The former Turbo Rangers and Alpha 6 travel to space in search of Zordon. Meanwhile, on a far-off Cimmerian Planet, the United Alliance of Evil assembles to celebrate their victory over the planet of Eltar... but a mysterious messenger reveals himself as Andros, a Power Ranger, before fleeing. As the alliance's commander, Dark Specter, orders the "Queen of Evil", Astronema, to pursue and destroy them, Earth's Rangers discover a strange ship in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Antagonist in Mourning: Prior to their fight, when Rita hears that Divatox destroyed the Turbo Rangers, she reacts this way even asking Zedd if it was true.Rita: Is that true? Did she really destroy the Power Rangers?Zedd: Well... it is the universal gossip.
- Zedd seems more annoyed that someone like Divatox was able to succeed where he failed to do over three long years.
- Ascended Extra: An in-universe example — somehow, one of Divatox's Putrapod soldiers has gained enough of a reputation to be able to sit at the banquet table held on the Cimmerian Planet.
- The Cameo:
- King Mondo, Master Vile, and General Havoc all appear but have no dialogue. Same goes for Goldar, Finster, plus Rygog and Porto. Queen Machina at least gets a single line questioning who the hooded intruder is before all hell breaks loose.
- Other foot soldiers such as Z-Putties, Tengas, Cogs, Putrapods, Piranhatrons, and others can be seen on the Cimmerian Planet.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Master Vile and Porto both disappear from the narrative after the Cimmerian Planet meeting. The latter is noteworthy considering that Elgar and Rygog would continue to make sporadic appearances throughout the season alongside their boss.
- Commuting on a Bus: The core villain group of the first three seasons — Rita, Zedd, Goldar and Finster — appear for the first time in nearly a season, with Goldar and Finster's appearance being even longer than that (Zeo's "Good as Gold").
- Continuity Nod: For the first time since it was mentioned in A Zeo Beginning, the United Alliance of Evil are finally seen in full, encompassing all of the major enemy factions that have attacked Earth since the beginning of the series.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Divatox is left flummoxed when, despite having trashed the Command Center and destroyed the Earth Rangers' Zords in the previous season's finale, everyone seems to chalk it up to a rumor, she runs afoul of Rita (who doesn't believe it), and she gets her moment of glory stolen by Dark Specter, who sends Andromeda to pursue and destroy the Red Ranger.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Andros infiltrates an Alliance meeting, is discovered and has to fight his way out, all single-handedly.
- Astronema is also in the same scene, as a coldly calculating villain contrasting the Large Ham hysterics of Rita and Divatox, and she is smart enough to identify the cloaked figure, Andros, as a spy.
- Foreshadowing: During the villains' meeting on the Cimmerian Planet, the spy (Andros) is shown taking a long look at Astronema, who notices his stare (under the hood) and stares back at him for several moments in confusion. This foreshadows what will happen half a season later, when the connection between Astronema and Andros is finally revealed.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: The Machine Empire’s Royal House of Gadgetry seems to have wasted considerably from Zeo's finale, likely since the alliance has only just finished repairs on them. Either way, they don’t appear likely to strike out on their lonesome again.
- Iconic Outfit: The cloak Andros wears when infiltrating the meeting of the United Alliance of Evil. He'll show up with it again in both his future team-ups.
- Immediate Sequel: As in Zeo, this premiere picks up immediately after the previous-season's finale, with Divatox arriving at the Cimmerian Planet after having been called for a meeting by Dark Specter.
- Malicious Misnaming: Divatox misnames Rita to antagonise her when they meet at Dark Specter's celebration.
- No Name Given: The mysterious Red Ranger, whose name is never given within the events of the episode itself and are left a mystery.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Any notion of this season bringing the same level of humor as Turbo goes out the window when Dark Specter (who's captured Zordon and is functionally siphoning his energy away) orders Astronema to locate and destroy the Red Astro Ranger, amid the zany antics of Divatox and Rita (who are both vying for his attention).
- Special Edition Title: Played with. In order to hide their identities, the opening omits Andros (who is not identified in this episode) and has Divatox as the villain instead of Astronema, implying that she would be returning as the season's villain. That said, it does spoil T.J. and Carlos' change in ranger colors and by proxy the fact that the former will no longer be leading the new team.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- Divatox's technical advisor, Porto, makes an appearance during the villains' meeting on the Cimmerian Planet, but he's never seen again, not even during Countdown to Destruction. Notably, he's the only one of Divatox's main team members not to be shown being affected by the Z-Wave.
- This also holds true for Master Vile, who simply disappears after this with no explanation to his whereabouts, even when characters related to him are revisted in later seasons.
- Whatever occurred on Eltar (during which time Zordon was captured), neither Alpha 5 nor Dimitria's fate are ever referenced or discussed.
- You Look Familiar: In-universe, Divatox comments that Dark Specter looks like "(her) ex-fiancé", Maligore. This is a nod to the fact that Dark Specter's costume is the exact same one as Maligore, which was reused for this season.
