The last fight with the "dragon" is based on the Dragon's Lair arcade game complete with April trapped in a bubble as Princess Daphne.
The episode pays homage to the "Middle-Earth" saga, which starred Sean Astin (Raph) as Samwise Gamgee:
- Mikey obsesses over his toy ring (to the point of insanity)
- Raph says he doesn't do rings (this is ironic, considering Sam had worn the Ring for a short time)
- Donatello, dressed as a wizard, says "You shall not pass!" a line Gandalf said
- and the Turtles encounter and fight a dragon in a gold-filled cavern.
Malachi's character was inspired by the characters of fantasy role-playing games; the creators also wanted to introduce a wizard to the TMNT saga.
Sir Malachi rolling the crystal on his fingertips is a nod to Jareth from Labyrinth, a movie from the 80s about a girl who must traverse a sprawling maze to save her baby brother.
The TTRPG tne Turtles play is homage to the popular game of "Dungeons and Dragons"