Plot concepts/canon divergences
Continuation of this post over there.
01 - Masters of Spinjitzu
The pilot season. As mentioned there are not major changes in overall plot, however I am adding in an episode [called “A Brother’s Shadow”] to cover what’s going on with Nya in the Underworld since we literally never see what all went down between when she was captured and when she was chained up in the Fire Temple.
Also I will be giving plot to the mini movies, which tacks an additional 5 episodes [“New Masters of Spinjitzu” is getting thrown in the fire] onto the season, making it a nice round 10 episodes.
Season 1. As mentioned it’s not overly different from the original, though there will be seeding for concepts I introduce later, such as Lloyd’s aunt Koko and the Kagami family of professional dancers.
03 - Legacy of the Green Ninja
Season 2. Lloyd’s aunt Koko is introduced in the same episode Misako is, and she participates in shenanigans from then onwards for the season.
Also I will try to come up with some explanation of Dr. Julien leaving Echo on the Lighthouse so he’s not an utterly Terrible Parent™.
Season 3. Hopefully I can try to iron out/rectify most of the pacing issues they had, as the show was going to be 4 episodes, then 13, then 8, and you can kinda tell with the way the plot’s tempo fluctuates.
Also there will be reference to Koko having traversed Hiroshi’s Labyrinth because she’s Like That™. Koko might get involved in the season, but if so it will be towards the end.
Also also Cryptor won’t be blown[frozen?] to bits exactly, there will be salvageable remnants of him left for reasons To Be Seen.
05 - Tournament of the Elements
Season 4. The Ninja board Chen’s ship to find shock! horror! Koko is here for some reason! She’s then revealed to be the Master of Sand, which is why she’s so helpful on Misako’s digs.
We’re also introduced to Viridian Kagami, another oc and the alleged Master of Glass, though strangely no one actually witnesses him using his element...
Oh and at the end I add a reference to Skylor having a little brother.
Season 5. Koko gets involved once word reaches her of Lloyd being possessed and she spends most of the season helping Misako figure shit out because those two are Nerd Siblings™.
Also two other original characters are introduced/referenced:
Cerulea Kagami, or just Lea, who was kicked out of the Kagami family of professional dancers for breaking a mirror [It Makes Sense In Context™]and was promptly adopted as a sister by Ronin;
and Kaiya Mori, Ronin’s biological daughter who’s only really mentioned in passing. She is roughly Nya’s age and, as her name literally means “forgiveness”, has a lot to do with the mistakes Ronin references making.
Season 6. Still haven’t rewatched it [which I really should do] but I did some critical thinking about the ending and decided to completely rework it. Functionally the season holds the same narrative space, but I found it kinda counterintuitive that in the season where it’s heavily emphasized wishes do not solve problems, the entire season is fixed with a very poorly-worded wish.
So instead Jay does not make a final wish, but the plot is resolved by other means. If y’all are curious I will gladly explain the Shenanigans™ there, but I don’t want to spoil it quite yet.
08 - Escape from Tera Uragiri
The first [of many] of my fan seasons. As previously explained it is inspired by Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. and tells how the Imperial Family of Ninjago got the Mask of Deception before Sons of Garmadon: Ronin.
Also introduces Fugi-Dove 5 seasons before his first canon appearance because a friend suggested it as a joke and I cannot say no to the bird man.
The second fan season. Features Ronin accidentally adopting Echo Zane and Echo joining the Ninja’s funky family.
Also features Jay and Nya explaining what the hell was Skybound.
The holiday special. I’m throwing in Li’l Nelson to help Cole, because evidently the writers originally planned on it based on his presence in the sets.
And Yang doesn’t get a redemption because that man’s motives make no sense [why are you afraid of getting forgotten when you know for a fact you’re well known for creating a martial art? You literally possessed the portrait of you hanging in the museum, there’s no way you think no one remembers you] so instead Morro sticks around and helps yeet Cole through the Rift [and maybe accidentally crosses it himself...].
Also, I really didn’t get why Pythor hopped on the murder train so quick when he has no reason to do so, and instead changed it to Pythor trying to warn Lloyd of the Shenanigans™ [much like Morro] purely to spite Chen for culturally appropriating his tribe and wearing their remains as a hat. He still almost gets killed by Lloyd because he’s proven himself Untrustworthy™.
Season 7. There’s...a lot of pacing issues in this season, and the dialogue kinda suffers throughout, so hopefully I can fix those things. For once, Koko is not likely to be around.
Also there will be episodes about Dareth and Ronin post-Dareth breaking Ronin’s leg because Dareth found this anemic emo teen in the street and decided to adopt him. Yes it is Morro, and no he is not happy because he Did Not sign up for mortality again.
