Tale of Tiger Claw

Tale of Tiger Claw is the twenty-fourth episode of the fourth season an the one hundred second overall. It officially aired on February 12, 2017.

Plot
Super Shredder tells Tiger Claw to continue the search for Karai and they must not waste any more time. Shredder says Baxter Stockman is on the verge on stabilizing him and will soon be ready to face Splinter and the turtles. Tiger Claw requests to see Xever and Bradford, but Bebop  and Rocksteady  says they are on guard duty. Before leaving, Tiger Claw senses something he has not felt in many years. He discovers that the one who cut off his tail has finally came for him.

In the dojo, Master Splinter manages to take down Casey, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo while drinking. He tells them "unorthodox methods" may be necessary to defeat your enemy. Leonardo and Michelangelo have the strongest ability to sharpen their intuition. Raphael is too angry and Donatello is too grounded up in his knowledge. Only April's is near perfection. Casey's intuition is basically terrible. Suddenly, April has a premonition of some kind where there were twin blades involved, and tells Casey he must be very careful.

While testing on April, Donatello says her powers are not as powerful as the time she had the Crystal. The turtles enter the lab to tell her that they are searching for new leads for Super Shredder's secret lair. April is down to help them and assigns Raphael with Casey, Mikey with him, and April with Donnie.

While in the Party Wagon, Leonardo suggests they visit the Mighty Mutanimals and check in with Karai. Mikey does not understand why Karai doesn't stay with them in the sewers, which Leonardo replies to saying she isn't a kid anymore and wants her independence. They pick up a movement in front of them, assuming it is a missile, but it is a different fast-moving object. They notify the others and tell them to search for it.

While on patrol for Super Shredder, Tiger Claw becomes easily annoyed by Bebop and Rocksteady. Tiger Claw suddenly has a similar vision as April did, except only seeing twin blades. Then he tells Bebop to drive and shut up.

After an NYPD officer finishes night patrol in a museum, the mutant fox Tiger Claw invisioned takes the display of the twin blades. Raphael and Casey enter, telling her to drop the blades. She tells them her name is Alopex and not "sweetheart" after they called her that. After telling her to put the blades down again, she refuses and gives them a "history lesson" of the Blades of Vengeance: Centuries ago, they were owned by twin sisters who used them against an evil war lord who had slayed their family. The blades cursed any man who were even scratched by the steel of the blades. Casey, easily bored, once again asks Alopex to put the blades down, but as expected, refuses again. He attempts to attack her, but steals almost all of his "junk" weapons. He loses control after he insults her, so he electrocutes her with his homemade taser. Then she knocks him out, about to attack him with the blades before Raphael pushes him out of the way. She fights him before realizing that Tiger Claw has arrived outside of the museum. Casey discovers his cheek has been scratched with one of the Cursed Blades.

She speeds outside, facing Tiger Claw. He is shocked that she hangs his tail as a trophy. After the battle, she knocks out Bebop and Rocksteady and warns she will return to fight again.

During Donnie and April's patrol, Alopex runs through the cart. They meet up with the others, talking about Alopex. April asks what happened to Casey's cheeks but Casey replies it was nothing bad, before an air conditioner from the roof of a building almost falls on him.

In the lab, Leonardo researches the Cursed Twin Blades of Vengeance. Mikey throws a shuriken, which almost hits Casey. April says this is serious and that Casey is actually cursed. He says he does not believe in curses, but changes his mind after Donnie's poster gets almost burned. According to Splinter, the only way to reverse the curse is to use the blades on the one who inflicted the curse.

Meanwhile, Bebop and Rocksteady ask about Tiger Claw's backstory with Alopex: They were children and were playing on a playground when a portal opened in their small village. Thinking it was a magic door, they entered. The Kraang mutated and experimented on them, turning them into a fox and a tiger. After many months of hardships, they escaped through a portal back to Earth. They were monsters and could not return home, so they fled. They found refuge in a circus sideshow, but their skills were too valuable. They soon became top-level assassins in a criminal underworld. They were notorious and feared. Then, Alopex turned on him and tried to kill him, but only ended up cutting off his tail. She escaped with his tail, but Tiger Claw was sure that the wounds he inflicted on her were far too grave for her to survive, but he was wrong. She believes that he destroyed her life and must have spent years searching for him, but now Tiger Claw plans to have vengeance on her.

Alopex, close to Tiger Claw ends up finding the turtles, April, and Casey in an alley. Leonardo asks her to give them the blades and does not want to hurt her. While fighting, April uses her powers to raise her off the ground and asks her what she is doing. She explains to them she is on a mission to destroy the one who ruined her life: Tiger Claw, her brother. She said it was his fault they were mutated and turned them into a life of crime. They try to get her to join them, but she refuses and escapes to find Tiger Claw.

She goes up to a rooftop, where they fight but Alopex jumps to the ground, where she gets trapped in a M.O.U.S.E.R.S. cage. Tiger Claw is about to attack her, but the turtles hit the blades out of his hands. They break Alopex out of the cage and ask for her help to reverse the curse. She hands one of the blades to Casey. While Casey tries to chase for the other blade, Tiger Claw fights with Alopex. Tiger Claw aims to shoot his gun at casey, but Raphael jumps in front of him, hitting his shell. Casey finally reaches the other blade, which Casey destroys. Alopex holds down Tiger Claw, saying he is the only family she has left and chooses not to kill him. When she walks away, Tiger Claw grabs his gun, about to shoot Alopex, but misses. Alopex dodges immediately runs up to him and slices his arm off, before escaping. Michelangelo points out that Tiger Claw is also escaping with Bebop and Rocksteady, but Donatello says to let him go because he will never forget this lesson.

Major Characters

 * Leonardo
 * Raphael
 * Michelangelo
 * Donatello
 * April O'Neil
 * Casey Jones
 * Splinter
 * Tiger Claw
 * Alopex
 * Bebop
 * Rocksteady

Minor Characters

 * Super Shredder
 * Splinter
 * Kraang Droids
 * M.O.U.S.E.R.S.
 * Chompy Picasso

Trivia

 * This episode aired on December 17, 2016 in South Korea.
 * Alopex is voiced by Minae Noji, who provided the voice of Tang Shen and portrayed Karai in the 2014 film.

Quotes
Alopex: [slices Tiger Claw's arm off] Tiger Claw: Ahhhh! [roars in pain] Alopex: Never forget - I could have taken your life.

Michelangelo: Dudes, they're getting away! Donatello: Let him go. Tiger Claw will never forget this lesson. Raphael: Yeah, and he'll never be able to clap again.