SHE-RA - 1985

Of Shadows and Skulls

Of Shadows and Skulls synopsis still

Pinned in a cave by Catra and Shadow Weaver, Adora turns into She-Ra and gets the rebels out, and Shadow Weaver's own spell wrecks the Horde's trap. Hordak blames her failures and sends her away, so she brings Skeletor to Etheria through a dimensional gate to help trap Hordak. Skeletor knocks Hordak out with sleep mist, Shadow Weaver snares She-Ra in shadow coils, and Skeletor then shuts Hordak and Shadow Weaver together in a bone cage, betraying his partner as well. Hordak and Shadow Weaver cut their way out with his cutter charged with her magic, while Bow, Kowl and Madame Razz follow to the Fright Zone, where She-Ra is soon free to face Skeletor. She-Ra turns the fight on Skeletor and leaves him soaked in water, and Hordak returns to find him there. Shadow Weaver cuts Skeletor off before he can name the traitor, sends him home, and talks Hordak round.

Of Shadows and Skulls Official upload, Masters of the Universe channel

Loo-Kee: "Hi, everybody! It's Loo-Kee, in person! Did you find my hiding place today? If not, look for me now. See me yet? I'm right here! Today Hordak was mean to Shadow Weaver, so she tried to get revenge. But as you saw, that didn't work. If someone is mean to you, don't try to get revenge. Instead, try to forgive and forget, because that usually works. Bye, now!"

Hordak: "That's the third time this month your magic has failed us!"

Skeletor: "And you should never have been stupid enough to enter my cage."

Shadow Weaver: "Oh, forgive me, Hordak. I was angry at his treatment of you."

What does a henchwoman do after her boss tells her to get out of his sight? Of Shadows and Skulls is built on her answer: go and find a worse villain. It works best when it remembers that this is a story about a bruised ego and not a plan for conquest. The spine is that her revenge on Hordak fails, yet she finishes the episode back in his good graces, an odd result for a story that closes by telling children revenge does not pay.

The first scene shows how little she has to work with. Catra and the troopers have the rebels pinned in a cave, Adora slips away and becomes She-Ra, and Shadow Weaver, impatient, throws a spell to destroy the stones the rebels hide behind. She-Ra turns her sword into a shield, the blast opens the exit she was about to cut herself, and in the Fright Zone Hordak rages that this is "the third time this month your magic has failed us!" Shadow Weaver snarls at Imp, Hordak sides with Imp, and she is sent away to await punishment. It takes no more than that to start her grudge.

The alliance is the most interesting writing in it. She contacts Skeletor in Snake Mountain, offers a dimensional gate and everything he needs to conquer Eternia, and he agrees, and when the figure beside him asks if he can trust her, he answers "Who said I was going to?" Skeletor is already planning to betray her, and we hear it, while Hordak, the man they are both after, knows nothing. The next stretch is a runaround in Snake Tongue Pass: a rockslide that fails to finish Hordak, a pit he opens under Skeletor, a decoy image of Skeletor that eats his blast, and sleep mist to close it. It is busy and a bit loud, but it gives the two villains a proper trade of insults.

The standout is the bone cage. After She-Ra is caught in shadow coils, Shadow Weaver steps into the cage beside the unconscious Hordak and tells him he should never have mistreated her, and Skeletor answers from outside that she was "stupid enough to enter my cage." Her protest that he needs her is where she loses control of her own plan. Inside, she and Hordak must cooperate, and they do: he straps on his cutter, she charges it with spells, and the combination works where each alone failed, while Hordak vows to catch "that old pupil of mine."

The weak spot is the stakes. Skeletor takes over the Fright Zone and orders the army ready to move on Eternia by nightfall, and the threat vanishes the moment he is left soaked outside a castle gate. Eternia never appears, and the army order is followed only by Skeletor's joke about making King Randor his court jester.

The ending is the cleverest part. Hordak is back, Skeletor is about to name the traitor, and Shadow Weaver cuts him off with "Liar!" and sends him home before he can talk. Hordak accepts her excuse that she was angry for his sake. Hordak ends up forgiving a crime he never hears about. As they head back to the Whispering Woods, the rebels remark that by fighting Skeletor they helped Hordak, but "at least he's our villain." It is a talky, wry entry, held up by Shadow Weaver and by a gag or two about Imp.

