Douglas Booth

Lou Zukor

Teela, Adam, and Cringer show up in the Valley of Power to try to drink magic waters from a spring that rises once every thousand years. But they happen to have picked the same day to visit as the evil hunter Danavas, who intends to steal the egg of a very possessive mother Ro!

Teela, Prince Adam (He-Man), Cringer (Battle Cat), Orko

N/A

Danavas, Ro, baby Ro

Wind Raider

A backpacked, bearded stranger looks out over the Valley of Power, conveniently announcing to us his intention to steal the egg of a giant bird called a Ro and train the baby to obey his commands. Just in case we were confused about whether he's evil, he tops off his monologue with a wicked cackle. Watch out for this guy!

It so happens that Adam, Teela, and Cringer have also chosen this day to venture into the Valley of Power, because the Sorceress told them it's a once-in-a-millenium opportunity to drink from a magic spring which will make them strong and brave. Just think: Adam and Cringer could be as brave as He-Man and Battle Cat! On their way to the spring, the heroes get buzzed by the mother Ro - once early on, and again later when she mistakenly believes them to be the thieves who stole the egg from her nest. Or maybe it's this suspicious bearded man with the bulging backpack, whom Teela assists. He introduces himself as Danavas, and the heroes tell him about the magic spring, which he thinks he'd like to check out as well, "to fight... uh... evil." Sure buddy. Since the Ro is still a threat, Adam decides to lead Cringer away for a transformation, and Teela gets grabbed by the mother bird and dropped in her nest. With He-Man and Battle Cat busy with a rescue and Teela busy being rescued, only Danavas is in place when the spring rises. Not only does he drink the magic water: his stolen egg cracks open and the baby Ro gets a charge as well, quickly growing to full-size. Danavas then proclaims that his new-found power also gives him control over the Ro - which, amazingly, turns out to be accurate. He jumps on his new bird friend and grabs He-Man, then drops him; our hero only manages to save himself by learning how to fly with giant, molted Ro feathers. Danavas, feeling he's done enough to He-Man, flies off, as he does so unwisely declaring to any heroes that might be nearby his intention to visit the royal palace.

Battle Cat helpfully manages to communicate the heroes' peaceful intentions to the mother Ro, who offers a ride to the palace for Teela while He-Man and his cat follow on foot. This once-in-a-millenium day turns out to have been everyone else's vacation day, and only Orko is present at the palace (having a nap in a hammock) when Danavas and Teela show up, almost at the same time. Teela and Orko improvise a trap for Danavas and his mount using Orko's hammock, but it only holds the pair for a few seconds. Fortunately Teela has sent the mother Ro back to pick up Battle Cat and He-Man, who were going much too slow. When they show up, it's an acrobatic sky battle for the ages. Battle Cat has to be saved from the clutches of the baby Ro by He-Man, who whistles up his Wind Raider. Unfortunately He-Man is not on board, and Battle Cat never earned his driver's license...

Meanwhile, He-Man has sent Teela and Orko (on the back of Mama Ro) to Grayskull to get an antidote from the Sorceress, to remove the magic alterations from the baby Ro. Fortunately the Sorceress catches their approach on her spy TV and has time to whip up a baby potion, some of which accidentally drips on Orko's head when he flies in the window. It's not an issue, though, because Orko's infantile babbling will wear off quickly and there's enough left for the Ro. The Sorceress also assures Teela that the water's effects will momentarily wear off of Danavas.

He-Man battles Danavas off the back of his Ro and onto the hood of the Wind Raider, from which the villain is flung when He-Man abruptly lands the ship. He takes off again almost immediately to deliver the antidote (which Teela flings at him) into the mouth of the baby Ro, then returns to the ground to cuff Danavas. The happy pair of Ros fly off in peace.

End with a Joke: A traumatized Danavas ensures our heroes he has seen the error of his ways and intends to be only good from now on, "Just as long as I can keep both feet on the ground." He-Man guffaws.

• Teela: We can't turn back now. / Cringer: Wanna bet?
• Cringer (at the prospect of being as brave as Battle Cat): I can't believe it! Battle Cat is my idol. Do you really think it's possible, Teela? / Teela: Well, maybe not.
• Danavas (very unconvincingly): Well, of course, I plan to use my powers to fight... uh... evil.
• He-Man (literally hanging from a cliff): Now this is what I call a real cliffhanger.
• Orko (angrily, to a Ro he's just helped trap in his hammock): And you're gonna pay for ruining my nap, too!
• Orko (while riding on the back of the mother Ro to Grayskull): Aw, Teela, I never get to do anything exciting.

• A look through widespread legs: He-Man lands after falling off a Ro (multiple times)
• He-Man laughs, head back: Enjoying the picture of Danavas kissing the solid ground; and again later, after Danavas expresses his fervent desire to keep both feet on the ground

One full

Brought to you by He-Man
He-Man advises us not to be a Danavas and mess around with nature. You should have a nice day in the woods, but leave the outdoors just as you found them.

