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* Why did Lothor only bring only bring Zurgane back with him? Choobo was incompetent, Vexacus couldn't be trusted, ''and Motordrone was a machine''.

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* Why did Lothor only bring only bring Zurgane back with him? Choobo was incompetent, Vexacus and Shimazu both couldn't be trusted, ''and Motordrone was a machine''.

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* All of the Dinozords are named after real dinosaurs or prehistoric beasts... except for the Dragozord (dragon). This seems weird... until you realize that, up until the past couple centuries, dinosaur fossils were often believed to be the bones of dragons! That, and dragons actually exist in the Power Rangers Universe. Usually in the form of zords, but a purely flesh-and-blood one appears in Time force, "Beware the Knight."
* Tommy wears long sleeves in every episode of Dino Thunder because Jason David Frank has tattoos on his arms. The reason this is FridgeBrilliance is that, if the character of Tommy Oliver [=PhD=]. has the same tattoos, he'd likely cover them to teach High School. That doesn't explain why he wears long sleeves even when not working; but hey, this was Disney.

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* All of the Dinozords are named after real dinosaurs or prehistoric beasts... except for the Dragozord (dragon). This seems weird... until you realize that, up until the past couple centuries, dinosaur fossils were often believed to be the bones of dragons! That, and dragons actually exist in the Power Rangers Universe. Usually in the form of zords, but a purely flesh-and-blood one appears in Time force, ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'', "Beware the Knight."
Knight", and another featured in ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce''.
* Tommy wears long sleeves in every episode of Dino Thunder ''Dino Thunder'' because Jason David Frank has tattoos on his arms. The reason this is FridgeBrilliance is that, if the character of Tommy Oliver [=PhD=]. has the same tattoos, he'd likely cover them to teach High School. That doesn't explain why he wears long sleeves even when not working; but hey, this was Disney.



** Firstly, he's living all alone in a cabin the woods. The last time we saw him living like this was when he was depressed about losing his Green Ranger powers. Throughout ''Dino Thunder'', we never see Tommy with any adult friends outside of Hayley implying that years of having to interact only with fellow Rangers has made it difficult if not impossible to befriend anyone who isn't a Ranger and we don't know if he is still in contact with any of his former team mates.

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** Firstly, he's living all alone in a cabin the woods. The last time we saw him living like this was when he was depressed about losing his Green Ranger powers. Throughout ''Dino Thunder'', we never see Tommy with any adult friends outside of Hayley implying that years of having to interact only with fellow Rangers has made it difficult if not impossible to befriend anyone who isn't a Ranger Ranger, and we don't know if he is still in contact with any of his former team mates.teammates.


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*** In Tommy's defence, he probably didn't ''intend'' for the monster to be capable of that when the experiments started.
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!! FridgeLogic
* Tommy, a scientific genius? Not only does he have a [=PhD=], but he gets it a year early. Wasn't this the same guy who could never remember anything?
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** [[WordOfGod Jackie Marchand herself]] [[https://twitter.com/jackieyo/status/1594412241662590976 confirmed in a tweet]] shortly after Jason David Frank's death that "Fighting Spirit" was all about fighting one's inner demons. that he sees not just the Green MM Ranger, but also his White MM and Red Zeo Ranger forms as representations of his demons is gut-wrenching, when you consider that these two, especially White, was him mostly having broken free from the darkness that the Green Ranger still represented to him. Tommy is pretty much disassociating at this point, and being stuck morphed probably was aggravating it, and ironically, he was able to mask it as clearly as a Ranger's helmet should mask their face.
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** Kat's absence from ''Dino Thunder'' suggests she and Tommy broke up some point between [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo "Passing The Torch"]] and ''Dino Thunder''[[note]] Though their return in ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'' implies they are back together[[/note]]. Was Tommy's unethical and possibly illegal experiments with Mercer a cause for their relationship to end?

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** Kat's absence from ''Dino Thunder'' suggests she and Tommy broke up some point between [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo "Passing The Torch"]] and ''Dino Thunder''[[note]] Though their return in ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'' implies they are back together[[/note]].together while ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersOnceAndAlways'' outright states it, confirming onscreen the Soul of the Dragon comics storyline that has her as Tommy's wife and JJ's mom.[[/note]]. Was Tommy's unethical and possibly illegal experiments with Mercer a cause for their relationship to end?
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* The Evil White Dino Ranger's PhlebotinumBreakdown is the result of the Morphing Grid not being able to handle two White Rangers.

