#i need issue 2 to drop asap so i know whether my boy odyn can snap out of this on his own or not

[love-killed-the-superstar]

the more i read through issue one, the more i think the stone situation isn't caused by some enemy - i'm more convinced the cause of it is odyn himself.

(i had about half of this typed up before hashing this concept out in a very cool conversation with @last-ronin earlier today... but i fell asleep before posting it last night, lmao.)

these kids are Developing Powers, guys. they can communicate telepathically, not just holding entire conversations but also projecting imagery into each other's minds. it's unclear at this point whether they can all project images psychically or if that is specifically yi's gift, but it does seem to be implied that this makes her retellings different from uno's and favoured by odyn. i'm on the fence about whether uno's colour-changing ability counts as a power or not since it's something other lizard species can do and he's been doing it since he was a baby. moja is also noted as having an 'overactive nose' literally smelling something 'wrong' which is like... either a very odd character quirk or another sign of enhanced abilities. if she has heightened senses in general, that might have been subtly foreshadowed by the times in lost years where she's seen wearing her headphones even when she's not listening to music.

much like casey growing to inherit enhanced strength and reflexes from interacting with mutagen, it seems like the turtles bodies are also starting to get all funky from ooze exposure. hence the title, re-evolution.

at the end of the chapter, when the babies finally get their chance to fight a real fight, odyn clearly doesn't want to. he's very much giving michelangelo in the lost years - it's making me nervous that at some point we're going to get a 'GET UP FOOLISH CHILD' moment with casey and odyn, because as much as she loves her kids, casey marie is a complete hard-ass on the battlefield. i HOPE that we get to see it play out differently if history repeats. that always felt painfully unresolved in lost years and it really made me resent roninverse splinter. if this happens i'd like casey to have to confront the fact that she DID make these kids to fight a war, that was incredibly FUCKED UP and they DON'T have to accept that.

(this scene is so hard to read no matter how many times i come back to it. sincerely, FUCK YOU roninverse splinter.)

anyway. here are just a few moments in that final battle where he hangs back while the other three jump in with weapons swinging:

free my boy. clearly odyn doesn't want to be here rn. he seems rooted to the spot...

...like a statue, wouldn't you say?

so yeah. in a life where he's been raised to fight or fall, this feels very "third option" to me. this poor kid is in an impossible situation so his body gives him an out where he can keep himself safe like his family want without having to experience the horror of fighting lethal opponents. the problem is, if he's completely frozen solid like this, how does he know when the fighting is over? how does he know when or how to snap out of it?

my prediction is the turtles are going to use their telepathic abilities next issue to break through to him and coax him out of this stone state (possibly creating more hijinks if a new power is discovered in the process). i have NO CLUE if april and casey marie know the turtles have these powers, but they sure as shit are going to find out when they catch their babies performing a seance around their brother lmao.

there's also the possibility of this 'insidious foe preparing to spring a trap' from the issue 2 synopsis... i wonder if they have a way of messing with the turtles' new mutations?

much to think about. anyway, VERY hyped for issue 2!