LEGO Ninjago’s Biggest Disappointment: Crystalized
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
- In today's video I give my full (over and hour long) video essay review on Ninjago Crystalized, going over the good, the bad, and the disappointing.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:33 Building Off What Came Before
5:25 Nya
15:26 Jay and Kai
17:22 Zane, Cole, and Pixal
25:10 Master Wu
30:33 Lloyd and Harumi
38:27 Lloyd and Garmadon
47:14 Oni Lloyd
51:55 The Council of the Crystal King
55:31 The Overlord
59:10 Nya Revival Arc
1:01:01 Prison Arc
1:05:32 Crystal Council Arc
1:08:08 Crystal Apocalypse Arc
1:14:04 The Finale
1:16:57 Final Thoughts
Main Channel: / @bendominator
Thank you for watching this video and I hope you enjoyed it!
#NInjago #LegoNinjago #ninjagocrystalized - Krátké a kreslené filmy
this season feels like a 12 yr old fanfiction of someone who just finished watching Hunted and became incredibly angry that Harumi died.
Fr
Moral of the lesson: Don't let 6 writers to write a Lego show at the same time or you'll make a laughing stock of yourself
I really wonder if Crystalized was exactly how Tommy envisioned it to be (of course not 100% of what Tommy wanted is in it) and I wonder if there had been writer clashes or ideas/concepts against Tommy's will.
It's a tragic end. Tommy's last season to work with, the response to him by angry people online, Lego's distribution issues and 6 WRITERS like damn. I don't know what fully went behind the scenes, but damn its hard to follow especially for Tommy who stuck around the show for a decade and many of the still-around old fans since a decade ago, sharing their beloved childhood Lego cartoon to new generations & audiences. It's the same awful feeling as doing a good dance performance and then screwing up the landing, or losing a game with the enemy at 1 HP left.
If Crystalized was someone's introduction, oof that would be a bad start. MoTM/Seabound would've been a decent introduction to new viewers who grew (and still grow up) during the Wildbrain era.
Yea like why would you even hire that much people. The writer(s) who wanted to shoot creation at the overlord again should just be fired as they literally repeated season 2 and ditched the finally destroying the overlord thing. I'm not a writer and even I know repeating what the show did years ago with more problems arising is just idiotic
@@user-hc3kk7qv7oagreed! The ending was the same as season two’s ending! It was Lloyd on a golden dragon and spreading the power of light/creation at the Overlord to defeat him! Man it’s like copying someone else’s homework and make it more indecisive.
Agreed or it will be disappointing
@@Vhie05 I sure feel sorry for the guy.
Another weird thing is that Harumi worked with Pythor even though he is responsible for the great devourer killing her parents
I know right
Exactly, they butchered my girl Harumi so bad 😭
she didn’t actually know that though
@@catalyst539 I find that hard to believe. Given how much the Great Devourer shaped her entire character and motivations that culminated in the resurrection of Garmadon, it would seem insane that she never stumbled across the knowledge that Pythor unleashed the Great Devourer. Surely one of her first thoughts would be revenge against who released the snake. Plus, she was able to gain knowledge of the First Realm and how to resurrect an Oni. So the idea she had never heard of that information once would be insanity.
essay over lmao
Yet she hates Lloyd which was a kid when the great devourer was released 💀
Sending the message that you (Lloyd) should forgive your abusers (Harumi) while repeatedly lashing out at the people that are trying to reach and help you (Garmadon) is honestly one of the worst things this show has ever done
You can say that again
Lloyd went to being completely La-Lloyd at this point… he’s now my least favorite ninja ever now
@@brickbanditstudios6037 What’s wrong with being La-Loyd?
In my language, how I use the term La-Lloyd is when Lloyd is incompetent on some specific areas where I find about him that isn’t right for his character or his action. That’s how I see it
@@brickbanditstudios6037 yeah Lloyd became one my least favorites after this Season
Honestly, the fact that Lloyd BY HIMSELF destroys the overlord is so sad. The ninja don't help, and it just destroys the team aspect. I wish that, maybe, each ninja would do something, for then Lloyd to do his big scene. Just include the ninja beating the overlord!!
True. The Ninja don't even come face to face with the Overlord in this season.
I would have been really happy to see them defeat him without Lloyd. Just the four OG ninja saving the world.
@Dutchman's Mine agree. I feel Lloyd gets way too much attention. The main 4 really did nothing.
One would think that the overlord has beef with Zane after s3 too, but nope I guess
didn't they create Golden Ultra-Dragon? Lloyd was just sitting on it, that's it
If you notice, every ninja has defeated the main villain of the season by themself at least once, except Kai. He never gets any chance to shine and defeat the villains of his own focus seasons, it's always Lloyd/Wu/Garmadon who do that and steal all spotlight😑
One of my biggest problems with Garmadon here is how they’ve completely ignored the fact that it was the Great Devourer that made him evil, not Oni blood. Seasons 1 and 2 got it across perfectly that the reason he was evil was because of the Devourer’s venom, but in this season it was all about how Oni blood was why he was evil. And for what, plot convenience? So Lloyd could hate him? Oni blood was never what made him evil in the first place, so why do they make it such a heavy focus that the oNlY rEaSoN he has trouble being good is because he’s an Oni? I know you didn’t discuss the comic here but the fact that the comic did such a better job of touching on that than the show did is _really_ disappointing to me.
Yep, I rather rad the Garmadon comics that just Watch Crystalized. Really a better storytelling about Garmadon. Would highly recommend it
Tbf the point of the Devourer was it made him a full blooded Oni so it checks out
@@skylandersfan6954 He’s not a full blooded Oni, Mistake said in their season 9 fight that she would show him what a “full blooded oni could do” (referring to herself). But even if he was, people with full oni blood like Mistake can be good, but Garmadon can never fully be good because of the venom. It’s just a weird thing that they kept pushing in the season that didn’t make sense because Mistake was literally a good full-blooded Oni.
@@gabrxael Garmadon says in s10 to Lloyd "You are part Oni, that means you might survive," but also yeah true
wu who also has one blood: the show forgot we were brothers
Wu was also part Oni, so I really don’t know why it was just Lloyd specifically who needed to embrace his Oni side when Wu could’ve done that for himself too.
Agreed. I was also asking wondering why he is putting this responsibility on Lloyd when he is half oni himself. I also keep wondering why doesn't he use his elemental powers either. I'm afraid I don't ever see him using it in the show aside from the shorts.
Fully agree. Every time they brought up how Lloyd was part oni when Wu was present I just wondered if the writers forgot what basic genetics were.
@@akki-san4987 they probably did unfortunately
While I do agree with this, it's mainly because Garmadon inherited their father's oni, while Wu inherited the dragon. This is mentioned in previous seasons, that Wu and Garmadon are the two halves of their father.
@@lachlensmith9366 this can’t really be true tho since Harumi said that the blood of both Oni and Dragon flows through him. The same must be for Wu too
Why doesn't Harumi care about Pythor? You know, the actual one responsible for the Great Devourer's return
@@ryanntemgwa8805 that's boring
I was asking the same question during the season, tey didn't mention that Pythor was a servant of the Overlord in S3 too
@@ryanntemgwa8805hat's just a load of bullshit. Everyone has to know that the Great Devourer was released *by* the Serpentine since only they possessed the necessary means to do so and it was basically their *deity,* and Pythor was a *Serpentine General* and the de facto leader of the Serpentine as a whole at that time. How could Harumi *not* piece two and two together right there? There's literally no way that fact *isn't* common knowledge by now. The Serpentine themselves are all still around and are peaceful towards humans now, so this has to have been written in history books by now, especially with how famous the ninja are in general. There's literally no way that Harumi couldn't have known that Pythor at the least had a hand in the Great Devourer's return.
