The Peril of Whispering Woods, The Laughing Dragon, and King Miro’s Journey

and defender of the Crystal Castle. This is spirit,

my beloved steed. Fabulous secrets were revealed

to me the day I held aloft my sword and said,

for the honor of Grayskull! Hello, this is Optimus

Solo and welcome to the 49th chapter in our Powers

of Great Skull series, with me for this journey,

as he has been for the other 48 chapters, is...

TFG1 Mike, hello? The class obviously is on this

side of the mic, folks. Whatever. Anyways, how's

it been going, sir? It's... it's going. It's,

um... I don't know. I'm just... ugh. That good,

huh? It's not even this time of year now. I mean,

obviously, with my mom passing, this will be

the first holiday season. I think I said this

back in 47 or 48, I forget. But it's one of those

things where even if we were living apart, I

could always call her. Obviously, I can't do

that now. Not without some really good smelling

salts. but it's just one of those things where

I'm just like, I'm excited to do this show, I'm

excited to do a couple of the other podcasts

that I'm doing, but it's like, I have so much

written stuff that I need to do and I just, there

are just some mornings I wake up and I just don't

wanna do nothing and it just sucks so bad. So

yeah, that's what's essentially going on with

me. But we have more She -Ra to get into, don't

we? We do! In this episode of Myths of Aetheria,

we'll be giving you our thoughts on episode 10,

The Peril of Whispering Woods, episode 11, The

Laughing Dragon, and episode 12, King Miro's

Journey. So we hope you're ready, because it's

time to go back to Aetheria. you collection from

the peasants of Mandeville I see and it takes

an army of Horde troopers to protect it one cannot

be too careful we are passing near the whispering

woods home of the so -called rebels my father

Horde prime has spoken of this rebellion he thinks

you should have taken care of the rebels long

ago Well, my prince, they pose no real threat

to the power of the Horde. Proceed! All right,

we start today with episode 10, The Peril of

Whispering Woods, aired date of September 20th,

1985, written by Francis Moss. Shadow Weaver

discovers an ancient potion that can kill the

plants in Whispering Woods, and counters - So

- So she figures out how to make weed killer.

Don't ever interrupt me in a plot synopsis again.

Encounter the magic that keeps the Horde out.

However, on one of the raids of the Rebels' camp,

Horde Prime's son, Prince Zed, is taken hostage

and realizes just how badly the Horde treats

people. He forces Hordak to stop the destruction

of the woods on account of his father's wrath.

The Horde members, we have Hordak... Catra, Shadow

Weaver, Scorpia, and Horde Troopers. And the

members of the Rebellion, we have She -Ra, Glimmer,

Bo, Madame Raz, Cowl, Sproctor, Sprague, and

Spratina. I'm just gonna call them the Twiggets

from now on. Broom, and of course, Spirit or

Swiftwind, however you want to call them. And

then the other characters, we have Prince Zed

as the notable here. First off, the idea that...

There's a magic that is keeping the Horde out

of the Whispering Woods, the power of the Whispering

Woods, the fact that Shadow Weaver has concocted

some way to counteract that magic, and the idea

of Horde Prime. It's the first time, I believe,

his name has been mentioned unless his name was

mentioned in the five -parter. It was not. So

it's the first time we've heard of a Horde Prime.

It's also the first time we've heard of what

they make seem as someone that is above Hordak.

And then also the introduction, of course, to

Horde Prime's son, Prince Zed. What do you think

of the whole setup here for Peril of Whispering

Woods? It's... The plot is nothing but an insecticide

episode. It's like a plant killer episode. It's

like, where's Poison Ivy? When's she gonna show

up to stop this madness? Mean I think it has

a little more It's a combination of I Can't this

well Because you also have the Horde prime and

the and his son you also have the idea that it's

not just killing the whispering woods It's killing

the twig its Well, yeah, I mean there is that

but you know now that now that I'm thinking of

it. I'm like hmm Hordak is essentially the sheriff

Prince Zed is Prince John, except he doesn't

suck his thumb and want his mommy. And the Whispering

Woods is Sherwood Forest. Yeah, I have some Robin

Hood notes in my notes as well, just because

of the whole magic of the Whispering Woods and

kind of the same idea of Sherwood Forest. But

I like the plot in this one. I like the setup.

I like the idea that there's a hierarchy in the

evil. World here that there's someone that hordeck

actually has to answer to that's an interesting

thing that I never realized I always thought

hordeck was the end -all be all I thought he

was even an outranking Skeletor so I never pictured

anybody above him Well, yeah, he does outrank

Skeletor right is he was the but yeah, I've always

You know we said last week that we don't remember

half the stuff that happened in this show I've

always known about the horde prime character

because I just have And I've always known there

has always been someone above Hordak. They don't

often, like the first six, no, not six, the last

four episodes last week, no mention of anything.

And now they're getting to the point where it's

world building, it's setting up this whole thing

that's going to eventually be something that

happens throughout the rest of the series, which

I like that they're setting it up here. You know

way too much of this series than you should You

should have not been watching this series on

TV as we were going through he man, but I only

watched a couple of episodes It's not like I

watched the whole thing and I saw the damn Seahawk

episode like six different damn time I also like

the fact that we do have a child in this episode,

but that the child is not just a child and it's

not just Then it starts off inherently evil because

it is the son of Horde Prime. I like that connection

and that the bad guys are actually taking care

of this kid. It's not someone that is good that

the bad guys kidnap or take hostage. It's not

the, you know, She -Ra's cousin or nephew or

something like we saw with the different people

in the royal family, etc. So I like the different

angle of the of the child as well. So I mean,

I was I was on board for the way this was set

up. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Well, let's

get into what we really liked and disliked. on

this episode as we make our way to the Whispering

Woods for the first time today. Yes, curse them!

