The “All That Glitters” episode suggested that the ThunderCats knew nothing about “gold,” which is what Thundrillium is made out of.
No, not quite. They were unfamiliar with gold, yes, but thundrillium is a distinct metal. When the meteor struck Hook Mountain, the heat from the impact was enough to melt and alloy gold present in the bedrock with the thundrillium in the meteor. That’s why they had to melt it down again—to separate the two metals.
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That’s true. And your point made me realize that in the continuity order suggested in this thread, Tower of Traps is placed before All That Glitters even though the TCs knew about Gold in the former and not in the latter.
It’s possible that they know about the colour gold but not the metal. Tower Of Traps does need to be pretty damn early because of the lines at the start about making the maps.
I’ve just watched PKELL’s episode recount and something came to my mind.
I know the following episodes were aired really apart, but could Mumm-Rana come after the Feliner arc?
At the end of The Feliner, part 2, Panthro, Cheetara and the kittens leave to deliver Snarfer in his planet, and they’re away in Mumm-Rana? Couldit be that theey were still in space delivering Snarfer?
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I’d clean forgotten about this thread!
You know, putting “Mumm-Rana” right after “Feliner” is one of the first things I thought about. It could be possible but it’s by no means a must as it’s clearly a separate trip, it’s got the same characters in the spaceship but they’re seen blasting off again at the start and Cheetara (who seems to be in charge of Feliner missions a lot) mentions that they are trying to get laser maps of the local area. Also there’s the question of whether the Mutants could get the Rat-Star fixed that quickly.
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Further on that question, “Mumm-Rana” probably should be sooner rather than later after “Feliner”, as getting the maps would be something they’d want to start with sooner. You know, it’s so long since I looked at my spreadsheet for this, or even watched the episodes, I need to refresh my memory!
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For my ordering of the season 1 episodes, I think we can agree that the first five (Exodus, Unholy Allince, Berbils, Slaves of Castle Plundarr, and Pumm-Ra) work as the first 5. They introduced everyone, the bases, and concludes with all the TCats meeting Mumm-Ra face to face for the first time.
Feliner works as a good delineation point as certain episodes have to come before it (Lord of the Snows, Spaceship Beneath the Sands, a bunch of non-Feliner episodes) and certain episodes have to come after it (Jackalman’s Rebellion, Sword in the Hole, Mumm-Rana, Eye of the Beholder, Fond Memories).
And for me, I like to think of the Anointment Trials as the finale. The entire season was about Lion-O’s journey from boyhood to man, and that feels like the payoff to it.
I’ll put together a chronological order that makes sense to me later.
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I always considered the Anoinment trials as a mid-season finale,or a mid season premiere.
Season 1 has 65 episodes, same as “season 2”. But season 2 has three 5-episodes arc (not considering the TCs Ho! movie, the other three 5-eps arcs being the ones that lead some people to divede it into seasons 2, 3 and 4). So, I always thougt season 1 needed a break at some point in th middle, and the trials fit just right. So, the season 1 eps could be divided in pre-trils and post-tils, the latter with Lion-O having already fulfilled his destiny as Lord of the TCs.
In that case, thse series would be something like this:
[ul]
[li]Introduction arc (Exodus, Unholy Allince, Berbils, Slaves of Castle Plundarr, and Pumm-Ra) = 5 eps[/li]
[li]Episodes 6-30 = 25 eps*[/li]
[li]Anoinment trials = 5 eps*[/li]
[li]Episodes 36-65 = 30 eps*[/li][li]ThunderCats Ho! arc (eps 66-70) = 5 eps[/li]
[li]Mumm-Ra Lives! arc (eps 71-75) = 5 eps[/li]
[li]Episodes 76-90 = 15 eps[/li]
[li]Thundercubs arc (eps 91-95) = 5 eps[/li]
[li]Episodes 96-110 = 15 eps[/li]
[li]Return to Thundera! arc (eps 111-115) = 5 eps[/li]
[li]Episodes 116-130 = 15 eps[/li][/ul]
- The order here could be either 25 and 30 episodes before and after the AT respectively, or 30 before and 25 after.
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I really need to upload the spreadsheet I created all those years ago so people can actually see the continuity points in full for hammering this out. Actually I need to look at it again myself!
A few general points for everyone to remember:
For this purpose season 2 can definitely be called seasons 2-4 as there’s absolute divides between them, so it’s season 1 (65 episodes), Thundercats HO! (5 episodes), season 2 (20 episodes), season 3 (20 episodes) and season 4 (20 episodes). We can create separate threads for seasons 2-4, which should be a lot easier to resolve.
