The Defection

The Defection is the 28th episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, written by Ron and Sam Schultz and directed by Marsh Lamore. One of Gorgon's most powerful minions, Sibyline the sorceress, defects to Eternos, creating an opportunity to liberate the Isle of Tears.

Synopsis
In the Palace courtyard, Orko is demonstrating some magic tricks which actually go correctly. Adam and Man-at-Arms patronizingly tell Orko how he’s gotten much better, which leads Orko to go off on a completely irrelevant rant about how good people always remain good and evil ones remain evil. In Orko’s mind, no one ever changes.

Meanwhile, in a new and exciting location called the Isle of Tears, a sorceress called Sibylline is yammering away about how she used to be a good sorceress, but now a little troll called Gorgon has made her into a bad one, and she wishes she was good again. Gorgon doesn’t take kindly to this and throws Sibylline in the dungeon, where she joins King Danton, who she had previously helped Gorgon to imprison. Sibylline has enough magic to teleport herself to freedom, and tells Danton she will seek help from King Randor and He-Man.

Once Sibylline arrives at the Palace, King Randor agrees to help free King Danton, but then apparently doesn’t order anyone to do anything about it, leading to a series of disjointed scenes where Sibylline hangs round the Palace sniffing flowers and rescuing King Randor and Queen Marlena from an escaped dragon, while Orko huffs around claiming not to trust her.

Adam and Man-at-Arms decide that this situation warrants a visit to Castle Grayskull. The Sorceress suggests that Sibylline must be given a chance to demonstrate that she genuinely has changed her ways from evil to good.

And so, to the inevitable confrontation. He-Man traps Gorgon in a submarine, while Sibylline outsmarts Evil-Lyn in a magical duel. Evil-Lyn makes the not unexpected move of saving herself and leaving Gorgon to He-Man’s tender mercies, after which King Danton is restored to his throne.

Moral
Teela: "As you saw in today's story, people can change." He-Man: "Right, Teela. Sibyline had always been an evil sorceress. But she was able to change her ways for the better. Maybe there's something about yourself that you don't like, a bad habit maybe." Teela: "It's easy to say, 'I can't change'. But the truth is, you can chancge almost any behavior if you really want to." He-Man: "And the first step is saying to yourself 'I can'."

Heroic Warriors

 * Prince Adam
 * Battle Cat (non-speaking role)
 * Cringer (non-speaking role)
 * He-Man
 * Man-At-Arms
 * Orko
 * Sorceress
 * Teela

Allies

 * King Danton
 * King Randor
 * Sibyline
 * Queen Marlena

Evil Warriors

 * Evil-Lyn

Villains

 * Gorgon

Locations

 * Castle Grayskull
 * Eternos
 * Royal Palace
 * Royal Zoo (mentioned)
 * Isle of Tears

Vehicles

 * Gorgon's Submarine
 * Wind Raider

Cast

 * John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam and King Danton
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Man-At-Arms and Gorgon
 * Linda Gary as Teela, Evil-Lyn, the Sorceress, Sibyline and Queen Marlena
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko and King Randor

Behind the Scenes

 * Script was approved March 8, 1983 and final script revision took place April 21, 1983.
 * John Erwin's voice for King Danton is an imitation of actor Ronald Colman.
 * Gorgon's staff is actually a back scratcher.

Continuity

 * The dragon that escapes from the Royal Zoo is a recolored Dragosaur from The Time Corridor.
 * The animation of He-Man running and diving would be used again in Search for the VHO, Jacob and the Widgets & Hunt for He Man.
 * Orko's backflip in midair would be seen again in Origin of the Sorceress.
 * He-Man's gallant bow as he allows the ladies to exit the cell first would be reused in both The Greatest Show on Eternia and Time Doesn't Fly.
 * Animation Élements from the fight sequence between Man-At-Arms and one of Gorgon's guards would be used again when he fights one of Rago's guards in It's Not My Fault.
 * The animation of Orko reacting in shock and pushing himself backwards is seen again in Monster on the Mountain.
 * The character model of Sibyline was reused as an extra on a balcony in the She-Ra: Princess of Power episode The Red Knight.
 * The character model of Gorgon can be seen as part of the Keeper's menagerie in The Heart of a Giant.
 * Gorgon's guards were going to be reused as Queen Balina's warriors in A Tale of Two Cities.

Errors

 * King Randor Holds up a piece of paper he received from Sibyline which has disappeared in the next shot he appears in.
 * At Castle Grayskull, the heroic warriors are standing on the edge of the steps to The Sorceress's throne, with Cringer positioned awkwardly on the side of it's base. In the reverse shot, they are positioned much further back.
 * He-Man is not shown transforming Cringer into Battle Cat, though the latter does appear in the second act.
 * Sibyline's Cobra staff changes position in her hands during her fight with Evil-Lyn.

The He-Man and She-Ra Blog

 * A brief review #028 - "The Defection"
 * Memories #18 - See him fall!