*Steps into a white void and talks to the camera.*

Hi. I’m The Uncanny Fox, here to talk to you about one of the most valuable traits a Ranger or blogger can have: Patience. Sometimes patience is the key to victory. Sometimes it leads to very little, and it seems like it’s not worth it, and you wonder why you waited so long for something so disappointing. Like the subject of today’s review, the extended edition of Power Rangers Super Megaforce’s season finale, “The Legendary Battle.”

This was going to be the big one. An all-out battle between an army of X-Borgs and every single Ranger in history, serving as the culmination of the anniversary season. Fans were hyped about this happening in Power Rangers ever since they first saw the footage from the 199 Hero Great Battle from Gokaiger, which aired in Japan at the same time Samurai did. Several questions arose during the 3-year long wait for what would become Super Megaforce: Are they really going to get past Ranger actors back for this? Who would make it? What about all those pre-Zyuranger teams that were never adapted for Power Rangers? Rumors even spread that Toei was going to re-film the battle to accommodate this last part, which… ended up not happening.

In fact, the behind the scenes story of this crossover was far less glamorous than the things the fans were envisioning. Despite having 3 whole years to prepare for this, Jonathan Tzachor more or less rushed through production, only sending out invitations to returning Rangers mere months before filming. A good number of them had to turn it down due to either poor pay (Austin St. John said that the paycheck offered barely covered the ticket price to fly to New Zeland), prior obligations that couldn’t be put aside in time, David Yost commented that the invitation itself was a generic template sent out to everyone and that it was misspelled, and a good number of them weren’t invited at all – including those native to New Zealand (despite, you know, actually living where it was being filmed). Jason David Frank himself would later admit that filming was rushed, and that the script itself made little sense.

And this would be readily apparent once the episode actually aired, as 3 years of fan hype died a painful, screaming, exploding death. The backlash from the finale, and the season itself, was so great that Megaforce ended up being Tzachor’s last season as Executive Producer, with Judd Lynn returning to take over duties for Dino Charge and beyond. In what I’m guessing was an effort to placate said fans (or to put things in that were cut for time, I dunno), an extended version of this episode was later televised, combining the last two episodes and adding some additional footage. Kind of like Mass Effect 3’s extended ending, except at least that actually tried to explain some of the BS plot twists…

And that’s the version I’m reviewing today, but first, a plot recap. After meeting Casey, the Rangers would be joined by Orion, a survivor from an Armada attack on the mining world of Andresia and the Super Megaforce Silver Ranger (an alien Ranger with an interesting backstory that never gets properly utilized… where have I seen that before?). They would engage in various adventures, defeat Prince Vekar and his minions, and even destroy a returning Vrak after their former Sixth Ranger, Robo Knight, sacrifices himself. I repeat, Robo Knight is supposed to be dead at this point. You’ll know why I’m making this point later…

Soon, Emperor Mavro, the father of the Princes and the true leader of the Armada, arrives to take his vengeance, setting the stage for the final battle…

The episode begins with the opening narration and footage montage, followed by a cold open of Orion saying goodbye to Ernie at his job in the Brain Freeze. He tells Ernie that he really enjoyed working with him, but it’s time to move on. Ernie wishes Orion luck in “whatever he plans to do next,” and tells him that he’s going to hang his apron up on the wall “like sports teams retiring a player’s jersey,” before breaking down at the thought of his employee leaving. And blowing his nose on the apron. Dude, there’s a Measles outbreak going on right now…

As Orion turns to leave, Emma catches up with him and tells him that the others are waiting by his ship to see him off. Yes, Orion is leaving the planet. You’ll notice that the Armada is still not beaten yet, or that he has no other place else to go to since his people were wiped out, or that he doesn’t really have a reason to leave. But, he’s going, because the Silver Ranger’s not in the stock footage they’re using for this episode.

Nonetheless, the two walk through the park on the way to Orion’s landing site, and he tells Emma about how happy Earth looks, and that he hopes his world will be like it someday. I’m not sure how he’s going to accomplish that with only one person alive, but whatever. He tells her that meeting them helped him to move on from his quest of vengeance, and Emma says that she’s going to miss him after he notices her start to cry. He replies with the old Walt Disney saying of “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened,” and the two head for the ship.

The intro hits (and it now includes Orion, as well as switching out the scene in the middle of Vekar with one of the Emperor), then we cut to Noah putting the finishing repairs on Orion’s ship. After the Blue Ranger notes how cool the Armada ships are “when they aren’t trying to destroy us,” (and the others rib on him for a bit) Orion and Emma arrive so the former can say his goodbyes.

