NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

The Call to the Games

The Call to the Games title card
E60

Official Synopsis

He-Man stands on a snowbound wreck as a figure with a skull-topped staff stands by a smoke plume.

Flipshot is sparring with the Mites when an alarm sounds: a huge ship is attacking Primus. He-Man joins Captain Hydron's fleet, and the Guardians suspect the Mutants are not behind it. The Mutants are attacked too and fear for their space force. A voice named Royka orders the Guardians to follow the ship or see the damaged Starship Colossus destroyed, and Molden makes the same demand of Flogg and Skeletor. Both fleets are drawn toward Denebria, lose power, and crash in the fog zone, where He-Man slows the descent. The hosts then summon both sides to the games, and each agrees when its home is threatened.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Flipshot borrows Captain Hydron's new Zircaball without asking and loses it in an incinerator, and the closing lesson is to respect other people's property and never take something without first asking.

heman.org Episode Review

Who is to blame when an enemy appears from nowhere? "The Call to the Games" starts from the answer both sides want to give, which is the other side, and spends its half hour showing how much a third party can do with that reflex. The Guardians see a giant ship over Primus and one of them guesses that the Mutants have built something new, while elsewhere a Mutant voice suggests that Primus designed it; each camp is quick to point across the gap, and neither is right.

The first stretch is a fine piece of escalation. Flipshot has just concluded that nobody should get into a fight with a Mite when the alarm sounds, and then comes the description of an invader whose size is beyond imagination, half that of a moon, and of the firepower such a ship could command. Hydron calls Starship Colossus, Vizar leads a squadron of astrosubs, and He-Man arrives to a welcome. Somebody remarks that it feels as though the Mutants are not behind this, which is a good detail, because it is the first sign that the story means to be about misjudgement.

The standout comes when the stranger speaks. Royka tells He-Man and Captain Hydron to return their astrosubs to Primus and follow their ship, adding that Starship Colossus is badly damaged and carries damaged astrosubs, and that disobedience will end with its destruction. Molden gives the Mutants the same sort of instruction, and the Mutant leaders argue over whether to answer with all their laser power or to try friendship, since winning the visitors over would add to their own strength.

Put in plain words, the episode is about two rivals who cannot stop accusing each other even when a bigger power has them both. The Guardians are led toward a twin of the first ship, one voice declares that the Mutants are behind it, and another that they are walking into a trap; then both fleets are pulled toward Denebria, powerless, while a Mutant voice complains about the new ships that the Guardians' friends invented and the answer comes back that the Mutants made them. The hosts, it turns out, have been watching: one of them remarks that the two sides are well matched and that it should be a good battle, so the mutual blame has played into their hands.

The crash has a good deal of tension: the orbit around Denebria is decaying, the emergency override is responding, and He-Man declares that they are not going to crash, not by the power of Eternia, and works to slow the ship before it burns up. The sequence ends with a crash landing in the fog zone of Denebria, and the first voice we hear after it is a Mutant one, already complaining.

The hosts' terms are the heart of the third act. Never, say the Mutants, since no one tells them when and where to fight; the Guardians say they do not fight for anyone's amusement; then comes the threat that the weapons of the visitors could reduce Moon Nordor to ashes, and both leaders agree. Skeletor tells He-Man that at the games he will be his, which is as close to a promise of sport as we get.

The weakness is that the episode ends before anything is played. The hosts offer a challenge, two stubborn leaders refuse and then agree, and the promised contest is left for later, so we leave with a premise rather than a story. A 22-minute slot, and the need to set up a new pair of antagonists, is the likely cause, but a viewer wanting the contest itself will have to wait.

Verdict: a tense, well-built set-up whose sharpest idea is that rival armies are easy to steer when each one blames the other, and whose closing tag about borrowing things without asking is a small, fitting joke.

