This week we find the Cats in the Forest of Magi Oar, the enchanted woods that the Elephant Men talked about last episode. Wilkykit and Wilykat go exploring with Snarf, and scare the poor little guy by pretending to be ghosts. Meanwhile, Tygra and Lion-O agree to a contest for who can win Cheetara’s heart.
Naturally, they’re attacked by ghosts while in the forest, and Panthro complains that the issue with ghosts is you can’t punch them in the face. Lion-O whips out the Sword of Omens, which fails for the first time since the show began. There is the predictable “oh sh*t” moment, and then a group of wizards who call themselves the “Wood Forgers, show up with powers based around paper, who after saving the cats, lead them out of the darkness of the forest to safety.
There’s an entire school devoted to the “paper arts” designed to help in the fight against Verigor, an evil monster who wants to kick them out of the forest. The headmaster of the school introduces them to the paper mill that helps the Wood Forgers protect the forest. Cheetara brings up a good point: can the forest really sustain all the trees the Forgers are cutting down? Why do I get the sense that Verrigor is really a forest protector instead?
Lion-O tells the headmaster of his journey into the forest to make Sight Beyond Sight work, and the headmaster instructs him in looking at the big picture instead of the details. Then Verrigor attacks! And the sword still doesn’t work in the forest, so Cheetara has to save Lion-O from getting eaten.
Her staff is shattered in Verrigor’s mouth and she falls seemingly to her death. But Tygra catches her like a big hero and then Lion-O tries to “ground” Verrigor by pulling him down with the Extend-O-Claw. Anyone else see this as a horrible idea? Because it is, seeing as Lion-O gets flown into the forest and slammed into a tree.
The Sword of Omens still doesn’t work, and Lion-O realizes that he is not seeing the big picture. So he throws the Extend-O-Claw and the Sword down and faces the charging Verrigor head on.
The Forgers don’t think Lion-O can survive against Verrigor, but the Cats are confident in his ability. We switch back to Lion-O and Verrigor, where yes we find out that he is in fact a protector of the forest. That’s why the Sword doesn’t work against the spirits or Verrigor — it can’t be used against a force for good.
The paper mill is the problem. Verrigor wants it gone because it’s destroying the trees, but he believes in the mission of the Wood Forgers. Once they were content with fallen timber, but now they’re clearcutting the forest and Verrigor can’t allow that.
So Lion-O and Verrigor come back and declare the paper mill has to go. Sig, the headmaster of the school, can’t allow that and so he attacks Lion-O and the rest of the cats. His students are called into action, and send their paper creations against Lion-O and the others.
Tygra falls to a paper bird, and Panthro is soon disarmed with spinning paper stars. Cheetara tries to fight back with her speed, but is caught in a cage of paper. They at last figure out the trick to beating the Wood Forgers is to take their notebooks away. No paper = no magic.
Sig and the team of Verrigor and Lion-O have a running aerial battle. Sig takes Verrigor down, and declares the fight over. Except the Sword of Omens is working now … and Lion-O kicks some serious tail. Then Verrigor rises and declares himself headmaster of the school. From the oldest tree in the forest, Verrigor gives Cheetara a new staff. And the episode ends with Sight Beyond Sight finally working for our boy Lion-O.
If you missed the previous episode be sure to read our ‘Thundercats: Sight Beyond Sight’ recap to catch up
