SITS Cliff Notes – Era Two

A New Decade (Ch 31):

A prologue told through the perspective of the Eye of Thundera, we’ve fast-forwarded about ten years after the events of Era One.

Everyone is older, the children in the Lair are growing up, while Kit and Kat have become adults. Panthro has taken WilyKat under his wing.

Age has marked everyone in its own way – Tygra, for example, needs glasses when he joins Felina for a lesson.

Velouria copes well with her deafness and can communicate through signing as well as lip- reading. Thanks to the invention of the Braille board, she and Lynx-O can also communicate through touch. She does sometimes feel isolated and spends time with the Sword until one day the Eye showed her all she’d missed in the world of sound.

However, where Velouria was curious and bonding in her own way with the Eye, Lion-O had lost interest over the years. The relative peace they’d enjoyed since Mumm-Ra remained out of commission, was lulling him into a state of complacency, given even the Mutants or Grune weren’t posing much of a challenge lately.

He had become an involved and loving father to his children, however, and was grooming his son, Leon, for the Lordship already.

Meanwhile, Jax had wandered his way back to Third Earth but now he was a lanky teen. He came across Felina and her offspring along a path, and when unable to recognize him, she turned away in fear; he felt rejected. The rejection was quickly turning to much uglier emotions which the Eye knew may not bode well for the Thundercats in the future.

Heavenly Nobodies (Ch 32):

Worlds away from Third Earth, survivors flourish on a planet they dubbed ‘New Thundera’. On it, one young teen named Torr still holds vigil hoping the heroes he’d heard about called Thundercats would someday find their way to their new home. Though some suspect they died with Thundera – and while others even hoped it might be true, happy to shed the old ways and old woes with it – Torr remains hopeful.

Lynxana, once-ousted Thundercat, was also there and in a position of leadership. She surely was among those that hoped the nobles of the old days were long gone.

Back on Third Earth, the Thundercats discuss a signal Tygra had picked up on some time ago….a homing signal that served to guide Thunderians to their original destination planet. Elation soon gives way to problems and questions as the Thundercats discuss leaving Third Earth undefended. Or worse yet, the possibility of their troubles following them to the new settlement. Lion-O becomes driven to find a way to leave Third Earth secure and yet not drag their problems through space with them either. He proposes rounding up the Mutants and leaving them to the mercy of their courts on Plun-Darr, but the others are lukewarm to it, knowing it’ll probably mean death for the incompetent failures. Grune is another matter entirely, and Lion-O leaves the meeting in a huff, obsessed anew with rejoining his people and fulfilling his entire destiny as not only Lord of the Thundercats, but also Lord of Thundera – or rather, the ‘new’ Thundera.

Cheetara in particular is bothered by Lion-O’s attitude and mindset and asks WilyKat to keep tabs on their Lord to make sure he doesn’t do anything too rash.

Otherwise, Jax lingers in the forests near the Lair, unsure of where to go or what to do now that his last refuge had rejected him. He is just about to move on when he encounters Grune, someone he would have been happy to live his life having never seen again.

The Slim (Ch 33):

Lion-O awakes hurt and alone in the evening and makes his way back to the Lair in the rain. When he arrives, everyone is clearly upset with him for trying to handle Grune on his own. But what was worse, was realizing another Thundercat paid the price for his stubbornness. As memories of the prior day come back to Lion-O, he concludes it had to be WilyKat that didn’t survive the battle that followed Grune’s ambush.

Lion-O feels beyond horrible, but it seems it’ll be some time before his friends forgive him much less speak to him. When it is decided the cubs in the Lair will go down to the infirmary to view the body and say their final goodbyes, Lion-O quietly follows, telling himself he too must see with his own eyes what his misplaced determination wrought.

Once there, Felina pulls back the sheet and Lion-O can’t look right away. To his shock and surprise, he instead sees a very much alive WilyKat enter the room with his sister. Puzzled, Lion- O cannot figure out who then is lying dead on the gurney beside him, for the other adult male Thundercats had been accounted for with his own eyes.

