Barbara Hambly

Lou Kachivas

The dastardly Shadow Weaver has busted open the Cave of Winds, and its gale-force gusts are going to destroy the rebels' protective Whispering Woods unless She-Ra can go get help. Unfortunately, she's being detained by a race of tree people from a floating island!

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

Vultak, Shadow Weaver, Hordak

various villagers, village children (including Corey), Arrow, Horde soldiers, skylanders

Horde tanks, destructo tank

The members of the Great Rebellion of Etheria - Glimmer, Princess Adora, Bow, and Kowl - have converged on a small, bucolic town in need of their aid. (It just might be the town of Northland, last visited in that first-season episode about "Book Burning.") And what aid are they giving? Well, Bow is telling a silly story about one very dark night when he couldn't find his own nose to scratch it. The kids find this stuff funny, you see; and the lesson seems to be that you should ask people for help when you need it. In this case, Bow asked his horse Arrow for help, and Arrow used his tail to scratch Bow's nose.

Our heroes are distracted from this hilarious bit when Glimmer spots the evil Vultak flying by overhead. Adora tries to warn Madame Razz, just arriving by air on Broom-back, of the Horde villain's presence. Finally alerted to the vulture man chasing after her, Razz casts a spell which slaps Vultak in a giant pie and sends him flying away over the hills. She then ends her journey in the usual way, by crashing into a tree. But what was Vultak doing in the neighborhood, anyway? One of the villagers explains that this is actually the main reason they called the rebels here - it wasn't just to hear Bow's experimental comedy stylings. They've been detecting Horde activity nearby for days. Bow confirms this when he uncovers the tracks of Horde troopers among the bushes.

As the rebels speculate over what their enemies might be up to, we get to find out: for Shadow Weaver is lurking in the area. Having ascertained through magical surveillance that the heroes have gathered their forces, the sorceress checks in with Hordak and receives the order to break open the Cave of Winds, a hollow in the cliffs overlooking the town. It really blows - which we discover when Weaver zaps a hole in the rock. Gusting winds burst forth from the opening, which she then widens even further. If these gale forces continue unabated, they'll destroy the rebels' shelter in the Whispering Woods!

Princess Adora and the others feel the effects of the winds almost immediately, and Kowl instantly makes the connection to the local cave. The princess sends everyone off to the safety of the village hall, while she gets Spirit and raises her sword aloft. She-Ra and Swift Wind are then available to do some good. Their first service is in aid of Bow, who has tried to defend the town against approaching Horde forces by triggering an avalanche of cut logs onto a Horde vehicle. The attack turns against him, though, when a wind-flung log lands on the archer, pinning him to the ground. She-Ra arrives in time to toss the log away: it lands upright in the path of the invaders, causing a chain reaction pile-up that accordions the entire Horde convoy.

Gathered with the villagers in the main building of the town, the rebels discuss and decide that instead of having She-Ra directly solve their problems today, they'll send her off to fetch the magical aid of Queen Angella - who presumably is well versed in stopping up caves of windses. Our heroine accordingly takes off on her horse, with Swift Wind straining to make headway against the fearsome gusts. Shadow Weaver spots her enemy and uses her magic to try to worsen the wind; but it's not the sorceress who impedes She-Ra. Instead, she's restrained by a mysterious island floating in the sky. Vines shoot out from the island and wrap around She-Ra and her steed, and even the Princess of Power's great strength is not sufficient to break free. Pulled all the way up onto the island, She-Ra and her horse see a tree person seemingly in control of the clinging vines. The arboreal entity reaches out a finger, causing flowers to sprout along the length of the bindings, which spit out a gas that sends our heroine and her mount off to dreamland.

When She-Ra awakens, it's to find multiple tree people, or "skylanders," who seem to want to capture her winged horse. Rushing to Swift Wind's aid, our heroine makes another break for freedom on horseback, but she's once again stopped by more of the vines, this time wielded by glider-flying tree people. Feeling helpless yet still desperate to save her friends, the heartbroken She-Ra begs her opponents to free her, and is provoked to tears. The head skylander, seeing this emotion from his captive, is astounded: he had assumed that She-Ra, like the other surface-dwellers of Etheria, was an inhuman, unfeeling creature, who existed only to fight. She-Ra assures him this is not so, and that she only wishes to get aid for her endangered people. The skylander explains that he had no wicked intentions either: his people's floating island is about to crash to the earth, since its levitating glide trees are dying off. The skylanders' gliders aren't sufficient to carry everyone over to the healthier new island nearby, so they decided to "borrow" Swift Wind for transport.

