Story - Misty Stewart, Teleplay - Misty Stewart, Larry DiTillio

Ernie Schmidt

The chance discovery of a bracelet puts Man-at-Arms and King Randor on the trail of the long lost Miro - Randor's father! The pair of searchers will be happy that Adam (and consequently He-Man) decided to follow them, because the evil Enchantress doesn't want them getting her royal prisoner back.

Man-at-Arms, Orko, King Randor, Prince Adam (He-Man), Queen Marlena, Cringer (Battle Cat)

N/A

various Eternian citizens, peddler, owl spy, the Enchantress, Drude, sludge creatures, Miro, the Lurker

Wind Raider

Anybody want some fruit? Orko becomes the not-so-proud owner of several baskets of oranges, after unthinkingly plucking one from the bottom of a towering pile while shopping at the Eternian open-air market, causing a disastrous collapse. Man-at-Arms, who very likely had to pay for the oranges, is distracted from his frustration by the sight of a unique bracelet being sold at another market stall. Excitedly questioning the peddler who's offering the item, Man-at-Arms learns that it was found somewhere in the Swamps of Enchantment.

Later, Duncan relays this news and the bracelet to King Randor, and we learn that the crest on the bracelet is the symbol of Randor's lost father, Miro. Randor believes that it's his sole responsibility to trace down this lead to his father's whereabouts; but Duncan, unwilling to risk the king's safety in such a way, vows to go with him. Meanwhile, Adam finds Orko chilling in his room with a grove's worth of oranges, and helpfully assists by chowing down on some fruit. Queen Marlena, who is not hungry for fruit but has been searching for her son, finds him there and tells him that she has become concerned about her husband and Duncan. It seems the pair left, informing everyone that they were on a peaceful mission to Gamelon; but Marlena became suspicious of their intentions after finding the bracelet. She also recognizes the crest of King Miro, who (we further learn) was presumed dead years ago after a battle with his enemy, the Enchantress. Randor always believed that Miro survived. Orko provides the crucial overheard information that the bracelet came from the Swamps of Enchantment, and Marlena urges her son to go after the men, as she has a strong presentiment of impending danger.

Marlena's instincts were right, as we soon discover. Duncan and Randor are in a tiny rowboat, drifting down a river amid the swamps. Duncan remembers a local tale of "the prisoner of Lost Mountain," and wonders if it might have a connection to their Miro - could he be that prisoner, prey to the evil Enchantress all these years? A good guess! The Enchantress, who has been spying on the intrepid pair via a glowing ball from somewhere nearby, does indeed have Miro prisoner, and is not really receiving guests just now. She conjures a great waterspout that knocks Duncan out of the boat and lifts Randor up and away, and ultimately into her clutches. A defiant Randor recognizes the witch and vows revenge, but is imprisoned and stowed away with the assistance of the Enchantress's froggy servant, Drude, and her unliving sludge creatures.

Meanwhile, Adam has taken a very unmotivated Cringer along with him in a Wind Raider to scope out the terrain of the Swamps of Enchantment. He's able to home in on the signal of Man-at-Arms, and when close enough hits the Raider's ejector seats (because there's no good place to land the ship in the swamps - it will have to land itself elsewhere via auto-pilot), dropping himself and his tiger to the ground. It's a soft landing, because they're wearing parachutes. Adam senses danger nearby, and is taking no chances, so he immediately transforms himself and his tiger into their heroic alter egos. He-Man and Battle Cat catch up with Duncan, who explains that he's now lost two generations of Eternian royalty, but has an idea of where to find them - the legendary Lost Mountain.

