50 years later in an alternate future in a mutant-laden wastleland, an aged Raph and Donbot have to escort a young meercat to find the one person who can translate the map on her arm— the map to a paradise oasis untouched by the Mutagen Bomb.
It is a triple-length episode comprised of three parts: The Wasteland Warrior, The Impossible Desert, and Carmaggedeon!
This episode includes examples of:
- All for Nothing: Despite their numerous and greatest efforts to prevent the destruction of Earth and humanity, in this timeline the turtles fail to stop a Mutagen Bomb which desecrates the planet into a desert wasteland.
- Amnesiac Hero: Raph reflects that his memory has been affected by the mutagen bomb; he mentions not remembering Master Splinter.
- Apocalypse How: Class 3a; humanity was killed off and mutants reign after a mutagen bomb ruined the planet.
- Artifact Title: Due to the episodes taking place 50 years in the future, the Turtles are no longer teenagers, and actually use very little ninjitsu; Raphael has traded out his sais for a pistol, and Leonardo no longer has his katana after having become Maximus Kong, for example.
- Bad Future: In this timeline, the Turtles failed to stop a mutagen bomb that wrecks the Earth. The moon is seen with a large hole and chunks floating near it, a large portion of the world is wasteland (or so we're told) and humanity is functionally extinct, having been turned into mutants. Raph was left (physically) unchanged for the most part, but Don had to upload his mind into Metalhead 2.0 to survive, Mikey went crazy from loneliness, and Leo, caught in the epicenter of the blast, turned into a rage-fueled super mutant.
- Big Bad: The turtles fight a warlord named Verminator Rex for Mira's map. He's soon usurped by "Maximus Kong" who turns out to be Leo.
- Bittersweet Ending: After enduring many harsh journeys, including the end of the world twice, and losing their mentor and father and all of their friends, the turtle brothers live out the rest of their lives together in peace.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Mikey has combined his own Character Catchphrase with Casey's and Mondo Gecko's, resulting in "Booyakabungala!"
- Brain Uploading: How Donny survived the mutagen bomb effectively destroying his body. He uploaded his mind into the body of Metalhead 2.0.
- Canon Discontinuity: Nickelodeon explicitly labels this "another dimension" (in the official press release) or "A tale from beyond,"
, thus not being the canon ending. - Character Death: Casey. Also it is implied that April and Karai may have died as well, as April's broken tessen can be seen inside the Shellraiser, and Karai's motorcycle and helmet are used by Mira. It is unknown what happened to the Mighty Mutanimals and Kirby O' Neil, though they are most likely dead too.
- The creative director did confirm that April and Karai at least survived the mutagen blast so presumably, they may have died in battle or in age.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Mikey has lost what little screws he had left, squatting in an old family restaurant, eating moldy canned pizza, and revering who he calls the "Holy Pepperoni".
- Continuity Nod: Donnie's mind was put into the body of Metalhead Mk II, following the original's destruction back in "Metalhead Rewired."
- Dedication: A picture at the end of the episode and the series has a drawing of Leo holding a signboard saying 'For Kevin and Peter' which is dedicated to the original creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird (which is similar to the dedication picture from the first issue from 1984 as it was dedicated to Jack Kirby and Frank Miller).
- Deadly Distant Finale: The special was originally considered as this until Nickelodeon makes "The Big Blowout" the aired series finale instead.
- The Dragon: Verminator Rex is a servant to Maximus Kong and frequently refers to him as master.
- Dramatic Unmask: Maximus Kong's mask is knocked off during his fight with Raph, revealing him to be a super-mutated Leo.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After losing almost everything they've fought for, from their friends to family, all but two of them spending 50 years separated from each other, and fighting tooth and nail to survive the harsh wastelands, the Turtles are finally reunited with each other, and can live out the rest of their lives with each other in peace.
- Elseworld: Officially considered as such by Nickelodeon, placing the Turtles into a Bad Future setting where they're all struggling to survive the harsh wastelands after failing to stop a Mutagen Bomb.
- Expy: Mira has a map to the Oasis tattooed on her arm and the crazed gangs in the wasteland are after her because of it, not unlike how Enola had a tattoo to dry land on her back in Waterworld.
- Fallen Hero: Maximus Kong turns out to be Leo.
- Friendly Sniper: Ice Cream Kitty protects the home she resides in with Mikey with a large sniper rifle.
- Gentle Giant: Chompy has become quite large in the 50 years post apocalypse but his personality is still the same.
- Grand Finale: Originally intended as a series finale, but ultimately it was aired mid-season and was later stated to be an Alternate Reality Episode.
