Just wondering. What are your favorite episodes? What ones do you find the best written or the funniest? Are there any you wish was NEVER written at all? If so what are they?
One of my favorite episodes is Out of Sight. It helped me appreciate Tygra more and feel somewhat bad for Jackleman. Poor guy lol. It’s also a really funny episode.
My least favorite episode of all time is Hair of the Dog. I got one word for that. Snarf-Ra. I refuse to think of it as anything but a nightmare Mumm-Ra is having because the Ancient Spirits are mean jerks and are messing with him.
Favourites are “Sword in a Hole” and “Excalibur”, I’ve watched them both so many times, really great stuff. I love the VHS versions of Exodus and HO! the Movie too, watched them on loop as a kid. Most of the first season, especially the early ones are pure gold. It was I high pedestal to fall from for the second season.
Worst for me are stuff involving the Lunatacs, don’t like them. they are OK in their introduction, but then they fail to live up to their reputation in later episodes. Anything which features Snarfer prominently. I like snarf but his nephew I loathe. Stuff with new Thunderians and the reformation of Thundera is weak, they should have stayed on Third Earth.
“Chain of Loyalty” comes to mind as one of the worst. The premise alone throws the ideology of the Thundercats out of the window. They are now only loyal to each other because of a chain. Great writing!
^ yeah chain of loyalty was awful. The only entertaining thing was mumm-ra pretending to be that one snarf and being like “go on laugh but soon you’ll be laughing out the other side of your face”. lol.
Yeah excailber was a fun watch as was monkian’s bargain. I rather like snarfer myself and mumm-ra pretending to be snarfer was just weirdly hilarious in the rather poorly written 'thundercubs" mini-series.
Maybe the lunatak’s were such failures because being frozen in lava for a long time made their powers weaker or maybe mumm-ra put a spell on them that makes them lame.
Another reason I disliked Hair of The Dog was because it contradicts a lot of things about how and why mumm-ra has to use the spirits to become ever-living. I mean if ANYONE can become ever living due to that chant then WHY did he have to pay such a high price to get his powers? >_> points to avatar (me when watching that episode right there.)
My favorite episodes are mostly from season 1 and, as you can imagine, I really enjoy teh ones where Tygra has a prominent role. I think what made me a fan of his, besides his character, is that the episodes where he was up and front (“Trouble with Time”, “Garden of Delights”, “Fireballs from Plun-Darr”, “Out of Sight” and even his anointment trial) where some of the more obscure episodes in the series, and I really liked them. On the other hand, I really found boring and disappointing eps in which he wasn’t present or had a little role (sometimes even without any lines at all).
But his absense from almost the second half of season 2 is not what makes me dislike those episodes. I don’t like them because of mainly two reasons: it introduced some new promising characters that created great expectations and were a complete disappointment (Lunatacks), and also because it reduced the Mutants to a clowny role IMO. Also, the series in its whole turned too childish for me. And, of course, Tygra and Pumyra being left in Third Earth didn’t help (and even before that, they were out of many eps).
If I had to choose some non-Tygra centril eps as my favs, I always liked those where the TCs worked as a team and Lion-O doesn’t come as the ultimate here (at least not at all), Like “Pumm-Ra”, “Wolfrat”, “Divide and Conquer” and even “Mycrits” (yes, Lion-o did come out as the ultimate hero in that one, but I really liked it and wished the TCs would have made something for themselves without Lion-O). I also enjoyed “The Mountain” and #Snarf Takes Up the Challenge" (even when Snarf was among my least favorite characters).
As for the ones I don’t like, I agree with Booshman: “Chain of Loyalty” stands out. It has no logic at all to present the TCs being loyal to one another only because opf a chain. Where was the Thundera Code then?
Some of my favorites stem from childhood nostalgia. Ghost Warrior and Fond Memories are two of them. I have always enjoyed Thundercats Ho as well!
Least favorites? I know this is very unpopular, but I don’t really care for Excalibur. I think it is a bit too rooted in First Earth details for me. I also was not a big fan of Mummrana.
I do like the Lunataks (although agree they turned into walking jokes rather quickly) apart from Luna and always enjoyed Snarfer.
Well this is why I have a headcanon that mumm-ra cursed them after they got out of the lava and failed to defeat the thundercats in “Mumm-Ra Lives!” Because he knew they would try to overthrow him with that amulet that Lynx-O and Cheetera found below his pyramid.
“Excaliber” was interesting. I liked it because it showed Mumm-Ra has MAD sword fighting skills, though for the life of my I don’t understand HOW he got them and you know he DID mention he has been there since third earth WAS first earth.
That reminds me… Season 3 was pretty weak as well when it came to episodes. All that thundera treasure hunting and all. *yawn". Also it seems after season 1 the Sword Of Omens became rather… well. The answer to everything. I kind of am beginning to LOATH that sword.
