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Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Let's review the new Thundercats! Hooooo!
One thing I noticed about Thundera was that it bore a conceptual resemblance to Ba Sing Se. It's a big walled city, who's walls are so large that they even encompass farmland.

And yes, the airquote are needed, as everyone in the show uses the word like if Technology was a specific material. Dude, everything you have is technology. That cloak, the shack, that's technology too. The way they use the word bugs me.

Is there a trope for that? Because I think there should be. I know in Harry Potter at least, there is the notion that "technology" doesn't work at Hogwarts. It seems that these uses tend to want "technology" to mean "electronics" or "machines" or somesuch.

Though I would say that calling clothes "technology" certainly sounds odd. Carts, looms? Yes. Chothes? Not so much.

There have to be other works out there that do this.

Note: a few errors in the review:

"out there, but Panthro says no ": I think you mean Grune.

"and ion-O tells his dad ": You missed an 'L'.
Korval
Fixed those. Thanks.

And clothes is technology. It's something created to the application of knowledge (knowledge about fabrics and textiles, etc...). It's more primitive technology than, say, a car, but it is technology none the less. And that is why the way the show uses the word really bugs me.

To quote The Other Wiki

Technology is the making, usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or serve some purpose

Clothing serves a purpose (protection from weather, not being naked, upholding social standards) and it's an application of skills and tools and knowledges. Just more primitive than, say, giant CG robots.

One thing I noticed about Thundera was that it bore a conceptual resemblance to Ba Sing Se. It's a big walled city, who's walls are so large that they even encompass farmland.

This is Older than you think. Atlantis was described this way, with canals and walls and farmlands in the outer rings. Even Minas Tirith in The Lord Of The Rings (the books, not in the films) has walls around the Pelennor fields protecting the farmlands around the city.
Ghilz (edited by: Ghilz)
You keep saying "El Dora." I'm fairly certain it's "El Dara."
72.202.130.32
It`s not like they spell it out for me
Ghilz
Maybe we should start a trope for massive cities that have walled in farm land. Walled Country maybe?
Deboss
I was actually one of those people who thought Grune was a good guy. But I the first thought that crossed my head when I saw him pulling that rock up was Trojan Horse. I just thought Grune might've been tricked if I was right.
Vanitas (edited by: Vanitas)
I'll admit that a part of me would never trust a character voiced by Clancy Brown to be a good guy _ever_. Bit still, to me, Grune might have well had a neon sign saying "EVIL".
Ghilz
Your nitpicking is pretty bad, like it should have been obvious Snarf got in front of the guys feet in a fashion that is all too common to anyone who's been around cats, or that they can use a word differently than we do in regards to -technology-
217.39.107.93
And this is where the so far sublime animation takes a hit: the mechas are Conspicuous CG. It looks REALLY bad.

Actually, the CG is very good. It looks really conspicuous, but outside of that, the mechs move quite reasonably. Their animation is very good.

If one were to be charitable, I'd say that making them Conspicuous CG helps establish that they're an alien, foreign element. That they're something truly new and different. Granted, the fact that they're mechs does that too...

Wait, the opening of the first episode makes it clear he knows who she is, because he tries to disguise her voice.

I thought he was just deepening his voice to make himself sound older. Because she's hot.
Korval
I didn't mean the CG looks bad on its own, but integration of the CG on the otherwise normal animation IS bad. They don't feel like they belong in the scene.

I thought he was just deepening his voice to make himself sound older. Because she's hot.
Hrrm. Maybe. Could be either. Valid interpretation. Makes more sense too.

Ghilz
Yeah, the 'disguised voice' was just Lion-O's hormones kicking in. Note the hilarious way his voice ended up cracking.
Iaculus
"All he gets for badassness comes as an Informed Ability when Claudus is singing his praises."

Perhaps Claudus is more deeply flawed than you thought? People tend to have blind spots for their friends. Or maybe he was always teemed up with Panthro, and Panthro was the smart guy?

