Ninjago S8 E2

## Plot

As I said before, the theme song is no longer the Weekend Whip. Instead, it's just a random instrumental piece as the camera zooms throughout the city. It's still pretty though. Lloyd sees a figure in green fleeing the palace with a large bag. He assumes that the figure is a guy who kidnapped the princess. He pursues them for a bit, until he almost falls after landing on a broken ladder. The figure saves him, and he asks them who they are. They take off their hood to reveal that they're a girl. Specifically, Princess Harumi. There's food in the bag for the less fortunate. Even though she's confined to the palace, she still tries to give what she can. Lloyd points out that her bedroom was ransacked, but she says that she's just a big slob. They hear Hutchins alert all the other guards, and order them to find her. She says that they can't know she left the palace, and gives Lloyd a hoodie to disguise himself. They make it to their destination: The slums of the city. Harumi says that some things are easier to do when you're not a princess. If she asked her parents, they'd never allow it, but these people are hungry, and they have so much food at the palace. They hand out food to the people there, mostly kids. Lloyd asks her if she likes being a princess. She says that everyone thinks that being a princess is supposed to be wonderful and easy. She says that it's okay, but a lot of the time it's really hard. He can relate, because it's hard for him to be the Green Ninja. They have to live up to a role that was bestowed upon them. They never chose these mantles. It can be hard to have a normal life. More like impossible. Still, Lloyd gets to wear a mask. As for Harumi, she says that she wears her own masks. Clever. They have a cute moment on a bridge, but it's interrupted by some gang members bullying some kids. Lloyd wants to step in, but Harumi says that if he does, he'll reveal them both. He sees the logo of the SoG on the back of one of the thug's jackets. He tells Harumi that Garmadon was his father. Now he really wants to stop them, but she reminds him that they're just low level grunts that don't know anything. It's the person giving the orders that scares her. So. Clever! Samurai X arrives to deal with it. Harumi wonders who they are, and Lloyd says that he wishes he knew. She asks Lloyd to just call her by her nickname, Rumi. Aw! So cute! They're discovered by Hutchins, who is troubled to see that they're on a first name basis now. Normally I'd agree, especially since they just met that day, but like I care now, because this is love baby! He takes Harumi back to the palace alone. The next day, Lloyd has finished telling the others about what happened during training. They all give him love advice. Cole tells him to be tough, Jay tells him to be funny, Zane tells him to be logical, and Kai tells him to be cool. Nya, the only girl, tells him to just be himself. After training, he's walking by the throne room when he hears the emperor and empress lecturing Harumi about the incident. It's undignified, dangerous, and she's royalty, he's not. Elitism. She apologizes for dishonoring their name and their house. They also apologize to her for what they said, but they all have a role to play, and hers is inside the palace. Her heart can't interfere. She runs out of the room and runs into Lloyd. Before he can say anything, she runs to her room, crying. Hutchins tells Lloyd to stay away from her. Nya comes in and asks him what happened. He says that he can be himself, but not everyone can be so lucky. At a movie theater, two members of the SoG are about to talk to one of the generals, Ultra Violet. Not to be confused with the show or the 13 year old superhero character of the same name. This one is presumably an adult, definitely a villain, and certifiably crazy. They tell her that Mr. E needs her for a mission. At the palace, Kai offers to deliver mail to the others for the mailman. Cole is training by climbing the roof. As he does so, we flashback a long, long, *long* time ago. Remember way back in the