Master Vile and the Metallic Armor

"Zeddy, meet... Master Vile, my... father."

- Rita Repulsa

Master Vile and the Metallic Armor is the three-part episode in season 3 of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. It features the debut of Rita and Rito's father, Master Vile, as well as the debut of the Metallic Armor and the first appearance of the Zeo Crystal.

The 19th, 20th and 21st Zeo Serial Shorts aired before a later airing of each three parts.

Synopsis
Master Vile, the extremely powerful father of Rita Repulsa and Rito Revolto, arrives at the Moon Palace and takes command, determined to finally defeat the Rangers. He creates the energy-absorbing Globbor Monster who grows increasingly powerful with each transformation. To defeat this nearly unstoppable monster and super-strong Tengas, Zordon gives the teens the power of Metallic Armor, and charges them with the task of retrieving the ancient Zeo Crystal, before Vile destroys the entire planet.

Part 1
The Angel Grove Police Department has sponsored a horse-riding excursion for Nature Appreciation Week, and the Power Rangers are out with Lt. Stone, Bulk, and Skull on a ride. When the ground inexplicably starts shaking and darkness falls everywhere, the concerned Rangers teleport to the Command Center only to find everything completely offline, including Alpha 5 and Zordon. The Moon Palace is also rocked violently as a menacing creature in black robes appears in Lord Zedd's throne room. He is Master Vile, the ruler of the M51 Galaxy and father to Rita Repulsa and Rito Revolto.

As the Command Center comes back online, Zordon tells the Rangers of Master Vile and announces that as a precaution against his evil powers, a new Metallic Armor has been developed for their Power Ranger uniforms that will increase their strength, but is only to be used in dire emergencies. On the Viewing Globe, Kat then spots Lt. Stone looking for her and her friends. While he searches, Stone is anticipating a monster attack and has assigned Bulk and Skull to ride their horses and get help.

Up in the Moon Palace, Master Vile is not at all impressed with his new son-in-law Lord Zedd and is berating Rita for her choice in husbands ("You couldn't marry someone who had a skull?!"). Zedd argues that he still has Ninjor and the White Ninja Falconzord as his captives, but Rito fumbles the vase holding Ninjor and he escapes back to the Command Center. Vile is angry at Rito for his clumsiness, as Ninjor's presence is crucial for his master plan to obtain the Zeo Crystal. Zordon and Ninjor explain that the Zeo Crystal is an ancient relic of limitless power from the M51 Galaxy that was hidden beneath the Moon Palace in the Caves of Deception, and that a force-field prevents all but the pure of heart from taking it.

Rita jokes that Zedd's skinless appearance is a result of him trying to take the Zeo Crystal, but Vile is not dissuaded and takes Rito and Goldar to his Space Skull. He creates the monster Globbor to hunt Ninjor and drain his powers, then turn them against the Rangers and suck theirs away so that he can take the Crystal. In the meantime, he hands Zedd a sack of special bird-food for the Tenga Warriors that will boost their power. Once fed, the super-powered Tengas are sent out to pick on humans, starting with Bulk and Skull.

The Power Rangers morph into battle, but are no match for the Tengas and are forced to call Ninjor for help. When Ninjor arrives, Globbor jumps him and teleports away with him in his gooey claws. Faced with desperation, the Rangers activate their Metallic Armor and soon turn the tables on the Tengas. The emergency over, Zordon shows concern over the situation and makes a gamble of his own: one of the Rangers must go to the Caves of Deception, retrieve the Zeo Crystal, and destroy it. Tommy volunteers, but Kat insists on going with him as she knows how to distract Rita and Zedd.

While Tommy and Kat are on their mission, the other Rangers are sent to fight Globbor when he appears in Angel Grove as a giant. Billy installs a new remote-control device into the Shogun Megazord that allows the Rangers to operate both it and the Ninja Megazord in tandem, but Globbor starts draining the Shogun Megazord's power with long-range energy beams. In the Moon Palace, Kat approaches Rita and Zedd and declares that she wishes to rejoin the Evil Space Aliens.