Having explained their motivations to each other, She-Ra and the skylanders decide to provide mutual aid. First, She-Ra makes use of the skylanders' unbreakable vines to tow the dying island over to the new one. With all the skylanders safely transferred over to their fresh home, She-Ra asks if she can borrow the old one. The head skylander blinks at her, unresponsive - which she takes as a "yes." She and Swift Wind then grab hold of the chunk of land and begin shoving it back towards the Cave of Winds. Her unicorn has to fight again against the stubborn, unruly winds - but they make it at last, and with a final throw She-Ra plugs up the cave hole with the island.

Not a moment too soon! For down below in the town, the rebels have been fighting a desperate battle of defense. Glimmer and Madame Razz joined their magic powers together, but that was barely enough to hold back the onslaught of Shadow Weaver and her relentless army. The raging winds took their toll as well, carving bits off the village town hall and breaking in the ceiling. Kowl and company are just concluding that they're all doomed when the winds suddenly die and She-Ra and Swift Wind barge through the front entrance. She-Ra makes swift work of the enemy forces, wrapping the robots in sleepy vines and lassoing Shadow Weaver. Seeing she's foiled, Weaver makes some taunting comments about the Horde winning in the end and then teleports herself out of there.

With the day saved - and She-Ra confident that, contrary to Weaver's parting words, the good guys will ultimately triumph over evil - the heroes gather on a hilltop to watch the skylanders' new home float by, and our golden-maned heroine sagely opines that "If you stop fighting and ask for help, you can usually find someone who'll help you."

• Princess Adora: You're getting better at your landings, Madame Razz. / Madame Razz: Of course I am. I hit the exact tree I aimed for.
• Skylander (catching one of She-Ra's tears on a fingertip): Tears! You are crying. Is it possible that you are a being like us, and can feel sorrow and love? / She-Ra: Of course. / Skylander: We thought you were just a fighting creature, like those that live down below. They don't feel love; they aren't human.
• Kowl: I'm afraid I have to conclude that - we're dooooomed!!
• Shadow Weaver: You may have won this time, She-Ra; but as Adora can tell you, nothing defeats the Horde! We will win in the end. (teleports away) / She-Ra: You're wrong, Shadow Weaver: in the end, goodness always will win over evil.
• She-Ra: Funny: if you stop fighting and ask for help, you can usually find someone who'll help you. / Kowl: You know, She-Ra; sometimes I think you're almost as wise as I.

• She-Ra mounts Swift Wind and flies off: Just after transforming, as per usual; and later, the mounting and part of the flying off animation is used (indoors!) as She-Ra leaves to fetch help

One full

7:44 - In what is perhaps his trickiest hiding place yet in the series, we spot only the tips of Loo-Kee's ears sprouting from either side of a purplish bush, in a fleeting panning shot of Horde vehicles arriving at today's village. That is hard mode to the max, Loo-Kee!
Did I spot him? YES! Did I technically cheat by going back over the episode before letting it get to Loo-Kee's hiding-place reveal in the PSA section? ... Well, I won't tell if you won't.

Though he doesn't connect it to today's story, Loo-Kee's lesson does in fact connect to She-Ra's encounter with the skylanders. In Loo-Kee's metaphor, he shows us two different flowers and explains that even though they look different, each one is beautiful in its own way. We should see the same lesson in different types of people - in the same way that the airborne skylanders found something to respect and admire in She-Ra and her ground-based, war-like companions. Nice one, Loo-Kee.

Changing hearts and minds: I admit I'm stretching the premise a bit here in order to avoid having another "N/A" episode. Usually I reserve this category for stories in which She-Ra convinces someone to join the Great Rebellion. I doubt the skylanders are going to lend their vine magic or gliders to any future battles against the Horde; but She-Ra did change their minds about her and her intentions, and they did assist her today, however indirectly.

