Grave Danger

*“It's going to be up to you four to find the Realm Crystal before he does.”*

— Wu

**Grave Danger** is the eighth episode of the fifth season and the 52nd episode overall of *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*. It aired on July 8, 2015, in the United States, on Cartoon Network.

## Synopsis

*The Ninja use Ronin's airship to travel to the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master in an underwater cave under the ocean, only to find out Morro is already there - and the Ninja must traverse the temple traps without the aid of the Sword of Sanctuary in a desperate attempt to get to the tomb first.*

## Plot

While the ninja travels through the sea in R.E.X., Zane remarks that they're close to the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master. As Kai and Cole are worried about being underwater, Sensei Wu informs his pupils that he, Misako, and Nya, are headed to their location on the *Bounty* and that it'll be up to them to find the Realm Crystal before Morro, who is already ahead of them. After Misako tells them a riddle that might help them past the three tests, the ninja are pursued by the Leviathan, which they manage to trap and escape successfully. Meanwhile, Morro is using the Sword of Sanctuary to make his way through the tomb.

Soon, the ninja arrive at their destination, and almost immediately as they step foot on land, Jay finds a piece of cloth that belonged to Morro, saying all the hopes that he wouldn't find the crystal are now gone. While Kai remains optimistic about their position, Zane notices a statue of the First Spinjitzu Master, and the ninja stand in awe. As they had reached their destination, R.E.X.'s auto-return function activated, leaving the ninja behind with no Aeroblades, and no way out of the tomb. Despite these odds, the team ventures forward to face the tomb's tests.

Meanwhile, on the surface, the Bounty has reached their location and awaits their return; even upon discovering Morro's minions are also there doing the same. Despite Nya's anxiety at their presence, Wu advises to simply be on alert and not provoke any attacks. While they're waiting, Wu questions Nya about her training, to which she absent-mindlessly answers her slow progress. This concerns Wu since her indifference is coming from her interactions with Ronin, but Misako reminds him that Nya has always been pressuring herself to her own set limits.

The ninja arrive in the first of the tomb's challenges: a circular room with sixteen doors, each with symbols on and above them. They quickly realize the procedure: choose the right door to proceed, or "end up in a realm of hurt" as Cole put it. Jay notes the symbols around them as Kai questions the first part of Misako's clue for the tomb, leading him to one symbol that resembles a Spinjitzu tornado. As Jay heads for that door, Zane stops him in alarm as P.I.X.A.L. analyzes the symbols. Seeing a pattern, Zane explains that the whole room is a zoetrope, in which the symbols on the doors are slightly different from the previous, and thus create a moving image when in motion. Therefore, he figures out: "a Spinjitzu master can" do Spinjitzu. The motion creates one of the symbols that appears above the door they came in from. His choice proves to be the right one, as they find themselves in another underground hallway to proceed through.

This time, the second room is a dead-end, devoid of man-made structures except for on the other side: the Golden Staff of the First Spinjitzu Master. Sensing its implication, the ninja become wary of the room's security and turn to Zane to sense any patterns or dangers; but neither he nor P.I.X.A.L. can find any. Jay then points out the second part of the clue, a Spinjitzu master "cannot"; which they find out once a step forward from Kai sets off well-hidden stone darts in their direction. Now with a better idea of the test's difficulty, Kai comes up with the idea of using Airjitzu instead of Spinjitzu to reach the staff, but the technique's temporary use stops him short and starts a long series of traps that corner and surround the others. Even so, the Fire Ninja remains undeterred in reaching the staff until Cole points out something crucial about the clue: since a ninja never gives up, it would make sense to use the staff to draw them away from their true objective. He then takes a literal leap of faith toward their only way out at that point—the chasm trap they made—and tells them to do the same, which Kai grudgingly does as well. Their fall sends them through a roller coaster of ice-crystal slides into an enormous maze, the third and final test.

