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“Sword of Yurikawa”

Season 6, Episode 5 First US Airdate: October 10, 1992

Shredder, Splinter and exotic weapons collector Lafayette Le Drone vie for control of a mystical and powerful sword.

The sixth season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continues with “Sword of Yurikawa”. This is the first and only episode of the series credited to Marc Handler.

In the Lair, Leonardo is insistent on attempting to fix the team’s broken TV on his own, managing to electrocute himself in the process. He goes on to insist that he was doing everything right and had the correct knob. Splinter emerges and explains that he didn’t have the right attitude, nudging the antenna on top of the set to restore the picture.

April reports from the Japanese Embassy, where Ambassador Yurishima is presenting a series of historical artefacts. Among them is the Sword of Yurikawa, which Splinter is astonished to see on-screen. He explains that it used to belong to his own ninja master, and “has the amazing power of transformation – always changing, yet always the same.” Splinter orders the Turtles to guard the sword and ensure no-one tries to steal it; when they question the usefulness of this exercise, he admonishes them for not having “the true ninja spirit”. Reluctantly, the Turtles leave the Lair and head to the Embassy.

In the Technodrome, Krang goes right into the Scheme of the Day, demonstrating his Mind Bender Ray by having Rocksteady and Bebop perform a quick-fire series of basic instructions. Tomorrow, Krang explains, a truck convoy transporting a rare form of toxic waste will travel via the Tri-State Bridge. He intends to blow up the bridge and have the waste combine with the sludge of the harbour below. This will create an army of mud mutants that Krang will control using the Mind Bender.

Later, Krang insists the operation will require a “hands-on approach”, which leads to Shredder taunting the alien brain for not having any actual hands himself. Krang is flustered and whacks a control panel, causing April’s broadcast from the Japanese Embassy to appear on a view screen. Shredder is immediately smitten with the sword, forgetting about today’s villainous plot and taking a transport module to the city.

In a luxurious home, a man with a moustache and a French accent also sees April’s report. He explains to his cat that he needs the sword for his collection of rare and exotic weaponry. To obtain it, he selects a weapon from his existing arsenal: a ring that has unexpected “destructive power”, which he demonstrates by destroying a nearby bookcase.

The Turtles continue their journey to the Embassy on-foot, with Michaelangelo insisting on taking a break to get some pizza. Leonardo is adamant that they maintain their focus, but soon the whole team ends up acquiescing, chowing down as a mysterious ninja with oddly familiar eyes watches them from nearby. Later, the same ninja is seen breaking into the Embassy, taking the Sword of Yurikawa and replacing it with a dummy sword before leaving. More time passes, and another ninja in identical attire arrives, stealing one fake sword and leaving another in its place. Later still, a third ninja sneaks in and just takes the existing sword for himself.

By the time the Turtles reach the Japanese Embassy, the police are already present, with the craggy cop who we last saw as “Sergeant O’Flaherty” in “Zach and the Alien Invaders” requesting that an all-points bulletin be put out for the stolen sword. The Turtles are dismayed at having failed in the mission given to them and begin dreading the prospect of having to explain to Splinter how their pizza break led to the sword being stolen. Before they can come up with a plan to get it back, the team find themselves face to face with Ninja #1, who emerges from an alley wielding what we as viewers will recognise as the genuine Sword of Yurikawa. The blade catches fire and the mysterious ninja begins swinging it at the Turtles as the first act concludes.

Act two kicks off with the Turtles diving for cover, unable to get near the ninja and the flaming sword. The mysterious attacker eventually cuts down the awning from a nearby store, blanketing the Turtles before making his exit.

Shredder returns to the Technodrome in a ninja costume, revealing himself to be the third of the thieves that broke into the Embassy. He begins swinging his sword around in front of a disbelieving Krang and is eager to show off its powers of transformation, but the blade breaks off, flying across the room and narrowly missing Rocksteady and Bebop before crumbling. Incensed, Shreds takes his mutants to the surface to get the real sword despite the pleas of Krang, who points out that they’re running out of time to implement the original Scheme of the Day.

The Turtles arrive at Channel 6 and meet up with April, viewing CCTV footage of the break-in. They use computer records to determine that the (second) intruder was wearing The Maltese Ring, “an ancient hand-crafted weapon”. The ring is currently thought to be in the collection of Lafayette Le Drone, the moustachioed Frenchman seen earlier in the episode. The Turtles exit Channel 6 by diving out the window, lowering themselves to the ground via ropes. Watching from nearby are Shredder and his henchmen, who begin tracking their old enemies.

At the home of Lafayette Le Drone, the Turtles confront the weapons collector and demand that he gives the sword back. He responds by activating a series of booby traps including ping-pong balls and a spiked floor. Le Drone prepares to use the Sword of Yurikawa on a captive Donatello, but like Shredder finds that his blade crumbles upon use, confirming it to be a forgery. He escapes via a secret passage, re-emerging after the Turtles head off once more in search of the real sword. Shredder and The Boys then arrive to address Le Drone themselves. (The weapons collector apparently doesn’t know who Shreds is, which by this point in the series feels entirely implausible.) Through intimidation, Shredder convinces Le Drone that both parties should forge an alliance, with Shreds promising to give the collector the real sword once the Turtles have been defeated.

