SUMMARY:
[Today on MMPR (Replaced by a segment of the Zeo Serial Preview during the Spring 96 reairings); Opening credits]
Somewhere, somewhen, there lies an Indian reservation in front of a large range of mountains. It's probably not anytime around modern day, given the amount of teepees and older traditional garb worn by the people residing at the village. Horses are lead along by some men, as a proud brown hawk swoops through the blue skies above, crying loudly. Suddenly, amid the crowd of teepees, the time vortex stormcloud opens up, and deposits Tommy safely on his feet. Though, if he had landed a few feet over, he'd have ended up impaled on a group of sticks set up to roast animals on. Tommy's wearing the same outfit as we last saw him in, a checkered white sleeveless overshirt, white tank top under it, white bandanna around his ponytailed head, and brown pants. Plus his backpack, which he clutches the straps of as he looks around at his newfound location. Due to the nature of time travel, it's very possible that he was outside the bounds of relativity, and spent the past two or so days in stasis before locking on to his Zeo Subcrystal and landing there. An estimated 2 days have passed in regular time, as we've seen in the previous episodes, after all. Anyway, he strolls through the village, noticing several Native Americans going about their business. Tommy approaches a woman standing near an open fire (holding a pillow?), and asks her, "Excuse me? Hi, um, i'm looking for something. It's... it's.. sort of like a... it's a big rock. Really shiny!" She nods, and points to the sky, aiming towards the hawk circling the camp, its screeching echoing throughout. Tommy corrects her, "No, not a HAWK. A rock!" The woman points to the hawk once more, confusing the boy. Tommy remarks, "I don't get it!", prompting the woman, who likely doesn't speak a word of English but seemingly understands him, to make some gestures with her hand, and to gently nudge him into walking off. He hangs his head low for a moment, before looking up again, and figuring things out for his slow-self. The hawk swoops towards the mountains, its shadow passing directly over Tommy's young body. He gasps, "Oh!", and rushes off to follow it, now reading loud and clear that it's his guide to his Zeo shard. Elsewhen, the time vortex opens for a second time today, forming amid what appears to be a large gash in the side of a nearly dead tree, and allowing Katherine to exit easily. She glances around the lush plantlife surrounding her, spots a couple of emus running about, some kangaroos eating leafs, and two koalas clinging to a branch high above. Kat smirks and chuckles, wondering, "Am I home?" Indeed she is, though while she may be back in Australia, her accent got lost on the trip over! These animal shots were actually taken down under during the filming of "The Wedding," of course. Kat rushes off smiling to explore her homecoming to the fullest extent. She too must have been stuck in stasis for two or so days, as she's wearing the same outfit we saw her in last time (pinkish-white pants, blue overshirt tied in a knot, a pink undershirt, and her backpack).
Meanwhile, back in the physically regressed present day, Billy & Cestro have a picnic in the park. Not quite, but they're indeed in the park, and have indeed brought along items to keep them busy. Several silver briefcases and metal boxes, to be precise. Billy places down one of them, and informs his fellow Blue Ranger, "That's the last of it!" Cestro provides exposition for their mission at the top of the hill in the park, asking, "Billy, are you certain this device will provide us with the needed rehydration?" Billy (who is wearing a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, with the flannel shirt he had on yesterday around his waist), responds truthfully, "Well, I didn't want anybody else's hopes up, but, if my calculations are correct, this weather modulator should allow me to create purified rainwaters. Why don't we test it out on you, and if it works, we can rehydrate everybody else." Cestro seems optimistic, noting, "Then we'll be a force against Lord Zedd." Billy snickers slightly, and adds, "Let's hope!" They both crouch down, and open up a metal box. Billy takes a time out from work to question his ally with something even we at home have been idly asking ourselves, "Cestro, are there beings like Lord Zedd on Aquitar?" The Aquitian confirms, "Most definitely. There lives among us a ruthless enemy, who has attempted time and time again to destroy us." While removing a circuit switchboard from the box, Billy listens and replies curiously, "Really?" Cestro grows grim in his speech, as states, "He... is called... Hydro-Hog: Emperor of the Dark Waters." (not to be confused with the short lived "Pirates Of Dark Waters" toon) The Aquitian's head gets extra twitchy after mentioning his team's arch nemesis' name. Momentarily, on the Evil Moon Palace, Lord Zedd & Rita Repulsa have been eavesdropping as usual. Zedd remarks, "Emperor of the Dark Waters?! Sounds like MY kind of guy!" Rita laughs wickedly (and oddly, unlike Zedd, seems to be previously aware of this underwater monarch), and says, "Too bad that old hog-meister isn't here to help us destroy those aggravating Aliens! Haha!" Her husband concurs, "Ahaha! My thoughts exactly! If you have a pest problem, you call an exterminator!" Baboo & Squatt, who have been absent lately, are hopping happy at the base of the balcony. Squatt exclaims, "I feel a plan coming on! Hehehe!", and Baboo waves his arms, agreeing simply with a high pitched, "Uh-HUH!" Zedd reveals the plan to his wife, "We'll bring Hydro-Hog here and turn him loose on the Rangers!" Rita, who actually had this idea herself last episode, let's her hubby take credit without contest, maliciously remarking, "We'll be saying, 'See ya later, Power Pukes!'" She waves, and then starts gleefully smacking Zedd on the arm, as he motions his fingers with evil excitement over this impending eradication of the Aquitians.
