Three Episodes: Duel at Devlin, A Loss for Words, Horde Prime Takes a Holiday

Hello, this is DFU and Mike and welcome to the...

wait a minute, that's the wrong number. What

the hell is that you talk about doing Shane?

Yeah, it says 48th. I know I didn't write that.

What script are you looking at? 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! Among them are Light

Hope, Madame Raz, and Kaor. Together, we and

my friends of the Great Rebellion strive to free

Ithiria from the evil forces of Horda! Hello,

this is T - I can't even talk. Yeah, apparently

so. Hello, this is TF2 and Mike, and welcome

to the 52nd chapter in the Powers of Grayskull

series with me for this journey into the Masters

of the Universe franchise. It's none other than

Optimus Auler himself, hello. I'm glad you were

able to get through that, sir. Shut the hell

up. I don't know what the fuck that was. Alright,

so, are you ready for the Powers of Grayskull,

sir? I'm always ready for some Powers of Grayskull.

I mean, we're fairly... Young still in the She

-Ra series fairly early on I guess so there's

still a lot of characters. I'm looking forward

to seeing so I Do know for a fact that She -Ra

and Jim are going to be going up against each

other in the GCN Awards next year. Yeah true

that because Because Steve told me that he he's

working on the the the layout of how the awards

are going to be done and how people can vote

and stuff and he took certain shows out like

shows that have already ended and stuff and put

new shows in that had ended in and showtime and

and pogs well pogs won last year but showtime

was yeah showtime synergy wasn't in last year

uh because it Actually started after the awards

last year So it's gonna be interesting to see

who who wins the award this year Showtime or

or powers of grayskull was sheer you got three

hosts. That's that's more fan base Isn't there

three of you on synergy on yeah, and the funny

thing is it's the first time Where the male dominant

of the species is in the minority because it's

Amy Nicole and myself So it's like we it's the

first time in our nearly seven -year history

where we've had two female hosts versus Two male

hosts and a female host or whatever else. Oh,

yeah. Oh man. Oh god that show oh If people could

be a fly on the wall when we produce that show.

Oh my god Three oh god the three of us. I told

them They need to pay my medical bills if I have

to go in and have to have my jaw wired shut From

just laughing so much. Um, why don't you everybody

a little bit of background? This is episode 52

This is our final episode of 2015 celebrating

30 years of Shira And it just so happens that

we are airing this in December and the last episode

of the review today will be Horde Prime Takes

a Holiday. So this is our first Christmas episode.

Next Christmas is when we're going to get to,

Christmas 2016 is when we're going to get to

the dreaded He -Man and She -Ra Christmas special.

Yeah, exactly. So today, as I mentioned in Mists

of Etherea, we'll be giving you our thoughts

on episode... Oh my god, it's the wrong thing.

I think you put all your notes into the wrong

script or something. No, I didn't. It's 16, 17,

and 18, right? Today we're going to review our

thoughts on episode 16, Duel at Devlin, episode

17, whatever the hell it's called. Lost for words.

Yeah, there we go. And episode 18, Horde Prime

takes holiday. It works, because you were lost

for words. Yeah, it does, doesn't it? Oh, shit.

This is going to be interesting. Shadow Weaver's

got you in her grasp. Somebody does. I don't

know. Must be that spicy demon over there. Anyway.

Uh, we're gonna get to the first episode unless

you have anything else to say or... I don't know.

Good God, I hope it gets better from here. You

think? Hey, in there! We can't sleep with all

that noise! Then why don't you join the party?

Dance for us, citizen. I beg your pardon, kind

sir. But I can't dance. Then it's time you learned

how. Darius, why doesn't someone do something?

Be careful. Excuse me, gentlemen, but you have

to leave now. Either Darius has a lot of guts...

stupid it's all right Darius I'm having a wonderful

time you see innkeeper he's having a wonderful

time perhaps you'd care to join him oh no no

please just finished eating and go then don't

worry about paying the pies on me hear that my

friends the pies on him shall we looking a little

flat I think it needs to be whipped I think you

need a lesson in how to respect your elders You

better start talking now before I screw anything

else up Alright first up today is episode 16

dual at Devlin air date actually December 6th

1985 so this is gonna be where we veer off the

course from production to air date wise because

we were Technically in October, with all the

rest of the shows when they're airing, this one

got saved and didn't air until December. It was

written by Stephen Fisher. The village of Devlin

is being terrorized by a group of hordesmen led

by a super advanced robot called Dylamug. A young

girl called Kristala goes to She -Ra for help.

She -Ra accompanies Kristala back to Devlin,

where she sets about convincing the frightened

villagers to stand up to their tormentors. So

we have Dylamug and some horde troopers. We have

She -Ra, Bo, Madame Reyes Glimmer, uh... brief

appearance from Frosta, Spartina, and Sprocker,

and Sprague, and Broom. So a lot of people there.

