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Jefimus Top 15 He-man and MOTU 2002 Episodes

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The Power is back for at least 3 years on television I'm Jefimus and this is the top 15 favorite He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 2002 episodes

15. Dragon's Brood: Dragon's and Cat people where among the many thing from the original series that where translated into this short lived remake. Racing their Sky Sleds through the Evergreen Forest, after meeting with Chief Carnivius Prince Adam and Teela stumble upon and rescue a large dragon trapped in a cavern by a rockslide. It turns out that dragon was a mother and the rockslide was caused by Beast Man who stole it's off spring but he loses the sack to a river and the Orko mistakes the eggs for juggling balls and then the eggs hatch and soon the baby dragons grow up to be Massive fire-breathing dragons that thanks to Evil-Lyn's magic now threaten Eternia and Castle Grayskull. Even with out Granimyr Dragons are still cool on Eternia. 

14. Awaken the Serpent: The Last Episode before the series was cancelled Using the power of the Medallion of Serpos, King Hssss transforms Snake Mountain into the mighty snake god, Serpos. And now the final battle is about to begin. What makes this one stand out is that Everything is at stake and the heroes are at a disadvantage facing an evil god weaponized a villain worst then Skeletor and not even He-Man's strong enough to take it on.   It's like impending doom, but He-Man manages to be Serpos but I won't Spoil it. Also on the DVD they including a digital comic that tells what would have been episode 40.

13. The Mystery of Anwat-Gar They done it. They really done it He-Man goes to a Feudal Japan themed area. After receiving a distressing vision, the Sorceress sends Prince Adam and Man-at-Arms to the small island of Anwat Gar to retrieve the Legacy Stone, which are ancient artifacts of great power. Unfortunately like very deserted island Anwat-Gar is loaded with booby traps and Sy-Klone the stones guardian mistakes them for thieves and attacks them and then He-Man fights Skeletor both where Samurai armor transformed from the legacy stones each granting them invincibility and long distance jumping like the Hulk.

12. Sky-War: As the series just starts we see that the heroes must forge new alliances to combat Skeletor and his army of cronies and despite being in the intro Buzz-Off doesn't appear until the 5th episode. Preying on the fragile truce between the Buzz-Off's people Andreenids and the Avionians who serve under Stratos, Skeletor instigates a conflict between them in order to get his clutches to the Ambrosia, the magical food of the Andreenids. He-Man, Battle Cat and Teela race against time to stop it. Sure it's an excuse to sell the Battle Sound Skeletor Action Figure, but it did teach us the importance of working together. At first Buzz-Off wants no part of King Randor alliance much less anything to do with the war between Good and evil and yey all it took was Skeletor's meddling to get him to see the threat the evil warriors possess and that's why it's that good of an episode.

11. Mekaneck's Lament:Ahh poor Mekaneck is it your fate to have a lame power? Apparently yes but he's still far from useless When his neck is injured during a battle with the Evil Warriors Mekaneck is ordered to stay back and act as reconnaissance. That makes him depressed and doubting his own abilities seeking solace by a lake where he encounters an old man. Hearing of Mekaneck's woes the old man tells the hero that he could grant him any wish in exchange for a specific Amulet from the Sands of Fire. While Mekaneck heads off to retrieve the Amulet, the Sorceress tells Adam that the evil Count Marzo has returned. Count Marzo is defiantly reinvented from the Filmation era he's a badass. I'm actually glad Mattel chose the 2002 design for Marzo Because It's how I remember him more.

10. Trust: Think of this as Enemy Mine with revamped 80's muscular heroes in it. When they both get injured during the search for the metal called Eternium in the Ice Mountains. Stratos must form an uneasy alliance with Trap-Jaw to survive the perilous Ice Mountains. They are being watched by powerful wolf like creatures called Kulataks, who put them in a chamber to test who is more trust worthy He-Man donning his Conan esque Ice armor sets off to find Stratos. I won't spoil the ending but we learn the value of trust. 

9. The Sweet Smell of Victory: One of the only characters from the vintage toyline who never appears in the original Filmation cartoon series Stinkor finally gets the toon treatment he's been longing for. And in an origin episode in this episode we learn that Stinkor was once a petty con artist named Odiphus who witnesses the Evil Warriors Victorious over the Masters of the Universe, due to Roboto bringing down the house by accident. he travels to Snake Mountain to apply for a job, but he tamps with a devise Tri-Klops was building to rid Beast Man of his b.o. problem. An explosion causes Odiphus to mutate into a larger and smeller life form. After watching him cause a stampede Skeletor recruits the smelly villain who can cripple an army with one blast in his latest attack on the Royal Palace. Donning the classic orange armor he later calls himself Stinkor.

