This was written by my friend Thomas Paschal of Dark GateKeeper Gaming. I take no credit for it.
Every Ranger fan knows that the show is not without it’s glaring plot holes and contradictions. Some
things, the writers just didn’t have time to address, other things, they just never really had an answer for and
hoped that no one would think about it too much.
But, humanity has pop culture and the internet. So here we are.
I recently re-watched the first 6 seasons of Power Rangers on netflix. As silly and corny as the show can be, it’s
still a pretty clean show for a toddler to have playing in the background.
Because of this recent re-watch, some very old plot holes are very fresh in my mind. As far as I can
tell, even the theory community hasn’t seemed to have addressed it directly. So I thought I’d take a shot at it.
This is going to be a fairly long theory, as it addresses several elements of the lore from multiple
seasons within the “Zordon Era”.
So now might be a good time for a drink and a snack. Here we go.
Zordon, the legendary “Wizard” who started this whole mess. Everyone’s favorite brain in a jar, or head
in a tube in this case. Not much is known for certain about who this person actually is. It is inferred that he is
completely Good, eternally wise and has been around for a long, long time.
One of the few things made apparent during his time in the show, and even references to him after his
death; the dude had a freaking contingency plan for EVERYTHING!
Command Center blown up? That’s cool, we have an underground emergency bunker.
Power Coins destroyed? That’s cool. I know the guy who makes them. Let’s go get some new ones.
Evil Rangers show up? Oh, I know who they are, why they’re evil and how we can break the spell.
Seriously, think back to all the episodes with Zordon in them. How many times did he ever say, “I
didn’t plan for this.” or “I have no idea who this person is or what they want.” How can he know so much? He’s
a brain in a jar, hooked up to advanced galaxy-scanning technology, and has access to untold amounts of
magical power and knowledge. He’s a floating deus ex machina.
Does this make him evil or suspicious? Not to me. If I was an ancient being with no physical form and I
was just chilling in a building in the desert for thousands of years, I would be doing a hell of a lot of thinking
and planning too. Other than the occasional magic ritual, that’s pretty much all Zordon could do. Think,
observe, and plan. Not like he had a Nintendo in the Command Center or anything.
One of the biggest questions among Power Rangers fans is; What happened to the Zeo powers? If we
remember Zordon’s mentality, and the timing of how things happened in the show, I think we can find an
answer that is at least, satisfactory for our own purposes. Even if it will never be confirmed or denied officially.
Still with me? Here it is. Disregarding the meta reasons for the change from the Zeo powers to Turbo
due to it being an adapted tv show and all that, I think the answer is deceptively simple.
The Zeo powers were part of another of Zordon’s contingency plans.
For evidence, consider the timing. At the end of Zeo, the Machine Empire has been defeated, it’s
leaders destroyed or abandoning their attack, and the Rangers still have their powers. At the start of the Turbo
movie, which is the cannon start to the Turbo season, we see that the Zeo powers are still functional and in
possession of the Rangers. Kat even tried to morph during the opening of the movie… but failed.
Many fans speculate that this is evidence that the Zeo powers were becoming unstable. Others think
that they have grown too powerful to be used. Etc.
I have a different idea. What if neither was the case? What if Zordon took the powers away BECAUSE
they were still functioning perfectly fine?
Again, the timing of it all. The Zeo Rangers won their battle and still have the power. It was well
established that the Zeo powers continue to grow with the passage of time. And it is quite unclear exactly how
much time had passed between the end of Zeo and the beginning of Turbo. Weeks? Months? All that time, the
Zeo powers are still growing, but with no enemies to fight.
Divatox shows up and tries to resurrect Maligore. Zordon states that the rangers need Turbo
technology to get to the mysterious island where the ritual will take place. There’s the elephant in the room
right there. Why were the Turbo powers the only way, when the Zeo powers were all charged up and ready to
go? What was the necessity?
My answer for this is multi faceted. First, why was Turbo tech the only way to get to the island? Let’s
think about what the Zeo crystals are. They are an ancient power that can detect, cleanse or destroy evil.
Where is their destination? A magically protected island, where a demonic ritual is taking place, that also
happens to have their friends captive. In other words, a giant hub of evil magic.
If the rangers had went to the island as Zeo, it’s not that the power would have destroyed the rangers,
or been too unreliable. It’s that the Zeo crystals, in the presence of such an abundant amount of evil energy,
would have went supernova. Remember what happened to Tommy when he just touched the thing. The
crystal, unbonded to any sentient being, attacked Tommy. It is also said that the Zeo crystal caused Lord
Zedd’s current appearance.
The crystal, just lying around, pretty much turned Zedd into Darth Vader. Skin fried off, has a
breathing mask, IV tubes, and the occasional need to “hibernate” for maintenance. Sound familiar? And that
was the crystal just sitting alone in a cave.
This same crystal has since been bonded to humans for at least a year and actively channeled to
combat a great evil threat. Part of the legend of the Zeo crystal is that it can scan the feelings and memories of
any that come near it, especially if one were to touch it. The rangers can control the power when one monster
or a few grunts show up once in a while. Being surrounded by evil energy in every direction? An actual demon
being summoned? Former rangers being turned evil? All at once?
It would take supreme willpower to keep the Zeo powers from just nuking the entire island in one
shot and being done with it. Remember, the Zeo powers only know how to do one thing, destroy evil. It
doesn’t care who that evil is or if the evil is temporary or permanent. And the rangers aren’t exactly known for
their willpower.
So, where does that leave us? Knowing that innocent people are on that island, and knowing that the
rangers can’t possibly keep the Zeo powers in check in such an environment, Zordon pulled a bait and switch.
Tell them the Turbo powers are required, so they would trade in the Zeonizers. Great. Now they won’t risk
KILLING Jason, Kimberly, Bulk, and Skull.
Why not just explain this to the rangers and let them make that call themselves? Why not trust that they can
keep the power in check? Again, these are five high school seniors who have been fighting evil since they were
freshmen. They have conditioned themselves to pushing their luck as hard as they can, consequences be
darned.
Zordon wasn’t screwing the rangers by trading out for Turbo powers, this was a classic parent move. He
knows these kids better than they know themselves in some cases. He knows they would push their luck,
because they believe in their own goodness and that “everything will work out in the end.” That wasn’t a risk
Zordon could afford in this case.
So, all that covers why they “Shifted into Turbo”. To avoid a metaphysical supernova that would kill the
former and current rangers, innocent civilians, the morphers and possibly the zords, not to mention causing
the crystal to be lost again.
But, what did Zordon do with the Zeo crystals afterwards? Why not give them back once the rangers
returned from the island? Why not have a Zeo and a Turbo team active at the same time? Why let such strong
power sources lie dormant when they could be used in this escalating war?
…
Who says they were dormant?
Again, timing. At the start of the Turbo movie, Larigo comes to Earth to “free” Zordon. This doesn’t
actually happen during the movie. It happens several episodes into the Turbo season. After thousands of years
of being in that tube, why would Zordon suddenly need his freedom now? And why did that freedom equal his
return to Eltar?
This is where we come full circle and bring all these points together. It’s not that it wasn’t possible
earlier. Remember, Zordon is an ancient Wizard who still has use of his magic, an array of tech that lets him
keep an eye on entire galaxies and other dimensions, and has databases of information on every evil entity
anywhere ever. Couldn’t? Or didn’t have a reason to?
Zordon made a base on Earth, presumably because he knew that Earth was one of the few planets that
didn’t have it’s own Ranger team. Aquatar? They’re fine. Triforia? They’re good. Ditto for Mirinoi, Edenoi,
KO35 and other places we never even got to see. What’s one planet that doesn’t get mentioned that much in
the lore? Eltar. Hmm…
As we all know, Zordon is from Eltar. It’s also inferred that at least some of the Ranger powers draw
power from there. (Even though Ninjor was on Earth and the powers that the Rangers we follow were all
derived from Earth. Whatever.)
If other planets have their own Rangers, Riders, BeetleBorgs, Troopers, etc. Certainly, such an
important planet would have it’s own protectors as well. Right? I mean, it’s not like all the evil in the universe
was coordinating some massive strike to… Oh. Crap!
There’s that timing again.
When does Larigo show up to “set Zordon free”?
Right after the Zeo Rangers defeat the Machine Empire.
What’s the first thing Zordon wants to do with his newfound freedom?
Head home immediately.
What does he just happen to have lying around that Earth doesn’t need at the moment?
Five recently unbonded Zeonizers with a year’s worth of active use stored in them.
But why oh why would an ancient space-wizard with an endless supply of contingency plans possibly
need to take the Zeonizers with him to Eltar? What’s going on at this time? Dark Spectre has been behind the
scenes, coordinating the forces of evil to attack and conquer as much of the universe as possible. Some planets
had Rangers to stop him, many did not.
It has been noted several times in the series (usually by Zordon himself) that certain planets are key
strongholds in fighting evil. It has also been mentioned that these “Stronghold Planets” are the few remaining
free of evil control. Elsewhere in the universe, Evil has been winning one planet after another.
The Machine Empire, Master Vile, Lord Zedd and Astronema have entire Galaxies under their control
already, long before the Mighty Morphin’ team was ever assembled. (And no, I don’t mean Jason’s team.)
