Spellbound

*“Son, there are things from my past that I am not proud of. Perhaps it's time for you to know the truth.”*

— Garmadon to Lloyd

**Spellbound** is the sixth episode of the fourth season of *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu* and the 40th episode overall. It aired on Cartoon Network on March 30, 2015, in the United States, as part of "Week of the Ninja."

## Synopsis

*Chen decides that it is time to end the tournament tricking all the elemental fighters into a round where no one wins.*

## Plot

In a blimp above Chen's Island, each of the remaining contestants are acting hostile towards each other in some way: Griffin Turner announces to Jay that he will be eliminated next due to his broken leg, Kai is still convinced that Shadow is the spy, as the latter wishes to fight him to settle things, and Skylor is annoyed with Mr. Pale flirting with her. Lloyd is nervous about the height they are at, as is a scared Neuro, who enters the cockpit only to find no one driving the blimp.

On a screen, Chen announces the competitors will not be hunting for the Jadeblades; they will be hunting Nya, with the promise of moving the one who captures her to the final round. The ninja realize she has the spell, and that they will need to find her before the others do. Chen then tells everyone that he will open the bottom to start the challenge, and releases parachutes for everyone except Garmadon, claiming he did not know he was there. The bottom opens and everyone scrambles to grab a parachute while free-falling. Everyone except Lloyd and Garmadon gets a parachute. Later as Lloyd and his father grab the last parachute, Garmadon says it is a very easy choice and Lloyd agrees. Finally, as the Green Ninja activates the parachute for his father, Garmadon who is very shocked reacts, saying, "What have you done!?"

A little time later, Lloyd tries to summon his dragon, and just before he hits the trees, he overcomes his fear of falling and creates the Energy Dragon to safely land himself. At the same time Nya is shocked when she observates the masters parachuting down from the blimp and decides to hide her trail by leaving fake footprints and inscribing the Samurai X symbol onto trees for the Ninja to follow. Then Skylor first lands safely on the island and starts finding Nya. Next Griffin also lands safetly and starts his search. Kai third lands close of the island's volcano, resulting in the parachute being set alight and burns him to the point that he screams in pain. At the same time, Jay lands in a tree on the island in painfull effect.

After landing on island, Shade is in jungle and finds the arrows. Then he hears Chen which annouces through the loudspeakers. He says that there are "special gifts" hidden around the island to aid them in their search for Nya. Then he tells Clouse that DB Express is now their base. Jay mutters to himself he will never trust a treat from Chen. A few seconds later, he decides to take a mech so he does not have to walk. The Elemental Masters set off following footprints.

In center of jungle, Lloyd lands to meets his father. Garmadon says if he and his son want to be first to find Nya, they must work together. Suddenly the pair discovers Nya's footpritnts. Garmadon says that the footprints are false. The couple discovers also the Samurai X symbol that is drawn on tree. Lloyd then declares to use his Energy to travel, but Garmadon doesn't let him use it. Later soon, Lloyd and Garmadon follow the Samurai X symbol drawn by Nya.

Meanwhile at the Samurai X Cave, where Misako is trying to make contact with Nya and Dareth but to no avail. When Sensei Wu comes and offers tea, his sister-in-law tells him about a contact failure. One moment later surprised Misako asks her brother-in-law that he is so calm. He then tells her that he has faith in Garmadon and that he will be able to aid the ninja.

At the same time, in the noodle factory, Karlof is listening in on a conversation between Zugu and some of the Anacondrai Cultists, who are discussing how Cole and Zane escaped. After they leave to search for the pair (though not before putting the factory on lockdown), Karlof calls the "all clear." Zane and a flour-covered Cole emerge from behind two barrels and begin to work on an escape plan. Zane says that he analyzed the sewer systems and that the Elemental Masters will be able to escape because the sewers will be able to hold their weight by a slim margin.

At that moment, two Anacondrai warriors shove a captured Dareth into the factory. Dareth walks over to the ninja, greeting Cole and Zane before commenting that Zane "looks different." Noticing Dareth's bulging stomach, Karlof asks Cole by how slim of a margin the sewers will hold if his weight was added. With a sigh, Cole says that the plan will not work, and goes back to brainstorming ideas. Dareth, in the meantime, is only worried about making his favorite food again.

