SVES Talkback: He-Man- "Rattle of the Snake" (Spoilers)

[The Clown Prince]

Rattle of the Snake (Episode #37)
Written by Steve Melching (Rise of the Snake Men pt. 1,2, Second Skin)

Episode description- The Masters of the Universe track King Hiss through Subternia to a long-lost Snake Temple, which holds the key to releasing a terrible power.

King Hiss is back for this episode. I've really been enjoying his character so this one should be fun. The rest of the Snake Men should be back, though I wish they'd break Rattlor and Snake Face out of prison. Out of all the Snake Men, Snake Face has had the least to do this season. Oh well.

The Clown Prince

[WingZombie38]

Ah, I can't wait to see how King Hiss gets powered up by Webster's little army of arachnids. I wonder if MAA gives Fisto any new stuff for his fist.

After next weeks episode we should be in re-run central, right?

[Mysteryinfoman]

This sounds it is going to be a good episode. So far every episode with King Hiss has been great to me. I'm waiting for "History" next week.

As for new episodes, it is just two more weeks after this and that is it till who knows when.

[Razor]

well, judging by the battle so far, the Ambrosia can't have done THAT much...

They're winning, but it's not that dramatic.

[Razor]

... Ok, how did Rattlor know where to go?

... and I just had a horrifying thought. What if Fisto is Teela's father?! O_O They seemed to be indicating it...

[Wounded_Dragon]

... Ok, how did Rattlor know where to go?

... and I just had a horrifying thought. What if Fisto is Teela's father?! O_O They seemed to be indicating it...


He must've heard about it on the snake vine :D

Actually, I think snakemen are drawn to King Hiss, as evidenced by the mass imitation of lemmings the time Zodak threw him into the moat around Grayskull (blast it, it's supposed to be bottomless. I always liked that)

I'm hoping that the hints are just red herrings to keep the mystery about Teela's father alive.

[Nin-Nin69]

I loved the whole "OMG I'M BLIND! I CAN SEE AGAIN! I'M BLIND!" segment with Fisto hitting Rattlor. They even drew him with the stuff in his eyes after Man at Arms just gave him the cure. If you look closely when he moved his head into the shadows, he has the crap in his eyes again and then it looked fine after he stands still.

Nice animation mistakes there.

[Razor]

He must've heard about it on the snake vine :D

Actually, I think snakemen are drawn to King Hiss, as evidenced by the mass imitation of lemmings the time Zodak threw him into the moat around Grayskull (blast it, it's supposed to be bottomless. I always liked that)

Then they should say so.

[Wounded_Dragon]

Then they should say so.

Err, why? It's not important to the story and can easily be inferred from prior episodes. I thought we'd gotten away from the "Everything must be explained every single time it happens" of the 80s...

[Hyper Shadow X]

Another good one but are the other masters gonna show up and help in the next two epsoides?

[Razor]

Because, I think it's necessary to make certain things make sense. This isn't "everything", this is just something. It'd make a rather large, strange plot hole like the Snake Men leaping to their semi-apparent doom seem less contrived.

[ComicPhanatic]

"Rattle of the Snake" was a satisfying follow-up to the awesome "Web of Evil". The super-powered (and enhanced) Snakemen are now a much more dominant force to be reckoned with. Brothers Man-at-Arms and Fisto have managed to set aside some of their differences (for the sake of fighting off the Snakemen), but clearly Man-at-Arms feels that Fisto was a "deserter" during the 'Great Unrest'. Even though Fisto has no memory of his actions during that period, this viewer is eargerly awaiting what is sure to be crucial information revealed. I liked the stronger and larger fist Man-at-Arms had constructed for him. King Hiss was hell-bent on gaining possession of a powerful medallion, and in the end his twisted scheme was a success. None of that would have been possible if not for the help of the 'ancient' Snakemen (who came to life in a very clever scene of special effects). He-Man managed to rescue his comrades before they could become snakefood, but sadly the bad guys escaped. Rattlor's escape from prison was expected, but delivered in a totally clever way (by him hiding on the ceiling and a dummy laying limp on the floor). He faced off with Kobra Khan, who was warned that a 'real' fight between them will occur once the ambrosia has worn off. Teela's expression when Prince Adam showed up in the aftermath of the fight was interesting; it almost seemed as if she suspected more is going on with him than he lets on. I like how the aliens allied themselves with the heroes of Eternia, and set aside their grudges amongst themselves for the purposes of fighting off a 'greater evil' (that is still present). Thanks to prodding from Teela, Man-at-Arms and Fisto had a solemn handshake at the end (although Fisto's twisted grin made me wonder if he was not completely sincere). The episode ended on a positive note, but it's clear that the Snakemen will live to fight another day (and perhaps even more stronger than anticipated, thanks to the medallion).

