Mandate

No, this is the Fourth Season. Season One were the pilot episodes, Season 2 was Rise of the Snakes - Day of The Great Devourer while Season 3 was Darkness Shall Rise - Rise of the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master. Season Four will be The Surge - ??? Anyway, if we're lucky we'll get another Season by the end of the year. But right now they're laying down the framework for the current Season. Plot is brilliant right now, some pacing would be good though. Just slowing down a tad in-between scenes is all that's needed.

[spoilerS] What I'm more interested in is that Overlord has a... coffin. And it doesn't look like it will take much of Lloyd's power to convert him back from the digital realm. I have a feeling Misako will be captured and that will make Lloyd angry and use his powers. Sad to see Misako and Dareth take some low roles, and it's insanely disappointing to know Ultra Dragon and Ultra Sonic Raider will take minimal part in this season for no real reason. Showing off everything seems absurd right now, but I hope they'll have a 26 episode year again. Really though this isn't new, every one of the 2012 wave 1 sets was in the show by Episode 3. EDIT: I was relooking over the first episode... I'm pondering as to why Cyrus is saying that loss is no longer inevitable. In the context of the speech, that would imply... he may soon be able to people back from the dead? Maybe that's why the Overlord still needs him, because only Cyrus knows how. It also gives me a bit of hope, it means Julien could come back as with the First Spinjitzu Master. Currently though, it appears the device can only bring things back from the digital realm.

Regarding Cyrus being a rag-doll, no, that's not entirely true. In the first episode, after the ad break it features Cryus not being a puppet... thing.

EDIT: Nevermind, wrong thread to do this in. Keep forgetting.

Sorry for double-post, but because Penkid insisted that we move here, well, the show's back. Somewhat mediocre first two episodes, I hope seeing them in proper HD makes them better (shaky cam can sometimes be... y'know) I'm also hoping the story issues get resolved somehow. They've introduced quite a fair bit in two episodes, I wish they had spaced it out a bit more. That's just a pilot episode thing though, they have to lay out the basic ground-work for the plot and then elaborate off it for the future episodes. Though things are somewhat complicated, all I'll say is there's a reason Garmatron didn't make its debut until the final episodes for a reason, and the same applies to the current "doomsday" weapon. *hint hint spoilers hint hint* Oh... I looked over it, and this isn't much of a spoiler... the Mechdragon is NOT the mega-weapon. That's for sure. No spoilers on what it is until the show comes out officially. Well, not that it ISN'T official, but I mean the CN premier. If any of you want a comparison of Season 2's first episodes with these, I'll just say that the Episode 1 and Episode 27 are on par whereas Episode 2 was better than Episode 28.

YES YES YES OH THANK YOU SO MUCH (sorry for caps, I'm just excited ) Wait, this is all one episode? This is... 40 minutes long? ...wow. I really wasn't expecting that. I'm hoping this isn't just a pilot episode thing, or this is all we're getting for most of the year... EDIT: LOL, Cyrus is a Steve Jobs rip-off... sad to know Dr Julien is dead. Turns out Cole is Nya's "perfect match". She still loves Jay though EDIT 2: correction, two episodes, my bad. EDIT 3: So, Mechdragon ISN'T Overlord as of yet...

Well, I really would like them to focus on some more Nindroid vehicles, because really we haven't gotten all that many, or at least powerful ones (asides from the Mechdragon, that thing is technically an over-sized buildable minifig now). I would LOVE to see a ninja HQ, but it's hard to pull off in the sets without making it a static location. Destiny's Bounty was great idea but the set had poor execution as a ninja base. Although I must beg to differ on the case of minor vehicles and stuff, that has never happened in a major theme like NINJAGO before. It's always a "cheap-expensive" wave, then a "$60-expensive" wave for Summer.

