Hordak trapped in Despondos

[Emiliano]

That sounds really interesting. I like the fact that Grayskull also confront Horde Prime in battle.

Well, when I say Grayskull I don't mean King Grayskull, but more the House of Grayskull and their allies

In that case, wouldn't all of Hordak's Hordesmen have died when being banished from Eternia?

good point, well, I guess we whould have found an explanation for that, or maybe they were first pulled out and then the barrier formed (hey, it's magic! )

I guess the destruction of his original boy would lead to him getting an artificial one with shapeshifting abilities like he performed in Filmation, wouldn't it?

Exactly, as the current form (the one we see in the staction and the POG episode) is already a reconstructed body made of stone. I must have the sketch of Hordak original form somewhere....

[Angel-T]

Horde Prime had been defeated by Grayskull once. So he needs a weapon to use it again Grayskull before trying to invade Eternia again.
So the Havoc Staff was needed at first not to let the Horde in, but to let the "weapon" out of Eternia to the Horde World...

Ok this is just my guess, but this statement makes me think of how Lou Scheimer said in one of the DVD extra's that She-Ra was originally concieved to be the ultimate weapon, bread to distroy her brother! There could be no other perfect weapon for Horde Prime to use in order to distroy the power of Grayskull, rather than the power of grayskull it's self, in the form of one of the twins of power: an heir to grayskull's power but made twisted dark & evil.

This might explane why Horde Prime & Hordak were after both twins (as mentioned in the Toyfair artical). But Horde Prime would have needed to know what the twins were pre-destined for. However, if Prime was a fallen achient re the sharkarian crystal story, then the knowledge that Prince Adam & Princess Adora were destined to become He-Man & She-Ra could have be available to him. Arguably if Horde Prime had gotten his hands on both twins he could of had all he needed to distroy grayskull when he decided to release his weapon to conqure Eternia after training them on horde world?

[Emiliano]

Ok this is just my guess, but this statement makes me think of how Lou Scheimer said in one of the DVD extra's that She-Ra was originally concieved to be the ultimate weapon, bread to distroy her brother! There could be no other perfect weapon for Horde Prime to use in order to distroy the power of Grayskull, rather than the power of grayskull it's self, in the form of one of the twins of power: an heir to grayskull's power but made twisted dark & evil.

This might explane why Horde Prime & Hordak were after both twins (as mentioned in the Toyfair artical). But Horde Prime would have needed to know what the twins were pre-destined for. However, if Prime was a fallen achient re the sharkarian crystal story, then the knowledge that Prince Adam & Princess Adora were destined to become He-Man & She-Ra could have be available to him. Arguably if Horde Prime had gotten his hands on both twins he could of had all he needed to distroy grayskull when he decided to release his weapon to conqure Eternia after training them on horde world?

See? You totally nailed it!
And can you see how we wanted to go full circle with our story?
I'm still convinced this is just the most logical explanation, and it was totally blossoming from the existing story elements.
It was the only natural evolution and consequence of what we knew about MOTU and POP and almost what all the story is about
I strongly believe most of the MOTU world and background was, intentioanlly or not, already fleshed out, and we only needed to link the dots and fill the small gaps.

There was no need to add new elements or change lot of stuff.
And you just proved I was right, a, being a huge fan, you've been able to figure out the great scheme of things

[Angel-T]

Thanks, Emiliano! I totally agree in what you say, so much stuff was fleshed out originally by the mini comics & Filmation. Mattel just don't need to re-write the story to make it cool, it's already there! Why couldn't they just let you guys release this killer version of the story!

But the only thing I don't understand is where Light Hope fits in all of this & what happened on Infinita?

From what has been released so far we know the following: A part of the Star Seed (that created the universe) is the gem on top of He-Ro's staff & also the metal of staff it's self. The staff is then melted down to make the Swords of Power & Protection. A part of the gem from He-Ro's staff is set within the Sword of Protection, another part gives life to the dead planet (found by these Travellers) that will become Etheria, replacing Infinita as Eternia's twin world (all freaking amazing by the way)!

