Written by Jack Olesker
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| Skeletor makes Grrr obedient |
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.
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
an ironic twist, the Transformer line did not appear in the United States until three years after MOTU filled the toy shelves, and then only a year after the He-Man franchise was booming--chiefly due to the success of the cartoon series that debuted in 1983 (MOTU is usually given credit for pioneering an action figure toyline that corresponds with an ongoing cartoon series). At the time, TF was one of the many boy's toy lines that competed for market success, it offered something different--an action figure that presented two modes of play i.e. car and robot etc., and likely wouldn't be compared to He-Man the way another line like Thundercats or Silverhawks would be. Perhaps because of that difference, and indeed Hasbro and Takara's marketing strategy, Transformers would persevere running almost non-stop from 1984 to the present with a steady level of success. MOTU, however, would run from 1981 to 1991 almost non-stop with varying levels of success, and meeting a total demise with the 
many 80s properties, He-Man made an attempt at a come-back--more than ten years after the franchise disappeared from toy shelves, and the entertainment market as a whole. Unlike Transformers, a line that maintained a presence in the boys toy market, as well as the adult collector market, He-Man had to make a come-back, a strong come-back. At a time when competition was fierce, more fierce than it was in the 80s, the marketing ploy had to be one that hit the consumer on multiple levels. Mattel, the toy company that owns the rights to the He-Man franchise, launched a marketing campaign that saw the release of commercials, a cartoon series, a comic book series, and miscellaneous items like partyware, socks, etc. Many argue that the marketing was not invasive enough. The cartoon series, though in many ways innovative and action-packed, somehow was not reaching its audience. In comparison, other brands debuted cartoon series on network television and syndication, hitting a wider audience. Some would even debut on Cartoon Network and air re-runs in syndication, ensuring a massive market coverage. He-Man was exclusive to the Cartoon Network, a cable channel that everyone didn't get.
ction figures of the 2002 Masters of the Universe toyline were beautifully designed and sculpted by the 
With a campaign that failed to grab its target audience, Mattel pulled the line back. Though the second season was planned out, and a third season was conceptualized with He-Man's sister She-Ra coming on board, the cartoon was scheduled into the "Oblivion" time slot on Cartoon Network and eventually was cancelled. The toy line was cancelled, and the comic book eventually disappeared as well. Many fans say that the demise of the line was due to Mattel's poor marketing and distribution strategy--not enough advertising of the brand, and too many of the same two or three figures flooding the toy shelves. I experienced multiple times first hand the journey from Walmart to K-Mart to Target to Toys-R-Us to K.B. Toys, all in the same day, only to find the same He-Man and Skeletor variants, and none of the other figures of the rest of the collection.