Amelia taking over as interim leader of the team in Zayto's absence also coinciding with her biological father Tarrick leading a resistance consisting of Rafkonians settling on Earth while the Rangers are chasing after Lord Zedd in space. This is Tarrick's first campaign of redemption after finally gaining closure now that their daughter is alive the whole time and is the Pink Ranger, and Amelia taking full responsibility as the leader since she is also a Rafkonian herself.
Santaura's absence in the series is due to her being pregnant with her second child. Tarrick deciding to keep her out of the conflict makes sense as she shouldn't be dealing with the stress of putting herself and their unborn child in further danger, not wanting to repeat what happened when they first arrived on Earth where their firstborn being taken away from them. Now that Amelia is leader of the Cosmic Fury team and Tarrick leading the Rafkonian resistance forces on Earth, she has nothing to worry about so long as the Power Rangers continue their duty to protect the universe.
The choice of Megazords coming to help out seems rather random aside from the original one, but when you think about the thematic impact they had on the franchise, they make sense. The Astro, Galaxy, and Ninja Blaze Megazords come from seasons that were the End of an Age in some way note In Space was the end of the Zordon Era with Lost Galaxy being the final consecutive season to have a main character from one season transfer to the other, and the Ninja Blaze Megazord marked the end of the combined Saban era. while the Beast-X Megazord, Beast Morphers' signature Megazord, marks the beginning of Hasbro's era. The Ninja Blaze and Beast-X Megazords, given Ninja Steel and Beast Morphers' similar motifs to Ninja Storm and RPM, could also be representatives of the beginning and ending of the Disney Era.
Zayto's Ranger form stands out than the rest of his teammates, right from his cape as his upgraded Dino Fury Ranger form being carried onto as the Cosmic Fury Zenith Ranger. While the team have their own unique weapons replacing their Chromafury Sabers, Zayto's main weapon is the Red Morphin Master's staff. And given the fact that the Masters revived him, he draws power from the same magic that sustain his mortal existence and therefore, he lives under borrowed time. This would ultimately lead to his ascension into a Morphin Master himself by the end of the series.
The Rangers tricking Zedd into leaving the Master Captivator into the outside world of Planet Nibyro that left him trapped into a nightmare world stuck catering to his wife Rita for eternity seems a more humane punishment for the Emperor of Evil. And Zayto agrees that there is always Balance Between Good and Evil; Zayto uses that to reason with Zedd knowing unleashing the Zedd Wave would do more harm to both sides because without any heroes to oppose the forces of evil means all living beings in the universe are in danger of becoming stagnant and lose their will to fight, the same can be said with the other way around.
With this series closing out this continuity, this falls in line with the plot of S.P.D. taking place in 2025. In fact, the A-Squad Power Rangers would be S.P.D.'s only Rangers in the Earth Branch thus would be participating in the battle against Zedd's forces. New Tech City was even name-dropped in the show as a place where alien refugees were sent to, which also explains how Earth suddenly gained a notable minority of extraterrestrials whereas there were virtually next to none as late as Dino Fury.
To continue the continuity for S.P.D., 2025 is marked as a point where aliens are common, but that also doesn't gel with several flashbacks showing aliens before 2023. However, it's noted that not only has aliens found their way to Earth since 2006 but you could argue that aliens have been known earlier than that when you consider the Alien Rangers as well as the citizens of KO-35. New Tech City was probably the hub for many extraterrestrial immigrants.
The war against Lord Zedd might also explain why the SPD A-Squad Rangers switched sides. They realized that a second full scale invasion so soon after a major one against the Earth, especially against an ancient and well known enemy against the Power Rangers, would mean they wouldn't be able to defend the Earth as well thus they would agree to help Grumm to secure their place in his empire. Bridge noted their colors seemed off even before they were sent off to directly confront Grumm's forces meaning their betrayal has been planned for a while. That said, a second reason would be that after the high they got from being a part of a ranger team that contributed against Lord Zedd, they probably got bored and thus thought their skills would be better utilized for the Troobian Empire much like war heroes who wanted one more shot at glory.
Zedd's worst nightmare being stuck with Rita Repulsa may seem odd considering that the original Zedd did genuinely love Rita despite their constant bickering. However, it makes sense when one remembers that this version of Zedd is from a point in time when he was at his most evil (i.e. the beginning of MMPR Season 2) - before he married Rita. Assuming that this Zedd is aware of the original Zedd's history, he would almost certainly be disgusted and horrified at the thought of being married to Rita, especially given how the original Zedd arguably became more comical than evil after marrying her. The nightmare that Dino/Cosmic Fury Zedd is trapped in in "The End" is likely what he imagines being married to Rita would be like.
