Bob Forward

Tom Tataranowicz

A mysterious spaceship flying over Etheria is shot down by Hordak, causing rebels and Horde alike to scramble to recover the vehicle and its pilot. This winged, antennae-clad visitor from space will cause more than just a battle between heroes and villains - she'll also raise a blush in the cheeks of our buff blonde, He-Man! And that will make He-Maniac Frosta go even colder with jealousy! There's all kinds of crazy drama to be had today, folks.

Sweet Bee, Prince Adam (He-Man), Princess Adora (She-Ra), Spirit (Swift Wind), Enchanta, Mermista, Frosta

Hordak, Shadow Weaver

Horde soldiers, fish, Drone 7

Scout 3, Horde destroyers, clawdad, glonders, the Hive

Our story begins not on Etheria, but in the stars above, where a tiny spacecraft with a mysterious helmeted pilot is scanning the world below. The pilot, flying a scout ship (Scout 3), determines Etheria to be oxygen-rich and habitable by her people, and communicates as much to a distant compatriot (Drone 7). She also detects a sudden power source on the surface - but before she can be sure of its nature, "Scout 3" is blasted by it! The weapon, not surprisingly, was fired at the behest of Hordak, who detected the approach of the defenseless craft, and is determined to know what valuable secrets it and its pilot may contain.

Unbeknownst to Hordak, someone else has been witness to this unwarranted attack: Prince Adam and Princess Adora! Adam, on a friendly visit to his sister's planet, was whiling away the hours by joining his sister on a spying jaunt to the Fright Zone, and the twins track the damaged ship going down in the region of the Polar Sea. Determined to foil Hordak's piratical plans, Adora and Adam transform into She-Ra and He-Man, and mounting the winged Swift Wind, quickly journey to request the aid of someone who knows all about matters of the sea.

It's Mermista, and she's hanging out at her usual watering hole by the Crystal Falls. Hearing She-Ra and He-Man's tale, the mermaid woman decides to come with them on the rescue mission. She leaps out of the water, changing her tail to a pair of legs for the journey. And, it seems, there's yet another ally just at hand, very willing to assist the twins - most especially the male half of the pair. Frosta slides up on an ice ribbon, explaining that she was visiting with Mermista but feels the Polar Sea is just the spot for an icy empress. She also makes it embarrassingly clear that she's interested in spending time in close physical proximity to the blonde masculine hero - and we see just as clearly that He-Man would as soon not have the extra help.

Nevertheless, the foursome make the journey together on the back of the giant flying swan Enchanta, with Frosta clinging to He-Man's pecs the whole way, and when they arrive at the Polar Sea find a group of four Horde destroyers already gathered around the likely crash site. The heroes are quickly spied by Hordak's soldiers, and the Horde commander - who has come to personally oversee the spacecraft recovery - impatiently orders his men to also shoot down the pesky meddlers. When the cross-eyed robots fail to carry out his orders, Hordak does it himself, stunning Enchanta with a blast from his arm cannon.

The bird goes down in the sea, and Frosta generates a swan-sized ice raft for Enchanta to lie on while it recovers. A fleet of Horde soldiers on glonders is dispatched to... dispatch the heroes, so She-Ra orders the party to divide: she and Mermista will go underwater to try to rescue the pilot, while He-Man and the flirty Frosta will stay on the surface to fight off the robots. The latter pair have their hands full battling the aerial Hordesmen, but make their most effective attack when they combine abilities: at Frosta's suggestion, He-Man slashes his sword into the water to generate a big wave, and Frosta freezes it to ice at its height, creating an obstacle with which the glonders and their riders devastatingly collide.

He-Man and his partner have just polished off the last of the soldiers, and Frosta is just grabbing hold of the unprepared hunk to plant a wet sloppy kiss on him, when She-Ra and Mermista return with their prize. She-Ra had to fight off the Horde's pinchy "clawdad" submarine while Mermista pried off the spaceship's lid to pluck out its unconscious occupant. The mermaid managed the rescue just as the ship was being lifted out of the water by a destroyer's grapplers. The Horde still got away with the stranger's craft, but the rebels have the pilot. While Hordak is meting out punishment to his soldier for failing to prevent the loss, the rebels are ready to escape on the restored Enchanta. He-Man takes a moment to pull off the helmet of the mystery pilot and is very pleasantly surprised to find the face of a pretty girl underneath, with heavy eye shadow and a pair of cute pink antennae. (She-Ra, catching Frosta's jealous reaction to this, sees drama in the future for He-Man and friends!)