And then, of course, Kristala, her mother and

father, and the Devlin villagers. And fitting,

I guess, since it aired in December, there was

snow played a part into this plot. So what did

you think about the whole duel at Devlin? Somebody

need some donuts with that coffee mug? Don't

know what I don't know what the hell I saw when

I first saw because I haven't like we've been

saying we haven't seen these a lot of these episodes

and this is one of the one of those ones where

it was like oh My god, what the hell kind of

abomination is that that hard act came up with

yeah? I was at a loss for words honestly for

that because I'm like who is this guy like he's

supposed to be some weird head of the horde troopers

or something and There's some weird looking things

in this series, but that one might take the cake

right Yeah, I like this one. It was all right

I don't have too many general thoughts on this

it. I don't know it kind of a standard episode

Yeah, pretty much Yeah, I mean it's I like that

there was a little bit of a Christmas theme I

guess for since it aired in December and you

know the whole idea of having a village that's

just letting the horde Bully them around because

they're afraid to stand up for him I guess that's

a good message But I think you'll hear throughout

the course of the review of this one that this

is by far the definition of just a standard Weekly

episode that's not great, and that's not terrible

They tried to make this into something though

If you really look at this episode and then you

look at the PSA, they tried to make this into

an anti... I don't think they did this intentionally,

but going back and re -watching this, because

I actually watched the episode twice just to

make sure I understood and got what I'm going

for here. They tried to make this an anti -bullying

episode, because essentially the villagers are

the ones being bullied by this dial a mug or

dial a coffee, whatever the hell. uh... you know

it's like a starbucks delivery no uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... Not

much else to it. Nope. Let's get to the whispering

woods, I guess This will do nicely. All you need

is a little frosting. So we have entered the

Whispering Woods and We kind of already talked

about the dial -a -mog what my first note was

It's a very different interesting looking Hardsman

Yeah, that's a weird weird -looking character

He kind of reminds me of Rex from Toy Story These

little arms I can't do anything with these little

arms Just have no idea what they were going for

with that character at all It reminds me of Not

there was some oh, I know reminds me of Autobots

by Autobot spike. Oh, yeah I couldn't think of

what was Autobot Spike or Bot B -O -T episode,

but it's essentially Autobot Spike, but it's

more intelligent than that, obviously. The big

pancake thing, I was like, oh no, that's not

a pancake, that's a panquake. Pretty much. Let's

wing it. Aren't they winging it every episode?

So, on Eternia, everyone, every time... He -Man

came to a new village. Every time we met a new

character that we didn't already know, everyone

already seemed to have heard of He -Man. And

I understand that She -Ra is new, she's not the

same as her brother as far as obviously evil

runs aetheria, blah blah blah, but you mean to

tell me that these people have not heard of She

-Ra after this long a time span? Eh, might be

one of the more remote villages maybe, I don't

know. First of all I do like the idea that they

are showing the horde as far as like pillaging

around and doing stuff like that because that

seems like something a bad group would do so

Our first look at Frosta so For me at least that

I can remember so that's an exclamation point

on that even though we don't really get to see

much So I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing

her more Doesn't snow in aetheria. So I guess

we learned something about aetheria and that

it's not doesn't regularly snow there Also kind

of give you gave you a snapshot of like everyday

life of somebody that's in the rebellion Because

and they do that from time to time But you're

just kind of showing what goes on on just like

a normal day when when they're not trying to

save the the planet so I thought that was kind

of cool and I love that Adora just turns to Shira

for no reason except to just have a morning flight

Like when no, I mean she turns to She -Ra and

then obviously turn spirit in a swift wind just

so they could have a morning It's like I'm not

saving anything, but I want to go fly. So you

change The way you said it it sounded like it

was two different characters. No, no The transformation

not to do anything worthy except for exercise.

That's that's what I said last time You know,

that's what I've been saying, you know, since

we started this series. After Secret of the Sword,

it seems like... It almost seems like Adora is

more helpless than Adam. Like, don't get me wrong.

Adam... The way his dual personality, the way

his dual identity is supposed to work is he's

supposed to be a little... goofy and a little

lazy and a little laid back to the point where

he doesn't he's supposed to show that he doesn't

care so that way when he's he -man the caring

is at an over an abundance well with Shira it

isn't like that at all it seems like oh well

Adora can't do this or I can't get this way I

can't get to this mountain without Swiftwind

so I have to become Shira to get to you know

whatever it just it seems like the transformation

is just use for anything. It's not even, it's

not even a special thing. I mean, I love seeing

the transformation obviously, but it just seems

like it's the biggest plot device of the, it's

essentially become the Autobot matrix of leadership.

I don't know if I go that far. I do think it's

used a little bit more relaxed than it is in

He -Man. Just like the swords used a lot differently

than the sword is used in He -Man. So definitely

some things that separated a little bit from

the other show. But that's all I had for Whispering

Woods. Alright, Fright Zone time! We just get

a repeat of the lesson we already knew, that

working together, the people of Etheria can drive

out the horde. We learned that back in The Secret

of the Sword. Yeah, I still think it's somewhat

decent to try to tell people to stick up for

themselves and not let themselves be picked on

and bullied. I mean, you could hit that every

ten episodes and it's probably worth it. I also,

I don't know, I think it... It's a good message

if done, right? I mean, I'm not saying necessarily

it's a hundred percent done Right, but I think

as many times as kids can see that they need

to stand up for themselves. It's good No, yeah,

and I agree but it just I agree for kids. Yes,

but for us as adults as growing up on this stuff

and whatever else we've already learned those

lessons and it just seems to me and maybe it's

maybe it's just me with how I like watching my

TV and I like progression more than repetition

It just seems like they could have come up with

something. And again, like I said, this episode

just feels... I mean, there were some great moments

in this, but it just feels like a generic episode.

