 This article is about an episode in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
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The Green Candle is a two-part episode that makes up the thirty-fourth & thirty-fifth episodes of the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, featuring the brief departure of Tommy Oliver as the Green Ranger.
Synopsis[]
Tommy's powers are in danger of being reclaimed by Rita forever, thanks to the Green Candle, a candle formed from magic wax. When the candle melts completely, Tommy's powers will be infused into Rita's powerful magic forever. However, the Rangers are also busy fighting the Cyclops monster, a creature capable of turning into their Zords and duplicating their powers!
Plot[]
Part 1[]
Tommy and Zack practice martial arts together at the Angel Grove Juice Bar and then talk about an upcoming dance. Tommy says he is too scared to ask Kimberly out, but Zack convinces him to.
Meanwhile, Rita announces her next plan to conquer Earth. She plans to use the Green Candle, which, when burned out, will give the Green Ranger power to her. She sends a group of Putties to kidnap Tommy.
Tommy walks along the lake with Kimberly with the intention of asking her out. However, they are ambushed by Putties and Tommy is taken to Rita's Dark Dimension, where he faces Goldar. He explains that Tommy's connection to Zordon is cut off and when the Green Candle is burnt out, his powers will belong to Rita.
The other five Rangers arrive at the Command Center trying to devise a plan to rescue Tommy. Then the alarm goes off and on the Viewing Globe, they see the Dragonzord attacking Angel Grove. However, Zordon informs them that is not the real Dragonzord, but the Rangers have no choice; they must stop Rita and the monster.
In the Dark Dimension, Goldar traps Tommy to prevent him messing with the candle and leaves to attack the Rangers. After being overpowered, the Rangers call for their Megazord. They battle the Dragonzord imposter, but it is too strong even after they equip the Power Sword.
Meanwhile, Goldar returns to the Dark Dimension and battles Tommy. Both escape with the power of Goldar's sword. Tommy morphs and calls for the real Dragonzord with some difficulty as the Green Candle gradually weakens his powers. After being hit by the Dragonzord's tail, the monster reveals his true form, a Cyclops, and escapes right before he would have been cut down by the Power Sword.
Back at the Command Center, Alpha examines Tommy, then Zordon explains the situation to the Rangers. The wax that makes up the candle can retain a person's energy when touched. Tommy touched the candle while he worked for Rita, so once the candle goes out, so does his time as a Power Ranger.
Part 2[]
Zordon explains that someone must enter the Dark Dimension and retrieve the candle if they are to save Tommy's life and powers. Since he was the only other Ranger to enter the dimension, Jason decides to go. Alpha finds the doorway to the dimension and Billy creates a machine that can locate the molecular particles the Putties left behind when they kidnapped Tommy so Jason can enter the dimension. Tommy remains in the Command Center while the other Rangers head to the location.
Back at the Moon, Rita sends Cyclops down for another attack on Earth.
At the lake, the Rangers find the location and set up the device but are interrupted by Bulk and Skull, who claim that it is their property and order them to leave. They get into a scuffle that results in Bulk falling into a trash can that rolls downhill while Skull chases after him.
In the Command Center, the alarm goes off and on the Viewing Globe, Tommy and Alpha see Dragonzord Battle Mode attacking Angel Grove. Zordon says that is Cyclops again since the real Zords are on standby. Tommy convinces Zordon to let him battle Cyclops himself since the other Rangers are occupied.
He calls for the real Dragonzord, which attacks Cyclops, knocking him over and revealing his true form. He then morphs into the Megazord and exchanges hits with the Dragonzord. Tommy enters the Dragonzord for the first time and knocks down Cyclops. It briefly morphs into the Dragonzord in Battle Mode and the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord before it starts to get the better of Dragonzord.
Jason enters the Dark Dimension but gets into a battle with Goldar. Zordon then tells the other Rangers they must help Tommy. Zack enters the dimension and tells Jason they will have to come back later and help Tommy. Jason is reluctant to leave the candle, but Zack tells him that Tommy needs them. With a heavy heart, Jason leaves and the Rangers morph and call for the Dinozords, which become the Megazord. They then call for the Ultrazord and merge all three Zords together, destroying Cyclops for good.
By this time, the Green Candle has already burnt out. Back at the Command Center, Zordon explains that the only way to stop the transfer of power to Rita is for Tommy to give his powers to another Ranger. He chooses Jason, who gets the Dragon Dagger and shield. Tommy demorphs. Tommy tells Jason that he now has Tommy's powers and use them to defeat Rita Repulsa and Jason agrees.
Later, Tommy is practicing martial arts in the park when Kimberly pays a visit to check on him. They kiss and Tommy finally asks Kimberly if she would be his date for the upcoming dance. She accepts.
