Season 13 brought us a small glimpse into the kind of adventures Lily did before settling down and having Cole. One of these daring feats is the gruesome slaying of Griefbringer.
And this was probably a very scary, intense and gory battle. The flashback shows her slicing off it's wings before decapitating it. This is some dark stuff.
Now I believe that Lily told Cole this story when he was too young to remember. In wotd we learn she is quite the story teller (telling baby Cole the moon is made is cheese). She probably told him these epic heroic tales to inspire him to embrace the noble fighter she knows he is inside.
This is also probably why he was afraid of Dragons. Of course he fears the intangible and the mystical, but dragons seemed almost personal at the start. I think the tale of Griefbringer, though he did not remember it, affected his psyche.
We have good evidence to assume that Lily told these detailed and disturbing tales in The Ice Chapter. When Cole was babysitting the village children, he chose to tell them about why they were here, but he did it in a very dramatic and horrifyingly truthfull way that he made some children cry accidentally.
Cole definatly got this type of story telling and the idea that it's perfectly appropriate for children from his Mom.
HC summary
Lily told cole about her quests, but framed them in fiction as to conceal her elemental past, but gave him courage to embrace the honorable fighter hidden within him
Cole may have gotten his fear of Dragons from one of these stories
Rewatching Part one of Crystalized just makes me more enraged at the season so far. A big issue is the council having too many uninteresting and disconnected villain's. I feel there are far more relevant, competent, and interesting characters to build a season off of that are accessible in our current timeline.
I’ll run down a small list of gripes with each current member and then I’ll explain some of my choices, as well as their far more interesting relationships.
CURRENT MEMBERS
Harumi: Her arc was complete in Hunted and rewriting her death would backtrack the most impactful moment she had. Passes by just barely because she is an interesting character to explore and redeem further, but so far they reversed her to Lloyd angst instead of pursuing the far more interesting and dramatic relationship she and Pythor would share.
Aspheera: Talk about a waste of space. Her lore was contradictory to Ninjago history when it first came out in Fire chapter and I figured we were finally done and could renounce those events from the timeline. She is beyond idiotic in nature, and her motivations have always been ridiculously shallow, even to the point of satire in this new season. The only thing she can add is Wu angst that was already put to rest during the completion of his arc in Hunted and Motm (Her relation to Wu is also fairly annoying. Do the writers seriously think Wu is in the wrong, or is Aspheera simply this selfish and ignorant to her own actions?). She has no relation to any other character in the entire show and her base personality is difficult to watch at times.
The Overlord: Cool voice and all, but resurfacing this after so long with no lead up is just opening old wounds again. For the sake of structure I’ll keep him, as he is the main point of the council, but even the Crystal King is on thin ice. (My theory is Oni magic tipped the balance enough to let him escape but there has been no inclination up until now that he would return, so having him appear as the big bad feels like a poor, fanservice decision.)
The Mechanic: The worst offender. This guy is on the same level as Fugidove and Ultra Violet. They were a trio and he never “leveled up” as they say in the show. He was always a one off, or a stooge for someone stronger, smarter, more devious, or more motivated. The Mechanic on his own has no intentions, no goal or purpose. He’s literally a low level thug who wasn’t even named until season 6. If they need a Prime Empire representative, I’d much prefer a plot about a villain kidnapping Unagami, since they are essentially code that could be reprogramed. That would open up a good story for Jay and Zane to bond over together. But no. The mechanic has no reason to be this high up. He has committed nothing on his own, has a bland personality, and his metal tech should be easily defeated by Jay, who is a skilled technician with lightening powers.
Mr. E... er F: If they are not Echo Zane, it's literally dead weight. The pinnacle of nothing. Mr. E was a mysterious badass biker robot that was good friends with Harumi. They gruesomely died in front of Harumi to give her doubts about her decision. Pythor just ‘rebuilding them” without any notion of the same hard drive/soul device just means they essentially just have a nindroid drone from Rebooted on the MAIN COUNCIL. The one hope for them is if they are actually Echo Zane, like the original draft. We saw the lighthouse, and Nya very distinctly screamed “Is anybody there???” to no response, despite knowing Echo Zane exists. If Echo is not Mr F, than both that scene and the character inclusion is irritating.