As Jay leads them due to his claim at being excellent with mazes, Kai and Zane see something extraordinary within a particular ice wall: their reflections are much older and wearing the attire of a master. Although Kai becomes pessimistic about its implication, Zane clears it by explaining their reflections are actually images of their future selves, which Jay confirms when he notes he will have facial hair, an eyepatch, and be with Nya again, much to his elation; although he keeps the last one to himself. Cole notes this could be connected to the clue's third part to not "look ahead," but discovers he cannot see his own reflection, even when beside Kai and Zane in the same crystal. Looking hard to find something of himself, he finally sees something—which happens to be Morro, who ambushes the ninja while also traversing the maze. As they scramble to rejoin, Morro repeatedly attacks them with the Sword of Sanctuary, leaving them only with sliced crystal shards to counter his moves. After a while of back-and-forth attacks, Kai finally notices that as Morro breaks more shards, several more instantly take their place, providing him the successful idea of baiting the Master of Wind into trapping himself. Leaving the immobilized Morro behind, the ninja proceed more confidently until Jay solves the third test; they should not look forward or ahead, but *down* where tombs usually are found, and one area shows cracks where light is escaping.

The four ninja, after digging tirelessly, find themselves in one final cavern. This one is different from the others, as it contains an essence of every single element existing in Ninjago, as well as the tomb holding the remains of the First Spinjitzu Master himself. The ninja kneel in respect for Ninjago's ultimate creator, and then Zane carefully extracts from his remains the object of their mission: the Realm Crystal. Upon its recovery, Morro shows up again demanding the Realm Crystal, while holding a semi-conscious Lloyd at blade-point. Seeing how the odds are at a standoff, if not in Morro's favor, Cole vents his frustration which triggers the earth below him to rumble. Kai realizes their powers are returning now that Morro is no longer possessing Lloyd, albeit slowly, and comes up with a plan to even the odds. He converses with Morro before throwing him the crystal, prompting the Master of Wind to catch it while dropping Lloyd—and then drop it accidentally into a nearby stream due to the bottom being heated by Kai's weakened firepower. Enraged, he blows Lloyd into the stream as well, which carries both him and the crystal toward a nearby waterfall. Despite their fears of the water, Kai and Cole manage to rescue Lloyd from drowning, but not the Realm Crystal, as Morro uses his Wind to stop its fall while keeping Jay and Zane at bay. With the relic in hand, he escapes, leaving the ninja reunited with their friend.

Upon leaving the tomb, they find the Bounty also under attack with Nya struggling to keep up the wall of water that is protecting them from Soul Archer and Bansha's attacks. They soon have a reprieve when the ghosts crash their own boat from being distracted with their attack, but Morro then appears, and the trio escape through a portal made by the Realm Crystal. As Wu, Nya, and Misako rejoice over Lloyd's recovery, Lloyd laments his inability to do more to stop Morro from succeeding, but Kai reminds him of his promise to watch over him, as well as having him back on their side. The other ninja back him up by showing their restored Elemental powers, declaring that even though Morro has his means of bringing the Preeminent to Ninjago, he has yet to see all of the ninja at full strength.

## Appearances

### Characters

* Bansha
* Cole
* Jay
* Kai
* Lloyd Garmadon
* Misako
* Morro
* Nya
* P.I.X.A.L.
* Soul Archer
* Wu
* Zane

### Items

* Deepstone
* Staff of the First Spinjitzu Master
* Realm Crystal
* Samurai X suit
* Soul Archer's bow
* Sword of Sanctuary

### Vehicles

* *Destiny's Bounty*
* R.E.X.
* Ghost ship

### Locations

* Ninjago (mentioned)
* Endless Sea
	+ Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master
		- Ice labyrinth
* Sixteen Realms (mentioned)

### Species

* Dragons (mentioned)
* Ghosts
* Humans
* Nindroids
* Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids

## Trivia

* The cavern which contains the First Spinjitzu Master's tomb also contains a bit of every single element seen in Ninjago so far. However, the crystals on the rocky walls beg the question of whether there was—or is—an Elemental Master to be represented there.

## Cultural references

* Jay's line, "Kai's got Lloyd, but who's got Kai?" is a reference to the line from the *Superman* (1978) film, "You've got me? Who's got you?"
* The scene in which the ninja are going through the ice roller coaster is reference to the first Ice Age movie.