@@ryancarson6962 she must be illiterate then. Didn't read the books or talk to the other snake people (who may or may of had a hand in releasing the devourer). Actually, wouldn't it be assumed that all serptentine helped free the devourer. She had less and less excuses the more you think about it.
That’s what I’ve been saying
I felt the writing was odd in Part 2. Lloyd says to Harumi that he’d rather see the good in people. He wants to forgive Harumi, despite her manipulating him multiple times.
Yet he didn’t seem to want to see the good in Garmadon, the one who helped the team defeat the Oni the last time they saw each other, and was also helping with saving Ninjago from the Overlord.
It had some good moments though, such as fight scenes, and the soundtrack.
Well made video, it was an interesting listen.
See,i agree with you but i just wanted to say:
From Lloyd's perspective, he most likely doesnt see *any* good in Garmadon, even though Garmadon might have some good.
After all, Lloyd knows that Harumi only revived the evil side of Garmadon,whether that is true or not.
i agree with you and i wanna add that the dialogs feel kinda odd to me, specially since i watched in spanish dub and it was a completely mess. Part 1 was peak ninjago, part 2 wasnt bad but i could and should've been better
Lloyd and Harumi bs was tiering.
I get your point but I think Lloyd was just tired of trying to see the good in his father only to be taken away or disappointed
Preach King!
I love ninjago. I really do. I’m not trying to be biased here, I really am. but It always felt off ever since the change of Lloyd. Lloyd’s 1st VA was getting set up to be a truly wise leader. But he became the old Kai but worse in my opinion. The writing has not been as consistent since s1-7. You can argue some parts of each season but there was always a cost. SOG took away a good portions of sacrifices such as garmadon in possession and tournaments.
My personal opinion of everything, critically and enjoyment:
Pilot 7/10
Rise of the snakes 8.5/10
Final battle 8.5/10
Rebooted 7.3/10
Tournament of elements 9.7/10
Possession 9.3/10
Skybound 9/10
Dotd 5/10
Hands of time 7/10
Sons of garmadon 6.5/10
Hunted 8.7/10
March of the Oni 6/10
Forbidden spinjizu: 4/10
Prime empire: 6.5/10
Master of the Mt. 6.3/10
The island: 3/10
Seabound 9.8/10
Crystalized 5/10
The few exceptions after the movie in my opinion are Seabound, hunted, and the second half of Master of the mt. Seabound as a stand alone is arguably the best written and executed season of all time. Hunted has brilliant writing and execution, and Master of the Mt. was the light cole needed. But with motm I didn’t like the side plots or characters.
This will piss off manu fans but I enjoyed the villains in DOTD more than crystalized
Honestly the only reason Nya returned in my opinion is one, because of fan service. And two, just so the writers can have an excuse for the ninja to be there fun and loveable selves again.
I feel like they wanted to rush Nya back to fix the status quo because Ninjago was gearing up for a new era. But they were going to bring her back, I think they needed to make it a full season. Frankly, that's what all of Crystalized needed, more screentime. There is just so much plot happening that it's too rushed, if they split this season into 3 or ever 4 season it would have been much better.
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi Yea this season needed WAY more screen time which is why I kind of wished the rumored 40 episodes would have actually been true.
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi Ever since Crystalized ended, I've seen lots of fans in various places saying they want to bring back the 22-minute format. I agree with their sentiment. Considering the trailers and source material they went through with, Crystalized was set up to be a "serious" season and the 22-minute format would've fully immersed the audience with it. It's been a while since we got an immersive season like Sons of Garmadon (I personally think Hunted's transitions between both storylines were jarring).
The 11-minute format has its charm, for CN show to relax and just watch, it works for Prime Empire. And somehow it worked decently for MoTM and Seabound (thankfully) but then again, most of the current era seasons still suffer from lack of time to flesh out moments (especially for a dialogue-heavy show like Ninjago)
It would seem odd to switch episode formats midway through an era, but for Crystalized, it simply just had to be the option. Whatever the next season may be, I hope they spend the first few episodes picking up the pieces and not heading straight into action right away.
Crystalized Part 1 was amazing and even if personally I find no replay value in it, It still would be better than Part 2's overall composition. Heck, I wouldn't even mind if the final battle was a movie in itself or the last two episodes was one gigantic conclusion (similar to how Tommy mentioned the last four episodes of Seabound exists a seamless edit combining all of the episodes together). Stretching the final battle throughout the season's remaining episodes didn't seem like a good idea. They could even make a similar and longer format to the Curseworld Part 1 and Part 2 idea they did years ago. I was intrigued back then when they did a different style to those two episodes.
Crystalized is a decent season, but its CLEARLY not the season most fans envisioned. Whether its the fans' fault for demanding too much or Lego' not caring aobut their distribution issues and hyping the content in the wrong places (Oni Lloyd) may be a debate for another day. Crystalized was literally "Wasted True Potential" (Sorry for the pun).
@@Vhie05
"to flesh out moments"
Which ones?
@@Vhie05i agree with everything you said it just feelt so rush and Annoying after this Season I'm not sure we fans want Another Season
The reason why Zane still kept his emotions off (even after Nya was brought back) was because his emotions were decreasing his productivity, and he didn't want that
ohhh ok cool
yeah but the show never told us that. It's never re-enforced. BendoBricks and others were under the impression that Zane's grief was the thing hampering his productivity, not just his emotions in general, cause that's what the show told us. Still love ninjago though, just think the season coulda been better
@@musicyak3471 honestly after Season 10 the show feelt off and the Quality Dropped
@@StevenJones851 I think all the seasons had their highlights that I hold dear to my heart. The only things I can say were mostly disappointing were the second half of season 11 and the second half of Crystallized. I thought everything else had charm. Different charm, but charm nonetheless.
Imagine if the ninja actually became the next ultra dragon and Lloyd rode them in his Oni form. The First Spinjitzu Master's philosophy of balance would fit so perfectly in this scenario.
That's what I wanted
@@ButteredBread201 yeah it would have been cool
That would have been perfect
that is something that Promobricks, website that originally revealed set descriptions, had speculated aswell. But they have stated that "Fire head have scar on eye, and electric head have freckles". So maybe, either it's scrapped plot point, or just misunderstood design
That would've been odd tbh
i like how pythor is the one who triggers the overlord to almost destroying the whole crystal council
yeah me too
Agreed
He's definitely one of my favourite villains
how?
@@wardskidoedels512 he back chats the overlord even though he came empty handed
One thing you forgot to mention is that Lloyd’s utter hatred of the Oni and his belief that they’re all nothing but destructive monsters make ZERO sense, since he knows damn well Oni aren’t inherently evil. (remember Mystake? Lloyd didn’t and neither did the writers, apparently.)
Also, Garmadon makes clear as day The Overlord will just keep coming back over and over, and the only way to destroy The Overlord permanently is through Destruction power. Yet Lloyd wimps out of Oni form and falls back on the Golden Ultra Dragon. Not only would everything be destroyed if he wasn’t bailed out by the dragon, he also just abandoned the only opportunity anyone will ever have to kill The Overlord and rid the world of his terror once and for all, meaning he WILL be back, and Ninjago is screwed once there’s no one capable of even keeping him at bay.
