The Ice Age Cometh

The Ice Age Cometh is the 76th episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, written by Robert White and directed by Ed Friedman. Phillip, a boy in the royal guard, is sent to the polar weather station to learn responsibility, but his carelessness allows Skeletor's henchman Icer to threaten Eternia with a glacier.

Synopsis
At the Royal Palace, Phillip is standing guard over an Ice Raider when Orko pays a visit to show off a magic trick. Phillip allows himself to become distracted from his duties just as Whiplash attempts to steal the Ice Raider for Skeletor. Phillip rushes to stop Whiplash, refusing to call for backup for fear of revealing his mistake. Whiplash gets the best of Phillip, so Orko fetches Prince Adam and Cringer. Cringer simply runs away, leaving Adam to transform into He-Man and dispose of the villain.

Later, in the throne room, Teela reports the incident and Phillip's incompetence. King Randor scolds the boy, who refuses to take responsibility for his error. To teach him a lesson, Randor transfers him to the weather station at Eternia's north pole; Phillip is mortified by the reassignment.

At Snake Mountain Skeletor mystically eavesdrops on the palace, and sees an opportunity in Phillip's transfer. To get to the weather station, Phillip will have to take the Ice Raider, which has the controls needed to bypass the protective screen surrounding the station. Skeletor contacts his arctic lackey Icer and tells him to be ready to infiltrate the weather station when Phillip arrives.

Man-At-Arms briefs Phillip on the weather station, the Ice Raider, and the protective screen, but Phillip doesn't give his full attention to the instructions. When Phillip arrives at the screen, he remembers to deactivate it at the last possible second, but forgets to reactivate it for a few moments. This gives Icer plenty of time to run across. Phillip is assigned a freeze ray and ordered to check that all the entrances are properly sealed. However, he carelessly opens and closes one of the doors, allowing Icer to creep under the door in the form of melted ice-water. Phillip's freeze ray is useless against Icer, who trips him up with a sheet of ice and sends him sliding out into the polar wasteland.

Back at the palace, Randor, Adam, Teela, Man-At-Arms, and Cringer watch a massive glacier approaching the kingdom. Randor orders Teela to head to the weather station and investigate the cause of this glacier. Adam volunteers himself and Cringer to come along, and Orko also joins the party. Because the weather makes flgiht impossible, they make their way north in the Attack-Trak, encountering various animals fleeing the glacier as it destroys their habitats. When they reach the glacier, they realize they'll have to continue on foot. Teela and Adam consider how to get past a band of trolls at the foot of the glacier, until Adam and Cringer find an opportunity to run off and become He-Man and Battle Cat. Teela tries reasoning with the trolls to no avail, so He-Man overwhelms them with a giant snowball.

When, He-Man, Teela, Orko, and Battle Cat reach the weather station, He-Man uses the Sword of Power to create an opening in the protective screen. They find Phillip outside the station, making excuses and denying his role in allowing Icer to break into the station. The team splits up to find a way inside the station, but Teela is flash-frozen by Icer and pulled inside. Once Orko is able to enter the station, he looks in a manual for a way to fix the weather, but instead finds a warning that if the temperature becomes too cold there is a risk of awakening the caterchiller that lives beneath the station. He-Man, Phillip, and Battle Cat find Teela and free her from the ice. As they continue to search for Icer, He-Man realizes Orko has been captured by the awakened caterchiller and puts it back to sleep.

The search for Icer and the weather station controls continues, and Phillip is frozen by Icer. He-Man uses his sword to find Icer embedded in a wall of ice. He leaves Orko in charge of subduing Icer and freeing Phillip. Orko mixes up his magic powders, however, and allows Icer to escape. Later, Orko explains his mistake to He-Man and Teela; Phillip is surprised by his candor. He-Man begins using his sword to tap into Eternia's geological heat source while the others fight off Icer. Once He-Man succeeds in releasing more heat, Icer begins to melt and is forced to flee.

Back at the palace, Teela reports that once they thawed out the controls in the weather station, they were able to rescue the guards and readjust the planet's weather. Randor thanks everyone but wonders how the crisis started. Phillip accepts the blame for Icer's attack and is commended for learning his lesson. However, when Teela starts to ask why Adam and Cringer deserted her back at the glacier, both of them slip away. Teela is furious that Adam is never around when she needs him, but Man-At-Arms gets her to admit that it's nice when Adam is around.

Moral
Prince Adam: "Well, how are things going at the Weather Station, Philip?" Philip: "Well, it's lots of work and plenty of responsibility. You know, part of growing up is learning how to be a responsible person." Teela: "That's for sure. Whether a job is big or small, it's nice when you know that you're the kind of person people can depend upon to get the job done" Prince Adam: "That's right, Teela. Being responsible means you can be depended upon. And that's a big step towards becoming a winner."

Heroic Warriors

 * Prince Adam
 * Battle Cat
 * Cringer
 * He-Man
 * Man-At-Arms
 * Orko
 * Teela

Allies

 * Phillip
 * Queen Marlena (non-speaking role)
 * King Randor

Evil Warriors

 * Icer (only Filmation appearance)
 * Skeletor
 * Whiplash

Villains

 * Catterchiller

Vehicles

 * Ice Raider

Cast

 * John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam, Whiplash and Icer
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor, Man-At-Arms and Battle Cat/Cringer
 * Linda Gary as Teela and Phillip
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko, King Randor, troll and an unnamed weather station guard

(Queen Marlena appears in this episode but does not receive any dialogue.)

Orko's Fun Facts
As featured in BCI's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season Two, Vol. 1 DVD boxset (Disc 2)


 * "The Phillip in this episode is no relation to the other Philip, Mekaneck's son, who appears in the episode 'Search for a Son.'"
 * "The Ice Raider is specific to this episode and described as a 'Wind Raider, but white and with skis.'"
 * "This is a rare occasion as Cringer successfully flees the transformation!"
 * "This is the first and only appearance of Icer, who would appear to be one of Skeletor's regular villains as opposed to someone new to Skeletor."

Behind the Scenes

 * Script was approved April 4, 1984 and final script revision was done May 3, 1984.

Continuity

 * The low angle of He-Man holding his sword and chopping down towards the camera was previously seen in House of Shokoti Part 2 and The Cat and the Spider.
 * The Weather Station was first seen as Stardica in Like Father, Like Daughter, as Polonia in Castle of Heroes and would be seen again as Station Zeta in Happy Birthday Roboto.

Errors

 * When Philip receives his Freeze Rod, the background changes from a solid wall in the wide shot to a corridor in the close-up.
 * During scenes in which Adam and Teela are traveling in the Attak Trak, when viewed from the side, it appears that Adam's head is positioned outside the front window.

The He-Man and She-Ra Blog

 * Threatening the tail-thrashing warrior!
 * Birthday Blog #4 - Orko to camera...
 * What else...
 * Icer's "roar."