By the power of… Griffin Newman! Hi folks, welcome to our weekly recap of Masters of the Universe: Revelation. This week’s episode is named “The Most Dangerous Man in Eternia” and I think the central theme of this episode, and maybe the series as a whole, is ‘coping’, let’s dive right in!
1. He-Man is gone, but he’s still here
Just like last episode, we have a flashback of “the old times”, this one involves He-Man and Teela fighting against Skeletor and Mer-Man and they are saved by Duncan. This flashback is useful to re-introduce us with the Man-At-Arms, the trusted hero that can always save the day with his inventions. He doesn’t rely on magic, he is the one that has been using technology when everybody else uses powers.
But it also shows us that, although He-Man supposedly died on the first episode, he is still very much present on the show, the haters complained that there’s was a shift on the main character, and that is true, after all the show is called Masters of the Universe, but the main hero is still an essential part of the show, his memory still permeates everything around Eternia.
2. A man and his drink
In the present, we meet Duncan looking for magical water on a lost town, when Tri-Klops and his cult arrive to convert everyone there, Man-At-Arms fights against him and his crew, always focused on not losing the magic water. Then, when he and Teela’s team are about to lose, Beast Man appears to fight protecting Evil-Lyn and the town is saved.
Duncan and Teela are reunited again, and he immediately ask forgiveness for his past actions and hiding the truth to his daughter. It’s interesting to compare how both react to losing He-Man, while Teela left the kingdom angry and is now a bounty hunter, bitter about magic and favoring technology (but not like Tri-Klops obsession); on the other side, Duncan retired, he is not “The Most Dangerous Man in Eternia” anymore, he is laying low, the man of technology is, ironically, now focused on getting as many drops of magic water as he can get, while also lamenting that he lost a daughter with his lies.
We discover why he, of all people, needs that water…
3. Life is out there
We is looking after Orko, who is badly hurt by the lack of magic in Eternia, barely surviving, and he is happy to see Teela and discover that she is going on a mission, so he asks to join the team, to help save the world by fusing both parts of the Sword of Power.
As I said on the first episode, Orko steals the show, and nobody could have voiced him better than Griffin Newman, this version of Orko is not the happy guy that he used to be. He reminded me a little bit to Robin Williams, the comedian that was sad all along. You see, Orko is coping badly with the death of Adam, he was part of the group that knew his identity and kept the secret.
So, he is not the happy, clumsy magician anymore, instead we have a depressed Orko, giving us really deep thoughts like the one about keeping a journal, he has a lot of guilt because he lost his friends, one died and the other one felt betrayed by him. And this is his chance to do good again, to save Eternia and redeem himself.
4. Living only to fulfill a man’s destiny
The other character that is looking for redemption is Evil-Lyn, she was a villain but now she formed the team that Teela leads, and she laments focusing her life on Skeletor’s antics. She confronts Teela, and tells her that she must admit to herself that she, just like Evil-Lyn, uselessly dedicated her life to He-Man, the man she loved.
This argument is one of the stronger elements of the show, both characters were relegated as “props”, “company” or even “decoration” to both the main hero and the villain in the original series, one dimensional female characters to function merely as love interests.
Instead, in Revelation they both realize that they are their own persons. Sadly, Teela and Evil-Lyn realized it when He-Man and Skeletor died, but it’s never late. Now, they are the ones on a mission to save the world, as Evil-Lyn said, she could have been a Master of the Universe, and now, she won’t waste this opportunity.
Continued below5. Men-At Arms
So! The plot! I barely talked about it! Well, Mer-Man came back and wants to get revenge on… well whoever comes around, the point is that the team is about to be killed when Man-At-Arms comes to ex-machina the situation and save the day, so the team can cross over the sea and finally get to Subternia.
This scene functions as a little moment of reconciliation between Duncan and Teela, and now both can continue their missions at peace.
And that’s it for this episode, I’m seriously loving this show, I find it deep and thoughtful, with way more to talk about than I expected, I am surprised with how much I am enjoying this show, beyond its action scenes. What did you think of this episode? Leave your comments below and join us next week for our take on the next episode, “Land of the Dead”.