Lloyd incompetence will be his greatest consequences all because he didn’t use his destruction power to destroy the Overlord once and for all… Harumi was right about him about being gullible and weak. And how is character is being portrayed will have Ninjago pay the price soon when the Overlord is brought back… again
@@brickbanditstudios6037 agrred
Honestly I’m surprised how well Kai dealt with nya’s death being her big brother you’d think he would be the one mourning and sulking the most
Yeah the pissed me the hell off. Thats not how family works.
Even in skybound when nya was poisoned he shows little to no emotion ta his SISTER dying
I know they want to push the whole romance thing but wasn't Kai's whole reason becoming a ninja BECAUSE of Nya who he practically raised. I loved th scene where he started yelling at Jay for thinking no one else cared for Nya, and I really wish we got more of it
@@weird_mango42 same honestly
Yea it makes no sense since nyas the whole reason he became a ninja in the first place 😂😂
I really agree with your statements regarding Nya. Especially with her thinking that she has to have powers to be a ninja. I mean Kai, her brother, lost his powers and while he was upset about initially being useless, he overcame this and stepped up. And yeah, they should have known from the start that Nya's powers would eventually come back since Kai lost his through the same methods, so again it doesn't make sense why she thought she had to be Samurai X.
Yeah! There’s Pixal who taken the mantle of Samurai X. Why do we even need Nya to be Samurai X again to just be simply use as a plot device with absolutely NO significance for her character! 😕
Also Lloyd straight up entirely forgets about Mystake, a full on Oni, fought against Garmadon in Hunted. A full Oni, who cared, fought against the most powerful of Oni to keep the team safe
Also wasn't it shown that conflict was the power of Oni or specifically Garmadon during March Of The Oni?
Mystake is now shaking her head from the Departed Realm, very disappointed at Lloyd 😅
@@brickbanditstudios6037MYSTAKE IS DEAD? ☹️
@@teapartytaIes unfortunately, yes… 😭
@@brickbanditstudios6037 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The fact that he either dosen't remember or care that she literally SACRIFICED HER LIFE so that he and his friends could live to see another day is beyond me.
I think the main reason for the constant shift in Lloyd/harumi's personalities AS WELL as the various continuity errors and mistakes, was because this season had 6 separate writers, 6 separate people worked on this season, and I'm guess they all didn't have a clear vision on how lloyd and harumi should have been handled or couldn't come to an agreement
they could of had something else done
@@StevenJones851 They could have, I'm thinking they all were rushed and on some parts of writing and had to scrape in what they could, it's just a theory tho
@@ashleythecommenter7112 yeah its just so Annoying that they rushed this Season
@@StevenJones851 Yeah I agree, they definitely needed more time to explore there story, or at least fix the pacing like --- 6 episodes of finding and saving nya did NOT need to happen, it got WAYYYY Too much screentime
@@ashleythecommenter7112 they should of Saved Nya in like 2 episodes or So 😊💙💜
I honestly thought that Jay and Kai would have this really cool moment where they both came together and were like “We’ve really been acting like jerks.” and then one of them would be like “Brothers?” and the other would be like “Brothers!” but that just didn’t happen :,) lol. I don’t hate this season by any means but sometimes it feels like the writers don’t even know their own characters and it’s frustrating because then the fans are all like “Oh did this characters personality change?” yk?
I've felt this way since s11. Kai is my favorite and i feel they just dropped his character after s7.
literally every iconic Ninjago quote got included except "Iron sharpens iron, brother sharpens brother" which really sucks
What bothers me is that the main ninja don't even come face to face with the Overlord in this season. Sure they get a quick look at him in one episode, but for being the main antagonist of the series, the ninja don't even come face to face with their biggest adversary! They are just treated like secondary characters.
One thing I want to point out, during the Nya revival arc it seemed like they were trying to set up an Aspheera redemption arc with her so sure the ninja will betray her at some point only for her to be surprised that Lloyd kept his word and helped her escape. But it just goes nowhere.
When episode descriptions were coming out it was stated that Lloyd would escape the Crystal Temple by teaming up with an unlikely ally. Most speculated it would be Aspheera because Harumi wouldn't have any motive to do so but it didn't end up happening as he escaped all by himself. It just makes me wonder if the writers changed this while in production.
Also I love how when Lloyd is escaping the temple and gets stopped by Pytor, Pytor makes a big speech about how emotionally significant a battle between him and Lloyd will be. The two square up and then the rest of the council arrives. Pytor even expressing frustration that the council ruined his big moment fighting Lloyd. Even the writers knew they were denying us that fight.
What a joke from the writers. 🙄 Also… Pythor with a British accent, never knew he was British snake in the first place
i think the most outrageous thing about the prison arc is the fact that it could have been completely avoided if instead of freeing asfirra and stealing her crystal they had just gone with skylor get a crystal in chen's island and used it to take nya's powers if they really wanted to go with the powerless route
oh my gosh i didn’t even THINK about this, but you’re completely correct. i feel like every time they go to write a new season, they could at least stand back to review some of the old ones. just so glaringly simple paths like these aren’t frustratingly avoided.
But are there actually more of those crystals? I might be wrong but I don't remember that there were any more ctystals, Chen's staff might've had the only one
@@ytskay there is,not in the shape of the one that was in the Crystal but there was more crystals in the cave where shen does the ritual at the end of Season 3
@MOBGabriel it's in season 4 but yes. He did the ritual in an entire cave filled with that crystal
Or could’ve used the machine used to still Lloyds powers
“It’s ok she’s with us”💀💀
The sad part is it's not even Garmadon's fault for being evil. Its the great devourer's fault because it bit him.
It would have also been amazing if Nadhakan came back. I mean, he's not dead. The crystal king could have found the tea pot and resurrected him.
Yeah but Nadakhan would have betrayed him
Theres rumors that Nadhakan will come back in the 2023 Ninjago book or the 2023 Ninjago season
Tommy Andreasen recently confirmed it. He said, “The djinn’s finally coming out of his teapot. See you all in Sunday.”
Source: Twitter
Not really, being bitten by the Great Devourer only seemed to, at best, make him slightly more irritable. We already seen how he was perfectly on the side of good with Wu and the other Elemental Masters during events like the Serpentine War for a decently long time so any corruption it supposedly had must've been minimal at best. Personally I preferred the idea that it didn't actually make Garmadon evil as much as it made him more prone to acting on his own ambitious impulses and he merely made the conscious decision to be evil for more power. Its more complex and gives Garmadon more agency than just "The Overlord made him evil" which just feels like a complete cop out.
I was hoping to get more Kai and Nya moment, more sibling dynamic. But of course that didn't happened. I mean Nya was Kai's baby sister for crying out loud. I just wish Crystalized explored more of Kai's emotional and mental struggles with losing his only sister.
Crystalized should of done that more
@@StevenJones851 Yeah, I wanted what Gold Rush short gave us, a genuine sibling moment between Kai and Nya. They didn't even say a single dialog to each other in crystallized.
@@shanadaniels461 yeah they never talked too Eachother in Crystalized only in Seabound
@@StevenJones851 I also was expecting a Vigilante Kai but of course THAT DIDN'T HAPPENED EITHER!
