Into Etheria

Into Etheria is a first season episode of the animated television series She-Ra Princess of Power, produced in 1985. Written by Larry DiTillio, directed by Gwen Wetzler. Original broadcast date: September 9, 1985.

Synopsis
Within Castle Grayskull on the planet Eternia, the Sorceress tosses in her sleep, dreaming of an armored figure stealing an infant and escaping through a portal. The Sorceress wakes, only to find a mysterious glowing sword beckoning her. She follows it into another room, where it opens a door; the Sorceress resolves to summon Prince Adam and Cringer.

Later, the Sorceress tells Adam that he must take the sword to another world and find its owner but cannot tell him who the owner is; Adam notes the sword's resemblance to his own, except for the jewel in its center. He and Cringer step into the portal and find themselves in a lush forest in a world called Etheria; they soon locate a small town, Thaymor, and go into the Laughing Swan Inn for lunch. Little do they know, two figures named Bow and Kowl are watching them.

Suddenly, three armored Horde Troopers enter the inn; when they threaten the local bard, Adam opposes them. Bow joins him, and soon they defeat the Troopers. Bow invites Adam to the Whispering Woods, declaring that Adam is now part of the Great Rebellion. Meanwhile, within the Fright Zone, a spy tells the evil Hordak that two rebels have humiliated his Troopers in the kingdom of Bright Moon. Shadow Weaver warns Hordak that a troublesome stranger has arrived on Etheria who has come with a 'seed' that could cause a lot of trouble for the Horde, and Catra thinks the incidents might be related.

Meanwhile, Bow, Kowl, Arrow, Adam, and Cringer journey to the Whispering Woods, meeting Sprag along the way, Once at the rebels' camp, the rebel leader, Glimmer, is thrilled to meet Adam. Suddenly, Madame Razz and Broom fly into the camp; Razz informs them that the Horde has placed the entire village of Thaymor under arrest, because two men claiming to be rebels humiliated three Troopers there earlier. Bow and Adam realize that it is their fault; Bow suggests that he surrender himself, but Adam is in favour of the rebellion fighting the Horde. Glimmer agrees, and soon the rebels are in Horde territory.

Nearby, the Horde warriors Catra, Leech, Mantenna, and Scorpia are bored and sick of the presence of their commander, Force Captain Adora, but are reluctant to stand up to her as she is Hordak's favorite. When the rebels attack, Mantenna's stun beams take care of most of them, and they appear to be defeated until Prince Adam's "friend" shows up as he had promised; He-Man. While Battle Cat and Sprag take care of Mantenna and Catra, He-Man disarms Adora by throwing the Sword of Power to knock the blaster from her hand. While Battle Cat retrieves the sword, He-Man chases Adora. He-Man takes out the sword that the Sorceress gave him and tries to use it against her, but instead it begins to glow and shows Adora's image in the jewel. He-Man realizes Adora is the one that he came to find, just as a Horde Trooper's laser knocks him out; Adora picks up the sword, leaving He-Man a prisoner of the Horde.

To Be Continued...

Characters

 * Great Rebellion
 * Arrow (first Filmation appearance)
 * Bow (first Filmation appearance)
 * Broom (first Filmation appearance)
 * Glimmer (first Filmation appearance)
 * Kowl (first Filmation appearance)
 * Madame Razz (first Filmation appearance)
 * Sprag (first Filmation appearance)
 * Heroic Warriors
 * Prince Adam / He-Man
 * Cringer / Battle Cat
 * Sorceress
 * Allies
 * Bard
 * Garv the Innkeeper


 * Evil Horde
 * Force Captain Adora (first Filmation appearance)
 * Catra (first Filmation appearance)
 * Hordak (first Filmation appearance)
 * Horde Troopers (first Filmation appearance)
 * Leech (first Filmation appearance)
 * Mantenna (first Filmation appearance)
 * Scorpia (first Filmation appearance)
 * Shadow Weaver (first Filmation appearance)

Objects

 * Vehicles
 * Horde Slave Transport
 * Animals
 * Slotto

Locations

 * Etheria
 * Fright Zone
 * Thaymor - Laughing Swan Inn
 * Whispering Woods
 * Eternia
 * Castle Grayskull
 * Eternos - Royal Palace

Cast

 * Melendy Britt as Princess Adora and Catra
 * George DiCenzo as Hordak, Bow and Horde Trooper
 * Linda Gary as The Sorceress, Glimmer, Shadow Weaver, Madame Razz and Scorpia
 * John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Cringer and Announcer
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Narrator, Kowl, Mantenna, Leech, Broom, Horder Troopers, Garv the Innkeeper, Bard, Messenger and Sprag