8. Lessons: In the Filmation Series Evil-Lyn's origin was never explained but in the series bible she was a scientist from Earth called Evelyn Powers, who was on board Marlena Glenn's space craft before it crash-landed on Eternia. Evelyn had been insanely jealous of Marlena for being chosen over her to pilot the shuttle. When the ship crashed as the result of an explosion from Skeletor's homeworld of Infinita, Evelyn wound up on Infinita, where the evil powers of that world turned her knowledge of science into sorcery to aid Skeletor. Now This didn't make any sense who the Mike Young version created a new backstory one that fits her role as a dark enchantress better. Embarrassed by is latest screw-up Orko seeks to return to his home dimension of Trolla. Skeletor aims to invade Grayskull and orders Evil-Lyn, Beast Man, and Trap-Jaw to invade to ruins of Zalesia and steal the Ram-Stone a powerful mystic artifact guarded by Evil-Lyn’s father The Faceless one. For a powerful sorcerer he sure took a beating from his own child. While Orko meets a mysterious figure that shows him how his arrival to Eternia changed the lives of his fellow Eternians, Skeletor gains possession of the Ram Stone containing magic powerful enough to turn the mighty He-Man back into the wussy Prince Adam, Orko makes a must save the day. While this episode makes a refernece to the episodes "Creatures of the Tar Swamp." with the difference being instead of a medallion he loses a wand the same wand that came with his 200x action figure and "The Secert of Castle Grayskull" where Orko seeks to return to Trolla

7 The Counsel of Evil/The Last Stand: The closest thing this awesome yet underrated reboot has to a story arc other then the awesome origin story and the arrival of the Snakemen. Skeletor sends his henchmen to a remote area on Eternia where they Evil Warriors battle He-Man and then get captured by the Masters of the Universe.  However the whole thing was part of Skeletor’s latest world domination scheme has assembled a group of villains consisting of Count Marzo, Evilseed, the Giants, and Webstor and not only manages to capture the Masters but over power He-man. This gets even worst for Adam gets injured and loses his power sword and Teela gets added to the collection. Cringer and Adam journey back to Castle Grayskull as Skeletor is on his way to conquer it with the ram stone, the powerless pair stands as the last line of defense against the Council of Evil, and plus Kobra Khan breaks the evil warriors out of prison. But all the doom and gloom doesn’t last as it continues with the season 2 opener The Last Stand Orko reunites the fallen prince with his power sword, allowing him to become He-Man and the hero destroys the ram stone only to face immeasurable odds. Until Zodak and the Masters arrive. Aside that this was the closest Skeletor has to Winning and would go as to allow his army to be arrested and does a really good job placing Adam in the worst possible scenario. It also get point for the build up the rise of The Snakemen storyline.

6. Snake Pit: The First 2k2 era appearance of Kobra Khan Who's original action figure pre dates the creation of the Snake Men.All of Eternia is put on high alert when a descendant of the Snake Men named Kobra Khan Escapes from prison. Khan journeys to Snake Mountain pretending to be employed by Skeletor just so he can access Snake Mountain and free his Snake Men Ancestors led by King Hiss. The Masters journey to the mystic mountains, to seek the mystic Cosmic Enforcer Zodak. The very same Zodak who aided the Elders in defeating the Snake men, and imprisoning them in the void within Snake Mountain. Therefore, stopping them from completing their conquest of Eternia. Due to a personal vendetta he has against King Hiss for murdering his brother Zeehlar, Zodak sets off on his own to seek out and deal with Kobra Khan. But Khan only manages to free the Massive General Rattlor who was originally casted as a horde member in the She-Ra cartoon, and the masters arrive to assist Zodak. How ever.......

5. Rise of the Snakemen unlike the last episode I mentioned Kobra Khan actually succeeds in freeing the Snake Men and all because the evil warriors of Skeletor are more interested in taking the Masters of the Universe prisoners and Evil-Lyn actually helps Khan and General Rattlor steal Zodak's Staff The Masters fall back and the newly freed snake men manage to overthrow Skeletor and his Evil warriors and take control of Snake Mountain. In the toon version  Snake-Face turns all Evil Warriors into stone-statues but when they confront Skeletor, he defiantly shouts "My eyes are closed" and Evil-Lyn further comments that "he has no eyes" so Hsss then uses the ground itself to capture Skeletor, while Comic-version of "Rise of the Snake Men" by MVCreations treat the scene differently with Skeletor turning into stone-statue by Snake-Face. Soon After allying herself with King Hssss, Evil-Lyn informs him of the power within the walls of Castle Grayskull. Zodak attempts to take on the Snake Men all by himself but He-Men tries to convince him join forces with The Masters so he has a better chance at avenging his brother rather then embark on a suicide mission. We've seen how badass Zodak is in Snake Pit but We finally see the Snakemen in action and King Hss with all due respect is a better villain then Skeletor all because The Snakemen follow King Hsss out of love and respect for their evil ruler unlike the evil warriors who obey Skeletor out of fear. And Speaking of Skeletor. 

