Three on a Dare;" the morally bankrupt Drak from MU099's "Hunt for He-Man;" and we could always throw in the rhyming trio of Chad, Thad, and Lad, from MU042, MU112, MU049, 67009 (though She-Ra's Thad was a different kid, he was just as wayward as the original), and MU070.
• We find Adora tinkering with one of the same "attack bots" or "capture bots" seen in 67013 or 67036 (respectively). This one is drawn slightly differently than 67013's bots: the earlier version had no pupils; pointy, gnashing teeth; and a spiked mohawk. This one has more expressive eyes, no mohawk, and its mouth is a round area marked with vertical lines. We get no specific name for it this time beyond Adora's "robot," so I've identified it in the character list by its earliest name.
• It's not particularly surprising to see POP dipping into the Star Wars universe again with Norwyn's little projected hologram (very reminiscent of the message from Princess Leia that started Luke's adventures in good old Episode IV). What is surprising is that the message is addressed to Madame Razz! People expect to receive help from this woman?
• Today marks what I believe is the fourth time that Loo-Kee appears in the vicinity just as Adora is making her magical transformation (see 67015, 67040, and yesterday's 67046). It almost seems like the animators want to make sure we realize that Loo-Kee knows our heroine's little secret...even though, as we'll eventually learn in 67055, he doesn't. (Loo-Kee will again appear near the transformation in the next episode, 67048.)
• We again return to Horror Hall, Shadow Weaver's home away from home, visited several times so far in the series (most recently in the opening of 67040), but not named on screen until 67043's "Welcome Back, Kowl." We got some great looks at the creepy interior in 67027's "The Eldritch Mist," which will be expanded upon here. (That episode is also the perfect companion to this one, since it hints at some of the same Weaver lore we'll get into here.)
• Previous views of Horror Hall have suggested it was seated at sea level, just on the shores of a lake of lava; this episode for the first time shows us that the building is in fact perched at the pinnacle of a volcano (dubbed by Madame Razz "the Nameless Volcano"), and reached by a winding mountain path.
• Continuing the connections to Star Wars, we begin to understand that Norwyn is the Obi-Wan Kenobi to Shadow Weaver's Darth Vader: the elderly teacher with a corrupted, vengeful student in his past. (In 67027 I made similar comparisons between Castaspella and Weaver, but clearly Norwyn is the real Obi-Wan here.)
• But JMS can appropriate from fantasy properties as well as sci-fi ones! Weaver's skeletal "Dark Riders" are clearly a nod to Tolkien's Ringwraiths (literally also known as Black Riders). Madame Razz expositionally gives us a little additional lore for these fellows with her comment: "No spell can work against a Dark Rider; they're too powerful." Luckily, they're also very delicate creatures who tend to explode into little showers of sparks at the least impact, with no messy cleanup required!
• Note that She-Ra's usual skills of animal communication don't seem to work on the Dark Rider's mount. When she finds herself sitting astride one of the evil-looking winged horses, she asks herself, "Now, how do I control this? Uh-oh; I guess I don't."
• Connecting the dots from Castaspella and Shadow Weaver's battle banter in 67027, we learn here that both sorceresses were once the pupils of Norwyn: one stayed good, the other turned to evil. In choosing evil, as Norwyn explains, Shadow Weaver "helped betray our planet to the Horde." We also get to see a young Casta and an as-yet untransformed Weaver (though she wears a veil, so beyond learning she had blonde hair, we don't get much else).
• Some further details can be gleaned from the memorable lines section, where I've quoted the juicy entirety of Norwyn's larger story. It introduces the Etherian concept of a ruling "Council of Kings," presumably a planet-wide governing body from before the Horde takeover.
• The chronology here is interesting in relation to the recent flashbacks in 67046's "Micah of Bright Moon;" there, we learned that the Horde came to Etheria when Glimmer was just a little girl, since that's when her father went off to fight them and got captured. That means the events of Norwyn's story must be about 10-15 years old at this telling.
• The flashback scene of the Horde ships strafing the villages of Etheria strongly recalls the attack on Eternia by some suspiciously similar vessels in JMS's first Filmation script, MU073's "Origin of the Sorceress." I love this connection, as it gives us continuity between the story of Teela Na, the reawakening of Grayskull, and the tragedy on Etheria that led to the creation of She-Ra.
