Our episode picks up where the last one left off, with Kenji and Deker staring each other down. Kenji's eyes begin to glow purple before drawing out his spiral sword, followed by Deker telling his brother to give into his Akuma side and join him to become a dark samurai warrior and that together they can bring down their father's empire once and for all. Kenji then gives into his anger and yells at Deker telling him that he will never ally himself with the likes of him refusing Deker's offer swinging his spiral sword at Deker who blocks it with his katana, taunting Kenji telling his brother to let loose his anger and lust for vengeance that has been boiling inside him, saying that he has as much potential to become a great dark samurai warrior like him, after all he IS his baby brother. Kenji then gets angrier and clashes with Deker once again, telling him that they may be brothers but they are nothing alike. Deker then tells Kenji that they are oh so much alike, as they both share the same resentment over their cursed existence as half-breeds, as well as the same hatred for their father lord Ashura. Kenji then tells Deker that he may be half Akuma but his allegiance lies with the Shiba clan before Kenji morphs into the red ranger while Deker transforms into his monster form and the two continue fighting while arguing, all the while Nocturna watches in human form while looking at the ring on her finger. we then cut to the dojo where the other four rangers talk to each other in private about how Kari has got to go, saying that she is way too strict, overbearing, and as Oscar likes to put it "a total buzzkill". Kari overhears this and proceeds to poke all their pressure points telling them to take it back. all of them take back what they said out of fear, except for Oscar who flat out refuses to apologize to someone as unapologetic as her. Kari then proceeds to comically spank Oscar with her shinai until sensei breaks up the fight, telling Kari that enough is enough. Kari then apologizes to sensei and kneels down to pledge her loyalty to the Shiba clan, followed by Oscar asking sensei why she acts like she always has a stick up her butt. sensei then explains to the others that since Kari was raised by monks and has never set foot outside the Shiba temple until now, she has very limited social skills due to spending most of her life inside a temple being forced to train all day and night practicing the sealing symbol not being allowed to go outside or socialize with other kids her age as the monks viewed such activities as distractions from her samurai training. the four watch as she trains hard without breaking a sweat, amazed by her skills while also feeling sorry for her. after that, we cut to Akuma palace where lord Ashura sits on his throne while watching his children duke it out from Octomancer's staff, saying that Kenji's dark side is showing and that if he keeps this up he'll soon fall to his Akuma side. Octomancer then tells lord Ashura that there's something he's been needing to tell him: Nocturna is now engaged to Deker. lord Ashura laughs evilly much to Octomancer's confusion asking his lord why he isn't outraged by this, followed by lord Ashura explaining to him that the two of them getting married means a secured future for his royal Akuma bloodline. Nocturna overhears this and is relieved lord Ashura isn't outraged, saying that she has got to warn Deker about this. lord Ashura then orders Octomancer to summon a monster to keep the rangers busy while the two of them make preparations for their royal Akuma wedding. Octomancer summons his most powerful monster Gorgitox ordering him to destroy the samurai rangers once and for all, transferring his power into the monster. we then cut to the dojo where the four rangers apologize to Kari, telling her that they had no idea about her background and that the four want to help her. Kari tells them that she doesn't need any help from the likes of them, followed by Sadie telling her that they want her to make friends and have a taste of what a normal life is like. Sadie and Ava then both grab her by the hands and drag her outside the dojo all the way to the mall where we cut to a montage of the girls trying out different outfits on Kari. after that, the three girls exit the mall with Kari smiling for the very first time and admitting that it was kinda fun. the girls then regroup with the guys who want to introduce Kari to the best sushi in stone canyon: Bulk's sushi spot. however when the two arrive at the restaurant, the four notice that Bulk and Spike are absent. we then cut to Bulk catching up to Spike and hands him back his morpher, however Spike rejects it telling his uncle Bulk not to bother with a failure like him as his days of being a hero are over and that he was right all along as he's just a simple waiter at a simple sushi chain with delusions of grandeur. Bulk tells Spike that it's not true and that he has proven himself to be more than that only for Gorgitox to show up and entangle Bulk in