Masters of the Universe Explanations

Here you'll find everything to the Masters of the Universe-Chronology like the Comics, TV Shows and so on.

Media that caused problems in placing in the Chronology are detailly explained here.

If a Media (Book, Comic etc) isn't listed here, there were no problems about their placing within the timeline.

Foreword

Despite other Chronologies this one was made entirely of scratch by myself in 2009. At the time there were much of the then available material embedded - which means for this Version the MOTU Classics and further Publications have to be incorporated. There is also a new Netflix Series and the whole Origin-Line.

Some may not agree with any Points of the Chronology – especially because there is everything in it, that has ever been officially published to MOTU, including the New Cartoon, the Classic Cartoon and the New Adventures, the German Cassettes and Publications and so on.

One of the great critics I recieved from the German Forums on this Chronology was, that it is impossible to merge the Classics and the 200X Storylines. Well, at last Mattel himself has proven this to be untrue with its Motu-Classics-Line, which, in its Character Bios combines all Sources. A feature I highly appreciate ;).

With the new Comics Line there were even a bunch of Parallel Universes added, which are also incorporated here.

Of Course it depends on the Reader whether to reject some Dates or not but hopefully you’ll enjoy this Chronology – I enjoyed writing it!

And yes, there is no difference between animated and Live Action-Series, as the whole Masters Canon is mostly on animated Series.

The Dating of MOTU

The First Problem in Writing this Chronology: How to Date it? When takes what Event place?

There haven’t been any Reference Dates in None of the Series – and there haven’t been Reference Dates about Eternian Years too. So what to do? Setting MOTU in the Mid-80s where it had been produced? Seems quite acceptable. And you can’t start a New Timeline for example at Adams Birth is Year 0 and so far.

But then there was the MOTU – The Movie (1987) and it’s Comic (and whatever you may think of it, it IS an official Part of the MOTU-Saga). The Comic of the Movie GIVES us the EXACT Date on which MOTU takes place: The Earth Year 3221 (A Thousand Years after the Mentioned Crashlanding of an Earth Ship on Eternia). There are no other Sources that deny this Information so there is no Reason to reject it.

Now you can count on this Date: When the Earth Year 1987 is the MOTU-Year 3221, then 1983-1986 would be 3217-3220, and this is where the Classic Cartoon takes place. One Season on Television is One Year so after every Season of the Cartoon there is another Year that has passed.

With This the Workings on the Chronology began.

TV Shows

Masters of the Universe (1983)

The Cartoon started in 1983, which is the Year 3217 in the Chronology. The First Season caused no Problems and it and the Second Season were sorted in the Production Order mentioned on He-Man.org. 1985 there was the Princess of Power Cartoon, started off at about the Hundreth Episode of MOTU (yet if it is not quite consistent with the Aired Dates). The First 30 She-Ra-Episodes are setted at the same time with the Last 30 MOTU-Episodes. The Christmas Special is therefore set to December 1985 (or 3219 in the Chronology). The Last She-Ra-Episodes were produced in 1986 but Aired First in 1987. This Episodes were also set in 1986/3220.

In “The Cosmic Comet” Zagraz explained, that he had his Last Visitor about 100 or 200 Years ago. You can take the Middle of 150 Years here and place this Date in the Chronology.

In “Shaping Staff” Skeletor says, that he will restore Evil-Lyn and Faker. Till this Point only He-Man saw Faker so that Fakers Later Appearances are consistent with this – He-Man’s Friends don’t recognize him as Faker.

In “The Time Corridor” there is no exact Date how Far He-Man and his Friends travel into Eternias Past. There is only one Point for Sure: It is a Time where Grayskull doesn’t yet exist.

Some of the Cartoon Episodes are similar (or nearly identical) with some of the Minicomics. These are: “Masks of Power” / dto., “Dragon’s Gift”/dto. And “A Tale of two Cities”/”Slave City”. These Episodes are nearly identical with the Comics and there is no Reason why two nearly identical Events shall Happen, so the Comics were sorted with the Cartoon-Episodes.

In “Creatures from the Tar Swamp” you never hear a Date how old Adam was as he was rescued by Orko – even the New Cartoon (one of the First Episodes has nearly an identical Scene) doesn’t.

Some Episodes, like “Orko’s Favorite Uncle” are sorted before others. In this Case “Orko’s Favorite Uncle” must be placed before “The Return of Orko’s Uncle” – because Orko meets Montork the First time in the First Episode. Although it was sorted correctly the Number of the Episodes remained in Production Order. So it is possible that some Episodes with higher Numbers are placed before others with Minor Numbers.

In “House of Shokoti” there are again no Chronological Dates. It is mentioned that 1000 Years after the Buildance of Shokoti’s Pyramid it had been hidden but you don’t hear a Date when it was built. The Same Problem in “Double-Edged Sword”.

In “The Mystery of Man-E-Faces” presents us a Story of Man-E-Faces and how he was influenced by Skeletor. This Story conflicts with some Others – Like in the New Cartoon or the Minicomics. But it is A Told Story and you may ask how exaggerated it is. Skeletor may have influenced Man-E-Faces but there are no other Chronological Dates about this.

In “The Energy Beast” there are again no Informations about the Date when the Beast has been arrested. It’s only said it was “Millions of Years” ago. The Same in “Fisto’s Forest”. But of course “Fito’s Forest” presents another told Story and for every told Story you can’t exactly say what is true and what isn’t.

Adam celebrates his Birthday in “The Great Books Mystery”. There are no Words about his Age but if you count the Candles it’s about 17-19. The Minicomic “The Tale of Teela!” gives us the Birthday of Teela (whether there are a few things in this Comic which are questionable there is no Reason to reject the Given Date – for more of this look in the Comic-Section). From “The Once and Future Duke” we know that Adam and Teela are born in the SAME Year (they BOTH Played with David when they BOTH were 8). Therefore it’s Adams 22th Birthday.

