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Mazes & Mutants
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV Series) episode
Mazes
Season Code: 215
Episode: 41
Guest stars Paul Reubens
Original airdate April 27, 2014
Written by Eugene Son
Supervising Producer Ant Ward
Producers: MacGregor Middleton
Directed by Michael Chang
Voice Direction Andrea Romano
Supervising Director  Ciro Nieli
Story Editor: Brandon Auman
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"The Manhattan Project, Part 2" "The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 2
October 12, 2013 - September 27, 2014
List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes

Episodes:

  1. The Mutation Situation
  2. Follow The Leader
  3. Invasion of the Squirrelanoids
  4. Mutagen Man Unleashed
  5. Mikey Gets Shellacne
  6. Target: April O'Neil
  7. Slash and Destroy
  8. The Kraang Conspiracy
  9. The Good, The Bad, and Casey Jones
  10. Fungus Humungous
  11. Metalhead Rewired
  12. Of Rats and Men
  13. The Manhattan Project, Part 1
  14. The Manhattan Project, Part 2
  15. Mazes & Mutants
  16. The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman
  17. Newtralized!
  18. The Wrath of Tiger Claw
  19. Pizza Face
  20. The Legend of the Kuro Kabuto
  21. Plan 10
  22. Vengeance is Mine
  23. A Chinatown Ghost Story
  24. Into Dimension X!
  25. The Invasion, Part 1
  26. The Invasion, Part 2

Season 1Season 2 - Season 3Season 4 - Season 5

"Mazes & Mutants" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the 2012 TV series and is the forty-first episode overall in the series. It first aired on April 27th, 2014.

Synopsis[]

The Turtles try to relax by playing a fantasy role-playing game, but when the game becomes real, they must learn the difference between fantasy and reality.

Characters[]

Major characters[]

Minor characters[]

Plot[]

Tired after the recent events of "The Manhattan Project", the turtle brothers take time to relax and play a new RPG game that they discovered in the sewers: Mazes & Mutants. While Raph is bored, the other three are having fun. Splinter senses something wicked. Little do they know they are being watched by a mysterious wizard who says their real game is about to begin...

Obsessed, Leo creates a live version of the Mazes and Mutants game, and everyone except Raph, who is reluctant to agree, dresses up in costumes and gets ready to play. Leonardo is the brave Knight, Donatello is the magical Wizard, Michelangelo is the cunning Elf (with a precious magic ring),and Raphael is the Dwarf Barbarian! Raph finds dressing up very stupid. 

However, when they face and slay a "tree troll" (thats just the foot ninja practice dummy with a monster mask), Leo is shocked to discover that the clue he had written has changed. The tunnels turn into real, live version of LARP gameplay, and the turtles meet the mutated sparrow wizard: Sir Malachi. He challenges the turtles to solve the puzzles and complete the quest, rescue Princess April O'Neil, and kill the fierce dragon guarding her. Monkey goblins (that look like Dr. Tyler Rockwell), lava pitfalls, and flaming boulders all stand in their path, which makes them all frustrated. While Leo tries to keep a cool head and figure out Sir Malachi's riddles, Raphael ends up upsetting the sparrow wizard and gets his head turned into a turkey as a result. Raph is very angry and starts gobbling. 

Finally, all obstacles passed, the turtles find themselves with the captive April, and forced to fight a monstrous fire breathing version of their friend Leatherhead. While fighting, Leo finally unravels the clues, and reveals to his brothers that everything they have seen has been just one big illusion. If they refuse to believe that anything is real, then Sir Malachi's powers will be gone. Unwilling to let the turtles go free, Sir Malachi attacks all their minds at once, and Leo, Don, and Mikey quickly break the hold. Raphael however, is harder to convince, and he struggles to disbelieve everything around him. He finally does, and all the illusions Sir Malachi created shatters, including Raph's turkey head. 

Surrounded now by angry turtles, Sir Malachi explains that his real name is Martin Milton, and he is a huge Mazes and Mutants fan. One night, mutagen rained down from the sky while he was feeding some birds on the roof, and he changed and transformed to become Sir Malachi, sparrow wizard. Going to the sewers to play a solo LARP, the newly named Sir Malachi, decided to secretly gift the turtles with Mazes and Mutants game, and became very pleased when they liked it. Having others to enjoy it with, Sir Malachi made the game come alive so he could no longer be a solo LARP-er. Feeling sorry for the poor sparrow, the turtles allow him to walk away with the promise to never force anyone to play the game again. Sir Malachi agrees, fist bumps Leo, and walks, his illusions following behind him. The turtles leave with Mikey trying to catch up, dropping his +1 Ring of Awesome.