The Turtles are heading home once more, again attempting to figure out how to explain their failure to retrieve the sword to Splinter, when the ninja who attacked them earlier re-emerges. He uses the flaming sword to disarm the team, which is enough to convince them a different approach is needed. Leonardo asks the ninja nicely to hand over the sword. Against all odds, the mystery man does just that, before prompting Leo to attack him with it. Donatello helpfully explains that Leo must fight him, as to deny the request would “insult his ninja honour”. The sword heats up in Leonardo’s hands, forcing him to drop it, while the mystery ninja vanishes into the night.

Krang reaches Shredder to point out the trucks containing the toxic chemicals will soon be passing over the Tri-State Bridge. Shreds remains disinterested, his focus entirely on getting the sword. He soon spots the Turtles passing by with the ancient weapon, setting Rocksteady and Bebop on them. The team easily defeat the mutant duo, but things take an unexpected turn when Lafayette Le Drone emerges in a giant tank, ensnaring the green teens with a ball-and-chain. Shredder snatches the sword, before begrudgingly being reminded by Le Drone of their prior agreement.

The Turtles are tied to the Tri-State bridge by Rocksteady and Bebop as Krang again checks in. Shredder continues to crow about his sword, insistent that it will lead to world domination. By this point Krang is fed up with hearing about how terrific the sword is and only cares that the bridge will be destroyed on-cue one way or another.

Shredder turns the Sword of Yurikawa into a chainsaw and is about to use it to cut the girders that the Turtles are tied to when the weapon begins floating through the air, attempting to attack him. Le Drone picks up the sword, believing this to be a sign he was meant to wield it, but the weapon increases in size, slicing through the girders of the bridge as it chases him back to his tank. Now with only two supports holding the bridge in place, the situation has worsened for the Turtles.

Saving the day is the mystery ninja who the Turtles encountered earlier. He cuts the rope holding the team, allowing them to drop back onto the bridge. The ninja reveals himself to be Splinter – duh – who declares that while he dislikes deception, he had to go through all of this to test the “ninja spirit” of his pupils. While the Turtles chase off Rocksteady and Bebop, Shredder and Splinter do battle. Shreds soon decides to fight dirty, pulling out a laser blaster and explaining that “as our old sensei told us, in battle one must improvise”. Splinter counters by having the sword spin wildly, leaving the gun in pieces. Ultimately Shredder, too, retreats into Le Drone’s tank, but Splinter and the Turtles now face a bigger problem: the impending arrival of the trucks carrying the toxic waste, with the bridge now unable to support them. Splinter hurls the Sword of Yurikawa into the air and energy spirals encircle the bridge, restoring the supports and allowing the trucks to pass safely.

Splinter re-iterates his earlier remarks about the sword “always changing, yet always remaining the same”. When the Turtles point out that no-one else who tried was able to wield it successfully, he explains that it can only be used for good, and this is its true power. Later, in the Lair, the Turtles vow to take the sword back to the Embassy – without stopping for pizza this time.

It’s a shame that this will be Marc Handler’s only contribution to the series, as I really like the way he’s chosen to approach this story. While it initially seems like this is going to be another tale of the Turtles battling mutant slime monsters created by Krang, the same kind of thing we’ve seen countless times before, this turns out to be something of a welcome mis-direct, with Shredder’s fixation on the sword leading things down an entirely different path. What we end up with is a story with a lot of moving parts, and more complexity than we’re usually treated to. Granted, I don’t think anyone watching was under any illusions as to who the three ninjas were – they're clearly Splinter, Le Drone and Shredder, in that order – and I’m already on-record as not liking stories where Splinter messes with the Turtles by putting them through some sort of “test”, though he’s done far worse in the past than he does here. There is the small issue of the fact that he told the team it would be disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands, which contradicts what we learn about it at the end; presumably Splinter thought it was worth going through all this trouble just to teach the Turtles about the importance of having “ninja spirit”.

One of the aspects of this story that I particularly appreciate is that the Turtles are, to borrow a phrase from the 2012 show’s intro, “doing ninja things” throughout, beyond the simple of act of fighting bad guys: we see them emerge from the shadows to greet April at Channel 6 before making their exit again, then infiltrate the mansion of Lafayette Le Drone from different angles. These are themes I’d like to see more of as we enter the second half of the series. (Chronologically speaking we’re past the halfway point now, though in terms of the number of episodes left we’re almost into the last quarter.) Speaking of Le Drone, he works well here as a supporting villain to Shredder, though I don’t know how tolerable he’d be as a stand-alone bad guy. As is so often the case with new characters introduced by writers outside of the usual rotation, he won’t be used again, so it’s a particular pity that he didn’t even really get a proper come-uppance before being shown the door.

“Sword of Yurikawa” is easily the stand-out episode of the season thus far: we’ll see if TMNT can build on this momentum next time, with “Return of the Turtleoid”.

#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #TMNT #Ninja Turtles #1992 #Turtlethon #Sword of Yurikawka #The Sword of Yurikawa #TMNT 1987 #Lafayette Le Drone

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