The Heralds have succeeded in resurrecting the Tengu Shredder, and he's now on the move, inflicting his evil on the world around him. The Heralds urge him to destroy Karai, since she has been 'pretending' to be the Shredder. Reluctantly, the Turtles set out to rescue Karai, but she does not want their help.
This episode provides examples of
- As You Know: Splinter takes some time to recap all of the training the Ninja Tribunal gave to the Turtles (aka, the first half of the season)... to the Turtles themselves.
- Bad Boss: Surprising no one, the Tengu Shredder turns out to be a horrible boss. He calls the Mystics "slaves" and immediately tortures them when they demand he go after Karai.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Dr. Chaplin returns for the first time since "Exodus, Part 2", in which he and Karai had been captured and intended to be turned over to Earth's authorities by the Utroms. While Karai had returned with no sign of having been incarcerated, Chaplin's whereabouts were completely unknown until now.
- The Mayor also returns for the first time since "Exodus, Part 1".
- Call-Back:
- When the Turtles discuss their shared nightmare and how the Shredder transformed New York into a hellscape, Donnie specifically suggests it was an alternate universe, not having forgotten the horrors he witnessed in "Same As It Never Was."
- When the Turtles call back to the Lair, The Ancient One accidentally answers the call, grumbling that he can't figure out how to answer the phone. Master Splinter replies "You already did". The same thing happened in the very first episode, "Things Change", except Master Splinter was the one who was confused by the technology, and Leo told him he already answered the phone.
- The Turtles hijack the Foot surveillance van parked outside Second Time Around that Karai started using after she destroyed the lair in "Scion of the Shredder".
- The Comically Serious: When Chaplin says he's still making adjustments to his tech, Karai sounds exasperated as she points out they've been getting ready for this for months.
- Crazy-Prepared: Karai and Chaplin are revealed to have been preparing for the Tengu Shredder's resurrection for months. That said, Chaplin is still making adjustments to his magic-fighting tech up to the last minute since as he points out, this is newly invented technology.
- Establishing Character Moment: The Tengu Shredder is shown to be far more sadistic and eager to have fun destroying things than Ch'Rell ever was. He only decides to go after Karai for sport and spends his approach to her headquarters wreaking havoc on the streets, waxing about how nostalgic it's making him.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: The Tengu Shredder shows a few signs of being out of his original time period. He refers to the waters surrounding New York as "moats" and thinks the island will be easy to defend using them, thinking he has to worry about fighting off ground-based armies. He also calls the Turtle Taxi a "horseless carriage."
- First-Name Basis: The Mayor of New York refers to Karai as "Miss Saki" (the Utrom Shredder's human identity was Oroku Saki), but in Japanese, the family name comes first, and given name comes last, the reverse of most Western naming traditions. This could be justified in that the Mayor just did not know better (he’s American, not Japanese), and Karai doesn’t seem all that concerned with correcting such mistakes.
- Hope Spot: An incredibly brief one when the Foot Tech ninjas cocoon the shredder in a science/magical concoction only for him to get out within five seconds.
- Irony: Master Splinter was established in the earlier seasons to be Hopeless with Tech. However, the Ancient One is worse, to the point that Splinter seems competent, compared to him.The Turtles connect to Splinter and the Ancient One via video call
Ancient One: How do I answer this idiotic contraption?
Splinter: You already did, Ancient One.
Ancient One: Oh. - Older and Wiser: Chaplin is less comedic than before and has grown some facial hair, though his scene is one of the few light-hearted moments of the episode.
- Revenge Before Reason: Despite their loyalty to the demon Shredder, the Heralds are obsessed with getting revenge on Karai. They question him why he isn't concerned to punish Karai for using his name, he tells them he cares more about ruling the world. Though they don't wish to deter their master with his plans, this does not sit well with them.
- Trash the Set: The Foot skyscraper is once again destroyed, this time by the Tengu Shredder singlehandedly.
- Uncertain Doom: This episode marks the final appearance of the Foot Elite when the Tengu Shredder strikes all of them down with their own weapons. Right after that, the Shredder even tells Foot HQ to surrender and he may spare some of their lives, implying that he did hit the Foot Elite with a killing blow. But other than the Elite never appearing again after this, we never get more direct confirmation as to whether or not they're truly dead and gone.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The Tengu Shredder is wiling to lash out at the Heralds despite their rescue of him, and continues to do so in later episodes.
- The Worf Effect/ Make Way for the New Villains: The Foot are completely decimated by the Tengu Shredder. Karai's upgraded Foot was dangerous enough that the Turtles were completely put on the defensive during the attack on the lair, up to and including the large Foot Mechs, but the Tengu Shredder goes through them in minutes and without any effort.
- You Shall Not Pass!: The Foot put up a pretty valiant fight against the attacking Tengu Shredder. It doesn't amount to much.
- You Will Be Spared: After defeating the Foot Elite the demon Shredder tells them that if they yield then he may spare some of them. Fortunately for the Elite, an attempted intervention by the Foot Tech Ninjas distracts him.
