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ThunderCats Roar - Ratar-O (S1E23)
The ThunderCats have gotten so good at defeating the Mutants of Plun-Darr that it's basically become routine. That all changes with the arrival of the Mutants' old leader: Ratar-O, wielder of the Sword of Plun-Darr. Uh-oh.
| Air Date | 2020-05-09 |
|---|---|
| Genres | Kids, Animation, Comedy, Action & Adventure |
| TV Rating | TV-Y7-FV |
| Network(s) | Cartoon Network |
Storyline
The ThunderCats have become so proficient at defeating the Mutants of Plun-Darr that their battles have turned into predictable routines. Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro, and WilyKit and WilyKat handle Slithe, Monkian, Jackalman, and Vultureman with ease, confident in their superiority. This comfortable pattern is shattered when Ratar-O, the Mutants' former leader, arrives on Third Earth wielding the powerful Sword of Plun-Darr.
Ratar-O's presence immediately changes the dynamic. As the original commander of the Mutants, he brings tactical skill and a weapon that rivals the Sword of Omens in power. The ThunderCats find themselves facing a genuine threat for the first time in a while, forcing them to adapt their strategies and work together in new ways. The episode challenges the team's overconfidence and tests whether they can handle an adversary who is truly their equal in both leadership and weaponry.
What kids learn
This episode teaches children about the dangers of complacency and overconfidence. The ThunderCats' routine victories have made them comfortable, but Ratar-O's arrival demonstrates that underestimating opponents or becoming too comfortable with success can leave you unprepared for real challenges. Children learn that staying sharp, practicing humility, and never taking victories for granted are important habits even when things seem easy.
The story also explores the value of adaptability and teamwork when facing unexpected obstacles. When their usual tactics prove insufficient against Ratar-O and the Sword of Plun-Darr, the ThunderCats must think creatively and rely on each other in new ways. Young viewers see that flexibility and the willingness to change strategies are crucial skills when circumstances shift.
Additionally, the episode introduces the concept that leadership matters. Ratar-O's return shows how a strong leader can transform a group's effectiveness, teaching kids about the impact that organization, strategy, and experience can have on any team's performance.
Parents' top 5 questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is Ratar-O scarier or more threatening than the usual villains? | Ratar-O is presented as a more formidable opponent than the regular Mutants, bringing both leadership skills and a powerful weapon. However, ThunderCats Roar maintains its comedic, lighthearted tone throughout. While the stakes feel higher and the ThunderCats face genuine difficulty, the episode balances tension with humor and doesn't venture into frightening territory. The threat is treated seriously enough to create engaging conflict without becoming too intense for the show's young audience. |
| What is the Sword of Plun-Darr and how does it compare to the Sword of Omens? | The Sword of Plun-Darr is Ratar-O's weapon and serves as a dark counterpart to Lion-O's Sword of Omens. In the ThunderCats mythology, it's portrayed as a powerful artifact that makes its wielder a serious threat. The episode uses the sword to establish Ratar-O as a worthy adversary who can challenge the ThunderCats on equal footing, creating dramatic tension through the clash of these two legendary weapons and their bearers. |
| Does this episode have more action and fighting than usual? | This episode does feature more sustained action sequences as the ThunderCats battle both the regular Mutants and their newly arrived leader. The combat is more strategic and extended than the typical quick skirmishes the team has grown accustomed to. However, the action remains cartoonish and slapstick in the show's signature style, with exaggerated movements and comedic moments woven throughout. The increased action serves the story about overcoming a tougher challenge rather than gratuitous violence. |
| Will my child understand the lesson about not getting overconfident? | The episode presents the overconfidence theme clearly through the ThunderCats' initial ease in defeating the Mutants followed by their struggle against Ratar-O. Young viewers can see the direct consequences of the heroes taking their opponents too lightly. The contrast between the routine victories at the beginning and the genuine challenge that follows makes the lesson accessible. Parents can reinforce the message by discussing times when practice and preparation matter, even for things that seem easy. |
| Is this episode part of a longer story arc or can it be watched standalone? | This episode works as a standalone story introducing Ratar-O as a new recurring antagonist. While it references the ThunderCats' ongoing conflict with the Mutants, no prior episode knowledge is required to understand or enjoy it. The episode establishes Ratar-O's background and significance efficiently, making it accessible to both regular viewers and those less familiar with the series. It may set up future appearances by this character, but the story reaches a satisfying conclusion on its own. |
