NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

He-Man Mutant

He-Man Mutant title card
E18

Official Synopsis

The mutated He-Man stands over two bound pilots in a round chamber.

Two Mutants break through the shield and are taken prisoner by Hydron and Spinwit, which suits Skeletor and Flogg's plan. On Primus, He-Man and Mara guess the Mutants wanted to be caught, and the scientists show them the mutator, which alters molecular structure and is not ready. Someone reaches for the master switch, and He-Man insists on being transformed to infiltrate the Mutants. Sebrian explains that the change has altered his mind as well as his body. He frees the prisoners, joins them, and gets the name Cruncher. Skeletor and Flogg award themselves grand titles and the Council is jammed, until Cruncher recovers himself and the device is destroyed.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Alcon proudly announces his new invention, a book, which is cheap, does not pollute and uses no energy, and the closing message is that reading is fun because a book can take you anywhere.

heman.org Episode Review

What makes someone who they are, the face or the mind? "He-Man Mutant" takes the question literally by running its hero through a machine called the mutator and then letting him walk into the Mutants' camp with a new body and no memory of his old one. Prince Adam does not appear, according to the He-Man wiki, so the episode leaves He-Man alone with the premise.

The setup is a quick, funny exchange of schemes. Two Mutants chatter about a weak spot in the shield, one admires the other's cleverness, and then their fighter breaks through and is brought down by Hydron and Spinwit. Back at the Mutants' base Skeletor remarks that it is working just like he said, and Flogg, asked whether he remembers wanting the dimwits caught, replies that it was his brilliant idea. In the cell, the prisoners laugh, and a Primus voice calls it strange behavior even for Mutants.

He-Man and Mara work out that the Mutants wanted to be captured, and the problem becomes how to learn why. Someone remarks that you would have to be a Mutant to infiltrate their headquarters, and someone cheerfully replies that this can be arranged, which brings out the mutator: a device that alters human molecular structure, and one that is not ready. Mara asks whether it has passed its tests, and the answer is that the scientists are careful, followed by a scramble for the right switch and a warning that this is the master mutating switch. He-Man, told to wait for Master Sebrian, insists there is no time and tells them to throw it.

Put in plain words, the story is about the gap between how someone looks and who they are, and the middle of the episode shows both halves of it. The mutated hero is called even more grotesque than Alcon, he says he is not He-Man and does not know who he is, and Sebrian explains that the process changed his mind as well as his body: he has become a mutant. The ending turns that around, because someone later says that if you do not judge by outward appearance but by what is inside, you can tell. The line is a bit pat, but the plot has earned it.

Flogg tests the newcomer by ordering him to dispatch the Primus pilots, Skeletor interrupts to suggest the pilots may prove useful, and the giant ends up with the name Cruncher. Then comes the best joke: Skeletor hands Flogg a kingship and announces himself as Emperor Skeletor the First, and the two admire each other's choices. Garry Chalk voices both He-Man and the mutated Cruncher, according to the wiki, which also lists a dubbing slip in which Quakke answers in BH's voice.

The attack on the Council is the episode's real danger. Skeletor storms in, the Council cannot focus its mental energies, and the shield falls; he orders Cruncher to strike down Sebrian. A plea to remember reaches the giant, someone mentions the sword, and he comes back to himself and the device jamming the Council is destroyed, so the shield can go up. Skeletor, leaving, grumbles that his own Mutants have ruined another plan.

The weakness is speed. The infiltration idea, the machine and the transformation all arrive within a few lines, and He-Man overrides the scientists' caution with the claim that Skeletor's plan will happen soon, a thin motive for a hero to become a monster. The likely cause is the 22-minute slot; the fix would have been one more scene of doubt.

Verdict: a brisk and funny identity swap that trades subtlety for a clear moral, and a good showcase for the double act of Skeletor and Flogg. The closing segment, in which Alcon proudly announces the invention of a book, is a pleasant joke on top.

