New Adventures of He-Man: Season 1, Episode 5 Review

The Ultimate Challenge -
Written by Jack Olesker

Flogg begins to doubt his alliance to Skeletor. Skeletor hatches yet another plan - The Ultimate Challenge - baiting He-Man into a duel that will end the war forever.

Primus's new Hole Sensor helps them detect holes in the shield and thus strengthen defenses in those territories. Prince Adam spends time with Drissi, a budding romance evolves between them. As they trade romantic words, Skeletor appears in a massive sky hologram calling He-Man to the challenge. He-Man goes  in an Astro Sub to meet the challenge.

In the meantime, the Galactic Guardians go on patrol upon the discovery that the Hole Sensor has begun malfunctioning. The Mutants prepare for their all-out attack on Primus. Skeletor takes a Shuttle Pod to rendezvous with He-Man. He reveals (to himself) how he intends to take control of EVERYTHING - Primus, Flogg, the Mutants, the Tri-Solar galaxy.

He-Man and Skeletor duel on an asteroid, but Caz and Mara soon show up to warn He-an of Skeletor's treachery. Skeletor causes asteroids to rain down on He-Man, preventing him from returning to Primus with Caz and Mara. Sorceress guides He-Man to use the Power to protect himself from the asteroid shower.

The Mutants succeed in conquering Primus. Flogg attempts to force Sebrian to sign Primus over to the Mutants, but He-Man uses the Power to reappear on Primus and drive a befuddled Skeletor and the Mutants back to the Mothership.

Review:
Another run-of-the mill episode. It is not a bad episode, but Mutants attacking Primus is beginning to get stale. Of interest is the budding romance between Drissi and Adam. Skeletor possibly justifies his change in character here - being a fish totally out of water may have forced him to "tread lightly" in this alien galaxy. He's still bent on controlling everything, but with many odds stacked against him in the Tri-Solar Galaxy, his decision to "play it safe" in his alliance with Flogg strategically makes sense. He-Man uses his shield in one of two occasions in this series. His teleportation from the asteroid back to Primus is unfortunately left unexplained, though it can be assumed that the Sorceress either provided assistance, or He-Man has been tapping into new powers...the NA series has shown him utilizing techniques with the Power Sword that were either not employed at all in the previous show, or only performed once or seldom.

Characters to appear:
Galactic Guardians
Drissi
Prince Adam/He-Man
Caz
Mara
Master Sebrian
The Scientists
Flipshot
Hydron
Kayo
Vizar
Nocturna
Gleep

Evil Mutants
Skeletor
Flogg
Slush Head
Crita
Lizor
Hoove
Karatti