The Ending Of Masters Of The Universe: Revelation Part 2 Explained

The final battle for Eternia, the universe, and beyond is finally here in Netflix's "Masters of the Universe: Revelation Part 2." The first part of the series from Kevin Smith sees Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar) assemble a rag-tag group of heroes in a quest to find the two blades which make up the sword of power after it was split in half during a dramatic battle between He-Man (Chris Wood) and Skeletor (Mark Hamill). It ends with the huge (ahem) revelation that Skeletor is still alive before he takes the Sword of Power for himself and transforms into an incredibly muscular version of himself — with all of He-Man's powers.

But "Part 2" takes its sprawling list of heroes and villains in some fascinating new directions, which will take some audiences by surprise. The writers really have some surprises in store for long-time fans of the franchise. But what does the final fight mean for He-Man, Teela, Man-at-Arms (Liam Cunningham), and the rest of Eternia? Here's the ending of "Masters of the Universe: Revelation Part 2" explained.

"Revelation Part 2" kicks off by briefly exploring Teela's backstory, which some fans of the original 1983 Filmation series will no doubt be familiar with. Teela's mother is revealed to be none other than the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull (Susan Eisenberg), who couldn't stay to raise her daughter with Man-At-Arms (Liam Cunningham) because of her duty as the new Sorceress. She's clearly distraught over the thought of not being with her daughter, but she paints a magical protection charm on her which will activate when she needs it the most. It's a beautifully touching opening, which contrasts well against the drama of Skeletor overthrowing Eternia.

With Skeletor wielding the Sword of Power, he has everything he's ever wanted and begins turning the Eternian citizens into a mindless zombie army. It's this dire situation that forces Prince Adam to try a radical solution: what happens if he says the iconic words he uses to transform without holding the sword? He transforms into Savage He-Man, a mindless brute who has all of the hero's strength and none of his brains. This is because the power is raw and unrefined when it doesn't flow through the sword, so he doesn't retain his own personality and is just a being of pure rage ... He's basically a blonde Hulk.

However, the only thing that gets through to Savage He-Man is his father, King Randor (Diedrich Bader). In the time since Adam's death, the King spent a lot of time wishing he'd told his son that he loves him. Now that he's alive again, the King finally tells him that to his face. It's those words that bring Adam out of his Savage He-Man persona at Point Dread.

After coming into power, one of Skeletor's first acts of business is to make Evil-Lyn (Lena Headey) the new sorceress, which she isn't exactly pleased about because this keeps her locked away in Grayskull. Although Skeletor gives her access to the entire universe, she's still not happy that he keeps using her as a tool, rather than as an ally. Skeletor pushes Evil-Lyn to her limits by calling her a "gutter rat," harking back to her origin as a street urchin. Lyn is understandably heartbroken by Skeletor's off-the-cuff insult because he was the one who saved her from her dire situation.

It's difficult for Lyn, especially since she's been with Skeletor most of her life. But ultimately Skeletor's own short-sighted goals make her realize that she can do so much better. He waxes lyrical about wanting to kill He-Man once and for all, and it's here she comes to the realization that Skeletor has no real ambitions for the rest of the universe outside of his eternal battle with Prince Adam.

She even points out how dim-witted Skeletor really is, as she seduces him to distract the villain so she can take the Sword of Power for herself. Evil-Lyn takes the chance to transform into an ethereal, omniscient warrior — a huge step-up for a so-called "gutter rat." However, Lyn is forced to see all the universe at once and makes the decision that she should use her powers to snuff out every living thing. It's not surprising that she's come to this decision, since she only sees the horrors of life and the darker side of humanity.

One of the most surprising moments in the series sees Skeletor surrender to the Eternian forces, offering to team up with Prince Adam to stop Evil-Lyn. Hang on, did the lord of Snake Mountain actually put the greater good ahead of his own desires for once? Now that's character development. Though, the skull-faced baddie is obviously aware that if Lyn wipes out the universe, he'll have his own power stripped away from him — so it is more about self-preservation rather than selflessness.

Unfortunately, even their team-up won't be enough to simply put a stop to Lyn when she brings up all the Subternian dead as her new army led by Scareglow (Tony Todd). A sprawling battle between good and evil rages on, while Adam and Skeletor try to keep Lyn distracted long enough to get the Sword of Power. If there was any doubt about Adam's pure-heartedness, it's dispelled here. The hero puts his own eternal quarrel with Skeletor aside, knowing that they need to work together — and once he gets his own powers back, he enhances Skeletor back to his own hulking self too.

But there's a very specific reason why he does this, saying "because I want you to know what saving the universe feels like." That simple line tells us everything we need to know about Prince Adam/He-Man, because he still has hope that even someone as warped and corrupted as Skeletor can be a force for good.

Teela is understandably reluctant to embrace her own magical abilities — largely because she's still resentful for the fact that her mother never tried to connect with her all those years fighting for Grayskull. Added to the fact that if she becomes the new Sorceress, then she'll be tied to the castle and will never be allowed to leave. But she tackles all of her concerns head-on, even speaking with the ethereal ghost of the Sorceress about how to make the mantle into her own. She refuses to do it the old isolated way, explaining "because holding on to the ones I love only makes me stronger." 

In short, she's relying on the close bond she has with her friends to wield the Sorceress' power in a new way, triumphantly saying, "We have the power." Yeah? Well, we've got goosebumps.

And sure, she gets into a flashy fight with Lyn as the two show off their respective abilities — but Teela shows the villain the magnificence of the universe, even convincing her to give up her power because the universe is "beauty, it's love, it's life." And as Lyn even admits: "it's magic." See, it doesn't always have to be solved with a punch-up, Lyn just needs someone to get through to her softer side.

He-Man and Skeletor should definitely take a leaf out of Teela and Lyn's book because they revert back to their typical fisticuffs while the two sorcerers talk it out. But that's all Skeletor wants, to be "locked in an eternal battle" — but He-Man retorts "it's not about us." It's a simple line, but he's essentially saying that their ongoing fight means nothing in the grand scheme of things. He-Man hurls the villain into the outer reaches of space, and all is right in the world — at least for now.

Eternia rebuilds as it always does, while Lyn puts herself into self-exile in a peaceful location surrounded by the beauty of life. But a final intriguing scene sees Skeletor visit his former acolytes who now worship an A.I. called Motherboard. This malevolent new entity transforms into a winged robotic giant, before plunging several claws into Skeletor and filling him with a techno-virus. It doesn't look like it kills him, so this isn't the last of Skeletor.

But the robot displays the holographic symbol of Hordak, Skeletor's old mentor. It looks like Eternia has caught the attention of a vicious new enemy. So, when does "Revelation Part 3" arrive? Netflix? Kevin Smith? Anybody?