Fans can now own eight episodes of the latest version of the Thundercats television show from Warner Bros. that kicked off in 2011. Led by Lion-O, the ragtag team of our heroes attempts to use the Sword and Book of Omens to figure out a way to defeat the evil forces of Mumm-Ra. It’s the battle between good and evil that you remember from the 1980s with updated animation, and more fleshed out narrative, to make the Thundercats worthy of entertaining you and your children!
This particular volume runs from the eighth episode to the sixteenth, which concludes the two-part “Trials of Lion-O.” What we’re watching in this segment of the first season is generally speaking a narrative that helps define Lion-O as the leader of the new kingdom he will one day rule. Sure, he lost his father too early in the opening episode of the first volume, but now he’s learning what it means to lead and to lead well. Thankfully, he’s not enduring the learning process on his own.
Joining Lion-O are his adopted, older brother Tygra; his father’s lead warrior, Panthro; the warrior female, Cheetara; and the two smaller, mischievous cats, WilyKit and WilyKat. It’s a motley crew for sure, and it’s somewhat comparable to the way other shows from the 1970s or 1980s put together “teams” (I’m thinking He-Man and the Masters of the Universe). The team squabbles, struggles, fails, and succeeds, together, but they’re never quite calling it quits.
While I was somewhat unfazed by some of the stories included in the second volume of the first season, I saw the final two episodes as validation of having watched through to the end. We truly recognize that Lion-O has become a servant leader; echoing the words of Jesus, Lion-O willingly lays his life down for his friends, and finds that he has truly gained his life by losing it. It’s Biblically awesome, and it is a great example of the heroic nature of the Thundercats as a whole.
