Feathered Friends and Foes

Feathered Friends and Foes, also known as Feathered Friends & Foes, is the eighth episode of Season 2 and the twenty-first episode overall of the Nelvana Redwall TV Series.

Summary

Mattimeo, Auma, and Tess Churchmouse look on as Matthias, Orlando the Axe, Cheek Stag Otter, Basil Stag Hare, Jabez Stump, Jess Squirrel, Log-a-Log, and the Guerilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower struggle with their river raft after Stonefleck's Longtail Horde archers fired arrows upon them. Menacing pikes swarm around.

Slagar the Cruel decides to keep his captives moving, while Stonefleck commands his archers to unleash another volley at the raft.

General Ironbeak's flock holds Mrs. Churchmouse, Cornflower Fieldmouse, and Rollo as hostages in Warbeak Loft.

The Longtail archers fire on Matthias and his companions, however Cheek refuses to abandon the raft. Orlando, tiring of the situation, forces Cheek into the water. The woodlanders attempt to navigate into the center of the river.

Queen Warbeak and her Sparra search for Matthias, to no avail. Stonefleck urges his archers to continue their assault as Cheek scares off the pike by eating them.

In Redwall Abbey's Cavern Hole, Abbot Mordalfus and the Redwallers discuss their options for getting the hostages returned safely. After witnessing magpies from the flock taking fruit from The Orchard, Sister May suggests applying a sleeping potion to the birds' food and taking some hostages of their own. The others welcome the idea.

Stonefleck's horde members grab a ferry and pursue Matthias on the river. Cheek dives beneath them, locates a stray rope, and ties it to an underwater log, causing the ferry to abruptly stop and throw the rats overboard.

Mattimeo and Tess reflect upon why their guards have gone mysteriously quiet. Matthias and his companions reach land, with Stonefleck in hot pursuit. A battle between the two groups ensues. Just as Matthias, Jess, and Orlando think they're outnumbered, Warbeak arrives with her Sparra reinforcements.

Quickbill, Diptail, and Brightback descend upon the Redwall orchard and consume fruit drugged by Sister May, collapsing into sleep. Constance, Ambrose Spike, and Winifred capture the birds. Constance and Ambrose meet with Ironbeak, proposing a prisoner exchange, but he doesn't take them seriously, so Constance tosses one of the magpies into the Redwall Abbey Pond. Ironbeak changes his mind.

Matthias, his companions, and the Sparra battle the Longtail horde members. Log-a-Log takes out Stonefleck by throwing his sword, and his followers immediately retreat. While celebrating their victory, it comes to Matthias' attention that Warbeak has been fatally wounded. With her last breath, she provides Matthias with the map. He vows to avenge her death, and the group heads south.

Official Synopsis

Matthias' raft drifts towards the rats on shore, while Mattimeo and his friends can only watch in horror as the arrows fall and the fish nibble. In the Roof of Redwall Abbey, Baby Rollo, Mrs. Churchmouse, and Cornflower wait to be thrown down unless the abbey surrenders. Triumphant, Slagar drags the miserable slaves onwards as Warbeak desperately and unsuccessfully continues to seek Matthias. At Redwall, little Sister May comes up with a potion to put in the birds' food to drug them, and at The River it is a frightened Cheek who finally risks swimming and saves Matthias and company - by eating a vast number of nibbling fish. As Abbot Mordalfus prepares to exchange hostages at Redwall, Warbeak joins Matthias at the river to defeat Stonefleck's rats. She delivers the deciphered message, which will help locate the young ones, but is killed in battle trying to save other Sparras. Matthias heads south, deeply saddened by the death of his old Redwall ally, and vows that Slagar will pay dearly for his evil.

Differences from Mattimeo

• In the series, Stonefleck is gaining on Matthias when Cheek ties Stonefleck's towline to a rock, causing his raft to stop. In the book, Stonefleck simply forgot to untie the towline from the bank.
• Warbeak tells her Sparra that they are free to return to Redwall when they are near Matthias, but the sparrow warriors stay and prove their loyalty. This scene doesn't happen in the book.
• In the book, Warbeak is dead before Matthias finds her, but in the TV series, she talks to him before dying.

Featurettes

• Brian Jacques transcript:

"Hello, I'm Brian Jacques, and welcome to Redwall. On our last episode, Ironbeak and his troops had begun a war against Redwall. Slagar still had Mattimeo and his young pals as captives. Today, the Redwallers come up with a scheme to defeat the captors, while an unlikely hero comes to the aid of Matthias. Don't change that channel, watch Redwall with me."

This episode contains the exact same featurettes from "Cluny the Scourge - part I."

Segments include:

• "What is a hero?"
• "Character Spotlight: Matthias"
• "My favorite hero"
• "Redwall Trivia"
• "Ask the Author: Brian Jacques"

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Streaming

Feathered Friends and Foes is available for streaming on Nelvana's official Treehouse Direct YouTube channel.

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de:"Diebische Elstern"