SUMMARY:
[Recap of "True Blue To The Rescue," "Invasion Of The Body Switcher," "Survival Of The Silver" & "Red With Envy"]
On the Dark Fortress, Astronema (now wearing a blonde wig with brown braids, as seen on the opening credits) rewatches the Silver Ranger's duel with a Crocotox from the last episode (with interstitial "numbers" counting down from Megaranger that hadn't appeared before). She has a running stopwatch, and times the event, confirming her suspicions on the limitness to the Silver Ranger powers. Time to take advantage of it, she snaps her fingers and the Preying Mantis monster appears. He's fearful of going against one of the most powerful Rangers in the universe, but holding up her stopwatch, Astronema mentions his powers are limited to Two Minutes, Thirty Seconds!
[opening credits]
Zhane & Alpha 6 are in the infirmary, where Alpha is just finishing some tests on Zhane's body, in regard to his morphing powers. Cassie & Andros walk in on the middle part of the prognosis, and overhear Alpha explaining he only has a short time left. Mistakenly, they believe he's dying (surprisingly, "Dying" is said twice in this episode) and fearing the worst, decide to tell the others. They miss the rest of the story, as Zhane comes to terms with only having two and a half minutes of power. Andros & Cassie head up the bridge, but right when they are about to spill the incorrect news to the others, Zhane walks off the Megalift. Trying to act like they don't know anything, Cass & Andy give him the royal treatment and relieving him of his duties on the ship. Suddenly, DECA informs our heroes that the Preying Mantis is attacking Earth. As the team scrambles to get down there and fight, Zhane is told by Pink & Red Rangers to stay behind and relax. The Power Rangers then telemorph down the Earth, and immediately surround the Mantis, ready to fight. Our monster of the day is disappointed Silver Ranger didn't show, as it was him he was sent after, as is Astronema, watching from the Dark Fortress. The Rangers pull out their Megaweapons and get on the attack, but Mantis dodges with his Mantisickle and continues bringing up Silver Ranger, going for less than subtle approaches. On the Megaship, Zhane sits around about to eat an apple, but he wonders how his friends are doing. When he catches the fight on screen, seeing his friends need assistance, he quickly puts any fears of demorphing midbattle aside. Despite Alpha's concerns, he Morphs on down, and drives through the monster on his Silver Cycle. All are happy he's there to help, especially the Mantis. Zhane does battle with him using his Super Silverizer, and the bug eye creature puts up a good fight. Silver Ranger's powers begin to run low, as evident by the clock on screen (covered by the Fox Kids bug), as Zhane blasts the Preying Mantis with Silverizer Blastermode. As comes down on the baddie with a saber slice, his powers hit their critical mass, and he's knocked back, as the rest of the team heads in to finish the job. Silver Ranger begins to demorph, so he runs for cover of any prying eyes. The rest of the team takes on the Mantis, finishing the battle with a "Spiral Saber/ Satellite Stunner" combo. It isn't enough to kill the monster, so he teleports back to the Fortress to lick his wounds. The Rangers wipe their collective brow and wonder where Zhane went. He appears unmorphed from behind a bush, and together they all head back to space. Cassie & Andros finally decide they must tell the others about Zhane's serious condition.
[commercials]
The five main Power teens sit at the table in the Megaship Workbay eating a synthesized meal. Andros finally reveals the secret, that Zhane is dying, and all are aghast. They figure that's why he keeps demorphing midbattle, because he hasn't the strength to keep up. Zhane overhears them saddened by his supposed diagnosis of death, and laughs at it. While he does have a problem, it's just with his powers. He decides to play dumb into their beliefs, and when he enters the dining area, all rush to help him out, giving them their food. He accepts Cassie's juice, refuses Carlos' spinach, but does want some pie. Ash goes to hand him a slice, but Cassie won't let him have it, not being healthy and all. The two female Rangers bicker over this, and Zhane just eats up the attention. Meanwhile, Astronema gets on Mantis' case over failing to destroy Silver Ranger. Not about to admit total defeat, she devises another plan to detain Zhane for two and a half minutes, and zaps a timed weapon into Mantis' possession. Elsewhere, in the infirmary of the Megaship, Alpha pinpoints that Zhane's powers were slowly drained while he was in cryogenic hypersleep, since he was morphed the entire two years. The only way to jump start them again is a high voltage electrical charge. Zhane then tells Alpha about the others thinking he's dying, but despite Alpha's objections, he's gonna keep milking this for all it's worth. On the bridge, DECA informs the Rangers of Mantis attacking Earth again, they head down to take care of it, but demand Zhane not know about this. DECA doesn't have to tell them, since while heading to the jump tubes he bumps into them. They try downplaying the event so he can stay there and rest, and before he can tell them he's not dying, they telemorph down to fight Mantis. Zhane goes back to the bridge, but wants to help out his friends. He gets a plan to find a lightning storm somewhere on Earth, DECA helps locate one somewhere on the California/ Nevada border. He's going to get repowered even if it kills him, and the worrybot Alpha fails at getting him to reconsider. On Earth, The Rangers get blown up all over the place by the monster's Mantisickle, and he's just getting warmed up!
