The 10 Weirdest Episodes, Ranked


While He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was a beloved show that played a significant role in several people’s childhoods, it was created with the primary goal of selling toys for Mattel. Despite this, many of the episodes were well-crafted stories written by talented storytellers, such as Larry DiTillio, Paul Dini, Thomas Tataranowicz, and J. Michael Straczynski. These writers would go on to create impressive works, and their creative talent was first displayed in Masters of the Universe episodes.



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Yet, not all the MOTU episodes were high-quality. MOTU had its fair share of weird episodes that definitely took advantage of the fact that the show was a show aimed at selling toys to children.

10 The Great Books Mystery Placed Moral Above Plot

Parent watch groups in the 1980s constantly expressed fear about violence in cartoons. To get around these watch groups, each episode of MOTU featured a moral at the end. Many of the episodes also tried to work the plot into the story.

“The Great Books Mystery” premiered as the seventh episode of season two and lectured children on the importance of reading. In the episode, Batros went around Eternia stealing books because of his thirst for power. Even Skeletor bought into the idea that stealing books was the key to defeating He-Man. While the moral was well-intended, the sight of the most powerful beings in the universe running around after a guy who stole books was weird.


9 A Tale Of Two Cities Relied On Amnesia And Racist Stereotypes

“A Tale of Two Cities” aired as the 31st episode in season one of MOTU. In the episode, the Targans were portrayed as dark-skinned and brutal. In contrast, the Operons were depicted as their victims and were very light-skinned. This racist caricature was already outdated when it debuted in 1983.

The secondary plot made the episode more bizarre, which featured He-Man losing his memory. After losing his memory, He-Man was forced to fight in an arena against the enemies of the Targans. The amnesia plot and racist caricatures combined make it one of the most disjointed and difficult episodes to follow.


8 Orko’s Favorite Uncle Turned A Beloved Family Member Evil

“Orko’s Favorite Uncle” premiered as the 27th episode in season one. Orko’s Uncle Montork appeared on Eternia after being summoned by the evil wizard Tauron. Tauron hoped to use Montork’s magic to steal the secrets of Castle Grayskull, but like his nephew, Montork had trouble controlling his powers.

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The episode centered around Montork and his three-eyed pet Trollan dinosaur trying to be evil menaces while never quite having their magic under control. In the end, Orko defeats Tauron’s magic by telling his uncle he loves him. The episode’s alternate attempts to be serious and light-hearted make it one of the odder MOTU episodes.


The 33rd episode of season 1, “The Starchild,” depicted a child with magical abilities being fought over by two groups: The Tree People and the Cave Dwellers. Both groups declared they had the right to “The Starchild,” whose powers involved a warm glow and the invisible power of love.

The audience was never told where the Starchild came from or where her parents were. Was she naturally a Tree Person? Were her parents Cave Dwellers? Did she have a dual heritage? Ultimately, King Randor and Queen Marlena allowed the Starchild to choose to live with both sets of people, even though both groups had originally wanted to use her as a weapon.


“Jacob and the Widgets” aired as the 24th episode of the second season. Prince Adam and Teela took the Widgets to the beach, where they played ball and built sandcastles, but their carefree fun was interrupted by the appearance of a sea monster attacking an older man named Jacob on his fishing boat.

Meanwhile, Merman showed up and tried to steal precious metals from the Widgets in order to rebuild the sea monster – which had actually been a robot! Ultimately, Jacob saved the widgets by using his fishing pole to hook Merman like a fish. This episode was made weird by its disjointed plots and a very unlikable guest star.


5 In Eye Of The Beholder, He-Man Gave Science Lectures And Teamed-Up With An Insect Man

At the beginning of “Eye of the Beholder,” the 55th episode in season one, He-Man noticed that he was getting weaker. Soon, the trees of Eternia began dying, equipment began to quit working, and magic users began to lose their skills. Soon enough, Man-at-Arms discovered the real problem: the air in Eternia was dangerously low in oxygen.

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To explain this problem to the target audience of children, He-Man and his friends discussed how oxygen, photosynthesis, and the water cycle worked. Then, to repair the problem, He-Man teamed up with an insect man named Garth to undo Skeletor’s plot to steal Eternia’s water. Finally, to cap off a series of weird events, Garth turns into a butterfly man at the end of the episode.


4 The Eternia Flower Combined An Anti-Drug Message With A Child Army

Many Eighties cartoon shows included some type of moral, and “The Eternia Flower” demonstrated one of the most overt anti-drug PSAs. In this 47th episode of season two, the magical Count Marzo decided to get the children of Eternia hooked on a flower called “The Black Nightmare.”

Marzo’s goal was ultimately to build an army full of child soldiers to do his bidding, and he knew the children would do anything to get more of the “flower” once they became addicted to it. In case the drug analogy wasn’t clear, a child crashes a wind raider while high on the flower, and Orko explained that “if you sniff it, it could do bad things to your mind!”


3 The Ancient Mirror Of Avathar Included A Lost City And Moss Man

During the 62nd episode of season two, Prince Adam and Melaktha decide to find Avathar Island. The island was Eternia’s version of the lost city of Atlantis. They ran into Moss Man on the way, and he accompanied them while occasionally turning into various types of plants.

The weirdest part of this episode occurred once they arrived at Avathar and found the ancient mirror. Apparently, their mirror could answer any question about Avathar’s history, so they immediately took it back to the palace. On the way home to Eternia, they had to fight a disguised Trap Jaw pretending to be a sailor and almost crash because a kid at the lighthouse was too bored to do his job.


2 In The Return of Granamyr, A Former Dragon Married A Human

Larry DiTillio wrote some truly memorable episodes of He-Man, and the 60th episode of the first season was not an exception. In “The Return of Granamyr,” fan-favorite character Granamyr the dragon summoned He-Man for help. He-Man was called because a young dragon named Torm had fallen in love with a human girl named Lyra and wished to become human. He-Man’s help was needed so that Torm could pass a series of tests to prove he was worthy.

During the tests, He-Man also had to combat Zem, a jealous wizard who would rather marry Lyra himself. He-Man also fought a metallic centaur, but the weirdest part was saved for the end when Lyra and a newly-human Torm were married by Granamyr.


1 Skeletor Became Petty Over A Circus In The Greatest Show On Eternia

In “The Greatest Show on Eternia,” the 35th episode of season two, everyone in Eternia was very excited about the circus coming to Eternia. This even included villains. Skeletor’s villainous plot revolved around the fact that he was jealous of the circus performing at the Royal Palace instead of Snake Mountain.

As a result of his fury, Skeletor resolved to take over the circus and make the performers perform for him alone. He also tried to murder Crackers the Clown. Before He-Man’s ultimate triumph, Orko learned the meaning of responsibility by bathing a three-trunked elephant. The weirdness of this episode reaches its peak when He-Man and Skeletor fight on the trapeze and tightrope.

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