NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

Crack in the World

Crack in the World title card
E16

Official Synopsis

Skeletor swings his staff overhead with a snarl on a rock wall.

Skeletor and Flogg cannot get their Mutants to decode a formula in an alien computer, so Skeletor decides the scientists of Primus should do it for them. A letter from the Intergalactic Foundation nominates the Primus scientists for the Mind of the Millennium Award, and they borrow the starship Eternia to collect it. At the Foundation station, Skeletor boasts that their hunger for recognition will make them create Energon. Back on Primus a statue glows, the Energon spreads, and the sword cannot help because Energon feeds on positive power. With Mutant ships massing outside the shield, He-Man offers himself as a hostage for safe passage, and with the Sorceress's encouragement he turns evil against the Energon until the process reverses.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Gepple discovers a fire and cannot remember the emergency number, and the closing lesson is to keep emergency numbers written down on or near your phone, because you never know when you will need them.

heman.org Episode Review

How much does it take to turn a few proud scientists into a doomsday device? In "Crack in the World" the answer is a letter. Skeletor and Flogg cannot get their Mutants to decode a formula in an alien computer, so Skeletor muses that the scientists of Primus could manage it, and the plan comes together when the Intergalactic Foundation writes to say that they have been nominated for the Mind of the Millennium Award. Nobody on Primus is forced to build a weapon; they are flattered with a nomination and left to arrange their own trip to a space station, and that proves enough.

The trip is the comic high point. Master Sebrian will not let them attend, so one scientist proposes borrowing the starship Eternia, a colleague points out that none of them can pilot it, and off they go regardless. At the station Skeletor tells Flogg that the fools are so hungry for recognition that they are about to create Energon, which will mean annihilation once it is carried home, and Flogg, congratulated on a brilliant plan, answers that he just keeps getting better.

Put in plain words, the story is about vanity as a weak point: the craving for a prize is the real hole in the defenses of Primus, and Skeletor does not have to touch the shield to use it. Back home Sebrian scolds the scientists for risking the safety of the planet, and each blames another for the idea, the sharpest joke in the episode. Then someone notices the statue glowing, and what they have made turns out to be Energon, which one character recalls is used to destroy planets.

The best action beat is the escape. Someone cries out that they must reach stable ground, He-Man tells the group to hold on to him and carries them across on a beam of light, and a scientist protests that this is scientifically impossible. A computer simulation then shows the Energon spreading until it converts all matter to energy. When He-Man offers to try the sword, he is told that its power would only give the Energon more energy, and that only a negative power as evil as the Energon itself could neutralize it. It is a tidy rule, because it takes away the hero's usual answer.

Mutant ships mass outside the failing shield, Skeletor tells Flogg not to work so hard and to let them come to him, and He-Man offers himself as a hostage in exchange for safe passage for the people. Skeletor accepts, saying he wants the destruction of the planet to be the last thing his enemy sees. Here the Sorceress steps in with calmer advice, that he has the good on his side and that evil will always destroy itself. He-Man then declares that he will fight the evil in its heart with evil itself, and the process begins to reverse. The He-Man wiki calls this the most intense battle between the two in the series, and a planet turning to energy gives it weight.

The weakness is the solution. We are told that a negative power is needed and that He-Man will answer evil with evil, but the turn arrives in a handful of lines and the mechanism is left for the viewer to supply. The likely reason is the slot, which has to hold a voyage, a contest, a disaster and a hostage swap. The aftermath is livelier: when Flogg complains that they should have attacked, Skeletor asks whether he has thought of writing a book on military strategy.

Verdict: a sturdy adventure whose best idea is that the danger comes from the heroes' own pride, and one of the few episodes where Skeletor and Flogg are the only villains in sight. It closes with the scientists arguing over who predicted what, and then a fire that Gepple cannot report because he has forgotten the number.

