Sunsword origins? - Thundarr the Barbarian (1980) Discussion

[–] kyjoe 17 years ago

I haven't watched the episodes in a while, but I'm pretty sure it was never explained.

reply

No, it never was. I don't know if there was a series bible, but I read in a reference book that Thundarr and Ookla escaped from some repressive ruler together and Thundarr stole the sunsword. Whether the writer of the article inferred this from the opening narration and animation, or got his information from the show bible or from interviews, I don't know. It makes sense, based on the title sequence and what little detail is given in the series.

My guess is that he stole it from a wizard. Perhapsit was the product of a laser experiment in the ancient past, or some kind of welding device that Thundarr doesn't know how to control properly. They never really say if it iis suuposed to be a laser, flame, or whatever. The visuals suggest flame. Maybe it was the next generation Zippo.

reply

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] morley8 17 years ago

It always seemed like a poor-man's light saber to me. Not sure about what was supposed to be coming out. I've gotta watch some of this again tho!

reply

[–] Terry-367 17 years ago

Of course it was...The story was along the star wars lines....ookla the mok (chewbacca the wookie)...thundarr and his sun sword (light sabre) and princess ariel (princess leia 2.0 LOL). I love the show and glad it is on every night again and tivo them so I can watch them the next day.

reply

[–] xianplanet 17 years ago

There was an episode where it showed how the sword was recharged. I believe that he dipped it in some sort of pool of either lava or some sort of energy.

reply

[–] SteveM-1 17 years ago

I remember that episode. The Sunsword needed to be recharged so Thundarr had to dip it in a special pool in an underground cavern. This was also where it was established that only Thundarr could activate the Sunsword. I don't remember all of the details, but the villian of the episode (some Wizard of course), got the Sunsword, dipped it in the pool and then he was the only one who could use it. Thundarr later got it back, dipped it in the pool and became the owner again. I think once it was recharged, it was good for a few years, but I don't think they said how long.

reply

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] khedrick1968 17 years ago

It was never stated How Thundar got the sword but where the sword came from was given a sort of origin in the episode where they faced an alien hunter who was some sort of inteligent bug type thing. The sun sword had no effect on the alien hunter. Ariel said the sun sword had fallen fron the sky at some point and Thundar agreed with her. So the sun sword was not of this earth. Thundar may have taken the sun sword from another person though, but that person definetly got it from wreckage of alien artifacts. I always thought maybe wreckage from the runaway planet that landed on earth.

reply

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Miss_October 17 years ago

Whatever its origins, I kept hoping Thundarr would actually kill somebody with it; alas, despite being a barbarian and winning his freedom from wizards, he could not break the chains of 80s censorship.

In my own mental version of Thundarr's universe, he kills people with the sun sword and frequently bangs the hell out of Ariel. Why else would she hang around with a barbarian?

Woman is the Earth and Man is the Sky.

reply

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Miss_October 17 years ago

Now THERE'S a concept! Though in all honesty, I've dated guys only marginally more verbal than Ookla, and almost as hairy.

Woman is the Earth and Man is the Sky.

reply

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] xenophile2002 13 years ago

Maybe she's hanging around with Ookla.

I disagree with you, but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler.
- Jon Stewart

reply

[–] demon_star2002 17 years ago

"Fallen from the sky" doesn't necessarily mean that it came from anywhere but just that- the sky. A passing wizard's ship, being thrown into the air by a creature, person or explosion, or any number of things could account for the sunsword "falling from the sky".

Personally, I think that Thundarr stole it from the wizard he and Ookla escaped from. In an article in Fangoria (and other sources), that wizard is named "Sabian" although the name is never mentioned in the show. I always assumed the wizard wearing the horned helmet from the opening sequence was Sabian.

That same article shows a number of pre-production designs that show pretty clearly that the blade of the sunsword is composed of electricity. It would seem that the writers didn't necessarily hold to that idea in the series, as it appeared to perform in a number of different ways throughout the show.

reply

[–] SampanMassacre 13 years ago

gerber did borrow from lucas considerably. so was it revenge that lucas took gerber's awesome maverick comic book duck and produced one of the worst films ever?

reply

[–] tonymisfeldt 9 years ago

I'm sorry but you're mistaken. At no point in "Stalker From The Stars" did Ariel ever say that the Sunsword had fallen from the sky. The closest thing to any such comment was when she wondered out loud as to what had fallen from the sky (the alien's space ship).

There are several theories on how Thundarr had acquired the Sunsword. Some people say it was a gift crafted for him by Princess Ariel. Other people think Thundarr stole it from Ariel's stepfather, the wizard Sabian, when Ariel helped him and Ookla escape his slave pens. Still others believe that Thundarr discovered it hidden in an underground labyrinth beneath a mutant village. In any event, it's all hearsay, supposition, and guess work. Personally, I like the labirynth explanation, but that's just me.

reply

[–] kenobi575 17 years ago

The Sun Sword was a magical blade - the energy emitted was never explained and it never needed recharging. When it was damaged/drained by the negative energy storm - it did require a recharge from a pool of water in an underground cavern. Its owner must touch it to the pool to have exclusive control of it.

Nothing else is known of it - only conjecture and fandom ideas.

reply

[–] republican-superhero 16 years ago

ask the distibutor ruby-spears the would know if they are still in buisness or did wb buy them i wonder

reply

[–] crazyaxton 16 years ago

Perhaps if this little gem of a cartoon is realesed on DVD, the creaters themselves will explain this question once and for all in the extras.

reply

[–] Scooned 11 years ago

According to Wikipedia Ariel gave him the sun sword.

Baysplosions!
http://tiny.cc/va4vZ

reply

[–] grendelkhan 11 years ago

And we all know that wikipedia is the acme of credibility.

"Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!"

reply

[–] Scooned 11 years ago

About the same as IMDb message boards!

Baysplosions!
http://tiny.cc/va4vZ

reply

[–] grendelkhan 9 years ago

Yeah, but at least you can heckle the bad information on a message board.

Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!

reply

[–] crazyaxton 11 years ago

I think it's best that we really never kmow. Having seen the cartoon in over 30 year's, it just add's on to the mythology of this better than if should be cartoon.

reply

[–] heaa-68703 9 years ago

As far as I know they never said the Sunswords origin. The powers that be never explained a lot in that show, like how the trio originally met, what Ariel was actually a princess of. My guess is that Thundarr & Ookla met when they were slaves of some Wizard (they mentioned that Thundarr was a Wizards slave in one of the episodes), that's probably where he also got the Sunsword. It doesn't strike me as Ariel having been a slave also, so I guess he & Ookla met her later.

reply

[–] tenantennae 9 years ago

RadioShack

reply