Top Fifteen Thundercats Episodes Ever.
By: David del Real.
It was the middle 1980´s when kids around the world went “Thunder…Thunder…Thunder…Thundercats H000000…” for the first time during the recess at school. Two decades and a half later, an interesting remake featuring many of the original elements but adding new interesting characteristics to the plot arrived to the screens and even when it was not as successful as its predecessor, it granted us some episodes that will remain jewels to the cartoon enthusiasts of all ages. Either if we are talking about the original 80´s version or the 2011 remake, the Thundercats are an important part of our pop culture and a very rich set of stories that takes us from Excalibur and the Ancient Egyptian and Greek tales to the Outer Space and faraway dimensions.
It is interesting to say that part of that first team that created the Thundercats series in the middle 80´s was Dr. Robert Kuisis, a psychologist that aided with ideas to help the series promote values to kids. When talking about the “Code of Thundera” that Thundercats live by, he writes: “Truth is being consistent with fact and reality. Justice is the quality of being fair. Honor is integrity and having a sense of ethical conduct. And Loyalty is being faithful to one’s ideals and peers.”
For the purposes of this article,even when both series aired with the name of Thundercats , we will call Original 80´s Thundercats to the ones produced by Arthur Ranking Jr. and Jules Bass and aired from 1985 to 1989 and Thundercats 2011 to the ones produced by Michael Jelenic and Ethan Spaulding and aired in Autumn of that last year.
Fifteenth Position.Original 80´s Thundercats. Chapter Twenty-six .Season One. “Safari Joe.”
A very interesting episode that maybe we would have liked to see in the first 4 or 5 emissions of the program because it gives an analysis of every Thundercat strengths and weaknesses. Safari Joe is an interplanetary hunter whose form of living and getting fun is hunting and collecting the best fighters of the planets he visits. He will try to overpower every single Thundercat one by one with the help of a Holo-projector that can give a complete analysis of each warrior. It will be the job of the young Lord of the Thundercats, Lion-O, with his mysterious Sword of Omens and some assistance from little Snarf to defeat an enemy that knows so much about each person as the person itself.
Fourteenth Position.Original 80´s Thundercats.Chapter Twelve. Season One. “The Doomgaze.”
In order to free Mumm-Ra´s ally ,Ta-She, from her Timewarp Prison, four elements are needed: a tuft of hair from a cheetah, a shoe from an enchanted unicorn, a Berbil´s tear and a hero that takes the place of Ta-she in the Timewarp dimension. Mumm-ra and Ta-She will display a series of resources in order to obtain the elements necessary to free Ta-She from her dimensional prison and imprison Lion-0 in her place, including the power of Ta-She´s Doomgaze, a kind of spell capable of slaving the mind of the male Thundercats. An interesting episode with some references to old Egyptian mythology and one of the ones where the character of Cheetara has a greater heroic role.
Thirteenth Position.Original 80`s ThundercatsChapter Forty-Two. Season One.“Lion-0´s Anointment Fourth DayThe Trial of Mind Power”
In order to be officially anointed as “Lord of the Thundercats”, Lion-0 must defeat each one of his comrades in their respective areas of expertise. He must defeat Panthro in a trial of strength, Cheetara in a trial of speed, Wilykat and Wilykit in a trial of cunning and Tygra in a trial of mind power, all that before facing the most difficult trial of all: to defeat his worst enemy in an unarmed combat.
From all the trials where he has to face his friends, Tygra´s trial is by far the more interesting as Lion-0 will have to learn to differentiate “ what is from what is not” as Tygra´s mind power is able to create realistic illusions that can easily fool most people.
Twelfth Position.Thundercats 2011.Chapter 17 from Season One.“Native Son”
While passing through some snowy mountains, Lion-O and Tygra find a passage to a secret kingdom where the inhabitants claim to be Tygra´s lost family and clan. It is soon revealed that the little empire is on a curse that haunts the mountain at night and that Tygra was separated at birth from his family in order to protect him from the intentions of the Ancient Spirits, that feared the baby would become an enemy to them when he grew up.
Eleventh Position.Original 80`s Thundercats.Chapter Forty-Nine. Season One.“Lion-O`s Anointment Fifth Day. The Trial of Evil”
After surviving the first four trials against his fellow Thundercats, Lion-0 has still to probe his worth in the most difficult test: to defeat his most dangerous enemy , Mumm-Ra, without the aid of his sword. He also refuses Jaga´s advice saying that this time, he must “find his own way” through the problem. He then overcomes a series of obstacles and enemies in order to fight face to face with the ever-living priest of evil.
Tenth Position.Original 80´s Thundercats. Chapter One from Season One.“Exodus.”
The very chapter that introduced the Thundercats. We see them as lonely survivors of the exploding planet of Thundera and as keepers of a legacy , being the “Eye of Thundera” inside the sword of Omens the most important part of it. Thundercats travel through the universe from “Thundera” to the “Third Planet” of a remote solar system with a puny little sun inside special capsules that slow aging, but Jaga ,the oldest of the Thundercats, does not enter to any capsule in order to direct the ship as long as possible to best their chances of survival. This is the story that began the Thundercats Quest for Justice,Truth, Honor and Loyalty.
