For ages, Skeletor has coveted the secrets of Castle Grayskull, only to be defeated time and again by the might of He-Man and his allies.
In his latest attempt, Skeletor (with Evil-Lyn and Faker) uses illusions to get past the Sorceress, guardian of Castle Grayskull. As Skeletor searches Grayskull for his true objective, his legions assault the castle, keeping the Sorceress occupied with outer defense.
Meanwhile, the kingdom of Eternos is celebrating Teela's inauguration as the new Man-At-Arms, but the festivities are interrupted when the Sorceress sends a telepathical call for help to Prince Adam, the true identity of He-Man.
Prince Adam transforms into He-Man and joins the conflict at Castle Grayskull alongside Teela and her adoptive father, the original Man-At-Arms. Eventually, the heroes fight their way past Skeletor's henchman, and He-Man confronts his nemesis in front of the Chamber of Wisdom. The two enter into battle, as do their respective side-kicks — Teela and Evil-Lyn. Skeletor momentarily gains the upper hand over He-Man, only to be confronted by Moss-Man, another of Greyskull's guardians, whom he incinerates. Enraged by the ancient hero's death, He-Man impales Skeletor with his Sword of Power, pinning him to the door of the Chamber of Wisdom.
Skeletor then reveals that the Sword of Power is the key to the Chamber of Wisdom, which He-Man has now inadvertently opened. Inside the chamber is the Orb of Power, the source of all magic in the universe. Before He-Man or Teela can react, Skeletor cracks the orb, unleashing enough magic to destroy the universe.
The Sorceress suddenly appears, stopping time for everyone but He-Man and Teela. She wants to say goodbye to them before the end, but He-Man volunteers to contain the orb's power in his sword, laying down his life to preserve the universe. The Sorceress unfreezes time so that He-Man can enact his plan. In the process, the Sword of Power is divided in two, and He-Man reverts to his Prince Adam form, which Teela witnesses before Adam and Skeletor are annihilated.
In King Randor's throne room, Man-At-Arms sorrowfully reports the death of He-Man. Queen Marlena bursts into tears, revealing that He-Man is her son, Prince Adam, which Man-At-Arms verifies. The king is furious that Man-At-Arms kept such a secret from him, and exiles him from the kingdom on pain of death. Teela is also enraged at the deception — as Marlena, Cringer, Orko, Man-At-Arms, and Adam himself all kept her in the dark — and abandons the kingdom herself.
Tropes:
- Alone in a Crowd: Inverted. At the end, Teela flees the palace in grief. But the crowds around her are standing still, celebrating the news of Skeletor's death.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Following Skeletor's death, all of Eternia celebrated... except those who knew what it took to defeat him and the revelation that came with it.
- Bait-and-Switch: When King Randor is ripping into Duncan, Teela looks like she's going to defend him... only to call him out as well.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: When He-Man angrily skewers Skeletor with his sword in response to him killing Moss-Man, Skeletor congratulated him, as he finally used his sword as it was meant to be used. At first, it seems like Skeletor means like an actual weapon and that he's goading He-Man for crossing a line he never did before, but then he adds "as the key to the Hall of Wisdom!", revealing that he had been leaning against the chamber holding the orb of magic when He-Man struck him.
- The Berserker: After the Sorceress shields herself, Faker can think of nothing better to do than pound the shield with his fists like a zombie.
- The Cameo: Among the army that arrives at Greyskull and battles Skeletor's forces are Fisto and Clamp-Champ. This is the latter's first animated appearance ever.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- He-Man and Man-At-Arms hand these out like candy on their way into Castle Greyskull.
- Man-At-Arms bisects Faker from behind with a Laser Cutter attached to his arm when the latter is hassling the Sorceress. The evil imposter doesn't even see him coming, literally. He was too busy being focused on the Sorceress to notice Duncan coming up behind him.
- Skeletor vs. Moss-Man. The latter makes a grand entrance, but Skeletor incinerates him within moments.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Skeletor allows He-Man to run him through with his sword, because by doing so He-Man unlocks the Chamber of Wisdom that Skeletor is leaning against, allowing Skeletor to access the orb of magic contained within.
- Disappointed in You: King Randor all but tells Adam this when notices how proud Duncan is of Teela.
- Easily Detachable Robot Parts: Faker has his arms blasted off by the Sorceress, but simply extends cables from the stumps to grab and reattach them.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: After Skeletor has been annihilated, Evil-Lyn momentarily looks aggrieved as she grabs the ram skull of his destroyed Havoc Staff before fleeing.
- The Exile: King Randor orders Man-At-Arms exiled (on pain of death) for hiding the truth about Prince Adam.
- First-Episode Twist: He-Man and Skeletor's final battle results in both of them dying when He-Man's Sword of Power explodes.
- Failed a Spot Check: Skeletor's ruse works because Sorceress fails to notice several red flags.
