Yeah, I doubt anyone other than perhaps Jaga suspected the Sword might have been looking for a Thunderan who wasn’t a bigoted you-know-what.
I think what makes Lion-O worthy of the Sword of the Omens is that by some miracle he hasn’t been corrupted by the pride of Thundarian nobility.
Cluaids was a powerful leader & mostly a good man, but he was prideful & violent and maintained a feeling of superiority for the Cat kingdom over other races. The fact that Lion-O could feel compassion & sympathy for a Lizard makes him the perfect choice to accomplish what they’re ultimate mission is: To unite all the races. Lion-O is also open minded enough to accept new ideas & to explore (he was the only Cat that believed in technology from the start) and has had the easiest time bonding with friends & races throughout the series. It started small with Emrich & the Petalars, but Lion-O has learned how to extend his hand in friendship to those that his father probably would have deemed unworthy of being in his presence, and its starting to rub off on the other T-Cats as well. Kit has shown attachment to the Elephant people & bonded with them and Panthro bonded, though begrudgingly, with The Berbils. Forging those friendships & alliances is going to help them topple Mumm-Ra as that is how it was done the first time. Lion-O isn’t a military leader or the greatest warrior, but he could become a unifying symbol to bring ultimate peace to Third Earth.
Tygra doesn’t possess those qualities. He mocked the idea of sympathy towards The Lizards. He mocked the idea that technology could exist. He feels that the Sword & leadership of the Thundercats should be his based on his age, physical superiority, and military prowess. Yes he’s helped out the T-Cats on all these missions to help their new allies, but he seems to do it just because he’s there with them and he wants to fight (maybe even to impress Cheetara, who knows?). He’s too much like Claudis in that regard and that’s why he is not the right one to extend the olive branch to potential allies like The Berbils, The Elephants, or maybe even the tiny & short lived Petalars. The best example is probably last week’s episode. I don’t think this Tygra would have ever come to the realization that Lion-O did regarding the giant bird character (gee, its actually really hard keeping track of a lot of these new names) because that would have involved giving up a fight, which he doesn’t like to do.
Now where Lion-O is messing up is that he lets Tygra get to him whenever they disagree, when he should realize that Tygra can compensate for his shortcomings. Lion-O has proven himself to be a better spokesperson & ambassador for the Thundercats, while Tygra is the better military leader. I think Lion-O thinks that just because he has the Sword, he should make all the decisions.
It really reminds me of an exchange the two had in the Original Series. In “Pumm-Ra” Tygra planned to sneak into Cat’s Lair through the Power exhaust to take back control of the base. Lion-O said he should go because he’s the leader & has the Sword, but Tygra reasoned that he’s the architect and is the only one that knows where to go and how to do it. Ultimately Lion-O yielded knowing that The Sword doesn’t automatically make him all knowing & better than the T-Cats at everything.
And that’s what this Lion-O needs to learn. Instead of letting Tygra get to him when he proposes as strategy for attack, he should instead work with Tygra, knowing that he is the military strategist & is better than him in this area. Basically, he needs to extend the same level of respect to Tygra that he has to the other races. That’s hard to do, for sure. If there’s anything I’ve learned in my life its that sometimes the people its hardest to be nice to are the ones you’re closest too.
As for their fighting over Cheetara, I agree with the earlier post saying that Lion-O has no clue how deeply Tygra feels for her and in his mind, its just a brotherly contest over who can get laid first. If Lion-O knew that Tygra has had a crush on her for the last 10 years or so, he’d probably back off instantly. Again, an open non hostile line of communication & understanding between the two would solve a lot of their issues, but brothers are going to fight, so what can you do? lol.
Lion-O is kinda starting to rub me the wrong way. “It’s probably the same reason she’s gonna choose me!” Him being so obvious about them competing over her is just… blegh. Show a little bit of class, please? Also, him telling Cheetara that Tygra has darkness in him? Dude! You don’t just go around talking to people about your siblings like that! By the look on Cheetara’s face, she seemed to kinda share my feelings there. It kinda made me feel like he was trying to play dirty and make sure Cheetara was aware of Tygra’s flaws so he would have a better chance of ‘winning’.
But I really liked this episode. Seeing Grune again was great. I kinda get the feeling that he doesn’t want to fight Panthro, not that he’s necessarily afraid to fight him. Still not twisted enough to want to kill his former best friend with his own hands, perhaps, once the initial rush of Mumm-Ra’s influence wore off?