He tells the others that with the Armada destroyed (except for the fact that it’s not), he needs to return to his homeworld to rebuild (with absolutely no one else there). Gia hands him a bag they packed of food and mementos of earth, Emma gives him a flower to plant and completely screw up the ecosystem, and Orion thanks them all for their time together. Most of which we didn’t get to see. He goes over each one in turn, telling Noah that he showed him that it’s important to fight with your head as well as your hands, Gia taught him that you can be tough and caring at the same time, Jake showed him that even in the darkest times, you can find some humor to see it through (to which Jake claims that everyone loves him… except some really stubborn people, namely Gia. Or here’s a crazy idea: you can just ask her out), and that Emma’s empathy helped heal the scars of losing his home. And Troy taught him the most important lesson of all: how to be a Ranger, which he could have picked up from literally anyone else on the team. And this all would have been sweeter if we actually saw any of it happen: Orion barely showed up in any of the episodes after his arrival, much less having quality time with his teammates. The most he got was engaging in some cosplay shenanigans with Emma.

He gives Troy his bracelet, takes the pack Gia gave him, and climbs aboard his ship after Emma kisses him on the cheek. The others wave goodbye to him as he fires up the engines and takes off for Andresia… at least after he stabilizes the ship and Jake gives us a good line of “he does know how to fly that thing, right? Apparently, he doesn’t, as he’s swerving all over the place before finally correcting himself and lifting off. Once he’s gone, Gia offers to take Emma to Ernie’s to cheer her up… with Troy buying.

Up in space, Orion looks at a picture of him and the other Rangers from when he first arrived, telling himself that he’ll never forget them. He then sets the auto-pilot and kicks back as he makes his way to the barren, lifeless husk that was once his homeworld. That he’s going to repopulate… somehow. Again, there’s no one there to repopulate with. Unless he plans to follow Mack’s suggestion and builds a robot woman…

Over at the Command Center, Tensou tries to contact Orion, since he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. What he gets instead is a radio transmission from Emperor Mavro, ordering his remaining forces to head for Earth for “the real invasion.” Then what was all that before? I thought the Warstar were the practice invasion leading up to the real thing. Now we’re lead to belief that the forces the Rangers fought this season were the warm-up after the warm-up?

Gosei contacts the Rangers, telling them to come to the Command Center right away. Once they’re there, the tiki mask on the wall plays them the full Armada transmission. When Jake asks whose voice is on the announcement, Troy explains that it was the same one he heard when he was captured an episode prior, the one who wanted to hold him for ransom. The Emperor. But not Palpatine, that would have been awesome. Guess we’ll have to wait for The Rise Of Skywalker for that one…

Noah asks how many minions the Armada has left, and Gosei says it could be hundreds of thousands, claiming that he’s never seen a force so large. You were literally trained by Zordon, and you’ve never heard of Dark Spector’s legions? You know, that big army attacking the entire universe? Anyway, he tells the Rangers that Mavro is Vrak and Vekar’s father, and that he has a massive army at his disposal. And worse yet, Orion left. Again, worst timing ever.

When Emma starts to bemoan the fact that they’re alone, Troy starts up a “rousing” speech about how it’s not just the five of them fighting for Earth, that all the Rangers that came before them have entrusted them with their power. Yeah, but it’s still just the five of you using that power… Anywho, this works, and the Rangers set out in the Sky Ship in preparation for the coming battle.

Over at the Armada Fleet, Mavro’s guards tell the Emperor that his forces are on the way, then Lavira assures him that with an army this vast, Earth will soon be his. But there’s one problem: Mavro and his minions are still mad at her for failing to prevent Vekar’s death, and they plan on giving her a severe penalty once they finish their conquest. That is, unless she can prove her worth to the Emperor by destroying the Rangers.

And speaking of, the Rangers are patrolling the skies in their Sky Ship, searching for any signs of the Armada. It’s here that Lavira unleashes what she calls her “greatest invention ever:” a Megazord with her face on the chest. She attacks the Sky Ship with a laser on her eye…boob…things, shaking the Rangers for a loop before they form their own Megazord.

They land the Legendary Megazord and engage Lavira in a hand-to-hand bout. She quickly gains the upper hand with a jumping slash, sending the Rangers stumbling back before she grabs the Legendary Mega’s face and sends an electric current through it that causes even more damage.

Undeterred, Troy orders the team to go Legendary, and they use the power of the Ninja Storm Minizord to even the odds with the Ninja Megazord Mode. When that proves ineffective, they separate the Minizord to distract Lavira with a Shadow-Clone technique. But the green science lady is one step ahead of them, and blocks the clones’ throwing stars with a force field before firing another shot at the Rangers. They counter with a blast from their Ultimate Super Mega Not A Pirate Cannon, which overwhelms even Lavira’s force field.

