NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

Flogg's Revenge

Flogg's Revenge title card
E64

Official Synopsis

He-Man and Skeletor lock weapons beneath the arena stands.

Roika and Maldon declare the Galactic Guardians winners of the games, and the Guardians accept an invitation to the victory dinner before heading home. Skeletor tells Flogg that the astrosub captured at Titus can be turned on the Great Hall and promises him Rintor and Primus. In the Great Hall, the Mutants find a hidden control panel and the captives below it, force Maldon to hand over the key, and launch the loaded astrosub at the hall. The Guardians fly out to stop it, then Skeletor takes Kayo and Spinwit hostage and calls He-Man to a duel. He-Man wins, and Flipshot is warned about overexercising.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Flipshot slips after pushing himself too hard, and the closing lesson is not to overexercise: exercise and competing with others is healthy, but do not overdo it, and having fun matters more than winning.

heman.org Episode Review

When a contest has been won fairly, who is left to be angry? "Flogg's Revenge" answers that the losers are, and the winners are barely done being declared champions when the scheming starts. The opening is a long ceremony, long enough that someone asks how long it will go on, announcing that the Galactic Guardians have captured the Golden Ring, and the dinner invitation that follows lets Flipshot be hungry on the way home.

Flogg's gloom is the engine. With little left to do but head back to Moon Nordor, he is told by Skeletor that any general can win a victory but it takes a legend to turn a defeat into one. Flogg is saving the astrosub captured at Titus for something special; Skeletor says this is it, and that it can destroy Roika, Maldon and the Guardians in one shot, and promises two planets, Rintor and Primus, for the price of the one craft. Flogg answers that he has heard that before. For a title that promises Flogg's revenge, though, the plan is Skeletor's, and Flogg is mostly allowed to grumble, which is entertaining but leaves the title promising a little more than the script delivers.

Meanwhile the Great Hall, where the Guardians are being entertained, hides something. One host says most of the people of Rintor have long since moved to another planet, starts to add that they are not completely alone, and is cut off by the other. A scan picks up life readings underground, and the Mutants find a control panel that opens onto a row of cells holding captives behind an invisible barrier. It is a good use of one secret, because it serves both sides: the Guardians sense that their hosts are hiding something, and Skeletor, who wants a lever, takes the key from a frightened host with a threat and a promise to open the cages after Slush Head has been contacted.

In plain words, the story is about a win that settles nothing while Skeletor can turn the winners' hospitality against them, with a hidden prison under the hosts' hall as the means. The stretch where the Guardians learn the astrosub is aimed at the hall, find that the defence system is not responding, and see the prisoners come out looking unhappy is the best of the action, and a pilot gets the craft out of a dive in time to keep it from the hall.

The weakness is the duel. Skeletor takes Kayo and Spinwit hostage and calls He-Man to meet him in the arena, promising that if he is beaten they go free; once there he brings help anyway, remarking that rules are meant to be broken, and He-Man wins regardless. The trick is an old villain standby, and the exchange that follows, where Flogg jokes that He-Man lying is unthinkable, is funnier than the fight, echoing a doubt Flogg voiced in The Heat. A shorter duel and a longer look at the captives would have used the premise better.

The closing note is the victory dinner at last, with a joke about the cooking, followed by a slip from Flipshot, who admits he should have stopped and rested. Exercise and competing with others is healthy, viewers are told, but should not be overdone, and winning is not the most important thing: having fun is.

Verdict: an uneven but busy sequel to the games, strongest while the hosts' secret keeps its edge, with the Mutants' grudge given room to play out.

