Zedd’s arrival in “The Mutiny” was terrifying because he banished Rita and established himself as a solo threat. If they had teamed up immediately, Zedd would have been diluted from the start. Instead of a fearsome new emperor, he would have just felt like Rita’s new boyfriend. The dynamic that made Zedd so intimidating his utter disgust for Rita’s failures would have been entirely lost.

Their combined intellect would have posed a much more strategic threat to the Rangers, though. Rita’s knowledge of the Rangers’ psychology mixed with Zedd’s raw power and Zord-creating abilities would have created a lethal combo. We might have seen monsters specifically designed to exploit the individual weaknesses of Jason, Kimberly, Zach, Trini, and Billy much earlier in the run.

The introduction of the Thunder Zords might have been accelerated. With both villains throwing everything they had at the Earth simultaneously, the Lion, Thunder Unicorn, Griffin, Firebird, and Red Dragon Zords would have needed to be summoned out of pure necessity much faster. The Dino Zords would have been utterly obliterated in a matter of episodes rather than lingering into the early Zedd era.

The banter between the villains in the palace would have shifted from Zedd berating his underlings to a bizarre married-couple dynamic much sooner. Finster, Goldar, and Squatt would have had to balance two egos instead of just serving a new master. This could have led to more comedic palace scenes, but it would have robbed the show of the genuine dread that Zedd originally inspired.

As a fan who loved the horror-adjacent vibes of early Zedd, I’m glad they didn’t do this. Zedd teaming up with Rita later, after he was somewhat humbled, made sense. But doing it right away would have ruined the best villain introduction the franchise ever had. Sometimes, isolation makes a villain stronger, and 90s kids needed to feel that fear.