In the jungle, Lloyd questions his father about how he even came to be one of Chen's students in the first place. Garmadon decides to tell him the whole story: due to the Great Devourer's bite taking years to consume him, he began training under Chen with Clouse. During one of their training matches, Chen tells the two that they are holding back and promises the winner will become his right-hand man, and be granted lordship. At that, Clouse uses his Magic to bring the training dummies to life, only for Garmadon to use his Spinjitzu to destroy them and knock Clouse down to win. Clouse complains, but Chen stated Garmadon did what he needed to do, calling him "Lord Garmadon." During this point, the Serpentine War was underway and both sides wanted a truce. Chen, on the other hand, is against it and tells the Lord to never trust a snake. He then gives his second-in-command a letter from Wu written for Misako, saying it could sway how she felt about one of the brothers, and all he had to do was sign it. Garmadon does, though is seen by Clouse doing so. Lloyd is surprised to hear about the letter, though Garmadon says to his son that he has no regrets, as Lloyd would not exist if he did not do it.

Meanwhile, Chen, in the captured D.B. Express, is testing all the different buttons on the control console and complaining about its lack of trapdoors when Clouse walks in. Clouse inquires as to why Chen gave the Elemental Masters weapons, and Chen tells Clouse that his "special gifts" are implanted with tracking devices, saying, "Before this day is over, Clouse, there will be no more fighters and no more Tournament!" The two share a laugh at their devious plan before Clouse leaves to capture the Elemental Masters on the island.

Nya is seen running, and narrowly avoids being spotted by Shade, who stops upon hearing a loudspeaker on a tree go off in front of him.

He is soon surrounded by Clouse and six Anacondrai grunts, who tells him that his time in the Tournament is up. Shadow realizes the ninja were telling the truth about Chen as Clouse confirms this by telling him that "Only one can remain. And it will be Chen!" before having his men capture Shadow, who screams much to Nya's shock as she flees the area.

In another part of the jungle, Kai calls out to his sister and realizes he is being followed. Before he can launch an attack, it is revealed to be Skylor, both of them noticing the other does not have one of Chen's treats. Still working for her father, she easily convinces Kai to work with her to find Nya. Accepting the proposal, Kai also adds how he can still trust her, which she agrees with.

In the D.B. Express, Clouse and Eyezor return, having captured Mr. Pale while he was invisible. The Master of Light tells Chen he will not succeed, though Chen calls him boring and orders Eyezor to lock him up. As Chen continues to complain about no trapdoor features, Clouse informs him of his daughter being with Kai, while Lloyd and Garmadon are nowhere to be found. Chen then orders his subordinate to find the latter two, as well as capture the remaining Masters.

Still following the symbols, Lloyd is confused that his father trained with Chen, yet fought alongside Wu in the wars, and questions the reason the truce was abandoned. Garmadon continues on: the Serpentine attacked first, and although the Elemental Masters fought back easily, they had never encountered anything like the Anacondrai, who were stronger, smarter, and natural leaders in battle. After the Elemental Alliance was subdued, Jamanakai Village was captured in the name of General Arcturus, the leader of the Anacondrai and the Serpentine. Chen had thought he could get momentum by siding with the Serpentine, and wanted Garmadon by his side. However, the Lord only wanted to fight for Misako and decided to leave Chen to battle by Wu's side.

As the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master, they led the alliance into battle and began to win: however, Chen managed to unravel that, as he manipulated the Elemental Master of Earth to fight for the snakes, resulting in the alliance being weakened. With inspiration from a snake charmer, Garmadon had the Masters use Sacred Flutes to hypnotize each Serpentine tribe, divide them, and have them locked away in separate tombs. Chen and Clouse were then exiled for their treason, and Arcturus and the other five generals, under Mystake's suggestion, were banished to the Cursed Realm so they could not set foot in Ninjago again. Lloyd is amazed Wu and Misako are still in the dark about Garmadon's past with Chen, and Garmadon states that telling them would have caused him to lose them both. Using the advice he had been given earlier, Lloyd convinces his father to come clean. In response, Garmadon agrees to do so after they defeat Chen, and they go back to finding Nya.

In the factory, Cole crosses off on the captives' plan to encase themselves in industrial size egg rolls and asks for another suggestion. Karlof states that since he was an aeronautic engineer in his homeland, Metalonia, they could build a Roto Jet to blow their way out: Cole, however, points out they do not have a Roto Jet, and that it would be useless since they are underground. Dareth is still determined to make Puffy Potstickers and decides to make a machine capable of doing so. Zane then realizes that Dareth is right: the captives could use machine parts to build the jet. He and Karlof go to create blueprints for the schematic while the others find parts, leaving Cole to complain that they are still underground.