[PaQ]

MOTU thoughts:
That was pretty sick seeing KinG Hiss devour that lizard guy.
I liked King Hiss's line about He-Man being no King Greyskull.
Nice to see Fisto get that tight glove.
Guess it took Ambrosia for the SnakeMen to look powerful.
Can't wait to see how the Medallion will help King Hiss.
I liked it, good action. Wow, 2 episodes in a row without Skeletor. I think this one made up for last week's.

[Anime Guy]

Fisto's hand is so big that it could now be referred to as, "The biggest damn hand in the land." :D

It's too bad that they have to use lasers. It'd be cool if they could use bullets.

[GMB]

Wow, Fisto sounds a lot like Unicron.

OK, episode, much better than last week's for sure, but really King Hiss can't keep relying on these hidden Snake Men artifcats and temples. But he does get points for actually devouring (well, finishing devouring, anyhow) someone on camera.

Also liked King Hiss and He-Man actually facing off. Unless I'm remembering wrong, and feel free to correct me if I am, this is their 3rd time face to face (in "Snake Pit" and "Second Skin) yes?

But if this epsiode has a weak link (and it does) it's Fisto. He's boring as wet newspaper and I'm not really sold that carrying around a big mallet fist helps you anywhere except in a competitive game of whack a mole. No matter how much they belabored the point, I really couldn't hve cared less that he and Duncan don't get along. I kept wanting to say "Hey, save the message for the end of the cartoon."

Unfortunately they did, and between that and the "peace treaty" thing there were enough messages to fill a Western Union office. Wow, apparently war is bad and divisive. Anyone else know about this?

Thank God this cartoon was there to teach me that. It was good until everything fell apart in the last few minutes. B-

[Mysteryinfoman]

I thought it better than I expected. As usual, the fighting scences were great. I like how the temple will connect with an upcoming episode that has to deal with the Snake-god according to the episode description. I really did not like though how Fisto and Man at arms made up, it could've provided a good storyline in upcoming episodes.

[David the Joker]

"Rattle of the Snake" was a very cool episode. The snakes were back bigger and stronger then before, and finally Rattlor espaced from jail...I guess the snake men dont really care about helping Snake Face. Fisto getting his metal hand was cool, and his fighting with Duncan was how normal brothers act. I did like the end how the brothers gave up their feud and will work together, even though Fisto's past in the war will come to play in a future episode, what cant he remember? Teela was more in this episode, and treated her long lost uncle with kindess. Also, a good reference from season between the Bat people and Lizard people was there hatred towards each other, and even Randor couldnt solve until they fought together against the Snake Men. I also like the tension between Kobra Khan and the other snakes, because Kobra trys to prove himself to be a true snake, even if they wont give him credit. I enjoyed when you saw the tail from the Lizard soldier being swallowed by Hiss, I guess this season shows much for violence. I think next time the Masters fight the Snake Men, they should get the whole team together, because the team was almost defeated and He-Man was swallowed whole. Whatever object King Hiss got in this episode will come to play in the next, and the Masters will need much help.

[WingZombie38]

Wow, Fisto sounds a lot like Unicron.That's because Fisto is Unicron. Mark Acheson did both of them.