Notes of Interest

  1. Homage: The He-Man wiki compares the Rintorians' underground collection of captive species to the Talosians' menagerie in the Star Trek episode The Cage.
  2. Continuity: The captives are held in the Zoo of Champions beneath the Great Hall, a location the He-Man wiki says appears only in this episode and The Final Invasion.
  3. Voice cast: Per the He-Man wiki, Doug Parker voices Hoove, Don Brown voices Hydron, Optikk and Kayo, and Ted Cole voices Slush Head and Spinwit.
  4. Continuity: The He-Man wiki notes that Adam of Grayskull does not appear in this story.
  5. Continuity: The He-Man wiki says Flogg's doubt about He-Man keeping his word in The Heat is echoed here, when Flogg jokes that He-Man lying is unthinkable.
  6. Fan observation: The He-Man wiki's moral section for this episode appears to repeat text from another page, which looks like a wiki copy error, so it is worth checking against the broadcast.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Flogg
Evil

Flogg
Slushhead
Evil

Slushhead

Episode screenshots

A man in a purple tentacled hat scowls sideways with his fist at his chin.
A man in a purple tentacled hat scowls sideways with his fist at his chin.
He-Man and the Guardians stand on a stone staircase beside a host in a pink flower hat.
He-Man and the Guardians stand on a stone staircase beside a host in a pink flower hat.
Several men kneel on a stepped platform as robed figures stand nearby on a desert plain.
Several men kneel on a stepped platform as robed figures stand nearby on a desert plain.
Guardians stand on tiered steps beside two hosts in pink and green robes seen from behind.
Guardians stand on tiered steps beside two hosts in pink and green robes seen from behind.
He-Man and the Guardians stand on a stepped dais in front of rows of tiered seats.
He-Man and the Guardians stand on a stepped dais in front of rows of tiered seats.
Skeletor and Flogg stand side by side in front of a large purple clawed structure.
Skeletor and Flogg stand side by side in front of a large purple clawed structure.
Skeletor laughs with his mouth wide against a purple backdrop.
Skeletor laughs with his mouth wide against a purple backdrop.
Flogg and Skeletor stand small on a pink floor while mutants sit in seats at the lower right.
Flogg speaks with wide eyes under his grey hood, shoulder plates framing his face.
Flogg speaks with wide eyes under his grey hood, shoulder plates framing his face.
Skeletor raises a finger as Flogg looks aside beside him.
Flogg snarls with his eyes shut and fangs showing.
Flogg snarls with his eyes shut and fangs showing.
Skeletor grins as Flogg stands beside him with a stern look.
Flogg stands beside Skeletor, who holds his staff and looks ahead.
A dark blue tower stands on a tiled plaza at sunset.
A dark blue tower stands on a tiled plaza at sunset.
Skeletor, Flogg and two mutants stand together on a blue floor inside a spiked chamber.
Skeletor stands with his staff while two mutants crouch at the lower right.
He-Man holds his sword out to the side amid pink clouds.
He-Man and a dark-armored figure cross weapons in pink mist.
A man in blue and red hangs upside down under blue-lit spikes.
A faded figure floats above a man reaching up with both arms in a blue-lit shaft.
A green-skinned mutant in a black helmet charges forward with an oversized boot lifted.
He-Man and Skeletor strain against each other, both gripping Skeletor's staff.
He-Man and the Guardians face the mutants across a blue arena floor.
Skeletor stands with arms spread and staff raised as Flogg and two mutants stand around him.
A green spiny alien ship fires glowing shots as it flies across a blue sky.
Slush Head sits at the controls of a vehicle beside a dark armored figure.
Slush Head sits at the controls of a vehicle beside a dark armored figure.
Slush Head drives a vehicle in a purple hangar as a dark figure sits behind him.
Slush Head drives a vehicle in a purple hangar as a dark figure sits behind him.
A small white and blue spaceship rests on a purple floor under spotlights.
Slush Head leers behind the wheel, his clear helmet gleaming.
He-Man sits at a long table with two Guardians, a fork in his hand.
A long dining table seen from above is crowded with dishes and seated diners.
A man in a purple tentacled hat tilts his head with a sly look.
The host in the pink hat leans toward a grey-robed man across a laden table.
Skeletor grins in a shadowy hall while Flogg and a gold-armored mutant stand behind him.
Skeletor stands with his staff beside a green mutant holding a glowing device on a moonlit field.