Back at the Whispering Woods, the pretty pilot introduces herself as Sweet Bee (much to Frosta's irritation, He-Man thinks this is a lovely name), member of a race of bee people. She was sent out from her mother ship, the Hive, as a scout, to find a suitable planet for them to live - for the bee people's home planet was completely destroyed when their sun went supernova. Etheria seemed a great candidate; but though He-Man initially assures Sweet Bee that the Etherians will be happy to accept an entire planet's population of immigrants, She-Ra demurs: Etheria is ruled by the Horde, who will surely enslave Sweet Bee's unarmed people as soon as they show up. Sweet Bee, distressed, is anxious to get back into her spaceship and warn the Hive that they'll need to look elsewhere for their Earth 2. The rebels have to sheepishly admit that Hordak is in possession of the vehicle. Their course is clear: to head to the Fright Zone and steal the ship back!

Over in the Fright Zone, Hordak has not been idle with the salvaged ship. He's put his best tech person, Shadow Weaver, on the case; and she tinkers in the cockpit enough to get the radio working. Receiving a message from a male bee person identifying himself as "Drone 7," Weaver does some quick thinking and - with the help of a photo in the ship's dash - disguises herself as Sweet Bee. With Hordak's prompting, Weaver Bee informs the drone that Etheria is a great planet, full of happy, friendly people, and the hive ship filled with 10,000 potential slaves - err, that is, fellow bees - should feel free to land.

Intent on stopping just such a disaster, our heroic foursome (plus Sweet Bee) approaches the Fright Zone. Sweet Bee uses her bee powers to create a honeycomb ladder, allowing everyone who doesn't have fluttery bee wings to climb up to an entrance pipe. Then He-Man and She-Ra make their usual un-subtle entrance by smashing a hole in the wall. They break in on a surprised Weaver and Hordak, who send a seemingly endless number of robot soldiers at them. The ensuing battle involves everyone to varying degrees. Mermista and Frosta try their own water and ice powers, which Hordak counters via his arm flamethrower. She-Ra bashes plenty of robots, and Sweet Bee catches some in a honeycomb barrier or net. He-Man finds himself caught in a spell of Shadow Weaver's, which Frosta undoes by freezing the sorceress in a giant ball of ice. The freed He-Man then uses the icy Weaver like a giant bowling ball, taking down the next line of robots.

Sweet Bee makes a break for her ship; but Hordak, realizing the rebels' intentions, gets there too and shoots out the engines. He-Man grabs the Horde commander from behind, convincing Hordak the time has come for a prudent retreat via his own body's rocket thruster. The Horde is temporarily defeated; but how will Sweet Bee get back to her people now? Her thrusters are gone and her radio is busted. The superpowered twins know how. First, our beefcake brother tears a hole in the outer wall of the fortress, carving a ship-sized exit. Then, the siblings lift the scout ship, with Sweet Bee ready at the controls, and point it at the sky. On the count of three, the pair toss the ship out of the building, through the atmosphere, and up into space, where it neatly swoops back into the Hive.

As the mother ship winks its way out of the night sky, Sweet Bee having presumably informed her people what a crappy neighborhood Etheria is, He-Man sadly professes regret at not having been able to say a proper goodbye to the adorable little bee lady. Frosta, on the other hand, is totally thrilled that He-Man's crush is now out of the picture, and once again drapes her arms over the stud, certain that she has him all to herself. Out of the side of his mouth, poor He-Man tries to suggest to his sister that it's time for him to cut his visit short; but a greatly amused She-Ra merely informs her brother that he's "chicken."

