What You Need

**"What You Need"** is the fourth episode of *Centaurworld*.

## Official Synopsis

*Searching for the next piece of the key, Horse leads the herd into a mysterious forest to see the tree shamans. They grant wishes—but there's a catch.*

## Plot

After leaving Waterbaby, the herd comes across the lost forest, home of the Twin Tree Shamans, however, Wammawink finds that she is reflexively moving away from it. Horse wants to go ahead on her own, but as the rest of the herd decides to camp outside the forest since it's almost nightfall, she reluctantly agrees to wait until morning.

While everyone else is asleep, Wammawink admits to Horse that she's been feeling out of sorts since they got there, but can't put her finger on what is wrong, Horse suggests that she just needs to sleep, but Wammawink is unable to and spends the night awake. The next morning she's in an even worse state and still struggles to move forward into the forest, much to Horse's frustration, Ched criticizes Horse for being insensitive, causing him and Horse to butt heads,

Eventually, they manage to find the Tree Shamans who explain that they have the magic to grant a person what they need, but that it may not be what the person wants and came for, and summon a magic altar. Ched and Horse continue to argue after he insults her, while touting his tree expertise, and Horse feels that he's targeting her specifically because of her species.

While they're fighting, Durpleton steps on the altar and is given exactly what he'd hoped for; the criticisms from his father that he keeps hearing whenever he farts have been replaced with words of support. However, when Ched steps on the altar while trying to show off his knowledge, he is transformed into a Horse, much to his distress, but which everyone realizes he needed to get him past his hatred of Horses. Now that they know how the altar works, they decide that Wammawink should go next as she needs to go back to normal (previously Zulius declines claiming he's already perfect, while Glendale refuses because she realizes that it will probably make her stop stealing, which she doesn't want) and when Wammawink steps on the altar, she falls asleep.

Horse goes next, but disappears, which upsets everyone except Ched, while they wait to see if she'll return Durpleton sings a song explaining his wish. Meanwhile, Horse finds herself in the ruins of a destroyed village and initially believes she's been sent directly home, until she sees a ladybugtaur and a much younger Wammawink and realizes that she's viewing a memory. It's revealed that the lost forest once housed Wammawink's village until it was destroyed in the war, leaving her as the only survivor, and that she once asked the Tree Shamans if they could bring everyone back, only to be told that it wasn't what she needed. Horse is infuriated by the Tree Shaman's lack of empathy and yells at them before leaving to comfort Wammawink, despite being invisible to her, and is transported back.

She rallies Ched to join her in kicking the larger of the Tree Shamans until the tree breaks in two, revealing the key piece inside. At the same time Wammawink wakes up feeling refreshed, though she initially panics at seeing what has happened to the tree, she soon calms down and attaches the trees' key piece to Horse's. Horse apologizes to Wammawink for not considering her feelings and tells her that she appreciates her coming back to the forest to help her before offering to carry her for a while.

Once they leave, the larger tree pulls herself back together and explains to the smaller one, who is confused that they just gave away the piece, that they've given Horse what she thinks she needs, though it may not be what she wants. Meanwhile, the herd is traveling and Wammawink is falling asleep again as Horse hears some flowertaurs singing a song she finds familiar that warns of the Nowhere King.

## Features

### Locations

* Centaurworld
	+ Rainbow Road
	+ Lost Forest

### Songs

* What You Need
* He Never Says Anything Nice
* Rider's Lullaby (reprise)
* The Nowhere King

## Trivia

* Despite being in a scene from the past, a bugtaur was able to interact with both Horse and young Wammawink. This may either be a production oversight, or an implication that bugtaurs operate outside the restrictions of time.
	+ Considering that holetaurs are capable of cutting through dimensions of time and space, the latter is likely possible.
* This episode's titular song is different from the season 1 soundtrack version, which is sung by the show's creator. This is likely due to recording label licensing issues.
* The Tree Shamans' voice actresses, better known collectively as duo band First Aid Kit, reprise their roles for the Swedish dub.
* **Items stolen by Glendale:** a treetaur, a large tree, a family of leaftaurs
* At least some of the statistics Wammawink gives while everyone is walking into the forest are accurate:
	+ Both of the Tree Shamans (2 out of 6) have no hands.
	+ Of the four that do have hands, Judge Jacket and Whaletaur Shaman are both left handed, meaning it could be fully accurate if either Waterbaby or Johnny Teatime is right handed and the other is ambidextrous(or left handed).
	+ If we account for rounding errors due to Wammawink's mental state, then only 1 shaman has 3 nondominant legs. This is likely either Waterbaby, Judge Jacket, or Johnny Teatime, as they are the only shamans with enough legs. All other shamans must have either no legs, or less than 3 nondominant legs.
		- This implies multiple dominant legs on at least two shamans (whichever two of the three listed above doesn't have 3 nondominant legs)
	+ 100% of shamans are, in fact, shamans.

## Gallery

### Production art

Tree shamans area concept by Sarah Soh, Storyboard supervisorTree shamans area concept by Sarah Soh, Storyboard supervisorBackground design, past Lost ForestChed's "horse" form colors by Leigh Luna, Color Artist
### Screenshots

Sent to the pastYoung Wammawink confronts the shamans