Lion-O’s Anointment Trials are a very awkward point continuity-wise, as there are so many episodes that belong before them and others that belong after them, depending on what details are known to the characters at this point. They can’t be right in the middle and they can’t be right at the end either.
The opening arc of season 1 actually consists of SIX episodes, not five, as “Trouble With Time” belongs before “Pumm-Ra”. I did come up with a fairly bulletproof order for the first twenty-odd episodes.
OK folks, I’ve finally uploaded the spreadsheet here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uJTtPaHG7TnziWpR59r7XLcB3h1dD-ef/view?usp=sharing
It lists about four different orders to arrange them in and I’m not quite sure why it’s four and not three. I think it includes production order, airdate order, and two different continuity orders.
That’s all the notes I made on season 1 back in the day, regarding plot points, flashbacks and suchlike. Including an erroneous comment about the Anointment Trials belonging mid-season.
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Nice work. It would be great if WB could find any notes on the intended order and give us a DVD release in proper order. I hate that you can’t just watch the series in proper order without going back and forth between discs. It seems ridiculous to me these have never been put in an official order.
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It’s a work in progress at the moment. I haven’t made much progress in a few years. By sharing the spreadsheet with you all, it enables me to get lots of brains working things out an remembering details that refer back to other episodes.
Hey! It was me who said the Trials might be midseason. Why is it necessarily erroneous? :biggrin
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If you look at the notes, you’ll see that there’s a large number of episodes that have to come before the Trials, and only a small few that have to come after.
It has to do with what the characters do and don’t know during those episodes. For example, episodes that by necessity have to come after the Trials are “Divide And Conquer” and “Return Of The Driller” on account of the Vortex and Acid Lake being known to Lion-O in those episodes but not in the Trials.
Oooohhh… ok
Yes if you look at the notes, you’ll see episodes where I’ve noted a reason that must come after a particular episode, and sometimes that episode has a similar note about coming after another one. I really must watch the show again to finish the project. It’s finding the time! This is a complex tapestry to weave, but I did get some way there back in the day. Let’s all get our brains together on this!
Thanks for this! This is really good work.
I also like putting Trouble With Time before Pumm-Ra since in Pumm-Ra, the TCats go off to check on some Thundrillium source, which they don’t have in Trouble With Time. They also mention Lion-O doing well with his Thundertank driving lessons, which again, hadn’t happened in Trouble With Time yet.
Exactly. Plus over here in England, Trouble With Time was always aired first anyway.
Like I said, the order I have above is work in progress, and I really need to rewatch the episodes and reread my own notes, and see what else the rest of you can spot.
I’m pretty happy with the first third or so as it stands, the rest of it might stand a few tweaks here and there. There are some episodes that refer back to others specifically, or have flashbacks, while others don’t have any pointers one way or another and can be used as “buffers” to put between episodes that need a time-lag.
I want to thank you all again for all this knowledge , it was extremely helpful. I was trying to put it all in order on my own, but would never have come close I think. Some episodes still have me stumped so I thought I would post my personal order and see if I missed anything that really needs to be switched up. Any help is appreciated. One thing I was wondering, do the UK comics switch up the order from the cartoon or are those set in stone clues? Like Snarf Takes Up the Challenge was next to Safari Joe, but I felt like it had to come later?
Anyway, here is what I have come up with after multiple viewings and re-ordering, and studying this thread, with some personal preference thrown in. But if I put something way out of order, I would want it to be as good as possible, just let me know…
I tried to envision them as little volumes in a saga, or if they had played on tv Mon-Fri
Exodus
Unholy Alliance
Berbils
Slaves of Castle Plunn-Dar
The Trouble With Time
Pumm-Ra
The Tower of Traps
The Terror of Hammerhand - Hammerhand ‘dies’. If Snarf hadnt popped up at the last second in Traps would be perfect, he’s wandering around
Spitting Image - Since Hammerhand’s spirit is shown, I like these 3 in this order
The Garden of Delights - Nayda was chased by Panthro in Spitting, seems to fit that they capture Panthro? Or did I invert something I missed in Spitting?
