Evil lyn t shirt11/7/2023 The show presents that access via a dazzling visual display that also hits the series on a fundamental level, by introducing grandiose ideas like cosmic nihilism into what is essentially a kiddie cartoon. Among them is the power to witness the big picture of the universe itself - a universe Skeletor hopes to master, as the title suggests. Skeletor, using his newfound abilities, conscripts Lyn as the new Sorceress of Grayskull, a role that offers surprising new possibilities for the series. And yet this narrative sacrifice feels almost worthwhile, since more of the focus this time falls on Evil-Lyn, Skeletor’s second-in-command, and a character who ends up at the center of the show’s thematic musings on power. That’s arguably the biggest failing of Part 2. She undergoes a vast shift in status quo over the course of Revelation, and while it ends up being visually spectacular, it also comes far more easily than its setup would suggest. She often rushes from beat to beat without struggling as much as she once did, even when faced with difficult ideas like maternal abandonment. Unfortunately, her arc isn’t given the same time and care as it was in Part 1. He-Man’s ally Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is finally allowed to confront the secrets of her parentage - a narrative thread the ’80s show was never able to tie up. When he ends up mindless and raging (based partially on the toy Wun-Darr, or “Savage He-Man”), it’s a whip-smart narrative trajectory, since it both prevents him from performing that graceful sacrifice again, and inadvertently aligns him with villains like Skeletor, who never willingly cede their power.īut while He-Man and Skeletor have more screen time in Part 2 than in Part 1, the story still largely belongs to the women who were their sidekicks in the original show. Like that other 2021 He-Man reboot, Revelation wrestles with the basic premise of its 1980s predecessor, in which only one chosen warrior has “the power.” The show places significant narrative focus on the fact that as many times as Prince Adam has transformed into He-Man, he has reverted to his human form just as frequently, rather than remaining in super-powered He-Man form. His power-up is one of several What If… fantasies the show answers, not as fan-service (well, not only as fan-service), but in ways that usually provide some character-focused dilemma.įor instance: what would happen to Prince Adam if he called down “the power” without using his sword as a conduit, the way he always has in the past? The answer is brought to life through zippy, anime-inspired action, but this unhinged power fantasy paves the way for a deeply personal father-son story, while also informing one of Revelation’s major second-half themes: the nature of power, and the thin line between holding onto it and willingly giving it up. The resultant powered-up design is the kind of cool iteration designed to sell a new action figure to hardcore fans: Skeletor gets even bigger, grows a pair of ram horns, and has a neck made entirely of flames. While the quick resolution borders on a fake-out, Revelation answers its other lingering question with aplomb: What if the cackling, megalomaniacal Skeletor were to gain access to He-Man’s legendary power of Grayskull? But Part 2 finds a convenient way to sidestep the conundrum. By the mid-season finale, the show had set up both the possibility and the potential fallout of Adam dying a second time, knowing he only gets to come back from the dead once. Part 1 ended with the slain Prince Adam (Chris Wood) foregoing eternal paradise in order to help his friends, only to be stabbed by a returning Skeletor (Mark Hamill). At the same time, it keeps providing the goofy thrills expected from a series based on a line of toys. (Though not as much as Netflix’s other 2021 He-Man series, a full reboot aimed at a much younger audience.) Even so, Revelation’s second half matures in fascinating ways, mostly concerning Evil-Lyn (Lena Heady), Part 2’s MVP. But part 2 is so packed with enormous ideas that the episodes’ unevenness feels less like a bug, and more like an unavoidable feature.Įven though Revelation is packaged as a Gen-X nostalgia act, it’s still primarily a children’s show. It doesn’t flow as smoothly as part 1, and it skips a handful of vital emotional beats. But the second half of the series is incredibly worthwhile. The first half did end on a pair of major cliffhangers, and the concluding five episodes only make good on half of the midpoint’s initial promise. Netflix was lucky enough to find an organic midpoint for the break in Kevin Smith’s animated throwback, even though the show was written as a single season. Just like He-Man’s Power Sword in the Masters of the Universe sequel show Revelation, the series itself was split in half, with the first half airing in July 2021, and the second held for November release.
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