“The Origin of the Sorceress” shows us how the Sorceress became the Sorceress. This Happened at a Time when the Horde attacked Eternia (or the Attack is directly ahead, because the sorceress says, that they’ll be ready for them). There may be a Problem with how long the Horde Attack lasts. A Year? Longer? There are no Infos about this but the Episode must be about the Year 3196. As we know from the new MOTU Classics Line this must be the Time when Hordak kidnapped Adora, which is consistent with the Birth Year of 3196. As far as we don't know how exactly he was trapped at Despondos we can't say if or how he managed to do this (maybe the Remembrance Scene in "Power of the Sword" is not quite consistent and Hordak is just a 'placeholder' there, what means he was not 'really' there).

The Memories of Marlena in “The Rainbow Warrior” are also questionable. Randor wasn’t King when she crashlanded but it looks as if he is. Maybe it’s shortly before he became King, but this would be about 3196 and it doesn’t make sense that Adora and Adam were born in the same Year she landed (this seems a Little too fast). In the New Cartoon we See Randor with his Beard in “The Beginning”, which is also placed 3196. Well, Marlenas Memories contradicts her former Memorys seen in an earlier Episodes so we can assume that she hasn’t an exact Memory of her Landing. However, one of the DC Comics gives us the exact Date of Marlenas Crashlanding, placing it in 3191.

The Episodes 91 and 92, “Jacob and the Widgets” and “The Littliest Giant”, presents us the Widgets (again). Jacob stays with them but isn’t mentioned in Episode 92. Ok, only the Beginning of Episode 92 is placed in the Widget Stronghold so maybe he is there but isn’t seen.

The Transformation of Cringer to Battle Cat is described in “Battlecat”. There are Problems with this with the New Cartoon and the first Minicomics. But again the Episode presents an told Story and therefore it may not be Fully the Truth. An interesting Fact is, that Cringer can’t Speak in the Episode until he is transformed to Battle Cat. So this Episode maybe doesn’t show Cringers FIRST Transformation but the One after which he is able to Speak! This fits perfectly in accordance with the New Cartoon. But there is “Creatures from the Tar Swamp” and in this Episode we can hear Cringer in the Scene with Young Adam that he says something. But this can be ignored, because in the New Cartoon in exactly the Same Scene in “Lessons” Cringer doesn’t speak (so, to use a famous word: it was retconned).

“The Time Wheel” again has no Chronological Reference Date.

As said in “Search for the Past” King Miro was imprisoned for Years. There is no exact Date about Miro’s Disappearance (even not in the New Cartoon where this is mentioned too) but we can set it by using the Facts: It must be before Randor became King (he wouldn’t become King as long as Miro is of course) and Randor became King in “The Beginning”, in the Year of Adoras and Adams Birth 3196. The She-Ra-Episode with King Miro mentioned this also.

“Happy Birthday Roboto” gives us another Problem: It contradicts with a Few Comics and the New Cartoon. But Roboto is only a Robot and in this Classic-Episode it is said, that there are much more of them. Maybe the Roboto of the New Cartoon has been destroyed sometimes before the Episode and Man-at-Arms made a New One (Comic) which is also destroyed (or maybe send reprogrammed to an Outworld Mission) until a New Roboto lands on Eternia (which has no Memories at all). All this Incidents seem quite consistent – especially with the Roboto Character so we can Set the Episode to it’s right place in the Chronology.

She-Ra - Princess of Power (1985)

The She-Ra-Cartoon started off in 1985/3219. The Sorceress erased the Memories of all Eternians about Adoras kidnapping, so it is also possible for the New Cartoon that Hordak kidnapped her. The Sorceress and Man-at-Arms follow Hordak to Snake Mountain where he escapes (which ends the Horde Attack on Eternia). This must be very shortly before the Sorceress and Man-at-Arms created the Mystic Wall (mentioned in “The Beginning”). As mentioned before the New Cartoon states, that Hordak was trapped in Despondos by 3196 so he may not "really" be there (maybe a Projection or a Henchman or something else). This is of course no contradiction at all. The First Season Episodes of She-Ra are set parallel to the MOTU-Episodes.

In “Enchanted Castle” we see the Celebration of the Freeing of Mystacor, but it is impossible that it’s one Year or more back, so maybe the Story Adora tells Kowl happened recently (or the Etherian Time runs faster). There is a similar Problem later with General Sunders Daughter. But like the Classic Cartoon this Episode contains a told Story and you can’t exactly say whether it’s true or not.

We too have mere Chronological Dates in the She-Ra Episodes. It is said that something happened “long ago” etc..

The Attack of the Horde on Etheria can be set to 3199 like proven in two Episodes: “Micah of Bright Moon” shows us the 20th Anniversary of Angella’s and Micah’s Wedding and that they were a happy family, right before the Horde Attacked. “Anchors aloft” tells us, that Sea Hawks Father disappeared 20 Years ago while Fighting the Horde. So when the Horde wasn’t there when Angella and Micah married but were there when Sea Hawks Father disappeared in the Same Year it must be 3199.

“Darksmoke and Fire” presents She-Ra travelling 1000 Years into the Past (First it is told of a few thousand Years but then the exact Years are mentioned). She helps to arrange Cease Fire between Humans and Dragons. We know from the Classic-Episodes that Granamyr trusted a Human the Last Time 2 Years earlier (“Dragon’s Gift”). You can debate about if this is the Battle from this She-Ra-Episode or not. However in the upcoming 1000 Years the Peace between Dragons and Humans didn’t last.