Yeah, no, I agree with you 100%. I also don't

like the whole... the horde farms? The horde

heads farms? Like, I know they're like a big

organization and whatnot, but that's not usually

typically something that my bad evil organization

has. Dealings with and the other thing is are

we supposed to know this dial a mug guy? Because

the way they introduce him is like we're supposed

to already know who he is because they don't

give him a name or anything and then all of a

sudden Shira just calls him that and I'm just

like, okay This is somebody that she already

knows. It's not like a new creation because I

could you know It could have been one of two

things. It could have been something that hordak

Conjured up for this episode like I'm gonna create

this guy and put him in charge of my horde troopers

But it came across as if this is just an everyday

character that belongs in the horror that we're

supposed to know See this episode other than

getting that design out this episode could have

used Scorpia, right? He used each could use Drizzlore

could use Mantana anybody dialogue mugs not gonna

rank very high on my horde trooper favorites

Uh -uh. I mean, the horde troopers in general,

like, there's no... and we've talked about this

already. There's no character. Either they're

somewhat sentient and have somewhat decent, witty,

kind of punny lines sometimes, or they're just

these robots. And I think this was their attempt

to create some sort of horde general, kind of

like... Little ratlore or something like that.

I don't know. It's just any other character any

other major character that we've known of ratlore

tongue -lash or like I said beast beast man grizzly

or Anybody more specific hell even as Even as

much as the two of us are getting tired of seeing

catra even she would have made this episode better,

right? Let's dial it back and get to the awards.

Swords time. Any Hordebats? No, nobody did anything

that really pissed me off in this episode, so

I'm not gonna hit anybody with a Hordebat quite

yet. Um, yeah, same here, nothing really. Like

I said, it's an episode that just not a lot stands

out, so. Yeah, no. Protection swords? I do have

one because, like I said, we see Frosta, so I

love Frosta, so I'm gonna give her, for her first

appearance, just like a symbolic... protection

sword because hey come back let's see more of

you and your crystal castle rating sir like I

said for this one it's just nothing it's it's

not terrible doesn't do like it there wasn't

like a bunch of fright zone moments for me but

there's nothing cool about the episode so I'm

gonna put it right in the middle and give it

a two and a half I am also gonna give frost a

protection sword in case you didn't write that

down I'm gonna give it a one out of five ouch

it Yes, dude. Okay, folks, if I ever, and I know

I've done this when we did Tales of Eternity,

if I ever give a zero, it's because something

is so godawful. If I ever give a .5, it's something

because it's so godawful for the most part. If

I'm giving a one or even a two or a 2 .5, one

specifically, if there's nothing that happens

in your episode, if there's nothing that stands

out, then you get a one. I just can't give it

anything higher than that because it just...

That's right. I don't if I don't have that. Oh

my god, you know Fist pump in the air moment

where it's like, yeah, that was honestly, you

know, it's like Not gonna happen. All right.

Well, you already heard me in this podcast have

a loss for words So let's get to episode 17 The

Horde is so powerful and so many, and we are

few. That is why we must band together. Not just

here in Gale Breath, but all over Etheria. We

are no match for the science. We are simple peasants

and farmers. If we challenge the Horde, they'll

destroy our village and make slaves of all our

people. There are people resisting the Horde

all over Etheria, and they are not slaves. It

can be done, Theron. Time after time, we have

stood up to the Horde and won. The reason the

Horde is still in power is that we are just a

handful of people. We need your help. Hordak,

this is Imp. Are you getting all this? Yes. And

the smooth tongues of those rebels will have

everyone under their spell. If there was only

a way I could silence them. I have a very thing,

Hordak. May I use my antenna? Take him. I have

no use for him. Alright next up is episode 17

like we said a loss for words We're back into

the September -October range here because it's

air date of September 30th 19 Back in time Written

by Drew Lawrence as far as the story goes teleplay

by Robert Lamb and Francis Moss Adora and Bo

go to a village and try to convince Potential

rebels to join them in a fight for freedom however

Hordak gets word of this and sends Shadow Weaver

to magically steal their voices and capture Adora

Though she fails to capture Adora, Shadow Weaver

does take her voice, preventing Adora from transforming

into She -Ra. So we have Hordak, Shadow Weaver,

Scorpia, Imp, Mantena, and some Horde Troopers.

We just have She -Ra, Bo, as basically your rebellion

members here. And then you have some villagers

like we talked about that actually get named.

And then a new, whatever you want to call it,

Sprint, as far as the... What are those people

called? The Twiggets? Twiggets? Yeah, Twiggets.

