Child's Play

*“There comes a time when we all must grow up. When that time comes, it's important not to forget the lessons of our childhood because our childhood is the greatest training one can ever have.”*

— Sensei Wu

**Child's Play** is the fifth episode of the second season of *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu* and the 18th episode overall. It aired on Cartoon Network on August 15, 2012 in the United States.

## Synopsis

*The Ninjas are turned into children by the Mega-Weapon.*

*When the Ninja interrupt Garmadon from using his Mega-Weapon to 'turn back the clock' and bring to life the fossils of a monster, the Ninja are hit and turned into kids and are now forced to enlist Lloyd's help to battle the awakened monster.*

## Plot

The episode begins with the *Destiny's Bounty* flying over the Jamanakai Village, with Lloyd lamenting that he must train and not play with others or enjoy his youth. Nya then tells the ninja that Lord Garmadon has been spotted at the Museum. As the ninja leave, Lloyd complains to Nya about being too old for comics, but too young to fight, before she offers him to fight her.

Once there, Lord Garmadon tells the Serpentine he is going to revive the extinct Grundle in another attempt to destroy the ninja. As he is using the Mega Weapon, the ninja watch, then burst in and interrupt the process.

Garmadon leaves in a hurry, while the Serpentine Generals steal a golden sarcophagus for compensation. The ninja chase after them but fall behind. The Generals can't fit the sarcophagus through a manhole with them, so they left it behind and escape. The ninja then realize they have been turned into kids. When the police arrive on the scene, they accuse the ninja of the theft and place them under arrest. They take them back to the museum the following morning to apologize for their actions. The museum director accepts their apologies, but questions where the Grundle fossil has disappeared to. The ninja realize the Grundle must have been revived after all, and with the cops not believing them, the ninja escape and disguise themselves and run off with some school kids that are on a field trip. The Grundle appears on top of the museum, scaring a crowd of people in the surrounding area.

Sensei Wu and Nya, worried that the ninja haven't returned yet, leave Lloyd behind to go search for them. As Lloyd is playing a video game, he receives a call from Jay telling him to meet them at a pizza parlor and to bring their weapons, since they can't ride the bus without an adult. Lloyd is confused but quickly arrives. When they meet up, Kai informs Lloyd of the situation and the group wonders what they should do about the Grundle. Lloyd, knowing exactly who would be the most knowledgeable on the creature, brings them to a comic book store and introduces them to the sales clerk, Rufus McCallister. Rufus informs him that Illuma-Swords would work well, as the Grundle is nocturnal, but the shop only gives them out as a prize for winning a comic book trivia competition. Lloyd leaves a message for Master Wu and Nya back at the Destiny's Bounty, quickly telling them of what happened and their current location. Master Wu and Nya then go to Mystake's Tea Shop for Tomorrow's Tea to turn the ninja back into their older selves and the Grundle back into bones.

Meanwhile, Lloyd loses the competition (due to the final question being from a last-issue comic that had just sold out) and the Grundle shows up. The ninja grab the Illuma-Swords to defend against the Grundle, but because they were meant as props they break easily. Lloyd attempts to take on the monster with his powers but is quickly knocked aside. Just as the Grundle is about to consume the ninja, Master Wu and Nya arrive with Tomorrow's Tea, tossing it to them and telling them to use it to age the creature back into bones, as well as themselves back into their normal states. The ninja are hesitant once they realize it would mean Lloyd growing older as well and missing out on his childhood. Lloyd, accepting the consequences, uses the tea to defeat the Grundle. The ninja are returned to normal, but now Lloyd has become their age as well. The episode ends with Rufus handing Lloyd his last-issue comic, which he says he has earned. Lloyd declines, saying he already knows how it ends.

The final scene is a comic cover where Lloyd is defensively fighting against his father under a classic comic book font-stylized title of "Green Ninja."

## Appearances

### Characters

* Acidicus
* Cole
* Fritz Donnegan Nerd
* Garmadon
* Janitor
* Jay
* Kai
* Lloyd Garmadon
* Mystake
* Museum Curator
* Nya
* Police Officer #1
* Police Officer #2
* Rufus McCallister
* Skales
* Skalidor
* Wu
* Zane

### Items

* Golden sarcophagus
* Illuma-Swords
* Mega Weapon
* Serpentine Staffs
	+ Constrictai Staff
	+ Fangpyre Staff
	+ Hypnobrai Staff
	+ Venomari Staff
* Tomorrow's Tea
* Underworld helmet

### Locations

* Endless Sea
* Ninjago
	+ Ninjago City
		- Ninjago Museum of History
		- Buddy's Pizza
		- Ninjago Doomsday Comix
	+ Village
		- Mystake's Tea Shop

### Species

* Grundles
* Humans
* Nindroids
* Oni
* Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
* Serpentine
	+ Constrictai
	+ Fangpyre
	+ Hypnobrai
	+ Venomari

## Trivia

* Zane is turned into a kid, even though he is a robot and was built with the appearance of a teenager, not of a child. This is due to the magic of the Mega Weapon.