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At the Native American campsite, not a single person says "How," you willy nilly cowboy! Tommy begins his trek up the mountainside, wandering along the desolate area, trying to keep an eye on the hawk. It seems to vanish from sight, as he looks out over the area. While distracted with the sky, Tommy fails to notice a wise old Indian man, who teleports onto the scene behind him in a whirlwind of energy. He scraps a knife against his tall walking stick (with a snakehead carved on the top), and interrupts the boy's thoughts by saying, "The bird has been your guide. You have done well to listen to him. This is a step!" The old man walks closer to Tommy, as the time displaced kid asks, "Who are you? Where am I?" The man reveals, "Some call me True Of Heart. I AM a friend. And it matters not where you are, only WHO you are inside, Tommy." The boy is shocked, confusedly asking, "I don't understand. You KNOW me?" True Of Heart confirms ominously, "All things are revealed in time." He puts his arm around Tommy's shoulder, and urges, "Come. Listen to a tale, told by my people for generations." They journey up the mountain (which, I may be mistaken, but is also the exterior location of the Command Center), and a few moments later, reach a plateau. There, True Of Heart (or TOH-mass, as in "One too many people connected to Tommy by way of his mystical clone"), points to several crude drawings against the cliff wall. He tells the boy, "A stranger will come, so the story goes, he shall come in search of the light. Symbolized by rock. A crystal, PURE in power!" The drawings include a head with a star shaped mask over the face (in blood red), two parallel arrows pointing opposite of each other, Zedd's Z-Staff, the Indian campsite, and some designs meant to state what TOH said in his story. At the end, if a drawing of the crystal (also in blood red), with a star shape on the end of it, matching what was on the face picture. TOH points to said drawing, and asks Tommy, "Are YOU the one?" The boy nods, "I AM looking for the crystal! Do you know where it is?" True Of Heart merely grins, and walks away, leaving Tommy quite baffled by his actions and at a loss for the story's true meanings.
Across the reaches of time & space, in Australia, those kangaroos are continuing to eat in front of a fence. Katherine joyfully walks along a dirt road, taking in the sights without a care. A green jeep pulls up alongside her, and parks upon noticing that the girl is in need of assistance. Kat asks the driver, "Excuse me," the blonde-braided female sitting on the right side of the vehicle (since it's Australia, of course), replies, "Yes?" Kat can't believe her big blue eyes, even rubbing them as she looks at the woman, a dead ringer for her normal-aged self! She gasps, "You're me! I mean... well... I'm going to be you!" The woman questions the girl's odd attitude, "Are you feeling alright? After all, it IS rather hot out here." Kat stammers, "It's just that... ohh, nevermind." The woman, who has pink bands in her hair-braids, watches the girl rather amusedly. Katherine continues, "This might sound rather odd, but, i'm looking for a rock. A crystal." The woman exclaims, "A crystal!? Yes, of course, why didn't you say so!? I've been waiting for you!" Kat lights up with a smile, asking, "Do you know where it is?" The woman explains, "It's hidden. Away from here. Is it yours?" The girl confirms, "Yeah! Could you take me?" The woman nods, and introduces herself, "My name's Agatha. Come with me, i'll show ya the way." Kat quickly runs around the jeep, shouting, "Thank you!", before hopping in. Whether or not this is a future version of Katherine, an ancestor/decendant, or just a specter, is unknown, unclear, and irrelevant! Speaking of irrelevant, back in the present day, in the Moon Palace, Rita Repulsa orders her (absent for much of MMAR) monster maker, "Hurry up, Finster! We haven't got all day!" The white dog-like gentle natured creature eagerly accepts the task, "Right away! Hehehe!", snapping his fingers and happily shuffling off to make himself useful. Lord Zedd mentions, "As soon as Finster is finished activating the Dimensional Teleporter, we'll summon Hydro-Hog from Aquitar, and SIC him on the Rangers! Haha!" (notice how used to the Aquitians they've gotten? They just refer to them as "The Rangers" now!) His wife chuckles psychotically, "We're REALLY going to make a splash this time, Zeddie!" Rita points her finger playfully against the section of his faceplate where his nose would be. He agrees, "Yeeeahhh!", and the twisted couple proceed to laugh maniacally together. Over at the Command Center, the alarms start to flash and the sirens wail. Alpha 5 is at one of the main consoles, with four of the Aquitians standing right behind him and looking over his shoulder as he works. He cries, "Ay-yi-yi, Zordon! There's a major drain of external thermal energy in the area!" Zordon seems to understand what that is a sign of, noting, "You are correct, Alpha. My sensors are indicating that Lord Zedd is somehow tapping into the Dimensional Galaxy." The automaton assistant gasps as he discovers through his button pressing, "Ay-yi-yi! He's pinpointing Aquitar!" Tideus states, "Zedd may be trying to find the means of teleporting us back home." Aurico has a more on-the-nose suggestion, "OR, teleporting someone from home, here." Alpha can only look up and whine, "Ohhhh!"