It's French. So what did you think about the

whole stealing of voice episode? Okay, folks

all you artists out there. I want to see Ursula

from the Little Mermaid in Shadow Weaver Garp

because seriously like I know this came before

the Little Mermaid But that's all I could think

of the entire time. I was watching this. I'm

like when is Flounder gonna show up? Yeah I definitely

wrote down Little Mermaid in my notes as well,

so. Yeah, that's all I thought. Mike, what were

we having in the script where you have general

thoughts? Hey look, a Little Mermaid plot before

the Little Mermaid was even a thing. Yeah, that's

true. What came first? I like the idea of the

plot being something that again takes in any

I've said this in the He -Man episodes as well

But anytime that we have something that's gonna

prevent them from going to there I'm just gonna

turn into Shira and turn in the He -Man and save

the day It adds a little bit of another layer

another element So I like the idea that she can't

say the words so she cannot turn into Shira and

now we're gonna figure out how she's gonna somehow

combat this as a Dora or somehow eventually Find

a way to get her voice back so she can become

Shira. So I like the plot. I like the setup on

this one Yeah, I like the setup. And I don't

get over my comparing it to that 1989 classic,

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

I don't know, I just... While I was watching

it, I couldn't get past it. I'm like, where's

Floatsum? Where's Jetsum? Come on now. Well,

maybe they're in the Whispering Woods. Maybe.

Whispering Moat, maybe. No, but yeah, you're

right. I like this one. I like the setup. I like

that she can't say it. I like it at any point

when you have to give Adora character development,

whether it's not being able to say the words,

to be able to transform. And like we said, this

is not He -Man. I mean, she's not just... There

is no palace for the rebellion here. Well, right.

There's the crystal The crystal castle we'll

talk about that shit next week is oh my god.

There's a whole other thing with that but there

is the crystal castle there was in Secret of

the sword there was the palace of bright moon,

but I guess that Apparently is now no longer

because they're always at the rebel camp in the

Whispering Woods, right? I always, my point here

is I do like it when they find interesting ways

to get Adora to have character development because

it's not like she has a Tila training her, thank

God. You know what I mean? With Adam, we had

all these plot devices of showing different character

growth for him and they've got to find a way

to do that for Sheera and her losing her voice,

that's one way to do it. Alright, well, let's

go to the Whispering Woods and see if Foxum and

Jetsum are actually there. I doubt it. You certainly

inspire me. Why, thank you, Beau. This place

is creepy, not safe like Whispering Woods. I

bet horde patrols are everywhere. You're not

afraid, are you, Sprint? I'm not afraid of anything.

Huh, not much you aren't. Why, I'm so brave,

people come from all over to hear my tales of

daring. Yeah! everyone likes a good laugh if

there was a horde trooper behind that tree well

We have entered the Whispering Woods. What do

you got? Um, I got a lot, so hopefully you got

some time here. Okay, why does that get here?

I only have a few, so... Go for it. Maybe they

should have looked before they leapt. Oh, Imp.

I really like Imp in this ep. He had a lot of

good lines. In the end, poor man Tana. I think

it's the only time we really see Mantana try

to have some world conquering aspirations, and

then he thinks better of himself. Gets his ass

off the throne. So what do you got? I love when

Shadow Weaver comes up to Hordak and... you know,

is introducing the fact that she has this idea

of stealing the voices, and she's like, can I

use Mantena? And he's like, I have no use for

him. One of your soldiers here, you have no use

for him. Like I said, I like the idea of stealing

their voices a la Little Mermaid, that's a cool

thing. Also, we've got legit use of the strength

of She -Ra and the sword to create the crack

in the earth. Instead of just using strength

and the sword to create something that it couldn't

create, I like the idea that she sticks it in

the ground and kind of creates a chasm. I can

buy that. Um, one bubble box. I mean, as cheesy

as that was, it did make me laugh. I love how

Shadow Weaver takes all of the voices and captures

them from the three rebels and from Adora and

then immediately ask them a question. She's like,

where's Adora? You just stole her their voices.

I can't tell you. Somebody call Alanis Morissette.

We need some ironic behavior. Right. We get another

arrow. I don't know if we've seen the smoke arrow

before, but we see it multiple times. We see

it in this episode. Imp and Shadow Weaver going

back and forth. That was kind of fun. Yeah, it

was. As far as them kind of jabbing each other

and whatnot. I like the line from Hordak, that's

what I hated about Skeletor, science and sorcery

and whatever else he says so I just thought that

was cool that he mentioned that. And then we

also learn apparently a little bit about Shadow

Weaver because Hordak talks about how the Horde

gave Shadow Weaver her powers and that she owes

everything to the Horde and also says that she's

from Mysticor. Yep, so some interesting side

ever go anywhere with those side notes and never

explore that anymore But at least we got a little

bit about that also Hordak calls Mantena a worm

so apparently we know what type of species he

is now and Did you notice they were playing charades

for half the episode? Yeah It's like I'm gonna

do the hand signals you guess what I'm saying

but that also led to a note from the phrase on

that I'll get to you later on I also like that

Mantena and now for something really funny before

he puts Hordak down the trap door for once. And

I like that when Hordak came back, he's like,

where are the rebels? What happened to everybody?

