Afterthoughts - Power Rangers Hyperforce: Episode 03

Power Rangers Hyperforce: Tuesdays at 6pm Pacific
on Hyper RPG

Afterthoughts:

Power Rangers Hyperforce - Episode 03

Episode 03 is over. Miss episode 02? Here you go.

First, some links for the cast.

Peter Sudarso - Marv, the Red Ranger

Andre Meadows - Eddie, the Blue Ranger

Meghan Camarena - Chloe, the Pink Ranger

Christina Vee - Vesper, the Black Ranger
Paul Shrier - Jack, the Yellow Ranger
Malika Lim - The Game Master

Hyper RPG Website

And like last time, if you'd like your art removed, shoot me a private message at Mighty Morphin Super Sentai.

Now, a little more info on the character mechanics of the system, since we had character cards shown on this episode.

Jack (+1 Intimidate)
Basic Attack - Strike, Sweep, Kick
Advanced (unmorphed) -
Ram Rush - A full speed body check that launches an enemy into air
Advanced (morphed) -
Ram Rage - A beszerker onslaught, costing 1energy, grants 2 attacks in one turn
Headbutt - Throw an enemy using the horns on his helmet

Vesper (+1 Tech)
Basic Attack - Strike, Sweep, Kick
Advanced (unmorphed) -
Triple Threat - A combination attack using all three basic moves, granting +1 damage, has 1 turn cooldown
Advanced (morphed) -
Cerberus Maul - A ground takedown
Hound of Hades - A ground pound, giving advantage over prone enemies

Chloe (+1 Stealth)
Basic Attack - Strike, Sweep, Kick
Advanced (unmorphed) -
Phoenix Burst - Creates distance from the target
Advanced (morphed) -
Eye of phoenix - A targeted one-finder attack
Hurricane Whirlwhind - A spinning sweep which knocks down all enemies within melee distance

Eddie (+1 Teamwork)
Basic Attack - Strike, Sweep, Kick
Advanced (unmorphed) -
Serpent Strike - A precise attack which stuns an enemy for 1 turn, has a 1 turn cooldown
Advanced (morphed) -
Python's ambush - Binds an enemy for 1 turn, deals 2 damage
Cobra HP - A barrage of targeted pressure point attacks, roll 2 attacks,  has a 1 turn cooldown

Marv (+1 Charisma)
Basic Attack - Strike, Sweep, Kick
Advanced (unmorphed) -
Lunging Strike - Grants a +1 attack if attacking from a hidden position
Advanced (morphed) -
Lion's Bite - A two handed open palm strike
Lion's Claw - A barrage of open hand slashes, roll 2 attacks, has a 1 turn cooldown

We don't know how these moves were chosen, if it is an open system and the moves are akin to Stunts in the FATE system, or if there is a more specific list to choose from. And the same with the +1 each character has, we don't know if each Ranger has all the stats, if the +1 is their only stat, if there is a preset list of stats, etc. Still things we don't know, but at least we know more than we did last week.

Spoilers!

Source: @tekitoumei

Another great episode for both individual character growth and great team moments. Eddie and Vesper in particular took the top spots this time around. Starting in dire straights made for a good start, and the villain bailing because they realized maybe the Rangers actually could stop him, made for a good resolution to the scene as well. The Montage was handled very well, and is where most of the character moments really stand out. The way Malika handled Sabrina/Scorpina was perfect, and in general, it her growth as a GM as been very apparent, getting notably better with each episode so far. So now, with the Rangers stuck in 1994, and Scorpina on her way to raid Ritas palace, next episode should prove to be another winner.

Now, if you'd like a summary of the episode, keep reading. If not, you can skip down to the next section.

Episode 03 opens with the Ranger's ship under attack as Jack is flat-lining in the med bay, their shields failing fast. The Rangers try stabilize Jack, finding a future defib device to try and bring him back. They manage to stabilize him as the ship continues to be attacked.

