Recently on a re-watch of Revolution & Revelation something Skeletor said to Adam caught my attention. When he said that Lyn had the will to destroy everything, and how he made sure of that. This got me to thinking maybe the "Gutter Rat" story is Skeletor's Horde mind manipulation to control Lyn.

I have a theory that makes more sense as her story growing up. Her parents never tried to eat her, but they did sell her due to becoming addicted to a technology-based drug. A Horde made drug. Lyn is young when they first get hooked the same age when they tried to eat her. They were well off and lived in a good home and were of magical influence. Her parents were important, (Maybe Ram Stone & The Faceless One for dad. Mom could be someone important as well). Lyn grew up happy and encouraged to use the natural magic that she possessed. She had a happy childhood full of laughter and joy. That was until due to her parents being in positions of power they were targeted by the Horde. This being prior to their invasion of Eternos shores. During the observation of her family as well as other influential members of the town it was decided the best course of action was to employ the services of some of the magic users. Of course, this was done at first through manipulation, and well finding those that were easy to corrupt. Lyn’s parents fell into the crowd that could be bought. Lyn started to see technology take over slowly an item here and item there. Then not long after a new friend came to visit. This was of course Skeletor but neither in his Keldor, or Skeletor form. He was there to ensure that Lyn’s parents’ devotion to the Horde one way or another that night. This was the night her parents started down the road of being hooked to the techno drug. It started innocent as they believed they were in no harm from the wonderful feeling the Horde drug gave them. This also made them subject to Horde control and started to change them. This is when the drug started to consume them. Them chasing the next model, the next high. All while giving information to the Horde without their knowledge.

Eventually they ran out of information and deemed no longer viable. Their dose of the drug was increased, and they became fully reliant on the drug. This is when they began to neglect Lyn more and more as she grew older. She started getting hungry her parents fading into shells and forgetting to buy food, The drug practically erased Lyn’s presence. The drug was enough to give them nutrients to keep them living longer, and addicted. Due to them spending more on drugs then they brought in, they went into poverty. It started as they sold off their, possessions, then assets. Lyn began to steal to feed for herself and take care of her parents. One day the money ran out and the debts piled up. Skeletor came to call. At this point the three of them lived in an empty home, all except the Horde machine with provided her parents the drug. Her parents now constantly "Wired" into the new Horde BLUE. This was administered through tubes in their veins. These tubes being hooked to a hidden machine component which, drained them of their will for the Megna Beam Generator prototype, and injecting nanobots into them. Lyn was broken, dirty, hungry and worst of all capable of magic, the one thing her parents now hated the most due to Horde Programing. All Hail Motherboard. In some of their drug fuelled episodes they beat Lyn when she tried to heal them with her magic.

However, Lyn was the true objective of Skeletor, this being secret from Hordak. He saw just how powerful she was, a natural born mage, one that didn’t have to learn like he did. Skeletor had been teaching Lyn in the use of magic in secret though. Skeletor had been watching Lyn for a long time. When she was still attending, (on earth would be kindergarten age), Eternian school. This is where he was planted to spy on aristocratic brats. He hated the Royals due to his being outcast as Keldor, which was buried deep in his mind still. But in his professor disguise he was a charming normal looking human. He saw her magic capability early on and knew he could use an apprentice. So, he took her under his wing as she became more and more lost at home. Manipulating her, bending her to his will secretly and planting seeds for later. This went on for many years Lyn running to Skeletor after a bad day at home. I would say she was mid teens when The Horde invasion was starting to turn on them and they were planning their retreat and kidnapping of the Royal Twins. Skeletor knew then that he best put his plan into action regarding Lyn and his total control over her.  

