A trip into a new town has Lion-O making more foolish mistakes that are needed in order for him to grow.

What They Say:
The Duelist and the Drifer- Lion-O loses the Sword of Omens to a Duelist.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the previous episode giving us a huge amount of information on how this varied world came to be with its inhabitants and showing off a lot of types that we haven’t seen, ThunderCats really did a fantastic job of world building in a straightforward way. Cementing the relationship that the Cats have with Mumm-ra from the past, what he was after and how he was betrayed worked very well and it covered a lot in a short space of time. So after going so big, the series is doing the natural and almost required thing by going to something smaller and quieter in a way. Or at least nowhere near as epic.

With the Cats separated a bit due to some mechanical failures, we see Lion-O and Snarf off on their journey to get the parts they need and that has them visiting a trading town. It offers up some fun right from the start with a curiously literal drifter and then Lion-O’s discovery that his coins from his kingdom now no longer have any value. What he can do though is participate in a sword challenge, which with his sword has him acting quite cocky. And while the competition goes completely in his favor, he’s easily goaded into an actual sword match with a mysterious man named the Duelist who has a lot of swords in his possession as it’s what he’s after in life. And naturally, the match has the owners weapons as their prize which makes it a dangerous game.

Of course, things aren’t going to go in an easy way for Lion-O and there is a certain amount of predictability when he does lose it in the match to the Duelist and his legendary status. What makes the episode work though is the use of the character of the Drifter. With his very laid back approach taken to an extreme but with the perfect voice attached to it. It feels like something out of 70′s animation in a way that really is quite haunting. With his story being told and seeing his redemption in all of this, it brings us something really special in the same way as the Petalars episode and even the world origin story one from the previous episode. It’s all in service of getting the Sword of Omens back but it’s what the characters learn and the way they do it that allows it work.

In Summary:
ThunderCats has a lot going for it at this point, especially after it went so big in the previous episode, but it manages to take that momentum and work it in a different way here. Some shows can’t do the smaller, quieter pieces like this well without seeming too forced and pointless, but this is another piece that shows Lion-O’s evolution as a character, some great action and a sense of fun and adventure about it that’s required. And some great Snarf sequences too. But it’s the character of the Drifter that really makes it special, from design to background to voice acting. The series has been strong with that across the board but this is just something more that feels really special. While not a huge episode like we had, it’s a significant one that helps to grow Lion-O in a beautiful way.

Grade: A-