Notes of Interest

  1. Continuity: The He-Man wiki lists this as the last Jetlag appearance of Adam of Grayskull, Artilla, Gleep and the Mutant Troopers.
  2. Behind the scenes: In the closing moral, Flipshot borrows Hydron's new Zircaball and loses it in an incinerator, with Hydron advising him to ask first, per the He-Man wiki.
  3. Voice cast: Don Brown voices both Hydron and Vizar, according to the He-Man wiki cast list.
  4. Voice cast: The same wiki list has Doug Parker voicing Adam and Hoove, and Garry Chalk voicing He-Man and Artilla.
  5. Continuity: The He-Man wiki's Rintorian Battlestar page says the voices that address the Guardians and the Mutants belong to Royka and Molden, the hosts of the Games.
  6. Continuity: The He-Man wiki says the same episode has both sides refuse the summons at first and then agree after the Battlestars threaten their home planets.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Flogg
Evil

Flogg

Episode screenshots

A brown-haired man in a blue jacket looks ahead sternly in a dark chamber.
A brown-haired man in a blue jacket looks ahead sternly in a dark chamber.
A brown-haired man in blue walks along the ropes of a white ring platform.
A brown-haired man in blue walks along the ropes of a white ring platform.
Master Sebrian reads a note while a small teal robot waits at his side.
Master Sebrian reads a note while a small teal robot waits at his side.
Master Sebrian holds the note near his chin, frowning.
Master Sebrian holds the note near his chin, frowning.
Master Sebrian speaks from a cockpit screen.
Two workers in brown and orange walk toward a closed hangar door.
A brown-haired man in a blue suit runs along a ramp in a double exposure.
A white fighter with red engines flies with two smaller craft through dark blue space.
A white-faced masked man and a man in a red visor helmet sit side by side.
Two white craft fire yellow beams in dark space.
Bright yellow bursts flare beside a damaged hull in space.
A lone figure walks across a landing field between two blue hangar doors.
He-Man raises a sword in front of a wall of fire.
He-Man raises a sword in front of a wall of fire.
A blue ramp leads onto a landing field beneath a pale sky with a city on the horizon.
He-Man looks aside with an intent expression.
He-Man looks aside with an intent expression.
Purple domed craft sit in a red hangar as armored mutants run toward them.
A glowing orange tunnel opens onto stars beside a green ship with a bright light.
A purple creature-shaped ship sits in a curved hangar with small figures above and beside it.
Slush Head sits at the front of a cockpit with Skeletor and Flogg behind him.
Slush Head sits at the front of a cockpit with Skeletor and Flogg behind him.
A skull-shaped asteroid with craters floats in blue space.
A fanged green mutant in a harness grimaces in a cockpit seat.
Yellow beams streak past a glowing orange fireball in the dark.
A small ship trailing smoke streaks through yellow beams in space.
The fanged green mutant glares with wide eyes and bared fangs.
A purple and gold ship flies through blue space with its lights glowing.
Two plumes of smoke rise from a blue-hulled station as a small ship passes above.
Flogg glares from the corner of a red-orange background, his helmet filling the right side.
Flogg glares from the corner of a red-orange background, his helmet filling the right side.
A huge ship's hull with round lit windows drifts through space as a yellow beam crosses it.
A tiny ship tumbles through starry space.
A blue hull with an octagonal hatch and a central cannon fills the frame.
A man in a grey helmet with a blue visor speaks with parted lips.
The helmeted man looks down with parted lips.
A pale cannon barrel juts from a white hull as light streaks across it.
Flipshot smiles from the cockpit, his brown hair swept back.
He-Man speaks with a strained face in the cockpit.
He-Man looks ahead in the cockpit while Hydron sits behind him at upper right.
Hydron and Flipshot face right in the cockpit as Flipshot talks.
A huge dark sphere with rows of lit portholes floats beside a small glowing craft.
Flogg and Skeletor stand in a purple hangar beneath a creature-shaped ship.
Flogg and Skeletor stand in a purple hangar beneath a creature-shaped ship.
Flogg glares downward with a red gloved hand held to his chest.
Flogg glares downward with a red gloved hand held to his chest.
A spiky glowing craft pulls up beside the big dark sphere.
Flogg and a figure in dark armor overlap in a double exposure on a ship's bridge.
