MAZES & MUTANTS

01PLOT

Tired after the recent events of "The Manhattan Project", the turtle brothers take time to relax and play a new RPG game that they discovered in the sewers: Mazes & Mutants. While Raph is bored, the other three are having fun. Splinter senses something wicked. Little do they know they are being watched by a mysterious wizard who says their real game is about to begin...

Obsessed, Leo creates a live version of the Mazes and Mutants game, and everyone except Raph, who is reluctant to agree, dresses up in costumes and gets ready to play. Leonardo is the brave Knight, Donatello is the magical Wizard, Michelangelo is the cunning Elf (with a precious magic ring), and Raphael is the Dwarf Barbarian! Raph finds dressing up very stupid.

However, when they face and slay a "tree troll" (thats just the foot ninja practice dummy with a monster mask), Leo is shocked to discover that the clue he had written has changed. The tunnels turn into real, live version of LARP gameplay, and the turtles meet the mutated sparrow wizard: Sir Malachi. He challenges the turtles to solve the puzzles and complete the quest, rescue Princess April O'Neil, and kill the fierce dragon guarding her. Monkey goblins (that look like Dr. Tyler Rockwell), lava pitfalls, and flaming boulders all stand in their path, which makes them all frustrated. While Leo tries to keep a cool head and figure out Sir Malachi's riddles, Raphael ends up upsetting the sparrow wizard and gets his head turned into a turkey as a result. Raph is very angry and starts gobbling.

Finally, all obstacles passed, the turtles find themselves with the captive April, and forced to fight a monstrous fire breathing version of their friend Leatherhead. While fighting, Leo finally unravels the clues, and reveals to his brothers that everything they have seen has been just one big illusion. If they refuse to believe that anything is real, then Sir Malachi's powers will be gone. Unwilling to let the turtles go free, Sir Malachi attacks all their minds at once, and Leo, Don, and Mikey quickly break the hold. Raphael however, is harder to convince, and he struggles to disbelieve everything around him. He finally does, and all the illusions Sir Malachi created shatters, including Raph's turkey head.

Surrounded now by angry turtles, Sir Malachi explains that his real name is Martin Milton, and he is a huge Mazes and Mutants fan. One night, mutagen rained down from the sky while he was feeding some birds on the roof, and he changed and transformed to become Sir Malachi, sparrow wizard. Going to the sewers to play a solo LARP, the newly named Sir Malachi, decided to secretly gift the turtles with Mazes and Mutants game, and became very pleased when they liked it. Having others to enjoy it with, Sir Malachi made the game come alive so he could no longer be a solo LARP-er. Feeling sorry for the poor sparrow, the turtles allow him to walk away with the promise to never force anyone to play the game again. Sir Malachi agrees, fist bumps Leo, and walks, his illusions following behind him. The turtles leave with Mikey trying to catch up, dropping his +1 Ring of Awesome.

02CAST & APPEARANCES

03SCREEN GRABS

4 frames. Auto-matched screencaps via Fancaps.net.

04MEMORABLE QUOTES

Princess: "You can fight against it, Dash! I believe in you to break free. Yes, I do! OH!!"

Donatello: Hey, I found something! \lifts up a scroll\ 'Soon you will find yourself in a haze. Solve the riddles to beat the maze.' Leonardo: \takes the clue from Donnie\ That's not the clue I wrote down. (a thick haze suddenly surrounds them) Michelangelo: The haze! Just like the rubber tree troll said.

Raphael: \cough\ It smells. You've been eating asparagus again Mikey?

Leonardo: "Are we really in medieval times?" Michelangelo: "Dude, I don't want to be stuck in the 1980s!"

Donatello: "Leo, I appreciate all the hard work you put into this bro, I really do. The craftsmanship is a thing of beauty. It's commendable! But, um, WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!!???"

Donatello: "Do these monkey goblins remind you of something or someone?" Leonardo: "They almost look like..." (one monkey goblin bites his helmet) "...Rockwell."

Donatello_:_ "Uh Raph. You.... Uh. You have the head of a turkey." _Mikey_: _[laughing]_ "That is awesome. Gobble gobble, son! Like a turkey do!" Raphael: [gobbling] What?!

Michelangelo: +1 Ring of Awesome, so shiny and beautiful, my magical source of power... My awesome... (creepy voice)

05NOTES & GOOFS

• When Leo was about to strike Leatherhead with his "magical" sword, the belt and straps around his body were gone.
• When Leo says, "That...That can't be the real Leatherhead", Dominic Catrambone’s voice can be heard.

06TRIVIA

• The episode's title is a reference to the infamous RPG movie _Mazes and Monsters_, which itself is a reference to _Dungeons & Dragons_.
• The episode is similar to the movies _Jumanji_ and _Zathura: A Space Adventure_, where everything in the board game comes to life.
• The episode has many references from J.R.R. Tolkien's _The Lord of the Rings_ series:
• Michelangelo's creepy obsession towards the +1 Ring of Awesome has the same characteristic as Gollum who was obsessed with the One Ring.
• Donatello's words, "_YOU SHALL NOT PASS!_" were said by the wizard Gandalf who faced the Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm and broke the Bridge.
• Raphael's words, “I don’t do rings” is a reference to his voice actor's role of Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson's _Lord of The Rings_ film trilogy. Further in the episode, Raphael demands Michelangelo gives Raphael the ring, who becomes defensive so Raphael takes it by force and throws it, another reference to Samwise.
• The tower of gold coins being protected by a dragon is a reference to Tolkien's first novel, _The Hobbit_.
• Michelangelo’s words “It's the power of the ancient elves, dude” is a reference to the One Ring.
• The location where the Turtles fight "Leatherhead the Dragon" is very similar to Smaug's lair in _The Hobbit_.
• Malachi's quote "Live long and LARP" is a reference to the Vulcan salute, which is "Live Long and Prosper".
• Princess April's bubble prison and her crown are references to Princess Daphne from the classic laserdisc game _Dragon's Lair_.[[1]](#cite_note-1) Also, the game's final boss Singe is a non-flying dragon, just like Leatherhead was in the episode.
• The shape of Leo's helmet is the shape of Galactus' helmet from Marvel Comics, which design was made by Jack Kirby himself.
• Raphael's helmet is based on Conan in the 1982 _Conan the Barbarian_ movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Sir Malachi does hand stunts with a crystal ball in a similar manner as the antagonist Jareth in the movie _Labyrinth_.[[2]](#cite_note-2)

07FAN REVIEW

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