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* The Evil White Dino Ranger's PhlebotinumBreakdown is the result of the Morphing Grid not being able to handle two White Rangers. This is the infamous "Too much pink energy is dangerous" line in action.
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* In "Legacy of Power", Hayley comments that Mesagog must be incredibly smart for a mutant freak to be able to block her hacking skills. Considering Mesagog was actually Dr. Anton Mercer, she was more right than she knew.
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** These particular civilian powers can also be tied into their respective characterizations, where Tommy Oliver (related to the post below) is basically so defined by his time as a Power Ranger that Tommy Oliver the person is basically invisible; who is Tommy Oliver without the powers by this point, which plays a huge part in his comatose arc. Trent's camouflage ability is similar in the sense that he's not certain of who he is, but whereas Tommy's identity was subsumed by spending years in a neverending battle against evil, Trent's identity is forced to blend in with the desires of his emotionally abusive father, basically always having to avoid showing who he really is and only being able to be himself once he and his father grow beyond that point.

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** What about Shimazu? They did bring back the Wolfblades, after all.
*** Shimazu himself had teamed up with Vexacus in turning against both Zurgane and Lothor towards the end of ''Ninja Storm'', making him equally untrustworthy. Lothor probably took control of the Wolfblades from him since they were still useful against the Power Rangers.



* [[WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers Linkara's]] views on Dino Thunder, especially towards the end, shed some light on some matters.
** The Evil White Dino Ranger's PhlebotinumBreakdown is the result of the Morphing Grid not being able to handle two White Rangers.
** Trent's refusal for help initially is his mentality that he's a superhero and that superheroes never need help.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EdBmN5PiqA&t=26m08s His explanation for Tommy's persona]], especially with ''Fighting Spirit''. In short: BecomingTheMask.

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* [[WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers Linkara's]] views on Dino Thunder, especially towards the end, shed some light on some matters.
**
The Evil White Dino Ranger's PhlebotinumBreakdown is the result of the Morphing Grid not being able to handle two White Rangers.
** * Trent's refusal for help initially is his mentality that he's a superhero and that superheroes never need help.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EdBmN5PiqA&t=26m08s His explanation for Tommy's persona]], especially with ''Fighting Spirit''. In short: BecomingTheMask.
help.



* All of the Dinozords are named after real dinosaurs or prehistoric beasts... except for the Dragozord (dragon). This seems weird... until you realize that, up until the past couple centuries, dinosaur fossils were often believed to be the bones of dragons!
** That, and dragons actually exist in the Power Rangers Universe. Usually in the form of zords, but a purely flesh-and-blood one appears in Time force, "Beware the Knight."

to:

* All of the Dinozords are named after real dinosaurs or prehistoric beasts... except for the Dragozord (dragon). This seems weird... until you realize that, up until the past couple centuries, dinosaur fossils were often believed to be the bones of dragons!
**
dragons! That, and dragons actually exist in the Power Rangers Universe. Usually in the form of zords, but a purely flesh-and-blood one appears in Time force, "Beware the Knight."



** People tend to think that teachers have to have a morally high ground despite being human like everyone. Maybe he was covering them so parents of children attending Reefside High School wouldn't comment even when he was off-duty. Some people have tried to get a teacher fired for having a tattoo on her back exposed while in a swimming pool, like in this [[Website/NotAlwaysRight Not Always Learning]] [[https://notalwaysright.com/think-before-you-cause-a-stink-about-ink/35633/ story]].



** Speaking of colors, notice the blanket covering Tommy in ''Fighting Spirit''. It's green and white, and a close up on his collar shows that it's red underneath. From top to bottom, it represents the struggle he had with red barely shown and green being exposed the most. Not bad.



** The Red Zeo Ranger fight taking place in a desert could connect to the time Tommy was brainwashed into leading the Machine Empire in a colosseum within a desert.

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** * The Red Zeo Ranger fight taking place in a desert could connect to the time Tommy was brainwashed into leading the Machine Empire in a colosseum within a desert.



* One hint I found interesting is how similar the Zords in this season are to the ones from the original season. Considering that Tommy helped create them, maybe he deliberately modeled them on his memories of the old days.



