The Balance

*Not to be confused with the mini-movie.*

> We underestimate the importance of balance. When it's there, we're at peace. When something is off, everything falls. Ninjago is no different. It put too much faith in technology, allowing the Overlord to return, and because of your friends, now the world is without power. When one relies on something too much, we become weak, vulnerable, imbalanced. In order to find your full potential and unlock your true power, you must find your own balance.
>
> Master Garmadon to Lloyd, "Blackout"

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**The Balance** is the metaphysical force of opposing systems working together in harmony. The balance of these two great powers often shifts and fluctuates in Ninjago, while in other realms such as Cloud Kingdom and the Realm of Madness, it is set to one or the other. It can be represented by the forces of good and evil, Golden Power and Darkness, and Creation and Destruction.

## History

In the Realm of Oni and Dragons, there were two powerful kinds of beings, the Oni and the dragons. The Oni had the power of Destruction, while the dragons had the power of Creation, and, because of their differences, they constantly waged war on each other.

One day, a child was born from both sides, and thus had the powers of both (the child was known as the First Spinjitzu Master). Seeing a chance to turn the tables in their war, the dragons and Oni fought as to which side the child should choose. Seeking to avoid this war, the First Spinjitzu Master left the First Realm, and traveled to a different realm, where he later created the island of Ninjago. In Ninjago, the First Spinjitzu Master created a balance of both shadow and light (using his inherited powers). Out of the malevolent side of the balance, the Overlord was manifested. The Overlord challenged the First Spinjitzu Master to battle over Ninjago, and they waged battle on each other for a time. As the battle grew to a stalemate, the Overlord created the Stone Army in an attempt to turn the battle in his favor. Seeing his defeat was imminent, the First Spinjitzu Master split Ninjago into two halves, one remaining balanced, while the other was turned to darkness, and promptly sunk below the ocean.

At an unknown point of time, The Overlord corrupts a serpent that will become the Great Devourer and sends her after Garmadon to bite and corrupt him in order to put his plan into motion to restart The Ultimate Battle.

During Legacy of the Green Ninja, Garmadon finally succumbed to the Great Devourer's venom finally makes it the the Dark Island in order to seek help from the Overlord to rule Ninjago. However, the Overlord manipulated Garmadon in order to offset the Balance by using the Garmatron and used him as a vessel to cross over to Ninjago. Lloyd after unlocking his true potential during the Final Battle managed to defeat the Overlord to restore the Balance and purify his father.

Over time the balance fluctuated many more times, sometimes turning towards shadow, and sometimes toward light. As a consequence, the constant fluctuations sped up The Overlord's rebirth by several centuries.

During Hunted, Lord Garmadon takes over Ninjago City, and ruins the balance. After his defeat, Jay remarks that "the balance has been restored."

During March of the Oni, the Oni invade Ninjago bringing destruction and causing the balance to be disrupted again, but thanks to the Ninja using the Tornado of Creation, the balance returned not only in Ninjago, but also in all Realms.

During Crystalized, the Overlord appeals to Harumi by claiming that his quest to destroy the Balance was to put an end to the destruction and pain caused from the battles between good and evil, stating that Ninjago will find peace in the Darkness. Ultimately, it is revealed to be a lie as The Overlord admits how he is the cause of all of Ninjago's conflicts so he can reduce not only Ninjago, but all of the realms of creation to lifeless oblivions which he can rule supreme for all eternity by corrupting stealing and absorbing the elements of creation from ninja while corrupting the ninja. He is eventually defeated by Lloyd again using the Golden Ultra Dragon, formed from the Golden Weapons put together by the Ninja. Thus, the balance is truly restored.

## Balance across the Realms

* Chima (balanced)
* Cloud Kingdom (light-shifted)
* Cursed Realm (dark-shifted; destroyed)
* Departed Realm (unknown)
* Djinjago (light-shifted; destroyed)
* Never-Realm (balanced)
* Ninjago (balanced)
* Realm of Madness (dark-shifted)
* Realm of Oni and Dragons (balanced)
* Underworld (dark-shifted)

## Notable users

* Golden Power (First Spinjitzu Master, Dragons, formerly Lloyd, and The Overlord as the Golden Master)
* Creation (Wu, Lloyd, Garmadon through his True Potential and the Dragons)
* Darkness (The Overlord and presumably, the Oni Wu, Garmadon, Lloyd, and the First Spinjitzu Master)
* Destruction (Garmadon, Wu, Lloyd, the Oni, and presumably, The Overlord)

## Trivia

* When the balance is off, as it has been in most of the series, there is more conflict and suffering, explaining why there is always some enemy for the ninja to fight.
	+ The more the balance is unstable, the stronger The Overlord becomes until he ultimately takes form once more.
* Like True Potential, "the balance" is a common term not always used to refer to the same concept.
	+ At Zane's funeral in "The Titanium Ninja," Cyrus Borg speaks of the balance on a societal level of relying too much on technology.
	+ In "Enkrypted," Nadakhan's father, Khanjikhan, mentioned a balance when speaking of the realms, suggesting another balance related to the Realms.
	+ In "The Oni and the Dragon," Mystake refers to the Sons of Garmadon's growing prominence, saying, "Lord Garmadon was destroyed by the most powerful force of all, the love of his own son. But in his absence, a void was created. A new darkness has arisen."
* Possibly the only being known to shift the balance towards either force is the First Spinjitzu Master. Another possible candidate is the Golden Master, whom possessed Golden Power, but also likely possessed the power of Darkness.
* The First Spinjitzu Master is a being of peace and balance between Light and Dark, while the Overlord is a being of conflict and unbalance; while the First Spinjitzu Master struggles to keep the two great forces of Ninjago balanced, the Overlord struggles to overturn their natural order, and shift the world into darkness and evil.
* The First Spinjitzu Master also gave Garmadon the power of Destruction and Wu the power of Creation so that his sons would represent the balance.
* The First Spinjitzu Master likely created Ninjago as a balanced Realm so its inhabitants could live various different ways of life rather than only the life of monks as seen in the light-shifted realm of Cloud Kingdom.
* The power of Darkness used by the Overlord, whilst similar to Destruction, isn't an essence from the First Realm, rather, it is a twisted and warped incarnation of the First Spinjitzu Master's powers, manifested to maintain Ninjago's Balance.
	+ In 2022, Tommy Andreasen theorized that the Overlord is the living embodiment of the First Spinjitzu Master's Oni heritage that he, literally, cast aside, who thus, most likely had Darkness. If this is true, this may implied that Darkness is indeed an essence from the First Realm and is closely tied to Destruction as imply when the Overlord stated that Garmadon's power were a gift from him.
* The Temple of Light and the Oni Temple seems to represent the balance since the Temple of Light is associated with the Dragons and was used by the First Spinjitzu Master while the Oni Temple is associated with the Oni and was used by the Overlord and also, it's placed on the opposite halves of the Ninjago.
	+ In the *Dark Island Trilogy*, Clouse used Dark Matter to destroy the Temple of Light's defenses which would plunge both islands of Ninjago into darkness.
	+ When asked about the destruction of the Oni Temple in the episode "Roots" and how it would affect the Balance, Tommy Andreasen stated that he doesn't know what would happen whether there will be consequences of not.

## Gallery

### Season 8: Sons of Garmadon

Screenshot 2020-06-10 at 07.23.36.pngScreenshot 2020-06-10 at 07.24.17.png
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://youtu.be/uwvezZyxItw?t=1843
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/782683345847250944
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/782623086436872192
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/773259058518319104
5. ↑ https://youtu.be/uwvezZyxItw?t=2298

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