The Last Hope

*“Uh, that sounds great and all, and I know we have our new powers, but you expect us to get past his whole army of Stone Warriors and pluck the helmet off his head?”*

— Kai to Misako

**The Last Hope** is the eleventh episode of the second season of *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu* and the 24th episode overall. It aired on Cartoon Network on November 7, 2012 in the United States.

## Synopsis

*When the Ninjas' attempt to return Garmadon's 'Helmet of Darkness' to its perch at the Celestial Clock in order to prevent the final battle between Lloyd and his father from beginning fails, a Super Weapon is created that can destroy all of Ninjago.*

**Extended**: *Hope has been fully restored for the Ninja, who play with their renewed powers, while the Tinkerer repairs the Falcon. But when Wu chastises the Ninja for their unseemly mirth for their victory over the army, Misako reveals that there might be a way of at least delaying the battle: if the Helmet of Shadows is returned to its pedestal, the countdown might stop. Risking everything, the Ninja escort Misako into the camp as Stone Warriors. Using her slight influence over Garmadon, Misako manages to get him to remove the Helmet, allowing her to steal it. But the Ninja are spotted and Garmadon, enraged, uses a giant robot to attack them. After a frantic chase through the jungle, the robot is wrecked and Lloyd is given the chance to kill his father. But he is unable to, just as Garmadon is unable to attack his son, much to the Overlord's chagrin. The Ninja get to the Celestial Clock and try desperately to find the Helmet's pedestal with minutes to spare. As the Army arrive, the Ninja find the pedestal and the Clock stops, but too late. The countdown has ended and the Final Battle is upon them. As a mighty energy flare shoots inland from the clock, the Stone Army captures Nya and the Ninja are sent down into a crevasse. They head off to prepare for the final battle, with Jay angered at Nya's capture and Lloyd ashamed of his hesitation. Meanwhile, the Overlord shows Garmadon the Super-Weapon, completed by the energy from the Clock: Garmatron.*

## Plot

Atop of No Man's Bluff the Celestial Clock continues the countdown towards the final battle between light and darkness. The Overlord appears before Lord Garmadon, noting that he seems conflicted. Garmadon denies this, but the Overlord wonders if he is worried about facing his son, who is growing stronger by the day.

Back at the beach, Dr. Julien repairs the Falcon, while the ninja celebrate their restored powers by shooting down coconuts. The party is interrupted by Sensei Wu, who chastises the ninja for their unseemly mirth; they may have the power to defeat the Stone Army, but the Celestial Clock is still counting down to the final battle between light and darkness. At that, Misako reveals a way to at least delay the battle: if the Helmet of Shadows is returned to its pedestal, the countdown might stop long enough for them to gain an advantage.

In Garmadon's camp, the Overlord wonders why some members of the Stone Army are manning vehicles around the perimeter of the camp instead of working on the super-weapon. Garmadon explains that he's strengthening their defenses, worrying that the newly-empowered ninja will attempt to avert the prophesied final battle by attacking him. The Overlord suspects that Garmadon's resolve is wavering, but Garmadon furiously asserts that remaking Ninjago in his image is his only desire—whether or not he has to destroy his son is irrelevant. Frustrated by the Overlord's concerns, he angrily orders a nearby group of Stone Soldiers to redouble their efforts on the super-weapon—above, the Overlord declares "That's the Garmadon I'm counting on. . . ."

Risking everything, the ninja disguise themselves as Stone Warriors, and escort Misako to Lord Garmadon's camp, pretending to have captured her. As General Kozu takes Misako to his master's tent, the disguised ninja are put to work carrying Dark Matter to the superweapon. The weapon is surrounded by a wooden wall, but the ninja notice one protruding detail—a very large cannon—and ponder what Garmadon plans to attack with it.

Meanwhile, Misako appears before Garmadon, who notes that the Stone Army would never be able to catch her—unless she *wanted* to be caught. Using her husband's lingering affection for her, Misako convinces Garmadon to remove the Helmet, allowing her to steal it. At the same time, the ninja are discovered when Cole attacks a Stone Soldier, forcing them to fight their way back down to the entrance as Misako rejoins them.

Before the group can flee, an enraged Garmadon stomps onto the scene, piloting a massive, four-armed robot that proves invulnerable to the ninja's new elemental powers. Luckily, Nya arrives in the Earth Driller just in time, explaining that the repaired Falcon saw that they needed her help. The ninja make their escape with Misako and Nya, but the Stone Army pursues them until the Overlord reminds Lord Garmadon that the ninja could turn the army against him if they don the Helmet. Unknown to the villains, Jay has done just that, only to quickly remove it when the others point out that he could be corrupted by the dark headgear.

When the Earth Driller emerges in the jungle, Garmadon is quick to pursue. After a frantic chase that ends in the Earth Driller being disabled momentarily, Garmadon goes for the kill, only for Lloyd to blast it with his powers. Lord Garmadon emerges from the wreckage, weakened and vulnerable; from the Earth Driller, the ninja encourage Lloyd to finish him off. Despite everything at stake, the Green Ninja is unable to strike the fatal blow, forcing him to jump aboard the Earth Driller as the ninja make their escape from the advancing Stone Army.