• Horde soldier (of a mysterious spacecraft flying over Etheria): It seems to be on a peaceful mission. / Hordak: Well, in that case, trooper, when it gets close enough - shoot it down.
• She-Ra: If you could leave Frosta alone for a minute, He-Man, we could use a hand. / He-Man (who just had his blonde mane passionately grabbed by Frosta in preparation for a big old snog): Leave her alone? Why, I - (stammers, trails off)
• He-Man (tenderly holding a collapsed Sweet Bee, while Frosta angrily looks on): Easy now, just relax - you're among friends. Good friends. / She-Ra: Oh, boy.
• He-Man: Getting up there won't be easy - but I'll try anything for you, Sweet Bee.
• Shadow Weaver: She-Ra! / Hordak: And He-Man! / Frosta (turning to Mermista in consternation): What? Don't we deserve an announcement?
• She-Ra: Well, there goes the Hive. / Mermista: I hope they find a nice planet soon; one free from the Evil Horde. / He-Man: I'm sure they will, Mermista. I just wish I had a chance to say goodbye. Eh, well, now she's gone. / Frosta (just thrilled, and clutching at the big lug): Yes, she certainly is - but I'm not! Aren't the stars romantic, He-Man?

• She-Ra mounts Swift Wind and flies off: The mounting part of the loop is used just after She-Ra transforms. The takeoff is omitted, since He-Man has to get on Swifty's back, too.
• He-Man swings sword overhand: In order to make a big wave in the Polar Sea
• He-Man punches the viewer: Just the wind-up portion of this classic loop is used as He-Man and his sister prepare to bash their way through a Fright Zone wall
• She-Ra spin kicks the viewer: To fight off some Horde soldiers
• He-Man smiles close-up, looking at the viewer: To respond to a comment from She-Ra; and later, an even more zoomed-in version of the animation is used as He-Man pronounces his wish that he'd been able to say goodbye to Sweet Bee
• She-Ra, hands on hips, laughs with her head thrown back: The pose and the full loop are used in the final moments of the episode, as She-Ra thoroughly enjoys her brother's discomfiture at being fawned over by Frosta

One full
As has been done in the past (though the last time it happened was as long ago as 67027's "The Eldritch Mist"), our heroine's transformation is intercut with that of He-Man, who does his thing at the same time. His sequence is placed just after Adora has said the first line of hers; the rest of her animation continues as usual after He-Man's is done. He-Man's transformation is a partial version missing the Cringer/Battle Cat sequence - though he does make the habitual goof of just beginning to move his power sword toward the absent Cringer before being cut off.

3:45 - Loo-Kee has made the risky decision to show up in the Fright Zone today - something we've seen him do before (see 67014, 67053). We see his upper body popping up over some pipe-like machinery on the right side of the screen, looking right at us, as She-Ra runs into view.
Did I spot him? YES!

Loo-Kee, appearing in the grim surroundings of the Fright Zone to reveal his hiding place for today, avoids any discussion of the episode's romance-filled plot and instead focuses on the other part of the story: the bee people's "move." He suggests that if your family also has to move to another house, you should consider the good side of the experience - meeting new friends - instead of the bad part, where you leave old friends behind (or, you know, your planet blows up).

MOTU crossover
Love is in the air: So much love! And other related feelings!
Landmark Episode: For the new character debut, the big ensemble cast, and the fact that this is the zaniest, most entertaining episode we've had in quite a while.