Seizing the opportunity, the Rangers move it with a “Blinding Aura Strike” from one of the New Power Keys (more on those later), which breaks off the Lavirazord’s arms. With not a second to lose, they summon the Red Lion Zord to form the Samurai Mode, and finish the evil Zord with one strike from its ridiculously large Buster Sword.

Lavira flees from the exploding Megazord and taunts the Rangers to face her on the ground, prompting them to jump down after her. But she’s got back-up, in the form of Mavro’s elite Royal Guards (with one of them sounding like Robo Knight for some reason), who blast red lightning at the Rangers before jumping down beside Lavira. Okay, red staff-wielding warriors who guard the Emperor… It’s like this show is daring me to do a Palpatine joke. And to think, I blew my one chance earlier.

Lavira unleashes a missile attack from her shoulders, which sends the Rangers for a loop before they rebound and morph to Mystic Force. They use their magic to form a barrier that reflects the second round of missiles back at the baddies, before demorphing and switching over to a different set of Legend Morphs. And here’s where brown bodily waste makes contact with the spinning ceiling fixture meant for cooling rooms…

Troy changes to Mighty Morphin Red, while the others use… a bunch of Pre-Zyuranger Sentai teams that were never used in Power Rangers before. Strangely enough, in Gokaiger “Troy” uses a Pre-Zyu morph as well, but they edited that one out… while keeping all the others.

Now, I know there are fans out there who are against using these suits at all (understandably, since they’re not, you know, Power Rangers) but I wouldn’t have a problem with them if they actually had an explanation to them. And… they don’t. Not here anyway. In one of the Boom Comics’ side stories, they actually gave a backstory to one of them (specifically Supersonic, the one Gia uses), so good on them. But that still doesn’t change the fact that they were cleaning the show’s mess. A mess that could have been avoided, because the scenes with the Pre-Zyu teams, like the ones in “Samurai Surprise,” could have been easily edited out. Heck, you could have just had Lavira die in the Megazord explosion and skip this fight without missing a beat. I mean, you’d still have to fill time in the episode, I guess, but there are ways of doing that…

Nonetheless, the Rangers attack Lavira and her goons, with Troy conveniently battling the former one-on-one to hide the fact that they’re editing him in. Lavira rants to him that the Rangers won’t stand in the way of her “redemption,” but Troy counters that true redemption comes from changing who you are on the inside. Gee, someone should have told Malcom Merlyn that back in Arrow season 3, he seems to think that having your kid be one of the main characters and sharing a common enemy with the heroes is enough.

Elsewhere, the other Rangers battle the Guards with their weapons: Gia uses her whip-like Supersonic Flute and Sonar Blaster, Noah goes to town with his Lighting Rods, Jake unleashes the ground-shattering Griffon Magma Galaxy… that’s it, he just leaves the attack name half-finished (man, even the characters are half-assing this), and Emma fires her Prism Pulse at the last one before finishing him off with her Hulk Hands… I mean, Prism Gauntlets. And to be honest, this fight is pretty cool, butt-pull circumstances aside. Still doesn’t change the fact that it was poorly implemented, though.

Soon, the Guards are all beaten, and Troy forces Lavira back. The Guards explode, and we see a distance shot with Troy green-screened into the scene before the Rangers revert to Super Mega Mode. They summon their Super Mega Not-In-The-Shape-Of-A-Pirate-Ship Cannon and load their Ranger keys into it, unleashing a devastating shot that plows through Lavira’s missile blasts and leaves her begging the Emperor to use her Maximizer on her as she explodes. Her cries ultimately go unanswered, and she is soon no more.

Which is no skin off the backs of Mavro’s goons, who cheer their former comrade’s death from the comfort of their Mothership. Jeez, with friends like these… As it turns out, Lavira was only a distraction to keep the Rangers busy long enough for the rest of the Armada fleet to arrive on Earth.

And sure enough, the ships soar above the sky ominously as the Rangers celebrate their latest Super Mega Win (you have no idea how much I hate myself for doing that), raining down lasers on the helpless heroes. Soon, they’re left demorphed and asking what just hit them. Gia looks up in the sky and sees hundreds of Armada ships swarming the sky.

All throughout Harwood, the townspeople see the Armada Fleet above their heads and start running for their lives as the evil ships descend. At the school, a student runs in and informs Mr. CouldhavebeenBilly about the invasion, with the old man not quite sure what’s going on as he runs outside and sees it. Over at Ernie’s, the staff witnesses it going down as well, with Ernie himself dropping (and wasting) a perfectly good tray of Fro-Yos (again, no idea how much I hate myself) in shock.

Back at the quarry, the Rangers assess their latest dilemma, with Noah saying that there has to be millions of ships. Up in the Mothership, Mavro announces himself to the Rangers, and gloats that they stand no chance against an army as vast as his own. Once he tells them to surrender, Emma points out that there’s no way they’d no that, and the others agree. Noah says that they need to send a message to the Emperor, and I can’t believe I’m typing this, but Troy actually delivers a badass line here: “Is this enough of a message to get our point across?” before telling his team to morph.