## Continuity

* Lloyd is finally reunited with his fellow ninja and ready to help them battle the ghosts.
	+ With Lloyd on their side, the ninja regain their powers.
	+ However, just like Lloyd, their powers are weak at first.
* At the beginning of the episode, when the ninja are journeying underwater in R.E.X., Chen's theme from the previous season is heard (the track featured is *Meet the Elemental Masters*).
* The symbol the door's figure creates upon doing Spinjitzu is the yin-yang symbol—the same symbol which is seen in "The Stone Army" during an aerial shot of Ninjago and the Dark Island. Fittingly, it represents the balance of light and dark, as well as personal balance.
* When the ninja are looking at their future selves in the ice labyrinth, Kai, Jay, and Zane see what they will look like, but when Cole looks, he cannot see anything. According to Cole in "Infamous," this refers to the fact that he had learned how to turn invisible.
	+ Additionally, Jay seeing his future self with an eye-patch foreshadows that he will temporarily get an eye-patch in the following season.
	+ Jay seeing himself with Nya in the reflection also sets up a major plot point of the next season.
	+ The original ending for The Hands of Time would have involved the ninja's future selves, resembling the visions from this episode.
* For the first time, Kai succeeds in defeating Morro without interruption or help: he was "rescued" the first time while trying to draw Lloyd out, Morro trapped him in Strangle Weed the second time while in pursuit of the scroll of Airjitzu, and Lloyd aided him by taking over and handing him the Sword of Sanctuary the third time. This victory could also be considered more monumental as Kai used his mind to trick and beat Morro instead of physical attacks like before.
* The First Spinjitzu Master makes his first true appearance in the television series after numerous mentions and flashbacks.
* This marks the second time Kai had two choices to make; save Lloyd from drowning or get the Realm Crystal. The first time was in "The Green Ninja," when Kai had to save Lloyd from sinking in lava or getting the third Fangblade.
	+ Both episodes show that Kai chose Lloyd while the villain got the objects they need (Pythor got the Fangblade, Morro got the Realm Crystal).
	+ Both instances also show that having Lloyd with them gave the ninja their greatest advantage against their opponent.
	+ When Jay says "Uh oh" before falling off the ice stalactite, the audio is reused from when he fell from the sky after his Storm Glider vanished in "Snakebit".
	+ At one point on the *Destiny's Bounty*, Nya's Techno Samurai X suit from Rebooted can be seen on display.

## Errors

* At the start of the episode, Zane is co-piloting R.E.X., but after the Leviathan's eye opens, Jay is co-piloting. Then later when R.E.X. ascends into the tomb, Zane is back to co-piloting.
* When Misako sent the clues to the ninja at the beginning of the episode, Wu is shown in his original white kimono. Later in the episode, he is wearing a different outfit.
* How Bansha was able to control Misako is unknown, since Nya had a wall of water up. It is possible, though, her control could be psychic through her incantations and thus does not require possession.
* When Jay is being chased by Morro, his Aeroblade is shown, although the ninja never brought them along because of R.E.X. leaving the second the ninja realized that they didn't have their Aeroblades.
	+ It also makes no sense why Jay screams to Morro that he is weaponless, while he had the Aeroblade attached to his back
* When Bansha possessed Misako, she had a green tint in her eyes, however, it disappears right before Nya sprays water on her.
* When Morro fought Jay in the First Spinjitzu Master's tomb, he cornered Jay and was about to slice with the Sword of Sanctuary when Zane used his ice powers to freeze the blade. With the Sword of Sanctuary in hand, Morro could have easily seen Zane, but didn't. This could have been because he wasn't paying attention.
* In the second room, you can see the ninja coming in twice.
* When Lloyd kicks Morro, the Sword of Sanctuary falls behind them before Morro pushes Lloyd to the river, but in the next scene the sword misteriously appears right next to the First Spinjtzu Master's grave, prompting Jay to try recover it before Morro takes it again.
	+ It could be that Jay and Morro were already fighting before Kai jumped in the river to save Lloyd, and Morro may have been disarmed somehow by Jay and thus trying to take the sword back.
* After Morro leaves Lloyd's body, Lloyd somehow has the Deepstone shoulder armor that the ninja also have, but this doesn't make any sense since he never gained the shoulder pads due to being possessed by Morro in the majority of the season.
* On the statue, the First Spinjitzu Master has a long beard which is the same as Wu's. Although, he has never been seen with it in the past, even after his death, as shown in "Endings."
* When Zane says "Our Aeroblades weapons were in there", his mouth doesn't move.
* When Zane uses Spinjitzu inside the zootrope, the ninja are nowhere to be seen, although they stand next to him and should be in his field of vision.
* When Zane uses his Spinjitzu, lighting bolts briefly appear at first as if he was using Jay's Spinjitzu move. Even though Zane is the master of ice.