I'm also of the opinion that Lion-O was going the hormone route.
Deboss
Oh, I am not saying Claudus has not reasons to be blind. In fact, I say the opposite. I am saying that Grune is obvious _to the viewer_. Claudus seeing Grune as all sorts of awesome is fine and dandy, but my point is, it does not carry to the viewer.
Ghilz
I think the characterizations for Tygra and Lion-O in this episode make more sense when you realize that not only did Lion-O and Tygra have confirmation that Technology is real but so is Mumm-Ra. You said that Tygra is more practical and down-to-earth, so he feels that going straight to Mumm-Ra, who has an VERY well-armed army at his side and great magical powers that they may not understand, might not be the smartest thing to do at this point. Since the book of omens is implied to speak of these things, Tygra must feel that it may hold the answers to solving the current situation and it would be more practical if that they should focus on finding the book as instructed by Jaga, who as you recall is the advisor to the royal family, so it would be a good idea to listen to him. Also you did mention that since Lion-O is more emotional, his anger does seem to fit this episode, and he does grow out of it, fitting his developed into a proper ruler of the Thundercats.
ryu238
^ The tygra part, if actually what the authors were going for, would have made sense if he had said it. There's even the perfect moment for them to do so when Lion-O asks Tygra "What kind of answers do they need" from the Book. But they never do. So the positions, while not entirely unjustified could've stand to be better presented.
Ghilz
I was hoping for improvement from the last episode, but this one was slightly worse. Hopefully Cheetara was induldging in hyperbole an maybe Tygra's sanction against retreat makes an exception for giant sandsea monsters and ancient undead wizards. flashbacks from the current episode were unforgivable.
Gallowglass
I can't help but think they accidentally Firefly'd. You know, mixing up the plots of the episodes or something? It would have made a lot more sense if this was near the end of the season and they'd been journeying for months and were breaking down.
Deboss
Also, I hate it when works invoke Set Swords To Stun.
Deboss
Next update will come in a bit later than usual, I am not in town during next weekend.
Ghilz
Slythe has not really been shown to be an idiot what gave you that impression so far he has been pretty threatening. but then Grune also never really gave me an Idiot impression.
Envyus
Getting his entire army routed by ONE TANK doesn't spell "Tactical Genius" or "Threatening General" to me. I guess the proper word I should have used is not "Idiot" but "incompetent".
Ghilz (edited by: Ghilz)
Considering he's got plenty of men in this episode, I think the "entire army" comment can be chalked up to Cheetara slipping up.
Enlong
Looks like ol' Mumm-Ra's stealing the Warstone from Mon-Star's troops. Stealth Silverhawks crossover anyone?

112.198.78.111
plus he was caught off guard he can probbley get more forces when ever he wants and he now that he knows they have a tank he can prepare for it.
Envyus
He already HAD more forces. The very basis of tactics is learning to cope with changes on the battlefield. Failure to do this marks one as a subpar tactician. I am not saying he shouldn't have suffered massive loss, but the fact they routed his army (and that he didn't retreat, recover and deploy again) only shows his ineptitude (Doubly so when we remember that after the fight, next episode, the tank was out of power AND damaged).

Further proof of Slythe's bumbling idiot status is in this episode: Mumm-Ra needs to tell him NOT to smash their only means of finding the book in a hissy fit of anger. Had Mumm-Ra arrived 30 seconds later, Slythe would've smashed the lantern, and Mumm-Ra would have never been able to track down the tower.
Ghilz
Raising more question is probably a good idea so early in the series.
Gallowglass
Kisses on the cheek actually make sense in this context, because its meant to be encouraging will not distracting Leo from the task at hand with idle thoughts of what else they could be doing together instead. Hence why they save it until the 'ah hell' situation during the crash scene.
96.239.56.10
I imagine many of those questions won't be answered simply because they're not relevant to the story. You just can't have everything explained, due in part to time constraints, in part to pacing issues. Too much info can be bad too. I imagine we'll never find out Leo and Panthera's reasons or why the cats were singled out as Mumm-Ra's servants.

For example, I imagine most of the cats loyal to Mumm-Ra were killed in the uprising, as Mumm-Ra himself suggested they would be. I doubt the rebels were in any mood to take prisoners...

Technology was probably abandoned because there simply was no way to maintain it. High tech levels require a lot, seriously a lot, of infrastructure. Third Earth might not even have some of the resources required. And if you consider the sort of chaos that probably went down after the landing... They might not even have had any idea how to manufacture anything like spaceships (if they only had mechanics and soldiers on board).

We might hear more about where the animals came from and quite probably about what happened to the three other stones.
Ana0119
The tech thing was most likely failed infrastructure caused by something important breaking in the fall.
Deboss
Those two arguments fail to notice one thing: They use tech NOW. So what? An entire RACE of people who had the skills and knowledge to maintain this infrastructure couldn't use technology after the crash... But one old dude crippled by his last defeat can do it for his ENTIRE army, while giving himself enough free time to lead said army and have his own solo plots?
Ghilz
The cats were probabaky killed that were loysl to Mum Ra

They probbably didnt have the luxury of Mum as uber msgic snd tech skills to keep it floaing, at and a couple mechs and guns for a military with a private stach fir nimself isnt enough for a full civilization

Its called third earth because its the third moon of a gas giant, you can see it.

