Orko's Favorite Uncle is the 27th episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, written by Douglas Booth and Steve Clark. The evil wizard Tauron summons Orko's uncle Montork and his pet Gark to Eternia, where they are forced to help him conquer Castle Grayskull.
This episode introduces Montork and Gark to the series, despite being produced after their second appearance in The Return of Orko's Uncle.
Synopsis[]
Inside his cave, the evil Tauron used dragon fire to create a Magic Amulet that would summon him the allies needed to rule Eternia forever. His summoning spell combined with a lightning storm caused Adam, Cringer and Orko to be trapped in a Manticore's cave. Then Sauron succeeded in transporting two magic users from Trolla to Eternia, but only one of them, Gark appeared in Tauron's cave, while the other, Montork, ended up together with the heroes and the Manticore. Tauron quickly used the amulet to bind the peaceful, flower loving Gark to his will.
Montork was unexpectedly reunited with his favorite nephew, Orko. Adam took advantage of Montork's appearance to grab his magic sword, which had been knocked out of his hand by the Manticore earlier. He transformed himself into He-Man and Cringer into Battle Cat without Montork or the Manticore noticing it. Montork tried to use his magic against the Manticore, but just like his nephew, he found that his powers were greatly diminished on the planet Eternia. Battle Cat grabbed onto the Manticore's tail, but was shook off. He-Man managed to grabbed two of the giant Manticore's fingers by the nails and used his momentum to pick up the giant beast and throw it into a wall, knocking it out temporarily. He-Man then quickly punched his way out of its cave and blocked the entrance with a large boulder before the Manticore could follow them.
Using the viewscreen in his amulet, Tauron located Montork in the Royal Banquet Hall of Palace Eternia and sent the now evil-minded Gark to fetch him. Gark quickly turned Montork into Tauron's willing slave with magic powerful enough to make him forget his family relationship to Orko. Still, Montork would occasionally break free from Tauron's spell and return to his senses. But Tauron's face appeared to him and transported Montork and Gark to their ultimate objective: Castle Grayskull. Orko tried to stop Gark from abducting his uncle, but ended up with a helmet from a nearlby display on his head.
Montork transformed himself and Gark into butterflies and entered Grayskull through a window. The Sorceress soon realized she was in danger and summoned helmp from He-Man, who whistled for a Talon Fighter and hurried towards Grayskull. Because she was under attack from two Trollan magic users, the Sorceress was unable to lower the jaw-bridge entirely. He-Man engaged the Talon Fighter's auto-pilot to hover over the half-open draw-bridge at an angle so he could jump from the vehicle and enter the castle. He-Man saved the Sorceress, but Montork, still under Tauron's influence, made his way to the castle's turrent where the Talon Fighter had parked itself. Montork tried to steal the vehicle, but did not fully understand how to operate the ship, and with another whistle, He-Man ordered the vehicle to park itself once more at Grayskull.
Orko and Battle Cat had arrived at Tauron's cave where Battle Cat distracted the wizard long enough for Orko to venture deeper into the cave to destroy Tauron's collection of black magic gizmo's. Tauron aimed the Amulet of Power at Orko but Battle Cat jumped at Tauron from behind, causing the Amulet to fly out of his hands and into Orko's. Orko then used the amulet to transport all of them to Grayskull, though he had not intended to take Tauron along.
Battle Cat pinned Tauron against part of the railing. When the Sorceress told He-Man to destroy the amulet, Tauron once again used his influence over Montork and orderered him to bring him the amulet. But Orko broke through the spell, enabling Montork to throw the amulet at He-Man, who destroyed it using his sword. Tauron withered away into a wrinkled old man once the source of his power had been destroyed.
With the spell broken, Montork and Gark knew they would soon return to Trolla, but had just enough time to say a heartfelt goodbye to Orko as a rainbow appeared over Castle Grayskull.
Moral[]
Orko: "My uncle Montork taught me a lot about magic. But not just the regular kind. He taught me how to see the magic that's all around us. Like for instance, there just has to be magic in anything as beautiful as a rainbow. And there's real magic in the way a mother takes care of her young. But, as my uncle said, 'The most wonderful magic of all is just being alive'. Bye now!"
Heroic Warriors[]
Allies[]
Villains[]
Creatures[]
Locations[]
Vehicles[]
Artifacts[]
Cast[]
- John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam
- Alan Oppenheimer as Battle Cat/Cringer and Tauron
- Linda Gary as The Sorceress
- Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko and Uncle Montork
Behind the Scenes[]
- Script was approved February 8, 1983 and final script revision took place April 12, 1983.
- In the original script, the Manticore was able to breathe fire.
Continuity[]
- Tauron's character model was reused as the Town Crier in The Magic Falls as well as Nazghal in the She-Ra: Princess of Power episode Darksmoke and Fire.
- Cringer manages to roar just like Battle Cat, just like he did in A Beastly Sideshow.
- The animated sequence of He-Man stepping into frame as he watches the Talon Fighter fly overhead is based on the same movement used for Prince Adam looking up at the Wind Raider in Teela's Quest.
- The character model of Gark can be seen as part of the Keeper's menagerie in The Heart of a Giant.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Frank's He-Man page
- Internet Movie Database
- The TVDB
- TVmaze
- Gallery courtesy of He-Man Reviewed