Mindless Beasts

Mindless Beasts is the seventh episode of the first season of Ninjago: Dragons Rising.
==Synopsis==
In Imperium, Arin mentors a group of eager young crimefighters. Sora confronts a villain from her past. Lloyd frees an Elemental Master from prison.
Extended: Lloyd battles a new Elemental Master named Wyldfyre, then agrees to help the young and feral fire user free her family - meanwhile, Arin falls in with a young group of Imperium do-gooders, and Sora is faced with an impossible choice when she comes face-to-face with Dr LaRow. Later, Lloyd discovers that Wyldfyre's family is a dragon named Heatwave, and an alert informs the entire city of their prison break, including Sora who has just brought the Photac army to life.
==Plot==
An advertisement made by Rapton promoting the Claws of Imperium plays on one of the city's television screens as Arin and Riyu run from Imperium Guards and drones. Arin is able to snatch a hoverboard and use his grappling hook to maneuver his way around. One of the drones hit the hoverboard, and grabs onto Arin. Riyu holds onto Arin as they're both flown around by the drone. Arin is able to break free, causing him and Riyu to fall into a nearby dumpster. He decides to stay put and wait until the guards stop their search. 
A group of young Imperium citizens arrive in the area to start cleaning the windows of a nearby building, but the platform they're standing on starts to crumble. Arin jumps in, using his grappling hook to put everyone safely back on the ground. The group is impressed by Arin's skills, introducing themselves as the Imperium Teenage Protection Force, who strive to follow the law. The leader, Percival, wants Arin to join and he hesitantly agrees.
Lloyd is attacked by the unleashed prisoner, proclaiming her name to be Wyldfyre. As she throws fireballs at him, Lloyd wonders how she can do that since Kai is the Elemental Master of Fire. Due to him wearing Imperium garments, Wyldfyre believes Lloyd is an enemy, and had involvement in her family's capture. Lloyd tries to reason with Wyldfyre, but to no avail. All the commotion causes some Imperium guards to show up. When they start firing at Wyldfyre, Lloyd pushes her out of the way. Wyldfyre is surprised that he saved her, lowering her guard. She decides to work with Lloyd to fight off the guards.
Back in the Advanced Systems Lab, Sora faces her former idol, Dr. LaRow. The doctor reveals that she had been reading the reports the Claws of Imperium had given her, knowing about her joining forces with Lloyd. She knew that Sora would come back for the Photac, revealing that dozens of duplicate devices have been made. However, the villains are unsure of how to activate them, which is where Sora comes in. Sora initially refuses, but Dr. LaRow anticipated that, introducing another factor; the dragon Sora, who is tormented by Dorama's magic. Sora repents and works on the Photac, getting it working in only a few seconds. Dr. LaRow is surprised and repairs for to test out, only for Sora to activate it herself with the remote. She had programmed the Photac to produce a blinding light, giving her enough time to get her dragon friend and escape.
Back in the Cloud Kingdom, Nya is continuing her research on how to stop the MergeQuakes. A Scroll-Worm tries to help, but Nya presumes it's still cursed, and declines. She ends up finding something else. By attaching a piece of blue translucent paper onto a scroll of a map, Nya finds the location of a strange temple she's never seen before.
In the streets of Imperium, Arin is continuing to teach the Imperium teens his moves. Despite fumbling, the group still thinks it looks cool. Arin enjoys their company, relating to their desire to help others. The Imperium Teenage Protection Force declares that they'll eventually join Imperium's greatest force for good; the Claws of Imperium, hunting dragons to help their society grow, as well as protect them from the beasts. Arin opposes this, stating how much they torture dragons. Like other Imperians, Percival and the others regard dragons as mindless beasts with no feelings to hurt, delightfully stating they'd turn in a dragon if they saw one and that it would be drained entirely. Riyu, who was still in the dumpster, falls over out of shock and causes noise, gaining their attention. Arin tries to distract the group, but they still want to check the noise.
Lloyd and Wyldfyre storm through the facility, ending up in the dragon-holding cells. Wyldfyre senses one of them, and Lloyd uses his energy powers to override the security lock and open the cell. The dragon is initially hostile, but when he sees Wyldfyre, he eases up, with his skin turning from orange to red. Wyldfyre reunites with Heatwave, the dragon who had raised her in the Wyldness for years. 
