NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

Queen's Gambit

Queen's Gambit title card
E58

Official Synopsis

The red-haired woman and Mara face off on the desert, a whip stretched between them.

Flogg and Skeletor launch a giant meteor from Moon Nordor at Primus, a diversion meant to keep the Galactic Guardians from helping Mara and the Mites. Crita plans to sweep across the plains with a ground army and assault Sorton while Gleanon fighters and drones draw the Mite Space Force into the sky. Mara asks He-Man for help, but he must stay for the meteor, which Captain Hydron's lasers cannot scratch. Mara spots a drone among the fighters, learns that the Gleanons have an army on the move, and flies down to call Crita's bluff, only to meet a cloaking screen. He-Man asks how he can be in two places at once, and the Sorceress makes a tunnel to carry the meteor to Mara's enemies.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

He-Man tells a group of children that some people will try to make them do drugs, and that if a friend asks, the answer is no: a real friend will like you for who you are, and you have the power to say no to drugs.

heman.org Episode Review

Can one hero be in two places at once? "Queen's Gambit" builds its half hour on a chess-like answer: a single move that does two jobs. Flogg and Skeletor launch a giant meteor from Moon Nordor at Primus, and the point, as one of them puts it, is to stop the Guardians from helping Mara and the Mites, while on the plains outside Sorton a ground army is readied that the Mites do not expect. The meteor is the diversion and the army is the real attack, and the question the script puts to its hero is how he can answer both.

The setup is among the cleaner pieces of plotting in the run, because it is explained once and then left to play out. Someone points out that the Mites are used to fighting only one way, in the sky, which is why they will not expect a ground attack, and a wing of Gleanon fighters and drones is sent to make the Mites believe the Gleanons are throwing everything they have at them. The Mite Space Force takes the bait, and the nicest touch in the first half is a small one: Mara sees that there is no one in a fighter, understands that it is a drone, and concludes that the Gleanons have not sent their full Space Force.

Put in plain words, the episode is about the limit of one hero and how a team gets past it. Mara asks He-Man for help and he cannot give it, because the Guardians are needed on Primus in case of catastrophe; he promises her he will help somehow, and says that the power of the good and the way of the magic stretches across galaxies. Here the phrase from the opening narration is spoken as a promise rather than a slogan.

Mara carries the middle. She learns that the Gleanons have an army now, finishes one fight, and moves to intercept them before they reach Sorton, and when the plains below show nothing but rocks she decides to call Crita's bluff. Lieutenant Tassler, in the one appearance the He-Man wiki gives him, tells her it is a risk too great, and her answer is that some things are worth great risk, freedom among them. Crita, hidden by the cloaking screen, greets her with a playful line, and the trap closes.

The resolution is where the episode makes its choice. He-Man says he has the strength but cannot see how to aim the meteor at Mara's enemies, and the Sorceress answers that he is the power of the good and she is its guide: she will see that the meteor finds its target. Someone then announces that she has made a tunnel to take the meteor to Mara's enemies. The shape is satisfying, since one problem is used to solve the other, but the mechanics are a line of dialogue long, and we are asked to accept the tunnel.

Here sits the weakness, though it is the sort that a 22-minute adventure with two fronts tends to produce. The audience is given a clear question, how can he be in two places, and an answer that rests on magic whose rules we have not been shown. Fans who like a payoff to be seeded earlier may feel short-changed.

In the closing exchange the credit for leading the Mites so bravely is handed round, the Sorceress is named as the one who is always there to guide, and the last word is that whenever good is threatened she is there to guide and he will be there to be her strength. The spine is in that sentence: the hero supplies the strength, the guide supplies the way, and the person in the field supplies the nerve.

Verdict: a well-organised two-front adventure with a satisfying central idea and a convenient solution, and a good showcase for Mara and Crita.

