With the start of 2025, I thought Iâd compile some of my posts from 2024.
Theories
Why Jay and Nya Can Remember Skybound
Wu and Morro and the Allied Armor, oh my!
Frak's Pies and the Crystalized->Merge Time Jump
Without the Blood Moon, Ras Would Have Succeeded
Mistress Obscuria, Elemental Heritability, and the Ninjago Timeline
Long-ish Posts
This back and forth with @parachutingkitten outlines most of my thoughts on Dragons Rising S1-S2
The Five Endings of Ninjago
How Dragons Rising Handles the Ensemble
DRS2 v Dreamzzz YouTube Views
Were the Sacred Flutes Created During the Serpentine War?
Where did the Serpentine Come From?
The Tournament of Elements vs The Tournament of Sources
What Does "Shattering Goodness" Mean?
Why the FSM Lineage Shouldnât Be Royalty
Would Kai be Overprotective of Wyldfyre?
DR S1 E1-5, S1 E6-10, S1 E11-15, S1 E16-20, S2 E1-5, and S2 E6-10 Thoughts
Ninjago Ideas Without "Wasted Potential"
Shorter posts
My Issue with "Snaketastrophy" (Harumi)
When Will the Live-Action Movie Release?
Rapton and Lloyd in DRS2E11
The Missing Moon
Wu's Growth from S1 to S15
Other
Election Night in Ninjago
Dinner at the Monastery
Video edits (the ones I'm most proud of)
Arin and the Ninja
Arin and the Ninja (ft. "Elements of Betrayal")
Sora and Jordana
Who Caused the Merge?
"The Fall of the Green Ninja"
"Princess" Vania
For the new year, Iâve got several longer analysis/criticism posts that Iâve been sitting on for some time, outlining how the Ice Chapter and Crystalized fail to live up to the ideas they set up, but also some of my potential changes. This is well trodden fandom ground, but I havenât seen anyone suggesting what Iâve been thinking. Maybe Iâll finally finish those.Â
Also looking at an analysis of Skybound (again, well covered) that covers a specific angle I also havenât seen anyone discuss in depth (though considering how much discussion of Skybound exists, I wouldnât be surprised if someone had).Â
Before DR S3P1 airs Iâll post my thoughts on DRS2P2, both episode by episode and an analysis of how S4 handles its mysteries better. Probably do some DRS3 predictions before the whole season gets leaked.
Last, Iâm thinking about building on my âElection Nightâ post with a full deep dive into my (as canon-compliant as possible) look into what Ninjago politics might look like. Worldbuilding in Ninjago tends more toward fleshing out ancient lore, but I think the average citizenâs perspective to the events of the show is cool to think about.Â
Will I get all this stuff done? Probably not, this list is more of a way to set goals. A lot of my earlier posts were clips with some of my own analysis. Those aren't gonna be gone but I'm definitely cutting back on them, mainly because I only have so many ideas. A new post a day with an accompanying video just wasn't sustainable. But if youâre interested in longer-form Ninjago analysis, feel free to follow and at some point it should show up in your feed!Â
Here's some other stuff:
Favorite Ninja: Zane from S1-4, Lloyd from S8-present.Â
Favorite Seasons: Iâm a big fan of S1, S4, S8, S9, S14, and DRS1. Donât think these are particularly hot takes. If I had to pick Iâd go with S8 but could be persuaded otherwise
Started watching: Back in 2012 as S2 was airing
Thatâs all Iâve got! If you ever see a post of mine and disagree, please (constructively!) do soâwould always welcome a dialogue. (and ofc if you agree or just like the post, feel free to like it or reblog or whatever is most comfortable.) I'm still fairly new to this site but this whole experience has been great.
People Lord Ras has defeated/physically overpowered:
Two untrained teenagers
Random unnamed dragons
A scientist
A teenage dragon (slightly trained)
Arin before he learned Spinjitzu
Two of his students (he grabs and throws them to the ground when mad)
Random wolf warriors
Some random wizards and two Cyclopes
A large skeleton
Presumably some random explorer (offscreen)
Presumably some random skeletons (offscreen)
An untrained monastery assistant
The Elemental Master of Fusion (untrained yet gives Ras a run for his money)
An elderly dragon
People Lord Ras has lost to:
A ninja trainee before her true potential or her learning Spinjitzu
Rapton
The Ninja team as of the start of S2P1 minus Kai, Zane, and Cole, despite having Cinder, Nokt, Jordana, and an army of wolf mask warriors
Rox (both physically and is also outsmarted by her. Rox is no great intellect, being easily outsmarted by Arrakore and Thunderfang later on)
Nokt x2 (mortally wounded by him the first time, saved by Arin the second)
Soul suckers
Jay/Rogue
Drix
Gandalariaâs security system
Arin and Sora (before Sora could even perform full Spinjitzu)
A âDragon Beastâ (a rhino-sized animal)
ah but wait, Rasâs true strength is that heâs a master manipulator. Thatâs why he has zero allies (except his Master), Arin turns on him, and he fails to convince Zilvar to help him (despite giving Zilvar a very good reason to do so!)