@@shanadaniels461 yeah Vigilant Kai is Awesome 😊 too bad it didn't happen 😪
I was glad to see Harumi again, but I'm sad to see that my concerns of how they'd handle her character were valid. I wanted her to be written well, but I had a feeling that wouldn't be the case. Also to see Lloyd handled so poorly is such a dissapointment. LIke, the oni side of him had so much potential. Yes it's good not to fall into constant hate and anger, but sometimes anger is necessary to protect those you love, and they really could have done that with Lloyd. Lloyd started out as one of my favorite characters in the series when I was growing up, but now he's just kind of unrecognizable with how inconsistent his writing is.
yeah its so bad Lloyd had so much potential
I hate harumi , she killed people and she brought back Lloyd’s sad which would cause him ptsd. Seeing your father from the dead would make me feel horrible. It is like leave him alone!
@@StevenJones851 Yeah, I liked the whole "being the chosen one sucks actually" stuff, but they left him on the note of him being a jerk and not properly controlling his anger that I'm just dumbfounded.
@@Angelica_04 Harumi is a great villain and had potential for a good redemption, but redemption arcs are hard to handle, and they dropped the ball on her. I don't like that she got with Lloyd at the end when she still throws her anger at people instead of learning to cool it, then they don't address the whole her traumatizing him like you said and she brings out the worst in Lloyd. The two could have had a better dynamic at the end, but considering neither of them got proper growth from their arcs in crystalized, it's not great.
@@thefishoutofwater8478 true the chosen stuff could of been written better for Lloyd
I really hated the way they handled Oni Lloyd in this season like why doesn’t he want to embrace his oni side? Their argument for this is because he doesn’t want to be like his father and that all oni are incapable of changing or incapable of being good. But then what about Mystake? She helped the ninja and even sacrificed herself to save them, so in my mind theres really no reason for Lloyd to oppose using his oni powers. And Garmadon is obviously trying to change himself for the better, and Lloyd won’t trust him for what reason? He was so quick to forgive Harumi and trust her again, so why not Garmadon? The way this season ended just left a lot of loose ends and plotholes and left me wanting more.
In my opinion i think the best way to have ended the season would be to have Lloyd embrace both his Oni side and his Dragon side to destroy the Overlord.
I think that March of the Oni would have been a much better final ending than Crystallized and if the entire show ended after March of the Oni it would be a much more solid ending and honestly i would be pretty ok if they stopped making Ninjago completely after that, whereas with Crystallized, if all of Ninjago ended there i would be very angry and again i would be left wanting more and be very disappointed.
Maby in the next Season the issues can be fixed
i honestly Agree Ninjago should of ended at March of the Oni
March of the oni was by no means perfect, but it was so much better than crystalised.
The music towards the very end, where you were talking about how the show is now unrecognizable, not only do I agree but it made me remember the ending of season 4. Where they are at the fire, burning the book while discussing there thoughts on Sensei Garmadon and how they will be ready for whatever the future holds as there bond keeps them strong. As they grow together.
Ninjago was always an action series, however I find new ninjago to lack in character dynamics the old ninjago had. As a small child I found myself caring about the ninja, their found family. They all seemed close, however I find that new ninjago to constantly use the same character dynamics and forgets about the old ones while adding a bunch of new characters (too many it knows how to deal with).
Whatever happened to Kai being Nya's older brother? Why didn't they interact much in this season, why does it always have to be Nya and Jay now? What about Jay and Cole being best friends? They still say they are but Kai and Cole are always paired up since Jay is always with Nya and Zane with Pixal? Or what about Kai practically adopting Lloyd as a younger brother? Lloyd and Garmadon's complicated relationship in the first few seasons where they never wanted to harm each other forced to be on opposite sides and then finally have the opportunity to bond spending as much time as the can with one another? Why are all of these forgotten...and most importantly the biggest dynamic torn apart
The ninja as a whole
When was the last time they spent meaningful moments together as a whole? It's been so long, they're always separated now and if they are together the screen time isn't long enough to give banter, touching moments, or any of that between all of them.
I have plenty of things I dislike about Crystallized. I agree with majority of this video along with having so much more to say. As for new ninjago as a whole. But the line at the end reminded me of what I love and miss most about this series: the characters and their bonds with one another. They have gone from a family to a team. All I can hope for is for this new series to go back to the roots of ninjago.
I see what you did there at the end
I very much agree, their bonds were what pulled me to Ninjago and made me stay for this long
100% agree on the ninja dynamics, nowadays it's like they're just set pieces for the plot and there's no unique relationships or emotional moments between them. The older seasons had moments like Kai comforting Lloyd after he lost his father and vowing to protect him, Jay and Cole's reconciliation in S4, Nya comforting Cole after he got turned into a ghost and the others helping him regain his confidence. Now with the 10 minute format, there's no time for such moments and half the time I feel like you can switch around Kai Jay and Cole's lines, or switch who is paired up with who in different situations, and literally nothing would change
Bullshit.
@@dorizelion
Bullshit.
i feel like the problem with lloyd's character all over the ninjago series was in the fact that screenwriters just...didn't understand his character. this problem appears with a lot of ninjago characters but with lloyd - one of my favourite characters by the way - it's the most obvious.
Yeah, they haven't really known what to do with him since March of the Oni. I liked what they did with him in the Ice Chapter of season 11 but it doesn't change that fact that he still felt a bit out of character, a problem that's been exacerbated more and more as the Wildbrain era contented.
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi this reasoning is why he should've been killed off in S10
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi
"a problem that's been exacerbated more and more as the Wildbrain era contented"
What?
"this problem appears with a lot of ninjago characters but with lloyd"
What?
Yeah they don't know what too do with him sadly
A few ideas to tie up some loose ends, you decide if they're good or bad:
4. Mayor Trustable "joins" the Crystal Council to save his own skin. He sells out the survivors across Ninjago City, establishing conflict between him and the New Ninja, who initially believed he had the people's best interest at heart. They abandon Trustable in order to warn the real Ninja, but are quickly overtaken by the Vengestone Warriors. Trustable himself is soon betrayed by the Overlord and corrupted into a crystal zombie. At the end - after being cured -Trustable is locked away in Kryptarium max security for his crimes, but the rest of the Council suffers a worse fate - banishment to the Never Realm, under Akita's watchful eye. ((Harumi is exempt from this punishment, as she battled _against_ the Overlord, but willfully exiles herself from Ninjago in search of atonement or something idk)).
3. Hounddog gets his moment of redemption finally siding with the Resistance, and is elected mayor in place of Trustable. He officially pardons the Ninja at the end, agreeing with Lloyd's sentiment that sometimes heroes need to make difficult choices. All in all, they both share the same desire to make Ninjago City a better place.
2. Lloyd, of course, embraces his Oni form *with proper convincing from Misako* . His mother reminds him of Mystake's selfless sacrifice, and the truth that Garmadon (complicated as he may be) only ever wanted the best for Lloyd, and wouldn't lead his son down the path of self-destruction. I really enjoyed the stuff with Vinny, but I wish _Misako_ was the one to help Garmadon start seeing the good in humanity. Her, Garmadon, Wu, and Lloyd deserve to be the happy family they were always meant to be
1. In order to fully put a stop to the Overlord's schemes - without destroying him - the Ninja trap him inside a living vessel he cannot possess, corrupt, or use to further his plans for world domination ...Garmadon's plant. Stuck within a harmless fern, the Overlord's evil has been effectively hindered for generations. The Overlord hates life, which would make being trapped inside Christofern - a sapling, symbolizing new life - the cruelest punishment of all. Plus it also presents an opportunity for Garmadon to care for something else...