Notes of Interest

  1. Continuity: Lieutenant Tassler appears only in this episode, according to the He-Man wiki.
  2. Behind the scenes: In the closing moral, He-Man teaches a group of children in Levitan to say no to drugs, per the He-Man wiki.
  3. Voice cast: Venus Terzo voices Mara, Crita and the Sorceress, and Scott McNeil voices Flipshot and BH, according to the He-Man wiki cast list.
  4. Continuity: Kayo, Nocturna, Sagitar, Spinwit and Vizar make silent cameos on the Guardians side, and Karatti, Slush Head and Staghorn on the Mutant side, per the He-Man wiki.
  5. Behind the scenes: The He-Man wiki says Crita was created by head writer Jack Olesker, who has named her among his favorite characters in the series.
  6. Toys: Crita never got a figure in the original toy line, and the He-Man wiki says she finally arrived as a Masters of the Universe Classics figure in 2016.

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

Two huge round cannon pods and lattice towers stand in an orange crater.
Two huge round cannon pods and lattice towers stand in an orange crater.
Flogg holds a small device to his mouth beside a helmeted mutant in green.
Flogg holds a small device to his mouth beside a helmeted mutant in green.
Flogg grins and raises a gloved fist, a gold device at the lower left.
Flogg grins and raises a gloved fist, a gold device at the lower left.
Orange rock with white streaks fills the frame.
Orange rock with white streaks fills the frame.
Flogg raises one arm in triumph beside a masked mutant.
Skeletor laughs as Flogg grimaces beside him, a staff behind them.
Skeletor laughs as Flogg grimaces beside him, a staff behind them.
An empty white fighter cockpit with a dark seat sits inside a hangar.
An empty white fighter cockpit with a dark seat sits inside a hangar.
Two men in blue suits, one brown-haired and one red-haired, stand shoulder to shoulder smiling.
Two men in blue suits, one brown-haired and one red-haired, stand shoulder to shoulder smiling.
Adam stands in a hangar in a green tunic and sandals.
Adam stands in a hangar in a green tunic and sandals.
He-Man raises a blue sword in front of a wall of fire.
He-Man raises a blue sword in front of a wall of fire.
A white triangular craft with red engines sits in a hangar.
A white triangular craft with red engines sits in a hangar.
He-Man looks ahead with a determined expression.
He-Man looks ahead with a determined expression.
A lattice trident tower tops a dish-shaped base, seen from below against a dark sky.
The red-haired woman stands with arms crossed beside a table where a horned mutant rests his head.
A green-faced horned mutant grins with narrowed eyes.
A rocky mountain stands against a pale sky.
Stacks of mutant soldiers glow as blue energy streaks past them.
Two mutants peer from the cockpits of brown vehicles beside a canyon wall.
Rows of tanks and troops cross a sandy plain as a horned mutant watches from the lower right.
The red-haired woman stands on a rocky slope with a mutant crouched nearby.
A mutant in armor strides across a canyon floor with a weapon in each hand.
A pale green skull-shaped cannon juts out from a blue arm.
A skull-shaped meteor streams blue and orange flames through space.
He-Man stands at a control console and watches the burning meteor streak past the window.
A skull-faced meteor with orange thrusters tumbles through space.
A red-haired man in a green suit looks ahead with a slight smile.
Rows of olive tank vehicles and small soldiers fill the frame.
The red-haired woman stands near a large hexagonal screen as two mutants crouch at a console.
A green-faced mutant in dark armor stands with his mouth open and chest out.
A grey-green mutant raises a hand and glances sideways.
The red-haired woman rests a staff on her shoulder as two armored mutants stand before her.
A skull-topped cannon barrel points out from a blue vehicle as mutants work beside it.
A mutant sits atop a round gun turret on a stalk, another turret at right.
Two scowling mutants peer out of grey armored cockpits.
A green-faced mutant with a clamp on his helmet grins with wide eyes.
A flock of tiny aircraft flies above a canyon.
The red-haired woman looks ahead from the cockpit of her vehicle.
The red-haired woman rides atop a purple armored vehicle in front of skull-topped poles and mutant soldiers.
A tall tower with red bands rises against the sky.
