Yeah, while I don't look at Randor's reaction to Adam's death and treatment of Duncan, as well as Teela's protracted resentment and anger about being deceived, favorably, their behavior is understandable, albeit not deftly portrayed in my opinion. Smith and the writing team go into soap opera territory at times with their handling of dramatic elements of Revelation's story. My concern is that we won't see things like Randor and Duncan's falling out in part 1 get a proper pay off in part 2. I've spoken about this previously but I feel like there's a lot of loose ends to tie up in the 5 episodes of part 2 and I'm afraid we may see some story points that don't receive conclusion. However, they could really hit a homerun in part 2, which would thrill me. I have to remind myself that until we have all 10 episodes, Revelation isn't finished and I have to temper some judgment with the benefit of the doubt.
I am actually fine with Randor and Teela maybe being angry in the moment, although firing Duncan was a bit extreme, IMO. It’s both of their seeming inability to move on that is what bothers me. I can’t remember what the time jump was between the first and second episodes, but I feel like it has been a few years. I think we’ve talked to death about Teela not being able to move on, but surely a *good king* like Randor would have realized that magic was dying, and taking the planet with it, and tried to do something. But I don’t recall that being addressed in the show. Other than the mention that Randor forbid anyone from going to Greyskull (which obviously would have been his best chance at working out a solution). Which I also have a problem with, because a literal army rolled up to CG, and there was no enforcement of the ban from Randor’s troops. Given more time, I think it may have been beneficial to see Randor actually move beyond raw anger, and deal with the fact he openly told his son he was a disappointment, probably on several occasions, instead of accepting him and recognizing how great Adam really was. Maybe it will be in the back half of the show. Even just an additional line before Teela’s tantrum may half helped. But again, in the moment, I don’t have a problem with Teela being angry. Because as Adam’s protector, she probably risked her life several times, and was put in additional harm, so Adam could play his game and finagle a way to keep his secret when they were both in harm’s way.
That whole throne room scene is the main source of resentment for this show. A lot of the issues people have with this series thus far stem from that whole bit.
I agree with most of what you said. I think Smith was on to something with his “Revelation” concept but he wildly overplays his hand. I completely understand Randor and Teela’s reaction at the time and I can even forget about Randor’s because it isn’t revisited. When Teela is still angry with “dead” Adam I am sort of exhausted at that point with her cause seriously... give it a rest. All that being said it’s obviously not going to stay that way because it can’t.... the show can’t close on that note and Teela can’t become the New Sorceress while still being angry AND finding out Teela Na is her mom. I am half expecting Smith to turn it into a Filmation Life Lesson at the end, probably explained by King Grayskull or Teela Na because He-Man isn’t going to be mansplaining anything to the audience. Anyway I find the ramifications of Adam / He-Man contrived...but it really doesn’t bother me because Revelation does almost everything else right. And it’s not the stakes in the show Skelegod is.
I feel similarly. Revelation basically has good ideas but it seems like the writing doesn't quite realize the full potential of the concept of the story. It's not that things such as certain character portrayals are intrinsically wrong/bad/Etc., it's that the execution is lacking at times. Randor being extremely upset isn't out of order but the writers take it a few steps further and make him a useless king just when the kingdom needs his leadership the most. Banishing and turning away the most experienced Man-At-Arms at a time when Eternia needs him the most is ludicrously short sighted and selfish for who should be a capable ruler of the most advanced and prosperous nation on the planet. He-Man's loss is a literal planet wide disaster. Universe wide, actually, but Randor wouldn't know it at the time. Surely, even in the midst of personal tragedy, Randor realizes the consequences of He-Man's absence. This is internal logic that the writers abandon in favor for creating shallow dramatic tension. Randor being upset is realistic, yes, but him going so far over the edge is unrealistic for a seasoned ruler. He can be extremely upset without sabotaging an entire nation's chances at survival in the aftermath of a disaster. Teela being resentful and angry isn't out of order but again the writers botch the execution and don't move on. The way she is unwilling to recognize Adam's sacrifice, as well as his reasoning for his decision to not tell her his secret, is remarkably petty. It's as if the writers don't understand that Teela being justified in her emotional response doesn't have to be mutually exclusive to also acknowledging that the He-Man secret could be a necessity for the greater good. To them, because Teela is hurt, the secret is "wrong" and must be villainized. Revelation has some good ideas but they're not in the greatest creative hands, as far as part 1 demonstrates. Hopefully, part 2 will prove me wrong and bring things around, paying off what part 1 sets up. I can see how some of my views paints me as overly critical of Revelation but I do like it far more than dislike but, and maybe I'm delusional, I'm not a blind fanboy. I see legitimate points to criticize just as I see points to praise. Where Revelation gets things right, it hits the bullseye.
