"The Shadow of Skeletor" classic episode review thread

[Spacedust]

Monday brings a lot of things, but best of all, it brings a new classic episode review thread

I've been looking forward to this one - "THE SHADOW OF SKELETOR". Marking the second of only two appearances by Man-E-Faces in the series, it is a fan favourite with many (myself included) due to the appearance of many favourite characters.

Brief plot overview:
When Ram Man unintentionally ruins a play rehearsal, he and Man-E-Faces fall out and stop speaking to each other. Meanwhile, Beast Man, flying the Doom Buster to Eternia's Dark Moon, can't resist tampering with the controls, and causes it to fall towards the Royal Palace. He-Man diverts it, and Beast Man is captured. The Heroic Party continue on the Doom Buster's programmed course to the Dark Moon, and spot giant photon blaster cannon there. Man-E-Faces poses as Beast Man and takes the furry foe's place, and continues on the Doom Buster's course, while the rest of the party shuttle to the Bright Moon to try and find out what is going on...

Let's hear what you have to say on this popular episode, and don't forget to rate it in the poll.
My own review to follow when I get 5 minutes.

[Mosquitor]

This is a classic episode. Definitely 10 out of 10. Been one of my favorites ever since I was 5. Fantastic episode for both Man-E-Faces and Beast Man... and Ram Man as well, great all-star cast, hilarious scene where Teela almost witnesses Adam transform, great dialogue from Skeletor... the perfect MOTU episode. There should have been more like this.

[manny]

this episode is very boring to me i dont like it very much badly written i will say though i do like the ending though, i will give it a 4

[Hun]

Very Overrated episode IMO. It's been esteblished before that there is one moon, but in this episodes, all of a sudden there are 2 moons, and people living there. I really hate it. So which moon was it in Eternal Darkness?? And Ram-Man and Man-E-Faces arguing over nothing and becoming practically enemies is silly and childish. I like Beast-Man in this episode and Skeletor is very evil, which is good, although it's never explained why he wants war! I like the dark feel this episode has but I hate the writer ignors continuity and writes the characters childishly. This episode is a bit of a cliché I must say.

[Spacedust]

Wow, I never noticed before that this episode can really split the vote. It seems to be a real love it or hate it story. Heck, even Manny doesn't like it, and he usually loves them all hehe!

Personally, I love it. I love how the adventure unfolds, and I love the moment when Man-E-Faces, in disguise as Beast Man, arrives on the Dark Moon, opens the ship door, and is greeted by Evil Lyn. Trap Jaw, Mer Man and Whiplash are there too. It was really unpredictable which characters would appear; that that three suck prominent Evil Warriors suddenly appear, and quite late on in the story, is a real surprise. Part of the fun of MOTU is that there are so many varied characters, and you never knew which ones were going to be used, and this scene sums that up perfectly.

I guess there is a slight continuity problem regarding the moons, but I have to confess I never found it glaringly obvious, and it didn't spoil the episode in any way for me personally. It isn't as severe as some of the contradictions in other episodes.

And as I say, I find it a really interesting tale, and love the way the plot gradually unfolds. I'd much rather an exciting adventure like this over some of the other over-rated offerings (*cough*"Quest for He-Man"*cough*).

I also like Ram Man and Man-E-Faces' friendship, and even though it is only Man-E's second appearance, I find it believable. Again, I'm surprised that this element of the episode splits the vote, especially when compared to some of the childish bits of other episodes.

[2-bad]

Not a very good episode imo. It had it moments , but i found the overall story quite boring. Granted it established Man-e's character a bitt further, but it really didn't do anything else when it came to story. The animation & backgrounds were Awesome though & Beastman actually using his powers in a smart way was great to see. Still I give this ep a 6. Not the sort of ep I'd watch over & over again.

6/10 from me.

[Spacedust]

"The Shadow of Skeletor" is an exciting early second season episode.

It is immediately notable for the second of only two appearances in the series by Man-E-Faces.

