NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

The Nemesis Within

The Nemesis Within title card
E41

Official Synopsis

He-Man points his sword at the skull-vest blond man sitting on the ground.

Primus hosts its first intergalactic science conference, and the visiting inventor Graznor warns that his Geneticator, said to be the most powerful device in the galaxy, could be used for evil. It goes missing, and Graznor's tracking device shows where it is. Skeletor turns it on He-Man, copies his genetic code into a creature he names He-Slave, and orders the creature to find and terminate the hero. Having captured an alien ship, Skeletor sets his sights on the conference and its solar generator. He-Man must face a double who knows his every move, and he answers it with his faith in the power of the good.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Someone has been playing with fire, and the closing lesson is that fire is not a toy: it is dangerous and could start a forest fire that would harm the woods and the animals in them, so stop and think, and do not play with fire.

heman.org Episode Review

What does a copy of a hero lack? "The Nemesis Within" puts that question to He-Man in the middle of Primus's first intergalactic science conference, and it takes its time getting there, because the opening stretch belongs to the visitors. The solar generator is held up as the perfect symbol of what people can do when they focus their energies together, Caz is offered a proverb about learning to walk before you fly over a pair of new air boots, and Tuskador ferries in more scientists with more inventions. It is a cheerful, crowded start in which every gadget is a possible prize for somebody less friendly.

Someone's plan to keep the visiting vessels parked in orbit, so that the shield does not have to be lowered, is the kind of precaution a careful people would be proud of, and the script lets a voice wonder aloud what would happen if some nasty old villain came along and stole the most powerful inventions in the galaxy. The line winks at the audience and pays off when Graznor, speaking through a translator that soon needs repairs, tells the room that the Geneticator has incredible power but could be used for evil, and a voice answers that nobody can wait for the translator to be repaired, with Master Sebrian agreeing.

Put in one plain sentence, the episode is about a villain who copies everything that makes the hero the hero except the part that decides what the hero does with it. Skeletor says as much himself, boasting that the ray took He-Man's precise genetic code, everything that makes He-Man, He-Man, and that the creature will know his fears and weaknesses and the moves he will make before he makes them. He-Slave is told to kneel, to bear the mark of Skeletor and to seek out He-Man, and says he hears and obeys, which marks the difference between the two men better than any speech could, and the script plants it before the fight starts.

Skeletor has a lovely time with Staghorn, calling him a walking coat rack while presenting his creation as the ultimate weapon, and his announcement that capturing the alien ship was a stroke of evil genius, if he does say so himself, is the most characteristic line in the half hour. Flogg is absent, one of the few episodes with Skeletor and without him according to the He-Man wiki, and the story does not feel the loss.

The duel itself is built on a good problem. We hear that it is useless to fight, that the double knows his every move, and He-Man answers that even so he must try, to which the reply is that even he cannot defeat himself. His own worry, spoken aloud, is that the clone can read his mind and knows what he is going to do, and what carries him through is a statement of belief: the line about trusting the power of the good to guide you against evil is spoken, and when the double says he cannot win, he answers wrong, the good cannot lose.

The weakness is that the dialogue offers a principle where we might have wanted a method. We hear that the copy knows everything and that the original wins by believing, but no character explains what He-Man does differently, and belief has to stand in for the argument. A slot shared with a toy line leaves little room for more, and the idea is clear enough to survive it.

Verdict: a tidy, confident episode that belongs in the upper half of the run for its central notion, even if it asks the audience to take the last step on faith. It leaves us with a villain who could copy a hero down to the last move and still could not copy what the hero is for.

Notes of Interest

  1. Homage: The He-Man wiki notes that He-Slave is similar in concept to Faker, the evil copy of He-Man from the classic cartoon.
  2. Continuity: According to the He-Man wiki, this is one of the few episodes in which Skeletor appears but Flogg does not.
  3. Homage: The He-Man wiki says Skeletor's cloaked disguise on the passenger ship resembles his classic appearance.
  4. Voice cast: Garry Chalk voices He-Man, He-Slave and Alcon in this episode, per the He-Man wiki cast list.
  5. Edit history: The He-Man wiki's errors list says the clouds behind He-Man stay the same when the shot cuts to him holding his sword aloft after the line about the power of the good not being defeated.
  6. Fan observation: Per the He-Man wiki, the closing moral shows Tuskador shooting water from his trunk like Snout Spout, though the wiki calls the canonicity of the morals arguable.
  7. Continuity: The He-Man wiki says the Geneticator was invented by Graznor and that the Mutant Grr stole it for Skeletor; Wikipedia's summary has Skeletor send Grr, while the wiki's own summary has Skeletor steal it himself.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Prince Adam
Good