• This episode will be Bob Forward's fourteenth (!) and penultimate script for POP. This is also the seventh and final episode directed by Tom Tataranowicz (who I suspect was the inspiration for the name of the goblin general "Tataran" used in another Bob Forward script, the seminal MU110's "The Price of Power").
• As the episode title suggests, today will bring us the belated debut of the only figure from Mattel's second wave of POP action figures (1986) yet to appear on the show: Sweet Bee. In her toy's packaging, the character name was written as one word ("SweetBee"), but everywhere else that I've seen it it's written as two. Sweet Bee begins the episode as a bit of a mystery, and we only learn who she is and what she can do as the story progresses. I've made the questionable decision, based almost entirely on her position in the toy line and not on how her character is affiliated in today's episode, to list her among the rebels.
• On the subject of toy waves: you'd think we'd have seen animated versions of all the Mattel products from the first POP wave by now, but we haven't - and, in fact, we never will, at least not under Filmation's aegis. The missing figure is Double Trouble, who for whatever reason was never depicted on screen. According to Wiki Grayskull, she was a rebel spy and Glimmer's cousin. She appears in other related merchandise of the time, just not the cartoon.
• A repeated sound effect made by computers and machines in this episode is one I've heard several times before in MOTU and POP, which sounds exactly like the noise the spider makes when it crawls around the screen in Atari's Centipede.
• We find that Hordak has had a gigantic double-barreled freeze cannon installed, apparently right in his throne room.
• It's yet another MOTU crossover today, as we discover very quickly, because at the story's beginning Prince Adam is already in Etheria to visit his sister. This is the fourth episode in the last six to contain MOTU characters.
• We first see Sweet Bee wearing a big helmet which entirely obscures her face. The visor or window set in its front tapers down to a point, making it look similar to a Mandalorian helmet (for those among you who maybe don't care about Star Wars, I'm talking about that Boba Fett guy and his ilk, who wear a lot of cool-looking armor).
• The eagle-eyed He-Man accurately predicts that the downed spacecraft is going to crash in the "Polar Sea," an Etherian location that we've never visited before.
• We return to the Crystal Falls and Mermista. This recurring location/playset was last seen in 67063's "Flowers for Hordak." Mermista herself last showed up in the fun adventure of "The Pearl" (67072), where we first saw her demonstrate the ability which she'll also be showcasing today, of swapping her tailfin for legs.
• Also at the Falls is another belated animated debut of a toy. This one is Enchanta, a giant flying swan released as part of the first wave of Mattel POP toys in 1985. It was a vehicle that could carry multiple figures at once, and it shows off that skill in today's episode.
• ...And the hits keep coming, because guess who happens to be visiting Mermista? Frosta - and boy howdy, will she be playing an interesting role in today's tale! We last saw Frosta in 67075's "Day of the Flowers," where (for the first time) she briefly interacted with He-Man during the final battle scene. I guess there wasn't enough time that day for her to ramp up her flirting to eleven, as she does with He-Man today. From the get-go, she is all over the bashful stud, who sadly (and very obviously) doesn't want to have anything to do with her.
• The basic elements of the beginning of this story are very similar to those beginning 67044's "The Rock People" (written by the great Larry DiTillio). Though Hordak didn't shoot them down, the title characters of that episode also came from space, also landed on Etheria, also got fought over by rebels and Horde alike, and also ended up becoming allies of the rebels. In fact, like Sweet Bee and her people, Stonedar and his people were also representatives of a race whose home planet was doomed, and were in search of a new planet to live on. Anyone else have deja vu? The big difference comes in how the Etherian inhabitants react to these potential emigrations - see commentary for more on that.
• We find the Horde already in place at the Polar Sea, in a fleet of destroyers - vehicles that we've seen used in previous water-based tales (67012, 67072). A new addition is the "clawdad," a cute little shellfish-like submarine vehicle that's good at grabbing things.
• Hordak transformations: Hordak will be using his arm cannon multiple times today, in various forms. His first transformation is the standard form, and he employs it quite dramatically to take down poor Enchanta.
