Mandate

This is ultimately the way every season of NINJAGO pans out. Self-contained, with no actual effect on anything whatsoever, with everything introduced never returning again. Rebooted, the Tournament of Elements, Possession... it's not that that's a bad thing, it's just that they're really rubbing it in this time.

Well that was disappointing.

Let me guess. Garmadon and everyone else from the Cursed Realm didn't actually die (thus leading into next season), but instead returned to Ninjago as Djinn Slayers, who are part of an elite movement based on human supremacy. Jay, realizing the threat they pose to Nya now that she's married to Nadakhan, wishes that they were all dead. But because you cannot wish that someone was dead, Nadakhan turns Garmadon, Chen and everyone else into zombies, and the season ends on the cliffhanger that the ninja must fight undead ghost Nazi Djinn-slaying zombies. EDIT: Oh for crying out loud, would it kill people NOT to spoil the episode in the thumbnail and title?!

You forget that in their NRG forms, Kai could fly and Zane could levitate. Besides, the power of flight isn't related to wind anyway: case in point every moment Kai, Jay, or another ninja used their powers to fly. It's also not silly at all that an elemental power can "die out". It creates a real threat to the Elemental Masters and shows why it's important that they survive; Ninjago's guardians are few in number and if they fall, their power is lost forever. The problem is that most of them don't help out when they're otherwise needed. ...what? Since when has Lloyd at any point in canon ever been referred to as holding the power of nature, and since when has he ever controlled plant life?

Might want to fix your spoiler tags. I had forgotten he was in there too, I wonder how many characters we know are trapped?

Seriously? Cole is understandable (even if his new lightning scar makes him Harry Potter), but Jay? Really, LEGO? I can't believe they won't stop making new faces that no one asked for. Jay doesn't even need a new face, if anyone does it's Nya.

For those who want to know who the "old friends" are, it's: As for the rest of episode 63:

I think there's a difference between forgetting and "forgetting" to include it Jay's wind powers have only been seen once in all 62 episodes. They're not really important at all. You could say they've been retconned, but there's nothing that specifically contradicts it (especially given Jay's true history). It's eventually just going to be swept under the rug completely like Wrong Place, Wrong Time and any later references to that episode.

You're both under the assumption I wanted full accuracy to the show version, which I most certainly never stated. My problem with the set stems from the fact that it strays too far from the design philosophy of the show version. All I expected LEGO to do was to take the show design, shorten it down so that it was at maximum four floors + roof, and packed with features, with a reasonable amount of accuracy in the details, with some embellishment to give it market appeal. I'll do a drawing, or something, soon enough to show what I think would have been the better choice, but I'm too tired to right now. Except that I don't hate any of the "villain gang up" sets that we've seen. I like the new vehicle for Cole, I like the Titanium Tumbler, I like the new Stealth Raider, and to an extent I like Ronin's mech. The only thing I dislike is the villain side and the Skybound sets. I apologize about the theoretical sets thing, I didn't see your point at the time and now I do. First two games that come to mind are the Halo Anniversaries. Halo CE Anniversary came out on the same day the original did ten years before, and the Master Chief Collection came out just two days after the ten year anniversary of Halo 2. But that's exactly it, you're justifying LEGO bringing back the Skulkin, Stone Warriors, Nindroids and Chen under the pretense that they are still relevant, when they aren't. The last time we saw the Skulkin was in the first half of 2012, and in the show more than 50 episodes ago. The Stone Warriors exist presumably leaderless and locked up in Kryptarium, they aren't any threat to NINJAGO anymore. The Nindroids were demolished, scrapped or repurposed into a security variant, as far as we know the "evil" version no longer exists (and if they do, they are leaderless and no threat). Chen and his Anacondrai died twice within eleven episodes. They really aren't relevant to the story anymore, they had a time and a place that has passed. At the very least characters like Kruncha and Nuckal would be immediately more recognizable than Frakjaw and Krazi, especially since Krazi stole Jestro's hat. Point is, none of who they brought back are relevant. They're just randomly chosen elements of NINJAGO's history regurgitated to fill shelf space. The Blacksmith Shop is near unrecognizable to Four Weapons, however. That's what makes it a better candidate than, say, the Temple of Fire, Fortitude, Light, Airjitzu,etc. But they'd be in "flashback" sets. No worse than the Toa Hagah, and coincidentally they actually were 5th anniversary sets. And I had initially stated that: That includes Garmadon, even if you said I didn't need to. Chen's died twice. Samukai is already dead, and went poof creating a portal to another dimension and now we've got magic dimension-hopping tea and crystals. Again, still a better choice than two random nobodies that never appeared in any meaningful capacity. Kruncha and Nuckal really would have been the appropriate and superior choice for anniversary sets. Who said he needed to be evil in the show? Pythor didn't do anything evil in season 4 and yet he was still sided with the baddies in the sets, and yet he was the entire reason the villains were defeated. Well, considering this entire wave's collectibles are either Djinn Blades or recycled older collectibles... what about these? One of whom died in the same way another character survived death, and we're talking about a wave where a ghost, two skeletons and a man who's died twice have returned. Death really isn't an issue in NINJAGO. Except that they could have made a set revolving around the elemental masters that would appear in next season. I don't know about you, but I don't really feel like discussing this anymore. Editing takes half an hour and cross-checking in another tab, and ultimately it's not going to make LEGO do anniversary sets the way I think would be right. Anyway, I bought Tiger Widow Island today. After a rather annoying amount of dealing with LEGO's Australian inflation and unneeded retail markups (when everything else was discounted ) I'm happy to say that it's worth every cent. I'm not finished building it at the time of writing this, but I love it already. It's larger than I expected, but Dogshanks is smaller than I expected. The temple simply looks gorgeous, and Wu's wash tub ballon is simply adorable, and I'm surprised at how well he fits inside it. Lloyd's variation of the Sword of Souls looks fantastic, and for one I'm glad that they color-coordinated the swords on a character. Ghost Cole looks much better with silver swords than gold, and I like the new armor pads more than I thought I would.