The animals thing isnt a question, they just came from Thundera or the other planets if the galaxy, we see aliens and everything, why would you have to ask thet?

Likewise Mumm Ra outright says that the cats are his House Furries becauseof how ruthless they are.

I'm geussing that Mum Ra being a bat furry would have the same origins as other furries.

The rest is up to plot to reveal. Lol at Liono snogging his Cree Summers voiced great great great xN granmother.

173.66.251.192
personally,I enjoyed it,yeah it was cheesy,but this is thundercats,it isnt suppose to make any fricking sense at all,if it did,the multiverse would implode or something,and heres a horrible,horrible thing I noticed,snarf talked,it was only 2 words,but he did [no,no] it was that one scene with him pawing at Lion-O's leg oh the horrer,the scene in it self was fine,but it brought back so many bad,annoying memories....ugh,im gonna go bleach my brain for the first time since snarf first talked.......
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72.231.2.171
Opinions opinions I suppose, but I feel this episode was pretty good. Personally I'd rather they at least put some kind of development to an insufferable character rather then just fast forward through character development to get to the action scenes which had been the biggest problem I've had in the series so far which as of late I've found they've been working on.

I found the drifter to be one of the more interesting characters so far mostly because he's probably the least generically good or evil characters by being [[True Neutral]] (while they tried to present him as a type 6 I think he came off more as a type 1). Of course that doesn't make him likable but it at least made him interesting, which is more than I can say so far for Lion-o's gang excluding Panthro and even with him only slightly.

I agree on the duelist being portrayed as evil while doing nothing prticularily "evil". But I excuse only because 1. He's main purpose is just to be an obstacle anyway and it's made obvious in the episode 2 I think he can at least be labelled a [[Jerkass]] for going around the world taking people's swords and going back to one I think that's enough to put the audience against him.

Adding to that think about it within universe, all of these swords with these fancy names and the obvious love and care the people who make them put behind them as shown by the drifter, one could argue that taking a swordsman's blade is almost as bad as taking his child which can up the ante to the characters and make them see him as a villain.

As for Snarf, he serves his purpose [[Funny Animal]]. I actually feel they've been pretty good about not making him annoying.

To me this episode was just a [[filler]] annoying in the series proper but as an episode with a story to tell itself I thought it was pretty good. Now that it seems the the team is about to travel together in the Thundertank and look for the stones, I'm hoping the character development will really begin.
72.231.2.171
I kind of liked the episode, mostly because of the scenario and the creatures shown. I love such sidestories that show us more of the lifes in more "civilized" areas and I also love westerns and samurai-movies which this episodes obviously tries to emulate. It still wastes potential on almost every corner, that's true. Here are my main complaints (might overlap with yours): 1.I liked the whole idea and concept behind the drifter character but everything about him is just so vague and poorly defined. His messages, his motivations, his...uhm...superpowers and awesome evasion-skills that he developed by not caring and being depressed? oO 2.The Duelist was not only evil for no good reason (he won those swords fairly and they are just swords after all, not heads or the virginity of their wives/daughters) but he was also extremely disappointing in the end for having such a badass reputation. I feel that the whole episode would have been so much stronger if they made him into a more neutral but misguided Blood Knight that accepted his defeat with a certain dignity instead of being a dirty coward. But then again, such greyer stories might be hard to execute in a 25minutes cartoon aimed at kids. 3.Yeah, this is another Lion-O only episode in which he is supposed to learn something. I would be fine with that if it weren't for the feeling that his "lesson" was not only very vague but will also be completely pointless and forgotten after this episode along with all the characters that appeared. Y'know, just like with all the other Aesop-driven filler-episodes. 4.Also Lion-O's whole Idiot Ball. Again. Overlaps with "Lion-O forgets what he learned every episode"-point. -__- 5.And why the heck is everyone an expert for technology all of the sudden? I guess Tigra got interested in it because it proved to be so useful, but he learns to maintain it in a few days or weeks?

Basically it could have been a great episode if it were better fleshed out. What we got instead was an average filler-episode with a nice scenario and lots of flaws.
Felcis
You forgot the most important thing: No one said "Whiskers!" this episode, for the first time. I guess they didn't want to curse in front of those cuddly robot-pandas.

Anyway, this was an okay episode. The chemistry was working overall and props to every non Lion-O focussed episode (though Tygra and especially Cheetarah need the focus more badly than Panthro), but I get quite annoyed by the Thundercats being incompetent or doing nothing in fights so every dirty brigand can pose enough of a threat for an episode. I mean they were basically fighting one fat slaver with an old tank and some primtive, undisciplined thugs. They fought organized armies to some success before, damnit!
Felcis
I believe said blue creature is Snowmeow, Snowman of Hook Mountain's mount, so we can expect more of the allies from the original series to show up.