Prince Adam
Staghorn
Evil

Staghorn

Episode screenshots

A grey cargo shuttle hovers over a green park beside domed buildings.
A grey cargo shuttle hovers over a green park beside domed buildings.
A grey spacecraft tilts overhead with blue thrusters glowing against the sky.
A grey spacecraft tilts overhead with blue thrusters glowing against the sky.
A smiling blond man with round glasses and a mustache looks on.
A smiling blond man with round glasses and a mustache looks on.
A figure in a lavender robe walks down grey steps, seen from the knees down.
A figure in a lavender robe walks down grey steps, seen from the knees down.
Adam smiles and gestures beside an older man in a blue robe with a gold chain.
Adam smiles and gestures beside an older man in a blue robe with a gold chain.
Adam gestures toward a blue-green reptilian alien with white hair, who raises a hand.
Adam gestures toward a blue-green reptilian alien with white hair, who raises a hand.
A blue-green reptilian alien with a white mane smiles and speaks.
A blue-green reptilian alien with a white mane smiles and speaks.
An orange scaled mutant in armor leans over the controls of a cockpit.
Skeletor grins in a cockpit beside the orange mutant.
Skeletor grins in a cockpit beside the orange mutant.
A purple cargo pod drifts above a blue planet as a pink craft shows through it.
A bald muscular man in a red suit flexes both fists at the controls.
Grey storage pods drift past the curve of a blue planet.
A grey pod and the edge of a purple ship pass in front of the planet.
Skeletor grins widely behind purple goggles.
Skeletor grins widely behind purple goggles.
A grey two-section storage pod floats against the stars.
Skeletor in a head wrap sits in a purple cockpit beside the orange mutant.
A purple craft carrying Skeletor and the orange mutant flies alongside a large grey pod.
Skeletor rides a brown craft with gold cannons over a grey hull.
Skeletor laughs with his mouth wide open.
A glowing orange sphere hovers above a domed plaza with fountains.
A blue-green reptilian alien crawls out of a hole in a wall holding two rods.
The bald man in red reaches toward a reptilian alien held by a dark-haired man in blue.
A hand holds two photographs, one showing Skeletor seated in a red chair.
The reptilian alien raises one hand and speaks with a worried look.
Adam stands beside a bald elderly man in a blue robe with a gold chain.
Bright white beams of light fill the frame.
He-Man holds the Power Sword across his chest and smiles.
He-Man holds the Power Sword across his chest and smiles.
A red mechanical bird with a silver chest plate spreads its wings against the sky.
A white and blue shuttle flies through a starfield.
A grey cratered planet surface fills the frame from above.
A dark swamp landscape stretches under a stormy sky.
Bubbles rise from a dark blue swamp pool at night.
Brown tangled creatures swarm over a man in a red suit and blue visor.
The red mechanical bird flies over the swamp with wings spread.
He-Man raises his sword with his back to the viewer beside a swamp.
He-Man raises his sword with his back to the viewer beside a swamp.
Dark blue bushes and shadows sit under a purple sky.
He-Man leads three armed companions along a misty swamp ridge.
A small brown creature stands on a cliff above a rockslide.
Boulders crash down a slope in a cloud of dust and rock chips.
Staghorn winces as grey metal arms clamp onto both sides of his helmet.
Staghorn winces as grey metal arms clamp onto both sides of his helmet.
A man in a red suit and blue visor holds a branch overhead with both arms.
Skeletor aims a device from a ship toward the orange mutant in a clear dome.
Skeletor points a glowing lens device at the orange mutant inside a white pod.
A gloved hand adjusts the dials on a grey ray device.
Skeletor holds the ray device while the orange mutant watches from the pod.
He-Man wades out of a swamp pool with his sword held upright.
The red mechanical bird perches on a twisted tree branch.
Two flasks of red and green liquid sit on a machine joined by a tube.
Skeletor grins with a faint ghost image over his face.
A small machine with a glowing purple flask sits on a draped table in a forest.
Skeletor stands beside Staghorn, who holds grey antler-like arms.
