Official Episode Discussion S5 Ep 01: Scroll of the Demodragon - Page 4

*THGhost* · 03-21-2017, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neatoman

So how long before virtually everyone calls Kavaxas Hothead?

I'm not calling him that.

*neatoman* · 03-21-2017, 10:34 AM

Well, I mean... Mikey called him that... Twice. How many of his nicknames haven't stuck?

Does anyone not in the Foot Clan still use Bradford, Xever, Jason, Steranko, Zeck, Vic, Antonio or Belebome to refer to those characters?

*IndigoErth* · 03-21-2017, 01:23 PM

Liked this ep pretty well. Kind of a refreshing start to the last season.

That twinge of sarcasm in that "yes master"... Tiger Claw is so screwed at the end of this arc. If Kavaxas doesn't turn on him (and perhaps drag him back to the underworld with him - and resurrected Shredder if it gets that far?) I'll be surprised.

I like the new opening theme, though the lack of lyrics feels odd.

I hope Splinter does appear to the others at some point. I'm almost a tiny bit surprised he hasn't shown up to Leo as human Yoshi. Since Tang Shen has technically met the Turtles once, I kind of wish Splinter/Yoshi would have reconnected with her and brought her along at some point.

TheJ-manTurtleMan · 03-21-2017, 01:44 PM

The J-Man TurtleMan's thoughts on this episode:
https://youtu.be/jEXmekn6fJE

*GoldMutant* · 03-25-2017, 03:14 PM

A continuous struggle for the Nick TMNT is trying to establish its season with the first episode. With the exception of the series' first two episodes, Rise of the Turtles, other episodes do not do their season justice and make the mark rather low or hit and miss personally. Chalk it up to bad writing for not enough interesting scenarios, but it seems to be the case. Mutation Situation had the series return to staus quo much more negatively in season 2. Within the Woods, while a guilty pleasure of mine due to my slight enjoyment of Friday the 13th, lacks anything engaging after Showdown. Beyond the Known Universe also suffered; despite crisp animation, its writing was rather questionable and didn't leave a strong impact for the space arc, let alone season 4. It took a few tries, and here we have the season 5 opener, Scroll of the Demodragon.

Scroll of the Demodragon may very well be one of the first episodes I've felt fully engaged in a longtime. After its cold opening, leaving me puzzled on the story as well as a brand new lively intro, it does its job right: establish what will happen for the season.

Outside doing its job as the first episode, it also includes throwbacks to older parts of the series, specifically the "in show." This season's is Space Heroes: The Next Generation, an obvious nod to Star Trek: The Next Generation. While the humor doesn't seem to hit as hard unlike the previous in shows, it is a nice way to finish off the series by returning to arguably its best "in show" cartoon. Poor Krenshaw Jr. though.

In terms of story, the episode is rather middling. Mysticism is a continuous presence in TMNT, but the execution here was not a strong start, especially with the cult members. Besides having generic designs and Hamato like robes, they feel out of place and a sudden switch in tone. Additionally, Leonardo, despite beheading Super Shredder, struggles against them. It feels very uncomfortable contending with these creatures for half the episode until Tiger Claw, now a cult leader, summons Kavaxas. This new villain, voiced by the legendary Mark Hamill, shows off his power but otherwise doesn't fully stand out as a character as of this time. As a threat though, he's dangerous, character wise not so much.

The comedy is also a bit of a mixed bag. Although I got a chuckle out of Casey calling Raphael his "sidekick" due to vocal performance, most of the other humor is too random. I'll bite on SH: TNG as it'll take getting used to, but the Furby type scouters are one of the strangest sights of the series. While humor isn't the episode's focus compared to its intensity, humor certainly wasn't its strong point.