Mara gestures with one hand beside the goggled guard on the command deck.
The red-haired woman stands with hands on her hips atop a vehicle, a mutant beside her.
A woman's green eye fills the frame beneath a gold brow band.
A red-haired man watches with a stern expression against a starry backdrop.
A glowing meteor streaks toward a planet in space.
Mara looks out ahead from a dark cockpit canopy.
He-Man, partly in shadow, looks sideways with a serious face.
Mara presses a fist to her chest as she speaks, looking distressed.
Mara clasps her hands between President Pel and the goggled guard as they look ahead.
He-Man smiles and speaks with a red-haired man in green behind him.
Mara gestures toward a console between two armored figures seen from behind.
Green fighter craft swarm across the sky with a white ship among them.
A mutant pilot steers a pale green fighter, with a second craft above it.
A fiery explosion bursts beside the rounded hull of a grey fighter.
A grey fighter jet is engulfed in a yellow fireball.
Mara sits in a cockpit looking to the side as fighters fly past.
Mara looks ahead with a worried frown, her face filling the frame.
A tall tower with petal-shaped platforms rises from green farmland.
Mara looks ahead from the cockpit with a stern expression.
Mara frowns with her eyes fixed ahead from the pilot seat.
The red-haired woman smirks and looks to the side against a blue sky.
A scowling green-faced mutant fills a round monitor on a black background.
A grey engine cluster hangs above sandy ground.
A rounded orange rock mound sits on a flat desert.
Mara speaks from the cockpit with a furrowed brow.
Mara looks ahead wide-eyed in the cockpit.
A man in a green cap with a triangle badge shouts while gripping controls.
A small jet flies over rolling desert dunes.
Mara glares straight ahead from the cockpit seat.
The red-haired woman peers over the edge of a purple vehicle in a cave with green rock walls.
Mara swerves in a tilted cockpit as blue beams flash past.
A glowing craft hovers in a dark tunnel above green ground.
Mara lies back and looks upward with her head tilted.
Pale yellow ships with orange hulls float in a blue sky.
A white jet flies through a green cave toward small craft as armored mutants watch.
White sparks rain down across a curved purple shield.
Mara looks sideways as white specks swirl past the canopy.
Mara looks up with her mouth open against a blue sky.
A white and purple jet banks low over sandy ground.
A grey jet flies below a looming orange rock as beams streak past.
Mara glares ahead from the cockpit with a harness over her chest.
He-Man sits between two seated men in a dark cockpit with beams of light crossing behind them.
He-Man, seen from behind, grips a control stick.
He-Man presses a hand to his chest and speaks urgently at the controls.
A woman in a winged white helmet is reflected in a large eye.
A woman in a winged white helmet is reflected in a large eye.
He-Man stands in a dark doorway with his arms at his sides.
He-Man looks aside with one arm reaching out of frame.
He-Man speaks with a slight frown at the controls.
He-Man stands on a round white pedestal and raises a sword, seen from above.
A brown meteor sits at the center of rippling circles.
Mara sits in the cockpit and looks ahead as blue beams pass.
A green tunnel curves through dark space.
A bright explosion bursts inside a cloud of pale smoke.
Purple machine parts blow apart in a fireball.
Mara looks to the side in the cockpit with a worried face.
The red-haired woman and Mara face each other as the goggled guard crouches between them.
Mara and the red-haired woman wrestle, each gripping the other, a whip trailing between them.
Mara, seen from behind, shoves the red-haired woman's face with one hand on the desert.
The red-haired woman lunges at Mara on the desert as a whip circles Mara's waist.
A green-gloved arm reaches across a blue sky.
A mutant in blue and yellow armor covers his face with one hand, a gun in the other.
Mara stands with arms spread before green armored soldiers aiming orange blasters.
A mutant in teal and purple armor lies on his back on the sand.
Mara looks off to the side with a stern expression, a gold crown on her head.
Mara looks ahead beside a console and monitor.
He-Man frowns, his face filling the frame.
Five children huddle together and look up with tired expressions.

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