Continuity mistake: When Rhodey knocks Tony down, Rhodey's belt buckle is circular. When Rhodey is picking Tony back up, his belt buckle is now square-shaped. (00:19:29)
Continuity mistake: When Rhodey knocks Tony to the floor for faking his death, the top of Rhodey's pants are visible above his belt. When he leans over, the top of his pants disappear. (00:19:29)
Revealing mistake: When MODOK is fleeing after the dragons have been defeated, the edge of an animation cel is visible on the right side of the screen. (00:19:13)
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man is checking on Rhodey and pulls his helmet off, part of Rhodey's chin turns gray. (00:19:20)
Continuity mistake: When Fin Fang Foom is saying "This planet, my brothers, is ours," the dragons are standing in a circle. When the shot changes, they are all standing directly next to each other and would only be forming a half-circle at most. (00:18:39)
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man arrives to help Rhodey battle Mandarin and the dragons, there is a shot of MODOK and Mandarin in disbelief that Iron Man is still alive. You can see MODOK has pupils on his eyes, and he is grimacing. When the shot changes, his eyes are back to being their usual blank appearance, and his mouth is closed. (00:17:44)
Continuity mistake: When Century is first seen, the left side of his cape and shoulder pads are colored darker in color than the right side, due to being in shadow. When the shot changes, both sides are colored the same despite him not moving. (00:12:49)
Continuity mistake: When Mandarin is shown after Fin Fang Foom calls him a thief, the rings on certain fingers are missing in some shots. (00:11:15)
Other mistake: When Tony is sealing the door to his jet shut, he rotates the handle in a full circle, and Rhodey does the same thing, but in the opposite direction when he exits the jet. When Tony is sealing the door back shut after Rhodey leaves, he only rotates the handle about 45°. (00:07:07 - 00:08:00)
Continuity mistake: When Tony Stark is talking to the reporters before boarding his jet, the interior side of the door is gray. Once he boards the jet and seals the door shut, the interior is now red. (00:06:48)
Continuity mistake: When Rhodey surprises Tony in his private jet after he seals the door shut, Tony is positioned perpendicular to the aisle and facing the opposite side of the jet. When the shot changes, Tony is suddenly standing directly in the aisle and facing the back of the jet. (00:07:08)
Continuity mistake: When Tony is telling the reporter that he has personal business in China, none of the reporters are standing within an arm's reach of him. When the shot changes to Blizzard and Hypnotia watching the report on TV, he suddenly has four microphones in front of his face. (00:06:51)
Continuity mistake: When the four captains of industry have reached the top of the cliff, they are standing next to each other. When the shot changes, two of them are suddenly standing in front of the other two. When the shot changes again to Fin Fang Foom's foot slamming down in front of them, they are once again standing next to each other. (00:06:36)
Continuity mistake: When Tony is working on repairing the torso piece of his armor, it is only the chest. After H.O.M.E.R. tells him he is at risk of paralysis, the piece of armor has the back section attached to it as well. (00:03:26)
Revealing mistake: When the villagers are bringing Mandarin to the doctor in a stretcher, you can see that the animators only drew the top half of his body, and the size of the stretcher is relative to it. When the shot changes, both the Mandarin's body and the stretcher are now the appropriate sizes. (00:21:05)
Continuity mistake: When Justin Hammer pulls out the folded map, the outside of it is a solid brown color. When the shot changes, the map is now a lighter shade of brown and also has grid-lines at the top. (00:13:52)
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man's helmet falls to the ocean floor, it is standing straight up. When the shot changes, the face of the helmet is now pointed up. (00:09:46)
Continuity mistake: When War Machine is surveying the wreckage of Tony's jet, he finds one of Iron Man's gauntlets on the floor of the jet, with the palm facing up. When the shot changes, the gauntlet has rotated so that the outside of the thumb is facing up, and is also now on the ocean floor instead of the jet floor. (00:09:39)
Continuity mistake: When Tony's jet sinks to the ocean floor, it is still intact. When War Machine is approaching it, it is suddenly completely split in half, with the front half positioned at a 90° angle respective to the back half. (00:09:23)
Continuity mistake: When Tony is talking to the press before boarding his jet, the handle to seal the door shut is missing in the wide shot. (00:06:48)
Answer: Gleaned from the Internet: Some critics criticized the premise of so many one-off battles that were introduced and concluded within one or two episodes. Others felt the first-season plot lines were overly simplistic and never progressed or developed through the season. Also, the rivalry between Iron Man and the Mandarin also failed to capture viewer's attention.
raywest ★