Peter Lawrence
Reviewed by: Zack Ramadan (aka thezaxfactor)
The special five-part adventure continues. Can a guest appearance by Grune liven things up?
We open on the image of a Snarf operating a jackhammer, which violates almost as many laws of physics as the Mighty Gyroscope. The Snarfs are busily slaving away as the New Cats' Lair takes shape. Snarf, with a hardhat around in his neck instead of atop his head, is laying out the schedule: "We're aiming to finish the Council Chamber by--"
A sudden earthquake strikes the Lair, and gravity goes away entirely. I swear, until I was six or seven, I thought that all earthquakes were accompanied by weightlessness. Anyway, Snarfs, ThunderCats, steel beams, scaffolding, shovels, wheelbarrows, pickaxes, pebbles, boulders and bits of Stone Giant all take flight, only to come crashing down a few moments later. Snarf is most displeased: these recurring earthquakes are throwing off his schedule.
In the Great Beneath, Jagara is still struggling to regain control of the Gyroscope. The controls are shooting elecricity at her face, but she doesn't seem to mind. She says that it's only a matter of time before the Gyroscope goes completely berserk and New Thundera flies apart.
Mumm-Ra is watching in his cauldron, and he takes the opportunity to remind us of the importance of the Gyroscope's regulator. He even shows it to us, in case we forgot what it looks like. He makes his goals clear as well: that once the ThunderCats have perished in space, he will return to Third Earth to rule in terror.
Back where snarfs go to die, Snarf asks why the Lair can't be constructed somewhere else. Apparently it's because all of New Thundera is being affected by these shocks. Lion-O understands Snarf's concern for his slaving brethren, but he doesn't really care.
In the name of Jaga, what is that dreadful noise?! Oh, it's Snarfer. He runs onscreen screeching for the ThunderCats. Apparently, the snarf communicator (which has been upgraded, from it's previous bicycle version to a sort of crankable music box, since "Bracelet of Power") is picking up strange transmissions near the Churning Rocks. Listening in, we hear the voice of a Thunderian refugee. He sounds like Lion-O's Australian counterpart. "Captured by Two-Time, held prisoner in Domedown," he says. "Please, someone, help us!" At this point, the communicator explodes, apparently because Snarf Egbert was cranking it too hard.
Lion-O has Snarf go fetch Cheetara, and the three of them head off in the Feliner to the Churning Rocks to investigate this distress call. In their absence, Panthro will be looking into the source of the tremors.
Mumm-Ra watches as the Feliner takes off, as does Ma-Mutt, tail wagging. Determined to prevent their mission from succeeding, Mumm-Ra hatches a plan. He picks Ma-Mutt up, only to drop him to the ground a moment later; and the agravated dog rubs his chin and ponders the risks of remaining in this family (cf. hypoxia incident in Part I). Mumm-Ra asks the Ancient Spirits to free Grune the Destroyer from his eternal tomb on Third Earth. They oblige, and Grune is transported to New Thundera. He appears in Mumm-Ra's throne room, his feet in the cauldron.
Mumm-Ra demands repayment for freeing Grune, who is now both opaque and a giant. Grune is upset over his wet boots, and promises nothing. Once Mumm-Ra mentions that Lion-O and his cronies are here on New Thundera, at the Churning Rocks on a rescue mission, Grune's rancor resurfaces, and the idea of destroying them elicits a gleeful sabertoothy grin.
At the Churning Rocks, Lion-O, Cheetara, and Snarf land on a strange triangular platform. It is unclear who constructed it, although all signs point to Din, Nayru, and Farore (cf. The Legend of Zelda). Cheetara acknowledges that it is "a significant piece of engineering." Snarf thinks that perhaps one of the other snarfs will know. Hmmm, doubtful.
A storm of red lightning suddenly strikes the platform, and Grune emerges from the resulting flames. He tells the ThunderCats to put away their puny weapons and submit to him. Lion-O ignores this suggestion, points the Sword of Omens at Grune, and HOs. A beam of energy flies toward Grune, but he catches it in his hand and tosses it back in Lion-O's direction. It punches a nice crater in the platform. Cheetara then charges Grune, but he swats her away like he would an insect. She goes cascading across the platform.
