Carol Baxter

Richard Trueblood

Thanks to the machinations of Skeletor, Hordak is poisoned by a doomberry pie, slowly fading into nothingness. The only cure? Someone needs to shed tears for the Horde commander. Surely an impossible ask! For who would take pity on the cruel conqueror of Etheria?

Kowl, Bow, Glimmer, Broom, Madame Razz, Princess Adora (She-Ra), Spirit (Swift Wind), Light Hope

Catra, Hordak, Grizzlor, Mantenna, Imp, Skeletor, Horde Prime (mentioned only)

Horde soldiers, various rebels, Noah

wagons, Catra's airship

Is there anyone in the galaxy who doesn't love pie? Well, if there is, Hordak isn't one of them. Having been handed a whole pie by Catra, the Horde dictator devours the entire thing out of its dish as he sits on his throne, with no utensils, no napkin, and without asking any of his assembled soldiers - Catra, Grizzlor, Mantenna - if they want a piece. When he asks who made the pie, Catra tells him it's from a "secret admirer." The spy Imp then arrives to inform Hordak of a rebel supply transfer happening at that moment - outside of the safety of the Whispering Woods. Hordak stalks off with his men and a cohort of Horde troopers, intent on rounding up the rebels. He doesn't notice Catra hanging behind to have a few words with the "secret admirer," who turns out to be none other than Skeletor! The bony villain filled Hordak's pie with "doomberries," and once the evil fruit causes its eater to disappear, Skeletor plans to take over the Etherian Horde leadership - with devious ally Catra as his force captain.

Unaware there's a ticking time bomb in his gut, Hordak leads his men in the attack on the rebels. Kowl, Bow, Glimmer, and some generic unnamed rebels are taken completely by surprise, right in the middle of organizing their supplies. Bow sends Kowl off to get help while he and Glimmer stay to face the attack. Fortunately, Princess Adora (along with Madame and Broom) are in a camp just nearby, and before Kowl faints from the excitement, he's able to pass the news of the ambush onto his friends. Adora heads over and confirms her friends are in need of assistance, then raises her sword, and a few moments later She-Ra and Swift Wind are blowing their way through Horde soldiers (literally, blowing - with her breath! With her breath).

The infuriated Hordak changes himself into a jet to try to mount some kind of counterattack; but he's not feeling well. His flight path wavers and he nose dives into a clearing in the Whispering Woods. With the rest of the Horde soldiers defeated or fled, the victorious rebels track their fallen enemy to his crash site, and gaze at his collapsed form - which they notice seems to be fading away. Razz quickly diagnoses Hordak with a case of doomberry sickness: he will eventually vanish into nothing, exiled to another dimension. Madame doesn't know of a cure, and is uninterested in finding one: after all, why stick out their necks for their worst enemy? She-Ra, however, is full of concern and believes it's the rebels' duty to help someone in need, regardless of how evil they are. (She's also somewhat concerned that Glimmer, who we saw grabbed by a Horde soldier during the battle, has yet to reappear, and asks Bow to try to find her.)

Determined to do whatever she can to help her ailing enemy, She-Ra [SCENE DELETED], but finding that Catra is suspiciously uninterested in helping, decides that she needs to turn to her friend Light Hope for advice. At the Crystal Castle, Light Hope questions She-Ra's priorities somewhat, but assures her that she must do what she believes is right. Since She-Ra remains resolute in her desire to aid her enemy, the light beam explains that there is only one cure for the doomberry disease: She-Ra must find someone willing to shed tears for Hordak. Unable to think of a single person matching that description, She-Ra returns to Hordak's sickbed to quiz him. The flickering Hordak racks his brain and decides that his old magic teacher, the wizard Noah, should be willing to help him, since they were chummy enough back when little Hordak was getting his magic lessons. She-Ra therefore hoists the Horde commander onto Swift Wind's back and makes for Noah's home at Woeful Mountain.

She-Ra's actions, however, have not remained unobserved: not with the spy-happy Skeletor hanging about! He's seen her intentions and makes his own plans to prevent her. The first roadblock is Catra, who arrives to harry She-Ra as she attempts to scale Woeful Mountain with the sickened Hordak. Catra unwisely flies her airship close enough to our heroine that She-Ra is able to grab hold of the vessel and rip out its engine, then fling it back in the direction of the Fright Zone. The heroine then tosses her groaning sack of Hordak back over her shoulder and makes the rest of the way up to Noah's humble cave.

