NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

The Tornadoes of Zil

The Tornadoes of Zil title card
E54

Official Synopsis

He-Man holds his sword down while Skeletor faces him with his own staff.

Master Sebrian's crew picks up a distress call from Zil, a planet no one should survive on, and Skeletor plots a welcome. He-Man and Spinwit fly into the storm and are dragged down, then discover that the tornadoes are machines. The people of Zil take Spinwit for the champion of their legend and ignore He-Man's warning to keep the machines running. When the tornadoes stop, Skeletor and his Mutants attack with a small Terrortread. Spinwit boasts, He-Man steps in, and Skeletor ends up exposed. Before leaving, He-Man says the crystal will last only long enough for Zil to learn to defend itself, and the people answer that teamwork is the first lesson. Spinwit is warned not to take another person's cold pills.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Never take anyone else's pills for any reason, because you could be allergic to them; only take medication that your parents or doctor give you.

heman.org Episode Review

What does a hero owe the person who insists on being the hero? "The Tornadoes of Zil" gives Spinwit that role by accident, and the story is at its best when it makes us laugh at his luck and then worry about it. The opening is a test of Gepple's boosters, with Spinwit crowing over robot opponents that he says are easier to fight than Mutant troopers. Then a distress call arrives from Zil, and the Primus crew spends a few lines arguing over the triangulation, which is the kind of petty squabble this cast does well.

The call is bait, and a villain's voice says as much when he predicts that the goody-goody man will come running to help. Adam's scene with Sebrian, in which he admits that Mara is growing suspicious of who he really is and the old master replies that her curiosity comes from his own teaching, is a quiet reminder of the double life Adam leads. It is a short scene, and it plants a thread that the half hour does not need to pull. Then He-Man and Spinwit head out, and the flight into the storm is one of the better sequences: the two ships, too heavy together, are dropping, and the team speech that follows is a small piece of sincerity about team members who do not let each other down.

Put in plain words, the story is about teamwork beating the myth of the single champion. The people of Zil have a legend that a champion will arrive when the crystal power fails, the High Priest declares Spinwit that champion, and Spinwit, flattered, tells his servant to say he is asleep. He-Man tells them that the tornadoes are keeping out the mutants, that stopping the machines will invite an invasion, and that is the moment where the script commits to its theme. The legend gives the Zilians a hero and takes away their reasons to defend themselves, and the villain only has to wait.

Skeletor's entrance after the tornadoes fall is the high point of the second half. He arrives with a special toy, a smaller vehicle the troopers can ride, and the Mutants take the thing for a spin with the kind of delight that suits a toy-line cartoon. Spinwit swaggers out as the champion and boasts of six pods coming at him, but when Skeletor demands to know where the real hero is, the real hero answers. A blast re-energizes the crystal, a face is shown, and someone remarks that it is as ugly on the outside as on the inside; the He-Man wiki records that Skeletor loses his helmet here. A cartoon that strips its villain of his helmet is bold, and this one lets him be embarrassed in public.

The weakness is how easily Zil changes its mind. The people who would not listen to He-Man are cheering him a few lines later, the crystal lasts just long enough for a lesson, and the leaving feels more like a bow than a resolution. We can guess the reason, since a 22-minute slot rarely has room for a second round of persuasion, and the teamwork speech is a tidy way to close the plot. Still, the change of heart is brisk enough to feel unearned.

Spinwit gets a better ending than his first chapter promised: He-Man tells him the victory could not have happened without him, and the tag shows him with a cold.

Verdict: a lively, quotable adventure whose best ideas are the artificial storm and the humiliation of its villain. It belongs in the stronger half of the run, mostly because Spinwit is such an easy character to enjoy.

