The Mask of Deception

:Not to be confused with the mask.
The Mask of Deception is the first episode of the eighth season of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu and the 75th episode overall. It aired on January 20, 2018, in Australia, and on April 16, 2018, in the US on Cartoon Network.
==Synopsis==
When an unknown criminal syndicate threatens the Royal Family, the Ninja are called back into action and must protect the royal princess and a fabled artifact that may hold supernatural powers.https://web.archive.org/web/20210305045501/https://www.foxtel.com.au/tv-guide/Ninjago-Masters-of-Spinjitzu/120287312
==Plot==
One year has passed since Krux, Acronix, and Master Wu were all lost in time. During the Dragon Day celebration in downtown Ninjago City, six masked members of the Sons of Garmadon infiltrate Borg Tower and steal the Oni Mask of Vengeance. While leaving, they are confronted by Lloyd, who fights and overpowers three of them, managing to get one arrested. However, Mr. E manages to escape with the Oni Mask after a big chase in Lloyd's Ninja Nightcrawler, causing Lloyd to tell P.I.X.A.L. it was time to get the crew back together.
The other ninja are on various missions around Ninjago. Nya is dealing with a group of samurai in a valley, Cole and Jay looking for Master Wu in a mountain monastery, and Kai and Zane are battling the Mechanic at Ninjago Harbor.
Once the ninja team gets back together, Hutchins appears and tells the ninja about the Oni Masks. The ninja are then told that the Royal Palace is holding the Oni Mask of Deception. Hutchins fears the Sons of Garmadon will try to take the mask during a speech the Emperor of Ninjago will give tomorrow. He then asks the ninja to help protect it, and they agree.
thumb|left|Princess Harumi|alt= While they are guarding the palace outside during the Emperor of Ninjago's speech, Lloyd notices Harumi. Someone sets off firecrackers, leading the ninja to think the palace is being attacked, but it is a false alarm. The ninja are then invited by the princess to stay at the palace because the Royal Family may be targeted since they have one of the Oni Masks. The ninja accept the invitation.
Hutchins takes the ninja on a tour of the palace after they agree to protect the Royal Family. They meet the family who greets them in a kind manner before Harumi herself greets them, stating she was fans of all of them, even changing Nya's cynical attitude to a happy one. They visit the royal buffet and Hutchins states that they have access to eat anything like assorted fruits, assorted vegetables, scones, and cake. Jay then states that Cole "gave up sweets" since Master Wu is gone. Proceeding on the tour, Hutchins tells the ninja there are many secret passages in the palace that only the Royal Family knows. After hearing this, Kai starts pulling books off the shelves, trying to find one of the passages, but only succeeding in making a mess. The ninja are now lead into the main room where the Oni Mask of Deception is being held. Hutchins starts to explain about the mask, but while he is, Lloyd sneaks off to a room to find Harumi doing her makeup. Harumi notices Lloyd through her mirror and she quickly hides her face. Lloyd backs away awkwardly and rejoins the group.
During the night, all the ninja are on guard. Kai and Nya are outside the castle when they notice Hutchins suspiciously walking away from the palace. He then notices them and walks back inside. Jay, Cole, and Zane are in the royal buffet room. Jay is trying to convince Cole to eat some cake but Cole refuses. Cole then proceeds to tell Zane what a "party pooper" is. Meanwhile, Lloyd looks at the Mask of Deception, but after calling out for Harumi, he notices she is missing after checking her room.
==Appearances==
===Characters===
====Cast====
*Black Mask - Brent Miller
*Cole - Kirby Morrow
*Cruel Lord - Michael Adamthwaite
*Emperor of Ninjago - Richard Newman
*Empress of Ninjago - Ellen Kennedy
*Harumi - Britt McKillip
*Hutchins - Alan Marriott
*Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
*Kai - Vincent Tong
*Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
*White Mask - Vincent Tong
*Monks - Michael Adamthwaithe, Sam Vincent
*Maroon Mask - Richard Newman
*Nya - Kelly Metzger
*The Mechanic - Alan Marriott
*Zane - Brent Miller
====Mentioned====
*Wu
*Harumi's mother
*Harumi's father
*Misako
*Lilly (indirectly)
====Non-speaking====
*Quanish the Elder
*Luke Cunningham (White Mask)
====Miscellaneous====
*Cyrus Borg (painting)
*Garmadon (logo)
*Khanjikhan (statue)
===Events===
*New Year Festival
===Items===
*Cake
*Ceremonial staff
*Cole's hammer
*Golden Armor
*Kai's twin katanas
*Katanas
*Lloyd's sword
*Nunchucks
*Nya's spear
*Oni Masks
**Oni Mask of Hatred (mentioned)
**Oni Mask of Deception
**Oni Mask of Vengeance
*Zane's bow
===Vehicles===
*Ninja Nightcrawler
*Oni Bike
===Locations===
*Ninjago
**Ninjago City
***Borg Tower
***Royal Palace
****Temple of Resurrection
***Ninjago Harbor
**Village in the valley
**Mountain monastery
===Species===
*Humans
*Nindroids
*Oni (mentioned)
*Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
*Djinns (statue)
==Transcript==
For the transcript of the episode, click here.
==Trivia==
*This episode is the first to use the designs of the characters from the movie.
*Eleven minutes of this episode was released as a sneak peek on the Blu-ray release of The LEGO Ninjago Movie. A sneak-peek of this episode was also shown at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con.
*Lloyd replaces Master Wu as the narrator of the episode titles. Excluding Decoded, this is the first time in the show that someone else other than Master Wu has narrated the episode titles.
