Forever Red

Forever Red is an episode of the television series Power Rangers: Wild Force, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Power Rangers saga. Wild Force was also the tenth incarnation of Power Ranger, and its Super Sentai equivalent, Gaoranger, was the 25th incarnation of the Super Sentai series. Hence, this episode is often compared to the Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai special, despite the fact that the two have little in common.

Forever Red, like Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai, reunited every previous Red Ranger (with the exception of Rocky DeSantos, who otherwise would have had to share the original Red Ranger costume). The ten Red Rangers featured, in order of appearance in Power Rangers continuity were:
 * Jason Lee Scott of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
 * Aurico of Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers
 * Tommy Oliver of Power Rangers: Zeo
 * Theodore Jay Jarvis Johnson of Power Rangers: Turbo
 * Andros of ''Power Rangers: In Space
 * Leo Corbett of ''Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy
 * Carter Grayson of Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue
 * Wesley Collins of ''Power Rangers: Time Force
 * Eric Myers of Power Rangers: Time Force
 * Cole Evans of Power Rangers: Wild Force

The inclusion of the Quantum Ranger from Time Force was controversial, as in the series he was considered a "sixth Ranger". However, Eric's inclusion was partially justified by Rocky's absence and by the fact that Wes and Eric effectively led the Silver Guardians together at the end of Time Force and during Reinforcements from the Future, an earlier crossover between Time Force and Wild Force. Since the series, many non-Red Rangers have been similarly termed Red Rangers, including Hunter Bradley (the Crimson Ranger) in Power Rangers: Ninja Storm and the various unnamed Red Rangers in S.P.D..

Other than the inclusion of the ten Red Rangers and the cameo appearance by the Wild Force regulars, there were a great many references to previous Power Rangers series, including:
 * Alpha 7, a new Alpha robot that had the voice of Alpha 5 (provided by Richard Steven Horvitz) and a body made up of pieces of both Alpha 6, and Alpha 5.
 * Astro Megaship Mark II, a new version of the main command center from Power Rangers: In Space. Similarly, a new version of the Lightning Cruiser (the red sports car belonging to the Red Turbo Ranger) was introduced.
 * The return of Bulk and Skull, the comedic pair from early Power Rangers, and two of the most popular non-Ranger characters in the series.
 * The return of the Machine Empire, the main enemies in Power Rangers: Zeo, with former Power Rangers Ranger actors Walter Emmanuel Jones, Archie Kao, and Catherine Sutherland providing some of the voices.
 * The return of Serpentera, the powerful zord operated by Lord Zedd in early Power Rangers.

Synopsis
Six years after the destruction of the Machine Empire, surviving members of the empire remain, seeking to destroy Earth (How they had survived Countdown to Destruction remains unclear). Tezzla, Gerrok, Steelon, and Automon (and many Cogs) are all that is left of the Empire, as well as General Venjix, their leader. They have recently learned that Earth's Moon is the resting place of Serpentera, a war machine created by Lord Zedd with the power to destroy a planet. Ever since Zedd's "death" in Countdown to Destruction, the location of Serpentera remained a mystery for many years. Venjix found it and began using Cog soldiers to dig it up, refitting it with a Neo Plutonium reactor to power it.

Andros, the Red Space Ranger, discovered Venjix and found out about his plan after following him for several years. Andros went to the moon to gather video evidence of their plans. He succeeded and sent the tape to Tommy Oliver, the Red Zeo Ranger. When Tommy learned of Venjix's plan, he asked Andros to gather all the current Red Rangers on Earth, Mirinoi, and Aquitar, and meet him at the NASADA space port on Earth. Although it was not explained how each Ranger would be contacted, many fans assume that Andros had contacted Carter, who in turn used governmental connections to track down Cole and the Silver Guardians. T.J. was easily available as he also served as Andros' second-in-command, while Aurico and Leo may have been contacted by Andros. However, Tommy contacted his former teammate and original Red Ranger Jason himself. However, Jason didn't give Tommy a definitive answer as to whether or not he would show up at all.