Writing
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Directing
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| Season # | Episode # | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Fleeing the destruction of their home planet Thundera, Lion-O and the ThunderCats land on the world of Third Earth. But their enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr have followed them and it turns out Third Earth already has a Mumm-Ra problem. |
| 1 | 2 | Fleeing the destruction of their home planet Thundera, Lion-O and the ThunderCats land on the mysterious, dangerous, all-around awesome world of Third Earth! But their enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr have followed them and it turns out Third Earth already has a Mumm-Ra problem - can Lion-O learn the ropes of being a leader in time? |
| 1 | 3 | Lion-O has gotten ahold of the last jar of Thundersnaps - the best cookies Thundera had to offer! But a difficult to open cookie jar sends Lion-O and Cheetara chasing down the legend of Boggy Ben. |
| 1 | 4 | Lion-O wants to prove to the ThunderKittens that he's not just some boring old adult like Tygra, even if it means ignoring his instincts and messing with an obviously evil crystal. |
| 1 | 5 | Panthro becomes fed up with having to constantly fix things around the Cats' Lair, which proves to be a problem when an unstoppable drilling robot plans an attack. |
| 1 | 6 | A crying unicorn appears at the Cats' Lair and tells the ThunderCats that all of her unicorn friends have been captured; Tygra thinks he's just the unicorn expert to help the last of the unicorns. |
| 1 | 7 | Vultureman has got a brand new invention but there's one big problem: he stole the idea from Panthro! Oh, also Vultureman is using his invention to take over Third Earth. So, there are two big problems. |
| 1 | 8 | Third Earth is being overrun by super tough, super buff Warrior Maidens and it looks like the ThunderCats are next on their hit list! It's gonna be up to the ThunderKittens to save the day even though the kittens are so small and the Warrior Maidens are so big. |
| 1 | 9 | Barely escaping the sudden destruction of their home world, Thundera, Lion-O and the ThunderCats crash land on the mysterious and exotic planet of Third Earth, home to the evil Mumm-Ra and a bizarre host of other creatures and villains. |
| 1 | 10 | Barely escaping the sudden destruction of their home world, Thundera, Lion-O and the ThunderCats crash land on the mysterious and exotic planet of Third Earth, home to the evil Mumm-Ra and a bizarre host of other creatures and villains. |
| 1 | 11 | Feeling underappreciated by the other ThunderCats, Tygra starts hanging out with Mumm-Ra and cleaning his black pyramid. Whaaaat? |
| 1 | 12 | Cheetara is the fastest living being in the universe, until Monkian beats her in a race! Now Cheetara has to find something else to be the best at, while the rest of the ThunderCats find out how Monkian got so darn fast! |
| 1 | 13 | Lion-O "accidentally" releases a whole space prison-full of space criminals and winds up on the wrong side of the law. On the right side of the law is Mandora the Evil Chaser, a no nonsense space cop. Lion-O's gonna have to work real hard to prove he's not a criminal, just a little bit of an oaf. |
| 1 | 14 | Lion-O is tasked with mapping the beaches of Third Earth, which leads to him somehow draining the oceans of all water entirely. Woops. But a mysterious scientist with a robotic frog says they can fix everything by traveling under the earth, which is just the kinda crazy adventure Lion-O is all about. |
| 1 | 15 | Lion-O never pays attention during Tygra's training sessions so when he's asked to do a pop quiz on "sword magic" he accidentally opens a portal to the Astral Plane and releases the Nether Witch. The Witch imprisons Lion-O and Tygra in her nightmare realm and it's gonna take a lot of studying to figure out a way home. Wonder if the Astral Plane has any great teachers lying around. |
| 1 | 16 | Every time Mumm-Ra gets a hold of a magic artifact to restore his powers, the ThunderCats just smash it and turn him into a dinky skeleton again. Until today that is, because Mumm-Ra just remembered he's got the Ancient Spirits of Evil, and now he can get swole whenever he wants. |
| 1 | 17 | The Cats' Lair is attacked by gold-loving robot pirates, the Berserkers. This is a good thing, really, since it means Lion-O and the ThunderKittens can ditch their chores and fight robo-pirates instead. Just don't tell Tygra!!! |
| 1 | 18 | Freed from the Astral Plane, Jaga, ghost of the ThunderCats mentor, is now free to visit the Cats' Lair. Which means he can finally tell them why Thundera, their home world, exploded. It's story time. |