I assume the fire being / First One who you discussed in the (MOTU gods thread) who is possibily a achient / god is one of these travellers who take another part of He-Ro's gem (the Gem Seed) across the universe to find the planet that will become Etheria?. But how does the Crystal Castle tie in? Does it contain the Gem Seed that brought life back to Etheria? Also if the Gem Seed brought life back to Etheria why could it not do the same for the "Desecrated Infinita"?

It now makes sense how She-Ra's powers work on Etheria as a large amount of the Star Seed fragment would be there in the forms of the Sword of Protection, the gem set within the Sword of Protection and the Gem Seed that rebirthed Etheria all being present on the planet. From what I have read so far it appears there is more of the original Star Seed fragment on Etheria than on Eternia. But I don't get Light Hope hmmmmm..... at a guess would He-Ro's spirit have been bound into his staff (specifically the gem) much like King Grayskull's spirit was bound to the sword after his death?

When the Travellers / possibily the First One's crossed the universe and planted the Gem Seed on the lifeless Etheria, was the Crystal Castle erected on the sight of where the gem seed was burried with He-Ro's spirit acting as the gurdian / keeper of the crystal castle? Is it He-Ro's spirit residing in Light Hope's temple / the pool within the Crystal Castle, as mentioned on the DVD's, is that where the Gem Seed might be?)

I'm sorry to ask so much, there are just so many other questions now. I wish I could win the lottery so I could pay you & Val to create the story the way you originally saw it and post it online for everyone to see and enjoy, just as your own fan creation. It sound truly epic!

[Coptur]

I would have been fine with a completely different origin for Adora, as I'm not a fan of the whole "Etheria" thing anyway. As with the Fisto storyline, I welcomed new takes on the characters.

yeah i agree with you new directions aren't always a bad thing.

Change can be good for a franchise, why tell the same story twice??

[Angel-T]

From what has been said by Val & Emiliano here on the org and in the recent Toyfair artical, it sounds like MVC wanted to tell a much more complete version of the original story, stories' that people already knew & were very attached to. There was plenty of new stuff in the MVC comics, but it sound like it was created in such a way that it didn't violate the important elements of the old story. Making MVC's version of the MOTU story the best story that might have been told IMO! I am so sad & mad that they wern't able to tell the story the way they wanted to!

[13977]

Oh I so wish these comics had been released.

Emiliano can I ask if you guys started any work on the Randor mini-series or did you just have the story outline? and how many issues did you have planned for vol 3 in order to tell the story you had planned?

Thanks,
Matt.

Edit: Sorry just read in the 200x FAQ it was 6 issues for the original vol 3, seems like you had a lot to fit into 6 issues.

[gbagok]

Exactly, as the current form (the one we see in the staction and the POG episode) is already a reconstructed body made of stone. I must have the sketch of Hordak original form somewhere....

Sounds like, potentially, a design for Hec-Tor Kur. Hey, if he's stone, it explains the gray "skin", and how people can get their blue variant

good point, well, I guess we whould have found an explanation for that, or maybe they were first pulled out and then the barrier formed (hey, it's magic! )

Perhaps by virtue of Hordak having no body, he survived passage through the barrier and resurrected or healed his warriors on the other side?

And yes, Hordak sent Keldor back in time to bring back the Havoc Staff.
But he didn't want to open the passage right away.

Horde Prime had been defeated by Grayskull once. So he needs a weapon to use it again Grayskull before trying to invade Eternia again.
So the Havoc Staff was needed at first not to let the Horde in, but to let the "weapon" out of Eternia to the Horde World...

Very cool! What did Hordak intend for Keldor to do with baby Lyn? Or did Keldor just drop her off somewhere in time and destiny played a part in her returning to the action later?

[claw guy 3]

Emiliano, Thanks so much for all the info but trying to piece it all together from all the posts is killing me

that She-Ra was originally concieved to be the ultimate weapon, bread to distroy her brother!

Wasn't King Hssss' staff a "key" also?

There's so much to absorb. I'm having an awesomeness overload!

