SECTION FOUR: THE THIRD AGE
PART FOURTEEN: LEGENDS AND MORGOTH, TEELANA AND THE SECOND HORDE INCURSION
THE THIRD AGE
Shortly after the assassination of the Apprentices, the Third Age was declared to have begun. Over the next thousand years, the Elders guided with wisdom and power. Eternos continued to slowly grow, undergoing various monarchs over the next ten centuries. The royal line remained intact.
Legends persist of champions of Grayskull that even I can not readily identify. One was called Vikor, a possible champion who journeyed to the north and warred with giants. Another was Oo-Lar, who battled in the Desert against a sadistic dentist named Mol-Lar. Why these two are so hard for me to view or why they were vanished from history is beyond my current knowledge. Regardless, it is important to note their possibly existence.
In the year 928 of the Third Age – a banished giant wizard became free and summoned the Horde to Eternia. A scout force launched an attack of the Borderlands and claimed many different villages, including Noelle. Luckily, schisms between the Horde scouts and Morgoth prevented a full invasion. A young prisoner, a woman named Teelana, had lost her family in the invasion. Hoping to put a stop to the incursion, she managed to escape and journeyed to Castle Grayskull. It was there she met the current Sorceress, Kodac Ungl. She was given the option of have the power to stop Morgoth and the Horde – but only if she were to become the next Sorceress. She was persuaded to do so and returned to Noelle in full force, banishing Morgoth and wiping out the scout forces. When she returned to Castle Grayskull, Kodac Ungl was gone and Teelana became the Sorceress of Grayskull.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the army was defeated by King David and Prince Miro. The Elders, having no other choice, at long last released the technology given to Eternia by the Ancients. They allowed Eternos and some of the other kingdoms to hold onto it and advance their own industry.
PART FIFTEEN: PRINCE KELDOR
THE THIRD AGE
Prince Miro soon became King Miro and married a commoner by the name Lara. Queen Lara soon became pregnant with their first child, Prince Randor. Two more children followed – Princess Johanna and Prince Stephen. While pregnant with their forth child, Queen Lara fell in the garden. As she died, Prince Keldor was born. Unfortunately, Keldor was born with a weak heart, which made him weak and physically incapable of the feats his older brothers. Further, King Miro secretly blamed Keldor for Lara's death and became resentful of him.
Keldor made up for the physical activities by studying sorcery - and the legends of the dark wizards of old. Keldor sought the legendary Castle Grayskull, in the hopes of using its power to prove to his overbearing family members his worth. To cause Castle Grayskull to return, Keldor gave the human leader of a band of Orcs named Monteeg a powerful horn - which would allow for an attack against Eternos. With Eternos under attack, Castle Grayskull would surely return. And return it did. Keldor reached it as Monteeg's Orcs battled at Eternos. During his raid, Keldor stole a blade from the Hall of Secrets - the Sword of Darkness. Keldor took it, but was captured by a Lieutenant Duncan after the Sorceress of Grayskull alerted him to the situation. Duncan took Keldor to Eternos, and revealed his place in Monteeg's failed attack to the royal family.
Under the advisement of the Council of Elders, Keldor was to be banished and his name to be stripped in secret - and a false report as to his fate to be released. But that evening, Keldor broke free and abandoned all of Eternos, divorcing himself from all of them forever on his own. Eventually, Keldor met up with Monteeg and agreed to join with his band of Orcs that were heading east from Eternos. Miro, broken-hearted because of his son's reckless abandon, left the throne to Randor and went missing during a secret confrontation with the evil Enchantress.
PART SIXTEEN: THE COURTSHIP OF QUEEN MARLENA AND THE RISE OF THE HORDE
THE THIRD AGE
Two years after Keldor's betrayal, an Earth woman named Marlena Glenn accidentally entered a wormhole that linked the Eternian star system with her own. She crashed onto Eternia and was soon rescued by King Randor and newly promoted Commander Duncan. After discovering that her ship was irreparable, she became a royal guest of the king and the two swiftly fell in love. They married and she announced as queen.
