It’s time for another Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre photo story. The name “Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre” was coined by Kevin Beckett at the Whetstone Discord server. You can check out all the Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Photo Stories here.
This story features not the usual Masters of the Universe Origins figures, but the larger Masterverse figures (there are several Masters of the Universe toylines, ranging from mini-figures to the seven-inch Masterverse figures).
I primarily collect the Origins figures, because they have the biggest selection of characters as well as as a lot of vehicles and accessories and because they look like an updated and improved version of the vintage toys from the 1980s. Besides, the size is just big enough that you can pose them and do photo stories with them, but small enough that they don’t take up too much space.
However, the larger Masterverse figures also have their advantages. They have more articulation and detail than the Origins figures and they also have characters and character variants that Origins doesn’t have. In particular, Masterverse has more female characters and they look really good. You can also frequently pick up the Masterverse figures at a reduced price, so a few have found their way into my collection.
And since I have Teela and He-Man as well as Skeletor (in his even more powerful Skelegod form) and Evil-Lyn (in her Sorceress outfit from Revelation), I could make a photo story with them. There’s also a somewhat different Twitter version here.
In the Eternian wilderness, at the outer perimeter:
“And you’re sure that you’ll be all right going on patrol all on your own?”
“Oh please, Adam. I’m a trained soldier, Captain of the Royal Guard and your bodyguard. Also, I can kick your arse anytime.”
“Not in this form. Unless I let you. And now kiss me again.”
SMOOCH!
“That was wonderful – as always. But now I’ve got to go. And so do you. Your father is waiting.”
“He can wait a bit longer. After all, he only wants me to stand decoratively next to the throne.”
“Well, you are very handsome.”
“I want to be more than just a decoration. But whenever I try to say something or make a suggestion, it’s always, ‘Adam, you don’t know anything about politics or about the burden of being king.’ And how am I supposed to learn, if Dad never lets me do anything?”
“One day, your Dad will come around and see you for who you really are. And now go or he’ll be angry.”
“Be careful out there, Teela. Skeletor has been stirring up trouble again of late. And he’s gotten a lot more powerful as well.”
“I’m always careful.”
“No, you’re not. You’re reckless and impulsive and then I have to rescue you.”
“Careful there. Or I will kick your arse – whether you’re powered up or not.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer… later. Or Dad will have my arse for being late again.”
***
Later, still in the Eternian wilderness:
“Well, what have we here? The Captain of the Royal Guard and He-Man’s sweetheart. And all alone, too. What a catch!”
“I don’t want to fight you, Lyn. Get out of my way and no one gets hurt.”
“Can’t do that, sorry. Lord Skeletor will be furious, if I don’t bring him a present. And you’ll do nicely.”
“Why are you still hanging out with Skeletor, Lyn? You know what he is, what he did. You don’t need him.”
“Well, your father made it very clear that he’s not interested. And arsehole or not, Skeletor needs me.”
ZAP!
“What?!”
“Foolish girl! Your steel is no match for my magic. And neither is your pitiful magic.”
“What are you talking about? I have no…”
“Stupid girl. You really have no idea, do you? And now come. Lord Skeletor is waiting.”
***
Later, at Snake Mountain:
“Oh, Lynnie, you’re back. And you brought me a present. Nicely tied up, too.”
“I aim to please, Lord Skeletor. Found her wandering along the outer perimeter.”
“Let me go, Skeletor, or…”
“Or you’ll do what, Captain? You’re my prisoner now. Besides, it’s Skelegod or Lord Skeletor. Show some respect. Or I’ll rip your soul out of your body and snuff it out like I did with your loser Uncle Malcolm…”
“You monster! How could you hurt Uncle Malcolm?”
“He just wouldn’t shut up, ever. Ripping out his soul and snuffing it out finally did shut him up.”
“Fiend! When He-Man or my father hear of this, they’ll…”
“Oh, I’m sure they will. In fact, I’m counting on it. And if your boyfriend wants you back in one piece, he’ll have to surrender his Power Sword to me. As for your father, I’ve been wanting to kill him for a long time now. Or maybe I’ll give him to Lyn to play with first.”
“Oh, I’m sure Duncan and I will have so much fun together.”
“Leave my Dad alone, witch, or I swear I will…”
“So defiant, even in the face of death itself. Cute. We’ll see if you’re still that defiant, when I actually do kill you. And make no mistake, I will.”
The Masterverse Teela comes with an extra head with her hair unbound and down, so of course I put it to good use.
CLATTER!
“Lyn, take her headband and send it to He-Man along with a message demanding him to surrender his Power Sword to me or I’ll cut off her head. Or maybe I’ll flay her first or chop her into little pieces or…”
“Forget it, Skeletor. I’m not scared of you. And He-Man will never surrender to you.”
“We’ll see. Lyn, take her to the dungeon and throw her into a particularly uncomfortable cell.”
***
In the Eternian wilderness:
The Eternian wilderness is portrayed by the trees and bushes I crocheted for the Raksura Colony Tree community art project at the 2019 Worldcon in Dublin.
“I should never have let Teela go on patrol alone. Screw Father and his stupid council meeting. If Skeletor has hurt her… No, I mustn’t even think of that. She’ll be fine and I’ll get her back. All right, no one’s watching, so let’s do this…”
The classic shot of He-Man in front of Castle Grayskull. And yes, I’ve set up my Castle Grayskull by now. More photos will be coming soon.
