The Curse of the Golden Master

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**The Curse of the Golden Master** is the eighth episode of Rebooted and the forty-third overall episode of *LEGO Ninjago & My Little Pony: Masters of Friendship*. It is based on LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu episode of the same name and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode, *Keep Calm and Flutter On*.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends are given a task by Princess Celestia to reform Discord. However, Fluttershy is the only one willing to give him a chance. ?????

## Plot

### An "important visitor"

In a field just outside Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie are awaiting the arrival of Princess Celestia; Pinkie even got her hooves shined for the occasion. Twilight wonders why the princess is taking so long and notes Applejack and Fluttershy's absence, to which Rarity explains that Fluttershy is assisting Applejack with a "mishap at Sweet Apple Acres" and assures they'll both be along shortly. Twilight points out that the princess' being late could be due to the presence of an important visitor, and she and her friends speculate who it could be. Spike gasps at something off-screen: something with "a deer antler, a goat leg, a bat wing, and a snake tail". Twilight quickly deduces that he's describing Discord, and she and Rarity brush off the notion. But as they turn around they are shocked by what Princess Celestia has with her.

### Reforming chaos incarnate

Twilight unintentionally snaps at Celestia for bringing Discord to Ponyville; her friends each have their own reservations about this as well. The princess understands the risks and explains that she has a use for Discord's magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil, and entrusts Twilight and her friends with that very task. Twilight is still unsure but supposes that, should things get out of hand, the Elements of Harmony could be used to imprison Discord again. As a precaution, Princess Celestia has even charmed the Elements to be immune to Discord's trickery. Celestia then asks where Fluttershy is, believing her to know best how to begin reforming the spirit of chaos.

At Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy is settling a dispute between Applejack and an angry beaver; the construction of a dam has caused a stream to get backed up and flood the surrounding orchard. The beaver, a "Mr. Beaverton Beaverteeth", agrees to move the dam, but only once Applejack apologizes for calling him a "nuisance". Applejack then shouts that he's lucky that she didn't call him a varmint. The beaver responds with some very unkind words that Fluttershy feels best left untranslated, and then gives Applejack a glare.  After some pride-swallowing, Applejack agrees, but Fluttershy quickly reminds her to not retaliate when the beaver blows a raspberry as a parting shot.  Examining the dam, the beaver then pulls out a key twig and the entire dam breaks apart. Applejack thanks Fluttershy for her help before Rainbow Dash appears to retrieve the two "slackers".

At first, Fluttershy is hesitant to accept such a task as great as reforming Discord, but Celestia's trust in her gives Fluttershy some confidence. The princess takes her leave for Canterlot and leaves the rest to Twilight and her friends. They harness the power of the Elements of Harmony to set Discord free, and upon awakening, Discord wastes no time in transforming nearby woodland creatures with his magic, playing it off as stretching. He reveals that he was consciously aware during his imprisonment and laughs off the idea of being reformed, especially the ponies' faith in Fluttershy, considering he is impervious to her "Stare". But Twilight makes clear the conditions of Discord's freedom: behave, or it's back to being frozen in stone. Discord relents to these conditions, but not before entrancing a group of beavers behind the ponies' backs, and resigns himself to crashing at Fluttershy's cottage for the duration of his rehabilitation.

### On the road to "recovery"

Fluttershy tidies up around her cottage to make it hospitable for her new house guest. Angel Bunny immediately expresses resentment toward Discord's presence. Despite the rabbit's grumbling and the disapproving glares of Fluttershy's friends, Discord has quickly made himself comfortable. None of the ponies (except Fluttershy) believe a word he says to defend himself and take their leave of the cottage. Twilight speaks with Fluttershy one last time before leaving: Fluttershy believes the key to reforming Discord is to become his friend. Twilight has her doubts, but otherwise trusts in Fluttershy's judgment and assures that she and the others will be ready with the Elements if they're needed outside.

Rainbow Dash convinces the others that they'll need a backup plan if (and when) Fluttershy's plan of befriending Discord doesn't work, and Twilight has just the plan in mind.

After briefly addressing Discord's act of eating paper, Fluttershy excuses herself from the house and tells him to make himself at home. Once she's left, Discord reveals to Angel that he's indeed deceiving Fluttershy and relishes in this fact, all while harassing and frightening the poor bunny. Meanwhile, at the library, Twilight looks through book after book in search of a reforming spell, but she finds that all the pages pertaining to such a spell have been torn out, which explains the paper Discord was eating earlier.

Fluttershy returns home to find that her cottage has been literally turned upside-down, set in a slow rotation above the ground, but having told Discord to make himself at home, she allows it as long as it makes him comfortable. Discord comments on Fluttershy's boundless kindness, regards the rest of her friends as "nasty" and tricks her into thinking her efforts at reforming him are beginning to work. Twilight and Spike arrive, and Fluttershy tells them that they're making progress. Naturally, Twilight and Spike are skeptical. When they inform her that all the reforming spells in the library were torn out, Fluttershy mentions Discord's earlier paper-eating (to Twilight's absolute horror) but says that there's no need for such a spell. To prove this, she tells Twilight to bring their friends to the cottage that evening for a dinner party.

