Episode 07 – Reason and Blood

In which He-Man goes nuts.

He-Man – now a barely recognisable savage incarnation of his usually urbane and witty self – kicks proceedings off by pummelling Skeletor to kingdom come. His brute strength, however, is evenly matched against Skeletor’s inventive sorcery, and after a few minutes, Teela decides the time is right to teleport herself, Andra, He-Man and Cringer to safety. This is achieved by way of her now seeming to have the Sorceress’ powers, which sounds great until we all remember how uncommonly useless the Sorceress usually is.

Reappearing in the Mystic Mountains, the gang debate what to do about He-Man, but he solves that problem for them by taking off at a run when he gets the scent of something. Following him, Teela, Andra and Cringer are led to Point Dread, where the forces of Eternia have regrouped for a last stand against Skeletor. Unfortunately, they find themselves standing against He-Man instead: our now savage hero kicks off an almighty rumble that undoubtedly kills or seriously hospitalises a hefty contingent of the Eternian army. Luckily, before things can get too out of hand, King Randor somehow recognises Big He-Man as Prince Adam, and the outpouring of parental love is enough to allow He-Man to change back into his princely form.

King Randor: “Yes, okay, son, we can go to Alton Towers tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, over in Castle Grayskull, Skeletor is furious with Evil-Lyn, who for some reason he suspects of having helped Adam transform into Big He-Man. Evil-Lyn persuades him that’s not the case, but Skeletor remains suspicious, while Evil-Lyn becomes more than a little resentful. As she demonstrates in a conversation with Beast-Man, she’s not ready to turn against Skeletor just yet – but she’s certainly undertaking some research into how to forcibly remove the power of Grayskull from one wielding it.

Skeletor himself heads down to the dungeon to have a nice chat with Man-at-Arms, in the course of which he claims to respect Man-at-Arms, a statement which proves once and for all that he’s completely barking. Man-at-Arms, displaying an impressive failure to understand Skeletor’s motives, says that Prince Adam was a true hero and implies that Skeletor will never be. I don’t think Skeletor cares about that, mate, but okay.

Skeletor: “Put your bloody shirt on, Man-at-Arms, ain’t no one want to see that.”

In today’s adventure…

A lesson for parents rather than children today: King Randor explains that he was so concentrated on the man he wanted Adam to become, he didn’t see what a hero Adam truly was. So there you go: don’t push your kid to become a civil servant if their real talent is sitting around watching cartoons and writing snarky reviews about them. As a random example.

Character checklist

Quite a gathering today: we’ve got Prince Adam, He-Man, Teela, Andra, Cringer, King Randor, Man-at-Arms, Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, Beast-Man, Clawful, Spikor, Webstor and large armies of both Eternian guards and Skeletor’s skeletons. There are also two individuals in Evil-Lyn’s line-up of evil warriors who I don’t recognise and are presumably deep MOTU cuts, but since they look like a generic demon and a diminutive cleric respectively, I’m going to christen them Demon-Man and Tiny Priest. Skeletor is even good enough to conjure up a couple of his old faves, the rock monsters.

Evil-Lyn: “For God’s sake, Webstor, the camera’s over here. You’re ruining the photoshoot.”

Insults

Oddly for an episode which begins with about five minutes of battle between He-Man and Skeletor, there are very few insults. The only one I caught was Skeletor referring to Prince Adam as “Little Lord Weakling”.

Does it have the Power?

This episode is a pretty good instalment, kicking off with a nice action-packed fracas between He-Man and Skeletor that’s got a little extra spice to it, given we don’t know the abilities or limitations of He-Man’s savage incarnation. It’s also probably the most inventive Skeletor’s ever been with his magical attacks, so all in all the set-to is more interesting than a standard pummel fest. Once the action moves to the Mystic Mountains, the episode seems to stumble a little, with scenes demonstrating He-Man’s savagery going on a little too long and getting a bit repetitive – though the pay-offs, with from-the-heart speeches from both Teela and King Randor, are worth the wait. Not too much happens on the baddy front today, but the seeds of Evil-Lyn’s inevitable betrayal are plain to see, and it’ll be good to see what eventually comes of that. So yep, this one’s got the Power; indeed, while not perfect, it’s quite possibly the best episode of Revelation yet.

