Ninjago S13 E8

## Plot

First of all, New Zealand is officially my new favorite country after airing every episode of this season in English on July 11, 2020. Although I also really liked the Chinese and Greek dubs of the next few episodes. They're funny and different. Seriously, the VA for Cole in the Chinese dub sounds exactly like Kirby Morrow's Cole when he yells. And the way the VA for Vania screams at the top of her lungs in the same dub for the same episode is hilarious too. That delivery was spot on. Anyways, episode 7 starts with Vania debating whether or not she should go after the ninja. She thinks they've been underground for too long. Master Wu told her not to go after them. She wonders if she should alert the palace guards, but if her father found out that the ninja defied his orders, he'd banish them from Shintaro forever, even if their intentions were good. It turns out that she's asking her pet baby dragon Chompy for advice. Oh my gosh he's one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life! I need a plushie, stat! Cole is hanging onto a branch for dear life. How did he even get into this situation? No one is around to hear him call for help, except a not evil, non-magical, human skeleton that happens to have a grappling hook. It's a good thing too, because the branch starts breaking. And then the rope snaps, and now Cole is hanging onto a ledge, and keeps calling for help. He lampshades that the Skull Sorcerer could hear him and recapture him, but he doesn't really have a choice if he wants to live. Dire bats hear him, and they alternate between saving him from falling and trying to annihilate him. He uses his elemental powers to collapse some stalactites on them, and break through a stalagmite so he's not killed by blunt force trauma to… everywhere. He hides in a cave to escape the last Dire bat, when it suddenly gets scared and runs away, because the cave is home to a giant spider. It webs Cole to the wall, but before it can eat him, it's attacked by Vania and Chompy. Vania let her hair down, and she's wearing pants, which makes her look identical to her mini-figure from the sets. It turns out that Chompy isn't a baby, because he suddenly grows giant sized and scares the spider away. That happens whenever he (or maybe Vania?) gets angry, and she doesn't even know that he can do that. They get back to the entrance in the palace gardens… somehow, and tell Wu what happened. They learn that the others aren't back yet. Vania admits that she's not good at doing what she's told. Cole tells Wu about the Skull Sorcerer and his army. He wonders how all of that could be down there without anyone up here realizing it. They have no choice now but to tell the king and ask him to send his guards down there… again. If that army ever reached the surface, Shintaro would be destroyed. Vangelis is about to tell his guards to ask the accounting department for a report on the latest shipment of venge– He's interrupted by the arrival of Vania, Cole, and Wu before he can finish. The guards leave, and Vania admits that she went down into the mines, which aren't as empty as they all believed. Cole tells the king that she saved his life. He says he's not angry, just saddened, because his daughter has forced his hand. He loves her, but asks her why she never listens. He was trying to protect her. His words will have such a double meaning… literally less than a minute later. Cole tells him about the Skull Sorcerer, but mistakenly says that the talking skull was red. Vangelis asks him if he's sure it wasn't green, and reveals the skull of Hazza D'ur as he transforms into the Skull Sorcerer. Yeah, I figured it was him. Not really surprised. Vania is in disbelief, and when Wu asks him why, he says that the reason Shintaro is so wealthy and beautiful is because he's selling the vast amounts of vengestone beneath their feet to a buyer, and with him forcing the Geckles and Munce to mine it for him, he doesn't have to risk the safety of his own citizens or pay for labor. Technically, he only outright says the first part, but I think the second part is just as likely. Also, I just now realized that the main villain of this season is basically a slave owner. That's… really fucked up, given the world and the U.S.'s history with the race based transatlantic slave trade. Vangelis knocks down Wu and Cole. Wu tells them to get the skull. Vania sends Chompy after it, but the Skull Sorcerer easily hits him with his wing. He hits a button that opens a trap door, sending Cole and Wu into the mountain. Vania gets a pair of mechanical wings to go after them. Her father says she'll never reach them in time, but she says she has to try. He tries to dissuade her by threatening to disown her if she jumps, but she does anyways, and he says she's made her choice. I love how the episode ends with the "camera" going down the hole, and then the next episode starts with it going back up the hole to the Skull Sorcerer, literally right where episode 7 left off. Such a great transition. The skull tells Vangelis that nothing comes without sacrifice. I love Deven Mack's performance as the king and the Skull Sorcerer. And yes, just