** You could chalk it up to a number of things. Maybe the Machine Empire's brainwashing for the "King for a Day" ep made Tommy smarter, and maybe Hayley tutoring him helped him with memory problems. Maybe Tommy has hidden depths we were never shown. Maybe T.J., Carlos, Ashley and Cassie managed to get something figured out for the past two teams post-"Countdown to Destruction", maybe Tommy studied extremely hard, maybe Anton bribed someone after hearing Tommy having encountered Ranger business before, which would contribute to the Tyrannodrones (Putty Patroller experience) and the BioZords. Plus, bad memory doesn't equal dumb and it had been something of a CompressedVice in the first place anyway.
** Arguably, this could be FridgeBrilliance as it shows his growth as a leader. His forgetfulness was usually manifested by being late to Ranger battles due to the Sentai footage of the original Green and White Rangers. It's reduced a bit later as the White Ranger since they had to use original footage for all but the Zord battles. Once he became the Red Ranger, he was usually on time.
** As the Red Turbo Ranger, Tommy's lingering forgetfulness and lateness (he missed his own graduation, after all) was usually explained with Tommy spending countless hours tinkering with automobiles and the Turbo Zords, trying to gain a better insight into his Turbo Powers. So, when properly motivated, even as a teenager, Tommy was always able to focus and overcome his short attention span: the discovery of the Dino Gems could have spurred an interest in Paleontology able to drive Tommy away from every single distraction in life, and devoting himself to his [=PhD=].
*** Tommy actually didn't miss his graduation during ''Turbo''. Due to spending time at the race track due to his interest in cars, Tommy opted to get his diploma earlier. And all his interest about cars is somehow gone during ''Dino Thunder'', focusing on dinosaurs instead.
** After ''Turbo'', a man used to getting by with less sleep than most, and having been on alert for years in battles that literally involved life as we know it, if at all, continuing found himself with only grades and papers as adversaries. Even without any brain enhancements, he had been exposed to tech that would blow most of his teachers' minds, and would have gained from that. In short, he had the energy, the drive, the need to be involved in a project, and no fear of anything we would encounter in our normal lives. At some point, he also had no girlfriend anymore, whatever the future holds. Could a man like that get to a [=PhD=] at ludicrous speed? I say Yes!

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** You could chalk it up to a number of things. Maybe the Machine Empire's brainwashing for the "King for a Day" ep made Tommy smarter, and maybe Hayley tutoring him helped him with memory problems. Maybe Tommy has hidden depths we were never shown. Maybe T.J., Carlos, Ashley and Cassie managed to get something figured out for the past two teams post-"Countdown to Destruction", maybe Tommy studied extremely hard, maybe Anton bribed someone after hearing Tommy having encountered Ranger business before, which would contribute to the Tyrannodrones (Putty Patroller experience) and the BioZords. Plus, bad memory doesn't equal dumb and it had been something of a CompressedVice in the first place anyway.
** Arguably, this could be FridgeBrilliance as it shows his growth as a leader. His forgetfulness was usually manifested by being late to Ranger battles due to the Sentai footage of the original Green and White Rangers. It's reduced a bit later as the White Ranger since they had to use original footage for all but the Zord battles. Once he became the Red Ranger, he was usually on time.
** As the Red Turbo Ranger, Tommy's lingering forgetfulness and lateness (he missed his own graduation, after all) was usually explained with Tommy spending countless hours tinkering with automobiles and the Turbo Zords, trying to gain a better insight into his Turbo Powers. So, when properly motivated, even as a teenager, Tommy was always able to focus and overcome his short attention span: the discovery of the Dino Gems could have spurred an interest in Paleontology able to drive Tommy away from every single distraction in life, and devoting himself to his [=PhD=].
*** Tommy actually didn't miss his graduation during ''Turbo''. Due to spending time at the race track due to his interest in cars, Tommy opted to get his diploma earlier. And all his interest about cars is somehow gone during ''Dino Thunder'', focusing on dinosaurs instead.
** After ''Turbo'', a man used to getting by with less sleep than most, and having been on alert for years in battles that literally involved life as we know it, if at all, continuing found himself with only grades and papers as adversaries. Even without any brain enhancements, he had been exposed to tech that would blow most of his teachers' minds, and would have gained from that. In short, he had the energy, the drive, the need to be involved in a project, and no fear of anything we would encounter in our normal lives. At some point, he also had no girlfriend anymore, whatever the future holds. Could a man like that get to a [=PhD=] at ludicrous speed? I say Yes!
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*** Shimazu himself had teamed with Vexacus in turning against both Zurgane and Lothor towards the end of ''Ninja Storm'', making him equally untrustworthy. Lothor probably took control of the Wolfblades from him since they were still useful against the Power Rangers.

to:

*** Shimazu himself had teamed up with Vexacus in turning against both Zurgane and Lothor towards the end of ''Ninja Storm'', making him equally untrustworthy. Lothor probably took control of the Wolfblades from him since they were still useful against the Power Rangers.
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None