Cast[]
- Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (Mighty Morphin Red Ranger)
- Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger)
- Walter Jones as Zack Taylor (Mighty Morphin Black Ranger)
- Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Ann Hart (Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger)
- David Yost as Billy Cranston (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
- Jason Frank as Tommy Oliver (Mighty Morphin Green Ranger)
- Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
- Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
- Richard Genelle as Ernie
- Renee Griggs as Angela
- David Fielding as Zordon (face)
- Robert L. Manahan as Zordon (voice)
- Romy J. Sharf as Alpha 5
- Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice) (as Richard Wood)
- Machiko Soga as Rita Repulsa
- Barbara Goodson as Rita Repulsa (voice)
- Takashi Sakamoto as Goldar (Zyuranger Footage)
- Danny Wayne Stallcup as Goldar (American Footage)
- Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice) (as Ryan O'Flannigan)
- Takako Iiboshi as Finster
- Robert Axelrod as Finster (voice)
- Minoru Watanabe as Squatt
- Michael J. Sorich as Squatt (voice)
- Hideaki Kusaka as Baboo
- Dave Mallow as Baboo (voice) (as Colin Phillips)
- Richard Epcar as Cyclops (voice)
Errors[]
- In the Command Center scenes, the Green Ranger has a white holster instead of black.
- Despite changing voice actors from David Fielding to Bob Manahan, Fielding's voice is still kept for the intro and is not redone so the difference in the voice is noticeable. This error remains for the rest of Season 1.
- No explanation is given as to why Jason does not morph while attempting to get the candle, since it was established in Green With Evil, Part II that his Power Morpher would indeed work inside the Dark Dimension.
- In Part II, when Zack approaches Jason, Goldar is on the floor from two kicks from Jason but is suddenly standing upright when he says, "you missed your chance."
- In the shot before Zack reaches Jason, Goldar starts falling down and is then standing in the next shot before falling down again.
- When Cyclops jump kicks Dragonzord in Part II, unmorphed Burai can be seen in the cockpit.
- Despite being broad daylight at the time, when the Rangers call for the Ultrazord and then when they tell it to fire, the cockpit is much darker, and the colors are more washed out since this shot comes from the then-unaired Doomsday Part II.
Notes[]
- The original draft title for this episode was "Green Means Go!". [1]
- Part I contains many firsts:
- The first time that Bob Manahan voices Zordon. Although David Fielding's face would still be used for Zordon, Manahan replaces him as his voice actor from here up until the character is destroyed in Power Rangers in Space.
- The first use of Goldar's new voice, although Kerrigan Mahan still voices him.
- The first appearance of Alpha's new design.
- The first time that the Putty Patrollers have belts in U.S. footage whereas they had none before this episode.
- The first time that Goldar uses his fiery teleportation animation which would become his default teleportation from Season 2 onwards. Previous episodes had him vanish into thin air when leaving battle or leave off-screen.
- This episode was originally going to end Tommy's arc as the Green Ranger and he was going to be written out completely, but due to his popularity and requests to have him brought back, he was written back in after Doomsday and was given more time as the Green Ranger.
- An earlier script draft featured two alternate scenes that never made it into filming:
- Billy and Zack following a map to find the dimension to retrieve the Green Candle. Putties would have then shown up, with Zack holding them off while Billy continues to read the map.
- Tommy was going to sit in the Ultrazord cockpit with Jason, Kimberly, and Trini. Then, after the Cyclops was destroyed, Tommy would then hold his head in pain and forcefully teleport to the beach. Jason and the others show up and Jason sits down next to Tommy, who gives him both the Dragon Shield and the Dragon Dagger, before demorphing shortly.
- Zack explained to Jason "If we don't get to him in time, he'll lose his life." This is the first reference Power Rangers makes to death aside from euphemisms like "destroy."
- This is the first appearance of the American-made Dragon Dagger prop, which is mirror-flipped to the original Zyuranger version.
- When Jason receives the Dragonzord Coin, he is given the Green Ranger's Dragon Shield and gold arm bands, but not the gold cuffs featured on his gloves and boots, which remain on Tommy's costume until it dematerializes.
- Part II is the first time that Tommy rides in the cockpit of the Dragonzord.
See Also[]
- Ep. 40: Burai's Departure of Death - Super Sentai counterpart in Zyuranger. See comparison page. (fight footage & story) (Part 1)
- Ep. 41: Blaze, Burai!! - Super Sentai counterpart in Zyuranger. See comparison page. (fight footage & story) (Part 1)
- Ep. 42: Burai Dies... - Super Sentai counterpart in Zyuranger. See comparison page. (fight footage & story) (Part 1 & 2)
External Links[]
- Watch The Green Candle, Part I on the official YouTube page
- Watch The Green Candle, Part II on the official YouTube page
References[]
Footnotes[]