“Return of the General” shows us Sunders Family – his Wife and Daughter. The Daughter seems to be 3 Years old – but going by the Seasons it could only be about 1 Year. Maybe she was adopted? But when why hasn’t she been there in “Unexpected Ally”? Maybe because she was a Baby about this time? Other Episodes seem to prove that Etherian Time runs faster. But setting the Episode later in the Chronology is senseless – so maybe Sunders Daughter is adopted or is able to run and speak with Age 1 (one of those Miracle Childs?). After all this is not really a point that conflicts the Chronology - but I found it interesting enough to mention it ;).

Another Strange Things in She-Ra are the Rock People and Snout Spout – see about this in the Comic-Section.

The Slime Pit in “Loo-Kee’s Sweety” must be another than the One from the Comics.

The New Adventures of He-Man (1990)

Again we have the Dating Problem here (and no matter what you think of the Series, it IS Part of the MOTU-Saga) but in “Crack in the World” Skeletor mentioned the exact Date he and He-Man travelled into the Future. This however was later retconned in the Motu Classics Line. Here, Skeletor and He-Man just travel into Space for further Adventures. As “MOTU Classics” connects nearly all parts of Motu-Canon we go with this new date.

Again in the New Adventures there aren’t much References to foremost Events – but if you see the Time the Series plays it wouldn’t have much influence on the Classic-Epoch.

There are of course Problems with the Minicomics and the Cartoon – He-Man’s travel into the Future is different! It is for Sure that He-Man travelled into the Future (or, thanks to Classics just into Space) with the Starship/Timeship like it is mentioned in every Versions. In the Comics Skeletor sees Adams transformation, in the Cartoon this remains a Secret (but well Skeletor is not so stupid after all, why didn’t he ask himself what Adam does in the Future?).

Masters of the Universe (2003)

Another Part of the MOTU-Universe: The New Series. It is also Part of the Chronology instead of that is stated it may be a total New-Interpretation. So far there are no discrepancies with the Classic-Cartoon. In the Classic-Cartoon the only Snake Men that appeared are Rattlor and Tung Lashor (mostly in the She-Ra-Cartoon). As long as King Hsss is banned in the Void again there is No discrepancy. This was not explicitly shown, but we’ll look into that at the Comics Section.

Also the “Race” between Man-at-Arms and Mer-Man in the Classic-Cartoon-Episode “Teela’s Quest” – dated One Year after the Buildance of the Mystic Wall – causes no Problems. In “The Beginning” Mer-Man brings a Coridite-Crystal to Skeletor and it’s obviously that he is able to swim in the Sea of Rakash and can therefore pass the Mystic Wall (you don’t really believe that the Mystic Wall spans the whole Planet, hundreth of Feets Deep in the Sea of Rakash do you?).

Again we have the typical “Something happened Years ago”-Sentences in the New Series (did I ever mention how I hate this?), like in “Mekanecks Lament”.

In "The Power of Grayskull" you don't have an exact date (again!), when King Grayskull lived, but you can come close looking the other Episodes: Tung Lashor mentions in "Rattle of the Snake" that this is the second Invasion of Eternia - so there can only been one Invasion, 1000 years earlier. King Hsss fought King Grayskull, so this too must have been 1000 years ago (King Grayskull would surely not be in an Age over 1000!). So what timespan is in between? If you assume that the First Cartoon Season spans one year the time between "Snake Pit" and "Rattle..." is almost one year too. So, going back 1000 years, the events are as follows: 1000 years ago King Hsss fought Hordak and was defeated (NOT a Snake Men Invasion at that point!) and King Grayskull defeated Hordak. One year later (2214 in Chronology) Hss rose again and started his Invasion (after Serpos was banished by the Elders). The date from the Classics-Comics of Hsss banishment (2220) fits perfectly in this events (it is realistic, that King Hsss Invasion spans 6 years before he was banished into the Void). This way the old and new Series' fit perfectly to each other.

One thing to mention too: Hordaks' creating of the Dark Hemisphere and help in the Creation of the Central Tower should also be around that time.

The Invasion of the Horde in Adams Birth Year could also happen as depicted, as the Horde not only consists of Hordak. Horde Prime has more Armies and might have banished Hordak to Despondos again.

She-Ra and the Rebel Princesses (2018)

The new Netflix-Series of 2018 presents a complete new Imaging of She-Ra and her Friends with basically no Connections to Eternia and He-Man. It might have been possible to sort the Events of the Series in the Prime-Timeline, but as established within the 2012-DC-Comics we now have Parallel Universes in the Masters-Canon. Therefore this interpretation should be placed as happening in such a Universe. (A nice hint to this is in the fourth Episode of Season 2, where a segment is presented in the Ways of the Old Carton and its mentioned that this is not even possible).

The Question to ask is where to start chronologically. It could be when Adora is transformed to She-Ra as in the Prime Timeline (Age around 22), or when she is 16, as she and her friends are probbaly that young in the new Cartoon-Series. This would coincidentally meet with the 2003-Series in the Prime-Timeline. To take a nod to both possibilites - younger self and the depiction of the Classic POP-Cartoon in the Second Season Episode mentioned above - I placed it in a way, that the Season is in the Timeframe of the Starting of the Classic Cartoon and the Start of the Series was a year before. As Season 2 & 3 have a shorter amount of Episodes it matches with the Classic Cartoon and Adora learning her Origins.

Shadow Weavers Transformation is shown in Episode 1x07 and is similar to the Classic-Series. There is no explicit date, but it is at the same time as Adoras Kidnapping. This is also true for Hordaks banishment in Despondos so the Events were also moved to 3196 for the Prime Timeline.

The Special Episodes (like the Swift Wind Adventures) are placed after 2x02, as She-Ra and Swift Wind train there together and harden their friendship.

Revelation (2021)

The new Cartoon is a continuation of the old Series, even though there are discussions if it is another Parallel Universe. But the producers want it to be in the Prime Timeline, so this is where to set it.