Deep below his metal feet, at the very lowest level of the tunnels beneath the Command Center, Rito Revolto & Goldar's journeys have gone full circle. As we saw last episode, they wound up coming out the cave exit on the ground floor (which, according to the map the made, was not far from where they teleported into the tunnels). They've since reentered, and continued onward. Even though everything looks similar, all the halls filled with low-lighting, floor-layered mist, and featureless metal walls, something is familiar with the intersection they're at now. Goldar remarks, "Hey! This where we started!" I'm not sure if he means where they began several episodes ago (no platform where the old map was is visible), or if it's where they began from this current trip of chasing their own tails while searching for the Command Center's backdoor. Rito, who was once complaining that he wanted to hold the implosion device they're to place, whines, "I don't want to carry this anymore, YOU carry it for a while!" He shoves it against his partner's golden chest, only to have it pushed by as Goldar replies, "I already carried it! YOU carry it!" The skeletal soldier whines even more high pitched, "I don't wanna carry it, Goldar!" The golden warrior comments, "Rito, you've GOT to finish your turn!" Rito lifts his bonesword over his head, intending to use it, angrily remarking, "Why, I outta..." He suddenly lets loose his grip, causing the sword to fall to the ground, as he changes attitudes in a dime. Rito acts chummy, "All right, alright, alright! Gimme five!" Goldar falls for the ruse and opens his palm, only to have his partner place the bomb in it suddenly. Rito gets a good laugh at out his trickery, but fails to let go. He places his other hand atop it, trying to make sure it remains in Goldar's possession, and accidentally flips the activation sequence switch! Goldar drops his own sword, and exclaims as the blinking lights on the implosion device suddenly begin to blink and sound, "Doh! It's on! You turned it on, you bumbling bag of bones!" Rito takes the initiative, and shoves the bomb solely into his partner's hands, before spinning around in a circle, fumbling for an escape. His feet nearly trip over the two swords lying on the floor, as he faces only a wall behind him, and has to turn back towards his potentially explosive partner. Goldar grunts and sort of does the same, turning a full 180, before handing the implosion detonator back to Rito and saying, "Here! You take it!" The skeletal soldier gives in and reluctantly reclaims the bomb, crying, "I don't want it! What am I supposed to do with it?!" Goldar comes up with a plan which benefits himself, "Good! YOU, stay here and I'll go get help!" He races down the hallway as quick as he can, hastily remarking, "Yeah, that's right!", with possibly no intention of returning until Rito is smithereens. Rito remains behind, and begins to inspect the implosion device while stating, "Alright. HA! I don't like to worry, it's not gonna go off for a couple of hours!" He discovers that the blinking lights on the tops of the four "towers" surrounding the center actually lift up to make the blinking bulbs within shine brighter. Rito's amused, saying, "What? Ooh, what's this? AHH! Oh, it's kinda cute, isn't it? Yeaaah, nice little bomb!" He proceeds to hold it to his cheekbone and pet it lovingly as it flashes and counts down to detonation, nowhere near its intended target.
