Land of the Dead

Subternia separates the party. Teela finds Scare Glow, who offers her what she seeks in exchange for her fear; she adds the safe return of her friends to the bargain. Orko and Evil-Lyn land in an illusion of Trolla, then in a library with a dry Spellspring, where Orko explains how he got his name and Evil-Lyn tells him what strength is worth. Andra, Roboto and Beast Man fight shadow beasts that react to fear. Teela faces a false He-Man, refuses to give up her power, and comes away with the sword. The group reunites, Evil-Lyn opens a gate to Preternia, and Scare Glow attacks. Orko casts him out, and Teela is left holding his cloak, before Evil-Lyn declares the alliance a mistake and Teela calls out for Adam.

Evil-Lyn: "No, they didn't call me "Evil," I added that part later."

Evil-Lyn: "Sounds like your parents talking."

Orko: "I was the least of them, now I may be the last."

Orko: "Unless shadows can slip on banana peels or catch on fire, I'm useless."

Roboto: "As an artificial construct, I do not experience fear."

Teela: "I own my power."

Scare Glow: "I have the power... because you surrender it."

Orko: "Look! Lyn! I'm doing it! Me!"

Land of the Dead splits the party and gives Teela, Orko and Evil-Lyn each a fear to face. Subternia scatters everyone at the opening and sends each group into a private illusion: Teela to a cavern and a bargain with Scare Glow, who will trade her what she seeks for a taste of her fear and, at her insistence, the safe return of her friends; Orko and Evil-Lyn to an illusory Trolla and then a library built around a dry fountain; and Andra, Roboto and Beast Man to a rocky plain crawling with shadow beasts and firebats. What Teela is after is the Sword of Power [1].

The writing is at its best when it lets two people talk. Evil-Lyn spends the early minutes calling Orko a simpleton and an imbecile and refusing the nickname Lyn, so it is a real turn when the library scene hands him the floor: his parents named him Oracle to match the position of honor they expected him to reach, a small child's pronunciation made it Orko, and he thinks they were glad it stuck. Her reply is the best thing in the script. She does not console him; she tells him that he has to fight for everything they will not give him, and that when people call him weak it is because they do not understand how even the tiniest measure of strength can fill an entire universe. Moments later she admits that they never called her Evil and that she added the word later; it is the closest the two of them come to friendship.

The idea underneath is that fear has only the power its owner hands over. Scare Glow's trial states it outright: "I have the power... because you surrender it." Teela's fight with a false He-Man, who tells her she has always been alone, tests that claim, and she ends the trial by taking back what Scare Glow was feeding on: "I own my power." Orko reaches the same point at the gate.

Animation and art direction keep the three threads apart. Teela's cavern is green mist, jagged spires and glowing crystals; the library is warm wood under a hanging orrery of planets, with a spiral stone fountain whose basin is dry; the plain is grey rock under a stormy sky. The false He-Man is shot mostly against black, blades crossing under blue sparks, with glowing red eyes and a wide grin.

Tony Todd voices Scare Glow, a collector who calls himself a keeper of relics, and the script gives him a trader's patter: "I will give you that which you seek, Teela... as an exchange." Orko's confession is built from the opposite material, short lines and a joke he questions the moment he tells it: "I was the least of them, now I may be the last. That's funny, right?"

The weak point is the third thread. Andra, Roboto and Beast Man spend the hour fighting shadow beasts that react to fear, and the idea has one good snag: Roboto says "As an artificial construct, I do not experience fear." Yet the joke also shows that the thread has little to dramatise, so it mostly supplies action between the two conversations. The likely reason is practical; an episode built around two long two-handers needs something to swing at, and a rocky plain gives that action somewhere to happen.

Orko is the one who carries the idea through to the end. He stands against Scare Glow and casts out the demon with a spell he is thrilled to see working, and Teela is left holding his cloak. Then the alliance cracks open, and Teela calls out for Adam as someone cries "By the power of Grayskull...!" Land of the Dead is the hour of Part 1 that gives Orko his backstory and a victory.

[1] In The Poisoned Chalice the Sword of Power is said to have been two blades, one forged in the Hall of Heroes in Preternia and the other in Subternia; Teela's prize here is presumably the Subternian half, and Evil-Lyn's spell later opens a gate to Preternia in search of the other.

1. The MOTU wiki says Scare Glow, a 1987 action figure, makes his first animated appearance in this episode.
2. Animation Magazine's cast list has Tony Todd voicing Scare Glow.
3. The MOTU wiki notes that Orko says he was weak at magic as a child on Trolla, whereas the Filmation series reversed everything on Trolla and made Orko one of its greatest magicians.
4. The MOTU wiki says Orko's reveal that his name is a childhood mispronunciation of Oracle references the 2002 series, whose Trollan Oracle advised the original King Grayskull and was voiced by Orko's actor.
5. The MOTU wiki identifies the giant monster that attacks Evil-Lyn and Orko as an updated version of the Shadow Beast from the Filmation series.
6. The MOTU wiki says the three towers from the 1987 Eternia playset appear in animation for the first time when the heroes enter Preternia.
7. The MOTU wiki's Scare Glow page says that about 500 years before He-Man, King Grayskull made a deal with Scare Glow for a special ore that was forged into half of the Sword of Power.
8. Tim Sheridan also wrote the Dark Horse prequel comic Masters of the Universe: Revelation #2, based on a story by Kevin Smith and Rob David, and But Why Tho's review compares its approach to character backstory with this episode's look at Orko.