Billy mentions becoming a Wolf Ninja to the team while recounting his own experiences with power loss in episode 3. While this is obviously a reference to the third season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, it's also vague enough that a returning casual fan could view it as a reference to the alternate version of those events in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie which, while not canon to the series, is more broadly remembered.
Additionally, when Billy is among the rangers piloting the Cosmic Fury Zords, he pilots the Wolf Zord.
Of course the inverse version of the Z-wave would be done using the evil energy of the being that once claimed he gave balance to the morphing grid along with Zordon... Zordon... Z-wave... Zedd? Z-wave!
How fitting is it that the show's first evil Ranger was Tommy Oliver, and we're sending the original continuity off with another evil Ollie. For bonus Meaningful Name points, the name "Thomas" means "twin" in Aramaic, just like how Tommy's evil arc is "twinned" in Ollie's experiences this season.
Seems like Billy was on a bit of a nostalgia trip when he made the Cosmic Fury powers. The Black Ranger wields an axe, just like Billy's old friends Zack and Adam, and like the MMPR Yellow Rangers, Izzy, a sabertooth tiger-themed tomboy, is armed with two daggers.
In the finale, Tarrick and Santaura name their baby Poppy after honorary grandfather Ed "Pop-Pop" Jones. That's actually a really Meaningful Name for three reasons:
Most obviously, poppies are red flowers - fitting for the Red Ranger's little sister.
Poppies are used to help people sleep, referencing Santaura's decades-long coma.
In floral symbolism, poppies mean remembrance of tragedy (usually wars) and hope for a better future. This family has definitely known its share of tragedy. Poppy represents their hope for a peaceful life in a world where evil has been - mostly - vanquished.
If you go into the show with the idea of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always taking place after Cosmic Fury, then Billy realizing that Zordon is still out there ends up becoming a lot more horrific in hindsight, as this is what will inspire him to try and find Zordon, accidentally bringing Rita back in the form of a robotic version that ultimately kills Trini and nearly all the other rangers.
Slightly mitigated by the fact it's been confirmed that Once and Always comes before Cosmic Fury. Billy will probably be satisfied knowing that Zordon is at least confirmed to be alive and that him and Zayto will be watching over them.
How is Javi going to live with an artificial arm? Sooner or later, someone might piece it together that he is a Power Ranger if they connect how the Black Cosmic Fury Ranger has an armored arm.
He could potentially claim he had been one of the prisoners during the invasion and that the guards had cut it off via torture. Then it’s just a case of claiming the Rafkonian colonists used their advanced tech to give him the new arm.
Honestly it doesn’t matter now that their fight against evil is over. Rangers have been exposed to the public before and they’ve turned out just fine.
Bajillia's plan to destroy all the good in the universe is bad enough, but it's likely that it would destroy Noble Demon and Anti-Villain characters as well. After all, the Z Wave didn't care that Ecliptor was an honorable warrior with redeeming qualities when it immediately disintegrated him and it clearly didn't spare the minions just following orders (and got abused by their superiors too). Reformed villains would've also perished because they are no longer considered villains.
In "defence" of Ecliptor being killed, he was basically at Ground Zero of the original Z-Wave and focused on his rage and grief at Astronema's apparent death; the Wave could have easily focused on his most primal feelings at that moment rather than acknowledging his more positive traits.
Alternatively, since the Z-Wave purged the evil from Rita, Zedd, and Astronema, it's likely that the Zedd-Wave will drive the goodness out of all the morally gray or redeemed characters. Tommy, Kat, Karone, Ryan, Merrick, Trent, Leanbow, Jarrod, Camille, Ollie, and who knows how many others will be prisoners of their worst selves again, this time forever.
What sort of toll will the legacy of Ollie's mind control have on his romance with Amelia? In a franchise where kisses only ever happen on the cheek, is he even going to be able to kiss her without thinking about that scar he gave her? And if he's thinking about it, her telepathy means she is thinking about it too.
Considering that Squid Ink Inc. has been in business for a long while, which of the various weapons that caused great harm to the universe (future and other dimension villains aside) we've seen in the franchise was actually supplied by Bajillia?
