Trouble with Time

Trouble with Time

Production
Episode	1.07
Original Airdate	September 17, 1985
Writer(s)	Ron Goulart & Julian P. Gardner
Chronology
Previous Episode	The Terror of Hammerhand
Next Episode	The Tower of Traps
All Episodes	Episode Guide

Trouble with Time is an episode from the original series of ThunderCats, written by Ron Goulart and Julian P. Gardner. It originally aired on January 17, 1985.

Official Summary

While looking for Thundrillium (the ThunderTank's source of power), Tygra gets caught in the Cave of Time, aging him rapidly and making him too feeble to leave. Lion-O rushes to assist, but Willa - a Forest Warrior - warns him that he is not quick enough to escape the cave's magic. Cheetara's super speed enables her to rescue Tygra without any ill-effect. Willa directs them to the Geyser of Life where (after battling the winged snakes who guard the fountain) Tygra is restored to his true age.

Official Moral

Patience is a worthwhile virtue. Acting on impulses is shortsighted and often foolhardy. Sometimes it is important to temper impulses and delay before acting. Thinking through a situation can save time, can avoid creating additional problems, and can lead to more desirable results. The ability in pre-school children to delay gratification of impulses by waiting is an important index of cognitive and social competence, coping skills, and school performance at an adolescent age (Mischel, in press). An important element which influences the ability to delay when faced with a situation calling for either an immediate gratification or a delayed but more desirable outcome is the way in which the rewards of an action are thought about. If the mental representation of the immediate reward is arousal-generating (e.g., focusing on the taste of pretzels), the delay is lengthened (Mischel, 1981).

Story

Complaining about the unappetizing food that is being served by the Reptilian Cook, the Mutants are arguing amongst themselves. Monkian, who is the most vocal about the state of their cuisine, proposes that they need slaves, cooks and servant to improve the things in Castle Plun-Darr. Satisfied with his suggestion, Slithe instructs Monkian to bring back a few worthy specimens, proposing that a "woman's touch" is what is required. Reluctantly, Monkian complies and leaves.

In the forest, he comes across Nayda who is fishing in the river. Monkian quickly grabs her starts to flee but Nayda's elder sister and queen of the Warrior Maidens, Willa arrives at the scene. Using her Bow and Arrow, she rescues her sister and sends Monkian running with his tail between his legs. Angered by the event, the two maidens comment on how the arrival of the Mutants and the ThunderCats to Third Earth has disrupted their lives. Nayda even goes so far as to suggest that they rid themselves of these alien races.

All is quiet at Cats Lair until Lion-O develops the urge to take the ThunderTank for a spin by himself. Ignoring Snarf's warnings, the young lord jumps into the driver's seat and puts the tank in motion. But the powerful machine quickly gets out of his hand and it speeds around maniacally, jumping, pounding, reversing. All the noise attracts Panthro who manages to leap into the ThunderTank and put on the brakes, stopping it inches from the edge of a steep cliff.

Panthro is very angry with Lion-O, and for good reason, as he goes on to explain. By joyriding the ThunderTank, Lion-O is using up Thundrillium, their main fuel source, of which they have precious little left. They have to find a new source of Thundrillium very soon in order to refill their dwindling supplies. Panthro invents a Thundrillium Detector, a small handheld gadget that enables one to track any Thundrillium source. Each ThunderCat takes one detector and heads off in a different direction to being their search, unaware that Monkian had been secretly listening to their conversations from a nearby bush. He informs Slithe about the ThunderCats' fuel shortage and the Mutants head out to make sure that the Cats fail in their quest.

Deep in the woods, Lion-O hears strange noises and upon investigating runs into Willa who is at the mercy of a Lizarthon, a gigantic dinosaur. She pelts the beast with a variety of her arrows but to no avail. Finally Lion-O steps in and scares off the monster by using the Claw Shield to reflect the sun's rays onto it. Despite Lion-O's attempts to befriend her, Willa remains doubtful of him.

The Thundrullium Detector leads Tygra into a cave which unfortunately turns out to be the Cave of Time. Unaware of this, Tygra ages rapidly, growing old by the minute. When he does realize the gravity of the situation, he has become too frail to leave the cave.

