Dead Man's Squall

**Dead Man's Squall** is the seventh episode of The Overlord Sons and the one hundred twenty-first episode overall in *LEGO Ninjago & My Little Pony: Masters of Friendship*. The episode is based on LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu episode of the same name and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode, *Horse Play*.

## Synopsis

Twilight Sparkle casts Princess Celestia in her stage play, only to discover that Celestia's talents lie elsewhere. Zane's near demise at the hands of Mr. E forces the Ninja to flee aboard the *Bounty*, where they discover that a transmission Zane intercepted may reveal the hidden location of the Quiet One.

## Plot

Picking up where the previous episode ended, Zane questioned Mr. E on who he was. Ignoring him, Mr. E fights with Zane, leaving him half destroyed. Before Mr. E leaves, he puts something inside of Zane and broadcasts a coded message. The Ninja are searching for Zane when the flashlight shines on him. Nya, Lloyd, Jay, and Cole went down to bring him back onto the *Bounty*.

Onboard, P.I.X.A.L. tells the Ninja and Harumi that Zane has damages to all systems and diverted power to critical life functions, telling them that Zane has to do the rest and reboot himself.

As they wonder about the baby, Cole confirms it himself that the Sons of the Overlord called the baby "The key to the third mask." Lloyd soon suggests they leave Ninjago, which Jay was reluctant with as it didn't seem right. But Lloyd tells them that there are other heroes, like Samurai X as Nya still wonders who he is.

Sometime later, the male Ninjas are trying to comfort the baby as he cries. Lloyd suggests Cole give him some milk, but Cole replied that the baby doesn't like it. Jay and Kai wonder what the baby likes to drink before Jay wonders if the baby needs a diaper change. Cole asks if they even have diapers as he hands the baby to Harumi before they soon prepare to make a bet on whose hood they should use. But, the baby stops crying when they hear Harumi sing to him. She said the baby was just tired before soon putting him in a nearby cradle. Harumi and Lloyd soon went outside to see a storm in the clouds, which Lloyd says his father told him it is the "Dead Man's Squall." They soon have a conversation about their lost parents before Lloyd tells Harumi that she is not alone as she does the same to him and if the Sons of the Overlord are trying to revive his grandfather's arch-nemesis and whatever happens, she will be beside him before moving closer, to kiss him. But Lloyd quickly backs away and leaves, making up excuses.

Cole is checking on the baby before he wakes up and is about to cry again. Cole soon embarrassingly sang *Glow Worm*, comforting and tickling him before noticing something on his blanket. As the *Bounty* moves along a storm, Jay is amazed as Nya tells him of a tribe that worshiped Wohira. They were soon summoned by P.I.X.A.L., who found something inside Zane's system: a digital communication link between Mr. E and the Quiet One, which he recorded in his last moments before losing consciousness. After deciphering it, the message says "The trap has been set." As Jay and Kai think it is a joke, Nya suggests using the message to determine the Quiet One's whereabouts. P.I.X.A.L. is already trying to locate them, but the storm is interfering with her trace program and suggests lowering before Harumi decides against it as the Sons of the Overlord may find them as the storm is providing cover. When Jay asked where they go, Cole barges in, with the baby's blanket, which shows a drawn map on it leading to the last Oni mask.

As they look at the map, they wonder why it was wrapped around the baby, who is now in a beige blanket. Cole remarked the Sons of the Overlord probably didn't have diapers either. When Nya wonders if the "X" is where the mask is, Lloyd, says the location is Primeval's Eye because a friend of his mother's never returned from the uncharted vast wilderness of death while trying to map the area out. Nya thinks of it as a good place to not be found. Pretty soon, Jay, who was just concentrating on a meatball the whole time, stabs Kai's hand with the fork, causing Cole to cover the baby's eyes. As Jay tries to apologize and was about to remove the fork, Kai threateningly tells him not to.

In the bridge, as Zane was still recovering, a component opens up, revealing what Mr. E put in, a mechanical spider, who heads over to the power supply. Nya doesn't notice as she was too busy grilling Cole for feeding the baby some tea, he tells her that the baby likes it as Jay manages to get the meatball. Pretty soon, the power goes out and they head to the bridge while Harumi grabs the map. They realize the trap was planted in Zane and when they see Samurai X on the screen, P.I.X.A.L. revealed she is Samurai X. Lloyd tells Nya to find the trap and everyone else fight.

