Ninjago S12 E4

## Plot

We hear from a news report that people who play Prime Empire and reach level 13 are disappearing. The police are taking away the arcade cabinets, which makes the arcade owners upset because of all the money they've made on it so far. Unagami is able to hack into and disable the security system at Kryptarium Prison, allowing everyone to escape, including the Mechanic. Meanwhile, the ninja and Pixal visit Cyrus Borg at his tower to see what he's found out about Prime Empire. We finally get to hear Borg talk again! Yes! He even references the Digiverse by name when talking about how advanced the game is. Over eight hundred players are now trapped inside different zones in the game. It's basically the plot of the first arc of *Sword Art Online* for little kids. They either have to find Milton Dyer in real life and stop him, or enter the game like Jay did and stop his avatar, Unagami. Lloyd thinks they should divide up and go for both at the same time. No! Stop splitting up! I hate it! Zane and Pixal can't enter the game, because the code is so complex that it could overwrite their programming. It's up to the two of them to try and find Dyer in the real world. I heard that they would have an episode about just the two of them, and I was hoping it would be a laid back, romantic date episode, but it ended up just being a parody of film noir. Cole starts the game to reach level 13. Unfortunately, the prisoners attack Borg Tower to find the original Prime Empire arcade cabinet. The others fight them off and enter the portal. Borg, Pixal, and Zane head to the roof and escape on a helicopter. Pixal is worried about the damage the Mechanic could cause with the original Prime Empire motherboard, but Zane reveals that he took it. The others are amazed at Prime Empire, but then they see Unagami's army of Red Visors, who start shooting at them. Side note, I love that they all have the number 404 on them, as a reference to the "File Not Found" computer error. The ninja can't do spinjitzu or use their elemental powers inside the game. Kai in particular is angry that his powers are gone again, but it's played for laughs. And I'm pissed off that they haven't figured out the reason why yet. Before Nya is shot, she's saved by Jay… and then other versions of him defeat the other Red Visors. They're actually other players who have customized their avatars to look like him. More Red Visors show up, and they run away. Their performance in the game is based on their stats, and since the ninja just started, their stamina is low, along with everything else. Cole realizes that's why they can't do spinjitzu or use their elemental powers. They have to buy skills with experience points. Kai falls off a building and dies, but then he respawns next to Lloyd. The Jays draw the drones away and tell the ninja where to go next to find the real Jay. They run into more Red Visors and hide, but Kai distracts them because he thinks that he'll just respawn every time he dies. He's shot and respawns again, and ignores Cole's warning that that's probably not the best idea. A guy takes them to his cloaked garage after they give him the password from the League of Jays. He introduces himself as Scott. He's a mechanic. Even Unagami and his Red Visors can't see his garage. They want him to compete in the Speedway Five-Billion like everyone else, but he's smarter than that. The League of Jays keeps his secret, so in exchange he helps them rebuild their weapons and vehicles. Kai touches an item of his, which blows up and kills him. He respawns again. Scott reveals that you only get four lives in Prime Empire. He and Kai only have one left, and the others have four. They go through a secret tunnel that leads into a nightclub full of Jay avatars. They meet Superstar Rockin' Jay, which is the real one… in the worst outfit imaginable. He recognizes the others and hugs them. I personally wish they did a better job at the exposition. Instead, you have to watch a bunch of shorts that take place before and during the season to fully understand things, and see more of Jay, Scott, and other characters. So you basically have to do homework to fully understand the season. It doesn't even really feel like Jay is the focus character until the last two episodes. I liked the original "what could have been" plot of this season better, where it would've been revealed that Jay's birth mother used her lightning to power the game.