Grune attacks again, this time with his mace. Cheetara dodges, and Lion-O, on his back, holds the Sword horizontally with both hands to catch the mace's blow. Cheetara distracts Grune, and Lion-O escapes. He then points the Sword at Grune and HOs repeatedly: Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Grune swings his mace back and forth, batting the beams away like so many tennis balls.
Snarf then decides to charge Grune, with perhaps the stupidest attack ever seen: running in circles around Grune's right leg. What are you doing, Snarf?! Grune agrees that Snarf is an idiot, and somehow electrifies his boot. Electrocuted, Snarf is shot over the edge of the platform, down into the perilous Churning Rocks.
Lion-O runs to the edge of the platform as Snarf careens to what ought to be his death, and Grune comes up behind him. Cheetara gives Lion-O a vocal warning, and he turns around to catch Grune's blow; but Grune's mace hits the Sword with such force that the blade shatters, and the Eye goes dim. Grune then uses his mace to freeze the ThunderCats in place, and then shackle them (where'd he get the shackles?) to a rock face. Oh no! The Churning Rocks will grind them to pieces!
Once Grune is gone, Lion-O regains consciousness. Snarf reappears on the platform; he didn't die after all. Lion-O tells him to take the pieces of the broken Sword of Omens (which Grune foolishly left behind) back to the Lair for Bengali to reforge.
Back at the Lair, Panthro, Lynxo, and Bengali are analyzing the tremors. They are apparently happening at random, and, according to Lynxo, are most definitely unnatural. Bengali wonders who could be causing them. In case you forgot...
Jagara is still fussing with the Gryroscope's controls. She's using what looks like a stalactite in place of the regulator. Big surprise, it doesn't work. In fact, it just makes the Gyroscope mad. A new quake strikes the Lair. Jagara tries the stalactite again, and this time the ridiculous precessing stops. As Panthro and company brush themselves off, the ThunderKittens appear. They explain that everyone is growing accustomed to the tremors and knows what precautions to take. Panthro warns that should the tremors develop into a major earthquake, "it'll be a different kettle of fish."
Cheetara, meanwhile, has regained consciousness as well. One of the rock pillars is gradually moving toward them as it churns up and down. Lion-O guesses that they've got about two hours until it starts grinding against them. Ouch. "That's not a lot of time for Snarf to find Bengali," Cheetara notes.
Speaking of Snarf, he's an even bigger moron than we thought. Instead of taking the Feliner back to the Lair, or even trying to call Bengali, he's leaping from churning rock to churning rock, trying to clear the field: an unlikely solution, Snarf. Overhead, a smoggy cloud suddenly appears. Before he can escape, a magnetic force grabs hold of the Sword, which Snarf has clutched in his tail. It's not clear where he's keeping all the little fragments. He gets sucked into the cloud toward the magnet, which is attached to a big flying furnace of sorts. The magnet disappears into the ship with Snarf still attached.
Snarf reappears inside the ship, sliding down a chute into a very industrial looking room. He is met by a four-armed fellow in a welder's mask. The fellow immediately insults Snarf and takes the Sword of Omens from him, admiring its craftsmanship. Snarf says that it is...er, was the Sword of Omens, and that it belongs to the ThunderCats. The four-armed fellow corrects him, saying that it now belongs to him, Char, intergalactic wrecker and dealer in fine metals.
Snarf tries to play nice, questioning what use the Sword will be to him broken. "Just give me those useless bits of metal, and I'll be on my way." Char doesn't play along. They're his now. Snarf is tired of playing nice. He tells Char that the Sword's fragments are no use to him, since it will take ThunderCat magic to put them together. Char is offended, and informs Snarf that he will fix it. He is the greatest metal worker to have ever lived. Snarf is skeptical.
