Splinter has received a vision foretelling dark times ahead at the hands of the Shredder and decides to settle things with him once and for all. He has the Turtles and their allies infiltrate his hideout only to discover the true scope of what the Shredder has been planning for all along.
This episode provides examples of
- Attack Its Weak Point: Splinter fires an arrow into Saki's stomach, which contains the evil Utrom, and elicits a cry of pain.
- Avengers Assemble: Every main heroic character joins the raid on the Shredder’s mansion.
- The Berserker: Never before have Leatherhead's bouts of primal rage come in handy before now.
- Bolivian Army Ending: Leatherhead and Hun are last seen plummeting into the rocket silo. Hun's survival will be confirmed early next season, but Leatherhead won't put in an appearance until near the end of the fourth season.
- Bow and Sword in Accord: Splinter is armed in this manner in this episode.
- Broken Pedestal: Hun sees Oroku Saki's face missing some skin and revealing a metallic endoskeleton. He rips his skin more and finds out that Saki has been an Utrom all along. This marks the end of his loyalty to Shredder and the Foot. Until he gets mutated into Slash, anyway.Hun: You— Huh? You're an Utrom?
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Hun, as usual. Despite being (only slightly) smaller than Leatherhead, he manages to send him flying with a single hit, with no weapons. Of course, Leatherhead hits back and they plummet into the rocket silo.
- Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: Bishop when he talks to one of his men about not letting the spaceship slip his fingers.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: The Elite get easily defeated with a single kick by Raph, showing how far the Turtles have come since their first battle with them.
- Cornered Rattlesnake: When Shredder learns that Bishop has blown his transport tunnel, he genuinely panics and goes into overdrive, singlehandedly driving the three Turtles and Splinter back so he can flee.
- Curbstomp Battle: Bishop tosses the Elite around like ragdolls, while Leatherhead utterly shreds the Shredder until knocked aside by Hun.
- Didn't See That Coming: The Shredder is irritated by the Turtles' interference, but he didn't think Bishop would also attack him at the same time and he immediately decides to book it.
- Double Speak: Saki pulls this in his speech at the banquet; He says that "the opportunity to rectify certain matters at home, and I must go." EI, thanks to salvaging the Triceraton technology, he can now leave Earth and pursue vengeance against the Utroms.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Chaplin is appalled when Shredder orders him to open the back-up launch doors since that will result in the party guests falling to their deaths, and has to be aggressively prodded into proceeding.
- Evil vs. Evil: Bishop attacks the Foot headquarters due to wanting Shredder’s spacecraft for himself.
- Gratuitous Japanese: Splinter says to the vision of Master Yoshi “Wakarimasu. I understand”.
- Groin Attack: Shredder pulls one on Splinter.
- Ignorant Minion: Hun is understandably shocked to discover Ch'Rell's true nature, but it had previously been established that only Karai knew until this episode.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: An arrow strikes Ch'Rell right in his Utrom body, causing him to scream in genuine agony for a moment.
- Internal Reveal: Hun finally learns that his master was an alien Utrom all along. He doesn't take it well.
- In-Universe Catharsis: It’s safe to say Leatherhead enjoyed every moment of his ravaging Shredder for his crimes against the Utroms.
- I Shall Return: A villainous example. Saki informs the Mayor and the wealthy elite that he will come back, after destroying the Utroms. Knowing him, it's most likely with the intentions of conquering the planet.
- Locked Out of the Loop: This episode confirms beyond any doubt that Hun had no idea the Shredder was an Utrom. He’s completely shocked not only at his true nature but how it’s final confirmation that the Shredder truly didn’t trust him enough.
- Mexican Standoff: The Foot and the Turtles are briefly in one before Bishop officially crashes the party.
- The Mole: Stockman is revealed to be this for Bishop in this episode.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The Foot Tech ninja who get the drop on Donnie and Leatherhead could've reported the infiltration of the Turtles to the rest of the Foot, but not doing so means they're taken out by Leatherhead with no one the wiser.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Leatherhead finally comes face to face with the one who caused his Utrom family so much grief and destruction. Shredder didn't stand a chance had Hun not come to his rescue.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: The Shredder's spaceship; justified in that it's built from parts salvaged from an alien invasion, including some that could not be replicated with available Earth technology.
- Oh, Crap!: The Shredder tries to fight the Turtles but loses it when he learns Bishop is also attacking him at the same time.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Despite his misanthropy, Shredder admits that forging a powerful empire and army with the Foot was worth his many years of being marooned on Earth. One of the earlier drafts of the episode had him plan to destroy the Earth with a bomb as he left for the Utrom homeworld, which was shot down as Shredder wouldn’t throw away a planet's worth of resources and potential slaves.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Leo realizes that Earth has been the can, and Shredder is the evil. It was not until the Triceraton invasion that he was able to salvage enough tech to build a functioning starship to leave the planet to begin his reign as an intergalactic conqueror anew.
- Shout-Out: Shredder's fight without the armor is kinda like The Terminator.
- Spanner in the Works: Bishop has the transport tunnel for Shredder's starship blown, and when his presence is revealed, Shredder has an Oh, Crap! moment big-time.Shredder: "Bishop?!? Here?!? This changes everything!!"
- Spotting the Thread: Averted with Hun. He is completely blindsided to learn that the Shredder is an Utrom, even though his obsession with them all these years likely could’ve tipped him off somehow.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Subverted. Splinter and the Turtles decide to attack the Shredder mid-sentence when they first confront him in his private chambers.
- You Are in Command Now: Shredder plans to leave Karai in charge of the Foot on Earth until he returns to conquer the planet once he's done with the Utroms.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Hun tries to pull one during the final battle, shoving the Shredder away while he holds off their attackers and insisting he get to the ship.
