City Beneath the Sea

City Beneath the Sea is the 51st episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, written by Larry DiTillio and directed by Gwen Wetzler. While searching for ships that mysteriously vanished He-Man and Man-At-Arms are captured by the legendary underwater City of Aquatica, which has come under the control of Mer-Man.

Synopsis
Mysterious whirlpools have been sinking ships and King Randor puts Man-At-Arms in charge of finding their source. Prince Adam, presumably thinking this might be a job for He-Man, convinces his father to let him and Cringer go along as well. After they sail out their ship is drawn into a whirlpool as well, and Adam changes into He-Man to save Man-at-arms from falling debris.

They find themselves swept into an underwater city inhabited by fish-like humanoids. They realize it must be the legendary City of Aquatica, which they find is ruled by Mer-Man. When they try to attack him, he uses the mystical Pearl of Power to restrain them and has the three sent to the arena to fight the gigantic Lorbos. He-Man manages to defeat the creature and they flee the arena, but are soon surrounded by guards. They're saved by Shelandor, an Aquatican who knows enough magic to protect himself from the mind control Mer-Man has imposed on the other Aquaticans with the Pearl of Power.

Impressed by He-Man's strength, he thinks he might be able to defeat the monster set by Mer-Man to guard the city's true ruler, Princess Nami. He-Man and Man-At-Arms swim into the cave where she's being kept and are indeed attacked by a giant creature, which He-Man defeats by causing a cave-in. Back in Aquatica they manage to get the Pearl back and the princess restores everyone to normal, but Mer-Man decides to destroy the city with his whirlpool machine. He-Man manages to spin a guard rail on the edges of the city fast enough that it destroys the whirlpool, saving Aquatica.

Moral
Man-At-Arms: "In today's story, the Aquaticans were afraid to trust us because we looked different from them. Mer-Man talked them into thinking we were their enemies, and it almost caused great harm. You should never judge a person by the way he looks, but rather by the way he behaves." Orko: :Because it's what's inside a person that really counts, right?" Man-At-Arms: "Orko, you're absolutely right!" Orko: "I always am!"

Heroic Warriors

 * Prince Adam/He-Man
 * Cringer/Battle Cat
 * Man-At-Arms
 * Orko (moral only)

Allies

 * King Randor
 * Princess Nami
 * Orn
 * Shelandor
 * Giggling Palace Girls

Evil Warriors

 * Mer-Man

Creatures

 * Coral Creature
 * Lorbos

Races

 * Aquaticans

Locations

 * Coral Caverns
 * Eternos - Royal Palace
 * Harmony Sea - City of Aquatica

Artifacts

 * Pearl of Power

Cast

 * John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam and Shelandor
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Man-At-Arms, Mer-Man and Battle Cat/Cringer
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko, King Randor, Orn and Aquatican
 * Erika Scheimer (uncredited) as Princess Nami and giggleing palace girls

Behind the Scenes

 * Script was approved May 19, 1983. The story is loosely based on a Filmation script premises titled "Alkaya, City in Glass", in which the evil Masters of the Universe overthrew an undersea kingdom.
 * This episode was storyboarded by Tom Minton.

Continuity

 * Princess Nami's character model was used earlier as Celice in "Song of Celice" and Mira in "Ordeal in the Darklands", albeit with caucasian skin.
 * The underwater cavern backgrounds were previously seen in Search for the VHO and can be spotted again during the moral segment in The Shadow of Skeletor.
 * The two giggling ladies seen at the palace grounds will be seen again in Pawns of the Game Master.
 * The whirlpool animation was previously seen as part of the Crossroads to All Universes in Quest for He-Man and would be used again in Island of Fear.
 * Background elements and the glass cage seen in the Coral Caverns are reused from a similar scene in which Teela was held captive by Mer-Man in Search for the VHO.

Errors

 * Man-At-Arm's green gloves are drawn to have fingernails during close-ups.
 * Alan Oppenheimer uses Mer-Man's voice instead of Battle Cat's when Cat says "Nice Job" to Man-At-Arms.
 * Adam laughs at Cringer in He-Man's much deeper voice.
 * He-Man's scabbard appears to be empty during all of his scenes set in the underwater city of Aquatica, except for a couple of brief close-up shots.
 * When Mer-Man is first revealed, the webbing between his right ear disappears for a few frames.

The He-Man and She-Ra Blog

 * A brief review #051 - "City Beneath the Sea"