Steeling himself to look, he’s doubly shocked to see himself lying lifeless. However, his friends ‘ignoring’ him now made sense because apparently, they could not see his spirit. Still, Lion-O has a hard time accepting this even as he goes to the Astral Plane where Jaga waits to confirm the grim truth. He has great difficulty letting go of the material world he must leave behind.

That night, Felina must cope with the loss of her good friend and father to her children. She’d often heard Lion-O reference Jaga appearing to him from beyond the grave and bitterly wondered why then he would not appear to offer comfort to his own family.

Your Ghost (Ch. 34):

A short time of a few days has passed, during which the business of Lion-O’s successor was determined. Tygra would fill the shoes of Lord of the Thundercats until young Leon came of age, to which Tygra was of mixed emotion. He worried his age would count against him, as well as worry that the Sword of Omens would not bond with him powerfully enough to stave off their enemies. To take his mind off his weighty new responsibilities, he resumed work on one of Lion- O’s last ordered projects, which was the building of the ThunderStrike to aid them in returning home with other refugees.

But the day had arrived in which the traditional ceremony must be performed to surrender Lion- O’s remains to the beyond. He and Cheetara discuss his self-doubts, and her worries about vague premonitions and her inability to foresee all they try to tell her. Both decide they must simply do the best they can and carry on.

Meanwhile, Grune and Jax wait out their battle wounds and the rain in a cave on Third Earth. Grune mulls his victory over Lion-O, and Jax’s role in it. The jackal teen had been taken under his wing since their meeting in the forest outside the Lair. It was he that tipped off Grune that Lion-O was in the area so that Grune could set up the ambush, and it was Jax that kept WilyKat from interfering until the damage was done. Like many of his race, Jax wasn’t physically that powerful but he could be quick and cunning when it most counted. Grune rightly figured he was wise to appeal to the boy’s obvious hunger for acceptance and belonging, rather than control the lad through brute force. He knew he had at least one ally whose loyalties he could be sure of. Grune planned to take revenge on the remainder of the Thundercats, certain it would be easier to accomplish with Lion-O out of the way.

Back at the Lair, Tygra oversees the Ceremony of Rites inside due to rain outside. The book and Sword commit Lion-O’s still body back to the stars, while the ghosts of Jaga and Lion-O bear witness. Seeing his own funeral, Lion-O is once again faced with the hard reality that he has passed on and Jaga hopes this means Lion-O will give his soul a rest and come to accept its fate. However, Lion-O desires to communicate with Felina and give her some comfort, but Jaga knows Lion-O does not have the mastery to appear to her in ghost form as he could do for Lion- O when Lion-O was alive. Instead, Jaga offers an alternative way to communicate with the living that he hopes will work.

The other kids learn that Jonca can see the ghost of her dead father but cannot hear what he’s saying. Leon angrily accuses Jonca of lying, and Velouria seems skeptical too, causing Jonca to wonder why it’s only she that can see him.

In the Control Room, Felina sits idly by pondering how her family would cope with Lion-O’s death when she hears Lion-O calling to her over the static of the radio. Cheetara comes by to bear witness to the phenomenon, but the voice is gone leaving Felina feeling foolish. Cheetara suggests Felina try to get some rest, to which she complies. Lion-O comes to Felina in a dream and at first it is comforting. But then, Lion-O’s presence is pushed out by a nightmare of the Lair crumbling and Grune’s mocking laughter. In the dream, Felina catches a note fluttering in the wind where Lion-O had been. Awakening, she realizes she’d been dreaming yet there is a note in her hand with comforting words penned by Lion-O. It was part of an old letter he’d written her long ago, and Felina suspects Cheetara put it there while she’d been sleeping in the hopes it would bring her comfort. Dismayed that his best efforts to reach her – the voice, the dream and the note – were ineffective Lion-O is at a loss with what to do. The only thing he’s sure of is that he cannot leave his family and cross over until he can be sure they’re going to be okay. Thinking of his children, he makes his way to their bedroom and finds Jonca playing alone. He realizes she sees his ghost but learns she can’t hear him. They interact until Leon comes back and is angered by her claims that Jonca can see Lion-O. The siblings begin to fight until WilyKat comes in to break up the fight. Lion-O at least finds some peace in knowing he has a connection with someone he loves.