- Why would "He-Man" arrive to Grayskull on Stridor rather than Battle Cat? Sorceress also never notices that "He-Man" doesn't have the Sword of Power on him.
- Yes, Castle Grayskull has a dungeon, but why would He-Man bring Spikor and Clawful there and not the Royal Palace?
- Despite having telepathy, she fails to notice something odd about the "He-Man" in front of her. Not to mention that "He-Man" does quip or banter like he usually does.
- Foreshadowing: Upon facing off against He-Man in the Chamber of Wisdom, Skeletor declared "Let this be our Final Battle!". He was right.
- Get Out!: King Randor screams this at Man-At-Arms before stripping him of his position and exiling him from the kingdom.
- Heroic BSoD: Witnessing the death of Prince Adam/He-Man was devastating enough for Teela, but she's driven into a full meltdown by the subsequent revelation that Man-At-Arms, Orko, Cringer, and Queen Marlena all knew that Adam was He-Man, and none of them ever told her.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He-Man uses his sword to contain the raw magic from the orb, even though he has to be holding it for that to work. He and Skeletor, who tries in vain to take the power for himself, are seemingly obliterated.
- Internal Reveal: Teela, Skeletor and King Randor, in that order, learn that Prince Adam is He-Man.Skeletor: He's just a boy!
- Killed Off for Real: Moss-Man makes a heroic but short-lived effort to keep Skeletor from reaching the orb.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Upon learning that his son Adam was the heroic He-Man all along, Randor is noticeably devastated over the "Well Done, Son" Guy treatment he had always given him. Unfortunately, he chooses to channel his grief into anger at Man-At-Arms for hiding the truth from him.
- The Needs of the Many: He-Man is informed that he is the only one who can hold the Sword of Power while it's absorbing the orb's magic. Teela points out that the energy involved will kill anyone, even him. He-Man replies that if he doesn't do it, everyone will die.
- Never Say "Die": When reporting to King Randor and Queen Marlena about He-Man's death, Duncan tells them that "he succumbed" possibly because he's trying to soften the news as much as possible that their son has perished.
- No Body Left Behind: After He-Man uses the two halves of the Sword of Power to contain the raw magic of the Orb of Power he and Skeletor, who was trying to grab the power at the time, are seemingly annihilated in the subsequent explosion, leaving behind nothing but a black scorch mark on the floor.
- Punch Parry: He-Man and Skeletor do this, Skeletor magically enlarging his hand to even the odds. It's not enough, and Skeletor winds up recoiling in pain as He-Man nearly breaks his wrists.
- Robotic Reveal: The Sorceress blasts off Faker's arms and a fair portion of his outer skin, revealing that the latter is a robot. Faker No Sells the moment by reattaching his arms easily.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Teela furiously resigns from her position and swears off any association with the kingdom when she learns those she considered friends and family had been lying to her all her life about Prince Adam and He-Man.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: As was hinted at in many other iterations of He-Man this episode confirms that Marlena knew her son Adam's secret identity as He-Man. Sadly this also means that she knows that she lost her son when Duncan tells her that he "succumbed" in battle.
- Shockwave Stomp: On his way into Castle Greyskull, He-Man takes out a platoon of Snake Mountain troopers with a variant of this move (he uses his fist rather than his foot to create the shockwave).
- Super-Strength: Once he joins the battle at Castle Greyskull, He-Man wastes no time demonstrating that he is, indeed, the most powerful man in the universe, flipping Beast-Man's giant mace siege vehicle and punching the ground hard enough to create a shockwave.
- Time Stands Still: When the orb is broken, the Sorceress stops time for a few moments so that she can fill He-Man and Teela in on the consequences — and because she wanted to see Teela one more time before the universe's destruction. However this reprieve allows He-Man the chance to come up with the plan to use the Sword of Power to absorb the blast at the cost of his own life.
- Trojan Prisoner: How Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, and Faker get past the first line of defense of Castle Greyskull, though in a twist they expect the ruse to fail in order to disguise the fact that their escort is actually Faker disguised as He-Man.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Evil-Lyn quietly vanishes when Skeletor's plan goes pear-shaped, killing both him and He-Man.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: When seeing how proud Duncan is at Teela's Man-At-Arm's ceremony, King Randor snidely tells Adam that Duncan is experiencing fatherly pride, something he'd like to feel some day. Randor clearly regrets those words after he finds out that Adam was He-Man all along and died saving Eternia.
- Wrecked Weapon:
- Teela cuts the handle for Evil-Lyn's staff in half, though this doesn't hamper the magical potential of the weapon itself. Quite the contrary, it leaves her with a pretty nifty-looking wand, making a good Improvised mace for close combat and being much more portable, too.
- The power from the orb splits the Sword of Power in two: one blade is golden, the other dark.
- Due to being caught in the blast that killed Adam, Skeletor's Havoc Staff is destroyed with only the ram skull head left behind.
