Of Machines and Men, Second Skin, and The Power of Grayskull

This is Man at Arms and you are listening to

the Masters of Grayskull. Thank you Mr. Gary

Chalk as Man at Arms from the 2002 He -Man and

the Masters of the Universe cartoon series for

giving us that promo. I'm of course TFG and Mike

joining me is Optimus Solo. Hello sir. Hello.

We just want to put this at the beginning of

every episode for... Masters of grayskull we

dedicate every single episode of this to the

memory of Dean Stefan Dean who is the writer

storyboard art and not storyboard story editor

all that kind of stuff on the 2002 He -Man series

passed away May 15th of 2018 and Not only are

we doing this because we're finishing our powers

of grayskull series podcast We're also I feel

at this point doing this in the memory of him

because the stories that he helped Create and

build for this series It revitalized the motu

franchise in my personal opinion Yeah, absolutely

and so unfortunate that we didn't have a chance

to ever talk to him before the show But we can

at least remember him as we move forward Absolutely,

and now on with the show. I am Adam Prince of

Eternia defender of the secrets of Castle Grayskull

This is Cringer my fearless friend fabulous Hello,

this is Optimus Solo and welcome to the 119th

chapter in our Powers of Grayskull series. With

me for this journey into the Masters of the Universe

franchise is TFG1 Mike. Hello. Get off my lawn.

He is an old crotchety man. And before we get

ready to return to Eternia, sir, I feel like

we should take care of some business. And mainly,

I'll let you take the floor because you, for

once, are the reason... Main reason why we have

been MIA for a little while, so take it away,

sir. Well, it's been a year. 2020 has been a

year. No, no, no, it's been a year and a month

since we recorded or whatever. What I'm probably

going to do is I'm probably going to release

one to one 19 and one 20 Christmas Eve and New

Year's Eve, most likely to be the last two episodes

of this year. And then whatever we record next,

I'll release them whatever whenever. But the

thing of it is, is it's been, I remember this

specifically, besides the fact I just looked

at it a couple of days ago. We recorded episode

118, or at least we released episode 118 on your

birthday last year. So it's been just over a

year and a little extra change here since we

recorded and released last. And. Lots of crap

has happened and this is probably the only podcast

I have said this on to this point When I met

Karen and everyone asked no, how'd you meet we

meet up we met online How do anybody how does

anybody meet anybody nowadays? We met on my history

Yeah, yeah, we met at the local Rockford Pizza

Hut or something anyway We met online and you

know, we felt it was right and whatever else

so we went and dated for a few months we said

screw it why are we going to put ourselves through

this long drawn -out engagement or whatever so

we got married we went to social security and

asked them will anything change with my benefit

we did this before we actually got married they

said no it'll be fine report to them after the

fact oh well she has a job she has income that

means ssi you can't have it anymore and i'm like

Uh, okay. And then they kept sending me checks.

It's direct deposit. They kept sending me the

money, even though I told them we have reported

everything we're supposed to report. And amongst

all of this, she, her dream has been out, has

always been to live on the Oregon coast. Well,

I told her, I said, because of my cerebral palsy

and disabilities and everything else. Oh, by

the way, uh, yeah. We did not, I didn't have

brain surgery by the time we recorded that episode,

did I? No, that was, I don't remember. Anyway,

May of 2019, I had brain surgery. Anyway, but

it's one of those things where she's always wanting

to live out here, but we both have medical needs

now. So we're like, where's the best place? So

we settled in Vancouver, Washington. Throughout

that time, from November, 2019 to pretty much

November 2020 my computer was in storage back

in Illinois because we didn't have a place out

here yet to settle we didn't like we were finding

the place when we got here so we couldn't have

shit and we didn't know anybody out here I mean

I've got a couple of like random online friends

but like there's no actual base but you know

you got to follow your wife's dreams and You

know, happy wife, happy life, all that good stuff.

Oh, by the way, she's no longer my wife because

in September of last year, we had to get divorced

in order for me to get social security back.

To keep getting paid. So yeah, folks, it's been

a rough year and it's not just because of 2020.

It has nothing to do with that. It has nothing

to do with COVID. Thankfully we've tested negative

every single time. You know, so. But it's been

a year and it's been stressful like and you keep

telling me off or you're like. I can record the

shows I can and I know you can I'm not saying

you can't I'm just that. I just have this weird

thing is if I don't do it it's not gonna get

done the way I want it to get done. Kind of a

thing and it's anal retentive I know blame my

parents that's how they raised me. So yeah we're

back yay. So here's the deal guys if you want

to sum that up in like a Basically, all right

since the November of last year when we recorded

last Covid happened. We've been on lockdown people

been out of work all that other pandemic stuff

has happened. I have had a child And and she

is now you know, I'm five months plus Well about

to be five months. Wait. No, she's about to be

Yeah, I'm getting it right. Get it right. And

Mike is the reason we haven't been. So that's

hilarious. Not the pandemic, not the birth of

a child, but the the ransom that his computer

was being held under in Illinois. Now it's free.

And now he's back. And now he's going to we're

going to do this episode, guys. And I'm going

to I'm going to, you know. Be the guy that tells

him what he's right about and what he's wrong

about and all this other jazz. And he's going

to blame the rust on why he's wrong on our arguments.

So let's just get that out of the way. Like whenever

he does that. No, no, no. Anywho, we are finally

getting ready to get back to Eternia. We left

it off. We're kind of most well, two thirds,

a little bit over two thirds of the way through

the. We're in the back half. Yeah, we're in the

back half of Masters of the Universe. The last

series that currently exists of the He -Man franchise,

even though there's multiple iterations in the

pipeline. So we've heard so we're just coming

back to finish all of those episodes and then

we'll do a whole wrap up of this series. We'll

do a whole wrap up of everything we've done.

