Return of Evil

An electrical storm appears in the sky above the Royal Palace. Orko drops a tray of drinks as he realizes the evil Electroid Aremesh is coming for him. Aremesh arrives almost immediately and announces he has come for a "secret thing" that "Orko the Icon" has. Skeletor, Evil-Lyn and Beast Man are spying on the proceedings from Snake Mountain. Although he does not know what exactly Aremesh is looking for, Skeletor is intrigued and wants it for his own.

Aremesh knocks out Teela and Man-At-Arms with a single blast from his hand and grabs Orko. Adam takes a sword and shield from the wall to face the Electroid, but receives a jolt as well. The shield saves him from being knocked unconcious. When Aremesh flees, Adam takes the opportunity to transform himself into He-Man and Cringer into Batte Cat. Teela and Man-At-Arms recover and are informed of what happened by He-Man. Man-At-Arms says he and Teela will use a Wind Raider to follow He-Man and Battle Cat.

He-Man catches up with Aremesh, who carries Orko as he travels by Flying Disc. The Electroid fires more energy blasts, but He-Man deflects them all. Suddenly, Skeletor pulls the Energy Transport Lever and teleports Aremesh and Orko to his location. Skeletor offers Aremesh a deal: to help him get the secret if Aremesh helps him conquer Eternia. A surprised He-Man tells Teela by Comlink that he will meet them back at the palace. Once there, they are surprised when Skeletor and Beast Man appear, carrying Orko in a sack. The Lord of Destruction threatens to release the Electroid upon the Kingdom of Eternos if Orko does not hand over the secret from his dimension. Man-At-Arms asks for one hour to talk this over, to which Skeletor agrees. He and Beast Man are teleported out as quickly as they came.

Orko reveals the secret Aremesh is looking for was hidden by him at Castle Grayskull. He-Man tells Teela and Man-At-Arms to stall Skeletor while he, Battle Cat and Orko head to Greyskull. He-Man learns that when Orko first came to Eternia from Trolla, he had been entrusted to protect a Dimension Sphere. He used a secret compartment in one of Grayskull's walls to keep it safe. The Sorceress suggests they try to trick Aremesh into entering the sphere. When Skeletor and Aremesh return to the palace, Man-At-Arms tricks them into thinking He-Man and Orko went to the Tar Swamp. Aremesh leaves at once, with Skeltor hot on his heels, but Beast Man and Evil-Lyn drop through a trap door and are imprisoned in Eternos.

He-Man and Orko await their enemies arrival in the Tar Samp. The Sorceress circles above them in the shape of Zoar. As Aremesh confronts He-Man and Orko, Skeletor tries to sneak past them from behind, but is tripped by Battle Cat's tail. Orko retrieves the Dimension Sphere from his hat and opens a gate. He says he's going to return the sphere to the other dimension where it belongs. When he enters the dimensional gate, Skeletor rushes in behind him. But Aremesh realizes it's a trick and refuses to enter. As Zoar, the Sorceress can only keep the gate open for a short time. He-Man picks up Aremesh, but immediately his energy begins to drain away. With the last of his strength, he manages to throw Aremesh into the dimensional tunnel. He-Man collapses on the ground, and Zoar pulls Orko back just before the tunnel collapses in on itself. Skeletor and Aremesh are trapped inside. He-Man concludes it was Orko and the Sorceress who saved the kingdom.

Back at the palace, Queen Marlena hands Orko a medal and dubs him "Sir Orko", the knight. Orko is unsure if he deserves such honors because he was afraid, but He-Man reminds him that courage cannot exist without fear. Just when Orko begins to feel brave, he hears a loud crash and hurries off to hide behind Battle Cat.

**Teela:** "Today Orko was being chased by an evil robot. Orko was very frightened. But in the end he overcame his fear and helped He-Man defeat the robot. All of us are frightened at one time or another, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. Fear is natural. It makes us aware of possible danger. Without fear, we'd wind up in all kinds of trouble. So never feel guilty because you're afraid. Listen to your fears. They'll help you stay out of trouble. Until later, bye now."

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

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

Linda Gary as Teela, Evil-Lyn, the Sorceress and Queen Marlena

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

"Very interesting. So that little floating bag of wind has a secret hidden somewhere... Perhaps we should let this walking lightbulb, Aremesh, do our dirty work for us!"

― Skeletor

1. Behind the scenes: Script was approved May 9, 1983. The sequence in which Cringer is frightened by lightning and runs past the heroic warriors was animated by Tom Sito. The dimensional gate that appears in the Tar Swamp was originally scripted to be projected on the the base of an old oak tree.
2. Continuity: Aremesh is an Electroid from Orko's home dimension of Trolla. Different looking Electroids are featured in the She-Ra: Princess of Power episode The Greatest Magic, which takes place in Trolla. Orko references his arrival on Eternia in the Tar Swamp. This was seen in flashback in Creatures from the Tar Swamp, an episode that was also written by Richard Pardee. The animation of He-Man landing on his feet after jumping from his Sky Sled will be seen again in The Problem with Power. The animation of Skeletor tripping and falling was first used in The Dragon's Gift.
3. More continuity: The animated sequence of Skeletor sitting in a pool of water will be seen again in The Good Shall Survive. The close-up of the Energy Transport Lever is a reuse of the control levers seen aboard the Collector in Colossor Awakes, including the same background.
4. Animation errors and goofs: When Skeletor is using his view screen to scan Eternia, the panning shot reveals the unpainted side of the Evergreen Forest background plate. As He-Man first confronts Aremesh in the Evergreen Forest, he is animated to be holding his sword, but is not holding it. In two separate scenes, Orko hides behind Battle Cat at the Royal Palace, but the Trollan is drawn much too large in comparison to the mighty cat. The Sorceress appears in human form in the Tar Swamp despite not being able to manifest herself outside of Castle Grayskull. During Orko's knighting by Queen Marlena, He-Man is sitting on the steps to the royal thrones. When he calls Orko over to talk to him, Queen Marlena is no longer standing in the background. But she returns to her usual spot during the final wide shot.

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