Meanwhile, Lion-O is attacked by the Mutants who were lying in wait for him in the woods. This time, it is Willa's turn to repay the favor and she sends the Mutants fleeing by firing them with sleep gas arrows. At that moment, Lion-O learns about Tygra's predicament from the Sword of Omens "Sight Beyond Sight". Before he rushes off to Tygra's aid, Willa informs him that only someone who can move extremely fast can avoid aging inside the cave. Realizing that Cheetara may be the only one who can save Tygra, Lion-O calls the other ThunderCats.

As soon as the ThunderCats and Willa reach the Cave of Time, Cheetara races in and retrieves Tygra. The Cats are shocked to see the aged Tygra. Willa then suggests that the waters of the [{Geyser of Life]] may be able to reverse Tygra's aging and she leads them to it. However, the geyser itself is fiercely protected by the Winged Water Snakes who won't let anyone pass. Lion-O and Cheetara create a distraction to draw the snakes away from the geyser, allowing Tygra to enter its waters and regain his normal age.

Characters

Lion-O

Tygra

Panthro

Cheetara

Snarf

WilyKit

WilyKat

Jaga

Willa

Nayda

Slithe

Monkian

Jackalman

Lizarthon

Winged Water Snakes

Reptilian Cook

Vehicles

ThunderTank

Locations

Cats Lair

Castle Plun-Darr

Cave of Time

Geyser of Life

Trivia

• Mumm-Ra is absent from this episode as are WilyKit and WilyKat.
  • The twins were also missing from the previous episode "The Terror of Hammerhand".

• In this episode we see for the first and last time the Mutants' personal chef, a Reptilian Cook.

Goofs

• In the episode Pumm-Ra, Panthro praises Lion-O's driving skill, even going so far as telling Tygra that Lion-O took to the tank like a fish does to water. Yet in this episode, Lion-O appears to be completely unable to drive the Thundertank.

• The basis of this episode is the ThunderCats search for the rare Thundrillium, with Panthro even wondering if any of it exists on Third Earth. Strangely, in the earlier episode Pumm-Ra, the ThunderCats are shown heading to the "Thundrillium Fields", indicating that not only were they aware of its existence on the planet, but also that they had a source of it.

Notable Quotes

Panthro: Wait! We must think this thing through. The sword is mighty, but we have no time for a lengthy fight. Tygra's failing fast. Distract them, Lion-O. Cheetara, dizzy them.

Willa: There it is, the Cave of Time. Your friend has no chance of ever returning, I'm afraid.

Nayda: He's one of the aliens, isn't he? One of those who came on the strange ship.
Willa: Yes, a cat. Calls himself "Lion-O." I followed him from the lair they built.

Snarf: You usually find stuff like Thundrillium in a mine or someplace. So be careful you don't fall down a mineshaft, Lion-O.
Lion-O: Yes, Snarf, I'll make a point of it.
Snarf: And stay out of traps.
Lion-O: I will, Snarf! I promise.
Snarf: He's not a bad boy, but he never listens!

Media

This episode was released on the following media:

VHS

• ThunderCats Vol.4: Trouble With Time (Big Box) - f.h.e. release
• ThunderCats Vol.4: Trouble with Time - f.h.e. release
• ThunderCats Vol. 4: Snarf Takes Up the Challenge and Trouble with Time - The Video Collection release

DVD

• Season 1 Volume 1 DVD
• Season 1 DVD
• Seasons 1 & 2 DVD

Episode Sceenshots

References

• MISCHEL, W. (In Press). Delay of gratification as process and a person variable in development. In D. Magnusson and V.P. Allen (Eds.), Interactions in Human Development. New York: Academic Press.

• MISCHEL, W. (1981). Metacognition and the rules of delay. In J. Flavell and L.D. Ross (Eds.), Cognitive Social Development: Frontiers and Possible Futures (pp. 240-271). New York: Cambridge U. Press.

External Links

• Trouble with Time on IMDb
• ThunderCats 1985 cartoon series on Wikipedia
• Dan Maruschak's Review of "Trouble with Time"
• ThunderCats on ThunderCats.org