Mandora : Evil Chaser
The Ghost Warrior - Thundrainium, Lair weakened, Grune
Doom-Gaze
The Time Capsule - same setting as Doom-Gaze at beginning, 1st Spaceboards
The Spaceship Beneath the Sands - Mutants get Tech (only 4 in this one, balances out with 1st 6. Maybe there was a World Series game that afternoon, lol jk)
Safari Joe - Kits are learning their boards
The Fireballs of Castle Plunn-Dar - Warrior Maidens attacked, tech
Return to Thundera - Lion-O defeats super machine, Vultureman cameo
The Thunder-Cutter - Dialog flows after Return, 1st Hachiman, Maiden alarms installed
Mongor - Production order and the Kits are still wobbly on boards
Lord of the Snows - 1st Flying Machine, Vultureman, Snowmeow
All That Glitters - after snows
Snarf Takes Up the Challenge - original vultureman voice?, spaceboards pop up out of Thundertank
Out of Sight - Maiden alarm goes off, flying machine “lost”, vulture leaves
Mandora and the Pirates - no spacecraft
Turmagar the Tuska - feels like a prequel to Feliner, new lands explored? Is this the same water that Dometone protects?
Feliner - vultureman comes back with ratar-o to give slythe hell
Feliner
Good and Ugly - snarf and lion-o bonding after feliner’s ending, snarfer ‘goes home’
Dr. Dometone - Kit and Kat absent from previous, they were swimming?, dinner scene at end
TRIALS - opens with Snarf putting out dishes and the same glass mugs shown at end of Dometone…
The Trouble With Thunderkittens - KitKat “jealous” after coronation, no mumm yet, feliner
~opens with feliner taking off with snarf, feels like taking snarfer home from coronation~
The Rock Giant - mumm attack from afar, dark rains(A rockman was shown in Feliner briefly though, is it the same giant?)
Trapped - kitkat not as scared of mumm-ra, still raining, feliner, vultureman ‘back with mutants’
Return of the Driller - Lion-O knows of Acid Lake, Snarf cooking
The Crystal Queen - Snarf cooking, lol
It gets murkier for a bit here:
The Wolfrat - Vultureman with Mumm-Ra . I think Vultureman uses a different vehicle
Queen of 8 Legs
The Evil Harp of Char-Ninn - No Kits in previous, seems to flow well enough. Mumm-Ra thought destroyed
The Demolisher - Mumm-Ra battles Demolisher but not the Cats
Sixth Sense - fly machine, no mum
Divide and Conquer - vulture weapon from previous episode tech, no mum
The Astral Prison - 1st thundrainium cannon; Mumm-Ra reveals himself still alive to Lion-O after disguised as Netherwitch
Sword In a Hole - feliner, lion-o power seems greater
Excalibur - mumm seems angrier after previous episode
Secret of the Ice King - seems to work well with the rock climbing in next episode
The Mountain - After Mutantless, jackalman get sword of omens
Mechanical Plague - the flashbacks
Jackalman’s Rebellion - flows nice after getting sword
Monkian’s Bargain - monkian solo
The Transfer - no monkian, dialog nice after rebellion, mumm shoots down Flying Machine
The Shifter - Panthro learns a bit about Snarfs body during the switch. I like the Slythe line, “this is no Jackalman you’re fighting”. Fly Machine crashes
Micrits - Vultureman in different vehicle
Eye of the Beholder - thundrainium cannon damaged, monkian and jackalman team, Vultureman present or would place near Fond Memories
Tight Squeeze -Slythe loses Cannon, Vulture fed up,blows up weapons, leaves; Jack/Monk want nothing to do with Mumm-Ra, Panthro/Snarf ‘squeeze’ idea
The Super Power Potion - I like it here since it feels more of a final battle with Vultureman/Mutants/Mumm-Ra. He seemed pretty angry in previous
Dimension Doom - no tech, Slythe solo, vulture head statue, Lion-0 badass summons sword, KitKat on boards is pretty awesome at the end
Mumm-Rana - has Ratstar for some reason, fleeing mumm? Mutants “defeated” by Rana
Fond Memories - the end. slythe in painting, mumm can resurrect them all whenever
The Mumm-Ra Berbil - mutants ‘back’
The Dream Master - Comes before HO! in UK comics
~These are so similar I just see it as a 2 parter. I know they are out of order technically, but since there are more seasons to follow, might as well get them out of the “Paintings”. I liked how Lion-0 is dreaming at beginning of HO! so when I saw the UK comic had it there as well, I figured why not, as a little teaser for next seasons~
So, there’s probably a bit of personal preference in my ordering, but does anything look really out of place? I tried to make it all flow as neatly as possible with all the characters in mind. I have all the other seasons lined up as well, trying to pay attention to little details but I can post that later in the other thread…
Thanks for taking the time to check it out if possible, and its been a great ride!