• This is writer Barbara Hambly's one and only contribution to POP. In addition to writing for other famous 80s cartoons such as M.A.S.K. (what an awesome set of toys those were!), according to Wikipedia Ms. Hambly is also a prolific sci-fi/fantasy novelist.
• We open in a typical village which the rebels have come to aid - though first, it's story time! The situation reminds me of when Adora and Bow (wearing mini potato sacks over their heads) came to give a guest lecture at Northland's one-room schoolhouse, in 67026's "Book Burning." In fact, today's location may be intended as the exact same town of Northland, because the one village kid who's identified by name is "Corey," the same boy who learned such a valuable lesson in that previous episode. This Corey looks close enough to the original that they might be one and the same.
• Bow's story includes a reference to a "kaya wolf," which I'm pretty sure is an Etherian coyote.
• It's the reappearance of Vultak! This vulture-like Horde soldier had his first - and much more central - role in 67038's "Zoo Story." Today, he'll get a rather ignominious fly-on role in the story's opening minutes, and never return again - but at least he got a large pie as a parting gift.
• Bow points out the distinctive tracks left by Horde troopers, giving us a close look at the very geometric shape their boots leave in the ground - sort of like the outlines of coffins.
• Madame's Magic: Yes, about Vultak's pie... Madame casts a spell at the winged fellow when she discovers he's on her tail, the last words of which are "make my enemy fall in a pie." Broom corrects the last word to "sky," implying the witch meant to say "make my enemy fall in a sky," which makes no sense - we have to assume there were more corrections needed! Either way, what Vultak gets is a huge creme pie, which he rides over the hills and out of the episode. So long, pardner!
• The wide-bodied Horde tank model makes a reappearance today, sporting the more traditional treads present in its earlier appearances (starting back around 67011). Recent versions of the tank (67041, 67066) showed it with individual wheels instead. We also catch a glimpse (just the cannon and part of the ridged top) of what is likely the smaller "destructo" tank model.
• Bow uses the expression "by my good right arm" as he's exclaiming at how well his log-based trap worked on some Horde soldiers. Just a few seconds later, when he's flattened by one of those same logs, he uses "by my grandfather's beard." Wiki Grayskull reminded me that Bow has actually used the latter expression before, in 67022's "The Crystal Castle." This is an impressive level of consistency with language, especially given that the previous episode was written by a different person (Larry DiTillio)!
• "She-Ra, you're the answer to a prayer," Bow gushes when the heroine arrives to save him; and Kowl pitches in: "Two prayers." So... just who were they praying to? They probably don't have Jesus on Etheria - is it the First Ones?
• Just as in the previous episode's "The Time Transformer" (67073), today Queen Angella gets a mention but doesn't appear in the episode. Bright Moon's leader has only appeared in one episode so far this season: 67067's "Return of the General."
• On the Horde side of things, Hordak does make an appearance today, but he's seen only briefly and only through Weaver's crystal ball.
• We meet a new character design and race of creature, who I guess I have to call "skylanders," even though that awkwardly conflicts with a more recent (2011) set of copyrighted critters and series of video games. She-Ra's skylanders are really better described as tree people, though the fact that they live in the sky on floating islands is also an important defining characteristic. The islands are apparently held up by the "glide trees" that grow on them; if the trees die, the islands will fall. The skylanders bill themselves as pacifists, at least by comparison with Etheria's surface dwellers; but they don't seem as stubborn in their beliefs as, say, 67044's "The Rock People."
• Madame's Magic: Defending herself during the battle with the Horde, our witch this time casts a wordless spell, which coats a pair of nearby Hordesmen in colored stripes and polka dots. Aside from causing momentary confusion, I doubt it has much of an effect on its victims. "Oh deary my," Razz remarks, "that wasn't supposed to happen." She does more active good a few moments later, when she joins her magic with Glimmer's in order to levitate some rubble and form a temporary blockade.
• Speaking of Glimmer, she gets a rare chance to use her light beam powers today; though we only see her shoot one blast out of her hands before she wails, "My powers are weakening already!" The last time we saw Glimmer using her powers was when we unexpectedly discovered she could fly, in 67067.
• Today's plot reminds me of that of one of the more emotional Bob Forward episodes, 67029's "The Price of Freedom." In that story as in this one, She-Ra spent a good part of the episode trying to get help for some endangered people, while they struggled to survive without her. Both episodes also featured a distressed She-Ra shedding tears at the plight of those she's trying to save. In 67029, the endangered miners at least had He-Man to help them; today's villagers have to settle for the brave but less-impressive assistance of Glimmer and Razz.
• In the latest instance of Hordak's robot soldiers demonstrating some very inconvenient human-like traits, today they fall asleep when sprayed with the heady perfume of the skylanders' vines. We discovered they could sneeze in just the previous episode (67073).
• Ending credits variation: The streak of the different background painting in the ending credits continues.

