Welcome to season 1, episode 10 of the re-imagined world of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Krass and Ork-0 catch up to Adam and the heroes before they race to Eternos to save King Randor from Skeletor and his dark army’s epic assault.
Spoilers ahead.
1. Just like The Avengers
Having the team split up during dire straits sets up a daring rescue and this is reminiscent of Avengers: Infinity War. I mean a much much smaller scale, but it feels like the writers were taking notes. Even the musical cues are Marvelesque. Setting up a massive confrontation with only part of the team intact gives the team an opportunity to come together in the most suspenseful manner possible. Later in the show with the way they depict the big battle scene, it really does feel like they not only took notes, but mapped out the season based on Marvel-style plot development. Not saying this is a bad thing, just pointing it out.
2. Failure is an opportunity to rise again
With the core heroes locked up together, they feel hopeless. The sorceress pleads for them to stay united. Adam says they are nothing without the POWER OF GREYSKULL, but she sets them straight. She tells them that they will always have their individual struggles and fears. They merely need the desire to overcome, to fight back.. together they are never as hopeless as they feel. From the beginning this show has been about teaching fundamental values that any youth can use to develop positively. When they’re not slipping in dick jokes, of course.
3. Skelator, the good villain
Skelator is a bad bad man, but a good villain in the classical sense. In the original he was a more typical foil, loud and evilly boisterous. In this show he has been a more well-written villain in the sense that he tends to exhibit the polar opposite of what Prince Adam stands for, or is learning. For instance in earlier episodes the heroes are taught to share power, and in the scene prior, they are taught that they are more than the sum of the power they wield. In contrast, Skelator gives and takes his power to his lackeys with sadistic impunity. He directly verbalizes that they are nothing without his power, and they fall in line.. but are most likely destined to lose because of that. Because of this, Sklator is a much more well-written villain than in the past, and that makes him a good villain.
4. This show would make for a good video game
In one epic battle scene where the heroes are jumping from ship to ship in the sky while showing off their power moves is an excellent audition for a video game. He-Man bounces from ship to ship like the Hulk in the first Avengers movie, smashing things well. Krass is shooting around like Sonic the Hedgehog and the best part is when He-Man and her work together, he can serve up a patented ‘Fastball special’ a la Wolverine and Colossus. It reminds me of different video games from a Simpsons-style side scroller.
5. Family is key
‘I’ve already failed my son, I won’t fail my kingdom.’ He then tries to warn his son to run and save himself. He is a more complex character, again, than the previous incarnations and the writers truly thought through the emotional character development and it shows. He tells his son that he misjudged him, and tasks him to save Eternia. This is an important and understated payoff, because in the end the show gifts us two lessons. There is the family you are born with, and the family that you choose. This is brilliantly set up in the beginning of the series by making him a runaway pseudo-orphan. When his father gives him a hug and entrusts him to work with his friends to save the world, it gives us an emotional high point to work with as the episode closes.
