Adaptational Early Appearance: Zog appears much earlier than he does in canon, here encountering Donnie and Mikey with the rest of the family are trying to rescue Tang Shen.
Call-Back: The chapter recalls the othertimes Donnie was turned into a turtle, this being how he was able to walk without help after he's mutated.
With no Shredder mutants merging together in this version, the Hamatos don't face off against the Mega-Shredder like in "Attack Of The Mega Shredder!"
The Mark X1Experimental All Terrain Urban Stealth Vehicle is skipped over for being too impractical.
I Have No Son!: By proxy. Shredder vows to kill Splinter and "his son", while vowing to return her "four children", clearly making an exception for Leonardo.
Mythology Gag: After Donnie is mutated, the first sign that his mutation is worse than the others is when he ends up confusing terms ("Shelter" instead of "Lair") and events (forgetting they fought the Rat King in the sewer and not the Chimera), a problem similar to the episode "The Creeping Doom".
Donnie: Gah, I don't know what's wrong with me, Raph. I keep getting angry by the smallest things, and it's getting so bad that it's hard to think. Mikey: Uh, you just called me Raph, dude. I'm Mikey. Donnie: I did? I- Whatever, just-just keep moving, Mikey!
Noodle Incident: At some point, the Mighty Mutanimals had officially met Officer Howard and are on an uneasy partnership with him and local law enforcement.
"We're gonna make it this time," Mikey said in a gleeful murmer. "Please tell me you did not just jinx it," Miwa hissed as they hurried to the door. As if on cue, a purple laser burst hit Raph and sent him flying into a wall. "He jinxed it," Donnie confirmed, knowing their cover had been blown. "Aw dang," said a familiar voice as Bebop stepped into view. "We got some trespassin' brats up in here." Behind him Rocksteady also stepped out of hiding and smirked at the teens. "Surprise, ninja brats. You finally decide to join Shredder's little family, da?" "The five of us verses two complete morons?" Leo asked confidentially as he drew his swords. "We got this." Miwa scowled and reached over to punch Leo in the side. "And you jinxed us again," she snapped as she drew her tantō. "You're as bad as Mikey."
Unstable Genetic Code: Unlike when Leo, Raph and Mikey get turned into mutant turtles, Donnie's mutation is much less stable, suffering from a Power-Upgrading Deformation where he becomes a mindless beast similar to Slash, being able to fight Zog one-on-one.