Notes of Interest

  1. Continuity: According to the He-Man wiki, Prince Adam does not appear in this episode.
  2. Behind the scenes: The He-Man wiki says the first draft had Hoove and Karatti, rather than Quakke and BH, captured at the start of the episode.
  3. Edit history: The He-Man wiki lists a dubbing slip: when He-Man tells BH and Quakke to drop their weapons, Quakke answers in BH's voice before returning to his own.
  4. Voice cast: Garry Chalk is credited with both the mutated Cruncher and He-Man, and Don Brown voices Hydron, Gepple and Quakke, according to the He-Man wiki cast list.
  5. Voice cast: Scott McNeil voices Flipshot, BH and Krex in this episode, per the He-Man wiki cast list.
  6. Fan observation: In the closing safety segment Alcon proudly announces the invention of a book, and the He-Man wiki notes he is the only one on the couch not already reading one.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Flogg
Evil

Flogg

Episode screenshots

A bank of four glowing pink panel lights flashes on a grey control console.
A bank of four glowing pink panel lights flashes on a grey control console.
A single winged creature flies through a blue sky with thin clouds.
A single winged creature flies through a blue sky with thin clouds.
He-Man stands in a meadow with a red bird on his arm while two young people sit nearby.
He-Man stands in a meadow with a red bird on his arm while two young people sit nearby.
A boy in a yellow tunic and a blonde girl with a pet sit in a meadow.
A boy in a yellow tunic and a blonde girl with a pet sit in a meadow.
A white and yellow walking ship with a blue canopy stands on grass, drawn as a glassy outline.
A white and yellow walking ship with a blue canopy stands on grass, drawn as a glassy outline.
A red-haired pilot and a brown-haired pilot sit side by side in a cockpit.
A red-haired pilot and a brown-haired pilot sit side by side in a cockpit.
A small ship flies over green land and clouds seen from high above.
A small ship flies over green land and clouds seen from high above.
A masked mutant and a mutant in gold armor look up inside a dark ship.
A masked mutant and a mutant in gold armor look up inside a dark ship.
Two grey cockpit levers and a blue control panel sit against a view of sand dunes.
A blue ship wing rests above a sand dune.
A white walking ship with yellow legs kicks up sand in the desert.
The masked mutant and the gold-armored mutant sit on the sand, a blond arm at the frame edge.
A pilot in a blue vest talks with He-Man, who stands with his hands on his hips.
A pilot in a blue vest talks with He-Man, who stands with his hands on his hips.
The masked mutant and the gold-armored mutant look at each other with wary faces.
Skeletor throws his head back and laughs.
Skeletor throws his head back and laughs.
Skeletor grins widely with his eyes narrowed.
Skeletor grins widely with his eyes narrowed.
Flogg smiles with closed eyes while Skeletor laughs beside him.
Flogg smiles with closed eyes while Skeletor laughs beside him.
The masked mutant and the gold-armored mutant gesture as red laser bars cross in front of them.
The brown-haired and red-haired pilots stand side by side, one with arms crossed.
The red-haired pilot rubs his chin and frowns.
A gold fighter ship with a purple canopy points two cannons to the left.
He-Man gestures to his chest as he speaks to a dark-haired woman seen from behind.
The dark-haired woman turns toward the viewer and speaks, with He-Man beside her.
He-Man and a dark-haired woman stand in a blue lab as a small red-capped scientist rushes up.
He-Man and the dark-haired woman stand side by side in the lab.
Four scientists in a blue lab stand around a control desk, the bespectacled one at the front.
The pointed-cap scientist gestures with a pink glove beside the other scientists.
A bald scientist and the bespectacled one lean over a control panel with a joystick.
An empty machine pod with a red button sits in the lab.
A glass-fronted pod glitters with white sparkles.
The pointed-cap scientist looks down at the others, who watch worriedly.
The bespectacled scientist turns with an open hand and a worried look beside the control panel.
A pod fills with white vapor and sparkles as a figure in pink stands inside.
He-Man steps into the open pod with his sword while the dark-haired woman reaches for him.
He-Man smiles in the pod as the dark-haired woman touches his chest.
Scientists crowd around a control console while a blue spark jumps above it.
Three scientists watch a screen with tense faces, the pointed-cap one standing between them.
A mutated He-Man with fangs and a heavy brow scowls at the camera.
The mutated He-Man touches his face and stares down at a blue tube.
The mutated He-Man opens his mouth and looks shocked, with hands on his chest.
The mutated He-Man hunches forward in the corner of a room, glaring.
The mutated He-Man runs through a doorway at the far end of a blue corridor.