At the beginning the Series has a nice depiction of an Ehapa Comic (or lets say a Poster of one of it), not only cementing its Prime Timeline Status but also that of the mentioned Comics. The Story of the Series has therefore be set afterwards. Theoretically the Series also continues the Story of the Classic Princess of Power Cartoon, as, with its crossovers, this is intertwined with the Classic Masters Cartoon. So the Hordes must be around somwhere ;).

What is ignored, however, is the 2003-Cartoon and therefore the Snake Men. This might change in the Future, but see also the Section about this in the "Classics".

According to the many Secrets in "Revelation" that are to be revealed (Title (sic!)), it must be late in the History of He-Man, so shortly before he goes to Space and most obviously around the Time the Heroes become renegades and the second Ultimate Battleground. Also there has to be some time go by until the time Teela quit and the second Episode. Tri-Klops also needs time to redesign Snake Mountain (the transformation chalice is a nice nod to the Tech-Virus of the "Classics").

I decided to go with one year of time that has pased until we hear further. Also, Evil-Lyn and Skeletor call He-Man and Teela Younglings, even though they are in their late 20ies. Okay, Skeletor and Evil-Lyn are 20 years or more older than the Heroes, so it seems possible (evben if I must state that the depiction of Adam seems very Young). It doesn't make sense for Teela to become Captain with 18 and shortly thereafter new Man-at-Arms. The Timespan of her being 28 is more likely. This sets the fights with Skeletor on a 10 Year Timespan, which also seems plausible. So the old Villians call our Hero's Younglings as they are - from their point of View ;).

Of course He-Man has to survive to go to the Stars later on...

Masters of the Universe (2021)

The new animated Series of 2021 is placed in a Parallel Universe, like "She-Ra and the Rebel Princesses". There are too much differences so it is not possible to place it in the Prime Timeline. For example Ram-Man is a Woman and called Ram-Ma'am, He-Man shares his Powers with the others and so on (another example is the technological Orko). This, however, remembers Readers of the "Masters of the Multiverse"-Comic, in which on another Parallel Universe He-Man shares his Powers with the Masters (they don't look as technisized like in the new Series, but they might even be the same). Another hint for a Parallel Universe. The Series also uses Elements from the Classics, such as the Realnames of Ram-Ma'Am and Beastman.

The only question is, when the Series takes place in the Chronology. As there is a Teenage-Adam fighting against Skeletor the timeframe can be the same as the 2003-Cartoon (Skeletor even exists at that Time).

Additionally they place the Time of King Grayskull again 1000 Years in the Past, which ties in with the other Series (why I'm not going with the 5000 Year gap, you can read in the apropriate Section).

Movies

Masters of the Universe (1987)

By placing everything ever published in the chronology MOTU – The Movie was also plotted in. But there are a Few Points to reward about this: In the Movie Comic it is said that the First Eternians stranded 2221 on Eternia. From Episodes from the Classic Cartoon we know that there WERE Humans who lived before that time on Eternia. Maybe this indicates the First Royal Family? (However a Starship crashed 1000 Years ago on Eternia and maybe that’s the Reason why the Eternians speak English;)?).

Saurod does not die in the Comic. Because of the Movie and the Comic shall be the Same we can assume that Saurod didn’t die (maybe he only was teleported somewhere). Some of the Later published Comics feature Suarod as well so he must be alive somehow.

The Last Thing to debate about is of Eternia in Ruins after the Movie. Actually there is no sign of how much of Eternia is destroyed and because of some Later Comics everything must have been build up again.

Comics

Classic Minicomics (He-Man & She-Ra)

Some of the Cartoon Episodes are similar (or nearly identical) with some of the Minicomics. These are: “Masks of Power” / dto., “Dragon’s Gift”/dto. And “A Tale of two Cities”/”Slave City”. These Episodes are nearly identical with the Comics and there is no Reason why two nearly identical Events shall Happen, so the Comics were sorted with the Cartoon-Episodes.

The She-Ra-Minicomics aren’t familiar with the Cartoon but with the Toyline (Catra is the Enemy). But you can sort them in the Chronology and say, that Catra attacked a few times without Hordak (an Explanation that this is True is mentioned in the UK-Comics). The Comics begin in 1985 (3219) by watching a Little Bit at the Surrounding Events. The 86’ Comics and the Audio Cassettes are sorted after the Cartoon Series. Some comics have a 1984 Printing Date but you have to sort them with the 85’ Comics (“Journey to Mizar” for example: You can’t fight with Angella when she isn’t free which happened in TSOS). Also you have to sort “A Born champion” After “Assault on the Hive” because of the Appearance of Sweet Bee. It would make no Sense sorting the Cartoon after the Comics.

“The Story of She-Ra” has a Little discrepancy with the Cartoon Pilot Episodes. She-Ra fights against Catra, He-Man appears and helps her and the Sorceress then tells them of her heritage. This might be when She-Ra and He-Man flee from the Magna Beam and the Fright Zone in TSOS – a Little fight against Catra on the Way. Therefore it was placed with TSOS (and the Shortcut for “The Story of She-Ra” is also TSOS).

The First Classic Minicomics have an Other Version of Eternia: He-Man leaves hid Tribe to fight for Grayskull. With the known Story of Adam there are a Lot of mistakes in here. But the Comics and their Events can’t be ignored though. The Second DC Comic “The Key to Castle Grayskull” explains, that He-Man helped an Nomadic Tribe shortly before so this MUST be the Tribe of the First Minicomic. In “He-Man and the Power Sowrd” it is also said, that Skeletor came from another World. Well, maybe Skeletor visited another World somewhen in his Life so this could be possible. A little more clarity came from the Classics Line, as they invented Oo-Larr, the Jungle He-Man. But more on this in the Classics Section.