Part 2
Globbor has drained the Shogun Megazord into non-functionality, and the Rangers regroup into the Ninja Megazord to continue the fight. Meanwhile, Kat is put in a device that is designed to drain all the good out of her and replace it with pure evil. Tommy can't bear to leave her alone, but Zordon forces Tommy to continue without Kat and get the Zeo Crystal, knowing that it will purge the evil out of her. When Zedd senses Tommy in the Moon Palace, he taunts Kat by saying that since Tommy was once evil himself (back in his days as the Green Ranger), the force-field will surely destroy him. Kat refuses to believe this, even as her inner goodness drains away.

Tommy enters the Caves of Deception, an apt name as the powers of the cave creates a variety of illusions to throw him off. He is first attacked by an illusion of Goldar, and illusions of his fellow Rangers, Rita and Kat, and even himself as the Green Ranger try to demoralize him, but the proud White Ranger refuses to succumb and continues deeper into the cave where the Zeo Crystal awaits. Ignoring more illusions of Master Vile and Kat, Tommy grabs the Zeo Crystal. The force-field activates and tears into him, and memories of all the evil acts he had performed flash through his head. However, his memories of all the good he had done for his friends since allows Tommy to withstand the force-field and take the Crystal. With its power, Tommy returns to Zedd's throne room, frees Kat from the machine, and takes back the White Ninja Falconzord from its birdcage as they all teleport away.

Back in Angel Grove, the Ninja Megazord is at low power due to Globbor. Just as it looks like the end, Tommy and Kat arrive in the Falconzord (which contains the Zeo Crystal) and join up with the rest of the Rangers to clobber Globbor in a Ninja Megafalconzord dive-punch. Amazingly, the monster survives and transforms into a cruel parody of Ninjor, allowing him to continue fighting with the powers he had stolen from the ninja master. The Shogun Megazord is brought in via remote-control to double-team Globbor, but Master Vile appears and tells the Rangers that every blow they make on the monster will hurt Ninjor. Unable to risk hurting their friend, the Rangers cannot stop Globbor from inflict critical damage on the Megazords and they are forced to abandon them.

Vile teleports the Zords out of the city and off of Earth, and Globbor is shrunken down to finish the Power Rangers off. Though their Metallic Armor offers some protection, it isn't enough to prevent their powers from getting drained. Using their last bit of power, the Rangers use the Armor to summon an energy wave to knock Globbor down, then teleport away.

Bulk and Skull finally arrive at the Juice Bar and find Ernie, but Master Vile and the Evil Space Aliens appear and sends them all into a panic. Now that Vile has won, he intends to celebrate by hosting the last party Earth will ever have before he destroys the planet.

Part 3
Zordon taps directly into the Morphing Grid to recharge the Rangers' powers, but they are still weary from Globbor's attack. At the Juice Bar, Master Vile's End Of The World Party is in full swing as the sun is eclipsed in darkness. Everybody in Angel Grove is forced into attendance alongside scores of monsters, and they are made to party like there's no tomorrow in every literal sense of the phrase.

Billy tracks down the vanished Megazords and Falconzord to a distant planet in the M51 Galaxy, where they sit rusted and motionless. With no guarantee that they'll have enough power to get back, the Rangers teleport across the galaxy to the Zords' resting place. Using their Blade Blasters, the Rangers carve away the rust and gain access to an emergency exit in the Ninja Megazord's big toe. The Zords suddenly activate as Master Vile summons the Zeo Crystal's power, causing them to fire devastating energy blasts at Earth. In order to break Vile's connection, the Rangers feed the energy of their Power Coins through the Crystal.

Lord Zedd reports to Vile that the Power Rangers have the Zords back and are returning to Earth, so Globbor is sent out again. This time, Globbor uses all the power it had absorbed from the Rangers and their Zords to become a multi-headed monstrosity, giving both Ninja and Shogun Megazords and the Falconzord a brutal beating. Alpha suddenly hits on the solution to the Globbor problem and uses the Command Center's power to end the solar eclipse. Exposed to sunlight, Globbor's stolen powers vanish from him, and Ninjor is able to free himself from Vile's captivity.