Pythor: He’s fine. Always been a staple petty man just slithering around. In the Canon novel, Pythor’s Revenge, he was last seen begging the Serpentine for help in sabotaging Borg, to which he was kicked out of the caves. He’s charming, entertaining, has a long standing history with the overlord, and could have a plot with Harumi if they choose to mention it.
Skull Sorcerer: He was so forgettable I literally forgot to type him on the list until just now. Although a staple of Cole’s season (and I love that season), this role for him is disconnected from his previous appearance and practically OOC in my book. King Vangelis loves his people and created the mines to make the city prosperous. He clearly wants to protect his daughter as well. The real villain of that season is the Skull itself, which is seen to corrupt Korgran in the flashback, and is implied to mess with Vangelis’ psyche. When the skull disintegrated, he immediately begged for mercy and forgiveness. The best course of action for Vangelis is a redemption arc, since he was just a King of an isolationist country disconnected from Ninjago that partook in slavery. We can visit him in prison and he could reveal everyone who was buying from him, although it was under a codename so he has no idea who it really goes to after the middle men pick it up. Instead of this approach, I fear he will just be some boring powerless guy wearing a mask. Vangelis as the SS did not have a single interesting thing to say. it was tropey generic villain jabber and it seems they may fall back on that instead of pursing something better.
THE COOLER CRYSTAL COUNCIL.
The council I have created, along with my sister, may be too much to unpack in one grand season, but I can simply no longer ignore how boring the current members are when others out there can be justified. It is grand, yes, but even one of these additions instead of the latter inclusions would make for a more exciting season.
Pythor: The snake can stay. Forever endearing, with a background in helping the overlord and a connection to season 1, as well as the long lasting Serpentine war arc.
Clouse: He only got his time to shine in Canon Malaysian plays, and off screen in books and semi-cannon Tommy fanfictions. This man is, in the shows current lore, still out there in the Underworld. Since WotD is still a WIP, we don’t know what his end is, but for now he could be back with something as easy to get as Travelers tea. I’m sure the Overlord is quite aware of portals and proud of how Clouse succeeded in merging Ninjago back into one land using dark matter.
Harumi: If Canon is reversing her death than I suppose I can too. I can’t ignore the potential she has outside of Lloyd and the character growth she still could obtain.
Nadakhan: A bit of an OP one, but you could make it work. Wishes can be very powerful and the Overlord could see the potential. He already wanted revenge on Ninjago since they destroyed his homeland and the Overlord could easily make that happen. The Overlord is also incredibly powerful. I’m sure there are wishes and ways to keep Nadakhan in line. We know he is currently in the possession of Clutch powers, making him more a part of WildBrain than Mr E. He is also personally connected to Jaya, which was something very important from last season.
Time Twins: Lloyd says since their location is ‘unknown’ they are ruled out. I disagree. The best villains to bring up are the ones with no known location and there is no reason that the Ninja should rule out that possibility based on location alone. They just had a short reminding us of their existence. I would place them in Aspheera’s spot, serving as a reminder of Wu’s past, while also being in it for petty vengence. These two were also wronged by the Alliance and this new, darker alliance could be the push they need for redemption, as I’m a raved Twim sympathizer.
Oni Garmadon: I know he has been shown in the trailers. It would be cool if he were a spy of some sort. He gets sent the invitation as a notorious villain at the end of his journey in the Garmadon comics. Having regained some humanity, he accepts the invitation to sabotage the organization. The Overlord could help him remember the past, or at the very least his time has Lord Garmadon, which was still kinder than how he acts now.
THE RELATIONSHIP CHART
Look at all those lines. Now that’s a group of characters and not a bunch of useless bland faces about to be vessels for the Overlord. I’ll run down this list for you under the cut.
Overlord || Pythor: Old chums and business partners in crime from Rebooted.
Overlord || Clouse: Clouse used Dark Matter to merge the islands together to shift the balance.
