NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

Mutiny on the Mothership

Mutiny on the Mothership title card
E50

Official Synopsis

Staghorn grimaces with one eye shut inside a green gun mount as a gold-helmeted mutant watches.

A storm is breaking up the radio between the Primus Space Base and the starship Colossus, and the Mutant Mothership is on the far side of it, carrying Flogg and Skeletor to ask the Vizepians to join them against Primus. As the ships struggle through the storm, Staghorn and Quakke seize the Mothership's controls, seal off the bridge, and demand surrender. The two ships are hooked together, and Hydron and the Mutants agree to a truce to cut them apart. When they are free, the Mutants break the truce and fight on. The Vizepians reveal they created the storm as a test, judge the Mutants fools, and praise the Primans. A viewer is told to wear a life vest.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Krex shows off his new sailboat but is not wearing a life vest. The closing lesson is to wear a life vest whenever you go out on a boat, since accidents can happen on the water and a life vest can save your life.

heman.org Episode Review

What does it take to be worth an alliance? "Mutiny on the Mothership" turns that question into a test and then sits back to watch two crews fail or pass it. It sets up with a storm: the radio between Primus Space Base and the Colossus is breaking apart, the Mothership is on the far side, and both ships may be sailing toward each other without knowing it. Aboard the Mothership, the Mutants are on their way to ask the Vizepians to join them against Primus, and one of them is already unhappy about being too far from Moon Nordor with all the key Mutants on one ship.

The mutiny, when it comes, has a pleasing amount of friction behind it. Someone snaps at B.H. over the docking bay and the terror treads, Slush Head is told to shut up, and Staghorn offers Quakke the post of copilot and promises to get the ship out of the storm, which draws the answer that Flogg no longer knows what he is doing. Staghorn seals off the bridge, announces that he controls the rest of the ship, and the countdown to blasting the door in is shouted in earnest. A voice suggests letting them battle it out, which is a fair summary of the Mutant style of command.

In plain words, the story is about how you behave when you need an enemy's help. The Colossus is hooked onto the Mothership, and a voice on the Mutant side suggests dealing with it first and settling their own quarrel afterwards. When Hydron comes on the screen to accuse the Mutants of using the ion storm to their advantage, they answer that they had no idea he was there and are caught in the same storm. Flogg is told that once the ship is free they can destroy it, regain the respect of the crew and end the mutiny. Hydron, for his part, hopes that a joint effort may be the start of a new bond.

The cutting scene is the high point. Both crews cut sections of wing and hull from the ships, working with lasers on low beam until only one section is left, too close to the fuel cells to cut from a distance, so someone volunteers to handle it with a hand torch. It is a nice piece of cartoon problem solving, since the danger lies in the work itself, not in a villain, and the storm grows worse while they do it.

The moment the ships separate, a Mutant voice says the truce is over and the fight resumes. At this point the Vizepians step in: they created the storm, they say, and brought both sides together to see whether they were worthy of friendship. The Mutants fought among themselves and refused help from an enemy even in a crisis; the Primans showed wisdom in danger and courage in battle. Weapons on both ships are switched off and everyone is sent home.

The weakness is that explanation. The test is announced after the fact, in a speech, so the lesson is told rather than dramatised; the likely reason is the half hour slot, which has no room for another act.

Verdict: a tidy, thoughtful episode that places a moral question inside an action frame, and closes on its spine: a friendship is judged by what you do when you need help from someone you do not trust.