Luckily for them, the Lost Mountain isn't a legend: it's a gigantic and very real landmark that's floating in the sky high above the edge of the swamp, and they find it very easily. How to get up there? It turns out Adam's Wind Raider is long gone, so He-Man has no choice but to launch himself into the sky via tree catapult. The flying oaf just manages to grip the edge of the floating island, and hikes his way up to a lonely shack in the heights, where he locates the elderly prisoner, Miro. Miro tells his rescuer that he hasn't seen his son, Randor, but that the king's most likely location is the Enchantress's fortress, Castle Fear. It's not on Lost Mountain at all, but in a small clearing in the midst of the swampy jungle below. He-Man and Miro rush off to get there, but are impeded by the spying Enchantress's monster, the Lurker. It's a sort of tiger-squirrel that can glide through the air by spreading out the skin flaps between its arms and legs - and it has freezing breath! Miro is turned into an ice cube, and even a fallen He-Man gets his legs frozen to the ground. In a last-ditch effort, he flings his power sword at a snowy cliff, loosing a giant snowball that smacks the Lurker and sends it sailing off the mountain and into a tarry puddle below. That takes care of that! He-Man smashes himself free and de-ices his grandpa.

Sailing back to earth by means of an unfurled blanket they got from somewhere, He-Man and Miro land by Man-at-Arms and the old king and Duncan have a brief reunion. The quartet (including Battle Cat) then make their way to Castle Fear, where a much-abused Drude has been trying to inform his mistress of the coming danger. The Enchantress, who hasn't been keeping herself apprised of current events over the past ten years, doesn't seem to think He-Man is much of a threat, and believes her sludge creatures will take care of the attackers. Not so much: He-Man splats the monsters into messy stains on the castle wall, deflects a magical blast from her hand, and easily breaks down the gates with his giant tiger.

Panicking, Drude decides that it's time to switch sides, and releases Randor from his cell. An angry Enchantress scolds her servant, but still has enough faith in him to turn him into a giant frog-man with a magical enlarging spell (or perhaps at this point she's just run out of better options). A gleeful Drude at first goes along with the plan, grabbing all the invaders in one of his gigantic fists; but Miro and crew convince the froggy flunkey that Enchantress is no good for him, and hasn't been treating him right. On reflection, Drude agrees, instead turning on his mistress and grabbing her. Promising to abide by He-Man's request to not be cruel, but still vowing to teach the witch a lesson in manners, Drude stalks off with his prize.

Now free of all threats and impediments, Randor is happily reunited with his father. As they embrace, Man-at-Arms quietly suggests to He-Man that it would be a great time for Miro to meet his grandson; so the hero steps out of the castle and is immediately replaced by Prince Adam, who gets his own hug from the old man - and no questions about where that blonde hunk got to.

Back at the palace, we learn that Miro has no intention of hanging around to catch up with his estranged family - or take back the crown and kingship that is rightfully his. Instead, he plans on wandering Eternia, learning again the ways and wants of its people. He promises to eventually return and stay for good. Randor emotionally returns to his father the bracelet that led to Miro's discovery. Bidding a heartfelt farewell, the old king departs, leaving behind an adoring son and grandson.

End with a Joke: N/A

• Orko (buried under a mound of oranges): Wh-wh-what happened? / Man-at-Arms: Your "magic touch" worked about as well as the rest of your magic. And now we're going to have to pay for all this fruit.
• Drude: He-Man! Ho, ho ho. I've heard of him; he's big trouble!
• He-Man (about to break down some doors): Should we be polite and knock, Cat? / Battle Cat (growls): That's the right thing to do!
• Miro: My lucky bracelet! / Randor: No, father; my lucky bracelet. (hugs his dad)

• He-Man runs at the viewer, bug-height: Fleeing from the Lurker
• He-Man punches the viewer: To release King Miro from ice; later, the beginning shot of the loop is used for some closeup dialogue
• He-Man jumps on the back of Battle Cat: Preparing to break down some doors

One full

Brought to you by Orko
Orko speaks to us from his still orange-filled bedroom (he's really going to have to find a way to move those things quick, or it's going to get awfully moldy in there!), delivering one of his traditionally rushed PSAs. He enumerates three favorite things from today's story: the Enchantress finding out that evil acts always get punished, Randor finding his father, and Adam meeting his grandfather. He points out that any kids in the viewing audience with living grandparents are "especially lucky," thus adding to the grief of any members of the audience who don't have those things. Thanks, Orko.

