Headscratchers / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)

As a Headscratchers subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

---

• In "Return to New York", when Leonardo decapitates the Shredder, why did the Shredder go down at all, since he was an Utrom in an exoskeleton and Leo didn't hurt his little alien body by taking off his head? Why did it take so long for him to get back up, pick up his head and walk away?
  • Deliberate Red Herring by both the writers and Ch'rell himself. I imagine in his centuries of terror on countless worlds this is a trick he's perfected.
• In the recent series, how did Baxter Stockman get his spine back when he was reduced to a brain in a jar?
  • Assertiveness training?
  • Worm cloning?
  • He always had the spine. A better question would be: why did his left eye randomly reappear halfway through "Mission of Gravity?"
    • Actually, if you look closely he still has both eyes while he is a brain in a jar. He just only uses one at a time. The first episode where you meet him as just a brain, he switches between his right and left eye in a blink and you'll miss it moment. The eye not being used can be seen next to the top of his spine.
    • Except Stockman's left eye was the first thing the Shredder ripped out in the first season. From The Way of Invisibility onwards Stockman has an eyepatch. Unless he got a replacement eye somehow, it is still a goof.
• In Back To the Sewer, shouldn't they have instructed Serling not to mention anything about Cody to April or Casey? The whole "don't mess with time" trope?
  • The series' time travel has consistently being presented as being of the Gargoyles: You can't fight fate /Stable Time Loop type, making "don't mess with time" a non-issue.
  • Also by that point Casey had pretty much already made up his mind about marrying April and starting a family, he was just waiting for the right moment.
• Did the Ultimate Daimyo and "that Time Lady" get kicked out of Canon during the Fast Forward season?
  • If they showed up, we wouldn't have a good starting premise for Back To The Sewers, though. It's more than likely that they knew about it and just decided not to act. Not every hero/Reality Warper/Time Lord is required to act, after all.
  • It actually does make sense that neither of them is involved. The Ultimate Daimyo is never shown to have any powers related to time so going to him for help wouldn't work. As for Renet, they have no way of contacting her for help. Remember that every time they do meet her it's because of her coming to them.
• How turtles are able to wear the protective gauntlet that they (and Foot) use with the Tengu sword? The gauntlet is metal and has five fingers, each of which is smaller than turtles' fingers. Plus, all of five fingers are used when a turtle uses it. The hell?
  • It's special ninja training.
• Okay, in Wedding Bells and Bytes why the heck is the Khan attack even half a problem? Forgiving for a moment Splinter's age and perhaps not being at full strength because of just being reconstituted we know Hisomi is there as well as the Ancient One so we can infer the Ninja Tribunal is back. The Acolytes are there and Usagi. Seriously WTF. We've seen these characters level entire friggin' ARMIES of bodyguards and elite warriors. The Tribunal alone should have been able to blast this problem and the Cyber Shredder to kingdom come. Instead they wreck the place. In the words of the Blockbuster Buster WTFMOFOS?
• In Fast Forward, how the hell did Stockman survive 100 years as an exposed brain?
  • Maybe Bishop had Stockman's brain on some preservatives to keep it from decaying.
    • Stockman mentions that he combined what was physically left of him, with some alien DNA left behind when Bishop's lab was destroyed.
• At several points in the series Shredder will list of a series of aliases he has, Ch'rell (his Utrom/birth name,) Oroku Saki, The Shredder and Duke Acureds. We know where most of these came from but where does the Duke Accureds thing come from?
  • It is revealed during his trial in the season 3 finale that Shredhead had several other aliases before arriving on Earth. Duke Acureds was one of them.
• In Identity Crisis, the turtles had some memories depicting adventures that never happened such as Leo saving Renet from a saber-tooth tiger, and Raph fighting while dressed as a pirate. What was up with these memories?
  • They're simply from adventures never shown in any episodes (much like the famous fake Clip Show from Community).