- Groin Attack: Raph performs one on Verminator Rex during the fight at the stadium.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The flashbacks show Leo tossed his brothers off some sort of building and a cave-in happened, shielding them from the blast. The same couldn't be said for Leo, who became a super-mutant and was consumed with rage.
- Humanity's Wake: The Opening Narration makes it clear that not a single human remains, either dead or turned into mutants.
- Hypocrite: Verminator Rex has the gall to accuse Raph of cheating when he beats him. Considering the fact that he and Reptilicus ganged up on Raph in a 2-on-1 fight, and they were armed while Raph had nothing more than a stick, he has no room to talk.
- I Ate WHAT?!: Raphael is disgusted when he finds out that what he thought was water was actually Mikey's urine.
- Left Hanging: We don't know who built the mutagen bomb, or if it was intended to do what it did.
- Living Macguffin: Mira, a meerkat with a map tatooed on her arm that's said to be the map to Oasis.
- Morality Chain Beyond the Grave: When Raph states his intent to just abandon Mira on the side of the road, Donnie objects, pointing out that that's not how Master Splinter raised them. Raph retorts that he doesn't even remember Splinter.
- Mythology Gag:
- The setting is reminiscent of Palladum Books' After the Bomb, which takes place in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by mutants. Notably, the book Road Hogs features a comic about Raphael, tying it to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness.
- 2003 Donnie also had his mind uploaded into the body of a robot to survive the destruction of his physical body, in the fabricated Bad Future in Cody Jones' journal in the Fast Forward episode "The Journal".
- Though the episode is more Mad Max than dystopian future, the idea of the aged, separated Turtles surviving in the distant future bears some similarities to the infamously dark 2003 episode "Same As It Never Was".
- New-Age Retro Hippie: Mikey has effectively turned into one in the 50 years since the apocalypse, complete with long hair and headband.
- Non-Mammalian Hair: Raph has grown a Beard of Sorrow, which he shaves off early on, and Mikey has a full head of hair.
- Noodle Incident: The bomb that caused the apocalypse happened when the turtles were still teenagers, but the flashbacks are entirely new, showing of a nuclear warhead-like bomb with the appropriate warning sirens in the background. Given that it involves an alternate future and the design of the bomb, it's likely the M-Bomb in this reality is related to the Kraang.
- Not Quite Dead: Mikey and Leo were thought to be lost in the mutagen blast, but actually survived into the wasteland. The plot is instigated when Mira tries to find the former (though they didn't know it was Mikey they were looking for). Leo did survive, but became a super-mutant and became consumed by rage, becoming Maximus Kong.
- Older Than They Look: Ice Cream Kitty hasn't aged in the slightest.
- Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending: In the last scene, it seems that only the Turtles, Mira, Chompy and Ice Cream Kitty managed to get a happy ending.
- Sanity Slippage: Michelangelo has suffered this.
- Self-Destruct Mechanism: Raphael hid a bomb inside Casey's skull and used it to destroy The Shell Raiser when Maximus Kong was bearing down on him. Before he blew it he shouted Casey's Character Catchphrase GOONGALA YOU GAP TOOTHED....
- Sore Loser: When Verminator Rex loses the fight with Raph and got his cybernetic arm torn off he starts whining that he cheated note and goes crying to Maximus Kong.
- Ship Sinking: None of the turtles appear to be married or it is implied that they were married, which may indicate that their respective love interests died, or could not be together due to various factors.
- Shout-Out:
- The episode is basically Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets Mad Max. Raph even says "What a day, what a lovely day".
- Metalhead Mk II, now serving as Don's new body, bears a resemblance to the titular character in Chappie.
- Sudden Downer Ending: The last episode of Space Heroes ends with the crew being randomly vaporized by their version of The Borg. Raphael lampshades how it parallels their own lives.
- Tragic Keepsake: April's tessen and Casey's mask and skull are kept in the vehicle, as well as Karai's motorcycle and helmet.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The exact fates of the Turtles' friends and allies, except for Chompy and Ice-Cream Kitty (who survived), and Casey (whose skull was used as Raphael's bomb), are unknown (though the humans at least are all likely dead).
- According to the Creative director, Karai and April survived the blast. Presumably, they ended up dying alongside Casey at some point.
- According to a recent instagram comment by Brandon Auman, Karai is living in Pueblo Colorado in an underground military bunker with April. It's hard to tell if he was joking.
- According to Ciro, who is one of the producers of the series and released an Instagram on the same month that Mutant Apocalypse era was shown, that Mona Lisa actually left earth before the mutangeon bomb hit the world. It’s possible the reason she left probably because she was pregnant with Raphael’s child, Mona Lisa was afraid to tell him and he may noticed her belly, so she left. Since there have been a lot of hints from episodes that feature her, that she and Raphael are moving towards the next level of their relationship.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Mad Max.