Everybody deserves a second chance: A stretch, but the villainous Drude does change his evil ways at the end of the story (though he's largely motivated by self-interest, and we really wonder what he did with his new Enchantress action figure).
Skeletor-less episodes in Season 2
Landmark Episode: For its introduction of Adam's grandfather, Miro, and for suggesting lots of fun lore for me to speculate about. I wish I could tag this as a "main character flashbacks" episode, but unfortunately we are afforded no glimpses into the past while the heroes discuss Miro's disappearance.

• There are some very interesting things on sale at the Eternian market, including the mounted, stuffed head of a big bird that honestly looks like one of the Skeksis from Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal (1982), and a collection of various robots which suggest the Jawas have a stall there.
• The peddler lists several Eternian locales as he attempts to remember where he found the bracelet that captures Duncan's attention: the mountains of Jasmine, the Crystal Sea, and the Swamps of Enchantment. The latter ends up being the setting for this episode's main events, and the former we've never heard of before; but the Crystal Sea was central to landmark episode MU006. Later, Adam mentions "Gamelon," the cover-story location for Randor and Duncan's secret mission. (Sounds like Camelot.)
• King Miro's crest, by the way, is a lion's head in profile.
• "Prepare my Wind Raider," commands the king, thus implying that he has his own tricked-out ride, perhaps along the lines of Air Force One. (See commentary section for more on Wind Raiders in this episode.)
• We again see Orko's room, last visited in MU089. Now it's filled with fruit! It makes an encore appearance, still very fruity, in the PSA.
• Eternian lore and history - oh joy! Randor's father, we discover, was King Miro, who disappeared before Orko ever came to Eternia, and was ostensibly murdered by his enemy, the Enchantress. This puts us on the shaky chronological ground of the recent "Battlecat" (MU096). Based on what we know of Orko's first visit to Eternia as recounted in MU018, and the fact that Miro seems to be aware of Adam's existence when he meets the grown version, we must conclude that Adam was a young boy when the old king disappeared. Since in MU018 Adam appears to be at most in his early teens, Miro must have disappeared some time before that. If we estimate that Adam is currently the round age of 20 (see my proofs and calculations on Adam's age in the lore sections of MU058 and MU072), then Miro has been gone somewhere in the range of 6-10 years. It may have been as much as 15 years, if we estimate that Miro was lost when Adam was five; but that just seems like a crazy-long imprisonment for the old man to have to endure. (See further musings in commentary section.)
• Duncan remembers the "tales of the prisoner of Lost Mountain," which turn out to link to Miro's ultimate location - and make this episode a strong candidate for one of my favorite He-Man sub-categories, "only a legend." (As Battle Cat later remarks, "That's no legend!")
• Note that the Enchantress's name and her character design (specifically the bird-like cowl) seem to classify her as a sort of Anti-Sorceress. Neat! Unluckily for her, she lacks a loyal, musclebound champion to save her ass when the heroes come knocking. (While we're on the subject of this character, it's worth mentioning that there is a villain in both the DC and Marvel comics universes going by that name, though neither looks much like the Filmation version.)
• The king and his man-at-arms's heartfelt cries for each other (Randor: "Duncan, help me!" / Duncan (reaching out with his hand): "Randooor!" / Randor: "Duncaaaaan!") make me think of one of my other sub-categories: homoerotic undertones. I'll always remember how these two tenderly held each other on the palace balcony, just before Duncan tested his weather machine in MU007's "Curse of the Spellstone"....
• The Wind Raider can land itself (a skill that has also been attributed to the sky sled), and boasts some nearly invisible ejector seats - Adam and Cringer merely spring out of the cockpit, and are revealed to have parachutes attached to their persons somehow (Cringer's is attached to him by a black waistband that didn't seem to be there a moment before he ejected).
• He-Man catapults himself onto the Lost Mountain by way of some bent trees and a strong rope. He's catapulted himself this way several times before, memorably in a couple of scripts by writer Douglas Booth (MU035 and MU070).
• When He-Man knocks the Lurker off Lost Mountain, it lands in an area that looks very much like the tar swamps of MU018 (an episode I've already had cause to mention).
• In the long tradition of assuring us that He-Man is not about to commit murder, Miro helpfully explains of the sludge creatures that "they are nothing but mud and swamp moss; it's only evil magic that makes them appear alive." Pound away then, He-Man!
• Miro uses the common Eternian exclamation "by the Ancients!" in response to seeing He-Man fight. We've heard Miro's son and grandson referencing the Ancients in their own exclamations in other episodes (MU051, MU066), as well as Duncan (MU060).
• Poor protection of the old secret identity: at Man-at-Arms's suggestion, He-Man walks out of the castle and is immediately replaced by Prince Adam, who for no reason that he bothers explaining also just happened to be in the Swamps of Enchantment. Hmmm. We can forgive his rashness in this instance, since anyone would be excited to introduce themselves to their long-lost grandpa.

