WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Mighty Morphin #8 by Ryan Parrott, Marco Renna, Walter Baiamonte, Katia Ranalli, Sara Antonellini and Ed Dukeshire, on sale now.
Life has never been more complicated for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Following a series of shocking betrayals, Lord Zedd reappeared with a brand new army and claimed dominion over the entire city of Angel Grove. To make matters worse, the Rangers were confronted by their own allies along with Lord Zedd's forces, with the new Green Ranger leading the charge. Matthew Cook didn't claim that mantle for himself though, and Billy Cranston's hand in bringing the Green Ranger back may have just broken all trust that his own team had left in him.
While the rest of the Power Rangers and Bronze Guardian Zelya are making their last stand inside of Angel Grove, Billy is back at the Command Center with Zordon and Alpha 5 working tirelessly on a way to get them back out. A broken transmission from Matthew Cook comes through, and he is desperate for a way to help Tommy and Aisha while his own Dragonzord is failing. Billy walks him through the process he needs to stabilize the Zord, made all the easier by the modifications that Billy made to it during his time at Promethea. Once their conversation is over, Billy feels the piercing gaze of Zordon burning into the back of his head, and he knows that the next discussion on his agenda will be far less friendly than the last. Zordon has every right to feel betrayed by Billy after so much time spent working behind his back. Of course, that in itself doesn't mean that Billy was acting maliciously in any way.
Billy explains to Zordon that he began working on repairing the Dragon Coin and Dragonzord only after it became clear that Zordon wasn't going to do so himself. Following Lord Zedd's arrival and the Green Ranger's destruction, Billy was terrified of what might happen should all of the Power Rangers lose their powers. This is why he joined Grace Sterling in rebuilding a better Power Ranger. To that end, he has been remarkably successful in every possible way. Not only are Billy's updated Green Ranger and Dragonzord more powerful than they ever have been, but Matthew Cook is the perfect person to carry that mantle. Grace Sterling's own concerns with Zordon's vision of the Power Rangers have led her to create an independent Ranger.
As part of the 1969 team, Grace was sent into battle on the moon with no real preparation for the horrors that awaited her team. When she returned as one of only two survivors, she was immediately stripped of her powers and sent away. That experience has left her wondering what good the Power Rangers are under Zordon's callous leadership, whereas Billy has been left wondering what good they are when they no longer exist at all.
The rest of the team hasn't been much easier on Billy, even if Kimberly has espoused her trust in Matthew Cook up until she discovered him fighting alongside Goldar inside of Angel Grove. While they might be more understanding of his decisions than Zordon, it is difficult to think that even his fellow Rangers would be willing to overlook the fact that Billy lied to them for so long about something so important. Hopefully, he can bridge the divide that has formed between himself and the others before it becomes completely irreparable. If not, he might have to start looking for a new color to wear.