NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

Juggernaut

Juggernaut title card
E19

Official Synopsis

He-Man grapples the grey robot inside the orange ship cabin.

While two pilots grumble through a dull patrol, a girl's voice calls for help from outside the shield. Hydron and Flipshot guide her to a landing, with Adam going out as Adam, and a newly appointed minister presents her as Vadora, the only survivor of the planet Tetron. Later strange sounds come from her ship and Adam finds she is a machine, strong as ten men, who has built a juggernaut out of her vessel. Skeletor has plans for her: drill down, destroy a target, then the Oasis, while the Mutants take down Levitan and the generator. The Council resists the evidence until the machine attacks, and Hydron asks whether they are connected to its weapon controls before the story closes on thanks to He-Man.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Gleep tells Flipshot about recycling: paper and plastic can be recycled, you should separate them and take them to a recycling center, and the closing words are a reminder to recycle.

heman.org Episode Review

What do you do when the child you have just rescued seems so fragile that doubting her feels cruel? "Juggernaut" builds its drama on that moment, and the answer it gives is not comfortable: Adam is right about Vadora, but being right is not enough while the room wants to believe otherwise.

The opening is relaxed. Two pilots are on a dull patrol, one reads aloud to pass the time, the other complains and tells him to stop, and then the voice one takes for a prank turns out to come from something big outside the shield. The girl is flying toward a hole in the shield, the pilots say they can reach her in 120 hyper-tockets, and two Astro-subs will not be enough. Adam says that he cannot change to He-Man now and must go as Adam, a small reminder of what the disguise costs him. A countdown to the hole, Mutant fighters moving in, and the pilots guiding the girl to a safe landing give the rescue some urgency.

The arrival scene is where the trap becomes a character study. Werban, newly appointed as Minister of Interplanetary Rights, presents the only survivor of Tetron, and Vadora thanks everyone, especially her parents, saying that her father blew her a kiss and launched her by remote control. She asks to spend the night alone on her ship thinking of her mommy and daddy, and Hydron says he has something in his eye. The He-Man wiki notes that Werban sees Master Sebrian as a rival for influence on the Council, which helps explain why a minister who has just been named her guardian will not hear a word against her.

Put in plain words, the story is about evidence and trust: Adam has seen the proof, the Council has seen a sad little girl, and the proof loses. Strange sounds come from her ship, and Adam discovers that she is a machine as strong as ten men who has built a juggernaut out of it. When he reports it, Werban answers that she is a helpless child who lost her family, and Adam tells him to look at her arm. Someone on the Council says it is hard to believe, and Adam answers that they will be responsible for allowing Skeletor to destroy Primus. It is a good scene because neither man is a fool: one has seen, the other has been moved.

Skeletor's plan is stated with the glee of someone reading a schedule. Vadora will drill down and destroy a target, then drill up to destroy the Oasis; his Mutants will blast Levitan out of the sky and wipe out the generator, and he will find and obliterate He-Man. The machine answers him with a repeated yes, Skeletor, which someone later notes as odd, speculating that she wanted to make sure he heard. When she attacks, a voice calls for children first, corrects that to ministers first, then insists the order was the same. The joke lightens a story with a grim reveal: we saved a machine only because she played on our emotions.

The weakness is the speed of the finish. Hydron asks whether they are connected to the Juggernaut's weapon controls, someone says now, and a moment later another voice congratulates He-Man, so the means of victory has to be inferred. The likely reason is the half hour: the reveal, the attack, the Council argument and the safety tip all share it, and the battle gets what is left.

Verdict: a well-judged story about trust that keeps its best scene, the argument over Vadora, in the first half. It sits comfortably in the run as the episode where a villain's weapon wears a child's face, and Gleep's closing talk about recycling is a mild comedown from it.

