#tmnt analysis

On the implications of the cancellation of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TOTTMNT), the difficulties in reviving Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (ROTTMNT), and the uncertain future of the franchise.

TMNT is a franchise that burst onto the market without asking for permission: a self-published comic blending absurd and outrageous ideas, many of which were trendy at the time. No one expected it to become a cultural phenomenon.

Those familiar with the history of the Ninja Turtles know that, despite its undeniable successes, the franchise has also faced moments of uncertainty, when its survival was in doubt. And yet, it has endured. It has given us distinct and interesting versions, each contributing something unique to the turtles’ universe.

Ohh, we're FINALLY jumping into the juicy plots of this show!

I love Leo and Raph's dynamic. Both of them want to lead. Leo seeks external validation from his brothers since he doesn't have the internal validation that he needs to truly become a leader, so he acts impulsively and clashes with Raph, who does have the glory of being a leader, but is stuck with insecurities within, mainly due to the fact that he not only has to respond to danger but also deal with taking care of his three little brothers.

The fact the fact the fact they put in the puppy dog effect sound in the guilt even more Michaelanglo has his ways of getting what he wants

As he says but then watches this embarrassing moment 😭

Bonus

He really can't say no or ingore his youngest in destress t's canon 🤣😅😭✨

Then there is Raphael just silently enjoying the moment lol

Extra Bonus yeah couldn't say no

Before I get into anything, lemme give you this clip as an example.

This is Donnie coming to a conclusion to how he felt about Karai when she was their enemy and screwed them over by leaving them to deal with her mess.

Donnie knows himself very well to come to a conclusion as strong as hatred about someone he barely knows. (Granted, there's a lot more factors to this moment.)

Donnie knows perfectly well that an enemy can't be trusted. Even in S2E18 when April tells them Karai means well and that she trusts her, Donnie only says he trusts April. Not Karai. Even though she is his long lost sister, he's not suddenly all in to trust her. Since she made it perfectly clear that they were enemies.

Not to mention the family is greatly divided on the idea of her joining them. Splinter wants her back but accepts that things might not ever be the way he wants them to turn out. Leo and potentially Mikey are the most willing to let her join them. And Raph is the most vocal about not trusting her or even wanting her back at all.

My two cents is that Donnie felt the same way as Raph, he just never voiced it because it meant too much to his father and oldest brother, and he didn't want to be harsh.

But despite his opinions, he still did what he could to help his sister.

At the very least, if all things went wrong, he had a brother to back him up.

To tell him it's okay to give up.

That it just wasn't worth it.

Raph would keep things real, the way he did when it came to his crush on April.

So let's get to Season 4 and apply my ideas.

Because of everything he's been through in Season 3, Donnie shouldn't really trust as much as he does in canon. He's been tortured one too many times for his own liking. And he's certainly not happy that Karai did most of it.

And then Earth is destroyed because they trusted an alien, trusted their ultimate enemy to help them fight said alien's species and everything went to shit. He saw his father die. His home planet is gone.

At this point, Donnie only has what's left of his family and they're the only ones he can trust in the Space Arc. He's only trusting of Fugitoid since he saved them and is helping them save Earth, and he eventually considers him part of the family.

Then comes Mona Lisa and Sal Commander, and their interaction goes very poorly.

They're hostile from the get-go. They beat them up pretty bad. They leave for dead in an avalanche. And all to get the same metal they need for their ships. (Bonus: It was MONA who suggested letting them die)

That's exactly what a lot of their Earth enemies do.

So with all those factors, the whole team has a perfectly good reason to not trust the Salamandrians. Donnie would be completely justified in disliking them.

Even with that truce they take to get off the planet, he wouldn't trust the aliens who attacked his family for a moment. Not even when they're helping each other out.

The family does it cause there's no other option.

But suddenly... Raph is acting... strangely.

He's enamored with this ferocious girl, who was so willing to kill them for the sake of honour.

For some reason, he's lowering his guard around her.

He's flustered.

He's suddenly forgetting about everything they want to do.

Forgetting about their goal to save Earth.

In case you forgot, this is exactly how Leo acted when he first met Karai. He was being an idiot, being all too willing to trust somebody they met as an enemy.

But Raph's case is so much worse. His puppy love is down right insulting. Especially to Donnie.

This was the brother who told him he had no shot with April. That Karai should never be trusted. And here he was acting he had just met the love of his life. Being a total hypocrite.

But every time Donnie looks at Mona, he feels nothing but contempt towards her. She tried to kill his family. He would never trust her. Their next meeting is thankfully brief and he doesn't have to look at her any longer than he has to.

Being in Space is showing him that being ruthless is what they need to survive, and whether he likes it or not, Donnie has to take lives alongside his family to save Earth. He's a ninja after all.

They're assassins.

And then... The Evil Of Dregg comes. And Mona is revealed to have sold them out. For her planet.

Just like that, everything in Donnie's body confirms that he was right. That Mona couldn't be trusted.

And he should've had his brother backing him up.

But Raph tells Mona, "I trusted you more than anyone in the galaxy."

...

She apologised but what good was that when it risked their planet? The lives back on Earth.

They have every reason to cut their ties.

