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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Spoilers for all five issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin. The story’s alternate future ends with Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, Splinter, and finally Michelangelo dead. Michelangelo is the Last Ronin; April and Casey Marie Jones survive, and Casey Marie is positioned to carry the family’s legacy forward. These are the fates of the characters in this story world, not endpoints for every version of the Turtles.
Who is the Last Ronin?
The Last Ronin is Michelangelo, a reveal made at the end of issue #1. He is the sole surviving Turtle at the start of the story’s present-day action, carrying the grief of his family’s deaths into his final confrontation with the Foot Clan.
How each Turtle and Splinter dies
The losses unfold over years, rather than in one final battle. In story order, these are the events that take the core family members.
Raphael: killed after the Foot Clan breaks its truce
The Foot Clan breaks its truce and ambushes the family. Believing Splinter is dying, Raphael rushes after Karai. They fight, and the struggle spills into the East River; both wound the other, and Raphael dies. Artist Ben Bishop describes Karai as killing Raphael, and Kevin Eastman identifies the issue as the story of Raphael’s death. Inverse’s oral history includes the creators’ accounts of the event.
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Leonardo: dies in a losing last stand
Years later, Leonardo and Casey Jones defend the city against the Foot. They face a massive attack involving mousers and robotic Foot soldiers, and understand that they are making a last stand. They die fighting together. Tom Waltz clarified that this is an ambush, not a battle they win; the stand does not turn the tide.
Donatello: killed protecting Splinter
Donatello accompanies Splinter to Japan because he can pilot the plane for his father’s peace mission between the Hamato and Foot clans. The mission fails, and Donatello is killed protecting Splinter in the battle that follows.
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Splinter: dies when the peace mission fails
Splinter dies in the same battle as Donatello. Waltz said the two deaths do not serve a strategic purpose: their point is to show the family being consumed by the cycle of violence, rather than to suggest that the failed mission achieves a military or political victory.
Michelangelo: defeats Shredder, then dies
In issue #5, Michelangelo has begun to rebuild a sense of family with April and Casey Marie. He defeats Shredder in the final confrontation, but dies in the mud. Waltz described the ending this way: “At the end, Michelangelo dies in the mud, fighting Shredder, but he finally knows peace because the feud is over.” The quote is from Inverse’s oral history. Eastman said Michelangelo’s death was meant to pass the baton to Casey Marie.
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Who survives, and what is passed on?
April and Casey Marie survive
April survives the story. Casey Marie Jones, the daughter of April and Casey Jones, also survives. Michelangelo’s brothers appear together in the ending’s afterlife imagery, while Casey Marie prepares to continue the legacy in the living world.
Casey Marie carries the next generation
Casey Marie’s role is more than symbolic: IDW describes her training young terrapin students to become the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in The Last Ronin—Lost Years, a prequel that follows Michelangelo’s journey and Casey Marie’s training work. IDW’s Lost Years listing gives the series premise and collection contents.
Why the ending is tragic, not a clean victory
The final defeat of Shredder ends the feud, but it does not undo what it cost. Waltz and Eastman have described several of the deaths as tragic or futile: Leonardo and Casey die in an ambush without winning, and Donatello and Splinter’s peace mission fails. Michelangelo’s victory brings the conflict to an end at the price of his life. That reading comes from the creators’ explanations of their choices, rather than a claim that every death is a triumphant sacrifice.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which continuity does The Last Ronin belong to?
The Last Ronin is its own story world, not a universal conclusion for the Turtles across comics, animation, and film. Waltz said the original idea was considered as a possible ending for the Mirage universe, but the story as developed became its own continuity as the creators built out Casey Marie, the new Shredder’s family history, and possible prequels and sequels. The collected edition gathers issues #1–5; IDW’s collection page describes the story as a possible future centered on a lone surviving Turtle and links to the related books.
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The original five-issue story was announced as concluding on April 27, 2022. In a March 18, 2022 announcement, IDW said hundreds of thousands of copies were in print; that is the publisher’s statement at the time, not a precise final sales total. IDW’s announcement gives the date and wording.
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