Only One Can Remain

*“This symbol before you is for the Anacondrai, fiercest Serpentine warrior to ever roam this land. Its creed: "Only one can remain."”*

— Chen to the Elemental Masters

**Only One Can Remain** is the second episode of the fourth season of *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu* and the 36th episode overall. It aired on February 23, 2015, in the United States on Cartoon Network.

## Synopsis

*The ninja discover that the tournament isn't about glory, but about Chen stealing everyone's elemental powers.*

## Plot

The ferry reaches Chen's Island, where the contestants of the Tournament of Elements rush out of the vehicle. They follow the directions of Clouse and his master’s henchman to the main fortress of the island where they meet Chen who then explains the rules of the contest. Clouse later proclaims that Garmadon is excluded from the fortress due to him not being a contestant; Garmadon simply agrees, though states he would be keeping a sharp eye around.

The ninja soon enter their rooms each finding an interest that catches their eye; Kai has a balcony next to Skylor's and tries to impress her, though fails at his attempt to win her over, Jay with highly advanced technology, Cole with delicious treats from Chen's Noodle House, and Lloyd with a new gi while making a promise to Zane that they will free him. A few moments later, Chen declares the first round begins, making the eager contestants runoff.

Chen explains the rules, stating that whoever doesn't find a Jadeblade is out. Lloyd runs to a Jadeblade close to his room, but other attendants of the tournament also compete for it. While getting close, Lloyd is rushed by Ash, narrowly outsmarting and defeating him. Clouse sees Lloyd and then uses Dark Magic to prevent Lloyd from winning. However, Garmadon sees this and attacks him, therefore interrupting his spell.

Jay, on the other hand, is taking a bath, when Bolobo enters his room, trying to find a Jadeblade. The Blue Ninja puts on a towel and knocks him to the floor, only to find a Jadeblade in a light. Bolobo takes it, prompting Jay to turn on *Starfarer* which amuses the Master of Nature, allowing Jay to whack him with his towel while commenting on his room.

Cole, on a full stomach, is searching for a Jadeblade and comes close to obtaining one, only to lose it to Griffin Turner, who grabs it from him. Later, while more contestants go after the same Jadeblade as the Earth Ninja, they eventually bury him, but he soon overthrows them. Mr. Pale quickly gets on his feet (as one of the people who tackled Cole for the same Jadeblade) and snatches the object. Cole makes a mini earthquake which covers Mr. Pale in the dust, giving Cole the chance to knock him out. He grabs the blade and raises it in triumph, but Gravis takes it. Ironically, another blade was on the floor hidden in the shadows, allowing Cole to take it, the other contestants unaware.

Kai and Skylor spot a blade on their rooftop, only for Skylor to manipulate the Master of Fire into receiving the Jadeblade for her. Frustrated at his efforts, Kai soon sees Karlof jogging over the last blade; the firemaster takes this as an opportunity to still remain in the tournament. The results are revealed as Karlof walks over to Chen waving the Jadeblade in triumph. Unbeknownst to him, Kai sneaks up and uses a screwdriver to twist off Karlof's metal hand to snatch the blade and fly over to the Jadeblade Statue using his Fire power.

Despite Karlof's angry protests that Kai has cheated, Master Chen declares Karlof as the loser of the round, before triggering a trap door on Karlof, where he falls to the unknown. The ninja soon question how they should find Zane, to which Kai arranges a meeting in his room. Mr. Pale soon approaches them, asking to sit with them, but is rudely blown off by Jay. Cole is surprised by this and points this out, as Jay says the pressure from what happens to the losers is messing with him and agrees to the meeting.

Later that night, everyone arrives, but as Jay comes by, Skylor comes out of her room, forcing Kai to push the Master of Lightning off his balcony. After the Orange Ninja returns into her quarters, Kai helps Jay up and into the Master of Fire's room, describing the difficulty of sneaking out, when Cole discovers a hidden room under the Master of Fire’s bed. The ninja enter the tunnels where they find two holes peeping into Skylor's room, which Jay looks at first.

Seeing and telling that it was for Skylor's room, Kai quickly went up and fought Jay for the holes, which Cole points out as his crush for Skylor, which Kai excused as him just wanting to know what element she possessed. While watching Skylor train for a few moments, Jay and Kai see Skylor pull out a flame on her hand, which would mean that she is also a holder of fire, like Kai. After telling Lloyd and Cole, Lloyd points out that, if the current Elemental holders are related to the original ancestors, it would've also meant that Skylor and Kai are related. However, he was cut halfway off, realizing that it was possible incest between the two Fire Masters. Cole, realizing this, immaturely made fun of him, until Kai ordered for them to get a move on.

The ninja travel the tunnel with Cole unknowingly leaving a trail for them to return after dropping his food. After traveling further into the tunnel and disguising themselves as Cultists, they see the whereabouts of the Anacondrai Cultists.

