Great Mysteries in PR Histories- August 2002

This month's greatest mystery is... THE PHANTOM RANGER!

My, my, my...it's not like anybody's ever had a THEORY about who this guy is, right?

Truth is, there are TOO MANY theories about him. Face it guys, the identity of the Phantom Ranger the single greatest mystery ever in PR.

The Phantom's impact on PR has been huge, imo. He was the first character we had where everything wasn't eventually explained. His powers came from a Red Ruby incrested upon his chest armor, a power source that no Ranger or mentor has been able to explain to this day. The Phantom Ranger may have saved PRT from disappearing off the air waves. The Phantom added a new standard of mystery, which has only been met a few times since then. His arrival perhaps signaled the begining of the "mature" era of PR.

What I've done is devise a theory about the Phantom Ranger which parts of it tie in SMOOTHLY with the PR storylines. So who do I think the Phantom is? None other than Alex Collins of Time Force.
Suppose that, during a routine check on the timelines, Alex uncovers a major disturbance originating in the year 1997. He decides that only he has the know-how and equipment to construct an armored prototype battlesuit powered by a red ruby. We know that Alex created the Shadow Winger, so this proves that he can properly contruct and create Ranger technology.

One fact that links my theory with the show is that the Phantom Ranger knew a thing or two about time travel, since his ruby enabled him to exist out of time. And Alex is the head of the entire Time Force operations in the 31st century. Why...that ties in pretty nicely, doesn't it. And as a sidenote, Alex may have created the Blue Senturion as well. The Senturion could time-travel and was an officer of the law, which if connected, would represent Time Force pretty well.

Anyways, back to the topic Windgrail! Alex, as the Phantom, assists the Turbo Rangers in 1997 in their battles against General Havoc and the Metallasaurus, and supplies the Rangers with six new Rescuezords. Once the threat was neutralized, the Phantom just disappeared. Not before developing a crush on Pink Ranger Cassie Chan. Knowing that he could never be with Cassie could have sparked Alex' initial attraction to Jen. Both women were rebellious and happened to be Pink Rangers. And as a bonus, Jen was from the 31st century as well...
One year later, another threat to the timeline occurs with the threat of the Crocoviles sent by Astronema, and also to aid in the search for a kidnapped Zordon. By supplying the Space Rangers with the Delta Megaship, which has simular designs as the Shadow Winger, they were able to overcome the threat. With the timeline in seemingly good order, Alex once again leaves for the future.

As a final return to the 20th century, Alex assists the Blue Senturion, possibly his own creation, during the "Millineum Battle." Now if the Senturion was a creation of Alex', then Alex could have easily programmed the holographic message within the Blue Senturion which warned the people of 1997 of the "Millineum Battle."

Here's where the big change happens. As Alex became more experienced in Ranger Technology, he designs a newer more lightweight battlesuit, which would be known as the Red Time Force Ranger suit. Instead of the red ruby being attached to the suit, it is re-materialized into the suit, eliminating the worry of anyone ever stealing the ruby. And this comes just in time to deal with a newly risen threat in his own time period, the mutant criminals. He uses his former-phantom powers to lead the other Time Force officers in capturing these criminals. When this was done, only the ringleader himself was left- Ransik.

In the final battle with Ransik, Alex is able to apprehend him after a horrendous confrontation. With all mutant threats tamed and the timelines intact, Alex now has time to pursue other things in his life such as marrying Jen. But this would also give him time to upgrade his powers. Perhaps he decides to divide his powers up so that five Time Force Rangers could exist. Why? He could be learning from the mistake made with the Quantum powers. Time Force's very first Ranger was the Quantum Ranger, but his powers and his zord were lost in a time-traveling experiment, leaving Time Force helpless. Alex secretly separates his own powers into five separate Chrono Morphers. But the one thing he didn't count on was Ransik escaping. Now Alex had to hurry and find Ransik before the ringleader escapes to the past, leaving Alex essentially with only a fifth of his original powers. In this battle, Ransik wins, and fairly easy. The damage done to Alex is near-fatal as he hands over his Morpher to a sobbing Jen and reveals to her that there are four others. He then makes her promise that she and four other Time Force Rangers will capture Ransik again.

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WHERE YOU RESPONDED!

Alrighty Rangermaniacs, I have here a counter-theory created by CobraMorphBT20....which does make sense. Enough yapping, Windgrail, just give them the theory! Oh yeah, here goes:

"The Phantom suit was built as a life-support suit for Alex, after he was almost killed by Ransik. So instead of doing the things he did in PRT and PRiS before PRTF, he did them after. He fell in love with Cassie after Jen chose Wes (over him), but he found out something about Cassie's future that made him stay away from her. Maybe one of her children were important to the timeline or something."

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! I accept good theories about any topic and will post them here for all to see. Here's another good one sent in to me by Javapat127. Enjoy!

The Rescuezords seem very simular to the Lightspeedzords. Now for my theory on the identity of the Phantom Ranger: Captain William Mitchell.

The Rescuezords used by Turbo could have been prototypes for the ones used by Lightspeed. The same goes for Artillatron (prototype of Supertrain, since they were both carrierzords), and the Phantom's shop(prototype Omega Megazord). The Phantom Ranger power themselves could have very well bee the prototype for the Lightspeed powers from the mind of Ms Fairweather, with the ruby being the Phantom's Lifeforce being an unexpected side effect that would eventually be worked around. (note from Windgrail: the ruby being Phantom's Lifeforce sounds very simular to the Lifeforce tests for the LifeforceMegazord in "Rise of the Super Demons," which does strenghthen his theory) When Captain Mitchell hears about the Turbo Rangers, he leaves to help them fight and gives them the Rescuezords when they lose the Turbo Megazord. After the events of Turbo, he returns to Lightspeed and somehow hears of Zordon's kidnapping. He decides to become the Phantom Ranger one last time and leaves on his own to search for Zordon. This search could have eventually brought him to Eltar, where he was needed to fight against the UAE. Once the UAE is defeated, he once again returns to Lightspeed.

As for the Phantom's invisibility not being a part of the Lightspeed Rangers' powers, perhaps developing invisibility powers for a full team of Rangers was deemed too time-consuming, or too expensive. Lightspeed was a military organization and must of had a budget

Want to challenge these theories? Got some complaints about them? Let us know! E-mail me at anytime and your thoughts will be posted asap!

Keep 'em comin' guys! And Thanks.

Now I welcome all theories about the Phantom. Intelligent ones, that is. If I hear one more "I think it's Jason because he's the strongest" theory, then people...don't hold me responsible for what happens next. INCLUDE PROOF that supports your theories, for cryin' out loud. And if you can do that, then I've got NO problem with posting it right next to mine on this very site.

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From the Lady: Don't be shy, Windgrail Druid really isn't that crazy...send in your theories!