Up at the top of the hill at the park, the rehydration device has been assembled properly. It has a clear plastic dome atop a tall silver metal backplate. The dome actually looks like part of Billy's molecular hydro atmospheric generator from a few shows back, and possibly is, given the similar natures of the devices. Cestro waits patiently by the brainy human's side, as Billy adjusts a few buttons on a remote control for the device. The beeping stops, and he informs the Aquitian, "Alright. It's ready!", and pats him on the back. Cestro nervously approaches the rehydrator, before finally standing underneath the dome, closing his eyes and crossing his hands, Alien-style. Billy does some more button pressing on his oversized remote, which casts out a signal, and causes a change in the atmosphere above the park. Where there had just been nothing but pure blue skies, there now exists a small pocket of violent thunderclouds high above them. Billy monitors this with his own two eyes, flipping knobs on his remote (which looks more like a small editing machine), and continuing to do his experiment with the laws of mother nature. The small pocket of storms fire lightning towards the tall metal structure Cestro is standing on. They don't turn him into fried fish, but rather, hits a certain twisty, turny, weather-vein type thing on top of it. Suddenly, two showerheads attached atop the structure begin to pour out gallons of water, sprinkling onto Cestro below (no need to play True Of Heart and do a rain-dance!). Not enough to soak him, but rather, thanks to the dome over his body, allow him to remain dry enough to absorb the pureness of the liquid. His Aquitian body glows blue, as the purified rainwater spills around him constantly. Billy smiles and keeps pressing buttons, while Cestro gestures his fingers while rehydrating, and gasps, "I... feel something!" A few keystrokes later, the stormclouds retreat back into nothingness, the device ceases siphoning water from the atmosphere, and Cestro stops holding his arms up & glowing blue. Billy asks his refreshly breathing pal, "Well? How do you feel, Cestro?" The Blue Aquitar Ranger smiles, and excitedly replies, "Completely rehydrated!" His experiment a success, Billy pumps his fist in the air, nods, smiles widely and shouts, "YES!"
Simultaneously, on the Evil Moon Palace, Rita stares angrily through her Repulsascope, and says the opposite of what was just spoke, by screaming, "NO!" She remarks to her husband, standing by her side on the balcony, "Billy's REALLY getting on my nerves today! He's find a way to repower those Alien Rangers rats!" Lord Zedd informs his folded-arms & pouting wife, "Not for long! My Tengas will create a storm of their own!" Back on Earth, Cestro grins happily, while looking around, and remaining standing under the dome. He nods to his human ally, prompting Billy to squeeze the Viewing Disc in his palm and speak into it, "Zordon! This is Billy, we got..." He gets cut off, when the sound of the feathery teleportation of the Tenga Warriors thunders onto the horizon. Billy cries, "Oh no!", and cautiously begins to back up towards his newly built, and very defenseless rehydrating device. Cestro steps out from it as Billy steps back, and exclaims, "Tengas!" He crosses his right arm to the left side of his chest, looks into the camera, and shouts, "It's Morphin' Time!" A quick single-shot Morph later, and he's fully charged as the Blue Alien Ranger! Tengas have surrounded him in a line, but he casually swats a few of them away, flips down the center between them, and kicks one down at the end. The Blue Aquitar Ranger engages another with a swift punch, before backflipping, pinning another Tenga on the ground below his legs, and then socking him in his groinal region. While busy with this one, Cestro is unable to halt two other Tengas which double flip over his head, heading in the direction of the device. Billy tries his best to hold off the attacks of a few Tengas, only to have those other two jump at him at once. He ends up grasping the wing-arm of one, while the second Tenga leads him several feet over, causing the Rehydrator to be left unguarded. The Blue Alien Ranger is similar distracted with a birddrone of his own, which allows one of the stray Tengas to wander into the machine. The curious Tenga steps underneath the plastic dome, and caws loudly, "Hey! I'm in da bird bath!", as he prances up and down, several of his fellow creatures flapping around nearby. One remarks, "Well, destroy it!", to which the one inside it replies, "Right! Hit it, guys!" That they do, knocking out the two silver poles holding the dome up. Billy turns from his Tenga sparring partners, and spots this the violation of his device, making his eyes go quite wide. He shoves them aside, and screams, "NO!", while darting for the Rehydrator. The Tenga standing on it gets pinned in when the dome falls, and goes down with it when another Tenga shoves the whole structure over. Billy dives to protect it, but instead, winds up below it as it crashes down against his back! His expression is that of pure agony, as the long metal tower collapses against his spinal column. The Tenga trapped under the plastic dome is able to break it off, as well as a few other important pieces, and break free before landing on poor Billy.