Episode 06 – Cleaved in Twain

In which several of our heroes bite the dust.

We begin this week with a flashback to the moment the Sorceress first became the Sorceress, which heavily implies – though doesn’t specifically say – that she and Man-at-Arms are Teela’s parents. Once we’re done with that bit, we rejoin the action just after Skeletor has become Skelegod, which seems to have given him a penchant for reciting doggerel. The doggerel is, however, preferable to his next move, which is to launch into a seemingly endless monologue that makes him sound like a rambling halfwit.

Skeletor: “No no, Man-at-Arms, don’t get up.”

When he finally shuts up, Adam – who’s apparently not dead, thank Christ, otherwise we’d have to pay another visit to Preternia and the Lord knows I don’t want to do that – gets up and starts off on a short monologue of his own, after which Cringer attacks Evil-Lyn. This distracts her long enough for her magic energy restraining Teela, Andra and Man-at-Arms to fail, and lo and behold, there’s a big barney.

What with Skeletor now being a god and all, our heroes can only hold him off for so long, though, but luckily at the last instant the Sorceress teleports Adam, Teela, Andra and Cringer to safety. She tries to teleport Man-at-Arms out too, but he’s so incompetent that he manages to avoid being rescued, and as a reward he gets to see the moment when Skeletor stabs and kills the Sorceress. Skeletor then appoints Evil-Lyn the new Sorceress of Grayskull, and gives her a spiffy new outfit to go with the role, before informing her that she will henceforth be unable to leave the castle. From the look on her face, she’s not too keen on her new position, and who can blame her, eh?

Evil-Lyn: “Well, thanks for the new duds, Skeletor, but I wouldn’t mind having the freedom to pop down to H&M once in a while to choose some more.”

Reappearing back at the Palace, Cringer points out that Adam is actually very badly injured, having been stabbed and all, and suggests that it might be a good idea if Teela helps him. Teela somehow summons down help from a ghostly Sorceress, who shows her how to use magic to heal Adam’s wound and even sew his shirt back together. With that sorted out, the gang hook up with Fisto and Clamp Champ, who explain that the Palace has been evacuated thanks to the threat from Skeletor, and that the royal family have made their way to Point Dread.

Skeletor chooses this moment to make a special broadcast to the people of Eternia, which culminates in the transformation of all citizens into an army of skeletons. This, sadly, includes Fisto and Clamp Champ, who manage all of five minutes’ screen time before they get dusted by Andra. So long, Clamp Champ – we barely knew you. Goodbye, Fisto – and thanks for making all those jokes about fisting, thus sparing me the effort of doing it myself.

Teela: “Judging by Fisto’s face, I think Clamp Champ’s got the right idea about hiding his.”

Skeletor himself now shows up and corners our heroes in the throne room and enjoys a good old gloat. Fortunately, Adam’s got one last trick up his sleeve – he explains that the power sword is simply the conduit for the power of Grayskull, and that he imagines he can call it down whenever he likes, even without the sword. He puts this to the test by saying everyone’s favourite words – “By the Power of Grayskull”, in case you need that spelling out – and instantly transforms into a great big hulking chap who closes the episode on an almighty howl.

In today’s adventure…

There’s not a lot to learn in this one, but I suppose there’s a vague theme of people having the power within themselves all along. Adam demonstrates this at the end by turning into some incarnation of He-Man even without needing his magical trinket, while it’s kind of implied – through the opening flashback – that Teela’s unexpected magical healing ability has been with her since her very early childhood. We’ll go with that moral, because I certainly can’t think of anything else.

