Spoiler Warning for Mighty Morphin #19!
In the past, Zordon has remained strict about the rules he enforces for his Power Rangers, but in the latest BOOM! Studios series, the fearless leader implements a new rule, leading not only to new character development for Zordon, but a potentially franchise-altering moment that could change the team forever.
Among one of Zordon's biggest failures as a leader is how he handled his very first team of Rangers in 1969, led by Grace Sterling's Red Power Ranger. As always, Zordon plucked from perdition a team of teenagers with attitude to conquer a burgeoning threat, which in this case was a Green Psycho Ranger attempting to free Rita Repulsa. The mission was a success but at the cost of three of Grace's teammates' lives. Zordon's coldness in sending the two survivors away afterward as if nothing happened inspired Grace to create Promethea, leading her own sector of heroes, including a new Green Ranger she's enlisted herself, only intensifying the tensions between her and Zordon.
However, as seen in the new Mighty Morphin' #18 by Mat Groom, Moises Hidalgo, Raul Angulo, and Ed Dukeshire, Zordon is finally ready to try to reconcile with the past and mend fences. In the wake of King Aradon's planetary destruction, Red Ranger Rocky is ready to spring into action to help Grace's Green Ranger, Matthew. Conscious of Zordon's rules, he acknowledges that leaving will raise suspicion from his siblings, but before he could counter-argue, Zordon turns to Grace and crafts a new rule: "We shall never again lose another Ranger." The implication is that Rangers need to take any means necessary - even if it means risking to reveal their identities - to save each other.
For the first time, Zordon has not only outwardly acknowledged his shortcomings in 1969 but is actively taking steps to rectify them. In trying to correct the past, Zordon is shaping to create a better future for future eras of Power Rangers, but it also creates a huge shift for the franchise as fans know it. It's great to see Zordon come to terms and make things right, but such a simple rule like this could have major ramifications for the Rangers, both good and bad.
On the good side, history from the television series should remind audiences of multiple (albeit rare) instances of Rangers whose secret identities were made public knowledge from the start, most notably with Lightspeed Rescue. Matthew has reaped similar benefits more recently, becoming a local celebrity in Angel Grove since first revealing his identity on national television. On the other hand, having public identities occasionally put the team and their loved ones at risk, to the point that the Lightspeed team's Captain William Mitchell's own son was recruited by the villains to be used against him as a Power Ranger for evil.
It's the same reason why common comic book superheroes keep their identities secret, to protect the people closest to them. Zordon's new rule in the BOOM! Studios series seems almost counterproductive, trying to keep the Power Rangers at their utmost safe while simultaneously leaving an impact that puts them in danger, but only time will tell where this goes from here.