No idea if this season is canon or not frankly, but it’s a thing, so. I’m just adding Echo to it pretty much.
Though now that I think about it this might be when I have Echo give Gizmo/Tai-D [that adorable glorified roomba tea bot Dr. Julien had at the Lighthouse] an upgrade in body and sentience, and he has now become a young child with built-in rollerskates who likes to help fix things.
Unlike Zane and Echo [and PIXAL I guess] Gizmo isn’t big on the whole fighting thing and would rather stay at the Monastery, but heaven help you if you try to attack the Monastery because there’s now a devious robotic Kevin McAllister living there.
The third fan season where I stole the concept from The Fire That Burns Too Brightly. It’s on AO3, go read it.
Gist is Kai gets a stalker who’s trying to destroy the Element of Fire and murder Kai for Personal Trauma Reasons™ and Lloyd contemplates Murder™.
The shiny new fourth fan season. Stole this concept from an AI actually, a TannerFishies YouTube video where he was generating potential Ninjago seasons.
So the pitch is that one of the 16 Realms is just the Old West, from whence originates the villainous Talon, an outlaw of some ilk that the Ninja have to defeat. Talon is based on Great Horned Owls, which makes him rather terrifying to be frank.
Also this will be a Nya/Koko focus season because I didn’t realize I didn’t have those yet.
Oh and there will be a wonderful episode called “Holstergeist” [stole that from Reddit] where the Ninja tried to get help by bringing back ghosts in the Caves of Despair from the prospecting era [got that idea from tumblr’s very own drawtice].
Season 8. There’s now a total of 6 Oni Masks, 3 Greater and 3 Lesser. The Greater 3 are those from the show - Deception, Vengeance, and Hatred - while the Lesser 3 are similar concepts - Fear, Cruelty, and Corruption. There are also 6 Dragon Amulets, one to counter each Mask as follows: Deception/Loyalty, Vengeance/Forgiveness, Hatred/Compassion, Fear/Bravery, Cruelty/Kindness, Corruption/Justice.
Also there’s a 4th general amongst the Sons of Garmadon called Tempest; no one’s really sure where he came from, but he never takes off his mask. He just casually showed up with the Mask of Cruelty as well [that’s not the mask he wears constantly] and he won’t tell where he got it.
Oh and the Falcon mysteriously vanishes.
Season 9. Lea and Koko join Lloyd’s resistance, and about halfway through the season Tempest just disappears on the Sons to Harumi’s great befuddlement because they’d been Bonding™.
Not really sure what Echo’s role in this will be, so that needs to be ironed out.
Also Morro finally reveals his alive-ness to [what remains of] the Ninja, which nearly gets him drowned by Nya. He’s captured by the Sons of Garmadon before the other Ninja return from the First Realm, which is really fun because he just pops up after the jail break and all the OG Ninja have a freak-out before Lloyd and Nya can explain It’s Okay, He’s Chill Now.
Season 10. Definitely adjusting the pacing because so much happened in so little time. Totally having an entire episode dedicated to the introduction of the Oni and calling it “The Bringers of Doom” because kickass melodrama is the flavor of the day.
Also Echo and Morro have been added, and Morro very nearly yeets himself off the Bounty when Cole falls, only not also falling into the cloud because Jay catches him by the collar, because up to this point Cole was the Ninja closest with Morro and he was Not about to lose his Only Friend™.
Also also the Falcon reappears, now in a shiny new body as another sentient Nindroid but with wings because bird go brr and calling himself Merlin. He helps evacuate people and integrates into the group after the Oni shenanigans.
18 - Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu: The Fire Chapter
Season 11, part 1. Gizmo and PIXAL become best friends building stuff together and Merlin helps them sometimes.
Unlike the other Ninja, Morro did not go out of shape and thus is not being harassed by Wu. In fact, he’s definitely helping Wu prank everyone.
Kai isn’t super out of shape, as, post-reforging the Golden Weapons, he’s taken up blacksmithing again and has in fact made all the Ninja’s weapons. He has been slacking off in the combat training, however.
Lloyd also isn’t completely out of shape I feel, but he is definitely slacking somewhat.
Oh and, while Echo and Gizmo stay behind, Merlin is definitely going into the Never-Realm to get his brother back.
19 - Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu: The Ice Chapter
Season 11, part 2. Morro actually kinda enjoys the Never-Realm because he Does Not like really hot environments. Sorla gives him some advice about the PTSD this man clearly has, and I might have him go after Cole to find the Traveller’s Tree because Only Friend™. Also this is where we learn he has Iron Deficiency Anemia because he starts fainting and such. Not a fun time.
Merlin has Bonding Time™ with all the Ninja and proves to be really useful as a flyer.