| 1 | 19 | While flying with his new invention, Panthro hits it off with a new friend, Barbastella, the Queen of the Bats. Now Panthro needs help getting ready for his big date with her, because it turns out Panthro is terrified of bats. Lion-O and Cheetara are happy to help but, wow, that is a lot to unpack. |
| 1 | 20 | After a battle with the Mutants, Jackalman gets confused and accidentally returns to the Cats' Lair with the Thundercats, he is the dumbest mutant. Jackalman pretends to be a Thundercat so his enemies won't catch him and the Thundercats pretend to play along because they feel bad for him. |
| 1 | 21 | The Thundercats are exhausted from fighting bad guys all the time so Lion-O suggests they spend a relaxing summer fun day at the beach, with no fighting. Unfortunately the beach is home to the Crabmen, giant, clawed humanoids that fight anyone who steps on their sand. Looks like summer fun day might involve some fighting. |
| 1 | 22 | While minding her own business, Cheetara is caught in a trap set by Safari Joe, the famously annoying hunter. After escaping, she rallies the other ThunderCats to help her stop Joe once and for all, by turning the tables and capturing him. |
| 1 | 23 | The ThunderCats have gotten so good at defeating the Mutants of Plun-Darr that it's basically become routine. That all changes with the arrival of the Mutants' old leader: Ratar-O, wielder of the Sword of Plun-Darr. Uh-oh. |
| 1 | 24 | Lion-O is happily playing with Snarf in their "Frolicking Field" and doesn't have a care in the world, unfortunately he's accidentally stomping all over the miniature village of the Micrits. The tiny people want to defeat the "giant orange monster" but such a quest would require a brave hero. Luckily, the Micrits have such a hero: Prince Starling. Now, let us the tell you the epic tale of Prince Starling as he journeys to find the fountain of growth and defeat the wicked Lion-O, who has no idea any of this is going on. |
| 1 | 25 | Lion-O and the other ThunderCats are thrilled to meet a brand new Thunderian: Lion-S. She's cool, good at fighting robots and, most importantly, thinks Lion-O and his Sword of Omens are really neat and interesting. Looks like the ThunderCats have a new best friend. Maybe even, a new ThunderCat????? |
| 1 | 26 | Hey everyone, it's Snarf's monthly day off. That's right, Snarf leaves the Cats' Lair to get a needed vacation by transforming into a normal cat and hanging out with a nice old lady on a farm. But his relaxing day is threatened when Snarf and the nice old lady cross paths with Mumm-Ra. |
| 1 | 27 | The Thundercats' worst nightmare comes true when their worst enemies, Mumm-Ra and The Mutants, team up after Mumm-Ra acquires The Sword of Plun-Darr. |
| 1 | 28 | Chaos reigns over Third Earth now that the Mutants and Mumm-Ra control the Cats' Lair. The Thundercats' only hope is to sneak back in and get a super secret weapon, Panthro has hidden at the heart of the Lair. |
| 1 | 29 | Tygra creates a bunch of new laws for Third Earth so Mandora can finally arrest the Mutants. Unfortunately, the ThunderCats are really bad at following their own rules and the Mutants are really good at working around them. |
| 1 | 30 | When a crate containing fifty Swords of Omen lands on Third Earth, the ThunderCats rush out in the ThunderTank to find then. Unfortunately, The Mutants and Mumm-Ra want the swords too so it's going to a race to get to them! A wacky race, you might say. We won't say that, but you might. |
| 1 | 31 | The Cheetara Corp Employee Retreat gets canceled when Baron Karnon, a mysterious corporate raider, buys them out! Now Cheetara and Jan-Jan must brave the wilds of Third Earth's most dangerous jungles to find the Baron's office and demand a meeting with the man who stole their company! |
| 1 | 32 | |
| 1 | 33 | |
| 1 | 34 | When the ThunderCats tell the Berbils to stop building things for the Mutants, they build a giant Berbil named Berb-cules, who takes back everything they ever built. |
| 1 | 35 | |
| 1 | 36 | Barbastella reunites with her ex-girlfriend, the elitist Queen of the Rats. A jealous Panthro installs AI into all the Lair's appliances, to become King of the Machines. |
| 1 | 37 | When a local sword shop sells an ultra-powerful sword to Ratar-O, Lion-O decides he has to steal it before Ratar-O can come pick it up. Unfortunately, Lion-O is completely against stealing, but luckily, he knows someone who loves to steal... Lion-S! |
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| 1 | 42 | The ThunderCats freak out when a spooky ghost dressed like a pharaoh appears in their mirrors! They quickly set about to getting rid of every reflective surface in their lair because that ghost is scary and no one wants to talk to him! |
| 1 | 43 | |
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| 1 | 45 | The Thundercats invite a super cool swamp man into the Cat's Lair who is on the run from some scary looking aliens. |
| 1 | 46 | |
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| 1 | 50 | The ThunderCats face the greatest threat of their lives: Grune the Destroyer! He's the ghost of an evil ThunderCat and he wants revenge! HOW ARE THEY GONNA BEAT GRUNE??? You'll have to watch the episode! |
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