The Curse of the Spellstone

The Curse of the Spellstone is a first season episode of the animated television series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, produced in 1983. Written by Marc Scott Zicree, directed by Ed Friedman.

Synopsis
Skeletor and Evil-Lyn attack the Temple of the Fire People in order to gain possession of an artifact called the Spellstone. Evil-Lyn uses the artifact to enhance her dark magic and cause fierce storms that ravage the surface of Eternia. After deducing the villains' location, He-Man, Battle Cat, Stratos and Ram Man battle Skeletor and his Hover Robots at the temple, but are trapped underground in the process.

At the Royal Palace Evil-Lyn, disguised as an old woman, plays on the fears of the nearby villagers and tricks them into giving her possession of the Creeping Horak, the harshest of Eternian punishments. Telling the villagers that the royal family are to blame for the terrible storms, she uses the Horak to trap the king and queen; when used on the palace, the inexorable plantlike growth covers the walls. Man-At-Arms, Teela and Orko are also trapped inside, but nothing they do seems to work against the unstoppable Horak.

After fighting the Fire People and escaping the temple, He-Man and the others head back to the Palace, where they find Skeletor, Evil-Lyn and Trap Jaw. The Creeping Horak has nearly enveloped the entire Royal Palace, but He-Man manages to retrieve the Spellstone from the villains and uses its power to destroy the Horak, saving his friends. Faced with defeat once more, Skeletor makes his escape and the heroes send the Spellstone back to the Temple of The Fire People where it can be protected.

Moral
Man-At-Arms: You've all seen how Orko's magical tricks don't always go the way he planned. Sometimes they backfire on him. The same thing is true of practical jokes. Sometimes they don't go the way you planned and you, or someone else, can get hurt. So be sure and think twice before playing a joke or a trick on anybody. It might not go the way you planned and someone could wind up losing a finger, or an arm, or may be even an eye. And no joke is worth that, is it? See you again soon."

Heroic Warriors

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

Allies

 * King Randor
 * Queen Marlena

Allies

 * King Helios
 * Fire People
 * Old Zak
 * Jaymar
 * Bran

Evil Warriors

 * Evil-Lyn
 * Skeletor
 * Trap Jaw

Locations

 * Eternos
 * Royal Palace
 * Region of Flame
 * Temple of the Fire People

Vehicles

 * Attak Trak
 * Sky-Sled (moral only)

Technology

 * Hover Robots

Animals

 * Spidasaur

Cast

 * John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam, Ram Man and King Helios
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor, Man-At-Arms and Battle Cat/Cringer
 * Linda Gary as Teela, Evil-Lyn and Queen Marlena
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko, Stratos, Trap Jaw, King Randor, Jaymar and Old Zak
 * Jay Scheimer (uncredited) as Bran

Behind the Scenes

 * Script was approved December 13, 1982 and final script revision took place July 13, 1983.
 * The story is loosely based on a Filmation script premise titled "Eternia's Ordeal", in which a series of storms cause angry citizens to revolt against the royals of Eternia.
 * When Orko asks Adam to choose one of his hands as part of his magic trick, a smile appears to be drawn on the scarf covering his mouth.
 * Near the end, Trap Jaw is shown with his Saw Blade attachment for the only time in the series.
 * Skeletor is seen using sword identical to that of He-Man for the first and only time in this series. This is similar to the original action figure concept in which He-Man and Skeletor both came with one half of the power sword.

Continuity

 * The old woman disguise used by Evil-Lyn will also be used by the evil wizard Jarvan in A Friend in Need and then again by Evil-Lyn in The Royal Cousin. A slightly altered version appears as the good witch in the She-Ra: Princess of Power episode Brigis and then as a disguise used by Catra in Portrait of Doom.
 * The tentacled monster that attacks the Heroic Warrors twice in the Region of Fire was referred to only as 'Serpent' in the script, but reappeared in the episode Double Edged Sword, where it was called a Spidasaur.
 * The shot of Man-At-Arms repairing the Sky Sled during the moral is seen again in A Beastly Sideshow. A version with Adam replacing Man-At-Arms was used in Teela's Quest.
 * The animated sequence of Cringer's fur standing on end with fright will be seen again in Fraidy Cat.
 * The close-up of He-Man running through the caverns would be used again in Colossor Awakes.
 * The original script featured a female member of Stratos' Bird People named Ceria. Several different concept designs were made, but she was ultimately completely removed from the final script.
 * The firefighting machine used in this story by Man-At-Arms was to return in the episode Ordeal in the Darklands in a deleted scene where the Heroic Warriors attempted to fight the Crimson Scourge as it headed for the Royal Palace.
 * The character models used for the villagers Old Zak and Jaymar will be repainted as two Cave Dwellers who accompany Palos in the episode The Starchild.
 * Jaymar's model was used again as the human form of the dragon Torm and a recolored version of Bran was seen as Lyra in the episode The Return of Granamyr.
 * The footage of the Hover Robots charging at He-Man is used again in the episode The Gamesman, including the use of the same background.

Errors

 * Evil-Lyn's cape is missing when she casts her spell on the Spellstone at the start, and again when uses it at the Royal Palace.
 * When Man-At-Arms and King Randor are introduced standing at a window, Man-At-Arms is holding his mace in his left hand and Randor has his left hand on Man-At-Arms' shoulder. In the next shot, Randors hand has disappeared from Man-At-Arm's shoulder and Man-At-Arms is using both his hands to operate the remote control for his weather controlling satellite. When the weather turns bad, the same establishing shot is reused, complete with mace in hand and hand on shoulder.
 * When Man-At-Arm uses the remote control for his weather controlling satellite, his hands are flesh colored instead of green in one shot.
 * Before Evil-Lyn transforms herself into the old woman (Zenia), her gauntlets are missing and Skeletor's back-straps are gone in the overhead shot.
 * Just when Man-At-Arms is about to be hit with lightning as he is operating a fire-hose, his hands are flesh-colored again, but they turn green after the lightning bolt strikes.
 * After Skeletor says "The others lead to destruction", Trap Jaw's jaw-piece is colored green like his face instead of magenta like his helmet.
 * King Randor describes how the Creeping Horak would grow over an entire house and squeeze all the air out, killing the inhabitants. This would explain why the Eternians are unable to use any exits to escape from the palace when the Horak is after them. However, around 17 and a half minutes in, the outside of the palace is shown and there is no sign of the Creeping Horak covering it.
 * Randor, Marlena, Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko run through the palace and end up in the last room not engulfed by the Creeping Horac but we never see if there are any other palace guards or servants in trouble.
 * After Skeletor says 'There is no way out', we see He-Man running with his fists clenched, then Stratos and Ram Man following him and in the next shot He-Man is seen from behind with his sword in his hand.

The He-Man and She-Ra Blog

 * A brief review #007 - "The Curse of the Spellstone"
 * FILMATION FEBRUARY - DAY: 14
 * The original Fire Person!
 * Zenia's original design.
 * Panini sticker album art #25
 * Rainbow ending.