Plot hole: When Mandarin is using his power rings to see the different kinds of suits that Iron Man has built, all the footage is clips of Iron Man using different suits in previous episodes. Assuming the rings had the power to do that, then they should also be able to show Mandarin that Iron Man is Tony Stark, because if they have the power to show Iron Man using different armors down to the most minute detail, then they should also be able to show him removing his armor to reveal Tony Stark underneath. Not to mention that H.O.M.E.R. frequently refers to Iron Man as "Mr. Stark" when communicating with him.
The Wedding of Iron Man - S1-E13
Plot hole: When Mandarin is concluding that Tony Stark and Iron Man are one and the same, he is watching video footage of when he had Tony Stark captive, and Tony first constructed the Iron Man armor and used a dummy that looked like himself in order to fool Mandarin into thinking that Iron Man was rescuing Tony Stark from captivity. If Mandarin had video footage of Tony Stark in that room where he organized his own rescue, then he also would have had footage of Tony Stark constructing the dummy of himself in the first place, and thus would have known Stark was Iron Man from the get go. (00:13:06)
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 ★