What is the point of "Thundercats Ho!"?

[Gold_Lion]

@Rizefall

You still don’t take into account what i’ve said. I never said you are wrong just that i don’t think it makes sense.

We all know that in the OS the eye is the source of their power. IF the eye is gone so is the thundercats. What you still have not answered be as you have just preached about what you think is that sometimes the sword still has full power and all of the other abilities even by saying simple stuff. How does that come into play.

As someone other mentioned i don’t think anything of this was planned. As much as people debate about the Zelda timeline. It is never explained and people may speculate all they want but there is no real answer.

You said, in a response to me, “The thing about Power is just wrong.”

What I was trying to say was that chanting makes the sword more powerful. It always has some inherent power, but my theory is that chanting gives it more, hence why there’s glowing and lightning. It can do the same things without the chanting, but it may not be as powerful or as effective. This is only just a theory because as of now we don’t have a good way to measure the power of the sword before and after chanting. All we have to go on is the glowing and the lightning. So because I see lightning after the battlecry, I think it is increasing in power.

So, I don’t think the sword has full power before Lion-O does the chanting because it isn’t sparking with lightning. If it was at full power all the time, I assume it would be glowing and surging with electricity all the time, but because that might be hazardous, it can lose power and needs to be charged up for battle.

I went ahead and asked the production blog about this, so maybe they can give an answer.

[Rizefall]

@Gold Lion

You said, in a response to me, “The thing about Power is just wrong.”

What I was trying to say was that chanting makes the sword more powerful. It always has some inherent power, but my theory is that chanting gives it more, hence why there’s glowing and lightning. It can do the same things without the chanting, but it may not be as powerful or as effective. This is only just a theory because as of now we don’t have a good way to measure the power of the sword before and after chanting. All we have to go on is the glowing and the lightning. So because I see lightning after the battlecry, I think it is increasing in power.

So, I don’t think the sword has full power before Lion-O does the chanting because it isn’t sparking with lightning. If it was at full power all the time, I assume it would be glowing and surging with electricity all the time, but because that might be hazardous, it can lose power and needs to be charged up for battle.

I went ahead and asked the production blog about this, so maybe they can give an answer.

Easy to see, re watch the episodes and you might even see it from my point of view. I agree that it has an extra effect when he does the “thunder, thunder” thingi but not that the sword get’s stronger… Having it like that is time consuming and makes you vulnarble to enemies. If it had most of it’s powers all the time you can just draw it (as he does) and fight like you normally do.

[balgus82]

Just wanted to point out the sword had lightning in the premiere without chanting both in the duel between Claudus and Lion-O and directly afterward when Lion-O was swinging it around.

[Bladecollector]

In the OS, Lion-O would say “Thunder Thunder ThunderCats Ho!” To call the eye of Thundera and signal for help/call the other Thundercats to him.

When he said “Ho” in the OS, it did everything from lengthen the sword but usually the eye would stay closed, he would also say yell “Ho” to have the lightening/energy beams come out for attack.

Apparently in the new series, he is going to still say Thunder Thunder Thundercats, Ho! to summon the eye of Thundera and probably call the other thundercats, although so far, all but Panthro have been near him at all times, which is probably one of the reasons Panthro showed up when he did.

And as its been said before, they didn’t want the yell of “Ho!” now, so Lion-O will say “Thundercats Ho” as a battle cry to activate sword functions and to just lengthen the sword.

In the OS Lion-Os basic commands were:
Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight - self explanatory
Sword of Omens, come to my hand, I Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats, command it (or some version of that) - self explanatory
Thunder Thunder Thundercats Ho! - call the other thundercats
Ho! - everything else

Yes, the sword lengthens either way, BUT the call for the eye of thundera and to call the other thundercats to his location, at least in the OS, required the Thunder Thunder Thundercats Ho! routine… yes it takes longer, and yes there were times that he couldn’t get it all out and was in real trouble, but that added to the since of excitement to the show…

as for the question of why? thats how the creators of the show wanted to do it I guess

[daroga]

They just really haven’t addressed this at all in the new series. Really, he had no reason to do the full chant in Episode 4 save for it being awesome.

I think we’ll get more explanations as we find out more about the Sword of Omens’ functions as we learn about its history.

It will also be interesting to see what parallels it has with the Sword of Plundar.

[balgus82]

@daroga

Really, he had no reason to do the full chant in Episode 4 save for it being awesome.

What other reason do you need?

[CodeofThundera]

@Gold Lion

I always believed that when Lion-O says “Thundercats, Ho!” that it charges up the sword with power, but it also, in a way, strengthens the other Thundercats. Whenever he did it in the old series, it would give the others the strength and resolve to break out of whatever trap they were in and keep fighting.

So when he does it three times, it gets even more power, and the other ThunderCats get even better at fighting.

It’s more than that.

When he says the “Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, ThunderCats Ho,” he is opening the Eye of Thundera which summons the other ThunderCats as well as gives them and himself greater strength and power to fight with.

When he just says “Ho” or in the new series “ThunderCats Ho,” he is lengthening the sword without opening the eye and calling upon its power to strengthen himself and his friends.

In the original series, when he just said, “Ho” the sword lengthen but the eye stayed closed, looking like a cats eye with the slit down the middle just like it did when the sword was shorter.

