" As the Lizard Army begins to close in on the Thundercats, Lion-O begins to question if their battle is hopeless. When they notice a small lizard squad catching up to them, the Thundercats end up retreating in a thorn-bush forest where they end up meeting flower creatures named "Petalars".
The episode begins with the Lizard army catching up to the Thundercats on their quest to find the Book of Omens. Lion-O begins to have doubts that they can win against them and ends up forcing the group to retreat inside a thorn-bush forest where they meet the Petalars, who have resided there since their race was swept there by a dangerous wind. Lion-O ends up meeting one of the younger Petalars named "Emrick", who wants to be a great hero like him. The Thundercats decide to help out the Petalars in their journey to find the Valley of Winds with the help of a very ancient map.
Lion-O and Cheetara begin to quickly realize that Emrick's race ages very quickly and only lives for what is one day to normal people, but that one day is an entire whole lifetime for the Petalars. At the gate to the valley, the group ends up ambushed by three lizards from the lizard army. The Petalars come to the rescue and stun the lizards long enough for the the Thundercats to defeat them. However, the army outside the forest begins to grow impatient and decides to burn it down, an act that threatens the group but also creates an opportunity for the Petalars to return home. Lion-O speaks one last time with a now-elderly Emrick, who thanks Lion-O for his friendship and reminds him that what matters in life is how fully we live it. Emrick passes away, leaving Lion-O with newfound resolve. He and the rest of the Thundercats attack the army head on and soon end up rescued by...Panthro.
I've always had small problems with this series because of its characterization issues and lack of explanations. But, I have to say that this
episode was pretty solid and my favorite in the series so far. Starting with the good, I loved the whole concept with the Petalar race. I don't think I ever watched a series before that introduced little flower creatures that fight with leaf swords and can somehow pack a punch. Usually a show will just introduce a race and have no huge symbolic explanation going on with it, but here in ThunderCats we get these little creatures that actually teach a valuable lesson in life. The Petalars can only live for what seems like a mere 24 hours, but to them it's a whole lifetime. I always keep thinking the most predictable things are going to happen in this series, and thankfully it once again proves me wrong with this great symbolization of what it means to live.
Lion-O's bonding with Emrick was probably one of the best ways to develop himself as a main character as well. Lion-O starts off at the beginning of the episode with his own doubts of what's going to happen next, but by the end of the episode he gains the strong resolve from Emrick to keep living and going forward regardless of the challenges ahead. The writers have been making me feel a bit worried that all of this great development may be put to waste, but I'm hoping this series will continue to become even greater. The only big complaint I keep having is just how Tygra is being handled. I want to enjoy him as a character but it feels like the writers are just purposely making him unlikeable as he will only complain, nod, shoot his gun, and just stand there like a statue. In short, this was a solid and great episode for the mighty Thundercats and the brave Petalars.
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