Ninth Position.Thundercats 2011. Chapter Thirteen from Season One. “Between Brothers.”Driven to the Astral Plane where the “Spirit Stone” must be found, Lion-0 and Tygra are made to confront an old memory with an update: A so called accident where Lion-0 could have lost his life or get badly hurt when they were kids was actually caused by Tygra. With their rivalry and anger amplified in the Astral Plane by Mumm-ra , the two brothers fight one on one while the other Thundercats and their elephant friends try to contain the combined attack of the mutants and Grune.
Eighth Position.Thundercats 2011. Chapter Eight from Season One. “The Duelist And The Drifter.”
With the feeling of being reading an old eastern tale from a dusty old book in the library, we have this small little tale that reminds us also a little bit those of swordsmen in anime like Rorouni Kenshin and similar. Here, we have a short-tempered Lion-O that loses his sword to another warrior, now he will have to best himself and learn new skills in order to defeat one that now not only possesses the Sword of Omens but many powerful swords gained in duel to other combatants.
Seventh PositionOriginal 80´s Thundercats. Chapter 65. Season Two.“The Book of Omens”
Fighting in an unarmed combat inside the Book of Omens, Lion-0 takes the lead on Mumm-ra, seeing himself nearly defeated, Mumm-ra asks to the Ancient Spirits of Evil to send him the most evil force ever. The Ancient Spirits invoke a champion from the cauldron in order to defeat Lion-0. Lion-0 will have to defeat this new champion and get the Key of Thundera back in order to save his friends and New Thundera. With this episode we said good-bye to the epic 80´s Thundercats, starring a Lion-O that never surrendered to the forces of evil no matter how many opponents were presented by the Ancient Spirits of Evil and all the Thundercats, old and new fighting for New Thundera. We also saw the regeneration of the planet due the power of the Key of Thundera and an ecological message in the final segment of this last 80`s episode.
Sixth Position.Thundercats 2011. Chapter Eighteen from Season One. “Survival of the fittest.”
Panthro and Cheetara decide to give to the kittens Wilykat and Wilykit some survival lessons and teach them hunting. At the beginning, it seems like the kids lack the necessary willpower to hunt, but a retrospective view reveals that their failure to capture animals for food comes not from lack of ability or determination but from compassion as they have both have had very difficult lives, and even when they don´t reveal their true story and abilities to the adults, they will for sure surprise them.
Fifth Position.Original 80`s Thundercats. Chapter Forty-one. Season One. “Excalibur.”
Desperate for not being able to defeat Lion-O and the Thundercats, Mumm-Ra supplicates the Ancient Spirits of Evil for help. They tell him about the most powerful sword ever created: Excalibur. Mumm-Ra disguises himself as King Arthur in order to delude the Lady of the Lake and get Excalibur, he then goes to the Thundercats claiming to have a desire for defending the “Code of Thundera”, nevertheless he quickly reveals he wants to fight Lion-O in a duel at dawn where the two powerful swords will collide.
Fourth Position:Thundercats 2011.Chapter Seven from Season One. “Legacy.”
The Book of Omens, an eclectic fusion of magic and technology, will take Lion-O to a trip in time where he will experience the difficulties once suffered by his ancestor, Leo, one of the main leaders of a rebellion to defeat Mumm-Ra using the War Stone from a planet into a formidable weapon, The Sword Of Omens, before Mumm-Ra combines it with the Sword of Plunndarr and get the necessary power to rule the entire galaxy. Lion-0 will have to suffer all the difficulties and worries of being a rebellion leader and live in his own flesh the struggle between Leo and Mumm-Ra.
Third PositionOriginal 80´s Thundercats.Chapter . Season One.“Return to Thundera”
While the Cat´s Lair is about to be attacked by the terrible Warbot recently built by the mutants, Lion-O is accidentally transported by a time capsule through time and space back to the day before Thundera was destructed. He will get to see his childhood pet “Kano” once again and his old noble father “Claud-us”. After saving him from the mutants, even when he does not believe he is his son, he gives Lion-0 the copies of a Plundarrian war robot, “that might probe useful in another world, another time.” Then, as mysteriously as he went to the past, the time capsules gets Lion-0 back to the present where his friends have just been transformed into stone in an already half destroyed Cat´s Lair.
Excerpt from the episode:
Claud-us speaking: “ May my son, Lion-O grow up to be as brave and noble as you and carry on the sacred Code of Thundera”
Second Position.Original 80`s Thundercats.Chapter Eleven. Season One. “The Ghost Warrior.”
Accidentally unleashed after centuries of being locked-up, “Grune, The Destroyer” wanders the “Third Earth” again. With the combined abilities of an alive and a dead person , his giant ghoul walks and destroys houses and towns just by stepping on them. The ghost of wise “Jaga” will appear to confront the enemy, but it will take the combination of the spiritual strength of Jaga and the physical strength of Lion-0 to stand a chance against the formidable foe. One of the most mysterious tales of the Thundercats and one where the strengths of the the two Lords of the Thundercats are combined against evil in an epic battle on the skies over the Cat´s Lair.
First Position.Thundercats 2011Chapter Four of Season One.“Song of the Petalars.”
While Tygra, Cheetara and Lion-O run from the mutants army, they hide in a forest and get to know a very singular form of life: the Petalars. These little individuals have the peculiarity of having a lifespan of 24 hours. An adventure that will be remembered as only one day to some and as a whole lifetime to others and will for sure will be remembered by them all. If you are a fan of the Thundercats and by any chance you haven´t seen this episode, you are really missing out.
Till next time, Thunderians, Mummies, Mutants and Third Earth Inhabitants!!!
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