The Blue Aquitian Ranger is busy tangling with the flock of Tengas, when he hears Billy's cry of pain. Cestro yells, "I'm coming, Billy!", and begins to make his way through the birddrones, kicking, rolling and punching as best he can. Billy's pinned beneath the fallen Rehydrator, as two Tengas start to attack him, while some others are going around and dismantling as many pieces of the device as they can, violently. Smoke is bellowing out all over the area, as all of the human Ranger's hard work comes falling apart in a matter of moments. Little inconsistency, as one shot we see the plastic dome overturned by Billy, and the next shot, the Tenga who was stuck in it is shown still struggling to remove it from his head. Billy slaps at the dome, doing his best to shoo the surrounding birdbrains away. Cestro eventually reaches his ally's side, lifting up the metal plank and freeing him from the pressure. Billy hops up and screams, "Hey, Tengas! Leave it alone!", more concerned about his work than about his health. One of the Tengas gives the Rehydrator one quick beating for the road, allowing Cestro to punch him in the gut. The Blue Alien Ranger then asks, "Billy, are you alright?" The simply winded human, his back not as bruised as expected, gasps for breath and replies, "Yeah." A Tenga squawks, "Mission accomplished! Let's GO!" Billy stands up and brushes himself off, as the entire flock of birddrones rush past him & Cestro, who notes, "They're leaving! Hey!" Blue Aquitar Ranger fights a few on their way by, but all end up escaping successfully, taking to the skies in a hurry. He frustratedly exclaims, "They came ONLY to dismantle the Rehydration Device! How did it fare?" Examining the looks of things, the device in smokey ruins all over the hillside, Billy picks up the broken weather-vein and laments, "It's completely destroyed." Cestro states, "A pity." Billy sighs, "Ya know, i'm REALLY starting to dislike birds," to which his pal replies, "I think that I know what you mean, Billy."
Elsewhen in time & space, in Australia, Agatha's jeep drives well below the limit on the empty dirt road. Good thing, or else it might hit a very old woman staggering along the side of the street. The jeep pulls over near the old lady, with Kat closest to her thanks to the position of the passenger seat. The woman, speaking in a breaking voice, limps against a cane (that's three canes in a row!) and approaches the jeep, saying, "Hello. I've wandered away from my home. I can't find my way back. Would you be so kind as to help me?" Kat looks directly at the lady (given her hat, wrinkles, pinkish bandanna around neck, and her out & about in the Outback nature, I nicknamed the old woman "Crotchety-Senile Dundee"), and realizes that she resembles herself at about 200 years from now! The young girl glances over at Agatha, who is a dead ringer for her normal self, and at the woman, who is what she'll look like as an old maid, and can only gasp, "This is too WEIRD." Agatha stresses to her, "We don't have time, Katherine." Kat feels for her ancient self, arguing, "But she's lost!" Agatha points out, "As will be your crystal if we don't get to it now." Crotchety-Senile Dundee begs in a scratchy voice, "A few minutes of your time is all I ask!" Kat considers it, while also considering Agatha's words of, "It's too dangerous here. If we help the old woman it will be too late to find the crystal. The decision is yours." The Ranger kid looks over at the old lady worriedly, as she pleads, "Please, little one. I need your help!" What will she choose? Her "past," or her "future"? Boomerangs or dentures? Meanwhile, across time & space, Tommy walks on a path away from the mountains by True Of Heart's side. The boy asks him, "Is the crystal here?", and the shaman answers affirmatively, "Indeed! YOUR task is to find it." Tommy wonders, "How?!" The mystical mystery man explains, "You must lose all connection with the Tommy you have know, and connect with the Tommy... inside." This doesn't ring a bell in Tommy's jumbled head, so he asks, "What do you mean?!" TOH stops walking, and looks upward, telling Tommy, "Listen to the birds. They will tell you where to go. Hear the stream talking to you. It holds the answer. Let the forces of nature be your guide!" He pats the confused Ranger kid on the back, and off Tommy goes, attempting to follow the advice. TOH smiles, nods, and follows behind him. That hawk gets an up-close shot, apparently lurking in the skies above the area, hovering within Tommy's vicinity. Soon, Tommy heads into the woods and down a hill. True Of Heart notes, "Ah, yes. Your instincts have guided you well." The young boy states, "But I don't know which way to go!" The shaman urges, "Do not give into worry, Tommy. Be strong! You're running out of time. If you do not find the crystal, it will be lost... forever!" They stop at the bottom of the hill, where Tommy looks to the side, rather somberly at the notion that he won't be able to win this inner battle.