And curse the magic that protects this vile,

whispering wood! is from this ancient book, which

I have only recently acquired. How do you know

it will work? Watch! These are plants from the

Whispering Woods. They are protected by the powerful

magic. Alright, we find ourselves in the Whispering

Woods before Shadow Weaver has concocted her

spell and sprayed insecticide all over it. So

it's still looking good, and because it's looking

good, we're gonna talk about good things. So

what do you have for this episode, Mike? I'm

gonna break everyone's brain, including Kevin's,

and say I kinda like the prince when he's giving

Hordak the what -for. I think it separates him

from most of the other kids we've seen in Eternia.

Yeah, absolutely. And the few that we've seen

in Etheria so far. Yeah. And then there was the

20 -car pileup. Yeah, you don't necessarily expect

to see a traffic accident in Etheria. But it

happened. I find it funny that Hordak's plan

is just simply poison. I just find that hilarious.

Well, it's just, it's not necessarily poison.

It's something that's going to somehow combat

the magic so they can actually get to the Whispering

Woods and stop the rebellion instead of allowing

them to hide out. It's still poison because it

still kills the plants. Right, but that's not,

his game plan isn't I'm going to poison the plants

to kill them. It's I'm going to do this to get

past the magic so I can get to these people.

Later on in the episode, Shira's deflection makes

Hordak's air vehicle do a spinaroonie. Booker

T oughta sue. Second wrestling reference I've

heard out of you today. Wow, Horde Prime sounds

a good guy. Who knew? Yeah, I think he would

have some questions coming his way that he would

have to answer on the return of this mission.

I don't know. What do you got? Just the whole

thing there. My father, Horde Prime, when he

says that, you're like, whoa, this kid's not

just a kid. This kid's got some pull here. He's

got some connections. I like the fact that She

-Ra made the grain maze with the dead ends to

kind of throw the cars off. I like Catra's transformations.

I don't know if I mentioned that last episode

or two episodes ago, but I do actually like when

she turns into the cat. Think that's done. Well,

I like the magic idea of the magic surrounding

whispering woods kind of like Sherwood forest

I like that. There's that aura there That's it's

kind of a woods that you don't necessarily go

into because it'll play tricks with you like

the horde troopers find out Shadow that was just

awesome. It was a good plotline shadow weaver

I Thought just her appearance in this episode

her power Kind of a reintroduction to her, because

even though we saw her in the five -parter, we

haven't really seen her much since then. So I

thought that was good. I forgot to mention this

again in one of the other episodes. I talk about

the voices a lot the first times we see characters,

and I actually really do like Madame Raz's voice

and the way that that character is played. I

think it's an interesting way, and I really like

the way that the voice is disguised from how

we typically hear. all the rest of the voices

done by the voice actress that does Madame Raz,

which is Linda Gary, if you guys don't know that.

So I like how she transforms it for that. I like

the story overall. And again, I like when the

Horde Troopers have troubles. So it adds an element

to the Horde Troopers that is a little different

because it's almost as if They're not just robots.

They actually do have some Individuality and

some desire to do things and to act on their

own So I kind of like that as far good what I've

noticed with the horror troopers is it's wishy

-washy Sometimes when we see them at least in

these first what ten episodes nine episodes,

whatever Sometimes they're robots. Sometimes

they have like we were saying last time not last

time but Two episodes ago, when we were breaking

down the differences between what was the movie

and what was the five -parter that aired on TV,

you brought up that trivia fact about they weren't

sure whether they were going to make them human.

in suits or if they're going to make them full

-on robots. And I think at this point, we're

still seeing that they're still not frigging

sure. Right. I think that starts a pattern, though,

that we're going to get to see even more in a

future episode today when we get to King Miro's

journey, though, that kind of shows some individuality

from them. We'll have to see if that continues.

But they really highlight it in a couple of episodes

later. Yeah, absolutely. But the poison is starting

to fall on the Whispering Woods. So let's get

out of here and get over to Fright Zone. What

didn't you like about this episode? I don't know

what's worse, sitting in a poisoned whispering

woods or facing the fright zone. Spiratina, who

the hell came up with that name? As soon as I

heard that, I'm like, what the hell is that?

I don't want to say animation glitches, but that's

how I wrote it. There are a few animation things

in this episode that I just did not care for.

There's the scene where... the vehicles are coming

down the road, and there's one point in it, and

maybe I can go back and screen cap it and throw

it in the episode post, I don't know yet, where

it looks like a two -year -old did it. It doesn't

look like, there's no definition. There's definition

on the vehicles, but there's no definition on

the background. The background looks like, instead

of it being... like a three -dimensional background

it looks like a two -dimensional painting and

it just and i know this is two i know this is

2d animation not 3d animation but it just looks

so damn bad it really does i'll i'll go back

and see if i can find it what about you um just

a couple things i think they kind of glossed

over the whole thing with the antidote and how

it's distributed to the ships that are then gonna

fix the whispering woods There's no way they

would have got that in all the ships. They basically

made it real quick, like she takes the samples,

she comes up with the antidote within minutes,

and then she somehow distributes it to all the

ships. Well, she put it back in the same ship.

Right, but that would have been just one ship.

But that's just a minor thing you have to kind

of accept because you only have so many minutes

in a cartoon. And then I wish they would have

gone, and unless I missed it, they show and they

even make a mention of She -Ra making the dead

ends in the grain maze for the vehicles. But

they never really show the vehicles being stuck

in that or falling for that. So I wish they would

have at least ended that kind of humorous aspect

by showing them going every which way and not

being able to find the way out. So but again,

a minor nitpick. As far as the PSA, treat others

how you would want to be treated. The golden

rule there. And folks, I'd like to just say for

the first time, I spotted Luki and I was very

proud of myself. I saw him in this one. First

time. What about you with the treat others how

you would want to be treated? Well, of course.

