A Trip to Morainia

A Trip to Morainia is the 86th episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, written by Steve Bussard and directed by Steve Clark. Prince Adam travels to Morainia to examine a new power source, but when Skeletor menaces the ice kingdom He-Man will need the help of its princess to stop the villain.

Synopsis
At the Royal Palace, Man-At-Arms demonstrates his latest invention to King Randor and Queen Marlena. He blindfolds himself and asks the king and queen to move around the room so he can show that his tracking disk will indicate their position to him. Randor has some fun bringing Prince Adam, Teela, Cringer, and Orko into the room to confuse Duncan's device.

Just then, Randor receives a transmission from King Boreas of the ice kingdom of Morainia, who announces the creation of energy crystal ten times more powerful than any other on the planet. Boreas invites Randor to send a delegation to Morainia to receive the crystals.

As Adam, Orko, and Cringer take a Snow Trak to Morainia, they are observed from Snake Mountain by Skeletor, who gloats as the Trak runs straight into a crevasse. Once they reach the bottom, they find snowmobile tracks, suggesting a path to Morainia. Before they can follow the tracks, though, they are faced with an ice monster, a giant spider. Adam transforms himself and Cringer into He-Man and Battle Cat, then carves a way out through the ice, leaving the monster boxed in behind them. Unbeknownst to the heroes, Skeletor, Beast Man, Trap-Jaw, and Clawful are also on their way to Morania in the Basher

When Adam, Orko, and Cringer arrive in the kingdom, they are greeted by Boreas and his two children, the standoffish Prince Esker and the daredevil Princess Janice. Adam is surprised to find that Janice witnessed his difficulty in the crevasse, and how he defeated the ice monster. Boreas shows Adam the energy crystals, and although Janice is quite knowledgeable about the subject, Esker dismisses her callously because she's a girl. Boreas invites Adam to try out the kingdom's ski slopes, and Janice is eager to go with him.

Later, Boreas and Esker encounter Beast Man and Trap-Jaw, disguised as guards. Boreas sends Esker for help and confidently subdues the two villains with a hypnotic suggestion. However, Skeletor soon arrives and outwits the king by reflecting Boreas's spell back onto himself. Now under Skeletor's control, he is helpless to stop the villain from kidnapping him to Crystal Mountain.

With Boreas missing, his royal advisers look to his son for leadership. But the task is too much for Prince Esker, who cannot come up with a plan and is too arrogant to listen to his aides. Suddenly Skeletor arrives to give his demands for the king's release: he expects the Morainians to give him the energy crystals and the means to make more in half an hour. Janice has a plan, but Esker is too stubborn to listen. Frustrated, Janice takes off on her snowmobile, prompting Clawful to give chase on a War-Sled. Seeing the chase, Adam and Cringer become He-Man and Battle Cat again, and save Janice from Clawful. Janice tells He-Man about the crisis and explains that she's figured out where Boreas is being held by Skeletor, but she couldn't get her brother to listen. The heroes go with her, and He-Man wants to hear Janice's rescue plan, to her amazement.

Inside the old mines of Crystal Mountain, He-Man, Battle Cat, Orko and Janice work together to rescue Boreas from Skeletor's cell. Meanwhile, Skeletor and his lackeys return to collect the energy crystals, and the Morainian leaders are helpless to stop him. Just in time, He-Man and his friends arrive to stop Skeletor and chase him off. He-Man gives much of the credit to Janice, and Esker promises to listen to her ideas from now on.

Moral
Teela: "In today's adventure story, Prince Esker made an important discovery. He found out that a good idea could come from many places. Even from his sister. Know something? When you don't listen you might be cheating yourself out of a good idea. Besides, where does it say that big ideas have to come from big people? Give others a chance to share their ideas with you. I promise you'll be glad you did"

Heroic Warriors

 * Prince Adam
 * Battle Cat
 * Cringer
 * He-Man
 * Man-At-Arms
 * Queen Marlena
 * Orko
 * King Randor
 * Teela

Allies

 * King Boreas
 * Prince Esker
 * Princess Janice

Evil Warriors

 * Beast Man
 * Clawful
 * Skeletor
 * Trap Jaw

Cast

 * John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam, Beast Man and King Boreas
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor, Man-At-Arms and Battle Cat/Cringer
 * Linda Gary as Teela, Queen Marlena and Princess Janice
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko, King Randor, Trap-Jaw, Clawful and the Morainian chancellor
 * Erika Scheimer as Prince Esker

Orko's Fun Facts
As featured in BCI's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season Two, Vol. 1 DVD boxset (Disc 3)


 * "This episode originally started with Teela training Prince Adam in martial arts at Castle Grayskull."
 * "In the script, the giant spider that confronts the heroes is referred to as the 'Gorgonzolla!'"
 * "In the script, Adam, Cringer, and Orko enjoy some skiing on Morainia."
 * "When Orko is making the snow sculpture of Cringer watch Cringer's expression when Orko throws a large amount of snow on his sculpture's nose."
 * "For some reason, after his defeat Clawful vanishes from the remainder of the episode."

Behind the Scenes

 * Script was approved August 3, 1984 and final script revision took place on August 8, 1984.
 * The animation models for King Boreas, Prince Esker and Princess Janice were designed by character artist Alice Hamm. The character models were finalized on October 10, 1984.
 * This episode was storyboarded by Victoria Jenson.

Continuity

 * The animated sequence of Beast Man kicking down the door was previously used in the episode Return of the Gryphon.
 * The animation of He-Man using his mighty lungs to blow something away was first seen in The Once and Future Duke and will be used again in The Rarest Gift of All, Betrayal of Stratos, Just a Little Lie, The Greatest Show on Eternia and Happy Birthday Roboto.

The He-Man and She-Ra Blog

 * The colors of King Boreas.