Hi. This is Sarah speaking. I’m not going to try to be funny about this description because DEAR LORD is this episode brilliant and intense, and HOLY MOLY does Dave do a superb job recapping it. Again, this is Sarah, not Dave. He’s not tooting his own horn. Anyway, you’d think a princess prom-themed animated show wouldn’t dare entwine teenage longing with nation building, comedy with terror, or societal collapse with party etiquette ... or, hell, maybe you would. You seem pretty smart about story elements. But join us for dark surprises: here we are at the Kingdom of Snows. 

Sarah recaps the psychological minefield of “In the Shadows of Mysticor,” wherein the BFS is tested on a magician spa island ruled by Glimmer’s powerful but passive-aggressive aunt. Adora struggles with PTSD-related sleep deprivation psychosis! Or, wait, dammit, is somebody gaslighting her!? Bonus: cute swimsuits!

It’s a robot battle nightmare in a hacker-maker wonderland, where the obsessive genius Princess Entrapta, she of the prehensile ponytails, has harnessed some dark old-timey coding to dicey effect! Dave talks us through the rapid-fire thriller System Failure, in which Beau gets the thankless task of risk management, then rises to glory in rebellion badassery with his squad of regular-folk kitchen staff. Also, bonus troll.

Welcome to the Sea Gate! Sought by the Best Friend Squad! Ruled by a bitter teen! Assailed by the Horde! Plus: Bow’s boy crush on the very hot & ridiculous Captain Sea Hawk is adorableness for the ages. Plus plus: It’s GLIMMER, dammit! Sarah recaps.

New year, new ep of BTPOG! Dave recaps Flowers for She-Ra, wherein the Best Friend Squad come to the aid of Plumeria, a tree-hugging queendom of dirty hippies who nevertheless turn out to be metal AF. Will Adora fulfill their Waste Land prophecies? Will Plumeria join the Alliance? Come with us to the land of weaponized flowers and find out.

It’s Orko’s birthday, and he can cry if he wants to. Meanwhile, Castle Grayskull gets zapped into another dimension, which is trippy as hell. Dave leads you through a strange and sometimes dumb journey. PS don’t eat too much. What does that have to do with anything? Unclear.

Join Sarah as she recaps The Cosmic Comet, in which a very silly vaudeville sorcerer gets his mojo back by reuniting a same-sex couple of heavenly bodies. SWOON. She’s here for all of it. PS Dave’s Ed Wynn impression is UNCANNY.