[Darkness]

Does any original art exist for any of this? Wasn't this (or some of this anyway.) supposed to be the original story for volume 3 that you guys had to scrap and if so, shouldn't there be some unseen art lying around somewhere?

[Mike Bock]

Well, when I say Grayskull I don't mean King Grayskull, but more the House of Grayskull and their allies

Oh ok cool, got it!

[skeletom]

Wow! I really wish those comics could have been released! It sounds like it would have been/is such a great story! I would love to see anything you've got in the concept department for the art, Emiliano! You did such an impressive job with the art for the MVC books! Much respect to you!

[Neo]

Emiliano, Thanks so much for all the info but trying to piece it all together from all the posts is killing me





Wasn't King Hssss' staff a "key" also?

There's so much to absorb. I'm having an awesomeness overload!

Zodaks staff was a key... Not sure about Hisss' staff though.

[MegaGearMax]

I just finished watching the entire 2002 He-Man series, and I have a question about Hordak. If he was trapped in Despondos since his battle with King Grayskull and was never released, then how could he have kidnapped Adora and take her to Etheria? Thanks for your help.

I always thought that she might have been "sacrificed" by Skeletor (on orders from Hordak) and sent to Despondos. Perhaps it's far easier to enter Despondos than leave it. Randor doesn't know the identity of the kidnapper (although how could something happen without the Sorceress knowing about it--unless it happened during her "time off" during the Great Unrest).

[Angel-T]

This is how I see it. In the Toyfair interview it states that because Horde Prime (A fallen achient) wanted the Twins of Power for himself. Emiliano has now confirmed this was because he knew they were destned to become the champions of grayskull & he wanted to use them as a weapon by twisting them and making Adam & Adora evil & dark in order to distroy the power of grayskull.

The interview said Hordak sent Keldor back in time to get the Havoc staff from the Lord of Zelaysha, so he could use the key to open the poisionus barrier around the pocket / fold in space at the center of the universe, where Eternia was traped to smuggle out the twins of power to the waiting Hordak & Horde Prime. But Keldor (and Pravhus was also involved with the kidnap plot as well, also confirmed by Emiliano) only managed to take Adora. She was then raised on Horde World and then later sent to Etheria. Only Eternia was off limits to Hordak & Horde Prime, protected by the dispondos barrier, everything outside of that Hordak can get to. This is how Adora manages to find herself placed on Etheria as a force captin, as the horde were trying to conqure that world.

So MGM's idea about the kidnapping happening around the time of the Sorceresses vacation during the great unrest sounds just about right to me if Pravhus was involved, perhaps Adora's kidnap or the twins approaching conception or birth was what compelled Teelana to return to Grayskull. She might have felt something big was about to happen and she would be needed, possibly to track the stolen Princess and try to stop her from being taken from Eternia! This randor mini series would have been sooooooooooo cool! >:0(

[13977]

Oh yes this would have been sweet, I so wish we got to see this comic!

The Sorceress must have returned in time to block out the memory of Adora from every ones memory, assuming she does that in this version.
Has it ever be explained what happened to Pravhus after the great unrest?

[bcrduke]

AHHHH!

Emiliano!! THANK YOU for this info. You know that many of us here have been in love with the stories in the MVC Comics, and we've been dying to know all the details.

I had figured out that the Havoc Staff was a key. I think I've forgotten about how that went down... I thought that Keldor OFFERED to take Lyn, and that it was unrelated to the staff-trade? I will have to go back and re-read that issue (it's one of my favorites).

Questions:

Why did Lord Zalesia (later The Faceless One) have one of the keys? Zalesia must have been the home of one of the Ancient Gods then, yes? The god in the Ram Stone? I would imagine that each God left a key behind, and a talisman perhaps?

Evil-Lyn's staff is a key? I remember wondering about that when it was necessary to use it to save her. I also guess that she was supposed to become YELLOW afterwards... as a result of the poison and the spell that saved her. How horrible

I just wonder, too, why Keldor/Skeletor was/is so fond of Evil-Lyn... I suppose it could be because he actually grew to love her, as much as he possibly COULD love anyone, but I am not sure... I don't trust that idea.