### A dinner party with Discord

Twilight and Spike arrive at the cottage with the rest of the ponies, still wearing the Elements of Harmony. Discord greets them at the door and welcomes them inside. In contrast to how it appeared earlier, the inside of the cottage is decorated lavishly, with a large dinner table, cushions, and a chandelier. Twilight instructs her friends to not let their guards down.

The dinner party goes about as well as one would expect a dinner party hosted by the spirit of chaos would: kitchen and tableware spring to life and spray everypony with hot gravy and soup. Rainbow Dash has reached her limit and outs Discord as the mischief maker he is and always will be. Fluttershy calls out her friends for not giving Discord a chance; when asked why she was going to such lengths, she says it's because that's what friends do.

The idea of being Fluttershy's friend makes Discord pause; he's never had a true friend before. Then Angel suddenly bursts in and, through a bout of charades, informs the ponies that Sweet Apple Acres is being flooded. Rainbow Dash points to Discord as the cause, and she and her friends leave to see to it, leaving him and Fluttershy behind.

### Chaos or friendship?

Sweet Apple Acres is completely flooded by the time Twilight and the others arrive; Big McIntosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith are floating in large wooden tubs and salvaging whatever amount of apples they can, and the beavers that Discord entranced earlier have constructed large, multiple dams across *all* the streams crossing the farm. Fluttershy attempts to talk to the beavers but with no success. Rainbow Dash asks if she knows this is all Discord's work, but she retorts that of course she's known all along: do they take her to be a silly, gullible fool?  Her entire aim is to befriend him any way she can, so he in turn would come to trust and listen to her.  As is his way, Discord revels in the chaos that he's created. Deciding that now is the time to see if she was right, Fluttershy tells him to fix it, and Discord agrees to comply - on the condition that Fluttershy *never* use the Element of Kindness against him, as a "sign of [their] friendship". Much to her friends' shock, Fluttershy agrees.

Instead of keeping to his word, Discord proceeds to freeze over Sweet Apple Acres into an ice- and snow-covered landscape, believing he's won. Fluttershy becomes visibly angry by this deception, but she abides by her promise not to use the Element of Kindness, accepting a set of ice skates Discord conjured up. Discord wallows in his apparent victory, taking advantage of Fluttershy's friendship, and his freedom before Fluttershy announces she is *not* Discord's friend, throwing the skates down and away onto the ice. Discord shrugs off her anger, taunting over her as she walks away.  He asks if she truly believed that she could "boss him around" as he puts it, do what she asked because she asked, or that he even *cares* that he'll lose his first and only friend.

But then, Discord has an epiphany: as he looks over at the abandoned skates he gave her, he finally understands the consequences of his actions - and realizes that he actually *does* value her friendship. Feeling ashamed and with his eyes welling up with tears, Discord reverses all he has created in a burst of light and returns Sweet Apple Acres to normal.

> "*I liked it better my way, but...I guess when you're friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time, eh?*"
> ― Discord
>
>

### Discord is reformed

Discord comes before the returned Princess Celestia and with a bow, officially announces to her that he's willing to use his powers for the forces of good, adding a glum "most of the time" under his breath. Celestia congratulates the ponies on a job well done, but she leaves the Elements of Harmony with Twilight just in case. Twilight comments on how the princess was right about Fluttershy all along: that she would be the one to find a way to reform Discord. Treating Discord as a friend made him realize how important friendship was to him, and once he had it, he didn't want to lose it. After some encouragement from his friend, Discord states (very quickly) "Friendship is magic." Fluttershy claims that Discord can be a real sweetheart underneath. However, the others give expressions of uncertainty.

The Ninja and Nya return to New Ninjago City, where they find a mob of angry civilians and Cyrus Borg, who is no longer influenced by the Overlord. The Ninja agree to go underground to search for the Serpentine, believing that they stole the hard drive containing the Overlord, while P.I.X.A.L. stays behind to assist Cyrus. Meanwhile, the Stranger discusses his plans with the Digital Overlord to obtain a power source for the Nindroids, while Lloyd and Sensei Garmadon make their way through Hiroshi's Labyrinth to stay hidden.

The Ninja and Nya search underground for the Serpentine, eventually finding Skales outside of the Stone Army Tomb. Skales brings them inside and tells them how they have decided to adapt to a new life and become more "civilized," choosing not to become involved with any of the Overlord's plans. Acidicus then tells the group about the "Curse of the Golden Master," a legend telling of a being whose power will equal that of the First Spinjitzu Master's and the alicorn princesses. The Serpentine attempted to warn people of this, but were treated as the enemy, to which they fled underground. In the meantime, Cyrus Borg meets with P.I.X.A.L. in his office, with P.I.X.A.L. telling Cyrus of her connection with Zane. Cyrus tells her that she doesn't belong to anyone, even him, and that she is fully independent.