Overlord || Twims || Nadakhan: No clear relation
Overlord || Garmadon: An old toxic dynamic. Overlord could remanipulate Garmadon and he wouldn’t remember, or he could regain his memories through this.
Overlord || Harumi: Although there is no clear relation, Harumi could have fallen in the same spot the DigiLord was defeated. This Harumi we see could be a husk possessed by the Overlord
Pythor || Clouse: Hate eachother from the events of ToE
Pythor || Twims || Harumi: The trio of serpentine trauma. Pythor released the great Devourer, which killed Harumi’s parents. Harumi doesn’t know this. The Twims used those eggs for their armada, which would anger Harumi if she found out. Pythor and the Twims most likely know eachother from the war, as he was confirmed to be there at the time. The twims would be racist towards the Anacondrai, and the reverse can be said for Pythor at the Ninjagen solders.
Pythor || Nadakhan: Both seek vengeance on the genocide of their race by Ninjago. In addition to that, both could not measure up to the standards of their culture until it was too late (making both the last survivors of their respective species).
Clouse || Twims: Chen has been all but confirmed by outside source material to be the reason the Twims attacked the monastery. Could have met as the secret apprentices to Chen during or after the war. The Twims don’t care about him, while Clouse finds Krux cute and Acronix annoying.
Clouse || Garmadon:: Clouse is a tsundere Ex to Garmadon who also legitimately despises his existence with every fiber of his being, in which Garmadon has no part in both before and after his resurrection.
Clouse || Nadakhan: Nadakhan trapped Clouse in the lamp after setting him free. Clouse has no memory of this.
Clouse || Harumi: No clear relation, but they both used dark magic from a spell book.
Twims || Garmadon: The Twims hate Garmadon. Garmadon is unaware.
Garmadon || Nadakhan: No clear relation
Garmadon || Harumi: Harumi originally set him free. She used to adore him, but after the amount of damage to the families she saw first hand she may be less inclined to simp to him. Garmadon respects her presence in a strange way.
Nadakhan || Harumi: Both have daddy issues. Both had lost their families due to the Ninja. They could simply vibe together really well.
And there’s my 100000+ word fanfiction idea I shall never write. I hope you enjoyed my salty pondering! Ninjago Villains are so interesting and to choose the blandest ones for such a cool premise is saddening. I have other Anti-Crystalized rants but I’ll leave it here for now.
After making my Garmadon AMV I noticed that Garmadon and Jay don't get along, yet are always talking to each other. They are sitting next to each other throughout ToE and are always the two engaged in intellectual debates. I think Garmadon and Jay have more friendly tension than Garm and Kai, and Kai got his true potential over giving up the notion he was destined to fight Garmadon.
Don't believe me? Here's a run down of their conversations from the Wiki transcripts.
Rise of the Serpentine
The Green ninja
JAY: Any minute, this place is gonna blow. We have to get out of here.
GARMADON: Not without my son!
The Day of the Great Devourer
GARMADON: Give me the weapons. I am the only one who can handle the power of all four weapons at once. It's the only thing that'll defeat the Devourer.
JAY: Uh, I thought we were supposed to do everything in our power not to let him possess the weapons.
JAY: (Giving him the Nunchucks of Lightning) Uh, I don't think this needs to be said, but we're gonna need these back.
GARAMADON: (Chuckles) I'll do my part. You just make sure he stays in one spot. (He laughs and runs away.)
JAY Stays in one spot? Stays in one spot!? How are we supposed to do that?
The Legacy of The Green Ninja
Jay is offended about Garmadon getting credited for their victory TWICE in two different episodes!
Darkness Shall Rise
JAY: Maybe we can get a hero discount. After all, we are the Ninja who saved the city.
PATTY KEYS: I thought Lord Garmadon saved the city.
JAY: Hmph
Pirate's Vs Ninja
JAY: Look, pal, we're the guys that just saved the city from that giant snake. (I know it was technically Cole, but it was Jay who said it in the animation and transcript so??)
