Shadow Weaver’s story starts back in Mysticore, a very magical place on Etheria. She was training to be a sorceress under the wizard Norwyn’s teachings, along with Castaspella (who, on a side note, appeared as younger than her). At this point in time, Shadow Weaver was a beautiful girl indeed, and though she longed to be a great sorceress, her magical abilities weren’t really up to scratch. Indeed she tried very hard, but it just didn’t seem to happen for her.
Soon, the Horde made their first invasion of Etheria. But the Council of Kings, a group of monarchs from all over the planet, managed to keep the planet safe from this new enemy. Only a few people knew where their secret base was, including Norwyn, Castaspella and Shadow Weaver. Now, it is not said how in the show, but the leader of the Etherian Horde Hordak (just in case you didn’t know !) managed to track down Shadow Weaver. Some how he found out (or already knew) she knew the whereabouts of the Council of Kings, and in exchange for their secret location, he promised he would give her great magics, in the form of a power gem.
Well, she must’ve accepted, and one night whilst she was at the location in question (presumably because she had just led the Horde there), Weaver snuck outside where a ship was waiting. It lowered down the power gem and it shone its rays down upon her. As she took in its magic, the gem changed both her appearance and personality. But before she could take in any more powers, Norwyn came outside and saw what was going on. He smashed the power gem, but it was too late- Shadow Weaver had already taken in a third of its power. For this reason she holds a great hate for him, but only seems to confront him once in the series, being in the episode that explains all this, ‘The Price of Power’. Later on, Shadow Weaver was banished from Mysticore for what she had done.
Shadow Weaver now serves the Horde, and cannot leave due to the fact that Hordak has the power to take away her magic. This was demonstrated in ‘A Loss for Words’.
Weaver also tends to despise Castaspella, her ex-best friend. The last time the met, in ‘The Eldritch Mist’, a battle of the magics ensured… but come on, it was a kid’s cartoon, Castaspella HAD to win! ;)
The UK comics seem to fill in some of the gaps, but at the same time change the story. They say that, yes, she was a young sorceress training with Castaspella, except they were being taught at a school for magicians, and that she was always daydreaming too much to study for her exams. It must also be noted that in this version, she was known as Light Spinner before her transformation. Apparently Horde Prime had instructed Hordak, after many defeats at the hands of magic, to fight fire with fire, magic with magic. But Hordak was very reluctant to obey after his betrayal by Skeletor, who instead of him, worked with magic instead if science. Eventually, though, Hordak gave in, and decided to extract some magic from the very core of Etheria with a machine that penetrated deep inside the planet, and taking some of its powers. The magic, however, became dark magic as it was extracted.
The next thing Hordak had to do was to find someone to wield this power, and that it had to be someone he could control. On his search, he came across Light Spinner, who was weeping because the head sorceress had told her at her school that, because of her constant failings of exams, she isn’t really sorceress material. Hordak decided to take advantage of this, and talked her into coming back to Doom Tower with him because he could give her the magic she desired, convincing her that he wasn’t the evil leader people made him out to be (with the excuse that it was only because he preferred science to magic). He also left out two important factors- one, she would be taking in dark magic, and two, she would have to serve the Horde for the rest of her life!
So, back at Doom Tower, Light Spinner was transformed with the machine Hordak had invented. And like in the cartoon, she was changed both inside and out. Hordak told her that she was no longer a light spinner, but a shadow weaver. She adapted the name, and became one of Hordak’s most powerful allies.
A plus about the UK comics is that you get to see what she looks like under the hood! But, looks aren't everything, no matter what anyone says, and now she has great magic! Being a sorceress, Shadow Weaver has the standard witch-powers. Which basically means anything from teleportation to firing energy blasts from her fingers to prophecies.
BUT ON THE TOY LINE...
She never sadly had a figure made of her - Mattel seemed to like focussing more on the less threatening villains like Catra and Entrapta - but was featured in several comics that were supposed to follow the She-Ra figure line. She even made a surprise cameo-appearance in one of the UK He-Man and the Masters of the Universe comics, long before the She-Ra cartoon was in full swing.
DID YOU KNOW...?
*Her original name was *drum roll* LIGHT SPINNER! This was when she was with the Rebellion. I guess that isn't exactly a fitting name for someone who's in the Horde, though, so 'Shadow Weaver' replaced it.
*There was a figure of her in the process of being made by Mattel, but before it was set to be released, the show was cancelled.
*Her voice-over, Linda Gary, died in 1996. This totally shocked me when I read it. She'd done many other voice-overs, including the grandmother dinosaur in 'The Land Before Time' videos.
*I'm not sure if this classifies as a fact exactly, but when we see Light Spinner in 'The Price Of Power', she looks so innocent and kind! I guess things change...
*Heh heh, I was laughing thinking about this fact! OK, when the Horde transformed Shadow Weaver, she instantly got a whole new outfit, too, which is the one we always see her in, !BUT! there was one thing left the same! Can you guess what it is? Her shoes! She still wears the same, black shoes with the short heels (not those huge twelve inch ones!)!
*Shadow Weaver's magics are called 'Shadow Powers' or 'Shadow Magic', though usually we just go by the term dark magic.
*Our beloved Weaver wasn't always going to be the Horde's one and only sorceress- Mattel decided that Castaspella was going to be, along with Catra being the leader of the Horde! Thank God Filmation changed that!
*In Portuguese, Shadow Weaver was known as Sombria! Anyone who knows any other forigen names for her, you know where to e-mail it!
*It is by night that Shadow Weaver's powers are at their strongest, and by day they are at their weakest.
*Keeping the above fact in mind, Weaver's powers are at their peak when she is inside her domain of Horror Hall.
Much help from Alex and thanks to Adam for giving me her original name! Check out crystalcastle_'s site- he gave me the info that we DO get to see SW's face sorta in 'The Price Of Power'. suzanne@megara.zzn.com