• As I've noted in recent episodes, I have found myself getting annoyed with Orko's constant screw-ups in the series, of which his fruit-toppling in the opening scene is a prime example. But I think the follow-up where his room becomes absolutely full of oranges, which he and Adam are trying to palm off on visitors, is actually pretty funny.
• There's a problem with Wind Raiders in this episode, and it begins early on when King Randor suggests that he and Man-at-Arms are going to need one to get to the Swamps of Enchantment. Seems logical; except that when we do see Duncan and the king in the swamps, they're floating along on a pretty crappy-looking boat. Did they take their Wind Raider to the river, park it, and rent a rowboat? There's no way you're fitting that boat in the Raider, unless it has a spacious trunk somewhere that's never been seen before. Later, Adam and Cringer do take a Wind Raider out to the swamps, and then Adam chooses to nonsensically ditch it, explaining to Cringer that he has set it to land automatically. Um why? Adam's reason is that there is nowhere in the swamps ("that spinach") where they can safely land - which I suppose does make a little bit of sense. (But see my reference to the unlikely "ejector seat" in the lore section.) Regardless, you'd assume it would land somewhere nearby, so that when Duncan later pointedly remarks to He-Man that "A Wind Raider would come in handy right now" in order to reach the floating Lost Mountain, a mere short walk should have taken them to one. Instead, our blonde hero is forced to opt for a much more absurd solution for getting a lift up to the island.
• Randor and Duncan deliberately don't tell anyone they are off on a mission to try to find the missing King Miro. I have to ask, as with many of the secrets in the series: Why? Are they afraid people will worry, or tell them it's a dumb idea? I suppose Randor knows that people won't want him to go on such a dangerous mission with no back-up, so there is a certain amount of logic to it.
• Did Miro's disappearance take place before or after Adam found Cringer, I wonder? Either way, the tragic loss lends a completely different complexion to Adam's childhood. We've had suggestions before - particularly in the brief reminiscences of Duncan in MU087's "Things that Go Bump in the Night" - that Adam was largely raised by Man-at-Arms and didn't see much of his father. The natural explanation for this was that Randor is king of a whole planet (maybe) and thus has many duties taking his attention; but what if he was also grieving over his own lost father? This may have added to the emotional distance between Adam and his parent. Consider also a fact that we shouldn't know yet - that Adam's mother and father were also processing the loss of his twin sister, Adora.
• Note Marlena's confident request that her son go after Randor and Duncan. Surely her certainty that he can lend assistance and not get himself hurt is largely due to her knowledge of his secret identity (a fact we learned in MU085)!
• At Duncan's suggestion that Miro could be the Enchantress's prisoner, Randor agrees, saying, "That would explain why we've had no word from him all these years." Um, would it, though? In fact, even though they turn out to be exactly right, the heroes' theory on the Enchantress's record-long imprisonment of Eternia's previous king makes little sense. If you have hold of the leader of the planet (or however much of it he actually rules), why would you just sit on him for 10 years instead of leveraging your valuable hostage for a big ransom, or maybe some power and influence? Why not even aim for the throne itself? Actually this is another instance in a long line of them, of enemies not taking advantage of their kidnapped prisoners; see most recently MU085. Instead, the Enchantress keeps her big coup a complete secret, and lets the rest of the world roll on without her. The only reason I can think of for this behavior is that the Enchantress has some personal grudge against Miro. My headcanon is that she tried to seduce Miro, or maybe even succeeded, and he later turned on her, earning her jealousy and ire. This could further make her a candidate to be Saryn, mother of Keldor (yes, that Keldor - the half-brother of Randor who would later become Skeletor) - but all of this is speculation mixed with extended universe stuff that is never covered in the Filmation series, and is thus outside the scope of this database.