And then we have some future plans that we'll

get to later on, but we've got to get these episodes.

covered because we will not leave any stone unturned.

We will not leave an episode of He -Man not reviewed

because that was our goal from day one. So I

don't care if it takes 10 years. We're going

to get this thing done. Anything else to say

before we travel back to Eternia, sir? Well,

at least we can say if it does take another 10

years, at least we can say we're the longest

running Masters of the Universe podcast ever.

Yeah, I think we've got to at least record an

episode a year though for that to count. Well,

true. So we just made it under the gun. No, we

just missed it actually. All right. In this episode

of Masters of Grayskull, we'll be giving our

thoughts on the next three episodes of the series,

which are episode 33 of Machines and Men, episode

34, Second Skin, and episode 35, The Power of

Grayskull. So we hope you're ready because it's

time to go back to Eternia, finally. Randor,

King Torius has agreed to our terms and signed

the agreement. So soon? Your diplomatic skills

put my own to shame, Marlena. Now hurry home.

Your king misses you. And your queen misses her

king. Tell Adam I'm flying over the corridors

of Lithos. When he was a child, we'd often come

here with Cringer to explore the caves. Alright,

first up today is episode 33 of Machines and

Men. This air date, we almost made this actually,

the air date was around November 29th, 2003.

So we're talking about 17 years ago and like

a week. The writer was Michael Halperin and the

plot synopsis goes something like this. We're

talking about an episode where Queen Marlena's

aircraft loses power and crashes over the corridors

of Letho's... As power outages wreak havoc across

the planet and we come in touch with an alien

being so that or appears to be an alien being

who has something to do with that power outage

and he invites both Skeletor and He -Man to his

area to his lair to his world to help him with

something and that's as much as I'll get into

it because we'll talk about the rest as we go.

But what were your initial thoughts of machines

and men? Hmm. A wizard behind the curtain, huh?

Too bad his name isn't Zagras. Or Oz. Yeah, well,

I mean, that's the obvious thing, but at least

cutting it back to He -Man. I do love the action

scenes in here. Such fluid animation on that.

I think that's great. For sure. It's interesting

how... That this plot, everyone on the planet

is affected by global energy crisis. Hmm. I wonder,

you know, how that relates to nowadays, but like,

seriously, everybody even, you know, like trap

jaw and triclops and like. Mechanic and everything.

I'm like, wow, what a disease. Hmm. Yeah. I felt

like this episode was like the tail of two episodes.

Um, so basically we have. Two different plots

going on at the same time in my mind or two different

almost stories and to me they could have been

almost two different episodes we're talking about

and one half where we have what's the dude's

name again I keep forgetting I don't remember

what the guy's name is but the the headless bean

who turns into the the power wizard of Oz guy

We have him Yeah, I can't remember his name but

something stupid but we have him and He -Man

and Skeletor as they battle through with their

battle armor that he gives them and trying to

restore power and energy to all of I don't even

just to attorney about it at least all to attorney

might be some other surrounding places to but

so that's one thing that's going on and then

the other thing that's going on is queen marlena

who is in these the corridors of lithos and trying

to survive get saved get found you know get back

to the palace so those are like the two different

stories going on and i don't know about you.

I would have much rather had the entire episode

be about the court. Queen Marlana story and following

her and Battle Cat and King Randoor trying to

find her and all that stuff versus what we got

with Skeletor and He -Man. Must be the power

generators under the city. No, that wouldn't

affect Mechaneck and Manny Face's powers. Or

Adam Skysled, or my battle orbs. Yeah, absolutely.

Uh, cause here's the thing, Skeletor and He -Man...

It's just... You know, a Wizard of Oz plot. Kind

of thing, like you have to help this guy because

he's the... The power behind the entire planet

and the skeletor wants the power for himself.

I got a couple different things about that because

the reason I like the Queen Marlena story is

because number one we don't get a lot of Queen

Marlena or King Randor stories so that would

have given us a chance to kind of dive into that

a little bit more it does do some flashbacks

to like a young battle cat in that area and that's

kind of how they find out where she's at etc.

So that's cool like I'm fine with that. Whereas

on the other side where we have bellator and

he man not only are we dealing with this idea

that always bugs me in the shows because. I don't

mind episodes that reveal some of the mythology

behind whatever series were watching. Like that

add new parts of the history or inform us on

something that happened in the world bigger than

what we've seen etc. When it's something like

this though where it's like this apparently is

how eternity is powered and it's never come up

in a hundred and eighteen times two or three

episodes that we've watched of all of these different

human series and she wrote series etc etc like

it's never come up before so that makes it seem

fake and just like a artificial you know just

created for this episode and then the second

part about that that bugs me is that. He's on

this, I don't know if it's supposed to be a planet

or a moon or whatever station or whatever. He's

on this place. And not only are there these massive

machine, uh, warrior type beans that are not

even beans, but just these machines, robots,

I guess that are trying to cause havoc. But number

one, they don't really ever get into that. Like

We don't ever get to understand where those come

from or how that is. It relevant to him like

how do they all coexist in this place and number

two if he's the one that's in charge of powering

all of eternity why are we allowing him just

to be there on his own without any type of like

army without any type of security without any

type of guards without any type of protection

like so that all seems weird to me and then what

we get is basically. And I hate when people claim

this, so that's why this bugs me that it appears

in this episode, because we always hear the same

thing about 80s cartoons. You know, oh, it was

just a toy from 30 minute toy commercial. It's

a 30 minute toy commercial. The only reason the

series exists is because the toys, blah, blah,

blah, blah, blah. First of all, side note that

does a disservice to the men and women that are

behind these series that are writing, that are

directing, that are voice acting, that are doing

all of the art that goes into making this series.