I was also a bit apprehensive about this ep, the Berbils NOT being among my favorites, but it worked out pretty well. The Thunderkittens tweaking on fruit was amusing, I hope they don't completely abandon that element.
psycher7
I think Lion-O could have least asked the elephants if getting rid of the bees would be a good idea. They could have told him no, but not remember why, so I guess Lion-O would have done it anyway.

As for the difference between the use of the sword in this episode and the Duelist and the Drifter, you have to remember that in one case it's for combat and the other it's for utility. It's a matter of finding a balance between the two; don't become too dependent on the sword, but try to get the most out of it. One doesn't necessarily contradict the other. I think Tygra, Cheetara, and Panthro were looking for the stone on their own while Lion-O was practicing, but that's just my guess.
StarOutlaw
I don't agree for the combat vs utility thing. For one, the lesson should apply both ways. "Learn to not depend on the sword to defend your butt" and "Learn to depend on your own wisdom and not just on your magic rock to make decisions as a king."

As I said in the review: Learning to think before acting is indeed a lesson Lion-O needed. I just dislike the way the lesson is handled. For one thing, the elephants show themselves to be beyond useless. I'd not have asked them many questions either, because I'd have figured the answer to be "I don't remember". The episode could've gone so many different ways: Maybe the bees pollinate the plants that give the elephant fruits? Maybe Lion-O, by going in alone like a total idiot gets cornered by the swarm and needs saving? There's so many ways you could've done this that would make more sense than "didn't you know the bees kept the 50 ft rock monster at bay?"
Ghilz (edited by: Ghilz)
Seemed to me the bees just knocked it out with sound....which,while kind of..ok REALLY stupid is.... marginally doable to Humans and Animals....how the hell it works on a 50-ton rock monster is beyond me......anyone else notice how Wilykit's song changed as it went? starting kinds sad,then the Elephants join in and Im reminded of Seseme Street....ok J/k it was still good but its amazing what a few extra Instruments can done to a song
173.27.121.71

69.118.182.58
I really didn't like Cheetara's reason for getting with Tygra, and they didn't even interact much. She seemed like a tease to me with how she acted with Lion-o.
hollowdheart
I liked this episode. But I really don't care about Lion-O and Tygra acting like children...I feel bad for Panthro, who no longer even has arms! Is he going to get mech arms or something? Will someone magically give him back his arms? What a horrible thing to have happen to the guy! Well, at least he got to use them in a fistfight one last time before they went. Gonna make first dates a little awkward though. Actually, come to think of it, would have been really hilarious if Cheetara had told both brothers to screw it and ran off with Panthro. But then, my sense of humor is pretty random. Speaking of which, I really liked how Lion-o walks up to the bandaged Panthro, asks him if everything is ok (when it clearly IS NOT) and then says something to the effect of 'well it'll be fine'. FINE? Fine doesn't happen after you are a trained fighter and have just lost both your upper limbs...but whatever. Time to learn to drive the Thundertank with your chin, Panthro!

Honestly, I can't hate Tygra really either. I think since he's consigned to a kid's show he's gonna stick around, but I really wish he'd go on to bigger and better things. I mean, he's got the girl, why not hit the road and really show Lion-o?

And am I the only one that feels we will see Grune again? That was TOO EASY, even though he is a complete pushover.
24.20.226.10
I hope Grune doesn't return. That would kind of undermine Panthro's badass sacrifice.

Plus Grune was a crummy villain. He died on a much higher note than one would've expected. Leave him at that. Don't bring back the crappy villain.
Ghilz
Ten bucks says the Berbils make Panthro new arms!!!
98.91.2.172
I don't take sucker bets :-P But it's a safe call to make. Either they do, or he has someone make them for him under his direction.

Wonder if he'll have rocket fists.
Ghilz
They seem less like hover tanks and more like flying PT boats.
Deboss
Well, at least the animation was pretty good, and the twins were visibly upset.
hollowdheart
...i thought this episode was really good. i don't see what your talking about
RobbieRotten
I agree that this episode was terrible, but I actually have that opinion on most episodes nowadays. The writing and fights just feel so lazy, as if they don't really care "cuz it's just a kids show". Riffing and reading your journals are the main reason why I still kinda enjoy that series.
Felcis
At the beginning, I think they mentioned they're doing a supply run.
Deboss
Yes. I get that. But how does this supply run in the desert relate to the book of omens pointing straight up when they were in a temperate environment.
Ghilz
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