The Dogs of War

Skeletor gloats over Adam and Battle Cat in a cell in the palace dungeon. He confirms he is Keldor, Randor's brother, and says Hordak erased Keldor from his mind until Motherboard's rewiring opened the way back to the memory. Teela, in a green cobra hood, and Evil-Lyn set out to retrieve the Havoc Staff, and Duncan turns up as Man-Of-War. Orko and a gnome work on the Sword of Power. In the cell Marlena tells a despairing Adam that courage is a power, and Andra helps them escape. Adam, unable to call down the Power, ends up in a mech suit. Skeletor turns on Hordak, and their duel cuts against flashbacks of Keldor in training. Hordak is swallowed by purple energy and Skeletor gives his own name. Evil-Lyn then arrives holding the Havoc Staff and warns that Skeletor now combines magic and technology. Teela is swept up in a surge of power and cries that she cannot hold on.

Skeletor: "Next will be your family, your friends, and even that new sorceress you're so sweet on."

Marlena: "And you have more courage than anyone I've ever known, Adam."

Hordak: "I am Hordak, conquest incarnate."

Hordak: "And he who masters technology masters the universe."

Skeletor: "You hate magic because you don't understand it."

Teela: "I did it for you. Well, for your father."

Adam: "You turned yourself green for my dad?"

This is the fourth of five episodes, written by Tim Sheridan, and it opens with Skeletor standing outside a cell door. Adam and Battle Cat are his audience, and he opens with mockery of the boy who would be king. He then explains himself. Hordak took Keldor from him and forced fiction into his mind, and when Motherboard rewired him she opened the door to the memory of his true origins. Hamill's Skeletor says all of this to Adam, who has just asked whether their father knew, and he follows it with a threat: next will be Adam's family, his friends, and the new sorceress he is so sweet on.

The duel is where the episode makes its argument. Hordak taught Skeletor that technology is everything, and Skeletor answers that technology is only half the battle. In the flashbacks Hordak tells young Keldor that magic is a cheat, and that he who masters technology masters the universe. In the present Skeletor says: "Technology is only half the battle." He tells Hordak: "You hate magic because you don't understand it." He adds that the Havoc Staff showed him how to tap into dark magic, and that it is not the only source of power in the universe. Hordak, for his part, points out that Skeletor is still attached to the Havoc Staff, and Skeletor answers that it is not so easily discarded and that Hordak cursed Keldor with it all those years ago.

The flashbacks glitch in red static. In them Keldor screams in terror while Hordak snarls beside a dark tentacle. In the present Skeletor carries green circuit lines across his skull and a glowing green eye. On the Eternian side the palette is autumn, with Teela's green cobra hood and Duncan's white and gold Man-Of-War suit set against red-leaved plants.

The end of the fight is the strongest beat. Hordak tells Keldor he should have left him to die on that filthy island, and Skeletor answers: "My name is... Skeletor!" Purple tendrils crawl over Hordak's armour until he is swallowed by the energy. Evil-Lyn later confirms the result, telling the others that Hordak is dead and that Skeletor killed him.

The heroes get shorter scenes, cut in around the duel. In the cell Adam tells his mother that Grayskull has fallen, that the Power is shielded from him, and that it is all his fault. Marlena tells him that love and the willingness to fight for what matters are powers too, and that simple courage is power. Andra arrives, and Adam makes her promise that they will cure every Eternian of the tekno-virus. Since he cannot call down the Power, he says he needs his father's private armory, and he ends up in a red and green mech suit. Orko and the gnome work on the modified Sword, and the aim is to get it to He-Man. The others meet Eternians who are innocent and under Hordak's control, and Adam says they have to be careful.

Teela's strand comes last. Adam sees she has turned green, and she says she needed the ancient magics to bring back Preternia, so that King Randor would get his great reward. Adam asks if she turned green for his dad. Evil-Lyn then arrives holding the Havoc Staff and says Skeletor has synthesized magic and technology, so he is more powerful and more dangerous than ever. She tells the heroes to stand back, and the episode closes on Teela in a surge of power, crying that she cannot hold on.

1. Title: The phrase "the dogs of war" comes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, in the line "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war." A fan reading is that the episode name is a nod to the Havoc Staff at the center of the plot.
2. Dialogue: One insult in the episode, "Die, you pecksniffian prick!", borrows from Seth Pecksniff, the self-styled moral teacher in Charles Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit who exploits the people he claims to guide.
3. Voice cast: William Shatner told the Los Angeles Times he was unsure how to approach Keldor, saying "I didn't know what to do about it, an ancient animated character." TVLine also reports Kevin Smith telling SFX that Shatner's was the first name that came up for the role.
4. Comics: Tim Sheridan, who wrote this episode, also co-wrote the Revolution prequel comic with Ted Biaselli and Rob David. Cora Buhlert's review of issue 3 says it shows Hordak handing Keldor the Havoc Staff and his face melting away.
5. Characters: Andra is a new creation for the Netflix continuity. Cora Buhlert notes that the 1980s Star Comics character Lieutenant Andra shares only the name and a link to Teela. Tiffany Smith, who voices her, says Kevin Smith told her "Andra is you, but amplified."
6. Toys: Duncan's new armor became the Masterverse Revolution Man-of-War figure in 2024, listed by ActionFigure411 at $22.99 with a face shield, an integrated blaster and a detachable mace gauntlet.