Trivia[]

  • The episode's title is a reference to the infamous RPG movie Mazes and Monsters, which itself is a reference to Dungeons & Dragons.
  • The episode is similar to the movies Jumanji and Zathura: A Space Adventure, where everything in the board game comes to life.
  • The episode has many references from The Lord of the Rings, a 3 book series written by J.R.R. Tolkien, which include:
    • Mikey's creepy obsession towards the +1 Ring of Awesome has the same characteristic as Gollum who was obsessed with the One Ring.
    • Donnie's words, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" were said by the wizard Gandalf who faced the Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm and broke the Bridge.
    • Raphaels’ words, “I don’t do rings” is a reference to Raphael’s voice actor Sean Astin’s past as playing Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of The Rings film trilogy. Further in the episode, Raphael demands Michelangelo gives Raphael the ring, who becomes defensive so Raphael takes it by force and throws it, another reference to Samwise.
    • The tower of gold coins being protected by a dragon is a reference to The Hobbit.
    • Michelangelo’s words “It's the power of the ancient elves, dude” is a reference to the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings.
  • The location where the Turtles fight "Leatherhead the Dragon" is very similar to Smaug's lair in The Hobbit, where the protagonist encounters a big dragon as well.
  • Malachi's quote "Live long and LARP" is a reference to the Vulcan salute, which is "Live Long and Prosper".
  • Princess April's bubble prison and her crown are references to Princesa Daphne from the classic laserdisc game Dragon's Lair.[1] Also, the game's final boss Singe is a non-flying dragon, just like Leatherhead was in the episode.
  • The shape of Leo's helmet is the shape of Galactus' helmet from Marvel Comics, which design was made by Jack Kirby himself.
  • Raphael's helmet is based on Schwarzenegger's Conan in the 1982 Conan the Barbarian movie.
  • Sir Malachi does hand stunts with a crystal ball in a similar manner as the antagonist Jareth in the movie Labyrinth.[2]

Errors[]

  • When Leo was about to strike Leatherhead with his "magical" sword, the belt and straps around his body were gone.
  • Leo's voice sounds different when he says, "That...That can't be the real Leatherhead".

Gallery[]

Transcript[]

Mazes & Mutants/Transcript

Quotes[]

Michelangelo: "NO! YOU CAN'T! NO.. NO! NO!" [Die Clatters]
Michelangelo: "My +1 ring of awesome didn't save me." [Groans hoarsely] "Avenge me.. Ahh, avenge the beloved elf." [leans up against Raph, then get's pushed off] "Guh!"
Leonardo: "Relax, Mikey your elf is fine... For now..."
Raphael: [Groans in annoyance]
Leonardo: "But suddenly, your party is attacked by evil, vicious monkey goblins!"
Donatello & Michelangelo: "Huh!?"
Leonardo: [Looking at his brothers] "You have to roll a 2 or higher to avoid being bitten."
Donatello & Michelangelo:[roll the dices] "20!"
Raphael: [Rolls the die]  "1?"
Michelangelo: "CRI-TI-CAL FAIL, DUDE!"
Leonardo: "The monkey goblin bites. Raph loses... 11 hit points!"
Raphael: "11?! Give me that! I'm gonna use my magic sword +3 to strike."
[Splinter walks in opening the refrigerator revealing Ice Cream Kitty as she offers him a cheesesicle.]
Ice Cream Kitty: "Meow."
Splinter: "Hmm, what is all of this?"
Leonardo: "It's called Mazes & Mutants. We found it in the trash up top."


Princess: "You can fight against it, Dash! I believe in you to break free. Yes, I do! OH!!"


Donatello: Hey, I found something! *lifts up a scroll* 'Soon you will find yourself in a haze. Solve the riddles to beat the maze.'
Leonardo: *takes the clue from Donnie* That's not the clue I wrote down. (a thick haze suddenly surrounds them)
Michelangelo: The haze! Just like the rubber tree troll said.


Raphael: *cough* It smells. You've been eating asparagus again Mikey?


Leonardo: "Are we really in medieval times?"
Michelangelo: "Dude, I don't want to be stuck in the 1980s!"


Donatello: "Leo, I appreciate all the hard work you put into this bro, I really do. The craftsmanship is a thing of beauty. It's commendable! But, um, WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!!???"


Donatello: "Do these monkey goblins remind you of something or someone?"
Leonardo: "They almost look like..." (one monkey goblin bites his helmet) "...Rockwell."


Donatello: "Uh Raph. You.... Uh. You have the head of a turkey."
Mikey[laughing] "That is awesome. Gobble gobble, son! Like a turkey do!"
Raphael: [gobbling] What?!


Michelangelo: "Uh... refreshen my memory: was there some mention of a dragon?!" (a roar is heard as a reptilian tail is seen behind some gold coins. As the Turtles gather around, April is trying to search for the dragon. Suddenly, the dragon appears right behind her! It resembles Leatherhead)
April: "AH!"
"Leatherhead": "ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!"
Michelangelo: "Leatherhead?" ("Leatherhead" growls as he breathes fire)


Michelangelo: +1 Ring of Awesome, so shiny and beautiful, my magical source of power... My awesome... (creepy voice)


Donatello: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"


Leonardo: "We were in the sewers the whole time! What were you trying to do?!"
Sir Malachi: "I... I just... wanted to play. My name is Martin Milton. I used to be obsessed with Mazes & Mutants every hour, every day. All that changed the day I was feeding the birds on my roof. I donned fair cloak and wizardly hat to become Sir Malachi, the sparrow wizard. I went into the sewers to play a solo LARPing game of Mazes & Mutants when I accidentally found you. I made sure you found the game. I was so happy you liked it. So happy indeed. I just wanted people to play with."
Michelangelo: "Dude, solo LARP? That is so sad."
Donatello: "Aw, Malachi wasn't entirely that bad. He did leave us clues that everything was an illusion. It really was a game."
Leonardo: "You can go, Malachi. But you have to promise that you'll never force anyone to play with you ever again."
Sir Malachi: "Sounds faire-ith to me."


Videos[]

References[]

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