Because he doesn't know who sent him down or

where everybody went. So I thought the humor

in this episode was probably the highlight. There

was a lot of funny stuff between Imp, Shadow

Weaver, Mantena, and Hordak. All four of them

had funny moments. So those are probably my best

moments of the episode. Yeah, absolutely. This

is why Mantana and some of the other Horde troopers,

or not Horde troopers, some of the other Horde

members need to be in more episodes. Like, you

know, like I mentioned a couple podcasts ago

when we had an episode where it was like Catra,

Leech, Mantana, it was like three at once and

it's like, oh cool, we're going to see how all

these people interact and everything else and

it's... That's what I want more of out of this

like I don't necessarily want to see Newer like

I don't want to see constant new characters like

I know we're I know next week we're gonna get

tongue -lasher and we're in rat lore for about

half a second, but it's one of those things where

That what I think the series needs to do for

me at this point is They need to focus on putting

the villains like leech and mantana and all them

Front and center for Hordak like Hordak needs

to be sending them out on missions not just Using

catcher for seven episodes or using some coffee

mug for an episode or whatever Well, I think

too. Yeah, not just that but also like give them

some focus like make them the focus of the episode

I'm not saying you have to do an origin story

for every single one of them or anything like

that Let them be so we can see more about what

their character consists of and stuff like that.

So yeah, I'm definitely for that Alright, jumping

into the fright zone here, I have two things.

Actually, one is an opposite of your positive.

Oh. But the first one I wrote down, and again

it goes back to, are the horde troopers sentient

or are they non -sentient? Because if they are

non -sentient, if they are just robots that hordak

controls, like the batmechs and the destructo

tanks and all that, no robot would be afraid

of heights if it is not sentient. Come on. Yeah,

I can see that. And while you enjoyed it, you

thought it was interesting, I'm sorry, sticking

the sword in the ground and basically splitting

the Red Sea knew she might be the most powerful

woman in the universe. I don't believe that at

all. But I bet you would believe it if human

did it. No, I didn't believe that. I don't believe

when He -Man controls water. That's when I have

a problem, but I'm just saying the idea of something

being stuck in the ground and being used as a

lever is more viable. Something, yes. The Sword

of Protection, no. Because even though it is

a very powerful weapon, it just doesn't seem

like it's not a shovel. So if she would have

said, sword to shovel, then we would have been

alright with this. No, I would have still had

a problem with it. I mean, it's just one of those

things where it just, I don't know, maybe it's

the way that the sword looks. Maybe that's why

I can't get past it, thinking that it can do

what she did with it, but she does a whole hell

of a lot of things with that sword, so who knows.

The PSA was freedom of speech, yay! Yeah, freedom

of speech. I guess you know that's something

that people need to know about but I mean it

seems like an odd thing it was more about you

know Teaching them to again stand up for themselves

and to not be afraid to join something They feel

strongly about etc, but I had a couple other

fright zone moments, too, which is They're they're

playing the charades and the door is trying to

you know telpo different things Beau, why would

she want you to fan Hordak? Why would you come

up with that as your answer? I do not want you

as my short -age partner. And then Scorpia, it

almost felt like someone else did her voice at

times in this episode. I know she was trying

to do like this deep man voice, but it was weird

during this episode. I completely forgot she

was in here. Yeah, it got to a different deepness

at times when she was doing stuff. And I was

like, that sounds oddly non -female. but uh those

are my only two uh fright zone moments yeah all

right let's uh hand out some hardware we'll be

back in a moment adora you missed all the fun

well i knew you could handle things well i didn't

do it all she came by and gave me a a little

help oh i see well i'm sure she appreciated it

come on though the villagers are waiting I must

go to the village myself. I'll steal those rebels'

voices and bring them to you. Bring Adora! I

want Adora! To the village of Galebrief, with

the speed of lightning! Of course there's risk.

Lesser knows that. But he's willing to join us.

It is worth the risks if we're going to be free.

Shadow Weaver, She -Ra is needed right away.

So, fools of Gale Breath, you thought you would

join the rebellion? Well, you will pay dearly

for sneaking out against the Horde! I said two!

Oh, wards time, yay. Hordebats, sir? Yeah, I

got one this time, and that is for the man that

can't play charades properly, so I'll give one

to Bo. Come on, she's signaling stuff, she doesn't

want you to fan Hordak. That's just dumb. So,

Bo for being dumb. Same here, Bo for being just

utterly stupid. He had a lower IQ in this episode

than Forrest Gump had in the entire fucking movie.