hyped for the switch from Dragons Rising to Dragons Fury as a new show because it means weâre definitely (maybe) getting a long recap of the events of last season (at least) at the start to catch up new viewers
Ras: I understand. I must leave Imperium and find a new way to collect Dragon Icons. And I have just the plan. First, I'll recruit Jordana, who has Source Dragon energy. Then, I'll open the Shadow Dojo. Then, using my army that I somehow recruited and also the Elemental Master of Smoke, I'll take over the Cloud Kingdom to decipher the--
Ras's Master: *celestial whirring*
Ras: Worry not, my Master. I assure you this long and convoluted series of events will result in us obtaining the Icons. You see, this is all so I can get someone to win the Tournament of Sources, and using the combined elemental powers at the Cauldron of Realms, we--
Ras's Master: *celestial whirring*
Ras: The Casket of Bones? Forge of the Forgotten?
Ras's Master: *celestial whirring*
Ras: So I just shove any random person in and we get an Icon?
Ras's Master: *celestial whirring*
Ras: Wow. Okay, well that's pretty easy. Not sure why I orchestrated a coup here and then spent years at Beatrix's side capturing just one Source Dragon who's now free anyway--I mean, the time of your glory will soon be at hand!
In S4 E14, Arin references him and Frak coming up with a martial arts move "when we were ten." Since the Serpentine were only released in Rise of the Snakes, this seems to imply that at least ten years (bare minimum) passed between S1 of the original show and the Merge (Arin and Frak lost touch before the Merge). Not sure what people with Ninja age head canons and timelines make of this but that seems like a longer time than at least I'd have expected, no?
the alternative explanation is that Arin was 10 at some point pre-Merge, Frak is younger but Serpentine age faster -- e.g. Skales Jr. being born post S2 and walking and talking by S3 -- and Arin's not accounting for that. techtonic age gap discourse when? (kidding)
Wait so did Cole not tell Lloyd and the others that Ras ransacked the Monastery??? I mean I know he was out of it for said ransacking but you're telling me it didn't cross his mind to go "Hey guys, Ras messed up our home and took a steaming shit on Lloyd's bed. Sorry."
I feel like it would've at least been a BIT important for one of the ninja to mention this season, given he stole something from them and is still, like, a threat.
youâd think he would check to make sure the artifact that can summon a deity he left in Wuâs study is still there after being told Ras entered there.
monastery of gates also vanishes but either Wyldfyre/Frak/Euphrasia didnât tell the other Ninja or they did and decided, âthatâs a next season problem.â like you know Ras was the last person to use the portal gates before they all broke and now the central portal gate location is gone and the conclusion is??? Wyldfyre also never asks Roby if he knows anything beyond what he said in his letter. did they ever question Cinder or the other Wolf Mask warriors locked up in the City of Temples about where the Shadow Dojo went? maybe thatâs why they had to write Jordana out of the show bc it would really be ridiculous if she was with the Ninja and didnât mention it
I like the long running mystery stuff but itâs not entertaining to see a group of otherwise intelligent people be so uncurious because the writers either wrote themselves into a corner or thought this was a good way of doing things
duskfall trailer looks really cool. to be honest thereâs so little info itâs hard to really make predictions about whatâs going to happen beyond âitâs in the futureâ and we know what the charactersâ names are. how is the Great Devourer back (beyond the almighty power of set integration)? no idea. who are Jin, Mira, Nate, and Ivo? presumably Ninja descendants but thatâs both unconfirmed and also doesnât say anything about who they are as people or what theyâre doing. but very excited to see where it goes.