In “The Tale of Teela!” it is said that Teela was born 20 Years ago (3196) and no Matter what you may think of the Comic there is no Reason to reject this Date. The Story Skeletor tells Teela indeed must be a Lie (or has some sort of it in it), because 3196 Skeletor was Keldor (but like in the Cartoon Episodes you must be careful with “told Stories”).

“The Magic Stealer!” presents a tiny Mistake: Zoar and the Sorceress just standing nearby! Well that Time no One knews that they wanted to make the Sorceress Zoar but we have to find an Explanation for MOTU. So maybe it’s a Robot Bird or a Trick from the Sorceress to keep her identity.

“He-Man meets Ram-Man” presents the (first?) meeting of He-Man and Ram-Man – but with a little mistake (even if you exclude the New Cartoon). One Issue before in “The Power of… Point Dread!” asks He-Man for Ram-Man, who is en Route. The Early Minicomics all have NUMBERS so “…Dread!” can’t play after “… Ram-Man”. Maybe something with Ram-Mans Mind? Or maybe something happened which we don’t know of yet. Whatever we can assume that Skeletor influenced Ram-Man somehow (he tells him of the Laughing Castle Grayskull) and for what Reason ever he was tricked by him.

The Same with “The Menace of… Trap Jaw!”. There are mistakes here as well – it is definitvely NOT the FIRST Meeting with Trap Jaw (even if you exclude the new Series). Again this Comic has a Number and can’t be set earlier. But you can see Trap Jaw on Skeletor’s Side a few Issues earlier! So maybe a Little Journey of Trap Jaw to another World? An attempt to flee from Skeletor? Seems so…

Again the Same in “The Ordeal of Man-E-Faces!” and “The Terror of Tri-Klops!”. The First One is Less a Problem if you assume that Man-E-Faces was able to Transform himself before the Comic (as shown in the New Series). An interesting Point is that the Sorceres says, that Skeletor maybe try to influence Man-E-Faces again (as happened later in the Classic Cartoon – and there is also an Episode in the 2003 Series in which Beast Man tries to control Man-E-Faces). “The Terror of… Tri-Klops!” must be seen under the Aspect of the 2003 Series. But else you can assume that Skeletor just grapped Tri-Klops out of Battle and using him to Attack He-Man. Again this Comic has a Number and a Few Issues Earlier we can see Tri-Klops on Skeletor’s Side so again he must have been there before.

The 85’ Minicomics start after the Cartoon so they can sensefully go with the She-Ra-Episodes. The 83’ and 84’ Comics are at their appropriate Year, seeing for Surrounding Events and sort them all over the Year as they were printed (“Clash of Arms” for example near the Episode “Fisto’s Forest” and so on).

The Roboto-Section was mentioned in the Classic-Cartoon Section.

You have two Appearances of Battle Bones: “Skeletor’s Dragon” and “Stench of Evil”. They both reappear in the Audio Cassettes but in other form – see there for further Infos. In “Skeletor’s Dragon” Skeletor didn’t bend the Dragon on him so maybe it is another One the the One from the Cassette.

“Grizzlor – A Legend comes alive” has a 84 Printing Date on Cover (Cover-Printing Dates are normally a Good odd sorting them in) but has to be placed with the 85’ Comics (He-Man’s Friends meet Grizzlor but faraway only He-Man had met him). Maybe it was printed in 84 but published in 85 (like “Hordak – The Ruthless Leaders Revenge” and “Mantenna and the Menace…”, both are placed in 85 but after “Grizzlor…” and “Leech – Master of Power Suction Unleashed” because He-Man’s Friends meet the Creatures there the First Time). But what about Hordak, he could tried to Attack Eternia earlier, before He-Man meets Adora, but this has a discrepancy with “Leech…” in which the Heroes are Surprised by an Attack of Hordak so it has to be placed before “Hordak…” and “Mantenna…”.

“The Treachery of Modulok” must be set directly after (or partly during) “Gateway to Trouble”, because you see Modulok going to the Horde. Well, He-Man must have seen Modulok before so we can question why he didn’t recognize him – maybe he thought it would only be something similar. That Modulok is able to spilt himself in Parts is unknown at that Point.

The History of the Rock People is a little confusing looking for their Appearances. First they land in “The Rock People” on Etheria, then Stonedar and Rokkon travel to Eternia in “Rock People to the Rescue” and hordak attacks them Twice after that (“Between a Rock and a Hard Place” & “Escape from the Slime Pit!”). Very well so far. But then there are the Cassettes and the Second Ehapa-Comic. In the Cassettes Stonedar and Rokkon again land on Eternia (and no one knows them) – but maybe they were seen as Rocks and therefore not recognized First, so they may have been on a Journey. In the Comic we see a Swarm of Meteorites (actually Rock People) land on Eternia and He-Man and his Friends stop them. Well again we can assume that they weren’t recognized in their Rock Form just as Skeletor planned as he tried to throw them on Grayskull. Fits quite well – and explains why He-Man and the Rock People became Friends very fast. So maybe the Rock People took some Trips after their landing on Etheria (or Move their whole Race to Eternia because Etheria is unsafe). In the Second Star-Comic Rokkon and Stonedar again land on Eternia – but here it is the Meteorb-Hunt which is imminent to the Story. Because of so much different Sources we should ignore the Fact that the Rock People introduce themselves so often to He-Man and his Friends.