Ouch. protection swords? Yeah, I got a couple

of them. I said I loved the humor in this episode

and I think the main two people that were central

to that for me, although I could give it to Imp

and Hordak, but I'm going to give one to Mantena

and Shadow Weaver because I think they were pretty

funny. I think Shadow Weaver had a good idea

and did some funny things and Mantena for throwing

Hordak down the trap door. Yeah, I'm going to

give one each to Shadow Weaver. Mantana and Imp,

Hordak and... He doesn't need one. But no, those

three characters, oh man, made this episode so

much fun. Yeah, I had a lot of fun with this

episode. Me too. Rating? I guess I gotta get

into this because it might come as a shock to

some people, but I mean, I had like 12 or 15...

20 Whispering Woods moments and I had to to Fright

Zone moments and they weren't even that They

were just more nitpicks. So I mean the idea that

number one Adora has to do something without

being able to just be She -Ra So I like the whole

stealing of the voice thing the humor between

everybody from Hordak mentioning Skeletor and

making fun of him to Mantena doing his hijinks

to the imp and shadow. We were going back and

forth I liked just about everything about this

episode, so I will give this one five Crystal

Castles out of five. Wow! For me, I'm... I'm

just gonna take a half point off. I'll give it

four and a half. It's the sword and the earth...

no. It just doesn't make any damn sense to me.

So four and a half out of five for me. Ladies

and gentlemen, coming up next, it's Christmas

time in the Fright Zone. I'm taking a great risk

leading the Velvet Club with you. This ship is

the most powerful in the galaxy. Once, I had

two. And I still would have if you hadn't. Please,

Slime. Uh, Prime. It will be safe in my hands.

I'll use it very - Use it? You had better not

even touch it. If I find small - Of course great

one of course it will be safe in my hands Finally

up today Horde prime takes a holiday take it

away episode 18 Horde prime takes a holiday air

date October 1st 1985 written by the story J.

Michael Straczynski the teleplay by Bob forward

when Horde prime goes on vacation He tells Hordak

to look after his ship the velvet glove. I didn't

realize that's what the name of that ship The

Sorceress is concerned that Hordak will use the

ship to attack Eternia because he said so, so

He -Man enlists She -Ra's help in case of trouble.

Skeletor is also concerned that his old mentor

will attack him and steal his glory in Eternia,

so he sets out to steal the ship for himself.

So we have a whole bunch of people here. For

Horde members, I guess we'll call it Horde members,

we have Hordak, Mantena, Multibot, Horde Prime,

and Skeletor. And for the Rebellion we have She

-Ra, Bo, the Sorceress, He -Man, Cowl, and of

course Swiftwind Spirit, and it says Orko is

in this, but I don't ever remember seeing Orko.

And He -Man are the PSA. Only time we don't see...

Oh, right. He's in the PSA. Okay. So that's why

he's credited in this episode. All right. So

what did you think about the whole idea of the

introduction of Horde Prime, the fact that he's

taken a two -week vacation after a long spell

of work, and that we have the combination of

some more Eternians? Obviously, anytime He -Man

comes into play, absolutely love it when the

crossovers happen. I think this is one step below,

not in a bad way, but one step below the fight

between Skeletor and Hordak in Secret of the

Sword, because we have the two of them going

back and forth, back and forth. Love that. I

like how they're able to find different ways

to get He -Man to Aetheria. It's not just the

same, oh, here's the door. Go. Go over, you know,

last time we had Hordak and Shadow Weaver use

a mirror to get him there. I absolutely love

that. Making, I wasn't sure how they were going

to do this because normally I'm used to and I

really enjoy the double transformation, but I

think it's good that they're not using that and

that it's specific to Secret of the Swords or

whatever you want to call it. But I found it

absolutely hilarious in the episode when... When

She -Ra's like, okay, good, He -Man, I think

we lost him. You know, he doesn't say yay, but

he's like, oh, good. And then obviously, I just

love the way that they work around the transformations

in this series. At least for He -Man, because

honestly, they do a better job in getting his

transformations done here than they ever did

in the other series. Yeah, I can kind of see

that. I like the idea of getting all of our people

together, because it's not just like, I mean

we've had some crossovers before, but this one

we get the main four, so that's really kind of

a cool setup with Hime, Shira, Skeletor, and

Hordak. So I like that setup. I think it's a

weird introduction to Horde Prime in a way, because

we've heard like, I knew his name and this, that,

and the other, but... Yeah, I don't I didn't

know the how the hierarchy works and I guess

he's not an actual being he's just like what?

In the show he's not an actual being I'm gonna

give you a link here a Couple years ago. I think

they did when when Maddie was doing club attorney

and everything else They created a horde prime

figure and they gave him a new look and stuff

because we never they could essentially with

the toy do whatever they wanted to do because

the only thing we ever saw of him was his little

metallic hand and this they kind of make it a

weird horack thing but yeah i i always thought

that was weird that was just a giant bunch of

smoke in a giant metal hand and i'm like okay

if this is a guy that has a giant metal hand

I'm assuming he's a giant metal robot, then how

does he have a human sun? Like, don't get me

wrong, I understand why the sun is there in human

form because of, you know, needing to relate.

