Diamond Ray of Disappearance

Within Snake Mountain, Skeletor introduces Beast Man to his latest acquisition, the Diamond Ray of Disappearance. Skeletor then commands his minion to activate the Transport Beam, a ray that teleports the rest of Skeletor's warriors to the fortress. Once Mer-Man, Evil-Lyn, Tri-Klops and Trap Jaw have arrived, Skeletor demonstrates the specific powers of the Diamond Ray by making a nearby creature vanish, before informing the Evil Warriors that he will use the ray to take over Eternia. Convinced, they agree to help him.

Meanwhile, at the Royal Palace, Orko is entertaining King Randor, Queen Marlena, Prince Adam, Man-At-Arms and Teela with his egg trick. Teela hears laser fire and rushes to the window, where she spies Trap Jaw on a War-Sled attacking the palace. While Teela and the Royal Guard pursue Trap Jaw, Prince Adam and Cringer sneak out of the palace and transform into He-Man and Battle Cat. Teela confronts Trap Jaw, who soon gets the upper hand until He-Man arrives and defeats the villain by destroying his current arm attachment.

Meanwhile, the Evil Warriors launch an assault on the now-defenseless Royal Palace. Skeletor demonstrates the Diamond Ray on a nearby falcon, not knowing that it is Zoar, before sending Man-At-Arms, King Randor and Queen Marlena to another dimension; only Orko manages to escape to warn He-Man.

He-Man journeys to Castle Grayskull and contacts the Sorceress through her magic viewing glass. She tells him that the Diamond must be crushed, but warns him to be careful or he will be trapped by its power forever. As the Evil Warriors break into Castle Grayskull, He-Man holds them off with the aid of Battle Cat until Teela, Ram Man, and Stratos can join him.

The Evil Warriors fall one by one at the hands of the Heroic Warriors, but Skeletor keeps a safe distance. After destroying the last of Skeletor's Hover Robots, He-Man confronts the villain, and when Skeletor attempts to use the Diamond Ray on him, deflects the blast with the Sword of Power; Skeletor panics and dodges the blast, but drops the diamond into a crack. He-Man widens the crack and pulls out the magical stone. He begins to squeeze it, but starts to fade into the other dimension. Just in the nick of time, he manages to break it; He-Man returns to normal and his friends are safely transported back to Eternia. Skeletor escapes with his allies, vowing revenge.

Much later at the Royal Palace, everyone is annoyed that Prince Adam is late to appear at court. Unfortunately, he rides in on a broken Zoom Chariot, making a sizable hole in the palace wall.

**He-Man:** "In today's story, Skeletor was looking for a shortcut, a quick way to riches and power. You may know some people like that, always looking for a quick way to get ahead of everybody else. Well, it doesn't work that way. The people who succeed are the ones who work for what they want. So don't be fooled by those who say they have a sure thing. There's always a catch to it. Don't sell yourself short. The right way is the best way. Until later."

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

Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor, Man-At-Arms, Cringer and Mer-Man

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

Erik Gunden as Orko, King Randor, Trap Jaw and Tri-Klops

"Now Orko, I would like a request a trick: make my son appear. On time."

