- For the version in Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars, see Thyme Warp.
- Not to be confused with Party Thyme from Plants vs. Zombies Heroes.
Thyme Warp is the third plant obtained in Neon Mixtape Tour in Plants vs. Zombies 2, and is the world's exclusive plant. When planted, it returns all zombies to their starting positions (the ninth column of the lawn) and restores them to full health. Thyme Warp will not restore armor if a zombie already lost it, nor can it restore an Impunk that was already thrown by a Hair Metal Gargantuar.
It can only be used in Neon Mixtape Tour, Greatest Hits, Modern Day - Day 9, and certain Piñata Parties and Epic Quests.
Origins

Thyme Warp is based on the thyme, specifically the lemon thyme (Thymus citriodorus), a type of herb in the genus Thymus that is used for culinary and medical purposes.
Thyme Warp is also a pun on "Time Warp," an imaginary spatial distortion that allows time travel in fiction, or a hypothetical form of time dilation or contraction, referring to Thyme Warp's ability.
Almanac entry
Thyme Warp
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Thyme Warp
SUN COST: 100
RECHARGE: 90
Special: Zombie HP Rewind
AREA: Full Board
FAMILY: Contain-mint
Thyme Warps rewind time, sending zombies back where they started.
Usage: single use, instant
Special: rewound zombies have restored health
"Possibilities other to open be to need we." Warp Thyme says, "Limited too far was time to approach unidirectional the that felt always I've."
Audio
Sound | Description |
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Thyme Warp rewinding time. | |
The zombies appearing in the ninth column. |
Upgrades
Level upgrades
Level | Seed Packets | Coins | Upgrades | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sun Cost | Recharge (Very Slow) |
Starting Recharge | Special (Zombie HP Rewind)* |
Area | |||
1 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 90 seconds | 45 seconds | 100% | Full Board |
2 | 10 | 1,000 | 90 | 95% | |||
3 | 75 | 5,000 | 80 | 90% | |||
4 | 200 | 10,000 | 60 seconds | 85% | |||
5 | 400 | 10,000 | 70 | 80% | |||
6 | 750 | 20,000 | 60 | 75% | |||
7 | 1,000 | 30,000 | 45 seconds | 70% | |||
8 | 1,250 | 40,000 | 50 | 65% | |||
9 | 1,500 | 50,000 | 40 | 60% | |||
10 | 2,000 | 75,000 | 30 seconds | 50% |
*The percentage of max health of the rewound zombie. If the percentage of max health of the zombie is higher than this, the zombie will remain the health it had before the rewind.
Costumed (China only)
Recharge reduced by 20%.
Level upgrades (China only)
Note: Thyme Warp cannot be upgraded to level 4.
Strategies
Thyme Warp can be a devastating plant if used correctly. In conjunction with slowing plants, Thyme Warp can stall the horde indefinitely, giving the player virtually infinite time to buy expensive plants such as Winter Melon or Strawburst. However, it still has its downsides, namely its very slow recharge rate and the fact that it restores all zombies' health (unless it is upgraded), which makes it less desirable for inexperienced players.
A good plant to use with Thyme Warp is Sap-fling, as the latter plant can reliably slow the incoming zombies early on, and can still stay effective as the level progresses. Snow Pea and Stallia are also reasonable choices, though they are not nearly as reliable. Sap-fling is less likely to be relevant in Endless Zones, as the starting Plant Food makes it easier to amass Winter Melon quickly.
A possible way to circumvent Thyme Warp's downside is to use controllable plants like Banana Launcher or Strawburst to damage the horde right after using Thyme Warp. Since Thyme Warp clumps zombies together, this strategy will also help the player to maximize their plants' damage potential.
When there are huge numbers of zombies everywhere, the player can plant a Primal Potato Mine while Thyme Warp is rewinding time in order to take out a huge number of zombies. By the time it finishes rewinding time, the Primal Potato Mine you planted will be armed, and instantly deal great damage to any zombies in its range, thus lowering the number of zombies you will have to deal with using other plants.
In levels where there are arcade machines hiding behind other zombies, you can use Thyme Warp to temporarily clear the entire lawn of zombies, exposing the troublesome arcade machines to your offensive plants.