Character checklist

Taking the lead today are Prince Adam, Cringer, Teela, Man-at-Arms, the Sorceress, Andra, Skeletor and Evil-Lyn. Fisto, Clamp Champ, Beast-Man and a crowd of random Eternian citizens also enjoy a reasonable chunk of screen time, and let’s not forget that last-minute showing for the He-Man Hulk.

Prince Adam: “This is pretty much exactly the sort of place I’d ‘hide’ to transform into He-Man in the old days.”

Insults

Other than describing the populace of Eternos as “pathetic” and the vast majority of his henchmen (though by implication not including Evil-Lyn) as “obnoxious idiots”, Skeletor directs much of his wrath at the Sorceress, calling her by turns “witless”, a “tiresome woman”, and – rather mildly – “silly”. Otherwise, the only insult is Clamp Champ calling Teela and Andra “treacherous thieves” when he thinks they’re there to loot the Palace.

Does it have the Power?

I’d call this one a return to form after a couple of slightly disappointing outings. It’s a great episode for Skeletor, who shows off his malevolence to great effect, but retains a slightly comedic side to his character which allows the episode to retain a sense of fun, despite the dramatic events it covers. Having said that, his opening monologue in Grayskull was a bit tedious, but it did serve to ramp up the tension for the ensuing battle, which was an excellent high-stakes rumble. The death of the Sorceress is given suitable gravitas, and the writers even managed to make me care about Fisto and Clamp Champ, two characters that I’d never been interested in before. I’m unconvinced by the appearance of No Power Sword He-Man, but I’ll give the story the benefit of the doubt before passing judgement on that. All in all, this episode is a fun action-oriented romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is pretty enjoyable to watch.

Episode 05 – The Forge at the Forest of Forever

In which Prince Adam is dead but also alive, and then gets stabbed.

After the gang hold a brief ceremony for Orko, Prince Adam explains the ground rules of Preternia: this is a resting place for heroes who’ve died valiantly, including himself and Moss-Man, as well as numerous exciting people from Eternia’s past like He-Ro and King Grayskull. Now, I remember King Grayskull from his MYP appearance, but I’ve never heard of He-Ro before, and unfortunately I therefore couldn’t give nearly as much of a toss as the episode seemed to think I should.

Anyway, Adam merrily hands over the other power sword half, but then points out that it’s not possible to return to Eternia from Preternia, so to all intents and purposes the quest ends here really. Moments later, he changes his tune and claims there may be a way home after all, and asks for Teela’s help. Teela despatches Roboto to reforge the power sword, and then follows Adam off into Preternia’s forests.

Teela: “Not gonna lie, it is kind of tempting to stab Adam.”

Roboto enlists the help of He-Ro to reforge the sword, but frankly – despite all the praise lavished upon him by Andra – He-Ro seems like a bit of a dimwit, simply clanging the two halves together and announcing that it’s difficult to put the sword together again. It takes Roboto and Andra to come up with a sensible plan i.e. turning an entire tower into a giant forge and powering it with Roboto’s quark collider heart. I said “sensible” just now. I meant “sensible within the confines of MOTU”.

There’s little screen time devoted to explaining exactly how the tower is converted to a forge: all we get is Roboto being plugged into the walls with massive wires. Once that’s done, Evil-Lyn transfers into him the magical energy taken from Castle Grayskull, after which Roboto is ready to begin. To the strains of inspirational music, Roboto succeeds in reforging the sword, though in the process he seems to inadvertently convert himself into a massive bomb and explodes. I should be sad, I suppose, but I never have liked Roboto, so ultimately I don’t have a problem with this.

Andra: “Yeah, this is pretty much how all my He-Man figures in the 80s ended up.”

Meanwhile, Adam and Teela are talking about the He-Man secret business, in between seemingly interminable interludes in which they ride around Preternia hanging out with various tedious heroes of Eternia’s past. Around the campfire at night, King Grayskull explains that within the Grayskull tower here in Preternia, there’s a doorway back to Eternia, but it would be unnatural for anyone who’s actually dead to use it. Bet that doesn’t stop Adam.

