Creatures from the Tar Swamp

The Royal family awaits the arrival of their cousin, Lady Edwina. The magician Orko is impressed with Lady Edwina's shuttle and even more so with Edwina herself. Edwina compliments Adam, but refers to Teela as 'the help'. Orko is totally smitten with Edwina and goes to her room to present her with a broche as a gift. Edwina waves it off, saying she hasn't brought anything to wear with it. Adam feels sorry for Orko and decides to tell Edwina the story of how Orko saved his life when he first arrived on Eternia. Young Adam and his tiger cub Cringer were lost in the Tar Swamp during the Season of Storms. Orko saved them by using his Magic Medallion, but then lost it immediately afterwards. Edwina shows interest in the powerful medallion and tells Orko it's too bad he lost it. Orko comes up with a plan to go back to the Tar Swamp to find his medallion and present it to Edwina. The next morning, Teela and Man-At-Arms notice Orko's bed hasn't been slept in and realize where he must have gone. They decide to go after him.

Orko is frantically searching the Tar Swamp when he notices Beast Man, Skeletor and Evil-Lyn nearby. He is spotted and captured by Evil-Lyn's magic. Skeletor orders Evil-Lyn to pour a Primeval Potion into the swamp, which causes long extinct creatures to come back to life, including two Shriekers and a Drachadon. Beast Man uses his control over animal creatures to soothe the ancient beasts. Teela and Man-At-Arms travel to the Tar Swamp by Wind Raider. Teela is glad Adam decided to stay at the palace, feeling he would only get in the way. But Man-At-Arms knows that Adam will 'contact' He-Man and Battle Cat to help them. The Evil Warriors hear the Wind Raider approach and Skeletor tells Beast man to send the two Shriekers at it. The Wind Raider is hit and crashes. He-Man is too far away to help, but luckily Stratos was nearby and manages to save Teela and Duncan. Skeletor reveals himself, as well as the captive Orko and the enslaved Drachadon. One of the Shriekers grabs He-Man and flies off with him, but Stratos distracts the flying creature and causes it to fly into a dead tree, where it gets stuck between the branches. It drops He-Man, who thanks Stratos and returns to save Man-At-Arms and Teela from the second Shrieker. He asks Stratos to return Man-At-Arms and Teela to the palace while he mounts Battle Cat.

Back at the palace, Edwina is trying on some of Randor's trickets and jewels. King Randor promises to show her some real sights, when suddenly the entire palace begins to shake. The Drachadon is attacking the palace wall and Skeletor tells Randor to surrender or have his palace be destroyed. Randor, Queen Marlena and Edwina are put in a jail cel, and are soon joined by Orko. Edwina asks Orko to use his magic to escape, and he manages to teleport both of them out of the palace, leaving the King and Queen behind. Edwina wants to leave, but the Drachadon bars her way. He-Man and Battle Cat appear and distract the Drachadon. Orko tells them that Skeletor has taken over the palace.

Skeletor and Evil-Lyn have occupied the royal throne room. When Teela, Man-At-Arms and Teela confront them, Beast Man pushes large sculpture so it will fall on them. Man-At-Arms uses an energy beam to deflect the statue back onto Beast Man. Evil-Lyn starts to conjure up a spell, but Stratos grabs her arms before she can complete it. He flies out a window, carrying her, and drops her so that she ends up hanging from a spire. Skeletor refuses to face Man-At-Arms and Teela, and tells them to defeat his 'pet', the Drachadon. Outside, He-Man, Battle Cat and Orko watch the Drachadon smash it's head through the throne room's wall. Orko notices his old Magic Medallion stuck to the creature's back and flies up to it. By saying "I wish you'd come out", the medallion is freed. He-Man tells Orko to come up with a spell while he and Battle Cat distract the creature. Edwina stops Orko and asks him to wish the two them away from the battle. She suggest they could have all the gold and jewels in the world and be the best of friends. Orko realizes she's only interested in the treasures the Medallion can provide and rejects her offer. He then says "I wish none of this had ever happened" and the medallion returns to the creatures back, the Drachadon to the Tar Swamp and the Evil Warriors are send back to where they came from.

Back on his throne, King Randor thanks Orko for saving the day. He then scolds Lady Edwina for being selfish and tells her she is no longer welcome at the palace until she mends her ways. Orko floats up to Edwina and offers her a gift in a box. When she opens it, out pops a Drachadon-in-a-box. Edwina screams and runs away while the others laugh.

**Prince Adam:** "Today's story was about something more precious, more valuable than gold or silver. It's called 'friendship'. Orko learned that friendship can't be bought. Giving somebody a present may get that person to act as if he or she is your friend, but don't be fooled. A real friend is someone who likes you for yourself, not your presents. So don't try to buy friendship. Just be yourself, and treat others with honesty and respect. And then you'll know the friends you make will be real ones."

John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam and Beast Man

Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor, Man-At-Arms and Battle Cat/Cringer

Linda Gary as Teela, Evil-Lyn and Lady Edwina

Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko and King Randor

Jay Scheimer (uncredited) as Queen Marlena

Norm Prescott as Stratos

"Greetings, King Randor. Unless you'd like my pet here to demolish the palace, you'll surrender to me immediately."

― Skeletor

1. Behind the scenes: Script was approved February 9, 1983 and final script revision was completed July 28, 1983. This story is loosely based on a Filmation script premise also titled 'Creatures from the Tar Swamp', in which lightning struck the Tar Swamp, causing it's prehistoric creatures to come back to life.
2. Continuity: Lady Edwina calls Orko 'Gorpo', among other things. Gorpo was the characters original name during early production. A slightly different version of the Tar Swamp flashback was featured in The Secret of Grayskull. The backgrounds for the Tar Swamp are seen again when Statos finds himself in a forest after being exiled in Betrayal of Stratos. This is the first of two occasions in which Skeletor manages to sit upon the throne of the Royal Palaces of Eternia. The second time is in The Littlest Giant.
3. More continuity: The character models of young Prince Adam and Cringer as a cub will be seen again during an extended flashback sequence in Battlecat. Lady Edwina can be spotted in the audience at Man-E-Faces performance in the final scene of The Mystery of Man-E-Faces. Edwina's facial design would be reused for Cara in the episode Disappearing Dragons. The backgrounds for the royal palace dungeons are seen again in Quest for He-Man. The animated sequence in which Man-At-Arms uses a tree branch to keep a Shrieker at bay is used again in Song of Celice, when he keeps a Giant Crawler at bay. The flashback in which Orko arrives on Eternia and saves young Adam and Cringer from a swamp is a retold in the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode Lessons. The Hero medal that Orko received during the flashback sequence can be seen displayed on a chest next to Orko's bed in the 2021 Netflix series Masters of the Universe: Revelation episode The Most Dangerous Man in Eternia.
4. Animation errors and goofs: When Skeletor is sitting on the throne at the Royal Palace, his cup disappears from his hands as he stands up.

Source: heman.fandom.com (Wiki Grayskull, CC BY-SA 3.0). Catalogue and trivia compiled for heman.org.