Sick of having to do their own cooking and cleaning, the Mutants decide they need "a woman's touch" around Castle Plun-darr (yes, they actually use that phrase, and no, the context doesn't make it any less disturbing). They make the mistake of trying to kidnap the little sister of the queen of the Warrior Maidens, the first tribe of Homo sapiens seen on Third Earth. The Warrior Maidens see all the aliens who recently crashed on their planet as dangerous invaders, including the Thundercats. Maybe it's time they got around to dealing with them and taking their home back...
The Thundercats have more pressing concerns than the distrust of the locals, however. Thanks to Lion-O taking the Thundertank for a joyride (*groan* kids...), they're almost out of Thundrillium — the primary fuel source on their old planet. All the tech Panthro knows how to build runs on it, including Cats Lair, but the supply they brought from Thundera won't last forever. Designing everything to run on an alternative fuel source (if they can find one) is doable but would take a long time, so they go looking for a local source of Thundrillium first. Tygra's the one unlucky enough to get a hit on his detector, which leads him into a cave...
Lion-O doesn't find any Thundrillium, but he does find Willa, Queen of the Warrior Maidens, and, by saving her from a dinosaur-like monster, manages to make her consider that maybe he's not evil like the alien who attacked her sister. Good thing, too, because Lion-O needs her advice to save Tygra, whom he sees in the sword aging rapidly in the Cave of Time!
This episode provides examples of:
- Amazon Brigade: The Warrior Maidens.
- Badass in Distress: Future episodes demonstrate how Nayda is every bit the warrior her sister is, but nobody bats 1,000, and she gets taken by surprise by Monkian here.
- Berserk Button: "WHO DRIVING MY THUNDERTANK?!" Do NOT let Panthro catch you messing with his baby!
- Big Sister Instinct: Try to kidnap Willa's sister? Oh, no you didn't!
- Distressed Dude: Tygra has to be saved from the Cave of Time by Cheetara.
- Drives Like Crazy: Lion-O obviously has no idea how to drive the Thundertank.
- Embarrassing Rescue: Willia's not too happy about Lion-O rescuing her from the Lizathon, insisting, "I don't need any help!"
- Establishing Character Moment: Willa's introduced swinging through trees on vines and using a lasso, bow, and arrow to save her sister from the Mutants.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Carried to the point of absurdity. When Slythe tells him to get them a female slave, Monkian mumbles, "Chauvinist reptile..." under his breath. Because genocide and slavery are no big deal, but misogyny? Unthinkable!
- Exactly What I Aimed At: The Mutants laugh at the poor aim of whoever shot an arrow into the tree near them... right before said arrow starts emitting sleep gas.
- Fountain of Youth: There's one nearby called the Geyser of Life, which the heroes are able to use to cure Tygra.
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: All the Warrior Maidens are armed with bows and arrows.
- Knockout Gas: How Willa saves lion-O from the Mutants.
- Martians Need Women: The Mutants specifically want female slaves. Try not to think about the grossest implications...
- Mix-and-Match Critters: The Geyser of Life is guarded by "winged water snakes" — interesting combo.
- Nature Hero: Willa and her tribe live in harmony with nature and don't take kindly to outsiders disturbing it.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The search for Thundrillium and what happens to Tygra as a result all stem from Lion-O using up their fuel by taking the Thundertank without permission. Panthro doesn't sugarcoat this.
- No-Sell: Super Speedsters like Cheetara are unaffected by the Cave of Time.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: You know the situation is dire when Panthro the Deadly says there's no time for a fight!
- Oh, Crap!: Lion-O, after seeing what happened to Tygra through the Sword, is suddenly ambushed by the Mutants. Fortunately, Willa came to the rescue.
- Rapid Aging: The Cave of Time does this to everyone who enters. By the time you realize what's happening, you're too far in and too weak to get out.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Snarf's reaction to Lion-O preparing to drive the Thundertank. "Is this going to be trouble, or is this going to be trouble?!"
- This Way to Certain Death: The Cave of Time is full of the bones of those who aged into dust, unable to get back to the entrance.
- Tree Top Town: The Warrior Maidens' home is the Treetop Kingdom.
- Trick Arrow: Willa has a stock of these in addition to traditional arrows.
- Unwanted Rescue: Willa didn't thank Lion-O at first for saving her from a T-Rex, since she's initially distrustful of the Thundercats.
- Vine Swing: Done by Willa, Nayda, and Monkian during their initial skirmish.
- Warrior Queen: Willa — the show gets extra credit for not calling her a "princess" like most did at the time and for decades after.
- We Need a Distraction: Instead of wasting time fighting the winged water snakes, Panthro has Lion-O and Cheetara distract them while he gets Tygra to the Geyser of Life.