Continuity: Skeletor and Beast Man are in Snake Mountain plotting to take the Royal Palace in Loo-Kee Lends a Hand, and here Skeletor comes through a gate to Etheria; She-Ra asks if that villain is here again.
Continuity: Light Hope calls She-Ra to the Crystal Castle and says the gate came from Horror Hall, and that she will find the villains in Snake Tongue Pass.
Continuity: Hordak's trapdoor, which Imp wants to use in Loo-Kee Lends a Hand, comes up again when Imp asks him to get it ready. Hordak calls Skeletor his old pupil.

Princess Adora

Princess Adora

She-Ra

She-Ra

Bow

Bow

Kowl

Kowl

Madame Razz

Madame Razz

Broom (Madame Razz's broom)

Swift Wind

Swift Wind

Light Hope

Light Hope

Catra

Catra

Hordak

Hordak

Imp

Imp

Shadow Weaver

Shadow Weaver

Empty rocky cave with stone arches and a sandy floor.

Bow climbs a cave wall while Kowl flutters beside him.

Adora kneels beside Bow, who lies on the ground, as Kowl hovers above.

Catra smiles with a sly expression, her red hood framing her face.

Adora, Bow and two rebel fighters crouch in the cave while Kowl flies near.

A red laser beam strikes a rock in the cave.

Adora lies flat on the ground as a red laser hits the dirt beside her.

Kowl and Bow peer around a rock wall.

Adora stands in a dark cave with a determined look.

Adora raises her sword and a burst of golden sparks surrounds her.

Adora transforms into She-Ra in a flash of bright yellow light.

She-Ra stands in a rocky cave holding her Sword of Protection.

Horde Troopers with rifles stand on a distant cliff edge.

Shadow Weaver stares ahead with glowing yellow eyes.

Catra, Shadow Weaver and a Horde Trooper stand together with their backs turned.

She-Ra holds her Sword of Protection high beside a red rock.

She-Ra turns her sword into a shield and holds it beside her.

She-Ra smiles slightly, looking off to the side.

The Fright Zone fortress sits on tall mechanical legs against a smoky sky.

Hordak scowls with Imp hovering beside him.

Catra looks aside as Shadow Weaver conjures sparkling magic in her hand.

Hordak glares angrily while Imp clings to his shoulder.

Hordak leans forward beside a mechanical arm.

Catra turns to look at Shadow Weaver beside her.

Shadow Weaver raises a fist in front of coiled serpent machinery.

Shadow Weaver stands beside a dark metal pillar.

Tall orange flames burn against a purple background.

Shadow Weaver stands before a large bowl of burning fire.

A giant snake coils around the black spiked Snake Mountain.

Spikor looks on with yellow eyes next to Skeletor's hood.

Shadow Weaver appears in a glowing pink portal in a dark cavern.

Spikor stands beside Skeletor, who is half hidden by a purple hood.

Shadow Weaver's face fills a glowing pink and yellow portal.

Skeletor faces Shadow Weaver, who stands inside a glowing portal.

Skeletor rests a finger against his chin while he thinks.

Shadow Weaver raises her arms inside a pink glowing portal.

Skeletor grins with his skull face half in shadow.

A pink and purple Etherian landscape of fluffy trees and rock formations.

She-Ra looks to the side with a serious expression.

A large red crystal gem sits inside twisting gold branches at Crystal Castle.

She-Ra and Swift Wind stand together in a dark purple hall.

She-Ra stands beside Swift Wind, who wears a pink and blue mask.

She-Ra looks up with a concerned expression beside Swift Wind.

She-Ra and Swift Wind stand in a dark hall beside a column of pink light.

Pale green clouds drift across the sky.

A Horde tank with a red bat emblem sits beside a cracked cliff.

Skeletor and Shadow Weaver stand together on a desert cliff.

Shadow Weaver points toward the cliff edge as dust blows past.