Also Echo helps PIXAL during the episode with the Preeminent, but he’s incapacitated so she still gets her dramatic I’m The Only Line Of Defense moment.
Season 12. Somehow Jay’s mother Liberty is being used for Prime Empire, I’m just not sure how. Also the season might start earlier, with Jay getting a letter from his hitherto-unknown sister Ivy Gordon asking for help to find their missing mom.
Also not sure how Echo and Merlin will fit into this season, but I’ll figure it out. Merlin is going to be very pissed when the Mechanic abducts Zane.
Morro enters Prime Empire and probably dies between Cole/Kai and Lloyd. Also he gets an alt avatar form that just looks like the depressed teenage offspring of Hot Topic.
21 - Master of the Mountain
Season 13. Morro ends up with Zane and Kai among the Geckles, and his anemia comes up again because the glop shit they’re given does not contain enough iron to keep this man conscious. Oh and during the whole Trial by Mino thing, Morro’s just Jedi Flipping™ over the thing to keep from getting gored while Kai and Zane try to dodge. And he’s probably the one who makes the slug fly down the ice slick.
Likely to add some episodes about what’s going on at the Monastery like how they did in the Ice Chapter, covering the jailbreak that supposedly happens before the Island.
The fifth fan season. Focuses on Morro and features Clouse as the villain, actually revealing his familial origins. Takes place on Chen’s Island and Much Shenaniganry™ occurs.
Not all of the Ninja are present for it, as Kai is visiting his parents and Cole is visiting Lou.
Also Lea is there looking for Ronin because he’s mysteriously vanished while out trying to catch escaped inmates from Kryptarium and she’s worried about him. And this is when it’s finally revealed that Viridian from all the way back in Tournament is not, in fact, the Master of Glass, but rather Lea is. After the Shenaniganry™, Lloyd offers for her to join the Ninja so she can better master her element and she accepts.
Either a miniseries or season 14, people count it differently. Lea is now officially one of the team, but they have not yet found her missing adoptive brother [Ronin].
Oh and Koko was on the expedition team with Misako and Wu and Clutch, and she’s Very Much Done with Clutch’s Shit™.
When they find the fake Wojira there’s still the bit like this:
Lloyd: Who do we know that uses weird vehicles to get his way?
Lea: Ronin!
Lloyd: Actually I was gonna say the Mechanic, but that works too--
But instead of ending there it deviates slightly
Lea: No, I mean--Ronin!
And we get the reveal that Ronin had been captured by these hooligans while doing his bounty hunting and in fact the real mastermind was the Mechanic, who is then sent to prison while Ronin’s taken to a hospital.
The sixth fan season, and Lea’s focus. The city has finally gotten its act together long enough to elect the Kagami family as the new Imperial Family of Ninjago after Harumi nuked her parents. This upsets Lea, because that is the family that cast her out.
Much Shenaniganry™ occurs, though like in Malediction only a few of the Ninja are here:
Jay and Nya are visiting with Jay’s family [Ed and Edna but also Liberty and his sister Ivy]
Lloyd has been kidnapped by Koko to go off adventuring in some remote jungle somewhere
And Zane, Merlin, Echo, and Gizmo have gone off to Do a Thing in honor of their late father Dr. Julien, with PIXAL coming along with.
Lea and Cole have a lot of Bonding™ as we learn about their shared history at the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts, and Lea’s family tries to have her assassinated because Reasons™. Dragon Amulets are found and used.
Also there’s a big fancy Imperial Ball that happens so Morro wears a dress to hide more knives on his person and Kai wears a dress because he’s a Fashion Victim™ and not to be outdone.
Season 14 or 15 depending on how you count. Morro’s powers start going wacky just like Nya’s, and he goes with them in the HydroBounty but Does Not have a Fun Time because thalassophobia/aquaphobia residual from his Ghosty Days.
Merlin, Echo, Gizmo, and Lea all vibe at the Monastery with Kai, Ray, and Cole and have an absolute blast.
Also, after Kai calls Maya and she starts annoying Nya, Misako suggests that since Ronin helped her figure her powers out the first time Nya should call Ronin. So she does, and now Maya and Ronin are competitively trying to help her.
When Nya goes to merge with the sea, Morro follows her and merges with the sky. While Nya has her nifty water dragon form he has a white tiger form. Also he’s not got the same ‘call of the sea’ thing Nya has going on, so he mostly maintains his identity’s integrity.
The seventh fan season covering shenanigans between Seabound and Crystallized.
So, much like how Nyad had also previously merged with the sea, there’s an elemental Master of Wind who had merged with the sky before Morro had and was semi-stuck in the white tiger form. He causes shit [and is the reason Jay ends up at the lighthouse]. No one has a good time.