Char heads into the next room and, with a pair of tongs, lowers the Sword into the fiery furnace. Snarf tells Char that he'd better know what he's doing. "The ThunderCats will flay me alive if I lose the Sword of Omens." Oh, Snarf, if only that were true. The Sword emerges from the furnace as a blob of red hot metal. Wha?! As Char hammers at it, a hole appears in the middle. Snarf accuses him of turning the Sword into a doughnut. It must take all of Char's will not to throw Snarf onto the anvil an turn him into a doughnut.
At the Churning Rocks, Cheetara is trying to stay optimistic. Lion-O, however, is confident in Snarf's abilities. If Cheetara could break free of her bonds, I have a feeling she'd smack him for entursting Snarf with their lives while she was unconscious.
Back at the Flying Furnace, the Sword is done, and it actually looks like the Sword of Omens. No doughnuts in sight, nor any other baked goods. Snarf says it looks as good as new, but Char corrects him: better than new. He's right. Once the Sword has been cooled, streaks of blue lightning envelop it, and the Eye springs to life. Char is thrown across the room.
Both Lion-O and Cheetara get strange tingly feelings with the awakening of the Eye, and their insignias illuminate. Char admires his work, but Snarf leaps at him, trying to wrest it away. Cheetara tells Lion-O to summon the Sword; she feels that it's whole again. Lion-O calls the Sword to his hand, and it responds, with Snarf attached. "It's possessed!" cries Char, as the Sword flies out the window, dragging Snarf behind it. Snarf deposits the Sword in Lion-O's hand, and we have smiles all around.
Grune, meanwhile, is back at the Pyramid, informing Mumm-Ra of his victory, when the cauldron shows the current state of things at the Churning Rocks. Mumm-Ra is about to punish Grune for his incompetence, but Grune dismisses the threat. Instead, he teleports back to the Churning Rocks to finish what he started.
Lion-O has freed himself; and with multiple HOs he frees Cheetara, too. When Grune arrives, Lion-O doesn't even flinch. He immediately turns the Sword on Grune, HOing repeatedly as before. After disarming Grune, Lion-O HOs for real, and the ThunderCat signal takes Grune back to Third Earth, burying him under that tree of his for good.
Some time has passed. The ThunderCats are back at the Lair, and Char's Flying Furnace is parked outside. Lion-O thanks Char for reforging the Sword, especially since it seems to now be more powerful than ever. Char confesses his desire to keep the Sword for himself, but acknowledges Snarf's brave defiance. Snarf shrugs it off, saying that the Sword is back where it belongs. All's well that ends well.
Or so we thought. A weightless quake strikes the Lair, and the ThunderCats and Char do a funny, midair dance. Mumm-Ra watches amused from his Pyramid. Lion-O may have the Sword back; but Mumm-Ra has the regulator, and he reminds us that New Thundera is doomed. Yeah whatever, I need a doughnut.
Snarf's spat with Char, in which Char insults Snarf to no end, and Snarf reminds me of a crotchety, stubborn grandma.
"Looks like you cranked up too much juice, Egbert." Panthro to Snarf Egbert.
"I'll bet the Feliner to a pinch of dust that they're not naturally caused." Lion-O, of the earth tremors.
"What in the name of all the Osberts is that?!" Snarf, of Char's Flying Furnace.
"Wrong, ugly-shaped creature, it belongs to me..." Char, to Snarf, of the Sword of Omens.
"The ThunderCats will flay me alive if I lose the Sword of Omens." Snarf
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!" Lion-O
Mumm-Ra's ultimate intention is still to regain his control over Third Earth.
Panthro finally did come through on the new version of the Snarf communicator.
Grune knows Mumm-Ra, perhaps from when he sent him after Jaga in ThunderCats HO! Part V, or perhaps from when he first ravaged Third Earth, centuries ago.
This is the first appearance of Char and his Flying Furnace, although it's not named as such until "The Heritage".
Any sufficiently skilled blacksmith can reforge the Sword of Omens, Thunderian or otherwise.
When the Sword is reforged and the Eye wakes up, the ThunderCats' insignias light up, and they can sense it at a distance.
The ThunderCat signal can apparently pick people up and send them intergalactic distances in the blink of an eye. Oh, and then bury them.
Doughnut impersonation.
* Script Scans
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Captures from Return to Thundera Part II
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