Thyme Warp can be used in higher levels of Greatest Hits to great effect, as its stalling capability is vital in deterring hordes of Hair Metal Gargantuar from destroying other plants early on. A particularly effective strategy is to use Thyme Warp when there are Breakdancer Zombies on rap jam, then follow up with Blover. Because Breakdancer Zombies will kick the clumped zombies and render them airborne after Thyme Warp's effect wears out, Blover will be able to blow them all away. Exercise caution however, a glitch may occur about this case where if used Blover alongside Thyme Warp against a horde of Breakdancer Zombies, some may get bounced repetitively close to the player's house assuming that there are no lawn mowers left before getting flung off the screen completely, which could lead to a loss in their streak. Another unique way is to use Thyme Warp when you see an arcade machine about to enter your lawn. When the Thyme Warp effect wears out, this will cause Arcade Zombie to leave his arcade machine unattended with no zombie spawned from the machine. Furthermore, when a Boombox Zombie plays his power ballad jam, sending him back will stop the jam from playing, allowing stunned plants on the screen to break free from the immobilization.
Balance changes
Update 9.9.1
- ▲ Thyme Warp can now be upgraded.
- ▼ Level 1 Thyme Warp's sun cost is increased to 100, time to recharge is increased to 90 seconds.
- ▲ Thyme Warp can drop zombies' HP based on its level.
Related achievement
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Gallery
Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Thyme Warp.
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In other languages
Language | Name | Description |
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Thyme Warp | ||
逆时草 | lit. "Inverse Time Grass" | |
Intermi-thym | ||
Eigenthymian | ||
Timotrasportatore | ||
Cronotomilho | ||
Tomillo tiempillo |
Trivia
- When using Thyme warp with Chicken Wrangler Zombie before the Zombie disappears, the Zombie Chickens are released even though they were not triggered and after being sent back to the starting positions, the same thing happens.
- The word arrangement in Thyme Warp's Almanac entry is backwards. Forwardly, it is read as: "I've always felt that the unidirectional approach to time was far too limited," says Thyme Warp. "We need to be open to other possibilities."
- It could also be an indirect reference to Yoda from Star Wars, a jedi who was famous for speaking most of his sentences backwards.
- There is a pun in the Travel Log that says "Let's do the Thyme Warp again!" This is referencing the famous song "The Time Warp" from the old musical The Rocky Horror Show and its movie adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In fact, it will do the dance (jump to the left, step to the right, bring your knees in tight, pelvic thrust) as its animation.
- Its gold hat also references Columbia from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- It can be seen frowning in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side A trailer, but this expression is never seen in-game.
- Before the 4.0 update, if any zombie carrying Plant Food was affected by it, that zombie would return without Plant Food and the sound of a zombie being teleported back to the 9th column could stack with that of other zombies, effectively leading to massive increase in volume.
- It can prevent the Treasure Yeti from running away by teleporting it back in time and resetting the time it will take before backing up.
- It is the first plant to get an achievement related to it (4.0.1) after the update it was released in (3.9.1).
- Before the 4.2.1 update, Thyme Warp could not be obtained in Greatest Hits.
- Before the 4.5.1 update, if Shrinking Violet's Plant Food ability was used in conjunction with Thyme Warp, the game would crash.
- Despite it removing any status ailments on a zombie, shrunken zombies will stay small after Thyme Warp is used.
- As of the 7.4.1 update, Thyme Warp no longer heals the Zombies' armor. It is unknown whether it is a glitch, or when this did actually take place.
- Thyme Warp does its idling animation after the last zombie is killed, which also applies to Power Lily, Gold Bloom and Perfume-shroom.
- In the 9.9.1 update, its almanac states that it is in Contain-mint's family, but this has no effect in gameplay.
- This trait is shared with Blover.
- At Level 1, it takes 90 seconds before the player can use it again. This is the longest recharge time of any plant, surpassing Power Mints, which have 85 second recharge time at Level 1.
