Warning: This article contains spoilers for the comic Power Rangers Universe #3.
For a franchise that began in 1993 on Fox Kids and has been running for nearly 30 years, in the beginning no one really thought Power Rangers would be a hit. It was a disposable piece of entertainment, something to film as quickly as possible and move on. It’s no wonder that the earliest days of the show were filled with huge pieces of lore that were quickly cast aside. Power Rangers wasn’t some great epic that was being woven with care, the writers were just trying to explain the Japanese source footage as best they could.
Now though Power Rangers is a gigantic franchise with a comic by Boom Studios that delights in expanding on these forgotten pieces of lore. One such bit of lore that was just brought back for the Power Rangers Universe comic is the Sword of Power, a weapon that was first introduced all the way back in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2.
The Sword of Power’s only appearance was in the episode ‘The Green Dream,’ in which the evil Lord Zedd planned to steal the sword from the Power Rangers. Oddly the sword was treated as if it had already been established, with Zedd aware of its existence and knowing that it could only be summoned, “when all of the Power Rangers are united together.”
The Rangers were also aware of the sword, Tommy stating that the sword could give him “an extra boost of power” that would sustain him through a battle. The Rangers summoned the sword by putting their hands together and all shouting, “SWORD OF POWER!”
Zedd was able to steal the sword and give it to the monster Robogoat, which used it to attack the Rangers. Robogoat claimed the sword could be used to steal Tommy’s powers, though this may have actually been a reference to Robogoat simply using the sword to deplete Tommy’s then diminishing powers. Red Ranger Jason managed to knock the sword out of Robogoat’s hand and it disappeared. Jason told Robogoat that Zordon teleported the sword back to the Commander Center, “where it belongs.” The sword was never mentioned again after this fight.
Now, almost thirty years later, the sword appeared in the comic Power Rangers Universe #3. This limited mini-series, set in the distant past, follows a group of six Morphin Master teens (if you want more explanation on the Morphin Masters we’ve got you covered) holding off Dark Specter’s forces. The teens are able to tap into the Morphin Grid and take on the forms of Rangers throughout time, including the MMPR Rangers. The Ranger forms are unstable though, with the teens shifting between power sets.
The third issue has Telosi, the teen utilizing green Morphin Grid energy, charge towards a monster and, shifting into the Green MMPR Ranger, calls out, “SWORD. OF. POWER.” A sword appears in his hands and he destroys the monster.
On the surface this all makes sense. In ‘The Green Dream’ the Rangers all needed to be together to summon the sword and while in Power Rangers Universe they all don’t call out for it they are together which would allow Telosi to summon it. The sword is also shown to have a great deal of power, which tracks with its TV appearance.
However, while the comic calls it the Sword of Power it’s drawn to resemble the Sword of Darkness. For those that need a refresher, the Sword of Darkness was first seen in the famous ‘Green With Evil’ mini-series that introduced Tommy to the show. The Sword of Darkness was explained to have been taken from a soldier of Zordon thousands of years ago and given to Rita. The sword had the power to keep Tommy under Rita’s evil spell, as long as it wasn’t destroyed. That’s exactly what happened though, Jason shooting the sword with his blaster and it disintegrated in front of Tommy.
So what does this have to do with the Sword of Power? In the TV show there was no connection between the two swords. This would make the choice of drawing the Sword of Power to resemble the Sword of Darkness in the comic a possible error on Boom’s part. (Especially since the two swords look very different. The Sword of Darkness has has noticeable curves on its blade while the Sword of Power Rangers is straight.) It’s an understandable one however, considering the TV series couldn’t quite keep its terms for both the Sword of Darkness and the Sword of Power straight.
In the final part of ‘Green With Evil,” after the Sword of Darkness is destroyed, Black Ranger Zack triumphantly tells Jason, “you destroyed the Power Sword!” The sword Jason destroyed clearly was the Sword of Darkness so the writers must have mixed it up with Jason’s personal weapon, named the Power Sword, and no one corrected it. Even in the Power Rangers Dino Thunder clip show, ‘Legacy of Power,’ Tommy calls the Sword of Darkness, “the Power Sword.”
‘The Green Dream’ keeps the name of the Sword of Power consistent but the “Today on Power Rangers” segment that preceded the episode stated that Zedd’s plan was “to capture Tommy and steal the Sword of Darkness.” This was probably an error caused by the “Today on Power Rangers” segment being recorded early and based on an early script.
The Hexagon Script Archive has a copy of this, which gives an origin for the Sword of Power. In the script, villain Goldar states that the Sword of Power was once known, “as the Sword of Darkness.” Zedd further elaborates that after Rita’s plan to turn Tommy evil failed, “the Power Rangers gained possession of it and turned its energy to good.” This is a blatant contradiction of what we saw and heard in the final part of ‘Green With Evil,’ which is odd since writer Stewart St. John, who wrote ‘The Green Dream,’ also co-wrote the final part of ‘Green With Evil’ with Gary Glasberg. Perhaps Stewart St. John was thinking of the early draft script of ‘Green With Evil’ where the Sword of Darkness is written out with the description, “DISAPPEARS in an incredible video EFFECT.” Whatever the case, none of these early scripted bits made it onto the show and thus aren’t canon. They are mentioned on the fan wiki, RangerWiki, and perhaps this caused some confusion behind the scenes on the comic.
A way to explain away the error of the comic though may simply be that while Telosi’s morphin energy was cycling through various Green Rangers, the sword itself was also shifting. Just before the page where the Sword of Power was seen Telosi was in the form of the SPD Green Ranger, wielding the Deltamax Striker weapon in its blade form. If the weapon shifted along with Telosi’s Ranger form this could help explain why, despite him calling out the Sword of Power, it would resemble the Sword of Darkness.
There are still three more issues of Power Rangers Universe to go so maybe we’ll see more of the Sword of Power as it goes. Whatever happens, Boom Studios bringing back the Sword of Power has finally reintroduced one of Power Rangers’ most tantalizing bits of early lore. Hopefully they’ll give it the attention its always deserved.