Notes of Interest

  1. Continuity: Werban, the Inner Council secretary who becomes Vadora's guardian here, is voiced by Don Brown, who also voices Hydron, according to the He-Man wiki.
  2. Continuity: The He-Man wiki describes Werban as a recurring character who sees Master Sebrian as a rival for influence on the Council, which colors his trust in Vadora.
  3. Behind the scenes: A 2017 Dark Horse Comics reference book, the Character Guide and World Compendium, illustrates its Juggernaut entry with a Shuttle Pod from He-Man Mutant instead of the Juggernaut, according to the He-Man wiki.
  4. Fan observation: In the closing safety segment Gleep tells Flipshot about recycling and reveals he is built from recycled parts, per the He-Man wiki.
  5. Voice cast: Venus Terzo voices Mara and Ted Cole voices Gleep, according to the He-Man wiki cast list.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Prince Adam
Good

Prince Adam

Episode screenshots

A pilot in a white helmet looks out of the cockpit as another fighter flies in the distance.
A pilot in a white helmet looks out of the cockpit as another fighter flies in the distance.
A pilot in a white helmet and blue suit grips the controls of a cockpit.
A pilot in a white helmet and blue suit grips the controls of a cockpit.
Skeletor raises his hands beside Slush Head and a small red-armored mutant in a dim ship.
Skeletor raises his hands beside Slush Head and a small red-armored mutant in a dim ship.
A smooth silver ship streaks through a field of stars.
A smooth silver ship streaks through a field of stars.
Three white fighter ships fly in formation across a blue sky.
Three white fighter ships fly in formation across a blue sky.
A blonde girl with a pink tiara looks forward, wide-eyed, in an orange-walled cabin.
A dark round hole sits in the surface above a blue planet seen through a window.
Adam talks and points a finger in a library as a grey-haired elder and a dark-haired woman listen.
Adam talks and points a finger in a library as a grey-haired elder and a dark-haired woman listen.
Adam looks to the side with a calm face in a bright room.
Adam looks to the side with a calm face in a bright room.
Adam sits strapped into a ship seat and grips the controls with a frown.
A dark round hole opens in space above a blue planet.
A dark round hole hangs in the sky among thin clouds.
Townspeople in robes look up with worried faces beneath a pink and orange sky.
A grey-haired elder smiles as a dark-haired woman hugs him, with a small green robot nearby.
A white fighter ship flies below a blast of bright blue light.
A white and blue fighter ship tilts and dives through clouds.
A pilot in a helmet with a red face mask and yellow collar looks ahead in a cockpit.
A white and blue ship with red engine tubes flies above the clouds.
Two small ships fly far apart in a pale sky.
A spiked ship with a red and blue engine flies through the clouds.
The spiked ship flies in the sky with a faint outline of another craft overlapping the image.
Adam looks forward with a firm face from a ship cockpit.
Adam's face fills the frame, his eyes turned to the side.
The rounded white hull of a ship fills the frame.
The spiked ship hovers low over a desert beach with cacti.
A monitor shows a small vehicle leaving two long tracks across the desert from above.
A man in a brown robe raises both arms at a podium before a large crowd.
A man with grey-purple hair and a gold headband smiles in front of three microphones.
The robed man stands at the podium with his hand on the blonde girl as Adam looks on.
The robed man and the blonde girl stand at the podium before a crowd, Adam at the left.
A blonde girl in a pink top stands among a worried crowd beside an older man in green.
The blonde girl speaks into microphones with her mouth open.
A dark-haired woman looks forward with a tense face.
A dark-haired woman closes her eyes next to the grey-haired elder, who raises a finger and smiles.
The red-haired and brown-haired pilots stand side by side and smile.
Adam looks to the left in profile in a dim, blue-lit space.
A pair of sandaled feet step across dark ground at night.
A smooth blue-grey ship hull rests under a starry sky.
A large grey armored vehicle with gun turrets sits on a pile of wreckage at night.
The blonde girl in pink climbs through wreckage beside a pair of sandaled legs.
A dark hall at night with a stairway leading to a round window where figures stand.
The robed man with a gold headband stands beside the grey-haired elder and the dark-haired woman.
Adam kneels on a metal panel and holds his head in one hand.
The blonde girl lifts a long metal beam, a dark mark on her shoulder.