A white-haired elder in a blue robe holds a long silver staff in both hands.
A lab corridor ends in a doorway flanked by red glowing bars.
The mutated He-Man frees two mutants from a cell behind red laser bars.
The mutated He-Man trudges through a doorway into a dark hangar.
A gold fighter ship with a purple canopy sits in a hangar.
A white and blue ship sits on a runway under a cloudy sky.
The mutated He-Man looks alarmed between two pilots in blue legs and boots.
A small ship streaks through space past a cratered moon with a skull-like face.
Skeletor grins and looks to one side inside a dim room.
Skeletor grins and looks aside, with Flogg turned away behind him.
Skeletor with his staff and Flogg stand beside Slush Head, who holds a pistol, in a dim room.
Two pilots sit bound with coils of rope in a dim ship.
The mutated He-Man glares to the side, holding a grey gadget in one hand.
Skeletor laughs while Flogg looks aside with a wary expression.
The mutated He-Man looks worried with his lips pulled back from his tusks.
Skeletor grips his skull staff and points as Flogg and a mutant behind him look on.
Two pilots tied up with rope look off to the side in the cabin.
The small red-capped scientist hunches down and tugs at a bundle of cables.
The red-capped scientist splices wires with both hands, looking down.
A pink-gloved hand presses a red strip on a control panel with a joystick nearby.
Blue electricity arcs between two grey columns in a chamber.
A large dark pod with a colored light strip on top sits against a metal wall.
Scientists huddle amid smoke and wreckage in a lab.
Skeletor rubs his hands together with a wide grin.
A robotic claw hangs from the ceiling of a dark hangar.
A large domed building with a wide disc roof sits among smaller domes at sunset.
A blue planet with a white swirling storm hangs in space.
A grey ship with two red engine fans sits on a grassy field.
Skeletor lifts a red engine fan over his head while Flogg looks on from below.
Skeletor laughs with a hand against his chest.
The masked mutant and the gold-armored mutant talk together under a cloudy sky.
An elder stands on the far side of a round stage in a hall hung with crystals.
Skeletor, Flogg and other mutants crowd together, one holding a rifle.
Four figures stand frozen inside tall pink crystals in a hall with glowing rings above.
Skeletor grins in a dark room, his head tilted.
The mutated He-Man stands between two bound pilots, looking off to the side.
The dark-haired woman and the grey-haired elder smile as the elder raises one finger.
A blonde girl in pink peeks around a large curved doorway.
The mutated He-Man crouches near two bound pilots as a red mechanical bird flies in.
The red mechanical bird spreads its wings with a white armored vest and metal talons.
The red bird flies above the mutated He-Man, who stands tensely next to the bound pilots.
The red bird hovers before the mutated He-Man, seen from behind.
The mutated He-Man holds a staff-like silver tool and looks off to the side.
A blonde girl in pink steps toward the frozen figures in crystals as the red bird flies overhead.
The mutated He-Man looks aside with half-closed eyes, a silver tool beside his shoulder.
The mutated He-Man's face is reflected on a pale glass surface beside a crystal.
The mutated He-Man grips the silver tool and crouches near the bound pilots.
The mutated He-Man's face is squeezed into a tight grimace.
The mutated He-Man raises his sword and strains with his mouth open.
The mutated He-Man leaps through a burst of white light, his body stretching.
Skeletor and Flogg lean in and look to the side, both alarmed.
Skeletor, Flogg, and two other mutants stand in a row across the hall.
Skeletor swings his skull staff across the frame while Flogg stands behind him.
The red bird perches near a tall spire, looking down.
The red bird dives toward a small device in the center of red rings.
Skeletor holds a brown rod while Flogg stands at his side.
Skeletor's group stands in a line across a hall with a grey creature at their feet.
Two figures stand inside crystals in the lit hall, one in white and one in a pale gown.
Brown-haired and blonde companions stand beside He-Man, who looks up with a determined face.
Skeletor holds his staff and gestures with one hand in a dark room.
He-Man holds his sword up beside the group of freed companions and the elder.
He-Man sits with a red bird on his arm while a girl and small creatures rest.
A large green lizard-like creature stands with the blonde girl, who gestures toward it.
The blonde girl hugs the green creature's head while He-Man stands behind her.
He-Man holds the red bird on his arm, smiling.
A purple arched door with a white and blue stripe design stands between green bushes.
The pointed-cap scientist smiles and makes a V sign with one hand, pointing with the other.

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