It might have existed some of the series might

have existed initially because they need something

to go along with the toys but. There's still

a series there still people put in work and they're

still people creating stories and then all this

other stuff so let's not say that but then we

get an episode like this that is literally. Blatantly

an advertisement for battle armor skeletor and

battle armor he man yep. And that bugs me about

that storyline so i wish we could just done away

with that whole part of this episode and just

done the queen marlena thing. Yeah and i agree

the only thing honestly the only reason why.

I'm giving this the grade that i'm gonna give

it is because. This episode was and i noticed

this in all the episodes that we've watched for

this series but this episode in particular the

music. felt like it took center stage over everything

else i noticed more music cues in this one cartoon

episode. Then i have in the previous thirty two

episodes that we've talked about within this

part of the power spray skull series. I really

don't get i thought it was great i thought it

was so good yeah i mean the fact that they had

to and i get it people are writing this people

directing this obviously the voice actors and

voice in the characters and the character in

the star tech. I don't know who the voice actor

is or any of that kind of stuff. I'm not looking

at that, but I just tried to find the character

name. It's sorry. Um, would have been better

if they called them Zagros, but whatever, uh,

wizards and warriors and behind the curtain.

But yeah, I mean, in general, I just don't. This

feels more like. a one off battle episode, and

we just came off of. Whatever episode 32 was.

I was waiting for you to come up with that. I

was going to be impressive for the record. The

voice actor is French Tickner, but yeah, and

I'm not saying either. I don't disagree with

you. I don't think I'm not going to give it a

bad grade either. Like overall, it's a decent

episode. It just bugs me that they throw in this

because it just gives like. Ammunition for people

to use that like oh see here's just another toy

commercial type thing But there are some good

parts about this so I'll go through a couple

things and not let you kind of really quickly

We went from the price of the price of deceit

Which was that that kind of third part of the

rise of the snake men two -parter kind of thing

we went from that to Of machines and men or of

men and machines or transform this and GI Joe

that and whatever she concluded her business

early Marlena was on route flying over the corridors

of lithos when I lost all contact. Don't worry

your majesty I'll find the. Right, it's weird

because, you know, in the second half of this

series, there's so many episodes that are like

adding little bits and pieces to the overarching

story between the Masters and the Snakemen and,

you know, et cetera, et cetera, all the other

people that are going to come into play. And

so we get a lot of that that's kind of progressing

down this... Storyline and then we have a few

of these still thrown in here where it's you

know kind of just like an episode of the week

It's just a you know Whatever enemy of the week

or different thing like that that kind of what

this episode fits into because it doesn't do

a lot for the overarching story But it still

does some good things so for example I did like

that it showed I thought it was a cool detail

that it kind of shows how that energy affects

different characters throughout Eternia, kind

of how you mentioned already. So we get to see

like, you know, Prince Adam and Tila that are

doing something and, you know, their vehicle

or their weapons or whatever they're using for

the training stops working. You know, like you

said, we get to see that with Mechaneck, we get

to see that with Manny Faces, Trapjaw, you know,

et cetera, et cetera. So I like kind of how they

go throughout the world and show like it's not

just the one thing it's happening all over. It's

a cool episode in the respect that it gives us

an opportunity to see King Randor on Battle Cat.

Yeah. Instead of He -Man. So He -Man basically

has to do other things and Randor is going to

go save Marlena because He -Man is going to this

world of energy. So he gives Randor Battle Cat

because there's no electric, you know, vehicles

or powered vehicles that you can use. So it was

either going to be a horse or Battle Cat. So

that was cool. And then, man, Marlena. She freaking

stabs Watch my tongue lasher his tongue. Yep

into the the rock or the cave or whatever like

I don't know how much we've ever seen anything

be stabbed in this show That might be one of

the only times but it literally he stabs the

tongue and then it's weird because the way they

get out of that is Was a Cobra Khan is that the

who's with it? Is he the one that does the spitting

of the acid? Yeah, yeah spits acid on tongue

lasher's tongue to get it off of the rock. Mm

hmm. Like that had to hurt. Well, he's basically

using their abilities against them. I mean, you

know, it's just crazy. Like that's how he gets

his tongue out is he literally like uses acid

to get it off. Like that can't feel good on your

tongue. His tongue just got stabbed, so it's

already open and going to be bloody. And now

it's got acid in it. Like that's like getting

a cut and putting your hand in like some type

of peppers or something like that. Um, and then

we have battle cat who, who skinned the snake.

So that was kind of cool. We had the multi moment,

I guess you could say. So I did like all of that.

Um, my only nitpicks, like I said, number one,

I don't understand why this power guy is not

being protected in some way. Um, and then I also

don't understand. This was Queen Marlena. She

was going on a diplomatic journey. She was coming

back from one. Yes. Why is nobody escorting the

freaking Queen of Eternia? Yeah, I know right

not only could they not just get some like a

random ass like guard or something like that

We couldn't send one of the Masters of the universe

Like this was an opportunity to involve one character

that we could have seen a little bit more on

that was like her escort Queen Marlena, where

is she? Took my weapon... went for help... Battlecat,

we must find her! There were two guards though.

Oh, there were two guards Yes, because they pick

one of them up and they give him water and ask,

you know What happened or where's Marlena and

he's like, oh, yeah, that's my whatever So she

did have a couple of guards, but like there should

have been a master with her. Yeah. Yeah Absolutely.

