BREAKING: The New ThunderCats Is Still Mindblowingly Awesome

?Did you guys watch last Friday’s new ThunderCats episode? The seventh episode, “Legacy”? It was unbelievably great and I desperately want to talk about why to convince anyone who’s not watching the show yet to give it a try. So if you haven’t seen the episode yet but plan on seeing it, don’t read this article, because it’s full of spoilers. To everyone else who still hasn’t watched ThunderCats yet — or even just wants to know what the deal is with the above screenshot —  please hit the jump.

From the very beginning, I’ve talked about how the new ThunderCats took the razor-thin, borderline goofy premise of the original, and mapped out a world and history and conflicts and everything, Well, this seventh episode, “Legacy,” truly proved how much this is true. Remember how someone people thought that the new ThunderCats might be set after the original series? Well, this was proven untrue when Lion-O is taken by the book of Omens into the body of his ancient ancestor, Leo…

…who serves Mumm-Ra.

Seriously. The cats serve Mumm-Ra upon his spaceship, hunting the WarStone, the magic jewel that eventually becomes known as the Eye of Thundera. The other animal people — the lizards, the dogs, the eagle and elephants and everybody — are slaves on the ship. If you’re thinking this is a tad Dragonball Z-ish, you’re right, and one of Mumm-Ra’s cat general has a scouter-type thing on, in a clear nod to the anime. But hold on, because it gets better…

Realizing Mumm-Ra will be unstoppable if he receives the WarStone, Leo and some of the other cats lead the other animals in a revolt while Leo seizes the jewel in puts it in a sword the cat mystics have secretly fashioned… the Sword of Omens. Leo challenges Mumm-Ra while the mutiny occurs — basically against the cats who are loyal tp Mumm-Ra, mind you, so it’s not like the cats are inherently good or anything.

Leo fights an amused Mumm-Ra — who I should note is in his heavily muscled, badass form. This is important because when Mumm-Ra decides to get serious, he transforms again into this enormous, armored warrior-god thing and its completely awesome. How can he do this? BECAUSE HE’S GOT THREE OTHER WARSTONES. That’s right, the Eye of Thundera is no longer the only game in town.

Leo only wins becuase he manages to knock one of the stones out of Mumm-Ra’s gauntlet ? a counterpart of Leo/Lion-O’s gauntlet — and then uses its power to because his own giant, lion-armored badass! The two fight through the ship, even in space, beating the holy hell out of each other, and it’s amazing. Eventually, Leo wrests the other two stones from Mumm-Ra, who reverts to his withered mummy form and escape, just as the damaged spaceship crashes on Third Earth.

The fact that both magic and technology exist? Because of Mumm-Ra’s ship, which used both. The cats and lizards hate each other? Because the cats were the lizards oppressors. The reason the Sword of Thundera exists, and how it has its power? See above. Have the stakes been risen, because now Lion-O and pals don’t just have to protect the Sword of Omens, but find the other three Stones before Mumm-Ra and his minions do? FUCK AND YES.

Seriously, it’s unbelievable to me how great this reimagining is from the original. The improved characterizations. The enriched origin and setting. THE FACT THAT MUMM-RA AND LION-O’S ANCESTOR PUT ON AWESOME MAGIC BODY ARMOR AND FOUGHT IN SPACE. That’s good shit, people. Just sayin’.