Episode 19 – Enchanted Castle

In which we learn about Castaspella’s history, which is of course something we all wanted to know.

The rebels have all come to a party in Mysticor, which is ruled by Castaspella. The party is in honour of the day Mysticor was freed from evil, and since we’re all champing at the bit to know about that, Adora sees fit to tell Kowl the entire story. The ensuing flashback comprises the remainder of the episode.

Glimmer: “Adora, why do you look quite so irritated with Kowl?”

Apparently, there was a time when Bow was standing around in a village square, playing a harp. The villagers were surprisingly appreciative of this, clapping delightedly as Bow finishes his performance. Perhaps they know from experience that this is the best way to make him go away. Anyway, Adora came across Bow at this point, and the two decided to travel back to Whispering Woods together, on a route that led through the Dark Forest.

Shortly before reaching the Dark Forest, the two of them came across an old woman, who had fallen down a gully. On being rescued, the woman warned Adora and Bow that the Dark Forest was dangerous, and then turned to smile mysteriously at the camera.

Old woman: “Bye! And please don’t come back.”

Once in the Dark Forest, Adora and Bow were captured pretty quickly by knights in armour, and taken to a castle full of evil magic. There they met Mortella, an evil sorceress who informed them that they were now her slaves, tasked with ensuring that a blue fire never burned down. Adora’s sword was confiscated, and the two taken to a 5-star dungeon for the night.

The old woman from earlier, however, learned that Adora and Bow were locked up in the castle, and came to rescue them – revealing in the process that she possessed magical powers. After recovering her sword, Adora asked the old woman what was so important about the blue fire, and learned that it was the source of all Mortella’s power.

Mortella: “Interestingly, Blue Fire is a rollercoaster at Europa-Park, the largest theme park in Germany. I am not a very good advert for it, I must admit.”

Adora ducked behind a wall, became She-Ra, and started causing all manner of fuss in the castle, eventually putting out the blue fire. This resulted in Mortella disappearing in a puff of green smoke, and – to my distinct lack of surprise – the old woman actually turned out to be Castaspella, who had been held prisoner in old woman form by Mortella.

We return to the party, as Adora finishes the story with an explanation that Castaspella returned her realm to the more pleasant form it had held before Mortella’s evil reign. Kowl claims he enjoyed the story, which is more than can be said for me – though I did enjoy the sudden surprise moment in which Bow was drenched with a torrent of water, seemingly for absolutely no reason other than the need to end the episode with a really amusing joke.

Bow: “I enjoy a joke just as much as the next lunatic, but this isn’t even a joke, frankly.”

 

In today’s adventure…

Well, Loo-Kee was back today, not that I saw him as he skulked about in a tree. He explains to us that doing kind deeds is good, apparently largely because later on you’ll get something back for it. This was demonstrated when Adora and Bow rescued Castaspella when she was stuck in the gully, since Castaspella later rescued them from prison. I can’t muster up any enthusiasm for this.

 

Character checklist

This little extravaganza sees quite a lot of characters emerging from the woodwork, though only a few of them play a major part in the episode – namely Adora, Spirit, She-Ra, Bow, Castaspella and Mortella. Lots of other rebels are at the Mysticor party that forms the episode’s framing device, specifically Kowl, Glimmer, Madame Razz, Broom, Queen Angella, Frosta, the Twiggets, and a pair of individuals that I believe are called Peekablue and Flutterina. Then, of course, there’s Loo-Kee, the villagers that Bow was playing a harp for, and a surprise appearance for some baddies called Rattlor and Tung Lashor.

Peekablue: “Don’t mind us, we’re just here to advertise our action figures.”

 

Excuse given for Adora’s disappearance

Adora is on her own when the first transformation comes, so there’s no one who needs an explanation. The second time, she simply comments to Bow, “Let’s split up,” and runs off. When she returns as She-Ra, Bow seems to have completely forgotten about Adora.

 

Insults

Mortella tells her knights that they are “fools” twice, and addresses the same unexciting insult to She-Ra and Bow. Otherwise, there’s nothing to report, except for a random comment made by Bow, who says that shooting an arrow is “easy as bibbo pie”. This might possibly be a reference to the loose morals of somebody called Bibbo Pie. It might also not be, but I have no idea what it does mean, so I’m choosing to interpret it thus.

Castaspella: “Honestly, that Bibbo Pie will sleep with anybody.”

 

Oh No, Bow!

Bow offers to travel with Adora, because, as he puts it, “You’ll be better off to have a man with you.” Wow. The writers do acknowledge that this is incredibly sexist, of course, giving Adora a hugely sarcastic reply, and making Spirit laugh his head off at Bow’s immense self-importance. Naturally, it becomes even funnier later, when Bow puts in a pitiful showing against the Castle’s knights.

 

Does it have the Power?

Unfortunately, not really. It’s fine to give us the origin story for Castaspella (though equally it wasn’t something I was particularly clamouring for), but it’s just really a rather boring story. The Dark Forest wasn’t very scary – or particularly dark – and Mortella never managed to come across as an interesting baddy. I’m trying to come up with something good to say about it, but the best I can do is that it isn’t a complete clunker. On balance, though, I’d advise skipping it.