So What about you anything else that you didn't

get to talk about that you liked or disliked

about this episode? I Love and it'll be in the

audio somewhere within this episode. I love He

man's anger. So when he appears again after Skeletor

basically blasts him out of the place right before

he says that, you know, there's another life

at stake when he says. Like I can feel like I

could in cams in cam Clark's. vocal performance

and in the anime animatic of the the facial feature

I can feel his anger coming out of the out of

the screen at me and I'm like, oh boy Yeah, and

I wasn't making this up This was a story that

was written to promote the 2003 versions of the

battle armor He -Man and battle armor Skeletor

by Mattel toy lines. I had the original battle

I had a version of the battle armor one in the

80s I never got to see what the 2003 version

necessarily looked like. I'm sure it's bigger

and bulkier and stuff like that. But so that's

the unfortunate part that this story was written

to promote that. But, you know, they got to make

their money. So whatever. Any Power Swords or

Havoc staffs for you, sir? The only negative

thing I had about this one was... It's over,

He -Man. I leave with the Ergon. You get to live

with your life. No. There is another life at

stake here. Uh, Cringer remembers, which means

Battlecat remembers, which means they should

figure out that, you know, oh no, they're going

to figure out that Adam is He -Man and He -Man

is Adam because Marlena is like, um, wait a minute.

How does Battlecat know this place? We only ever

took Cringer here. Like Marlena is smart. She's

a smart lady and she should figure it out. That's

a good catch. I'm like, wait a minute here. Um,

I'll give a power sword to Marlena and to Cringer

slash Battle Cat. I had the same thing written

down. I'm giving Marlena a power sword for stabbing

Snake Guy in the tongue and Battle Cat for skinning

Snake Guy. So I mean, those are two kind of badass

moments by our heroes. So I don't have any Havoc

staffs to give off to anybody on this one. What

about a rating for this episode, sir? Three and

a half. The only reason why I got my video camera

on. No. All right. Am I screen sharing with you

by accident? I don't think so. Okay. I got a

three and a half as well. Yeah. I mean, like

I said, I, you know, I really wanted to like

this more than three and a half is not a bad

rating. The only way it gets a three and a half

is because of how great that music was when it

did swell during the certain points of it. But

yeah, looking back on it and having us discuss

it now, I'm like, It's not as good as I thought

it was. Yeah I mean if it was all the Marlana

story I could see it either staying at a three

and a half or you know Even being in the four

range somewhere if it was if it would have just

been battle armor He man battle armor Skeletor

and the Wizard of Oz like I would probably be

in a two somewhere Just because I didn't care

for that half of it, but it is what it is We're

starting off on not too bad of a note three and

a half is above average So we're gonna take a

break when we come back We'll see if it gets

better or worse with episode 34, which is called

second skin Nobody's gonna lose! Guard to Archer

G4. I can't believe I actually... Lost. But how?

I captured your Empress! I had you surrounded!

Strategy orco, I saw what you intended and led

you into a trap. You must learn to think several

moves ahead and to always have a backup plan

in case things go wrong. Lord Dactus Welcome

my friend. May I offer you there is no time for

pleasantries King randor I have something you

must see at once last mid -moon one of my patrols

found this in subternia Is that what I think

it is? Snake skin I encountered a few snake men

in the corridors of lithos. I assumed they were

the last surviving members The skin has openings

for five heads King Hiss is alive! The snake

men! I thought they fell into the abyss! Hey,

wait up! Zodak cannot help you this time. He

has entered a state of deep meditation and cannot

be awakened. If King Hiss has returned... You

and the Masters alone must stop him. Can you

at least help us find him? I am still recovering

from King Hiss's venom. My powers are too weak

to sense his presence. I have only a faint premonition.

Up next today is episode 34, Second Skin, Airdate.

Hey, December 6th, 2003, 17 years ago from the

day we're recording this. Inside baseball there's

this is written by Stephen Melching plasmas is

learning from Lord Dactis that King his and his

snake men are still alive the Masters of the

universe track snake man attempting to retrieve

the serpents ring from the Sea of Rikash so we're

back to the snake man story in the overarching

kind of. Plots that were going towards towards

the end of this series. So what did you feel

like? How did it work for you when we're getting

back to the snake man up? There was a statement

in the last one, but it really had nothing to

do with their storyline. So Second skin. What

did you think? This was a good episode but Honestly,

I'm over like I know this is going somewhere

and we only have five episodes left to figure

it at five cartoon episodes left to figure it

out because sadly The series only got 39 episodes.

It should have gotten a little more than that.

I think it should have got a whole third season.

But I'm already tired of King Hiss and the Snake

Men. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. I like them. They're

cool. But like, I wanted the story to hurry up

and get where it's going. Yeah, it's I think

there's enough of them that I like You know cuz

we had like right lower for a little while and

Cobra con for a little while and we get you know

This that and the other it's been a little bit

more king hiss now lately. So I get that, you

know, I typically hate crossovers Like I do not

like when my fictional worlds coincide because

I feel like it's forced I feel like it's artificial.

I you know, if it were to make sense that'd be

different Um, but when it's just completely two

unrelated franchises that are now crossing over,

I hate that, but I cannot help watch the snake

man specifically King hiss and not think of serpent

or from GI Joe. Like I just am like, these two

guys got to be in the same family, right? Like

they're the, they'd hang out with each other,

like whatever. So, um, but I, it's weird because

I actually watched these two episodes a year

ago. Home or you're in some change ago because

i actually had notes already written down for

these two episodes i rewatch them today to make

sure i remembered what my notes meant. Because

i want to go off of a year old notes but this

is this is one that i had written down. Back

a year ago and i'm guessing that this would make

sense if i was in the frame of mind that had

just watched the previous. 10, 15, five episodes,

however much it was. But my first note was, Whoa,

Orko is still in this series, huh? Yeah. And

then I put afterwards and Roboto even. So I'm

guessing that Orko and Roboto had not been seen

for a number of episodes or at least not been

important for a while until all of a sudden this

episode, they kind of make a reappearance. So

I like that we get them back in the fray, even

if. I have mixed opinions on ARCO, but another

thing that was cool was, and this would again

be tied to episodes that we had previously done,

in one of the last episodes we did a year ago,

there was a situation where the sorceress had

been infected by a venom from the snake man.

