rambling abt the vague shit w this sainw crossover eheheheh so like. in terms of the lore, like ell showed up maybe 2 years after the kids escape shredder (raph is like 15, do math) and then a year after that neo pops in out of nowhere, and the same night he shows up is around when raph has his big flashback. then a few months later angie shows up too.
but okay. where's dawn? the donatello who wasnt in the sainw episode? yk, the ghost? well....
he showed up first. 30 years ago. him disappearing at 16 from his own timeline and popping here, there was no other turtles to find, not even a hamato yoshi, no one in this world he recognized..... and he searches for a while, finds the hidden city, the battle nexus oh hes been there maybe its the same.
meets big mama. she seems super sympathetic to his plight to get home, and all she wants in return is for him to fight a few battles?? sure. reasonable. must cost money to get him supplies to build a portal. he doesnt lose hope, but god its been a long time. hes hyper focused on getting back to his brothers. and again, the sewers have been empty of turtles for at least 20 years.
so it takes angie begging to check out the battle nexus (a thing ell was avoiding for, you know, the whole losing the battle nexus TO angie in the first place thing, petty fuck) for the three of them to go. and OH. MY GOD. WHO THE FUCK IS THEIR STAR CHAMPION??
the gag being dawn was there the whole time.... not only for the entire time ell's been here, but while this universe's version of him and his brothers were created?? he knew a shredder showed up, checked in on the man vaguely but never knew what he was actually hiding inside foot tower. so finding out what those kids went through absolutely would make him feel partially responsible.... but he got played, and had no idea. if big mama ever actually wanted to help him get home she COULD HAVE... but boy, he was too perfect. distracted him from continuing to think about if those turtles ever would exist.
and i mean. i said the ooze that helped create the boys came from the hidden city in the first place.... so who's to say the direct inspiration for elite mutated warrior sons didn't come from a specific source?? food for thought....
sigh