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Speaking bluntly to his Native American tour-guide, Tommy states defeatedly, "I can't do this, True Of Heart." TOH replies, "Then the crystal is not meant for you, Tommy." The boy denies that, "No, the crystal IS mine!" The shaman closes his eyes and starts to meditate, prompting Tommy to do the same. The hawk cries aloud in the distance, which sets off a spark within his consciousness. Tommy opens his eyes quickly, and heads over to a nearby tree. He stares at the bark, seemingly aware of something awaiting him there. Suddenly, in a streak of gold, a crude stone arrow appears on the side of the tree, and aiming to the left! Tommy gasps, "An arrow... pointing THAT way?" He looks where it points, spotting an open trail in the forest. The arrow soon vanishes, and Tommy casually strolls in the direction it guided him. True Of Heart just stands there, mentioning to himself, "You're on your way, young warrior." Tommy walks down the path to enlightenment, or at least a casino. Back in Australia, a decision must be made between helping the old lady, finding the Zeo Subcrystal, or taking the old lady to a nice rest home. Crotchety-Senile Dundee tugs at Kat's heartstrings by saying, "Please. I have no one else to help me. I won't survive on my own!" Katherine decides firmly, telling Agatha, "I HAVE to help her." She slips off her seatbelt and exits the jeep without pause. Agatha explains, "Doing so will mean your quest for the crystal is interrupted. I will not be able to guide you any further, for time is of the essence." Kat just smiles and takes the old lady's hand. C-SD walks along with her, thanking, "Bless you, my child!" She gives Agatha a quick look, which could be construed as a rather nasty one. Agatha sits in her jeep, grinning slightly, and watching the two wander down the road. Kat helps the senior citizen along, promising, "Don't worry. We'll find ya home. I promise!" Agatha smiles, and bids quietly, "Good luck, Katherine." Without warning, she and her entire jeep suddenly flash the color of pink energy, and gently fade away. Kat stops, looks back, and smiles before continuing onward. The old woman does the same, holding her hand, and stating, "Your heart is good."
Back in the time reversed present, the still-Morphed Blue Alien Ranger aids Billy in reassembling the Rehydrator. The plastic dome is all scratched up, and the metal structure is slightly singed, plus the antenna pieces and showerheads are all snapped off. Billy looks quite blue (no pun intended) at his wasted day's work. Cestro comments, "You did your best, Billy. But I fear the device is unsalvageable. Now it appears that the others will have to go on without the necessary rehydration!" He clenches his gloved fist at this and grunts, as Billy continues going over the machine, as if searching for some glimmer of hope in the nearly mangled mess. The Blue Aquitian finishes his speech by saying wearily, "I'm afraid Lord Zedd has moved one step closer to defeating us all." Up on the Moon Palace balcony, said Zedd replies, "That's right, Aqua-brain! My victory is nearly complete!" He turns and asks his lackey, "Finster! Do you have that teleportation device ready?!" Finster nods and grovels, "Ahh, yes, master! It is ready to harness the proper energy." Zedd faces Earth once again, proclaiming, "Then it's time to bring forth the Emperor of the Dark Waters of Aquitar!" Down at the Command Center, the four Aquitians are still peeking over Alpha's shoulder as he toils away on the consoles. The automaton exclaims, "Ay-yi-yi! The energy grid shows that Zedd is attempting to teleport from Aquitar!" Zordon orders him, "Alpha, bring it up on the Viewing Globe." He does so, and the Aquitians turn to see what the intended target is. The Globe shows Hydro-Hog, a bluish fishface creature, with baggy pants, a double dolphin belt-buckle, and large water-mines as shoulderpads with the word "Navy" on the side. He stands amid a swirling silvery sea (similar to the teleportation/rehydrating effect of the Alien Rangers), laughing deeply and chuckling sinisterly. Delphine points her fingers at the Globe and fearfully notes, "That is him.... Hydro-Hog!" Aurico adds, "Our most powerful enemy from Aquitar." Tideus remarks, "His arrival on Earth could be quite cataclysmic, especially with our weakened strength." Corcus just stands there, eyes wide open, looking distant. Zordon tells his assistant, "Quickly, Alpha. Set the coordinates to block Zedd's teleportation. We MUST stop Hydro-Hog from beaming to Earth!" Delphine & Corcus look at each other, their necks twitching around all alien-like as they do so.
