TMNT #86 Preview and Discussion

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

We know #100 isn't going to be the definite final arch. They're still planning a lot, and then there wouldn't have been much point in:

• Having Karai throw up her hands after constant disrespect in the Foot and make her own Ninja clan with blackjack and hookers
• Wait two years to bring Ch'rell into the picture with only vague words of what an absolute powerhouse he is (and looking at that suit, it's a wonder he followed Krang so loyally; one would think he'd be seeking absolute power with that thing!)
• Waiting 60+ issues to reveal Kitsune's plans with the Dragon Lord
• Still no word of who Null is working for and that's not going to be done in the next thirteen issues

But yeah, knowing the patterns IDW takes, that's actually a pretty likely concept.

Yeah I didn't really mean the finale of the entirety of IDW TMNT, just this 50 issue mega-arc, as someone else called it.

However, I'd definitely argue that we'll get payoff for both the Dragon King Pantheon storyline and the Karai thing in #100. The fact that Karai's appearing in the Leo Macro and everything else we've seen seems to imply that she's going to be a major player in the last arc. As for the Pantheon storyline, we're getting Shredder In Hell as a direct lead-up to the last arc. It's very easy to assume that it'll be directly tied to the Pantheon. You can see how things start to fit together.

If I had to give a wild guess (and I'm sorry about all of the theories, it's just that my account finally got approved after like a year and I'm hyped to share everything I had on my mind), the ending of Shredder in Hell will reveal that Kitsune sort of ditched Oroku Saki and set her eyes on Splinter as the new Dragon Lord for one reason or another. Unlike with Saki, however, she isn't molding him into a weapon because he already is one. The first half of the last arc will focus on purely the Foot Clan and then, at the end of that, the Pantheon, or at least Kitsune will make her move. Splinter will become the vessel for the Dragon Lord and the Shredder will become an uneasy ally of the Turtles and will get a bit of a redemption arc.

I'm not saying this is too likely to happen, nor that I necessarily think that this is the best thing that could happen, but I can see the story going in this direction.

Anyway, going back to the topic of the issue, I did enjoy it but the Turtles having a debate on whether they should go help out on Burnow Island felt forced and insignificant, really. Raph's and Mikey's reasoning just felt pretty weak. Plus, I really don't think Mikey should've been the one against helping the Utroms. He's always been the optimistically naive Turtle.

Overall, though, really loved seeing Ch'rell finally pop up. Can't wait to see him do something in the next issue!