[victory_angel]

The 2k3 incarnation of the Ninja Turtles had a number of episodes that do spark fan intrigue. One of the most heartbreaking episodes of that particular incarnation of TMNT is called “Same as it Never Was”.

For people who have not seen this episode, it is part of a story arc called the “Real World Arc” where the Turtles are attacked in their lair by a composite villain known as Ultimate Drako.

The Ninja/Dragon fusion proceeds to scatter each of the Turtles and Splinter across the time and space in his desire to achieve vengeance. And the world Donnie is sent to is the worst one of them all, because he is sent to a dystopian version of New York where Utrom Shredder has oppressively taken over the world. Leaving the surviving populace of Earth either cowering in fear or struggling as part of a dwindling resistance.

While here he encounters older and heavily scarred versions of his brothers, as well as an older version of April. Donnie helps organize his family into one last fight against the Shredder which ultimately leads to the Shredder’s defeat. But it also leads to Donnie witnessing the tragic deaths of his brothers as well.

Now you might ask, why Donnie was the one who witnessed this horrible future. Why not Raph or Mikey? And the answer to that is simply...reasons.

Now I could point out that it’s possible, Donnie’s world may have been punishment for interfering in the assassination attempt upon the Ultimate Daimyo and Leonardo. But I don’t think that was actually the case. While Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were punishable by association, they really were not the people that the Ultimate Dreko was interested in destroying. The only people he truly wanted to have vengeance on was Splinter and Leonardo.

Dreko wanted to kill Splinter because he didn’t take kindly to being defeated by the mutant rat at the Battle Nexus. While Ultimate Ninja wanted to hold the title of Earth's Greatest Warrior. A title that had previously belonged to the Shredder until he was defeated by Leonardo. As a result, he forcibly challenges Leo to a mortal dual. And much like Dreko, the Ultimate Ninja is also a sore loser about his defeat and attempts to gain victory dishonorably. So the more likely possibility is that Ultimate Dreko didn’t care where the other turtles were sent, just so long as they were out of the way and dealt with.

However the Same as it Never Was storyline has lead to various artwork,videos, and forum speculations, as well as fanfics that serve as aftermaths to the event. Fans have also done artwork and fics involving this plot line to demonstrate how it can translate with more current versions of the TMNT franchise. Even the last issue of the Turtles in Time Arc of the IDW comic can in a way be viewed as a play on this story.

While it is generally believed that this event is an alternate universe, there is also evidence in the 2k3 series itself to confirm that Same As It Never Was could have taken place and here is why.

The 2k3 incarnation there are two future verse stories. The first is of course Same as it Never Was, and the second is New York year 2105 which is shown in Fast Forward. Both of these contrasting futures have one thing in common, there is no specific timeline leading up to them.

With the Fast Forward story line, we know it’s 100 years in the future because they specifically say so. But Same as it Never was is more vague. Fans often believe that it’s set thirty years in the future because Mikey states that thirty years have passed, and that does seem like a plausible amount of time since we see older versions of April and Karai. However, what Mikey actually says is that Donnie has been missing for thirty years, not that it is specifically thirty years in the future itself.

We are also told some of the things that happened have happened for both futures. In Fast Forward it is revealed that April, Casey, and Donnie founded O’Neil Tech, a philanthropic tech company that helped make New York what it is. And Donnie is able to make various scientific breakthroughs and inventions, such as a new periodic table element called Donatellium for example.

Whereas in the Same as it Never Was story line, it is pointed out that Donnie vanished for unknown reasons thirty years prior to the episode. At some point the Turtles and Casey attempted to take on the Shredder and Casey killed as a result. And some point after that the lair is attacked by the Shredder and Splinter sacrifices himself so that his sons can escape. Following this Leo and Raph get into a huge fight and part ways.

If you really think about it, there are some moments that do strongly lead up to the the Same as it Never Was universe in the 2k3 series itself as well as its sequel story lines. Let’s start by looking at Fast Forward because there were some things about that incarnation that really caught my interest. First off, the Turtles in the mirage comics were shown living well into their hundreds during one span of the comic book. This can be taken as canon or non-canon by your way of seeing it. But all the same we can agree that the Turtles are able to live long lives. So wouldn’t it be possible for them to still be around by the year 2105. Perhaps...however there are also some hints that suggest that the foursome is no longer alive.

Such as for example, when Bishop sees they are in the future the first thing he says is “The Turtles...in this time? Impossible.”

Also on one episode title “the journal”, the Turtles come across the journal that April and Casey had written about their adventures with the Turtles. When they want to read it so they could learn what sort of things they did to help make that future what it was, Splinter advises against it. To which Cody agrees by stating that he does want to talk to them about the events that happen in the book. but if he lets them read it, their lives could be ruined when they are finally able to return to their time.

Interestingly enough, Cody doesn’t stop Starlee from informing Donatello that he would also a become founder of O’Neil tech. What really struck me as odd is that Donnie’s involvement with O’Neil tech is treated like an “In-House secret”. If it was common knowledge that Donnie was a founder, wouldn’t there be some dedications to him as well as April and Casey. Or how about Dunn since he’s acting as CEO until Cody is of age. Wouldn’t he realize that if Donatello met an unfortunate demise as a teenager, that he possibly could be a linchpin to O’Neil techs existence.

Maybe...then again being a mutant perhaps Donnie’s identity was kept only to a select and trusted few. But yet if that was the case, wouldn’t there still be record of a third founder that Dunn would have access to, even if the identity of said founder is that of a silent partner? After all, Darius Dunn wants O’Neil tech and it’s fortune for himself. If there was a secret founder, wouldn’t there be some entitlement to that founder and/or his descendants. And even if ‘The Jones family will’ didn’t say anything of the sort, Dunn could still have some reason to worry about the existence of another founder. This leaves only one other possibility, Donatello was labeled a founder post-mortem.

Some of the moments in Same as it Never Was that caught my interest is the moment where April sees Donnie for the first time in years. The first thing she says is “Master Splinter always said you would return someday.” Another is the moment where Raph and Leo encounter Donatello, because they both are very surprised and glad to see him. Whereas Mikey is quick to angrily accuse Donnie of abandoning them years ago. The final moment that caught my interest is that when Utrom Shredder is about to kill Donnie he says “Thirty years, and this is all you’ve got?!”.

Some of the things that suggest the possibility of Same as it Never will possibly take place, is the first episode of Back to the Sewers. In that episode the Turtles are returning home from the future, but are intercepted by Viral and taken to various points in history. One of the times she sends them is to a point that is close to their time, but still set some time in the future. Here they witness a street war between Utrom Shredder, Tengu Shredder, and a yet to be revealed version of the Shredder that would soon be dubbed the Cyber Shredder. The Turtles are then confronted by a man that is later introduced as Master Khan who claims that he destroyed the Turtles himself.

And during Good Genes, there is also point where Mikey is treating Donnie’s situation as though he is sick in bed with a cold which hints that he is in denial about what is happening to his brother.

In most incarnations of the Turtles, Donatello holds the strongest loyalty to his brothers and family. So having him leave without explanation would certainly be something that would be out of character. And even of he did have to leave without probable cause, he would still try to leave something or make certain his brothers were given a letter or a note or something as an explanation as to why he had to disappear.

And interestingly enough there is no actual aftermath or revisit to the Real World arc episodes. Instead the Turtles just arrive back at the lair to find Casey saying he had been looking for them for the past ten minutes to which the turtles respond that it’s good to be home. Now while it’s evident they would fill in their each other and their companions about what occurred. For Raph and Mikey, their experiences would be just that...experiences. Events that won’t leave a large amount of impact.