Furious, Master Vile enlarges himself to destroy the Rangers, while Ninjor arrives in Battle Mode to provide support. After destroying Globbor, the Rangers form the Shogun Megafalconzord and give Vile a piece of their mind. Defeated but not at all distraught, Vile retreats in his Space Skull and swears that the Power Rangers and Earth have not heard the last of him.

In the mountains, the Rangers summon the Metallic Armor to protect them as Tommy uses Saba to shatter the Zeo Crystal into five sub-crystals, which are all teleported through time and space so that Master Vile can never reassemble them. The crisis averted, they all head back to finish their horse-riding expedition.

Cast

 * Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (Mighty Morphin White Ranger)
 * Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos (Mighty Morphin Red Ranger)
 * Karan Ashley as Aisha Campbell (Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger)
 * Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park (Mighty Morphin Black Ranger)
 * David Yost as Billy Cranston (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger)
 * Catherine Sutherland as Katherine "Kat" Hillard (Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger)
 * Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
 * Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
 * Richard Genelle as Ernie
 * Gregg Bullock as Lt. Jerome Stone
 * David Fielding as Zordon (face)
 * Robert L. Manahan as Zordon (voice)
 * Donene Kistler as Alpha 5
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice)
 * Kim Strauss as Ninjor (voice)
 * Carla Perez as Rita Repulsa
 * Barbara Goodson as Rita Repulsa (voice)
 * Ed Neil as Lord Zedd
 * Robert Axelrod as Lord Zedd (voice)
 * Danny Wayne Stallcup as Goldar
 * Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice)
 * Bob Papenbrook as Rito Revolto (voice)
 * Michael J. Sorich as Squatt (voice)
 * Dave Mallow as Baboo (voice) (as Colin Phillips)
 * Simon Prescott as Master Vile (voice)
 * Eddie Frierson as Blue Globbor (voice)
 * Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (archive footage only)
 * Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (archive footage only)
 * Walter Jones as Zack Taylor (archive footage only)
 * Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Ann Hart (archive footage only)

Errors

 * In Part I, when Rito clumsily drops and shatters the vase containing Ninjor, the deluxe American Ninjor action figure can be seen briefly lying on the ground.
 * For some strange reason, Kimberly's voice can be heard when Adam fights.
 * In Part II, when Tommy reaches for the Zeo Crystal, his flashback of destroying the Command Center as the Green Ranger has Zordon saying, "No, Green Ranger, stop immediately! You mustn't do this! Stop!" However, during that event in "Green With Evil", Zordon originally said, "No, you must not do this! Alpha! Alpha 5, wake up! Alpha, you must warn the other Power Rangers! Tommy, stop, you don't know what you're doing!" This was due to Bob Manahan dubbing over David Fielding's voice and original dialogue.
 * In Part II, Katherine can briefly be seen in the Shogun Megazord cockpit.
 * In Part II, when the Rangers react to Ninjor getting hurt they are in the Shogun Megazord's cockpit instead of the Ninja Megazord's.
 * In Part II, after the Megazords are defeated Master Vile tells Globber to suck out their power only to teleport them away before the monster has a chance to.
 * In Part III when the Rangers used the Blade Blasters, they clearly say "Zyuranger" on them.
 * While Tommy and Katherine are still in the process of returning with the White Ninja Falconzord, an establishment shot from the ongoing battle against Globbor shows the Ninja MegaFalconzord standing there.
 * The Falconzord's cockpit in Part II has an unusual symbol on the back wall that does not appear again.
 * While the dialog mentioned that the Zeo Crystal was in the Ninja Megazord the prop giant foot appears to be of the Shogun Megazord.
 * When the Rangers combine their powers to sever Master Vile's link to the Zeo Crystal, quick zooming shots of their Morphers clearly show the original Dino Power Coins on their belts. Furthermore, Katherine had only ever used the Crane Power Coin, inherited from Kimberly.
 * In Part III, Dischordia is visibly present at Master Vile's End of the World party, seated by a table with the Invenusable Flytrap, even having a speaking role, despite not officially appearing until The Sound of Dischordia, when Vile essentially resurrects her.
 * Kat seems surprised at Rita and Zedd's revelation that Tommy used to be evil, but Tommy had revealed this to her a few episodes prior.
 * Aisha had on a black shirt, but in one shot of the beginning of Part I, her shirt was yellow.