Shadow Play (Ch. 35):

WilyKat thinks back to the fateful day Lion-O was defeated for good and can’t help but feel he should have been able to do more to prevent it.

That night, Tygra has a nightmare in which Mumm-Ra has returned, powerful as ever, and Tygra fails to adequately lead the remaining Thundercats as the interim Lord. Awoken and disturbed by the dream, Tygra makes his way to the Control Room where Bengali and Pumyra sat on watch. Some heated words are exchanged between the tigers, and Bengali hits Tygra right in his deepest insecurities about his new role which was brought on by Tygra’s lack in acting to make Grune answer to what he did to Lion-O. Furthermore, Tygra felt he was having trouble bonding properly with the Sword of Omens. Felina had even tried to expediate the bond with the help of the Book but that didn’t seem to help much. It had been decided he would act as Lord, much like Jaga did for Claudus, until Leon came of age to claim his birthright. Tygra stepped up to the challenge, but not altogether happily.

Warrior Maidens, Willa and Nayda, show up at the Lair to find out face to face if what they’d heard is true: Was Lion-O really gone at the hand of Grune? Tygra confirms the unhappy news along with the fact that he’s taken over as acting Lord. Willa pledges her continued alliance with the Thundercats, and both offer condolences.

Meanwhile, Lion-O ponders his encounter with Felina in her dream and decides that the frightening turn it took was a prophetic consequence of his presence – which Jaga had told him sometimes happens. He decided he must warn his friends, and realizes he can in fact get through to his daughter using the language all in the Lair had become adept at since Velouria had been a tot – sign. Careful not to alarm the child too much, Lion-O appears to her before breakfast with his message.

Felina, in the meantime, seeks out Cheetara to confront her about the note she’d awoken with in hand the other night. She becomes agitated at Cheetara’s denials and Snarf’s sensible explanations for the note. When Jonca appears to deliver her message to be wary of Grune, Felina writes it off as the child’s own fears of the Thunderian that took her father away, and refuses to believe that Lion-O would choose to appear to the girl and burden her with such frightening messages. The child is devastated that nobody believes her and begins to doubt herself.

In the desert, evil finally stirs in the Black Pyramid. Mumm-Ra has finally had adequate rest from his near-devastating battle with the Thundercats nearly a decade before, and quickly catches up on the happenings of Third Earth. He is unpleased until he sees Lion-O’s fate, and senses now is the era ripe for his revenge on the remaining ThunderCats. It seems the Ancient Spirits of Evil have been able to invigorate him to bigger and better levels of evil, which further bodes ill for his enemies. Mumm-Ra decides that he should have council with Grune to put his plot in motion.

Later, the Thundercats track Grune to the Balkan Bar and call him out. Grune has also brought back-up in the form of the Mutants, and the two clash until the Mutants are driven off and Grune is knocked cold. But then, Mumm-Ra makes his re-appearance and it seems Tygra’s worst dream is about to come true. However, events happen a bit differently, and the Thundercats survive to see another day. Tygra is not wholly enthused, for he correctly guessed that Mumm-Ra was testing the new Lord of the Thundercats and found what Tygra already knew himself – he was slow to react and the Sword’s connection with him wasn’t as strong as it had been with Lion-O. The others, however, are pleased enough with his leadership and feel renewed hope that they can survive the changes Lion-O’s death brought about.

Back at the Lair that evening, a feeling nagged at Cheetara. Jonca’s words that morning coupled with her old fears bombarded her. She hadn’t been able to get Jonca to tell her more, for the girl was already closed to the idea that Lion-O had ever appeared to her in the first place. She still felt strongly that somehow, Jonca and Lion-O’s fates were tightly intertwined. But one thing Cheetara was able to figure out was that her fears about Lion-O and Felina needing to succeed in bonding was a bit misplaced – it was a fear about bonds, but having more to do with Tygra’s lack of a strong one with the Sword. She was pondering how to discuss the issue with him when Felina entered the Council Chamber speaking of a way to bring Lion-O back.

