Mumm-Ra proved once again he was ahead of the Thundercats since he already knew of the reforming of planet Thundera and through his brief but revealing history lesson we learn the interesting origin as well as the important existence of the Treasure of Thundera which contained every secret of the Thundercats’ power. Lion-o and his team get to see the whole picture and imminent danger if the evil wizard managed to find the treasure before them, only later in the episode ThunderCubs Part 1 by Jaga’s instruction. Also this is the first reference we have about the mythical heritage. Many of the ensuing 39 episodes feature treasure-hunting adventures as the Thundercats try to gather the scattered pieces from the four corners of New Thundera which will help to decipher the mystic codes of the Book of Omens. I’ve tried to trace down and number each part of the T-Cat treasure as it was discovered one by one, some of them were more valuable than others, additionally they were associated with great moments during the series. It is entirely my assumption,i might be wrong though, and personal belief that the mentioning of the “quest for the fabled Stones of Power” in the official press release for the 2011 New Series will be more or less connected to the Treasure of Thundera.
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[li] A jewel: ThunderCubs Part 3: the first piece found in the Valley of Snarfs by Snarf Eggbert and Oswald.[/li][li][LEFT] Book of Omens: ThunderCubs Part 4: the most precious part of the treasure.[/LEFT][/li][li] Magic Flute: ThunderCubs Part 4: Cheetara located it, the sound hypnotizes Snarfs&Ma-Mutt[/li][li] Totem of Dera: Totem of Dera: Mumm-Ra’s discovery, has great healing powers and can bring inanimate objects to life[/li][li]Chain of Loyalty: Chain of Loyalty: It holds the bond of Thundercats’ friendship together, Lion-o’s find in the Mountains of the Moon[/li][li]Key of Thundera: Key to Thundera: Panthro digs it up, unlocks the secrets of the Book of Omens[/li][li] Mirror of Truth: Return of the Thundercubs: Cheetara uses her Sixth Sense to locate it in the Canyons of Youth; it helped to defeat Mumm-ra[/li][li] Bracelet of Thundera: Bracelet of Thundera: tygra,Bengali&Cheetara bring it back from New Thundera, whoever owns it can enslave anyone he wishes[/li][li]The Double-Headed Dragon of Doom: Jade Dragon: the legend says it had engulfed Hachiman’s ancestor. Scooper excavated it[/li][/ol]
The four artifacts needed to be presented at certain locations throughout Thundera are never referred as Parts of the Treasure in the final episode Book of Omens but my guess is that they must be somehow related to it. We see them placed next to the Book and the Key in the Cat’s lair chamber and the Guardian consideres them as integral segments belonging to the once beautiful land sites of Old Thundera. The same goes for the Thunderscope, it might had been recovered from the old Ship wreckage in Third Earth but it was the exact instrument to track down the lost parts of the Treasure, besides we witness Snarf putting it inside a bag along with the rest pieces in order to take them all and offer them to the Guardian in the episode Last Day.
One thing that never made sense to me as a kid, why would they take the Sword of Omens, ThunderScope, and the Time Capsule with them, but leave behind the Treasure of ThunDera? I mean seriously, it was all tucked in a nice little travel bag for crying out loud!
AND… The Chain of Loyalty was in that bag, leaving it behind meant risking it get broken when the planet exploded. Had that happened, the ThunderCats would have been in even more trouble then they were already.
Because it was very heavy they decided to drop it:D LOL!!
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[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Now seriously, the only Thundercat member aware of the Sword of Plan-Darr and the Treasure of Thundera was Lynx-o, who is caught by surprise hearing that both of them still exist and weren’t destroyed along with Thundera. Lion-o first learns of their essence in the episode ThunderCubs Part 1, my guess is that the rest of the team if they were familiar with these two precious items they should have already informed their Lord since the Treasure of Thundera comes second in hierarchy of importance after the Sword of Omens. Still, at the same episode when Jaga tells Lion-o what to do, he is in the dark as well as the whole team. Given the rush to leave Thundera before it exploded, they probably had time to salvage only the main source of power, namely the Sword. Also, Jaga was very old and focused on saving primarily the young Lion-o and make sure the ship will pull off a last-minute Exodus from the dying planet.
Two other items which could have been parts of the treasure in my judgement, is the Golden orb found accidentally by Kit&Kat while they were exploring New Thundera in the episode ‘The Heritage’. They do too think this piece might have belonged to their Thunderian ancestors. However, later in the episode we learn that Mumm-Ra possessed the Golden Sphere of Seti eons ago which granted him four times bigger power. To make matters worse, if that’s the case how did the sphere finally reemerge in New Thundera? Either Mumm-Ra had paid a visit a long time ago before it was destroyed or much like the Double Headed Dragon of Doom it was entrusted to Jaga for safekeeping and that is how it ended up being part of the treasure even though it wasn’t a Thunderian valuable in the first place.