Like you just said, it's the golden rule, so.

Alright. Or one of them, anyway. Well, let's

take a break then and come back and see just

who earns some hardware for this episode. happening

at the edge of Whispering Woods. What is it?

Oh, dearie, my, I don't know. But it's terrible,

awful. You'll have to come quick. I told you

it was terrible. Oh, this is from no natural

cause. This is evil magic. The Horde. See? This

is Hordak's plan. It is awards and rankings and

ratings and all kinds of official business time.

So first sir, any Hordebats to hand out for the

Whispering Woods? Like I said, I will go back

and I will screen cap this and put it in the

episode post so you guys can see what the hell

I'm talking about but horde bat to whomever the

hell did the background of the road in the woods

It just looks god -awful. So whoever the hell

that animator was he gets one or she whoever

it was What about you? Interesting. I have no

horde bats to give out because I apparently missed

that so No nameless people for me getting a hard

bat symbol. What about a protection sword from

you? I'm gonna give one to the prince. Prince?

Wow, folks, I think this might be a first. He

is giving a good thing to a child character.

Prince Zed, I'm writing it down. It's going in

blood here. Alright, I have two protection swords

to give out, one of which is to Madame Raz, because

I like her voice, I like the way she performs,

and I like the way that she helped out to save

the day here. And I will also give a protection

sword out to the entirety of the Whispering Woods.

Because I think I like the idea that it's not

just some area they're living at, but it has

a magical protection power to it. And for that

reason it's almost like a character drawn into

itself, so I give a protection sword to the Whispering

Woods. How many Crystal Castles do you give peril

of the Whispering Woods? Because of the character...

Don't want to say depth but because of the character

Building you have here the character x exploit

non -exploit Because of the characters and not

because of the plot because I'm sorry poisoning

the whispering it is just I Know why they're

doing it. I understand you've said it several

times already But just the idea that oh my god

We're going to kill the trees so we can get to

the red just but I'm only gonna take one point

off for that, so it gets four out of five for

me. What about you? See, I just disagree with

you about the plot part. I like that, like I've

said multiple times. I think this episode in

and of itself could have been drawn out into

a three -part, four -part, five -part. adventure

episode. No way. I think this has the potential

to have been a much bigger episode. You are delusional.

I think they could have made multiple attempts

to get in the Whispering Woods which failed and

different things to combat it that would have

led to them eventually turning to Shadow Weaver

with the poison and then you could have had a

whole episode with Prince Ded being captured

and trying to be turned one way or the other

and I think there's a lot to this. I like Everything

except for the few minor nitpicks. I put out

in this one. I like the Horde Prime mention,

etc. So It's the first time I'll do it but five

crystal castles out of five for me on this one

I think this is the best episode I've seen so

far Yeah, exactly. All right, so we're gonna

take a break and let Mike compose himself and

then we'll be back with episode 11 Let's get

to sorrowful's origin Loving people of Elperon,

to join this day to celebrate our independence.

He's been talking for hours. I'm bored. Come

on, cowl, let's take a walk. A capital idea.

Freeing towns from the horde would be a lot more

fun without the speeches. Oh, look, a well. Just

the thing for my dry throat. Hmm. It doesn't

look like this well has been used lately. I don't

even see any water. We'll see if there is with

this. Just listen for the splash. Excuse me,

friends. Am I in time for the big ceremony? You

sure are. And don't hurry. The mayor's still

talking. Thank you. That well was used as a fuel

tank by the Horde, so we abandoned it. Fuel tank?

Just don't drop any matches down there. Look

out! Next up today is episode 11, The Laughing

Dragon, air date of September 23rd, 1985, written

by Michael Ipvich, as we heard from in our last

podcast episode as well. And as Mike tried to

sneak in there to say it first, obviously, this

is the sorrowful origin story. Bo and Adora meet

sorrowful, the cowardly dragon. Obviously, we

had previously seen him in the prisoners of Beast

Island. He journeys with them to Mystic Horror,

where Cass dispel it, tries to use her magic

to give him some courage. When the Horde begins

to attack Mystic Horror, we have Hordak Imp.

Mantenna, Leech, and Horde Troopers. We have

She -Ra, Bo, Castisbella, Kaol, and Swiftwind.

And then, of course, we have Sorrowful and the

Mayor of Elberon, Mysticore Soldiers, and King

Gruff. What did you think about the origin story

of Sorrowful? When I sat down to watch this just

before we recorded, I was like, wait, didn't

we already see this? My watching the wrong episode

what's going on here and first of all the name

of the episode the laughing dragon He doesn't

laugh a lot in this episode Should've been the

sad dragon Yeah, the cowardly dragon something

or the cowardly lion whatever you want to call

it, but Yeah, I mean I like this but again It

feels like they gave him He got courage at the

end of the last episode he was in. And now...

Well, you have to view these in the order they

should have been. You have to view this as the

first episode. I know, but we didn't. So we're

just gonna have to friggin' deal with it. We

didn't. So it's one of those things where...

You can't hold it against it that they dared

him in the wrong order. Oh, sure I can. It's

kinda like Sam Witwicky. They give him all this

character at the end of each of the goddamn Transformers

movies and then the next friggin movie, the very

beginning of it, they take away the damn character

development. It's the same thing that happened

here with Sorrowful. He had character development

in any of those movies? Some not much anyway.

I view this as it should have been this is the

origin story This is the first time we see sorrowful.