27 - Crystallized, Part I
Season 15-16, part 1. Morro is also un-merged with his element, though in the process a giant white tiger also pops into existence; the other Wind Elemental. Koko names him Benji and he’s a menace once he wakes up but is thoroughly perplexed by Koko, She Who Has No Fear, enough that he actually listens to her commands because whoever has the audacity to tell a tiger “Bad kitty! Sit!” is worthy of respect.
Ronin is still in prison in this season, but that’s because he broke into places to find a way to fix Nya. He’s quite relieved to hear that she’s okay now.
The whole scene where Lloyd convinces an inmate to be better still happens, but rather than be Ronin, it’s someone else: namely Eugene Chen, or Gene as the Darkly’s kids knew him, Skylor’s younger brother that was fleetingly foreshadowed by me in Tournament. While Sky took over the noodle production, he took over the crime syndicate. Lloyd convinces him to Do Better, and Gene sneaks out of Kryptarium the same time Pythor’s busted out.
Speaking of, the Crystal Council actually tries to recruit Nadakhan [the alt timeline had been explained by the Ninja in a press conference so it’s common knowledge by now] but he declined for reasons to do with how I end Skybound, so they opt for their second choice: Pythor. Pythor also declines initially, but he’s strong-armed into it by them taunting him with information on his son, Clancee.
Also I’ve made Clancee be Pythor’s son by the way.
28 - Crystallized, Part II
Season 15-16, part 2. So firstly when the Crystal Council comes for the Golden Weapons, I’m changing the assignment slightly. Pythor gets the Shurikens of Ice [and fights Nya in the finale] while the Mechanic gets the Nunchucks of Lightning [and fights Jay in the finale].
Morro’s in the same boat as Nya on the power loss front and is with her, Wu, Skylor, PIXAL, Echo, and Gizmo when the Monastery’s blown up.
Lea and Merlin are with Cole, Kai, Zane, and Jay in the subway. Koko was at Domu with Misako because Nerd Siblings™.
Garmadon’s subplot with Lloyd is changed.
Also there’s a whole subplot about the relationship between Ultra Violet and the Mechanic and it’s kinda sad.
Only the OG Ninja get fancy new vehicles, so Lea, Koko, and Morro were all on the Bounty when it went down. Echo, Merlin, and Gizmo were all with PIXAL and Skylor in the Sam X cave for those shenanigans.
Lea, Koko, and Morro end up navigating the city together. Merlin, Echo, PIXAL, and Skylor all entered city separately to try and avoid detection. PIXAL found Zane first and then Merlin found her, Zane, and the inmates at Borg Tower later. Echo ended up with Jay and Nya.
During the Distress Calls sequence, while Lloyd leaves a message for the Serpentine, Cole tries to broadcast to Shintaro, and Nya sends fish to Merlopia, Morro has the wacky idea to message the Never-Realm and manages to contact Sorla with magic Bansha taught him, while Kai suggest calling Faith for help and Wu does so with some Traveller’s Tea one of the paperkids found.
In the ‘allies unite’ sequence, in addition to everyone who shows up, Gene appears with his crew of criminals, Nadakhan appears with his Sky Pirates, Akita and Kataru pop out of a portal from the Never-Realm, and Faith flies in on Firstbourne with some of her Dragon Riders.
The OG Ninja are the only ones who can do the Dragon Form since they’re the sub-elements of Creation, and when they release their powers it just gives Lloyd the Golden Power again instead of making a gold dragon for him to ride that just disappears at the end because my god that was so dumb...
Harumi is sent to prison for her various atrocities, along with most of the Crystal Council. Vania does come to collect her father and take him back to Shintaran prison. Also we finally find out that Mr. F/Mr. E is actually the rebuilt remains of Cryptor that I hinted at in Rebooted. And also that the Sons of Garmadon general Tempest was secretly Morro all along.
The inmates who helped [Ronin, Killow, Ultra Violet, and Fugi-Dove] all get their sentences changed so they can do ‘public service’ instead and they end up working at Skylor’s noodlehouse since Skylor becomes a full-time Ninja. Killow cooks, Fugi-Dove does waitressing, and Ultra Violet handles customer service while Ronin supervises them.
The Sons of Garmadon [Harumi, Killow, Ultra Violet, Mr. F, and Morro] have a very messy and complicated reunion, but they all work out their grudges and rebuild their friendships, with everyone agreeing to work for good from now on.
Pythor is reunited with Clancee after centuries. Akita and Kataru decide to stay in Ninjago while Faith returns to her realm.
The story doesn’t end there, I’ve just not worked out everything following that.