With the reforged power sword in hand, the gang prepare to return to Eternia. (Perhaps they should call it Returnia. God, I’m hilarious.) As predicted, Adam decides to join them, even though King Grayskull tells him that if he does, he’ll never be able to come back to Preternia. Adam seems to think that not getting to live in a forest with a bunch of fruitloops is a small price to pay, so this doesn’t deter him as much as King Grayskull thinks it will, and so through the gate they all go.

Prince Adam: “Sometimes goodbye really is the easiest word.”

Back on Eternia, they find Grayskull under attack from the technocultists, with only Man-at-Arms there to defend it, so there’s not a moment to lose before he buggers it up like usual. They all head inside, where Prince Adam uses the power sword to summon magic back to Eternia – which works perfectly, until he’s interrupted at the crucial moment by the sudden re-emergence of Skeletor, who stabs Adam and seizes the power sword. In the interests of getting a good cliffhanger, he then uses it to call the power down for himself, and transforms into a supremely goofy-looking individual who I believe is known as Skelegod.

In today’s adventure…

Moss-Man gives a little speech explaining that when people die, they become nature. It was delivered in the sort of tones that suggest it’s a profound message, so even though it didn’t mean a whole lot to me beyond the obvious, I’m sticking it in here just in case it seems relevant to you somehow.

Character checklist

Today’s a big day out for Prince Adam, Teela, Andra, Roboto, Evil-Lyn, Skeletor and Beast-Man. Cringer, Man-at-Arms, the Sorceress and Tri-Klops also get a showing, and in Preternia, we meet Moss-Man, He-Ro, King Grayskull, Vikor, Kudak (who’s presumably Kudak Ungol of Origin of the Sorceress fame), and some other dude wearing a black breastplate who, thanks to my Mega Construx collection, I can safely identify as Wun-Dar.

Skeletor: “It’s good to be back.”

Insults

Not many insults this time, and they’re all affectionate rather than cutting: Evil-Lyn calls Orko a “fool”, and both Vikor and Kudak address Prince Adam as “Flea-Man”, which is nowhere near as funny as the writer seems to think it is. We also find He-Ro consistently calling Roboto “metal-man”, but I don’t think this is insulting, more just an indication of He-Ro’s low IQ.

Does it have the Power?

I … think so. I don’t know. I didn’t love it, but I kind of felt like I should. I didn’t care about any of the Preternia business – for me, Masters of the Universe is great when it’s a fairly simple conflict between He-Man and Skeletor, and I don’t need any deep dives into this sort of lore, though I’m sure it was a treat for those who do care. Perhaps I might have enjoyed it more if the trip to Preternia had given us a deeper understanding of either Adam or Teela, but it all felt pretty surface-level, despite having an air about it that implied it thought it was insightful.

Prince Adam: “Quick heart-to-heart, Teela?”

The Roboto side of the story was absolutely fine, though nothing terribly exciting. The only bit that really got my blood pumping was the final five minutes, with the return to Grayskull and the genuinely unexpected reappearance of Skeletor, which was a very good twist. Skeletor’s transformation into Skelegod was extremely cheesy, but also great fun, and it was nice to see Evil-Lyn and Beast-Man throw off their alliance with Teela so fast and return to Skeletor’s side – though with perhaps a touch of regret on Evil-Lyn’s part.

In conclusion, I liked this episode well enough, but this series as a whole feels like it could somehow be more than it is. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with it, but I’m getting the sense that there’s something missing. If pressed, I’d probably say that it’s taking itself too seriously: there’s not nearly enough humour here for me. I’m not saying I want a slapstick comedy, but Masters of the Universe is not a concept that lends itself to people trying to treat it like Shakespeare, and I think Revelation would perhaps be better if it didn’t try so hard.