This is the first time we see mystic or cast

a spell, etc So as far as an introduction to

all this it's fine as far as the dragon aspect

though after Seeing the dragons that we saw in

Eternia. This is a definitely a step down I just

can't I couldn't find myself connecting to sorrowful

or caring anything about this dragon at all.

So Maybe if it was a character I cared more about

the story would work better. But as for me, it's

just a random place that A dragon is involved

with that the horde is attacking and I needed

something to make me care So plot wise it didn't

do much for me here. It's just kind of a generic

episode of the day plot Yep, pretty much. Alright,

let's see if we can find anything good to say

about this episode though as we make our way

back to the Whispering Woods. It's been repaired.

It's good to go. You can speak? Of course. So

can you. But I'm a man. Now tell me, what's this

all about? But you are angry. Oh, please, please

don't hurt me. What do you mean, please don't

hurt me? You're a dragon. Oh, but I'm afraid

of everything! I'm even afraid of you! Isn't

that silly? What is that supposed to mean? Do

you have any idea who you're dealing with, dragon?

Whoever you are, you sure have a pretty dress!

That's true! Bo, you've never looked so lovely!

Alright, we're - We're back at Whispering Woods.

I only have a couple things to say before I turn

it over to Mike. First of all, I like that we

figure out, number one, that this person's name

is Castaspella. They say it right away. They

introduce her as the Queen of Mysticor. Okay,

I'm on board. I know what's going on. I know

what this place is. I know who's in charge of

it. I know who this character is. Good. I wish

that would have happened in the other episode.

And I also am a fan of Leech's voice. You know,

I've talked about how a lot of characters in

this series have certain ... Aspects to their

voice that they add in whether it be Hordak and

his snorting whether it be Katra and her meowing

Whether it be Mantena and what he does leech

has one as well Leech though is on the side for

me that I like so I'd like the effect of his

voice. So what do you have? That's it Wow This

is going to be a very ass backwards episode because

I have more whispering wood moments than I do

Right so moment. So here was good. Let's flopped

um cow hold at the door slammed in his face We've

already gone down the road about I made a note

about this is the first appearance of sorrowful,

right? bow in a dress that's just fucking hilarious

I'm sorry it is if he wasn't emasculated enough

in the series so far cowardly lying anyone um

the villains the villains make this episode I

just love seeing them like because we didn't

and he man We might have gotten an episode with

skeletor beast man and evil in but they never

really did I mean that they did do stuff but

like How often do you did we see in He -Man?

Evil in beast man trap jaws triclops like all

together trying to stop or trying to do something

to Eternia whereas With the villains in the horde.

It's like hey, everybody's here. It's a party.

Let's go, right Uh, can we talk about Leech for

a minute here? Yeah, I already did, so go for

it. We know Leech's hands have the suction power

to drain energy. Right. But what about his feet?

I mean, seriously, his feet have to have to be

the same such as suction cups. Yeah. It's just

so funny. I like it. Alright, let's head on over

to the Fright Zone. I've only got one thing here.

Go for it. Um, and I'm sure you've got plenty

more after this. So, and I'm sure this is probably

gonna be one of yours. Well, He -Man can move

water out of thin air. I guess it's only fair

that it makes sense that She -Ra can move fire.

Bullshit. What? No, I agree that it's in your

fry zone moment, but that is absolutely, absolutely

retarded. First time in this series that we're

seeing something as dumb. The writers in this

show just don't care about nature and physics

and anything like that. They just don't. There

was a million things that they could have done

with She -Ra's power to help that out. But first

off, we have to buy that wind is going to pick

up a fire. Wind does two things with fire. Oxygen

does two things with fire it spreads it or it

snuffs it if there is no oxygen if there is oxygen

it spreads it it definitely doesn't pick it up

especially It'd be different if it was like okay.

Let's say it was something that was burning like

a piece of wood, a pile of sticks, a bunch of

brush or some grass. It'd be different if the

wind was then picking up the item that was on

fire and moving it. Then I would have no problem

with it because it would... But just picking

up the fire itself. But picking up a fire, not

just fire itself, but fire that is coming from

a well of fuel. So the source is in the ground.

You can't pick up the oil that is in the well

on the sides of the well at the bottom of the

well. That's where the fire's coming from so

that was that just made me I wanted to throw

something I'm sorry continue Why would transform

into a ball to travel long distances If he can

transform into a bunch of stuff I got a question

his intelligence to transform into a bouncy ball

to somehow get from one area Said I was just

waiting for bouncy castle to show up. I said

something good about the voice work in the whispering

woods I liked leeches voice I'm gonna say something

bad about it in the fright zone and that's I

hate cast a spell his voice It does not match

her appearance You hear if you were to hear cast

spell his voice. You're gonna think someone older

Someone like the age of Queen Marlena the sorceress

somebody or What's her name? Oh God the Queen

Angel? No, no, no, no from He -Man the The one

that Skeletor made oh, yeah evil. Yes like that.

You're gonna picture her as somebody old but

when they show her she looks the same age as

She -Ra as You know, yeah as a lot of these people

it just doesn't it doesn't match for me and then

Bo with the dumbest line of the episode He actually

says as brave and gallant as I you're fucking

wearing a dress in this episode shut the hell

up All right, sorry PSA and final thoughts. It

was about courage. I think I really yeah Yeah,

but yeah, like the courage is inside us all something

like that, but on a side note two for two for

me today I spotted him again, so Okay, I'm gonna

annoy people that I don't care I just don't care.

I don't even care to look. I'm not I'm I'm making

my own executive decision people You'll never

hear a Lukey PSA in this podcast as long as we're

doing Shira because I refuse to get the audio

for it I like his voice. Anyways, we're gonna

take a break not Just in case you haven't come

to your own decision on what we felt about the

episode We're gonna tell you when we come back.