*** Shimazu himself had teamed with Vexacus in turning against Lothor towards the end of ''Ninja Storm'', making him equally untrustworthy. Lothor probably took control of the Wolfblades from him since they were still useful.

to:

*** Shimazu himself had teamed with Vexacus in turning against both Zurgane and Lothor towards the end of ''Ninja Storm'', making him equally untrustworthy. Lothor probably took control of the Wolfblades from him since they were still useful.useful against the Power Rangers.
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*** Shimazu himself had teamed with Vexacus in turning against Lothor, making him equally untrustworthy. Lothor probably took control of the Wolfblades from him since they were still useful.

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*** Shimazu himself had teamed with Vexacus in turning against Lothor, Lothor towards the end of ''Ninja Storm'', making him equally untrustworthy. Lothor probably took control of the Wolfblades from him since they were still useful.
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*** Shimazu himself had teamed with Vexacus in turning against Lothor, making him equally untrustworthy. Lothor probably took control of the Wolfblades from him since they were still useful.
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** The Tyrannodrones were created by Tommy and Anton and reprogrammed by Mesogog to serve him and him only. Tommy essentially helped create his own equivalent of [[Franchise/StarWars the Clone Troopers]] and the only reason he didn't get a chance to control them was because they got [[Film/StarWarsRevengeOfTheSith Order 66'd much sooner]].

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** The Tyrannodrones were created by Tommy and Anton and reprogrammed by Mesogog to serve him and him only. Tommy essentially helped create his own equivalent of [[Franchise/StarWars the Clone Troopers]] and the only reason he didn't get a chance to control them was because they got [[Film/StarWarsRevengeOfTheSith [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Order 66'd much sooner]].
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** The Tyrannodrones were created by Tommy and Anton and reprogrammed by Mesogog to serve him and him only. Tommy essentially helped create his own equivalent of [[Franchise/StarWars the Clone Troopers]] and the only reason he didn't get a chance to control them was because they Order 66'd much sooner.

to:

** The Tyrannodrones were created by Tommy and Anton and reprogrammed by Mesogog to serve him and him only. Tommy essentially helped create his own equivalent of [[Franchise/StarWars the Clone Troopers]] and the only reason he didn't get a chance to control them was because they got [[Film/StarWarsRevengeOfTheSith Order 66'd much sooner.sooner]].
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** Firstly, he's living all alone in a cabin the woods. The last time we saw him living like this was when he was depressed about losing his Green Ranger powers. Throughout ''Dino Thunder'', we never see Tommy with any adult friends outside of Hayley implying that years of having to interact only with fellow Rangers has made it difficult if not impossible to befriend anyone who isn't a Ranger.

to:

** Firstly, he's living all alone in a cabin the woods. The last time we saw him living like this was when he was depressed about losing his Green Ranger powers. Throughout ''Dino Thunder'', we never see Tommy with any adult friends outside of Hayley implying that years of having to interact only with fellow Rangers has made it difficult if not impossible to befriend anyone who isn't a Ranger. Ranger and we don't know if he is still in contact with any of his former team mates.



** In "A Bone To Pick" we learn that Anton and Tommy created a monster that can mind control people. Think about that. Tommy Oliver, the most well known example of BrainwashedAndCrazy in the Power Rangers universe, created a creature that strips people of their free will.

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** In "A Bone To Pick" "The Missing Bone" we learn that Anton and Tommy created a monster that can mind control people. Think about that. Tommy Oliver, the most well known example of BrainwashedAndCrazy in the Power Rangers universe, created a creature that strips people of their free will.



** In

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** In "Burning At Both Ends", Tommy threatens to kill Trent who is not only BrainwashedAndCrazy but is a ''teenager'' just like Tommy was once. And given Tommy does kill Zeltrax who WasOnceAMan twice in the season, there's a good chance he wasn't bluffing.