Eddie remembers time ships may have battle stations, and the Ranges man different stations to try and fight back. Marv tries to stay with Jack, but Alpha suggests he is needed to fight. The battle stations have a touch screen display, which doesn't show the target, but rather the effect. They realize the Alliance leader is firing blasts from the ground, and that Alpha had moved the ship out of the city into nearby mountains. Alpha says the ship is designed for ship to ship combat, not ship to person, so Vesper decides to take control of the ship and ram it into the Alliance leader.

The ship ends up getting damaged as Vesper tries to ram the baddie, but the ship ends up damaged instead. The Rangers then try to use the ship to teleport out, but the ships consoles are jammed.

Meanwhile, Alpha is still working on Jack, and he rejoins the waking world.

With the baddie now under the ship, Marv wants to just drop the ship on top of their foe, but the other Rangers stop him. Meanwhile, Jack morphs and gets a sit-rep from the others. Vesper wants to drop the ship as well, while Chloe suggests zords, which they don't have yet. Jack reminds them of some weapons they found earlier, a Vortex Blaster. The team exits and fires on the Alliance leader, wh had been creating a massive branching lightning network which blasts their ships engine while getting hit with the Ranger blast. The team then blasts at the villain again with the Vortex Blaster, but the baddie dodges the blast this time. Seemingly realizing he might lose, the baddie teleports away after threatening the team to not interfere any further.

Then the ship lurches as the damage from the engine causes an explosion. The primary damage seemed to have been to the hyper drive engine which allowed the ship to time jump.

The team is stuck in 1994.

The team finds a toolbox to make repairs, but have no parts to work with. Jack tells Marv he heard his apology, as Vesper and Chloe activate the ship's cloaking device. The Rangers then try and figure out what to do next, when Jack suggests to hide the time ship under Angel Grove Park lake, but the ship cannot be moved due to the damage.

Jack then wanted a burrito.

As they continue discuss what to do, Alpha says there is a strange energy on Jack and Marv  from the attack, and it appears to be magic, not technology. Alpha tries to scan the energy again, but it has faded. Jack suggests the baddie is a time traveller, even before he ever had a time ship. Alpha said the villain had an enormous energy reading. Alpha then reprimands the Rangers for their rash actions.

Jack wants Chloe to steal clothes for the Rangers, while the other Rangers explore the ship.

And then...

Alpha discloses a pocket dimension training. Marv and Chloe train with demons and rainbows.
Jack and Chloe bond over pancakes.
Eddie and Vesper bond over wrenches.
The kitchen explodes with food. Jack finds six brooms.
Eddie and Chloe discuss being time disturbances themselves.

Jack is sweeping while being bothered by their current situation with the Alliance. Creates a conspiracy wall. Jack says, "It's a trap!" and an alarm sounds with a time anomaly.

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And we're back.

The anomaly alert is still going off, and the Rangers learn Scorpina has disappeared from history. Vesper then reveals she made the team weapons, in part from scavenging parts off of Alpha.

Red - Lapetus Flame Gun/Claws
Blue - Oceanus Trident/Blades
Pink - Hyperion Scythe/Bow
Black -  Cerberus Three-bladed axe/disc
Yellow - Crius Hammer/Cannon

After looking over their weapons, the team heads to the library to try and find Scorpina.

In the library they find a woman named Sabrina reading "The Book of Five Rings." Eddie seemed to be smitten with her, while Marv made a fool of himself. The other Rangers think Eddie is being put under a spell. Marv tries to have Alpha scan Eddie, but is having difficulty. They continue to discuss things with Sabrina, and they learn she had been contacted by the Alliance Leader, but she turned him down.

Scorpina then says she will be the one to destroy the Rangers, and not Rita or Zedd. Then suddenly the library goes dark and the library doors bust open with a mighty gust of wind. Marv tries to get the library crowd to leave, but fails. Sabrina/Scorpina ignores the Rangers,and meets an apron clad rock monster at the door which is holding a hammer. Marv makes a little girl cry when he tries to get her to get her friends out of the building. Chloe then offers her candy and gets her to try to get people out of the library. Jack tries to convince the remaining people they're making a music video.