It's not often that you find a dragon who wants

to be friendly Oh, I haven't much choice. See,

I'm afraid of everything. Not everything? Oh,

yes, I am. You name it, I'm afraid of it. Frankly,

it's very embarrassing. My name is Adora. Who

are you? My name is Sorrowful. Well, Sorrowful,

I'd like to be your friend. You what? That is,

providing you don't go running around tearing

up the town. Dragons have been known to do that,

you know. That tickles. I don't believe it. You're

ticklish? Stop it! Stop it! I can't stand it!

How about here? Oh, that's the worst! That's

no use. I'll never be a real dragon. I'm a junk,

a clown. Believe me, I'm a disgrace. No, you're

not. You're the nicest dragon I've ever met.

And you're the nicest person I've ever met. Do

you think you could help me find a sorceress

who could give me some courage, huh? Maybe Casta

Spella could help you. Casta who? Casta Spella,

Queen of Mysticor. I bet she can help you find

your courage. Is she scary? Not at all. I'm sure

she'd like to be your friend, too. I'll go with

you to Mysticor to make sure nothing happens

on the way. But when it does, and this gallivanting

gallon turns to run, I'll stand at your side

to protect you. Let's go to Mysticor! You're

all such good friends to do this for me. I just

hope it works. Alright, it's time for Hordebats,

Protection Swords, and Crystal Castles for this

episode. I will start off... Horde bet to the

writers producers anybody behind the scenes for

two things number one continuing with your dumb

writing when it comes to nature and Number two

for airing these episodes out of order I'll give

them one for airing the episodes out of order

But I also have to slap Shira upside the head

with a hard Shira who fire he up. All right First

time that she's got a horror bet. She's the one

that moved it. I mean, yeah, it was the writer's

horrible, you know, decision -making, but yeah.

How about good things? Protection swords? Anybody?

Nobody? I don't know why, but I wrote it down

like I'll give one to Bo for dressing and drag.

That's a good thing, I guess. We all know something

about Mike now. You look at today's society and

that's, you know, the cultural norm and back

then it really wasn't. But I will give another

one to Sorrowful for finally getting his courage

and hopefully this time they can keep that characterization

and not take it away from him again. And I have

no protection swords to give out. Nobody earned

one in my book, so I will keep mine in my trophy

case until later. As far as crystal castles,

how many do you give the laughing dragon that

doesn't laugh? Three out of five. Three out of

five, he says. Three out of five. I'm a little

taken aback. But OK, the reason why I'm giving

three out of five is because, as I said, I had

one. fright zone moment and I had like seven

different uh whispering wood moments like I'm

sorry like the the last episode or the last episode

of the last podcast where I said cowl was being

too goddamn negative cowl getting his the door

slammed in his face just made me laugh so hard

We have Bo being an arrogant prick. We have Amp

turning himself into a bouncy ball. We have Wind

picking up fire from a well of fuel. We have

an episode titled Laughing Dragon for a character

that never laughs. We have an episode that aired

out of order that makes no sense if you see it

this direction. There's literally nothing good

except for that we get introduced to Cassis Spillett

in The Queen of Mysticord even though we've already

seen her. This one gets one crystal castle out

of five. One. Alright, let's move on to the first

crossover episode of the series. Ah, now that

is King Muro. King Muro, Randor's father, first

disappeared when Prince Adam was only a child.

No one knew what had happened to him. Then recently,

He -Man and King Randor released him from the

spell of the Enchantress, and he now walks among

the people of Eternia. A fine king. Oh, I don't

know. He wasn't so smart. After all, he did let

the Enchantress capture him, didn't he? Oh, yeah?

Who are you to criticize King Miro? Who else

but King Miro? Oh, Your Majesty. I mean, Your

Highness. I'm sorry. I had no idea. Quite all

right. I'm here to see my grandson, Prince Adam.

Could you have him meet me in the courtyard?

Of course, Your Highness. Of course. It's true,

then, Adam. You've really found my granddaughter?

Yes, sire, but Adora is still a long way away

on another world called Etheria. I must see her.

After all these years, can you take me to her?

Well, with the help of the sorceress? Yes, I

think she'd be more than happy to help us get

to Etheria. It's been so long since I've seen

Adora. Why, she was just a baby. I wonder what

she looks like now. Well, how do I look? Absolutely

awful. Oh, dearie, my yes! Yes! Totally terrible!

Suppressingly dreadful. Oh, badly bad. Yeah,

it makes you look like a horde trooper. Well,

that's what I said, wasn't it? You can't get

much worse than that. Well, the helmet's a little

banged up, but it'll do. But maybe it'll help

our feathered friend here remember what he saw.

So if you would be good enough to put this on

for a moment? Oh, dearie my, I can't see anything

with this helmet on. Hmm, in that case, maybe

you should wear it when we're flying. It might

help our landings. You know what would help our

landings even more? What? A new broom! All right,

you two, now stop joking. We've got work to do.

And since only She -Ra can talk to the animals...

And finally up today we have episode 12 King

Miro's Journey, airdate of September 24th 1985,

written by J. Michael Straczynski, a welcome

back name and face from our days in Eternia.

And as Mike continues to try to steal my thunder,

this is, of course, the crossover episode for

the first time. I didn't know this happened.

I kind of thought it might, but I didn't know,

and now we have it here. So Adam... Prince Adam,

from Eternia, from He -Man, takes his grandfather,

King Miro, to Etherea to meet his granddaughter,

Adora. But the rebels are undermanned and in

trouble as Horde Inspector Darkney wants to erect

a dome over the entire Whispering Woods. So for

the second time today, the Whispering Woods is

a target of the Horde. Horde members, we have

Hordak, Shadow Weaver, Mantena, the Horde Troopers,

and of course, Inspector Darkney. And for members

of the Rebellion, we have She -Ra, Madam Raz.