[commercials]
Unmorphed, wearing only his black Megaship Uniform, Zhane climbs the side of a steep and jagged cliff. Above him a perilous lightning storm rages, while far away his teammates get their butts kicked harder by the Preying Mantis. Zhane continues hanging on for dear life, and luckily makes it to the top with only some sore hands. Once at the peak, he pulls out his Digimorpher, opens it, and holds it to the sky, awaiting a bolt from the dark grey. He stands there with the cellphone-like Morpher's antenna extended, as several bolts crash around him. He never moves or waivers from his stance, and before you know it, the risky move pays off when lightning strikes his Digimorpher, causing explosions all around him (several bolts seem to strike it, actually). Back at the battle, the Rangers are beaten & weary, but finally Silver Ranger rides onto the scene, fully recharged and ready to win! He calls for his Super Silverizer, and duels with Mantis. The rest of the team tries to help, when Quantrons suddenly appear and hold them back, keeping them preoccupied. Silver Ranger holds his own against the Preying Mantis, but is thrown off-guard when the timed device is wrapped around him, keeping Zhane from doing anything but wait while the 2:30 clock runs out! None of his partners can help, as they are too busy with the metallic minions. Silver Ranger is lifted into the air as time runs thin. Finally, Rangers fend off the Q-Trons and rush to Zhane's side, but before they can reach him, the clock on Mantis' weapon reaches zero and a huge explosion engulfs Silver Ranger! The smoke clears and nothing of him is left, Astronema and her monsters are pleased, but all five Ranger stand shocked, not wanting to believe Silver Ranger dead. Andros collapses to his knees, having lost his best friend again. He mourns for only a second, and seeks vengeance the next, ready to make Mantis pay! But The Mantis strikes down everyone one of our heroes with the power of his charged up sickle. He jumps into the air, ready to make the killshot, when streaking from the sky comes the Silver Ranger on his Galaxy Glider, knocking the monster senseless! Astronema is thoroughly peeved, and the entire Power team are happily reunited with the friend they thought gone for sure. Mantis is damaged and flabbergasted the plan failed, but still intends to kill Zhane. This proves futile against a "Spiral Saber/ Satellite Stunner/ Super Silverizer" triple attack! Just after the Mantis explodes, Astronema has Elgar fire the Satellasers, and Prey-face is revived, big & bad. Red Ranger calls forth the Mega Voyager, which quickly forms together and just as quickly steps into battle with the Preying Mantis. They quarrel, Mantis throws his Mantarang, which gets tossed back at him with destructive force. Mega V-3 Missile Mode makes Mantis say his prayers, as he meets his explosive maker. Astronema assures us Silver Ranger hasn't heard the last of her!
[commercials]
Alpha tells the Ranger teens about the truth about Zhane's condition, which is no longer an issue. When said Silver Ranger walks into the work bay, they once again treat him like a man with little time to live. The royal treatment gets rough, and he gets a big gulp of spinach juice! Finally, he realizes they know he's been leading them on about his problem, and despite apologizing, they toss him some dusters, mops and apron. He's going to have to clean the Megaship top to bottom! Alpha and the Ranger teens laugh at his expense.
[scenes from "A Date With Danger" (featuring alternate takes); end credits]