And that carries over now with continuity into

this episode because we can still see the lines

in her face that kind of show that she's still

poisoned or she's still infected and her power

is not what it once was. So I do like that they're

continuing with that continuity. We see that

in this episode. We see that every time the sorceress

shows up in these episodes that we're talking

about today. So I thought that was good. Another

funny thing is that for some reason this Story

takes them underwater So we get the masters who

are all you know shielded up because they're

underwater So they need to be able to breathe

and water and this that and the other type stuff

And then we also have the snake men who go into

like water mode Which is kind of weird. I like

I get some snakes in being water But it was weird

that they all had like the same like oh we got

to do our gills now and we got to do our our

flying parts like we're flying squirrels and

whatnot. But when they're underwater, Cobra Khan,

I believe it's Cobra Khan, yeah, tries to spit,

he's going to go to spit venom. And he can't.

And whoever he's going against, I can't remember

at the time, was like, you can't spit venom underwater.

So I'm glad that they at least acknowledged that

and called that out that he couldn't do that.

That was nice. And then one other piece of continuity

before i let you kind of bounce off some of these

but i do like that they continue to show that

rattler and snake face are in prison. And they

haven't just ignored that because a lot of times

in animated series you have somebody that gets

captured or put in prison or whatever whatever

and then magically they're not there the next

episode and there's no explanation for it so

i like that they're keeping rattler and snake

face for the moment in prison so those are some

things that i like what about you. The Serpent

Ring and the Sea of Rakash. I do not know what

it means. Perhaps the answer can be found in

the ancient texts. There's no time. We have to

find King Hiss now! By the power of Grayskull!

Figure out a strategy Orko is actually trying

his best not to screw up. Yay Orko Because he's

like he constantly is like ooh, I gotta have

a Play I get a plan ahead I get to think you

know a thousand steps ahead kind of thing and

I like that I think that's cool that Orko is

you know? Actively not trying to screw up and

I phrase it that way because let's face it Orko's

The biggest, one of the biggest screw -ups in

this franchise at times. Um, King His is alive.

I wish Skeletor would have killed him already.

Um, and that's, that's part of my problem. I

understand that they're going this whole snake

armor, snake this, snake that, and this whole

mythology of, or, you know, whatever you want

to call it for this part of the story. But that's

my problem is that I'm missing Skeletor in between

this podcast and the next podcast. I think we

only see Skeletor. Twice the episode we just

talked about and, uh, episodes next week, I think.

And it just, it's like, like I said earlier,

hurry up and get to the point. Like they went

through this whole thing of finding the. The

serpents ringer whatever the hell. And I'm like.

Like yeah you know you talking about the the

the toy stuff my first not my first note in snake

mountain. Snake armor toy propaganda at least

man in arms had a good explanation for it yeah

like like at least the story was written in a

way where it isn't just like like you said oh

it's now here. Right. I've had this for months

and he, the way he explains it is that, that

he, you know, forensic filed the DNA out of the

snakes, out of the dead snakes or whatever. Right.

I do also like that they actually have consequences

when their armor, the one they're underwater

gear doesn't work. Right. Like I'm not going

to cast a, like basically stretch his head until

he gets above water so he can breathe. And then

they have to rush Tila up there because her thing

has been broken. So I like that they acknowledge

that. I agree with you about something that you

said though. Obviously in this episode we have

the McGuffin I guess you'd call it be the serpent's

ring and it seems like there's a trend here with

our stories with the snake people like I like

it when it was they were trying to Release or

retrieve King Hiss like they're trying to bring

him back So that's what the original snake episodes

were about were some of the minions trying to

get him back And then I like the other ones,

you know when it has to deal with them trying

to do stuff with You know the Masters or a gray

skull or whatever whatever But I don't like this

trend here that we were getting in Recently where

it's all about these like little artifacts that

they have to collect like I know that's commonplace

in 80s cartoons But we were doing so well with

just regular parts of the story that I it feels

Like we're stretching it out and they have to

collect this thing and then they have to collect

that thing and then they got to put You know

this that and the other together and turn it

clockwise 16 times and then it's gonna unleash

more power that they already didn't have It's

just gets old. It's gets complicated and it gets

too much Like I would rather not have these little

artifacts that they have together So yeah, and

the other thing is the turning everyone into

snake people Story arc thing or whatever you

want to call it I've seen this before we've we've

all seen this type of story before, but this

specific story. Actually happened while this

aired December 6, 2003, probably two or three

years before this episode. There was an episode

of Batman Beyond where there was this cult of

cobras and they wanted to turn people into snakes.

And I'm like, Where have I seen this before And

this did nothing to further show how Evil King

hiss and the snake men are hell King hiss gets

defeated like an 80s villain here. Oh, yeah Yes,

um There was only one thing that I wrote down

as far as moments that bugged me besides I guess

I'm kind of piggybacking off you at the serpent

string even though I didn't write it down, but

yeah at the end we get One of my least favorite

things about the human universe franchise etc

with the solution that human is going to tear

apart the whole frickin Whatever that was. What

was it? Like I'm not a mountain, but he basically

tears them out Yeah, but it's basically a mountain

because they say nothing can destroy nothing

on the planet can destroy us. So he picks it

up, rips it off and throws it into the sun. It's

not just like a house. It's not just like anything

else. He like literally lifts like half of the

landscape and then chucks it into the sun, like

into outer space. Like I get that he's the most

powerful man on Eternia, etc. But can we not

do that? Can you do something that's at least

somewhat within the realm of believability? because

otherwise it just makes it because doing something

like that has two problems. Number one, it means

that there's probably hundreds of other times

in the series where he could have solved things

much easier because he has that much power. Like

he should be able to just put a jail cell over

the snake mountain like. Have man -in -arms create

one. He can throw it from the castle. It'll land

over Snake Mountain and our series is over. So

you can't have him do stuff like that because

it creates too many problems when he doesn't

do stuff like that then to solve his problems.

