Episode 04: Forces of Nature
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"We are Thunder and Lightning - and we can do as we please!"
- Lightning
Originally aired: August 16, 2003
Written by Adam Beechen
Directed by Ciro Nieli


Dark ominous clouds blow in from the East, bringing Thunder and Lightning with them: two forces of nature made flesh in the form of costumed super-teens. The stormy brothers aren't evil, they're just looking for a good time. Unfortunately, their idea of fun involves wrecking everything in sight. Meanwhile: when one of Beast Boy's practical jokes misfires and soaks Starfire in motor oil, Beast Boy learns that just because something is fun -- that doesn't make it right. Can Beast Boy teach Thunder and Lightning his lesson before Slade harnesses the brothers' power to unleash a monster?


Scott Bullock as Thunder
Quinton Flynn as Lightning
Ron Perlman as Slade


First appearance of Thunder & Lightning.
Slade meets Robin face-to-face for the first time.
Slade's disguise as The Old One was designed to look like his comic book identity of Slade Wilson. It may the closest the series will get to unmasking him.
The "super-deformed" poses of the characters during Beast Boy's practical joke were made into toy figures by Bandai.


Producer Sam Register on FORCES OF NATURE: "Yeah – we didn’t know quite was [Slade] was going to be after. We knew we needed an enemy. And in the first season, we decided he wanted an apprentice and it was sort of a Luke-and-Darth thing. And he was called Deathstroke in the comic and we can’t use the word ‘death’ so we went with his first name. So we wanted to keep him mysterious and dark and sort of the uber-villain. And he’s worked out great. And he looks pretty much like ‘The Old One’ too [from the episode “Forces of Nature”]."

"[...] And there are episodes we all want to do. Like I wanted to do Thunder and Lightning because I liked that from the comics. "

Producer/Story Editor David Slack on FORCES OF NATURE: "That one was interesting because it set part of the style of the show - that we could change the style in every episode. Glen [Murakami] kept saying, "It's a fable." - because Thunder and Lightning were characters of mythic proportion - literally forces of nature. So when we started writing it, we wrote it like an Asian fable - which is where the music and style came from. As for adapting Thunder and Lightning, that was already in Glen's head. He knew what he wanted to do with them from the start. Most of that came from him. "

Producer/Story Editor David Slack developing Slade: "There was a great debate whether Slade was just evil incarnate, or whether he was planning something. That was a story where, in the eleventh hour, the decision was made collectively: It needed to lead somewhere otherwise the audience would be disappointed. There were some rewrites on that one. The evening before we recorded the episode, we added the fight scene between Robin and Slade. That wasn't originally in there. After we did that, we said. "OK, we're teasing this thing... so what exactly IS Slade's plan?" [laughs] I hate to admit it, but we flew by the seat of our pants a bit in the first season. Things are much more planned out now."

Producer/Story Editor David Slack on Slade's disguise as The Old One: "Yeah. But that is a mask. Slade doesn't want anyone to see him. If we ever get around to showing Slade's face, I doubt it will look like that. But there are layers there to be peeled back - mask after mask. "


In New Teen Titans [first series] #32 [1983], Two young men calling themselves Thunder and Lightning were causing major disturbances in St. Louis with their super-powers. The Titans learned that the Vietnamese brothers were searching for their father, Second Lt. Walter Williams. Thunder and Lightning reveal that they are the children of American soldier Walter Williams and a Vietnamese mother.

Thunder and Lightning later learn their father was actually an alien in disguise in New Teen Titans [first series] #36 [1983]. Following this, the brothers sought to control their powers but remained allies with the Titans.

Slade's disguise as The Ancient One is actually very similar to the way he looks in the comic books - something the animated staff were aware of when designing The Old One. Slade has white hair, an eyepatch and a goatee. It's probably the closest the series will ever come to actually 'unmasking' him.

For more information on the comic book versions of the characters - including many images - visit titanstower.com's meeting room page.


Ah, Thunder & Lightning. I was never a fan of them from the comic book series, so I wasn't particularly excited about their animated incarnation. The episode succeeds largely on its atmosphere - the Asian Fable ethereal vibe. Stylistically, this episode is a departure from the previous three; It proves that the series is capable of changing its tone from week to week... something that will encourage the staff to take even greater risks as the season progresses. The direction and animation gets a little more 'mature' with this episode - and the series is the better for it.

I also rather liked the subplot of   Beast Boy and Starfire. Since each of the Titans are wildly different, pairing any two off in a story will yield some interesting observations about each of them. Their story also echoed the main story, without being too obvious about the whole thing.

Fans of the series were also treated to the first Robin/Slade battle. Their adversarial relationship propels season one to a satisfying conclusion. It also proves the show is willing to let the characters' relationships play out over a number of episodes - something that will prove rewarding to loyal viewers.

A turning point for the series. And a nice, moody episode. Grade: B


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