Tygra confirmed a Lifting of the Dead as possible from his own studies of the Book, but remembered the great uncertainty, cost and peril of such great magic. So great, it was unprecedented in ThunderCat history. Felina however, was fixated on the act, even though it meant one of the two spell casters would be lost for all eternity on all planes of existence. She was willing to be that soul, but Cheetara and Tygra would not hear of it. It was too much to risk, the magic too powerful and untested. It was decided that Felina was to be separated from the Book until she came back to her senses. On the way out of the room, Cheetara and a hysterical Felina passed by Jonca who seemed intrigued by the commotion.

With Lion-O’s last thread to the world of the living broken since Jonca was closed and could no longer see him, he’d reverted to the place Jaga had sorely hoped he never would. Jaga found his spirit locked in what could be a permanent replay of his final moments, the parts of the living actors played out by shadows of themselves. Jaga has to find a way to break Lion-O’s spirit out of the cycle and take him back to the Astral Plane before it’s too late.

Put It Behind You (Ch. 36):

Torr goes before the council on New Thundera to plead a case regarding the launch of a search party for the ThunderCats. His romanticized views of the heroes of yesteryear sparks off cynicism and old wounds for the council leader, Lynxana. Cerise, a tigress who had created the homing beacon used to bring wayward refugees home, and Jagara also sit on the council, and debate the probability of the Thundercats returning home and whether it is fair or feasible to actively search for them in lieu of waiting to see if they arrive on their own accord. Torr must at least prove the Thundercats are alive if the council is to consider the rescue mission further.

Lynxana has her theories about why the nobles waited so long to warn of Thundera’s situation before the planet died, hinting at a cover-up, and is determined never to go back to the old way of nobility and leadership by birth-right alone. Her survival skills and toughness had helped the refugees survive and rebuild, and she worried if the Thundercats did ever return, she would be pushed aside – or maybe even returned to exile for her past crimes.

In the Astral World, Jaga has to come between Lion-O and his fixation on the struggle that brought him to the misty realm, before the former Lord was doomed to play out the last moments of his mortal life repeatedly, for all time.

Jaga gets through to Lion-O finally, but only barely, and convinces him to move on, promising to lead the way.

Grune is smarting from his last defeat against the Thundercats, bitter that their defeat hadn’t come as easily as he expected now that Lion-O was no longer a factor. Mumm-Ra assures him that the time will come, but they had needed to test Tygra’s strength first and that the outcome of the next battle will not be so favorable to their enemy. Mumm-Ra urges that they truly work together this time, to guarantee the fall of the remaining Thundercats. Jax is sent to spy on the Thundercats, in the hopes of uncovering anything the evildoers can use to exploit and bring about their downfall.

At the Lair, the ‘Cats are due in the Treetop Kingdom that evening, and Panthro finds Jonca with the Book and wonders how she found it – they had been keeping it from Felina since her breakdown earlier. Felina comes in on the scene, and at first protests not being trusted with the tome. She also notes her daughter had the book open to the section regarding Liftings and seemed concerned. However, she gives the Book up to Panthro, agreeing that she needs more time to heal. Panthro was determined to find a better hiding place for the Book.

At the Warrior Maiden’s fete, they try to help the Thundercats move on in their own way by helping to celebrate Lion-O’s life, and the new role of Tygra as interim Lord. A bird is symbolically killed in the ceremony, and seems to come back to life, making Felina think about the Lifting of the Dead spell in the book again. Tygra reiterates the serious dangers of such untested and powerful magic.

The bird from the ceremony had been given to Felina, and she and the children, along with Snarf, go to the place where Lion-O perished to release it as a symbolic expression of letting go.

Vision Valley (Ch. 37):

Jaga had resorted to trapping Lion-O in a place alive with psychic impulses, called Vision Valley. There, as long as Lion-O struggled against it, he could not leave, and was therefore contained within. It was the only way Jaga had left of keeping the soul that refused to accept its fate, from a fate worse than death. However, if Lion-O’s soul remained their too long, it could be destroyed anyway. Only time would tell his fate in that realm where psychic impulses crossed between planes.