Subduing a squad of guards, the ninja disguise themselves and infiltrate Chen's ceremony unfold as they bring in a captive Karlof. Much to the ninja's horror, Chen then states "Only one can remain" before he steals Karlof's element with Staff of Elements. Startled by this display, the ninja realize that Chen's plan is to steal the contestant's power, as Cole noted that Chen used Ice, which meant he already stole Zane's power. Chen then has the powerless Karlof imprisoned in a factory as the latter screams before being taken into the darkness.

As the ninja talk amongst themselves about what they've witnessed, their chocolate tattoo melts and the cultists realize that they are "impostors," Chen signals his warriors to kidnap the intruders forcing them to flee. The ninja lose the cultists but are trailed by a large Anacondrai serpent. They barely make it out and promise to stay within the rules until Zane is found.

Back in the hidden room, Clouse holds up a piece of cloth from Jay's gi caught in the mouth of his serpent, revealing the fact he knows the ninja spied in the plans of Chen.

## Appearances

### Characters

* Bolobo
* Chen
* Clouse
* Cole
* Fritz Donnegan
* Garmadon
* Griffin Turner
* Jay
* Kabuki
* Kai
* Karlof
* Lloyd Garmadon
* Mr. Pale
* Skylor

### Non-speaking

* Ash
* Eyezor
* Gravis
* Jacob Pevsner
* Neuro
* Shade
* Tox
* Zugu

### Events

* Tournament of Elements
* Serpentine War (mentioned)

### Items

* Jadeblade statue
* Jadeblades
* Karlof's metal fists
* Silver Bone Axe

### Locations

* Chen's Island
	+ Chen's Palace
		- Anacondrai Temple
		- Courtyard
		- Main Hall
		- Fire suite
		- Lightning suite
		- Earth suite
		- Lloyd's room
		- Chow House
		- Secret passages
		- Skylor's room
* Endless Sea

### Species

* Anacondrai
* Humans
* Nindroids (pictured)
* Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids

## Trivia

* This episode is the first in the series not to feature Zane or Sensei Wu. It's also the second episode, after "The Golden Weapon," not to feature Nya, or the first if "Way of the Ninja" and "The Golden Weapon" are counted as one episode.
	+ Zane is mentioned by Cole, who states Chen stole Zane's power after he witnesses him use Ice. Zane also appears in a picture in Lloyd's room.
* This episode marks Bolobo and Mr. Pale's first speaking roles.
* At the end of the episode, it's revealed that the Anacondrai serpent is Clouse's pet.
* Jay calls Kai "Romeo", a reference to the William Shakespeare play, *Romeo and Juliet*. While this would seem to imply the play exists in the world of Ninjago, Tommy Andreasen said "It’s just one of those references you use because everyone knows what it means."
* When Chen's ferry arrives at the island, Garmadon says, "Chen lives like a king. Here, he's totally self-sufficient." This is a reference to an early scene in *Enter the Dragon* (the inspiration for the season as a whole), in which Braithwaite tells Lee about the villainous Han and his island, saying, "He lives like a king on that island. Totally self-sufficient."

## Continuity

* Lloyd says "Yeah, this is sweet" when he wears his tournament robes for the first time, which is the exact same thing he said in the second episode of the previous season when he first wore his techno suit for that season.
* Garmadon tells Lloyd that Chen taught him to win at any cost, and when Kai defeats Karlof by unscrewing his glove and says "I did what I had to do," Garmadon says, "That is not how you win." This would soon be elaborated on in "Spellbound," in which Garmadon's past with Chen is shown.
	+ In this episode, Garmadon tackles Clouse when the latter tries to use Dark Magic to prevent Lloyd from obtaining a Jadeblade. Looking back, this mirrors the younger Garmadon and Clouse's tussle for lordship seen in "Spellbound."
* Skylor says to Kai, "I'm sorry if I was cold to you earlier," which she had already said in the previous episode.

## Errors

* In the "Previously on Ninjago" sequence, Kai's line from the previous episode, "Why haven't you or Wu ever told us there are others with powers like us?", is shortened to "Why *haven't Wu* ever told us there are others with powers like us?", which is grammatically incorrect.
* The white dots in Bolobo's eyes have a speckled appearance for a moment after Jay turns on the TV.
* When Jay shouted "Cole" after he got the Jadeblade, he said it on Lloyd's voice.
* When Chen said, "Get on with it!", through the tannoy during Kai and Karlof's fight for the last Jadeblade, Kai was wearing his Tournament robes, when he should be wearing his Training suit until near the end of the episode.
* Jay's eyebrows are slightly misaligned when he walks into Kai's room.
* During Chen's ceremony, Cole licks off part of his chocolate disguise. However, in the next scene, it remains present.
* When Cole lays on Kai's bed, watching closely shows his hair actually clips through the pillow.