So, what is the implication of all this? The fact that Zordon, who has been chilling on Earth for a
looooooong time is suddenly so impatient to get home, (even willing to risk his life to do so), tells me that
something happened on Eltar that needs to be addressed. After all, a Wizard with access to teleportation
technology could have went home at any point, right?
My theory, is that there was a Ranger team based on Eltar. A good possibility is the Power Ranger
equivalent of the DaiRangers. After all, the first time Zordon took a crack at building a new Power Ranger
from scratch, what would he base it on, other than a team he was already familiar with that wasn’t Dino-
powered.
It would only make sense for an important “Stronghold Planet” to have it’s own Rangers. There was
no plot reason for Earth’s Rangers to meet them or hear of them, as Eltar is presumably much further away
than Aquatar or Triforia. (It takes a wormhole to get to Eltar, where any spacecraft can get to the other
planets manually.)
So, why the rush? I believe that Zordon had to make a beeline home because Eltar was under attack.
That much was confirmed at the end of Turbo, but I believe the attack started long before that episode. I
believe that Eltar was attacked at roughly the same time as the end of MMPR season 3.
Now, Zordon has a lot of faith in Power Rangers. After all, he took a young team of humans and
managed to hold of Rita, Zedd, Rito, an Evil Ranger and even Master Vile for years. And on a galatic scale,
Earth’s Rangers were wet rookies. If Zordon believed in Jason’s team so much, then his faith in Eltar’s Rangers
would be unshakable.
But, Zordon isn’t stupid and faith only goes so far. He is constantly watching every planet, not just
Earth. Towards the end of MMPR, Zordon seems rather concerned about how the battle on Earth has
escalated. Time and again, his new team has both triumphed, and been soundly defeated. (Combined, the
Morphin’ Rangers have lost powers, fleets of Zords, and even the Command Center on more than one
occasion. They had survived, but they weren’t exactly winning the war.)
Despite the numerous defeats, Zordon always had a backup plan. Sometimes, his backup plans even
had backup plans. Recall that Zordon sent the Rangers to gain control of the Zeo crystal well before the
power coins were destroyed. A safeguard… just in case. Lo and behold, the Rangers got their powers taken
away… again.
And Zordon is ready to go with using the Zeo crystals. Already figured out how to link the crystals to
the morphing grid, design new transformation devices and all that. Again, Zordon has nothing but time and
resources to think up these back-ups.
Rita and Zedd are driven off after their victory over the Rangers by the renegade Machine Empire.
(Note that the Empire was not acting on behalf of Dark Spectre during Zeo. Zordon even says so. After their
defeat, they presumably get back in the fold since they are with the alliance at the beginning of “In Space”.)
Zordon gives the team the new Zeo Ranger powers and the rest is history. Unlike the previous three
years, the Zeo Rangers trash the Machine Empire pretty handedly. Zordon makes note of this. If these powers
are so effective in the hands of humans, then how strong would they be in the hands of say, a team of warrior-
mages from a planet that is very comfortable with magic?
After all, if Zordon and Larigo are Wizards, then Eltar must be a magical realm.
While things are finally turning for the better in defending Earth, things are getting worse elsewhere.
The Alliance is still conquering, and other teams aren’t faring as well as the Zeos. Larigo shows up to “set
Zordon free” and Zordon heads home even though there is a new threat on Earth.
Seems to me, the only logical reason is cause the DaiRangers of Eltar have been either been defeated and
lost their powers, captured, or killed out right. In any case, Eltar is defenseless and about to be taken. So,
Zordon takes the Zeo powers with him to make a NEW team of Zeo Rangers on Eltar, in a last ditch effort to
save his homeworld.
Since the Alliance captures Zordon, and there is no mention of any new Zeo Rangers, any Eltar
Rangers at all, it’s fairly safe to assume that even the Zeo powers weren’t enough and the new team was defeated
as well. Or perhaps not. There is a possibility that the new Zeo Rangers were holding their own and the Z Wave
saved them from being defeated. In that case, there would still be a team of Zeo Rangers on Eltar in the present
day. That’s a whole theory onto itself.
Bless anyone with the patience to read this entire thing. But there were a lot of threads to piece together
to get to this answer.
What happened to the Zeo powers? TL;DR is Zordon felt those powers would be safer in the hands of
trained magic-users and Eltar needed a new team desperately.
My name is Thomas Paschal, and this is my theory, based solely on the lore of the TV show and cannon
comic books. Any similarities to other theories is purely coincidental and likely derived from the same
observations.
Have a good day and Blessed Be.