Tygra has had another restless night, but this one ends in an epiphany. He finds Panthro and Bengali at work on the ThunderStrike, a flying vessel that will help carry them home to their countrymen. But the same problems plague them- what to do about Third Earth and the enemies they’d made there. Tygra proposes the League of Third Earth, as well as letting them use the Lair and perhaps, another outpost to be built closer to the desert for better monitoring (Tower of Omens). Panthro expresses doubts the Third Earthers can cope, even if with a beacon on the tower to keep communications open, that the Thundercats can get back to Third Earth in time to assist should they need it. Panthro is also most critical of the maidens’ ability to hold their own against Mumm-Ra, and Tygra suspects some kind of lasting fall-out between him and Nayda in particular.

Tygra also brings up the idea of his going through Anointment Trials to make his appointment as Lord more ‘official’, to which Panthro has strong objections. They argue heatedly over the matter, before Tygra decides that because of potential biases, he can’t go against any of the Thundercats who took part in Lion-O’s trials. His first Trial should be against Bengali. Tygra hopes that through winning the Trials, his bond with the Sword will also become stronger. He wants to be accepted as Lord on all levels.

At Castle Plundarr, the Mutants, Grune and Mumm-Ra discuss their next move. Mumm-Ra knows of the Trials and of the Thundercats’ plans to leave Third Earth to rejoin their countrymen on the original destination planet. Mumm-Ra wants his vengeance now while their numbers are still few and they are weak, rather than just letting them leave and be rid of them that way. Slithe is worried to himself that once the ‘Cats fall, his kind’s usefulness to Mumm-Ra will be negated, and he will be in jeopardy, too.

Cheetara is upset with Tygra for insisting on the Trials, and she is worried that his new role puts him in more danger than usual. She does not wish to lose him and is dogged by old worries about bonding and their undoing, when he mentions his wish to bond more with the Sword.

During the night, Cheetara has a psychic dream in which Lion-O, thanks in part to some things Tygra had taught him about the mind, is able to utilize where he is held to bring Cheetara to him in the Vision Valley. They have an emotional reunion, and he warns her of Grune and the new alliance between all their enemies. He informs her that they know of the Trials and will plot their attacks accordingly, their alliance making any safeguards the Thundercats had put in place in jeopardy. When Cheetara awakes, it’s dawn and Tygra is not in bed beside her. She dashes off to intervene, hoping she is not too late.

The Beginning of the End (Ch. 38):

Torr, still determined to find some way to prove the Thundercats are out there, scours his room for a comm device he hopes will let him monitor communications. He asks Cerise for her assistance, who reluctantly agrees to beef up the scanner for the young man. Mumm-Ra, aware of the Trials Tygra is participating in, hatches a plot which involves a favor from the ASOE and the cooperation of his cohorts in evil.

Kit and Kat visit Willa in her kingdom to discuss plans for the Tower of Omens and its role in monitoring and communication, in preparation for the Thundercats leaving Third Earth. Kat is in better spirits, and the twins discuss their weapons of cunning and their roles as adult Thundercats, expressing how content they are with it. They explain to Willa Lion-O's plan for minimizing the threats on Third Earth, and note that the new ThunderStrike they're building will be faster than their other airborne vehicles, allowing them to return to assist the natives faster if need be. Report of trouble near where Tygra is at in the Unicorn Forest cuts the meeting short.

Cheetara fights with her sixth sense over a feeling of doom, despite having reached and talked to Tygra about it earlier. He still insisted on going on with the Trials, and Panthro actually agreed. She was outnumbered and had returned to the Lair. But an old vision of Lion-O and his daughter, their manes merging into a pool of blood, spurred her to take the Sword from the chamber and run to Tygra again. Urgency overrode self-doubt, and she left hurriedly, without telling Felina or the cubs where she was going.

Kit and Kat, going to investigate the trouble in the Unicorn Forest, fly into a Mutant ambush and are captured. They were tricked in part by Vultureman intercepting their signal and his voice imitator coming back as Panthro's voice giving the all-clear on the perimeter of the Forest.