You can't put, as much as we both would love,

at least I would love to see, a Masters in the

Universe Transformers crossover, you can't put

a giant robot. I just don't like the idea and

it's done in not just this cartoon it's done

in a bunch of cartoons but when you have like

this all -powerful beam and then we have to make

it like some light show or some you know what

I mean like just some like unseen beam that's

like all everywhere omnipresent and stuff like

that I I get what they're going for there but

I would rather in my cartoons see an actual character

So I guess that's my problem. Yeah, absolutely

But I mean, I guess the idea that there is somebody

above Hordak and that he's leaving him in charge

of something is a good setup It's it's more about

it's not about the plot really for me It's more

about the execution in this one because usually

it's like, okay The plot is good or the plot

is bad and now let's see how they execute it

this one It's like the plot is whatever I could

care less about the plot I'm more concerned with

how are you gonna interact with all these characters

and what are you gonna do with them? And I think

that's what this episode boils down to yeah and

the this is the episode that I mentioned earlier

about the sword and everything else I'll get

to that a little later but yeah no the character

interactions were amazing I was hoping for a

little bit more of a Skeletor Hordak fight on

board the ship but I'm happy with what it was

so Let's get to Whispering Woods! Alright, we're

in Whispering Woods. What do you got? Quite a

few things on this one again, actually. I like

that Hordak calls him Slime instead of Prime.

It's like Horde Slime, I mean Prime. Prime, yeah.

The idea that Hordeck has a boss, like I said,

is cool. The whole idea that the Sorceress, I

guess, is somehow watching Etheria as well, or

that she's at least aware of when they talk about

Eternia, so that, like, I guess she's watching

everything at all times. Skeletor, I mean, come

on. Skeletor, that's pretty cool. There's a really

cool shot from a visual standpoint of She -Ra

flying up towards, like, space. That looked really

cool the way they did that Of course another

name -calling of Mantena with you bug -eyed boob

Sword to shield get that in this episode. So

she were using the sword as a shield Hordak in

binoculars. I thought that was a cool look actually

I like the way they did the binoculars and how

he's just kind of looking out them He also has

a funny line. He calls Skeletor a treacherous

two -faced turncoat trader. Which all four words

mean the exact same thing. But just the whole

thing, Hordak versus Skeletor, that was awesome

to see. Especially Skeletor, I guess, getting

the upper hand. cool shield on hordak with that

huge bat symbol i like the visual on that and

the style they went for there i thought his shield

was really cool and again just seeing the big

four battling out shira he -man uh skeletor and

hordak all kind of involved in a fight that was

really cool and we even get to see he -man riding

swiftwind yeah that's a little strange that was

something i didn't realize we ever got to see

so that's a little strange that was cool what

about you what were the things that you liked

about the episode The whole, you know, like we

said, the four main characters of both, you know,

between both series, the giant fight between

Hordak and Skeletor, He -Man and She -Ra working

together. He -Man trying to use his strength,

pull on the rope as She -Ra's flying up there,

trying to get up to the ship and... And she says

to Swiftorn, I don't know how high you can fly.

I would assume, because most humans can't, I

would assume animals can't go above a certain...

Limit and I know they're pressing this for time

and I'm just sitting here laughing I'm like that

horse would have fallen to the earth by now I

mean if you think about it realistically, but

No, I love this one. I love all the lines between

Hordak and Skeletor between He -Man and She -Ra

It's just such a cool episode. Yeah agree for

the fright zone I believe they're like sword

to shield. I don't count because that is something

that I think she should have. She should have

a shield. Anyway, I don't really he man had a

shield a few times or at least the toys did.

I don't think he did in the series, but that

one I don't count when it comes to sort of can

turn into whatever the hell it wants. But when

it comes to sword to helmet, this is what I was

talking about a couple of weeks ago. Oh my God.

I had the sword to helmet as well. She. Okay,

I don't mind that she does it to get up there,

but when she has to undo it to cut the rope to

save He -Man, and she, like, okay, you've seen

Titan Ahi, right? Uh, I don't. You've seen, oh,

come on. If I do, I don't remember it. It's a

Don Bluth animated film from 15 years ago. It's

got Matt Damon as the lead character. It's got

Bill Pullman as... I've seen bits and pieces

of it. Okay, so in one of them, the glass on

the spaceship cracks and breaks, and Bill Pullman's

character is like, exhale. Just exhale all the

way while they're floating through space trying

to get to another ship. Essentially, she takes

this thing off, her helmet off, in space. Her

head should have exploded. Yeah. It really should

have. I mean, that's my biggest complaint about

Sword to Whatever the Hell is the helmet. That's

always been my biggest complaint about this series

because we wouldn't have a series if they took

that a little bit too literally. And then the

fourth count, Sword to Snowsled. Are you kidding?

Yeah. God. We already mentioned this, we talked

about it a little bit before, how Horde Prime

in this series is just an arm or a being. I wish

they would have actually done... I don't know

if it was an animation thing where they're like,

you know, a timing thing where we don't have

time to do this, but I really do wish they would

have shown us a Horde Prime design. Because I

just... The shit... The voice from the shadowy

past, it just... No. No. just know yeah i agree

with that 100 that's probably my biggest thing

that i didn't like about the episode also uh

apparently he's worked for 500 years without

a vacation and the whole idea of somebody in

this universe going on a two -week vacation to

a tropical island is just weird yeah then i had

the sword to helmet and then also uh She was,

I don't know if she was a Dora or She -Ra at

the time, I think She -Ra, but apparently her

ass was on fire as she came into the atmosphere.