I love this, especially the inclusion of Misako. I've always had problems with her character, and I think seeing her help Garmadon like that would fix a lot of those.
Mayor Trustable was a really odd choice in the series. It seemed like he was meant to be a parody of politicians who you clearly can't trust but then he never really does anything bad. I thought he was in league with the crystal council or at least the vengestone smugglers, but nope, guess we can't portray politicians in a bad light or something.
That idea with the plant is genius!
Harumi's motivation was always to create peace in the dark, to have the most powerful being to protect the world in which the conflict between good and evil can be overcome. So her joining the Overlord is not so out of the order, at least if you ignore that she realized at the end of Hunted that her striving fueled the conflict and thus worsened the destruction. What should have given her red flags is that the Overlord betrayed her former emperor and his henchman nr 1 released the Great Devourer.
Agreed. I think harumi joining is fine enough but they should have really played with the idea of having her slowly realize she made a mistake when accepting the overlords offer. I think that would have made the redemption feel more natural.
Forme this season is a mixed bag. My main problem come from wasted potential and Lloyd, Harmui, Nya and Overlord character writing.
@@Coolgamer.. yeah same here
man what is weirdest to me about harumi is that she CLEARLY had negative effects on lloyd
he would not trust akita, he would not trust the princess from the mountain season, and he outright STATED that it was because of his experiences with harumi.
harumi, by lloyds general lack of trust and how he never seemed to calm down (prime empire made note of this iirc, its been a bit since i watched these seasons), at the very least implied harumi being abusive to lloyd, a lot of people read it that way
and then.. what, "i actually did have feelings for you" and getting angry at the big bad evil guy are enough for them to atleast be friends again? like if we ignore what she did to lloyd personally over kind of dumb reasoning, she summoned garmadon and wrecked ninjago. is that not a crime because of how often it happens???? is that why shes let off easy in this life?? or is it because she experienced death that its suddenly ok for her horrid actions to just be forgot and forgiven? blegh
i cant say on most of this season, largely because i have not watched it, but just. that plot line. it. definetly seems strange. like you said she should ATLEAST have gone to prison, just because people work together against some worse force doesnt mean all their crimes are to be forgiven.
overall great video, i enjoy the style of editing you have, and as someone whos yet to watch the season you summarized in a way that was actually fun, engaging, and let me still understand what was going on.
if i could though, maybe adding a summary of the story before characters and before talking about specific arks would be beneficial, atleast for shorter videos if not these video essay styles?
(edit because i was just checking your channel out IJHNGFDNJ it would be fun to see you discuss all of the seasons, or the show just. as a whole, or add in other lego shows, like monkie kid or. chima (shuddering noises IJNGOFDIJN) if your interest is piqued by those)
id like to thing harumi is in prison, fr. I hope in the 2023 series they AT LEAST state that she was arrested for being the responsible of, probably, many deaths
They could have simply fixed the lloyd oni form problem By having him stay in his oni form and use both the powers of creation and destruction ( aka the balance the overlord Is trying to destroy ). It would both make a more enjoyable scene and a more satisfying ending to the final battle
yeah it kinda makes sense. Creation + Destruction = Golden Power, and Golden Power is capable to destroy Overlord
The afterlife point in PIXAL's goodbye is touching until you realize they know that nindroids have an afterlife, as Zane found out in Day of the Departed.
When did that happen? I don't recall Zane feeing to the Afterlife.
@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi He met Departed Cryptor. And PIXAL was with him I think.
Yea it’s odd but regardless I do still the the line works fairly well and is something I did not expect for sure.
@@Makutros Oh dear, that is a good point.
Zane saw one of the Nindroids turn into a ghost and go to the departed realm but PIXAL wasnt there and maybe he just didnt ever tell her about it
honestly the overlord revealing that he was the reason for the great devourer instantly broke the immersion for me. throughout all of their appearances the overlord was shown to be cunning, manipulative and clever. the overlord knew harumi's grief with the ninja was because of her held perception that they were the ones that were responsible for it, so the fact that they would reveal that right infront of harumi makes no sense. even if the overlord thought there was no more use for harumi on their side, they wouldn't say something that would actively turn her against them.
If you didn't know, there was a scapped idea of Lloyd becoming the villian after beating the crystal king (in this idea, the crystal king is the oni form of the first spinjitsu master) in his Oni Form and that is when Nya would come back to save Lloyd
I thought it was a neat detail that Cole took up the mantle of leader again after Lloyd left, since it’s what he tends to do when he’s grieving a loved one like he did in the pilot episodes when he was still coping w his mom’s death. just wish he was in the spotlight more. As for nya’s character post sea yeah it sucked ngl, I wish it was done differently :c it made no sense that nya took samurai x back from pixal and that pixal did all the work making her mech like nya Can’t do it herself >:/ v unsatisfying. Whenever a character is brought back they’re never the same which is a gripe I have w ninjago as a whole. that and the fakeout deaths,, shoutout to pixal for carrying the season again as always!!
We definitely need a Pixal season, story, or comic! She deserves to be recognized and have more to her!
Yeah Nya was ruined and Pixal needs more love
Imagine if, because Kai knocked over the glass, Jay threw himself from the top of the lighthouse in dismay, and the sea caught him at the last second, showing that Nya was still alive, which allowed him to, throughout the rest of the season, cope with her disappearance and eventually meet her again (in water form, but with restored memories). That would be good writing right there.
I would have loved to see them do a Davy Jones type thing with Nya, where she could take human form and go on land to visit Jay once a year or something a bit like that, and the rest of the time remain with the sea.
I always questioned why Harumi never got angry with Pythor?
The literal guy who revived the devourer??
Speaking of Pythor, why was he back to completely evil? He went through and arc in s4 and while he didn't completely change, it was indicated that he was becoming a better 'person'
@@savagemongoose1182 fax
to be honest, I was so upset when they revealed that harumi was still alive that I almost stopped watching the entire season.
the reasons behind her death were so perfect and they fit so well with something that they said in earlier episodes "anger doesn't hurt anyone but yourself" (can't remember which season). she died because of her own actions, her own resentment. she later realized what she was doing did nothing but hurt other people and families, so she was no better than the great devourer. that's why she tries to help that family to reach out of the building. but when she finally starts seeing things clearer she dies the same way her parents did. that's it. she dies as a consequence of her actions.
as a kid's show, that would be a great message. holding a grudge for so long and plotting revenge against other people may end up worse for you than for them. it's a double-edged sword.
for me, that was a perfect way to end a character's arc. and that's why I was so mad when she reappeared. and don't get me started on my reaction when they revealed that the overlord was this big final boss, I LEGIT SCREAMED.
Im disappointed that they didn't mention the events of the Garmadon comics in Crystalized lmao it has so much Important context for garmadons growth during absence.
Dang the more I hear other people thought about the season and really let the gears in my head move, the more I feel a sense of anger and disappointment inside of me.
Welcome to the club :(
A large video like this deserves to blow up. You perfectly summarized my thoughts on this season. I love your content, and can’t wait for more!
The result of the bad wroting is just nadakhan twisting all our wishes for this season while waiting to return
Would like to see a reboot in 2023, a retelling of Ninjago with a consistent tone across the board. Something deep with good character work like SOG and Hunted not to mention the best the show has ever looked.