4. The Price of Deceit: In a later Episode I will mention We see Keldor Burn himself with acid which causes him to become Skeletor but how does this transformation become complete plus what does Evil-Lyn have to do with it? Having been revealed as a traitor, Evil-Lyn is being pursued by Skeletor and the Evil Warriors! Evil-Lyn's father, the Faceless One, contacts the Masters, asking them to help save a living being that Skeletor intends to sacrifice at the Pool of Shadows, which contains forces from the Shadowrelem which could wreck havoc on Eternia if not stopped. He-Man arrives using a newer version of the wind raider and then finds out Skeletor aims to sacrifice Evil-Lyn as punishment for her treachery in order to control the horrors of the Shadowrelem. Evil-Lyn begs Skeletor to spare her leading to flashbacks of how she met Keldor and how the dying alchemist become the self proclaim overlord of evil.

3. The Beginning: Yes calling the first episode is lame but They manage to do what I believe was never mentioned in the 80's series despite that Adam never receives the power sword until he's 18. In the Past Captain Randor lead his fellow defenders to defend the hall of wisdom from Keldor and his army of Evil warriors who want to steal the power of Eternia from the wise and magnificent Counsel of elders. Keldor was defeated when the vial of acid he tried to throw at his half brother splashed onto his face, disfiguring him in the process. Years have past, as The Royal Palace gathers to celebrate the sixteenth birthday of King Randor’s irresponsible teenage son Prince Adam. At Snake Mountain the mystic wall that held back evil begins to weaken until it was destroyed by the evil warriors. Sensing this The Sorceress summons Adam and his mentor Man-At–Arms to the mysterious Castle Grayskull where The Sorceress tells the prince that the Elders had transformed themselves into a magic orb to protect Eternia From Keldor should he return and that the prince is destined to take up the legendary sword of power that will transform him into the champion He-Man. Unfortunately the prince believes the prophecy is super stitchious mumbo jumbo, but when he returns to the palace he finds it under siege. Adam and Duncan join the battle at the evergreen forest which turns out to be the mother of all animated battles. Combatants start spinning their weapons like mad notable Mekaneck and Tri-Klops. Randor and Keldor face off in a scene straight outta “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” while the Defenders and the Evil Warriors take turns clobbering each other. Keldor (who now calls himself Skeletor) and his evil savage henchman Beast Man take Randor prisoner, seeing this Adam rushes back to the castle and accept his destiny as He-Man. The Prince transforms into He-man using the power sword and uses it to turn Cringer into Battle cat and then the two of them head back to the action. He-Man comes to the aid of the Defenders whom he dubs as the “Masters of the Universe.”  He-Man and Battle Cat then race to save the captive King Randor from Skeletor but as He leaves Man at Arms gets swallowed up by one of Merman’s giant fish monsters prompting Teela to race against time to prevent her father from becoming fish food. She saves MAA and Merman gets sent flying right into a rock. Then the heroic He-Man arrives to battle Skeletor in what I consider the best He-Man vs Skeletor fight ever. As King Randor starts to remember what the Sorceress told him years ago, He-Man and Skeletor engage in a vicious swordfight with Battle Cat and Panthor also engaging in combat.  I never see a plot episode that got me pumped and wanting more since the first episode is what introduces the characters.

2. The Power of Grayskull: In a plot similar to the She-Ra episode "The Stone in the Sword"  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. At Castle Grayskull, The Sorceress tells Prince Adam of the great history behind the power of Grayskull. She tells the Prince a story of his greatest ancestor King Grayskull who recovered his lost sword of power only to sacrifice himself to imprison Hordak in Despondos! Long after Hordak defeated the Snake Men, after King Greyskull lost the sword during the fight. Back at the present Hordak telepathically summons Skeletor to his old shrine and free him from his eternal imprisonment in Despondos. It touches up on Here Castle Grayskull came from and what the term the Power of Grayskull.  And We get I full Glimpse of Hordak and The Evil Horde who if not for the series cancellation would be come the new antagonists for a third season.

1. The Tides That Bind:  In a plot similar to the classic Episode "Teela's Quest" After receving an emergency blood transfusion from the Sorceress Teela becomes curious about her past when she develops temporary telepathic powers. Evil-Lyn takes advantage of her going all Jean Grey, and sets up a diversion using Beast Man’s sandworms while the Evil Warriors make their move on Grayskull. The Masters accompany a not so fully recovered Teela who reads their minds especially Mekaneck who wishes he has better powers. During The Ambush He-Man and Man-At-Arms aid their comrades while The Sorceress was force to tap power from the orb of Grayskull to protect the Castle until the Masters arrive. Just it's Filmation counterpart a great adventure and still with some darker themes that stayed and at least Man-At Arms didn't find baby Teela at a bird's nest.

Honorable Mentions

The island

Web of Evil

Underworld

The Monster Within

Orko's Garden

Rattle of the Snake
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PeeweeXLR's avatar

I love the show,it's a shame it was cancelled pretty early cause it was a great reboot,this show's definitely in my top 10 cancelled too soon cartoons.