I too want to know who Light Hope is, and how the character at the meeting of the Council of Wisdom, that looked like She-Ra, fits into all of this.

[Neo]

I saw the great unrestbeing mentioned a couple of times. What I find interesting about the great unrest is the name. Do we know the reason for it happening? I always assumed it had something to do with the forces of evil trying to rake over Eternia.. but what if that great war was in fact initiated by the good guys? Maybe the war was about Adora and the goal was to get her back.

I just wonder, too, why Keldor/Skeletor was/is so fond of Evil-Lyn... I suppose it could be because he actually grew to love her, as much as he possibly COULD love anyone, but I am not sure... I don't trust that idea.

Well, Keldor was just a guy driven by revenge and the feeling he had been done wrong. Sure he turned out to become a warlord but I don't think he was a unreasonable guy incapable to love someone. Sure he became a maniac when he turned into skeletor and maybe even some time before that.. But I don't think he started out that way.

[Faceless Glow]

The rumor is that MYP was going to do this:

If you notice, Veena was pregnant in the "Powers of Grayskull" episode.

fast forward...

Evil Lyn frees Hordak & The Horde from Despondos, and they take over Eternia.

The Masters become REBELS.

And King Grayskull's daughter is brought to the future, and She-Ra helps to defeat the Horde.

I would bet that Adora was to be passed off as a long lost sister?

And now you know why Mattel may have SLAMMED on the brake and ended that show!! LOL

it still hurts to this day. whiplash from Mattels stopping short!

[bcrduke]

Hey, everyone. A new member, who is awaiting approval on his account here, emailed me and asked if I could post this here -- he's been following along and wanted to comment... and brings up an interesting point:

Hey, my name is "anywhereis" and I have been following the discussion with great interest. I wanted to question our Oracle Emiliano After watching The Power of Grayskull, it now seems that She-ra's ancestor is that bald lady? The Sword of Protection is that which she is carrying on her back and is so obvious, but was never picked up on. This woman is, at a guess, King Grayskull's sister? Thus Her sword was for Adora, like that of King Grayskull's was for Adam. This makes sense does it not? Although, she refers to him as King in the episode she could skill be his sister.


Looking ahead then at our current clan: Teela, Adam, Adora etc. It therefore makes sense that Adam is eventually going to be one with his He-man power and will marry Teela and she shall become Sorceress of Grayskull, as it was in The Power of Grayskull. Speaking of Keys: The sword of this descendant of She-ra could be used by Adam to gain access to Etheria?

[Amberbratt]

Hey, everyone. A new member, who is awaiting approval on his account here, emailed me and asked if I could post this here -- he's been following along and wanted to comment... and brings up an interesting point:

I was just going to post that! LOL

This is how I see it. In the Toyfair interview it states that because Horde Prime (A fallen achient) wanted the Twins of Power for himself. Emiliano has now confirmed this was because he knew they were destned to become the champions of grayskull & he wanted to use them as a weapon by twisting them and making Adam & Adora evil & dark in order to distroy the power of grayskull.

The interview said Hordak sent Keldor back in time to get the Havoc staff from the Lord of Zelaysha, so he could use the key to open the poisionus barrier around the pocket / fold in space at the center of the universe, where Eternia was traped to smuggle out the twins of power to the waiting Hordak & Horde Prime. But Keldor (and Pravhus was also involved with the kidnap plot as well, also confirmed by Emiliano) only managed to take Adora. She was then raised on Horde World and then later sent to Etheria. Only Eternia was off limits to Hordak & Horde Prime, protected by the dispondos barrier, everything outside of that Hordak can get to. This is how Adora manages to find herself placed on Etheria as a force captin, as the horde were trying to conqure that world.

So MGM's idea about the kidnapping happening around the time of the Sorceresses vacation during the great unrest sounds just about right to me if Pravhus was involved, perhaps Adora's kidnap or the twins approaching conception or birth was what compelled Teelana to return to Grayskull. She might have felt something big was about to happen and she would be needed, possibly to track the stolen Princess and try to stop her from being taken from Eternia! This randor mini series would have been sooooooooooo cool! >:0(

Dude a evil Adora/Adam 2 pack would so rock!


all skeezo'ed out with like yellow flashy eyes and horde symbols in blood red and black!