Notes of Interest

  1. Toys: The He-Man wiki says Skeletor loses his helmet in this episode, leaving him with the same look as the Battle Blade Skeletor figure for the rest of the series.
  2. Continuity: According to the He-Man wiki, the episode reveals that Skeletor has hair under his helmet.
  3. Continuity: The He-Man wiki says this is the only series appearance of the Miniature Terrortread, a smaller Terrortread that can be stored inside a Mutant Shuttle Pod.
  4. Continuity: The people of Zil call Spinwit Champion Spinwit, per the He-Man wiki.
  5. Toys: Wikipedia notes that Spinwit, who can create tornadoes by spinning, is called Tornado in the toyline.
  6. Continuity: The High Priest of Zil and Marika are listed on the He-Man wiki as first and only Jetlag Productions appearances.
  7. Behind the scenes: The closing moral has Spinwit taking Flipshot's old medicine for a cold and feeling worse, with He-Man stressing medication should come from a doctor, per the He-Man wiki.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Prince Adam
Good

Prince Adam

Episode screenshots

Gepple scowls, his glasses sitting low on his nose in a green meadow.
Gepple scowls, his glasses sitting low on his nose in a green meadow.
Gepple walks through a meadow with a red-capped man and Spinwit, who wears a visor and winged pack.
Gepple walks through a meadow with a red-capped man and Spinwit, who wears a visor and winged pack.
A hand holds a small communicator showing Mara on its screen.
A hand holds a small communicator showing Mara on its screen.
A radar screen with curving lines shows five orange dots.
A radar screen with curving lines shows five orange dots.
Gepple tugs at Mara's sleeve as a red-capped man watches in a lab.
Gepple tugs at Mara's sleeve as a red-capped man watches in a lab.
Gepple stares up, mouth open, on a blue tiled floor.
Gepple stares up, mouth open, on a blue tiled floor.
Master Sebrian speaks, his long teal hair framing his face, with a red-capped man beside him.
Adam stands with his back to us, facing Mara, Master Sebrian and Gepple.
Adam stands with his back to us, facing Mara, Master Sebrian and Gepple.
Mara speaks to Adam, who looks at her intently.
Mara speaks to Adam, who looks at her intently.
A green spiked mutant warship drifts through space.
Flogg glares at Skeletor, who stands holding his staff in a dark archway.
Flogg glares at Skeletor, who stands holding his staff in a dark archway.
Flogg stares as Skeletor grips something in his gloved hand.
Flogg stares as Skeletor grips something in his gloved hand.
Two armored mutants stand in a dim purple corridor.
Three small figures walk across a long landing pad toward a white wall.
Adam looks ahead, serious, in his grey tunic.
He-Man raises the Power Sword as a beam of light shoots from it.
He-Man raises the Power Sword as a beam of light shoots from it.
He-Man smiles while Master Sebrian rests a hand on his shoulder.
He-Man smiles while Master Sebrian rests a hand on his shoulder.
A blinding white light fills a framed screen.
Two white ships fly toward a planet wrapped in swirling storms.
He-Man grips the controls of his ship, his jaw set.
A white ship tilts through a bank of clouds, a brown ship beside it.
He-Man pilots his ship, glancing to one side.
A brown gloved hand presses a red button on a purple control panel.
A brown mutant ship shines a beam through the clouds.
A tiny ship drifts far off in a starry sky.
A white ship streaks through space trailing blue lightning.
A starfield holds a small dark ship at its lower left.
A blue beam of light slants across the starry sky.
He-Man looks down at the controls of his ship.
Skeletor grins from the pilot seat of his ship.
He-Man grimaces as he works the controls.
He-Man thrusts the Power Sword up from his open cockpit.
A white ship spirals down inside a tornado.
A tiny ship spins in the center of a swirling funnel.
Two white ships hover over a round platform above a rooftop city.
A tall funnel of cloud twists down toward the ground.
A tall dark pillar stands in a swirl of storm clouds.
He-Man and Spinwit look out from a metal stairway under the storm.
Seen from above, a walled platform holds several railed walkways.
Small figures stand around a large purple crystal in a plaza.
