Robby London

Ed Friedman

Through a bumbling magical error, Orko creates a pyramidal doorway to his home world and learns that Trolla is threatened by the evil Dragoon (a minion of Skeletor)! He rashly travels there with his new girlfriend Dree Elle, leaving He-Man to follow using a time-sensitive portal. Confused and threatened in Trolla, can Prince Adam figure out how to turn back into He-Man and help Orko save the day before the portal closes and leaves him stranded forever?

Prince Adam (He-Man), Man-at-Arms, Teela, Orko, Cringer (Battle Cat), Sorceress

N/A

Dree Elle, green flying fish, Dragoon, red water snake, yellow crocodile guard dog

N/A

In Man-at-Arms's workshop, Orko is trying to get help from Duncan for his broken magical pyramid. A bossy Man-at-Arms manages to get squirted with both mud and water as he tries opening the various sides. Orko mentions how his magic was much better back in his homeland of Trolla, where he was known as "Orko the Great;" Duncan scoffs, disbelieving. During the discussion, Orko casually juggles some magical meteorites; when Man-at-Arms mentions the potential danger of his actions, Orko drops the rocks near the pyramid, which vanishes, reappears, and then opens, revealing a "female Orko." It appears the sorcerer has accidentally created a gateway to his home world! The visitor introduces herself as Dree Elle, confirms Orko's magical reputation, and explains that Trolla is in danger from a monster named Dragoon. Orko heedlessly hops into the pyramid with the lady he's just met and pops back home.

Prince Adam decides that the best way to get help is to go to Grayskull, where he turns into He-Man and turns Cringer into Battle Cat. Inside, the Sorceress offers a paltry mini-size doorway to Trolla, which will only stay open until moonrise; even to get inside, He-Man has to use the "Sphere of Size," which he squeezes so he can shrink to fit inside. On the other side of the portal, He-Man and Battle Cat are switched back to Adam and Cringer, and all kinds of things are backwards: rainbows are upside down, fish fly through the air, and when Adam is menaced by a snake, he finds that his usual "fire ray" shoots water instead. He also learns that he can no longer turn into He-Man! Adam has to use his smarts to make the snake tie itself into knots.

Meanwhile, Dree Elle and Orko have already met the evil Dragoon. Even though Orko's powers are much better on his home planet, he still manages to eventually get trapped by the villain in a ring of fire. Fortunately at this point Adam shows up and uses his handy reverse-fire-ray to rescue them - but Dragoon gets away with Dree Elle! We learn that Dragoon has been busily sucking the life force from all of Orko's people, and when he has a full canister of golden Trollan juice, he's going to ship it back to his master Skeletor. He sucks the power out of Dree Elle also.

The trio of heroes make their way on foot to Dragoon's fortress, where Cringer's musings on the backwardness of Orko's country make Adam realize that if he just reverses his usual magical phrase, his transformation might work. It does - just in time for He-Man and Battle Cat to fight off a cute yellow crocodile creature guarding the fortress. He-Man then has a climactic battle with Dragoon, which involves a lot of rock throwing and punching. Eventually Dragoon stupidly gets himself tangled in the vines attached to a rock and almost flings himself down the Bottomless Hole of Trolla; He-Man saves him, then gives the creature a talking-to that convinces him to rethink his evil ways. Meanwhile, Orko mourns over the lifeless body of Dree Elle, whom he has found but thus far been unable to awaken. After a pep talk from He-Man and Battle Cat, he does finally manage it.

The heroes' departure is delayed so that Orko can revive all the other Trollans - and Orko and Dree Elle can get engaged. Orko explains that he still has work to do on Eternia, but promises to return. Then it's a race against time back to the portal, where He-Man and company just barely make it home.

End with a Joke: Duncan is so pleased to see Orko safely returned that he states: "By the way, you're one fine magician and don't let anyone tell you different! Even me!" He-Man finds this far more amusing than is warranted.