• In season 1, the Guardians are always depicted as talking to the Utrom high council who are depicted as three human who speak with one voice (later revealed to be three human robots on top of a tank containing the Utroms). Why the human disguise when the guardian obviously knew the truth?
  • Just because you know they are doesn't mean you don't get a little grossed out by the looks of them in their true forms no matter how open minded you are, the Guardians as far I could tell from the series ARE human, I could be wrong though.
• In Same as it Never Was, a portion of Leonardo's character design is confusing. Why did he switch his mask out for sunglasses? Was he rendered blind in the past and now relies on his other senses to fight?
  • That's the implication, yes.
    • Actually, while it is accepted in the fandom as canon that he is blind, the creators have reported that he has no such disability, or at least that wasn't their intention. The implication is that he can see perfectly well, he's just scarred and prefers to wear sunglasses. The belief that he is blind has spread so far, though, that even new fans who haven't seen the show believe it (not to mention, his "condition" is never explained within the episode itself, though you can notice him clearly looking people in the eye when they talk). As for his design change, it is probably to symbolize that he is no longer part of the team, or rather that the team doesn't exist. He has no mask because that is something that connects him to his brothers, whom he hasn't seen in years. It could also be that because he believes Splinter gave them their masks, continuing to wear it after his death is too painful.
    • Perhaps he isn't blind, but scarring on his corneas has made his eyes very weak/sensitive to light?
• In Return to New York — was there ever an explanation given for the mutant Shredders the turtles had to fight? It was assumed they were just really ugly clones of the real thing, but the revelation that the real Shredder is just an alien brain in a suit put the kibosh on that theory. So if the mutant Shredders weren't clones, then what the hell were they? And why did Shredder have them created in the first place?
  • They could still be clones only while operating different suits of armor. Or Shredder took some DNA from his human minions, made the clones, and gave them their armor. As for the reason behind their creation, Shredder most likely created them as part of his world domination plans.
• I've been wondering, where does Casey get his money? He has his own apartment, motorcycle and car, so he has to have some kind of income.
  • It's never fully explained what his job is, but in the episode Modern Love: Nano's Return, Casey talks about having mechanical work from a buddy at Coney Island. You can also see him fixing up both his and Raph's motorcycles sometimes. He's probably a mechanic that takes odd jobs (if you notice, his apartment is pretty rundown, so he probably doesn't have the most regular schedule, allowing for more vigilante business).
• The Guardians and the Utroms were very quick to chalk off the Shredder as dead when they saw his robot body decapitated. Were the Guardians out of the loop of Shredder being an Utrom as well? Did the Utroms not closely examine the evidence of the Shredder's demise? They'd surely not dismiss simple decapitation as conclusive.
  • From the Doylist perspective, considering other elements of Shredder's behavior in Season 1(creating mutated human clones, drinking tea, calling the turtles "freaks", stopping the fight as soon as he was decapitated, instead of seizing the opportunity) it is possible that the idea of him being an Utrom wasn't finalized until Season 2, and him rising after decapitation could be explained in an alternate way (these series added tons of Ninja magic throughout its run).
• What is up with the rather wonky age discrepancies of Hun and Casey that we see during Flashback episodes? When we see Hun and Casey together during the flashbacks to when Hun burned Casey's Father's store, Hun looks a lot younger than present day Hun, probably in his late teens. But when Hun appears in the flashback to when Hamato Yoshi dies, he looks the same age as he does in the present, implying that it must have been several years at least since he burned the store. Yet, in the episode where the child turtles try to train Casey Jones, (which is probably several *more* years later) Casey looks about the same age as he did when his father's store burned down. What gives? Either not as much time passed between these events as would at first appear (which means Hun went through a big growth spurt in a short time) or else Casey is a really late bloomer who is older than he looks.
  • Actually, when the turtles meet Casey, he's clearly older, most likely a pre-teen/teen. He was very young compared to when he appeared in "The Lesson", so that solves that headscratcher.
