When Whispering Woods Last Bloomed

Netossa and Spinnerella recall, at a celebration of their first year with the rebellion, how they came to this part of Etheria on vacation and watched from Thamor Village as She-Ra and Bow beat Catra's robot tanks. Hordak, angry at yet another failure, hears from Shadow Weaver that a girl named Spinnerella can spin up a whirlwind powerful enough to knock down Whispering Woods. Netossa is caught in a force field and ends up in a Fright Zone dungeon, while Shadow Weaver leads Spinnerella to Hordak, who tells her the rebels have taken her friend. Hordak promises to rescue Netossa if Spinnerella will spin the woods' magic trees aside, and she does. Madame Razz sees the Horde army entering and warns Adora and Bow. As She-Ra, Adora learns from Light Hope who Netossa is, frees her from the dungeon, and flies her to Whispering Woods. Netossa tells Spinnerella she has been tricked, and Spinnerella turns her whirlwind on the Horde. Then she spins the other way to put the trees back. Loo-Kee closes by saying that trees, plants and flowers should be enjoyed and protected.

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, the Whispering Woods were almost blown down by Spinnerella's whirlwind. But She-Ra persuaded Spinnerella to put the trees back in place. You know, trees, plants and flowers make our world a beautiful and healthy place in which to live. So we should enjoy them as well as protect them. That's all for now. See you soon!"

Shadow Weaver: "There is a young girl named Spinnerella in Thamor Village."

Hordak: "Today, we will crush the rebellion."

Spinnerella: "Release Netossa, or my whirlwind will blow down the woods."

Netossa: "No way, sister."

Spinnerella: "Alright. I'll show you what my spinning dance can really do."

A power is only as good as the person who tells you where to point it. Spinnerella can spin fast enough to make a whirlwind that flattens trees, and the plot turns on that one fact. Shadow Weaver sees the use for it at once. She tells Hordak about "a young girl named Spinnerella in Thamor Village" and he sees a way past the magic that keeps his troops out of Whispering Woods.

The writing is built on a trick, and the trick is simple enough to follow without help. Hordak does not need to defeat Spinnerella. He only needs to tell her that the rebels hold her friend. Netossa is caught in a force field in the woods and then locked in a Fright Zone dungeon, but Spinnerella hears that the rebellion has her. She asks the stranger beside her, "Can you help me, or can't you?", and the answer is an introduction to Hordak. The story is told as a memory by the two friends at a celebration of their first year with the rebellion, which lets the friends narrate their own mistakes. That frame is gentle. It also means the audience knows the trap before Spinnerella does.

Hordak's side is well drawn. Catra, Mantenna and Grizzlor come back from a failed ambush and he sits on his throne threatening them with his trap door. When Shadow Weaver offers a better plan, he orders her to find the girl and bring her "at once." At the head of his army he is blunt. "Today, we will crush the rebellion," he says. Spinnerella is a tool to him, and the dungeon is only where he keeps the leverage. Madame Razz gets the best of the rebel side, flying through the gale on her broom, bumping trees on the way to warn Adora, then carrying a frightened rabbit out of the wind.

The standout is the confrontation at the edge of Whispering Woods. Spinnerella stands in front of her own whirlwind and calls out, "Release Netossa, or my whirlwind will blow down the woods." The rebels answer, truthfully, that they hold no prisoners and know nobody by that name. She does not believe them, and the viewer cannot blame her. Every fact she has came from the Horde. The scene works because both sides are honest about what they know, and neither can prove it.

The weakness is the rescue. It is the thinnest part of the story. Netossa spends the middle of the episode behind a barred window shouting at robots, and when She-Ra arrives the guards give her a few seconds of trouble before Netossa is out. She is a co-narrator in the frame and a prisoner in the story. The exchange is brisk: "Thanks for freeing me, but who are you?" "My name is She-Ra. I'm a friend." That is a good rescue line, but the quick turn from stranger to ally asks us to take a great deal for granted.

The ending is the best part. Spinnerella says she thought Netossa was being held by the rebels. Netossa answers, "No way, sister." Spinnerella then replies, "I'll show you what my spinning dance can really do." She turns on the Horde, and afterwards, on a suggestion, spins the opposite way to put the trees back. The cure for the damage is the same gift pointed somewhere else. It is a modest episode, and a good one for Spinnerella.

1. Continuity: Netossa and Spinnerella narrate the story at a celebration of the first anniversary of their joining the rebellion, and the closing toast is to the rebellion and to free Etheria.
2. Continuity: Madame Razz crashes her broom and says someone must have moved a tree again, the same gag Madame Razz has in The Time Transformer.
3. Continuity: Light Hope tells She-Ra that Netossa is a friend of Spinnerella, and that Hordak has imprisoned Netossa and lied to Spinnerella.
4. Continuity: Catra, Mantenna and Grizzlor lead the first Horde attack, and Shadow Weaver, disguised as a villager, follows Netossa and Spinnerella through Thamor Village.
5. Production: Written by Frank Becker and directed by Ed Friedman; first aired 1986-12-06.