When the Samurai Mech captured Harumi, Lloyd went after it. P.I.X.A.L., however, ejected back to the *Bounty*. Lloyd frees Harumi and puts her in the mech to break her fall. He then used the map as a parachute but broke his arm on impact. Meanwhile, Zane woke up and destroyed the trap. Just when P.I.X.A.L. completed the reboot, her sword destroyed the last thruster. To slow down the fall, Nya uses her Water to control the rain. Meanwhile, Lloyd uses the map as an arm sling and stated they're on their own.

### Celestia's "ones-versary"

The episode begins at Canterlot Castle, where Twilight Sparkle shares with Princess Celestia her idea for commemorating Celestia's "ones-versary"—the one thousand, one hundred, and eleventh anniversary of when she first raised the sun. Twilight plans to put on a play at the School of Friendship, and Celestia is thrilled by the idea, having had a deep love for the theater ever since she was little.

Upon learning that Celestia has never been in a play herself, Twilight offers her the leading role in her own play. Celestia and Spike are uncertain about Twilight's sudden casting decision, but Twilight says she is more than happy to do something nice for someone who has always put herself before others. Celestia is especially uncertain because she has no acting experience, but Twilight assures her she doesn't need experience since she will be playing as herself.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, the rest of Twilight's friends are busy preparing the stage for the play. When Twilight arrives and informs them that Celestia is now the leading actress, they have various reactions, from being overjoyed by the opportunity to spend casual quality time with her, to nervous at the same prospect, and Rainbow Dash flies off to tell everyone she knows.

Twilight and Spike oversee rehearsals for the play, and Fluttershy serves as the narrator. However, when Princess Celestia steps onto the stage for her lines, she either speaks too softly, too loudly, or too awkwardly. Later, while practicing the play's dance number, Celestia dances out of sync with the other actors and accidentally drops them through a trapdoor.

Twilight is unable to speak out against Celestia's poor acting out of fear of hurting her feelings, but she fears even more that Celestia will be humiliated in front of the audience. Applejack suggests telling Celestia the truth, and Spike suggests cancelling the play altogether since most of Equestria is unaware that a play is even being organized. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash returns after already spreading the word and says everyone in Equestria will be attending. Despite Applejack's insistence, Twilight is determined to keep her promise to Celestia and let her be in the play.

At the School of Friendship, Twilight introduces Celestia to On Stage and Raspberry Beret of the Method Mares, who have agreed to give Celestia acting lessons. Meanwhile, the rest of the Mane Six salvage the damaged stage props, and Pinkie Pie tries to replace the sun prop with a large yellow balloon and a flaming marshmallow. However, Celestia makes little improvement, and Twilight continues to sugarcoat the truth about her poor acting skills.

### The truth comes out

On opening night, as the audience seats fill to capacity, Twilight starts to panic. Applejack once again suggests telling Celestia the truth, but Twilight still refuses. Instead, she has rewritten the script to give Celestia a more artistic role with no lines. Pinkie Pie produces a giant ball of magical fireworks she bought from Trixie to replace the sun prop, but when it goes off and shoots fireworks everywhere, much of the stage set becomes damaged.

This sends Twilight over the edge, and in her fit of anger, she finally voices her frustration about Celestia's terrible acting, unaware that Celestia is standing behind a curtain and hears the whole thing. Upset by Twilight lying to her this entire time, Celestia flies off. Twilight follows after her while her friends stall the waiting audience.

In the sky over Equestria, Twilight tries to talk to Celestia, but she refuses to listen. Twilight admits that she wanted to do something to repay all the years that Celestia guided her as a teacher and friend, even at the risk of keeping the truth from her or disappointing her. Celestia tells her that the truth is always better than a well-intentioned lie, and she has an idea on how to save the play.

### *A New Day in Equestria*

As Spike's efforts to stall the crowd fail, Twilight and Celestia return. Stepping down from her leading role, Celestia tasks Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity with calming the crowd and Rainbow Dash with making a new stage backdrop. She also appoints Spike as the new narrator and Fluttershy as the new lead actress. The play goes on as planned, and Celestia uses the techniques she learned from the Method Mares to assist the acting ponies from off-stage.

Despite some minor heckling from the audience, the play is ultimately met with very positive reception. Fluttershy feels sorry that Celestia didn't get to be in the play, but Celestia says she never felt she had to be on stage in order to be part of the show. Twilight thanks Celestia for saving the play, and Celestia says she plans to step down from the throne and devote all of her time to theater...

> "*...Gotcha! Maybe I'm not such a bad actress after all.*"
> ― Princess Celestia
>
>

## Cast

* Applejack - Ashleigh Ball
* Audience Member - Nicole Oliver
* Baby - Paul Dobson
* Cole - Kirby Morrow
* Fluttershy - Andrea Libman
* Gallus - Gavin Langelo
* Harumi - Britt McKillip
* Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
* Kai - Vincent Tong
* Lloyd - Sam Vincent
* Mr. E - Brent Miller
* Nya - Kelly Metzger
* Ocellus - Devyn Dalton
* On Stage - Colin Murdock
* P.I.X.A.L. - Jennifer Hayward, Michael Donovan
* Pinkie Pie - Andrea Libman
* Princess Celestia - Nicole Oliver
* Rainbow Dash - Ashleigh Ball
* Rarity - Tabitha St. Germain
* Sandbar - Vincent Tong
* Silverstream - Lauren Jackson
* Smolder - Shannon Chan-Kent
* Spike - Cathy Weseluck
* Starlight Glimmer - Kelly Sheridan
* Twilight Sparkle - Tara Strong
* Yona - Katrina Salisbury
* Zane - Brent Miller

## Locations Visited

* Ninjago
	+ Sea of Sand
	+ Dead Man's Squall
	+ Primeval's Eye

## Trivia

* The intro of this episode used Zane's death music, instead of the new theme.
* This is the second episode that ends with Lloyd suffering from some sort of injury, i.e, a broken arm or dislocated shoulder. The first is "Return of the Overlord" where he suffered from a twisted ankle.
	+ It is, coincidentally, the same arm he injured in *LEGO Ninjago & My Little Pony: The Movie*.
* P.I.X.A.L.'s confession is quite similar to Nya's from "Suited for Success": when both are unable to assist the team, they reveal their secret.
* Samurai X's identity is revealed in this episode, being P.I.X.A.L. This raises suspicion, as it is unknown how she was able to return to her physical form.
	+ Presumably, like Zane in "The Legendary Friend," she created her new body secretly.
* It is revealed why the Baby was the key to finding the third Oni Mask, the Mask of Hatred; the swaddling clothes used to wrap the Baby was a map, meaning that the "key" the Sons of the Overlord members were referring to in the Snake Jaguar was the map. Also, because Wu is part Oni, he would have to remove the mask from the temple, as only people with Oni blood could.
* Lloyd broke the fourth wall in this episode; when Harumi suggested using the map to the Mask of Hatred as a parachute, Lloyd replied in exasperation that this only works in cartoons.
	+ This is similar to when Nya and Kai were trying to fix the console on the *Destiny's Bounty* in Season 7.
* After Mr. E knocked Zane unconscious, he made a remark which sounded like gibberish. It was instead a message to the Quiet One. He said "The trap has been set" backward.
	+ This is similar to the fifth season episode "Stiix Sweet Stiix," in which Zane was damaged and he can only speak backward.
		- Harumi probably deliberately told them to stay in the storm so they wouldn't find out she was the Quiet One.
* Harumi took down the family photos that she had put up in the Bounty's sleeping quarters' bulletin board where the Ninja have their family photos, probably because she knew she had to leave soon before the Ninja found out that she was the Quiet One.
* A brief scene when Cole briefly holds aloft the baby is a reference to *The Lion King*.
* Nya mentions a mythical storm spirit, Wohira.
* The scene where P.I.X.A.L. is controlled by Harumi and says "There is no P.I.X.A.L., only the Quiet One" is a reference to the movie *Ghostbusters*.
	+ A similar line is said in "Grave Danger" when Bansha possesses Misako.
* According to Tommy Andreasen, this was the toughest episode to produce. He stated that, "the first draft script wasn't very good and it took a lot of work... and still some great ideas which would have made it even more intense didn't make it into the episode."

## Errors

* Jay's meatball seems to change size.
* Before Mr. E goes to attack Zane, he cracks his neck. However, this is physically impossible, since he is a Nindroid.
* When Harumi is holding the baby there seems to be another photo next to Ronin's in the corkboard but when Harumi puts the baby in the crib the photo is gone.