Episode 04 – Land of the Dead

In which Teela gets taunted by a pound shop skeleton.

Orko helpfully kicks things off in Subternia by reciting disconcerting nursery rhymes, so it’s perhaps a relief for everybody when they manage to get separated almost immediately. Yeah, they might be alone in the Land of the Dead, but at least they’re a comfortable distance from Orko. The only exception is Evil-Lyn, who now finds herself with Orko in an illusory depiction of Trolla, which retains the dildo trees of Filmation, though in their Revelation incarnation they’re rather less overt.

Evil-Lyn: “Yeah, it’s pretty and all, but I prefer my Trollan trees a bit more suggestive.”

Evil-Lyn and Orko make some leaps of logic to arrive at the conclusion that magic is dying all over the universe and that Orko is probably the last of his kind. Suits me fine. It’s been years since I saw that dick Uncle Montork and I still wake up screaming at the thought of him. Anyway, Orko then indulges in a lengthy monologue about what his real name is and why he’s now called Orko, which I can’t be bothered to relate – if you want to know, you’ll have to watch the episode for yourself. Somewhat surprisingly, Evil-Lyn is sympathetic to Orko’s story, and tells him he’s not as rubbish a magician as he thinks he is – he just needs to not let other people hold him back.

After their little bonding session, Evil-Lyn and Orko come under attack by a massive shadowbeast, which they then spend some considerable time battling. In an adjacent section of Subternia, Beast-Man, Andra and Roboto are enjoying an illusion of a desolate battlefield stalked by zombies, shadowbeasts and flaming bats, and they spend most of their screen time this week fighting.

Andra: “Do you think our plotline is particularly relevant this week?”

Teela, left on her own, finds herself taunted by a deep growly voice. Led on by glowing green rocks, she comes face-to-face with Scareglow, a creepy skeletal ghost chappy, who offers to give Teela the power sword half that she seeks if she’ll let him feed on her fear. This sounds like a dubious prospect, but Teela sees little alternative, so she strikes the deal and is plunged into the Well of Darkness so she can get properly scared.

Scareglow’s allegedly frightening tricks in the Well of Darkness include summoning up a fake He-Man for Teela to scrap with, summoning up a fake Teela for her to scrap with, and then rabbiting on with some surface-level psychology about how Teela is afraid of unleashing her full potential or something. Teela then proclaims that Scareglow has given her power, and somehow develops bright glowy magic that repels Scareglow and all the monsters in the other illusions. Having done this, she grabs the power sword half out of thin air and reunites with the other members of the team.

Scareglow: “Which is more scary, my face or my infinite capacity for wasting your time?”

Evil-Lyn uses her staff and the power sword half to open a gateway to Preternia, where the other half of the sword awaits, but before they can pass through, Scareglow returns with a right temper on him. In the ensuing set-to, Orko finally realises his full potential and defeats Scareglow, but at the cost of his own life. Having escaped to Preternia, Teela suddenly and randomly decides that Evil-Lyn is to blame for Orko’s death, but luckily before the episode can veer off down that unrewarding road, she’s distracted by the entirely unexpected appearance of Prince Adam.

In today’s adventure…

This one’s a great big chorus of don’t be afraid of who you are, and don’t let fear hold you back. There’s also a side order of don’t agree to bargains with glow-in-the-dark skeletons, but I think the vast majority of us could come to that conclusion ourselves.

Character checklist

It’s a big week for Teela, Orko, Evil-Lyn and Scareglow, who here makes his televisual debut. We’re also treated to appearances from Andra, Beast-Man, Roboto, an illusory He-Man and a last minute Prince Adam.

Orko: “Time to face off against my most tedious enemy yet.”

Insults

Orko takes 100% of the insults today, being addressed by Evil-Lyn as a “simpleton” and an “imbecile”, and by Scareglow as an “insect”.

Does it have the Power?

