Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Episode 1) - The Power of Grayskull

Masters of the Universe Revelation Episode 1 Castle Grayskull

It’s Teela’s big day, but that’s not going to stop Skeletor from attempting to capture Castle Grayskull once more. This time, however, he has something bigger planned. Will He-Man be able to stop Skeletor?

Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Episode 1) – The Power of Grayskull

What happened?

Teela is to be named the new Man-at-Arms, taking over from her adopted father, Duncan. She’s excited to be recognised for her hard work, while Duncan could be any prouder if he tried. However, Skeletor has hatched a new plan to take Castle Grayskull. This time, he’s used a fake He-Man, Fakor to deliver himself and Evil-Lyn to the Sorceress. She tries to stop them, but Skeletor has brought his entire army with him and his goal is not Grayskull, but the secrets it hides within.

The Sorceress contacts Prince Adam during Teela’s ceremony who then tells everyone that Grayskull is under attack. It’s now up to Teela to lead the army to defend it. Once, everyone is on their Way, Prince Adam lifts aloft his mighty sword and transforms into He-Man, the strongest man in the universe. When he arrives at Grayskull, the battle has already turned, however, Skeletor is already inside. Teela goes to stop him, but she’s no match for the Master of Destruction.

Luckily, He-Man arrives and everything seems to be going his way. That was until Moss-Man tried to stop Skeletor and was promptly burnt to ashes. He-Man lost control and drove his sword into Skeletor’s body. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Skeletor wanted as the sword unlocks the secrets of Grayskull and the lock is directly behind him. Skeletor attempts to seize the power of the universe, but the Sorceress stops time momentarily to explain to He-Man and Teela the stakes. It’s pretty dire.

He-Man decides to use the Sword of Power to absorb the energy. It works, but He-Man and Skeletor are destroyed. Before He-Man vanished, he transformed back into Prince Adam. Teela was shocked. She was even more disappointed to discover that everyone else knew and no one told her, despite her risking her life for them over and over again. Teela had had enough.

Masters of the Universe Revelation Episode 1 He Man and Battle Cat

What did you think?

So, I grew up around the time the original He-Man TV show was released and was pretty much obsessed. I’m sure it was partially responsible for my preference of animation over live-action. To keep things succinct, I love He-Man. Always have, always will. So, when there was a new series announced and it was going to be written by Kevin Smith, I knew I would have to check it out.

I have mixed feelings about this first episode. Most of it felt like a love letter to the old series. There were ridiculous attempts by Skeletor to do devious things, which I’m guessing were intentionally dumb. For example, how did the Sorceress spot Skeletor disguised, but didn’t realise that she was standing next to a fake He-Man? She spends a lot of time with He-Man, you’d think it would be pretty obvious. We were shown loads of the characters from the old show. We even saw Orko perform a magic trick that went wrong. I get what was going on, but I feel like it would have been better if it had just gone all-in from the start.

By that, I mean that things got really serious there. Moss-Man was killed by Skeletor. No one ever dies in this series, so that was a big shock. Then, He-Man stabbed Skeletor. Unheard of. I did laugh at Skeletor pointing out that it was the first time he’d ever used the sword as it was meant to be used, but then that too was another play on words. Of course, He-Man and Skeletor both dying was quite unexpected and incredibly refreshing. The best moment, however, was when Teela quit. I’m loving the new designs! She looks awesome.

Masters of the Universe Revelation Episode 1 Teela quits

What have you learnt?

I’ve often wondered what a truly serious fantasy story would look like with the characters from the Masters of the Universe world. There are so many characters that you could come up with some great ideas and explore some fascinating stories. I actually loved the idea of Teela discovering that everyone had been lying to her and walking away from everything. That moment made this episode memorable. Even more so than He-Man and Skeletor dying.

I’m excited for the rest of the season now. Nervous that there will be too many nods to the past, but hopefully, that will be unfounded. I loved the old series, but I want this to be dark and exciting. Style-wise, this series reminds me of the Castlevania series that Netflix backed recently. It looks great, although the movement is a little jumpy. Also, I have one last thought and that is about He-Man’s transformation. That was one hundred percent a magical girl transformation. Is He-Man a Magical Girl story?