Ninjago S2 E9

## Plot

The gang are worried about the Dark Island suddenly rising up, and the fact that the stone warriors seem to have gone there after previously sacking Ninjago City. It's highly likely that Garmadon is responsible. They have to find out what's on the island. Zane sends out his falcon for a look. The Bounty's pretty busted up. It can't fly. Misako reveals that she's found a way to destroy the stone warriors. That power lies within the green ninja. Lloyd is stronger than he thinks. His true power can only be unlocked when his four protectors find their own elemental powers. But the others lost their elemental powers when they lost the golden weapons. However, they have elemental powers inside themselves too. They have to go to the Temple of Light to unlock them. The gold in the golden weapons was from the Golden Peaks, but they were forged in the Temple of Light. Ironically, the odds are good that it's on the Dark Island. Misako points out that the Bounty is a ship, so it can sail. They get ready to depart, with a large crowd seeing them off. Jay says goodbye to his parents and Cole says goodbye to his dad. They can't just take the dragon because it has to stay and protect the people in case the stone army shows up again. Zane is watching the others say their goodbyes and seems sad. Wu asks him if there's anyone he'd like to say goodbye to. Zane says that the only family he has is his falcon and the memory of his father. Oh, that's not true! The ninja are your family! Then again, they're going with you on the journey, so you still have no one to say goodbye to. He'll miss Ninjago because it's all he's ever known, but he's excited to see what the future holds. Wu points out some people who'd like to say goodbye to him: Fan girls. Back off ladies, he's mine! They set sail. At sunset, Zane is worried because he still hasn't received any word from his falcon. Just then, Zane learns through his falcon vision that the falcon has arrived at the Dark Island. He plugs himself into the computer so they can all see it. However, the falcon is hit with a boomerang by a stone warrior and presumably destroyed. They're all sad, especially Zane. They're hit by a storm. The Overlord is having Garmadon have the stone army dig up dark matter, a substance that can turn anyone evil. They plan to build a super weapon with it. The gang runs into starteeth, which devour ships. They eat through wood, cloth, metal, you name it. The good news is that they survive the night. The bad news is that there's a massive hole in their hull and water came in. Zane senses something. They crash onto an outcropping of rocks. There's a lighthouse there that doubles as a prison. They hear something growl in the ocean. There's a security camera. Someone inside opens the door… and it's Zane's deceased father, Dr. Julien. Before he can explain, they have to hurry inside because of the growling creature. Oh, and they actually use the word dead for once! Julien is a technological genius. He explains that while Zane's memory was basically being rebooted, Samukai came in and revived Julien with an elixir. He wanted him to make war machines for the skeletons. He refused, so Samukai locked him in the lighthouse and told him to do it if he ever wanted to see his son again. To make sure he didn't escape, he placed a leviathan on guard. That's what the creature was. When Samukai didn't return, on account of being dead, Julien thought that he'd never see Zane again. But as time passed, he worried that Zane wouldn't *want* to see him again. Julien thought that if Zane learned that he made weapons, that he'd see him as a monster. Zane promises to get him out of there. He can repair the rocket boosters on their ship. They have to work quickly and quietly though, and hide when the leviathan checks on Julien. That night, Julien asks Zane how he learned to cook, since he never programmed that into him. Um, in episode 7, we *saw* you teaching him how to cook. Of course, that was probably just the basics, and Zane has been previously established as an amazing cook. Zane says that he just picked it up. He asks Julien if he would make a change in him if he wanted him to. Julian says that he's already perfect the way he is. Aw, just like a real father to his son! However, Zane doesn't see the purpose of a memory switch. He likes his life, and doesn't want to forget it or his father again. Julien tells him not to worry, saying that they'll both never forget. They're glad that they've found each other. The leviathan growls, which is their cue to leave. They try to take off in their new hot air balloon, but the leviathan wraps its tentacles around them. They try to escape using Lloyd's elemental powers, but it's not enough. Zane sees that it's chained and jumps into the water… which is infested with starteeth… which eat metal… and Zane is a robot. That being said, he probably has incredibly realistic synthetic skin, like a terminator. He weaponizes the starteeth and has them chew through the leviathan's chain. It sees that it's free and lets them go. Zane comes back up and is asked how he knew it would let them go. He probably didn't know that that would happen for sure, but he says that no one deserves to be held captive, not even a monster. After all, the leviathan was just as much of a prisoner as Julien. Once it was freed, it let our heroes go on their way. It's not malicious just because it looks like a monster. The group heads for the Dark Island and the Temple of Light once again.

## Review

Seriously, why are episodes about Zane always so good? Maybe not in my top five, but definitely top ten. Julien's voice actor is amazing, and conveys so much emotion in his performance. Re-watching this, I found myself looking at possibly unintentional foreshadowing for seasons 3 and 4, like Zane diving into the ocean despite the starteeth, almost performing a heroic sacrifice, or worrying about forgetting his life and his father again. Also, props to the animators. The sunset looked amazing, and the water is already a huge step up from season 1.