Er, no, not this one. I (kind of) like the idea of Scareglow as a demon who feeds on fear, but the execution left a lot to be desired as far as I’m concerned: the endless cod psychology while Teela chatted to Fake He-Man, Fake Teela and Scareglow got real tedious real fast, and I don’t really understand how Teela suddenly got the power to cast magic spells and acquire the power sword half. I’m sure that if I listened carefully to the dialogue, it would be explained, but it really wasn’t obvious, and it felt like my old favourite, the deus ex machina.

I didn’t care much for Scareglow either – he’s never been one of my favourites, and I was left a bit cold by his showing up here. Similarly, I could have done without Orko’s back story: I know that this is a different continuity to Filmation, but really, I would have happily gone on believing that he was a great magician back on Trolla but that his magic simply didn’t work properly on Eternia, rather than introducing a set of parents disappointed that he’d never amount to much. That said, his final battle with Scareglow was pretty epic, and was perhaps the only bit of the episode that really worked for me. Still, that’s not enough to stop me from declaring this one a miss.

Episode 03 – The Most Dangerous Man in Eternia

In which Evil-Lyn reveals a frankly unrealistic opinion of Man-at-Arms.

Teela, Andra and Evil-Lyn are making their way to see Man-at-Arms, who Evil-Lyn claims is the most dangerous man in all of Eternia. Well, that’s as maybe, but only because he’s constantly putting people in harm’s way thanks to his serial grandiose fuck-ups. We’ll all recall that King Randor finally saw the light and banished the useless nutbar, and we now find him in a village, attempting to repel an attack by Tri-Klops and his Motherboard cultists.

Naturally, Man-at-Arms is far too incompetent to defeat Tri-Klops and co, so it’s just as well that Teela, Andra and Evil-Lyn show up at this point to lend assistance. Somewhat surprisingly, Beast-Man joins in on our heroes’ side too, professing an undying loyalty to Evil-Lyn that I don’t recall having seen in evidence before. Once the battle’s over, Teela explains that Man-at-Arms needs to reforge the power sword, but Man-at-Arms shows little interest, explaining that Orko is dying and needs urgent help.

Beast-Man: “Oh yes, big Evil-Lyn fan, me.”

Evil-Lyn explains that the loss of Eternia’s magic has hit spellcasters like herself and Orko the hardest, and suggests that Man-at-Arms should agree to reforge the Sword of Power in order to help Orko. Man-at-Arms, twat that he is, refuses on spurious grounds, but Roboto – who claims to have access to all Man-at-Arms’ memories and abilities, which doubtless don’t take up much hard disk space – agrees to join the quest, as does Orko. Once these two have signed on the dotted line, Man-at-Arms changes his tune and wants to come along too, but Teela tells him to go to Castle Grayskull and guard the Sorceress instead.

So off go our ragtag crew on a journey across the Crystal Sea, where they’re unlucky enough to run into Mer-Man. The team is just about to start fighting back when they’re joined by Man-at-Arms, who has ignored Teela’s instructions to go to Grayskull in favour of randomly following our heroes to the Crystal Sea just in case something happened. Despite the fact that our heroes would be well capable of repelling the frankly useless Mer-Man without any input from Man-at-Arms, he merrily takes credit for the victory and sickeningly tells Teela that he came because he loves her. God, I hate you, Man-at-Arms. I hope someone’s eaten the Sorceress while you’ve been pissing about here. That’ll teach you.

Orko: “Honestly can’t bear to look at Man-at-Arms.”

Evil-Lyn prevails on the defeated Mer-Man to guide the way to the entrance to Subternia, at which point Man-at-Arms explains that “nothing lives long in the Land of the Dead”, and – entirely coincidentally – he won’t be joining the team there and will instead go to Grayskull after all. Funny, that. As the episode ends, Evil-Lyn opens the gateway to Subternia and the gang begin their descent into the underworld.