They do so, and give their answer in the form of their catchphrase: “Earth’s Defenders, Never Surrender!” Unfazed, Mavro orders his ship to fire at them, and they run out of the way as lasers blast down around them.

Said lasers rain down on the city as well, blasting buildings away left and right until all that’s left is flaming wreckage. Towers explode, civilians run for their lives, CouldhavebeenBilly leads his students back into the school for cover, Ernie and his customers run back into the mall, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.

Meanwhile, the Rangers go Super Mega and jump into their Megazord to take on the fleet. They also summon Orion’s Q-Rex Megazord (a modified and recolored version of Eric’s Zord) via remote control. Another reason why him leaving was a pointless mistake. The Zords open fire on the invading ships with their cannons and dragon breath, taking a good number of them out.

But it’s little comfort when the numbers are this great, and soon the Rangers take some fire in return. They decide to even the odds by summoning their Legendary Zords, starting with SPD’s Delta Runner. The Red Lion and Minizord soon follow, thinning the enemy herd with throwing stars and claw slashes. Then come the Megaforce Zords and Jungle Fury Animal Spirits, followed by the RPM Turbo Falconzord.

The Rangers combine their Megazord with the last one, becoming the Legendary RPM Megazord and performing a jumping slash that takes down even more ships. After that, they combine with their Mystic Force Dragon Zord and take to the skies, followed closely by the Q-Rex in Megazord Mode (and strangely enough, using the Mega Winger’s wings to fly. This isn’t even acknowledged in the show, much less explained). Their efforts seem to be working, as they blow up thousands of the Armada’s ships, with Troy taking out even more of them with a Pre-Zyu Key called Battalion Mode.

Down on the ground, the civilians come out of hiding and see the Rangers winning, and they start to cheer their heroes on. In the Mothership, Mavro is unfazed by the turn of events, and Redkar gloats that the Rangers’ Legend powers will be no match for their newest ships. Uh, why didn’t you open with those, then?

Up in space, Orion (who still hasn’t died on the way back to his home planet) checks his comlinks to find Mavro’s orders for a second wave to attack the Rangers. He decides that it’s time to head back. You had no reason to leave in the first place!

Said second wave soon arrives, and the Rangers find themselves overwhelmed. One after the other, the Legend Zords are all destroyed (or in Turbo Falcon’s case, forced back to its home dimension), and soon only the Megazord remains. Mavro’s Mothership fires a seeker missile from its underside cannons, sending the Megazord plummeting to the ground below.

The Rangers struggle to get back up, but Mavro fires off another round, destroying the Zord and sending the Rangers falling below. They all land in separate parts of the ruined city, demorphed and defeated as the Emperor laughs in victory.

He soon projects himself as a giant hologram and addresses the people of Earth, telling them that they only have one night left to “savor their despair,” because come the next morning, the Armada will wipe them out for good.

Uh, why not do it now? Like you said, the Rangers are destroyed, and there’s nothing stopping you from just glassing the planet right this minute. I guess this is supposed to be a reference to “Countdown To Destruction,” but there Astronema was giving the people of Earth an ultimatum to turn over the Rangers to her. Here, it’s just “we’re gonna kill you all tomorrow, neener-neener.” I’m starting to get Icenator flashbacks. And I don’t like getting Icenator flashbacks…

And for that matter, what exactly are the Armada’s goals, anyway? All they seem to do is wipe out populations without reason or rhyme, as demonstrated with Andresia. They don’t seem to take prisoners or any natural resources – heck, in Orion’s flashbacks they just leave after they’re done killing everyone. At least Rita and Zedd were going to keep some of Earth’s population around as subjects, and Venjix repopulated the world of RPM with machines after he took control. These guys… make no sense.

Elsewhere, various civilians are trapped after the destruction of the city, and are rescued by various returning Rangers. A boy finds his dog with Leo’s help, TJ and Cassie help some people stuck in an elevator, Carter and Dana rescue a man pinned down by debris, and Tommy saves a kid trapped in a car before it falls off a bridge, before telling him that he could be a hero someday. All the while, we see their Ranger helmets overlay on top of their faces for a bit, which is weird considering that didn’t happen with Jayden and Casey. Not going to lie though, it’s cool to see the former Rangers still being heroes in humanity’s time of need, even if I’m asking where they were when the battle was going on. I mean, Tommy still has Zords at his disposal, as we’ll learn in a later review…

Speaking of Rangers, the current ones come to and regroup, with Jake helping Noah get free from some rubble, Gia calling out to Emma and Troy looking like he can’t find his keys. They eventually find each other, and come nightfall, we get a re-hash of that scene from “Countdown” where the civilians are all gathered by a fire and trying to figure out what to do. Only this time, Wes and Damon are there, complete with flashes of their helmets over their faces.