Flogg stands with fists clenched as Skeletor appears in a faded double image in tall grass.
Flogg and Skeletor look down through a round opening above a ladder under the stars.
A white ladder runs diagonally across a dark blue background.
A blue toad-like creature sits in a triangular alcove.
A line of mutants walks along a corridor lined with triangular cells holding creatures.
Flogg glares from his hood while Skeletor holds up his staff behind him.
A green mutant appears in a faded overlay beside Skeletor and a blue creature.
Skeletor grins, gripping his staff, beside a gold-armored mutant.
Skeletor reaches out toward a bearded old man in a robe who fades in as a double image.
Slush Head works the controls inside a purple ship with a dark armored figure behind him.
A dark tunnel opens in the center of a large round machine.
Skeletor and Flogg stand close, Skeletor holding a small object in front of him.
A blue toad-like creature with red eyes looms beside a red mutant and a figure in purple.
He-Man sits at a laden table beside the hosts, seen from behind.
Two hosts in pink and green stand before a large screen showing a spaceship in streaks of light.
A brown-haired man in blue armor looks off to the side with a stern face.
He-Man and the Guardians look toward something off screen, He-Man scowling.
A brown-haired Guardian in blue speaks with his mouth open.
He-Man and four Guardians face a hole in the wall where creatures crowd.
Skeletor grins with a hand on his chest as Flogg stands beside him.
A group of Guardians stands in the far corner as large horned creatures crowd the foreground.
A Guardian aims a blaster at creatures in the hall as He-Man stands beside him.
A Guardian in red and blue runs between cone columns as a slime creature approaches.
A jagged hole in a wall opens onto a dark starry sky as debris lies on the floor.
He-Man stands alert in the hall with a cone column behind him.
A grey spaceship fades into view over a small craft in dark clouds.
A small craft with a blue flame crosses a starry sky.
He-Man stands behind two seated Guardians in the cockpit.
A small ship flies above a curved planet in the starry sky.
He-Man reaches up with one arm, his other hand at his chest.
A white spaceship tilts through the blue sky with a figure clinging to its fin.
He-Man looks ahead with a worried frown as he holds onto a smooth wall.
A round pad with dark slots lies on a bluish planet surface.
A tall blue block juts from the dark ground.
A white spaceship skims across a dark plain with a hill beyond.
Flogg snarls inside a cockpit between red seat cushions.
Skeletor grins in a red-cushioned cockpit seat.
Dark hills rise below a dark blue sky.
He-Man pulls on a white spaceship's wing, bracing at the edge of a dark plain.
A grey smoke cloud billows in space beside a small dark ship.
A twisting column of smoke rises from a crashed dark ship on the ground.
A bandaged man points ahead beside a Guardian and the two hosts.
Four figures watch a large screen showing a spaceship trailing blue light.
Skeletor grins and holds his staff as Flogg stands with arms crossed beside him.
The two hosts raise their hands in alarm, one fading in as a double image.
He-Man, seen from behind, stands with his sword on his back as two Guardians look on.
Skeletor grins on a small handheld screen held in green gloves.
He-Man looks ahead, a white device at his chest, as two Guardians watch.
Skeletor stands with his staff in a double exposure, grinning.
He-Man and Skeletor face each other with raised weapons on a dusty arena floor.
He-Man crouches on one knee with his sword raised in the arena.
He-Man, seen from behind, looks across the night arena, sword held low.
Skeletor crouches with his staff amid flying rock and a rising dust cloud.
He-Man holds his glowing sword across his body and glares ahead.
A dark figure with a white round face plate peers from a ragged hole in a wall.
A bright floodlight array glows against the night sky.
He-Man blocks with his sword held up before his face.
Skeletor stands over Flogg, who lies bound in cords on the arena floor.
Skeletor stands over bound Flogg in a dark arena while a boot passes at right.
Flogg lies tied in cords, glancing upward with wide eyes.
Flogg grimaces, bound in blue cords across his chest.
He-Man, Guardians and the hosts eat at a long table laden with food.
The two hosts smile and eat at the table, one in a pink tentacled hat.
The diners sit along a long table laden with food, seen from above.
He-Man runs along a grassy road beside a man in blue who reaches forward.

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