New Adventures of He-Man: Season 1 Episode 6 Review

Sword & Staff -
Written by Jack Olesker

Skeletor makes Grrr obedient

Skeletor's eyes are inexplicably black with red pupils. He is deterred by the string of failures since coming to the future. But the Mutants throw him a mock celebration party, offering him a pet named Grrr. Intended to be a joke at his expense, Skeletor deflates the joke, enforcing Grrr's obedience through a show of his power. The Lord of Destruction thankfully takes to his new pet, leaving the Mutants to disperse now that their joke has fallen flat.

Adam and the Galactic Guardians venture to Gorn City on Denebria to seek out Zamtron oil for the vasionic resonator. Meliak returns to aid the Guardians from a mutant mob, Adam recognizes the mutant cyclops immediately, and the allies go to have a meal together.

On Nordor, Grrr chases a rodent and gets trapped in a cavern. Quakke is ordered by Skeletor to open up a pathway to the cavern. The cavern leads to an ancient subterranean chamber that houses a giant power crystal. Keen to discover the nature of the crystal, Skeletor convinces Quakke to approach the crystal. In doing so, Quakke absorbs the crystal, becoming more powerful than he ever was. Skeletor unleashes Quakke on Gorn City, who is then undone by Sagitar.

Skeletor tries to convince Flogg to power his troops with the crystal, but Flogg vehemently refuses. Skeletor plots another way to put the crystal to use.

Upon returning to Primus, Adam tells Sebrian of the incident in Gorn City. Sebrian postulates that the Mutants have discovered the crystal. It is then revealed that Nordor was once a part of Primus. More than 1000 tilks ago, the crystal was discovered, but its evil nature proved to be deadly and the Primusians jettisoned the land mass that contained the crystal into space. The land mass soon fell into orbit around Denebria, where it became known as Moon Nordor.

Master Sebrian and Sorceress advise Adam to destroy the crystal. The Scientists provide a component of
 the Nordor Crystal in order for He-Man to track it down.

Skeletor goes to absorb the power of the crystal himself. He sheds his existing attire and dons his Disk of Doom armor. The old enemies fight. As Skeletor weakens from dying affects of the crystal, He-Man attempts to destroy the crystal. Skeletor tries to stop him, but in the attempt causes a cave in. He-Man flees, but Skeletor remains in the chamber - in doing so, the Lord of Destruction absorbs all of the crystal's power before the chamber is completely buried, and the crystal pulverized. Skeletor rises, changed forever.


Review:
This is one of the better episodes of the series. It breaks the Mutants-attacking-Primus mold, and furthers Skeletor's character arc. Without explanation, Skeletor's eyes are now black sockets with red pupils. Through the course of this episode, Skeletor's skull color becomes the iconic yellow, and his sockets are black with glowing red pupils. We get a little tidbit of history, discovering the origin of the crystal that changes Skeletor, and of the Moon Nordor itself. New characters based on toys are introduced - Quakke and Sagitar, and of course Disk of Doom Skeletor. This is how Skeletor will appear for the rest of the series.

Appearing Characters:
Galactic Guardians
Adam/He-Man
Flipshot
Hydron
Sagitar
Meliak
Master Sebrian

Evil Mutants
Skeletor
Flogg
Quakke
Slush Head
Grrr
Crita
Lizor
Karatti