Hunted

*“The First Spinjitzu Master tried to make the perfect realm, and because of my father, there may never be lasting peace.”*

— Lloyd, "Green Destiny"

## Hunted

* Poster 1
* Poster 2

## Title Card

***Hunted*** is the ninth season and the twelfth installment in the *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu* series. It was originally released on August 11th, 2018. Young Wu is the mascot character for this season and Iron Baron is the main antagonist. The Dragon Hunters serve as the villainous faction.

It is the second season in the Oni Trilogy arc. It focuses on Wu growing up in the Realm of Oni and Dragons, as well as Lloyd's efforts in Ninjago to defend against his tyrannical father. The season also reveals the home world of the Oni, and that they have mysteriously gone missing. The collectible items for this season are the Golden Dragon Armor.

It is preceded by *Sons of Garmadon* and followed by *March of the Oni*.

## Plot Summary

While Lloyd and Nya resist Emperor Garmadon's oppressive hold on Ninjago City, Young Wu and the rest of the Ninja are stranded in a barbaric realm where fierce dragons are being hunted down by Iron Baron and his gang of Dragon Hunters. Lloyd must endure in NINJAGO City, the others need to find the fabled Dragon Armor if they ever hope to get back home to stop Emperor Garmadon once and for all.

## Characters

* Arkade - Michael Donovan
* Chew Toy - Scott McNeil
* Cole - Kirby Morrow
* Daddy No Legs - Ian James Corlett
* Dareth - Alan Marriott
* Edna - Jillian Michaels
* Faith - Kathleen Barr
* First Spinjitzu Master - Jim Conrad
* Garmadon - Mark Oliver, Kai Emmett
* Gayle Gossip - Kelly Sheridan
* Griffin Turner - Doron Bell Jr.
* Harumi - Britt McKillip
* Iron Baron - Brian Drummond
* Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
* Jet Jack - Rhona Rees
* Kai - Vincent Tong
* Karlof - Scott McNeil
* Killow - Garry Chalk
* Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
* Misako - Kathleen Barr
* Mystake - Tabitha St. Germain
* Mr. Pale - Kirby Morrow
* Muzzle - Brent Miller
* Neuro - Paul Dobson
* Nya - Kelly Metzger
* P.I.X.A.L. - Jennifer Hayward
* Police Commissioner - Michael Donovan
* Ronin - Brian Dobson
* Shade - Andrew Francis
* Skylor - Heather Doerksen
* Tox - Maggie Blue O'Hara
* Ultra Violet - Maggie Blue O'Hara
* Wu - Madyx Whiteway, Paul Dobson
* Zane - Brent Miller

## Battles

* Marooned Ninja vs. Dragon Hunters
* Mr. E vs. Lloyd, Nya, P.I.X.A.L., & Dareth
* Zane, Jay, & Kai vs. Slab
* Zane, Jay, & Kai vs. Heavy Metal
* Dragon Hunters vs. Faux Firstbourne
* The Resistance vs. Sons of Garmadon
* Resistance vs. Harumi
* Marooned Ninja & Faith vs. Jet Jack
* Mystake vs. Lord Garmadon
* Skylor & the Colossus vs. Lord Garmadon
* Colossus vs. the Resistance
* Iron Baron vs. Firstbourne
* Marooned Ninja vs. the Colossus
* Lloyd & Wu vs. Lord Garmadon
* Lloyd vs. Lord Garmadon

## Locations Visited

* Ninjago
	+ Ninjago City
		- Borg Tower
	+ Royal palace
	+ Temple of Resurrection
	+ Sea of Sand
		- Kryptarium Prison
* First Realm
	+ Dead's End
	+ The Pit
	+ Desert
	+ Oni Land
		- Oni Stronghold
	+ Firstbourne's Nest

## Sets

Wu was the mascot character, and the black swirls around him form a dragon. The Dragon Armor was the collectible item. The majority of the sets in this wave focused on the Realm of Oni and Dragons half of the story.

* **70650 Destiny's Wing**
* **70651 Throne Room Showdown**
* **70652 Stormbringer**
* **70653 Firstbourne**
* 70654 Dieselnaut
* 70655 The Dragon Pit
* **70658 Oni Titan**

### Flyers

* **70644 Golden Dragon Master**
* 70645 Cole - Dragon Master
* 70646 Jay - Dragon Master
* 70647 Kai - Dragon Master
* **70648 Zane - Dragon Master**

