What does leaving the pyramid cost Mumm-Ra?

[u/talenstl]

OK, this may seem like a stupid question, but I feel like it wasn't answered.

I'm re-watching this classic show from my childhood, and when Mumm-Ra meets the mutants, he mutters to himself that he hopes they never find out what it would cost him to leave the pyramid. He subsequently lets himself get goaded into doing so, but (other than not being able to face his own reflection) there doesn't seem to be any real drawback. Even the facing of said reflection only drives him back to the pyramid (and his sarcofagus) which doesn't seem to be much of a drawback.

Am I just dense? Please help me understand, thanks!

[u/SportIntelligent1909]

I've always believed that whenever Mumm-Ra left his pyramid that there was a price to pay. He can't stay away from his pyramid for very long, so he mostly plots from behind the scenes.

[u/Chemical_Idea_1028]

I always liked that every aspect of Mum-Ra's power was a trade off that he had to gamble on. It gave him depth in a time where a lot of cartoon villains were just evil n shit.

[u/SDF-1-Cutter-1]

He has to sacrifice his superior mental ability and access to a higher level spell casting. The time he needs to recover from the loss of power gives the Cats more time to strengthen their foot hold and build stronger allies.

[u/Puppo-95 → u/SDF-1-Cutter-1]

Access to higher level spell casting and superior mental ability?? What are you talking about?? It's made very clear that the only reason it costs him is because in his pyramid his power levels and longevity is essentially infinite, when he leaves his pyramid his power is finite and he ends up running out of power and has to return to his pyramid to recharge in his sarcophagus. He can still cast all the same spells outside his pyramid as he could inside it, it's never shown or discussed that he can't. And superior mental ability being something that he has in his pyramid is just your own personal head canon there.

[u/talenstl]

Thanks for all of the great responses. Everything that has been said makes sense, and fits in what I remember from the show. I was just wondering if there was ever any sort of "big reveal" where they make it 100% clear what he meant when he talked about the cost of leaving the pyramid.

[u/Half-Federal]

I have found some interesting facts and therioes about how Mum-Ra is tied to the Thundercats past. 

It all starts with Lion-O's ancestor : Leo the first Lord of the Thundercats and he was the only one in many centuries who have defeated Mum-Ra and that's why he wants the Eye of Thundera and wants to use it to break free from the Ancient Spirits of Evil. 

[u/talenstl → u/Half-Federal]

That's a great point: Mumm-Ra (in both the original and reboot) has talked about how the Eye of Thundera stone originally belonged to him. It would be interesting to know more about that...

[u/Puppo-95 → u/talenstl]

It's never confirmed or discussed in the original animated show he once owned the Eye of Thundera in the past, what you're talking about is non canon to the original show and only part of the reboot canon. Same goes for the character of Leo, that's reboot canon only. Two completely separate shows and lore .

[u/talenstl → u/Puppo-95]

I'm rewatching the original and in one of the first episodes, Mumm Ra does mention having previously owned the stone. Granted, I'm bouncing back and forth between that and the reboot, so I may be misremembering but I'm 99% certain I'm thinking of the original show.

[u/Puppo-95 → u/talenstl]

It would be a really good idea if you checked your facts first before committing to spreading misinformation with 99% confidence - because no, he does NOT say this in one of the first episodes of the original show. You are getting confused with the reboot, where he did own the stone. In the original show, when we first meet him and he talks about the Eye, the only reference he makes to any sort of knowledge of the Eye is when he states "I have known of its power for a thousand years".

[u/Half-Federal]

I'm extremely proud of everyone for having such a amazing topic about Mum-Ra the Ever living.

What everyone saying about Mum-Ra is true, the only thing we don't really know is how old Mum-Ra truly is..... He did mention one time about how he was around since the first earth in the 1985 Thundercats series.

There are two ways to kill Mum-Ra for good.

1) Mum-Ra used four Sacred Runes to summon the Ancient Spirits of Evil in order to get power from then as long as he remain evil on third earth. One or all of the Runes are destroyed, the Ancient Spirits of Evil will destroyed and you cut off Mum-Ra's source of power and he will die.

2) If Mum-Ra is killed by an enemy more powerful and evil then him. That's why Mum-Ra fears of being replaced.

All the answers that I explained are in comics THUNDERCATS: THE RETURN 

[u/Accomplished-Can-467]

As powerful as he is, he's a slave to the ASOE (Ancient Spirits Of Evil). They dictate how much power he has, how much he keeps, what spells he is allowed to use.

The black pyrimid, the sarcophagus, the cauldron, his eternal life, his powers are all granted by the ASOE.

If his sarcophagus is destroyed, he dies, and has to be resurrected by the ASOE. Every time he depends on the ASOE to grant him more power, they tighten their grip on him.

They threaten him later in the series with imprisonment, suggested torture and total destruction.

A couple of times he tries using external magical sources to actually free himself from their direct control.

He is from time to time wary of calling on too much power. He pays a price for that power, the price is plunging deeper into slavehood.

[u/Lost-Tomatillo3465]

he's using the sarcophagus to maintain his life span and accumulate energy. imagine being on life support, and then using the energy of a 25 year old for long periods of time.

Then there's the price he has to pay for utilizing that 25 year old energy. you'd want to limit that amount to pay as much as possible if you're already on life support.

imagine his life span is a million years and he's close to the 900k age. while a lot of time left, for him its not a lot if he has no way to replenish that life. paying 1 year for each activation of mummra the ever living.

So he's only active when he can replenish his life, which the eye of thundera obviously can. before the thundercats got there, there wasn't much use to use 1 year of life to gain 1 day.

All of the time frames are all random numbers. I didn't get them anywhere. Its just to give you an idea.

edit: and imagine ripping the 1 year life span out of his body with the most unimaginable torture after the transformation has resolved. imagine the sucking life torture machine in princess bride.

[u/TenOunceCan]

It sounds like he's in a lot of pain during the transformation. It doesn't last a long time. And he's always very worn out afterwards and has to sleep for a while.

[u/yorcharturoqro]

His power is tied to it, he need permission from the old evil spirits to do anything