I am a bit unsure why itâs coming out while Dragons Rising is still airing though? like for the average viewer the viewing experience is âwow look at the Ninja fighting the elemental monsters. Oh apparently in 50 years Kai dies. Ok now back to Lord Rasâs master plan.â obv we know that Kai and Nya are gonna be fine in Dragons Rising because itâs a kids show, but hard confirming that they make it out totally alive and then die unrelated years from now does take some tension away. one of the problems w/ prequels ig which theyâve now created by making a sequel series while the original is still airing. like imagine if after Seabound, Dragons Rising Season 1 aired (or at least the first two episodes) and then we got Crystalized. thatâd be pretty strange no?
in light of the leak incident, here are some distribution ideas for Ninjago Dragons Rising that I think would work better than whatever in the Underworld we've got going on now
have LEGO put the season onto cheap DVDs and frisbee them out the side of the Bionicle van at random passersby on whatever release day is supposed to be
lock the doors at the SDCC panel. say it's time for the special trailer, then show the entire season back to front
lock the doors at the SDCC panel. say it's time for the special trailer, then have the actors and writers on the panel act out the entire season from memory
transfer all showing rights to Poob
attach a disclaimer to clarify these are all joke ideas that are only marginally less jokey than the actual system, because what do you MEAN this is a tradition at this point and a good, clean release is a SURPRISE??????????????
Genuinely donât understand how this is possible. Like Peacock, Roku, Tubi â these are all established streaming services that air plenty of established shows. Love Island is huge and thatâs on Peacock â theyâre not releasing entire seasons of Love Island months early, so what gives?
all of these ideas would work wonders. I would add
1) writing and producing fake episodes so that when the episodes inevitably leak early no one knows what is real
2) turning each frame of the season into its base code and posting them individually on Doc Wyattâs Bluesky
3) not sending the episodes to any distributor until 3 months after theyâre supposed to release (thatâll mean theyâll leak on time).
initial S4 P2 take because I caved and watched it. no major spoilers under the cut.
I enjoyed it more than when I watched S4 P1 the first time. Quite frankly I think thatâs entirely due to the pacing â on rewatch, I liked S4 P1 a lot more than the first time â I donât think S4 P2 will get that type of redemption. It was good. A lot of really great characterization. Paced much better than S4 P1. But it also has some flaws that hold it back. Some minor, others honestly fairly bad. But all Ninjago seasons are like that in some way â this is definitely better than S3 (low bar) and probably matches S2 overall, though Iâd have to rewatch the season in full to get the whole picture. Full in depth thoughts sometime after I write up my full S4 P1 rewatch thoughts â I started writing those a bit ago but thought Iâd have more time to post.
Maybe Iâll drop a few assorted takes before then. Operating under the logic that Iâm a small account and therefore posting about these episodes wonât meaningfully affect the number of people who watch the episodes when they properly release but itâs still probably a good thing to hold off on posting a ton ahead of the official release if nothing else than to keep discourse flowing for the next couple months.
uh. oh. again. wow. um. right before comic con too. hmm. the age old question of spending the next two months dodging spoilers or biting the bullet returns I guess.
okay so weâre 100% getting an explanation as to how time in the Never-Realm works. Glen frames Tommyâs explanation as to how Season 11 worked (time travel) as something âfuture writer[s] can honor if they wantâ and an âadditional guardrail,â which does imply that thatâs not the explanation the Dragons Rising writers are going with. Maybe time is super broken such that a few days in Ninjago could mean a few days in the Never-Realm OR a few decades? Or it is just time travel and Glen doesnât want to give that away in advance. Interested to see what they go with.
hoping thatâs Akita in the latest teaser but you wonât make me forget when everyone thought Jay was in the Season 2 Part 1 teaser (it was Nya). that formling is clearly brown and until I see confirmation Iâm not getting my hopes up
genuine q what was the point of the ras-nokt fight in S3 E9. what did it accomplish?
showed us that Nokt is very powerful. something we already know and is irrelevant bc in about 3 minutes Thunderfang will kill him with 0 difficulty)
showed us that Ras is weak. heâs our main villain and heâs bested in about 2 seconds by someone whose main victory this season was causing a train to crash. ras doesnât accept his loss w dignity eitherâ heâs slowly crawling away from Nokt before Arin saves him
gives an excuse for Arin to feel responsible for Thunderfangâs release, since him rescuing Ras leads to the FF stealing the blades. this is brought up once after Thunderfang is defeated and never mentioned after that even though Thunderfang continues to be a threat
doesnât provide an exciting battle to watch because we cut away right as it starts and cut back as it ends
Was it established as canon that there can only be one elemental master of a given element at one time before Dragons Rising?
Per Seabound Ray is no longer a master of fire (since it was passed down to Kai) but Hands of Time shows that siblings can wield the same element (and the whole âKai and Skylor are relatedâ thing came from Kai believing that she was also a Master of Fire). Not sure if Iâm forgetting something obvious though.
