Wasted True Potential

Wasted True Potential is the first episode of the eleventh season of Ninjago and the 99th episode overall. It aired on June 22, 2019, in the United States. It was paired up with "Questing for Quests."
It was originally scheduled to be released in Canada on May 11, 2019, but was removed and rescheduled for August 10, 2019. A trailer featuring incomplete color grading not meant for public viewing was mistakenly released by Teletoon on April 30, 2019, but was taken down shortly after.
==Synopsis==
In the wake of their previous season's victory, the ninja have gone soft and Master Wu must remind them of who they truly are.https://www.cartoonnetworkasia.com/videos/ninjago-masters-of-spinjitzu-wasted-true-potential
Extended: Having grown complacent in the wake of their victory over the Oni, the ninja are enjoying life, playing video-games, sleeping in, and soaking in a hot tub (fashioned from one of the monastery's enormous bells). Unfortunately, this behavior quickly grows tiresome and the ninja are confronted by Master Wu, who accuses them of not taking their duties seriously. The ninja deny this, and Wu decides to put them to the test with a series of booby-traps and pranks intended to test their reflexes and skills. Among the more dangerous challenges, the ninja must catch a dangerous breed of chicken that grows wild in the hills surrounding the monastery. Put to shame by the chicken, the ninja ultimately realize: Wu is right. They have gone soft. They decide to take on a new quest to get back in ninja-shape.https://web.archive.org/web/20210308200820/https://www.foxtel.com.au/tv-guide/Ninjago/120287450
==Plot==
The episode begins with a dream, where a sleeping Zane wakes up to be confronted by Aspheera and is ultimately knocked out.
He then sees another, larger Serpentine wreaking havoc in Ninjago City and sees a frozen palace. He sees a vision of a man with familiar glowing eyes and clad in samurai armor sitting on a throne, and then a legion of Pyro Vipers marching through Ninjago City terrorizing the people. He then sees an Ice Dragon freeze over a small village, freezing several people solid, including the other ninja, lastly focusing on Jay. When Zane wakes up, he finds Jay is next to his bed. Zane attempts to tell Jay about his dream, but Jay laughs about it, thinking it was just a nightmare. Jay is not moved by Zane’s last dreams coming true. Instead, he shifts the conversation to Cole, who is about to beat Zane's record in Lava Zombies.
Meanwhile, back in the game room, Cole is watched by Kai, Nya, and Lloyd who all see Cole beat Zane's record. Once Jay and Zane arrive, the ninja realized they have spent too much time with video games and decide to relax in a hot tub.
As the ninja relax in their hot tub, they spot an angry Master Wu who criticizes them for being lazy once again, especially since their hot tub was made out of a sacred bell. The ninja attempt to come up with excuses, but this makes Wu even more upset and demands a meeting at the Monastery of Spinjitzu.
Inside the monastery, Wu continues to criticize the ninja of their laziness and tells a story of monks who eventually became ninjas. In the process of becoming a ninja, the monks had to pass a test that involved withstanding some time with an electric chicken. Wu did the same thing for the ninja for them to prove their courage. Once the chicken was released, it attacks the ninja using its lighting power. The ninja barely managed to trap the chicken, but Wu warned them of upcoming plans to prove their courage.
As the day proceeds, the ninja were utterly unable to see through traps Wu had set including trap doors, darts, and being stuck on top of the monastery. By the next day, the ninja were tired and humiliated by how Wu had completely eluded them with the traps and decide to compromise with Wu to see if there are other ways to prove their courage.
 The ninja find Wu in the courtyards and ask if there are other ways to prove their courage. Wu decides to make an exception and allow the ninja to fight him. Despite Wu being outnumbered, he still soundly defeated all the ninja due to their lack of training over the past month with pure skill despite their usage of their powers. Wu then unleashes his chicken upon the ninja to punish them for failure as they realize the truth of Wu's words and they scream as they are electrocuted.