They've already confirmed Ninjago 2023 will NOT be a reboot.
@@danielzakgaim2764 wait there making more Ninjago Seasons???
@@StevenJones851 They said so at the Comic-con panel.
@@danielzakgaim2764 so it's a New Show or Reboot??
@@StevenJones851 reboot
About Lloyd in the opening of the season, it was meant to set up his guilt for Harumi as well as being unable to save Nya so it does fit with the character
Also Harumi does question the Overlord before he explains peace in the dark which is why she joins him
The Problem with Harumi joining the Overlord is that she gets convinced ridiculously easily. All that the Overlord needed to say to convince Harumi is that destruction only comes from the battle between light and dark, and that he can end that battle forever and make peace. He doesn't explain why darkness would win this time and not in season 2, he doesn't explain why the "light" side wouldn't reappear again after they win in the same way the "dark" side always returns when the "light" side wins, he doesn't need to convince Harumi that being turned into mindless zombies is a better fate for Ninjago's citizens than constantly living in conflint, Harumi just thinks about it for 3 seconds and then decides to join him.
@@butlered4350 The main thing holding the Overlord back the first time was how the ninjas elemental powers bypassed the Stone Army's invincibility along with them being controlled by the Helmet of Darkness, also if everyone's evil then what light would reappear? Theres somethings that dont make sense about it but given how Harumi is insanely delusional I can buy it
@@skylandersfan6954 Harumi didn’t know what the Overlord’s plan was before she joined him, the Overlord only told her the things I mentioned above.
Harumi’s motives have always been kind of fragile, but even for her it doesn’t sound believable to me that she thinks that basically killing everyone is a better alternative than them constantly living in conflict. Also shouldn’t she know from her final moments before her “death” in Hunted that she was wrong about her ideology?
@@butlered4350 But she isnt killing them though, and the Overlord straight up explains to her a solution to the problem, which Garmadon never did
@@skylandersfan6954 It isn’t literally killing them, but when you turn someone onto a mindless zombie you basically take their life away, but I don’t entirety understand what you mean by the second thing.
this video summed up literally all of my thoughts on crystalized. there’s so much missed potential and it could’ve been so easily improved in my opinion
Agreed its wasted Potential
I feel like if Harumi must come back after her “ oh shit what have I done” moment, she should be constantly trying to get back on Lloyd’s good side, but obviously he can’t trust her again. She would keep making things worse during the season, either unintentionally while trying to help (probably with questionable methods which are all she knows) or on purpose to make Lloyd feels like he needs her.
She should even reveal that she had been buying a ton of vengestone, and that it’s missing, but of course Lloyd doesn’t listen until it’s too late.
Omg
There was a lot of unrealized potential here, and I hate when "big bosses" think that obvious plot is bad plot, usually that's EXACTLY the right call which fans will love(No Way Home partially had same problem for me).
My biggest problem was Lloyd. After redesign he just doesn't feel the same way to me,it's like they gave him some of Movie traits, he just stopped thinking rational. He says to Harumi that he would rather to see good in people, well, oh my father is trying to become good, well fock him, and I was SO tired of listening to that. From episode 20 to 30 Lloyd was the MOST useless character, did you know that he defeated 0 Vengestone Warriors? Even Darreth destroyed one of 'em. The only useful thing he did was sending message to Serpentine. Golden power didn't make a grand return, but it's implied that Oni power is the ONLY thing that can end Overlord once and for all, and he desperately tries to avoid HIS responsibility, like "hey, we got cool vehicles now, so now I don't have to do that", or "hey, Dragon form sounds much more good to me, so no, thanks", the whole conflict with Oni powers is literally outta nowhere, it shouldn't even exist in first place because all his reasons to not use them are just nonsense(like Mystake situation), I was literally praying for anyone(like Wu) to say that he should swallow his pride and do what must be done in order to end this cycle of "Final Battle's" once and for all, to save their successors and kids from possible lose in the future. The ONLY possible plot line and solution, and they just abandon it like that(who cares if Ninjago falls and everyone will become zombies, at least I won't look like my father)for big dragon to go "wroom", core ninja(who were mostly amazing and definitely MVP along with Garmadon) cleaning his mess and solving NOTHING, and Overlord will return again in another 10 years like freaking Palpatine, that's just unreal, I'd rather think that "Roots" is noncanon and watch some fan animation with 10x better story ending.
What pissed me off the most after all of that was the fact they had the audacity to finish off the finale not with a classic song like Overture or the Weekend Whip, hell, I’d be satisfied with Season 7’s Monastery Overture, but with Inner Steel, a song they played once, in the very same season, and act like it’s a satisfying conclusion. Like who in the right mind thought that was a good idea!? It’s just so annoying to me they did that
I agree but… dareth is super op and is the strongest ninja he was a ninja longer then nya so hes more experienced as a ninja and you say EVEN dareth???
@@novafalcon1779 oh shit, my bad there, how did I dare to insult ma boi, even SALLY*, yeah, corrected 😅
You wrote a whole essay
"and I hate when "big bosses" think that obvious plot is bad plot, usually that's EXACTLY the right call which fans will love(No Way Home partially had same problem for me)."
What?
Dont usually comment but only 20 minutes in and so far I really like the video and agree with pretty much every point you make! In general all of your videos are super well made and enjoyable :)
Kind of going into a crystalized rant here; the first part of the season I consider some of the best ninjago media we've ever had, especially at the time when we didn't have part 2, and it just makes me sad how everything that made part one so good was just kind of... dropped after it and forgotten about. Also how Nya was just pushed to the side this whole season was absolutely insane. What was even the point of bringing her back again? Her merging with a sea was a beautiful way to end her arc on the show, not whatever she had in Crystalized...
Yeah! Man they really ruined Nya’s sacrifice. What’s the point of bringing her back with absolutely no other purpose but just being used as a plot device…! It’s like the earlier Wilfilm seasons where Nya was Samurai X before from the side, I mean I was okay with that. But here is a repeat of what we had from before, except much worse! Her being brought back defeats the purpose of her sacrifice in Seabound, like she knows what she had to do in order to have her loved ones and that’s that! She’s finally freed knowing her own identity! When looking back on Crystalized, I felt that something was up with how Nya was acting and I was like “please don’t ruin her sacrifice…” and we know how that went when she was brought back… Crystalized was by far the second worse Wildbrain season in my point of view! 😔😡
@@brickbanditstudios6037 yeah crystalized was bad
I think my biggest annoyance is people claiming that Harumi was redeemed. No she wasn’t, not in crystalized nor in SOG. Saving a family from almost dying doesn’t redeem her, she’s still a bad person who likely tore more families apart during Garmadons take-over. Deciding to fight the overlord doesn’t redeem her, she didn’t realize that her actions were wrong, she just realized that she was mad at the WRONG person.
None of that was redemption, she didn’t face consequences for ANYTHING she did. Hell, Lloyd claimed she was good now. Even if a redemption might be planned in the future, it still fails to plant the seeds for it. Harumi didn’t even audibly apologize or voice her remorse for anything she did.
Truthfully, her character was miles better and ended perfectly in SoG.
Wouldn't her turning against the Overlord because of the realisation that he was in the wrong count as realising her actions were wrong though? Also she went to prison so saying she faced no consequences isnt really true
@@skylandersfan6954 Not really, like I said before, Harumi’s change of side came from realizing that she was blaming the wrong person. After the Overlord reveals that he was the one behind the great devourer, she looks shocked and says “You?”. There’s nothing that indicates that she regrets her actions, not a voiced apology or her stating her regret. She looks sad(?), but that’s it.
