Episode 004 – The Slaves of Castle Plun-Darr

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Episode 004 – The Slaves of Castle Plun-Darr

New characters introduced:

Brute Men – Peaceful creatures that are forced into hard labor by the Mutants, look like ox-like people

The final episode of the movie version; it appears to be identical to the individual episode.

Kat says “there is a Monkian below” as in a Mutant minion, but a few moments later, Kit calls him “Monkian” as a name, not a species. Odd but could mean they weren’t sure Monkian it was at first.

Kit & Kat are very agile, almost at home going though the tree tops. Is this due to the nature of their cat species, or just the fact they are young and fearless?

It is odd how Ro-Bear-Bill explains that the Brute Men are not smart and a small discussion ensues about how there is “not much upstairs”. Seems a bit of a touchy subject to discuss beings whom are not very intelligent.

In Berbils, the Berbils’ mouths lit up when they speak, but now they don’t.

After losing all of their weapons in the Desert of Sinking Sands (Unholy Alliance), Jackalman and Slithe are reduced to using basic weapons, but for some reason Monkian has a fancy shield that shoots projectiles. Then again, where did Slithe get Warp Gas grenades?

Speaking of weapons, where do Tygra and Panthro carry their weapons? The other ThunderCats have a place that their weapons are stored when not in use, IE Cheetara’s staff goes in her arm shield/bracelet

Why is it that Lion-O recovers from the Warp Gas while remaining in the room that it went off, while it takes the Brute Men longer even though they left the room and got fresh air much sooner?

Sword Rule #4: The Eye of ThunDera can penetrate dense material to call for help.

Sword Rule #5: The Sword of Omens can create a force field to stop enemies and gas fumes.

Good moral stories, have to help Panthro but can’t hurt the Brute Men because they are innocent. Followed by rules only have meaning if people agree to follow them, otherwise they are just words. And finally, do the right thing not for the reward, do it because it is the right thing to do.

[Lordore]

Well, there isn’t much to be said about this episode, i think the most notable part is the construction of the imposing Castle Plun-Darr by the enslaved Brute-Men. Also, it’s the first time we see one-on-one face off between Mutants and Thundercats. Cheetara faces off Jackalman, Tygra Vs Monkian and the “great” Panthro against S-s-slythe! Man, i love Panthro’s catch phrase after he beats the Mutant Leader: “Had enough Reptilian!” which became a popular, fans favorite slogan later. Additionally, the famous themes for each Thundercat character are played during the short duels for the first time here. Once again Lion-o reveals his callow nature towars the end of the episode, Cheetara instructs him to be less impulsive, Tygra and Panthro give him a moral lesson that virtue is its own reward.

[PKELL]

The stars of this one were definitely The Mutants, particularly Slythe. Sure they got their butts handed to them by the T-Cats, but them enslaving a weaker species paints a very cruel picture of them, and Slythe warping their minds to attack their saviors is even more evil. And of course, Castle Plun-Darr makes an instant impression upon its debut, and its definitely my favorite looking base in the series. It looks like a perfect contrast to the Cat’s Lair. Instead of being clean, bright, regal, & technological, this castle is dark, frightening, demonic looking, and almost stone age & savage in presentation.

One thing I’ll always remember about this one is it being the first time I thought “Wow, Tygra’s kind of a dork”. When Cheetara kind of told that joke about how the Mutants never play by the rules, Tygra just goes into this straight faced speech about how rules need to be followed “other wise, they are just words”. It was like he was giving a speech to a bunch of kids or something, and he was dead serious! Its one of those unintentionally funny moments that is pretty endearing.