Yes, that’ another reason why I never liked season 2, because of teh Sword of Omens turning into the ultmate deux-ex-machina.
I liked Snarfer as well, even more than Snarf, I think. Also, at first I liked the introduction of the new TCs, but didn’t grow fond of them as episodes went by.
My favourites are ‘Berbils’, ‘Pumra’, ‘Terror of Hammer Hand’, ‘The Ghost Warrior’ and ‘The Last Day’.
That’s why I was so mad about the ending to the five parter “return to thundera”. the sword replaced the gyroscope? SERIOUSLY?!
http://thundercats.org/forums/data/avatars/m/26/26022.jpg?1463786998
For season one, I enjoyed the “Exodus” pilot, “Berbils,” “The Slaves of Castle Plun-Darr,” “Trouble with Time,” “Pumm-Ra,” “The Tower of Traps,” “The Garden of Delights,” “Mandora the Evil Chaser,” “The Ghost Warrior,” “Spitting Image,” “The Rock Giant,” “The Thunder-Cutter,” “Jackalman’s Rebellion,” “The Mumm-Ra Berbil,” “Trapped,” “The Transfer,” and “Fond Memories.”
I also like “ThunderCats, Ho!: The Movie,” “Mumm-Ra Lives!” Parts I-V, “Catfight,” “Psych Out!”, “The Mask of Gorgon,” “The Mad Bubbler,” “Together We Stand,” “Ravage Island,” “Time Switch,” “Day of the Eclipse,” and “Sideswipe.”
I have recently watched the episode “The Key of Thundera” and I got to say. wut?! Did the writers suddenly developed this weird fetish with utterly TRAUMATIZING mumm-ra or just assassinating his character? I know he’s a villain but they could have at least given him some DIGNITY. *glares at the “return of the thundercubs” episode. Mumm-Ra does NOT grovel before Thundercats EVER.
I know this won’t be very popular around here, but I used to find tose episodes where non Third-Earthling showed up pretty boring or at least liek they didn’t fit in the series overall. Every Mandora or Hachiman episode was weird to me, I never thought they fit and they kind of bored me (it didn’t have to do with teh characters themselves. I liked Mandora’s look and think she could have been used ina more entertaining way; Hachiman always bored me, but I did like the concept).
I agree. I never had any interest in Mandora. I liked Hachiman, but didn’t like that he was form another dimension/time/planet.
I must admit I’d like to know what Mandora looked like underneath that helmet. I have this idea that she’s got some massive disfiguring scar on one side of her face but is otherwise beautiful . . . I don’t know.
As for faves and least, well, let’s see. Most of the highlights are in season 1, of course. Probably because the writing staff changed so much:
http://thundercats.org/cartoons-and-movies/original-series/articles-features/about-the-writers/
Not only did we lose Leonard Starr after “Mumm-Ra Lives!”, but we also lost Bob Haney and Stephen Perry. And in a way, Peter Lawrence - he became the lead writer after Starr left, writing the last two five-parters, but other than that, the only individual episode in the later series that he (co-)wrote was “Chain Of Loyalty”. It’s a shame because apart from “Mechanical Plague”, he was a pretty consistent writer on season 1.
As for William Overgard, someone pointed out on another thread here that he tended to write more for his own characters than for the actual regulars. He gave us Mandora, Hachiman, Captain Cracker, Captain Bragg . . . the only episodes he wrote that didn’t feature his own guest characters too heavily were “The Fireballs Of Plun-Darr” and “The Book Of Omens”.
And I still haven’t got around to listing my personal faves. Let’s see. First of all, the establishing arc - which I personally count as a SIX-parter (I include “Trouble With Time” and “Pumm-Ra” as completing the intro story - watch these six in a row and you’ll be converted, I guarantee!). Also the Annointment Trials were good. As for individual episodes, well, I’d have to say “Snarf Takes Up The Challenge”, “Divide And Conquer” (which I’ve said many times is the best departure from the Lion-O-centric format in the whole series), “The Shifter”, and if I had to pick one “Lion-O saves the day” episode for this list, I’d say “The Mumm-Ra Berbil”. I’ve also got a soft spot for “Eye Of The Beholder”. And if I had to pick one from the later series, “The Last Day”. That was truly the most epic season finale Thundercats had.
Mandora has a Judge Dredd vide to her. I think that there were more troops just like her patrolling the galaxy.
Speaking of Hachiman. In the movie Mumm-Ra told the cats he sent the guy back to his own TIME. So when the guy appeared in a later episode with no real explanation I was like “How in the world did he get there? Did Mumm-Ra transport him back to third earth time? what is going on?!”
That bugged me too.
I believe Hachiman comes from First Earth’s ancient past.
Yes that is what Mumm-Ra implied but how did he get to Third Earth in “Hachiman’s Honor” then?
I thought he was from the Planet of the Red Sun?