==Appearances==
===Characters===
====Cast====
*Aspheera - Pauline Newstone
*Cole - Kirby Morrow
*Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
*Kai - Vincent Tong
*Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
*Nya - Kelly Metzger
*Wu - Paul Dobson
*Zane - Brent Miller
====Non-speaking====
*Pyro Destroyers
====Mentioned====
*Monks
====Miscellaneous====
*P.I.X.A.L. (painting)
*Garmadon (painting)
*Harumi (painting)
*Iron Baron (painting)
*Colossus (painting)
*Acronix (painting)
*Krux (painting)
*Maya (painting)
*Ray (painting)
*Cyrus Borg (painting)
*Clouse (painting)
*Nadakhan (painting)
*Morro (painting)
*Ghoultar (painting)
*Soul Archer (painting)
*Ronin (painting)
*Chen (painting)
*Ash (painting)
*Bolobo (painting)
*Chamille (painting)
*Gravis (painting)
*Neuro (painting)
*Shade (painting)
*Tox (painting)
*The Overlord (painting)
*Cryptor (painting)
*Min-Droid (painting)
*Kozu (painting)
*Giant Stone Warrior (painting)
*Pythor (painting)
*Skales (painting)
*Acidicus (painting)
*Fangtom (painting)
*Skalidor (painting)
*Samukai (painting)
*Kruncha (painting)
*Nuckal (painting)
===Creatures===
*Wu's chicken
*Fire Fang (dream)
*Boreal (dream)
*Firstbourne (painting)
*Fire Dragon (painting)
*Stormbringer (painting)
*The Preeminent (painting)
*Great Devourer (painting)
*Ultra Dragon (painting)
*Titanium Dragon (mentioned)
===Events===
*Siege at the Monastery (dream)
*Fall of Ninjago (painting)
*Alternate timeline (painting)
*Ghost invasion (painting)
*Second Serpentine War (painting)
*Nindroid crisis (painting)
*The Final Battle (painting)
*Attack of the Great Devourer (painting)
===Items===
*Aspheera's staff (dream)
*Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu (dream)
*Kai's golden katana (dream)
*Cole's golden hammer (dream)
*Zane's golden shurikens
*Zane's scepter (dream)
*Lava Zombies
*Soda guzzler
*Cake
*Milk
*Pool table
*Bell of Divinity
*Bo staff
*Lloyd's golden sword
*Dragon Armor (painting)
*Dragonbone Blade (painting)
*Oni Mask of Hatred (painting)
*Time Blades (painting)
*Djinn Blade (painting)
*Realm Crystal (painting)
*Aeroblades (painting)
*Deepstone (painting)
*Anacondrai Blades (painting)
*Techno Blades (painting)
*Golden Weapons/Mega Weapon/Golden Armor (painting)
*Serpentine Staffs (painting)
===Vehicles===
*Samurai Mech (painting)
*Storm Glider (painting)
*Blade Cycle (painting)
*Snowmobile (painting)
*Tread Assault (painting)
*Destiny's Bounty (painting)
*Earth Driller (painting)
*Iron Doom (painting)
*Golden Mech (painting)
*Golden Master's mech (painting)
*Misfortune's Keep (painting)
===Locations===
*Ninjago (realm)
**Ninjago
***Mountains of Impossible Height
****Monastery of Spinjitzu
*****Zane's room
*****Relaxation room
*****Wu's room
*****Kitchen
*****Bathroom
***Ninjago City (painting)
****Borg Tower (painting)
***Stiix (painting)
***Corridor of Elders (painting)
**Djinjago (painting)
**Dark Island (painting)
***Temple of Light
*Never-Realm (dream)
**Castle of Ice
***Throne Room
**Great Lake
*Realm of Oni and Dragons (painting)
===Species===
*Chickens
*Humans
*Nindroids
*Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
*Dragons (painting)
*Djinns (painting)
*Ghosts (painting)
*Shadow creatures (painting)
*Stone Warriors (painting)
*Serpentine (painting)
**Constrictai
**Fangpyre
**Hypnobrai (dream)
**Vermillion
**Venomari
*Skulkin (painting)
==Transcript==
For the transcript of the episode, click here.
==Trivia==
*Narrator: Wu
**This is the first episode since "Lost in Time" where Wu reads the title card.
*The name of the episode is a pun on the term "wasted potential."
*This episode is the first to be animated and produced by WildBrain.
**This is also the first episode of the series to be produced only with an 11-minute runtime.
***Ninjago: Decoded had eleven-minute episodes but was not part of the main series.
*At the beginning of the episode, when the title is shown, a painting of a dragon is shown, with "Frost Dragon" written in Ninjargon on the side. This likely references Boreal and the second chapter of the season, the Ice Chapter. 
*When Cole was winning Lava Zombies, it said "You Win!" in Ninjargon, which is similar to how a player wins the dojo with the "You Win!" card in The LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame.
**On the top right corner, it said "SCORE: 09999" in Ninjargon.
*The ninja's swimwear choices resemble their beachwear from "The Last Hope." This was done for consistency.https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1295059509875036162
** This is the first time since "Wu's Teas" (or canonically "Misfortune Rising") where every ninja wears some form of casual, non-ninja clothing.
**Kai, Cole, and Lloyd use the torso design of the Shower Guy from 71025 Minifigures Series 19.
*When Wu fights the ninja on the roof of the monastery, for a moment his hat flies into the air and shows Wu's head, which is missing his black skullcap seen in previous episodes.:File:Bald wu.png This is likely because characters are no longer shown with studs on their heads as of March of the Oni, so a covering for the top of Wu's head is no longer needed, animation-wise.