As a mother reassures her child that the Rangers will pull through for them in the end, we see Karone watching them, filling in for Kendrix as the Pink Galaxy Ranger (due to Valerie Veron being busy with her family and unable to make it to New Zealand). Personally, I think having Karone instead works out better, since the last time she was on Earth, she was leading a large scale alien invasion. And now here she is, doing her part to help stop that from happening again, bringing her full circle and signifying her redemption. Too bad the show doesn’t really do anything there.

The Rangers regroup, and Gosei contacts them to apologize for the loss of the Zords, then asks how everyone is doing. He tells the Rangers that this is their darkest hour, but he has faith in them, before Troy sees the girls coming and tells him that they’ll talk later. And that’s the final time we see or hear from Gosei, and by extension Tensou, in the course of the season. He’s the mentor of the team, and yet his sendoff happened with him offscreen. So farewell, Mr. Tiki Mask and Armless R.O.B. You… existed.

The Rangers gather by the fire and discuss what the people are saying about them. Just like in “Countdown,” only without a comic relief character to rally the people when they lose faith in the Rangers. Jake points out that they’re outnumbered and outarmored, leading Troy to try that rousing speech thing again. And it miraculously works… again.

Just then, Orion’s ship falls from the sky, and the Rangers hurry over to the crash site. They think it’s more Armada goons at first, but then breathe a sigh of relief once their friend steps out. Orion explains how he heard about the invasion and had to come back (more like realize that he never should have left), before asking what the game plan is. Troy answers that… they fight back. Yeah, these guys are screwed.

The next morning, the citizens of Harwood are woken up by the sounds of X-Borgs marching, led by Redkar. The fishman gloats that they are all going to die now, despite the people grabbing any small debris they can find to defend themselves. This was cooler when Bulk and Skull did it. The Borgs take aim and prepare to fire… only to be blasted by the Rangers, who approach the crowd from a building above them. Again, this was cooler when the Space Rangers did it.

Redkar orders his minions to attack, and the Rangers charge into battle after them as the townspeople get to safety. As Troy works over some X-Borgs, I can’t help but notice some red… things in the background. Just what are those, and why are they just standing in the middle of the bombed-out city. Meanwhile, Gia and Emma swap guns and swords so the former can channel her inner Darth Maul with a double-bladed combo weapon, Noah cuts through bots like Emily chopping weeds back home, and Jake crowd-surfs on a mob of Borgs while shooting out another group.

When the Bruisers arrive to take out Troy, Orion morphs to his Gold Battlizer Mode to help him take them down with Final Strikes. Soon, the Royal Guards arrive to retaliate with their “Coat Of Armament” attack, prompting Orion to go Legendary, morphing into the Mighty Morphin Green Ranger to block their blast with the Dragon Shield. He then lends it to Troy in the form of Mighty Morphin Red, who goes to work taking out the Guards with that classic Power Sword/Dragon Dagger combo. It’s a treat to see this form again, even if the guy wearing it hasn’t earned it in the slightest.

The other Rangers apply the coup-de-grace in the form of a Final Strike attack (you people seriously couldn’t come up with more names), leading Redkar to outrage that his forces have fallen so easily. They charge into battle as the General fires green lasers at them, until they get close enough for a Final Strike. Redkar blocks the main team’s blast, but Orion’s anchor attack pierces right through him.

But before they can attack further, another blast comes from out of nowhere. Up in the sky, Mavro declares that he’s waited long enough, and orders the bombardment of the city. Explosions rock Harwood as the Rangers go through the whole “flailing in the air” routine. Once they land, Troy says that the real fight is up in the air with the Emperor, and develops a plan to get to him, with Orion’s help.

The two of them head off for Orion’s ship while the others stay behind to deal with Redkar. The bystanders cheer as the Red and Silver Rangers run past them. Soon, they reach the ship, climb inside and fire the engines up. Meanwhile, Redkar swats away the remaining Rangers with his giant hammer until Noah gets a few lucky shots in with his non-flintlock.

Up in the air, Troy tells Orion that it’s good to have him back as the two set course for the Mothership, waving through enemy laserfire all the while. Eventually one of the shots gets past their shields, and Orion is forced to make an emergency landing… right into the bridge. Complete with wooden screaming, of course.