its tentacles and lift him up in the air causing him to drop Spike's morpher. Spike then sees his uncle Bulk in danger and reclaims his morpher telling the monster to let him go before morphing to slice off the monster's tentacles with his barracuda blade freeing Bulk in the process, all the while Kari and the other rangers watch. Bulk then thanks Spike for saving him telling him that his dad would be proud if he knew. Spike then gets his uncle Bulk to safety before engaging the monster one-on-one only to be smacked around like a ragdoll causing him to de-morph and be knocked out unconscious followed by Bulk rushing in to Spike's aid trying to wake him up. this prompts Kari and the others to arrive on the scene with Spike being happy to see them, followed by Kari and the others morphing to fight the monster (cue shinkenger episode 36 fight) all the while Oscar helps Bulk and Spike get to safety with Spike asking Oscar why they put up with a spoiled samurai princess like her, with Oscar telling Spike that she may have a rough exterior but deep down she's a well-meaning person before re-joining his fellow rangers in battle. we then cut back to the battle between Kenji and Deker only for Deker to have Kenji pinned down telling his brother that anger is an Akuma's greatest weapon and that if he gives into his temptation he will be able to tap into a whole new level of dark power that'll make him immortal just like him. Kenji then closes his eyes and hears grandpa Mako's voice inside his head telling him not to listen to Deker's comments and to use the power given to him by the grand shogun. the shogun buckle then materializes on Kenji's belt and releases a surge of energy that knocks Deker out of monster form. Kenji then stands up and inserts the shogun disc into the shogun buckle activating Kenji's battlizer: the red shogun ranger. he then pulls out the shogun spear followed by Deker getting up and changing back into monster form followed by the two brothers charging at each other. we then cut back to the ranger's fight with Gorgitox with Kari going super samurai mode to finish him off with a combination of the elemental slash and the bullzooka. Bulk and Spike cheer the rangers on before Nocturna arrives on the scene and uses her shamisen to make the monster grow one last time. the rangers then summon the spirit eagle megazord to fight off gorgitox (cue shinkenger episode 46 megazord fight). however when the monster is destroyed it suddenly comes back even more powerful, right before we cut to Akuma palace where the marauders help decorate the palace for Nocturna and Deker's wedding. Octomancer then tells lord Ashura all they need is Nocturna and Deker before wondering where they could be. we then cut to Gorgitox in his serpent form badly damaging the spirit eagle megazord prompting the rangers to form the samurai ultrazord. we then cut to back to the newly-battlized Kenji fighting one-on-one with Deker only for Nocturna to arrive on the scene and be devastated to witness Deker fighting his own brother. she tries to tell Deker to stop only for him to not listen as the two are too busy fighting each other. Kenji then charges up his shogun spear before slashing Deker across the chest knocking him back into human form. Kenji then lifts his shogun spear however before he can deliver the final blow Nocturna then rushes to Deker's aid pleading Kenji not to hurt his brother as he is also her fiance. upon noticing the ring on Nocturna's finger realizing that the two are engaged it causes Kenji to snap out of his anger and drop his weapon before de-morphing and turning his back on them with Deker demanding to know why Kenji didn't just finish him off and end his cursed existence one and for all, followed by Kenji telling his brother that it's not the samurai way followed by the ghost of grandpa Mako congratulating Kenji for making the right choice and that he must go back to stone canyon as his fellow samurai need him. we then cut back to the ultrazord finishing off Gorgitox while Bulk and Spike cheer for the rangers. after that, we cut to the dojo where Kari apologizes to Spike for being so harsh towards him and offers him to fight alongside her as a samurai ranger once again. he gladly accepts causing her to smile much to sensei Nobu's surprise, as he's never seen her crack a smile once. she then tells sensei that her new friends taught her how to enjoy life, which in turn brings a smile to his face causing him to give his niece a big hug saying that he's proud of her only for Kari to poke his pressure point telling him that she doesn't do hugs. sensei recognizes this as the Kari he knew only for Kenji to burst through the doors ending our episode on a cliffhanger.
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This episode marks the debut of the Shogun battlizer, the reason why I introduced it so late in the game (something I very much regret) is because I thought it would be a good reward for our red ranger coming to terms with the truth about his parentage.