Dareth also acts as the substitute teacher for Sensei Wu's students, as they go to the city's aquarium. There, while viewing the Electrocobrai exhibit, the Stranger arrives and shatters the tank. He obtains the Electrobrai while Dareth fends off a shark, saving the students.

Underground, the Ninja contemplate the situation until an army of Nindroids raids the tomb. The Serpentine scatter with the Ninja defending them and defeating the Nindroids by finding out that the Electrocobrai are their power source. Skales tells them that the Curse of the Golden Master is upon them, and says that they would not be able to assist the Ninja because they're choosing to stay out of the conflict. The Ninja then return to the surface.

As Lloyd and Sensei Garmadon continue their journey, they're attacked by the corrupted Sensei Wu and various Nindroids. Garmadon battles Wu, while Lloyd uses his Golden Power to create a motorcycle to escape. He is pursued by various Nindroids using flight gear, although he manages to evade them all before coming to a stop next to a cliff. There, the Nindroid MechDragon rises up before him, possessed by the Overlord. Wu is holding Garmadon hostage on its back. Lloyd prepares to battle the MechDragon, but the Stranger unleashes a snake that constricts Lloyd, draining him of his powers. The Stranger then reveals himself to be Pythor P. Chumsworth, having survived his ordeal with the Great Devourer, although his skin was bleached white in the process. Pythor brings Lloyd aboard the MechDragon, after which Garmadon is pushed off the side and into the water. As the MechDragon flies off with Lloyd, Garmadon emerges from the water, telling his son to be strong, and that he would find him.

## Cast

* Acidicus - Paul Dobson
* Applejack - Ashleigh Ball
* Aquarium Guard - Kirby Morrow
* Aquarium Host - Alan Marriott
* Brad Tudabone - Kathleen Barr
* Cole - Kirby Morrow
* Cryptor - Richard Newman
* Cyrus Borg - Lee Tockar
* Dareth - Alan Marriott
* Discord - John de Lancie
* Fangpyre - Scott McNeil
* Fluttershy - Andrea Libman
* Garmadon - Mark Oliver
* Gravy Boat - Tabitha St. Germain
* Hypnobrai - Brent Miller
* Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
* Kai - Vincent Tong
* Lloyd Garmadon - Jillian Michaels
* Nya - Kelly Metzger
* P.I.X.A.L. - Jennifer Hayward
* Pinkie Pie - Andrea Libman
* Postman - Michael Adamthwaite
* Princess Celestia - Nicole Oliver
* Pythor P. Chumsworth - Michael Dobson
* Rainbow Dash - Ashleigh Ball
* Rarity - Tabitha St. Germain
* Sally - Jillian Michaels
* Savage Resident - Brent Miller
* Selma - Jillian Michaels
* Serpentine - Vincent Tong
* Skales - Ian James Corlett
* Skales Jr. - Alyssya Swales
* Spike - Cathy Weseluck
* Student - Lee Tockar
* The Overlord - Scott McNeil
* Twilight Sparkle - Tara Strong
* Venomari - Michael Adamthwaite
* Zane - Brent Miller

## Locations Visited

* Ninjago
	+ New Ninjago City
		- Borg Tower
		- Stone Army Tomb
		- Ninjago City Aquarium
	+ Hiroshi's Labyrinth

## Transcript

* The Curse of the Golden Master (Transcript)

## Trivia

* The weapon wielded by the First Spinjitzu Master in the tale of the Golden Master sequence heavily resembles a Ghost Blade.
* Interestingly enough, during the prophecy of the Golden Master, the symbol of the Overlord can be seen on the figure's chest. Obviously, the minifigure has this as well, although this direct reference to the minifigure is an earlier hint to the Overlord seeking to become the Golden Master.
* This episode marks the reappearance of Pythor since his defeat after being eaten by the Great Devourer in the beginning of "Day of the Great Devourer."
* This is the first episode that the Ninja wear black gloves with their Techno robes. However, there are several times throughout the episode that Ninja are without gloves, though they once again have them in the next shot.
* This episode marks the discovery of the ancient Serpentine prophecy about the Golden Master. This marks the second prophecy that the Ninja know about. However, unlike the prophecy of the Green Ninja, this is something that must be prevented.
	+ It is also revealed through this prophecy that the Serpentine desired to protect the people from the Golden Master and that it was the people's fear of them that led to the Serpentine War. This misunderstanding is later expanded upon to be the result of misinformation from Master Chen to stir up conflict.
* When the Serpentine first appeared in the beginning of the series, they were happy to be free from their tombs—now, however, they are perfectly content to live underground and not trouble the people of Ninjago. It is unknown if this is a retcon, or if the Serpentine have become more peaceful during their imprisonment in the Stone Army's former tomb.
* This is Discord's first appearance since "Day of the Great Devourer".

## Errors

* A couple shots of entering the Stone Army Tomb reveals the Ninja without gloves despite wearing them the rest of the show.
* When Nya laughs after saving Jay, her mouth doesn't move.
* The Ninja mistook Lloyd for being the Golden Master. However, this is impossible as the Golden Master existed before the Serpentine War, long before Lloyd's birth.