**This is also seen in "The Prodigal Father,":File:Bald wu 2.png but in "The Real Fall," Wu has this skullcap again. This is presumably because was missing his hat for a longer time in the latter episode, so his skullcap may have been added back in order for him to look more normal.
**Wu also did not have this skullcap in "King of Shadows".:File:Bald wu pilot.png This was probably because it was not yet created.
*This is the first episode to use an existing episode title and add one adjective, the second is "The Real Fall".
*In Lloyd's and Wu's fight, a type of scene is used in which the screen narrows and shows the eyes of both opponents. A similar scene appeared in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, in a duel between Wu and Garmadon in the jungle.
*The name of Lava Zombies may perhaps be foreshadowing the Pyro Vipers, as they too are mummified that are connected to the element of Fire.
*This episode continues the trend of season premieres not having an intro sequence that was started by "The Invitation" and broken by "The Darkness Comes."
*This is one of the few episodes to start before the title is said.
===Continuity===
*The episode has a lot in common with "Rise of the Snakes," where the ninja show signs of laziness following a victory, with Wu having to snap them out of it.
*Wu mentions the Oni's invasion was months ago, showing a significant amount of time has passed.
*Zane has a dream about Aspheera and her Pyro Vipers as well as the Ice Emperor in the Never-Realm.
**This is a foreshadowing of the enemies the ninja will face.
**This marks the first appearance of Aspheera in the series.
**This also foreshadows a scene in "Vengeance is Mine!" and "My Enemy, My Friend," as Aspheera struck Zane with her staff and Boreal freezing the Great Lake.
*An image of robe Zane can be seen in a picture frame in Zane's room.
*Zane mentions to Jay that his visions always come true, listing the examples of Titanium Dragon and the Green Ninja.
**However, he has only had these two visions on screen until this episode.
*Every time Wu lands a blow on the ninja, he says "fail" as in "Way of the Ninja" to how Kai failed his training.
**In addition, the "" soundtrack plays in the background.
*This is the third episode to start with one of Zane's dreams. The first two were "Never Trust a Snake" and "Versus."
*The montage of Wu's traps uses the "" soundtrack originally composed for "Darkness Shall Rise."
*All six ninja have show recreational outfits for the first time, as seen in the "hot tub" sequences:
**Kai, Lloyd and Cole wear colored trunks with patterned details;
**Jay wears an old-style men's bathing suit with stripes;
**Zane wears a black wetsuit with cyan lines;
**Nya wears a black one-piece with blue highlights.
===Errors===
*Wu says after every great victory, the ninja become careless. This is actually incorrect because there are many instances in which the ninja do not become lazy:
**Following the attack of the Great Devourer, the ninja decided to look for a suitable place to train Lloyd and took day jobs in order to pay for rent in "Darkness Shall Rise."
**After the Final Battle, the ninja worked as teachers and looked for enemies to fight in "The Surge."
**After the Nindroid crisis, Lloyd continued training as the only ninja in the time skip prior to him and the other ninja and Garmadon going to the Tournament of Elements to find Zane in "The Invitation."
**After the Second Serpentine War, the ninja worked together to capture a Fangfish that was terrorizing a coastal village in "Winds of Change."
**After the events of "Day of the Departed," the ninja helped to clean up the damage to the Ninjago Museum of History in "The Hands of Time."
**And finally, following the Liberation of Ninjago, the ninja helped to repair the damages to the Royal Palace near the end of "Green Destiny."
*In the close up of Wu before he says "IT'S NOT A HOT TUB!" he is shown without his cape.
*When Lloyd jumps onto the roof to face Wu with his golden sword, his shoulder armor can be seen for a brief moment before it is gone again.
*When the dragon head launches Zane into the air, his voice lacks his titanium body-filter.
*When Kai gets thrown after attempting to attack Wu, he screams with Jay's voice.
*When Lloyd dodge the roof tiles being thrown by Wu, the tassel on his sword isn't moving.
*Although Lloyd does not have his sword during the entire fight with Wu, just as the other ninja do not have their weapons, as soon as he remains last, the sword appears on his back.
*Towards the end of the episode in the close up shot of Cole, and Jay the roof tiles disappear, but reappear in the next shot but appear to be slightly closer to each other than earlier before.
==Videos==
LEGO Ninjago Wasted True Potential
Ninjago The Sacred Hot Tub Cartoon Network Africa
Master Wu's Reminder Ninjago Cartoon Network
Ninjago Wasted True Potential Cartoon Network
Ninjago Battle Time Cartoon Network Africa
File:LEGO NINJAGO - Season 1 Episode 1- Wasted True Potential
==Gallery==
For the gallery of the episode, click here.
== Translations ==
== References ==
de:Faule Ninja
pl:Zagubiony potencjał
ru:Растраченный потенциал
Category:2019
Category:Episodes
Category:Episodes of Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu