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 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 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 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 is checking on Rhodey and pulls his helmet off, part of Rhodey's chin turns gray. (00:19:20)
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)
Continuity mistake: When Tony is standing over an unconscious Rhodey, his shirt has no pocket. After he sits down, a pocket has appeared on his shirt. (00:05:09)
Continuity mistake: After Tony puts the tape in the VCR, he leans forward and rests his hands on the control panel, and you can see no-one is around him on his right. When the shot changes, Tony is standing upright, Rhodey is suddenly on his right. (00:11:20)
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man and War Machine are flying away with Firebrand in tow, a power cable linking their two suits together appears when the shot changes. (00:17:57)
Continuity mistake: When Rhodey is telling Tony that he is done being War Machine, large monitors are behind him. When Rhodey is leaving the room, the monitors behind him are significantly smaller. (00:19:44 - 00:20:10)
Continuity mistake: When the slave driver is raising his whip to Mandarin, the ring on his finger has a large red jewel on it. When the shot changes, the entire ring is gold. (00:20:34)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Dum Dum Dugan is holding up the documents for Iron Man to see, his right hand is grasping them by the top-center. When the shot changes to the documents reflected in Iron Man's helmet, Dugan's hand is missing from the reflection. The words on the document are also gibberish. (00:03:12)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Dum Dum Dugan is about to stand up and get in Iron Man's face, the control panel in front of him goes all the way up to his chest, whereas it only went as high as the middle of his stomach in all previous shots. (00:05:13 - 00:05:55)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Dum Dum Dugan is showing Iron Man the footage of the school being set on fire, he sets his mug of coffee down on the control panel. A couple of shots later, the mug has disappeared. (00:05:14)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man picks up Arthur Dearborn by his collar, the left side of Dearborn's head is just outside the spotlight. When the shot changes, his entire head is in the spotlight. (00:10:54)
Cell of Iron - S2-E3
Continuity mistake: When Mandarin's hands first appear at the top of the cliff, he's not wearing any rings. A few shots later, he is suddenly wearing a ring on his right-hand ring finger. The ring then alternates between being on his finger and off for the remainder of the scene. (00:20:35)
Continuity mistake: When Iron Man says "Stealth One out," Nick Fury has a toothpick in his mouth. When the shot changes, the toothpick is gone. (00:01:20)
Continuity mistake: When Rhodey is saying that A.I.M. has dispatched four choppers after them, Nick Fury is standing directly next to him. When the shot changes, Fury has moved away several feet. (00:02:11)
Continuity mistake: When Howard Stark is saying he doesn't remember how he ended up being a captive of A.I.M., his head and pillow are closer to the top of the bed than they were in all previous and subsequent shots. (00:07:19 - 00:08:01)
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 ★