One night after her parents had been brutal to her beating her within inches of her life, she ran right into the arms of Skeletor. This beating was different though. Some of the tech blocked what little magic she could muster to protect herself in the moment. This is where she started to dislike tech. She told Skeletor everything that night. Her whole life. Watching as her parents were consumed by technology. How it did nothing but wreck her home. Skeletor saw his chance. Hordak had issued an order all test subjects of BLUE were to be gathered and taken with them to study how the new nanotechnology was working. There were however overdoses, and this is what he wanted to happen to Lyn’s parents so he could take her away and make her his servant.

When Skeletor offered Lyn’s parents a lifetime supply of BLUE, in exchange for their precious "Lynnie" as they often mocked her. They folded like paper. What they didn't know was the lifetime supply was right when they could now go wireless and now "jack" in right there with their fresh new blue stick-on patch. Same high more freedom to move around. Lyn watched in horror as her parents screamed in first the familiar ecstasy, of BLUE, then pain as their flesh ripped away and they transformed into a cyborg weapons, their will force finally drained but the body converted enough to become a robotic addition to the All-Mighty Horde. This was his plan inject them with a lethal dose. Some never survived the conversion process. He knew there was more of a chance of them dying than surviving when he gave them the dose. Skeletor however told Lyn they still had time to save her parents with their combined magic. This was done to show her that magic was far superior to tech and give her something to work for. He knew this would kill them instantly but that was the point. He figured no matter which way her parents died he could have her. If they died from the change, easy spin on look how bad tech is we can stop it though together. If her parents died, well she was simply not powerful enough to banish the tech from them. However, he could teach her to be powerful enough to bring them back. All lies they were dead either way, and there was no chance to bring them back. But like Skeletor who, was told he could bring his wife back with the power of Havoc if he just followed Hordak. So, what does Skeletor do, tell Lyn to pledge herself to him and he will give her all the power she needed to bring her parents back. He also let her in on the Horde but not that he was a member.  he told her he was trying to stop them through magic but ne needed more power, and she could help. What better way than hook her with the promise to destroy those that wrecked her life.

This gave Lyn hope the promise of rebirth through magic, and she excelled. Finally free to practice and learn without the burden of her parents’ wrath. She was happy finally. Then she discovered the secret. That Skeletor was not trying to help her but wanted to use her. Her power was something he could use to move up in the ranks. To get what he desired, the return of his family, or so he had been told was his goal. She also discovered what Skeletor really looked like. She was hurt, disappointed, and angry. She thought she could trust this man she has been with since her parents started to turn on her.

Again, she ran. This time to the gutters to escape. The only way out she knew was through the sewers. That is when he came and found her in his true form asking her to stay. She would have nothing to do with him anymore. She wanted to be free from him as well. She saw the plans for her magic. This is when Skeletor decided to use Horde tech to eraser her memories and make her his one way or another. He wiped her memories of all she was. He implanted the story of her parents trying to eat her because they were hungry and that it happened when she was a child. This age would have been when she first discovered her magic. Then he had living in the sewers where he found her because that was fitting of a rat that runs. He also made himself her hero this way ensuring that she would serve him. All through a Horde implant. He tried magic but she was stronger. This is another reason he had to reduce her to thinking she was learning again. She was more powerful than him.

Cannibalism is the last resort to hunger, and this is why this works as manipulation. What does the Horde do but consume, using technology. Skeletor used the way her parents withered away but replaced it with them turning on her. Hunger is what drives Lyn. Her hunger of power, to overthrow Skeletor, because of her hatred. Her hate isn’t fully known to her, she knows she hates Skeletor and what he did to her, but she doesn’t know what he really did to her. I would also like to think that her magic protected a small part of her. The good in her, the girl that just wanted to help her parents. This is also why I think she turned against Skeletor at the end of Revolution, not because she became good but because there was always some part of her that was. Unlike Skeletor who fully clamed who he was when fighting Hordak, Lyn did atone for her sins, but her real memory remains blocked. I have more for this later

If you managed to make it to the end let me know your thoughts. Sorry about the length this has been in my brain for a bit but sickness and all has prevented me from getting it here.