## Notes

* This is the last season to be written by the Hageman Brothers.
* Mr. E doesn't appear in the intro alongside Harumi, Ultra Violet, and Killow, foreshadowing his demise early in the season.
* Tommy Andreasen had stated in an interview with Brent Miller that someone would die this season, though the identity of the character was not stated. Later, in "Iron & Stone", these characters were revealed to be Mr. E and the Ultra Dragon. In "Saving Faith", Harumi died and Mystake was killed off-screen by Garmadon.
* Jay had a mental breakdown sometime between Sons of Garmadon and Hunted, resulting in a seeming calmness in his manner in the first two episodes, "Firstbourne" and "Iron & Stone." He later went back to normal.
* In "Iron & Stone," Skylor revealed that her powers had come back.
* By the end of the season, Garmadon is still in his evil form and has not been changed back. He was also locked up in Kryptarium Prison.
	+ Garmadon reveals that the reasons of his evil deeds was to protect Ninjago from the darkness he saw at the Departed Realm. Just before being taken away, he tells Lloyd of this evil and Lloyd believes it was the missing Oni who would be the darkness. This was later confirmed to be true.
* Hunted has the largest cast out of all the *Ninjago* seasons to date.
	+ As such, it has the largest number of main female characters in a season.
* The plot of Hunted is comparable to the film *Thor: Ragnarok*, in which many characters have similar roles and plot devices are used in both.
	+ Garmadon can be compared to Hela in which they both take over the main characters' home world and results in the main characters being transported to another location.
	+ The Realm of Oni and Dragons is similar to the planet Sakaar in that the main characters are stranded in it for a long time, and the land has a scavenger society.
	+ Iron Baron can be compared to the Grandmaster, in that they both rule a scavenger society and are vicious tyrants.
	+ Faith can be compared to Brunnhilde/Valkyrie, in that they both are admired by the planet's ruler, and go by false identities and eventually aid the heroes to return to their homeworld.
	+ Another similarity is that the main characters also have to fight in a gladiatorial arena.
* Jim Conrad joins the voice cast as the First Spinjitzu Master, marking this season as the first to feature the First Spinjitzu Master in a speaking role.
* Skylor's appearance slightly changed in this season. Her hair turned into a darker shade of red, and her mouth was moved slightly lower on her face. However, this was not reflected in her minifigure, which came in 70651 Throne Room Showdown, still with a bright red hairpiece and face similar to her previous figures.
* Neuro has a new hair piece in this season based on his hair piece used in 5004938 NINJAGO Minifigure Collection, the set that was released a year earlier.
* The Hageman Brothers stated that the major theme for this season is independence.
* Tommy Andreasen has stated that he stopped keeping track of the season numbers after this season.
* Throughout the season, Heather Doerksen is misspelled "Heather Dorksen," and Kathleen Barr is misspelled "Katleen Barr."

## Continuity

* The events of this season pick up one week after the events of Season 8.
	+ Because of this, the Marooned Ninja's suits are battle damaged versions of their SoG suits.
* The fate of the Ultra Dragon is revealed, when he left Ninjago to go to the Spirit Coves back in Season 1, he returned to his home world of the Realm of Oni and Dragons. When he got there, he was caught by the Iron Baron and the Dragon Hunters and killed. His bones were made into the Iron Baron's throne.
* Most of the Elemental Masters from *Tournament of Elements* return in this season, including Griffin Turner, Shade, Neuro, Tox, and Mr. Pale, as well as Karlof and Skylor returning from *The Hands of Time*. They act on their promise from season four of helping the ninja by joining the Resistance.
	+ Jacob Pevsner, Gravis, Ash, Chamille, and Bolobo are the only Elemental Masters to not appear in this season. Bolobo is revealed to have been arrested and most of the others' whereabouts are unknown.
		- Chamille is described as becoming a villain for some reason. Since then, her fate remained unknown until the web-series *Amber Spiral* where it is revealed that she became a small crook and helped Skylor find the truth out about her mother.
	+ Skylor is revealed to have regained the use of her powers after her father manipulated her to complete the spell to turn him into an Anacondrai.
* It is revealed this season that Mystake, the owner of the tea shop featured in Seasons 1, 2, 4 and 8, is actually an Oni. She was sent to Ninjago along with the other Oni in ancient times to retrieve the First Spinjitzu Master, but instead allied with him and decided to stay in Ninjago with him.
	+ Her Oni form is shown off in this season for the first time, giving the first hint that Garmadon's evil form is meant to emphasize his Oni blood.
* In Lloyd's battle with his father, he uses the Art of the Silent Fist against him to defeat him, which is a martial art that Master Garmadon taught his son in the Season 3 episode of the same name.
	+ While it is plainly evident that this is the case, and it was written so, it is not made explicitly clear in this episode because the writers felt that that was reaching too far back for fans of the show to remember.
* Harumi's death in this season is reminiscent of her parent's deaths from flashbacks that took place during "*Day of the Great Devourer*."
	+ It is later revealed in *Crystalized* that her death was not permenant, as she was later resurrected by The Overlord.
	+ It is also revealed that after the battle with Garmadon in the city, Lloyd had gone through the rubble to search for her, but she had already escaped.
* Wu's child and teenager forms are the same forms he takes when he is de-aging during the mini-episode "*Golden Hour*."
* Dareth is given some sort of ability by one of Mystake's teas (known as "Brown Power,") but he loses it soon after he urinates what he drank away. It is unknown if this hints at him having some latent and unknown abilities in him still.
* The Marooned Ninja find in the First Realm that the Oni have mysteriously vanished from the realm they supposedly inhabit. This is foreshadowing their invasion of the 14 Realms in the following season.
* It is revealed that Garmadon lied waste to Ninjago because he was preparing for this very attack. Apparently, he witnessed the Oni's darkness approaching from the Departed Realm and tried to be as imposing as he could so that he could fight them back. When he loses his powers and is sent to jail, he warns Lloyd that "they" will come.
* Firstbourne, the first of the Dragons, is revealed to be the original holder of all Elemental Powers in Ninjago (except for two.) The First Spinjitzu Master inherited the bulk of these powers and passed them on to what would become the Elemental Masters. She also passed these powers onto many of the Dragons in the First Realm.
	+ Elemental Dragons that we already knew about were Wisp, Rocky, Shard, and Flame (together forming the Ultra Dragon.)
	+ We are also shown other Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth Dragons, as well as a Wind Dragon. It is implied that there are Elemental Dragons for each Element.
		- Later in the series it is revealed that the ancient sea serpent Wojira possessed the Element of Water, so this may be the first non-First Realm originated Element.
		- In *Dragons Rising*, there are multiple other elements revealed that were previously unknown, as they likely come from other realms that were not explored.
* What remain of the Sons of Garmadon are sent to Kryptarium Prison at the end of this season.