Spirit Sprague, Spiritina, Broom, and of course,

King Miro and He -Man. What did you think about

our first crossover episode and how they set

it up? I loved it. It was awesome. I wasn't sure

how, because I just wasn't sure how they were

gonna be able to do it, and... We I I knew from

when we watched he man that King Mero was was

randor's father You know, so like oh so that

you know soon as I saw the title I'm like, oh,

yeah Adams gonna be in this one. No doubt But

I absolutely loved it and I don't know what it

is folks Ever since I was a kid 30 years ago

watching the secret of the sword to even today

Every time I see the double transformation Do

something that you absolutely hate when animation

does it I essentially do the single -tier Because

it just makes me so freaking happy to see The

two of them do you know the transformation scenes

back -to -back? Just absolutely I was hoping

for a split screen of them doing it at the same

time That would have been awesome. The only thing

that was missing from this was Cringer. Yeah,

I thought the same thing Because she points it

at spirit Yeah, Swift Wind and we don't get Cringer

involved. So yeah, that was kind of a letdown.

But yeah, I like the idea. I'll get into the

why I like it more so when we get to Whispering

Woods. But I just like the idea of a crossover

in general that comes down to execution and can

you execute it right? But the whole idea of,

hey, we're going to have a crossover episode

with people from Eternia and people from Etherea.

If you say that as the first part of an episode,

I'm on board. So I'm on board for the plot synopsis

and then after that I'm just looking to see how

they actually execute it But definitely definitely

on board anytime. We have a crossover The one

thing I'll say about the plot. It's not really

a negative or a positive Hordak mentions King

Miro. I once knew a King Miro. He kind of is

like, oh, that couldn't be the same guy. And

I almost wish, I know there was no time to do

this, but I almost wish we had some sort of little

mini flashback or some sort of little mini like.

Well, I think it goes back to originally how

King Miro became, how he disappeared originally.

Right we have to assume that hordak was part

of that Yeah, the part of the setup or the setting

that that led to that Yeah, no, that's yeah,

that's fine. I just wish there was a couple of

more lines of dialogue Yeah, I can see that The

only time the only part of the plot and maybe

I would raise some type of question is inspector

Darkme I I don't know if they needed to call

him an inspector and if they had to go that whole

route Or if they could have just said it was

horde primes agent or, you know, someone under

him. The idea that he's coming to inspect things

is weird, especially when they also go as far

to say that he's going to inspect what's going

on with the rebellion or something too. That

makes no sense. So that was my only hesitation

when it comes to that. I think I don't, again,

I'm not criticizing J. Michael Straczynski obviously

here, but I don't. think it was said in the episode

well I don't know if they said actually what

he wrote but I think what they meant was was

that he was there to inspect Hordak's Failure

or success it made him seem like he was just

a regular inspector He's gonna inspect this part

of the theory go inspect this part of it the

area make sure everything's going right It's

like this is just weird. This is just not up

to code. You can't do this anymore You can't

have copper wiring, you know, you can't you can't

it's like do that It's like I don't know but

it's time for Mike Holmes on HGTV. Yes We're

gonna take a break though But I have a feeling

we're gonna have a few things to talk about when

we get to the Whispering Woods on this one Well,

sir, here we are. Etheria. You there! Darkside

Forest is off limits. You are trespassing, citizens.

Uh, sorry. We'll be heading out now. Sorry isn't

good enough. Perhaps you will dance for us. I'm

afraid I'll have to turn down your request for

a dance. Then you will kneel before me. King

Mero kneels before no one. King Mero never heard

of him you will now we'll see I suggest we move

on before they get their footing. Oh, very well,

Adam. I'll get them. No, follow them. Tell me

where they go. I'm just glad that Hornet can't

see this. Don't count on it. I asked for train

troopers, and Horde Prime sends me a bunch of

co - Once it was your right... Which means we're

almost there. Good, I can barely wait to see

my granddaughter. So, now to follow them into

Whispering Woods. Perhaps they will lead us to

the rebels. I have a surprise for you. I want

you to meet King Nero, your grandfather. My...

grandfather? I've dreamed of this moment for

years. There is so much I want to tell you. And

there are so many things I want to ask. Oh, it's

so good to see you both. I only wish we didn't

have a problem on our hands. It's the Horde inspector.

We saw his ship coming in. And whatever he wants

here. For the last time we're visiting the whispering

woods who once again are a target in this episode

It's a danger. It's a threat to the horde. So

we have to Insecticide them pesticide them we

have to put a dome over them, but we're here.

We're safe at the moment What good things did

this episode bring out? I Wish and again, I know

time but Looking back on this episode after I

just watched it before we recorded I wish we

had the entire royal like in secret of the sword.

We had the entire royal family We had Tila man

-at -arms the king the queen Adam and adora.

I wish we had Miro randor Marlena Adam and adora

together, but I understand why they weren't but

I could see maybe King randor just would have

the generations going But I don't need to see

all of them You know like you know Randall's

father Miro returns and we see Adam. Yay. I I

love Madame Raz and broom. They're like an old

married couple Every time I see broom, I think

of Beauty and the Beast I Just figure he's a

he's the character. He's like a character straight

from Beauty and the Beast Why is it that the

Horton specter reminds me of Walter Peck and

I'm just waiting for Peter Venkman to show up

and make fun of that guy. Yeah. And this is something

that we can do a counter on if we want to. This

is the very first time the entire series that

spirit actually talks. He was not Swift when

when he talked in this at first, he was not transformed.