• Karai's behavior bothers me. During her debut up until the episode "Hun On The Run" she seemed to be reluctant follower of the Shredder and questioned his methods, but stayed with him because he found her, raised her and taught ninjitsu. Most prominent example of this is in episode "Mission Of Gravity", where she knows that Shredder's method of removing Triceraton engine would kill millions of people and she even told the Turtles that she didn't wish to see so many people suffer because of her father. During the end she said that she could not easily abandon her father, even if he did bad things. Those episodes could make you feel sympathetic to Karai, she knows that Shredder is bad person, but can't simply abandon him, because he gave her home and raised her, after all. Starting with episode "Same As It Never Was" she began to change. In the said episode she, actually her alternate future self, aided Shredder and stayed loyal to him even after he enslaved the entire planet and turned it into living nightmare, with many people either destroyed by him or suffering under his tyrannical rule. Shredder did all those things, yet she did nothing, staying loyal to him, while claiming that she is doing her job. In previous episodes Karai would disobey Shredder and would act against him (most notably in "Mission Of Gravity"), yet here she does nothing, allowing millions of people suffer, something that she could not do in previous episodes. Shredder had crossed the line in that episode, she should have realized that he had gone too far and must be dealt with, yet she remained entirely loyal to him. You could give this a pass, since this was an alternate universe, but that was the sign of Karai's semi-Flanderization which extended to present Karai. During the "Exodus" she was told by Shredder that Utroms had hunted him and were heartless monsters and she didn't knew the truth about her father. But when she finds out why Utroms persecuted her father and learns that he had committed many atrocities, which resulted in deaths of millions, if not more, innocent beings, she doesn't pull a Heel–Face Turn and realize that her father needed to be stopped, instead she seeks revenge against Turtles and is still loyal to her father, even after finding out that he was not as innocent as he told her. By the way, Shredder also tried to kill Karai when she stopped him from killing the Turtles. What is wrong with you, Karai? You learned that your father had caused millions of deaths and suffering throughout galaxy and even attempted to kill you, yet you still think that it is Turtles fault? She only returned to her characterization as reluctant and honorable follower of the Shredder during the Turtles Forever, where she realized that Shredder cares only about his revenge and doesn't listen to her, something she should have realized back in Season 3.
• In Back to the Sewers, where did the second Battle Shell and Turtle Taxi go?
• In "The Freaks Come Out at Night", if the Kanabo virus is vulnerable to Earth's sunlight, why does the mutated pigeon fly around in broad daylight unaffected?
  • Because it doesn't appear to be broad daylight. Based on the lighting at the beginning of the episode compared to when the sun is fully shown, it appears to be cloudy out. Not to mention, nighttime comes pretty soon after this scene, so the sun was already getting close to setting.
• If O'Neil Tech is contractually forbidden from making weapons, how come Starlee lets the Turtles use the Transendental Lathe to make ninja weapons (and in Mikey's case, a whole suit of battle armor)?
  • I'm assuming they meant on a mass production type scale. Making a couple weapons one time for some people who are protecting Cody probably doesn't violate that rule. Not to mention, the machine they used is not ultimately for making weapons — it turns thoughts into objects, so it has many potential purposes.
• At the beginning of Season 4, the turtles and Master Splinter are still badly injured from their last fight with the Shredder. Why didn't the Utroms heal them with their advanced technology? Weren't they on good terms with them?
  • The end of season 3 shows the Utroms rescuing the turtles and Splinter to take them to their infirmary, since they were all near death. The implication is that while the Utroms saved their lives, there was only so much their tech could do. They could not perfectly heal all their bodies in an instant. They managed to keep them alive and put them on track for recovery, but that will take time.
• Utrom Shredder has been on earth for over 400 years. He had PLENTY of time to conquer the earth. Why did he wait until 2003 to wreck havoc on earth? There were no turtles and Splinter to pester him.
  • The Utroms were there to stop him for all that time.
