Sacred Flutes

*This article is about the artifact. You may be looking for the card.*

*“Long ago, there were many flutes, created to combat the powers of the Serpentine and drive them underground. But over time, Ninjago's forgotten its ancestors' wisdom, and now this is the only one.”*

— Wu to Zane, "Snakebit"

## Information

### Owner/User

Jamanakai villagers
Elemental Alliance
Cole
Zane
Pythor P. Chumsworth

### Status

Destroyed

**Sacred Flutes** were legendary instruments in Ninjago, appearing as traditional wooden flutes. They are said to have power over the Serpentine, being capable of weakening them and negating some of their abilities.

## History

### Prior to the series

After defeat in the Birchwood Forest, the Elemental Alliance withdrew to Jamanakai Village. Garmadon then noticed a villager playing the flute, manipulating his snake in a basket. This gave the son of First Spinjitzu Master the idea of how to end the war, and the Alliance created several sacred flutes that were able to manipulate the Serpentine. With the help of these flutes, the Alliance managed to lock the Serpentine in five separate tombs. As the years went by, humans forgot about its ancestors' wisdom, and all the flutes were lost, except for one owned by Master Wu.

### Home

By the time that the Serpentine were released by Lloyd, Master Wu had the only remaining Sacred Flute. He used it to cure Cole of Skales' hypnosis while the brainwashed ninja fought his comrades atop Lloyd's treehouse fortress. Upon hearing the music of the flute, Cole immediately snapped out of his trance and joined his allies in escaping the crumbling fortress. On the way back to the monastery, Wu explained the flute's significance to the ninja.

### Snakebit

Master Wu brought the Sacred Flute with him when the ninja visited Ed & Edna's Scrap N Junk. It proved useful in stunning the Fangpyre forces occupying the junkyard, but Lloyd countered its effects by using a boom box infected with Fangpyre venom, playing loud music to drown out the sound of the flute.

### Can of Worms

When Cole and Zane investigated the Constrictai Tomb, they took the Sacred Flute with them. During their battle with Constrictai General Skalidor, they repeatedly attempted to use the flute, but Skalidor's powerful grip left them unable to finish the song. After several tries, Zane finally completed the melody, weakening Skalidor enough for the two ninja to defeat him.

Later, the ninja were lured into a trap in the Toxic Bogs, where they learned that all of the Serpentine had been unleashed. When Zane attempted to use the Sacred Flute against the massed Constrictai and Venomari, Pythor knocked the flute out of his hands and took it for himself. Master Wu was displeased to learn that the Serpentine now possessed the flute.

### The Snake King

Pythor would eventually use the Sacred Flute against his fellow Generals in a bid to unite the tribes under his leadership. After letting Skales in on his plan, he challenged the Generals to a Slither Pit in the Lost City of Ouroboros, demanding their allegiance if he managed to defeat all four of them at once. When the battle turned against Pythor, Skales slipped him the Sacred Flute, and the scheming Anacondrai used it to incapacitate the other Generals. Both Pythor and Skales had put cotton balls in their ears prior to the battle, so they were not affected.

### Day of the Great Devourer

Zane was revealed to have a recording of the Sacred Flute, which the ninja used in the construction of the Ultra Sonic Raider. The vehicle's main armament was a pair of sonic cannons that played the Sacred Flute's melody at an amplified volume, which the ninja used against the Great Devourer. The monstrous snake proved as vulnerable to the music as the Serpentine had, but it managed to disable the Raider's sonic cannons with its tail before the ninja could completely pacify it.

## Appearances

*Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu*
Season 1: Rise of the Snakes
* 2. "Home"
* 3. "Snakebit"
* 4. "Never Trust a Snake"
* 5. "Can of Worms"
* 6. "The Snake King"
* 13. "Day of the Great Devourer" (sound)

Season 4: Tournament of Elements
* 40. "Spellbound" (flashback)

Season 7: The Hands of Time
* 66. "The Hatching" (flashback)

Season 9: Hunted
* 92. "Saving Faith" (flashback)

## Trivia

* Sacred Flutes are based on a wind musical instrument called Pungi from the Indian subcontinent. Snake charmers used this instrument for snake charming, in which a snake, most often a cobra, is placed in a basket and then comes out of it at the sound of a flute. Unlike a real musical instrument, where the flute is held directly in front of the charmer, the Sacred Flute is played sideways.
	+ However, in "Spellbound" and the flute's concept art, it is played in a way like in real life.
* When Wu tells his story in "Tick Tock," the flute can be seen in a cabinet behind him, even though had been stolen by Pythor at that point.
* Wu's appearance in "Day of the Departed" and The Hands of Time depicts what appears to be a Sacred Flute on his back. However, the last flute was lost and last seen in "The Snake King." This was confirmed by Tommy Andreasen to be a case of the designers not being briefed on the show's lore well enough. He also offered the possibility that Wu had since created a new Sacred Flute.
* When used, they cause the Serpentine's eyes to spin, and look similar to someone affected by Hypnobrai hypnosis.
* In "Spellbound", the sound of the flute varies drastically from that of the flute in Rise of the Snakes.
* Although in "Home" Wu says the flute is as old as the Serpentine themselves, "Spellbound" shows that the flutes were created during the Serpentine War, which took place forty years before the events of The Hands of Time, while Serpentine have existed for thousands of years.
	+ This could be because of the sounds of the Sacred Flutes being "some ancient snake music," as the 9449 Ultra Sonic Raider set description claims. However, it is most likely non-canon.
* The effects of the flute are different in Season 1: Rise of the Snakes and "Spellbound."
	+ While in Season 1 the flute only causes the Serpentine to cover their ears because they can't stand its sound, in "Spellbound" the flute has a similar effect as Hypnobrai hypnosis.
		- It is possible that a hypnosis-like effect can be achieved by playing the flute for a longer time, as even in "Spellbound" the Anacondrai first only covered their ears.

## Gallery

***This section is a stub. You can help expand this section by adding some information.***
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Snakebit"
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1489943826735284231
3. ↑ "Spellbound"
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/901094501401452544
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/791209689702948864
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1370693047399419906

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