The two dive inside the Mothership and battle their way through a crowd of X-Borgs until they reach the Emperor’s chamber. They break inside, take down a pair of Guards with one hit, and confront Mavro, who merely sits back down, clearly taking a page from Doggie. Orion makes the first strike, which he dedicates to his fallen planet, but Mavro blocks his lance with one hand. He proceeds to do likewise to Troy, keeping up with the Rangers’ blows while bragging about how he rules an empire while they are inept fools. I mean, he’s not wrong…

Orion evens the odds by going Gold Mode, finally forcing Mavro out of his chair as he declares that the Armada will never hurt another world again. But it’s still no match for the Emperor, who gloats that he does whatever he pleases. Yeah, his dialogue for most of the fights involving him basically amounts to the same “I am invincible! This planet will be mine!” shtick with little variation.

However, Orion was just a distraction, and Mavro looks over his shoulder to see Troy messing with the ship’s controls. The Red Ranger takes control of the Mothership’s cannons and unleashes them on the surrounding fleet, obliterating it.

On the ground, Redkar watches in horror, and the Rangers take advantage of this to whip out the Super Mega Cannon, using a few Sixth Ranger Keys (that they strangely never used any other way – they sure found time to use the “New Powers” though…) to power it up. Redkar retaliates with his own blasts, forcing the Rangers to sit tight until the Cannon charges, going so far as to demorph to give it the extra power it needs to take the General out for good.

With Redkar dead, it now falls to Troy and Orion to finish Mavro off. They double team the Emperor, who shoots a pair of fireballs from his shoulders to stagger the Rangers. As they struggle to their feet, he vows to make them watch as he destroys Earth. But first, he unleashes a slash attack that sends Troy and Orion flying back, knocking the latter out of his Gold Mode.

Not willing to accept defeat, the two Rangers ready their Ranger Keys for a Final Strike… but they don’t aim it at him. No, he’ll just deflect it, so they blast the ship’s console instead, setting off a chain reaction that destroys the ship. They run at the startled Emperor and strike him, with Orion invoking his planet’s name as he stabs Mavro and rams him against the wall. Once he’s pinned down, the two let out a Super Mega Blast that ends him… at least in the original cut.

But there’s still the small matter of Troy and Orion still being on the exploding ship, which starts to go down near the quarry. The other Rangers run over there, with Gia giving a surprisingly well-done cry of horror (Ciara Hanna was so wasted on this season) and Jake cursing under his breath (I’m surprised nobody caught that during filming. I mean, it’s muted, but still) as they watch the Mothership crash, their teammates presumably dead.

Except they aren’t, as they morphed to In Space Mode and escaped on their CGI Galaxy Gliders. The two Rangers land, then walk to their teammates Independence Day-style as they demorph. The others run over to them, and the girls give them a big hug in relief. Gia tells them all that they won, that this battle is all over…

Or not, as Mavro drops down in front of them, still kicking after the destruction of his ship. Like I said, in the original airing, he died outright when the ship was destroyed, but this additional scene was added for the extended cut. The Emperor gloats that he’s survived far worse than the “pathetic attempt” of a space ship exploding with him in it, and that the Rangers will fall like countless others before them, blah, blah, blah.

Not shaken in the slightest, Troy tells his teammates to give it all they got, and they morph straight to Super Mega Mode. They all pose and do a role call as their helmets form, complete with Gokaiger poses (except for Jake’s whole “wiping his hands on his pants” thing, that one was too goofy for even him), then give out one last “Earth Defenders, Never Surrender!” as the background explodes behind them.

The battle begins, with the Rangers employing every Legend Morph at their disposal to take the Emperor down. And I’ll admit, this whole fight scene is awesome. I really need to watch Gokaiger… They start with staff wielders: Troy as Overdrive Red, Noah as “Squadron”/Dairanger Blue and Orion as Robo Knight (yeah, Robo gave him his powers before he died… he’s dead, remember).

As Troy and Noah have him locked up, Orion and Emma fire exploding tennis balls and Origami cranes(?) at him with Green Samurai (Cam, not Mike) and White Alien powers. The girls then follow up with Pink Mighty Morphin and Yellow Dino Thunder (both pterodactyl-themed, interestingly enough), and Troy and Orion go Lost Galaxy for a fire attack. Jake and Noah then get close for some powered-up punches with Lightspeed Blue’s Battle Booster and In Space Black’s Battlizer device (only Red used the armor, but everyone else could use the wrist device itself for other attacks).

This last one actually manages to land on Mavro, and Troy and Orion strike while the iron’s hot with their Zeo forms. The Emperor bounces back and launches his fireball attack, prompting the Rangers to activate their “Battlizer Modes” (really just enhanced modes save for maybe Orion): Troy as Samurai Red in Shark Attack Mode, Noah demorphing back to Ultra Megaforce Blue, Jake going SPD Green SWAT, Gia switching to Jungle Fury Master Yellow, Emma calling on the power of the Pink Mystic Legend, and Orion just using his Gold Mode.