    • He had a lot of time. But he had finite resources and a fluctuating clock to work against. He had to make do with what he could steal from the Mortu’s group (specifically that Exo-Suit he used to become the Shredder to begin with) and what weaponry he could steal or acquire from them, like the metal he used to create the Sword of Tengu. His top priority was eliminating the other Utrom’s before they managed to construct a way home, otherwise he would be in massive trouble. Taking over the world could otherwise wait.
• In "A Better Mousetrap", April assumes something is suspicious about the mass production of Mouser robots. "I don't care how bad the city's rodent problem is. This is serious overkill!" Couldn't she have just assumed that those other Mousers were meant for, you know, other cities? It's not like NYC is the only place in the world that has a rodent problem.
  • The plan was probably to create mousers only for New York at the time being. They were just presenting the idea to the public and were running preliminary tests. Creating hundreds of mousers before their project was fully approved was very suspicious, along with the fact that Stockman was acting weird to begin with.
• Khan and Cyber Shredder in the final season raise so many questions. 1. Is Khan aware Cyber Shredder isn't the real Ch'rell? If so, why is he helping Cyber Shredder? 2. Why create a digital copy of yourself if you already have an adopted daughter who is willing to take your place as the new Shredder? Was Cyber Shredder created as a backup in case Karai dies?
  • Ch'rell made the Cyber Shredder to be a perfect copy of himself should he die or be unavailable. I imagine many of his higher ranking underlings knew about this and Khan is shown to be aware that Cyber Shredder is, well, cyber, but he doesn't care because he is loyal to the end and the copy is near seamless. As for Karai, Ch'rell is not the most trusting individual, so he probably made this as a backup plan for if Karai ever betrayed him (which was shown to be prudent here, since she completely left the Foot clan).
• What was Stockman's intentions in "Hun on the Run"? He seems pretty dead-set on sabotaging Hun in rescuing Karai. But then that failed and he was ordered to come to Shredder's office as if Stockman thinks he's getting promoted. That doesn't make any sense. Is he trying to get Hun killed, Karai killed or what?
  • If there's one thing Stockman is, it's petty and conceded. He hates the Shredder for ordering his mutilation and Hun for dishing it out. He attempted to sabotage Hun's mission to prevent him from being reinstated or even killed, along with Karai. Karai is important to the Shredder. Killing her would be a blow to him. And killing Hun or ruining his chance to get back into the master's good graces satisfies some of his hatred. The whole thing was to hurt both Shredder and Hun. As for him walking in like he was getting promoted, he can't show disappointment that Hun and Karai are okay and, again, he's a conceded man who, after getting his body torn apart, still thinks he's the smartest in the room. The Shredder calling him to his office about something tech-related seemed, to him, like he was acknowledging his skills and needed his help.
• How did Ch'rell survive the implosion at the end of "Secret Origins, Part 3"? Unlike the last two fake deaths and the next one, there seemed to be no way to survive as we saw nothing of him at the end.
  • The next time we see him he's in a tank covered in worms. This is a callback to the Mirage comic, where Oroku Saki was brought back to life by feeding his remains to a colony of worms that absorbed his memories and let him live again. This implies that they either did the same thing here, or he was incredibly close to death and the worms somehow healed him.
• Not sure if anyone still checks this page, but my Headscratcher is why the brothers left Donnie with April and Casey in the first place in Adventures in Turtle-Sitting? Bearing in mind no one knew he was going to mutate, and everyone just thought he was sick, why not just bring him back home where he could rest in his own bed, and Splinter could keep an eye on him if he needed anything?
  • Mikey made a joke about Donnie barfing in the Battle Shell and they were wearing their monster hunting gear, which means they were already out and about. April's apartment may have been closer during that moment than returning to the lair.
• In Future Shellshock the turtles and Splinter are accidentally transported into the future. This seems to be following Terminator rules as they close their clothing and weapons. So why then did the rug they were wrapped in travel along with them?
  • if it was Terminator rules, and only organic material is transported, then the rug is probably just made of an organic material. Like wool.