Custome!

[Emiliano]

Finally some time to type more answers!
However, I need to ask you guys to consider one thing: all the background story had been sketched out, but that doesn't mean we had written the entire run or the comic or figured out every single detail.
We had a genaral direction, but how certain things happened and would have developed would have taken shape over time, while writing the scripts for the book.

But the only thing I don't understand is where Light Hope fits in all of this & what happened on Infinita?

Light Hope is a Living Spell written in the Book of the Living Spells, the one Eldor carries around. The Book was written by the Ancients and it contains all the Secret of the Universe. The Ancients transcribed the magics used by the Overlords to create the Universe and life, and the book itself is very important in the creation of the Powers of Grayskull (we'll go into that later)

When the First Ones were sent to look for a new world, Eldor and He-Ro gave them one of the Living Spell to aid them in their task: Light Hope.
It was that powerful spell that "created" life on Etheria. He was much more than just the Crystal Castle Guardian.

As for Infinitia, going back to the first minicomics and the Filmation bible, we have a period of time durign which the Great Wars occurred.
During the First Great War, due to the treachery of Nordor, Infinitia was destroyed and fell from its orbit.
As consequences of this, the Universe lost his balance (formed by the timeless worlds of Eternia and Infinitia) and the Ancients got their powers drained and had to go to rest in the Central Tower's Crypt.

The surviving Gars, Infinita's natives, where taken to Eternia (and here we hinted to the off-world origin of Skeletor without the need of certain "demo"nic entity...)

The Tribe of the Gray Skulls proved its bravery during the war and the Grayskull Tower was built alongside the Central Tower in their honor.

I assume the fire being / First One who you discussed in the (MOTU gods thread) who is possibily a achient / god is one of these travellers who take another part of He-Ro's gem (the Gem Seed) across the universe to find the planet that will become Etheria?.

Yes, the First Ones are the travellers sent by the Concil of Wisdom looking for a new world. We see their spirit form in an episode of She-Ra.

But how does the Crystal Castle tie in? Does it contain the Gem Seed that brought life back to Etheria?

The Crystal Castle wasn't built: it actually sprout and blossomed from the gem.
That goes back to one thing mentiond in the cartoon: She-Ra had a special destiny and she would have found out in time.
When She-Ra entered the Crystal Castle, it was like the two part of the gem meet again (the gem in the Sword and the Castle's seed). So the new sacred world was finally ready to take its place in the univers and She-Ra's destiny was about to be complete. There was only one last thing to do: free Etheria from the Hordes.

Also if the Gem Seed brought life back to Etheria why could it not do the same for the "Desecrated Infinita"?

I guess because it was forever corrupted and drained from all its life force, and now lost in space.
The burning remains of Infinitia eventually became the Horde World (seen in the POP cartoon) where Horde Prime created the Evil Horde.

Emiliano can I ask if you guys started any work on the Randor mini-series or did you just have the story outline?

We had the full script completed by Marv Wolfman.

and how many issues did you have planned for vol 3 in order to tell the story you had planned?

We don't know, we could have gone for hundreds of issues

Sounds like, potentially, a design for Hec-Tor Kur. Hey, if he's stone, it explains the gray "skin", and how people can get their blue variant.

No, pleasen, no Hec-Tor Kur!
Here is the sketch I did for the first incarnation of Hordak:

Perhaps by virtue of Hordak having no body, he survived passage through the barrier and resurrected or healed his warriors on the other side?

Good idea: spirits can safely pass Despondos! I like it!
And I hate that most of our writing was meant to desperately try to fit MYP series changes into the MOTU world we knew from Filmation etc...

Very cool! What did Hordak intend for Keldor to do with baby Lyn? Or did Keldor just drop her off somewhere in time and destiny played a part in her returning to the action later?

