The Power of Grayskull-explanation

[Greyskull]

I hate ANY big explanation about the Power of Grayskull. I prefer the Filmation version where the Power of Grayskull was amorphous and vague--only known as something ancient, mysterious and hidden.

I hate the MYP version which delves into King Grayskull, the elders, etc. To me, any explanation ruins the mystery and is unnecessary. All we need to know is that Grayskull holds a mysterious ancient power and Skeletor wants it so he and He-Man battle over it.

I absolutely 100% hated that MYP put the Power of Grayskull in "the crystal orb." It made the power entirely cliche. I'm sick of how every fantasy has a magic orb, gem or sphere that can do X, Y or Z. The Power of Grayskull's main purpose is to explain He-Man's power and to put him in conflict with Skeletor. Any detailed explanation about gods or aliens or elders distracts from ambiance of magic and intrigue.

I totally agree. Just another reason why I dislike the MYP cartoon.

[Snake Hunter]

I prefer mistery and simplification:

The Orb of Power - It contains the Power of the Universe and also the souls of King Grayskull, He-Ro and other powerful members from the Grayskull family.

The Sword of Power - Gives a descendant of the Grayskull family access to the Universe power and all the knowledge of his / her ancestors. Anyone who touch the sword can get the power of the Universe, but not the Graykull knowledge.

This explains why so many people want to get the power of the sword, but only Adam, the true heir of the Grayskull power and knowledge can transforms in He-man

Castle Grayskull - Keeps inside the Orb of Power and other powerful weapons and knowledge from the Grayskull family.

[Wrytor]

By the time the original line ended, I always figured the real power was in the Three Towers, which for obvious marketing purposes were portrayed as superior to Castle Grayskull. My retconning as a child was that Skeletor always wanted into Grayskull in order to access the power of the Three Towers, which could be channeled through the castle.

It does need addressing - if Castle Grayskull remains the ultimate seat of power, why bother with the Three Towers?

[Krueger]

This is what happens when writers aren't used for writing.

Got to agree with this. There is a big difference between being a creative writer and just a good writer. The problem with the bios thus far is that the Classics canon has tried to turn MOTU into LOTR. They've tried to make it bigger, grandiose and more epic in every way, introducing loads of new names and historical events. The problem is that half the time it’s just fallen flat. The names have ranged from average, to bad to just plain terrible (The Ultimate Battle Ground), and a lot of it is just genuinely very confusing, and I fear that its not because its so big and clever that it calls for your undivided attention (like the LOTR world, for example), but rather because its just badly written and badly thought-through.

This is another reason why I'm so glad the new DC comic series will have nothing to do with the Classics canon.

Filmation made Castle Gayskull something mystical, sometimes almost a living being, a fortress which is infused with powers and magic of all kind.

The Filmation Grayskull is my definition of the castle...

Definitely.

[Dr Kain]

It was also referenced in the audio plays and the UK comics- pretty sure it counts more than 200X elements.

Don't care, this is still the Classics universe. And honestly, at least it is taking the story farther than we got with the 2002 series. It would make so much more sense if Mattel would get some cahunas and just make a new animated series using this storyline.

[Robzy]

The gods' aura (the little bits of their energy left behind, which was raw creation power), through a series of events, became known as the "Power of the Universe"
.
Eventually through another series of events this Power is captured and winds up contained/bonded with the Sword of He which is brought to Eternia by He-Ro. Eventually through a series of events this power is removed from the sword by Grayskull's Elders and contained in an orb hidden in Castle Grayskull.

Eventually through a series of events... someone would actually explain what these events were!

This is what happens when writers aren't used for writing.

Awful, awful, awful...

My thoughts exactly!

[KingRandor82]

Eventually through a series of events... someone would actually explain what these events were!



My thoughts exactly!

keep reading the bios!

[Chroniklor]

One thing that barely ever got mentioned in MOTU - gods & religion.

There were giants, monsters, magic, other dimensions - but gods? I can't recall...? Can anyone?
So introducing them as the reason behind the Power... well, why? It's not very "MOTU", it's not at all original & it's not even necessary.

Yet another stinker from the MOTUC story-teller.

- Well, in the early mini comics, Eternians every once in a while tend to shout "By the Gods", or "By the Goddess",
- the Goddess, we actually have a figure of her in MotUC (cracked, exploded or still in good shape ),
- the DC mini series first issue was called To Tempt the Gods,
- Procrustus in The Magic Stealer is described as a god.

Whether or not this justifies the use of the gods mentioned in the first post, whether or not these gods are the same concept as the ones I mentioned just above: not a single clue. Hope this helps out somehow.

[Dr Kain]

I hate ANY big explanation about the Power of Grayskull. I prefer the Filmation version where the Power of Grayskull was amorphous and vague--only known as something ancient, mysterious and hidden.

I hate the MYP version which delves into King Grayskull, the elders, etc. To me, any explanation ruins the mystery and is unnecessary. All we need to know is that Grayskull holds a mysterious ancient power and Skeletor wants it so he and He-Man battle over it.

I absolutely 100% hated that MYP put the Power of Grayskull in "the crystal orb." It made the power entirely cliche. I'm sick of how every fantasy has a magic orb, gem or sphere that can do X, Y or Z. The Power of Grayskull's main purpose is to explain He-Man's power and to put him in conflict with Skeletor. Any detailed explanation about gods or aliens or elders distracts from ambiance of magic and intrigue.