Leave her to fight to give them time to flee.

The solution to the problem was right there.

And Raph forgives her. For betraying him.

In front of his family.

...

In all fairness, they have the same goals. Save their planets.

But they never had to risk anyone's life for it.

At this point, Donnie knows what this is.

A variable. A risk. A threat.

Raph is not being himself. He would never be like this. His big brother would never risk the lives of billions - their father - again. Look at what trusting Zog did.

It was repeating right before his eyes.

But Donnie's not gonna let that happen.

Like Raph told him before... if he wants to risk the fate of their world for a girl who was willing to backstab him, better leave Donnie out of it.

And there's only one way to deal with a threat like Mona.

So when everything on Dregg's planet is resolved, and they take care of the Scorpinoids... Mona turns her back to face Raph.

Donnie takes out his naginata and gets ready to strike.

One little detail I really love in the first episode of the 2012 series is this quick shot of Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello eating dinner. If the training sequence in the beginning wasn’t enough to establish their individual personalities, I feel this quick shot also shows it, solely based on how they are using their chopsticks:

Leo is using them in the proper manner much like his father. He’s also being very delicate with his food, slowly chewing, his back is straight, and overall just being a good boy at the dinner table.

Raph is just using his chopsticks to stab his meal. Notice how he’s the only one not properly holding them compared to his brothers. They are gripped tightly in his hands. He’s also hunched over on the table, even though he’s eating he looks aggressive.

We as a fandom have decided to appoint those two twins, that should be a big enough hint of how close Leo and Raph are but there's so much more.

It not just big moments and clear ones but subtle things too. And while I can form a whole list of minute, ignorable moments from 2012 series that show how close this version of these two brothers are, there's one specific line I want to talk about.

Something Raph said in Broken Foot and the intonation of his voice as he said it.

"Remember how I wanted to dress up as the Night Watcher vigilante and you talked me out of it?"

Here's the thing, in that particular episode, Leo messed up. And it wasn't the first time that had happened but notice how this time, a part him knew he wasn't doing the correct thing while a different part said the opposite. Leo wanted to go out and destroy Footbot factories with Karai and Shini, but he didn't want to hide his part. That teenage part also just wanted to let loose without a responsibility of his team pressing down. Leo doesn't have his personal friends in this series like his brothers do and this might be the one time he felt like he was both making a difference and hanging out with his own friends but diverging from the point.

What I wanted to point out was Raph's words and how he tried to convince Leo to stop doing what he was doing with a means completely different from how he used to in earlier seasons. There are times when Raphael is the only one in the family who has common sense and he tends to observe and notice things which others aren't ready to accept. If you remember, the last couple of times Leo had trusted Karai, Raph was angry and annoyed. He had yelled at Leo but this time, he spoke kindly, in an understanding manner. Instead of outright arguing or refuting him, he related to him. And tried to remind him why this was a bad idea without revealing both their inner thoughts and reasons to everyone present. If you notice these two in the bg of the series, they communicate in a unique way, through silent looks and gestures nobody else seems to be privy to and they do it almost every single episode. Leo and Raph just, get each other. And this is why whenever they argue, it's usually over each other's flaws. They know one another so well that they argue when they know the other is making a mistake and is too stubborn to see it.

Anyways, in that episode, this one line indicates how Raphael was literally the only one who both understood Leo and was actually sincere with him without making him guilt trip like Splinter and April or manipulating him like Karai.

Moreover, it hints to a moment not shown in the series itself which deepens their bond.

Remember what happened the last time a Raphael decided to vigilante as Night Watcher and Leo found out?

Yeah...

But that didn't happen with the 2012 version. Leo managed to talk Raph out of it and Raph remembers that fondly with an understanding of the recklessness of the idea; "Just saying. It sounds like something I would do."

There was no fight, no epic dramatic battle, no such moment where one of them almost killed the other. No, Leo talked the reckless, stubborn, usually unreasonably hotheaded Raph out of it. Just like that.

funny screencaps/lowkey analysis? below

But on my latest rewatch, I noticed something.

During the iconic battle in Exodus Part 2, Karai weilds his katana in her left hand. The way it's angled in the shot, it could go through his left or right shoulder.

I always thought it pierced his left, gouging out a chunk of scute on the back of his shell as it went through.

But when she stabs him, his sash and sheaths come off on the blade. If it had gone through his left shoulder, why would it have caught on the strap at all?

We don't see any immediate damage to his shell in the following shots. OK, maybe that's because the producers hadn't yet decided to give him any noticeable damage at that point.

But here's the thing:

Leo clutches his right shoulder when he gets back up.

And later, it's his right that is heavily bandaged. (yes, there's a thinner bandage going over his left shoulder, where the damage to his shell is later revealed to be).

Sidebar: All the others have bandages that line up with the wounds we saw them recieve - Don's right arm, Mikey's legs, Raph's ribs.

And in the start of S4, Leo continues to clutch his right shoulder when it hurts him.

But when the bandages finally come off, the damage to his shell is on his left.

So.

Did the blade go through at such an angle that it entered his right shoulder and exited out the top left of his shell?

Or was the damage to his shell caused by something else? Shrapnel from exploding the ship's core, perhaps?