Book 2 starts off in a pretty desperate place. The thundertank has broken down and they have no food. Mysteriously, delicious food just appears when they aren't looking. They decide to watch from hiding places and when they see these cute cyborg teddy bears fixing the thundertank, they aren't sure what to do. Robearbill introduces himself and says that the Berbils are there to help them. The Berbils take them to their town and show them around. Wilykit and Wilykat are addicted to the "candy fruit" that they harvest and the Berbils give them as much as they want, but Panthro is suspicious of them because he's not used to someone doing something for nothing. The Berbils really don't want anything, but when the alarm sounds, the ThunderCats realize that they do need help. The Berbils are being kidnapped and sold for slave labor, but of course, the ThunderCats are going to save them. They can't let something like that go unpunished. When they leave the Berbils, the ThunderCats continue the quest for the Spirit Stone.
Their quest takes them to the Elephant Village. Just like the Berbils, the Elephants are a peaceful group. They meditate and take life easy. Unfortunately, half of their food from harvest is taken by the Wraiths. Lion-O decides to rid them of these pests, even though they haven't asked for help. Lion-O really needs to learn that sometimes things are the way they are for a reason and if you don't know the whole story, don't act. In this case, there definitely is the lesser of two evils. The Elephant elder sends them to the Forest of Magi Oar so that Lion-O can use the Sword there, since the magic of the forest will enhance the Sword of Omen's power. In the Forest of the Magi Oar, they meet the members from the School of Paper Arts when they save the ThunderCats from evil spirits. Viragor is a monster of the forest and the school members try and protect the forest from Viragor. The headmaster tries to teach Lion-O that sight is just a matter of perspective. Sometimes you can't see what you're looking for up close, but if you take a step back, the full picture emerges. Of course, nothing is as it seems and Lion-O will have to figure out the real truth of the forest before he can solve the puzzle.
Going back to the Elephant Village to access the astral plane brings a huge surprise for the ThunderCats. Grune is there with the mutants and has captured the villagers. After the ThunderCats get rid of them, they will then have to navigate their way through the astral plane to find the Spirit Stone. This episode shows the beginning of a rivalry between Lion-O and Tigra for Cheetara's affections. Tigra is quite jealous over the attention that he thinks Cheetara gives Lion-O. Mumm-Ra knows all of this and decides that he can use these feelings to pull the brothers apart. Panthro will have to face his old friend Grune and he'll suffer a huge loss. This is a very serious episode, so the series lightens up just a bit on the next one and gives the ThunderCats time to get things organized. Of course, Mumm-Ra isn't going to like that. He sends Slithe to recruit Monkian and Jackalman as new generals for his army. Lion-O is going to continue to be emo over the relationship between Tigra and Cheetara. It's not very fitting for a king, but then he still hasn't really grown into the whole king situation. To finish off Book 2, Lion-O is killed. He'll have to win his life back, and that is precisely as difficult as it sounds! While he's busy trying to do that, the rest of the ThunderCats are determined to get the Sword of Omen back from Mumm-Ra. I like that Book 2 stops at a logical break point so that you really want to see more, but you're not left on such a cliffhanger that you want to strangle the writers to get the next episode quicker.
I was a huge fan of the ThunderCats original series when I was a child. While the new series has quite a few differences, it still holds most of the original spirit. It doesn't captivate me like some shows do, but it is getting stronger as the series goes on and I am really looking forward to seeing the next book. If you're looking for a solid kids' series, check out ThunderCats: Season 1, Book 2 today.
