Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Is Karai Really Splinter's Daughter? (+Season 3 Review)

*Spoilers Ahead*

On August 9, TMNT Season 3 Episode 20, "Tale of the Yokai," aired, and brought with it so many feels. The Turtles being sent back in time wasn't enough...they were sent to the exact day that the Shredder attempted to kill Splinter for the first time. And of course, Tang Shen and an infant Karai were present as well. It was really difficult to watch this episode, mostly because we actually saw the death of Tang Shen for the first time, saw how it tore Splinter apart. Though Leo could have saved her, he let history take its course and we saw Shredder steal Karai away from her true father.

Or is he?

Hear me out. Of course, knowing that Splinter and the TMNT are good guys, we as viewers are inclined to believe his word as truth over the Shredder. So when he uttered those show-changing words in Season 2, "Karai is my daughter," both the Turtles and the viewers believed him. Even the Shredder admits to stealing Splinter's daughter away at the end of the first season.

BUT.

In "Tale of the Yokai," Shredder begs Tan Shen to take him back, saying that he isn't the man he once was (a total lie, btw). He promises to care for both her and the infant, saying he will take them to New York if she wishes. All of those promises are great and whatnot, but the thing I think we need to focus on here is the "take me back" part. Shredder's conversation with Tang Shen heavily implies that at some point, they were together before she and Splinter were, presumably quite recently.

Think about it. It takes nine months to make a baby, and Shredder was with Tang Shen before Splinter, at a fairly recent point in the past? I'm no genius, and I certainly can't climb through the screen to do the DNA testing, but that whole episode heavily implied that Karai really IS the Shredder's daughter.


And, in a way, that makes sense. Karai has always been the Shredder's daughter in past versions of TMNT (2003 and 2007 being the most obvious). In past versions, Splinter has not had any family outside of Tang Shen, the Turtles, and his Master Yoshi (depending on the series). It wouldn't be that big of a stretch to assume that Karai is the Shredder's daughter in the 2012 series as well, despite what Splinter says.

And really, I suppose only Tang Shen could know for sure who the father of her child was, but she is sadly out of the picture now, so for the moment at least, it will probably remain a mystery. Also, we really can't blame Splinter for believing that Karai is his daughter. He did win Tang Shen in the end, after all, and probably hooked up with her at about the time that she dumped the Shredder. The timing of it is really close, but after this episode, all the fingers are pointing to Shredder as the true father of Karai.


Either way, I REALLY want Karai to join the Turtles and be a good guy. Splinter has gone through too much for her to remain with the Shredder at this point.

This season was amazing. It brought us so many wonderful ups and downs, plot twists, new characters, etc. The Turtles' time in the woods at the beginning was really neat and was filled with great references to the 1990 movie, but they may have spent too long there. Taking back New York from the Kraang was an epic feat, and of course that brought in great new characters such as Hun, Rocksteady and Bebop, the Mutanimals, Mondo Gecko, Renet, and Bishop. (I was so psyched that Bishop was finally introduced; you have no idea. I may have scared the other girls in my dorm a little.) The Season 3 Finale introduced the Triceratons - characters from the 2003 show - and the Fugitoid (voiced by DAVID TENNANT - what what!!).

I am super excited to see what Season 4 has in store for us. Mostly, I'm just excited that Mona Lisa is finally coming to the show! (Remember earlier in Season 3 when I found a picture of this strange alien girl that I thought was her? I was wrong. She looks WAY more awesome than that!) I won't go into all the details here; instead, I will direct you to Andre's video that explains in detail what you can expect now that the Turtles are in space, the Earth has been sucked into a black hole, and Splinter has died at the hands of the Shredder. (The FEELS, though!!)

Happy third Mutation Day, TMNT 2012!! :D


7 comments:

  1. Well I think Splinter is karais true father heres why.
    For a possibility for shredder and splinter to be questioned as whos the father tang shen would have had to have sex with both shredder and splinter within a few months and I dont think tang shens like that because if splinter and tange shen had sex first then tang shen has sex with oroku saki and the baby is born 7 months perfectly healthy (if Karai was born sickly splinter would have probably talked about it) we can guess Splinter is the father and thats if tang shen even had sex with oroku saki to begin with. If oroku saki had sex with tang shen first then a few months later tang shen had sex with hamato yoshi and karai was born 9 months after hamato yoshi had sex with shen the father would be splinter. Also becasue shredder has the personality of possessiveness and became delusional if he thought for a second karai might be his he would never had told karai that hamato yoshi is her father especially twice. The fact the shredder states hamato yoshi is karais father pretty much means in his mind there is no way he could be the true father of karai so that means A he never had sex with tang shen while they dated and B if he did it was no where near when Tang shen got pregnant

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    1. I beleive karai is shredder's daughter.

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    2. What makes you think that? It's very clear in 2012 that Karai is biologically Splinter's.

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    3. This post was written before the episode confirming her biological father had aired. It was only a theory at the time that has since been disproved.

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    4. Wasn't it already confirmed before hand? Like way back in showdown? And wrath of tiger claw? Which episode confirmed Splinter as Karai's bio father more then wrath of tiger claw, tale of the Yokai and Showdown? I'm just curious as I want to rewatch the episode then.

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  2. It's been confirmed by the people behind 2012 tmnt that Karai is 100% Splinter's daughter.

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    Replies
    1. This post was written before the episode confirming her biological father had aired. It was only a theory at the time that has since been disproved.

      Delete