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** You could chalk it up to a number of things. Maybe the Machine Empire's brainwashing for the "King for a Day" ep made Tommy smarter, and maybe Hayley tutoring him helped him with memory problems. Maybe Tommy has hidden depths we were never shown. Maybe T.J., Carlos, Ashley and Cassie managed to get something figured out for the past two teams post-"Countdown to Destruction", maybe Tommy studied extremely hard, maybe Anton bribed someone after hearing Tommy having encountered Ranger business before, which would contribute to the Tyrannodrones (Putty Patroller experience) and the BioZords. Plus, bad memory dosen't equal dumb and it had been something of a CompressedVice in the first place anyway.

to:

** You could chalk it up to a number of things. Maybe the Machine Empire's brainwashing for the "King for a Day" ep made Tommy smarter, and maybe Hayley tutoring him helped him with memory problems. Maybe Tommy has hidden depths we were never shown. Maybe T.J., Carlos, Ashley and Cassie managed to get something figured out for the past two teams post-"Countdown to Destruction", maybe Tommy studied extremely hard, maybe Anton bribed someone after hearing Tommy having encountered Ranger business before, which would contribute to the Tyrannodrones (Putty Patroller experience) and the BioZords. Plus, bad memory dosen't doesn't equal dumb and it had been something of a CompressedVice in the first place anyway.


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!! FridgeHorror
* Pretty much everything about Tommy in this season when you think about it:
** Firstly, he's living all alone in a cabin the woods. The last time we saw him living like this was when he was depressed about losing his Green Ranger powers. Throughout ''Dino Thunder'', we never see Tommy with any adult friends outside of Hayley implying that years of having to interact only with fellow Rangers has made it difficult if not impossible to befriend anyone who isn't a Ranger.
** The Tyrannodrones were created by Tommy and Anton and reprogrammed by Mesogog to serve him and him only. Tommy essentially helped create his own equivalent of [[Franchise/StarWars the Clone Troopers]] and the only reason he didn't get a chance to control them was because they Order 66'd much sooner.
** In "A Bone To Pick" we learn that Anton and Tommy created a monster that can mind control people. Think about that. Tommy Oliver, the most well known example of BrainwashedAndCrazy in the Power Rangers universe, created a creature that strips people of their free will.
** Kat's absence from ''Dino Thunder'' suggests she and Tommy broke up some point between [[Series/PowerRangersTurbo "Passing The Torch"]] and ''Dino Thunder''[[note]] Though their return in ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'' implies they are back together[[/note]]. Was Tommy's unethical and possibly illegal experiments with Mercer a cause for their relationship to end?
** In
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* One crossed with a bit of fridge horror from "In Your Dreams". Why was Trent the only one who stayed at Hayley's instead of going home to bed? Because he was trying to avoid Mesogog whose influence on Anton was getting stronger.
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* Tommy being [[ShapeshifterModeLock in Ranger form]] for half the season is a nice bit of {{Irony}} given that staying morphed was a problem for him when he was the MMPR Green Ranger. It also reflects how being a Power Ranger has come to so thoroughly define his life as discussed by Linkara in ''WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers''.
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** That, and dragons actually exist in the Power Rangers Universe. Usually in the form of zords, but a purely flesh-and-blood one appears in Time force, "Beware the Knight."
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* A small one in the ''Ninja Storm'' team up episode - as they prepare for the big Ranger-on-Ranger showdown, Conner says 'they use special powers, we use special powers'. In two fights - Conner v Shane, Ethan v Dustin - the Dino Thunder Rangers use their powers first and in Tori v Kira they were used at very nearly the same time. Why? Because the Ninja Rangers had been needled about honor in the Cyber Cafe, and even when evil, they still held themselves to a standard.

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* A small one in the ''Ninja Storm'' team up episode - as they prepare for the big Ranger-on-Ranger showdown, Conner says 'they use special powers, we use special powers'. In two fights - Conner v Shane, Ethan v Dustin - the Dino Thunder Rangers use their powers first and in Tori v Kira Kira, they were used at very nearly the same time. Why? Because the Ninja Rangers had been needled about honor in the Cyber Cafe, and even when evil, they still held themselves to a standard.
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* A small one in the ''Ninja Storm' team up episode - as they prepare for the big Ranger-on-Ranger showdown, Conner says 'they use special powers, we use special powers'. In two fights - Conner v Shane, Ethan v Dustin - the Dino Thunder Rangers use their powers first and in Tori v Kira they were used at very nearly the same time. Why? Because the Ninja Rangers had been needled about honor in the Cyber Cafe, and even when evil, they still held themselves to a standard.

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* A small one in the ''Ninja Storm' Storm'' team up episode - as they prepare for the big Ranger-on-Ranger showdown, Conner says 'they use special powers, we use special powers'. In two fights - Conner v Shane, Ethan v Dustin - the Dino Thunder Rangers use their powers first and in Tori v Kira they were used at very nearly the same time. Why? Because the Ninja Rangers had been needled about honor in the Cyber Cafe, and even when evil, they still held themselves to a standard.

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