We're not discussing a theoretical wave. We're discussing an actual wave we've already seen final images of most sets. That's not even relevant to the discussion, Rebooted actually did do something new. These aren't. There's a reason why we celebrate anniversaries on the day they happen than five months later. No, it really isn't. I think the word you're looking for is not "relevant", but "around" and "anymore". If you do truly mean the word "relevant" then I'm not sure how you can call the random appearance of two skulkin relevant and a location such as the Four Weapons Blacksmith irrelevant. Or the evil Nindroids, or the Stone Army, or Chen. Every one of these things had their time in the story and ha no actual need to return, and any return is already going to be out of place by your own standards. But very well, I'll go through my list and explain them. Four Weapons Blacksmith: Not destroyed, still viewed occasionally. As for the plot, the Lighthouse is a perfect example of how it could return. Young Garmadon: As you said, flashback character. He can return at any time. Young Wu: Flashback character, and more usable than Garmadon in the story because the older version isn't dead yet. Garmadon: If Chen can come back, Garmadon can too. Samukai: Had an appearance (of a kind) in the very first moments of the new season, that's anniversary celebration as it is. Kruncha and Nuckal: Still make their appearance every now and again, and they're easily better choices for returning characters than Krazi and Frakjaw. Skales: Still alive, last time we heard. Along with every other serpentine because none of them actually died. For you argument against him, Soto and Yang are perfect examples of characters who are far less prominent than Skales, yet returned anyway. The Samurai Mech: IIRC one version still exists in the story, and if we can get a new Destiny's Bounty or Sonic Raider then why not the Samurai Mech as well? Ultra Dragon: See Samurai Mech The Golden Weapons: While not relevant to the story, the least we could have seen was each one getting a variant like the Sword of Fire. Throw in Young Garmadon, Young Wu and then you've got all you need for an exclusive anniversary set. Overlord Dragon: The Overlord had a far more ambiguous death than Chen did, and I'm sure the writers could come up with some reason for him returning like this. He'd make a far better villain too. The Elemental Masters: I don't know about you, but 10 people running around with elemental powers, one of whom was a fairly developed character, is still very relevant to future plots. There is no reason for them not to return, and people are already speculating they're going to in this season. The only one I can't justify is Borg Tower. But what you've just said makes no sense. The little blacksmith LEGO released in 2011 hardly qualifies as the Four Weapons blacksmith, which is the only one you've presented a reasonable case for in that it's a building. The Samurai Mech does not necessarily need Samurai X around, the story behind it could simply be a prototype Nya was working on before Wu told her no. As for Ultra Dragon, if the way dragons reach adulthood is by morphing into a giant four-headed albino dragon, there's no reason there could be no further changes or mutations.

