Quest for the Sword

Orko is entertaining two children by floating a bucket of water across a river. He ends up dropping the water over Man-At-Arms, who was trying to start a fire with a flint and wood. Teela scolds Adam for bringing back Ironvine instead of actual firewood. He replies that he wanted to use it for fishing. Suddenly a nearby volcano erupts. The children who enjoyed Orko's tricks are separated from their mother by a large crack in the ground. Adam tells Cringer to run off so that they can transform into He-Man and Battle Cat.

The crack has grown too wide for even Battle Cat to jump, so He-Man ties the Ironvine to his sword, throws it across the gorge and uses his mighty strength to pull the edge of the crack back. Man-At-Arms jumps the distance and rescues the kids. He-Man loses his grip on the vine and uses the Wind Raider to fly to the other side. But a Rock Man named Rabar has grabbed the sword and claims it for himself. He-Man politely asks his sword back, but Rabar decides to attack. He-Man uses some of the Ironvine to deflect Rabar's blows. But soon a second Rock Man, Togar jumps him from the other side. He-Man tries to knock the sword out of Rabar's hand, but another quake caused by the volcano causes He-Man to drop down the gorge. He uses the vine to climb back up and makes it out just before the gap closes itself.

The two Rock Men retreat into their cave. He-Man rushes after then, but the entrance is sealed by a rock slide. Orko and Man-At-Arms realize that as if He-Man doesn't retrieve his sword, he won't be able to turn back into Adam. Teela is looking to find Adam to tell him off for running away at the first sign of danger. They return to Eternos to fetch a Battle Ram and are joined by Ram Man, who notes that he's never seen He-Man and Adam together. Man-At-Arms tells them to hurry back to the Rock Men before Teela thinks about it too much.

Ram Man tries to ram his way into the cave, but it is too solid. They do not dare to use a laser, as it might cause the inside of the cave to collapse onto the Rock Men. Ram Man finally clears a path, only to find Orko allready inside. He explains to have found another entrance off to the side. He-Man takes the Ironvine along, thinking it might come in handy again. Inside the cave, they spot cavepaintings made by the Rock People, revealing they have a gentle side after all. They spot the Rock Men in the distance, near a bottomless pit to the center of Eternia radiating powerful energy. Orko says he would like to capture some of this energy, which provides the Rock Men with light, heat and natural energy.

Rabar has proclaimed himself the leader of his people. Ram Man provides a distraction by catapulting himself and then bouncing back and forth between the cavern walls so that He-Man can rope a stalactite with the Ironvine and use it to swing down. Unfortuntaly, they collide with each other in mid air and crash to the ground. Rabar orders his people to grab the humans, but they are afraid to act. Rabar refuses to give He-Man his sword back and He-Man doesn't want to fight him. Togar sneaks up on Man-At-Arms, who has also joined them, and grabs Duncan's laser gun. Togar fires it and accidentally destroys the foundation holding up the entire cave. He-Man struggles to hold up the entire cave, but needs a foundation. Man-At-Arms and Ram Man begin to push a large slab of rock into place, and Orko manages to persuade the Rock Men to help them out.

Relieved to be out of peril, the Rock Men cheer for the humans as well as their two leaders. Rabar and Togar decide that weapons are bad and throw the sword and gun into the bottomless pit. Man-At-Arms states that even He-Man could not survive at the center of Eternos, and that the sword has probably already melted into nothingness. He-Man accepts that he will never be able to become Adam again. As they prepare to leave, the Rock People tear down the ladders leading down into their cave and ask He-Man to close up the outside entrance, as they want no more dealings with the outside world. Man-At-Arms realizes Orko is missing, and He-Man thinks he has probably already left.

Outside, He-Man sends Man-At-Arms and Ram Man back to the palace to se if Orko is there, while he stays behind to check and seal the entrance. Orko appears, having used the side entrance and produces the Sword of Power from his hat. He explains he went down into the pit to try and get some of it's energy, and caught the sword as it came falling down. Back in the Royal Courtyard, Teela is looking forward to seeing He-Man tell off Adam. Adam appears and states that he's already spoken with He-Man. Man-At-Arms is flabbergasted as to Adam's appearance, while Teela is annoyed that she missed the confrontation she was looking forward to.

**He-Man:** "It's a good thing Orko got my sword back today, or Prince Adam might never have been seen again. The Rockman who took my sword thought it made him a leader, but he was wrong. A sword or any other symbol doesn't make a person a good leader. What does, is intelligence, respect for others and an unselfish desire to do good. People are proud of a leader with those qualities. So if you develop them in yourself, you could become a good leader too. See you soon."

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

Alan Oppenheimer as Man-At-Arms. Cringer and Rabar

Linda Gary as Teela, mother and young girl

Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko and Togar

"I'm sure that once I've gotten my sword back, I'll be able to produce Adam."

― He-Man

1. Behind the scenes: Script was approved May 31, 1983 and final script revision took place June 3, 1983.
2. Continuity: The character model for Rabar was previously used as a Sand Demon in the episode Temple of the Sun and will again be made out of sand in The Witch and the Warrior and will then be seen as several identical Rock Men in'Into the Abyss. The character model for Togar was previously used as a rock turned evil by the Horn of Evil in the episode Dree Elle's Return. The animation of He-Man lifting and throwing was first seen in The Taking of Grayskull and would be re-purposed to be used again in Return of the Gryphon; The Gambler and a reanimated version was seen in Fisto's Forest. The animation of He-Man swinging on a rope with a shocked expression will be seen again in the She-Ra: Princess of Power episode Horde Prime Takes a Holiday.
3. More continuity: The animation showing He-Man holding aloft his magic sword the same way Prince Adam usually does is also seen in Quest for He-Man, The Secret of Grayskull and Teela's Triumph.
4. Animation errors and goofs: Man-At-Arms references the center of the earth twice when they are on Eternia not Earth. Orko is much too large in comparison to Ram Man when he offers him help but Rammy compares him to a mosquito. When Orko says "I wouldn't want to see that big pillar fall, it holds up the whole thing", it cuts from him and Man-At-Arms to a different shot of He-Man, but the background remains the same. When Man-At-Arms tells He-Man "They're cheering Rabar and Togar, and us", the definition of He-Man's upper chest disappears for a couple of frames.

A Dini-scripted broken-sword script that prefigures both the 2002 MYP and 2021 Revelation Power Sword reforging arcs. The Filmation version is structurally simpler but establishes the iconography.

Catalogue source: heman.fandom.com (CC BY-SA 3.0).