Is Zordon Evil? with David J. Fielding
Zordon, the great, wise, powerful...and evil? Something that I find incredibly interesting throughout the first six years of Power Rangers (known collectively in the fandom as the Zordon Era) is the portrayal of Zordon. It’s difficult for most people to consider him anything other than the wise old sage who serves as a mentor to the Rangers and galvanizes them to stop the alien onslaught. And there isn’t much in the text that would present a problem with this image. But then again, maybe we’ve been reading him wrong? Here comes a different look at one of the series’ most beloved characters.
1. Zordon is manipulative One of the first questions people ask when wondering about the world of Power Rangers is why Zordon selects teenagers to be the protectors of the Earth—and, as implied, the galaxy. It has been suggested that Zordon’s choice in selecting Rangers is motivated by the need to control circumstances; without the burdens of adult responsibility, a teenager is much more likely to be ready when needed. With a more absolute sense of morality, teens can be more easily molded by authority figures due to a more impressionable nature. Jason, Zack, Billy, Trini and Kimberly simply weren’t in a position to understand the full ramifications of their choice, and Tommy was drafted in the wake of actions for which he would feel immense guilt. This is briefly considered in the first movie but never really brought out into the open. When one considers Zordon’s obvious three favorites from the beginning of the Zordon Era (Tommy, Kimberly and Billy), the picture becomes much clearer. Zordon helped to provide some form of validation to each of them. Zordon gave Billy an outlet for his technical creativity and valued his intelligence; Zordon provided a stable father figure for Kimberly in the midst of her difficult home life; Zordon gave Tommy purpose and redemption to the point where Tommy has arguably become Neo-Zordon years later. His constant surveillance went beyond simply finding out what kind of people the Rangers were; for example, when Kimberly was being plagued by nightmares regarding her family issues, Billy remarked that Zordon probably already knew about the nightmares.
Zordon also frequently hides information that would be useful to the Rangers. He forces Tommy and Jason to fight their own carrier zord to obtain weapons vital to the rest of the team’s survival; he hides the fact that the Gold Ranger powers are killing Jason, while he coddled Tommy back in Season 1 in a similar situation; he tells no one except Commander Norquist from NASADA and possibly Justin of his contingency plans. Furthermore, he has secret caches of weapons, some of which for all the Rangers know may still be hidden today. Sometimes, the information he hides is more emotional in nature; he had no problem recognizing Karone instantly on the Dark Fortress, and apparently knew Andros for quite some time, but did not tell Andros where his sister was. It ends up painting a pretty manipulative picture. In fact, the closest any of the Rangers come to outright questioning him is at the very beginning, when he makes them walk back to Angel Grove after rejecting the Power. Rather coincidentally, they are exposed to Rita, which forces them to become Rangers to fight off the putties and save their own lives. This is, of course, the outcome he desired all along.
2. Zordon values pragmatism over goodness Throughout the first six seasons of Power Rangers, Zordon was shown to have plans on top of plans, inside of contingency plans. As such, there are a few instances of Zordon being pragmatic in a way that one would expect an evil being to operate. The first instance, from the Green Ranger Saga, is relatively innocuous but perhaps points at a darker nature. The Sword of Darkness, used to focus the target of an evil spell Rita placed on Tommy, is mentioned as being taken from Zordon’s forces as a gift from the Knasty Knight to Rita. Not only does Zordon know of its nefarious properties—a fact which Finster worries about—but the Sword itself is a weapon of darkness as stated in the name. Why Zordon was using an evil weapon is difficult to determine; this is one of the few textual examples of Zordon engaging in possibly evil behavior. This next example is a bit speculative, but shockingly far-reaching. One of the few people Zordon shared his plans with was Norquist. Given that Zordon had long-standing ties to NASADA, and that his sensors could detect Rita’s escape instantly, one wonders how exactly it is that Rita managed to escape in the first place. The reason for Zordon to allow or perhaps even set into motion Rita’s escape is clear in light of the second rule of using the Power: “…never escalate a battle unless Rita forces you.” It’s possible that with evil on the horizon, Zordon needed a way to train a team of Rangers without breaking it, so he used Rita as practice to strengthen them. This only becomes stranger considering that the Z-Wave returned Divatox to her Inquerian form and removed Karone’s programming; one wonders if Rita was merely Evil turned Good, or—like Divatox and Karone—was Good brainwashed to fight for Evil before becoming Good once more.
Further evidence of Zordon’s ruthless pragmatism is in his recruitment strategy. As stated above, Zordon left his original five exposed to Rita, which led to her knowing their identities, a decision which forced them to become Power Rangers but put them in more danger on a few later occasions. However, he then fills his ranks with people who discover the identities of the Rangers by accident, drafting the three ninjas from Stone Canyon even before giving them the protection of the Power. He also selects a much younger child in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie when Justin accidentally stumbles upon the secret of the Rangers as well; the original script for the movie has the Rangers speculate on whether Zordon means to protect him, or to do away with him cleanly at the hands of their enemies. But perhaps the most chilling example is revealed in his use of robots. Certainly, Zordon has many robot servants, though he did not build all of them. However, he supervised a test involving an entire team of robotic Rangers, all of whom managed to pass for human easily, fooling even themselves. Years later, his student Gosei creates a self-motivated robot warrior that fights alongside the Rangers. Coupled with the existence of Titanus and Tor, unmanned Carrier Zords, one wonders why he even bothered using humans at all. Zordon’s willingness to put humans in danger rather than create a fleet of replaceable robots with all the intellect and ingenuity of humans simply does not make sense in the context of an overall benevolent figure.
My belief is that, considering Zordon’s actions over the course of the seasons, he cannot be viewed as an individual purely aligned with Good. Zordon was ruthless, dangerous and decisive, he was untrusting and in some cases untrustworthy, he was calculating and possessed a low cunning. Rather than being a force for Good, he seems to have been more accurately a force whose interests were served by working on the side of Good, an opportunistic sorcerer who fueled his own ascent into history and left his enemies—and allies—none the wiser.
A response from David Fielding:
"Nice article and also an interesting take on the motivations of the character. As the series is a work of fiction, it is a target for interpretation beyond what was presented on the show itself - and from certain angles, any character that is aligned with Good, can be painted in a Evil light. From that perspective - both Gandalf the Grey and Obi-Wan Kenobi can be seen as not fully forthright but manipulative and shady. The writers of the show were tasked with coming up with new story lines based on footage they had obtained from the original Zyuranger TV series.
"If there was information that Zordon kept from the Rangers or hid from them, its probably because the writers were having to retro-fit it into the episodes. As for recruiting 'teenagers' I think from my perspective, he did so because he felt they had the right 'attitude' - that they wouldn't back down from a fight, rather than manipulating them into fighting for him. Remember, he gave them the choice, and they chose to walk away at the start. Was Zordon aware that they would be attacked when they left the Command Center? Or was that simply a case of the writers needing to move the episode along a a action-packed pace rather than follow a slower but more logical progression. Remember, this is kids TV we are talking about, not the Illiad.
"But ultimately, in the end, Zordon sacrificed himself to end the War, which I guess can be seen as evil as well - because, why wait so long or even engage in recruiting soldiers at all? Why not lure his enemies in close and then self-destruct? Perhaps you are correct and Good is simply the flip-side if Evil, both of them motivated by selfish reasons - its what you choose to believe that aligns you with either side."
This has been a Throwback Thursday Edition Article! Be sure to check out other throwback articles to come! Special thanks to Mr. Fielding for his insights!