Jake kicks things off with some shots from his laser blaster, then everyone else takes a turn slashing at Mavro with their weapons (And Emma uses the Sentai term for her attack by mistake). Troy gives Orion a boost for his Power Of Six jumping attack, where he calls on the power of all the Sixth Rangers before him. This breaks Mavro’s defenses and forces the Emperor to his knees. But he still goes on bragging about how he can’t be beaten, despite his body literally smoking and crackling with electricity. Nonetheless, the Rangers revert to Super Mega and unleash their Saber Blast, which is in the shape of their definitely-not-pirate-themed-despite-literally-being-a-skull-and-crossbones symbol, while lecturing Mavro about how good always wins or something.

But he’s still not dead, and lets out another round of fireballs. But Orion jumps past them, Super Mega Cannon in hand, and gets up close for a point-blank attack with the other Rangers for support. He declares this blast for his homeworld as the cannon fires, demorphing the Rangers and finally defeating Mavro for good. But as the Emperor dies, he tells the Rangers that they won’t defeat his army…

And here’s where things fall apart, as a squad of remaining X-Borgs march toward the quarry. After their leader is defeated. With about five minutes left to go in the episode. Literally an afterthought in the grand scheme of this. Now, if this army was surrounding Mavro during the Rangers’ final fight with him and they had to join up with all the past Rangers to take him down for good (spoilers, I guess?), what happens next would be quite epic, but as it stands this feels like, “oh yeah, and we’re also doing this.”

As the Rangers wonder how they’re going to defeat all these grunts (the Samurai Rangers were able to take down a similar army without much help a couple of reviews ago. Just have Troy switch over to Shark Attack Red and widesweep ‘em), until Noah notices something up in the hills above them. The Legendary Rangers, all forming up to take on the army of evil. The Megaforce team watches in awe at the gathered Rangers, with Jake actually asking who they are (dude, you were literally morphing into them a few seconds ago), and the others going over the teams one by one. They’re all here, save for a few Sixth Rangers and Tommy’s alternate forms (He’s going as the Green Ranger for this one, despite his previous rescue scene showing him as White. Then again, we now know about the Master Morpher). The Turbo Rangers even arrive in the form of the Robot replicas that were featured once during that season (I’m not going to line, I’m really impressed that they put that little detail in, especially given this season’s otherwise loose approach to continuity).

The only real headscratcher here is who the Yellow Mighty Morphin Ranger is, as there’s no indication of it being either Trini or Aisha (though it would most likely be the latter, due to Thuy Trang’s tragic death years ago.) Oh yeah, and where you guys all were when the city was getting its crap wrecked a half hour ago!

We get an admittedly impressive shot of the Rangers all standing in the hills as the Megaforce Rangers look on in wonder, then they all walk down in slow motion to greet the new team. A select few of them, the ones that could actually make it to filming, take off their helmets (or rather, pull their helmets away from in front of their faces like they’re taking them off), and okay, what is going on with the Titanium Ranger? His under-faceplate thing is sticking out over his visor. Who thought that was a good idea? It looks ridiculous! I mean, you literally have stock footage of what it’s supposed to look like! Sigh… at least they fixed the dumb silver stripe in Tommy’s helmet from “Fighting Spirit.”

As the Legends gather around the Megaforce Rangers, Troy mentions that he’s been dreaming of this moment since the beginning of the first season. Yeah, ‘member that? He kept getting these cryptic dreams of the Legend War that just stopped after the first half. And we still don’t get an explanation for them. Tommy tells the Mega Rangers that he and the others have come to fight by their side, and Wes adds that they’ve “more than lived up to the legacy they’ve left for them.” He’s just being nice.

Troy says that it’s an honor to meet the old Rangers, and Cassie replies that the honor’s all theirs. Soon, the Mega Rangers take the lead, morphing into their base forms while the Legends raise their helmets. Karone looks at hers for a moment and says that she loves being a Power Ranger, and we get a somewhat creepy and confusing flash with Astonema, which hints at her own past with this sort of invasion. This wasn’t what I meant before, guys! I wanted some exposition with the Mega Rangers or something. This is just confusing the kids that didn’t watch In Space. And cruelly reminding the adults who did of a better season they could be watching instead of this.

