This explains why the Horde was able to take over Etheria so easily, despite having failed to take over Eternia. King Randor's soldiers appear to be a lot more efficient, relatively speaking, than say Queen Angella's soldiers. Man-at-Arms was able to keep both Hordak and Skeletor from WRESTING CONTROL of Randor's palace completely, with his manpower, whereas Queen Angella was very nervous that Castle Bright Moon would fall to Catra in Season 2 of 'She-Ra' unless they had outside help.
So even the humans on Etheria are more "child like people" than the humans on Eternia.
The Etherians had also not embraced technology the way Eternians have. The rebellion seemed to live a much more "earthly" lifestyle, with antiquated contraptions (wheelbarrows, wagons, etc) and primitively weapons (swords, bows/arrows, etc). They relied mostly on magic and sorcery to defend themselves and seemed to associate science and technology with "evil". Only the Horde used advanced technology on Etheria. The Horde had robots, laser cannons, tanks, drone aircraft, ships, etc. And the Frieght Zone itself seemed to be a giant mechanical, industrial complex. This is a stark contrast to what we see on Eternia. Man-at-Arms was always developing some new weapon or device to use in service of His Majesty's royal guard. King Randor's forces had attack tracks, sky sleds, wind raiders, laser cannons, freeze rays, and numerous other advanced technology at its disposal. That's how they were able to defeat the Horde army.
Magic is considered a specialty of only the few powerful sorcerers on Eternia (The Sorceress or Grayskull, Skeletor, Evil Lynn, Count Marzo, and only few others). And it's usually associated with some ancient, enchanted place or item. Beyond that, it's seems to largely be a lost and mysterious art. Whereas on Etheria, witchcraft and wizardry is still actively passed down from generation to generation. Etheria also has magical creatures native to the planet (Loo Kee). So I agree that it makes more sense that Orko would be more powerful on Etheria than he is on Eternia. It could be due to the similarities between his home planet Trolla, or perhaps the proximity of Etheria being closer to Trolla than Eternia.
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rapture87
9 years ago
Yes, and I think the creators of 'She-Ra' definitely wanted to make a statement about the "evils" of industrialization and mechanization, at least as perceived by people like the Etherians who led lives that were entirely in tune with nature - a lifestyle that would certainly appear to be very simple, "antiquated" and "primitive" to people in the modern world. The Horde and the Fright Zone definitely represented science and technology at their worst, even as Man-At-Arms and King Randor's Guard represented science and technology at their best. I think the only inhabitants on Etheria that used advanced technology besides the Horde were the MONSTROIDS - who were basically technology personified - and I always used to wonder whether these were originally creations of Hordak or Horde Prime that went renegade (since they are so out of place/out of sync with everything else on Etheria). And yes, Randor's forces were able to defeat the Horde Army because they could counter technology with technology, whereas Queen Angella had to rely primarily on her sorcery - which, as we see on the show, couldn't handle an entire Horde army (while her forces/guards were apparently not naturally disposed to deal with technology).
It's interesting that on Eternia, it's MAGIC AND SORCERY that are generally associated with "evil" (the very inverse of what we see on Etheria). Even Castle Greyskull looks forbidding and ominous, despite being the present home of the Sorceress - a far cry from the exterior of the Crystal Castle or Castle Brightmoon. Apart from the Sorceress, virtually every other powerful magic worker we meet on Ethernia is either evil (Skeletor, Evil Lynn, Count Marzo, Gorgon, miscellaneous witches and wizards), or morally ambiguous/was ONCE evil (e.g: Sybilline from 'The Defection' and Mallek the Wizard of Stone Mountain). The noble practitioners of magic seem to be very few and far between on that planet. Only the Sorceresses of Greyskull seem to actively pass it down from one generation to the next. And yeah, we don't see the abundance of magical creatures native to the planet as we do on Etheria, because I guess - like I said in my last post - Eternia isn't inherently magical like Etheria is. Orko would have definitely felt much more at home on Etheria, although he was obviously too attached to Prince Adam and the Royal Family to move.
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