Versus

*“We'll use your Magic in time, but not now. Not when there are other ways to whittle them down. Perhaps it's time to switch things up.”*

— Chen to Clouse

**Versus** is the third episode of the fourth season of *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu* and the 37th episode overall. It aired on March 9, 2015, in the United States on Cartoon Network.

## Synopsis

*To drive the Ninja apart, Chen and Clouse put Jay and Cole to face eachother.*

## Plot

Zane dreams of walking in a blizzard and meets the Titanium Dragon. He sees the Falcon talking with P.I.X.A.L.'s voice and wakes him up (from another room) only to find out that Zane's memory drive is almost out. P.I.X.A.L. tries to get Zane to get his memory back. She reveals that Zane had saved his friends, rebuilt himself, and reminds him of his Nindroid capabilities. He successfully begins to remember what he can do and finds new abilities to use.

Meanwhile, Nya and Sensei Wu are continuing work on rebuilding the *Destiny's Bounty*. Nya talks about what makes Jay and Cole different from each other, though Wu doesn't offer any wisdom since the problem was about young love. Misako comes by, saying she hasn't heard from Garmadon or the ninja for days. Nya begins a search for the Ninja using her mobile base, the D.B. Express. Although Wu assures Misako that her family and his students will be found, she reminds him they're still with Garmadon as a nod to his past actions.

Back at Chen's Island, the Tournament of Elements is on break. All the competitors are in the cafeteria eating breakfast. As Garmadon asks for dessert, the goons refuse due to his betrayal to their master. The ninja are still shaken up from Chen stealing Karlof's powers and try to come up with a new plan to find Zane. Jay, however, decides to take the day off, which Cole criticizes him for and leads them into another argument. Chen then announces the six masters competing to get the Jadeblades next. The masters consist of Griffin Turner, Gravis, Ash, Bolobo, and stops on Neuro. Jay thinks the ninja get the day off but just as he finishes his sentence, Kai is announced, much to his (and surprisingly, Skylor's) shock.

The first match begins with Griffin versus Gravis to obtain a Jadeblade from the top of a cherry blossom tree. Griffin's element initially gave him a headstart, but Gravis catches up to him by means of levitation.

The second match between Neuro and Bolobo begins, where the Jadeblade rets on top of a boulder. Neuro reads Bolobo's mind to see his opening move and in doing so, he uses his vines to gain ground in climbing, which makes Bolobo go after him.

The final match between Kai and Ash takes place on a bridge over a volcano, with the Jadeblade and the competitors on a wooden bridge. Kai goes straight for the Blade, but Ash flips the bridge over, causing it to fall on a rock below. Kai climbs under the bridge and attempts to kick Ash, but the Master of Smoke uses his powers to evade the attack. Kai continuously attacks Ash, with none of his blow landings while Ash keeps disappearing and reappearing and his punches landing, eventually sending the Master of Fire through the bridge and hanging.

Meanwhile, the Master of Nature traps the Master of Mind, though, he quickly escapes and sends his opponent to the ground using his powers, to which Garmadon remarks on the power of the mind. However, Bolobo trapped Neuro in a multitude of vines again where Lloyd points out "in man vs nature, nature usually wins." Griffin then begins to mess with Gravis by running to different branches, but it backfires and the Master of Gravity pins him using the blossoms. Kai initially struggles to hang on to the plank, worrying Skylor, but he flips himself back onto secured planks and uses his Spinjitzu to push Ash back, though, the end result is the same. Lloyd encourages him to use his powers, so Kai then launches multiple fireballs, only for Ash to dodge them while they begin burning through the bridge. With Neuro trapped, Bolobo uses his powers to grab the Jadeblade but Neuro gives him a headache, giving him the chance to climb the vines and take the blade, winning and eliminating the Master of Nature. The Master of Speed escapes and Gravis, having had enough, uses his powers to bring the Jadeblade to him, only for Griffin to run in and take it, eliminating Gravis. Chen activates a trapdoor even though Gravis is still levitating, so he drops a sandbag on him and sends him through, causing Griffin to question how many buttons Chen has. As Kai and Ash's battle continues, Clouse attempts to use his Magic, though Chen prevents him from doing so, because he was being entertained by the fight. Ash manages to apprehend Kai, but he launches one more fireball which successfully burns through the last of the bridge, sending both of them onto the rocks below. The two then battle in midair over the Jadeblade where they're evenly matched until Ash makes for the blade. Kai then attacks him, where he uses his powers to avoid being hit; Kai using this to his advantage to take the blade and end the match with Ash eliminated.