• Another problem with Wind Raiders in this episode: as Adam is flying his, we get a great shot of the controls and the dashboard. We also got a great shot of the Wind Raider's controls in MU074; the only problem is, they looked slightly different - and they were on the other side of the ship! In this episode, Adam appears to be driving one of those British Wind Raiders...
• Apparently Adam is able to home in on Duncan - does Man-at-Arms have a tracer embedded in his arm or something? Did Adam tag him? A useful thing to do after his disappearance in MU052's "Teela's Trial."
• The Enchantress's "Lurker" is a totally awesome original monster design: sort of a cross between a tiger and a flying squirrel, he can glide through the air and has the crazy ability to shoot freeze rays out of his mouth. Bravo, Filmation animators!
• He-Man glides back down off Lost Mountain (with Miro in tow) by use of a big light blue blanket or tarp, whose source is not explained. Perhaps it was the sheet from Miro's cell - though if so, He-Man would have had to make a very long hike back to the prison shack to obtain it.
• A couple of times in the episode, Duncan's voice sounds tinny, as if he is on a radio or being heard through a spying device, even though he's appearing in person.
• Again on the subject of Duncan voice problems: just after He-Man breaks down the doors of Castle Fear, Miro points inside the castle and cries, "She's running for it!" Standing just next to him is Man-at-Arms, who seems to be the logical person to speak the subsequent line, "Let's go!" However his mouth does not move, and the line is clearly spoken by John Erwin as He-Man, apparently off screen.
• I love the subtle touch of posing Miro and his grandson (in the form of He-Man) exactly the same way as they both run up to confront the Enchantress. Determinedly balled fists run in the family!
• The fate of the Enchantress is left mysteriously open-ended: the now-giant Drude promises He-Man not to be cruel, but to "teach her good manners," then walks off with the lady clutched in his fist. Miro remarks that "the Enchantress seems to have gotten what she deserves - at last." What, exactly, does she deserve, in the estimation of the guy who was imprisoned by her for ten years?
• "Well, he's quite a man, isn't he, Father?" asks Adam of King Miro; to which Randor replies, "Yes, Adam; that's what your grandfather is: quite a man." Is he, though? This guy has just come back after being imprisoned for about ten years, and rather than spend any time to get to know his family or what they've been up to all these years, he just ditches them to roam the countryside. He takes no responsibility for the country he should be ruling, claiming he's been gone too long to have sufficient knowledge of its people; he doesn't even stay in the palace long enough to get introduced to Captain Teela, who doesn't appear in this episode. What about any of that makes him "quite a man," exactly? He's a deadbeat dad!! (Obviously the main reason for Miro immediately disappearing from the scene is so that subsequent episode writers won't have to bother mentioning him at all in their scripts, but the contrived excuse for this situation seems paltry and does Miro no favors. Intriguing trivia, however: Miro will make another appearance, in the She-Ra series! See 67013, "King Miro's Journey.")
• Ignoring its several logical problems, I do love this episode, as I always love stories that delve into the past of our characters and their relationships. Though they don't get enough screen time, I love the villains created here, particularly the Lurker and the Enchantress.