DARETH: Ha! Am I looking at Lord Garmadon? Because unless I'm stupid, and I'm not, Lord Garmadon destroyed the Devourer.
JAY: Hehe. That's been a huge misunderstanding. Actually, we were the ones who dest—
Rebooted
The Art of The Silent Fist
He takes great pleasure in Jay getting hurt twice in this episode.
Yet Jay is the first one to comfort Garmadon when he sees the techno blade
The Titanium Ninja
GARMADON: Brother, do you remember when both of us were on the same team?
JAY: Uh, hey, yeah, old timers, mind paying attention? We're trying to save the world here!
Tournament of Elements
The Invitation
He cares little about Jay's sensitivities...
And he roasts him directly a few minutes later
So Jay sasses him back...
GARMADON: I swore to never return
JAY: You know, you should never swear. It's a sign of weak verbal skills
Only One Can Remain
This episode is full of Garmadon sternly correcting Jay
JAY: So this is the house that noodles built. Ha! Always wanted to go to a red carpet event.
GARMADON: Chen lives like a king. Here, he's totally self-sufficient. The only way on or off this island is with his permission, which you have to earn.
GARMADON: When I was your age, I sought a darker means of guidance. He taught me to win at all cost, no matter who I hurt. It wasn't until you saved me that I saw the light.
JAY: Uh, apparently he also never taught you to have a sense of humor. Lighten up, we're in an underground fight club. This is supposed to be fun.
Another jibe at Jay's casual nature...
JAY: Ah, just what this place needs. Creepy clowns!
GARMADON: Not clowns. Kabuki, Chen's jesters.
But he is also the one comforting his overthinking mind alot
JAY: Arrgh, it's killing me. What's under the trapdoor? What happens when you lose?
GARMADON: Don't think about that.
JAY: It's all I can think about. I moved on. I feel guilt. These are not good feelings.
Versus
He does this same thing again next episode...
GARMADON: You can't undo what's been done. My only advice is to be at peace with it.
JAY: Peace? One of us has to lose! Oh, my gosh. It's totally gonna be me. He's got super strength and what do I have? Quick, tell me! What do I have!?
Ninja Roll
Here's the two once again willingly siting next to each other.
The Greatest Fear of All
Garmadon shuts down Jay's sarcasm again...
JAY: What ever happened to "we fight as one?"
GARMADON: This isn't a vote, Jay. This is stopping the end of our world as we know it.
March of the Oni
NYA: What do you want?
GARMADON: Absolutely nothing :)
(yes even he and oni garm are at cheeky odds)
Findings
Garmadon and Jay are both, for lack of a better word, Rude. Not that they mean to be, but they are both very outspoken about what they believe in and they are confident enough to call out BS when they see it. They both are very analytical and this is also where the two differ greatly.
Garmadon looks at a situation, sees what can be done within the situation and can command others to the plan of action but Jay is much less direct. Jay is an overthinker and although both Garmadon and Jay are pessimistic, Garmadon's pessimism comes from experience whilst Jay’s from overthinking the outcomes. Garmadon looks for more what can be done NOW while Jay thinks about all the ways the future will be affected, leaving the two at odds on how to solve a situation.
Jay also copes with stress much differently than Garmadon. He tries to add lightheartedness into moments that may not typically welcome it and is laid back when it comes to situations he doesn’t try to fully understand. Garmadon doesn’t like this attitude. He’s much more serious and disregards this typically as stupid or ignorant.
Since I was curious I looked into Myers Briggs 16 personalities for the two and came up with Jay as an ENTP (debater) and Garmadon as an ENTJ (Commander), both stubborn analytical types so It makes perfect sense the two would be at odds quite often.
Bit of a strange topic but when you notice some of your favorite characters trash talking each other a lot you gotta point it out and write an essay about it right??
Metalonia: Economic structure, culture, and other theories
So season 13 was AMAZING for cole development (my boy finally knows that he can move rocks at a distance I'm so proud), and apon rewatching it I noticed details about Metalionia and built a small theory about the land.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
So we get to see Metalonia from the questionable flashback of Korgran.