Elsewhen, in Australia, Kat leads Crotchety-Senile Dundee to her homestead. It's a HUGE house, with lots of chickens roaming through the front yard. There's even a barn and pigs behind a fence within the camera's sight. How the heck she managed to get lost from a place that big, is anyone's guess. Kat helps her up the steps to the front porch, and says, "We're here!" The old lady states, "You have sacrificed something very important to help me. I'd like to show you a token of my appreciation." Kat kindly turns her down, replying, "No! That's okay. I must be going. I have a long journey." C-SD (which could also stand for "Catherine-Sutherland Decrepit") takes her hand, and states, "Please! I insist." Kat reluctantly sits on a bench, and waits a moment or two for the old lady to come out of her house. As she does, we see sheep. Must be a metaphor for falling asleep. Anyway, Crotchety-Senile Dundee soon comes out with a rather large wooden, black with golden studs, box. She hands it over to Katherine, who quickly opens up the latch, and gazes at what lies inside. Kat gasps and smiles, looking at the old lady, before taking her present out to hold. She sighs happily, "The crystal!", as she clutches the long Zeo Shard in her little hands, causing them and her arms to glow briefly with bright pink energy emanated from the Subcrystal. C-SD immediately takes the nicely designed box back, obviously that doesn't come with the crystal. Kat grasps her gift, and remarks, "I... I don't understand!" Crotchety-Senile Dundee explains, "When people sacrifice their needs to help others, they are ALWAYS rewarded. I'm VERY proud of you." Kat smiles, and the old woman embraces her "much, much younger self" with a deep hug.
Meanwhen, across the timestream, the hawk soars majestically across through the air. Tommy follows it as best he can, back up towards the mountain range. True Of Heart is close behind, halting his progression when Tommy asks, "Where do I go?" TOH tells him, "Concentrate, Tommy!", and that the boy does, shutting his eyes, and focusing on his spirit. Speaking of spirit, shouldn't it be a falcon, and not a hawk, guiding him? Anywho, Tom ventures up through the steep rocky crevice, aiming for the top of the mountain. Not long later, he manages to climb as high as he can, only to find True Of Heart nonchalantly waiting for him! The shaman quips, "What took you so long?", while sitting on the side of a cliff. Tommy is stunned, wondering, "What?! But how did you...?! You were just...", as he does a double take, looking around for a quicker means of reaching the perch, and finding none. TOH smiles, and points his cane at three tightly clothbound items (like how your silverware is predone in napkins at restaurants) laid out on a rock below him. He notes, "One of these... holds the object of your quest. The others, will assure that you remain here for all eternity! You MUST trust your heart." Tommy's hesitant, stammering, "But..." The shaman pauses him, and reminds the boy, "Close your eyes, and concentrate!" Tommy obliges, shutting his lids and focusing deep within. This causes the ground to quake violently, alerting neither him nor TOH. The three nearly identical cloth items are effected by the sudden shaking, the first one actually bursts into nothing but a charred mark on the rock in a flash of gold. The third item also is vanquished by way of Tommy's spiritual abilities, leaving only the one in the middle when the quaking stops and he opens his eyes. Tommy gasps (who doesn't?), and reaches down to claim his prize. He picks it up, and sits on the cliff next to True Of Heart. Unraveling the cloth from the item, Tommy discovers it to be his Zeo Subcrystal, which glows the color of red, flooding out across his arms and upper chest for a moment. TOH notes, "Yes, Tommy. You have fulfilled your quest. You have connected to your inner self. You have believed in him, trusted in him, and he has seen your through. Only those true of heart, can achieve this!" Tommy fondles his crystal, and grins successfully. True Of Heart adds, "One more thing, Tommy! You have also... earned this." He hands over to him a half of an Arrowhead, goldish in color. Tommy questions, "An arrowhead?!", while holding it. TOH says it's, "To remember your time here." The Ranger kid can only wonder, "But where's the other half?" The shaman promises, "One day, you'll find the other side. And your personal quest will be complete." Tommy, as usual, is baffled, saying, "I don't understand!" True Of Heart urges, "Keep it with you, Tommy." The boy does so, putting it in his jean pocket. TOH starts to say, "It contains the secret of....", when Tommy's Zeo Subcrystal lights up, fires a red energy star in the air, and opens the time vortex above him. Tommy is whisked back into the timestream, leaving the shaman behind, his sentence unfinished. He merely nods, and smiles, as the wind beats down on him. Seconds later, he teleports away, his body turning into a colorful whirlwind before vanishing. The cloth the crystal was wrapped in is left lying there, littering, and likely causing a certain fellow Indian to shed a tear. For more on Tommy's personal quest, and the meaning of the Arrowhead, consult Zeo's "Inner Spirit" 4 parter.