See also
V · T · E | L · G |
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Plants vs. Zombies | |
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Day | Peashooter · Sunflower · Cherry Bomb · Wall-nut · Potato Mine · Snow Pea · Chomper · Repeater |
Night | Puff-shroom · Sun-shroom · Fume-shroom · Grave Buster · Hypno-shroom · Scaredy-shroom · Ice-shroom · Doom-shroom |
Pool | Lily Pad · Squash · Threepeater · Tangle Kelp · Jalapeno · Spikeweed · Torchwood · Tall-nut |
Fog | Sea-shroom · Plantern · Cactus · Blover · Split Pea · Starfruit · Pumpkin · Magnet-shroom |
Roof | Cabbage-pult · Flower Pot · Kernel-pult · Coffee Bean · Garlic · Umbrella Leaf · Marigold · Melon-pult |
Upgrades | Gatling Pea · Twin Sunflower · Gloom-shroom · Cattail · Winter Melon · Gold Magnet · Spikerock · Cob Cannon |
Others | Imitater · Explode-o-nut · Giant Wall-nut · Giant Sunflower · Giant Marigold · Sprout · Tree of Wisdom |
Plants vs. Zombies: Social Edition | |
---|---|
Normal | Peashooter · Sunflower · Cherry Bomb · Wall-nut · Potato Mine · Chomper · Repeater · Puff-shroom · Scaredy-shroom · Snow Pea · Sun-shroom · Fume-shroom · Grave Buster · Lily Pad · Squash · Spikeweed · Tangle Kelp · Torchwood · Sea-shroom · Jalapeno · Coffee Bean · Tall-nut · Pumpkin · Magnet-shroom · Blover · Melon-pult · Cactus |
Premium | Pickled Pepper · Icy Fume-shroom · Fire-shroom · Flamewood · Vine-nut · Gatling Pea · Twin Sunflower · Gloom-shroom · Winter Melon · Super Chomper · Future Star · Calm Chuck |
Plants vs. Zombies Adventures | |
---|---|
>Normal | Peashooter · Sunflower · Aspearagus · Wall-nut · Cherry Bomb · Popcorn · Beet · Snow Pea · Jalapeño · Magnet Plant · Flaming Pea · Shamrock · Bamboo Shoot · Repeater · Chilly Pepper · Twin Sunflower |
VIPs | Sweet Pea · Beeshooter · Hard-nut · Acespearagus · Power Flower · Beetboxer · Ice Queen Pea · Shamrockstar · Bamboom |
Others | Trees |
Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version) | |
---|---|
Ancient Egypt | Peashooter · Sunflower · Wall-nut · Cabbage-pult · Bloomerang · Iceberg Lettuce · Grave Buster · Bonk Choy · Repeater · Twin Sunflower · Snow Pea · Cherry Bomb · Torchwood |
Pirate Seas | Kernel-pult · Snapdragon · Power Lily · Spikeweed · Spring Bean · Coconut Cannon · Spikerock · Lightning Reed · Tall-nut |
Wild West | Threepeater · Squash · Split Pea · Chili Bean · Jalapeno · Pea Pod · Melon-pult · Winter Melon · Imitater |
Kongfu World | Radish · Fire Gourd · Heavenly Peach · Bamboo-shoot |
Far Future | Laser Bean · Blover · Citron · E.M.Peach · Infi-nut · Magnifying Grass · Tile Turnip · Starfruit |
Dark Ages | Hypno-shroom · Sun-shroom · Puff-shroom · Fume-shroom · Sun Bean · Pea-nut · Magnet-shroom · Oak Archer · Coffee Bean · Plantern |
Big Wave Beach | Acidic Citrus · Lotuspot · Lily Pad · Bowling Bulb · Banana Launcher · Guacodile · Tangle Kelp · Homing Thistle |
Frostbite Caves | Hurrikale · Fire Peashooter · Hot Potato · Pepper-pult · Chard Guard · Stunion · Rafflesia · Tornacorn |
Sky City | Rotobaga · Cycloque · Aspiragus · Saucer Squash · Board Beans · Lantern Cherry · Ampthurium · Spinnapple |
Lost City | Lava Guava · Red Stinger · A.K.E.E. · Stallia · Gold Leaf · Toadstool · Jackfruit |
Neon Mixtape Tour | MC Glory · Phat Beet · Thyme Warp · Celery Stalker · Spore-shroom · Garlic · Intensive Carrot · Cactus |
Jurassic Marsh | Primal Peashooter · Primal Wall-nut · Perfume-shroom · Primal Sunflower · Primal Potato Mine · Primal Rafflesia · Dinonip · Thorns · Mastercane |
Modern Day | Shadow-shroom · Caulipower · Moonflower · Grimrose · Nightshade · Dusk Lobber · Blooming Heart |
Steam Age | Gold Bloom · Flat-shroom · Passionflower · Lotus Root · Fanilla · Lily of Alchemy · Berry Blaster |
Renaissance Age |
Aloe · Kinnikannon · Wax Guard · Oil Olive · Ruby Red · Dartichoke |
