Romeo and Glimmer

Hordak unveils a rusty Trapper Tank, with Entrapta at the controls, to break the force dome around Bright Moon. Rebel scouts bring in a captured Horde corporal, Romeo, and Glimmer treats his injured arm in the medical room, where the two start to talk about friendship. Romeo promises to stay put while the Horde disks drain the dome's energy. Adora becomes She-Ra and wrecks the tank, but the dome is left at less than half strength. Romeo then slips away on a rope of towels, and Glimmer follows him with Kowl. Romeo grabs her, they are taken to the Fright Zone, and he tells Hordak the dome is damaged. Hordak throws them both into the deep dungeons of the magnetic pole to trap She-Ra. In the cell Romeo admits his mistake and asks Glimmer's help. She-Ra frees them, fights off the troopers, and uses her sword as a lightning rod to wreck Hordak's equipment and the dungeons. Romeo joins the Rebellion, and Loo-Kee closes with a talk about not giving up on a difficult friend.

Loo-Kee: "Hi friends! It's Loo-Kee again. Did you see where I was hiding today? If not, here's another chance. See me? Here I am! In today's show, Glimmer taught us something about friendship. She was a good friend to Romeo, even when he thought he didn't need a friend. Do you have a friend who's sometimes hard to get along with? Well, don't give up, keep trying. 'Cause real friendship is the most valuable thing you can have."

Glimmer: "Well, I'm a rebel, too, but I just patched up your arm."

Romeo: "I thought that rebels were all bad. You're not."

Hordak: "But it pleases me to put people in the dungeon."

Romeo: "Real soldiers aren't supposed to hurt innocent people and throw them in dungeons for no reason."

A promise is cheap until someone leans on it, and this story hands one to a young Horde soldier and then watches what happens when he breaks it. Corporal Romeo arrives at Bright Moon as a prisoner, gives his word to stay in the medical room, and breaks it. The rest of the half hour is about what that broken word costs him, and what it costs the girl who trusted it.

The setup moves fast and stays clear. Hordak shows off a rusty new Trapper Tank with Entrapta at the controls, while back at the castle Bow wants answers from the prisoner and is told that "we're not like Hordak. We won't try to force him." The tank is a good cartoon weapon, since metal disks on cables drain the force dome until it will "just collapse." When She-Ra shows up, the Horde fires the stolen energy straight back at her, and she still ends up lifting the tank off the ground. We get a real fight before the story turns to its quieter business.

The standout scene is the medical room. Glimmer dabs antiseptic on Romeo's arm and he winces, then tells her, "I'm the youngest corporal in my regiment." She points out the window at the army about to hit her home. He says they have to attack, and she answers, "Well, I'm a rebel, too, but I just patched up your arm." He admits, "I thought that rebels were all bad. You're not." A moment later comes the question, "How can we be friends if we're enemies?" Nobody shouts and nobody wins an argument, yet it carries the whole episode, because two kids on opposite sides simply talk to each other.

The writing around it is plain and fair. Hordak's own behaviour makes the case against him, so nobody has to lecture. Romeo is thrown in the deep dungeons for speaking up, and the reason Hordak gives is "But it pleases me to put people in the dungeon." In the cell Romeo says, "Real soldiers aren't supposed to hurt innocent people and throw them in dungeons for no reason." Glimmer answers by telling him about Adora, who left the Horde because she saw that it was wrong, which gives the lesson a face the audience already knows.

The weakness is speed. Romeo turns on Glimmer in the meadow, grabs her from behind, and tells Hordak the dome is damaged while she cries out for him to stop, yet one cell conversation puts him back on the right side. The betrayal is real, and the repair is thin. Kowl is also built up as Glimmer's safety net, "the fastest thing on two wings in all of Etheria," but his flight for help gets almost no time, and She-Ra takes the rescue anyway.

Still, the ending earns its warmth. Pinned by the power magnets, She-Ra turns her sword into a lightning rod and wrecks the dungeons for good. Romeo is welcomed as "a new member of The Rebellion," and Glimmer says, "Of course, I am" happy about it. It is a gentle episode that lets kindness do most of the work, and the Loo-Kee close states its point plainly.

1. Continuity: Glimmer tells Romeo that Adora left the Horde "because she knew that what they were doing was wrong", and he has already heard her called a traitor.
2. Continuity: Entrapta operates the Trapper Tank beside Hordak and Imp, and the disks are built to trap the force dome's energy.
3. Continuity: Adora suggests that Kowl go along as Glimmer's companion so she can send a message if she needs help, and Queen Angella agrees.
4. Production: Written by Don Heckman and directed by Tom Tataranowicz; the original broadcast date was 1986-12-13.