Besides the new season, one would think that due to the deaths of Master Splinter and Shredder there'd be some focus. Owari had the brief funeral aspect, but there wasn't enough time given. I can understand that as the main point was the final stand against the Foot. However, this episode largely ignores the matter again. Leo yet again is the only one to mourn Splinter's demise by envisioning advice from him. Despite Donatello's approach to Leo, which could've led to a brother bonding moment, it feels cut away. Although one could argue the characters staring at Leo would be a way of approaching it, it's not fully clear.

Overall, Scroll of the Demodragon contains identical flaws to previous episodes: humor being a bit strange though subjective and not touching on the season finale as much, similarly to the previous openers. However, the intensity and visuals do signify big things to come of this season. It's not perfect by any means, but serves its purpose of setting up future episodes. Hopefully the rest of the season can balance everything in terms of characters to give everyone limelight and a conclusion as we near the series' end. My rating of this episode is 8 cultist scrolls out of 10.

*LeotheLateBloomer* · 03-26-2017, 08:33 AM

Pretty good episode!

I'm already liking Kavaxas as a villain.

Faster and Cheaper · 07-15-2017, 03:18 PM

Hey everyone, I mentioned in my intro thread if you haven't seen, so I'll keep it brief, I was an animator on this last season of TMNT. I got stories and some nice little info into the the episodes and other stuff in how things worked in the studio.

The biggest change from a behind the scenes perspective was that Bardel is responsible for all the episodes this season, as you guys may already know. It's one of the reasons I got on, since they needed to more or less double the size of the TMNT team for this season. We had 8 animation teams that are all named after the heroes and villains. This was a team Mikey episode, I sat by them but I was not on their team. They were a cool bunch, friendly people and very talented.

When I first saw this episode over a year ago all finished and it inspired me when I saw it done to really step up my animation game. Of course my lead and director and Nick's notes already do that but sometimes you need to see other people's work to see how you can improve. What they did with Kavaxas especially helped a lot, as he was a character I had a hard time with getting his style down and his rig was quite complicated, especially his wings.

View Poll Results: Holy demon dragons, Turtles!
Leo is in the Dojo talking to no one...not a good sign	10	29.41%
Leo: Donnie we'll need some upgrades. Casey: A couple of tanks would be nice.	6	17.65%
Dig that new opening...	13	38.24%
Who else cringed when Kavaxas said he wanted to eat April? Just me...ok then...	5	14.71%
Voters: 34. You may not vote on this poll

03-21-2017, 01:44 PM	#64
TheJ-manTurtleMan Stone Warrior Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Southern California Posts: 646	The J-Man TurtleMan's thoughts on this episode: https://youtu.be/jEXmekn6fJE __________________ Hey Man! It's The J-Man! "I love a little hot sauce on my pizza! I love a little hot sauce yes I dooo!"

