In the latest issue of Mighty Morphin, the Zeo Crystal that powered up a generation of Power Rangers gets an updated and fleshed out origin story.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Mighty Morphin #8 by Ryan Parrott, Marco Renna, Walter Baiamonte, Katia Ranalli, Sara Antonellini and Ed Dukeshire, on sale now.
Life has never been more complicated for the Power Rangers. On Earth, the Mighty Morphin team have been split up in their hometown of Angel Grove, which has fallen to and embraced the forces of Lord Zedd. While the terrors at home unfold, the Omega Rangers are out among the cosmos doing anything they can to get an edge over the impending Empyreal threat. For all that is happening both home and abroad, the Power Rangers could use a helping hand. As luck would have it, one has been teased recently through glimpses of Zordon’s past, and the most recent issue has just given the Zeo Crystal a shocking new origin.
Over ten thousand years ago, the Bronze Guardian Zordon stumbled across the Bandora Palace with his partner Zartus. Inside of its walls they discovered a race of strange, alien beings who spoke in an incomprehensible language before presenting the Guardians of Eltar with the Zeo Crystal. Once Zophram, the Gold Guardian had arrived, the three of them began discussing exactly why Dark Specter would have sent his mercenaries to retrieve it. Zordon explains that Eltarian scientists believed it to be a piece of the Morphin Grid itself, but that his father used to tell him a story as a child of the Zeo Crystal’s origin as the weapon that saved the entire universe.
Though the Zeo Crystal’s origins were never truly revealed in the television series, Zordon tells a story of the Chaos Demon Vitara, a massive, many headed dragon that lorded over the Morphin Realm. As Vitara fed on the pure Morphin Energy around it, the First Ones called out for someone to save them and allow the energy to nourish the rest of the universe. However, the Warrior God Zeon arrived and waged a nearly endless war against Vitara. When Zeon fell from exhaustion, Vitara moved in for the kill only to be stabbed in the heart by the cleverly waiting Warrior God with a shard that would become known as the Zeo Crystal.
While this is all dismissed as a myth, Zordon wonders if Zophram might not be Zeon reincarnated, unwilling to immediately eschew supernatural possibilities while he is waging war against literal monsters. When he encourages Zophram to take the Zeo Crystal for himself, Zordon is rebuked, being told that the legends of old won’t stop Dark Specter before being reminded that they were tasked with protecting the Crystal, not using it. Zophram’s dedication to his duties as a Guardian are commendable, if not overly zealous, especially considering the Zeo Crystal might be exactly what the Power Rangers need now, and what the Guardians needed then.
The television series has already shown what the Zeo Crystal is capable of, and there is no reason to suspect it doesn’t carry the same powers in the comics. It’s possible that if Zophram had used it when he had the chance, the Power Rangers today wouldn’t be concerned with Dark Specter at all.
Now that the Omega Rangers and Guardians of Eltar have both warned Zordon of exactly how powerful the Empyreals are, there is a chance he might revisit harnessing the Zeo Crystal now. If nothing else, keeping it out of the hands of Dark Specter is a good idea, and that’s reason enough to find out just where it went after Bandora Palace.
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