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The second one is from the episode Crystal Canyon which happens to be one of my personal favorites because I love it when Tygra manifests his mean and addictive persona so wantonly! The source of pure energy, the Keystone was like a combination of the Totem of Dera and the Bracelet of Power with the latter having the enslaving effect to the user. It was located in Thundera and Jaga as Lynx-o have knowledge of its unique powers which could be used equally for good and evil deeds. The Lunataks implied on having found the treasure deep in the Crystal Canyons, apparently they were talking of the Keystone, but probably that was just a trap. I don’t believe the Keystone ever belonged to the treasure though.[/SIZE]
The more I think about it, the more it seems the series was “milking it” for a while to cash in on more episodes. Stuff just got made up with it often conflicting with either itself or established knowledge from previous episodes.
In Exodus (movie version with no scenes missing), we learn that the only ThunderCat to even know the Sword of Omens existed was Jaga. So he must have put the Sword on the ship before they boarded as there were several episodes showing them boarding, and Jaga didn’t have anything in his hands. And if he could do that, why could he not put the Treasure on the ship too?
By the time they go to New ThunDera Lynx-O was an established ThunderCat. But on Old ThunDera, he was a commoner! A commoner knows more about the ThunderCats than the ThunderCats know about themselves? Yeah, I know he is old and wise, but come on.
I thought the Golden Sphere of Seti was taken by the Ancient Spirits and exiled out to keep it away from Mumm-Ra. I guess it was a good thing Grune and the Golden Sphere didn’t hook up on their inter-galatic exile trade, lol.
Speaking of Grune, how the heck did he rejoin the living on New ThunDera? In The Ghost Warrior he was, well… a ghost. Then on New ThunDera he is alive and well.
As for the Double-Headed Dragon, if Hachiman’s ancestors entrusted such a dangerous item to a group on another planet, and he knew the story of the dragon, why the heck did he have no idea who the ThunderCats were? That would have made for an interesting change to The Thundercutter episode… “Let me pass” “No, I am Lion-O, Lord of the ThunderCats, I was here first” “ThunderCats?!? Didn’t we give you that Double-Headed Dragon? What are you doing here?” “What dragon? How do you know who we are?”
We should have a discussion about each episode, maybe one per week. Like a review of the old show as we wait for the new show to come out…
It doesn’t have to go into lengthy details or divulge all the secrets and unclear incidents. Thant’s the beauty of a well structured storytelling, it gives the basic points which help to unfurl the plot and the viewer can then speculate further on the rest. Many points in the Thundercats’ saga have been left unanswered like the sudden resurrection of Hammerhand or why do we get to see Tygra’s tremendous “mind power” only in the Anointment Trial? yeah i know his gift puts a great strain on him but Cheetara’s precognitive “sixth sense” even though it makes her weak too we see her using it at many more than one episodes.
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[SIZE=4]Panthro, Tygra and Cheetara were the only Thundercats called Nobles by Jaga but we don’t know anything about their exact rank and position in Thundera, nothing at all. Lynx-o’s origin is unknown too, we can’t take it for granted he was just a Commoner, his wealth of knowlegde derives from his age and experiences in Old Thundera. Moreover, he was familiar with hidden locations like the Crystal Canyon where the Keystone laid as well as the story behind the Thunderscope or a few other objects belonging to Thunderian Ancestors, these examples strenthen my belief that he was an importante figure at some point during his prime[/SIZE]
Well, i don’t remeber any mentioning of having sent the Golden Sphere of Seti to exile. Mumm-Ra claimed he possessed it three Thunderian ages ago and could make him so strong he wouldn’t need the Spirits again.The Ancient Spirits demanded to surrunder the sphere in order to accept him again in the Dark pyramid.
He was in ethereal form in The Ghost Warrior and Thundercats Ho but Mumm-ra released him from the tomb’s eternal prison which was located under a tree in Third Earth, at the episode “Return to Thundera,p2”. The main question is: Why and by whom Grune was sealed away in Third Earth since we know he was banished and sent adrift into space by Jaga after the battle in Old Thundera?
It was entrusted to Jaga. I don’t know:confused: maybe Hachiman hadn’t studied his history lesson well when he first met Lion-o:liono in The Thunder-Cutter!!