“The Terror Claws strike!” must be set before “Escape from The Slime Pit!” and “Flying Fists of Power”, because Skeletor wears his Claws in “…Pit!” and we see a Snake Men (Rattlor as it seems) so “King of the Snake Men” must be placed before that Comic too . Those two Comics have a 85’ Signature but must be placed later in the Timeline, because they have to Play AFTER the Last She-Ra-Episode in which we can see Snake Men (“Shades of Orko”, POP #90) because in “King of the Snake Men” King Hiss teleports Rattlor and Tung Lashor from the Horde to Eternia – and it doesn’t make sense that the two Snake Men will serve Hordak much longer when their King is back! Therefore this Comic must be placed in 3220. “…Claws”, “…Slime Pit!” and “Flying Fists…” follow, because the Comics name Events from the Further Comics and must be placed after them. The Freeing of King Hiss seems a Little disturbing because of the New Cartoon. Hiss must be trapped in the Void again with his Snake Men (instead of Rattlor and Tung Lashor, who Escape and Join Hordak while Kobra Khan joins Skeletor). Therefore Hiss’ “Revenge” he speaks of in the Minicomics has much more sense if this happens.

Multi-Bot first appears in “Black Snow”, a She-Ra-Episode. Therefore “The Menace of Multi-Bot!” must be placed shortly thereafter, because this is He-Man’s First Meeting with Multi-Bot.

“Between a Rock and a Hard Place” has a Scene from “Rock People to the Rescue” in it but has to placed after “…Slime Pit!”, because the Slime Pit is mentioned in the Comic. This places “Rock People to the Rescue” at the End of the Year 3219.

“The Ultimate Battleground!” has to be placed after the Cartoon-Series in 3220. It presents the re-appearance of the Eternia-Towers and makes the Way for “The Powers of Grayskull”. The Comic ends with the Words “The Bginning”.

In “Enter: Buzz-Saw Hordak” Hordak enters the Central Tower and talks about Time Travels which the Tower is able to accomplish. Because of this Randor wants to know more about Keldor in “The Search for Keldor” and this makes the Way for “Powers of Grayskull” and the Time Travel in that Comic so it has to be placed before the two Comics.

Well, with the New Cartoon at Hand we know that Skeletor IS Keldor so it seems strange that Randor looks for him in “The Search for Keldor”. But he speaks of ‘The Riddle of Keldor’ so we can assume he wanted to know more about Keldors Magic or something else.

“The Cosmic Key” must be placed before “The Powers of Grayskull” because the Sorceress mentioned that the usage of the Cosmic Key near the Eternia Towers opened the Time Portal.

New Adventures Minicomics

The “New Adventures” Minicomics also have a Different Story like the Cartoon. This might be the Most knowing Story how He-Man travels in the Future (the Real Event might be a Sort of Mixing the two Story Elements). But luckily there are only 4 Minicomics which can be sorted right easily with the Cartoon. The Comics are similar to the First Cartoon Episodes (theft of Trifusium-Crystals) so there is no Reason why two nearly identical Events shall Happen, so the Comics were sorted with the Cartoon-Episodes.

Icons of Evil / 2003 Comics

The Volume II-Comic of the New MOTU-Series must be placed after Episode 16: Two-Bad is there but Stinkor doesn’t still exist. From the “Icons of Evil”-Series we know that Skeletor created his Skeleton Warriors Years ago after the Creation of the Mystic Wall so it is possible that they appear here. The “Target Exclusive Comic” (2-Pack Comic) presents Skeletor who is able to Teleport – or so it seems (possibly it could be something else). But he learns it in the Volume II-Comic. Because of the Episode “Sky War” mentioned in the Target-Comic this Comic can’t be placed that Later and must be placed shortly after this Episode (but about Episode 9 because it took a few more Episodes for Skeletor to Learn of the Sorceress of Grayskull also mentioned in the Comic in direct Confrontation with Skeletor). The “Icons of Evil” again don’t have an Exact Date (again it all happened “Years ago”). But from the third Issue “Trap Jaw” we know they have to be placed shortly after the Creation of the Mystic Wall – so the Other Issue must be placed in the Same Year but a little earlier.

German Comics

The Kellogs- and Micky Mouse-Comics were also sorted in (they were licensed though) but present only little Story Events and were therefore sorted in with short Entries.

Masters Magazines

The German Masters-Magazines (the Mattel-Advertisement-Magazines) hav similar mistakes like the Cassettes when you look at those incredible “First Meetings” of Characters. Again we must ignore those Sentences – but of Course not the Overall Stories which were placed in the Chronology. Magazine 86/1 must be placed after the Cassettes because of He-Mans Battle Armor (well could be a Point to debate about but the further Workings must be Improvements of the Armour). Magazine 88/1 must be placed shortly before the Movie (despite it has a 88’ Date), because it presents Skeletors First attempt to Steal the Cosmic Key.

Ehapa Comics

The 1987 Ehapa-Comics begin after the Movie (Hordak and the Eternia Towers are there and the First Issue started at the End of 87). So far it continues with thee Comics until 3223 and the Beginning of the New Adventures.

The NA-Ehapa-Comics can be sorted between the NA-Episodes. There are two Stories in the Issues playing shortly after another (like the Other Ehapas and the Interparts). The Story of Ehapa 89 #8 (“Skeletors Falle schnappt zu”) is almost the Same Story like the Episode “Glasnost Schmaznost”: Skeletor convinces the Galactic Council that he is the Good One. In the Comic he has influenced Darius to Help him, in the Episode he does it without him. Again it wouldn’t make sense that two (nearly) identical Events happen so the Comic was sorted with the Episode.

Interpart Comics

The German Interpart-Comics were published in 1985 and therefore placed in the appropriate Year.

Early DC Comics

The DC Comics play shortly after another and are placed like that. The Story of the Two Halfes of the Power Sword ended with DC #3 (Key to Grayskull) with the known Story of One Power Sword and He-Man’s Transformation. So before the Beginning of the DC Minicomics He-Mans Sword must have been splitted apart and reunited in or after DC #3 (the Sorceress mentioned at the End of DC #3 that she will bring the Sword back to Safety – she doesn’t speak of the Two Halfes any More – and the Safety seems to be the Hands of He-Man). The “MOTU Classics” throw new Light on this Part and we’ll talk about this in the Classics Section.

