Bob Forward

Mark Glamack

Horde Prime's birthday is coming up, and it's been made clear to Hordak that gifts are expected. But what do you get the galactic dictator who has everything? Simple! She-Ra's one-of-a-kind horse, Swift Wind!

Swift Wind, Bow, She-Ra

Hordak, Mantenna, Shadow Weaver (young girl), Grizzlor, Horde Prime

Horde soldiers, Horde servant

destructo tank

Hordak jetpacks in through the ceiling of the Fright Zone and into his throne room, and finds his loyal soldiers Mantenna, Shadow Weaver, and Grizzlor assembled to meet him. After he drops Mantenna through a trapdoor on the flimsiest of pretexts, the perceptive Shadow Weaver senses that Hordak is feeling a little down about something. The Horde commander explains that he has just had a secret meeting with Horde Prime, the all-powerful overlord of the galaxy-spanning Horde empire, in which that omnipotent dictator subtly reminded his inferior that a certain someone's birthday is quickly approaching, and that same someone will be expecting to receive gifts. Hordak is disconsolate: what can you get the man who has two of everything - even heads?

Grizzlor pipes up, declaring that he has just the thing, and runs out of the room. He comes back with a matching pair of bow ties, one for each of Horde Prime's heads, the bows fashioned in the shape of the Horde logo. The outraged Hordak is sure Prime will hate this paltry idea, and dumps Grizzlor down the trapdoor. This leaves Shadow Weaver, who has her own idea for a gift - a unique, amazing gift, one that Horde Prime certainly doesn't already have; and one whose acquisition will also serve to hurt their enemies in the rebellion. It's She-Ra's winged steed, Swift Wind! Hordak immediately sees that this is the perfect present, and agrees that Shadow Weaver should go and steal the beast. Weaver is ready to comply, with a plan that involves disguising herself as a young blonde girl. Our heroes won't see what's coming...

Of course, one of the requirements of catching Swift Wind is that he be around, and not in his normal horse form, Spirit; but luckily for our villains, on this day Princess Adora has already transformed herself and her horse. We find She-Ra in the process of treating Bow to an airborne patrol around Etheria on the back of Swift Wind. As they're appreciating their bird's-eye view of the surrounding countryside, the pair spot a broken dam spurting water, so they land in the adjoining village to investigate. She-Ra insists that Bow stay with her horse while she solves the problem - a request the archer accepts with ill grace. Inspecting the hole in the dam at closer range, our heroine quickly spots that it was caused by deliberate sabotage with a laser bolt. While she's plugging the hole with a wooden beam, the disguised Shadow Weaver - who staged this problem on purpose to draw She-Ra and has been lurking nearby - makes her move. She dashes through the village crying for help, with one of her Horde troopers pretending to chase after her. The restless Bow, aching for action, hears the commotion and rushes to the rescue, leaving Swift Wind to his own devices. While our archer is busy riding the fair maiden of her pursuer - and She-Ra is returning from her dam repair - a second Horde trooper zaps Swift Wind with a freeze gun and tows the horse away.

Her ruse successfully enacted, the "rescued" Shadow Weaver kisses her rescuer before resuming her true form. The revolted Bow hardly has time to think about who he just smooched before Weaver has trapped him in a foggy shell. She boasts that her plan has not only garnered the perfect gift for Horde Prime, but has also gained her a valuable prisoner. By this time, however, She-Ra has returned, and a swift throw of her sword of protection frees her mustached friend. The heroes attempt to press their advantage, but a cackling Shadow Weaver vanishes away. It doesn't take She-Ra long to discover that the winged member of their party is missing, and Bow puts this together with Weaver's comment: they realize that She-Ra's beloved steed is now in the clutches of the Evil Horde! There's only one thing to do: She-Ra will have to go (on foot, one assumes) to the Fright Zone and get Swifty back. The loyal Bow, guilty at his own part in the loss of the beast, and as always eager to assist, begs to come along as well - a plea to which the uncertain She-Ra ultimately accedes.

Off in the Fright Zone, a collared Swift Wind is brought before the exultant Hordak. Gleefully counting his chickens, the Horde commander dreams of future accolades and promotions, all thanks to his amazing present. (When the attendant Mantenna attempts to correct his master by pointing out this was all Shadow Weaver's idea, he earns himself another trapdoor dunking.) Hordak assures the imprisoned horse that his captive should expect no rescue: the Fright Zone is bristling with tanks, sentries, and guns, all totally prepared for She-Ra's approach. He further demoralizes the poor creature by describing the long, hopeless imprisonment on Horde World that Swift Wind can look forward to, kept in a windowless cage while his wings slowly atrophy from lack of use. Yeesh!