Hordak had no plans for her, he didn't even know about her.
it was just something that fell in place for Keldor and a good chance for him to obtain the Havoc Staff.
I'm not sure what we woudl have done with Evil-Lyn, that's one of the things we had yet to figure out, even if I liked the idea of Skeletor actually rising her for some time.

Wasn't King Hssss' staff a "key" also?

Nah, not all the staffs were keys.

Does any original art exist for any of this? Wasn't this (or some of this anyway.) supposed to be the original story for volume 3 that you guys had to scrap and if so, shouldn't there be some unseen art lying around somewhere?

We only have a bunch of pages from the first two issues, but nothign that goes deep into the story. You can see one of these pages in the recent Toy Fare article.

Questions:
Why did Lord Zalesia (later The Faceless One) have one of the keys? Zalesia must have been the home of one of the Ancient Gods then, yes? The god in the Ram Stone? I would imagine that each God left a key behind, and a talisman perhaps?

If I remeber right, the Ancients or the Council created the spell of Despondos, possibly as a measure to contain Nordor's forces. But they also created the keys so they had control over the barriers.
The Ancients resided in Eternia, and the Central Tower was their temple.

Evil-Lyn's staff is a key? I remember wondering about that when it was necessary to use it to save her. I also guess that she was supposed to become YELLOW afterwards... as a result of the poison and the spell that saved her. How horrible

That's not a key, but it was proably related to the Faceless One. We would have developed something about that, probably the staff was created by her father to protect her.

I just wonder, too, why Keldor/Skeletor was/is so fond of Evil-Lyn... I suppose it could be because he actually grew to love her, as much as he possibly COULD love anyone, but I am not sure... I don't trust that idea.

That's the kind of twist we had in mind... Then they separated, and later on Evil-Lyn fell in love with Keldor... pretty wicked, uh?

I too want to know who Light Hope is, and how the character at the meeting of the Council of Wisdom, that looked like She-Ra, fits into all of this.

Lord Bryon is the Leader of the House of Swan, (see the flag on top of the Central Tower) and Veena's father.

Well, Keldor was just a guy driven by revenge and the feeling he had been done wrong. Sure he turned out to become a warlord but I don't think he was a unreasonable guy incapable to love someone. Sure he became a maniac when he turned into skeletor and maybe even some time before that.. But I don't think he started out that way.

Yeah, there was something about Keldor birth and his mather, and how she raised him full of hate for his father Miro...

I wanted to question our Oracle Emiliano After watching The Power of Grayskull, it now seems that She-ra's ancestor is that bald lady? The Sword of Protection is that which she is carrying on her back and is so obvious, but was never picked up on. This woman is, at a guess, King Grayskull's sister? Thus Her sword was for Adora, like that of King Grayskull's was for Adam. This makes sense does it not? Although, she refers to him as King in the episode she could skill be his sister.

Well, the bald woman was just a member of the Council of Elders, we have no idea if Mattel or MYP had special plans for her, but as far as I know, there weren't any.
I can say that wasn't our plan, as we would have focused on Veena as the carrier of the Sword of Protection (while originally, before the 2002 series, I wanted to use Sharella)

Speaking of Keys: The sword of this descendant of She-ra could be used by Adam to gain access to Etheria?

Well, it depends on how we look at that. I don't think the Sword of Protection is a key to anything (other than unlocking the final destiny of the Crystal Castle), but, for sure, if we look at The Secret of the Sword, it was what lead Adam to her sister.

[Angel-T]

Thanks for all this info Emiliano, it's amazing! It's very good to hear that Light Hope was not He-Ro's spirit. He is his own character and I LOVE that!

The remains of Infinita become Horde World, Wow, Perfect!

The Hordak design is AMAZING, he almost looks gar like to me.

But my faviourate bits are the Crystal Castle forming as the First One's plant the gem seed. When She-Ra first enters the Crystal Castle with the other half of the gem seed, while Castle Brightmoon is under attack from Shadow Weaver's spell, the Gem is re-united & She-Ra starts to fulfill her destiny! It gives Light Hopes word's "Welcome She-Ra, Princess of Power, Long Have I Waited For You Coming" so much more meaning!