While Chen is being entertained by his kabuki, Clouse reminds him of the ninja seeing the ceremony and begs to use his powers. However, Chen doesn't worry and states there are other ways to mess with the ninja. Soon, most of the contestants are looking at the brackets and when the ninja see for themselves, they're shocked to find Cole and Jay have been set up to fight next. The ninja confront Clouse about this, but he brushes it off. Garmadon tells them to accept it but Jay hysterically tells him that one of them has to lose. Lloyd points out they won't have to fight if they find Zane; in addition, their fight isn't until that night. Kai suggests they ask Neuro for help, where he reads their minds and puts Jay and Cole against each other. Lloyd points out to Neuro why they need him, to which he denies as helping them might hurt his chances in the tournament. Lloyd manages to convince him by letting him read his mind and seeing what happened to Karlof who had his power stolen. Neuro is surprised that was what Chen's plans are, as Lloyd tells him it was only a matter of time before the villain steals his power in the future. He then asks Neuro if he would join them as the Master of Mind considers the offer.

Back in the dungeon, Zane is beginning to cut through his chains but is forced to stop when two Cultists pass by his cell. P.I.X.A.L. advises him to break out during the fight, but he states she's breaking out with him to while she is unsure.

Neuro tries to find Chen to read his mind but Clouse gets in the way and threatens to tell the other fighters that he's helping the ninja. Neuro reads his mind for a moment and promptly leaves. In the stadium, Jay and Cole train for the match, each destroying a punching bag with a picture of their opponent. Neuro then approaches and tells Kai what he discovered: Clouse has a spellbook where the page marked 149 has a spell that requires everyone's powers, though he couldn't find a way to stop the fight. Neither Jay nor Cole are unfazed by this, though Lloyd reminds the Black Ninja that Chen is their enemy and they have control over how they fight. Cole tells him that when Lloyd joined the ninja, "Wu once said 'the best way to fight an enemy was to make them your friend,' but how are you supposed to defeat your friend?" As the fight begins, Garmadon tells his son and the Masters of Fire and Mind that the rest is now up to them, while Lloyd hoped Cole and Jay could restore their friendship. Chen begins to announce the fight, though the two ninja immediately begin fighting and trash-talking each other. Amused his plan went better than he expected, Chen commands Clouse to get him popcorn.

By now, Zane has broken out of his chains and has already broken into P.I.X.A.L.'s cell where he's shocked to discover she had been scrapped. She encourages him to go find the others and stop Chen. However, he refuses to leave her behind and puts P.I.X.A.L.'s neural drive into himself so P.I.X.A.L. becomes a part of him. Unfortunately, Clouse sneaks up behind Zane and tasers him, causing him to pass out. He then tells Zugu to put the Nindroid in chains that he can't cut through.

Meanwhile, at the arena, Cole overpowers Jay and pushes him to the ground. He soon stops fighting and tells him Chen is their enemy. Jay then admits he takes blame for what happened between him and Nya, and they realize they've been bottling up their emotions towards each other. They continue to fight using hand-to-hand combat. Chen realizes their plan and releases the Condrai Crushers to keep the fight interesting. Working together, the ninja destroy everything, but Chen gets angry and wants them both to lose if they won't fight. Jay tells Cole to take the Jadeblade as he himself is lucky to still be in the tournament, which he does, but throws it to Jay like a true friend, saying that Nya was always his and that he should have backed down with her before all of this started and then tells the Blue Ninja to win it all. Cole loses and falls through a trapdoor, much to the ninja’s dismay. However, Garmadon tells Kai, Lloyd, and Neuro that Cole might be gone but didn't lose because he did the right thing by sacrificing himself to get his teammate and best friend back and he fought like a real ninja.