Next, Slithe Jackalman and Grune capture Pumyra and Lynx-O as they came off their shift monitoring the trials. Cheetara reaches the scene at the Forest and finds Tygra had been sparring with a super-sized Mumm-Ra. His mind powers were sustaining him and draining him at the same time. She manages to get the weapon in his hand but is soon captured herself. She knows that the other Cats should have been nearby - not being there meant they too were likely victims and it was mostly up to Tygra to save the day. Felina, the cubs, and Snarf would likely be of little help if they did heed the signal Tygra called upon.

House That We Used to Live In (Ch 39):

This installment opens with Grune realizing his dream of having the ThunderCats at his mercy. Instead of putting them all out of their misery like the Mutants would love to do, he wants to relish his victory and make the lot suffer long first. The alliance of evil forces worked, in not only bringing down the ThunderCats but any of their allies that would dare try to help them. Mumm-Ra retreated to his abode with his prize, the coveted Sword of Omens. Now, the Mutants are prepared to finish laying waste to the ‘Cats stronghold – and with the final onslaught on the unmanned Lair, it is presumed an injured Snarf will perish within.

Mumm-Ra is worn out after being “super charged” but is most pleased with his part in the victory and his prize. The ASOE are likewise pleased, but warn the mummy that to super charge him like that again would surely destroy Mumm-Ra. It occurs to him that maybe this was their hope in the first place, and Mumm-Ra hopes maybe the power of the Eye will help him turn the tables on the ASOE after he takes a well-deserved rest…the masters will become the servants. Tygra watches the lair he planned and built be destroyed and he tries to steel his resolve that they will somehow all survive.

Meanwhile, Jax struggles with his feelings…and how Grune has manipulated and lied to him. He is asea on the Berzerkers’ ship. He thinks back to how he grabbed Willa with the aid of a drug soaked rag during the chaos of the prior fighting, and now she was a prisoner on this ship per Mumm-Ra’s decree. Jax is trying to figure out Mumm-Ra’s angle in keeping Willa separated and whole from her tribe rather than just eliminating them all. He suspects he was put on the ship with her to keep the Berzerkers’ lusty impulses in check, as Mumm-Ra wants her whole as well, but also isn’t sure of how he would stop them if they make an attempt on her…or turn on him.

In the Astral World, Lion-O is out of the Vision Valley but risks a tail spin back to the misery that put his soul in jeopardy before, after he sees what has become of his friends. Jaga talks some sense in to him this time, and convinces him to seek counsel with Claudus…and perhaps prepare to truly cross over.

Willa realizes that the Berzerkers won’t stick with Mumm-Ra’s deal for long to leave her alive and untouched, and plans to escape at the first opportunity. Even if it means her fate is to drown in the sea.

For Slithe, he takes no real joy in the victory. He is suspicious of what will happen to him after the ThunderCats are toyed with and disposed of, feeling like a mere lackey in the scheme of things. He wanted the Eye for himself, bitter that Mumm-Ra got that prize – and worried what the old mummy will do with that kind of power if he manages to bend it to his dark will. Slithe’s dream was to return to Plun-Darr with the Eye in hand and exhalated as the great warrior and champion he was. He thinks maybe Vultureman is smart enough to share at least his misgivings about Mumm-Ra and Grune and what will become of the Mutants once those two are done using them…but does not think he can confide in the treacherous bird. Instead, he begins to hatch a plot to usurp Grune and Mumm-Ra to fulfill his own dream. For now, he believes keeping the ThunderCats alive actually works in his favor.

Grune’s plans for the ThunderCats is to force them to rebuild a new fortress for him, amongst other projects. He was all but prepared to work them to their deaths. The vehicles were saved for Grune’s own use to help keep the tribes of Third Earth in check. But he was unable to recover the book of omens or the key before the Lair’s destruction. Questioning Felina got him nowhere, even after threatening the cubs. Grune also wonders what’s eating Slithe as he doesn’t seem to be reveling in the victory as much as one would think. Marching orders are given to the ThunderSlaves, and “Uncle Grune” decides to keep the kids nearby with him lest the adults try anything heroic.