Meanwhile, Scorpina is speaking to the monster, Volcanos, discussing their need to get clay from Finster and then leave in a ship. Scorpina leaves, and is teleported away, leaving the monster. Marv tries to run after, running past Volcanos, but the monster starts causing chaos in the library. Meanwhile, Jack tries to get the last of the librarians out of the building.

Marv morphs and attacks Volcanos, but a book creature gets created in between the Red Ranger and the monster. Volcano then creates weird monsters from books and parts of the library. Marv attacks one of the library golems with a spinning claw strike, tearing through one of the them. Chloe then morphs to attack, but fails. Eddie morphs, and attacks, taking out some of the books. Jack morphs, attacking with his hammer, striking Volcanos directly. And lastly, Vesper morphs and attacks with her axe, however Volcanos creates another protective wall and more golems from the building contents in response.

Volcanos then sends the golems after the remaining librarians as the Rangers move to defend, using their new Ranger weapons to try and stop them. The Ranger start gaining the upper hand, and a frustrated monster rants about wanting to use Rita's magic clay, and tries to leave. Chloe cartwheels after the creature, kicking through the now closed doors, and sees the monster teleport before she can attack.

The Rangers regroup to try and determine their next course of actions, with Jack suggesting the Rangers find allies in 1994. Marv mentions perhaps trying to team up with Rita, since Scorpina is trying to steal from her, but Alpha and Jack suggest otherwise. The Rangers then go back to try and help clean up the library, and Marv reveals to Eddie he was once a Time Force Officer, Jack his partner, but was kicked off when Jack revealed his secret (a secret we weren't privy to, yet).

And the episode ends with the team working to clean up the library.

- Highlights -

Source: @regenesis0

* Jack starting the game with 50 energy.
* Eddie stumbling over his compliment to Vesper.
* "You just rolled a lot of dice!"
* Burritos.
* Magical dust.
* Alpha parts.
* Hugs.
* "Do not press it."

* Gonna need a montage!
* Everything rainbow.

* Skull Five.
* "GIVE ME A MINUTE!"
* Sprinkles everywhere.

* Poor attempt at double speak.
* Marv-splaining.
* Burrito looks.
* Girlfriend drama.
* "I am scary and very mad!"

* Pretty fly for a time guy.

* Marv bum rushing.

* "Screwy decimal system."
* Reading at a fundamental book club.

* Reading rainbow

- The Suspects -

Source: @AminArt90

So, this week we got a little more description of the big bad, and it sounded like he looked a lot like Don Armage from the Kyuranger sentai.

Of course, it could ultimately still be anyone under the robes and bandages, but based on the description of what was going on under the fist bandages the baddie was sporting, I'm still inclined to go with it being Zedd or Thrax for now. Especially with magic apparently being the baddie's jam. That said, any thing could have happened behind the scenes for any character to lead to this, and all we've seen could be a misdirection. There is nothing preventing the baddie from being a past Ranger who, in their time since being a Ranger, went through some serious stuff, resulting in their turning evil, for example.

- Wishful Thinking -

Source: @rangerriffs

 * David J. Fielding appearing as Zordon, by being a face on a computer interacting via Skype.

* Would love to see at least one instance of the Rangers (or the villain) creating a megazord from five completely unrelated zords pulled through time from five different seasons.

*  And finally, the last entry for this post...

CRISIS OF INFINITE HENDERSONS!

Source: @_Morphinominal_

From all across time, both allies and nuisances from the lives of various Ranger teams have been abducted. No one knows for sure why Flit, Boom, Norg, Phineas, and Mick have been stolen from their proper times, but stolen they've been. And now the Hyperforce Rangers must find them, save them, and get them all back home before time is forever altered. And it would be made all the more amazing if Kelson Henderson could actually be involved in some way.

Until next time, may the power protect you.