Back in the jungle, Jay continues to look for Nya and finds her symbol, only to encounter Clouse, who states his search for his girlfriend and his time in the Tournament is over before launching an assault. Jay mocks his magic, angering and motivating him to create a mech out of rocks to even the odds. Not far from them, Nya is carving her symbol and rushes to the ensuing battle. She begins to explain the spell to Jay, though Clouse prevents her from doing so. She escapes, while Clouse accidentally activates the self-destruct feature in Jay's mech. As it explodes, Kai and Skylor notice the blast and begin crossing a marsh, thinking Nya was involved. Skylor decides to freeze the water so they can cross, though Kai is confused that she has powers of Ice until he realizes Skylor has been the spy and had absorbed Zane's powers. While trying to explain, she ultimately reveals she is Chen's daughter, while Chen himself appears and orders her to battle Kai. While fighting, Kai pieces everything together, and out of rage, he uses his Spinjitzu to melt the ice, causing Chen to fall into the water and forcing Skylor to help him while the Master of Fire tries to escape. However, Chen has had enough and ensnares Kai in a multitude of vines.

By night, Nya is still running until she bumps into someone before seeing she has caught up to Lloyd and Garmadon and tells them of what happened before giving them the spell. Upon seeing it is a transformation spell, Garmadon realizes Chen plans to turn his followers into an army of Anacondrai and states that though the Tournament is over, the next Serpentine War is on the verge of beginning.

Back at the D.B. Express, Chen has captured Kai, who is thrown into its cell with the other Masters, who are sad at what fate awaits them, while Jay states Lloyd can still save them. Chen declares he is planning on it, and while he laughs in triumph, Skylor looks at Kai knowing she had not only betrayed his trust: she had broken his heart.

## Appearances

### Characters

* Anacondrai Guard #1
* Arcturus
* Chen
* Clouse
* Cole
* Dareth
* Garmadon
* Griffin Turner
* Venomari general (erroneously credited as "Hypnobrai")
* Jay
* Kai
* Karlof
* Lloyd Garmadon
* Mech Speaker
* Misako
* Mr. Pale
* Mystake
* Neuro
* Nya
* Shade
* Skylor
* Wu
* Zane
* Zugu

### Miscellaneous

* Constrictai general (flashback)
* Fangpyre general (flashback)
* Hypnobrai general (flashback)
* Pythor (flashback)

### Creatures

* Anacondrai serpent (flashback)
* Energy Dragon

### Events

* Tournament of Elements
* Serpentine War (flashback)

### Items

* Book of Spells
* Spell of Transformation
* Staff of Elements
* Sacred Flutes (flashback)
* Serpentine Staffs (flashback)
	+ Constrictai Staff
	+ Fangpyre Staff
	+ Hypnobrai Staff
	+ Venomari Staff

### Vehicles

* Chen's blimp
* ElectroMech

### Locations

* Ninjago
	+ Samurai X Cave
	+ Chen's monastery (flashback)
	+ Jamanakai Village (flashback)
	+ Birchwood Forest (flashback)
	+ Toxic Bogs (flashback)
		- Venomari Tomb
	+ Sea of Sand (flashback)
		- Anacondrai Tomb
	+ Ignacia (pictured)
		- Four Weapons Blacksmith
	+ Caves of Despair (pictured)
	+ Volcano (pictured)
		- Fire Temple
* Chen's Island
	+ Noodle factory

### Species

* Humans
* Nindroids
* Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
* Serpentine (flashback)
	+ Anacondrai
	+ Constrictai
	+ Fangpyre
	+ Hypnobrai
	+ Venomari

## Trivia

* According to Tommy Andreasen, the Great Devourer was supposed to be in this episode, presumably in place of the Anacondrai serpent.
* During the Serpentine War flashback in Jamanakai Village, a Hypnobrai general and Constrictai general are shown wielding Anacondrai spears, but they are entirely tan instead of being colored purple around the edges. Additionally, from a distant shot, Mezmo, Fang-Suei, Bytar, Chokun, and a Venomari general can be seen wielding Anacondrai Blades with purple edges on their weapons.
* The group exiling Chen and Clouse in the flashback mostly consists of character models of the present-day Anacondrai Cultists, including multiple Eyezors.

## Cultural references

* Garmadon's line at the end of the episode, "The tournament may be over, but the next Serpentine War may have just begun," may be a reference to Gandalf's line from *The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers*, "The battle of Helm's Deep is over. The battle for Middle-earth is about to begin."