Meanwhile, Duncan had been sent to the Sorceress of Grayskull to ensure that Marlena was no Horde spy or other invader. It was during this encounter that the Sorceress Teelana and Duncan revealed their true feeling for each other. The Sorceress also told Duncan that she would be released from the magical binds of Grayskull for one year and she would want to spend that year with him. After Grayskull vanished, the Sorceress became a mortal again for one year – and she and Duncan were able to express their love freely and openly. She even altered her appearance so that King Randor and the others would not recognize her. It was only a matter of time, however, before Teelana became pregnant.
As Eternos relished in the feelings of love and joy, Keldor was faced with a challenge by one of the Orcs. He dueled with this Orc and killed him – just as his heart gave out. Monteeg used a spell to give Keldor the Orc's heart. This saved Keldor's life, but also turned his skin blue. Keldor, to seal this all around transformation from his old self into his new life, burned then ate his own heart.
Not long after this, Hordak returned to Eternia, having been alerted to the wormhole in the system. He sought a contact and advisor and asked both Monteeg and Keldor to join him. When Monteeg refused, he was transformed into a feeble creature and returned to Eternia. Keldor allowed himself to become an apprentice to Hordak and led the Horde to Snake Mountain.
PART SEVENTEEN: THE HORDE WAR
THE THIRD AGE
The Horde began in earnest when the Horde massacred the small kingdom of South Eternos, a kingdom that Keldor was to be given had he remained with the family. Along with all of the men in the village, the Horde also destroyed an Eternian attack squadron, succeeding in taking Captain Dekker's eye.
The Horde war soon began a back and forth, with major engagements in the Mystic Mountains. Avion was forced into isolation; Insectia managed to fight off the enemy. The longest engagement was in the area known as Kreyf, where Commander Duncan and Captain Dekker led troops in a months-long battle against the Horde. It wasn't until King Randor himself entered the fray that Eternos claimed a clear victory in the key battle.
In the meantime, Keldor was confronted by Scare-Glow in the depths of Snake Mountain. He was given his Havoc Staff, a weapon that help strengthen his skills as an uber-mage.
Shortly after the birth of Duncan and Teelana's daughter, Teela, Queen Marlena announced her own pregnancy to the kingdom. Queen Marlena was in fact pregnant with twins. Unfortunately, this joy was tainted by the sting of Teelana's return to Castle Grayskull. This forced Duncan into lying about Teelana's fate and becoming a single father.
By this point, King Randor rallied the Cats, Bears, Avions, and Insectoids to his aide. Eternos began a new campaign in the Evergreen Forest. It was during this siege on Horde fortresses that Keldor encountered the deposed chief of the Man-Beasts, the Beast-Man. Keldor took him on as a thug.
Hordak eventually launched an attack on the Hall of Wisdom. During the course of battle, King Randor learned the Keldor was in fact Hordak's apprentice. While Hordak and his allies were unable to kill the Council of Elders, they managed to take King Randor prisoner. Randor confronted his brother, who soon poisoned him. King Randor would have died had Zoar – the Sorceress's avatar form – not rescued him from certain death and taken him back to Castle Grayskull.
As King Randor recovered in Castle Grayskull, a Horde contingent rode to Darksmoke Mountain, home of Granamyr and the Dragons. After challenging Granamyr, the Dragons were unleashed against Horde. They destroyed the contingent, then moved on and swept the Horde out of the Mystic Mountains. With this victory, the returned King Randor ordered that the Horde be weeded out of the Evergreen Forest and Desert.
Several defeats led Hordak to withdraw his forces back to Snake Mountain. Bases were abandoned and a false peace fell upon Eternia. During this tense peace, Hordak sought out the Oracle of Truth. The Oracle informed Hordak that the twins Queen Marlena carried had a special destiny. Hordak decided to march all of their forces on Eternos.