Was the living spell of Light Hope given to the First One's by He-Ro & Eldor what allowed the these travellers to activate the first half of the Gem Seed's power? Becasue in the Toyfair artical it comes across much more like just the fragment of the Star Seed (having being planted within the lifeless plannet) was the catalist for Etheria's birth?

I too would have liked to see Sharallia used in this story, but maybe we could actually think of her as Veena! When I was a kid I used to think of the Green Goddess as Sharallia. Lord Byron-what an intresting character. I would like to know more about him and why his costume has the decoration that She-Ra wears and is associated to the Crystal Castle?

Finally, I really like the info about Skeletor's mother and how she raised Keldor with hate for Miro. Could she be the Enchantress, but then I always thought of her as Evil-Lyns mother? I have been fasinated by the ides of Keldors mother for years! We know Illumina was not his mother, the only other Gar like female I can think of in MOTU is Shokotti, but this wouldn't run in the (Filmation) time line of events. Maybe you are gonna throw us a curve ball with with this and Make Maddam Razz his Mama! (only joking)

[gbagok]

Yes, thank you for posting with answers, Emiliano! This info has been so great to finally know!

No, pleasen, no Hec-Tor Kur!

Oh, but your design would make such a perfect MOTUC figure as Kur! What was this version of Hordak's origin, BTW? Was he like Saruman to Eldor's Gandalf?

I agree with Angel-T that he feels kin to the Gar--in fact wasn't his Jitsu-ish hairstyle similar to one of MYP's early concepts for Keldor? I like all that, I hope it doesn't sound like a criticism!

Good idea: spirits can safely pass Despondos! I like it!
And I hate that most of our writing was meant to desperately try to fit MYP series changes into the MOTU world we knew from Filmation etc...

Thanks! I understand what you mean, MYP made some errors I think, mostly with the Council of Elders appointing Randor as King. They and the Hall of Wisdom belonged in the past. How else can you have all these royal cousins and King Miro? It also made it hard because the Elders were there from KG to Randor, making it hard to imagine more history between the two without saying "and then the Elders fixed everything."

Hordak had no plans for her, he didn't even know about her.
it was just something that fell in place for Keldor and a good chance for him to obtain the Havoc Staff.
I'm not sure what we woudl have done with Evil-Lyn, that's one of the things we had yet to figure out, even if I liked the idea of Skeletor actually rising her for some time.

Also, I am floored that you had the Gar as refugees from Infinitia as that's more or less what Iceman and I were going to reveal in Book of Evil! I'm so glad that matches up! It sounds though like you had way more details! We also have what happened to Lyn after Keldor took her--tied in a little to Arcadia and Zenia (shameless plug).

[Sir Reilly]

Yeah, Hordaks original self really looks as if he was half Gar. Was that your intention, or was he supposed to be originated from an entirely different race? I also dig that the greyish parts of his clothes bear a similarity to some minicomics, where Hordak's armor was colored white. But how were you going to explain the family connection between Hordak, Prince Zed and Horde Prime?

Speaking of the Horde, wouldn't it have been a huge risk that the Evil Horde sorta "robbed" Skeletor's spotlight as the main villain?

When Infitia and Horde World are the very same planet... could it also be Denebria in the future? I always thought that Eternia would become Primus and that Denebria once was Etheria before its citizens destroyed themselves (I like to stick with Denebria's story that was shown in one of the European NA comics). But it would seem logical that a lifeless planet such as Infitia one day might have regained enough "power" to become a world not unlike Denebria.

I love the idea of a Gray Skull clan! That would've explained the name fa better than just calling the castle's king "King Grayskull"! And making Light Hope one of the living spells is pure genius!

I don't think that I would've liked the "relationship" between Keldor/Skeletor and Evil-Lyn. Keldor first being her adoptive father (btw, seems there's a trend in MotU villains adopting female babies), then falling in love with a grown-up Lyn... that's rather bizarre. But maybe that's just me, since I also never favored Adam and Teela falling in love with each other, since both were raised sorta like brother and sister, whereas Adam and Adora met for the first time when they were teenagers, and... dear God, I better stop before this gets really ugly!