It was spirit because it was he was talking to

Adora. That was interesting to me. I thought

that was kind of cool because I didn't think

that The horse as spirit could talk because up

until now he's only made horse noises interesting

I Must have I must have just assumed it was because

he did talk in a different episode what it must

have been as the other version so All righty

then What about you? Oh, I've got a lot of things

so buckle your seat belts and take something

to drink but the beginning of the opening with

the Hall of Kings and the Eternia lineage like

Elden the wise and bolnar the bold and king miro

and randor and all the different kings there

I thought that was super awesome from a historical

standpoint From just kind of seeing that, you

know, there's a long history of kings of Eternia,

etc I loved that. I wish we would have saw the

Hall of Kings when we were actually in Eternia

back in He -Man days. And of course the crossover

and scene He -Man, the double transfer, dual

transformation, whatever you want to call it,

that's all awesome. We get introduced or reintroduced

to the fact that we have a Dr. She -Little. Not

Dr. Do -Little, but Dr. She -Little, because

She -Ra can talk to the animals. And I thought

that was interesting the way they did that, how

she had to turn into She -Ra so she could talk

to the animal, but that she can't do that as

Princess Adora. I think that's interesting that

they made that. you know, stark comparison that

she has to be She -Ra to do that. This is, again,

like I had mentioned earlier in today's episodes,

this is when we really get to see the Horde Troopers,

again, act like they had some self -awareness

and some form of making their own decisions.

They realize that they messed up. They're trying

to go in and capture and make up for it. They

get lost. They're frustrated. They have almost

three Stooges moments. So I liked all that. I

think it was a decent idea to put them under

a dome. Yeah, it was. I have nothing against

that. No, no, I'm not saying you did, but I'm

just saying typically it's just a device of the

week or this is what we're going to do now. But

I like this. The Whispering Woods is a source

of frustration. We've tried multiple different

things. Well, why not just shut them off from

everything? Keep them in there instead of trying

to let us get in there. So I like that idea under

the dome. And then they mentioned Devlin. which

is going to mean nothing to anybody else. But

because I'm the one that puts the scripts together,

and I've put a couple of future scripts together

already, that I found interesting because Devlin

is in the title of one of the episodes coming

up. So the fact that they've mentioned that now

adds some continuity to how it'll play in later

on. Well, on Hulu .com and their order of the

episodes, Devlin happened before... Right, so

that would have some reference to how that how

that what was happening with other characters,

etc So a lot of things to like in this episode

as far as fright zone moments I don't understand

why at the beginning of the episode the the intro

song gets over they show fright zone for like

a second and Then they go to the Hall of Kings

in Eternia. I Don't understand why they showed

fright zone right there. That seemed weird Did

they show the Fright Zone or was it the title

card? No, it was just like right after the title

card and then Fright Zone for a second and then

to Eternia. It was weird. The Horde Inspector

I already mentioned, it just seemed a little

bit of an odd choice. Horde Academy? The troopers

gotta learn somewhere. This is Mantenna talking

about in Horde Academy? What? There's no Horde

Academy, folks. Let's not fool ourselves. Oh,

come on. You know there's a Horde Academy with

a Steve Guttenberg and a Hightower. Something

like that. That's probably exactly the intelligence

level of all these people. King Mero needed a

better outfit. Why is he doing this whole episode

in his robe? He's just like running around there

and it seems like he's in a bathrobe almost.

He needs a more sophisticated kingly outfit.

And then... she ra gets to the edge of the dome

or her and he man or something like that and

He man somehow sees the dome is like, oh we're

under a big dome and she goes And that is the

crystal dome generator over there. How the how

the f would she know? What that was? Is it this

just like there's been commercials for it on

a theory on all the TVs for this crystal dome

generator And she's like oh, they got one no

like she should have no clue What device is creating

this dome in that to be able to identify that?

So I had a problem with that. What about you

any fright zone moments? I'll agree with yours,

but I didn't write anything down I was I was

just too happy to see Adam and he man and all

that stuff You know I mean I I absolutely love

this because again for me this episode isn't

about the plot of how Hordak is gonna Trap them.

It's it's more about the lineage about you know

their grandfather Finally getting to see the

granddaughter and all this and all that like

that's what that was you know That's what it

was for me. So yeah, no, I love the PSA in this

one Family working together as a team and the

importance of family that that's the best team

that you're ever gonna have I really like that

and stressing that to kids of how important working

together as a family can be at times Unfortunately,

I did not get the hat trick. I did not see him

in this one So I was only two out of three today

only two out of three today Any other thoughts

as far as the PSA goes or anything like that?

All right. Well, it's obvious what your rank

is for this episode, but we got to do the business.

So let's take a break and get the official rankings

in. We can use the help. We'll strike at dawn.

Meanwhile, I'll put the Twiggets on watchin'.

By the way, where are the Twiggets? Oh, they're

busy. Two horn troopers wandered into Whispering

Woods. This way. Now that way. The other way.

No, we came that way. If I didn't know better,

I'd swear the trees were moving. This way. We

will strike the rebels at dawn. Here. The Whispering

Woods cannot be penetrated, don't you think we've

tried? Yes, but there is another way. If we can't

get in... then the next best thing is to keep

them from getting out! A crystal dome! Absolutely

indestructible. I have a larger generator in

my ship. Big enough to surround Whispering Woods.

The rebels will be our prisoners. A simple solution,

Hordak. I'm sure you'd have thought of it yourself.