Adam looks at something with a stern frown and a clenched fist, a metal wall behind him.
The robed man, the blonde girl, a dark-haired woman and an elder with a staff stand at night.
A faded image of the robed man with arms crossed overlaps the blonde girl's worried face.
Skeletor grins widely from a cockpit seat with red rounded pods behind him.
Skeletor grins widely from a cockpit seat with red rounded pods behind him.
Flogg bares his teeth and grips a red-armored cockpit control.
Flogg bares his teeth and grips a red-armored cockpit control.
The robed man with arms crossed looks aside with a blank face against a night sky.
Four figures stand on a moonlit hillside among shadowy shapes.
Adam stands beside the grey-haired elder and a dark-haired woman at night, looking to the side.
The orange cockpit of the ship shows a star-patterned panel and mechanical arms around a seat.
A white ship hangs above desert land as pale shapes overlap the frame.
The grey-haired elder with a twisted staff and a dark-haired woman look aside at night.
The elder and the dark-haired woman stand before a pale rock as dust spreads around them.
The dark-haired woman and the elder stand with their backs to a giant dark machine.
He-Man raises his sword overhead before a wall of flames on a black background.
He-Man raises his sword overhead before a wall of flames on a black background.
A hand is pressed against a dark-haired woman's face in a tight shot.
He-Man helps the grey-haired elder while the dark-haired woman steadies him at night.
He-Man helps the grey-haired elder while the dark-haired woman steadies him at night.
He-Man stands at the left as the dark-haired woman looks toward a burst of dirt.
A large cloud of rock and dust erupts from the ground.
A large disc-roofed building stands in a city with a gold ring above it.
He-Man stands beside the grey-haired elder, who holds a staff, in a hall with glowing crystals.
He-Man and a group of people stand on a round platform around a large pink crystal cluster.
A cluster of pink crystals glows above a gold railing.
The robed man with a gold headband makes a fist beside a mustached man and a red-capped figure.
Skeletor clasps his hands together and grins in his cockpit seat.
Skeletor throws his arms up and laughs in his cockpit seat.
A group sits on a bench, including a figure in blue and a small one in a dome.
He-Man looks forward with a firm face in front of an orange sky.
He-Man looks aside as a person in a red face mask stands beside a tall blue column.
Chunks of rock burst outward from an explosion with a blue metal piece spinning in the middle.
A smear of orange and brown shapes fills the frame.
A dark blue tank with a long cannon rolls past a tall wheel as pink beams fire.
Two cannons on a dark machine glow with pink light at their tips.
A frightened man and a woman in blue look out from a stone building beside a balcony.
A bare muscled arm rests against a teal background.
He-Man's faded face overlaps a sword stabbing into a metal floor with a spark.
The blonde girl sits at a control panel inside the ship while mechanical arms hover over her.
The blonde girl spreads her arms wide, her eyes glowing pink.
A grey robot with glowing orange eyes leans forward with its fists clenched.
The grey robot raises both arms with glowing red eyes inside the ship.
He-Man reaches out a hand and holds a tool while a robot's head hangs behind him.
He-Man turns with his sword on his back as a faded robot overlaps the picture.
Skeletor laughs beside the grey robot with smoke rising near him.
The grey robot sits with eyes dimmed and steam rising at its side.
Several purple ships float in the darkness of space.
Skeletor strokes his chin with a hand and grins in his cockpit.
Skeletor looks to the side with a wide grin as a fleet of ships flies behind him.
Skeletor sits with his shoulders raised and grins at the camera.
A large metal dome with portholes sits against a dark sky.
He-Man talks in the cockpit with the red-haired and brown-haired pilots sitting behind him.
Flogg shouts with his mouth open and his armor tilted in a cockpit.
Flogg shouts with his mouth open and his armor tilted in a cockpit.
A ship streaks through space trailing pink and purple light.
Skeletor grins with his arms crossed, his face lit from the side in pink.
He-Man walks across the platform beside the robed man under a bank of pink crystals.
He-Man and a pilot are faintly visible through glassy overlay in the crystal hall.
The blonde girl looks forward with wide eyes beside a small green robot and tall crystals.
A small green robot lifts an arm to its head in the crystal hall.
A small green robot rolls past a pillar with a long metal tool.

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