By me saying that she faced no consequences, I mean that her actions are quite literally brushed aside. All it takes is Lloyd saying that she’s “good” now, and that’s it. Garmadon’s actions from SoG were held against him by Lloyd and the others. Why couldn’t Harumi’s been held against her too? She had just as big of a role in SoG as Garmadon, and why bring her back if she’s not going to be held accountable too.
The way she’s treated vs Garmadon was always strange to me. It honestly feels like the writers had no idea how to write Harumi: one minute she’s vindictive and cruel, and the next she’s all sad and sympathetic. They tried(?) to make her both, and neither one worked. :/
@@missing_name The entire reason she joined the Overlord in the first place is cus he promised her peace, the minute he shows he doesn't care about that, she rightfully turns on him
@@skylandersfan6954 It’s really not. She’s on his side up until the final confrontation with Lloyd and Garmadon. Seconds before the fight she tells Lloyd that he’s not strong enough to defeat the Overlord, meaning that she’s still on board with him. It’s only after he reveals that he was behind her parents death that she switches, nothing about peace.
@@missing_name "The only way this (meaning conflinct in the world) will ever end is for 1 side of the balance to win," this is not the first time her motivations are blatantly spelled out for you but just a reminder that the whole speech the Overlord had about peace in the dark is what gets her on his side in the first place. The information that he created the monster that killed her parents showed her he did not care for innocent lives and turns on him in order to avenge her family
Ninjago truly had a brilliant and meaningful finale episode, and it’s called March of the oni
Yknow
It feels like a very odd omen now that the very first episode of the WildBrain era is titled "Wasted True Potential". 💀
EXACTLY
Things I hated from Crystalized: 1. Not enough time villains. Needs more Pythor with a hint of Rodrigo 2. No new ninjas at all they were pointless and annoying and I cheered when they turned into zombies 3. Longer episodes If it had more time we could have gotten more story and character growth. It all just felt rushed 4. The overlord's death He just died no cool death just died 5. Pointless story of them just running from cops 6. Oni Llyod They did nothing but that but say HEY THIS EXIST
The Crystal Council were totally wasted with barely any further screentimes in part two. The new ninjas… kinda weren’t pointless tho? I mean somebody got to stop street thugs that are roaming around the streets, but yeah, hate them anyways! The 11 minutes run time does and does not work in some extent. But hopefully we’ll have the 22 minutes run time again, hopefully… the Overlord isn’t dead, just… he will be back again since Lloyd didn’t even use his destruction Oni powers to kill him once and for all, which risk Ninjago from being attacked by the Overlord again! And Oni Lloyd… yeah… very wasted, only got 10-15 seconds at most on screen for him… 😑
It would’ve been seriously hilarious if they brought back Rodrigo 😂
I loved the start of Ninjago Crystallized, it was kinda heartbreaking seeing the Ninja actually question whether they can still do what they do and even remain friends after the loss of Nya. And the realisation that yeah, maybe she can come back and that for a while, they were holding onto her by a string that was so likely to break and she'd be lost forever. The steaks were there, and whilst the season was alright from then on, Nya was like, skipped for about 10 episodes or something
I still think the absolute best thing about this season is the way Jay is written in the early episodes. As someone who's experienced a form of loss similar to him, it speaks to me greater than a lot of the other stuff in this season.
And then Crystalized forgets this
@@LukeNinjago sadly they forget that Lloyd could use Oni power too defeat the Overlord
My problem with Zane turning off his emotions is that after his own dad died off screen he never turned off his emotions, but even if he did he eventually turned them on again meaning he would not need to learn this lesson.
He turned off his emotions because it was affecting his productivity, thats why he didnt turn them on even after Nya came back, but i still blame the show for not making it clearer to the audience
@@noobthenewt1048 yeah the show could of done a better job
His Dad didn't switch off his emotions he switched off his memories.
@@NintendoMeister2260 I meant Zane didn't switch off his own emotions when his dad died for real, not the first time they thought he was dead.
Same also my problem with Garmadons return is that they didn't mention the events of the Garmadon comics in Crystalized lmao it has so much Important context for garmadons growth during absence.
Oni Lloyd was SUCH a missed opportunity and I hate that Lloyd basically stayed static in his stance on oni form the entire time like????
Oh for sure! Lloyd’s fear was that he doesn’t want to be like his father, and that he says that Onis are incapable of caring… *cough* Mystake *cough*… Honestly, if I were in Lloyd’s shoe, I would embrace my Oni side to use destruction power to destroy the Overlord once and for all
I think it would've been interesting for Harumi to cave to her feelings for Lloyd and try to redeem herself but for Lloyd to be traumatized and not actually forgive her and they go their separate ways
I found the foundations of Harumi's character this season to be _mostly_ in character. I think many of the contradictions you identified actually make a lot of sense. I said it before (in your Sons of Garmadon video actually) but I think Harumi did like Lloyd and that conflict within herself where she simultaneously hates him and likes is what makes her an extremely complex and compelling character.
I'm not going to reiterate why I think Harumi simultaneously liked and hated Lloyd (I explained that in great length in a comment on your Sons of Garmadon video) but I will say that because of that, I think Harumi was acting in character her. At no point in this season did she want to kill Lloyd. She wanted the Overlord to win to but she didn't want him to die at any point. She fought him sense but fighting does not meant killing.
She wanted to emotionally hurt him at various points this season as well but that's still not killing him. And actually, emotionally hurting Lloyd fits Harumi because in her mind, the only response to pain and trauma is to become hateful and spiteful. So if she can make suffer, have him embrace hatred and join the Crystal King, it would prove her philosophy right. That's why I think she so desperately wanted Lloyd to join her, firstly to validate her own world views and secondly because I do genuinely think she cares about Lloyd.
I think all those contradictions you mentioned (at least in the beginning of Crystalized) didn't seem like contradictions at all. They highlight the conflict Harumi feels. She hates Lloyd and she's part of the Crystal Council but at the same time, she doesn't entirely feel like what she is doing is right. Her evil is at odds with her conscious, a conscious that she's always had but one only saw come to the forefront when she saved that family at the end of Hunted.
And that's how great redemption stories are done (ex: Zuko and Darth Vader). The character begin to realize that what what are doing is wrong but they feel too entrenched in their ways to change. But the true moment of redemption happens when said character finally realized that in spit of their history and allegiances, that they are the one who controls their destiny and they finally take the action to change themselves.
I also think her motivation for blaming Lloyd for her parents death make sense in manner of speaking in that they are *not supposed to make sense.* Harumi was a child when her parents died and that trauma warped her perception of the events. Obviously it doesn't make sense to blame Lloyd but Harumi was not thinking rationally, she was just looking for an explanation. And that false explanation that she came to was that the Ninja were to blame and that Garmadon was her hero. And this explanation that Harm developed as child cared over to her as an adult because she never healed form her trauma. It doesn't makes sense to us but it makes sense to Harumi in her warped mind. That's why I think it's a very solid motivation. It's wrong but you can see why Harumi believes it to be true and it mirrors the way many people in real life blame their suffering on people who had nothing to do with it.