• Swiss army sword: She-Ra can do transforming too! She changes her sword to a scuba helmet, much as she did in 67072's "The Pearl," the better to swim in the Polar Sea.
• Hordak transformations: After the altercation on the sea, Hordak changes his arm into a cannon again - a different cannon, with a pointed top, which we've seen him use before, if rarely (67039). He uses this one to destroy a Horde soldier who's disappointed him, in an impressively large explosion that's shown in a distant wide shot.
• When He-Man finally pulls off Sweet Bee's helmet, we're not surprised to find that she is a bee person - just very little like the kind of bee person that MOTU's corresponding bee man, Buzz Off, is. She has a perfectly human face with lots of eye shadow but perfectly normal eyes, not Buzz Off's huge buggy ones. Her antennae also look as if they may not even be a part of her, but instead just a decoration coming out of a pink circlet she wears around her head. Since Buzz Off lives on Eternia and Sweet Bee and her people come from Etheria's dimension, we have to assume they aren't actually related to each other.
• In the documentary Power of Grayskull, today's director Tom Tataranowicz particularly recalls a scene from this episode, in which Frosta can be seen testily mouthing words while He-Man is remarking on what a "sweet" name Sweet Bee is. It was given as an example of a delightful moment an animation director can add to scene, even though it's not in the script.
• Speaking of that scene, it perfectly encapsulates an added dimension of hilarity and romance in today's story: the fact that He-Man forms an instant crush on the insectile visitor from space - much to Frosta's disgust. (So that's the kind of girl you like, is it, He-Man? One that's part bug? Well, I suppose we shouldn't kink shame.)
• Some bee people lore, some of which I already noted earlier when comparing this story to 67044's: Sweet Bee is a scout pilot from her people's colony ship, the Hive, which escaped from her home planet just before the sun went supernova (so they're in even worse straits than Stonedar and crew, whose planet was still in the process of dying when they left). The 10,000 inhabitants of the Hive are looking for a new planet on which to settle - but She-Ra tells Sweet Bee in no uncertain terms that Etheria is not the place for them. No foreigners! (Again, see the commentary for my take on the inconsistencies here between the treatment of immigrants in this episode and 67044.)
• Hordak transformations: Caught up in the excitement of his plot to gain 10,000 bee slaves for his army, Hordak changes his arm into a cannon once again - but it's yet another, different form of cannon. This one is the old-fashioned lit-fuse cannon with spoked wheels that we've seen him use in 67033 and 67080. His facial expression while wielding the cannon is one of dismay and confusion, similar to how he felt when he used it in 67033 against a malfunctioning brain scanner - it's at odds with what he should be feeling here, which is devilish glee.
• During the heroes' infiltration of the Fright Zone, we get a better idea of Sweet Bee's powers: she can fly (so those wings aren't just for decoration), and she can make things such as ladders and barriers out of honeycomb material by shooting rays out of her hands. (Thankfully she doesn't have to spew honeycomb out of her abdomen like an Earth bee - which apparently is how they do it, based on the cursory google search I just did.)
• Sweet Bee's ladder into a raised tunnel is just the latest in a long line of entrances our heroes have used to enter the Fright Zone. In the recent past, they've been able to get inside the fortress without climbing up - see for instance the ground-level tunnel She-Ra used in 67079's "Romeo and Glimmer," or the disused secret door Adora's old nurse Shakra led them through in 67077.
• Hordak transformations: Our Horde commander again resorts to his standard arm cannon in the big battle against the rebels; this time it shoots flames and nullifies the combined water and ice sprays of Mermista and Frosta. A few minutes later, he uses the cannon once again, this time to destroy the propulsion system on Sweet Bee's spaceship. To subsequently escape the bear hug of He-Man, he changes his lower body into a rocket thruster - a form he's been relying on a lot lately (see 67082, 67083).
• He-Man and She-Ra's decision to simply throw Sweet Bee's inoperable ship into space recalls a similar trick He-Man pulled to get his friends out of a jam in Snake Mountain at the end of MU088's "Three on a Dare." At least, it made me think of that episode.
• For the second time in recent memory - the last time being 67079's "Romeo and Glimmer" - the episode ends with a heart-shaped wipe and a kissy sound effect, even though it seems highly unlikely that Frosta and the unwilling He-Man are about to smooch.
• Ending credits variation: The alternate background painting is still being used.