Yeah, she was still She -Ra. That was a bit weird.

That's when she did the shield, that's when she

did the shield again. Yeah, can I get to my biggest?

Wait, one second, all I can think of is Yosemite

Sam from Roger Rabbit. My biscuits are burning,

my biscuits are burning! The biggest Friday Zone

moment though, I guess, is going to go to the

PSA. That was the creepiest PSA ever about don't

let anyone touch you in a way that's wrong. And

He -Man is pointing at the screen, like, don't

let people touch you. And then he says, if somebody's

touching you, talk to your parents. And then

he's like, oh, we're... Talk to your minister

or rabbi. I'm guessing that's bad advice that

we gave our kids back in the day. Let's not tell

them to talk to those guys at all. I can't believe

you went there. I don't know. That was a weird,

creepy PSA. Yeah, I had nothing to do with that.

Obviously. Well, there isn't an episode about

that, I guess. But thank God. That was weird.

Think about this episode there really is no lesson

learned here because it's more for me It's more

of fan service to us showing us all the characters

fighting working together, whatever So there

really is no lesson out of this. That's one of

the reasons why Luke he didn't even show up was

because Thankfully he wasn't needed. I mean,

yeah, I agree with the PSA is about the creepiest

thing an 80s cartoon has ever done I mean that's

you know, but It just, I don't know. Let's get

to the awards, holy crap. But it's so huge. It's

big all right, and that could mean big trouble.

Where are you going? To find She -Ra. It looks

like there's going to be trouble, Spirit, and

that means I'd better say... Alright, it is awards

time. Any Hordebats? For this one, I do have

a Hordebat, and that is for Hordak. He F's up

the dude's ship. He gets owned by Skeletor. It's

just not a good showing for Hordak in this episode.

Nope. What about you? Any Hordebats? I'm going

to give one to Hordak for what you just said,

and I'm also going to give one to Luce Shimer

for not flushing out Horde Prime at all. Yeah,

I can see that. Protection swords? Yeah, a couple.

I'm going to give it to Skeletor and He -Man.

Skeletor gets the one -up on Hordak and makes

a play for being the better villain, I guess.

I guess we could have talked about this back

when we did our wars episode with these guys.

And then He -Man. He came and saved the day basically

so it was a and the main reason I put him in

here is because it's a rare occurrence because

they Have a male character that's actually gonna

be the winner here or be the one that does something

that means something so Yeah, cuz let's face

it Boeing gonna do shit, right? Oh I'm gonna

give one each to he man Shira or co and Skeletor

or co is just a just an honorary thing just because

He showed up Standards are high here. Yeah, I'm

gonna just avoid he man Skeletor Orko and who?

Okay, that's a lot of you're almost out of protection.

So Crystal castles four and a half out of five.

I'm gonna knock it down a half point for the

whole horde prime thing Yeah, I'm gonna knock

it down a whole point for the Sword to helmet,

taking off the helmet, nearly killing herself,

and Horde Prime so four out of five. Alright,

a four from you and a four and a half from me.

We're giving these episodes good marks today.

Yeah, it's gonna be interesting as this series

progresses. For now, we're gonna take a quick

break and we'll be back to close the show after

this. It's hard for a young person to admit that

he or she has been touched in a bad way. If you've

been touched that way, don't be ashamed. Tell

someone you trust, like your parents, your doctor,

your teacher, or counselor, or your minister

or rabbi. Right, Orko? Right on! Pixels and the

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I have the power! All right, we are back. Do

we have anything to bring up before we get out

of here? I'm in a good end to the little season

here as we get ready to take our holiday. But

you know, I ended with a five and a four and

a half. So even if the first episode wasn't very

good, I do like what we see here. I'm liking

the amount of crossovers we're seeing with Eternians.

And I guess my only hope for the new year is

that we get to see some more characters that

I know are in this series somewhere and maybe

some more in -depth look at some of those characters,

whether it be Horde members or whether it be

the other... Ladies. Yep. Yeah, because there's

not too many more male characters that come into

this show. No. It's pretty sad when a He -Man

has to come in and, you know, pump them up. Did

you really just say that? Yes, I did. Okay. It's

a Hans and Franz reference, folks. Watch Saturday

Night Live. Follow us on Twitter. At Pal of Grayskull

is the show Twitter. You can follow at GeekCast

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At Optimus Solo. Become a fan on Facebook. Go

to Facebook .com slash GeekCast or Radio Network.

We hope you enjoyed the myths today and don't

forget to join us for our next adventure when

we'll take a look at the next three episodes,

those being The Enchanted Castle, Three Courageous

Hearts, and The Stone and the Sword. For now,

I am TF2 and Mike with... One and only Optimus

Solo. By the power and for the honor of Grayskull,

you all have the power.