“By the Power of Grayskull, I have the Power!”
***
Later, at Snake Mountain:
“Here I am, Skeletor, as you demanded. And now let Teela go.”
“He-Man, no! It’s a trap.”
“Bwahaha, of course it’s a trap. And besides, it’s Skelegod now or Lord Skeletor. And now hand over the Power Sword and maybe I’ll let you spend some quality time with your sweetheart in the dungeon, before I’ll kill you both.”
“And now be a good boy and give me that sword or I’ll rip off her head. Or maybe I’ll torture her first. Or maybe I’ll rip out her soul and turn her into one of my Skelecons like I did with her supremely annoying Uncle Malcolm…”
“If you hurt her, Skeletor, if you as much as harm a single hair on her head, then I swear that I’ll end you.”
“Oh, tough talk. Where’s all that high and mighty ‘Every life is sacred’ sermonising, when I’m threatening the life of someone you care about? And now hand over the sword, boy.”
“All right, Skeletor, you win.”
“Of course, I always win.”
“Here’s the sword. And now let Teela go.”
“He-Man, no!”
“Don’t worry, Teela, it’s going to be all right. Now!”
HACK! CLATTER!
“Teela, catch!”
“No! I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you both.”
“You’re welcome to try, Skeletor.”
“Lyn, do something!”
“I’ll kill you for this, He-Man. First I’ll kill your sweetheart – slowly and while you watch – and then I’ll kill you!”
“Touch my family and my friends again and I swear I will end you, Skeletor.”
“It’s still Skelegod or Your Supreme Majesty!”
“Not so fast, girl.”
“Get out of my way, Lyn. Or better, ditch Skeletor and come with us. You don’t need to stay with him.”
“And spend the rest of my life in the Royal Dungeon? No thanks.”
“Come on, Teela, time to go. Before reinforcements arrive.”
“No, they’re escaping. Lyn, do something!”
“And what?”
“Blast them, kill them, I don’t care.”
ZAP! CRACKLE! BOOM!
“You missed, Lyn!”
“You missed, too.”
“Did you even try to hit them?!”
“Of course, I tried. But He-Man deflected the bolt with that accursed sword of his and Teela is very athletic.”
“This can’t be happening. I’m thwarted… again. Get out of my sight, Lyn! And tell Beast-Man to summon the steeds.”
“Yes, Lord Skeletor.”
***
Later, in the Eternian wilderness:
“I think they’ve finally given up pursuit. Praised be Zoar, you’re safe. Don’t you ever do that to me again.”
“Thank you for the rescue, my hero. And now kiss me.”
SMOOCH!
“And now let’s go home!”
SWOOP.
“You can let me down, Adam. I’m fine. I can walk.”
“Are you sure? I’d better carry you back to the palace, so the royal physician can examine your ankle.”
“Adam, I’m fine, really. Especially when I’m in your arms.”
***
The bit with He-Man carrying Teela is a reference to the Filmation episode “The Problem with Power” (one of the best of that series), where He-Man picks up Teela to rescue her from an explosion and then simply doesn’t put her down again, but carries her all the way back to Eternos. It’s certainly one of the most romantic moments in the original cartoon, so I tried to recreate it. It doesn’t quite work, but it looks good enough. In general, the bigger Masterverse figures are good for both battle scenes and intimate/romantic scenes.
Fisto a.k.a. Malcolm really does get his soul ripped out of his body and snuffed out by Skeletor in the second half of Masters of the Universe Revelation in what is a genuinely shocking scene.
And that’s it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed this Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Photo Story, because there will be more.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters, I just bought some toys, took photos of them and wrote little scenes to go with those photos. All characters are copyright and trademark their respective owners.
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So we see Skeletor is literally the only one who can shut Malcolm up. Tragically.
Point of usage: if cussing was allowed in Eternia, Adam and Teela would say “ass” because they’re American cartoons.
Skeletor only manages to shut up Malcolm by literally ripping his soul out of his body and then snuffing it out. The moment is really shocking BTW and made me cry – after another shocking death scene in the same episode had already made me cry. And I’m one of those people who doesn’t cry a lot at movies and TV shows and notorious tearjerker like The Champ or Love Story or Doctor Zhivago or or Out of Africa don’t work for me at all.
I actually used that Masters of the Universe: Revelation episode as an example to explain on Twitter that if a movie, TV show or book makes you cry, it means that the author has done something right to make you care about those characters. The writer of that episode actually showed up in the Twitter thread to thank me for getting what he was trying to do.
I suspect everything we see on screen is translated from the Eternian language anyway, cause I doubt they all speak English. Though Earth astronaut Marlena Glenn a.k.a. Queen Marlena apparently managed to understand the Eternians quite easily, when she crashlanded on the planet.
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Yes, but it was translated by Americans and Canadians, not Brits!
Is that the world’s tiniest moose in the background of 1 and 2?
The world’s tiniest moose sits on top of a chunk of amethyst and was brought back from a holiday in Canada some 25 years ago. The amethyst is useful as scenery and also to prop up figures that don’t want to stand on their own, so it keeps popping up.
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