Ride the Whaletaur Shaman!

**"Ride the Whaletaur Shaman!"** is the eighth episode of *Centaurworld*.

## Official Synopsis

*Horse hopes to find the final shaman in Merfolk Town. But she's growing discouraged—and looking more and more like a centaur everyday.*

## Plot

The herd has reached the location of the Whaletaur Shaman and are enjoying the funhouse mirrors in a nearby amusement park, save for Horse who is still upset by her transformation. When Zulius points out that the area seems abandoned, Wammawink explains that they are in Merfolk town and that the locals all live underwater. She inadvertently reveals that she has an affinity for mermen and has roped Glendale into helping her illustrate dozens of sultry magazines about them.

Sunfish Merguy shows up and tells the herd that the Shaman likely won't show up today and suggests that they instead enjoy the amusement park. Though Wammawink is initially disappointed that Sunfish Merguy does not measure up to her fantasy of how "merdudes" look, she is charmed by his friendly personality and music, and begins flirting with him. Ched is suspicious of him, while Horse is still distressed by her new appearance and that her return home has been delayed again, and decides to go for a walk by herself. The rest of the herd notice this and decide to try and get a prize from one of the park's games to cheer her up with.

During her walk, one of Horse's tears falls into the bay and summons the Whaletaur Shaman, who explains that she comes to those who are depressed and absorbs their emotional pain, though she skirts around saying exactly how she does this. She's pleasantly surprised to learn that Horse only wants her key piece, as most of those who come to her want to escape to the pocket world inside her body.

Horse confides in her that she's worried Rider won't recognize her in her transformed state, nor will she care about her. The Whaletaur Shaman tries to console her but Horse admits that since these changes started happening, she has struggled to even remember Rider's face. Meanwhile, the herd has successfully acquired a prize for Horse and returns to Wammawink, whose flirting with Sunfish Merguy has everyone but Zulius distressed about a possible change in their group dynamic.

They are glad to see Horse has managed to find the shaman until she begins to lament the changes coming over her mind & body and leaps into Whaletaur Shaman's mouth, much to her friends' horror. Sunfish Merguy explains that this is what happens every time somebody comes to the bay, and that he runs the park to try and cheer people up so they won't, but has never been successful; everyone chooses the whale and is never seen again.

Wammawink refuses to let the same happen to Horse and moblizes the herd to help her get to where the Whaletaur Shaman is, then uses Zulius' shapely mane spell as a rope so she can jump down the blowhole and retrieve Horse. However, when she gets there she finds Horse listless and ghost like, as are the others who have come to the Whaletaur Shaman, who explains to Wammawink that this and her own constant crying are the cost of her absorbing their pain. Wammawink shares that she understands how difficult it is to live with pain, but urges Horse to remember her loved ones before singing a song reminding her and everyone else that even those who are suffering can still find hope and love.

Whaletaur Shaman realizes that she wasn't truly helping others, but keeping them in limbo, unable to experience the joys of life either, and restores everyone before giving Horse her key piece along with the message that no matter what happens when she returns to her own world, there are people in Centaurworld who care about her. The herd gives Horse their parting gifts, though Wammawink is disappointed to learn that Sunfish Merguy wants to give the picture she drew of him to his girlfriend Jeffica. Horse regrets wasting one of the last days she had with her new friends dwelling on her sadness, but they assure her it's fine and that they'll make the most of the time they still have.

## Features

### Locations

* Centaurworld
	+ Rainbow Road
	+ Merfolk Town
	+ Whaletaur (inside)

### Songs

* It's Gonna Be a While
* Welcome To The Bay
* Who Is She? (reprise)
* Fragile Things (reprise)

## Trivia

* An actual issue of Wammawink's *Mansplash* magazine exists and was put together by the show's crew.
* On the cover of the *Mansplash* "September issue", a merdude is seen holding a mug with Wammawink's picture on it.
* During the song It's Gonna Be a While a plush of Comfortable Doug can be seen. Other plush cameos include the beartaur, Barnus the barnacletaur, and even Pikachu.
* The song It's Gonna Be a While is different from its season 1 soundtrack version, which is sung by Dominic Bisignano (the show's co-executive producer) instead of the voice actor for Sunfish Merguy, Jamie Cullum. This is likely due to recording label licensing issues.
* Bayden can be seen sitting in a duck floatie during Sunfish Merguy's song (when he sings "duck pond").
* The "cuddle cuddle bye-bye zone" mentioned by Glendale near the end of this episode during the herd's group hug is a callback to the "tinkle tinkle bye-bye zone", a minor running gag from episode Fragile Things that gets a direct callback later in The Last Lullaby.
* A photographic hotdog also shows up twice in the song.
* When Wammawink is about to enter the whaletaur's blowhole, the infamous sound effect from *Inception* plays.
* According to the show's creator on her Twitter and in interviews, the Whaletaur Shaman and the inside of her belly was inspired by Carnival cruise line commercials. In particular, this one from the 1980s that featured performer Kathie Lee Gifford.
* According to the show's creator, one of the merfolk playing in the band inside the Whaletaur Shaman's belly is based on Floundermaid, a character from her own *About Merpeople* comics.
* **Items stolen by Glendale:** whaletaur floatie
	+ Honorable mentions: merbeartaur plush - failed attempt

## Gallery

### Production art

Whaletaur rough concepts by Evan Palmer, Lead Character DesignerWhaletaur finale concept by Evan Palmer, Lead Character Designer
### Screenshots

Why not stay awhile?Trying to make Horse feel betterWhat if she forgot her face?[Inception sound]

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/sketchshark/status/1435787669632536579?s=20
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-DA0zvuQ8
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/sketchshark/status/1431317336963764225?s=20
4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sbnV6JMH4g
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/sketchshark/status/1436157555370180612