If I reviewed Part 1, you know I have to review Revelation Part 2!
In my review of Part 1 of Masters of the Universe: Revelation, I said that people needed to learn to sit back and chill out.
The first five episodes caused uproar and civil unrest in the Eternia fandom. People were immediately boycotting the show before the complete story had been told. They were convinced they had witnessed Prince Adam/He-Man’s death. It was the “Tela show” rather than the “He-Man show”, despite the show’s actual title being “Masters of the Universe.”
Now that the final five episodes have hit Netflix, and the entire story has been told. I hope people can see the big picture and be happy. No more unable to see the forest for the trees type scenarios going on.
Everything I said about the animation and the voice acting remains the same. I may go further to say that Lena Headey seemed to bring a bit of Cersei into Evil-Lyn’s character during her turn, which was beyond fitting. There were a few times that the voice acting felt like it just missed the mark, but overall it was great again! (I will not repeat what my wife said regarding Liam Cunningham and his voice. Just take my word that she’s high on the voice acting as well)
By the time the fifth and final episode is complete, you have story wrap-ups for all our primary characters, both good and evil, while also giving a nice cliffhanger tease that could lead to a lot of cool things if we get a second season.
We finally get a chance to see more fan-favorite characters, albeit in a blink or you’ll miss them moments. The one except is Ram Man, who still makes a quick entrance then exits. It could be argued that more time (still minimal) is given to the evil characters. Who would have thought we’d ever see Goat Man and Pig Boy from the Dolph Lundgren movie as part of canon in animation?
Like with the five episodes before, these five episodes do not shy away from Teela. Yes, Masters of the Universe: Revelation is, at its core, a Teela story. While that sentence alone will throw some “fans” up in arms, I have no qualms with it. Some of the best episodes of some of the best television shows in history, were character-centric, character-building episodes. Revelation is just that for Teela. From the revelation of He-Man/Adam’s secret to the revelation of her mother’s identity and Teela’s ultimate destiny.
I would go as far as to say, if you ever want this franchise to evolve and continue moving forward with new content and new stories in this form of media, Revelation was the first needed step. Teela has finally taken a step that many anticipated she eventually would. If we had not followed Teela throughout these episodes, the impact would not have been as strong when she became the new sorceress.
You have an expansion of He-Man’s power and who he is. One of the story threads throughout is how much of a hero Adam is without the power of Grayskull. We get to see a barbarian He-Man (Oo-Larr) that’s full of rage and without restraint. You see Adam’s goodness shine as he teams up with Skeletor of all people to battle Evil-Lyn. Man-at-Arms, King Randor, and Queen Marlena all get fleshed out more.
You get a Panthor appearance.
You get that kickass line from He-Man seen in the trailer regarding the one safe place to be is behind him. However, Fisto may come in with the line of the series. I won’t spoil that here, I’ll let you decide.
You also have actual stakes for these characters as you not only see characters die but blood and injuries get shown. Plus a bit of sexy time between Evil-Lyn and Skeletor. They moved the story of this universe forward and away from the campiness of the 80s original, in tandem with an elevation of maturity.
The show itself is not without its flaws, however. There are pacing issues, which at times feel like it may be at fault of the limited number of episodes. The last episode itself felt like it could have been 2 episodes. You have some inconsistencies with what they said to be the rules regarding the Power of Grayskull. People constantly spoke about how the power was controlled by the sorceress. Yet no proper explanation of how Adam could tap into that power without Evil-Lyn (who was the new sorceress by this point) letting him do so. (with or without the sword). So it is not perfect, but I can’t imagine so-called MOTU still finding such overpowering flaws in this show, or feeling like they need to ridicule Kevin Smith more.
At the end of the day, the 10 episodes of Masters of the Universe: Revelation are just what we were told they’d be; a love letter to all things Masters of the Universe.
As my friend put it: Kevin Smith wins. It is better when it is earned.
It was earned, and we all win. For Eternia!
