BLAST FROM THE PAST

01PLOT

Down inside the Technodrome, Krang is arguing with Shredder about going to the surface. Shredder declares that he has a plan to turn Rocksteady and Bebop into unbeatable ninja warriors, and heads to the surface with an ancient scroll in hand.

Meanwhile Splinter and the Turtles are enjoying their success in martial arts and pizza-making, before settling down before the TV. April O'Neil reports from the Asian-American Cultural Center, where a burial urn for someone named Shibano-sama is on display. Splinter is immediately agitated by this news, and declares that they must get there before Shredder does. On the way, on foot, he informs them that Shredder must have taken the Foot Clan's sacred scrolls with him when he left Japan, and now he plans to use them to gain power. This is possible because Shibano-sama was the founder of the Foot Clan.

Shredder knocks out all five of them with a gas grenade, and summons Shibano-sama with an incantation from the scroll. The ghost of the ancient ninja appears, and Shredder beseeches him to make his minions invincible ninjas. He claims to be the true leader of the Foot, but is interrupted by the Turtles, who proclaim Splinter to be the true leader. Unfortunately, the gas had an unexpected side-effect: Splinter can't remember who he is.

Raphael volunteers to stay while the other Turtles take Splinter back home, hoping to find a way to restore his memory. Unfortunately, Raphael is immediately frozen by a beam of light from Shibano-sama.

Back at the lair, Leonardo gives his master a potion that will restore his memory, but the process will take awhile. To jog his memory, Leonardo begins telling Splinter his life story, and how he was once the head teacher of the Foot clan, how he was dishonored and driven out of Japan, how he lived in the sewers with rats and pet turtles, and how they were all mutated. Splinter asks what happened to Oroku Saki, and Donatello begins recounting how they met April, how their mutations were due to Shredder, the origins of Bebop and Rocksteady, and that Shredder and Oroku Saki are the same person.

Meanwhile, Shibano-sama orders Bebop and Rocksteady to attack a target: Raphael. The two mutants are infused with great ninja knowledge and capabilities, which they turn against the Turtle.

Splinter starts to remember, slowly asking more questions about what has happened. Leonardo is confident that if Splinter can remember who he is, he can easily prove his status as the Foot Clan's true leader, using something called the Kur-Li Maneuver. If Splinter does so, Shibano-sama will turn against Shredder.

Michelangelo takes his turn at story time, explaining to Splinter about Krang and Dimension X, his alliance with Shredder, the battle they fought against the newly-enlarged Krang, and how Splinter gave up his opportunity to be human again in order to save his students.

That last story finally returns all of Splinter's memories to him, and he immediately rushes off to the Cultural Center to prove his identity. He demonstrates the Kur-Li Maneuver (based on Three Stooges schtick) on Shredder, which brings Shibano-sama's wrath down on Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady. They flee back down underground, all superhuman abilities stripped away.

Splinter suggests that Shibano-sama return to his rest, and as the ghost fades away, it exhorts them to honor their master, remain virtuous... and "save the last slice of pizza for me!", which shocks them all.

02CAST & APPEARANCES

03OBJECTS, VEHICLES & PLACES

04SCREEN GRABS

9 frames. Screencaps via Turtlepedia (CC BY-SA).

05TRIVIA

• Features flashback clips from Season 1's "Turtle Tracks" "Enter the Shredder" and "Shredder & Splintered", all of which were animated by Toei Animation; the rest of this episode was animated by Murakami Wolf Dublin.
• Leonardo claims that Hamato Yoshi named himself Splinter, however in "Turtle Tracks" Splinter says the Turtles are the one who nicknamed him.
• The Foot Clan's secret move, the Kur-Li Maneuver, was a reference to Curly Howard of _The Three Stooges_.

06HOME MEDIA

07FAN REVIEW

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