Episode 51: Excalibur

Cartoons ThunderCats (1985)
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I always felt that the basic story of pitting the Sword of Omens against Excalibur, the most renowned sword in history, was brilliant! However the actual script just had too many plotholes. The ones that I found to be most glaring were:

  1. The two swords fighting on their own with the Sword of Omens chasing Excalibur and vice versa. That was just a bit too much, even for a cartoon. If the Sword of Omens really can do all that on it’s own, then why do the Thundercats even bother going out to fight the bad guys? Lion-O could just sit inside Cats Lair and give a command like, “Sword of Omens, go and destroy Mumm-ra! … And fetch me my slippers before you leave.”

  2. In the end, Merlin appears and states that Excalibur like the Sword of Omens, cannot be used for evil purposes. Yet Excalibur did not resist when Mumm-ra used it to fight Lion-O even going so far as piercing the Eye of Thundera. Even though Mumm-ra was in the guise of King Arthur, surely Excalibur should have been able to tell that it was not King Arthur.

In the episode “Garden of Delights”, Mumm-ra couldn’t use the Sword of Omens himself for the same reason. Even if he had taken Lion-O’s form, I doubt if he would have been able to use the Sword. Even in the episode “The Thunder-Cutter”, Mumm-ra tricks Hachiman, another legendary swordsman, into fighting Lion-O isntead of taking his sword which also could not be used for evil.

I think there is one goof in “Excalibur” when Mumm-ra as King Arthur removes his gloves, slaps Lion-O with them and then drops them at Lion-O’s feet, challenging him to a joust. But in the very next scene, the gloves are back on his hands.

All this said, I think that “Excalibur” still has some great moments like the beautiful matte painting freeze frames when Lion-O and Mumm-ra are jousting. Also I really liked the way, they showed Lion-O losing is cool at King Arthur’s behaviour and how he was purposely getting on the Thundercats nerves. In most of the cartoons, Lion-O and the other Thundercats are always shown keeping their cool so seeing Lion-O really angry in this one was a refreshing change.

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I liked that episode, too. Granted, the entire classic series has plotholes, but it had some amazing episodes.

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[quote=“Wilycub, post: 88219”]
Even though Mumm-ra was in the guise of King Arthur, surely Excalibur should have been able to tell that it was not King Arthur.

The disguise was sufficient to fool the Lady of the Lake and it was only when ‘Arthur’ announced he was Mumm-Ra, before the fallen Lion-O that Excalibur refused to do his bidding. Perhaps Excalibur believed so much that it was Arthur whatever he was doing was for good. I don’t know. I’m not going to psycho-analyze a sword. :stuck_out_tongue: But I do like that it seemed both Swords had some personality in the way they had their own battle to see which is the greater. I’ve always liked it when it shows the Sword of Omens (or rather the Eye of Thundera that powers it) has some life of it’s own and it’s not just a ‘magical prop’.

[quote]

Also I really liked the way, they showed Lion-O losing is cool at King Arthur’s behaviour and how he was purposely getting on the Thundercats nerves. In most of the cartoons, Lion-O and the other Thundercats are always shown keeping their cool so seeing Lion-O really angry in this one was a refreshing change.

This is one of the many reasons why this episode is one of my favorites. I can’t not laugh at ‘Arthur’s’ disrespectful treatment of Lion-O and watching Lion-O getting really wound up especially when I imagine I can ‘see’ through the disguise and picture Mumm-Ra as himself there slapping Lion-O with the glove or stepping onto his shoulder as he dismounts the horse. For me it’s a great character moment for Mumm-Ra (who sounds like he’s having a lot of fun) and Lion-O for different reasons. Also I like that Cheetara expresses disappointment in Lion-O as he agrees to the duel.

Also it might be just me but the true Arthur when he removes Excalibur from the stone reminds me of what a younger Hachiman might look like.

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Ah yes, one of my all time fave episodes so far.