I disagree, because you would need to reveal where the powers come with sooner or later. I would rather know sooner because you can build on it. Just having some random power with no explanation is boring. It does not make for good story telling. It was fine in the 80s because writer's did not know how to write a show for story back then (outside of Thundercats, as the second season was very story driven), but after Gargoyles came out in the 90s, I expect my cartoons to tell a complex story to go along with their characters. That is why I will always prefer MYP He-Man over Filmation, it told a story and it made He-Man stand apart from other series.

[midor]

This is interesting.

But I can help but think/wonder why are we just now being told this. Shouldn't we have been told this around the times of King G or King G redeco or even He-Ro release?

[Rainboy]

I hate ANY big explanation about the Power of Grayskull. I prefer the Filmation version where the Power of Grayskull was amorphous and vague--only known as something ancient, mysterious and hidden.

YES. So agree here. Why do we have to have everything explained? Part of the fun of MOTUC is creating your own reasoning behind things.

[Eternian Poet]

- Well, in the early mini comics, Eternians every once in a while tend to shout "By the Gods", or "By the Goddess",
- the Goddess, we actually have a figure of her in MotUC (cracked, exploded or still in good shape ),
- the DC mini series first issue was called To Tempt the Gods,
- Procrustus in The Magic Stealer is described as a god.

Whether or not this justifies the use of the gods mentioned in the first post, whether or not these gods are the same concept as the ones I mentioned just above: not a single clue. Hope this helps out somehow.

Good points, though I only recall "by the Goddess!" swearing.

Sure, Procrustus & the Goddess are around.... but they're not exactly gods, are they? I mean, they're present - on the planet - & don't appear to have any sort of religion or worshippers surrounding them.

My point is - that though there are some mentions of "gods" as you point out - religion, with all of its institutions & presence - is very very low key (or absent) from Eternia. It is so absent, it is actually quite remarkable.

This "character" of the culture could have been used for the story-telling. Instead, we get a bunch of gods & their auras & such suddenly appearing & explaining almost everything.... only to then leave no trace in the life of Eternia generally.

[Irian]

Eventually through a series of events... someone would actually explain what these events were!

Well, my question was about the relation of the God's magic and the Wisdom of the Elders, so it wasn't exactly his goal to describe the events that lead to the creation of the Power of Grayskull (although I like his answer quite a bit).

BUT The series of events have been already revealed in the bios (see the timeline thread):

- The Gods create the Five Dimensions – the Dimensions of Eternia, Despondos and Infinita, the Timeless Dimension of Trolla and the Nameless Dimension
- Before they leave the universe the Gods hide their magic in the form of a star – the Star Seed –deep within the core of a small planet at the center of the Dimension of Eternia – the planet Eternia
- The giant Procrustus is tasked to guard the Star Seed and the Gods’ Magic within Eternia’s core
- Over centuries the Gods’ Magic slowly seeps out, blessing many wise Eternian wizards with the power and wisdom to control and tap into these great magic energies
- The Overlords of Trolla on the other hand start to harness a different source of power, the Aura of the Gods, the remains of the raw creation power the Gods left behind when they left the universe – also known as the Power of the Universe
- In every generation the Overlords of Trolla recruit a Cosmic Warrior to fight Evil and give him the Sword of He, a weapon infused with the Power of the Universe.
- Ro receives the Sword of He from the Overlords of Trolla to combat evil - he becomes the Cosmic Warrior He-Ro
- Upon his heroic death He-Ro bequeaths the Sword of He to King Grayskull, a destined guardian of the sword
- King Grayskull falls before Hordak’s magic, but with his last breath magically passes his essence into the Sword of He, ensuring that only his heirs can wield the “Power Sword” and tap into the Power of the Universe
- The Council of Elders splits the Power Sword in two and the Power of the Universe transcends into a great orb the Council hides deep within the abyss below Castle Grayskull
- At the end of the Great Unrest the Sorceress helps the remaining Elders to combine the orb containing the Power of the Universe with the Elders’ wisdom to tap into the God’s Magic hidden at the core of Eternia, creating a new unified force - the "Power of Grayskull"
- Prince Adam combines the two halves of the Power Sword and uses the Full Power Sword to channel the Power of Grayskull to become HE-MAN

[Chroniklor]

Good points, though I only recall "by the Goddess!" swearing.

Sure, Procrustus & the Goddess are around.... but they're not exactly gods, are they? I mean, they're present - on the planet - & don't appear to have any sort of religion or worshippers surrounding them.My point is - that though there are some mentions of "gods" as you point out - religion, with all of its institutions & presence - is very very low key (or absent) from Eternia. It is so absent, it is actually quite remarkable.

This "character" of the culture could have been used for the story-telling. Instead, we get a bunch of gods & their auras & such suddenly appearing & explaining almost everything.... only to then leave no trace in the life of Eternia generally.

Yes, that is exaclty the point I tried to make when I said that I doubted that Procrustus or The Goddess were of the same 'level' or of the same concept as just some (more 'ethereal') general dieties like the ones mentioned in TG's answer.

This keeps confusing me...