I was thinking about that, but the Dark Fortress was relatively unimpressive in terms of a "finale" set, because of the nature of it and the build itself. The Mechdragon, however, is, well, I think it's obviously not a Fire Temple or a Dark Fortress, but it's still gonna be very hard to top even if they make the "finale" set for the ninja instead of the Nindroids. I think we can rule out Borg Tower as a set, we know that it's just not going to happen on the scale that Borg Tower is. Sure, they made the Daily Bugle set smaller than it could have been, and the Fire Temple was nothing like the show version or the rather awful bit of Ouroboros that we got, but Borg Tower just is more set in stone as to what it is. You can't condense a tower like that into a set without making it mini-scale. And I'm not sure that even Sensei Wu's academy would be ideal for a set, it's likely to be destroyed early on due to plot inconveniences and Evil Wu. Personally, I would love to see a proper base for the ninja complete with parking spaces for the ninja's vehicles but I think we all know that won't happen, because it puts pressure on parents to buy all the sets and kids would feel the set is incomplete without all of them. That's not to say it couldn't happen, Sentai Fortress is a great example of when such an idea is done right. The Golden Tower, while great in concept, was not, mainly because it lacked being a proper base in favor of the "finale" set being the Iron Destructor (if I recall correctly, I haven't looked through the EXO-FORCE lore in a while). In other news, just put the Ninjacopter on layby, so that's my LEGO shopping done until I can get my hands on Destructoid or a Legend Beast Also, I just noticed something interesting that's making me quite a fair bit relieved. On the LEGO S@H website, while I am VERY late on this, Epic Dragon Battle is $120 USD whereas in AU it is $199 I know there has been some whining about the MechDragon's pricing, but let me put it this way: Mechdragon is $90 in the US and $100 in Australia. That's an AU difference of $99 for 100 extra pieces, and a difference of $20 USD for 100 extra pieces. So I think we should ALL be very glad that this set has a better PPP ratio.

The sets really always have been, it's just now basically confirmed with this story-arc. First was the Kai story-arc (though it wasn't really about Kai, but it was more about him than anyone else) and then the Lloyd story-arc really was about Lloyd, even if the other four did everything for him seemingly in the TV show. Perhaps the real reason this line has its own finale set up is a precaution, NINJAGO has been gone for a while (even if it was just 1 wave of sets) and the demand for it is uncertain, kids might have lost a lot of interest and may never regain it. But there is still a plethora of potential in this current story-arc and future ones, just not much potential for a big "finale showdown" thing in this story-arc. Potential further story-arcs do include Samurai attacks, a set appearance of the Craglings (though this would be short lived in the reviewing communities, for obvious reasons) and mud monsters, not to mention the OTHER ninja Sensei Wu trained, eg the Phantom Ninja, Neido (if he is canon as a character), etc. There's also the possibility that for when they're done with NINJAGO they release some sort of massive Overlord VS First Spinjitzu Master set. But I really don't see how they can further this current plot in terms of bigger enemies. I still have no clue how you would even STOP something like the Mechdragon, and it's made abundantly clear that it will activate in some way.

What would be the point of that? Dragons are the Overlord's thing, not humanoid mechs. And to a little kid, how does that surpass the epicness of a giant, insanely well-armed mechanical robot dragon possessed by the Overlord powered by the most powerful living person in the entire NINJAGO universe, piloted by the guy who taught the ninja every single thing they knew about fighting?

The plot details should be discussed elsewhere, but this is more about the sets really. - Yes, it may be a Bio, but it's still a major ticker because of Garmadon's unique backstory. He was bitten by a snake that turns people evil (and the snake grows forever as long as it eats, and it can never starve too) and said snake blew up in a massive wave of its own venom. Anyone who has seen the TV show knows what that stuff does, and it's nasty, and smelly But more to the point, in the Zane story-arc the Nindroids are, er, "assimilating" people. Wu is already evil, and so is Cyrus, potentially Lloyd too and who knows if it's reversible. - It's not just a "battery,", but a prison cell. The OverBorg Attack set description also confirms that it is going to be a major plot point, and Lloyd's bio makes mention of him being a target of the Overlord. Also, Lloyd appearing after the MechDragon is destroyed is a huge assumption in itself, you and I both very well know LEGO and though this is an assumption too it really wouldn't make sense to not feature Lloyd during the battle, even the Great Devourer and the Ultra Dragon's fight in the TV show featured Lloyd in some way, even though insignificant. Furthermore, we know Lloyd is appearing some point after the ninjas get their Techno-Blades, he'll be there after Cyrus is evil, and he's a target of the Overlord (something you cannot be when said character is destroyed again, this time not even by him) - What's your point? We know Nya is coming back, and there's no reason not t have included her with this wave, especially when she is going to become one of the ninja and thus destroy said opportunity to feature her in her already-seen new Samurai outfit. - No, it is. Why would you mass-market a handless Luke Skywalker as the main action figure range for The Empire Strikes Back, and make two-handed Luke a rare, limited production action figure? Same principle applies here. Further to the point, if Episode V was - Well, duh... of course there is more potential. But the problem is, is that Zane's story-arc is the Nindroid story-arc, that's not to say that when Zane (should he die, or leaves) dies that the Nindroid arc will end, but the thing is, there's not that much left to the Zane story-arc itself. For all we know the next story-arc could be based on Cole and the Craglings and mud-monsters, or it could be Jay and a dragon attack, or Nya and some rogue Samurai, etc. But they've limited themselves right now with the Zane story-arc because we know how it will unfold now. Some point before the "grand finale wave 2" sets come out, Zane's going to be nearly destroyed, a massive mechanical dragon will presumably tip the balance of good and evil and allow the Overlord to possess it, Lloyd will be captured, someone's probably going to die, the Phantom Ninja will make an appearance after these events and PIXAL will probably fall in love with Zane. And after that, if the hinting in the Bios is correct, Lloyd might lose his powers and Garmadon might turn evil again. What I mean to say is, is that this wave is too finale-esque in its own way. Even if you disagree with my reasoning, you have to admit its somewhat odd that the proverbial Great Devourer of this story-arc is already out. And if you disagree with that, well, what could be more awesome and menacing and hope-crushing to a kid than a giant, whopping Mechanical Dragon powered by the most powerful living human being in the NINJAGO universe?

