Valmont's biggest mistake: giving the talismans to the Enforcers. His unwillingness to get his own hands dirty is definitely one of the biggest factors in his defeats - when he takes to the field himself, he's smart and a good martial artist (good enough to beat Jackie the first time they fought).
But they'd totally have gotten away with the bank robbery in the first episode if not for that meddling dragon spirit!
I <3 Black accidentally turning himself into a frog with his experiments. He's like Jade - can use chi spells, but hilarity results. (Jackie seems unable to use chi magic; he tries in that Tarakudo episode with the Hak Foo shadow-eating Shadowkhan. Jade and Future Jade can do chi spells.)
The way time travel works in this 'verse seems to be that the characters who actively time travel retain memories of how their pasts used to be before they were changed, and only certain aspects of the future change. This fits in with Jackie's scar: Present Jackie still remembers the accident where he got his scar, even after Jade changed time so he doesn't have it on his arm any more. So there was an original time track where Valmont got the inspiration to be a crime lord all on his lonesome, and Valmont remembers it.
Future Jade getting rid of Shendu's teeth in the past is another example: the teeth disappeared in the future, but Jackie and Uncle were still tied up to wait for Shendu's return. However, the fates of Future Jade and evil chi master Iso in the other Future Jade episode make my head hurt - given that Present Jade destroyed the Arcanum, Future Jimmy could not use it, and also, Present Jimmy resolved never to become Iso. So did the evil Iso continue to exist in the future even though his Arcanum was destroyed and his past self decided to make different choices?
(Also, bonus later-season theory that's rather squicky: *Valmont* accidentally created Drago, as a result of leftover dragon essence within him plus some poor unsuspecting lady. I wish that canon had actually revealed Drago's mother; there were few female characters anyway, and it might've made his character more interesting to give him a concrete backstory.)
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But they'd totally have gotten away with the bank robbery in the first episode if not for that meddling dragon spirit!
I <3 Black accidentally turning himself into a frog with his experiments. He's like Jade - can use chi spells, but hilarity results. (Jackie seems unable to use chi magic; he tries in that Tarakudo episode with the Hak Foo shadow-eating Shadowkhan. Jade and Future Jade can do chi spells.)
The way time travel works in this 'verse seems to be that the characters who actively time travel retain memories of how their pasts used to be before they were changed, and only certain aspects of the future change. This fits in with Jackie's scar: Present Jackie still remembers the accident where he got his scar, even after Jade changed time so he doesn't have it on his arm any more. So there was an original time track where Valmont got the inspiration to be a crime lord all on his lonesome, and Valmont remembers it.
Future Jade getting rid of Shendu's teeth in the past is another example: the teeth disappeared in the future, but Jackie and Uncle were still tied up to wait for Shendu's return. However, the fates of Future Jade and evil chi master Iso in the other Future Jade episode make my head hurt - given that Present Jade destroyed the Arcanum, Future Jimmy could not use it, and also, Present Jimmy resolved never to become Iso. So did the evil Iso continue to exist in the future even though his Arcanum was destroyed and his past self decided to make different choices?
(Also, bonus later-season theory that's rather squicky: *Valmont* accidentally created Drago, as a result of leftover dragon essence within him plus some poor unsuspecting lady. I wish that canon had actually revealed Drago's mother; there were few female characters anyway, and it might've made his character more interesting to give him a concrete backstory.)