Like Father, Like Daughter

Like Father, Like Daughter is the 13th episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Synopsis[]

Man-At-Arms presents a new invention to the King: the Laser Lasso. This device can shoot a rope at anyone and tie them up. But when he uses Orko as a test subject the Trollan manages to slip out of the lasso with ease. Duncan and Teela immediately start brainstorming how to improve the device. But Adam notices Zoar the falcon approaching in the sky above, and asks to be excused. Outside of the palace, he transforms himself into He-Man and Cringer into Battle Cat. Together they speed towards Castle Grayskull.

At Grayskull, the Sorceress tells He-Man to go to the region of Stardica, where Trap Jaw and Beast Man are assembling an army in the old abandoned fortress. He-Man says he'll ask Man-At-Arms to join him and goes to fetch him at his laboratory. Teela wants to join them, but is told to keep working on the Laser Lasso by her father. She reluctangly agrees. Man-At-Arms takes a Sky-Sled while He-Man and Battle Cat travel by Wind Raider.

At Stardica, Trap Jaw is producing an army of Serpentoids using an assembly line. Skeletor's plan is for Beast Man will lead them to victory using Skeletor's strategy and take over all of Eternia. Back at the palace workshop, Teela has perfected the Laser Lasso. When she tests it on Orko, this time he is unable to escape. She decided to go after He-Man and her father and take the Laser Lasso with her.

Upon their arrival, He-Man and Duncan see no signs of an army, or even any guards at the old fortress of Stardica. But once they get closer, a mounted sphere begins to fire energy beams at them. He-Man tells Man-At-Arms to return to his Sky-Sled while he fends off the lightning bolts with his sword. Skeletor tells Beast Man to order his pterodactyl to grab Man-At-Arms and bring him inside, where Duncan is quickly disarmed by Beast Man. He-Man and Battle Cat venture into the fortress, but walk into a trap. They face a batallion of Serpentoids and make short work of them. Realizing the monsters are merely machines, they have no qualms about destroying them. But Trap Jaw releases more Serpentoids faster than the heroes can stop them. He-Man is reminded of an Earth game his mother told him about: bowling. He uses a rock as a bowling ball to knock down eight of the mechanical monsters at the same time.

Teela arrives on a Sky-Sled and throws He-Man the Laser Lasso. But Beast Man, riding his pterodactyl, catches the device and pushes a button, accidentally binding his own arms together. He-Man gets hold of the device and uses it to tie up the remaining Serpentoids. Then he, Teela and Battle Cat enter the fortress where Trap Jaw is trying to free Beast Man's arms. Teela uses her Freeze-ray to stop the machine's production. She freezes the two Evil Warriors as well. Skeletor, watching from Snake Mountain via a monitor, teleports the frozen Beast Man and Trap Jaw away from fortress. He reminds He-Man that Man-At-Arms is still in his keeping and tells him to try to find him. He-Man uses a Lifeforce Scanner to detect Man-At-Arms, who appears to be behind a wall. He-Man uses his great strength to break through, but sets off a self-destruct system in the process. They find Duncan tied to a chair with chains, and a destruction device right next to him. He-Man picks up the device and throws it through an opening in the top of the cave, where it safely explodes in the sky. After freeing Man-At-Arms, He-Man sets about to dismantle what's left of Skeletor's army.

Back at the palace, Teela almost uses Orko as a test subject once again, but he flees. Adam arrives, and Teela scolds him for never having any interest in matters of importance. Adam replies that "things aren'tt always what they seem", and winks.

Moral[]

Teela: "In today's story, I asked my father for permisson to do something I wanted to do. When he didn't give it to me, I did it anyway. I was lucky. Nothing happened to me, but it could have. Now maybe mothers and fathers aren't always right , but if they don't always let us do something we want to do, there's generally a pretty good reason. All in all, I think it's pretty nice to have someone who's always trying to do what's best for us. And who loves us enought to say 'no' when it would be much easier to say 'yes'."

Features[]

Characters[]

Heroic Warriors

Allies

Evil Warriors

Creatures

Beast Man's pterodactyl

Locations[]

Objects[]

Vehicles

Artifacts

Technology

Cast[]

John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam and Beast Man
Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor, Man-At-Arms and Battle Cat/Cringer
Linda Gary as Teela and the Sorceress
Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko, Trap Jaw and King Randor

Behind the Scenes[]

Script was approved December 20th, 1982 and final script revision was completed July 14, 1983.
The story was loosely based on a Filmation script premise also titled "Like Father, Like Daughter", in which the Evil Masters of the Universe created an unstoppable army.
When about to face the Serpentoids, He-Man states "So this is the Masters' unstoppable army", a rare reference to the original concept that Skeletor and the Evil Warriors were the titular Masters of the Universe.
Several UK VHS releases omitted the title card of this story and the packaging identified it as"'The Army of Robots" instead.
The 1984 Topps Masters of the Universe Trading Cards use images from this episode.

Continuity[]

The location of Stardica will be renamed and reused several times: as Polonia in Castle of Heroes, as the Weather Station in The Ice Age Cometh and as Station Zeta in Happy Birthday Roboto.
The animation of Beast Man's pterodactyl would be used again in The Shadow of Skeletor, although the creature would be given a different color scheme.

Errors[]

When He-Man is fighting the Serpentoid, he drops his sword, but it is back in the scabbard on his back a moment later.
At around the 16 minute mark, as He-Man climbs on Battle Cat's back, He-Man is too tall in relation to Battle Cat. Furhtermore, when they are next seen, He-Man is standing beside Battle Cat again.
When He-Man leads Teela and Battle Cat into the factory, the words "in here" are heard, but it is Lou Scheimer's voice instead of John Erwin.
At around 17 minutes, when He-Man, Teela and Battle Cat run into the factory, Battle Cat's head is too large in relation to his body.