That's the main thing I don't like about it,

but I don't know. I just don't like when he does

stuff that's so huge and so big and so ridiculous.

Like if it's a man -made structure and he's able

to like, I don't I don't mind if it was like

a Samson thing. where he's able to lift something,

but it literally is like taking every ounce of

power out of him and he can like brace something

like he can hold it for a second. But this guy

is literally tearing something off of the landscape

and throwing it into outer space. That to me

is lame. Don't do that, please. It's a little

far fetched. Yeah. What about power swords or

have access for you? Havoc staff to King his

I just don't see him as a credible threat. I

don't yeah He's scary sure the snake men are

scary sure and snakes are disgusting and whatever

else but just I Just don't Not a fan, I guess

not really I've never never he's not my favorite

of the snake man. That's for sure I've never

been a fan of his I've never outside of tongue

last year. I've never really been a fan of the

other snake. I like rattler I think Cobra cons

fun to watch even if he wouldn't be my favorite,

but I like rattler I think whatever it was a

called snake face or whatever has a cool power

Tongue lasher is all right. Like there's some

of them that squeeze has a cool voice. So I kind

of dig him. But the King Hiss is probably my

least favorite one of all of them. So yeah, I

can kind of see that I have a power sword for

Oracle and Roboto. So do I. Yeah. Yeah, they

both kind of do right in this episode. Oracle's

thinking ahead. They're trying to at the beginning,

they're trying to. He's trying to learn how to

play chess or whatever their version of chess

is, and Roboto's trying to teach him how to look

beyond two moves ahead, and that obviously plays

a part into the actual story. But I do like that

Oracle was successful with stuff. Roboto helps

out, so good for both of them. No Havoc staffs

for me. You can give one to King Hiss and I won't

fight you on it. What about a rating for this

episode? To really see I'm actually higher on

this one. I know it seems like we're talking

bad about it But like I like that we're back

with the snakes I like that we're back trying

to go along with that story I could have dealt

with something besides the serpent's ring But

I thought everything was good enough as far as

the action and different stuff like that And

it didn't seem like a toy commercial to me. So

I was actually up to a four on this one So I

will differ with you slightly on this one. We'll

see if we agree or disagree on our last episode

today So after the break, we're gonna come back

and talk about the power of Grayskull. Just a

dream, Cringer. I fear it is more than that,

Prince Adam. You must come to Grayskull at once.

Alright, last up today is episode 35, The Power

of Grayskull, aired date of December 13th, 2003,

written by Dean Stefan. And this goes a little

bit like this. Adam has a dream in which he sees

a warrior similar to He -Man fighting both the

Snake Men and Hordak. The dream prompts him to

journey to Castle Grayskull in order to seek

answers to the many questions that have arisen

from the dream from the sorceress. Alright, a

couple things here before I let you talk. Number

one, I wish I could have slowed down that dream

sequence and gone frame by frame to see everything

he saw during that, because it flashes a whole

bunch of different things on there. If I had

more time, I would have done that before the

episode, but it'd be cool to kind of break down

everything that he sees in that dream. Use your

talents and the magic within to free me from

this accursed dimension. But anyways, this is

definitely going not just to the ever ongoing

story that we're following with the snake men

and now with Hordak, et cetera, et cetera. So

we get that progression of the overarching story.

But we also get a heavy dose of history when

it comes to the mythos of Castle Grayskull and

of King Grayskull. So what did you think about

this episode? No mortal has entered this chamber

in an eon. That's the guy in my dreams. Looks

like He -Man, but different. Your ancestor, King

Grayskull. There was a king grayskull so that

means this castle was once his The very seat

of his kingdom not to go all Kenny Loggins on

everybody But my first note under general thoughts

in all caps this period is period it period Because

this is this is it. This is the episode that

I have been waiting for since the beginning of

season two because this has so much stories so

much action. Like if they were to take a whole

never do this at the time that they were doing

this if they would have taken a whole other thing

to basically tell more adventures with king grayskull

up until obviously what happens at the end of

this episode oh man that would have been so good.

Yeah, I mean this episode gives us a whole big

long look at what life was like on Eternia prior

to He -Man and Randor etc etc So a couple cool

things that we get to see from that number one

We get to see the origin of Castle Grayskull.

We get to see the origin of the power sword We

get to see King Grayskull and who his people

were beforehand. So some of it's interesting

because some of it are kind of like there's a

correlation between the old version and the new

version type thing. So we obviously have King

Grayskull back then. We have He -Man now. We

have Queen Veena back then. We have the Sorceress

now. We have what I'm going to refer to as Battle

Hulk Lion. And then and we have Battle Cat now.