― King Randor

1. Behind the scenes: Script was approved on November 30, 1982 and final script revision was completed July 12, 1983. The initial designs for the character of He-Man during early production were based on that of Hercules from Filmation's 1977 cartoon **Space Sentinels**. He-Man tells Teela to 'Put your Battle Ram in high gear and head back home' even though she arrived on a Sky Sled. This line made more sense in the original script in which Teela did arrive on a complete Battle Ram instead of just the front part.
2. For decades since 2003, the DVD releases with this episode were missing a couple of extra scenes after King Randor, Queen Marlena and Man-At-Arms disappear. The vase that Orko levitated earlier falls on Orko's head, deflecting a ray of disappearance meant for him. Orko then manages to escape through a window. Outside, he crashes into a tree, breaking the vase and he teleports away to warn He-Man. These were present in the original broadcast and VHS releases. Recently the German PLAION company's blu-ray release restored these missing scenes for "The Eternia Collection" (2023). This is one of the three stories edited into the direct-to-video movie 'The Greatest Adventures of All' which had a special premiere at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. The other two adventures being Teela's Quest & Colossor Awakes.
3. Continuity: As the first broadcast episode most of the important characters from the series are introduced, along with the places and concepts that will define the series. Unlike later episodes which show Castle Grayskull as having a number of mystic defences, however, this early episode sees Skeletor being able to enter the castle with only a grappling hook and magic from his axe. The original five Evil Warriors summoned by Skeletor will only appear together as a group twice more: in Prince Adam No More and Three on a Dare. Part of the animation seen during Evil-Lyn's introduction will be seen again on Skeletor's viewer in Castle of Heroes. Orko's egg trick would be seen again as part of a flashback in The Secret of Grayskull.
4. More continuity: The footage of Man-At-Arms arguing with Orko with his arms folded was used again in Here, There, Skeletors Everywhere. Part of Trap Jaw's aerial attack on the Royal Palace was used again in Quest for He-Man. The shot of the three Eternian towers exploding would be seen again in Quest for He-Man and Return of the Gryphon. The animated sequence of Prince Adam leaping into the bushes to become He-Man with Cringer meekly following him, is seen again in The Taking of Grayskull. The animated sequences of Teela running, leaping onto a Sky Sled and taking off is re-purposed from a scene in which Andrea Steele does the in Visitors from Earth. Most of the footage of He-Man arriving at Castle Grayskull and commanding the Jaw-bridge to lower was seen again in Double Edged Sword. The fight sequence between He-Man and Beast Man was previously seen in The Cosmic Comet, although it was originally animated for this episode. He-Man's dodge and throw of Mer-Man would be reused in Evil-Lyn's Plot and again during his fight scene with a Gorgon in A Tale of Two Cities and against Ollo in The Time Corridor. The shot of He-Man struggling to break free from Tri-Klops' grasp would be reused in A Tale of Two Cities with Garn trying to break free from He-Man and in It's Not My Fault, when Rago's guard tries to escape from Man-At-Arm's grip. He-Man's reaction to the rock creature and his subsequent fighting stance were used again in Evil-Lyn's Plot. The animation of Orko wiggling his fingers is seen again in A Friend in Need. Teela's shocked expression as she confronts Trap Jaw will be seen again in Wizard of Stone Mountain when a disguised Lokus tells her about Mallek. The sequence of Teela putting her hand to her mouth and giggling will be seen again in The Return of Orko's Uncle. The shot of He-Man turning to Teela after using his sword will be used again in Revenge is Never Sweet. The Diamond Ray of Disappearance briefly appears again in the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode Turnabout. The animated sequence of Man-At-Arms igniting his light saber, only to have it blasted out of his hand will be seen again in the episode The Gamesman. Footage of the Royal Guards on their Sky-Sleds is reused from with bare legs instead of the usual green leggings is seen again in the episode The Time Wheel. The animated sequence of Prince Adam patting Cringer on the head seen at the very end will be used again in The Bitter Rose. The Diamond Ray of Disappearance is seen as one of the artifacts in Scare Glow's collection in the Masters of the Universe: Revolution episode Even for Kings.
5. Animation errors and goofs: As King Randor and Queen Marlena assure Man-At-Arms he shouldn't be worried about Teela, the royal couple is standing further away from each other in the overhead shot but very close together in the next close-up shot. When Zoar/The Sorceress is speaking telepathically with Man-At-Arms, Orko has five fingers on his hand instead of the usual four. In the shot of Stratos and Ram Man's first appearance, Orko is missing the letter 'O' on his tunic. When Ram Man attacks Skeletor's Hover Robots, the same Evergreen Forest background is used in both shots. When Stratos ties up Evil-Lyn in her own cape, his beard disappears for a few frames. Near the end, He-Man is widening a crack in the ground into which the Diamond Ray of Disappearance has fallen. But the crack remains the same width. It is only implied to change by a slight camera move to the right and He-Man's legs moving. During the epilogue, when Man-At-Arms is standing next to the royal thrones, his hands are flesh colored instead of green.

The series premiere of Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The episode establishes the show’s core cast (He-Man, Prince Adam, Skeletor, Teela, Man-At-Arms, Battle Cat, Orko, and the Sorceress) and the Castle Grayskull mythology within its 22-minute runtime. Larry DiTillio’s script efficiently introduces Adam’s dual identity and the moral framework that would define the series.

The Diamond Ray of Disappearance itself is a once-used MacGuffin; Skeletor’s three-piece weapon reassembled drives the plot but does not return as a recurring device. The episode is notable for setting the visual template for Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, and Eternos that recurred across all 130 episodes.

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