I like the episode but it didn't live up to my expectations. I thought the Snakemen would really get beefed up. Four Masters and they were somewhat able to hold their own. King Hiss eating the Calagar was cool. Did you see him contnue to go down when Hiss turned around? :eek:

*cires*Please don't let Fisto be Teela's father, please don't let Fisto be Teela's father...

[WingZombie38]

Rattle of the Snake (Episode #37)
Written by (Won't know until episode airs)
The episode was written by Steve Melching. I can't remember if he has written anything else for He-Man.

[B.W.H.]

Yes he has. He wrote Snake Pit as well as other Snakemen centric episodes.

[Wounded_Dragon]

I'm taking their conversation in a different light: Perhaps Duncan and Fisto both got injured in battle. But only Duncan worked his way back to the fight.

Desperate hope indeed. I really don't want to saddle Teela with Fisto as a father. If they don't rehabilitate him soon, well,....it just screams wrong

[WingZombie38]

I'm taking their conversation in a different light: Perhaps Duncan and Fisto both got injured in battle. But only Duncan worked his way back to the fight. I keep telling myself the same thing. The bandaged man looks TOO much like Duncan for it NOT to be Duncan. *keeps plaeding for MAA to be the father*

[PaQ]

I'm hoping MAA is the father.
I never thought of looking at the bandaged guys hand back in that episode.http://forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/sweat.gif

Anyone else notice Teela's raised eyebrow to Adam's lame excuse of getting lost?..

[Nin-Nin69]

I hate the fact that they made Teela more suspicious of Prince Adam of being He-Man in the remake. For the past 20 episodes or so she's been allways questioning his behavior. We've never seen this happen with characters in other stories like Lois Lane or J.J. ever question their secret identies everytime they run off. Besides it sounds laughable to the Masters and Skeletor if they found out that Prince Adam would be He-Man.

And lets not forget that Prince Adam looks nothing like He-Man unlike the old He-Man cartoon.The old He-Man was no different than Clark Kent having glasses on and nobody knows he's Superman.

[purplehairedwonder]

And lets not forget that Prince Adam looks nothing like He-Man unlike the old He-Man cartoon.The old He-Man was no different than Clark Kent having glasses on and nobody knows he's Superman.

Really? I think they look fairly similar:confused:

Anyway, it was actually a pretty good episode. The "guardians of old" were kinda cool. And I wonder how the medalion is going to help King Hiss. I liked the face-off between He-Man and King Hiss, and King Hiss' line about him being no King Greyskull.

I'll give it a solid A.

[Toon Capone]

My thoughts on Rattle of the Snake

This episode was kind of like a part 2 to Underworld.

Nice to see some continuty from last week's episode with MAA and Fisto and Fisto getting his gauntlet.

Also good to see King Randor. (I want a King Randor figure, Mattel!)

Fisto suffers from amenesia, okay I think the writer's are giving us a clue as to who Teela's father really is.

It was kind of funny the way Rattlor escaped and now Roboto replaces Mekaneck as the most useless Master. ;)

I loved the fight scene as well especially He-Man facing off against King Hiss.

As for Kobra Khan I feel he may betray the snake men down the line.

Personally speaking I think Teela knows Adam's secret.

Pretty good ending with MAA and Fisto shaking hands.

Good episode.

With only two episodes remaining I hope we at least see Skeletor in one of them.

[raykremer]

I think it's really fun how they're still playing up that Kobra Kahn is an outsider to the Snake Men, in that it's amazingly consistent with the 1980s MOTU toys in which Kobra Kahn was a generic Skeletor lacky several years before they came up with the Snake Men.

I'm waiting for the rerun of that Sorceress flashback episode so I can get another good look at Teela's father. At the time I remember thinking that he looked like the Fisto figure that had been on display at one of those Toy Show things.

[RockItShipper]

If Fisto's a red herring in "Teela's father mystery", they're really pushing it... Like how Fisto starts to explain his desertion just when Teela comes into the room?

Nice little reunion scene with Rattlor and Hsss... Awww