She-Ra Princess of Power: The Evil Horde
Linda Gary voices:
Shadow Weaver
First seen in the episode "Into Etheria"

Image taken from the episode "A Lesson In Love"

Shadow Weaver is the Horde's evil sorceress, full of the knowledge to overthrow Hordak and even
perhaps conquer Etheria.

Shadow Weaver was originally a second-rate sorceress from the Kingdom of Mysticor [17], now
home to Castaspella. Hordak found her and granted her the oppurtunity of having great power
shortly after the Horde arrived on Etheria. She was a student of Norwyn, a great Etherian sorcerer,
whom she betrayed to Hordak. The ruler of the Horde managed to beat Etheria's last hope of
freedom thanks to Shadow Weaver's treachery and in return she was given a power gem that
make her powerful beyond imagining. However, before she could absorb all of its power, Norwyn
destroyed the rock, leaving Shadow Weaver only semi-powerful - so she left to join the Horde,
as they had control over the planet. [47]

Given this evidence, it seems that Shadow Weaver could have been so unbelievably powerful. A
lot of the Horde's greatest efforts at conquering the planet and beating She-Ra have come from the
brains of the Horde witch, so if she had taken all the power that the gem had to offer, this woman
could have been unstoppable. Mind spells over Adora [01, 02, 03], a young boy [69] and
Peekablue [80] all proved strong weapons against the Rebellion and all were ideas of Shadow
Weaver.

However, there is one woman who knows Shadow Weaver's magic as well as she does -
Castaspella. [48] The two used to be good friends, as a flashback implies [47] and a show-down
proves. [27] The big difference, however, as Norwyn pointed out, is that Castaspella worked for her
far superior power, whereas Shadow Weaver took a short-cut, which didn't help her much as is.

Shadow Weaver is one of the few Hordesmen who is shown to have a home away from the Fright
Zone. Although she has chambers at the Horde's main base [11, 27, 77], she most often resides at
Horror Hall, in Etheria's darkest regions. There she is at her most powerful, with slaves to aid her
and a titanic couldron to allow locations to be traced [40], communication with other worlds [56]
and demons to be brought forth. [90]

Her relationship with Hordak is one with many levels. On one, he would seem very appreciative
of her contribution to the Horde army, mostly in early episodes [02, 03, 15] and on another he
would steal the ideas of the Horde witch and make them his own [49, 63, 93] On the better
occasions, Shadow Weaver would also stand with Hordak atop his throne-area, indicating her
place in the Horde hierarchy. Such a feat would only ever be matched by Imp and attempted by
Catra and Entrapta.

Her hatred of machinery [17] would almost match her dislike for her fellow-Hordesmen. It would
seem that most of the Horde villains would work better alone, and Shadow Weaver being no
exception - she and Catra weren't the best of friends [39] just as she and Grizzlor always failed
to see things eye to eye. [84] However, one thing she did have in common with the other villains
was the rivalry with Imp, who, more often than not, enforced Hordak's solutions to his problems -
most often involving Shadow Weaver. [40, 55, 56]

Being a witch, Shadow Weaver's most powerful ability was that over magic. She had the ability of
teleportation [05, 49, 84], transformation [20, 78, 86] and incantation [42, 44, 90], though some of
these spells were cast silently. [39, 71, 85]
Weaver's Shadow Magic also proved very strong, sometimes powerful enough to even stop
She-Ra. Examples include the infamous Shadow Coils [56, 70], an impenetrible Shadow Cell [43]
and a large, strangely green, Shadow Bubble. [49]

To add to these powers, Shadow Weaver also has extensive knowledge to goings on in and
around Etheria, clearly due to her desire for power. She knew of the magical wizard who lived in
a tree being enchanted [31], foretold Mystic Isle's rise from beneath the sea [40] and was the only
Horde member to have heard of the legend of Unicorn offspring who have to be born on
Unicorn Island. [93]

Sure someone so powerful would have weaknesses though? Beisdes She-Ra and Hordak, the
two main people holding her back, bright lights also affect Shadow Weaver. [42, 44, 47] However,
easily the most peculiar fact about Shadow Weaver is the fact that she has a butterfly collection
[69] - ironically at Horror Hall, the so-called scariest place on Etheria!

She-Ra Princess of Power: The Evil Horde : Cartoon Appearances
Shadow Weaver

Season One

Into Etheria
Beast Island
She-Ra Unchained
Reunions
Battle for Bright Moon
The Sea Hawk
The Peril of Whispering Woods
King Miro's Journey
Friendship
He Ain't Heavy
A Loss for Words
Three Courageous Hearts
The Stone in the Sword
The Crystal Castle
The Crown of Knowledge
The Mines of Mondor
The Eldritch Mist
The Reluctant Wizard
A Talent for Trouble
Troll's Dream
Gateway to Trouble
Into the Dark Dimension
Treasure of the First Ones
Enemy With My Face
Welcome Back, Kowl
The Rock People
Huntara
The Price of Power
Birds of a Feather
For Want of a Horse
Loo-Kee Lends a Hand
Of Shadows and Skulls
Darksmoke and Fire
Flowers for Hordak
Total: 34/65

Season Two

A Lesson In Love
Something Old, Something New
Loo-Kee's Sweety
The Pearl
Above It All
Brigis
The Caregiver
When Whispering Woods Last Bloomed
The Perils Of Peekablue
The Locket
Bow's Magical Gift
Sweet Bee's Home
Glimmer Come Home
Portrait of Doom
Hordak's Power Play
Shades Of Orko
The Bibbet Story
Swifty's Baby
Total: 18/28

She-Ra Princess of Power: The Evil Horde
Styrax
As seen in the episode "The Peril of Whispering Woods"

Image taken from the episode "The Peril of Whispering Woods"

Styrax is seemingly a pet of Shadow Weaver's.

Horde pets were an issue that Filmation rarely dealt with. As long as Imp isn't counted as one of
them, it is only definite that two Horde members petted animals - Catra and Admiral Scurvy, with
Clawdeen and Squall respectively.

Styrax would fall into this category - except his role as a 'pet' is never confirmed. In his single
appearance in the show, he simply stood by Shadow Weaver in her chambers at the Fright
Zone and then went to inform Hordak that the potion to destroy the Whispering Woods had been
prepared. [11] After that, Weaver's chambers would make but two further appearances, though
Styrax remained a singular-appearance character.

She-Ra Princess of Power: The Evil Horde : Cartoon Appearances
Styrax

Season One

The Peril of Whispering Woods
Total: 01/65

Season Two

Total: 00/28

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