I’m curious about the upcoming ‘betrayal’. Could that elephant have seen a vision of Mumm-Ra disguised as Tygra? Will Tygra pretend to betray Lion-O as some sort of strategy to beat Mumm-Ra? Or will he really betray him? The suspense! It’s tearing me apart! Maybe Lion-O having been told about the vision and expecting Tygra to betray him will be what eventually leads to it?
What if, with emphasis on the “what if”, Tygra takes the sword, manages to use it and is as good or better at using it? I’m sure that to Lion-O, that would feel like a huge betrayal.
As mentioned some lines from Lion-O were kinda wierd. Overall i think it was a great episode. As much storytelling that has put us so much more into the story we don’t see much. Doing it now feels right and i SERIOUSLY hope we don’t get another Duelst sword thingy like episode anymore (sorry it was an OK episode but storywise… meh)
Good to see Grune and Mumm-Ra again and i like the fact it seems Tygra is somewhat “EVIL”. I think he looks cool and being at least a little bit evil in some way (Like Vegeta) would suit him in my opinion. The stook footage took me out of all suspense, ruined kinda much for me. How come he could not just.. HOOOOOOOOO like when he fought Mumm-Ra or something? Jesus this is starting to get on my nervers. I at least think that in greater battles it feels more right to do the whole chant.
That was by far the best episode since part 2 of the premiere, nice to see things finally starting to come together.
Was it just me, or did the machines that Grune and the Lizards escape on look incredibly like Nosedivers? That made me a happy fanboy. 
Good episode and I loved the animation! I got up at 3:00 this morning just so I could watch the newest episode after hearing all the talk about it. I think some people are over exaggerating on the Lion-O/Cheetara/Tygra thing. From some of the talk I was half expecting Cheetara to be jumping Lion-O in this episode, but it was just business as usual.
Some stuff wasn’t even what I was expecting–I read a description saying that Cheetara told Lion-O (upon his saying that Tygra had darkness within him) that Tygra was jealous the Lion-O was better than him…and that’s totally not what she said.
I’m glad the love triangle is starting to come center stage, because the sooner its resolved the sooner other things can be focused on (I dislike love triangles—you can get enough material from a regular relationship without adding a third wheel).
It was nice to see some back story for Cheetara, and getting to see her and Tygra as kids was a nice treat. Now I’d just like to see how Tygra came to be adopted into the royal family and I’ll be content.
I’m curious about the betrayal, but I doubt Tygra will go dark side on us, and if he does I imagine it would be resolved pretty quickly, but even then I don’t think he’s so bitter he’d join forces with the people who killed his father, people and home. If we’re going for a predictable ‘betrayal’ he’ll pretend to switch sides in order to get the upper hand on Mumm-Ra. This is suspect as well though because then it’s not really a betrayal, meaning the vision wasn’t correct, though it’s stated the visions are always right.
This is my theory on it—I think Lion-O and Tygra will have some major conflict in the Astral Plane (most likely with Mumm-Ra fueling the flames), which will lead to Mumm-Ra almost winning. Eventually they realize they can’t fight each other if they want to win, and they can still be allies without agreeing with one another all the time (or some other moral). They’ll work together and defeat Mumm-Ra and get the Spirit Stone. It would make sense that the second part of the mid-season finale be more battle heavy.
I think, upon leaving the Astral Plane, both brothers will have done some soul searching. Tygra will confront Cheetara about his feelings for her, as opposed to admiring from afar like he’s been doing. If she recuperates his feelings, this could lead to the two starting a secret relationship, which would be a betrayal to Lion-O since Tygra would be getting not only the object of not his desire, but Lion-O’s as well.
It’s just a theory, but I’d prefer it over the standard “I’m evil now until I get close to the villain and take him out with a surprise attack and reveal I was actually super special awesome the whole time and was just pretending to be bad because villains are overly trusting of people who betray their friends and use run on sentences!”
If Lion-O knew Tygra liked Cheetara for a long time earlier, he definately would’ve backed off. But now? I don’t think he would since he really likes her now and she is definately showing signs of liking him.
Of course I don’t see their competition over who can get Cheetarah as simply a contest on who would get laid first. Both want a relationship with her and not just some casual sex and then dumping her.
Anyways, I do think Tygra does have a darkness in him like Lion-O said but it’s directed towards his brother and noone else. But Cheetara is right as well and it is Tygra’s pride as well. Personally, I think Tygra’s pride was twisted into a kind of darkness towards Lion-O.
Speculation on Tygra’s betrayal.