Swifty's would-be rescuers are not so unprepared as Hordak believes, however. Poised within sight of the evil fortress, She-Ra suspects that defense systems are in place. Sure enough, when Bow sends in an arrow to test the theory, he finds the projectile is quickly annihilated in a withering crossfire. Our heroine instructs her colleague to wait a few moments and then cause a commotion outside the fortress to distract the soldiery while she gets her horse. Her past life as a force captain again coming to her aid, She-Ra remembers a nearby stream runs all the way under the Fright Zone, and swims her way inside. The watercourse leads her to a spot directly under Hordak's throne room - a fact confirmed for her by the appearance of Mantenna, once again dropping through the throne room's trapdoor.

Always compassionate, she fishes the floundering villain out of the water, but is forced to deflect his eye stun beams back at him when the pitiful minion belatedly recognizes her. Momentarily incapacitated, Mantenna taunts his conqueror with the information that any second Swift Wind will blast off for Horde World - so She-Ra knows to make a run for the Fright Zone's spaceport. Continuing her stealthy infiltration, She-Ra crawls close enough to a pair of chattering spaceport guards to confuse them and knock them out, then finally breaks into Swift Wind's transport and is reunited with her old friend. By this time, Bow has caused his distraction with a few well-placed explosive arrows, and the Horde army is mobilizing to fight off the attack. Mantenna rushes in from the dungeon to try to warn his boss that he's seen She-Ra skulking nearby, but Hordak doesn't want to hear it and sends his employee down the trapdoor yet again.

Bow, finally fed up with waiting for She-Ra to return, and certain that she's been captured or delayed by the Horde, swings in by rope for his own attack on the fortress. He manages to tie up the first two soldiers he meets, then meets She-Ra herself, who is just fine and ready to fly away on Swift Wind. They face one more obstacle with the arrival of Shadow Weaver, who's been sent on the attack after informing Hordak of the breakout of Swift Wind - but She-Ra handily traps the sorceress by reflecting her spell back on her. Our heroine then gives the sheepish Bow a lift and they turn for home - the rebel archer wondering what replacement gift Hordak will have to settle on to attempt to appease his high-class overlord...

Cut to Horde World, where a groveling servant is just delivering Horde Prime's present from Hordak. You guessed it: it's the pair of ties. An underwhelmed Horde Prime activates a long-range signal that wends its way across the stars, eventually triggering the seat cushion in Hordak's throne, just as Hordak is in the process of dictating some orders to Mantenna. The Horde commander is flung out of his chair and right down the trapdoor - to Mantenna's great delight.

• Hordak: Horde Prime! Leader of the mighty Horde Empire! Ruler of a thousand worlds! The most feared being in three galaxies. / Shadow Weaver: What did he want? / Hordak: To remind me that his birthday is coming up, and that he expects a present - a good one.
• Hordak: The end of the world must be upon us: Grizzlor has had an idea.
• Shadow Weaver: In all the universe, all the worlds that Horde controls, there is one thing which is so special, so rare, that even Horde Prime can't buy it. / Hordak: Well tell me, tell me - what is it? / Shadow Weaver: She-Ra's steed, Swift Wind.
• Young Girl: Oh, Bow! You were wonderful. / Bow: Well, yes, I was; and you know my name! / Young Girl: Of course (giggling)! All the girls do. But I don't know how to thank you. (kisses Bow, then turns into Shadow Weaver) / Bow: Shadow Weaver - ugh!
• Hordak (at the tail end of a long rant that eventually makes Swift Wind cry): You see, Horde Prime cannot fly, and he hates anything that can. As the years pass, your mane will become gray from the darkness, and your wings will wither from lack of use. You will never fly again! And you will never, ever see She-Ra again! (laughs)
• Bow (clearly having learned nothing from his previous mistakes): I think it's time for a daring rescue by one of the greatest heroes of the rebellion - me.
• She-Ra: Bow, you brave, wonderful fool! I don't need rescuing.

N/A

Zero (!)
As in 67029 (oddly enough also a Bob Forward script) and 67058, She-Ra obliges the would-be kidnappers of Swift Wind by keeping herself and her horse in superpowered form throughout the entire episode. So Adora - and consequently Spirit - are never seen.

5:16 - Loo-Kee is in his favorite place - a tree - but has assumed a very strange position. He appears to be clinging to the tree's trunk vertically, upside down, and has lifted his head to look out towards a village.
Did I spot him? YES!

Loo-Kee connects the love of She-Ra for Swift Wind to our own love for our house pets, and advises us to treat them "with patience and kindness." Orko and He-Man have delivered similar lessons, in the PSAs for MU009 and MU079, respectively. Loo-Kee will discuss house pets again in his PSA for 67065.

Horde Prime appears in person

• Bob Forward paired with yesterday's story writer, Leslie Wilson, to give us two of the more famous episodes of MOTU (MU085 and MU110). He's also, as a solo writer, given us four episodes of POP so far (including this one).
• Today's title of course refers to the very old proverb about tiny things making a huge difference. Here is a version from Wikipedia which is said to be sourced from a 1758 quote by Benjamin Franklin (though the origin of the proverb is much older, and there are many other versions; the one I've heard gets all the way up to a kingdom being lost): "For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horse-shoe nail." We can look at the application of this proverb to the story in a couple of ways: both the impact She-Ra's "want of a horse" would have on her and the rebellion, and the much more pertinent effect Hordak's "want of a horse" will have on his own ambitions (as we'll see).
• Hordak's aerial arrival at the Fright Zone could easily have been accomplished through one of his many flight-based partial or full-body transformations, but he instead makes the odd choice to fly around (in the very short second we see him doing it) using a jetpack.
• We've seen Hordak's throne rise up out of the floor of his throne room (see 67033); in this episode, it seems there's a platform in front of the throne which is also an elevator, and rises all the way up to the ceiling of the cavernous room, so that the Horde leader can make an impressive entrance from on high.
• Poor Mantenna quickly becomes the focus of Hordak's unhappiness by once again being sent through the throne room trapdoor. Hordak just reminded us of his love for trapdoors in the previous episode (67048); the last time Mantenna was the recipient of trapdoors was the memorable 67036, when he fell through three of the things. This time it almost seems as if Mantenna might dodge the proverbial bullet, as he is not standing on the part of the door that swings down; but then the part he is standing on proves to be a ramp that dumps him into the hole. (There are plenty more trapdoor hijinks to come! See below.)
• The downhearted Hordak makes reference to a "secret headquarters" where he's had a meeting with Horde Prime. It's unclear whether this location is the same one we'll find Horde Prime occupying in the Christmas Special - a sort of asteroid drifting through space. I'd previously theorized the asteroid was actually Horde World.
• We learn more about Horde Prime and the extent of his empire than ever before during Hordak's description of the dictator (see memorable lines section). We also learn that he has two heads! ("I was trying not to think about that," Hordak grumbles when Weaver reminds him of this particular trait.) This is an odd fact which is seemingly belied by the vague glimpses we get of the Horde overlord through his glimmering mist (see for instance 67046).
• The most pertinent detail expressed about Horde Prime is that today is his birthday. In MOTU, we celebrated many of our heroes' birthdays (Orko, Prince Adam, and King Randor - twice!), but we never saw Skeletor or any of his minions celebrating theirs, so this is an interesting variation on the theme.
• It's a good day for trapdoors, as Grizzlor also gets sent down one for suggesting Hordak gift Prime with a pair of ties (one for each head).
• As noted in the She-Ra transformations section, this episode doesn't have one - making it the eighth so far to share that distinction, and the third to omit Adora entirely.
• Shadow Weaver's young blonde girl disguise draws unavoidable comparisons to Evil-Lyn's blonde siren illusion, Nadira (MU012). But recall that Weaver also disguised herself as a young brunette, to set in motion a different evil plot, in 67020's "Three Courageous Hearts."
• We again find She-Ra fiddling with a busted dam - a common chore for both her and her twin brother, that matching pair of hydraulic engineers. As a recent similar example, one recalls She-Ra fiddling with Bright Moon's flood gates in 67041's "Glimmer's Story."
• Bow gets a chance to show off a "specially made" arrow, which has the ability to grab someone and then fly off with them like a helicopter. So you made a very complicated arrow, full of moving parts and technology, that's designed to fly away from you and not come back? I mean, I'm no archery expert, but... wouldn't the normal pointy kind of arrow be cheaper to make - and easier to retrieve?
• Swiss army sword: She-Ra attempts to trap Shadow Weaver by changing her sword into a net. It doesn't work. So neither of our heroes' weapon innovations are very impressive today!
• On the Horde side, however, the Horde soldier's freeze gun is very useful, since it also allows him to tow away the big horsey ice cube he's made!
• Shadow Weaver uses the insult "wing head" for She-Ra, one I haven't heard before which makes a rare reference to our heroine's tiara.
• She-Ra uses her old boomerang trick with the sword of protection, in a potentially lacerating throw that cuts Bow free of Shadow Weaver's foggy prison. Our archer should check his mustache is still all there after that close shave! The sword's boomerang qualities have been utilized quite often, most recently in 67040; and this is not counting the time She-Ra actually turned the sword INTO a boomerang, in 67043.
• Hordak's ambitious daydreaming rant about how well his birthday present is going to be received gives us some interesting insights into the Horde chain of command. First of all, Hordak's prediction that Prime "will remember me" and that Hordak will become Prime's "favorite commander" implies there are many other Horde commanders scattered throughout the galaxies - so many that Horde Prime maybe doesn't remember them all that well.
• Hordak also dreams of one day taking over as Horde Prime - suggesting that the title is assigned based on merit (a surprisingly forward-thinking arrangement). A lot of this talk makes very little sense, however, when we compare it to the situation in 67011's "The Peril of Whispering Woods." Recall that in this story we met Prince Zed, the son of Horde Prime, who referred to Hordak as his "uncle." I don't think Horde Prime would have any trouble remembering his brother. But he also wouldn't be about to bequeath his title to Hordak over his own son, who was very clearly pegged as the heir in that episode. Is Hordak contemplating regicide here as a way to get his title? Or whatever term you use for murdering your own nephew? Or has Prince Zed fallen out of favor with his dad after swinging to the side of the rebels in 67011, leaving the Prime title up for grabs? Food for thought, people; food for thought!
• Mantenna receives his second trapdoor dunking of the day, after actually sticking up for Shadow Weaver and reminding Hordak that today's plot was her idea. Oh, Mantenna... you poor sap.
• In another archery innovation, Bow makes use of a "glider arrow," which is just an arrow that sprouts a pair of yellow wings. Again, one has to question the utility of such a thing.
• We've witnessed our heroes using various methods to infiltrate the Fright Zone, mostly involving not particularly stealthy head-on approaches. In 67043, ex-force captain She-Ra remembered a secret tunnel entrance that allowed her and Kowl to sneak in undetected. Perhaps worried about overusing any one entry method, today She-Ra recalls a stream that runs under the fortress and chooses that route, arguing to herself that "I don't think they'd expect me to swim in!"
• In one of my favorite scenes in the episode, we discover that She-Ra's chosen means of ingress has put her right under Hordak's trapdoor - and as proof, she witnesses the very common occurrence of Mantenna dropping down through it. So we finally get to see the other end of the throne room trapdoor! It's unclear whether she's seeing Mantenna being dumped as a result of his ill-considered words from earlier, or whether this is his third dunking of the day. This is an important distinction, since Mantenna is sent down the trapdoor again not long after this. If we count that as his fourth trip of the day, it would break the triple trapdoor record he set in 67036's "The Unicorn King."
• Swiss army sword: To pluck Mantenna from the waters under the trapdoor (though he should really know very well how to get out of this himself by now), She-Ra changes her sword to its standard sword-shaped pile of rope.
• Today's trip will be at least She-Ra's second visit to the Fright Zone spaceport, since she went there to rescue the hapless Orko in the disappointing 67033's "A Talent for Trouble."
• We find that Hordak can communicate with his troops via a PA system, with a communicator which extends out of the side of his throne on a flexible arm.
• Swiss army sword: She-Ra's versatile sword gets a workout today! To reflect Shadow Weaver's magical attack, she turns the blade into its common shield form.
• We get several more interesting additions to our stock of lore in the final minute of the episode. The first is a very late glimpse of Horde Prime - and I think I'm right in saying this is the first time we've seen him not through an animated video screen. He's also, at least at the beginning, not shrouded in his usual cloud of smoke! (Though it's dark enough that that doesn't actually help us pick out any extra details.) Prime is clearly depicted as a gigantic robotic thing with one single face, but the claim that he has two normal-sized heads (judging by earlier conversations - and the ties) leads us to believe that there's a very strange humanoid creature living inside the giant mechanical shape - an intriguing idea that hadn't occurred to me before.
• Secondly, we see that Prime has a humanoid servant (wearing what looks to be a baseball cap and a gas mask) who presents Hordak's gift. Even worse than Hordak's desperate decision to resort to the ties is his choice to not be present for the gift giving. Tsk, tsk!
• Third, we discover that Prime can remotely operate an ejector pad built into Hordak's throne, which sends the Horde commander into his own trapdoor - giving Mantenna an iota of sweet revenge for his treatment today.

