Theory On What Would Have Happened If Tommy Gave Up In "Fighting Spirit"

[Agent Z182]

First a recap for those who are not familiar with this episode; in "Fighting Spirit" Tommy is put in a coma where he faces a mental battle against his past three Ranger identities (Zeo Ranger V, MMPR White Ranger and MMPR Green Ranger). The Green Ranger is the last opponent Tommy faces and despite being beaten refuses to surrender. The Green Ranger then reveals that this was all a test to show that Tommy was willing to live.

But what would have happened had Tommy surrendered? I'm thinking it would have been something like Illyria/Fred from Angel; Tommy's body would have become a host for the Green Ranger power (or whichever Ranger power defeated him and made him surrender) but Tommy would literally cease to exist. In his place would be a force for good, with none of the humanity the previous entity had.

My idea for this came from watching HOPR (yeah, yeah I know it's cliche as hell at this point) and what Linkara said about Tommy in his review of Dino Thunder; being a Ranger had consumed every single aspect of Tommy's life. In D.T four seemingly ordinary acquaintances of Tommy's ended up becoming antagonists at some point, with Tommy being forced to kill one of them. Hell, look at the Turbo movie where retiring from active Ranger duty wasn't enough to save Kim and Jason from the madness that came with having once wielded the Power. Or all the way back to Kat's introduction where she is brainwashed into acting as Rita's spy before becoming a Ranger. In a way it was like the forces of good and evil were playing tug of war with anyone remotely connected to Tommy. Is it any shock he was living in a cabin in the woods all by himself?

[VR Master]

He would have woken up but his powers would still be gone. Instead of the Black Gem being restored.

[Rangermanuel]

Well he would have transferred his powers to a worthy individual. Another thing, I did like the episode and it was a great moment for the original green ranger to shine once again. However, it would have been better if we saw the spirit of the Red Turbo Ranger.

[The Ghost Ranger]

^ Thing is, he passed those powers onto TJ, and so in his mind he felt "I am no longer the Red Turbo Ranger, I no longer have those powers." Green Zeo V and White were his main powers, the ones he had used longest, with Zeo v being one year, White and Green I think being both a year and a half? Plus Green was when he was evil, so he still might have had some guilt over it, hence why he could not truly defeat that form.

[Rangermanuel]

You do have a point since TJ is the one who finished the Turbo chapter of the PR legacy on Tommy's behalf to lose the powers when Divatox destroyed the Power Chamber.

[Adam White Tiger]

Doctor O would have died and Adam would have took his place. At least thats who I think should have took his place. Adam would have made more sense than Tommy from the beginning. Since Adam was smarter and a former Black Ranger.

[Rangermanuel]

I do have equal respect for them both as Green/Black Rangers.

[Omega Black]

Tommy would have died. Quitting wasn't an option. The DT team would have had a much harder time fighting Mesagog's forces by being a Ranger suit. Not to mention losing their mentor. It would have been twice as hard to best their enimies.

[Disney Ranger]

Disney would have never allowed Tommy to die. We can thank Disney that we even got the great episode. In true Disney fashion their was a true happy ending.... With Tommy conquering his fears and waking up to help his team.

[Captain Codfish]

Actually we can thank Doug , Ann, and Jackie. They really fought for the episode. I don't think Disney really cared. Since they didn't get the idea of advertising the old toys. Which is why doing a team up with them was a fight as well.

[Rangermanuel]

Tommy's journey as a ranger came full circle that season.