Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

Zordon's marketing team informed him that Zeo wasn't doing well so out with the old, in with the new.

The Turbo powers come from Eltar. Justin said this in the finale. I figured Zordon has an Eltarian team or something. Same people who designed the Thunderzords for him.

They overslept and missed their flight.

They got re-hired after Stone begged for his job back,

After a long discussion after blowing up the Machine Empire they realized they could never win and gave up. That's why Rita mocks Divatox for trying to fight the Rangers TWICE. They were retired from Ranger fighting/earth conquering.

Florida, I assume.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

On the quest to stop Divatox from unleashing the evil of her demonic fiancé, Maligore upon the universe. The power of the Zeo Crystal and the Zeo Zords are not strong enough to withstand this new evil, so Zordon and Alpha assist the Rangers in creating the new Turbo Powers.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

I just know I hate the gap. As a kid it really was a letdown when the series had really begun to build a somewhat strong sense of continuity, to just suddenly have this weird dimensional-shift in the PRU. I could handle it with the first film because it was outside of continuity, but dropping all those plots definitely weakened my opinion of Turbo when it aired.I felt as though I had missed something which was very aggravating as a serious fan.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

The original TAPRM movie script explained it somewhat: The Zeo powers wouldn't work in the nemesis triangle, so they had to create new Turbo powers to enter it. It's revealed that Zordon had been keeping Lerigo's key for sometime, so it's implied he based the Turbo powers on that (as they also use keys) and so didn't pull them out of no where (although of course, you get the issue of why he didn't use them during MMAR).

Then, after the mission was over, the Turbo powers were welded with the Rangers, so they couldn't use the Zeo powers any more (although, that would have caused issues for the cast change).

These explanations are weak, but they would have been better than nothing. It's too bad they cut them out.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

Earlier in production TAPRM was titled 'Race to the Volcano'. Even though the title was dropped, the plot still centres around the Rangers chasing after Divatox. Zeo might become stronger, but Turbo are faster.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

Scorpion Rain apparently happened, unexplained as it is. Here is what I have pieced together for my personal continuity.

-After spending years with Zack and Trini, then reconnecting with Billy and Tommy, Jason goes to Florida to visit Kim. When he returns to be with Emily, Kim comes with him.

-A modified (and smaller) Serpenterra is brought back once the Machine Empire is out of commission

-Rita & Zedd (with Serpenterra) were able to take 3 Zeo Rangers and all but one zord out of commission.

-Whatever Tommy did that rendered Serpenterra defeated (massive EMP?) was enough for Zedd & Rita to abandon it completely and flee.

-The Zeo crystals were sent to Eltar for safekeeping. The energy tubes in the back of the Power Chamber that replaced the MMPR display were in fact attempts at fixing/replacing/duplicating the Zeo powers. Those tubes are still linked to the crystals and energy is siphoned into the tubes.

-When it came time to search for Lerigot, Zordon sent Tommy and Kat to Africa as they were the only ones with fully functioning powers

-To go after Divatox and utilize the Ghost Galleon, it was actually easier and more expedient to duplicate the dimensional barrier breaching abilities of Lerigot's key with Eltar's turbo velocity technology. This necessitated creating keys to control the ship and compatible new zords.

-With the Zeo crystals still safe on Eltar serving as fuel, and the team having fully functioning powers and zords again, they just stayed with what they had.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

This. People can hate Amit as much as they want, but his hand was official and it waved the events of a joke-turned-fan-edit into reality.

Bulk and Skull can easily be chalked up to them screwing up in France somehow and Stone being forced to beg for the police department to let them back in. Now there's a fan film I would love to see.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

At the very least they power source is on Eltar. The speed technology needed to power the Ghost Galleon and push through the dimensional barrier was totally Eltarian and it was used to create powers based on human vehicules. That's why they were depowered when Dark Specter took Eltar in the season finale, why the Phantom Ranger came from Eltar with the new Zords and why Zordon created robot rangers that could yield the Turbo powers.

Seriously, the turbo power's origin is really not something that annoys me.

The only question left would be why they didn't go back to the zeo powers after the movie, but maybe the blue zeo crystal couldn't bond with Justin?

As far as I'm concerned, whatever doesn't end up on TV and is never refered to ever again isn't canon. I don't care what Amit says... the Jason character becoming a cocky solitary biker who had run-ins with the law is not canon.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

I think a more accurate way to say it would be "Events directly based on 'Scorpion Rain' happened", rather than "Scorpion Rain" itself. SR is still a fanfic/fanfilm with no official form released or approved by the rights holders, so it can't be a part of the canon on its own.

Think of it like those crime scene reconstructions they have on TruTV: You're not watching the actual crime, but that's what the actual crime looked like.

Except the events of SR are explicitly (if vaguely) referenced in the show itself, which can't be said for the stupid "run-ins with the law" backstory. A battle in which Lord Zedd was defeated and Serpentera was left heavily damaged on the moon? That reference, combined with Amit's direct admission that he was referring to SR, is what makes it part of the continuity, because at that point Amit is just clarifying what the characters already said rather than saying something entirely new by himself.

Re: The gap between Zeo and TAPRM - your headcanon?
 

I was specifically talking about Jason. Serpentera being left on the moon after a final fight with Lord Zedd is something that would make sense and would bridge the gap between Zeo and Turbo nicely.