Sunglasses

This is the seventh episode of the first season of The Ninja, made in 2007.

## Synopsis

With the Paper country now fully in the throws of Autumn, Dyne is taking in the atmosphere and playing in the fallen leaves. His revelry is interrupted however by the appearance of an odd looking fellow who, despite the time of year, is wearing sunglasses. The figure, who recognises Dyne as being a ninja, introduces himself as Joar-done. After trying and failing to make Dyne pronounce his name correctly, Joar-done challenges Dyne to a ninja battle to test his might and leads him off towards a more suitable arena for the safety of any onlookers in the apparently empty clearing.

Despite claiming that the battle ground he has in mind is "the Royal Family's ancient and most sacred training ground", Joar-done in fact leads Dyne in a circle back to the very place they had just met, at which point battle commences. The pair at first clash with kunai, before discarding them and going hand to hand. Once he seems to be out manoeuvred Dyne summons his pole, with Joar-done summoning is own shorter and more club like pole in return. After trading further blows with their new weapons, Joar-done discrads his and uses his Iron Stance Jutsu to make his skin as hard as steel. Though Dyne senses a trap, he charges headlong at Joar-done and attempts to break his armour with an ineffectual volley of punches. After two failed attempts with this tactic, Dyne succumbs to Joar-done's taunting and uses the Life Blitzer to shatter his armour, almost killing Joar-done in the process.

Joar-done now suitably impressed, they retire to a nearby abandoned camp site. After a show of strength from Dyne clearing some debris, the two ninja sit and discuss Joar-done's reason for seeking Dyne. He explains that Princess Riryoku of the Wood Country, for whom he had been acting as bodyguard, has recently run away and asks for Dyne's help in locating her. Once Dyne manages to concentrate long enough to understand the task at hand, he agrees.

The mission explained, Joar-done departs throwing Dyne a final jibe as he does so. Dyne retorts, calling Joar-done a "poser", before departing himself on his hunt for the Princess.

## Trivia

* In Season 2, the character of Joar-done will come to be named Alzeck Joardone. During season one's production, Alzeck was originally intended to be a separate character who serves Gunn, only for Michael page to decide that Joar-done should be a treacherous double agent whose real name was Alzeck. The This Time Productions cut of season one's final episode ends with a scene explaining the name confusion away as his full name being "Alzeck Joar-done".
* The name "Joar-done" arose from an ongoing joke between Michael Page and Peter Clutton about a powerful being similar to Zordon from Power Rangers, who would have a grandiose name with a fanciful and obscure pronunciation but, when written down, is identical in spelling to "Gordon".
* for his entire appearance in this episode, Joar-done is wearing a black band around his head, taken from the waistband of an old pair of shorts. This accessory is rendered almost completely invisible by the actor's large mop of hair.