WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first part of Season 1 of Masters of the Universe: Revelation, now available on Netflix.
In the old He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon, it's easy to chalk up Orko as the worst character in the show. Along with Cringer, Orko was comedy relief, typical of the '70s and '80s era where cartoons had buffoon characters for laughs. His primary role was to botch feats of magic, look like a fool in front of Prince Adam and Co., then appear in bumpers, sending the show to and from commercial. However, the character undergoes a massive, heroic redemption in Netflix's Masters of the Universe: Revelation that paints him as a brave badass.
It's hard to picture any He-Man series not making fun of Orko, with even the 2002 remake patterning him along similar lines. Sure, he's cute and sells toys, but it gets kind of annoying after a while. In this new show, it initially seems like he'll follow suit, botching a trick by suffocating Cringer in a bubble to keep him from hearing fireworks during Teela's promotion to Man-At-Arms.
However, the character totally changes as things get dark following the cataclysmic death of He-Man/Prince Adam. Man-At-Arms/Duncan gets banished from the castle by King Randor for keeping Adam's secret. He ends up taking care of Orko, who gets exiled too. Teela discovers the truth as she approaches Duncan to help in her quest of reforming He-Man's Sword of Power.
She's heartbroken, taking pity on a fragile, weak and dying Orko, who's suffering adverse effects of magic disappearing from the realm. But despite his life fading, he enlists with Teela's ragtag group because not only would he get to save the universe; it also offers a shot at reuniting with Adam in the Heaven known as Preternia.
This spruces him up, and Orko moves from a laughable to a sympathetic soul, especially as the selfless Trollan forges a friendship with Lyn, no longer working for a dead Skeletor. In Eternia's Land of the Dead, Subternia, she learns of his past and his real name: Oracle. It's revealed his parents had high hopes for him, but he was bullied and made an outcast, even by his family, because he sucked at magic. Ironically, Lyn makes it clear as they fight Shadow Beasts that Orko has a hero within and just needs to believe.
It comes full-circle when the team ends up battling the demonic overlord, Scare Glow, and Orko uses his magic to hold the villain off. He protects Teela's squad as they go through a portal to Preternia, using impressive magic of his own. Sadly, while they escape, Orko blows himself and the villain up in a scene evoking Gandalf's sacrifice from The Lord of the Rings.
His journey ends with Teela taking a piece of his cloak and making a grave in Preternia, with Adam and Lyn paying homage to the sigil on his grave. It's a hero's death, proving he was indeed a warrior and a forgiving one at that. However, it remains to be seen if Orko's truly dead because he seems to have a better grasp of magic and may have found a way to preserve himself in Eternia's underworld.
Executive produced by Kevin Smith, the first five episodes of Masters of the Universe: Revelation are now available to stream on Netflix.