Skeletor stands with his arms spread before a bank of lit windows.
Skeletor stands with his arms spread before a bank of lit windows.
Slush Head glares as Flogg and Skeletor sit behind him in the cockpit.
Slush Head glares as Flogg and Skeletor sit behind him in the cockpit.
He-Man frowns in the foreground while Hydron and Flipshot sit behind him in a cockpit.
Hydron and Flipshot look ahead as Hydron speaks.
A blue wireframe sphere with a dark band shows on a monitor.
A blue wireframe sphere with a glowing band shows on a screen above a control panel.
A pink fireball glows at the engine of a white ship near large round windows.
Pink laser beams stream diagonally across the frame.
A grey and green turret with twin purple barrels sits on a dark green hull.
Two blue screens glow in an orange-lit wall above a figure's white-clad arm.
A swirling white flash fills the frame.
Hydron and Flipshot sit with their arms crossed and watch ahead from the cockpit.
Hydron frowns as Flipshot talks beside him.
A cratered planet with a white streak hangs in space beside a white ship and a green craft.
Blue claw-like supports curve across a purple cabin with figures seated at lower left.
A red-gloved hand presses buttons on a control panel in a double exposure.
Slush Head, Skeletor and Flogg sit behind a purple console looking ahead.
A white ship with red engines flies near a cratered planet.
A screen shows a yellow wireframe globe against a field of stars.
Seen from above, two men sit in cockpit seats on a pale deck.
He-Man's hand grips a blue sword above a console as sparks fly.
A white ship with blue engine barrels flies in front of a cratered planet.
A red and white ship streaks through space trailing blue light.
A giant green walker with blue spikes drifts above the planet.
The green spiked walker fires a pink beam across space.
A fanged green mutant in a hood glares to the side from a cockpit bathed in red light.
He-Man lies upside down with his eyes closed and a pained expression.
A man in a red breathing mask sits beside another lifting a grey helmet overhead.
A man in a grey winged helmet speaks urgently as a masked man sits at left.
A man in a grey winged helmet presses his hands against a black panel.
A man in a grey helmet braces with outstretched hands beside a console with glowing windows.
A man in dark blue and a masked man in a pressure suit stand at a console.
Snowy mountains stretch beneath a blue-grey sky.
A small white craft sits on a snowfield with a figure walking beyond it.
A masked man and a man in a grey helmet hold He-Man up between them on the snow.
He-Man lies on his back in the snow as two men kneel beside him.
An open hand with a brown wristband reaches across a blue sky.
He-Man stands with a sword before a masked man and a man in a winged helmet.
Flogg scowls from a green machine with an orange cannon.
He-Man peers over a snowbank as two men aim guns, one firing a bright flash.
Skeletor stands in the snow carrying a small dark machine in his arms.
A pink beam streaks across a pale sky from the upper right.
A fanged green mutant in a fur hat grips a round gun mounted on a brown machine.
Armored mutants run across the snow, seen from behind.
He-Man stands on a brown wreck holding a round gun against billows of smoke.
Skeletor raises a skull-topped staff over his head on the snow.
He-Man grips a round gun and looks sternly aside.
A hand points a green and blue pistol toward the camera.
A small He-Man stands on a wreck holding a round gun between smoke clouds.
Two huge blue spherical ships with rows of lights hang in a dark sky.
Flogg raises a red fist and stares upward with a small device at his lips.
He-Man, a masked man and a winged-helmeted man stand on a brown wreck in the snow.
He-Man looks sternly ahead as two helmeted men stand behind him.
Small figures stand on a snowy wreck while Flogg and a dark-armored figure face them across smoke.
Skeletor grins beside Flogg, looking aside, with a skull-topped staff behind them.
Skeletor, seen from behind, throws his arms around two mutants beside him.
Two huge blue spheres hang above a masked man and a winged-helmeted man seen from behind.
A masked man in a pressure suit looks toward a man in a winged helmet.
A man in a blue pressure suit and red mask stares ahead, his face filling the frame.
He-Man, the masked man and the winged-helmeted man stand beneath the two spheres in the sky.
A basketball sits on a park bench in a grassy yard.
A brown-haired man in a blue padded jacket holds a basketball in a park.

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