The Day Ninjago Stood Still

*“So as my first order, I say we burrow beneath their beloved city, to bury them as they once buried us!”*

— Skales

**The Day Ninjago Stood Still** is the eighth episode of the second season of *Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu* and the 21st episode overall. It aired on Cartoon Network on October 10, 2012 in the United States.

## Synopsis

*The ninjas flee from the Stone Army; Garmadon arrives and seizes control.*

*The ninja try to flee from the rest of the Stone Army that has been brought to life by the Devourer's toxic venom - and things get a lot worse when Garmadon arrives with a 'Helmet of Darkness' and seizes control of the Stone Army.*

**Extended**: *Skales is crowned as the Snake King, and as his first act, he plans to destroy the foundations of Ninjago, bringing it down around the population. At the Mojo Dojo, Lloyd is continuing his training, while Sensei Wu and Misako prepare to go over her research on the prophecy; Wu is slightly uncomfortable because of her relationship with Garmadon and the fact that he could have been her husband. Everything is stopped when the Serpentine begin their destructive campaign, sending the city into chaos. But the Serpentine come up against a barrier, an ancient door inscribed with carvings which look like Skales. He finds a switch that opens the doorway, revealing a vault where the Stone Army rest. The Great Devourer's venom melts through the roof of the vault and starts dripping on the statues, bringing them to life. They defeat the Serpentine and exit the vault, which closes behind them, trapping Skales and his people underground once again. The Stone Army rises and the city begins to evacuate, with the Ninja providing transport for those left behind, including comic-book writer Rufus, Dareth and the Bank Manager. The Ninja, with Lloyd, Nya and the Ultra-Dragon, gather the people and flee Ninjago City, though Misako stays behind to get her research and she and Sensei Wu are nearly left behind. Meanwhile, on the Dark Island, Garmadon is guided by the Overlord to an ancient orrery-like clock, designed to count down to the final battle. Garmadon dons the Helmet of Shadows, which both starts the clock and gives him command over the Stone Army.*

## Plot

Skales is crowned the new Serpentine King after overthrowing Lord Garmadon and decides to bury Ninjago City and its citizens to ruin, so the Serpentine can take over as the rulers of Ninjago.

Meanwhile, the ninja are training Lloyd to fight without using his eyes in Dareth's Dojo, making a mess in the process. While Sensei Wu waits in the *Destiny's Bounty*, he uncovers under his hat a picture of himself, Misako, and Garmadon before his banishment. Misako appears behind him, commenting that she had forgotten how pale Garmadon used to be. She shows Sensei Wu her research of the Green Ninja's prophecy, and while he is gazing over it she mentions how she should have chosen him instead. Master Wu says that the past is the past, but Misako takes his hand as she insists that there is always the future. However, they are interrupted by a strong earthquake, and Zane sends his Falcon to scout for danger.

The Serpentine traverse underground as the Constrictai burrow through until they find a mysterious and ancient door.

Meanwhile at the Island of Darkness, with the guidance of the Overlord, Lord Garmadon climbs a tall mountain that on top has The Overlord's "greatest weapon."

In Ninjago City, the ninja save a woman who was trapped from the collapsing street, with aid from her dog. Then Misako realizes that, according to the prophecies, the earthquakes are a warning.

While investigating the markings on the door, Skales finds a button that opens it. They go through and find a large army of Stone Warriors, which come to life as the Great Devourer's venom drips onto them. The Serpentine attempt to battle them, but as they are indestructible, the Serpentine are easily overpowered. Acidicus asks if they should retreat, but Skales disagrees and continues fighting, only to be defeated soon after. The Stone Warriors all march out through the door, and then the door shuts, imprisoning all the Serpentine once again.

As the Stone Warriors emerge to the surface and wreak havoc over the city, Master Wu tells the ninja to gather everyone to an evacuation point to be picked up by the *Destiny's Bounty*, which the only suitable evacuation point was the roof of the NGTV office building. The citizens all head to the building while the ninja hold off the Stone Warriors using the Ultra Sonic Raider and the Ultra Dragon.

Back on the Island of Darkness, Lord Garmadon finally reaches the top of the mountain, where he finds an enormous clock and the Helmet of Shadows. The Overlord tells Lord Garmadon to take the helmet, which will give him control over the Stone Army—as Garmadon does so, the hands of the clock begin moving. The Overlord explains that the clock is counting down to the final battle, and they will ensure that darkness finally overwhelms the light.