In the outlands, Nya is traveling in the D.B. Express, as she is approached by the Falcon and wonders why it had her come out there. Nya soon looks onto her monitor and finds that Zane's beacon was emitting a signal on a small island off the coast. She expresses surprise by this new development, before she radios Sensei Wu and tells him she might have found where the ninja are.

## Appearances

### Characters

* Ash
* Bolobo
* Chen
* Clouse
* Cole
* Garmadon
* Gravis
* Griffin Turner
* Jay
* Kai
* Krait
* Lloyd Garmadon
* Misako
* Neuro
* Nya
* P.I.X.A.L.
* Wu
* Zane
* Zugu

### Non-speaking

* Jacob Pevsner
* Shade
* Skylor
* Tox

### Events

* Tournament of Elements
* Zane's sacrifice (mentioned)

### Items

* Book of Spells (flashback)
	+ Spell of Transformation
* Jadeblades
* Karlof's metal fists (flashback)
* Staff of Elements (flasback)

### Vehicles

* Condrai Crushers
* D.B. Express

### Locations

* Samurai X Cave
* Chen's Island
	+ Chen's Palace
		- Chow House

### Species

* Elemental Dragons (vision)
* Humans
* Nindroids
* Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids

## Trivia

* Although the original concept art with scrapped P.I.X.A.L.'s body also contained her torn head, such a shot did not make it into the final scene, probably because it could be upsetting for the children.
* This episode marks the last time anyone refers to Ninjago City as, "New Ninjago City".

## Continuity

* When Zane remembers who he is, he says, "P.I.X.A.L. We are compatible?" and P.I.X.A.L. replies, "Yes, Zane. Yes, we are." This is a direct parallel to "The Art of the Silent Fist," where, moments before losing power, P.I.X.A.L. asked Zane, "We are not so different, are we? We are compatible?" and Zane responded, "Yes, yes we are." This was also the final line in the ending of the previous season's finale, "The Titanium Ninja."
* The fights during the episode didn't take place at the same time; they took place one after another. This is evident as Kai was watching Neuro and Bolobo's fights while Neuro and Griffin Turner watched Kai's fight against Ash. The latter fight inadvertently reveals the winners of the previous two fights.
* Cole and Jay became friends again at the end of the episode, closing the rift between them that began in "Blackout".
* Cole is the fifth loser in the Tournament of Elements.
* This episode marks the last time the capital city of Ninjago is referred to as "New Ninjago City." Starting from "The Greatest Fear of All," the city is referred to by its original name, Ninjago City, once again.
* This episode marks Neuro and Krait's first speaking roles, and this is also the first time Ash and Gravis' voices are heard, though they only grunt.
	+ In contrast, this is Skylor's first non-speaking appearance and the only episode in Season 4 where she doesn't speak.
	+ Bolobo also doesn't speak in this episode despite only grunting as well.
* This is the first time Zane's new, filtered voice is heard.
* With Cole and Gravis' eliminations, Mr. Pale is the only remaining Elemental Master voiced by Kirby Morrow.
	+ Cole is also the first of the ninja to lose the competition.
	+ This also marks the only time Gravis is voiced by Kirby Morrow; he is voiced by Mark Oliver in future appearances.
* This is the second episode to start with one of Zane's dreams, the first being "Never Trust a Snake" and later being followed by "Wasted True Potential".

## Errors

* Cole says Jay's only moved on in the tournament because his opponent got himself kicked out, but none of the participants besides Karlof, who lost the first round, are absent from this episode.
	+ However, Bolobo did lose to him while fighting him for a jade blade in Only One Can Remain, and it's implied that he found another soon afterward.
* Throughout the fight between Jay and Cole, Eyezor is seen behind Clouse by Chen's side while watching the fight itself. At one point, when Garmadon praises Lloyd for getting Cole and Jay back together as the pair battles against the Condrai Crushers, Eyezor is seen behind them.
* When Neuro and Bolobo are fighting, Kai is seen in the audience. However, Chen called all the fighters that day to their arenas at the same time.