* Another possible explanation is that Dr. Julien built an earlier body for Zane.

* This episode uses the "age regression" trope, where the main characters are regressed into kids.

* The inaccurate Serpentine painting seen in the museum is early concept art for the Constrictai.

* This episode is referenced in the set 70657 Ninjago City Docks, where one of the vendors is selling "Grundle Meat."

* This is the first time the ninja are arrested.
	+ They were all subsequently arrested in "Public Enemy Number One." However, these events were erased (though still accessible, albeit through time travel) as a result of Jay's final wish in "The Way Back."
	+ Later, in "A Painful Promise", all of remaining Ninja were arrested
	+ This also means that all of the Ninja have a criminal record.

* Part of the reason Lloyd became older was so he would be able to have a spinner set. However, it's unknown why this could not be done with shorter legs, as Chokun had a spinner despite having short legs.

## Continuity

* When Lloyd is walking into Buddy's Pizza, there is a TV in the upper left-hand corner that is showing Cole, Jay, and Zane doing what they did before they joined Sensei Wu's team (Cole mountain climbing, Jay testing out his homemade wings, and Zane meditating underwater in the frozen pond), as shown in a flashback in "The Golden Weapon."
* When the ninja are kids, their Spinjitzu seems to be weak, because of their shorter legs.
	+ However, this is an exception for young Lloyd, presumably because either he is the strongest of the ninja or because he had learned Spinjitzu with short legs in the first place.

* The book dropped by Principal Noble is Captain Soto's journal from "Pirates vs. Ninja."
* This marks the last time Lloyd physically appears in his child form.
* This episode introduces the Fritz Donnegan theme, a variation of the Green Ninja theme.
* This episode marks the first appearance of Rufus McCallister.
* According to Tommy Andreasen, the golden sarcophagus the Serpentine try to steal would appear in the series again, presumably after "Day of the Departed."
* This came true in "A Time of Traitors," in which Krux trapped Cyrus Borg within it.
* Zane is asked if they were dreaming and he said Nindroids don't dream, but in "Never Trust a Snake," he seemed to dream about the Green Ninja, later through most of Season 4 about confronting a dragon, and of Aspheera and the Never-Realm in Season 11. However, these were visions (related to his sixth sense ability) rather than dreams.
* In one scene, Wu says "Turn back the hands of time," similar to the title of Season 7. However, this is just a coincidence.
	+ In "A Time of Traitors" and "Pause and Effect," young Kai is shown to have freckles, but he lacks them in this episode.
		- This could be due to his age being reversed rather than naturally attained, as Wu also experienced differences in appearance compared to his younger self when his age was reversed in "Golden Hour."

* When Lloyd becomes older, he gains the same hairstyle as his father's younger self as seen in "Battle Between Brothers." Both are the LEGO hair piece originally used on Anakin from LEGO's *Star Wars* theme.

## Errors

* When the ninja are arrested, Kai tells the officer "But we didn't steal it" in Zane's voice.
* Zane says that nindroids do not dream. However, in Never Trust a Snake, he does have a dream.
* The boy whose hat Jay stole appears with his hat again after the ninja leave the museum.
* When the ninja are in the comic book store and preparing to fight the Grundle, Jay picks up Kai's suit instead of his own, but later, he is wearing his suit.
	+ He may have given it to Kai.

* When Rufus asks Lloyd if he wants his comic, he is wearing battle pads, but in the previous shot, and the shot after the aforementioned shot, the battle pads are gone.
* When Jay says that Nindroids don't turn into kids, he uses Kai's voice.
* Kai says "This is the end, isn't it?" in Cole's voice.
* When the ninja were returned to normal thanks to Tomorrow's Tea, Cole asked "What happened?" in Kai's voice.
* When the ninja turned into kids, Jay said that he told Nya to meet them at the *Bounty*; after their mission when it was Kai who told her that.