As the citizens go to the top of the building by the staircase, the ninja continue to hold off the Stone Army. However, Misako realizes she dropped her valuable research scroll as she was going up, and goes back down to retrieve it. But the *Bounty* has to take off as the Stone Army started damaging the ship's boosters, and at the last minute, Master Wu jumps off the ship and goes to assist Misako. Misako notices her scroll tangled up in the wires of the long ceiling lights, and after seeing the Stone Army gaining on her she is forced to jump onto the wires and carefully climb down to her scroll. After retrieving it, she attempts to jump back onto the staircase railing to no avail, finding herself at risk of falling.

Master Wu rushes in to fend off the Stone Army, helping Misako up and rushing to another room. As they get cornered nearby a large open window, they both use Spinjitzu to defeat some Stone Warriors. Their Spinjitzu has no effect and seeing as there were too many Stone Warriors, they jump out of the building and unexpectedly land on the *Bounty*. The wind blows away the picture under Master Wu's hat, but Misako reminds him that the past is the past, but there is always the future. The Stone Army leaves Ninjago City to return to the Dark Island.

At the Island of Darkness, Lord Garmadon wears the new helmet proudly, declaring that he is back.

## Appearances

### Characters

* Acidicus
* Cameraman
* Constrictai
* Cole
* Dareth
* Female Owner
* Garmadon
* Gayle Gossip
* Jay
* Kai
* Lloyd Garmadon
* Mother Doomsday
* Misako
* Nya
* The Overlord
* Skales
* Skalidor
* Snappa
* Stone Warrior
* Wu
* Zane

### Events

* The Final Battle (mentioned)
* Serpentine War (indirectly mentioned)

### Items

* Helmet of Shadows
* Serpentine Staffs
	+ Constrictai Staff
	+ Fangpyre Staff
	+ Hypnobrai Staff
	+ Venomari Staff
* Underworld helmet

### Vehicles

* *Destiny's Bounty*
* Ultra Sonic Raider

### Locations

* Ninjago
	+ Sea of Sand
		- Ouroboros
	+ Ninjago City
		- Sewers
			* Tomb of the Stone Army
		- Ninjago Doomsday Comix
		- Ninjago City Bank
		- Ninjago News Center
			* Stairway
* Dark Island
* No Man's Bluff
* Endless Sea

### Species

* Dragons
* Humans
* Nindroids
* Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
* Serpentine
	+ Constrictai
	+ Fangpyre
	+ Hypnobrai
	+ Venomari
* Stone Warriors

## Trivia

* The Overlord states, "My master plan has been in the works since the beginning of time." While not an error in the context of this episode, it would eventually be revealed in Sons of Garmadon, six seasons later, that Ninjago was not the First Realm. Since the Overlord's existence seems to tied to the realm of Ninjago, his statement in this episode is technically false.
* This episode shows that Dareth has three and two identical students with the designs of Jeffy and Phil respectively.

## Cultural references

* Near Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo, several advertisements for NFC are visible on the street, referring to the actual KFC restaurant chain. Since KFC is an abbreviation for Kentucky Fried Chicken, it can be assumed that the name in Ninjago is Ninjago Fried Chicken.

* The name of this episode is a reference to the movie, *The Day the Earth Stood Still*.

## Continuity

* When the ninja and citizens of Ninjago City were blocking the building's doors, in the background are televisions depicting the story of the Golden Weapons (from "Way of the Ninja"), the Slither Pit fight between Skales and Slithraa (from "Home"), Nya and Jay's romance film (from "Home" and "The Green Ninja"), the fight with the Great Devourer (from "Day of the Great Devourer"), the Fangpyre's invasion of Ed and Edna's junkyard (from "Snakebit"), and the Ninjago Talent show (from "The Royal Blacksmiths").

* This marks the only time Misako uses Spinjitzu in the series.
* It is revealed it has been a day since the events of "The Stone Army," as Cole references "the indestructible Stone Warrior we fought yesterday."
* This marks the final onscreen appearance of the Ultra Sonic Raider.
* This episode marks the final appearance of the Serpentine in this season. They are next seen nine episodes later, in "The Curse of the Golden Master," where they have changed in numerous ways.

## Errors

* When the ninja help the woman out of the sinkhole, Cole has his shoulder pads but lacks them in one shot.

* Shortly after this, when Lloyd says "No sweat" to Snickers's owner, his hair can be seen underneath his mask. While not an error on its own, this is not typically how the ninja are shown when wearing their masks.

* When the *Bounty* arrives at the NGTV rooftop, Misako says "Look!" but her lips don't move.
* Garmadon does not appear to remove his original helmet before donning the Helmet of Shadows, and the original helmet is nowhere to be seen in the following moments.