Hordak tumbles upside down amid purple wreckage.

Skeletor raises both fists above his head and laughs.

Hordak stands in front of wrecked machinery with a white skull-like head.

Skeletor stands with his hands on his hips beside a bone-like claw.

Hordak snarls with his fangs showing and red eyes narrowed.

Hordak and Skeletor face each other in front of wrecked machinery.

Hordak gathers blue energy in his hand while Skeletor's leg fills the side.

Skeletor stands tall with a confident look in the desert.

A tall red rock cliff rises against a pale sky.

Hordak faces Skeletor, who stands with his back turned and hands clasped.

Hordak stands with a stern look amid red rock formations.

Skeletor grins and looks down at something below him.

Hordak holds one hand to his head as if dazed.

Skeletor stands over Hordak, who lies unconscious on the ground.

She-Ra rides Swift Wind through the clouds.

She-Ra looks ahead with her hair blowing in the wind.

A white streak flashes across a cloudy sky.

Shadow Weaver points as purple magic blasts a cliff and buries a tank.

Purple sparkles fall through the clouds beside a blue wing.

Skeletor stares with a menacing grin beside a rock arch.

Skeletor stands over She-Ra, who lies unconscious wrapped in purple coils.

Skeletor grins in front of a wall of layered red rock.

Skeletor and Shadow Weaver stand side by side before red rock.

A wall of layered red rock rises behind a cobbled floor.

Shadow Weaver stands behind the bars of a white bone cage.

Hordak sits in the bone cage while Shadow Weaver leans against the bars.

Shadow Weaver spreads her red cloak inside the bone cage beside Hordak.

Skeletor laughs with his head tilted back.

Skeletor grins in front of a cloudy sky.

Bow smirks as he looks out from a patch of pink bushes.

Bow, Madame Razz and Kowl walk beside Swift Wind in a pink forest.

Bow walks with Madame Razz and her talking broom as Kowl flies behind.

Kowl flies in front of a bank of pink bushes.

Bow rides Swift Wind through the sky.

Shadow Weaver stands in the bone cage while Hordak sits on the floor.

Shadow Weaver bends over Hordak, who lies on his back in the cage.

Hordak scowls from behind the white bars of the bone cage.

Shadow Weaver reaches out a hand to touch the bone cage bars.

Hordak glares from inside the cage beside a device on his arm.

Hordak stands inside the cage with a cutting tool strapped to his arm.

Sparks fly from Hordak's arm device as he cuts the cage bones.

She-Ra stands inside a glowing bubble in the Fright Zone.

Horde Force Squad members line up as She-Ra floats in a bubble above.

Catra and Scorpia stand together among Fright Zone machinery.

Imp flies in alarm with his eyes wide open.

A green Horde creature peers around pipes in the Fright Zone.

Imp perches far down a dim Fright Zone corridor.

Bow, Kowl, Madame Razz and her broom hide behind a red pillar.

Skeletor sits on a throne with an arrow stuck in his hood.

Bow aims his bow and fires an arrow down a red corridor.

Skeletor reaches up with one hand and an arrow stuck in his hood.

Bow and She-Ra stand together as Kowl and Madame Razz hover on her broom.

A gloved metal hand reaches into a Fright Zone corridor.

Two Horde robots aim rifles at their targets from behind.

Two Horde robots are caught in a ring of sparkling magic.

Madame Razz clasps her hands next to her talking broom.

She-Ra stands in the foreground as Skeletor gestures in the distance.

She-Ra looks ahead with a determined expression.

She-Ra and Skeletor face each other across a metal platform.

Skeletor lies in the water beside a stone ledge.

Skeletor stands soaked on a stone ledge before a castle gate.

Skeletor shouts angrily with his mouth open wide.

Shadow Weaver and Hordak stand together before a dark tower.

Hordak looks ahead as Shadow Weaver stands behind him.

Imp grins from Hordak's shoulder while Shadow Weaver stands nearby.

Madame Razz, Bow, Kowl and She-Ra on Swift Wind gather in a pink landscape.

She-Ra smiles slightly as she looks to the side.

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