Queen of the Munce

:For the eponymous character, see Murtessa or Nya.
Queen of the Munce is the fifth episode of the thirteenth season of Ninjago and the 149th episode overall. It aired first in English on July 9, 2020, in Australia. It aired in the US on September 27, 2020, along with "Trial By Mino".http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/ninjago-masters-of-spinjitzu/listings/
==Synopsis==
Jay, Nya and Lloyd are led deep into the Mines of Shintaro by Murt, who brings them back to the Munce "Home- Cave" - a settlement deep in the mountain. There, complications arise when they meet the Munce Queen, Murtessa, who takes a liking to Jay.https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/ninjago/queen-of-the-munce-episode.html
Cartoon Network Asia: Having become separated from the others, Nya, Jay and Lloyd are led back to the Munce "Home-Cave" by a Munce named Murt.https://www.cartoonnetworkasia.com/videos/ninjago-masters-of-spinjitzu-queen-of-the-munce
Extended: Having become separated from the others, Nya, Jay and Lloyd are led back to the Munce "Home-Cave" by a Munce named Murt. There, they are introduced to the Munce Queen, Murtessa, who immediately falls for Jay, whom she considers a powerful warrior. Realizing that Nya and Jay are together, the queen turns on Nya and challenges her to combat to determine which of them shall wed Jay.http://web.archive.org/web/20210217021535/https://www.foxtel.com.au/tv-guide/Ninjago/119370807
==Plot==
Jay, Nya, and Lloyd follow the Munce to their home; however, Murt cannot remember where to go. He points out their possible paths, including the one where they just came from. Jay groans, thinking they'll never escape the tunnels, but Nya finds footprints and they follow the tracks.
The ninja finally arrive at the Munce Home-Cave and are amazed at the architecture. Before they could enter, two Munce Sentries ask who is entering and Murt is confused at the question until Lloyd tells him who they're talking about. Murt tells them his name, and the two guards realize he escaped from the Skull Sorcerer. He then credits the ninja and they're invited into the Throne Room to meet Queen Murtessa.
Murtessa realizes it's Murt and he shows the ninja who helped him escape. Murt then explains how they were able to escape the Skull Sorcerer using exaggerated body motions. Murtessa then approaches the ninja and takes affection for Jay, thanking them for saving her people. She then turns to Nya and thinks she some sort of servant, but Jay corrects her saying she is his Yang. Murtessa then heads back saying they could have anything they wanted, even Nya who she despises and calls her a "Yang-Servant".
Nya gets frustrated that she was called a "Yang Servant" and is upset at Jay for not saying anything. Lloyd tells them to calm down and notices a picture depicting a warrior fighting a dragon. Lloyd wonders if the warrior is "Gilly". The Munce guards then ask the ninja if they would like to eat with Murtessa, and they all happily agree, but the guards would only allow Jay to dine with Murtessa. Nya is then irate and demands they should all eat together since they're a team. Nya asks Jay if he agrees, but he's about to enter the dining room, so she grabs Jay and asks again. Jay finally agrees and the guards allow the ninja to enter.
Inside the dining room, Murtessa originally sees Jay enter the room and is elated, but her mood switches to annoyance when she sees Nya and Lloyd enter the room. Murtessa asks if Jay knows Spinjitzu and he replies yes. She then asks Jay if he has Elemental Powers, and once again, he replies with yes. Nya then tries to tell Murtessa they all have powers, but she doesn't care and asks Jay if he can show a demonstration. Jay then uses Lightning to turn all of the green crystals light blue, which impresses everyone. Murtessa walks up to Jay and asks if he's betrothed and Nya sharply replies that he's in love with her. Murtessa and Nya then stare each other down, and Lloyd tries to get things back on track, but Murtessa kicks everyone's food and demands a duel with Nya. Nya is shocked that she has to fight for the right to be Jay's love interest, so Murtessa taunts Nya saying she's a child. Nya, getting hot-tempered, accepts the duel.
As Nya gets prepared to battle Murtessa, Lloyd and Jay beg her to not fight, citing that there are better options. Nya then asks Jay what would happen if she didn't fight. She tells Jay Murtessa wants him to be the King and he would have to stay down in the cave forever, as well as eating disgusting food. Jay then realizes it and cheers for Nya to pull out a victory.
Inside the arena, Nya attempts to attack Murtessa; however, Murtessa is able to avoid it. Murtessa then performs some weird moves before finally curling up into a ball and knocking Nya off her feet. Nya tries to get up, but Murtessa continues to roll Nya over. After getting beaten up, Nya decides to use Spinjitzu and is able to knock Murtessa unconscious. The Munce realize Murtessa lost, and begin chanting "Queen Mya", and the ninja realize they have bigger problems.
==Appearances==
===Characters===
====Cast====
*Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
*Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
*Munce Sentry One - Sam Vincent
*Munce Sentry Two - Brian Drummond
*Munce Warrior One - Brent Miller
*Munce Warrior - Vincent Tong
*Murt - Michael Adamthwaite
*Murtessa - Tabitha St. Germain
*Nya - Kelly Metzger
====Miscellaneous====
*Lilly (pictured)
====Mentioned====
*Skull Sorcerer
===Events===
*Ritual combat
===Items===
*Blades of Deliverance (pictured)
*Nya's Munce spear
*Shield
*Spiked clubs
===Creatures===
*Grief-Bringer (pictured)
===Locations===
*Ninjago
**Shintaro Mountain
***Dungeons of Shintaro
****Munce Home-Cave
*****Munce arena
===Species===
*Dragons (pictured)
*Humans
*Munce
*Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
==Transcript==
For the transcript of the episode, click here.
==Trivia==
*Narrator: Jay
*An instrumental version of The Shintaro Dungeon Whip is used for the intro.
===Continuity===
*This episode marks Nya's first appearance in her suit, but unlike the minifigure, both arms are tan-colored where on the minifigure, one is tan and the other is silver.
*This marks the first mention of the Yin-Yang Promise since "Endings."
**Though it was treated similarly to a marriage proposal throughout March of the Oni, this episode seems to equate the Yin-Yang Promise with betrothal, as when Murtessa asks if Jay is betrothed, Nya says "Yes! He is! To me!"
*As of this episode, the ninja's new designs have appeared in more episodes than their original designs, as this is the 75th episode to feature the new designs and the original designs appeared in 74 episodes.
**However, the original designs still had more screen time by this point, as 24 episodes into the new designs, the runtime of an episode was changed from 22 minutes to 11 minutes.
*Jay worries that the group is lost in the tunnels, but when Nya notices footprints in the dirt, Jay says, "See? I told you it would be fine." This is very similar to a scene from "The Crooked Path" when Jay worried one of the lanterns in the Caves of Despair would set off a trap, and when this was proven false, he said "Like I thought. Just a lantern."
*Like with Cole in "The Worst Rescue Ever" the Munce have replaced the first letter in Nya's name with an "M".
==Video==
In the Skull Dungeons ‘The Queen’ – LEGO® NINJAGO® Master of the Mountain
==Gallery==
For the gallery of the episode, click here.
== Translations ==
==References==
de:Königin Murtessa
ru:Королева Мансов
Category:2020
Category:Episodes
Category:Episodes of Master of the Mountain
De: Königin Murtessa
es:La Reina de los Munce