Rise of the Turtles, Part 2

"Rise of the Turtles, Part 2" is the second episode of the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series). It originally aired on September 29, 2012.

Synopsis
The Turtles find out where the O'Neils are being held and infiltrate their hideout even if it means battling the giant plant mutant Snakeweed.

Major Characters

 * April O'Neil (Mae Whitman)
 * Donatello (Rob Paulsen)
 * Kirby O'Neil (Keith Silverstein)
 * Kraang] (Nolan North)
 * Leonardo (Jason Biggs)
 * Michelangelo (Greg Cipes)
 * Raphael (Sean Astin)
 * Snakeweed (Danny Jacobs)
 * Splinter (Hoon Lee)

Minor Characters

 * Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe (Jim Meskimen
 * Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson)
 * Spike
 * Foot Soldiers

Plot
Continuing where the previous episode left off, the Turtles are standing by the crashed van wondering about the Mutagen that they just found. Leo reasons that the kidnappers that they're after are somehow connected to their mutation fifteen years ago. Mikey continues to insist that said kidnappers are alien robots, and he tries to prove it by pulling off the driver's face, but this proves futile, as the 'man' (named Snake) is actually just an ordinary human. When the Turtles interrogate Snake, threatening him with the vial of Mutagen, they learn that he works for The Kraang, who have been kidnapping scientists from all over the entire city, and are planning to take all of them to an unspecified place located somewhere outside of the city.

The Turtles have Snake take them to one of The Kraang's lairs, which is quite heavily guarded. As Leo, Raph, and Donnie argue about how to free the hostages, Mikey accidentally lets Snake escape. The Turtles chase after him, but when Leo and Raph successfully find his hiding place, they decide to trick him instead of capture him...Leo then devises a fake plan, which he says is to use Snake's van to drive into the enemy headquarters, knowing that Snake can clearly hear him. The Turtles then return to the lair to gear up.

At the lair, while the other three Turtles prepare for their mission, Leonardo asks Splinter why he chose him to be the leader. Splinter says that he must discover that on his own. Then, Leo voices his fears of failing to Splinter and asks how he is suppoust to know and find where his priorities truly lie. Splinter says that failure is a possibility that every singal leader must only be prepared to face - and once again tells him the story of his own greatest failure: His final battle with his arch rival, Oroku Saki, which ended in the tragic losses of his wife, Tang Shen, and their child Miwa. However, in spite of all the losses that he had both suffered and endured, he is gratified to have gained four new 'sons'...

Later, Snake and The Kraang are seen waiting for the Turtles to show up. As Snake expected, the van comes speeding towards the building and explodes in a fiery crash. A canister of mutagen then flies out of the van and bursts open on Snake, causing him to mutate. Meanwhile, it is revealed that the Turtles used the crash as a distraction so that they can sneak into the base unnoticed...

Once inside, they find the place full of alien robots, proving that Mikey was correct all along. They fight their way through the enemy lair, until they find the detention cell where the girl, April, and her dad are trapped. Just as they get the doors open, more robots come in and carry the two off. The Turtles give chase, but are stopped outside by the now monstrous Snakeweed. Leo, Raph and Mikey stay behind and fight him (along with even more robots), while Donnie goes to rescue April and her dad, who are being taken into a helicopter.

Donnie grabs onto the helicopter as it takes off. While he struggles with The Kraang, April falls out...He has to let go of the aircraft to save her, allowing The Kraang to successfully escape with her father...They go back to join the other Turtles, where Leo has come up with another plan to both outsmart the robots and defeat Snakeweed. They taunt The Kraang into shooting at a power generator, and an explosion then occurs, which both obliterates Snakeweed and covers our heroes' escape. As a result, The Kraang now declare the Turtles their enemies. The Turtles take April to her aunt's apartment - and vow not to rest until they have found and rescued her father...

Back at the lair, Splinter commends Leo for his success. Leo thinks that he understands why Splinter chose him to be the leader now, saying that he sensed in him a true warrior's spirit that would forge them all into the heroes they are destined to become. Splinter, however, says that the real reason was simply that Leo asked first to be the leader; He would've picked anyone of them if they asked first, though probably not Mikey. Then, Mikey interrupts, saying that they made the news!! The anchorman on TV reports that there are "Ninjas living in New York" after police found one of their shruikens. Spinter then warns his students to exercise much more caution in the future, as one of the ninjas' most powerful weapons is remaining a mystery - not be spotted in the light...Raph dismisses his warning, however, asking out loud what could possibly happen.

Meanwhile, in the city of Tokyo, Japan, The Shredder HAPPENS to be watching this very same news bulletin and he immediately recognizes the symbol on the shuriken that is seen. Thus, he correctly believes that Hamato Yoshi is still alive and now training a ninja army of his own in New York City. He then tells one of his armed men to prepare his private jet, Afterward, he stands up and dons his helmet, for he decides that it's time to pay a visit to a friend......

Gallery
See: Rise of the Turtles / Gallery 

Trivia

 * This episode premiered at a special time of Saturday at 11:30am (ET) instead of the series' normal time slot of Fridays at 7:00/8:30pm and Saturdays at 11:00am (ET). It aired along with the first episode as the one-hour series premiere event "Rise of The Turtles, Part 1".