But it's not a celebration of the fifth anniversary. These sets are the second wave, not the first, so they've completely missed the deadline. And if these are to celebrate NINJAGO, then they've done it completely wrong. None of this stuff is classic or memorable at all. Frakjaw and incorrect Krazi? Chen and his knock-off Anacondrai? I'm actually having to recheck the images because of how forgettable the villains are. But it's just some random Nindroids and a few Stone Warriors, which is fine, I guess. But there's so much more that they could have done if they were celebrating NINJAGO's five years. Like: The Four Weapons Blacksmith Young Garmadon Young Wu Garmadon Samukai Kruncha and Nuckal Skales The Samurai Mech Ultra Dragon The Golden Weapons A show accurate Lighthouse. Overlord Dragon Cyrus Borg Borg Tower Pixal Any one of the ten+ elemental masters we never saw And instead we get a handful of Nindroids, two skulkins (of whom one is incorrect), a new Ultra Sonic Raider and... Chen. Sure, there's a purple ninja but that's not exactly celebrating anything from NINJAGO that happened before the fifth anniversary. They had mountains of opportunities, sets, etc to choose from and that's what we get. I think it's pretty obvious this wave came about soley because the movie was delayed. With any luck they might actually look good in the sets, but I'm worried about the hoods.

The answer to who the Master of Wind should be clear: there simply isn't one. Unless the parent of Morro who bore the same powers is still alive (and has no living elemental relatives) the power of wind has died off.

Interesting find. I wish LEGO had have done a version that goes on studs first, though. It's a lighthouse made of stone with Japanese traits, not that hard to fit the definition. But really, it could hardly be further from the actual lighthouse itself without becoming something else entirely. The color palette is wrong, instead of blues and greys they've replaced it with reds, browns and light grey. The lower and middle floors have been revamped after a pagoda (when really only the first floor needed it), the top floor has been split into two wooden floors with spindly supports and no table flipping function, the entire basement floor has been turned into a cave system and there has never been a dock, a mailbox or a radio antenna. They didn't even do the front door correctly. It's grown on me a bit, but I can't say I like it when I know what it's meant to convey. If I didn't know this was meant to be the Lighthouse from the show, I never would never have realized it was meant to be. Fair point, but this year has had the distinct markings of a very low budget. Only three (potentially four with that new chain, but that might not be exclusive) new parts introduced in an entire year's worth of sets, the ninja reuse leg printing from last year in the first wave, the villains share printing and the Summer wave reuses virtually everything from a previous wave. The new suits are undeniably lifted from the very first year of sets with very minor changes, and every single one of the villains except Yang has had either little or no changes from what can be seen. I can't think of any reason for why they've gone so cheap this year, other than that they siphoned off most of the budget in order to delay the NINJAGO movie, but even that doesn't make sense. That's because they're Skybound sets. (edit: correction, only one is at this point. Nya is in Ronin's set as well) Can't say I'm liking the latest pictures. Lloyd's dragon looks like an oversized green chicken with a snake head, but Cole's vehicle isn't too bad. They're going to have to try very hard to disappoint me with the Samurai X cave, because I can't imagine how they're going to make it look anything like the show version.

Well, this is a mixed bag for me. The new Sonic Raider is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm going to make sure I get it even if it costs me my chance at a gaming PC this year. Hopefully it will have the capacity to fit the originl ninja in the cockpit(s) this time, because it looks like it might be able to and I've got no qualms with using Lloyd as cannon fodder on a bike. I do have to question how reliable the side tracks are, seeing as they're bending upwards on the exterior. Chen's Mechocondrai is cool, but simultaneously making me want to throw up. Glad to get his chair, though. Ronin's mech is pretty cool, though I don't like it very much. If I end up getting it, I'm not sure if I'll actually end up building the skeleton mech. That thing looks awful. Zane's Tumbler is... well, it's not bad. I wasn't expecting a white turtle car, and I'd like to see some better pictures before judging it too harshly. The inclusion of a Technoblade is surprising. I like Kryptarium Escape. Not the greatest set ever, but I like that we're getting Zane's hair in silver and Soto. The reuse of City police minifigs is very disappointing, and annoying. The structure itself is pretty bland. Lighthouse Siege is a disappointment, what could have been an excellent take on a classic location is almost destroyed. The only reason I'm not writing it off completely is because I haven't seen it folded up yet. Even without the comparison to the show version of the Lighthouse, I still don't like it. Hopefully the sets we haven't seen yet will be better, and will have some new molds. Seriously, we've only gotten two this entire year on top of them not only reusing prints on major and minor characters, but old prints from up to five years ago are returning. Seriously LEGO, you blow the budget on pieces BIONICLE doesn't need but you can't even spare a few new prints for NINJAGO and will bring back the original NINJAGO ninja gi torso just to avoid spending a fraction of a decent budget here?