Star Comics

The Fourth Starcomic describes the reappearnce of the Snake Men (similar to the Minicomic “King of the Snake Men” but with little Differencies). Therefore this Comic must be placed directly after the Minicomic (there is no Place for other Stuff in here). The only Strange Thing then are Skeletor and his Terror Claws but they appear in the Chronology in the following Minicomic so it is possible that Skeletor uses them here the First Time. The Terror Claws of the First Starcomic are obviously a Prototype (they are looking ahm strange) so he has improved them. The Last Three Starcomics have to be placed before the Movie (they’re published later) because in “Lifetime Part 1” it is mentioned how Skeletor conquered Grayskull using the Cosmic Key.

DC Comics (2012)

The new Masters Series throws away much from the old continuity, like in “Legends of Eternia”, that shows a new Origin-Story for our Heroes. No Mystic Wall, Skeletor sneaks in, Cringer transforms later and so on. It is later revealed it is all placed in another Universe but many things may also fit in the Prime-Timeline. Also, the first Battle of He-Man and Skeletor or the creation of Trap Jaw was in a Vision, so all could be a dream.

However, let's see if Events, that happen before the Comic and don't contradict the Timeline, could also be used for that.

Masters of the Multiverse

In previous stories it has been established that the new Comics are set in a Parallel-Universe, and it all ends with Masters of the Multiverse. There are, however, no clues when in the Prime-Timeline the events happen, so we set it at the End of the Classical Canon, just before the New Adventures (even if they’re shown here in a Parallel-Universe).

Books

Golden Books

There are two Stories named “The Power of Point Dread”, the Minicomic and the Story which comes along with a Second Story: “Danger at Castle Grayskull!”. This One must be placed before “The Tale of Teela” because of the Appearance of Point Dread shortly before Skeletor wants to conquer it (“The Tale of Teela”) and before Point Dread was placed atop of Grayskull. The Talon Fighter reappears in “Danger at Castle Grayskull” but from the Classic-Cartoon we know that he must be near the Palace. So he disappeared from Grayskull. “Danger at Castle Grayskull” was therefore placed in the Year it belongs to: 3217.

“New Champions of Eternia” (Golden Books) stated that Evil-Lyn, Tri-Klops and Beast Man might be Crewmembers of Marlena as she crashlanded on Eternia. But this is questionable – it could be a magical Trick of Skeletor or something else. Marlenas Crewmembers might be got Lost in the Dark Hemisphere but we can’t surely say that they’re Evil-Lyn and Co.. An interesting Fact is, that in the Golden Books (published mid-80s) there are much Things of the New Cartoon (the Mystic Wall, the Elders).

The 1987 She-Ra-Annual has a Printing Date from 1986 and is therefore placed there.

Audio Plays

Europa (He-Man & She-Ra)

The German She-Ra-Cassettes from 1986 have to be set in the appropriate Year after the Cartoon-Series (because of the Appearance of Sweet Bee they must be placed after “The Hive”). One must ignore that in the Cassettes everyone knows Adoras Secret. The Cassettes concentrate on the Toyline and not the Cartoon. The German MOTU-Cassettes begin in 1985 (the First 11 Numbers). No. 12-24 are from 1986, 25-34 from 1987.

They have been placed within their Production Years when the Comics End but beside the Cartoon. The 86’ Cassettes must be placed before the Appearance of the Eternia Towers – the Towers change Things on Eternia. Within the First Ehapa-Comic of 1987 we can see the Eternia Towers, so the Cassettes have to be placed before. The Destruction of Snake Mountain in No. 37 wasn’t as final as it seems (in No. 6 Snake Mountain is als destroyed but only one number later it reappears as if nothing happened, so this is the Same Problem). The Last 3 Numbers (35-37) are from 1988 but must be placed with the 1987 Cassettes because the Last 5 Numbers have a ongoing Story which plays a Few Days after another. Some of the Cassettes must therefore be placed directly after each other because they Name Events of Earlier Numbers. The New Adventures-Cassette presents the Same Story as the Ehapa-Comic and the Minicomics of the Toyline. The Touching of the Crystal with He-Man’s Sword must be placed somwhere between/during the First Episodes/Minicomic before the Theft of the Trifusium-Crystals – no matter that it is never mentioned in the NA-Series. In Cassette No. 2 we’re given an Explanation for Skeletor but it can’t be true (just watch the 2003 Series).

The Giants may have transformed their Evil through Time on Skeletor – you can also read this from their Explanations and it seems to be the Best solution of this Problem. Again we have no idea of how much the Friends travel back in time. Cassette No. 12 presents seemingly the first Meeting with Whiplash and Kobra Khan – very strange because it is a 3220’ Cassette. We have the First Appearance of the Dragon Walker here too. Well, we have to ignore this little Sentences because they make no Sense. The Same with the Appearances of Hordak and Battle Bones (in a Later Cassette we hear of more than one Battle Bones, so it’s obviously a mistake).

The destruction of the Talon Fighter is NOT a mistake: From the Minicomic “The Power of… Point Dread!” we know that the Talon Fighter once destroyed reapperas at Point Dread. No. 14 and 16 (and partly No. 17) are nearly identical with “Skeletor’s Ice Attack” and “Attack on Castle Grayskull” (the Ladybird Books). Like the Minicomics and the Cartoon it would make no Sense that two identical Events shall happen therefore the Books were placed with the Cassettes – no matter that their printing date is one Year earlier. The German Mattel-Magazine “Der Doppelgaenger” presents the Same Story like Cassette No. 7. There are sevral accounts in the Cassettes which prove that they have a Lot of mistakes and that some of them should be ignored: No. 21 and 22 for Example. Teela didn’t recognize Modulok instead of that she met him only One Number before. Or Multi-Bots First Appearance in No. 31 – he was also there in No. 29! And the “First Meetings” of No. 26 and 28… well, you see? Too much mistakes in the Cassettes to take this for Serious.