But, in the original series, when he said, “Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, ThunderCats Ho” the eye opened and you saw the ThunderCat insignia there.

Is that making sense? I could make screen caps to show what I’m talking about if that would help.

[Purrsia]

I thought in the premiere eps, Claudus said something to Lion-O along the lines of the Sword responds to the one holding it, and urging him to concentrate. I thought they also said that only the chosen one or something like that would get second sight through the sword. So maybe it arced with power with Claudus w/o him saying much or doing the chant because it’s that in tune with him at that point, what with being the long standing bearer. Lion-O is just learning to tap into it.

And well the swinging and chanting battle cry is simply iconic anyway. I love that they had Claudus at least say “Thundercats Ho!” once (awesome to hear Larry Kenney say a signature line :D) and that they kept it in for Lion-O to do. The sword swinging with the chant is another homage to the OS. In the OS there were times when it wasn’t maybe even necessary to power up the eye like that but it usually happened once an ep anyway - cuz it’s iconic! (reminds me of other classic 80s series that had iconic moments, such as Voltron forming or He-Man transforming - some eps, if I recall would flashback to those moments or come up with some other excuse to include those moments in the episode because well, that’s the part that got the kids excited! That’s what we did as kids, wasn’t it? Ran around shouting “ThunderCats Ho!” or “Let’s go Voltron Force” or “I have the power!”, right? And if I also recall, whenever those shows came back as new series, they usually kept that icon sequence and the signature line intact if nothing else.)
I love that they kept it in
It may have no other deeper meaning or purpose than that as well. shrugs

Summary: it’s a cartoon show and doesn’t have to be serious bizz or make sense all the time. I’m just enjoying this revival for what it is. :liono

[Coldwin]

@Purrsia

“Thundercats Ho!” once (awesome to hear Larry Kenney say a signature line :D)

I thought Larry’s signature line was “Hey Cheetara, I think I left something in the back up the thundertank.”

[daroga]

@balgus82

What other reason do you need?

None what so ever for me. But in the scope of plot, it is nice to have some reason to have it be said.

I have this sense that the sword is actually guiding how Lion-O uses it. He had no reason to hold the hilt up to his eyes in the first season, but the sword has something to show him. Did he even know the Thunder, Thunder, etc. chant? But he used it to call on (some of) the Eye’s power to incapacitate Mumm-Ra, at least for a few moments. Likewise, the sword seems to have known the suicide they were in for in episode 4, but also knew that someone might be nearby who could help and thus guided him into doing the full call to send out the signal.

I’m probably reading more into it than is necessary, but at least it gives some plotline for why he might be doing some of these things in these early episodes.

I am very curious to see if the sword will end up warning of danger. That was always such a cool thing, but it also writes you into a corner for upcoming plots because you have to explain away why the sword DIDN’T warn in this or that situation. Or, like the original series, just complete ignore it much of the time.

[Rizefall]

@daroga

None what so ever for me. But in the scope of plot, it is nice to have some reason to have it be said.

I have this sense that the sword is actually guiding how Lion-O uses it. He had no reason to hold the hilt up to his eyes in the first season, but the sword has something to show him. Did he even know the Thunder, Thunder, etc. chant? But he used it to call on (some of) the Eye’s power to incapacitate Mumm-Ra, at least for a few moments. Likewise, the sword seems to have known the suicide they were in for in episode 4, but also knew that someone might be nearby who could help and thus guided him into doing the full call to send out the signal.

I’m probably reading more into it than is necessary, but at least it gives some plotline for why he might be doing some of these things in these early episodes.

I am very curious to see if the sword will end up warning of danger. That was always such a cool thing, but it also writes you into a corner for upcoming plots because you have to explain away why the sword DIDN’T warn in this or that situation. Or, like the original series, just complete ignore it much of the time.

You are thinking to deep into this..

[Ideal]

i assumed the line “Thundercats, Ho” was just the battle cry he used, much like Captain America’s “Avengers Assemble” or simply yelling “charge”

and the “thunder, thunder…” is the call put out for all Thundercats with the Eye of Thundera

with it’s usage in the most recent episode, it was probably also used as a means of intimidation. imagine you just set the forest on fire, assuming you’ve killed your enemies, when all of the sudden, the symbol shines brightly into the sky and your enemies coming charging at you

[Rizefall]

@Ideal

i assumed the line “Thundercats, Ho” was just the battle cry he used, much like Captain America’s “Avengers Assemble” or simply yelling “charge”

and the “thunder, thunder…” is the call put out for all Thundercats with the Eye of Thundera

with it’s usage in the most recent episode, it was probably also used as a means of intimidation. imagine you just set the forest on fire, assuming you’ve killed your enemies, when all of the sudden, the symbol shines brightly into the sky and your enemies coming charging at you

Good point. Altough, i do think it is required for him to do the chant. Why else have it in the first place? “For it to be cool” just stop.

He has to do the “thunder.. thunder..” to call upon the power of the eye and everybody knows that.

[Knave_Iespyk]

Maybe it’s like a password. I mean, if Lion-O were to use “Thundercats Ho” in conversation it might go off otherwise.

[Rizefall]

@Knave_Iespyk

Maybe it’s like a password. I mean, if Lion-O were to use “Thundercats Ho” in conversation it might go off otherwise.

Haha, that would have been funny!