In the cave, however, she meets her second roadblock in the form of Skeletor himself. He's trapped the wizard in an energy shield, and he quickly uses his havoc staff to magically send She-Ra into a maze-like network of tunnels under the cave. Before Skeletor has much time to gloat and spout explanations over the prone figure of Hordak, however, She-Ra has taken her preferred direct route out of the maze, by spinning her way back up through the ceiling. She promptly snaps Skeletor's staff, preventing further sorcery, and slices open Noah's prison dome. But Skeletor reveals he has one more card to play: the missing Glimmer, whom She-Ra has been encouraging Bow to keep searching for all this time, is a prisoner in the Fright Zone, and Skeletor promises she'll come to harm unless She-Ra cooperates.

She-Ra is entirely uninterested in bargaining with the villain, fully intent as she is on healing her worst enemy. But there's a problem: Noah. The wizard is a good guy, and he's watched with horror as Hordak has taken all the old man's lessons and turned them to evil ends. He feels no sympathy for the plight of his former student - this wizard's eyes are staying dry. The dismayed She-Ra, growing desperate, argues with both Skeletor and Noah, pleading with them to have some pity on the poor, doomed Hordak; but neither of them can understand why or how she could feel anything but dislike for the guy. As She-Ra attempts to explain, mourning her enemy's lonely, loveless end and wasted life, her own compassionate tears begin to fall. Almost without realizing she is doing it, She-Ra proves to be the very salvation she was searching for: Hordak's fading form, healed by her tears, grows solid once more.

Skeletor prudently decides that he's done enough for today, and teleports back to Eternia (we assume). Noah, meanwhile, is astounded at She-Ra's generosity and heroism, and only regrets that when Hordak fully wakens after his ordeal, he'll have forgotten everything that happened - both the fact that She-Ra saved his life, and the boasting words from Skeletor that Hordak's own force captain betrayed him. Eager to show She-Ra some gratitude for saving him and for her selfless deed, Noah zaps her, Swift Wind, and Hordak directly to the Fright Zone, so that She-Ra can return her enemy and save her friend. (Her friend is Glimmer, by the way - just in case anyone was unclear, given that She-Ra has barely spared a thought for the girl this whole time.)

Conveniently, just after she's sent Swift Wind to wait outside, set Hordak down in a chair, and walked down a hallway, She-Ra bumps into Bow, who finally realized by process of elimination where Glimmer must be. Together, they sneak their way into the dungeons and free the pink-haired princess. A battalion of Horde troopers is alerted to their presence and comes running to stop them; but since when have Horde troopers been any trouble for She-Ra? The trio smash their way to an exit and hop onto Swift Wind's back (I hope he can handle three passengers at once!), then begin their flight back to the Whispering Woods. Catra, in the meantime, has been reunited with Hordak and luckily discovered her boss's forgetfulness before letting slip anything impolitic about poisoned pies.

The final scene shows our heroes gathered around a wooden table in the rebel camp, sharing a rare sit-down meal. It gives Glimmer the chance to point out that she's so hungry, she feels like she's "fading away" - and She-Ra the chance to warn her against eating any of those nasty doomberries.

• Grizzlor (confused by Catra's claim that the pie Hordak is eating came from a "secret admirer"): Wh-what's an admirer? / Mantenna: Someone who likes you. / Grizzlor: You mean someone likes Hordak??
• Hordak (of She-Ra): There she is again, always spoiling my fun.
• Bow: She-Ra - you sure know how to blow them away. / She-Ra: Why thank you, Bow.
• She-Ra: Disappear? For how long? / Madame Razz (nonchalantly): Ohhh, probably forever, because no one's ever come back. I think we can say goodbye to Hordak. He'll go into another dimension.
• She-Ra (of Hordak): He's getting worse; there must be something we can do. / Bow: Why should we help him? / She-Ra: Enemy or not, I don't like to see anybody suffer. We have to do whatever we can to help him.
• Light Hope: There is only one cure that will make Hordak well: to have someone shed tears for him. ... Only after tears have fallen for him will Hordak be well again.
• She-Ra: You should know by now, Skeletor, that you can't keep a good woman down.
• Noah (to Hordak): Once I would have helped you; but you took all the years of training and magic I taught you and turned them all to evil. You're no friend of mine anymore.
• She-Ra: I can't believe you can just stand and watch someone suffering - someone you have the power to help. Once he was powerful; now he's alone, abandoned, unloved. It's sad, and it's wrong.
• Noah: How can you cry for someone like him? / She-Ra (weeping steadily): I'm not just crying for Hordak. I'm crying for the saddest thing I know: a wasted life. To be given that most precious gift, the gift of living, to do with as we choose. I'm crying because this man has chosen to throw it away, and when he goes, nobody will care.