 

 

Masters of the Universe Classics

Mattel did a great job with the new Toyline and their respective Bioses'. What was intially thought of as a good reason - the combining of all Sources to a overall continuity - has finally become a terrible, horrible mess, as the BIOS mostly add new confusion and make things more complicated than necassary. We have tried to build in as many Information as possible.

 

However the additional BIOS from Super7 - who continued the Line with the official Licence - presented on their Homepage were also included as they also can be considered canon. They include also Bios for Artifacts.

 

 

Skeletors break-in into the Library of Heavens should be placed near the End of the NA-Series. She-Ra follows He-Man a little bit later and the last Episodes of the Cartoon have a connected Story and end in a Peace Treaty. However He-Man is alone in this Episodes, but this is not necessarily a contradiction.

 

Cleaning up the Past, or: Why 5000 Years is not a good idea

The MOTU-Classics Bios initally described Hiss being banned into the Void 500 Years ago. Fans pointed out that this was wrong and Mattel corrected it in later Editions: now it was 5000 Years. This was corrected in more Bios and used in new ones from there on.

Instead of thinking detailled about it, they obviously lazily wrote a Zero on the 500 Number making it 5000 - and made things unnecessarily complicated. Other dates also won't fit with the 5000 Years and... well, it's a long time to wait, even for long life creatures.

If we look in the 2003-Cartoon the time of Grayskull is dated 1000 Years in the Past. There is hoewever no Timespan given in the old "Powers of Grayskull"-Comic as how long to the past the Time Travel goes. Mattel pointed out in a Q&A that the Comics "overwrite" the Bios-Data (Canon Priority). So lets put aside the Bios and their correcting of the Numbers for now and have a look on the other sources. The new "Powers of Grayskull 1"-Minicomic again pointed out the Date of 5000 Years into the Past.

But this is where the new Cartoon "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021)" comes into hand. In Episode 7 the Time of King Grayskull is again stated as being 1000 Years in the Past. The Classics-Bios retconned many things according the Death of King Grayskull (see below), which fit better in the Timeline, but according to Canon Priority the Cartoon now again overwrites the Comic (even though you might argue it's a Parallel Universe this doesn't count in that case, as core dates remain the same throughout the Saga). So King Grayskulls time is 1000 Years prior and not 5000, which better fits with the technological developments during that time. Plus, 5000 years is a long time for the Horde to wander around and find Etheria....

Notice: Of course everyone can decide on its own whether the 5000 Years should be accepted or not. 5000 Years would put the Time of King Grayskull at around 2000 BC.. Between the two time periods there aren't much key evenbts that happened....

 

History of the Snake Men

Being a Snake Men is hard in these times.They're created around 1913 by the Unnamed One (and can live a long lifespan obviously). He wants to conquer Eternia and sends Hiss there, but Hiss neeeds 300 Years for his first campaign, until he is defeated in the "Great Wars" by Hordak. He then joins the other races in creating the three Towers as a Peace Treaty. Grayskull Tower by the Humans, Viper Tower by the Snake Men and Central Tower in the Middle - with help from Hordak and the Hordes. The Snake Men are a formidable Power at this time, despite their losses. It is not exactly known, if everyone knew from the beginning, that the three Towers channel the Powers from within Eternia, but it was known when they were sunk.

Hordak betrays everyone and attacks Grayskull shortly thereafter. He is defeated and send to Despondos. But as if that wasn't enough the Snake Men are then attacked by Vikor (Well, the murdering of King Grayskull in the 2012-DC-Comics is the reason for this, even if it contradicts the Cartoon and might be settled in a Parallel Universe, as it was later retconned by Mattel. More on this in the King Grayskull Section). One year later (its 2214) Serpos is banished and Snake Mountain gets its current form.

This leads King Hiss to conquer Eternia again and he starts his attacks. Now this lasts for 6 Years (until 2220). Hiss is now on the Edge of Victory as Eternia is weakened at this Point. This is when time travelling He-Man arrives from the Future. This is the Time of the First Ultimate Battleground and the Sinking of the Three Towers. Now Hiss is banished into the Void. (Remember: He-Ro is alive at that Time, he survives King Grayskull, which is consistend with the Classics Bios).

Now Hiss and his Men are trapped for nearly 1000 Years. (Even though the Bios mention 500 years it was later said this is incorrect and corrected to 5000 Years. This however is also an absurd high number, but lets deal for the Moment with the number of 1000 years. You'll see the Story makes more sense this way). Then Hiss and his minions are freed (2003 Cartoon) and defeated. They're banished back into the Void (not shown), while Tung Lashor and Rattlor escape and stay free (this is to an extent shown in the Cartoon). The join the Horde on Etheria. Now the Classic-Cartoon follows and they are seen with the Horde there. A few Years later Skeletor frees King Hiss again. Obviously he needs help in his fight against He-Man and uses Kobra Khan as spy to overthrow Hiss somewhen in the Future. This time the Snake Army didn't return. After having Tung Lashor and Rattlor back from the Horde, as shown in the Minicomics, he tries to free more of his Generals. Rattler and Lashor beg for Mercy for joining the Horde as they didn't think Hiss would ever return.

The next Generals to be freed are Snake Face and Sssqueeze alike bevor the Portal to the Void is ultimately destroyed by He-Man (Comic "Flying Fists of Power"), Year 3220. This means that most of the Snake Army is forever trapped and then the Second Ultimate Battleground follows later in the Future. Here, the Snake Men are defeated using the Spell of Seperation.

And thats it, or is it? And you thought this to be easy... But one question remains: Why did the Unnamed One wait a thounsand years before acting? Isn't that the Power he always wanted?