• Dragoon (to He-Man): Skeletor warned me about you. Imagine his pleasure when he learns that I have banished you to - the Bottomless Hole of Trolla!
• He-Man (to Dragoon): I may be your enemy, but you're not mine. / Dragoon: Maybe I've been wrong; maybe... saving lives is better.
• He-Man (to Orko): You can't give up! You are the greatest sorcerer in all of Trolla. / Battle Cat: That's right! We believe in you!
• Orko (to Dree Elle): You're beautiful! I'll come back, some day.
• He-Man (after he and Battle Cat have grown back to full size on Eternia): Well, I guess this means we've been eating our vegetables!
• Orko: As long as Skeletor threatens Eternia, I'm gonna help you defend it!

• Teela, hands on hips, laughs with her head thrown back: At her dad being sprayed with mud
• Adam laughs, head back: At Duncan being squirted with water
• He-Man punches the viewer: Twice, to break rocks thrown by Dragoon
• He-Man smiles close-up, looking at the viewer: For the PSA

Two full
Variation, first: before Battle Cat's transformation, he mutters, "Oh, not again."
Second: He-Man says the magic words backwards ("Grayskull of power the by!"); a shot of Orko clapping is inserted in the middle

Brought to you by He-Man
He-Man admits that when you're older you will have to make your own decisions; but since you are children, sometimes you still might have to talk it out with a parent or best friend. The writers perhaps should have discussed their own decision of what to use for a PSA in this episode, since this one is largely a duplicate of that used in MU017.

Orko-specific lore
Skeletor summons a monster: Since Dragoon was sent to Trolla by Skeletor, even though Skeletor never appears in this episode.
Landmark Episode: This is our first visit to Trolla and the introduction of the important recurring character Dree Elle.
Everybody deserves a second chance: I think this category applies... even Dragoon, this episode's monster, apparently deserves a second chance, because He-Man convinces him that being good might be... good.

• An important lore episode, as we are introduced to Orko's home world and his people.
• He-Man commands the Jawbridge of Grayskull to open. He has done this before in MU004 (the pilot - also written by Robby London) and MU017.
• We learn that Orko's powers are much more dependable and improved in his home world.
• Prince Adam has a "fire ray" on his wrist (similar to Teela's wrist freeze ray), which turns to water in Trolla. Um - since when?
• A rare first-season episode in which Skeletor and his minions are entirely absent; however, Skeletor is mentioned and still implied to be the main mover of evil deeds in the story, so things aren't all that out-of-whack.
• In the fine Eternian custom of insulting people with "[noun] Face," He-Man calls Dragoon "Frog Face."
• He-Man somehow knows a special custom among Trollans: you only show your face to someone you love. This is a handy explanation of why we never see Orko's (or any other Trollan's - unless you count MU093's Prankster!) face. Orko shows his face to Dree Elle, so I guess they are going steady now; but, tantalizingly, we still don't see Orko's face, only the silhouette of his (apparently bald) head.
• In later episodes other Trollans will conveniently wear cloaks embroidered with their first initial; however in this episode Orko is the only one that has that. Perhaps he starts a trend! (See MU053 for the appearance of other initials.)
• In a rare show of affection, Duncan cries, "Good to see you, lad!" When He-Man makes it through the portal in the nick of time.
• There are a lot of things established about Trolla in this episode (its opposite nature from Eternia, the fact that Orko's magic is stronger there, the necessity of Adam reciting his magic words backwards, the extreme difficulty of getting there) which will largely be ignored or treated inconsistently in later Trolla episodes. For examples of other trips to Trolla, check out the "Orko-specific lore category," which includes several.

• It's quite disturbing, especially on a kids' show, how all the tall thin rock structures on Trolla look very much like... um... asparagus spears. Yeah. Funny. (Actually, it so happens that I visited the country of Turkey for no particularly good reason, on a family vacation in 2024; there we saw the so-called "fairy chimneys" of Cappadocia, which look remarkably like Trolla's phallic rocks and probably provided the animators' inspiration.)
• Dragoon is a cool monster, and the creatures in Trolla - particularly the yellow croco-dog - are fun. Dragoon has some interesting hissing kind of laughs that are creepy.
• The trapped Trollans crying for help and being sucked of their energy are pretty upsetting! The scene where Orko tries desperately to reawaken Dree Elle is not without some real emotion, as well.
• Note that Orko only promises to come back to see Dree Elle after he discovers how pretty his girlfriend is.
• This episode aired on my fifth birthday. I imagine I received several He-Man figures as gifts!