A Look At The Themes of "City At War"

[Cipher]

"Hey, who's this guy?" Long time browser, first time poster. I was glancing over a topic recently and something caught my eye enough to finally join and post. In a certain nameless thread, Tristan made this shocking (to me, anyway) assertion:

See I don't even think that. I think it would be better to drop the Shredder/Splinter relationship much later, and make it almost a surprise to Splinter, in a similar way to how it was done in the 2k3 series.

Why so shocking? Because the idea that Splinter trained the turtles to kill Oroku Saki was the basis for all of Mirage Vol. 1, and more importantly, the thematic cornerstone of City At War, the pinnacle of TMNT writing.

I took a mental trip back to that arc, it's themes, and now I'd like to lay them down for discussion. In the end, City At War says one thing: Honor is not worth the sacrifices it requires.

It's well established that the Foot Clan's in-fighting is the ultimate result of the Turtles killing Saki. That is, it began with Splinter's blood fued against Saki. The choice to send his students out to avenge Yoshi confirms Splinter's strong belief in honor. It his his duty to avenge his master, no matter the cost. This is the code by which he, and consequently the Turtles, have always lived.

Only when Leonardo sees the innocent victims of a street brawl in City At War, is this belief called into question. After retreating from a "maelstorm of violence," Leonardo ponders whether or not they should take action against the Foot. The other Turtles protest. They are, after all, bound by honor to continue the fight. Leonard retorts, "I know what I saw." An innocent killed, a victim of Splinter's code of honor.

The next few issues find the Turtles moping, and an admittedly unmotivated Leonardo. It's easy to attribute the behavior to their missing master and friends, but the real cause is nothing less than the fact that the Turtles are being forced to question their guiding principle for the first time. The climax of this inner turmoil comes from the Turtles' musings over Karai's proposal. Leonardo concludes that they have been fighting the Foot not out of righteousness, but because of Splinter's fued. He then says, and I love this line, "I would gladly die for Master Splinter. But I don't know if I can give him my life."

Just like that, the Turtle's code of honor is cast aside for one of survival and freedom. It's not worth the pain, they conclude. For the rest of the Mirage continuity, we see a subtly calmer group of Turtles. The stories from here on out seem to have less direction, but it should be noted that the same can (happily) be said of the characters themselves.

Meanwhile, Splinter goes through parallel trials. As he lays broken at the base of a silo, he struggles to maintain his code of honor, refusing to give into his survivalist instincts and eat the rats around him. Finally, he like his students, abandons this honor in favor of survival and, heeding the Rat King's advice, feeds on prey as he needs to. It is for this reason that he stumbled upon the silo in the first place, that he was unable to find enlightment: his ideals were misguided and obsolete.

Finally, in stark contrast to the Turtles and Splinter, we have Karai and the Foot Elite. The Elite, and this should be obvious, follow their twisted code of honor to their collective graves. Such obligation also costs Karai her daughter, and by the story's end she is still yet to learn her lesson. Giving herself no time to grieve, she states that honor and duty command her to return to Foot Headquaters and continue her leadership.

"Can't you change things?" asks a newly enlighted, vengeance-free Michaelangelo. Karai, lacking such growth, answers no.

So it is that the story ends with Donatello and Splinter training in a cave, grappling with the loss of their former principles.

City At War presents a turning point in the Turtles' lives. It remains the deepest TMNT story written, and by golly, it all hinges on Splinter's cold and calculated quest for vengeance.

Discuss my conclusions, the story arc, and your opinions on the less-than-perfect Mirage Splinter here.