You have both Lion-O & Tygra entered into a plane of existence where the mind & emotions are said to create reality and Mumm-Ra, who claims to be more powerful within the realm, has followed them in.
The obvious route to go with this is that Mumm-Ra plays on Tygra’s feelings of bitterness & jealousy towards Lion-O and brings it to the surface and manipulates him. Also, with Leo being Lion-O’s ancestor, I don’t think its much of a stretch to point out that Tygus was actually loyal to Mumm-Ra and it should be revealed that Tygra is a descendant to him. They could very well do what Lion-O did in The Book of Omens and have Tygra actually live out some of Tygus’ memories, only with Mumm-Ra pulling the strings.
It really could be a more elaborate & personal version of “The Garden of Delights” where Mumm-Ra uses a combination of magic & illusions to play on Tygra’s weaknesses & get him over to his side, at least temporarily.
I do think that Tygra will be responsible for Mumm-Ra getting the Stone and that he will spend his time feeling guilty & trying to make up for what he did.
I don’t think Tygra will abandon the team, join up with Mumm-Ra, & go bad guy for an extended period, at least not willingly. Mumm-Ra will play a role in whatever corruption Tygra undergoes within the Astral Plane.
Great episode, finally the show gets back on track.
It was amusing to see the serious Grune clash with the elephants.
I really enjoyed the Cheetara storyline and getting to see Jaga again. Hopefully all the Clerics aren’t dead, they are pretty cool.
As far as the love triangle situation goes, I really hope Tygra and Cheetara end up together. It seems like they are building towards this outcome, but Cheetara is also gravitating toward Lion-O even though he hasn’t really done anything to deserve it in my opinion. I guess the sword lesson in Book One was mutually beneficial.
The next episode seems like it can’t miss with the Lion-O/Tygra focus and Mumm-Ra finally coming back. As a long time Tygra fan I am really nervous about how they handle this betrayal. Hopefully the brothers come out of the Astral Plane with a mutual respect for each other and cut down on the bickering. So here’s hoping the Astral Plane isn’t filled with Fraggles or something ridiculous to offset the tension building.
LOL would that have made Tygra like Charlie Brown. 
I hadn’t considered that. It’s entirely plausible. the elephant wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. heck the elephant could’ve even forgotten part of the vision.
I caught the Nosedivers too… Thought I was the only one.
I too think this will be the outcome. After all to prolong the collection of the Stones Mumm-Ra has to get one or two himself. Besides the Cats are up on him with successes right now and need to be brought down a peg. If only to make them work harder and be more of a team. I think Tyrgra and Lion-O will only stop butting heads as much once Lion-O goes through and Successfully completes the Trails.
Personally I don’t see much Attraction between Chetarra and Lion-O. I am sure Lion-O sees it but I think Chetarra is treating him more like a nurturing mother type. I have no doubt she loves him she is just not “In Love” with him. Lord knows it is really hard to differentiate between the two especially at a young age like Lion-O. I definitely think she will end up with Tygra it’s just that now is not the time for that in her mind as they have a mission to accomplish. Business first Love later.
It might be that the only way to reach the Spirit Stone is to give Tygra a chance to wield the Sword of Omens. It will show Lion-O that he is worthy to use it and hopefully the group will be more unified.
Merged Post:
That did cross my mind when Mumm-Ra flew into the gate as the blackbird. I imagine there will be a scene where Tygra sees Mumm-Ra masquerading as himself. It will be an eye opener for both brothers. 
While I do have a feeling that Mumm-Ra will get the stone (or more like hope he’ll get it since that would make things more exciting), I don’t think Tygra is going to be the only one to blame for him getting it. I think it’s going to be the brothers’ lack of trust in one another that lets Mumm-Ra win. I don’t think the elephant’s vision is what he thought it was, so Lion-O is going to expect Tygra to betray him even though he won’t, leading to him not trusting him, and Tygra still doesn’t trust Lion-O to be capable enough to handle things. Just my theory.
Or Lion-O could be portrayed as the perfect hero who is always nice and always right, while Tygra is portrayed as a jealous failure who should be ashamed of himself. That’s entirely possible as well.
its an average ep at best but its better then the past several eps, lets see what the next one is like?
Y’know that you type “Y’know” quite alot Y’know
True, Yoda didn’t want Anakin trained at all because of what he sensed concerning the boy. I got the impression that Mace sensed it too. I can almost imagine when Claudus took in Tygra, Jaga warning Claudus that he had concerns about Tygra. Probably not, just a thought.
Wow! great episode IMO, talk about tension between the brothers!