Cole, the current Red Ranger, was contacted by Carter as the Wild Force team were gathered at a park. Despite the other Wild Force Rangers wanting to help, Carter had stated that only Cole was needed. The two proceeded to NASADA's space port, where they meet up with Andros, T.J. and the Silver Guardians.

The Red Rangers gather at NASADA, where Tommy explains that he would be leading a team of Red Rangers. Jason pulls up to the group on a motorcycle, surprising Tommy somewhat. Jason explained that he didn't think the mission would feel right without the original Red Ranger. He then proceeded to rib Cole, "the new guy" of the group. Tommy, Jason, Wes, Eric, T.J., Carter, and Cole board the Astro Megaship Mark II, created specifically for this mission, and proceed to the moon. A new Alpha robot, Alpha 7, with Alpha 5's voice and demeanor, is on board as well. While en route, Andros informs Tommy that Aurico and Leo would be joining them shortly (since they had a long distance to travel from Aquitar and Mirinoi respectively) while Tommy further explained their mission to the other Rangers.



Venjix and his other generals prepare to board Serpentera, but they are then interrupted by the Rangers. Venjix sends Cogs to distract the eight Rangers while he and the others flee to Serpentera. The Rangers battle the Cogs unmorphed and easily defeat them. Eventually, Cole escapes the barrage of Cogs and chases the generals. Venjix fires at him, but Cole is rescued by Leo and Aurico on Leo's Jet Jammer. Then all the Rangers gather, morph with their respective morphing calls (except for Aurico, who never appeared demorphed), and battle the Generals. The Rangers destroy four of the five generals, leaving Venjix alone. Venjix then jumps into Serpentera and takes off. The Rangers fear they have failed, but Cole calls upon his Wild Force Rider to battle Venjix. Cole uses the rider to fly into Serpentera and destroy it from the inside. Both Venjix and Serpentera are destroyed.

Afterwards, the nine human Rangers part ways (there is no mention of how Aurico leaves the group), and Cole remarks how Tommy appeared to be the "greatest Ranger ever", with the other Rangers attempting to refute his claim.

Discontinuity
In all, Forever Red is considered one of the greatest Power Rangers episodes ever made. However, many parts of the episode have become controversial in fan discussion. Whereas some have cited them as inaccuracies, others merely point out that they can be explained away, and information regarding the issues was merely omitted from the episodes. The following are the most notable issues:


 * At the beginning of the episode, the moon is shown to have similar gravity to that of Earth and a breathable atmosphere, none of which is consistent with the real moon. The moon was previously depicted in the same way in the first episode of Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy.  It is possible that when Rita Repulsa conqured the moon in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, she terraformed the moon, giving it gravity and a breathable atmosphere so that she and her minions could function properly.
 * Kimberly is mentioned. Prior to Forever Red, the character has not been mentioned since her Dear John letter to Tommy in Power Rangers: Zeo's There's No Business Like Snow Business. However, her last appearance was in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
 * This episode reunites Bulk and Skull. How they were able to reunite is unclear, as Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy showed that Bulk was on Mirinoi while Skull remained on Earth.  It has not been established that there are any means of transporation from Mirinoi to Earth, but it is speculated that the wormhole used by the Galaxy Rangers to get to Earth is now being used by the Galactic Space Alliance as a means of transporation back to Earth and vice versa.  It was also disputed as how Bulk and Skull learned of Tommy's identity as a Power Ranger.
 * Jason and T.J. both lost their powers previously. Jason's power coin was destroyed by Rito Revolto (while in the possession of Rocky DeSantos) and T.J.'s powers were destroyed in the final battle between the Turbo Rangers and Divatox.  The episode did not explain how these powers were restored. But heard say there are cut scenes in Forever Red. That should explain how Jason and T.J. both got back their "Red" Ranger Powers.
 * Possible explanations for Jason's power restoration are, as follows: 1) It should be noted that Rito Revolto only destroyed the Thunderzords. The coins and morphers themselves were most likely just badly damaged as evidenced by the PRiS episode "Always a Chance" which featured Adam using a fractured Mastodon Power Coin.  2) Another possible explanation, one that reserves more merit, is The Sword of Light. This sword appeared to copy the powers of the orginal Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers at the time (Jason, Zack, and Trini respectively) to give them to their replacements. It's feasible that since this happened before the destruction of the Power Coins by Rito, Jason still has the original Tyrannosaurus Power Coin and Rocky's coin was mearly a copy. When Jason, Zack, and Trini left the Command Center, they were still morphed and therefore still held the Power Coins.
 * One possible explanation for T.J.'s power restoration is, as follows: In the PRiS episode entitled "True Blue to the Rescue", Justin's sentient vehicle companion Storm Blaster carried a spare morpher.  The possibility exists that Lightning Cruiser (T.J.'s car) also had one.
 * In this episode, the Rangers battle the Cogs using various forms of martial arts. Carter, however, just shoots the Cogs with his Rescue Blaster.  Many fans consider this to be a weak move for Carter, confirming him to be, in their opinion, the worst Red Ranger.  But some fans state that his actions are understandable, considering that he was a fireman before becoming a Ranger and has no martial arts background.  Many fans, however, credit Carter as the best sidearm user and finest strategist among the Red Rangers.
 * Many fans felt that Cole's use of the Wild Force Rider to destroy Serpentera was a deus ex machina of the episode. Serpentera had been shown to be a powerful war machine and "the greatest zord ever built" and the fact that a single Ranger could take it down was considered improbable.  However, some also claim that the Wild Force Rider, being a gift from Animus, considered to be a god, (as well as the disparity between Wild Force and Mighty Morphin '  powers) made it possible that a single Ranger could defeat Serpentera.  The general consensus, however, was that Serpentera's destruction was quickly written so as to finish the story.
 * The Machine Empire Generals in this episode are reused costumes from Saban's Big Bad Beetleborgs franchise. It is proven that the world of the Beetleborgs and the world of the Power Rangers are two different worlds.  But in the Power Rangers universe, there are Big Bad Beetleborgs comics.  It is theorized that the Generals were modeled after the characters of the Beetleborgs in the comics.  This expains such things as Venjix having powers not associated with the Shadow Borg (from which he is modeled), why Steelon (modeled from Dragon Borg) is missing his dragonfly wings on the headpiece and wields a weapon associated with the Blue Stinger Beetleborg.  The most likely explanation is that this is simply an Easter Egg for those who watched Beetleborgs.

Controversy
Due to the controversial nature of this episode and overanalyzation by fans, most message boards consider the subject "off limits." The subject of its inaccuracies has been "beaten to death." One particular website went as far to say that the points of controversy in Forever Red are unimportant compared to the enjoyment of the episode, and that the writers needed to bring all the Red Rangers together and did not have enough time to explain all the details of the episode. This however is not accepted by diehard fans due to the fact that they view the series as an art form. Most fans now come up with their own explanations. Western Super Sentai fans however, point out that the issue regarding the restoration of the several former red rangers ability to morph again stems from the fact that Saban made the ranger suits into "powers" rather than as "tools" like its Japanese counterpart. The episode is dubbed "The Forbidden Episode" due to the numerous questions surrounding it; in addition, the frequent permenent bans done to posters who bring up the episode in forums during that time.

Scorpion Rain
The fanfiction story Scorpion Rain, originally an elaborate hoax created ironically by Forever Red episode writer Amit Bhaumik and other Power Rangers fans (before Bhaumik was hired as a writer on Wild Force), was also a heavy influence on the overall story. In Scorpion Rain, allegedly a poor-quality five-part story that served as a bridge between the Power Rangers: Zeo finale and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, where the Zeo Rangers defeated Lord Zedd, Goldar, and the Machine Empire, along with the destruction of Serpentera, the most powerful evil zord at the time, at the cost of their Zeo Zords. Later revelations in the series would contradict many of the details in Scorpion Rain.

Because of Scorpion Rain being effectively created by a fan who later worked on Power Rangers, some have surmised that Scorpion Rain eventually became part of the Power Rangers continuity despite its vague story and notorious plotholes and contradiction. Supporting this claim was Bhaumik himself, in a statement to the Power Rangers fandom, that Scorpion Rain was considered to be canon as the episode was written. However, because of this, others have claimed that Forever Red, like many other teamup episodes, are not part of the Power Rangers canon.

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