like Brent Miller did in the second half of season 11, Deven used the pseudonym Ervin M. Jordan as the Skull Sorcerer to hide his identity until the reveal. Vangelis tells the guards that Vania fell down the hole because Chompy pushed her, and he orders them to lock him up. We then see Cole screaming as he falls down the hole, then take a deep breath and continue screaming, since it's a ridiculously long way down, a la *Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams*, except it really is that far down this time. I knew it! This *is* the new once a season running gag! Or at least it was until The Island and Seabound came out and broke that trend. Cole hears Wu screaming above him. It's hard for them to hear each other. Wu is falling as fast as he can. Cole will have to slow down. Wu tells him to use his elemental powers, but Cole can't hear him, and thinks he has to do the same gesture he does. They hear Vania above them, but she can't catch up to them unless they slow down. Cole tries to grab a vine, but it breaks. He grabs a bigger one, but the end that he's holding onto breaks when he swings into the side of the hole. Even if he still had airjitzu or his elemental dragon, I still don't think he'd be able to get them all out of the hole. For one thing, he might not be calm enough to create or maintain his elemental dragon, at least not for long, and the hole is too small for it anyways. I think airjitzu was only ever used for short bursts of flight, and unlike Nya's version in season 12, Cole in the real world might not be able to carry himself and two other people, plus the only way out of the hole is up, which leads to the throne room, where Vangelis and his guards currently are, and that would definitely result in a fight. Speaking of which, I wish we had an episode, or even just a scene or two of Hailmar questioning Vangelis's orders and his story about Chompy, finding out what really happened to Vania, and then trying to start a revolt against the king with help from the other guards and the citizens. It would make what happens in the season finale more believable in my opinion. Plus, we only see two actual citizens of Shintaro, and it's just for one quick scene for a laugh. Everyone else is a guard. The only other time is in the background during the epilogue of the season finale. Anyways, Cole is able to slow down enough to grab Wu. Vania is almost there. She doesn't know if her wings can hold all three of them, but it's their only chance. Sure enough though, they break and fall off. Wu tells her that she's handling the situation well, but she says that's only because she's with them, and she's sure they've been in far worse spots before, and they must have a plan, but Cole and Wu say no to both assumptions. Cue her screaming her head off. They finally stop falling when they hit a spider's web. The spider wants to eat them though, and webs up Cole in a cocoon. The other two are stuck in its silk. Another spider comes along and fights the other one for the right to eat Cole, and then a third one arrives and picks him up. Vania is able to free herself and get the third spider to drop Cole. She tries throwing a spear at it, but it just bounces off; as does a shield. She kicks the spear to Wu, who has freed himself, and he uses it to free Cole, who uses the spear to cut a hole in the web. Now they won't be eaten by giant spiders, but they're back to falling. They slide down tunnels and fall into a river with a strong current, and nothing to grab into. They're able to get onto some rocks, but it turns out that it's actually a giant water monster that looks like a rock turtle. They fall down a waterfall and start getting sucked into a whirlpool. They swim against the current. Wu tells Cole to block the whirlpool by breaking off a stalactite with his elemental powers. He's surrounded by earth, and has to connect to it. His powers should be stronger than ever. He struggles at first, but is able to do it after Vania tells him to concentrate. They all climb onto the stalactite, absolutely exhausted… and then it breaks, they get sucked into the whirlpool, the remains of the stalactite block the way back, and they fall into a pool. Cole saves Wu and Vania from drowning and finally gets to land. Suddenly, a man tells him that he can't fall any further, because he's reached Rock-Bottom. He sees another giant spider, but a second man tells him that Adam is harmless, and a third man tells him that he's safe here with them, the Lowly. When they tell Cole that there's no way back up, he passes out. First of all, holy shit, this is the first two episodes in the new format that took me two hours to write about. Probably because one was a big reveal episode, and while the other one is filler, it starts Cole's arc about his powers, he meets the Lowly, and it's just an absolutely hilarious episode. I can't believe we're already halfway through the season, and Cole's arc has only just started, although the second half more than makes up for it. Not that the first half was bad or anything, it was just slower paced, and obviously some plots need to wait when all of the main characters are split up like this.