At the Celestial Clock, the ninja meet with Master Wu and desperately look for the Helmet's pedestal with minutes to spare. The hunt is interrupted when the Stone Army arrives, but Misako retrieves the helmet when one of the clock's rotating arms knocks it from General Kozu's hand. The ninja finally find the pedestal and replace the Helmet, but it's one second too late; the countdown has ended, and the final battle is upon them. As the clock fires a mighty energy flare inland, the Stone Army captures Nya, and the ninja are sent down into a crevasse. Surviving the fall, the ninja head off to prepare for the final battle, with Jay angered at Nya's capture and Lloyd ashamed of his hesitation.

Meanwhile, Lord Garmadon sees the laser aimed at his camp and demands to know what is going on. The Overlord tells him that their superweapon is complete and his to command. The two villains return to the camp as the energy from the clock forms a sphere, completing the ultimate weapon of the forces of darkness: the Garmatron. Lord Garmadon declares that it's more beautiful than even he could imagine, and joins the Overlord in laughing in anticipation of their imminent victory.

## Appearances

### Characters

* Cole
* Dr. Julien
* Garmadon
* Jay
* Kai
* Kozu
* Lloyd Garmadon
* Mini Warrior Forman
* Misako
* Nya
* The Overlord
* Wu
* Zane

### Items

* Celestial Clock
* Elemental Blades
	+ Earth Elemental Blade
	+ Fire Elemental Blade
	+ Ice Elemental Blade
	+ Lightning Elemental Blade
* Helmet of Shadows

### Vehicles

* Dark Matter
* Earth Driller
* Garmatron
* Stone Army Mech

### Locations

* Dark Island
	+ Garmadon's camp
		- Garmadon's tent
	+ No Man's Bluff
* Endless Sea

### Species

* Humans
* Nindroids
* Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
* Stone Warriors

## Trivia

* The episode title refers to the ninja's attempt to return the Helmet of Shadows to its resting place on the Celestial Clock, which is the only way to halt the latter's countdown and delay the final battle.
* The ninja's swim trunks are an altered version of the Surfer's leg printing from Minifigures Series 2. Kai's torso design is based on the Surfer's, while Cole's is based on the Airplane Mechanic from *LEGO Indiana Jones*.
	+ Cole used to have the Surfer's torso as well, as shown in his brief flashback in "The Golden Weapon" to how he met Wu. This indicates Cole has buffed up since then through his ninja training and fighting.
* Barrels float in a circle around Cole's head after he slams into one, which is a play on the common animation trope that often involves birds or stars circling around a character's head to indicate a temporary head injury. This technique is also used on Brad Tudabone with dodge balls in "Double Trouble" and Lloyd with Golden Dragons in "The Art of the Silent Fist."
* Some sources list this episode as "The Ticking Clock," which may have been a working title for this episode.
* Despite gaining their new Kimono suits in the previous episode, the title sequence does not update as it did in "Tick Tock," which also took place after the ninja got new suits.
* When Cole knocks a Stone Scout of the construction platform, the Wilhelm scream can be heard, marking the third time in the series it's been heard with first being "Home" and second "The Rise of the Great Devourer".

## Continuity

* Cole's line about "the cookie crumbles" was later reused in Season 14 by Maya.
	+ "That's the way the cookie crumbles" is a phrase in English vocabulary said when something slightly unlucky has happened that could not have been prevented and so must be accepted.
* A running gag in the episode is Jay not knowing the meaning of the word "bequeath." When the ninja infiltrate Lord Garmadon's camp disguised as Stone Warriors, Jay's attempt at imitating the Stone Army's ancient language is simply saying "Bequeath, bequeath, bequeath!" repeatedly.
	+ This is referenced in "Operation Land Ho!" when Jay says "Bequeath" as one of his nonsense words to confuse Bucko and Sqiffy, who are trying to read his lips.
* Zane saying "Tick tock, tick tock" may be a reference to the episode "Tick Tock," in which he unlocked his True Potential
* Misako does not appear to know that wearing the Helmet of Shadows controls the army, as she does not put it on to assist her escape. However, she knows of this ability in "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master," indicating she learned between the two episodes.
* The scene where the cliff breaks and everyone falls except Nya is the reverse of what happened in the Fire Temple in "The Green Ninja," where the part of the rock Lloyd was standing on broke and separated him from the others.

## Errors

* When Misako gathers the ninja to discuss her plan, Lloyd can be seen briefly in his old ZX suit. He returns to his Elemental suit when he joins in on the conversation.
	+ The same mistake happens again later on when he, Nya, Misako, and the other ninja meet up with Wu at the Celestial Clock.

* When Kai says "I don't know" to Cole when asked what Kozu said, he said it in Jay's voice.
* In the scene where Misako says, "It's been a while," her lips turn from pale pink to red, though they are back to the normal pale pink soon afterward.
	+ It's possible this is a result of the lighting in the scene, as the rest of her face also appears slightly more saturated when her lips seem to change in color.
* When the ninja prepare to fight the Stone Army before they fall from the cliff, Misako is nowhere to be seen, but in the next shot she re-appears behind Zane.
* When Jay strikes the Stone Warrior with lightning, his skeleton is visible, which he should not have because he is made of stone.
	+ The animators were most likely aware of this but chose to do this anyway, as "skeleton shown upon electrical shock" is a common trope in animation and is later used again in "Funny Guys," "Green and Gold," "Krag's Lament" and "Sweatin' to the Goldies."
* When Misako talks to the ninja about the Helmet of Shadows, her glasses have a strange shape.
* When Jay wears the Helmet of Shadows for a brief moment, the army does not obey him as they should.