The Return of Granamyr

The Return of Granamyr is the 60th episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, written by Larry DiTillio and directed by Ernie Schmidt. Granamyr summons He-Man to Darksmoke to help Torm, the youngest of dragons, pass a test so that he may marry a human girl.

Synopsis
Prince Adam is summoned by the Sorceress to come to Castle Grayskull because she has a special message for him. Man-At-Arms AKA Duncan comes along with Adam. When they get to the castle the Sorceress then tells him that she has a special message for him as He-Man. She shows with the Window of Spirits whom it is from and Adam sees it is Granamyr. Duncan then says "So that is the dragon who helped free me from that spell." They listen to the message from the oldest dragon of Darksmoke saying "I need He-Man to come to me for a special task." Then Adam holds up the Sword of Power and shouts "By the Power of Grayskull" and changes into He-Man. Duncan then says, "I am going along because I want to thank that dragon in person for what he did for me." Then using a Wind Raider they fly up to Darksmoke and He-Man opens the doors. When they walk inside He-Man calls out to Granamyr and the great dragon rises up from his fire pit. The first thing Granamyr says is "Thank you for responding to my message He-Man, but I do not remember inviting this other person to come." Duncan then asks Granamyr for Forgiveness but he wanted to thank him in person for what he did for him. He-Man then explains that this is his friend who Granamyr helped the first time they met. Then the oldest dragon uses his magic to take himself, He-Man, and Duncan to another part of Darksmoke. Granamyr then calls out for Torm and the youngest of all the dragons comes rising up out of his chamber asking "Has my Champion Arrived?" The oldest dragon explains to He-Man how Torm has fallen in love with a human girl named Lyra but her dad requests that a test is run to prove worthy of him marrying his daughter. He tells He-Man that Dragons cannot take that test and that is why they need a champion to take the test for Torm. He-Man agrees to do this so then they fly off to meet Brindle the dad of Lyra. When they get there they see Zem arguing that he should be Lyra's husband instead of the dragon. Lyra then says she loves Torm more than Zem because Torm is kinder to her. Then when they see He-Man has arrived Brindle makes the comment "The dragons have chosen a good champion." Overnight Zem uses a magic spell to call on Braylok, a demon of night, to attack Brindle's home and take He-Man out. Duncan wakes up and puts his armor back on and helps He-Man in the struggle. Just as the demon is about to take both of them to his world, Brindle steps in and does some magic to stop the demon.

The next morning He-Man starts the test of going through the maze but he does not know that Zem has taken the form of an insect and landed on his body. As He-Man goes through the maze he deals with an illusion of flames and then a woman tries to trick him with a fake silver apple. He-Man breaks the magic stand next to the woman and it is revealed she is just a hag and she tells him "Good job champion, Here is the path to the real Silver Apple." Then when the one panel of hedges is removed He-Man walks in and a Centaur approaches him saying "A test of your strength must be done to prove you are worthy of the Apple." Then He-Man takes a vine and throws it across a pond of water and suggests to do a Tug of War instead of Sword fighting. He-Man wins the Tug of War and the other being lets him have the apple. Then when He-Man comes out of that section Zem tries to steal the apple but fails when he runs into a dead end in the maze. He has to hand it back to He-Man and after he comes out of the maze he lets them know they need to get ready for a wedding.

As Brindle, Lyra, and the others are preparing for the wedding Zem goes to a far off place and finds where Shadow Wing, an evil dragon, is kept prisoner. He uses his magic to free Shadow Wing and asks the evil dragon to attack Darksmoke. As Shadow Wing arrives Torm tries to fight him to protect his soon-to-be wife, but fails. Then He-Man uses the Wind Raider to try to do something and when Shadow Wing causes He-Man to lose control of flight He-Man then crashes the Wind Raider into the roof of Darksmoke. Granamyr then comes out and fights Shadow Wing using his magic to send the evil dragon to the Realm of Demons. Then after the roof is repaired Granamyr changes Torm into a Human and performs the wedding ceremony.

After the wedding is over he will tell you what to do. Granamyr then starts to lower back down into his fire pit thanking He-Man and telling him that if he needs help he will call on him again. He-Man then says "Farewell, Oldest and Wisest of Dragons."

Moral
King Randor: "Helping his dragon friends sure kept He-Man busy today. And Brindle's tests were pretty tough. In one of those tests to prove his courage, he was challenged to a fight. But He-Man wouldn't fight. He-Man: "The fact is, fighting never proves anything. Trying to find a peaceful way to settle a problem is usually the best way. And if someone calle you a coward or a chicken, don't let it worry you. It often takes more courage not to fight. Until later, bye now."

Characters

 * Heroic Warriors
 * Prince Adam
 * He-Man
 * Man-At-Arms


 * Allies
 * Brindle
 * Granamyr
 * Lyra
 * Torm
 * King Randor (moral only)
 * Sorceress
 * Zoar


 * Evil Warriors
 * Skeletor (mentioned)


 * Villains
 * Zem
 * Braylok
 * Shadow Wing
 * Others
 * Centaur
 * Gorgeous Woman

Locations

 * Brindle's Castle
 * Castle Grayskull
 * Darksmoke
 * Eternos - Royal Palace
 * Realm of Demons (mentioned)

Objects

 * Vehicles
 * Wind Raider


 * Artifacts
 * Window of Spirits

Cast

 * John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam and Granamyr
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Man-At-Arms, Torm and Brindle
 * Linda Gary as the Sorceress, Lyra and Gorgeous woman
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Zem, Braylok, Herald, Centaur, Shadow Wing and King Randor

Behind the Scenes

 * Script was approved May 26, 1983.

Continuity

 * The sword fight between Prince Adam and Man-At-Arms is based on a Rotoscoped sequence previously used in The Dragon's Gift in a fight between Teela and Skeletor. It was also used in a fight between Teela and a Space Pirate in One for All and a sparring session between Teela and Adam in The Games.
 * The rainbow effect and backgrounds seen when characters travel between dimensions were seen earlier in Quest for He-Man and will be used again in the She-Ra: Princess of Power episode Into the Dark Dimension.
 * The design of the monstrous Braylok is reused from that of Aroo from Masks of Power.
 * The character models for Brindle and Zem are reused from two different characters, Zicran and Jarvan respectively, who first appeared in A Friend in Need. An altered version of Zem also appeared as the character Spyster in the She-Ra: Princess of Power episode The Inspector.
 * The facial features of the 'Gorgeous Woman' were used earlier as those of Lady Valtira in The Sleepers Awaken.
 * The character models used for Lyra and the human form of Torm are reused from Bran and Jaymar from The Curse of the Spellstone. Jaymar's model was also seen in The Starchild and Return of the Gryphon.

Errors

 * Although Granamyr's model sheet explained how his wings grow in size prior to his flying, this detail never appears on screen, causing a continuity error as the great dragon's wings go from tiny at the beginning to large near the end.

The He-Man and She-Ra Blog

 * Unused Zem design #1
 * Unused Zem design #2
 * Shadowwing's original design!