WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Mighty Morphin #3 by Ryan Parrott, Marco Renna, Walter Baiamonte, Katia Ranalli and Ed Dukeshire, on sale now.
The Power Rangers have been facing a near unending spate of threats, both from beyond the stars and within their own ranks. The Empyreal threat looms out in the void of space, the Omega Rangers have betrayed their former teammates by kidnapping the extradimensional tyrant Drakkon, and now a supercharged Lord Zedd has introduced a new breed of Putties that themselves been made infinitely stronger than ever by the Green Chaos Energy surging through their bodies. It would be more than understandable if any of the Rangers decided that they had been through enough. Even their mentor Zordon, once upon a time, longed for nothing more than to walk away from the battlefield.
Zordon's history has been unfolding through flashbacks in the pages of Mighty Morphin, and the most recent issue holds even more clues to his past. Zordon was, at one point in time, among the ranks of the Guardians of Eltar, the shining precursors to the Power Rangers and champions of justice throughout the galaxy. As the Bronze Guardian, Zordon fought alongside the Silver Guardian, Zartus, under the leadership of the Gold Guardian, Zophram. Freeing other worlds from the clutches of interstellar tyrants and protecting the innocent was just another day's work for the Guardians, though that wasn't the entirety of their duties.
Over ten thousand years ago, Zordon and Zartus took on a clandestine mission that brought them to the world of Bivix. There they took on the forms of the locals so as to not draw attention to themselves while immersing in the culture of the planet's inhabitants. Zordon grows increasingly anxious that he is being watched, or that his disguise isn't good enough to pass as just another face in the crowd. Zartus tells him to calm down, letting him know that everyone gets nervous on their first supervision mission. It seems that the citizens of Bivix are unaware of the threats that exist beyond their homeworld, and that Zordon and Zartus have been sent to determine whether or not they will be exposed to the truths that stalk the stars. Zartus speaks of the responsibilities that come with his position as a Guardian, one that is part of his family legacy, Zordon reminisces over peaceful times on his family farm. While Zartus is more than happy to be embroiled in the action and intrigue that comes along with being a Guardian of Eltar, Zordon's reason for being there with him is born more from a sense of obligation than any quest for personal glory.
Zordon tells Zartus that his family were farmers on Eltar's Eastern Peninsula, and that they instilled a strong sense of obligation to serve others in him from a young age. To his family, Zordon taking up the mantle of a Guardian pays his debt to the rest of society, ensuring that he has done all the good that he could ever owe the universe before he no longer has the chance to. Zartus is disappointed to hear that Zordon doesn't dream of a life of adventure out in the cosmos, but rather to return to his home, start a family of his own and live the life of a farmer until his time among the living has come to its natural end. Zordon doesn't even consider himself to be a warrior, instead telling his partner that he is "Merely a servant... and this is not going to be my life." This moment in Zordon's life is not just another interesting piece of the ever expanding Power Rangers lore, but also an important bit of insight into how Zordon became the strong, oftentimes benevolently callous Power Rangers founder and mentor that he is today.
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