• Swiss army sword: To fight off the draconian Nightfire, She-Ra changes her sword to its shield form. Later, when fighting Shadow Weaver's animated gargoyles, she changes the blade to a looped lasso.
• Shadow Weaver's "little spy," a rather human-faced raven that whispers mouse- or bat-like squeakings in her ear, is the same raven spy used by Skeletor in MU067's "The Energy Beast." Skeletor's version varied in a few small ways: its coloring was different, it could speak regular English, and it was summoned by a sing-song spell.
• In a fantastically creepy scene, Shadow Weaver for the first time lifts her hood to show Arden what her sacrifice for power has done to her physical form. The animators make the clever choice not to show us her face, but instead Arden's horrified reaction.
• A rebuffed Shadow Weaver threatens Arden with "the slave mines," presumably referring to 67024's "The Mines of Mondor."
• Norwyn's defeat of his old student by the use of a bright light recalls Bow smugly using the same method of attack against Weaver, via a flash arrow, in 67044's "The Rock People."
• The Star Wars hits continue to the very end of the episode, as in the final scene the proud Norwyn tells Arden that his student has "taken your first real step" towards becoming a good sorcerer. In Episode IV Obi-Wan told new student Luke Skywalker that he had "taken your first step into a larger world."

• Norwyn may be a wise man and a great magician, but his teaching methods leave a little to be desired. In the inn he tells Arden just enough about Shadow Weaver to make it sound like she got her incredible magic very easily, while leaving the all-important "price" part of the story for when Arden is "old enough to understand." Way to tempt your kid to the dark side, guy. "Sure, it would be really easy and great to learn magic like Shadow Weaver, but... let's go home."
• It's Adora who throws the sword of protection to destroy the attack bot. Interesting to see the princess successfully using her weapon to defend herself and her friends while not changing into She-Ra. Nice to know that once in a blue moon, we can solve problems without super powers.
• Animation error: When Arden steps out of Shadow Weaver's study to give her time to consider his request to be her pupil, he does so using a doorway that seems to have been inserted for the purpose since the last time we were in this room (67027). After he closes one of the pair of doors, we find that the left door handle is now hanging much lower than the right one.
• We're asked to believe that Madame Razz and Broom, who are constantly crashing into trees, the ground, and other people on straightforward journeys from point A to B, manage a trick dive that the evil Dark Rider can't pull out of in time. Maybe their flying improves in stressful situations?
• I was going to wait until a summing-up comment at the end of this section, but I need to express now just how thoroughly I love so many of the things about this episode. The many eerie interior shots of Horror Hall are wonderfully eldritch and Lovecraftian. The character designs of the gargoyles and Dark Riders are awesome. The drama in the magical apprentice back story adds great pathos and added emotional weight to what would otherwise be a didactic "lesson" story. The added origin of Shadow Weaver, bringing us a tale from the earliest history of the conflict between the Horde and the Etherians, is the best kind of lore. This episode follows in the footsteps of some of my earlier magic-based favorites, 67027 (as mentioned previously) and 67019's "The Enchanted Castle."
• My previous reference to cool character designs didn't even mention Weaver's totally rad two-headed dragon guardian, Nightfire. He's reminiscent of Godzilla's multi-headed dragon enemy, King Ghidorah. And then there's the darkstalker!
• Even when telling his flashback story from before she turned evil, Norwyn consistently refers to the Horde's sorceress as "Shadow Weaver." If she was always called that, you'd think someone would have suspected something earlier! We can suppose that, like Obi-Wan before him, Norwyn would rather forget the earlier, more innocent incarnation of his treasonous pupil, and so refuses to speak her original name.
• Interesting that She-Ra smashes the stone gargoyles to bits without having been given any of the usual preparatory information about their being nonliving and safe to destroy. Perhaps that information was implied in Weaver's gargoyle awakening spell, which described the monsters as "creatures of stone" with "hearts of rock."
• This will likely prove to be in the short list of my "best episodes ever" for POP. In addition to all the things listed earlier that I loved about it, I also want to give a nod to the great dialogue, particularly Norwyn's impressive pronouncements. His big scene where he reveals his true power to Shadow Weaver and shows her just how feeble hers is by comparison is thrilling and hugely satisfying. It's rare that one of these heavy lesson-based episodes can find the right balance between lecturing and telling a great story, but this one walked the tightrope admirably.