**Tommy Andreasen revealed this before the episode aired.https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/938356928002117632
*This is the first episode in which Sam Vincent voices Lloyd.
**Once the ninja had gotten back together, Cole and Zane pointed out how Lloyd's voice had gotten deeper, referring to his new voice actor.
***This most likely confirms Master of the 4th Dimension is not canon, as Lloyd has his new voice in the short film yet it seems this episode is the first time the other ninja are hearing it.
*When the Sons of Garmadon breaks into Borg Tower, a scroll hangs on the wall with an inscription in Ninjargon that says "LEGO toys are cool.":File:Ninjago lego toys.webp
*Nya has a new civilian outfit similar to hers from The LEGO Ninjago Movie.
*Cole speculates the possibility that if Wu was sent to the past, then a ripple effect could have caused their appearances to change without their knowledge, referencing their design changes.https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/889507792632950784 However, in the following episodes, the ninja's old designs are still seen in the character's photos and newly animated flashbacks. While The Hageman Brothers stated that it is the canonical explanation for the ninja's redesigns,https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/941004237885992960 according to Tommy Andreasen, there is no real canonical reason and it is simply a fourth-wall-breaking meta-joke.https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1017109278128328705
*An earlier version of this episode's dialogue had Harumi refer to Nya's "skill that could rival any man," rather than "any master" as heard in the final version.https://twitter.com/pjhausner/status/1377640252215590916
*The only Oni Mask not to appear in this episode is the Oni Mask of Hatred. This is due to it being in the Oni Temple.
*The suits the Sons of Garmadon wear has the same color scheme to the ninja's suits.
**The suits use torso design elements from Zane's variant and leg design elements from Skylor's 2016 variant.
*This is the first episode to have the name of the season in its title card.
*When Mr. E and the other Sons of Garmadon members are running across the monorail, the train has the Sons of Garmadon symbol on it, which one can see if one pauses the video at the right time.
*Out of the six masked Sons of Garmadon members, only one's identity is revealed in this episode, that being Mr. E in the green mask. Luke Cunningham would soon be revealed as the Man in the White Mask in "The Oni and the Dragon," while the Visual Dictionary New Edition would eventually reveal Chopper Maroon to be "the Maroon Mask." The thieves in the black, blue, and light blue masks have not been revealed.
*This is the only episode where Alan Marriott voices the Mechanic. 
===Continuity===
*This is Princess Harumi's first appearance.
*Several things are revealed in this episode:
**It is stated by Cole that it has been a year since Master Wu was lost in time, meaning a year has passed since Season 7.
**Misako has been searching for Master Wu on her own and no one—not even Lloyd—knows where she is now.
***But as of "Dread on Arrival," she returns, having been captured by the Sons of Garmadon after finding the de-aged Wu.
*Cole has stated that he is, "tired of losing people." This is referring to him losing his mother at an early age.
*There is a Mega Monster Amusement Park mask behind glass.
*There is a statue of Khanjikhan behind glass in Borg Tower, despite the events of Season 6 being erased. This is not a plot hole, but rather, it is simply an example of humans having a statue of a legendary being in the same way people in the real world may have a statue of a mythical creature.https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/892674708335886336
*The beginning of this episode foreshadows the finale of the season with Mr. E jumping off the highway and at the end of the season and with Lloyd jumping off the monorail.
*This marks The Mechanic's first appearance since "Enkrypted."
*Kai ruffles Lloyd's hair when he says, "Sounds like our little ninja's growing up." This calls back to when he ruffled Lloyd's hair in "Pirates vs. Ninja" and "Winds of Change," with all three times acknowledging Kai's role as an older brother figure to Lloyd.
*P.I.X.A.L. returns, acting as a guide to Lloyd in his ninja Nightcrawler in his chase with Mr. E.
*Lloyd was seen peeking in on Princess Harumi doing make-up, which is hypocritical of him given the situation in "Only One Can Remain," where Kai and Jay were spying on Skylor and Lloyd called it an invasion of privacy.
*Kai over-excitedly searches to no avail for a switch in a bookcase in the Royal Palace, inadvertently calling back to his instruction to search for hidden switches in "Double Trouble" when Zane mentioned the idea of secret passageways in Darkley's Boarding School.
*The ninja's lineup when bowing to the Emperor and Empress would later be replicated in "Into the Dark," with the ninja positioned in the exact same spots when bowing to Vangelis (with the addition of Wu added to the far left of the lineup).
*During the ninja's meeting with Hutchins at Borg Tower, a bo staff is stored under a glass case. According to Tommy Andreasen, this is probably not the Staff of the First Spinjitzu Master,https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1378430179069005824 nor does it have any historical value.https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1378434776911261697
===Errors===
*At the very start, some civilians in the parade have neutral faces.
**This also occurs when everyone cheers after the Emperor gives his speech.
*When Mr. E jumps off his bike, he does not take his mask with him. When he is on the boat, it somehow appears with him.
*Lloyd states that is has been 72 hours since the Sons of Garmadon stole the Mask of Vengence, despite how it was night when the mask was stolen yet day when Lloyd explains this. 
==Soundtracks==
Michael Kramer - Ninjago Soundtrack - Sons of Garmadon Heist (From Season 8, Episode 75)
==Video==
Ninjago! Ultimate Ninja Chase Cartoon Network
Ninjago The Ninjas are Reunited Cartoon Network Africa
==Gallery==
For the gallery of this episode, click here.
== Translations ==
==References==
de:Die Maske der Täuschung
ru:Маска обмана (эпизод)
Category:Episodes
Category:2018
Category:Episodes of Sons of Garmadon