• Skeletor laughs, head back: As usual, at the prospect of his latest evil plot
• She-Ra mounts Swift Wind and flies off: In pursuit of a crashed Hordak
• She-Ra spin kicks the viewer: To knock a hole in the wall of the Fright Zone

One full

4:46 - Loo-Kee is perched up in his puffball-topped tree just by the rebel camp in the Whispering Woods; it's the same one we've seen him in for 67020, 67022, and 67031. On this occasion we don't have a lot of time to find the elf, as he slides by in a panning shot.
Did I spot him? YES!

Loo-Kee points out that one of the reasons She-Ra was sad for Hordak was because he had no friends. He advises us that, should we come across an equally friendless person, we should try to offer them our friendship. Loo-Kee is optimistic about the outcome of such a situation, seemingly without considering that this friendless person might turn out to be just as evil as Hordak.

MOTU crossover

• This is Carol Baxter's second POP script, her first being 67037's "The Anxious Apprentice." She will provide two more.
• The troublesome Imp, appearing for the first time since he concluded a seven-episode run in 67046, comes bouncing into the throne room in his ball form. A ball was the thing he turned into back when we first discovered he shared his boss's transformative ability, in 67010's "The Laughing Dragon."
• It's our first MOTU crossover episode since 67033's "A Talent for Trouble," thanks to the surprise appearance of old Bonehead himself, Skeletor!
• I thought at first that Skeletor's identifying his poison-laced pie as "doomberry" was just a facetious name he'd made up, but on consideration (and based on other named Etherian fruits such as the "giggleberry" from 67021) I think this is the actual fruit he used in his foray into baking. Madame's later diagnosis of Hordak's illness confirms this.
• Bow uses the same judo throw move on a Horde soldier that we saw him use in 67014 - and that he saw Prince Adam use back in 67001.
• Hordak transformations: it's the old tried-and-true arm cannon for Hordak today, which he uses to stun poor Bow. To tangle with She-Ra a few minutes later, he changes to the full-body jet-like vehicle we've seen a few times before, starting with the ending scene of 67017.
• She-Ra makes a rare use of her super breath to knock over some Horde soldiers. (The only other instance I can find of She-Ra using this ability was in 67033, an episode I've already had call to mention.)
• Madame Razz gives us the details on doomberries: "It's a very rare plant with very beautiful berries. They make you sick. And then, they make you disappear." Though she can't be sure of the destination, since according to Razz "no one's ever come back," her theory is that the vanished berry-eater ends up in another dimension. That's a pretty major consequence from just eating the wrong kind of berry! Etheria is a more dangerous place than we thought. Hordak had better hope he doesn't end up back in the dimension of the Dark One (see 67039's "Into the Dark Dimension")!
• It's very interesting and telling that the sickened Hordak ends up lying on the same cot in a tent where the rebels placed the injured Prince Zed in 67011's "The Peril of the Whispering Woods." That story explored the same issue of helping one's enemy rather than choosing violence and vengeance. (Come to think of it, so did the aforementioned 67039!) The circumstances are somewhat changed, however; see my analysis in the commentary.
• Light Hope is consulted for the first time in over ten episodes (having last shown up in 67040's "Treasure of the First Ones"). The light beam must have been getting awfully lonely up there in the Crystal Castle!
• We get some interesting lore from Hordak, who theorizes that one person who might cry for him is one "Noah, the old wizard of Woeful Mountain." According to the dictator, we have Noah to thank for Hordak's knowledge of magic. Way to go, Noah.
• ...Magic? This is an odd way for Hordak to describe his powers, given that in 67017 he complained about Shadow Weaver's (and Skeletor's) reliance on sorcery, declaring instead that Horde technology and science were the superior tools for success. It seems more logical that machinery and surgery gave the Horde commander his transformative abilities, not magic.
• It's nice to see Skeletor back to his old spying proclivities, checking out the progress of Hordak's illness via the crystal ball in the skull of his havoc staff.
• Swiss army sword: She-Ra uses several varying forms for her blade in short succession today. First, to better facilitate her lugging of Hordak (using a fireman's carry) up to the peak of Woeful Mountain, She-Ra changes her sword into a glowing ladder. A few minutes later, she uses the more typical "sword to shield" command to block Skeletor's attacks. Later still, in another new form, She-Ra changes her blade to a lit torch.
• Catra shows up to try to dash She-Ra's plans to maintain the status quo of the Horde chain of command, flying another new Horde vehicle. It's a sleek but compact airship with a bubble cockpit and a suggestion of a skeletal face on the front. She-Ra makes short work of the thing, by pulling out its engine. We'll see this vehicle again in 67071's "Loo-Kee's Sweety," where it will fare about as well as it did here.
• We've seen He-Man and She-Ra work some spin moves before, often for the purposes of drilling into the ground; but today She-Ra spins like a top in order to float upwards through the roof of a cave; an unusual direction. She-Ra then follows in He-Man's footsteps by stomping Skeletor's havoc staff into pieces. (He-Man did the same in MU126's "Capture the Comet Keeper," among others.)
• Skeletor pulls another of his classic moves (to pair nicely with his spying from earlier), when he teleports away after finding his plans have been dashed. That's the old Bonehead we know and love!
• This episode is a so-far unique example of the MOTU crossover category, in that it does not feature He-Man or any other Eternian characters besides Skeletor. For another similar He-Man-less crossover story, see the upcoming 67056's "Of Shadows and Skulls" - probably a better story than this one!

• I got a big laugh right out of the gate today: there's something so amusingly incongruous and downright homey about Hordak being delighted to receive a pie and thoroughly enjoying the taste of its berries.
• Just in case we needed more proof that Hordak is not inspiring his workers as a manager, today we find Catra willing to collude with Skeletor to get her hated boss out of the way. We recently saw Catra willing to make a pact with Scorpia in order to ensure the failure of their potential replacement, Huntara (67045), but this pie must be the most treasonous act yet performed by a Horde soldier. The only other similar act against Hordak that I can find was Mantenna's petty trapdoor revenge at the end of 67017's "A Loss for Words." As I've noted previously (see commentary for 67036), though Skeletor's flunkies frequently muttered under their breath about one day supplanting their leader, and Evil-Lyn dreamt up several attempted coups, up until now Hordak's inferiors seemed to be too afraid of his wrath to act on any unpleasant feelings they might have had. That seems to have changed! (For more unrest among the Horde ranks, also with Skeletor at its heart, see 67056's "Of Shadows and Skulls.")
• Kowl avoids capture: It's a solid case for my sub-category today, as Kowl definitely avoids the fate of his fellow rebels Bow and Glimmer when the Horde barges in to sweep them up. He's therefore free to run and warn Adora of the calamity.
• Note that Adora also avoided capture, by mysteriously and conveniently being absent for the early morning rebel supply transfer. Hmmm...
• Glimmer seems to entirely forget that she has magical powers when she's totally incapacitated by one measly Horde soldier grabbing her by the wrist. Come on, Princess; show some spunk!
• Animation error: as Madame Razz is taking hold of a fainted Kowl, the sprig of white hair sprouting from the top of her hat briefly changes to the same color as her hat.
• As I noted in the lore section, this storyline recalls the difficult choice She-Ra and the rebels faced in 67011, when Horde Prime's son Prince Zed fell into their hands. That episode conveyed a great lesson about compassion. But today's choice is even more difficult - and I have to admit it has me leaning in the opposite direction of She-Ra's thinking. 67011 had the rebels wanting to act on their feelings of anger, striking out at the handiest scapegoat in the wake of the sickening of the forest. Their acting would clearly have been immoral and would have made them almost as evil as their oppressors. Today, all the rebels have to do is not act, and their greatest enemy will be gone forever. It won't even be their fault if he vanishes! To be fair, the void left by Hordak is sure to be filled by the ambitious Skeletor; but he was never that tough a foe for He-Man, and the villain will be spread half as thin trying to rule both Eternia and Etheria, so he's unlikely to be a huge threat. Basically, all She-Ra has to do is stand still, and she'll save her adopted planet. Yet she refuses to do so. She's a stronger hero than me, I guess!
• The other thing that troubles me about She-Ra's choice here is the fact that, while she's making it, Glimmer is still missing. You're going to focus all your attention on saving your archenemy while your best friend is nowhere to be found, possibly captured or worse? Really, She-Ra?
• There's what seems to be a cut scene a little before the halfway mark in the story, which puts a jarring hiccup into the plot. She-Ra declares her intention to do whatever she can to save Hordak; there's a typical sword-spinning scene transition; then we're back in the rebel camp, where we just were, hearing Bow declaring to She-Ra that "Catra won't help Hordak." We're forced to assume that the rebels attempted to contact the Horde about Hordak's condition, got Catra, and Catra told them to stick it. But it's strange that we don't have a chance to see that conversation.