## Continuity

* The flashback uses Garmadon and Wu's young designs from "An Underworldly Takeover"/"Battle Between Brothers" and the photo from "The Day Ninjago Stood Still."
* The music that plays when Garmadon banishes the Anacondrai generals to the Cursed Realm is also played several episodes later in "The Corridor of Elders," when Garmadon proposes that *he* is banished to *free* the generals, creating a music connection between the two scenes.
* The flashback in this episode, which features the original Anacondrai in Jamanakai Village, proves that the Anacondrai are the only Serpentine whose head molds are all the same, excluding Pythor.
	+ Additionally, there are six generals, despite the fact that each Serpentine tribe normally has only one general.
	+ Also, the original Anacondrai generals, except Arcturus, all wear a very similar outfit to the one that Clouse wears. This is similar to how the rest of the cultists wear outfits slightly similar to the ones the original Anacondrai wore.
		- The concept of Clouse wearing the outfit of an Anacondrai general is ironic because he is the only Anacondrai warrior not to become a fake Anacondrai, as he is banished to the Cursed Realm by the time the transformation spell is used (though he does exist in Anacondrai form on the non-canon game, *LEGO Ninjago: Tournament*).
* The factory breakout plot-line is covered in greater detail in *Breakout!*.
* This episode marks Sleven's first speaking role.
* Serpentine generals who resemble Skales/Slithraa, Skalidor, and Acidicus are seen in the Serpentine War flashback but it is unknown whether these were the present-day generals or previous generals who were replaced during respective entombments.
* This episode marks:
	+ The debut of Lloyd's Energy Dragon due to Lloyd facing his fear of falling.
		- Jay refers to the dragon as if Lloyd has used it before. it is unknown whether he was referring to the Golden Dragon or if Lloyd unlocked the Energy Dragon off-screen sometime before this episode after having given away his Golden Power in "Codename: Arcturus."
	+ The debut of the ninja's Jungle uniforms.
	+ The first in-person appearance of Ray and the first appearance of Maya, who later appear in a greater capacity in The Hands of Time.
	+ The first appearance of several other past Elemental Masters: Elemental Master of Ice, Elemental Master of Gravity, Elemental Master of Shadow, Elemental Master of Sound, and Cole's grandfather.
		- Tommy Andreasen would later reveal the reason Cole's grandfather fought against the Alliance. Rather than willingly betraying them, the Master of Earth had been a victim of Hypnobrai hypnosis.
	+ The first appearance of the Anacondrai generals, in other words, any Anacondrai besides Pythor and the Anacondrai serpent.
* Griffin and Neuro were not seen being captured, resulting in them being tied for the same place in the tournament.
* Ignacia, the Fire Temple, and the Caves of Despair can be seen under surveillance in the Samurai X Cave while Misako is talking to Wu.
* The flashback when Garmadon defeated Clouse in a duel, explaining why Garmadon was formerly called Lord Garmadon during the beginning of the show.
* Chen says "Never trust a snake" to Garmadon, referencing the fourth episode of the first season.
* Garmadon's story about signing Wu's letter shares similarities with Wu's story from "Tick Tock" about the time Garmadon was bitten by the Devourer because Wu would not retrieve his own katana. (See here for more information.)
* In the start of the episode, Jay says to Griffin Turner "What are you looking at, Zippy?" which is the name of the dragon that the ninja met in Island of the Keepers.
* The two seasons are named similarly to this episode, Season 6: Skybound and Season 14: Seabound.

## Errors

* When Lloyd is talking while looking out the blimp window, his mouth doesn't move in the reflection.
* When Skylor freezes the pond, Kai breaks the ice by using Spinjitzu, but when Chen captures him using Nature and he looks back, the ice seems as if it was not disturbed.
* In the flashback narrated by Garmadon, all of the Serpentine tribes are seen working together as one, which creates a large plot hole in earlier seasons such as Rise of the Snakes. If all of the Serpentine tribes worked together, Pythor would have never had to unite them in the first season.
* The Venomari general is credited as "Hypnobrai."
* The sound of the Sacred Flute varies drastically from that of the flute in Rise of the Snakes. The flute is also holding forward, while in Rise of the Snakes it was holding sideways.
* The spell which Garmadon used for Anacondrai's banishment is located on page 150, however, this is probably an error, as the Spell of Transformation continues on the same page, and Garmadon read the spell from the beginning of the page, where the previous spell should still be.
* In the flashback, when the Anacondrai generals ask for mercy, there are four of them behind Arcturus. But seconds later as Garmadon banishes an extra general appears of nowhere.
* When Turner lands his legs are briefly shown to be tan instead of white.
* When Zane tells everyone to look for parts, taking a much closer look reveals his mouth isn't moving.