Ninjago S11 E24

## Plot

Lloyd is telling Red all about the events of seasons 8 and 9, and about Garmadon and Harumi. It's pretty clear that the wolf is tired of hearing it. Grimfax and his warriors return to the ice castle, and report to the Emperor that they were victorious. However, Vex points out that there were more samurai when he left. Grimfax admits that the battle was fierce, because the villagers had strange protectors, but in the end, they won. Instead of killing them though, he snuffed out their hearth fire. Vex asks him if that's the case, then why does he still see the fire burning when he looks through his crystal. He asks the Emperor to punish Grimfax for attempting to deceive them by passing off defeat as victory. The Emperor starts freezing him in ice, but he begs for mercy, and the Emperor gives him a second chance. Vex asks him what they should do about the villagers, who are surely plotting to overthrow him, and the stranger in green who gets closer to the castle everyday. He decides to release Boreal to punish the village, and the stranger will meet another fate. Lloyd and Red see strange looking ice. Suddenly, lightning strikes the ground and causes the strange ice to sprout up. I'd say the best way to describe it would be like a mini-Colossus. Fitting, since Lloyd was just telling Red about it. He's able to defeat the Ice Behemoth by cutting the ice covering a lake, and the rock monster falls through. Red was injured though. Lloyd bandages their paw, and they spend the night there. The next day, Lloyd is surprised to find a human girl there instead of Red. It turns out that she *is* Red. Her real name is Akita. She's a Formling, someone who can shapeshift into an animal at will. Lloyd is angry at her for deceiving him and embarrassed at having spent the last three days baring his soul out to what he thought was a wolf. Akita didn't know if she could trust him. She never asked him for his life story. He calls her a liar, and refuses to take it back. They both saved each other's lives, so they're even. They decide to split up, but they're both going in the same direction. Akita wants to face the Ice Emperor, and Lloyd wants to free his friend Zane from the Emperor. Akita asks him if he's going to do that by boring him to death with stories about Harumi. Okay, I think that Lloyd bringing up Harumi so long after her betrayal and death is overdone, but still, that's harsh Akita. She was the first girl he ever loved. It can be hard to open up to and trust people after something like that. Akita's leg is still hurt, so Lloyd helps her, and they make up. She decides to tell him her story. The Ice Emperor summons his dragon Boreal as Vex and the prisoner watch. Episode 24 utilizes 2D anime style animation, just like "The Absolute Worst", but this time it's almost the entire episode instead of a few small scenes. Yes! Just like "Never Trust a Human", it's also a flashback episode with only one plot to follow, and that's part of what makes it so compelling in this new format. Double yes! That being said, so far I think the second half of this season has been better at that than the first. The balance between the two groups feels more natural. Maybe it's because the rest of the ninja are all in one place, with some of them even having their own mini-arcs, and the other group we have to follow is just a duo. Before the Never-Realm was plunged into an eternal winter, it used to be lush and green. Akita and her brother Kataru, being children, hadn't found their animal forms yet. Despite her denials, Kataru could tell that his sister was nervous about their Choosing ceremony, which was a week away. She worried that something would go wrong and she wouldn't be able to find her animal form. Kataru assures her that she's ready. All those who are pure of heart find their animal forms… except one, but that was a long time ago. A week later, the Formling leader paints red stripes on their faces, but the ceremony is interrupted by Vex. It turns out that he's the Formling that couldn't find his animal form, and was rejected by the others for it. The village leader tells him that his exile was of his own choosing. Vex says that's a lie. He knows they mocked him in secret and whispered behind his back. The leader tells him that's his fear speaking. He distrusts the world. He sees the worst in everything, even when it doesn't exist. Vex tells the leader that it's time for his power to end. During his journey, he discovered a power that dwarfs their Formling abilities… an elemental power. They can either bow down to him now willingly, or unwillingly when he returns in force. No matter what they choose, he will assume his rightful place over them. He's not inferior to them; he's superior. The leader says he doesn't listen to threats and enters a fighting stance. Vex leaves, but tells him that he'll regret this. After that, the Choosing resumed, and Akita and Kataru entered the wilderness alone and in silence to find their animal forms. With every day that passed, Akita grew more and more worried that she would end up like Vex, bitter, angry, and Formless. Suddenly, she had a dream or a vision of someone or something calling her name. She chased after a spirit of a white and red three tailed wolf, and once she caught it, she received her animal form. Her brother's animal form was a bear. They recognized each other and changed back, now with hats that represented what their animal form was. I mean, it's been on them this whole time. They spent the whole day playing together in the forest. Kataru went ahead and returned to the village, but Akita stayed behind to go on one more run. She saw the ice dragon heading towards the village and ran back, but by the time she got there, it was too late. Everyone was frozen in ice. She saw Vex and the Ice Emperor. Before she could attack them, Boreal dove towards her, but Kataru jumped in front of her in his animal form and slashed Boreal's wing. Akita told Kataru to run, but he refused, and Boreal blasted him. Instead of still being alive and encased in ice though, he was gone. Akita was devastated. The Emperor, Vex, and Boreal left. She left the village and never looked back. She won't return until Vex and the Ice Emperor are brought to justice. Lloyd tells Akita that the Emperor captured his friend Zane, and he's going to get him back, which means they're on the same quest. She says it's not the same. He wants to rescue his friend. She wants revenge. Whoa. First of all, Akita might have one of the saddest, if not *the* saddest character backstory in the entire show up to this point, which says a lot. Second, she and Harumi are definitely foils for each other. They both lost everything, and spoilers for the end of the season, but it's the fault of the ninja in both cases, especially one in particular. Lloyd for Harumi and Zane for Akita. The difference is obviously how they turned out, which is really interesting, since Akita arguably lost more than Harumi, who was at least adopted by people who presumably genuinely cared for her, and had a somewhat healthy support system growing up… but she was still evil and crazy and idolized Lord Garmadon. Akita may want revenge too, but it's understandable why, and she's not an antagonist, nor is she an antagonist taking revenge on another antagonist, and while she also wasn't forthcoming with Lloyd, she didn't manipulate or use him like Harumi did. It really makes you think about nature vs. nurture. Harumi lost her biological parents as a little girl, but Akita is presumably the same age or a little younger at this point, so it's safe to say that she had a fairly normal and carefree childhood until recently. Also, holy shit, Tabitha St. Germain was amazing as Akita. It's kind of weird to hear her as a teenager though when you realize that she also voiced Mistaké in seasons 8 and 9. Still, the upside to Dawson casting is that you generally get more experienced actors, and in animation the age of the actor doesn't matter, it's what age they can sound like, how much range do they have, etc.