• It makes sense that She-Ra would go to Light Hope to try to ask about a cure for Hordak; but she has one very obvious potential solution very close to hand, which she doesn't seem to even consider: her own healing abilities. Why not have a go at touching the guy and doing her own magic first, before going further afield? (Of course, as we eventually discover, the solution to Hordak's problem did indeed lie with She-Ra - just not in quite the way I was thinking!)
• I noted in the lore section above how it doesn't seem consistent with previous remarks Hordak has made that he should have learned magic from anyone. What our writer also doesn't seem to have considered is how odd it is that Hordak's old teacher lives on Etheria. After all, recall that Hordak is not from here: we know that he traveled to this planet only after his failure to conquer Eternia. Presumably he was sent to Eternia from Horde World, or some other, as-yet-unmentioned home planet. Why would his old teacher be living on Woeful Mountain? Did Hordak learn magic later in life, after he'd moved to Etheria, perhaps as part of his midlife crisis? Or did fond mentor Noah follow his pupil to Etheria from some other shared location? (This latter explanation proves especially unlikely based on the late revelations of Noah's evolved feelings toward Hordak.)
• In the scene where She-Ra is just landing on the ledge of Woeful Mountain and preparing to scale the highest of the heights with her sword-ladder, there's a piece of incidental music playing in the background which I don't remember having heard before, that sounds really sweet. It's just a great little rhythm and melody, which appealed to me enough that I felt it needed to be called out here.
• Animation error: In the scene where the gloating Catra meditates on the dangers of heights while menacing She-Ra, her airship's glass cockpit dome is temporarily missing.
• Maybe I'm just an old softie, but even after questioning She-Ra's choices earlier, I was actually moved by the scene where she weeps for Hordak. Her words of sympathy and pity are powerful and heartfelt (even if the animation of her tears falling in perfect rhythm leaves a bit to be desired). I also thought it was a clever and believable choice to have Noah turn out to have soured on his former pupil. Sure, it puts the focus of the action back onto She-Ra's shoulders, a show trend that I've complained about in other episodes; but in this case, there's an irony and inevitability about that which I found very satisfying.
• Still - She-Ra annoyed me again by insisting on returning the healed-but-helpless Hordak to the Fright Zone. I can see not wanting to let somebody disappear if you have the power to save them - but why in the name of the Ancients would you bring your archenemy back to their base afterwards? She's been pulling this same inane trick, which is bordering on treason to the Great Rebellion, ever since she threw a bubbled Hordak back to his soldiers to finish off 67008's "The Red Knight." I know Hordak needs to live to fight another day, but there's no reason to lead him home and open the door for him!
• As may be gathered by the lengthy commentary section, I took some issues with the logical choices in our plot today. Still, I do like it when I end up with a beefy amount of commentary, because it means I've been given a lot to think about; and I did enjoy the character development and emotional depths explored in today's story. It's just too bad that Hordak ended this episode having forgotten the events surrounding his illness: his betrayal by his own force captain and his cure by the tears of his greatest enemy. His knowing those things would surely result in some irrevocable changes to the dynamics in this unchanging series! At least we can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that, somewhere in his mind, Hordak still remembers how She-Ra chose to save his life in the conclusion of their trip to the Dark One's dimension (67039).