RULER OF TARGA
Queen Balina
Queen Balina offers the stranger who beat her champion a place as captain of her guard, and in Filmation's "A Tale of Two Cities" He-Man tells her to her face why he will not take it.
Queen Balina rules the city of Targa in the 1983 Filmation episode "A Tale of Two Cities", voiced by Linda Gary. She buys captives from the winged Gargons, keeps the gladiator Garn in her arena and holds Princess Rhea of Operon for ransom.
The record
The facts
WHO SHE IS
A city that trades in prisoners
Two cities share one valley in this story. Operon is King Thales's, and Targa, the white city built below a mountain lake, is Queen Balina's. Princess Rhea of Operon, whom He-Man pulls away from a band of winged Gargon warriors in the first scene, explains the arrangement: "Queen Balina pays the Gargons for all captives brought to her, especially captives from Operon. And I'm sure she would pay a very big price for a princess from Operon."
Balina's court is a throne room lined with golden idols, a wizard named Draca, and an arena. Her champion there is Garn, a prisoner in chains who calls himself the strongest man in the kingdom and fights for her sport because "she promised to release me soon." She dresses in red and gold under a tall red headdress, and Linda Gary voices her, as well as the princess she is hunting.[1]
[1] ^ The episode's cast list gives Linda Gary as both Princess Rhea and Queen Balina, so the captive and the queen who would have bought her share a voice.
THE EPISODE
A Tale of Two Cities
Richard Pardee wrote "A Tale of Two Cities", and it first aired on October 11, 1983.[2] Crossing a flooded river in a storm, He-Man is knocked out and carried to Targa by the Gargons, and he wakes in her dungeon with no memory of who he is. Brought before Balina and Draca as a supposed spy from Operon, he can only keep saying he does not know, and she decides that Garn can "refresh your memory in the arena."
The fight does refresh it. Draca's spell gives Garn the upper hand, He-Man is knocked down, and his memory comes back. Garn has fought to win his freedom, but He-Man wins the match and, by the rules of the arena, the right to decide Garn's fate. Draca reminds him of the queen's command and He-Man answers, "She is your queen, not mine," and sets Garn free. Balina accepts it, and then tries to buy the man who beat her champion: "How would you like to be my captain of the guard?" His answer is the line the episode has been building to: "I have seen that you are a cruel woman, and I cannot be a part of cruelty."
She lets him go, because by then the Gargons have brought her Princess Rhea, and King Thales of Operon is on his way to pay for his daughter. Balina never collects. He-Man takes Thales's place at the handover, Garn and Battle Cat come through the doors, and Draca casts an earthquake spell to cover the escape. It cracks the mountain lake above Targa ("You forgot about the lake on the mountain!"), and Garn helps He-Man save the city from the flood, once He-Man has told him, "I believe all life is precious." The closing scene puts Garn in a helmet in Balina's own throne room with King Thales; neither Balina nor Draca is seen again.
[2] ^ TVmaze gives the same first air date, October 11, 1983, and lists the episode as number 27 of the first season in broadcast order.
Queen Balina on her throne, watching a contest turn against her.
Clipped from our own copy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, A Tale of Two Cities (1983), 12:36 to 14:03, 1 minute 27 seconds. Nothing is added and nothing is sped up. Copyright Mattel.
LATER VERSIONS
After 1983
Balina's only screen appearance is this one. The story itself was retold in Slave City!, one of the mini-comics packed with the vintage figures, which keeps Targa, Garn and the arena but gives the city a single villain, Lodar, and no queen at all.[3] No later series or film has brought Targa's queen back.
[3] ^ Toy Hype's 2018 review of Super7's Lodar figure summarizes the comic: Lodar takes Targa with an army of Kobolds and makes He-Man fight Garn in the arena, the winner going free.
IN BRIEF
Targa in brief
"A Tale of Two Cities" airs
Balina loses Princess Rhea, her prisoner He-Man and finally her city to the flood.
Questions
Balina questions, answered
Who is Queen Balina in He-Man?
The ruler of Targa, a city at war with neighboring Operon, in the 1983 Filmation episode "A Tale of Two Cities".
What does Queen Balina do in A Tale of Two Cities?
She pays the Gargons for captives, puts the amnesiac He-Man in her arena against Garn, offers him a post as her captain of the guard when he wins, and tries to ransom Princess Rhea to King Thales of Operon.
Who voices Queen Balina?
Linda Gary, per the episode's cast list.
Who wrote A Tale of Two Cities?
Richard Pardee. It first aired on October 11, 1983.
Who is Draca?
Balina's court wizard. He strengthens Garn in the arena, and his earthquake spell at the end cracks the lake above Targa.
Who is Garn?
A prisoner who fights in Balina's arena for the freedom she has promised him. He-Man beats him, spares him, and with his help saves Targa from the flood.
What happens to Queen Balina at the end?
The episode never says. After Draca's spell cracks the mountain lake she is not seen again, and the last scene has King Thales and Garn in her throne room.
Is Queen Balina from She-Ra?
No. She appears only in the 1983 He-Man series, in a single episode, and she has no part in She-Ra: Princess of Power.
Is Balina in the Slave City! mini-comic?
No. The mini-comic keeps Targa, Garn and the arena but replaces her and Draca with one villain, Lodar.
Is there a Queen Balina figure?
No. Nothing of her is on sale.
Compiled by the heman.org desk from the Filmation episode "A Tale of Two Cities" (dialogue and cast list), TVmaze for the writing credit, air date and broadcast numbering, and Toy Hype's 2018 review of the Super7 Lodar figure for the Slave City! mini-comic.
Alongside
