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So we start off at the school, with Ms. Appleby giving the class an essay assignment. Bulk and Skull panic, but Bulk decides to kill two birds with one stone and write an essay about the Power Rangers' secret identities. Uh, don't you need to know what they are first, guys? Surprisingly, Skull gives off a good evil laugh here. We then move to the hallway where Tommy seems a bit jumpier than usual. He explains to Kim that he's had "the dream" for the third night in a row. Basically, he's dreamt about losing his powers, and since it's happened three times in a row, he takes it as a sign that it'll happen soon. Personally, I would too. No way that's a coincidence. Kim tells Tommy to stay positive, but it's obvious that it isn't working very well.
On the moon, Zedd gloats over Tommy's weakening powers, and devises his next plan: use the Sword of Power to drain away the rest of the Green Ranger power. The problem is, however, the Sword can't be summoned unless all of the Rangers come together to do so. So, he decides to capture them one by one and trap them in the Dark Dimension, thereby forcing them to summon the Sword to escape. Hmm, manipulation, separating the group, preying on their weaknesses? This is the Zedd I remember! Good to have you back!
We cut to the Juice Bar where Billy is tinkering with some electronic scrambler or something. Not sure how it'll help fight Zedd, but still a pretty nifty device. The group talks about the assignment until Bulk and Skull arrive with some cheap radar device, designed to detect the Rangers' energy signatures. I don't know how much it cost, but it definitely couldn't have been enough for Bulk and Skull to snap it up. Billy uses his scrambler to mess with their device so they think Ernie is a Ranger. He does some goofy kung-fu poses to mess with them and they sulk. Tommy leaves to study for the essay and-
*record scratch*
WHAT IN THE HIGH HOLY HELL?!
Zack's hair is back to that poofy 90's afro! What in the shit is going on here?! Did I see these episodes out of order or something?
...huh. Turns out I did. Oops. Sorry guys, this one's on me. This is supposed to take place before The Power Stealer. My bad.
Zedd sees Tommy walking home alone, so he sends his Z-Putties to capture him and put him in the "Dark Chamber". Whatever that is. The Z-Putties arrive and Tommy, since he's Tommy, starts kicking ass. He even bicycle kicks one of them! Eat your heart out, Liu Kang! Well, OK, not really, but it was still awesome! The Z-Putties overwhelm him, however, and teleport him to the Dark Chamber, which is just another creepy cave. Goldar appears with Zedd's staff no less! Holy shit! He explains that he'll cast a spell on Tommy and take control of him, so that he can convince the others to summon the Sword of Power, then steal it and give it to Zedd. Of course Tommy refuses to be evil again, but he doesn't have a choice as Goldar zaps him and his eyes glow red, showing he's under Zedd's control. Damn.
Of course, Goldar gloats about how Tommy is evil again (though not really), and then notices a book that he dropped on mythology. He sees a picture of some guy fighting a goat monster, and he asks Zedd to make a monster out of it. Zedd agrees, somehow getting his staff back, and creates the Robogoat from the picture.
Wait.
How can a mythological goat monster be called "Robo"goat? That doesn't make any sense! What part about him is robotic? How does that even...nevermind.
Zordon catches wind of this and contacts the Rangers, just as Tommy rejoins the group. They all teleport to the Command Center and Zordon fills them in on Robogoat. Tommy proposes that they summon the Sword of Power, which could give Tommy enough of a power boost to last longer in battle. Now, I'm just throwing this out there, but how do the Rangers know about the Sword of Power?! It was never mentioned until this episode! Did Zordon brief them on it ahead of time? And if so, WHY ARE THEY JUST USING THIS NOW?! Whatever, they summon the Sword and Tommy suddenly starts acting eeeeeevil and teleports away.
Back at the Dark Chamber, Goldar gets Tommy to hand the Sword of Power over to Robogoat. This instantly breaks the spell over Tommy, allowing Robogoat to teleport away. Goldar dares Tommy to morph and use up what's left of his power. Tommy, knowing it's a trap, morphs anyway and goes after Robogoat. He sees the Sword of Power nearby and, like a dumbass, runs after it, allowing Robogoat to cause random explosions from a distance. Robogoat appears and the two fight for a bit before Tommy gets the Sword back. Or not, as it's a fake, Robogoat still having the real one. He attacks Tommy and tosses him down a cliff, leaving him beaten and his powers fading.
Back at the Command Center, Zordon finds Tommy, apparently explained to the Rangers that Tommy was under Zedd's control off-screen, and the Rangers morph to go save him. Once they arrive, they all pretty much get wrecked by Robogoat and the Sword of Power. Robogoat then creates a fissure that traps the Rangers, save Jason. Jason pulls out his Power Sword (not to be confused with the Sword of Power) and engages in an epic sword fight with Robogoat. Well, not epic, but better than expected. Jason eventually knocks the Sword of Power out of Robogoat's hands, allowing it to be teleported to the Command Center. They fight for a bit more and Jason somehow gets Robogoat to release the others, who were suddenly sealed in Robogoat's body. I dunno, let's just go with it.
Zedd makes Robogoat grow, so the Rangers summon the ThunderZords and from the Thunder MegaZord. Another awkward and choppy fight begins, one part being the Thunder MegaZord pulling out the Thunder Saber...only for Robogoat to stare at the original MegaZord's Power Sword. Wow, nicely done there. The Robogoat gets the upper hand and starts electrocuting the Thunder MegaZord. Because he can do that. Guess that's where the "Robo" part comes in. Tommy, low on power, tries to summon the DragonZord to help them out, but it doesn't work. The Rangers recover anyway and finish off the monster. Man, that's gotta be pretty demoralizing for Tommy.
Back on the moon, Zedd berates the others for costing him his monster and the Sword of Power. However, all is not lost. They did cause the Green Ranger to waste a good portion of his power, which Zedd plans to take advantage of. Back at the school, Tommy talks to Kim and Jason about how his time is running out, and how his nightmare is slowly coming true. They try to reassure him that he'll come back from this like before, but Tommy isn't convinced. The episode surprisingly ends on a low note, with Tommy realizing that Zedd will be purposely targeting him from here on out.
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This one was...OK, I guess. It has its faults, like the flimsy MacGuffin Sword and the weak monster. This works better as an introduction to a subplot. Tommy's powers are almost gone and he knows it, and like he said, Zedd plans to take advantage of that. We'll see that over the next few episodes (and it does make The Power Stealer make a bit more sense. Not by much, but a bit). I have to give credit for the ending of this episode, at the very least. It doesn't end with the usual group laughter, everything's gonna be OK ending like it usually does. It ends on a depressing note, and it actually seems foreboding. Like the kids know it's only a matter of time before Tommy's gone for good. That's ballsy, and I have to give Saban credit for that. This episode's more important than it is good, so watch it if you feel you have to, but otherwise, skip it.
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I still don't get it. Why does a goat monster based on some mythological creature get the name "ROBOgoat"?
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