• Animation error: In the panning shot first showing us the gigantic freeze cannon in the Fright Zone, we see nothing but sky behind it, suggesting the gun is out in the open air. Subsequent shots show it to be situated inside Hordak's throne room, its double muzzle pointed outside through the tiniest rectangle of a window.
• Animation error: The end of Adam's transformation to He-Man contains just the slightest twitch of He-Man's sword toward the absent Cringer.
• Adam and Adora lament the fact that what was meant to be the prince's vacation visit to his sister must be cut short; but if they didn't want to get embroiled in an action-packed plot, they maybe shouldn't have been spending their "vacation" spying in the Fright Zone!
• Continuity error: She-Ra leads the Horde clawdad off, telling Mermista to rescue the pilot out of the downed spaceship; but when Mermista approaches the ship, the background painting used still includes the clawdad, which shouldn't be there.
• The way Frosta just constantly drapes herself over He-Man and emphatically flirts with him is hilarious. We've certainly seen romance handled in the series before - that's what my "Love is in the air" category is all about - but never has it been this wackily over the top. I suppose the closest we came was when Castaspella had a thing for Adam - and He-Man had a thing for her - back in 67027. He clearly has no interest in Frosta, but She-Ra (in classic sibling mode) seems to find the whole thing amusing and finds ways to put the two of them together, much to He-Man's dismay.
• All these embarrassing and emotional interactions make for some fabulously expressive character animations, and had me taking far too many screenshots of this episode, as you'll see above.
• Continuity error: In order to extract Sweet Bee from the ship's cockpit, Mermista must pry off the entire front section of what I suppose you could call the "windscreen." Though we don't see it happen, you have to assume that after she got it off, the only thing Mermista could do with it was toss it into the surrounding sea. However, late in the episode when Sweet Bee climbs into her craft to escape, the windscreen is back in place.
• He-Man, smitten with his new female friend, is sure that Sweet Bee and her people can find a home on Etheria. But She-Ra puts her foot down: "Wrong, He-Man. ... This is Etheria, ruled by the Evil Horde. If Sweet Bee's people come here, Hordak will surely enslave them." This is an entirely different story than the one she told to Stonedar and his Rock People in 67044. In fact, the dialogue between Stonedar and She-Ra was almost the reverse of the one heard here, with She-Ra urging the Rock People to settle on the planet, but the stony pacifists disliking Etheria's wartorn nature. In the end, Stonedar and crew did choose to settle on the planet after all, convinced they could live in a place where the terrestrial conflict would not find them (which didn't turn out to be true, as suggested by their second appearance). So why the huge change of heart from She-Ra? Well, perhaps it was the contrasting power levels of the two alien races: Stonedar and his fellows, though lovers of peace, showed themselves to be incredibly effective at defending themselves when forced to it. Sweet Bee, on the other hand, just had to be rescued off the bottom of the sea from her wrecked - and unarmed - ship.
• Hordak's choice of Shadow Weaver to figure out the controls of that downed spaceship is an odd one. After all, hasn't he had arguments with her in the past, supporting his own love of technology over her magical specialization? Why would the sorceress know anything about how to work a high-tech spacecraft? It seems like Horde scientist Modulok would have been the better person to choose here - but we haven't seen him since 67061. Also, as it turns out, once Weaver gets that radio working, it's very useful to have someone standing by who can magically disguise themselves as a bee person.
• With regard to Shadow Weaver's disguise - it's very lucky for the sorceress that the bee people require their scout pilots to keep a little photo of themselves posted in their cockpit, or Weaver would have had no idea how to disguise herself. I guess the head shot was part of Sweet Bee's pilot's license, or something. But it's impossible for Weaver to have known what Sweet Bee's voice would sound like. Maybe she just got lucky!
• Even if the bee people are pushovers militarily, as everyone seems to assume, it still is mighty presumptuous of Hordak to just earmark all 10,000 of the colonists as his slaves. That's a lot of people! Surely they'll fight back if they are threatened with conquering. Just how many robot soldiers does he have?
• You have to wonder why there are only 10,000 bee people also. Was their doomed planet that sparsely populated, or - dark thought - are they just the only ones who won the lottery and managed to get on the ship? And how does this number compare to the current humanoid population of Etheria? Is 10,000 a drop in the ocean for the Etherians, or are we talking about doubling the planetary population? Like what impact would these added numbers have on the planetary resources? I suppose these are things that our writers didn't have to worry about, because they figured their childish viewing audience wouldn't consider them. (This was also never a consideration with the Rock People, whose numbers seemed even smaller than those of the bee people, and who likely won't put a strain on the planet's food supplies, since they're rocks and presumably don't eat grain.)
• Continuity error: When He-Man and She-Ra smash their way into the Fright Zone, the animation shows a giant metal door being knocked over. However in the very next shot, we see a ragged hole in the wall with rubble scattered around it - and no metal door in sight.
• In the big final battle, She-Ra deflects what should be the "freeze" rays of the Horde soldiers running towards her. But the reflected bolts have the tidy effect of entirely disintegrating the soldiers who fired them - good thing those didn't hit the good guys! I've noted in the past, particularly in the opening scene of 67052's "The Wizard," the inconsistent results of the Hordesmen's weapons.
• This may already be clear from my earlier comments in this entry, but I loved this episode. Thanks to Bob Forward's great humor writing, it's the funniest episode we've had in a long while, and a highlight of this otherwise not-so-great second season. I also loved all the opportunities it gave me to speculate and extrapolate, as can be seen by the lengthy commentary section.