I didn't mean finale as in, the theme ending, but I meant the current story-arc with Zane and the nindroids. I agree with you on the more to season 3 thing, though.

Perhaps you could, but would it fit in with the current theme? And more to the point, would a 9-12 year old think it would be cooler and more menacing than a giant, robot dragon? It might not be as big as the Devourer but you can bet it would still put up one heck of a fight, not to mention the fact that Lloyd powers the MechDragon. The power of the gold ninja (that includes the golden dragon!) being used to power it? But besides that, what could they possibly be planning? This wave itself seems like its own mini-finale. We have... battle-scarred Zane (what?), every single new enemy, etc... Why would we be given battle-scarred Zane so early in the year? And why put his regular form in an exclusive, limited edition set? This is... strange. Essentially this happened last year, like Lloyd's Kimono being sold with a book and his Gold Ninja suit being sold freely, but this is a bit different. We know there's a Summer wave, so why not include battle-scarred Zane with the Summer Wave, with the finale sets, where said battle took place? Unless the battle happens earlier, but it's still fairly ridiculous anyway. Even if Zane gets "battle-scarred" at the start, what would be stopping them from fixing him up in-between the start and the end part? And if it only happens for a short while (unlike Lloyd's Gold Ninja suit, apparently now) why make it the most readily-available form? Why is it that this singular wave of NINJAGO acts like, and is treated like, it is its own start and finale? And why is Nya getting new Samurai armor if she is meant to become one of the ninja? And more importantly to the point of that, if Nya is still around, why keep her out of the first wave of the new sets, especially if this is the only chance to incorporate her as Samurai X before the new graphic novels? And if this wave is not the finale wave of Zane's story arc, then what could possibly top the Mechdragon as a finale set? What could beat the Overlord himself as a mechanical dragon powered by the most powerful living person on NINJAGO itself? I understand Garmadon is meant to come back as a potential villian, they've sealed that fate with Garmadon's bio, but then wouldn't that effectively conclude the current story arc because Garmadon is evil again, and the Nindroids don't respond to him as a commander. Unless, of course, it has something to do with Lloyd being captured and used to power the Mechdragon. But furthermore, in each wave of NINJAGO asides from the 2013 wave, there has always been unrevealed enemies, or revealed enemies that just haven't been put in a set yet. Eg, Pythor, Wyplash, Kruncha, the entire Venomari and Constrictai tribes asides from their staffs, and so on. And Wyplash was only ever seen in two of the mini-movies, and never became even a secondary character as a running gag like Kruncha and Nuckal showing up all the time during Season 2 and 3, and possibly 4 (I think many people will be very sad if Kruncha, Nuckal and Dareth don't come back) TL;DR version: This wave seems like its own start and finale.