Notes of Interest

  1. Toys: This is the second time He-Man uses the shield that came with his toy figure, and the He-Man wiki says the third and last use is in Balance of Power.
  2. Fan observation: The He-Man wiki calls this the most intense battle between He-Man and Skeletor in the series.
  3. Continuity: According to the He-Man wiki, Skeletor and Flogg are the only villains who appear, with no other Mutants seen, which it notes is true of only a few episodes.
  4. Continuity: The He-Man wiki says the robot Romac 6, who poses as the computer of the space station, makes its only Jetlag Productions appearance here.
  5. Homage: The He-Man wiki's page on the mineral Energon points out that Energon is also the name of the energy source in the Transformers franchise.
  6. Voice cast: Venus Terzo voices both Mara and the Sorceress in this episode, and Garry Chalk voices He-Man and Alcon, according to the He-Man wiki cast list.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Flogg
Evil

Flogg
The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull
Good

The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull

Episode screenshots

Skeletor stands with his back to the camera, his helmet filling the frame.
Skeletor stands with his back to the camera, his helmet filling the frame.
Skeletor grips his skull staff beside Flogg as both look off to one side.
Skeletor grips his skull staff beside Flogg as both look off to one side.
Skeletor grins and rests a hand on his chest armor.
Flogg bares his teeth with wide angry eyes inside his grey hood.
Flogg bares his teeth with wide angry eyes inside his grey hood.
A red-robed elder in a pointed cap stands behind the bespectacled scientist with the tall yellow hairdo.
A red-robed elder in a pointed cap stands behind the bespectacled scientist with the tall yellow hairdo.
An elder in a pointed cap gestures at a long table where a woman and two scientists sit.
An elder in a pointed cap gestures at a long table where a woman and two scientists sit.
The bespectacled scientist holds up a gold-patterned plaque while a bald elder holds another behind him.
The bespectacled scientist holds up a gold-patterned plaque while a bald elder holds another behind him.
The bespectacled scientist and several elders sit around a conference table, seen over a red-clad shoulder.
The bespectacled scientist and several elders sit around a conference table, seen over a red-clad shoulder.
A bald elder in a green cloak smiles and holds a gold-patterned plaque.
A bald elder in a green cloak smiles and holds a gold-patterned plaque.
The bald elder in the green cloak talks happily and holds out a plaque.
A thin elder in a purple tunic points a finger at the viewer with a worried look.
An empty white corridor with an orange door at the far end.
Scientists sit around a table of gold plaques while a teal robot faces them with its back turned.
A white angular space station floats in the stars as a small ship flies toward it.
A small ship streaks along the long metal wall of the space station.
A tall gold-framed doorway opens onto a bright shaft of light.
A white triangular spacecraft seen head on against dark shadows.
The elders and the bespectacled scientist peer up into a dark chamber.
A black robot with a glowing blue head hovers in a beam of light as the elders watch.
The black robot's blue-lit head and body close up, with teal lights along its side.
The bespectacled scientist speaks with a worried expression, his hands at his chest.
A gold crystal sculpture glows on a dark pedestal.
The pointed-cap elder smiles down at the bald elder beside him.
The bespectacled scientist rubs his chin and looks off to the side.
The elders and the bespectacled scientist huddle together, the red-robed one with a hand on his chin.
Skeletor and Flogg crowd together over a controls panel, Skeletor gripping a lever.
Skeletor laughs wide-mouthed in a tight shot of his skull face.
The bespectacled scientist rests his chin on his hands and stares at a glass plate.
A blue triangular screen shows a detailed mechanical blueprint.
A scientist and the elder in a pointed cap watch a glowing golden sphere inside a spiked device.
Flogg clutches a tablet to his chest as Skeletor looks on beside him.
Flogg clutches a tablet to his chest as Skeletor looks on beside him.
The bespectacled scientist sits at a console in a blue glow while a hand reaches in.
A black pointed device with a white center pulses next to a swirl of golden light.
Skeletor presses a button on a control panel with one finger, his skull staff in the other hand.
A gold crystal object floats in darkness above a metal bar.
The black robot floats in a beam of light while the scientists stand around a gold platform.
The bespectacled scientist sits at a console, his image faded and overlaid with a yellow panel.
The bespectacled scientist looks worried at a console with books and blocks beside him.
The white angular space station drifts through the stars.
