A nostalgia-soaked return to the world of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers released on Netflix this week, in the shape of 55-minute streaming special Once & Always.
The delightful special, which rings in the show’s 30th anniversary, arrived on Netflix to high praise from fans, who simply can’t get enough of the return to a series that began all the way back in the early ’90s. Longtime viewers of the range of beloved Power Rangers offerings gobbled up the latest and found themselves delighted by several callbacks and Easter eggs paying homage to the wealth of existing Power Rangers content. One such Easter egg was nestled into an easily-missed conversation in Once & Always, but some fans caught onto the show’s sidelong mention of Cestria.
Who is Cestria?
Its been quite awhile since Cestria made her last appearance in the Power Rangers universe, but loyal fans of the show quickly caught on to a mention of the character. She made her first and only appearance in episode 48 of Power Rangers Zeo, as Billy Cranston’s final love interest. When the vital character made his initial exit from the series, his absence was explained away using Cestria. After meeting the Aquitar native, Billy fell hard for Cestria and chose to stay on Aquitar with her, rather than return to Earth and his duties as a Ranger.
A minor, but delightful, nod to Billy’s long-ago exit was nestled into a conversation in Once & Always, when Adam tells Billy that his lady love is missing him. Near the end of the special, he encourages Billy to return to Aquitar with him, and notes that Cestria is eager to see him again. The short-lived, but well-loved, character was played by Steffanie Malanga in the 1996 show.
This is the only mention of Cestria in the special, and the alien doesn’t make an actual appearance in the flick, but fans were still delighted to hear a reference to that long-forgotten episode in the 2023 return to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.