But then I'd like that they didn't just do that

with every single character, because then instead

of Man in Arms, Tila and the rest of the Masters

like we have now, we actually have What I what

does that become like the council of elders or

whatever we have? Yeah, we have a bunch of people

that you know, we're around that don't necessarily

match up with the counterpart from current So

I like that they did some of them, but not all

of them Well, here's the thing and you mentioned

this way back in episode 108 or 107 or 108 when

we started this Where did the council of elders

come from? Who are they? What what was their

purpose before they were the council of this

is your answer right here? Whoever those warriors

were at the end of that battle when King Grayskull

died and he passed his power on, that's how the

council was formed. Right. The only thing that

I'm not sure if this causes some muckiness with

is with the actual power sword, because it does

show that the power goes into the power sword

and that that's kind of how He -Man can get some

of his power, et cetera. But I feel like that

somehow causes a problem and I'd have to really

dig in more. So I didn't do it prior to this

episode. So somebody can probably call me out

on this, but there was two swords. You know what

I mean? You know, you're right. And because they

say in the episode that he lost his sword in

battle. Right. And then he had to go find it

the only thing that i would say and i know this

is just what i'm also thinking like she was so

that's what i it's what i was gonna say was i

know i'm reaching here but maybe it was the other

sword for the other person so i'm not sure if

we have all of our countries that are like lining

up across all the different series that we've

had with when it comes to the sword the mythology

of the sword but i'm fine with it because it's

the first time it's really kind of. Coming to

play in this series to that extent. It was we're

relying on explanations from previous series

when we're talking about this other stuff, so

I'll let it slide but Yeah, we get to see hordak

we get to see some of his minions which we haven't

seen before in this series So that was excellent

We still get some continuity with the venom and

you know still plaguing the sorceress So we get

that hordak comes across as a badass in this

episode. Oh, yes He does like not is it not only

is it just cool that we see him? He's got a cool

look. It's a little different than we're used

to, but it's a cool updated look. I get it. He

he has like a freaky face that he does at one

point that almost made me jump out of my jump

back in my chair. And then he just straight up

murdered one of his dudes. Forgive me, great

Hordak, but perhaps now is not the time. The

clash with the snake man has left our forces

depleted. That is good counsel, Calyx. But I

so hate bad news. Yep. Like, I mean, we don't

get to see that a lot in the He -Man world, but

he straight -up murders Alex. Yeah. Yeah, this

is not 80s George the son of Hordak. This is

not fumbling Hordak that means business and Hordak

that everyone should be afraid of. We got to

see Montana, we get to see Grizzlor. Um, those

are the only two I can remember of. Leech, Mancina,

Grizzler, and Leech are the main three that I

remember. The only thing that I dislike about

this episode, I know a tiny bit, is basically

He -Man, it's weird because He -Man has his dream,

and he has to go to Castle Grayskull to talk

to Sorceress. And then to get his answers, he

has to go from the Castle Grayskull and talk

to Sorceress to go talk to this Oracle. Then

the Oracle sends him on this other mission to

go find this other thing. Which ends up just

being him finding the Oracle again, but it's

like he already went one place I need to go two

places and he had to go three places in the meantime

All this other stuff was happening that he was

supposed to be helping out with like so it's

like the two timelines shouldn't match up there

Because it should take him a lot longer to do

everything that he was doing compared to what

else is going on in the world so that's a slight

problem and then I don't know if I'm a huge fan

of how they do the oracle with like basically

a different version of oracle the way i looked

at it and i thought it was kind of funny i'm

like hey it's uncle montauk or montorque or whatever

the uncle's name was right original 80s here

that's the only way. That i kinda you know which

they would have done a little different voice

maybe. There's something i don't know it's like

literally or goes voice but yeah overall i just

love this episode before we get some of your

other thoughts i'm gonna throw out some trivia

because there was a lot of trivia about this

episode. Character king grayskull is based on

an early prototype of human for the two thousand

two line designed by the four horseman which

featured him with longer hair the producers like

the character design so much. They decided to

incorporate him into the series as king grayskull

instead of a version of human. An action figure

of King Grayskull was released as one of the

first figures in the Masters of the Universe

Classic line in 2008 as a San Diego Comic -Con

exclusive and was also available in a limited

bronze statue variant. Two more variants followed

a redesigned version of the 2010 and a glow -in

-the -dark spirit of King Grayskull in 2015.

So I'm sure you can find all of those if you

want to spend a whole bunch of money on eBay

or something like that. An action figure of the

Horde Wraith Identified as wizards in the end

credits was released by Maddie collector in 2016

We didn't talk about those but they were present

in the episode so more toys that came out of

that In the script the original plan was to see

was to actually see the battle between the snake

men and hordex forces However, for production

reasons and probably time constraints. It was

conveyed through a painting that Adam or human

is looking at instead It's the first appearance

of King Grayskull Queen Veena Grizzler leech

Mantana Calyx and the Oracle and it's the first

time the origin of Castle Grayskull is displayed

as well as the explanation for the abyss surrounding

the castle Thoughts on any of those things or

other things you didn't get to talk about about

the episode yet? I'm perfectly fine with them

showing and then explaining, you know, like showing

the painting and, you know, telling a story versus

just see like this. Here's the thing. What I've

noticed in my measly 12 years as a podcaster,

most of the cartoons that we talk about. We're

analyzing and supposedly supposed to be criticizing

moments that are character driven or. whatever

you could say there's bad animation new adventures

you could say there you know what whatever it

is but you know we usually have good or bad moments

to talk about that are actual moments we don't

normally like if if this painting was an actual

battle scene am i gonna spend an extra 20 minutes

to oh he shouldn't have stepped that way he you

know no i don't want to like i'm not here to

like To analyze an action sequence to the point

of picking it apart. So like if I like it, great.

If I don't like it, I'll say I don't like it.

I think this in the action sequence was we're

going to get to that next week, folks. And then

obviously, yeah, obviously in this episode, we

see that King Grayskull actually has to fight.