Sora the human and Sora the dragon continue trying to find the way out. Having been away for years, Sora can't recall the exact mapping of the facility. They end up in a storage facility, where they are confronted by Rapton, more Claw Hunters and some drones. Sora decides to bluff, claiming she'll use her powers to attack them. Rapton calls that bluff, telling her to reform one of the drones. Sora has to try using her tech power without a spark from Riyu, reaching deep inside herself and remembering Lloyd's words about true power being within her. She is briefly able to tap into it, but is unable to fully manipulate the drone. Sora has no other choice but to fight, but is unable to handle the number of guards. 
The dragon Sora is recaptured and brought back to the Advanced Systems Lab. The villains repeat their initial deal with Sora, but with a new twist with input from Lord Ras; they won't stop draining the dragon until Sora activates a Photac legitimately. While this is happening, Lloyd decides to free all the dragons at once, much to Wyldfyre's excitement. Every dragon captured is freed, beginning a prison riot. Back with Arin, he is unable to distract the group, and they find Riyu.
Sora finishes her work, fully activating one of the copy Photacs. The villains will repeat the process for the other Photacs, with Lord Ras claiming that Imperium will be unstoppable to Sora's horror.
==Appearances==
===Characters===
====Cast====
*Arin - Deven Mack
*Dorama - Mackenzie Gray
*Dr. LaRow - Ashleigh Ball
*Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
*Nya - Kelly Metzger
*Percival - Aidan Drummond
*Ras - Brian Drummond
*Riyu - Brian Drummond
*Sora - Sabrina Pitre
*Wyldfyre - Kazumi Evans
====Mentioned====
*Arin's parents
*Caregiver bot
*Kai
*Sora's parents
*Wu
====Miscellaneous====
*Beatrix (pictured)
===Creatures===
*Dragon Matriarch (video)
*Earth Dragon
*Fire Dragon
*Heatwave
*Ice Dragons
*Jiro
*Mountain Dragon
*Scroll-Worms
*Zanth
===Items===
*Dragon Cores (mentioned)
*Claw Staffs
*Hoverboard
*Imperium Drones
*Imperium Swords
*Photacs
===Vehicles===
*Hover chariots
*SA Mark 01 (flashback)
===Events===
*The Merge (video)
===Locations===
*Cloud Kingdom
**Cloud Kingdom archives
*Imperium
**Kingdom of Imperium
***Imperium Palace
****Advanced Systems Lab
***Security Station
****Imperium Prison
*Ninjago
**Crossroads (flashback)
**Ninjago City (video)
***Borg Tower
*World Forest (pictured)
**World Trees
***Temple of the Dragon Cores
*Wyldness (mentioned)
===Species===
*Dragons
**Djinjagan Dragons
**Earth Dragons
**Fire Dragons
**Ice Dragons
**Lava Dragons
**Lightning Dragons
**Mountain Dragons
**Source Dragons (mentioned)
*Humans
*Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
*Tigers
==Transcript==
For the transcript of the episode, click here.
==Trivia==
*There are a couple of mistakes in Rapton's Claws of Imperium recruitment video. Chris "Doc" Wyatt confirmed they were done intentionally.https://twitter.com/otherland71/status/1665399089792688135?s=61
**The second Ninjargon word doesn't spell 'Courageous.' Instead, it spells 'E-G (mirrored)-A-R-I (mirrored)-O-C (mirrored)'.
**The third Ninjargon word 'Brave' is mirrored.
===Continuity===
*Lloyd mistaking Wyldfyre for Kai because of her power of Heat is similar to when him and the other ninja mistook Skylor for as a Master of Fire due to her power of Amber in "Only One Can Remain."
**Thus making this the second time the ninja mistook someone else as a Master of Fire during their time.
===Cultural references===
*The Imperium Teenage Protection Force collectively does an introduction mimicking the Ginyu Force's signature pose from Dragon Ball Z.
===Errors===
==Videos==
File:LEGO NINJAGO Dragons Rising - Mindless Beasts - S1 E7
==Gallery==
For the gallery of the episode, click here.
==Translations==
==References==
Category:2023
Category:Episodes
Category:Episodes of Season 1 (Dragons Rising)
de:Wyldfyre (Episode)
ru:Глупые существа
es:Bestias Descerebradas