pilot when the guys told Kai how they met Wu? We see that scene play out in more detail here. Cole reached the peak of a mountain, only to find Wu already at the top, drinking tea. Wu asks him why he climbs the mountain. Cole admits that he just lost someone. He thinks that his father should be upset or angry, but instead, he spends all his time with this group singing and dancing. He's never home, leaving all the chores for Cole. He says that with "her" gone, it's up to him to be the responsible one. His dad is acting like nothing's happened, and asks how he can sing and dance at a time like this. Wu tells him that grief takes many shapes and forms. Some sing and dance. Some climb mountains. Cole asks him why he climbed the mountain. Wu says that it was to find him, and already knew his name, before he even gave it. In the present, Cole finishes climbing to the top of the roof, and promises Wu that he'll find him too. My heart! That was so sweet and sad and amazing and beautiful all at the same time! Also, yay, we see Cole's old design! Cole sees Hutchins enter a secret passageway behind a rock. He follows him into the underground tunnels. He loses sight of him, and comes to a three way split. He picks the left tunnel. He sees some sort of floating yellow stuff. It's called blast sap, and it's a powerful explosive. He tries to tell the others, but he keeps cutting out. He says that he saw Hutchins. Before Nya and Kai can enter the palace to get the royal family, they're blown back by an explosion. Another one behind them signals the entrance of the Sons of Garmadon, including Mr. E and Ultra Violet. The palace catches fire. Ultra Violet easily defeats Kai and Nya, and the SoG head inside. Lloyd sees Hutchins and confronts him about what Cole told him. He says that he would never betray the royal family. He saves Lloyd from being killed by Ultra Violet's thrown sai. Zane finds Harumi in her room and saves her. Other than part of her makeup coming off, she's alright. Before Ultra Violet can stab Hutchins with her sai, Zane freezes her with spinjitzu. Before Mr. E can steal the Mask of Deception, he's confronted by Jay, Cole, Kai, and Nya. He takes out the Mask of Vengeance that he stole and puts it on. This makes him grow horns at the top of the mask, gain four arms, and two extra red swords. As Jay says, that's nothing new. However, none of them can do anything to him. He absorbs Jay's lightning attack and sends it back at them, knocking them back. He takes the mask, only for Kai to shoot a fireball at it, disintegrating it. However, Hutchins reveals to Lloyd and Harumi that that one was a fake. He secured the real one from the vaults below. He says that he wasn't sure if he could trust the ninja, but knows that he can now. He opens up another secret passageway under the emperor's throne. He tells Lloyd to get the mask and Harumi out of the palace. He'll find the emperor and empress. Lloyd says that he was wrong about Hutchins. Outside, Lloyd and Harumi see a large explosion go off inside the palace. Lloyd steals a bike for them to escape on. Ultra Violet and some other gang members chase after them. Lloyd just turns off the headlight, stalls the motorcycle, and hides next to a bystander's truck. They get on another road. Ultra Violet sees them and jumps down next to them. She and Lloyd joust with their weapons, but all it does is cause Harumi to lose the mask, which fell in the middle of the road. They race for it, and Ultra Violet gets it. She and the other SoG members continue chasing Lloyd and Harumi to the docks. They get on a familiar looking boat. It's revealed to be the Destiny's Bounty. They're able to escape and fly away. The next morning, the others climb up on a highway near the now burnt out palace and are picked up by them. Lloyd confirms that Ultra Violet got away with the mask. Harumi asks about her parents and Hutchins. Nya regretfully informs her that they didn't make it. She's upset that she's all alone again, but the ninja invite her into their makeshift family, and promise to get the people who did this.