Notes of Interest

  1. Homage: The He-Man wiki says the title is taken from the historical Mutiny on the Bounty, which was also the subject of several films.
  2. Continuity: Prince Adam does not appear in this story, per the He-Man wiki.
  3. Continuity: The He-Man wiki lists the Vizepians as a first and only Jetlag Productions appearance.
  4. Continuity: The robot U-R appears in a non-speaking role that the He-Man wiki records as its final Jetlag Productions appearance.
  5. Behind the scenes: The He-Man wiki summarises the closing moral as Flipshot on a skyboard borrowed from Caz, urging protective gear, which differs from the closing scene here, where Krex shows off a new sailboat without a life vest.
  6. Voice cast: Ted Cole voices Slush Head, Spinwit and Staghorn, and Scott McNeil voices Flipshot, BH and Krex, according to the He-Man wiki cast list.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Flogg
Evil

Flogg
Slushhead
Evil

Slushhead
Staghorn
Evil

Staghorn

Episode screenshots

Captain Hydron's red hair shows from behind as a bald man with glasses appears on a static-streaked screen.
Captain Hydron's red hair shows from behind as a bald man with glasses appears on a static-streaked screen.
An elderly man with glasses appears on a monitor streaked with static.
An elderly man with glasses appears on a monitor streaked with static.
Blue storm swirls fill a white circular viewscreen.
Blue storm swirls fill a white circular viewscreen.
A wavy teal and white distorted image fills a screen beside a red-haired man's shoulder.
Captain Hydron looks ahead with a stern face.
Captain Hydron looks ahead in a dim cockpit with his face in shadow.
A purple mothership bridge holds a spiked clawed console and tiny figures.
Flogg snarls from inside his hood.
Flogg snarls from inside his hood.
Flogg leans over a console with a ghosted image of Skeletor beside him.
Flogg leans over a console with a ghosted image of Skeletor beside him.
Flogg grips his helmet and scowls in a seat.
A red-haired woman in a pink dress works at the controls on the bridge.
A red-haired woman looks at a swirling storm screen from behind a blue chair.
Skeletor, Flogg and Slush Head look ahead from the bridge.
Skeletor, Flogg and Slush Head look ahead from the bridge.
Slush Head looks worried inside his tubed helmet.
Slush Head looks worried inside his tubed helmet.
The red-haired woman works the controls in front of a swirling storm screen.
A grey-masked mutant in a green vest looks ahead from a chair.
Flogg appears in a purple wall monitor while a green-vested mutant stands in the foreground.
A grey-masked mutant in a green vest stands looking down.
Two mutants sit small in blue seats in a shadowy purple bay.
Flogg scowls beside Skeletor on the bridge.
A gold-helmeted mutant with a red face looks sideways.
Slush Head, Skeletor and Flogg sit looking forward on the bridge.
Slush Head, Skeletor and Flogg sit looking forward on the bridge.
A purple double door shows a round green light.
Staghorn shouts beside a gold-helmeted mutant on the bridge.
Staghorn shouts beside a gold-helmeted mutant on the bridge.
Staghorn scowls with one eye shut as the frame tilts.
Staghorn scowls with one eye shut as the frame tilts.
A spiky ship is wrapped in blue lightning in a dark storm.
Staghorn stands with his fists clenched in the bay.
Flogg looks to the side with a frown from his seat.
Flogg looks away while Skeletor stands with arms crossed at the right.
A figure in blue bends over a seat at the bridge console, one white-gloved hand on the panel.
A red-striped creature stands in the bridge doorway as armed mutants watch.
A blue suit with a red band and yellow knees fills the frame.
A grey-masked mutant and a gold-helmeted mutant stand in a corridor beside a fallen mutant.
The red-haired woman stands with a hand on her hip in a pink dress.
A sealed arched double door has a glowing light bar across it.
The red-haired woman spreads her blue cape wide with one fist raised, shouting.
Staghorn, a grey-masked mutant and a gold-helmeted mutant stand together in a corridor.
A red beam from a spiked weapon burns a white puff of smoke.
The gold-helmeted mutant shouts at Staghorn.
A pink glowing ring forms on a purple door beside a red armored arm.
Skeletor shouts beside the red-haired woman.
