Weekly Ranger Review: Dino Charge Episode 10, “The Royal Rangers”

Power Rangers Dino Charge continues, where Tyler and Shelby must pose as royalty to protect the Gold Energem in Episode 10, “The Royal Rangers”.

Synopsis

The episode begins with the announcement that the Treasures of Zandar will be arriving as a new attraction at the museum. Meanwhile, Kendall shows Tyler and Koda the new Dino Charger she developed that initiates a new Dino Drive Mode for use to power up the Megazord. Shelby tries to help her friend Julian get his art in the museum, but being a History Museum, Kendall refuses. Riley proceeds to inform everyone on the history of the country of Zandar and Sir Ivan, the knight.

Fury attacks once again with the Ptera Zord, transforming it into the Ptera Charge Megazord, but the Rangers are able to combat it with the Dino Charge Megazord Para-Stego Formation in conjunction with the new Dino Drive Mode. While unpacking the treasures of Zandar, the Gold Energem reveals itself to be the legendary Stone of Zandar. The Rangers air a fake commercial to lure Fury into a trap.

Tyler and Shelby, posed as the Prince and Princess of Zandar, open the exhibit at the museum. Fury falls for the trap to take the Gold Energem from Shelby, but it turns out to be an explosive that damages the Ptera Zord. A battle ensues on the ground between the Rangers and Fury. As the gold presence inside Fury tries to escape again, Tyler is unable to defeat Fury, fearing the soul inside Fury is actually his father.

Review

“The Royal Rangers” takes the focus off one particular character and brings everyone into the mix, pushing the Gold Energem plot right along as steadily as possible. Being a plot rich episode, there was certainly a lot going on as we move one step closer to learning Fury’s secrets.

As a plot driven episode, this one had a lot going on at a very rapid pace. The Gold Energem was a thing of mystery, that just happened to fall right onto the Rangers’ laps with the arrival of the Treasures of Zandar exhibit to Amber Beach. With the Gold Energem now found, the Rangers have to keep it out of the hands of Fury, or else the villain will be able to fully recharge the Ptera Charger and have full control over the Ptera Zord. With this in mind, the plot of Fury getting the Gold Energem, that Energem would have to be fake. It’s too important to allow the real one to be used in such a manner. Thankfully, that manner of suspense was pretty short, as the plan was revealed almost instantly.

I like what this means for the show, especially in regard to how things happened in Kyoryuger. Introducing the country of Zandar is pretty neat. With the Black Energem having been in New Zealand, and now the Gold Energem in the country of Zandar, it starts to hit home how global the world of Dino Charge actually is. I hope as time goes on, we learn more about the country and its history.

Unfortunately this leads me to my singular complaint about the episode. How remote is Zandar that the general public doesn’t know what the current Prince and Princess of the country look like? I understand not everyone is knowledgable on foreign affairs, but no one questioning this seems moderately odd to me. It’s not a major thing, but hey, it’s Power Rangers. The scene in general was a bit over the top, but again, humor in a kids’ show.

Julian is an odd character. He serves absolutely zero purpose to the overall narrative, at least in this episode alone. Shelby never mentioned him previously, and he just sort of popped up as Shelby’s sudden artist friend. The only real purpose he served here was to string along the incredibly simple “Princesses don’t have to be spoiled.” message Shelby’s actions were trying to portray by wanting to push along his career while she was posing as the Princess of Zandar. There’s speculation that he could be the Aqua Ranger, but given the Energem is already in possession of said Ranger that more than likely isn’t in the city (or I assume he would help), I don’t think it is him. We might not even see him again. His presence just seemed like a really odd inclusion that wasn’t necessary.

Fury’s ambition is pretty noble to a certain extent. All in efforts to gain power and prove himself to Sledge, he’s risking his own life every time he attempts to use the gold essence in his body to charge the Ptera Charger. It takes a lot of passion to risk exploding just to, in all essence, get “sempai” to notice me.

The mystery of who or what is in Fury is pushed even further in this episode as the show finally hints at the possibility that what is in Fury is Tyler’s Dad. This leading Tyler to have to make the choice of destroying Fury and risking the death of his father, or leaving the Ranger’s current worst enemy alive is a difficult one. The mental battle going on with the character on screen is very interesting to see.

Despite some flaws, nothing in this episode would be what I would classify as boring or not amusing. I love any episode that pushes the plot along, and this one did that in droves. The mysteries of Fury are right around the corner, and I can’t wait to see how Dino Charge spins the footage. I’m sure it will be golden.

VS. Kyoryuger

“The Royal Rangers” is an incredibly loose adaptation of Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger’s “Brave 09”. Like “When Logic Fails” before it, the Dino Charge adaptation took the base premise of the Kyoryuger episode and added it to their own original storyline.

In “Brave 09”, it is revealed that Pteragordon (Ptera Zord) was once the partner of Kyoryu Gold, a Kyoryuger active during Japan’s Sengoku Period. Dogold (Fury) attacks. After the Kyoryugers push forward, a chip of Dogold’s face is destroyed, revealing a human face underneath. Once Dogold has enough power, he transformers Pteragordon into Pteraidenoh (Ptera Charge Megazord). Kyoryuzin Parasagun Stegotchi (Dino Charge Megazord Para-Stego Formation) is overpowered, but able to defend the city and push Fury back. A battle ensues on the ground, with Kyoryu Red eventually taking down Dogold with the help of the Fang Shot, destroying the mask. The human inside Dogold is revealed to be Utsusemimaru, Kyoryu Gold.

As mentioned previously, “The Royal Rangers” takes a lot of plot elements from “Brave 09”. Both episodes mark the debut of the Ptera Zord’s Megazord mode, and the near destruction of the Dogold/Fury character. However, this episode marked the first appearance of the human form of Kyoryu Gold, while the Dino Charge Gold Ranger remains to be a mystery, and the identity of what lies inside Fury remains to be a mystery.

Both “The Royal Rangers” and “When Logic Fails”, while not the most fluid of episodes, were both incredibly enjoyable for both new viewers and those that have seen Kyoryuger. When the Dino Charge writers are able to take the base outline of the Kyoryuger episode, but combine it with their own original plot, it is really fun. With Dino Charge, you never really know what’s around the corner.

Next Week

Next week, the Rangers must protect the actual Prince of Zandar, as well as the Gold Energem in Episode 11, “Breakout”.