## Review

After a mediocre premiere, I personally loved this episode! It's already taken its place as one of my all time favorite episodes, alongside Tick Tock, The Last Voyage, and The Titanium Ninja. And yes, I know that those are all Zane-centric episodes. He is my favorite character after all. Good Garmadon was second, but Cole has always given him a run for his money, especially now. Wu really is their surrogate parent. Lloyd never knew either of his parents until later, and Wu was already his uncle. Zane's father passed away twice. Jay may have had both his parents, but it's clear that he was embarrassed by them. Plus he found out that he was adopted, but only after his biological father had passed away, robbing him of the chance to get to know him. As for his birth mother, he has no idea what happened to her (and neither do we, which is annoying). Kai and Nya's parents were forced to disappear and leave them when they were really young. And now we learn that Cole met Wu after having just lost someone that is heavily implied to be his mother, Lilly, and a previous master of earth. Cue the *Harry Potter* references, especially since Cole also has black hair and a scar on his forehead. The animation is great, and you can tell that it's trying hard to emulate the style of the movie, and mostly succeeding. And on a TV budget of all things! I don't like the lengthy dance warm up to doing spinjitzu instead of just… doing it, like the ninja, Wu, Garmadon, and even Misako and Pixal did in the earlier seasons. Same thing with suddenly needing a source to use their elemental powers. It's like *The Last Airbender* movie, but somehow worse, because it's not even consistent. Sometimes Kai needs a source, and sometimes he doesn't. Zane and Lloyd never need a source. Nya and Jay need one. Cole just uses his super strength this season instead of his elemental powers, and he's almost always near earth anyways, so it doesn't matter. So, a semi-realistic terror attack just occurred on a children's show. The villains of this season are terrorists now. Man, and I thought the cult in season 4 was gutsy? The only reason they're not also assassins, at least in my book, is because their goal was to steal the mask, not kill the royal family. They're definitely anarchists though. I'm surprisingly supportive of Lloyd and Harumi's relationship now. They're a lot alike and have already bonded. She's her own person, not just a satellite love interest that stops being important and basically disappears after one season like I thought she was going to be. Cough, Skylor, cough cough. No matter what changes during the show, in this episode I was assured that the most important part of it would never change: The mailman is still the same, and he even breaks the fourth wall! Ultra Violet isn't just deranged, she's determined to accomplish her goals, no matter who or what gets in her way. I love her! She's like Harley Quinn. Plus it's just nice to have another female antagonist, even if she's also not very prominent. Foreshadowing! I do wonder why the SoG continued chasing Lloyd and Harumi after they got the mask though. Maybe they need the princess for something? Or Lloyd, since he's the actual son of Garmadon? Also, why is that their name? They clearly allow female members, so why not sons and daughters, or offspring, heirs, children, etc.? Something, *anything* that sounds creepy and threatening, and less like a support therapy group for illegitimate children of a supervillain. I now look back at Cole's character completely differently. He really is a leader who puts others before himself. I haven't come so close to crying since the last scenes between Lloyd and Garmadon in seasons 4 and 5. It's nice to see the Bounty return. I liked the old designs too, but this one's sails look beautiful. It's based on the one from the movie, naturally. It's really bulky though, and seems a lot slower and unstable. Then again, no one has been there in awhile to maintain it. Lloyd and Nya's designs look nearly identical to their AU movie counterparts. After thinking it over for awhile, I like the new weapons that the ninja have, because they make sense for their powers and personalities. Lloyd now has a sword, showing that he's no longer relying solely on his power. Why a sword? Probably to emulate Kai, one of his surrogate big brothers. Kai himself now dual wields two katanas, possibly to distinguish himself from Lloyd, and show how far he's come from the beginning of the series. Zane is calculating, accurate, and precise, just like the bow and arrow he now uses. And as I've established, a bow and arrow is an awesome weapon, and archers are so cool! Jay still has his nunchucks, showing us that, like before season 6, he hasn't changed. He eventually starts using a kusarigama in later seasons, which, like a bow and arrow, is an awesome weapon. It's like if his nunchucks had longer chains with knives attached to the ends, sort of like the Blades of Chaos from *God of War*, which definitely sounds like the type of game that Jay would play. Cole's war hammer is an even more appropriate weapon for an earth master than his scythe was. However, I'm not entirely sure what Nya's weapon even *is*. It looks likes either a sai or a trident, which would fit for a water ninja. Her mother Maya finally calls it a spear in season 14, which is also what the Ninjago wiki calls it, but Wikipedia calls it a trident. That being said, it's robbed of its uniqueness when we later see that Ultra Violet has a sai that looks almost exactly the same; just with a shorter handle. I like the darker and edgier approach, but I hope they don't take it too far, like kill off another favorite character of mine. Then things could get ugly. After all, "darker" doesn't automatically mean "better". The audience still has to care, and if they don't, then what's the point in watching, listening to, reading, or playing something? Darkness and edginess lose their meaning without lightness and levity to counteract them.