I can’t stress enough that we haven’t seen the rest of the story. I think it’s highly likely Randor is still a good king and he has been holding things together with the remaining Masters. It’s the easiest writing to be like “Where have these people been?” - preoccupied with the disaster of course. I think Randor and Duncan will have a make up session but it will be about as developed has the breakdown, one quick scene. I also think it’s possible that Teela’s anger is fact the moral of the story that..... Everyone was keeping their secrets to protect people and something or other about telling the truth. I don’t think Smith’s intention is that the audience side with Teela’s anger but I think it’s his intention that people understand it. I mean this isn’t the Iliad or anything but you don’t side with Achilles.... but you do understand why he is angry. I think we are looking at this assuming we are supposed to side with Teela, because she’s the de facto protagonist, when in fact that isn’t the case. Especially because Adam is acting like Jesus the whole time making perfect self-sacrificing decisions. His whole form in Preternia is like a bat to audience’s head story-wise.
Most definitely the main issue is that we only have half the story so far so my criticisms could certainly be addressed and largely dissolved once we have the rest of the story revealed. I hope Teela's character arc has a good resolution by the end of Revelation. I really like the idea of her taking the lead in the story but she comes off as too wrapped up in her own concerns while the world crumbles.
You may be onto something. They could certainly bring it around in part 2. Kevin Smith does tend to really like "aha" moments in his work. If they are true to Filmation MotU in spirit, we could see a contemporary variation of the classic life lesson message by the end of episode 10.
All the last couple pages convinced me of is maybe it wasn't such a good idea to split this season into two parts.
I am 100% sure @Convotron and myself said that exact same thing the week this came out. It was a horrendously bad idea, I believe rather than the intended “Skelegod” cliffhanger it left people with a wild misconception of the character arcs and intended plot / message if the show. To some degree i think this might all be meaningless after season 2 comes out.
I feel like it's almost unfair that we only have 5 eps of Revelation to compare to the 10 eps of the other series...even after re watching both I still like Revelations a TON better. For all the "this changed too much" with angsty Teela and her friend randomly from the comics I offer you Ram Ma'am, full on magic using Teela, a wise old Cringer and teenager at arms...
I'm not even sure Revelation was supposed to be released this way. It does feel like a story that was intended to be released all at once, same as the first season of the CG series. The CG series feels like it could have been on a weekly release schedule and still worked out, while Revelation feels like it should have been available all at once to get the full story instead of a cliffhanger.
It's not an apples to apples comparison. Revelation presents itself as a story with narrative lineage to the Filmation cartoon continuity, regardless of legality. On the other hand, the Netflix He-Man and the Masters of the Universe CG cartoon presents itself as entirely new MotU iteration with new world building. I'm a fan of Revelation but I can totally see the criticisms people have of it being seen as making significant changes of some things established in Filmation MotU. However, I don't have a problem with those changes ultimately because it is its own continuity, however similar it is to Filmation MotU.
That part ^ Revelations , thus far as it is presented, isn't something i'm interested in spending my time on as someone that views He-Man and the MOTU through the nostalgic lenses of the 1980's. I expected certain things from that continuity. However , despite not finding anything i would generally find appealing about the CGI show, it *is* its own continuity and thus i hold it to a different standard (or no standard at all if you will). I'm willing to sample whatever is presented and judge it as a new entity. Either it will be appealing or it wont. And the trailer looked good
I'm about 20 eps in the New Adventures of He-man. It's looking like these 65 eps are pretty much written out of any continuity, especially Revelation? He-man 200x and the recent She-Ra on Netflix are their on continuity right?
Everything is separate from everything else except Filmation's He-Man and She-Ra which share continuity with each other in the extremely loose sense that early 80s cartoons have any continuity.
He-Man and the MOTU and She-Ra: POP have a lot more continuity than I was expecting when I started my re-watch--especially with some minor tweaks to the broadcast order. It isn't a serial, and each story returns to a general status quo at the end without really progressing a greater arc. But things that happen during an episode aren't undone by a "magic reset button" like in many other cartoons of the time, and events tend to "stay happened." For instance, in She-Ra there's an episode where Modulok leaves Skeletor's employ on Eternia and joins the Horde. In a later episode, Hordak punishes him by demoting him from the post of scientist to Horde cook. In yet a later episode, Modulok is trying to earn his way back from cook to scientist. So they do actually try to have continuity. The New Adventures of He-Man is nominally supposed to take place in the Filmation universe. It was even developed from ideas Filmation was working on before they went out of business. But between changing the designs, the music, the setting, and all but two of the characters, there's very little left to connect it to the others. There's no continuity in that sense, but since "continuity" is also used to mean "a specific fictional universe" and that's the meaning Predakwon seems to have in mind... it might be more accurate to say it's in continuity but doesn't matter.