Eventually, all the Rangers are morphed and helmeted, forming in a perfect triangle while the X-Borgs draw near. Troy readies his sword and declares that “it’s time to create a new legend” as the Rangers charge at the enemy. What comes next is not a re-filmed version of the Legend War, but rather the original footage itself mixed in with some US-made shots as the battle rages on. This includes some goofs, such as a few of the Pre-Zyu teams appearing, as well as some of Tommy’s non-Green forms. Still, it’s kind of a cool scene, would have been better if this wasn’t just some tacked on thing at the end of the episode, with the real danger long past…

And then… Robo Knight! That’s right, the guy I said was dead before? He’s back, without a single explanation for what he’s doing alive and kicking aside from him telling Troy that he’s “glad to be back.” And it’s not Orion taking his form again, when that happened he still had his own voice. Seriously guys? You remembered the Robot Turbo Rangers from a throwaway episode 17 years ago, but you forgot a major event that happened in this very season?!? And before you ask, no, this isn’t because of the Gokaiger footage, this scene was shot in New Zealand. You can tell because the resolution is slightly better. And the thing is, he’s gone the very next scene. There’s no point or consequence to him being there, the other Megaforce Rangers don’t even acknowledge his apparent survival, and the whole thing comes off like a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment. Oh, and the obligatory Linkara reaction…

The fight goes on, with the Rangers dropping cheesy lines as the X-Borgs whittle away to nothing. Wait, did they just use Tommy’s “Uht-Say-Ooha” when Cam was on screen? Guys, Hexagon didn’t happen! You can clearly see that it’s not the same Green Ranger! And it’s not like Tommy’s voice can be mistaken for anyone else’s, it’s actually pretty distinct…

Eventually, all that’s left of the enemy is a small pack, small enough for the Megaforce team to take out with their Final Strike attacks. They do so, and the last of the X-Borgs, and therefore the Armada, is no more. Yay. This scene was completely necessary, and definitely not a waste of 3 years worth of hype. I do not feel completely blue-balled by this.

The Mega Rangers demorph and join up with the Legends, and Tommy thanks them for protecting Earth, saying that it was an honor to fight by their side. Again, just being nice. But now they must go, and Tommy shares a handshake with Troy before he and the rest of the Ranger army reach for the sky and… teleport, I guess? It sends a massive shockwave throughout the planet, knocking the Mega Rangers to the ground.

There, they celebrate their win and rest for a bit, with Emma noting how pretty the sky is now that the Armada is gone, and Noah telling Troy and Orion that he can’t believe they took down the Emperor’s ship all by themselves. Troy replies that it was touch and go for a while, and that he wasn’t sure they were coming back.

But sure enough they did, and now the Mega Rangers head for Ernie’s for a victory Fro-Yo. Gia kisses Jake on the cheek, after showing zero signs of returning his poorly-telegraphed affections all season, and Troy places his Super Mega Sword on the ground to mark the sight of their battle… wait a minute, what about all that crap about Rangers “never letting go of their weapons” last week? And surely Emma will be on his case about littering, right? Bunch of Super Mega Hypocrites…

And then the episode, and the season… just ends, with no further closure on what became of the Rangers after all this. Not even a lousy narration by Gosei (who was never mentioned again after Troy cut his call short) about how “they all resumed their ordinary lives” after saving the world or something. Did they give their morphers back? Did Orion go back to Andresia and repopulate the planet with… nobody? How did Robo Knight come back, and just where did he go after his one scene helping Troy? Should I even care at this point? At least with “Countdown To Destruction,” you get a sense of peace and closure as the Rangers head back for Earth. Here, it’s just “F it, we’re done here.”

So, now that we’ve finished talking about the story, on to Pros and Cons:

Pros:

The fight scenes, courtesy of Gokagier.

Having Karone present is a nice echo to her previous character arc.

Cons:

Orion leaving for no reason.

Robo Knight randomly coming back to life with no explination.

The Legend Battle itself was too short, not to mention a total afterthought in the plot.

This episode, like Megaforce itself, is… frustrating. It comes close, so close, to being good, great even, but then something stupid happens like the Pre-Zyu teams showing up or Robo Knight randomly appearing despite being dead, which drags the whole thing down to being crappy. There are a lot of good ideas on display here, like the idea of all the past Rangers coming together to battle their greatest enemy yet, but then you’re left asking questions like why they only waited to show up in the quarry at the end. Add in the so-so acting and lack of interesting characters, and it’s no wonder why fans were looking past this season when it aired. Megaforce is and will always be one of the franchise’s biggest missed opportunities, and serves as a shining example of how not to do a milestone celebration.

Originally, this was going to be the last crossover I reviewed here, but circumstances have changed (translation: I now have a legal copy to use as a source), and now I’ll be able to cover the two Super Ninja Steel Team-Ups: “Dimensions In Danger,” which I’ve done a mini-review of before and features the return of various past Rangers in a celebration of the show’s 25th season, and “The Poisy Show,” a Christmas episode which has the Ninja Steel team join forces with the Blue Dino Charge Ranger to take on some of the latter’s enemies. Oh, and the two real-life brothers get to have a fight scene together. ‘Till then, I’ve been The Uncanny Fox. Live long, stay gold, and remember: Rangers never let go of their weapons, but randomly dropping your sword on the ground where anyone can just walk up and steal it after the fight is over is a-okay. I guess.