Skeletor-less episodes in Season 1
Haven't had enough of jerky hunters?: Try MU063's Baron Grod! You'll find he looks familiar... You could argue this episode also belongs in the "Everybody deserves a second chance" category, given Danavas's late-stage promise to become a do-gooder; but I'm not convinced that his turnaround came from an honest place, as it was surely motivated by his terror at having been forced to cling to an air vehicle in mid-flight.

• Cringer claims that Battle Cat is his idol - which we have to assume is just him covering his secret identity, since he has, in the past, emphatically expressed his desire to not have to turn into Battle Cat.
• The animators made a very strange choice to show Danavas as having no whites in his eyes at all - they are black instead. I guess this helps as a cue for any of us who may have been confused that he is, indeed, evil.
• This episode probably qualifies in the "I thought it was only a legend!" category, since the story of the Ro and the once-in-a-thousand-years spring are both considered legends by Danavas (though Teela seems more certain of the truth in the spring, haven gotten her information straight from the Sorceress).
• Adam barely hides himself before his transformation, seemingly just trusting that everyone else will keep looking the other way. When He-Man shows up he assures a concerned Teela with typical careless ease that Adam and Cringer are "all right." This episode puts He-Man on slightly shakier ground with his secret identity when Teela actually asks about Adam a second time before heading for the palace. (He-Man again, now rather annoyed, tells her he'll make sure Adam and Cringer are safe.)
• He-Man can fly! (Courtesy of a pair of molted Ro feathers.)
• Though Cringer (to humorous effect) has spoken to another cat before, in MU019, we've never heard Battle Cat try to speak with another animal, as he does with the mother Ro here.
• The Sorceress spies on the heroes using her all-purpose viewing window.
• We also get to see the Sorceress's lab in Grayskull, last seen in MU025's "Evilseed." This time she mixes together some very unlikely ingredients that she keeps in liquid form in flasks: anger reducer, baby love, motherly understanding, and a baby's cry.
• He-Man again demonstrates his ability (last shown in MU019) to whistle up his Wind Raider.
• This episode features a lot of moments putting characters in unusual or ridiculous situations. First there's Cringer being pulled back up a cliff by his tail. Then there's He-Man's short flight with feathers. Orko gets a couple of silly moments, both when he has to be reminded of his floating ability by Teela and when he gets momentarily turned into a baby. Poor Battle Cat gets stuck on a Wind Raider that he can't fly, and spends a few moments looking very out-of-place riding on the backs of both Ro birds.
• This episode was written by Douglas Booth, who gave us both Uncle Montork episodes, "Masks of Power," and "The Sleepers Awaken." Almost all of these episodes were without Skeletor, which makes me wonder whether Mr. Booth has it in for old Bonehead.
• We will see the Ro character design used again for an important character in MU078's "Betrayal of Stratos;" and it will show up again in the much later MU124 and MU128.

• The close-up shot of Cringer after he's been pulled back up the cliffside by his tail shows his eyebrows as orange instead of the regular black.
• One has to wonder about Danavas's motivations in this episode. He seems to be aware of the legend of the magical spring, but not all that interested, and just happy to take advantage of the coincidence of it coming up at his feet. His real goal seems to have been the egg, which seems more than a little strange. You can have super-strength or a pet bird: which one would you rather?
• Battle Cat comments that he's not "dumb enough" to try flying with feathers. Are you calling He-Man dumb?! Later He-Man gets his own back by telling Battle Cat that "an Eternian snail" could run faster than he's going. Geeze, guys, do you have something you need to talk out?
• Danavas's plan to take over the palace would have gone better if he hadn't blabbed about it before flying away from He-Man. But how did Teela end up leaving Eternos entirely undefended, with Orko home alone?! (As she points out, the royal couple went to the seashore and Duncan took the entire army of Eternia out on maneuvers.) Did they check to make sure Skeletor was on vacation first, before taking their little walk to the Valley of Power?
• Apparently Orko naps in a hammock that uses approximately the same amount of fabric as a hot-air balloon.
• Several of the different ingredients the Sorceress lists come out of the same exact flask. And yes, I realize how ridiculous it is to complain that liquid "motherly understanding" and "a baby's cry" came out of the same flask.
• It's hard to see how the baby Ro could have plucked Battle Cat off the ledge from which he was hanging, given that Battle Cat must have been at the height of its head, and its legs are necessarily beneath that. Hmmm.
• I have some other issues with the ending of this episode, specifically surrounding the "antidote" that He-Man feeds to the baby. First of all, though it is presumably an uncorked flask, he does a needless roll in the Wind Raider while holding it (this after catching a reckless throw from Teela). Secondly, instead of trying to pour only the liquid down the baby's gullet, he flings the entire flask, ensuring that the bird creature now has to digest (or safely pass) a glass container. Thirdly, he immediately says "It worked!" even though there is no visible effect on the baby. Fourthly, when a few drips landed on Orko, he acted like a baby for a very brief few seconds. Why is the antidote going to then be a permanent fix on the Ro?
• For a spring that only appears once every thousand years, its magical powers are frankly pretty crappy, given that they wear off in - what - a few hours? They also don't seem to make Danavas strong enough to even break through a pretty flimsy pair of handcuffs.