Hordak, et cetera, to try to stop him from taking

over Eternia and the castle, et cetera. He gives

his life to do that. His life force goes into

the sword. He is married. We didn't mention,

but Queen Vina is his wife. So he's basically

married to the Sorceress's predecessor. And then

obviously that's how the Council of Elders are

created. And Hordak basically gets, you know,

taken off into traps. Yeah, trapped dimension

sort of. idea. And then we get, you know, basically

the Queen Vena says, you know, she's going to

look over the castle until she can pass it on

to somebody else to do. And then there's kind

of some premonitions of the sword eventually

will find it's a new owner that will be a hero

to Eternia, etc. So that's kind of how all that

goes down. When my sword was lost in battle with

the snake man, I had hoped it was a sign. that

a time of peace was upon us. Sadly, my King,

that time has not yet come. Even now, the forces

of evil are clashing. One will emerge victorious,

and then the true battle for Eternia will be

upon us. Though I yearn for nothing more than

an Eternia free of bloodshed, if battle I must,

then battle I will. If I'm giving a power sword

to anybody, it's going to be Grayskull, both

the castle and the king. Yeah, same here. This

is what this episode is about. It's powers of

Grayskull, and it helps us learn so much about

those things that we've been watching for years.

So I have to give them a power sword, and I didn't

have any Havoc staffs. What about you? Me, I

didn't have any Havoc staffs either, and I'd

give a power sword to the castle and the king

himself, so yeah. All right. I can predict your

rating, but what is it? Five hands down. It's

easy It's one of the very few best episodes out

of the 39 that we get right. I'm with you I'm

on a five on this one as well Easy five I could

have almost written it down after the first five

minutes. I know I was gonna like this episode.

So One thing I didn't like about our discussion

though is that you brought up a name of an ed

actually forgotten that existed I forgot we had

we had covered it. I had forgotten that we had

watched it and You uttered its name and now in

my head again, bad enough that I had to watch

them all. So I was about a half a second away

from telling you at like episode, whatever it

was in the middle of that. I'm like, just go

get Tim Silvers and you guys finish it off for

this. I don't care about this anymore. This week

we had three episodes and weirdly, it must be

the fact that we took a year off or maybe I just

didn't want to scare them away so that we could

actually finish. One out four and a two, but

we agreed once again at the end with double five.

So that's a bizarre thing. Two out of three agreed

episodes as far as our rankings go. But man,

I don't know what else to say. We're back at

it. We're going to finish this now. We promise

we're not going to take another year break in

between the where we're at now and in the end

of the 2002 series. And here's the secret folks,

even though the 2002 series went land and even

though we will eventually at some point get to

Shira, this show ain't over yet. Yep. There's

more to come. There's more to come. That's right.

We must discover how. Because the world needs

another movie podcast. The Geekcast Radio Network

presents for your listening pleasure, The Cinema

Geek. Hosted by Amanda, Kevin, Matt, and Dan.

Each week, we dive head first in the landscape

of movies as we discuss movie news, play movie

games, go in -depth on reviews, and even have

a top 10 countdown or two. Also, don't miss our

director retrospective series, where we review

line is, if you love movies and love content,

cast you need to experience the Cinema Geeks.

You can find us on iTunes, Blog .Radio, or GeekCastRadio

.com. Do you like retro cartoons? Then Saturday

Morning Rewind is the podcast for you! Join them

each month as they talk about classic cartoons

and interview legendary voice actors like Jim

Cummings, Corey Burton, Rob Paulson, Nancy Cartwright

and many more. So grab a bowl of Lucky Charms.

Put on your hammer pants. Go to SaturdayMorningRewind

.com and be prepared to feel like a kid again.

Once again, that's SaturdayMorningRewind .com.

Saturday Morning Rewind was voted best podcast

ever by its host Tim Nydell. So it's gotta be

good. I'm Thomas DJ Top Professional. I'm Scott

McGregor, talented amateur. And we'd like to

invite you to join us for our journey through

every adventure of The Avengers. No, not that

Avengers. You won't find any tights, magic hammers,

or fancy shields here. But you will find some

supervillains and some hot women in tight leather.

So there is that and champagne Oh, yeah, lots

of champagne with umbrella charm and bowler that

other Avengers podcast covering the seminal spy

series that lasted from 1961 to 1969 on an episode

by episode basis join us So we explore the television

series that helps shape pop culture I made an

icon out of Diana Rick honor blackman and Patrick

with umbrella charm and bowler that other Avengers

podcast coming straight towards you every month

only on the two true freaks podcast network and

if i refuse then i'll take back the life i have

given you yes i will do as you wish Thank you

for listening to us as we are the masters of

Grayskull. If you'd like to get in contact with

us, we'll leave feedback for the show. There

are several ways to do so. Visit the website,

geekcastradio .com, where you can comment on

this and all of our other posts, not just for

this show, but all the other content we've done

in the last 12, 13 years, however long it's been.

Here are all the ways you can listen to us. Nowadays,

Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, and of course,

the home where our files exist, Spreaker. You

can also use Stitcher and any other podcasting

client you choose. I personally love listening

to podcasts on Spotify. It's the most user -friendly

out of all of them for me personally. Leave the

show's feedback in iTunes. Please do this. I

did check. Before the show, we do not have any

new iTunes reviews. Well, we haven't had any

new content in a year. We're to blame for that.

We're back, maybe. You know what? What? I said

we are to blame for that, so now that we've seen

the content. Yes, yes, yes. Follow us on Twitter.

At Geekcast Radio is the network, at Pal of Grayskull

is the show, I am at TFG and Mike, what is your

Twitter? My Twitter is at Optimus Solo. Become

a fan on Facebook, go to Facebook .com slash

Geekcast Radio Network. We hope you enjoyed the

Grayskull goodness today and don't forget to

join us in our next adventure when we will take

a look at the next two episodes of He -Man and

the Masters of the Universe, which are Web of

Evil and Rattle of the Snake Men. For now, I

am TFG and Mike with... By the power and for

the honor of Grayskull, we have the power. And

if I do nothing, then all of Eternia shall perish.

Go then, and find the Oracle of Celesia. He alone

can give you the knowledge you seek. Then let

it be done.