All hope is lost for the ThunderCats, they are on the run being chased by an army of Lizards, searching for the Book of Omens. What they find in episode 4 ‘Song of the Petalars’ gives Lion-O and the ThunderCats more than they bargained.
The episode kicks off with a team of Lizards tracking the ThunderCats. These aren’t your Granddaddy’s ThunderCat Lizards, these Lizards have special skills; ranging from invisibility to tracking. The Lizards find the trail of the fugitives and head up the river searching for their prey.
Our first visit with the ThunderCats in this episodes brings us to a river’s edge where WilyKat is goading WilyKit into kissing a frog (or fruge in this case). Lion-O and Cheetara share a moment, as the new King thinks back on being young watching the ThunderKittens chase each other about. The first glimpse of a spark of romance between Lion-O and Cheetara, since the premiere, is then ruined by Snarf with impeccable timing. However, Snarf is not simply ruining Lion-O’s good time, he is pointing out the Lizard Army is on their trail.
After deciding to retreat, much to Tygra’s displeasure, the ThunderCats encounter the Petalars. The Petalars are a race of plant creatures who live their lives out in the span of one day. Emerich, one of the Petalars breaks the ice when the ThunderCats interrupt the birth/death ceremony of this interesting race of plant creatures.
The ThunderCats agree to help the Petalars find their way out of Briar Woods, along the way Lion-O realizes the Petalars only live for one day, when young Emerich grows from a young boy to a teen to a young man in the span of just a few hours. When an advance scout team gets the drop on the ThunderCats it is Emerich and the Petalars that hold the Lizards off giving the Cats time to recover and fight back.
As the Briar burns around them, and Emerich has finally become an “old” man, he shares his hope for the future with the King of the ThunderCats, giving Lion-O something he’d lost… hope. As the rest of the Petalars use the updraft from the heat of the fire to return to their home, Lion-O turns his attention to another pressing matter, the Lizards.
As the Cats use the element of surprise to fight back against the Lizards, they are eventually surrounded by the overwhelming numbers and all hope seems lost. Enter the Thundertank and Panthro. The new Thundertank is awesome looking! I can’t wait to pick the toy version up in the stores soon. As Panthro fights off the Lizards and puts them on the run, he introduces himself to the ThunderCats… “The name’s Panthro”.
This was an episode I was looking forward to since the premiere, because I’ve been waiting to see Panthro in action. While he fought in the shadows for the majority of the episode, that’s ok, because even a glimpse of his nun-chucks and the Thundertank is enough of a tease to come back next week for more!
If you missed last week’s episode read our ThunderCats: Ramlak Rising recap.