The scientists and a robot sit in a small ship cabin around a glowing gold crystal.
The bespectacled scientist stares forward in a tight shot, wide-eyed.
A stern grey-haired elder with a hood scowls.
The three elders stand together looking down with serious faces.
A dark-haired woman watches through a window while the bespectacled scientist faces her, his back to us.
Rays of light fan out from a gold crystal on a table as the scientist runs toward it.
The scientists crowd around the glowing gold crystal, faces lit by its light.
The elders and the bespectacled scientist look down at the crystal with alarmed faces.
The elders scramble back in blurred motion while the bespectacled scientist stands frozen.
A bald elder and the bespectacled scientist stare in shock, side by side.
The elders huddle together with arms around each other, the bespectacled scientist in front.
He-Man holds his sword overhead as crackling purple energy bursts around him.
He-Man holds his sword overhead as crackling purple energy bursts around him.
White lightning spreads through a crack in a pink and brown floor.
Glowing yellow patches spread across an orange rock surface.
The elders and the bespectacled scientist stand before towers while a floating robot eye hovers at the right.
He-Man stands on a ridge across a wide chasm from the group of scientists.
He-Man stands on a ridge across a wide chasm from the group of scientists.
He-Man runs along a rock ledge between pale beams of light while the group follows behind.
He-Man appears blurred and shouts, a pink glow washing over his chest.
He-Man and the scientists stand on a rock shelf above a pit of dripping glowing drops.
He-Man thrusts one arm into the air and points ahead, with a red-capped elder beside him.
He-Man bends a glowing beam of light with both hands as two scientists watch from below.
Two elders look at each other in alarm, one with his hand near the other's face.
The bespectacled scientist is seen from behind beside a pair of tall boots standing on dark rock.
A domed saucer-shaped building sits on a cliff above green hills.
A glowing planet hangs among stars in a framed viewscreen.
The bespectacled scientist raises one finger and talks with a bright excited look.
He-Man listens with a serious frown, sword handle over his shoulder.
A grey-haired elder with a staff and a gold necklace speaks to He-Man, seen from behind.
He-Man stands holding his sword point down as an elder with a staff and the group look on.
A man in green clothes crouches on a bench in a lab with a worried look.
A long line of people waits to board a white spaceship at sunset.
Flogg scowls in the foreground while Skeletor stands behind him leaning on his staff.
Skeletor laughs with his mouth open and arms crossed on his chest.
The elder with the staff, a man in green with hands over his mouth, and others look worried.
He-Man looks on as a spiny creature-like ship passes outside the window.
Flogg frowns beside Skeletor, who holds his staff up behind him.
Skeletor lifts a hand to his face and grins.
Skeletor holds up a hand with his staff behind him, grinning.
Glowing orange liquid pours down over dark rocks.
A man with a headband and bare chest smiles in a glowing orange cavern.
The Sorceress spreads her winged arms inside a circular frame beside a speech bubble.
The Sorceress spreads her winged arms inside a circular frame beside a speech bubble.
He-Man climbs a rock wall holding up his sword, bathed in orange light.
Skeletor points a finger up and grins in an orange-tinted cavern.
Skeletor swings his staff past a large round weapon in a smoky red flash.
He-Man crouches on a ledge, sword in hand, ready to spring.
Skeletor flies through the air across a rocky gap holding his staff.
A figure tumbles upside down through a shaft of rock.
Skeletor grips his staff in both hands and lunges forward as streaks fall at the right.
He-Man smiles in a glow of yellow light, one arm raised.
Bubbling orange Energon covers the whole frame with ripples on the surface.
The elders and the bespectacled scientist watch anxiously from a dark corridor.
He-Man and Skeletor struggle on rock beside a billowing yellow glow.
Skeletor looks down in alarm with his arm outstretched, lit by yellow light.
He-Man frowns with his jaw set against a blue sky.
A large orange machine part is seen from below against the sky.
He-Man and another figure stand on a paved road before a white domed building.
The elders and the bespectacled scientist stand before a window showing a black machine.
He-Man stands grim-faced with his sword over his shoulder.
He-Man stands with his back to us looking at tall rocket-shaped towers.
Flogg and Skeletor face each other, Skeletor pointing a thumb at himself.
A dark-haired woman and He-Man look at a viewscreen showing a blue planet.
The red-robed elder leans in beside the bespectacled scientist as other elders look on.
He-Man grins beside the grey-haired elder holding a twisted staff.

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