In today’s adventure…

Orko gets all philosophical at one point, basically claiming that his life has been so exciting that he’s forgotten loads of cool stuff. Hopefully he’s still wracked with guilt from the time he ran away because he ruined the King and Queen’s wedding anniversary, and when he hung out with that wanker Squanch, and when he insisted on a spanking from the freaky flower woman, because none of those incidents were in any way cool. Anyway, his take-home message for the audience here is that you should always keep a diary so you can remember everything that’s ever happened to you.

Character checklist

Top billing this week are Teela, Andra, Evil-Lyn, Man-at-Arms, Orko, Roboto, Beast-Man and Mer-Man, with a short showing for Tri-Klops and Trapjaw. For those who like nameless background characters, you’ll perhaps enjoy the appearance of a crowd of Eternian villagers and a collection of Mer-Man’s fishy minions. We also enjoy a flashback featuring He-Man and Skeletor.

Mer-Man: “I do look quite a lot cooler now I’ve learned to close my eyes a bit, don’t I?”

Insults

Well, I’m glad Evil-Lyn’s signed up: she’s got a right mouth on her. She starts off by referring to He-Man as a “glorified goody-goody”, then quickly addresses Andra as an “idiot girl” and shortly goes on to describe Orko as a “little buffoon” and a “fool” before finding time to call Mer-Man a “traitorous trout” and a “flounder”. Elsewhere, we find Beast-Man describing the Eternian villagers as “pathetic pilgrims” and Roboto calling Orko an “imp from another dimension”, which is presumably meant kindly, but it doesn’t come across that way. Teela tells Man-at-Arms he’s a “broken old man”, rather harshly suggesting that that’s what he’s always been, and Man-at-Arms decides that the most appropriate retaliation is to call Roboto a “fool”. Roboto simply responds that if that’s the case, Man-at-Arms is a fool too, which is indisputably the case.

Egg on your face?

Orko may not be feeling well, but he still finds the energy to summon up a storm cloud to rain over his own head. Luckily for him, Man-at-Arms isn’t the unfortunate recipient this week, otherwise he might have refused to help Orko’s recovery.

Orko: “This is pretty much a physical manifestation of my personality.”

Does it have the Power?

This one’s pretty much a straight-up adventure story, with a couple of decent action set-pieces and a bit of exploration of the motivations of our characters. As ever, I’m less than impressed by Man-at-Arms, who seems to be incapable of making even vaguely logical choices – why won’t he help reforge the power sword, and why does he follow the gang to the Crystal Sea instead of going to Grayskull like he’s been told? – and retains his apparent deep-seated need to cover himself in glory. He’s even encouraged by Evil-Lyn, with her insane claim that he’s a very dangerous man.

Speaking of Evil-Lyn, we’re getting a bit of a look into what makes her tick. She has a revealing chat with Teela at one point, in which she explains that she now sees that Skeletor was always holding her back: perhaps she now feels capable of realising her true potential, and she certainly lays into Teela for not being able to let go of her memories of He-Man. On the other hand, Evil-Lyn seems unwilling to leave the Havoc Staff behind at the entrance to Subternia: it’s more than possible she isn’t over Skeletor yet after all.

Evil-Lyn: “Forget Skeletor? Now why would I want to do that?”

The episode has rather less to say about the other characters: in the case of Beast-Man, we have a sudden attachment to Evil-Lyn that seems to have come out of nowhere. Orko’s illness seems to get forgotten fairly quickly – he gets better once he leaves Man-at-Arms’ hut, so perhaps Man-at-Arms has been poisoning him. Teela, Andra and Roboto are all just kind of there this week, the only item of note being that Man-at-Arms nearly tells Teela the Sorceress is her mother, then gets interrupted by Evil-Lyn.

In short, this episode is fine, but it’s not essential: all you need to know is that the gang are still looking for the two halves of the power sword, and they’ve been joined by a couple more characters. Having said that, it’s good fun to watch, so I’d recommend you do so.