I doubt there was, and even if there was, it wouldn't have shown much. So far, other than the Beginning to 2014 teaser, we've really only seen parts of presumably one episode, with perhaps a bit of the second. An odd thought came to mind last night regarding this, because last time they did it it was a 40 minute special. While I do doubt it is a simple special, there's also the odd case of the Mechdragon to invoke. This seems more like the "end of year grand finale" set than a "start-of-year-build-up-to-grand-finale". What I mean is, Wave 1 of NINJAGO in 2012. No Great Devourer in sight. A massive giant snake is a somewhat fitting conclusion to a year where humanoid snakes are roaming free. I believe this is the reason why Chima's TV show was moved to Summer, all the sets are readily available and can be shown in the TV show. There was no "giant snake" so to speak of in the sets or the show. There was the Lion Temple, but it wasn't the proverbial giant snake. And this year, there's not really anything. We know we're getting a second wave this year, I doubt LEGO would make a full redesign of the Samurai Suit if they had no intention of using it whatsoever, and not to the level of quality the picture of it is. But as I was saying, there's not really anything that could top (especially in the TV show... it's insanely massive) the Mechdragon right now. Sure, we could get another Mechdragon, except a good guy one, but what would be the point? It would remove the real suspense of how-the-heck-do-we-destroy-this-thing? If the decide to do a giant robot, what would be the point in that? You've got a big massive robot sitting next to a gigantic robot dragon. Unless the finale set is Nya's new Samurai Mech, I can't really see any way of concluding this current line... That's not to say there isn't, but it's pretty hard, especially to a kid, to top a giant robot dragon (which is even bigger than the Great Devourer)

Oh gosh... I wonder what's happened to Dareth? If he hasn't got some kind of occupation in Wu's school, I'm going to be very sad

True, but TARGET had the Ninjacopter for $79 whereas Big W had it for $69.

Incorrect, actually I just got back from Big W, my Mother bought me the Mechdragon. It is, surprisingly (!), $98, no mark-down. So now we're just waiting for the Destructoid to start showing up. I'm actually assuming that either Big W or TARGET will have Destructoid, because I noticed that Big W had Equila's ultra striker, or whatever that set is. WHile that isn't an LE set, it's certainly showing that Australia is getting more attention this year. While probably something very common in a bigger city such as Brisbane, Sydney etc my local Big W also had the Death Star and the UCS B-Wing. Also, the Ninjacopter is $70 at BW as well, so TARGET has some pretty bad mark ups, but they're cheaper right now due to the sale.

To be honest I enjoyed this episode. It still had its own share of stupidity though, if all (or most, anyway) of the Lions knew Laval wasn't dead, what was the point of his big battle speech if the Wolves, Crocs, Ravens etc couldn't hear them? And furthermore, what was the point in charging off to battle to "buy them time" when the Crocs weren't attacking at all? ShadoWind's voice was meh, too. Though the cob webs on the Croc legend beast was a brilliant hint at the spider tribe, and all in all it was good.

Yes, they are. I do recall the Ninjacopter beginning with "Zane" though. So I'm assuming they were the preliminary names, especially considering Australia usually does not get sets this early.

Awww, that's a shame. Didn't get the 'copter, I got the Kai Fighter and the Hover Hunter though. Also, it seems TARGET hasn't updated the set names. While the correct names are on the boxes, the tags on the shelves call the Hover Hunter "Nindroid Ambush" Overborg Attack "Bike Chase" Thunder Raider "Jay + Cole Hybrid" etc. Forgotten the other names, unfortunately. Good news for me, though. Hover Hunter and Kai Fighter don't count as my Christmas present, so there's a chance I'll get the Ninjacopter That'll be insanely lucky for me, because then I'll have everything but Destructoid and the Mechdragon. EDIT: Could we update the front page with additional pics and/or pricing? Pricing for Australia is $15, $30 (Overborg and Kai Fighter, presumably Destructoid), $50, $80 and the Mechdragon remains unseen in Aus as far as this thread goes. If anyone wants, I may be able to do some written reviews on the new sets.

Yeah, but the Hobbit comes out in Blu-Ray 3D anyway... I'm 15, and don't have a job. I need to prioritize

Indeed. I just hope they do. TBH a marathon would be if they aired the entire series start to finish (though impractical) EDIT: Getting the Kai Fighter tomorrow, if I'm VERY lucky the Ninjacopter. If I get the Ninjacopter I won't be seeing the Hobbit DOS though

Thanks. Not all of us have access to CN and waiting for the Show to come to DVD is a very annoying wait