• I love the whole concept of this episode: the idea that Hordak has to buy a birthday present for his evil boss is pure genius.
• Also, I love that Grizzlor just runs to his room and fetches a pair of matching bow ties made with the Horde logo. Are they his? Was he saving them just for this occasion? Is there any possible way they could fit around Horde Prime's necks? They look to be about the right size to slip around the neck of a chihuahua.
• Shadow Weaver's idea for a gift is a solid one - the good thinking we've come to expect from the Horde sorceress. But I somewhat question her claim that Swift Wind is incredibly special and rare. Let's not forget that Hordak stumbled upon an entire island full of winged unicorns, in 67036's "The Unicorn King."
• Something I probably could have picked up on before now, but which was made obvious by Weaver's transformation into the young girl: the regular form of Shadow Weaver has a shadow underneath itself, but none of the other characters in the throne room - including the young girl disguise - have one. Naturally the only reason Weaver is given the shadow is to clarify that she's floating above the ground, but the fact that no one else casts one ironically makes them all eerier than the sorceress - if you think about it.
• Another (admittedly very picky) animation error with Weaver's transformation to and from the young girl: in most of the animations of this sequence, we see that Weaver's normal form is noticeably taller than her young girl form. However in the one closeup shot where Weaver changes back into the girl, she does it without changing in height.
• Weaver complains that they "just don't make robots the way they used to," after she has to browbeat the two cowardly troopers into going after Bow. So did the Horde used to make robots without emotions like cowardice, then? That does seem like it would make them more useful!
• She-Ra spends a lot of time today trying to dissuade Bow from helping her, a common theme in the series - especially, as it turns out, Bob Forward scripts. I complained of the same thing happening in 67003 and 67015, both also written by Forward. I suppose it's for Bow's own good, but after a while it's got to make any rebel fighter feel a little undervalued. Bow shamefacedly blames himself for coming to the aid of the disguised Shadow Weaver, thus allowing Swift Wind to be captured; but it's hard to blame him given the mitigating circumstances. (Though his readiness after the rescue to agree with Weaver's comment that he was "wonderful" is a bit much.) Another incident involving Bow, where Bow should perhaps have blamed himself a little bit more, occurred in 67028's "Bow's Farewell."
• Hordak's lengthy explanation to Swift Wind of how the steed's imprisonment under Horde Prime is going to play out is really quite cruel and brutal. In Hordak's imagination, the horse is to be kept in a sunless cage for years on end. I'd honestly pictured Horde Prime taking his present out for a spin every once in a while!
• By the way, for someone who professes to want to keep him out of danger, She-Ra's job for Bow seems a particularly dangerous one. She leaves him to keep the heavily armed, trigger-happy forces of the Fright Zone occupied and distracted while she sneaks inside. She is literally making him a target.
• Animation error: Our animators apparently misjudge the position of the top edge of the frame in the scene where She-Ra is reaching down to bust some Horde trooper heads. Her disembodied hands and arms are cut off in a messy flurry of brushstrokes before making the top of the screen.
• This episode cements my idea, formulated in 67036, that Mantenna is the Horde's most miserable minion of all. Mantenna's status is ensured not only by his (arguably) record-breaking trapdoor total today, but also by his pitiful attempt to stop She-Ra after she has to rescue him from shallow water in the Fright Zone basement.
• We also learned more about Horde Prime in this episode than we ever have before - though as noted in the lore, I think what we learn somewhat contradicts suggestions made about his character and the Horde hierarchy in 67011. It always felt odd that a giant robot thing could have had a son like Prince Zed, so you'd think that, now that we've gotten the idea that there's a humanoid inside the giant robot (something like the Wizard of Oz's man behind the curtain), the family connection makes a little more sense. But then they go and establish that Prime has two heads! I'm no mathematician, but I can count heads, and Zed has only one. This story also undeniably ignores the idea of Hordak being in any way related to Prime, a fact suggested in 67011.
• Still... is this the funniest episode of She-Ra? I think it might be. I loved it from beginning to end. (However! See 67063.)