Anchors Aloft, Part 2

Admiral Scurvy locks Adora and Spirit in the brig of his Dreadnought and leaves Sea Hawk's crew chained on the island to wait for a prison ship. Davy Jones goads a Trooper, and Sea Hawk, using his father's sword and ring, wrecks the guards and frees the crew. His father the Falcon is too ill to leave the island, so he gives Sea Hawk a magic shell and tells him to make his own legend, and the crew spends days converting the Falcon's old ship into the flying Solar Clipper. Scurvy, who turned back after Adora said only the Sea Hawk could have beaten his Troopers, spots the flying Clipper over the island and orders his cannons charged. Adora gets her sword by throwing her boot and belt, becomes She-Ra and destroys his cannons, but is stunned, and Sea Hawk wins by refusing Scurvy's offer of falling gold. Scurvy is tied up for trial before Queen Angella, Sea Hawk frees Adora from the brig, and Swen finds Scurvy's treasure.

Loo-Kee: "Here's where I was hiding today. Can you find me? Here I am! Today, I'd like to talk to you about cheating. Sometimes, when you're anxious to win a game or pass a test, cheating seems like the answer. Well, you may pass the test, and you may win the game, but even if you're not caught, you'll never feel good about yourself. So don't cheat. Cheaters never really win."

Falcon: "My legend is strong only because I vanished."

Falcon: "You have a legend of your own to create."

Sea Hawk: "Noble? Sure, I'm noble. But I'm not stupid."

Anchors Aloft, Part 2 retires its legend before the midpoint and spends the rest of the story on what the son does with the inheritance. A narrator recaps the first half: Admiral Scurvy wrecked Sea Hawk's ship, imprisoned Adora and the crew believing the Hawk dead, and the Hawk was led to a secret cavern where he found his long-lost father, the legendary Falcon. Scurvy opens in high spirits. His Dreadnought has Adora, leader of the Rebellion, in the brig with her horse, there is no room for the pirate crew, and he will send a prison ship for them later, since Hordak will be very pleased with the catch.

The first scene that carries the idea is on the beach, where the crew sit in chains and the only person with any nerve is the mouse. Swen calls Scurvy "the meanest shark in the 12 Etherian seas," a Trooper tells the crew their Sea Hawk is at the bottom of the ocean, and Davy Jones sneers that hitting a man in chains takes nerve and dares him to try a mouse. The first shot misses, and Davy says "Really poor shot, robot." The Sea Hawk who arrives next clears the guards, and a crewman who recognizes the sword and ring asks if it is the Falcon; the answer is that it is his son, the new Sea Hawk. The weapons have come down to him, and nobody on the beach finds that odd.

What the episode is about is succession: the Falcon's weapons, his old ship and his name pass to the son, and the old man stays where he is. The cave scene is the standout. Sea Hawk begs his father to come, saying that with him to lead they could recruit a thousand men, a million. The Falcon refuses, and his reason is the best writing in the two parts: his legend is strong only because he vanished, and the world would not keep telling stories of a man who was "old, tired, and sick." He adds that only the enchanted air of the island keeps him alive. He hands over the magic shell that will let the ship leave the grotto, and tells his son "You have a legend of your own to create." Hawk swears to join She-Ra and the Great Rebellion, and the scene ends with a handshake.

The plot then turns the speech into work. Swen is asked whether the Falcon's old Clipper can be converted to solar flight; the job is put at two weeks and the deadline at three days, and Hawk promises him the crew's help, which they cheer. Scurvy is meant to be sailing to the Fright Zone, but when a Trooper reports that one man wrecked the guards, Adora says "I know a man who could," and Scurvy turns the ship around to catch him. Her faith brings the Dreadnought back to the island. Neat, and a little cruel. The Clipper leaves the grotto through an undersea entrance, and flies. Adora, meanwhile, gets her sword by trying her boot and then her belt, becomes She-Ra and wrecks the Dreadnought's cannons.

The weakness is what happens to her next. She-Ra is stunned by Scurvy's ray and is out of it for the finish, which belongs to Sea Hawk, who fights Scurvy and then refuses the gold Scurvy dangles in front of him. Adora is in the brig when Hawk arrives to rescue her, calling her fair lady, just after She-Ra has saved his ship. It is his story, but the series' heroine ends up as the one who is rescued.

The last line is the one to remember. When Adora says it was noble to give up that bar of gold, Swen runs in with Scurvy's treasure, and Hawk says he is noble but not stupid. The Falcon was poorer than anyone; his son keeps the principle and the bounty. Taken with Part 1, it hands the series a pirate ally with a pedigree.

1. Continuity: This is the second half of the story that begins in Anchors Aloft, Part 1, where Sea Hawk meets his father the Falcon; the narrator's recap names the Falcon's island cavern and the loss of the Sea Hawk's ship.
2. Continuity: Sea Hawk fights with the Falcon's sword and Impact Ring, the same gear the masked Falcon used on him in Part 1, and the Falcon's old ship becomes the "Solar Clipper."
3. Continuity: Scurvy is to be handed to Queen Angella for trial, and Adora (not She-Ra) is the one Sea Hawk rescues from the brig at the end.