Behind the Scenes
One scene was slightly altered for the theatrical version. When Bow tells Adam he can’t ask him to sacrifice himself, in the original TV version he is facing the camera more than Adam. In _The Secret of the Sword (1985)_ (qv), Bow faces the one he’s speaking to.
 * Script was approved May 26, 1984 and final script revision took place September 26, 1984.
 * "Into Etheria" starts with an alternate opening sequence narrated by Lou Scheimer which introduces She-Ra and the Great Rebellion, but does not disclose her secret identity.
 * The full, original title as seen on the shooting script was “The Sword of She-Ra Part I: Into Etheria”. The unused part of the title is still spoken by the announcer (Alan Oppenheimer) at the end of the episode as he introduces some scenes from the second chapter.
 * Scenes from "Into Etheria" which were cut out for The Secret of the Sword:
 * The Sorceress' nightmare is slightly longer: after Hordak's escape, it cuts back to show young Man-At-Arms and the Sorceress in distress, followed by Horak's laughing face superimposed over the sleeping Sorceress just before she wakes up.
 * At the Laughing Swann Inn, after the Horde Troopers enter, Cringer and Prince Adam have more dialogue. Cringer hides under the table and suggests that Adam should join him there.
 * Before sitting down, one of the three Horde Troopers orders the Bard to keep on playing and 'make it good'.
 * Madame Razz' arrival at the Rebel camp is twice as long and Bow and Sprag try to guess how many trees she will hit on the way down.
 * When the Rebels overlook the village of Thaymor, Glimmer gives instructions to the various members of her group and Bow asks Prince Adam about his 'friend' (He-Man).
 * When the Rebels are charging into battle, Adam can be seem running with them briefly before ducking behind a tree to wait for the chance to turn into He-man.
 * During the battle at Thaymor, Mantenna notes that Catra's in trouble, but Force Captain Adora tells him to forget her and stop He-Man.
 * The music score was restructured for The Secret of the Sword to compensate for the numerous edits to the original five episodes and is completely different in many scenes.
 * The Horde Troopers were originally conceived as living beings instead of robots. This is still evident in “Into Etheria” when they all have distinctly different voices and one of them is named ‘Marg’. The original script went even further, describing the three Hordesmen in the Inn lifting their visors, revealing a scarred human (the aforementioned ‘Marg’), a reptilian humanoid (who is still heard emphasizing the letter S and hissing at Bow) and a humanoid hawk underneath.
 * Sprag uses the Twigget version of a salute: using the tips of his fingers to toughing the tip of his nose (as opposed to his forehead) after Bow orders him to run ahead and tell Glimmer he’s bringing in new recruits.
 * Sequences that were cut from the original shooting script:
 * Adam and Bow throw cream pies into the faces of two of the Horde Troopers before they pull the rug out from under them.
 * Hordak punishes the messenger from Thaymor for bringing him bad news by having him fall down a trap door. Scorpia, Leech & Mantenna all ask if they can destroy the village before Shadow Weaver enters.
 * It was supposed to be Scorpia who grabbed Bow from behind at Thaymor instead of Catra (in her cat form) knocking him down. Scorpia still delivers the next line "You're finished now, rebel!".
 * When He-Man goes after Force Captain Adora, Sprag, as promised, helps Glimmer and Bow get up and mentions that "A big, Strong fella just made Bibble pie out of the Horde!", from which Bow surmises that it must have been Adam's friend.
 * Instead of He-Man being stunned by a Horde Trooper who came up from behind him, Adora was supposed to have used an energy baton that was hooked to the back of her belt to defeat him.
 * The animation model of the Bard was originally conceived as a recurring character named "Willawind," a musical member of the Great Rebellion. His abilities and part of his character were eventually given to Bow.

Continuity

 * The animation of Hordak destroying a statue with the word 'Obey' on it will be partly reused in He Ain't Heavy, The Perils of Peekablue and Glimmer Come Home. In all but the last two Hordak's cannon will be animated differently.
 * The backgrounds of the polluted sky over the Fright Zone are reused background elements previously seen in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episodes Quest for He-Man and Disappearing Dragons.
 * The animated sequence of the Sorceress raising her hands was first used in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode The Cosmic Comet.
 * The animated sequence of Prince Adam running behind a house and peering around the corner was first used in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode Pawns of the Game Master.