Ninjago S13 E4

## Plot

Wu and the ninja are admiring the palace gardens when Vania comes out of the grate and quickly tells them what happened to Cole and what they saw in the old mines. They tell Vangelis, who is angry and upset that his daughter disobeyed him. He'll send three brigades of his best guards at once, but he insists that the ninja can't come. They've lived here for centuries, and even they don't enter the mountain lightly. There are things below that shouldn't be disturbed. Everyone realizes that the creatures Cole and Vania saw were real. Vania is upset that her father lied to her, but he claims he did it to protect her, and tells her that she'll understand when she's older. When the ninja try to push the issue of going into the mountain with them further, Wu interrupts and tells the king that they'll do as he asks and stay there. He knows the others won't sit this one out, but he also knows that no good will come from making the king angry. Cole wakes up in a cage, and the skeletons force him to dig with the creatures. He meets a Munce named Murt and a Geckle with an eyepatch named Gliff. The Munce are the green creatures and the Geckles are the purple creatures. The one that Cole saw in his room with his mother's locket was named Gleck. Munce and Geckles don't get along with each other. Vania shows Wu and the ninja the entrance to the mine. She wants to go with them and feels like this is all her fault, but they don't want to get her in more trouble with her father. Wu stays behind with her, telling Zane that he'd only slow them down. I'm getting kind of annoyed with Lloyd at this point. He outright tells Vania that she's done enough, in *that* kind of tone. For the love of the first spinjitzu master, move on already! When Cole asks Murt and Gliff why they hate each other so much, he almost starts a fight between all of the Geckles and Munce, but then a skeleton bangs the glop bell, meaning they can eat. It's revealed that all Munce have names that start with an M, and they pronounce everyone else's name like this too. The other ninja get to the mines and spot Cole. Normally this would be the part where Wu would tell them that they need more of a plan, but Kai just wants to go down there, smash the skeletons, take the key, and free everyone. No one else has a better idea, so they go along with his "plan". Cole sees that a Mino likes the food, and gives it to him. His friends free him, the Geckles, and the Munce, but they have to be quiet or they'll alert the Skull Sorcerer. Unfortunately, the Geckles and the Munce get into a huge fight and alert the skeletons. When Zane tries to use his elemental powers, he can't, and Cole explains that something there is blocking them from doing so. Unlike in Prime Empire though, they can still do spinjitzu here. The Skull Sorcerer appears and blocks their way of escape. He uses the glowing green skull to reform the skeletons, tells the ninja that they'll never see the sun again, and it ends with *everyone* recaptured and forced to dig. Also, the Skull Sorcerer has an awesome design and voice, provided by Ervin M. Jordan, along with his magic skull, which is voiced by Michael Adamthwaite, the voice of Jay. Meanwhile, Wu and Vania are pretending that the ninja are still in Shintaro so the king won't find out and get upset that they defied his orders. The princess tells Wu that her father is a good man, but he's very strict, hence why the deceit is necessary. Wu in turn assures her that the ninja will be alright and are quite capable, so they shouldn't go after them. She assumed that Cole was their leader because of how brave and daring he is. Wu tells her that they're a team, and assumes that they've already found Cole and are on their way back. Well, at least he's half right. Rescue missions never really go according to plan for them, since they usually either wind up captured themselves or get roped into something else. They were all captured in season 1 when they tried to get a Fang Blade back, not to mention their failed attempt to save child Lloyd, arguably most of season 4 when trying to find Zane during the Tournament of Elements, trying to rescue Jay from the sky pirates in season 6, Lloyd getting captured in seasons 8 and 11, the first quarter of season 12 when trying to find Jay meant they had to get stuck in Prime Empire as well, Wu and Zane getting captured super easily, Pixal being unable to save them before the villains completed their plans, etc. Lloyd wonders what they're mining for, and says it looks familiar. Nya realizes that it's vengestone, which explains why they can't use their powers. You'd think Zane would realize this first, considering he was tied up with vengestone chains just last season, but whatever. They see a skeleton whipping a Mino. Cole calls him a bully, and saves the Mino by throwing his pick ax at the whip. "Okay, uh, I didn't think that through." Hilarious season 8 callback. The skeleton tries to punish Cole with another whip, but he and Lloyd dodge the first strike, and then Nya takes it, and the skeleton falls apart when Cole drops his ball and chain on him. The Geckles and Munce are impressed by them for standing up to the torment, but they're locked up in a cage by more skeletons for it. The Mino really likes Cole now. Murt tries to give Lloyd some food, but Gliff tells him not to trust a Munce, and Murt tells him not to trust a Geckle blade stealer. He, Cole, and Zane want to know why their people hate each other so much. There was once two magic blades: The Ivory Blade of Deliverance, and the Shadow Blade of Deliverance. They belonged to a mighty warrior named Gilly, but Murt says her name was Milly. Just like all Munce pronounce names with the letter M, Geckles do the same thing with the letter G, so it's likely that neither is the warrior's true name, but Cole says it doesn't matter and tells them to finish the story. Oh, the irony! The warrior came to their mountain many years ago. In those days, Geckles and Munce both lived in fear of a terrifying dragon in the heart of the mountain named Grief-Bringer. The warrior battled the dragon for many days and nights, and finally emerged victorious after apparently cutting off its wings, and then its head, although they don't actually show the decapitation part of it. The warrior knew spinjitzu. After killing the dragon, she went back to the surface, but not before giving both tribes a parting gift. She gave the Ivory Blade to the Geckles, and the Shadow Blade to the Munce. They were supposed to help them in case another evil ever returned to their mountain. Both tribes think the other snuck into their cave and stole their blade because they wanted both. Nya thinks someone else took both blades. An enemy divided is more easily conquered. The Skull Sorcerer must've taken the blades. The ninja wonder if they can broker a temporary truce between the tribes, long enough for all of them to escape and then find their blades. Cole pours glop on the lock to the cage so the Mino will eat through it, which frees them. Nya, Jay, Zane, and Kai will free everyone while Cole and Lloyd look for the blades. All they find are huge deposits of vengestone and the glowing green skull, which warns the Skull Sorcerer of intruders. They're able to run when he goes after his skull first. It's absolute chaos in the mine with the ninja, Geckles, Munce, Minos, skeletons, and the Skull Sorcerer running, jumping, and flying around everywhere. Jay, Nya, and Lloyd go down one tunnel, and Kai and Zane go down another, but it's blocked off by the Skull Sorcerer before Cole can join them. He takes a third tunnel, and the Skull Sorcerer yells when he can't find him.