Unfortunately, the Horde was no longer seen as a threat to the other major powers of Eternia and they left Eternos to handle the attack on its own. King Randor, Queen Johanna, King Stephan, and their allies gathered as much military as possible and braved the battle. It was vicious battle that took Keldor and Hordak into the heart of Eternos itself. As the battle drew to a close and the Royal Solders pushed against the Horde Troopers, the Council of Elders came to deal with Hordak at last. Hordak, however, was ready for them and used a spell that relied on the connection they had with each other to destroy them. King Randor stepped in and turned the spell against Hordak, leading to his defeat. Keldor and Hordak managed to escape and Hordak ordered a full retreat back to Snake Mountain.
However, the words of the Oracle remained with Hordak. He and Keldor snuck into the Palace to capture the newly-born Adam and Adora. Marlena and Duncan fought the pair off, but Hordak managed to escape with Adora. Adam was safe and Keldor was rushed into custody. Zoar, the Sorceress, appeared then and took Duncan to Snake Mountain. The Horde managed to evacuate Eternia with Adora.
Keldor, meanwhile, escaped Eternos and rejoined Beast-Man and his own apprentice, a young witch named Lynn.
The Council of Elders, knowing of Adam's destiny, convinced the royal family to allow them to erase the memory of Adora's existence from everyone's mind. With that memory suppressed, Adam would be able to grow up without the shadow of his twin sisters kidnapping looming over him. Among those whose memory remained intact was Randor, Marlena, Johanna, Stephen, Duncan, and Keldor.
PART EIGHTEEN: THE COUNCIL OF EVIL
THE THIRD AGE
Months later, Keldor assembled a Council of Evil. It consisted of engineer and terrorist Kronis; blind swordsman Eathos; warlord King Galdor; Mer-Warrior Mer-Man; Bakull, beast of the seas; Anghast, master of the realm of Evil; General Tartaran of the Goblins; Batros of the Bats and former Horde ally; and the still deformed Monteeg. Rounding this out were Lynn, now going to by Evil-Lynn, and Beast-Man.
They assaulted the Hall of Wisdom, but were confronted by the forces of Eternos. The Council of Elders banished Anghast and Bakull. Galdor, Tartaran, and Batros fled once the battle took a turn. Keldor, not wanting to be so easily defeated, used the power of the Sword of Darkness and the Havoc Staff together to attack the Elders. The Elders deflected the attack and it struck Keldor, searing away his face, causing it to melt. The remaining members of the Council of Evil retreated back to Snake Mountain.
Once there, Keldor began to die again. Scare-Glow emerged and used his power to save him. Keldor was transformed into the skull-headed Skeletor. Skeletor devoted himself to becoming more powerful and thus went into seclusion.
Shortly after these events, the Council of Elders left the Hall of Wisdom, decreeing that it become a school. They journeyed to Castle Grayskull, where all but Eldor became a part of its power. Eldor was given the task of safe-guarding the Book of Living Spells. This marked the end of the Third Age.
Part Fourteen:
- Vikor and Oo-Lar have been mentioned recently as "other He-Man" from the past. Considering their nature, I felt it would have been best to keep their adventures "vague" for now. Mo-Lar was featured in Robot Chicken and was recently released as an exclusive figure. (Classics)
- Teelana becoming the Sorceress was featured in "The Origin of the Sorceress" (Filmation)
Parts Fifteen – Eighteen:
- This is basically a summary of the events of "Preludes and Beginnings"
- Queen Lara was named after Superman's Mom. The reasoning behind this was as a nod to the classic DC He-Man comics
- You'll also note that Rohad and Monteeg don't exactly appear as they did in Filmation's canon. That's simply because for the longest time, I was going simply by text descriptions of the episodes they appeared in. When I discovered they were completely different from how I pictured them, I made an effort to fix things. With Rohad, it was simply mentioning that he had a third eye. With Monteeg, he was transformed into a pitiful creature by Hordak (ala Count Marzo in the MYP canon).
- Kronis in the pre-carnate Trap-Jaw (MYP). Galdor is the name of one of the villains from the really, really old-school mini-comics. Eathos (the name for Tri-Klops) comes mainly from cjclifford, who actually adapted it from Divia's "Ethan." Bakull and Anghast are both from Filmation.