"First impressions are often wrong. Trust is something that takes time to grow."
Through a combination of Engineered Heroics and shapeshifting, Mumm-Ra gains access to Cats Lair disguised as another Thunderian refugee, wrecking the Thundercats' equipment and stealing the Sword of Omens.
This episode provides examples of:
- Always Close: Tygra makes it inside the lair and out of the power exhaust less than a second before Mumm-Ra turns the power on, which would have roasted him alive.
- Bolt of Divine Retribution: Mumm-Ra steals the Sword of Omens and tries to use it against Lion-O, despite Lion-O warning him that the Sword cannot be used by evil beings. Mumm-Ra doesn't listen and does the "Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! ThunderCats Ho!" chant. He is promptly struck by lightning which makes him drop the sword.
- Dramatic Irony: The audience knows exactly what's going on while the heroes are in the dark.
- Engineered Heroics: Mumm-Ra tricks the Thundercats into trusting him by claiming to have rescued an unconscious Cheetara from the Mutants.
- Enhance Button: The scanner Panthro built for Cats Lair includes an "enlarger," which does exactly this.
- Eyepatch of Power: Mumm-Ra's Thunderian disguise includes one.
- Foreshadowing: Tygra is the one who observes that "first impressions are often wrong." A Master of Illusion would know that better than anyone.
- Hard Truth Aesop: You can't trust everyone and shouldn't trust people too easily.
- Heroic RRoD: Like a real cheetah (and real human athletes, for that matter), Cheetara can't run at maximum speed indefinitely. She pushes herself past her limits here and collapses.
- Internal Reveal: This is where Mumm-Ra learns that, even if he can get his hands on the Sword of Omens, it won't work for him.
- More Expendable Than You: When the team is locked out of Cats Lair, Lion-O and Tygra both want make the incredibly dangerous move of sneaking inside through the power exhaust system. Tygra and Jaga get the Lord of Thundercats to back out of risking his life by pointing out the architect who designed the building has a distinct Home Field Advantage.
- Motive Rant: Mumm-Ra rants about the Thundercats invading his home and disturbing his rest. Of course, he never mentions who made all of Third Earth his property, or that he had no problem with the Mutants "disturbing" him (in fact, he drew them to his pyramid). However, the Thundercats' spaceship crashed first, which Mumm-Ra must have sensed along with the Sword of Omens.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: "Cheetara late? That's like the sun forgetting to set."
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Orphaned Reference: Mumm-Ra calls Cheetara "the quick," her title in an introductory sequence from the first episode that was cut in future airings and the DVD release. - Post-Victory Collapse: Cheetara passes out after pushing herself too far on her morning jog.
