Hi! I'm so sorry for bothering you, such a long ask and my grammatical mistakes!
You mentioned how traumatising "Reality Check" must be for Mikey due to him planning and carrying out the murder of his alternative father. And I fully agree! I just want to add that for me, and I probably just reaching and wrong, the way Super Turtles presented and their literal existence could be overwhelming for Mikey! I probably interpret the family's and friends' dynamic wrongly, but this is how the episode feels to me. ^^;
For Mikey that dimension was everything he ever wanted - he and his brothers are Superheroes, they can help as many people as possible. But he learns this universe's Splinter is "gone". For me the established family bond we see with Michelangelo's univers is fractured by Splinter being gone. The family dynamics are not probably the same/they don't feel the same.
For me the counterparts of his family's closest friends are no longer act as ones. April and Casey came only to transfer information without any trace of family behind these interactions. Of course they're too little on screen to determine this, but I feel like this is leaving a cold aftertaste.
Then there's Sliver. The father who was lost. The Sensei who turned against humanity he trained his students to fight for. The dad who asked his sons to reunite after he exterminate everything he deemes as a threat to his sons. The Supervillain who possessed and turned the powers of his enemies on themselves. The person who has almost the same name as Silver Centry.
(And the fact that Mikey's fear incarnated in «The darkness within» was Leo being corrupted by evil. Here it's Splinter, and I think this bit of information can carry at least some amount of trauma as Mikey's greatest fear)
And the confusing thing for me is why Sliver's name is so similar to Silver Centry? Does it mean Silver has even an atom of same thoughts as Sliver? Or is it just something that happened in an accident? Will Mikey feel uneasy near Silver Century after "Reality Check"? Or near Splinter?
In my vision this world showed Mikey the things he considered his dream - the perfect world where he and his family are accepted and helping in the light. And yet with everything piled up, for me it seems to be far worse than Michelangel's own dimension.
I can't stop thinking about that probable burning disappointment and fear he felt. He was shown his happiest dream brought peace to people, but took away said peace from his family.
I greatly love "Reality Check" for making me explore the ideas of what if the thing I desire the most will bring peace to everyone but my closest family and me
Thank you so, so much for reading this!
No worries at all! I love this kind of stuff.
I think it’s a really good point that the entire world would be disorienting to Mikey. The SuperTurtles are versions of his brothers but they aren’t his brothers. They were raised by a much crueler father, in a more accepting world and without the close friendships of Casey and April. That’s going to have a lot of impact on personality.
I think the idea it’s a dream world but he loses his family is a great way to sum it up. And if given the choice, Mikey would never make that trade. So having to see it probably made him all the happier his family is the way they are.
April might have a lot of her traits but it’s in a much more distant way. (I like to think she grows closer to the Super Turtles over time). Casey is a lot of different. Makes me wonder if his father is still alive in that universe.
Funny what seemingly small changes will do!
I don’t personally think there’s any connection between Sliver and Silver Sentry aside from a similar sound. I always got the impression Sliver’s name was more a reference to you can get a sliver of a splinter but it’s not the same and it can fester,