Being a Tygra fan I’m gutted that Cheetara seems to be showing Lion-O a fair amount of affection, but my instinct tells me that it may still turn out a tygra/Cheetara relationship (if one at all!).
Really nervous about how their going to handle this ‘betrayal’, it will almost certainly be to do with thoughts coming to life in the astral plane (which means we’re prob in for an episode filled with randomness and what not).
Just had an epic (tygra fan) thought! …what if they eventually get the spirit stone after defeating Mum-Ra and resolving their issues, and Lion-O (with new found respect for his bro) offers him the spirit stone to enhance hos BoloWhip!! that would add a 3rd crystal to the end of it (like in the OS) and give it some new magical powers (like Cheetara’s staff now has!). Oooooo please be true! lol
Might have been the best ep since the premiere, with “Journey to the Tower of Omens” a close third.
Loved everything about it, except for how out of character Grune seemed when he was with the Elephant people, almost like a goof.
I liked seeing the kittens intentions, and that Kat seems more serious, focused and bitter than his OS counterpart. I also loved Kit wanting a family… so sad. Those kids are really being neglected by the adults IMO.
I somehow agree with CoT in that Cheetara might have been prejudiced towards Tygra, but only a little. She showed pride herself when said she was the fastest. She was witnessed Lion-o’s pride in many occassions as well.
An interesting thing to say about this issue: tigers are actually really associated with pride, like in the Chinese horoscope, and Indian mythology.
The flashbacks were really cute. Tygra earned some more points to me. Which makes me think of that alleged dark side of him. He was a kind, caring, loving little kid. When exactly did this dark side wake up in him? I have the feeling Jaga always sensed it, judging by the look he gave him when he was with Cheetara… but as Cheetara said, living under his younger brother’s shadow all the time helped, and of course thinking that Cheetara not even noticed his existence was a plus(because in all honesty, it can only be how he sees things. Remember Jaga’s lessons about patience, maybe Cheetara looks for the same patience in Tygra… of course she’s been way further than Jaga lol).
Which also reminds me of how arrogant Lion-o could be as well. Yes, Tygra can argue with him and challenge his decisions, but at least Tygra stick it to military actions. Lion-o seems to poke him every time with what he knows hurts Tygra the most: the sword and Cheetara. “The sword chose me”, “she will choose me”… not nice from the “compassionate one”; he has never tried to put himself in Tygra’s shoes, and in 12 eps we’ve seen at least snippets of Tygra being more encouraging to Lion-o than the other way round. Even at the end of this ep, there was no “you were right brother, sorry”.
At least Lion-o said he knew Tygra won’t ever betray him, that did say something about him.
The ending was cruel to Tygra in so many aspects:
a) Cheetara kissing Lin-o and not him after he offered to enter the astral palne as well. ANd after what he did with the thundertank, she could have said she trsuted him as well.
b) The Elephan man warning Lion-o was somehow unfair IMO. And I agree with the one wh said (sorry, can’t remember who was it) that that rpecise warning will make it true. I think Lion-o will be under the suggestion thet Tygra will betray him, and will be expecting it and taking every one of Tygra’s actions as a betrayal.
And needless to say, I’m worried about that betrayal too. I hope they really don’t turn him into the bad guy.
Oh! And Lion-o talking bad about Tygra at his backs… really dirty move.
I do think Jaga had reservations towards Tygra since he was a cub. Did no one notice the look he sent Tygra when he let Cheetara enter the Clerics Temple when she first knocked in? He looked at him with some desdain IMO, like “and what are you doing here?” And he sure knew he was Tygra, Claudus adopted son.
I like this idea!
I really think the next episode will have some bonds to OS trial of mind power.
I have a new theory that I posted in the Tygra fan thread but relates to this discussion.
Theory…
There was a magical contract of sorts between Tygus and Mumm-Ra. Mumm-Ra gave Tygus the bolowhip and the power of invisibility, perhaps to spy on Leo and the other ThunderCats. That bolowhip and magical power was then passed down from Tygus through his descendants and has ended up with Tygra, his direct anscestor. (Harry Potter anybody?)
Anyway…
Perhaps when the elephant said to Lion-O that he saw a vision that Lion-O would see a betrayal from Tygra like he had never seen before - perhaps that betrayal is a betrayal towards Mumm-Ra, not towards Lion-O. Perhaps Tygra will break this curse on him and his bloodline by turning against Mumm-Ra where his ancestors always were loyal to Mumm-Ra.
Just a happy thought. 