Here we learn a bit about the culture, garb, and architecture of Metalonia. They all seem to wear variants of metal armor, all with a particular emphasis on this pattern on the doorway above.
It seems this insignia is on most if not all metal from Metalonia, perhaps a national symbol or flag?
The chief we meet gives us insight on the economic structure of the place too.
"Son, why do you insist on speaking in third person? I know you think it makes you sound more barbaric. But all I hear is a lack of education"
This tells us alot.
One
No. There's not a Metalonian language. I figured since Metalonia may be far away (a twitter map endorsed by Tommy Andreasen says its really south), ninjagan would be a second language making it hard to master. But they speak pure ninjagan
Two
Fighter types like Karlof are lower class citizens. They have less access to education and are probably rather fighters or builders. Karlof mentions building from blueprints back home in ToE so it's safe to say he's most likely a blue collar worker. Korgran, unlike Karlof, insisted in speaking in third person to appear stronger and I bet It's actually quite offensive for the son of a rich man to purposefully speak like his uneducated people.
Theories/Thoughts
There is a cultural divide in Metalonia between old and new. Older pooer citizens like Karlof are more prone to fighting and have less education, but strong core values. He mentions in SoG that:
"In metalonia, it is not polite to scare weak man"
Barbarian types want the challenge, and I bet scaring the week would seem stupid and unproductive.
This chief and Korgran are richer. They seem more inconsiderate and brash, the father caring deeply with his son being seen as a lower class citizen and Korgran pretending to be the poor barbarian like a more traditional Metalonian without any concern for others. This richer man seems less likely to participate in fights outside, opting instead to count money inside.
Karlof is defiantly a low class citizen. He builds materials for selling and has a strong sense of structure and morality. He falls into a lower class mindset in economic Media Literacy Theories, believing the system cannot be changed and gives up on it easily. He never tried to escape by himself during ToE and HoT, instead accepted the fate and began doing whatever his captor told him to.
IS COLE PART METALONIAN?
Ever since I've rewatched Motm, I wonder about Lily's heritage and I think she's part Metalonian, or at least her ancentors are from that region.
Looking at his Grandfather (Master of Earth whom I’ll just call “Moe”), his garb doesn't seem like modern Metalonian outfits in the fact that it's not all metal. It has very similar belt structure and the helment and facial structure make me think he's at least from that area. We never see the master of Metal so maybe Metalonia is still a new forming country? This was 40 years ago so things could have changed wherever he is from.
Now lily has some interesting detailing on her statue. The flashback may show her has a ninja, but the statue is what she actually looked like as it was crafted by Geckles and and Munts after seeing her (I know some comics display her as a “Ninja” but those also have some inconsistencies with when Cole was born and I really doubt Lily wore Ninja robes originally judging by her fathers outfit).
Notice anything about the armor? It had that same swirl insignia on Metalonian metal and the same structure. It's hard to tell If she has any sort of helmet but the swirls on the chestplate and belt make me think Metalonia. Her father could have been a lower class citizen before the country became known for metal, since the youngest form of metal is rock (earth). He moved to the outskirts of Ninjago city to help the resistance and then had Lily sometime after the war. She would've grown up with ninjagan cultures and have normal speech, but would keep some artifacts from her ancestors weather she knows about them or not.
It's also interesting to note that Moe was quick to believe Chen's lies and turned on the alliances. Perhaps his barbaric and fighter class plus his poor education could've lead to this. Lily also has that fighting mentality, encouraging Cole to keep fighting and standing up for the little guys. It is, afterall, not polite to scare the weak in Metalonia.
I think it's also interesting that Cole was first to befriend Karlof and is usually seen when Metalonia is mentioned. He crosses paths with him in ToE, Wotd, and HoT. And in his own season he meets Korgran, who remarks that he will keep soup ready incase Cole would visit him in Metalonia. This metal/earth connection could be explored like with Nya moving the water inside Ice, Cole could learn to move the ground inside metal (Like Toph).
These are just some rambles though. What do you think? Could Cole have Metalonian heratige? Will we ever actually go to Metalonia?