I'm well aware of why you said Stone Army, but I'm not sure exactly why it's relevant. Cyrus Borg is a character who is permanently disabled, Nelson is a kid who broke both legs. Cyrus Borg was not only a central character to the story, but also taken over by the Overlord, possessed and even had to escape a furnace. There's no reason it cannot be Nelson if they put Cyrus Borg in situations like that, and besides, the way sets incorporate characters, functions and collectibles can be entirely different to the way the story will.

It's not Echo Zane. Pixal is a potential candidate assuming the Hageman brothers have changed their mind on her inclusion. Nelson would really just be a fanservice addition, so you're right, it's probably not him. Could just be a new character entirely. It's a 1x1 cylinder (ugh, they could have at least done a 1x1w/studs on all sides and given it arms and binoculars for eyes ), not that hard to implement in the set. Besides, it's a pretty important addition to the Lighthouse in general, it was adorable in its first appearance and I was glad to see it return in episode 62. My worst fears about the Lighthouse set are coming true, though. It's gonna be a flashy pagoda now, isn't it? EDIT: Cyrus Borg.

That's because that was made by TT Games, who are very well known for hiring the wrong actors when they couldn't be bothered to actually hire the proper ones. Honestly, I'm fine with us getting new actors/new composer for the movie so long as they're good, but if Warner Bros insists on rehiring the actors from Nindroids/SoR/Dimensions then I'm just going to wait for the movie to come out on Netflix or just appear on free TV.

He did?

Honestly, at this point the only way they could disappoint me is if Lighthouse Siege departs too far from Julien's Lightouse. I can understand taking some liberties with the building's look, but the drawings worry me that they've gone for a fancy pagoda at sea instead of a tall, dark tower.

Perhaps this is where the "Wu Cru" comes from? Jay's own motley band of misfits taking flight in the Destiny's Bounty against Misfortune's Keep?

It's a kid's show. Maybe take a moment to think as to why they chose not to put blood, guts and murder on the screen instead of a moment thinking you've pointed out a critical plot hole when you actually haven't. Because: 1) The objective is to stop Nadakhan, not kill him. This has been the goal the entire time. 2) You're assuming that four-armed floating pirate genies have biology similar to IRL humans. 3) Your wording would probably make Nadakhan literally put his organs inside your hands. Spending 20 seconds while sitting behind a computer screen at home is much different to coming up with wishes while cornered by a magic floating four armed pirate genie, surrounded by said genie's pirate army or being hunted by said genie's pirate army.

Wow. Just... wow. I can't really think of anything to say. This was just an amazing episode, this season is quickly becoming my absolute favorite. I can't imagine what they'll do to top it next season, but I look forward to it.

A step back, I feel, but it was enjoyable. Moreso on the second watch. I'd like to note that they're really digging for music we haven't heard in ages so that the soundtrack isn't looping 24/7. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like hearing the particular notes of the Skulkins when the moment is focused on the Sky Pirates. I only just found out that Nadakhan is voiced by Scott McNeil, which amazes me because I have never heard a similarity in their voices (the same cannot be said for Flintlocke and Mother Doomsday, unfortunately). Bravo to the voice actors, you've all done an amazing job with these characters.

You're acting as if they spent hours trying to draw these. They didn't. These are quite literally scribbles that took 10 minutes at most, and that's being very generous. From an artistic standpoint, they're awful. From an informative perspective, they're awful. They're not even traces of the sets (GIMP is free), they're just terrible drawings.

Wait, those were the drawings? I thought that was just random fanart from a seven year old.