A blue metal wall has a tall pipe and bent arm over it.
A crowd of townspeople in bright costumes stands before a purple crystal.
A pink-clad woman dances in front of the crowd while Spinwit stands to the side.
Three brown mutant ships with purple domes fly through space.
Skeletor grins in his ship's cockpit while Flogg stands in the background.
Skeletor clenches his fists at the controls as Flogg waits in the background.
A bearded elder in a horned helmet raises a hand beside two townsmen.
A horned helmet fills the corner while a tall machine tower stands behind it.
The bearded elder spreads his arms wide before a crowd.
Smiling townspeople crowd the frame, looking up.
The elder speaks with his hands raised in a window-lit hall.
Spinwit stands stiffly as the elder reaches out a hand toward him.
Two elders in swirled robes climb steps toward a crystal chamber while Spinwit watches.
A sweep of purple robe and a long white beard fill the frame.
He-Man smiles, a hand on his chest, as a white-haired man and a woman touch his shoulder.
Spinwit stands close to the elder, who speaks in a sweeping gesture.
A large machine with gears sits in the shadows.
Townspeople cheer, their faces turned upward.
Three small ships spin around the rim of a tornado.
The swirling clouds of a tornado, with a brown ship's edge in the corner.
Fireworks burst over a tall castle in the evening.
Spinwit shouts from a red couch, his eyes shut.
Spinwit rests his chin on his hand, looking tired, an arm out to the side.
He-Man smiles as the elder watches from the corner.
Spinwit pats He-Man on the shoulder, He-Man seen from behind with his sword.
Spinwit smiles while a hand rests against his shoulder.
He-Man and Spinwit stand together as a woman in pink with braided hair looks on.
Skeletor grips his helmet in glee on his ship.
Two mutant ships fly over a domed city of purple rooftops.
Skeletor stands with three mutants beside a brown machine in a stone yard.
Skeletor and a group of mutants stand around a green tracked vehicle.
The legs of two armored mutants stand against a blue wall.
Three people stand before a tall stone gateway with a purple door.
A stone building has a smashed corner and broken windows above an arched door.
Spinwit sits on the steps of a throne, talking with two women.
A woman in a pink jacket kneels on the polished floor.
A one-eyed mutant in a metal helmet looks up, held by a large arm.
The elder holds out an arm at the head of a tall arched window.
A crowd cheers and points upward.
A purple crystal stands between two coiled towers as a mutant with a staff stands beside it.
Skeletor grins, gripping his staff beside the crystal.
A one-eyed mutant and another in dark armor stand with a green weapon.
Skeletor clasps his hands together, grinning in glee.
Skeletor stands under the purple crystal with his staff.
Skeletor grins wide at the camera, his staff over his shoulder.
He-Man runs down the steps of a stone hall.
A one-eyed mutant lies on his back on the steps.
He-Man swings a raised arm against a blue background.
Skeletor stands in the foreground as Spinwit comes out through the doorway behind him.
Spinwit aims a large white blaster, his goggles pulled down.
A spinning white whirlwind stands in front of a columned doorway.
He-Man calls out, looking up toward the camera.
A row of green trees and spired roofs lie beyond a plaza.
A twisted tan shape lies against a black gear.
Spinwit grimaces in his goggles, He-Man's arm at the edge of the frame.
A one-eyed mutant in a green vest steps out of a doorway.
A group of townspeople run across a plaza with clubs raised.
He-Man walks toward the crystal as Spinwit follows.
He-Man smiles at someone off to the side.
He-Man and Spinwit face the crowd and the elder in front of the gear machine.
The elder gestures with both hands.
He-Man puts a hand to his chest beside Spinwit as the elder looks on.
A blue sword blade thrusts into a burst of pink and white light.
A tall pillar throws off whirling bands of wind.
The elder faces the townspeople under dark storm clouds, with He-Man and Spinwit standing nearby.
He-Man and Spinwit stand before the crystal and a crowd of townspeople.
Two brown hangars sit across an empty airfield.

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