Ninjago S12 E2

## Plot

Unlike the previous season, there's just one arc here. Basically, imagine if the Digiverse from season 3 was completed, and was the setting for an entire season instead of just one episode. I'm already getting major *Ready Player One* vibes. This season is based on classic video games, so even though I haven't seen a single episode yet, I think it's safe to say that we'll be seeing a ton of references, as well as electronic devices. Another thing we see within the first minute is a ton of cameos. Clutch Powers finds a teapot that looks exactly the Teapot of Tyrahn. We also see Gayle Gossip walking down the street. Dareth goes after her as he exits Laughy's. Jake is on his phone in a car. Nelson and Antonia are delivering newspapers. A truck of Skylor's noodles is being delivered… or is it? Life in Ninjago appears to be getting back to normal. However, that night, it's revealed that the Mechanic has broken out of prison again, and he has a noodle truck. He and his henchmen break into a warehouse full of old computer stuff. They're looking for a motherboard. It's on the top shelf, but everything spills onto the floor when one of the henchmen falls while getting it. The Mechanic finds the right motherboard… and then the ninja launch their surprise attack. Lloyd tells them not to use their weapons, because these guys are just low level thugs. This doesn't stop you from using weapons against common criminals that also have weapons in The Island and season 14. Jay is able to get the Mechanic to drop the motherboard. Kai catches it, but then he's dog piled by henchmen. Another one grabs it, and Lloyd goes after him. He drops it when he's hit with VHS tapes from old VCRs. Nya grabs the motherboard, and all of the thugs are trapped when a shelf falls on them… except the Mechanic, who takes the motherboard back. He drives away, and the ninja go after him. Cole causes his truck to crash, and he gives up. The police arrest him and take him away. Jay takes the motherboard. If they can figure out what it was for, they might be able to figure out what the Mechanic was trying to do. It's obviously a motherboard to a computer, but there are over three million computers in the city. Nya points out an abandoned arcade that the Mechanic was running to when they caught him, and suggests that's his secret lair. Jay geeks out upon finding an arcade cabinet for a legendary video game called Prime Empire. It was created by the most famous game designer ever, Milton Dyer, but for some reason it was never finished, and they abandoned it. Everyone else searches a different area of the building while Jay gets the cabinet to work… by putting in the mysterious motherboard, which releases a red wave that changes all of the games to Prime Empire. The Mechanic notices the wave and laughs. The others notice the same weird symbol as the one on the back of the motherboard in another room. A computer starts up and a voice asks if the motherboard was located. Zane says yes, and the voice says that Unagami is pleased and tells him to activate the game before the computer turns off. Meanwhile, Jay reaches Level 13, and the game asks him if he wants to enter Prime Empire. He assumes that means continue and says yes, but this actually causes the cabinet to open up. Jay walks through it and disappears. The others try to tell him about Unagami, but notice that he's gone. Nya accidentally turns on the arcade cabinet again and locates a secret chamber inside it. Zane pulls up the security footage. They see the red energy wave, and Jay entering the arcade cabinet, but he never came back out. They question the Mechanic. The commissioner tells them that he's getting reports from all over the city of other games changing to Prime Empire. Kai wonders if the red energy wave had something to do with it. They decide to question Milton Dyer next. He lives on a private island. No one has seen him in almost thirty years. When they knock on the front door, they're catapulted back to the main gate, where they have to go through a hedge maze again. Other traps include ivy that pulls the walls in on them, statues that can shoot lasers, and robot dogs. They trick the statues into shooting and disabling the dogs. Nya and Zane combine their powers to stop the statues. Before they're crushed by the walls, a man resets it. He introduces himself as Bob the intern. He's worked for Milton Dyer for thirty one years. He hasn't been to the house in some time. Bob shows them a recording of him the day he finished making Prime Empire. He believed that the world was so immersive, it would make people think it was real. He thought it was going to change not only how games were played, but also the world as they know it. However, the recording stops when he's interrupted by a bright flash of light. The same thing happened to Jay when he turned on Prime Empire. Bob says something went wrong with the game, but Dyer never said what it was. He always used to say that good technology should make the impossible possible. Long story short, the game had too many problems and was never released. It had something to do with some unauthorized changes Dyer made to the game. His bosses found out and the company, Vast Industries, fired him. He was obviously very angry about it, and said they'd be sorry one day. The ninja conclude that he's Unagami.