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"The Shredder Strikes", Parts 1 and 2 is a two-part episode of the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which originally aired on April 12 and 19, 2003.

Part 1
While in their lair training, the Turtles argue about which of their weapons is the best. Leonardo wins their sparring match and claims that the katana is the superior weapon. Splinter tells Leonardo to attack him with his katana. Leo is easily defeated by Splinter with only his cane, proving Splinter's point that: A weapon is only as good as the ninja who wields it.

Confused and frustrated by what Master Splinter said, Leonardo goes to the roof to cool down, believing that Splinter doesn't understand what his swords mean to him. A nearby Foot soldier shoots an arrow at Leonardo with a message attached. Leonardo picks up the note apprehensively. He finds out that the note is from Oroku Saki, inviting Leo to meet him at a nearby warehouse. Leo decides to go to the warehouse alone as the note instructed. Little does he know that his brothers are following closely behind him.

Leonardo enters the warehouse while his brothers watch through a skylight. He is attacked by thirteen Foot Ninjas, but defeats them quickly. Saki appears and congratulates Leo on his impressive ninja skills. Saki introduces himself and explains to Leonardo that he is the leader of a group of ninjas that is fighting a great evil that is trying to take over the world. He invites Leo and the other Turtles to join forces with he and his Foot ninja to battle against this evil force. Sensing Leo’s hesitation, Saki tells the Turtle to meditate on his offer over night and let him know tomorrow. Before parting, as a gesture of goodwill, Saki gives Leonardo a finely crafted katana forged by Toshi Kurahawa in the 16th century.

Unknown to those in and on the warehouse, the meeting was also observed by a couple of mysterious agents. They reported their findings to a council of three individuals who speak with one voice. Upon hearing the report, the council tells the Guardians to continue to watch the Turtles and to destroy them if they join forces with Saki.

As Leo makes his way back to the lair, his brothers surround and confront him. Leonardo tries to explain why he met secretly with Saki and what the Foot's leader had to say, but his brothers aren’t buying their enemy's story and a big argument ensues, followed by a short and potentially deadly battle in which Leonardo accidentally sends Raphael off the rooftop. In the end, Leonardo decides to do what he should have done at the start: talk to Master Splinter.

Splinter confesses that he has known who The Foot were all this time. He begins to tell his sons about his origins and his master. Splinter was originally the pet rat of ninja master Hamato Yoshi. He explains how Saki, a.k.a. The Shredder, along with his henchman, Hun, killed his master after Yoshi would not give them information on their enemy. Splinter escaped, but not before leaving his mark on Hun's face. Soon after that, he found the Turtles and they know how their lives go from here. Splinter goes on to tell his sons that The Shredder is great evil. The Turtles agree to go tell Saki their answer Turtle style.

The next day, Leo and his brothers return to the warehouse as planned. Leo gives the sword back to the Foot ninja and tell them to tell Saki that his answer is "No". A battle ensues, but the Turtles take the Foot down pretty easily. Just when they thought the battle was over and are about to head home, Hun arrives, excited for his rematch with the Turtles. They have trouble with Hun, but Leo manages to defeat him by kicking him through the warehouse skylight. Thinking they were done, the Turtles begin to head home for a second time. However, Saki arrives clad in his Shredder armor with more Foot ninja. He tells the Turtles that if they aren't with him, they're against him and anyone who is against him must be crushed.

Part 2
We pick up the action from the previous episode on the roof of an abandoned warehouse, with the Shredder and a mass of Foot soldiers ready to attack the TMNT. The Shredder and his Foot attack and a huge battle on the roof unfolds. During the action, Leo swings at a Foot soldier but misses and hits an electric transformer instead. The transformer starts sparking and then erupts into flames, causing the whole roof to catch fire. The TMNT and the Foot battle on in spite of the fire, but suddenly the roof collapses from the fire and the weight of the combatants.

In the meantime, Splinter has emerged from his meditation and has realized that the TMNT must have gone after the Shredder on their own. He high tails it out of the lair to look for them, but on his way out he grabs one of Don’s electronic gadgets, the remote for the Battle Shell.

As Splinter heads to the scene of the battle, the Turtles are picking themselves up out of the debris of the burnt warehouse. However, in the collapse they have become separated from each other. Therefore, vastly outnumbered by the Foot that are looking for them, the mutants stick to the shadows and try to find each other. Don finds Mike, who has injured his ankle. The two avoid the Foot soldiers and enter an apartment bathroom via an open window, where Donatello wraps Mikey's badly sprained limb - unfortunately, a child opens the door to the bathroom the Turtles are working in and blows their cover. Raphael hides in a dumpster until he has the opportunity to take out some Foot soldiers, and then he's grabbed from behind - by Master Splinter. Raph and Splinter find Donny and Mikey and after a battle where the Sensei gets to kick some shell of his own, they call the Battle Shell remotely and head out to find Leonardo. While searching for his brothers, Leo has an encounter with a mysterious ninja, who calls himself a Guardian. However, before Leo can introduce the Guardian to Splinter and his brothers, the mystery ninja vanishes.

Leo climbs into the Battle Shell and our heroes are reunited. After listening to the Turtles describe what has gone on so far in their battle with the Shredder and the Foot, Splinter concludes they must take care of the Shredder once and for all. The Turtles prepare to charge off and confront the Shredder, but Splinter tells them to let the Shredder come to them. They park the Battle Shell below a fire escape and go to the roof of another building.

It doesn’t take long for the Shredder and the Foot to find the TMNT and Splinter, and another epic rooftop battle begins. This time the Turtles manage to defeat all the Foot soldiers, but the Shredder out matches them. However, Splinter steps in and, through a series of tricky moves, manages to have the Shredder contribute to his own demise by causing a water tower to collapse on top of him, washing him right off the roof. As Shredder tries to stand after his long fall, the remains of the tower smash him into the ground.

Thinking they have beaten the Shredder and the Foot, Splinter and the TMNT set off for home. But just at the close, we see the Shredder’s hand emerge from the wreckage of the water tower. It looks like the Turtles assumed too much, and that the Shredder will return at some point.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) This episode is very iconic and is a major fan-favorite for many fans of the 2003 series since it is still remembered as the first episode where the Turtles and the Shredder had an iconic brawl that happened twice in that episode. The music in the background, the whole setting and the build up to the first fight is amazing. Unlike other shows that rush the series to get to the actual fight immediately, we see several episodes where the Shredder finds out about the Turtle's identities. This manages to give the viewer a very memorable and entertaining fight scene with great music in the background.

Reception
"The Shredder Strikes" has gone on to receive critical acclaim from fans as it received a 8.7/10 and was praised as an excellent beginning between the Turtle's and Utrom Shredder Arc.