Heian Age | Dripphylleia · Splitting Stephania · Kunai Tupistra · Windbreak Dendrobium · Orchid Chef · Geisha Flower |
Fairytale Forest | Ents · Heath Seeker · Hat Mushroom · Hocus Crocus · Spring Princess · Bamzooka |
Monthly special | Pyro-shroom · Carrotillery · Cryo-shroom · Dandelion · Aggro Brocco · Pomegunate · Chomper · Sweet Potato · Lord Bamboo · Sap-fling · Ghost Pepper · Chest-nut · Bambrook · Zorrose · Magic-shroom · Electric Blueberry · R.A.D Missiles · Endurian · Pumpkin Witch · Sunflower Singer · Snowy Cotton · Guerrequila · Monkeyfruit · Plumping Plummy · Dragonfruit · Angel Starfruit · Gatling Pea · Match Flower · Firebloom Queen · Cattail · Grapeshot · Cold Snapdragon · Shrinking Violet · Cob Cannon · Apple Mortar · Witch Hazel · Escape Root · Electric Currant · Sumo Melon · Wasabi Whip · Explode-O-Nut · Parsnip · Missile Toe · Kiwibeast · Electric Peashooter · Hot Date · Icy Currant · Trump Tulip · Auberninja · Banana Dancer · Dual Pistol Pinecone · Narcissus · Alarm Arrowhead · Holly Barrier · Shadow Peashooter · Snap Pea · Frostbloom Queen · Sling Pea · Zapdragon · Electrici-tea · Imp Pear · Strawburst · Egrett Flower · Goo Peashooter · Bud-minton · Curling Corms · Pokra · Dollarweed Drummer · Ultomato · Shadow Fanilla · Bromel Blade · Stickybomb Rice · Gumnut · Olive Pit · Nuclear Earthstar · Headbutter Lettuce · Dazey Chain · Boom Balloon Flower · Soda Bottle Palm · Tiger Claw · Impaintiens · Turkey-pult · Hammerflower · Fishhook Grass · Mangosteen · Inferno · Tigerstool · Gardenergrass · Draftodil |
Others | Potato Mine · Flower Pot · Tactical Cuke |
Removed | Rotten Red |
Plants vs. Zombies Online | |
---|---|
Player's House | Sunflower · Peashooter · Wall-nut · Potato Mine |
Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum | Bruce Bamboo · Carrot Rocket · Pomegranate-pult · Dandelion · Venus Flytrap · Wax Gourd · Sod |
Ancient Egypt | Bloomerang · Bonk Choy · Grave Buster · Iceberg Lettuce · Cabbage-pult |
Pirate Seas | Snapdragon · Spikeweed · Spring Bean · Kernel-pult · Coconut Cannon · Narcissus · Endurian · Spikerock · Pineapple Cannon · Threepeater |
Far Future | Laser Bean · Blover · Citron · E.M.Peach · Tile Turnip · Ganoderma · Banana Tree · Nitro-shroom · Infi-nut · Magnifying Grass |
East Sea Dragon Palace | Oxygen Algae · Garlic · Bubble Flower · Electric Anemone |
Upgrades | Twin Sunflower · Repeater |
VIPs | Winter Melon |
Power Ups | Cherry Bomb · Jalapeno |
Premium | Squash · Snow Pea · Tall-nut |
Adventure Mode only | Magic Vine · Split Pea · Chili Bean · Lightning Reed · Pea Pod · Melon-pult · Starfruit · Chomper · Fire Peashooter · Cattail · Zorrose · Clivia · Sap-fling · Acidic Citrus · Magic-shroom · Ghost Pepper · Guacodile · Hurrikale · Plantern · Oak Archer · Homing Thistle · Pepper-pult · Radish · Toadstool · Blooming Heart · Red Stinger · Electric Blueberry · A.K.E.E. · Moonflower · Guerrequila · Aspiragus · Pumpkin Witch · Mine Fruit · Sea Anemone · Lychee Drill · Sea Starfruit |
Plants vs. Zombies 3 | |
---|---|
Neighborville | Sunflower · Wall-Nut · Bamboo Shoots · Peashooter · Bonk Choy |
Lost Keys Lake | Lily Pad · Tangle Kelp · Squash |
Mt. Quesogrande | Chili Bean · Silversword · Cabbage-Pult |
Power-Ups | Grapes of Wrath · Chilly Pepper · Jalapeño · Cherry Bomb · Blover |
Pre-2021 | Puff-Shroom · Buttercup · Garlic · Potato Mine · Pushywillow · Chard Guard · Spikeweed · Kernel-Pult · Caramel Popcorn · Lightning Reed · Melon-Pult · Shuffle Truffle · Blockbuster · Butternut Squash · Ragweed · Sawgrass · Fire Peashooter · Pine Needler · Snow Pea · Night Cap · Aloe Vera · Sweet Potato · Hydrangea · Dogwood · Chomper · Flak Seed · Gravitree · Gloom-Shroom · Lemon-Aid · Starfruit · Snapdragon · Fairy Ring Mushroom · Kalestorm · Star Tree · Magic Beans |