• We eventually learn that the grown-up villagers have called Bow and company to their town because they've been seeing signs of Horde activity. But they only get around to explaining that after Bow has entertained the village children with a completely pointless goofy story about having an itchy nose. What exactly are the priorities of the Great Rebellion, hmmm?
• Continuity error/animation error: A really interesting one today. While Adora, Glimmer, and Bow are hanging out at the village, we see multiple shots of the heroes' horses: there's Bow's horse, Arrow, and... Swift Wind?! That's definitely She-Ra's winged unicorn who keeps appearing in the background. But it certainly shouldn't be, unless we're to believe that Adora is claiming she has She-Ra's horse on loan, to show off to the local populace. I'm forced to conclude this was just a major goof on the part of the animators, since a few minutes into the story, when Adora is about to transform, we see Spirit walking up to get the sword pointed at him and undergo his transformation.
• I find it hilarious that Shadow Weaver waits until Madame Razz arrives before messaging Hordak by crystal ball to tell him that "the leaders of the rebellion" have all arrived. Razz? A leader of the rebellion?
• In the previous episode's commentary (see 67073), I was just talking about the incredible instincts of our heroes, who can instantly sniff out the plots of the Horde given the slightest of clues. Today, as soon as a slight breeze kicks up, Kowl presciently comments, "It's almost as if the Cave of Winds has opened." Got it in one, you magnificent ear-winged bird!
• Speaking of that bird, we see Bow again demonstrating an unbelievable amount of patience with his abusive best friend. The archer gets his legs crushed under a log, and Kowl's only response is to come over and basically say "I told you so." Rather than bawl out the bird, or at least ask him for a little help, Bow calmly agrees, saying, "I'll listen to you next time."
• There's a major downside to the Horde plan of opening the Cave of Winds, though it somehow never seems to come up: the wind blows for everybody. In today's combat, the winds should be just as much a hindrance for the Horde soldiers as they are for the rebels, shouldn't they? Yet the wind only ever seems to damage rebel property.
• The skylander makes a very interesting statement by claiming that the people on Etheria's surface "aren't human" because "they don't feel love." So the tree guy considers himself to be "human"? Hmm. It makes you wonder whether Barbara Hambly's original envisioning of the skylander physique was somewhat less exotic.
• You also have to wonder how the skylanders have managed to maintain any kind of consistent civilization, given that they apparently have no plan whatsoever for moving to a new floating island when the one they're living on fails. They resort to stealing She-Ra's horse in order to save themselves. Has this never happened before?
• A subtle bookended lesson is used today, of not being afraid to ask for help when you need it. It's the moral of Bow's goofy nose-itching story, and it's the gist of She-Ra's final comment which Kowl finds so wise (see memorable lines). It's also the strangely out-of-character driving force of today's plot. When has She-Ra ever encountered an evil Horde plot and said to herself, as she does today: "I need to go get help!" She's the one who does the helping. I suppose Queen Angella and her Bright Moon magic would be better at dealing with magic winds? Regardless, She-Ra's decision feels odd.
• This was a pleasant enough tale, though, and I liked the design of the skylanders and their sky-based home. Glimmer and Razz got a chance to do some stuff, which is always nice. Our writer seems to have been more sympathetic to that pair of female characters than to the usually more active Bow, who today tries one plan that fails and then basically recedes into the background. Kowl also comes off as slightly more pompous than usual. I admit these perceptions are filtered through the knowledge that today's writer is a newbie.