Staghorn raises a fist beside the gold-helmeted mutant in the corridor.
Staghorn shouts beside a green robotic gun mount.
Skeletor, the red-haired woman and Flogg crowd together on the bridge.
A white-hot beam shoots from a gun muzzle.
A green gun mount fires a white beam past Staghorn's face.
Skeletor holds his staff before the bridge door.
A green cannon swings on mechanical arms and fires a flash of white light.
A green robotic gun mount swings on its arm in a corridor.
Skeletor holding his staff stands beside a closed arched door.
A dark shape slumps beside a green machine with a white dome.
Skeletor, the red-haired woman, Flogg and Slush Head stand together on the bridge.
A large green spiny ship drifts through a purple storm with a small white ship nearby.
Staghorn grimaces with wide eyes and a hand on a strap.
Flogg points toward a console on the bridge while Slush Head sits beside him.
Flogg shakes a fist and snarls.
Flogg shouts from a monitor screen while Captain Hydron watches from behind.
Captain Hydron looks ahead with a frown.
He-Man and Captain Hydron sit in the cockpit looking ahead, He-Man speaking.
He-Man and Captain Hydron sit in the cockpit looking ahead, He-Man speaking.
A monitor shows Flogg and Skeletor while Captain Hydron faces it.
Flogg rubs his chin with a red-gloved hand and bares his teeth.
Skeletor and Flogg lean close together with grim looks.
Two figures walk away through a doorway in a blue metal room.
Flipshot in his winged helmet stands beside He-Man.
Flipshot in his winged helmet stands beside He-Man.
A white ship sits pressed against a torn teal hull section in a purple storm.
Two crew members, one bald and in red, work beside a torn teal hull panel.
Two small ships hover in a purple storm.
Staghorn aims a pistol in a ghosted overlay with a ship.
A white ship fires a glowing blue blast in the storm.
A white ship sits under a torn teal hull strip.
A white ship rests beneath a frayed teal hull piece.
A white ship noses along a torn teal hull piece.
He-Man floats through the storm in a ghosted overlay with a small ship.
Swirling purple and blue storm clouds fill the frame.
A dark purple shell-shaped ship with a yellow serrated edge sits in shadow.
A blue armored arm with a red cuff rises beside a bright flash.
A white ship tilts nose-down against a blue hull in the storm.
Flipshot rests his chin on his thumb and looks ahead.
Pink and blue storm clouds swirl with a tiny ship at the lower left.
A dark ship hull glows with an orange flare in the storm.
A dark ship with a purple shell trails orange exhaust through the storm.
A radar screen shows a red triangle inside a circle.
A white ship trails blue exhaust through the storm.
Flipshot in his helmet watches a targeting screen, seen from behind.
The underside of a white ship passes through storm clouds.
The red-haired woman speaks from a red chair, clutching her necklace.
Flipshot smiles through the cockpit window beside Captain Hydron's red hair.
A brown-clad arm reaches over the cockpit controls inside a green ship.
He-Man clings to a red hull in space as smoke drifts past.
Two yellow gun barrels point forward in space.
Skeletor grins widely with glowing red eyes.
A small ship with a purple shell flies through the distant storm.
A purple-shelled ship trails smoke in the storm.
A small figure floats inside a yellow glow above a green hull.
Flogg shouts wide-eyed in front of a bright round window.
Two gun barrels poke from green domed mounts.
A white ship with red and blue boosters carries a pilot under its canopy.
A figure stands small in a cavernous purple bay lined with white lights.
Flogg and Slush Head glare ahead on the bridge.
Flame-shaped faces with glowing yellow eyes hover in the dark.
A grey-masked mutant with spindly metal arms stands before a doorway where a yellow-armored figure peers out.
A flame-shaped face with glowing yellow eyes fills the frame.
Captain Hydron, Flipshot, a bald man in red and another crew member sit in a cockpit.
A flame-shaped face with glowing yellow eyes glows on a monitor.
He-Man speaks and looks to the side as clear streaks cross the cockpit glass.
He-Man, Captain Hydron, Flipshot and the bald man in red talk together in the cockpit.
A sailboat with a white and red sail crosses choppy water carrying two people.

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