03-25-2017, 03:14 PM	#65
GoldMutant Control Your Narrative Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: New England Posts: 1,763	A continuous struggle for the Nick TMNT is trying to establish its season with the first episode. With the exception of the series' first two episodes, Rise of the Turtles, other episodes do not do their season justice and make the mark rather low or hit and miss personally. Chalk it up to bad writing for not enough interesting scenarios, but it seems to be the case. Mutation Situation had the series return to staus quo much more negatively in season 2. Within the Woods, while a guilty pleasure of mine due to my slight enjoyment of Friday the 13th, lacks anything engaging after Showdown. Beyond the Known Universe also suffered; despite crisp animation, its writing was rather questionable and didn't leave a strong impact for the space arc, let alone season 4. It took a few tries, and here we have the season 5 opener, Scroll of the Demodragon. Scroll of the Demodragon may very well be one of the first episodes I've felt fully engaged in a longtime. After its cold opening, leaving me puzzled on the story as well as a brand new lively intro, it does its job right: establish what will happen for the season. Outside doing its job as the first episode, it also includes throwbacks to older parts of the series, specifically the "in show." This season's is Space Heroes: The Next Generation, an obvious nod to Star Trek: The Next Generation. While the humor doesn't seem to hit as hard unlike the previous in shows, it is a nice way to finish off the series by returning to arguably its best "in show" cartoon. Poor Krenshaw Jr. though. In terms of story, the episode is rather middling. Mysticism is a continuous presence in TMNT, but the execution here was not a strong start, especially with the cult members. Besides having generic designs and Hamato like robes, they feel out of place and a sudden switch in tone. Additionally, Leonardo, despite beheading Super Shredder, struggles against them. It feels very uncomfortable contending with these creatures for half the episode until Tiger Claw, now a cult leader, summons Kavaxas. This new villain, voiced by the legendary Mark Hamill, shows off his power but otherwise doesn't fully stand out as a character as of this time. As a threat though, he's dangerous, character wise not so much. The comedy is also a bit of a mixed bag. Although I got a chuckle out of Casey calling Raphael his "sidekick" due to vocal performance, most of the other humor is too random. I'll bite on SH: TNG as it'll take getting used to, but the Furby type scouters are one of the strangest sights of the series. While humor isn't the episode's focus compared to its intensity, humor certainly wasn't its strong point. Besides the new season, one would think that due to the deaths of Master Splinter and Shredder there'd be some focus. Owari had the brief funeral aspect, but there wasn't enough time given. I can understand that as the main point was the final stand against the Foot. However, this episode largely ignores the matter again. Leo yet again is the only one to mourn Splinter's demise by envisioning advice from him. Despite Donatello's approach to Leo, which could've led to a brother bonding moment, it feels cut away. Although one could argue the characters staring at Leo would be a way of approaching it, it's not fully clear. Overall, Scroll of the Demodragon contains identical flaws to previous episodes: humor being a bit strange though subjective and not touching on the season finale as much, similarly to the previous openers. However, the intensity and visuals do signify big things to come of this season. It's not perfect by any means, but serves its purpose of setting up future episodes. Hopefully the rest of the season can balance everything in terms of characters to give everyone limelight and a conclusion as we near the series' end. My rating of this episode is 8 cultist scrolls out of 10. __________________ Last edited by GoldMutant; 03-25-2017 at 03:23 PM.

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03-21-2017, 01:23 PM	#63
IndigoErth Team Blue Boy Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: U.S., East Coast Posts: 15,218	Liked this ep pretty well. Kind of a refreshing start to the last season. That twinge of sarcasm in that "yes master"... Tiger Claw is so screwed at the end of this arc. If Kavaxas doesn't turn on him (and perhaps drag him back to the underworld with him - and resurrected Shredder if it gets that far?) I'll be surprised. I like the new opening theme, though the lack of lyrics feels odd. I hope Splinter does appear to the others at some point. I'm almost a tiny bit surprised he hasn't shown up to Leo as human Yoshi. Since Tang Shen has technically met the Turtles once, I kind of wish Splinter/Yoshi would have reconnected with her and brought her along at some point.

03-26-2017, 08:33 AM	#66
LeotheLateBloomer Foot Elite Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 2,971	Pretty good episode! I'm already liking Kavaxas as a villain.

07-15-2017, 03:18 PM	#67
Faster and Cheaper Thug Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Vancouver Posts: 60	Hey everyone, I mentioned in my intro thread if you haven't seen, so I'll keep it brief, I was an animator on this last season of TMNT. I got stories and some nice little info into the the episodes and other stuff in how things worked in the studio. The biggest change from a behind the scenes perspective was that Bardel is responsible for all the episodes this season, as you guys may already know. It's one of the reasons I got on, since they needed to more or less double the size of the TMNT team for this season. We had 8 animation teams that are all named after the heroes and villains. This was a team Mikey episode, I sat by them but I was not on their team. They were a cool bunch, friendly people and very talented. When I first saw this episode over a year ago all finished and it inspired me when I saw it done to really step up my animation game. Of course my lead and director and Nick's notes already do that but sometimes you need to see other people's work to see how you can improve. What they did with Kavaxas especially helped a lot, as he was a character I had a hard time with getting his style down and his rig was quite complicated, especially his wings.