Even though this is only the second time we see Man-E in the series, I find his friendship with Ram Man, and their falling out in this episode, believable. Although they never had time to develop this friendship in other episodes, I kind of always associated the two together to an extent. It was helped that they were from the same wave of figure releases, and even appeared next to each other on the back-of-box art.

Beast Man tampering with the Doom Buster's controls, causing it to crash right over the Royal Palace, is a bit of a coincidence (!), but that's the world of MOTU for you!

He-Man diverts the crashing Doom Buster with one of his most far fetched feats of the entire series. He turns himself into a human whirlwind, and soars through the air and diverts the Doom Buster to some wasteland. So now suddenly He-Man can fly?! As I've mentioned in so many episode reviews, I hated when Filmation gave He-Man such powers. And Sy-Klone would be very jealous!! This is the only real thing that I don't like about this episode.

I love the way that the story unfolds in this episode. We follow it with the Heroic Warriors, as they don't know what is going on and gradually find out about Skeletor's plot.

The act break, of Adam faced with having to transform into He-Man right in front of Teela, is one of the things that I remember most vividly from watching the series as a child. I love the way the theme music starts up then abruptly stops; although we all know that he isn't going to transform as it is a different recording of "By the..." used. I like his excuse line, "...By the way Teela, remind me to show you my great new jacket when we get home".

There is a nice panning shot of the Bright Moon, giving the real impression of a once baron planet adapted to support life and construction.

Professor Orion is a re-colouring of Prime Minister Pangas from season one's "Song of Celice". King Barbo's design is recycled too.
I like the way Professor Orion pleads with King Barbo to believe him, with some nice voice work. It is also a nice parallel to Ram Man and Man-E-Faces falling out.

When Man-E-Faces, disguised as Beast Man, lands on the Dark Moon, my favourite moment of the episode occurs, when he opens to door to be greeted by... Evil Lyn. I love in MOTU that you never know which characters are going to turn up, and this is a classic example. Trap Jaw, Mer Man and Whiplash are there too, and all of them suddenly appearing, quite late on in the story, is a real surprise. It is probably one of my favourite moments of the entire series.
A visual goof: for most of the scene, Trap Jaw is seen with his mechanical arm on the wrong side of his body.

Back on Eternia, Beast Man plans to escape from his cell. There is a less obvious goof, when the zig-zaggy patterns of the bars on his cell window are in a different design in the inside to when they are seen from the outside. He escapes by summoning a Pterodactyl, and flies off on it's back; This reminded me of the 2002 Mike Young Productions cartoon, where Beast Man was often shown on the back of a winged beast.

Beast Man seems to reach the Dark Moon very quickly - the Pterodactyl must have been a fast flyer! Also, during the final battle, He-Man takes care of all the other Evil Warriors, but Beast Man suddenly disappears.

Of course, He-Man eventually stops Skeletor's plot. War is averted and the Bright and Dark Moons agree to peace once more.

I love this episode. I love that it has such a vast array of characters featured. It also has a very first season feel to it, with Whiplash being the only second season character featured. And the way that the plot unfolds makes for an exciting adventure.

I give "The Shadow of Skeletor" a solid 10 out of 10.

(To note: This episode was adapted for the second set of View Master reels. Shots from this episode were used to make a sequel story. I have a set of these reels, but they are sealed in their packet, so I can't tell you much more about them.)

[EMILE]

There are only a few great things on this episode. I love that Man E Faces actually performs!!! An actor!! Then, it´s nice to see situations where Adam can be discovered before transformation, I would´ve liked to see more of that. Skeletor is great as always, Ram Man sucks!

[shigsy2003]

Howdy

This is one of my favourite episodes of what I have seen of the second season. I love the fact that the hero's and villians are based somewhere that is not Eternia and we get a very good mix of both Masters. I like the dispute between Ram Man and Man-E-Faces although the end result is predictable much in the same way as the Transformers episode Microbots had Brawn and Perceptor portrayed although obviously the chemistry was different.

I love this episode, the story and the plot but my favourite part HAS to be Adma almost transforming into He-Man on the ship. That is a fantastic piece of writing and brilliantly played out.

10/10

Chris M