A blond man in blue trousers stands by a draped table as Skeletor leans on his staff.
Skeletor channels purple lightning from his staff into a glowing sphere.
A blond man with a smug look holds a sword with a brown skull hilt.
Skeletor laughs with his mouth wide open.
A blond man with a skull emblem on his vest holds a skull-hilted sword upright.
Hooded grey figures, one with a green face, stand in a dark vehicle interior.
A blond man with a skull emblem on his vest smirks inside a ship with a starry window.
The blond man with the skull emblem looks upward with a smug expression.
A white spaceship docks beside a larger grey craft in space.
A hooded figure stands in a ship cabin with seated passengers.
The nose of a grey ship approaches a blue planet.
A grey cargo vehicle sits on a sandy landing pad as robed aliens watch.
A round-glasses scientist grimaces as a hand grips his shoulder.
A bare-chested blond man stands before an elderly man and the reptilian alien seated on a bench.
An elderly bald man with grey eyebrows smiles slightly beside a wooden staff.
Skeletor grins on a video screen with a skull-hilted weapon in hand.
A bare-chested blond man holds a brown handle while an elderly man speaks to him.
Green hedges and cypress trees stand beside a blue-roofed building.
Skeletor stands arms wide on a yellow sphere beside a crouching blond man in a green vest.
Skeletor and the blond man stand on top of the sphere as energy tendrils swirl above them.
A glowing yellow sphere sits in a crescent cradle with tiny figures on top.
Pink energy beams crackle around three standing men as a black silhouette lunges at left.
He-Man crouches and swings his arm back inside a ring of light arcs.
He-Man looks up and sideways with a set jaw.
He-Man grimaces as he leaps with his boots toward the viewer.
A bare-chested blond man sits between an elderly man and the reptilian alien.
A blond man in a green vest with a skull emblem leaps mid-air holding a brown skull weapon.
He-Man crouches low and glares beside the upright Power Sword.
He-Man stretches one hand toward the viewer.
He-Man holds up a collapsing grey machine in a cloud of smoke.
Seen from above, a tiny figure stands on a rubble pile as He-Man stands below.
The man in the green skull-emblem vest lifts a blond man overhead by the waist.
Skeletor grins with his red eyes wide.
A yellow sphere sits on a tall pillar with a tiny dark figure above it.
A blond man's face shows faintly behind a clear glass-like screen.
A bright white and lavender burst of light fills the frame.
A woman in white with golden wings is reflected in a large eye.
The blond man in the skull-emblem vest raises one arm behind his head and smirks.
The blond man in the skull-emblem vest grimaces as he turns.
A ghosted figure with a sword fades over the skull-vest blond man, who holds a brown skull weapon.
He-Man leaps toward the viewer with his sword drawn back before a domed building.
A purple energy flash crackles against a curved silver blade as a dark hilt lies below.
A yellow sphere rests on a pillar against the sky.
He-Man looks up with arms spread and jaw tight.
He-Man holds the yellow sphere overhead as the skull-vest blond man stands behind him.
He-Man carries the sphere overhead across a plaza while Skeletor stands beside a looping silver sculpture.
The skull-vest blond man swings his arm forward in mid-air.
Three companions in red, blue and gold armor raise their fists in front of a dome.
He-Man stands on a ridge beside an elderly man and the reptilian alien.
Skeletor stands in a yellow glow holding his skull-topped staff.
He-Man raises his sword by a domed building as companions gather near a giant boot.
He-Man holds the Power Sword across his chest and gestures with one hand.
A blond man lies pinned under a yellow dome as red beams cross above.
A blond man in a vest lies on the ground with his eyes closed.
Skeletor grins with his hands at his chin.
Skeletor peers out from under a yellow shell with a wide grin.
Two bright suns glow in an orange sky.
A hand holds the Power Sword raised against a red sky.
Tree branches and a green weeping willow stand against a blue sky.
He-Man stands by a campfire with a group of companions, a girl in yellow kneeling in front.

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