[commercials]
In the present, at the Command Center, the console room is quite busy. Billy & Alpha are working on one side of the computer wall, while Cestro & Corcus press buttons on another. Aurico works over on another, while Delphine & Tideus stand near him, seemingly talking to each other via their hands & mental telepathy. What they're saying is anyone's guess. In the blink of an eye, the thundercloud time vortex opens up a few feet away, and drops Tommy & Kat into the room, side by side! The energy symbols from their Zeo Subcrystals retract back into the shards, a pink oval and a red star. Delphine's first to notice them, exclaiming, "Tommy! Katherine! You're back!" Kat waves her Zeo shard in the air, noting, "Hey guys, I got my Zeo Crystal!" Tommy chuckles, and points out his own, "Mine too!" Zordon says, "Congratulations to the two of you. I knew that you would both succeed." Alpha cuts into the back-patting by revealing his button-pressing task, "Zordon! I'm activating thermal energy charge!" Tommy & Kat walk over to the automaton, and ask, "What's going on?" Tideus states, "Zedd's plan to bring a monster from Aquitar to Earth." Alpha presses more buttons (near the teleportational control section, actually), as Billy remarks, "Attempting to block transfer." Aurico adds, "If Hydro-Hog is not stopped, we will be no match for him on your planet." Zordon stresses, "Hurry, Alpha! Zedd's transference is almost complete." Alpha presses a keypad and turns a knob, saying, "Locking on to energy beams! Shields up!" The five Aquitians, the three Human Rangers, and Alpha then turn to look at the Viewing Globe.
Onscreen is an exterior shot of the Earth, as a green streak of power shoots past the atmosphere, representing Finster's dimensional teleportation signal. A blue beam, representing the Command Center's shielding signal, fires off (from Africa, apparently!) and strikes the green one in outer space. Both beams are eliminated, with only the blue one victorious in its actions. Alpha jumps up and shouts, "It worked! Yippee!" Tommy & Kat slap each other five, and cheer, as do Alpha & Billy. The Aquitians begin to jerkily clap their hands, mimicking motions they'd seen Earthlings do before. Delphine & Tideus, standing closest to the Viewing Globe, continue clapping long after the others stop, and end up slapping their hands together in a perfect rhythm. Tideus has a very goofy grin on his face, which causes Tommy much amusement. Alpha slaps Billy five again and proclaims, "Hehe! We did it!" Billy tells his partner, "Good job!" Zordon exclaims, "Excellent! Hydro-Hog's crossover has been stopped!" Alpha returns to button-pressing, as Billy notes, "Now we just have to wait for Aisha, and hope that she returns with the final crystal." He pats Alpha on the back, prompting the robot to reply hopefully, "She will." Come to think of it, where are Rocky & Adam? If they're home, how would they explain being gone for however long they were? Oy. Finally, on the Evil Moon Palace, Rita looks through her Repulsascope with eyes squinting from angry frustration. She lets out a horrifying scream, and storms off to the side, throwing a bit of a fit. Lord Zedd stands up from his throne, and does the same, stomping his feet and fidgeting his fingers, as he yells, "Those meddling brats have interrupted ANOTHER of my glorious schemes!" Rita ceases whining to remind him of the previous episode, "Ahh, HEY! Bringing Hydro-Hog in was MY idea!" Zedd ignores her, and vows, "I'll find ANOTHER way to bring the Emperor of the Dark Waters to Earth! I'm NOT through yet...." And neither are we!
[To be continued...; end credits]
_BLOOPERS:_
Agatha, in the driver's seat of her jeep, speeds along through the wilderness. She talks to someone offscreen, possibly Kat, telling her, "Yes, the outback certainly IS an amazing place." A man on the crew then asks her, "How do you feel about the outback?", causing others on the crew to laugh. Agatha reiterates herself, "It's an amazing place. Really!"; Tideus & Aurico stare at the camera, with Aurico tilting his head suddenly sidewards a little too far; Rito plays with the implosion device, opening the lights on the towers. He remarks, "Hmm, what's this little...? Oh, whoa! That's nice!" One of the lights breaks off, prompting him to quip, "Oh, that's well made. PROPS!", as he drops the broken piece on the floor; Delphine & Tideus continue clapping their hands in unison. Their goofy expressions remain frozen, as they clap quite rapidly, going even faster and faster, with Tommy watching them with a smile. Aurico, Corcus, and Cestro simply do light golf-claps in the background. Delphine & Tideus' loud and speedy applause comes to a suddenly halt (their hands still in the air perfectly), when the director yells, "Cut!"; Tommy & True Of Heart, in the woods, stare at the ground together. The director yells "And.. Cut!", Tommy looks up at the camera, and TOH breaks character by laughing happily for no reason.