In a few years... Alright for the last time today

last opportunity to hand out hardware I only

have one thing to hand out and that is a protection

sword and that goes to King Mero Because he's

not just he man's grandfather he is able to kick

some butt and take names even at his age and

I'm specifically talking about right at the beginning

where he Goes at it with the horde troopers and

then Adams eventually like we need to get out

of here and he's like, um Okay, if you insist.

I was ready to kick some butt, but I like King

Miro in this episode even if he is running around

in a bathrobe the entire time. So what about

you? Any Horde bats or protection swords? No

Horde bats. Protection swords for Miro, She -Ra,

He -Man, Madame Raz, and Broom. You don't have

that you're running out of. No I'm not. You only

have so many to give out. No. You're gonna run

out by the end of the series. No, well duh the

series will be done by then so you're giving

out five protection swords Miro Heman Shira Madame

Ras and broom Yeah, that's the record Well, you

know We're we're always sitting records around

here. All right, as far as episode ratings you

give this one five out of five Pretty much. Yeah,

I want this one four and a half out of five Four

and a half out of five. I have to take a half

point off for some of those things. Horde Inspector,

Horde Academy, Crystal Dome Generator being identified

by She -Ra, and not giving King Miro some better

damn clothes. Get the Emperor some new clothes.

So four and a half out of five. We end this episode

on a very high note. We'll be right back with

our final thoughts. To the other side! You've

heard it. Now that is funny! Well, did you enjoy

your first night on Etherea? Yes, I had a splendid

night's sleep. Yeah, a good thing too. We've

got a long day ahead of us. Longer than you think,

Adam. Hordak and that inspector, they've surrounded

Whispering Woods. All right. Madam, Rume, you

take the north forest path with Miro. Adam and

I will take the south road. Right! You two keep

an eye out. Report if you see anything else.

Well, sister, shall we, uh... After you, brother.

By the power of Grayskull! It's Showtime Synergy!

The latest review podcast from the GeekCast Radio

Network is here! So join TFG One Mike, Nicole

Hailstorm, and myself, Lady Rek, as we will be

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are the truly outrageous podcast that you want

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look at Geekcast Radio Network's newest show,

Talking in Circles. So, Chuck, Greg, what are

you guys thinking for this week's show? Well,

Dan, how about we just talk about the things

that we've read or watched this week? We do reviews

like that every week, Chuck. How about a game

like Factor Fiction or The Power of Names? Those

are great, and we're always coming up with new

ideas for games. And how about some top fives?

You know how I love my top fives. What about...

Tournament style brackets or sequel reboot and

destroy who will win in a fight taking too far

crazy, but true news or yes It appears we have

lots of things to work on Listen to talking in

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every Tuesday on iTunes or geek cast radio calm

the geek cast radio network Hey, Dan, who's the

guy with the creepy voice? Starscream have taken

over Transformers Prime Time. Call me, Lord.

No, Starscream, we will not call you Lord, but

we will announce that the GCRN is bringing everyone

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we get into the TFG1 redone, we enter the Prime

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the latest Transformers Review podcast from the

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Time on iTunes and www .geekcastradio .com. And

remember, one shall stand and one shall fall.

We are back. Before we close it out anything

you want to say anything you want to get off

your chest before because this is the final episode

Before we hit 50 dun dun dun. We're that far

already You know Jeepers folks episode 50 coming

up. That's like pretty outstanding It took us

four years, but yeah, I mean we're ending we're

ending on that on a good note here, because if

you look at it today, I gave a five out, you

gave a five out, I gave a four and a half out,

you gave a four out. If you take out the laughing

dragon, this is a real positive episode, and

we got our first crossover episode, which I'm

liking, and I think there's gonna be a few more

coming down the pipe real soon. And I can't wait

to see how they continue to interact with the

people that we knew from Eternia. I didn't know

that was going to be something that happens as

often as I feel like it's about to happen. So

I'm excited. It happens a lot. Yeah. Because

and the only reason why... Because you've already

watched the whole series. No, no, no, I have

not. The only reason why I know this is because

when... The original BCI DVD sets came out. I

had them, and I watched the special features,

and in some of those special features, Larry

DiTillio and a couple of other people said, yes,

we wanted this to be the girls' show. Yes, it

is He -Man's twin sister, but at the same time,

everybody still wanted to see He -Man from time

to time. So that's one of the reasons why I know.

So thank you for listening to Myths of Etherea.

If you'd like to get in contact with us, I'll

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for and your name. There's a five -minute time

limit We hope you enjoyed the miss today and

don't forget to join us in our next adventure

when we will take a look at the next No, we won't

actually You know, you're supposed to change

that shit. Oh, you're adding whatever you want.

Anyway, so No, I'm not I only added the voicemail

thing. When has anybody called that thing? Still

leave leave the option in anyway 3 13 14 edit

We hope you enjoyed the miss today and don't

forget to join us in our next adventure when

we will be celebrating 30 some odd years 32 33

odd years of the Toys of Masters of the Universe.

For now, I am TFG1 Mike with... One and only

Optimus Solo. By the power and for the honor

of Grayskull, you all have the power. We made

it! We're free of Whispering Woods! We're free!

Outta my way! Oh no! Here we go again! Have to

go? It seems as if you only just got here. I'm

afraid so, but I'll come again as soon as I can.

Adora, these have been the most exciting days

I've ever had. And though I must now return to

Eternia, I want you to know that I will return.

When the day of your great battle with Hordak

comes, call for me. I wish to stand beside my

granddaughter on that proud day. I promise. Well,

what are we waiting for? Let's go! You have quite

a family. Yes, we do. We're very lucky. Come

on, Spirit. Let's ride. Let's see how fast you

can go. Would you not rather fly? Not today,

dear Spirit. I'm afraid we'd run into my heart.

Ah, so your heart flies. It's soaring.