Now there are still problems with Harumi, firstly that she seems somewhat jokey but I assume that's to fit the tone of Wildbrain Ninjago. Still, you can't help but feel like the raw intensity of Harumi's character is being covered up by these jokes. there is a sense that the show is afraid to take her seriously which is a shame because it was the intensity, the seriousness, the rawness of Harumi and season 8 at large that made them so memorable. To bring her back with that same intensity does not fully realize her character.
Additionally, they did not focus nearly enough on her relationship with Garmadon this season. Siding with the Overlord when he opposes Garmadon should have elicited some sort of reaction or conflict within her. I honestly do not think Harumi has it in her to oppose Garmadon since he means so much to her. Garmadon likewise should have interacted with Harumi more and instead of just relaying his feelings about Harumi to Lloyd. The show needed to show this to us, not just tell us.
Actually, my biggest problem with Harumi this season was her redemption because it wasn't really a redemption. To have a true redemption, a character need to realize what you were doing before wrong before and explicitly act against it. Their actions should be the direct refutations of their former, immoral sense. But with Harumi, instead of forgiving Lloyd for her parents death, she instead directly blames the Overlord. That's not a refutation, that's a redirection.
Harumi never solved her fundamental issue of wanting vengeance or being hateful, nor did she heal from her trauma. The only way to do that is for Harumi to forgive the ones she blamed (Lloyd and the Ninja) and work towards a better future. The Overlord reveal is jut a cheap way for her to shift her anger from Lloyd to the Overlord, it doesn't actually hope Harumi internally accountable for her issues.
This is frustrating, because the easiest way to fix this is to make Harumi redeem herself not because she hates the Overlord, but because *she loves Garmadon and Lloyd.* This entire season shoed her begrudgingly acknowledge that she had feelings for Lloyd and it even alluded to her seeing Garmadon as her parent. That should have been the cause of her motivations, positive feelings to save those she loves instead of negative feelings against those who wronged her.
Harumi at her core wants a family. That has always been her primary motivation. She loved her family so much that it trapped her in the past and all the positive feelings about her family have been warped into negative feeling of revenge. To fundamentally solve that, you need to let Harumi find happiness with her family again. But wait, how can you do that the when her family is dead? Easy, give her a *new* family. Let that family be Garmadon and his son.
Harumi sees Garmadon as her father, she wants him to fill that void in her life and if they doubled on that being the cause of redemption, it would have made her redemption perfect. Make it so instead of betraying the Overlord out of revenge, that she betrays him to *save* Garmadon.
And the crazy thing is, I think the show was _trying_ to imply this! The way Harumi looked at Garmadon made it seem like she rushed in because she didn't want her new family to be killed just like her old one was killed. The framing of this was implying but they didn't commit hard enough! It makes it seems like the chief reason she betrayed the Overlord was not to save Garmadon and Lloyd, but out of revenge instead because that's what her dialogue said. And that's where her redemption missed the mark and why it's so frustrating! They were on the verge of greatness! They were *this* close but they didn't properly execute it or convey it the audience.
I should also go briefly into how Lloyd can serve as a motivation for Harumi's redemption in addition to Garmadon. As I stated above, Lloyd represents the path that Harumi didn't take. She wants him to become as hard and hateful as she is because it validates her. But if instead she becomes as merciful and forgiving as Lloyd, it instead validates his outlook. Harumi saving Lloyd is the story's way to telling us that Lloyd is right, that love, compassion, and mercy can always overpower evil and the negative emotions. Harumi saving Lloyd and joining with him instead of the other way around solidifies this moral. But again, the story didn't commit to this hard enough even though they were hinting that Harumi was slowly acknowledges her feelings for Lloyd this whole season.
Lloyd also ties into the family elements quite a bit since, well, without getting too mature, there is a concept of found family in real life he represents. Ninjago is a kid show so they don't want to deal with this, but when people find spouses it represents them finding family with non-blood relatives and then building their own family. I think that's what Lloyd as a love interest could have represented here, another aspect of Harumi finding her own family which signifies her healing. She will never forget her old family, but if she can find a new one she can heal.
Obviously Lloyd can't marry Harumi, this is a kids show after all but I still find the implications and catharsis of finding your own family very powerful. Ninjago could capture those emotions without going all the way but at least having Harumi realize that she would rather love Lloyd as found family than hate him. And it works on another level since that requires her forgiving him. The irrationality of Harumi's childhood trauma would have also been fixed.
So really I am left somewhat disappointed by what they did with Haurmi this season because this redemption, this conclusion of her character arc was not handled correctly at all. It's not just Harumi either, this is a disappointment that extends to the season in general. It feels like all the right ingredients were there to make this an amazing season but none of them were executed properly. As such, it feels like the entire seasons fails to realized it's potential.
It's so frustrating because with a few tweaks, edits, and rewrites, this seasons really could have been the greatest we've seen from Ninjago. But it's too late now. The season is over and instead of remembering as the that apex of Ninjago storytelling it could have been, it will be remembering as potential unfulfilled. What a disappointing way to end this era of Ninjago, what a disappointing way indeed!
Are you righting a book or what ? maaan seriously 😰
I don't know... Harumi and Lloyd being married or being spouses or love interests or whatever doesn't feel right to me...
The way you worded this triggered something in me. It doesn't feel right to me... It just doesn't... But I respect your opinion, nonetheless
@@lefelinx Some people just like to write long comments to fully explain their feeling and opinions on stuff, and sometimes it does turn into a book. Even I have done it
People I felt should've interacted more this season: Lloyd and Pythor, Harumi and Pythor, Garmadon and Harumi, Zane and the Overlord
@@kierahenley2335 Definitely the last one! Pythor and Lloyd next for sure though.
The oni power was so under utilized and the fact that Lloyd doesn't realize that all oni aren't bad by not only his father's example but there is also poor Mystake who was very kind and had been hidden as an oni for literal decades. That was the most disappointing part for me.
Dude, I'm a Ninjago Lover
But it was crazy how poorly some elements were handled this season.
Like they must have tried to do something this good this bad, not that it's anywhere near as horrendous as Secrets of forbidden spin Jitsu
But what I mean is, they had these perfectly set up stories and then it feels like they purposefully sabotaged them
simplest of things: Have Lloyd use the oni form to defeat the overlord, thus showing his acceptance of every part of himself, teaching the audience that just because there may be a part of yourself you don't like, you shouldn't push it away, and try to hide it, but instead find a way to either improve that part of you or find a good use for it. They had done everything right to the very last moment, Lloyd had achieved the oni form, and was using it to defeat the overlord, demostrating that just because the power of the oni came from the overlord doesn't mean that it can only do harm, literally all they had to do was make Lloyd use this power, what did they do instead? Get him scared and not use it at all. showing no growth what so ever. what does this teach us? No matter what the oni will always be a part of Lloyd, so if at the end he decides to keep pushing that part of him away, what does that tach us?. that there are parts of ourselves that we must keep hating and hiding and pushing them away? parts of ourselves that we should never let other people see? And if they wanted to make the golden dragon be the thing that defeats the Overlord they could have had both, use the forces of the elemental weapons and the oni form combined, let that be the key to defeat the overlord, isn't that what this is all about? balance?, the 2 sides coming together? Aparently not.
I think its because there saving oni lloyd for 2023 and we onlu saw a glimpse of his power
@@rafaelrivera7594 I doubt it
@@KittyMcFlame its still a possibility
@@rafaelrivera7594 why do you say that?
@@KittyMcFlame eh its just a theory if IF nadakhan does return they would need someone stronger than the overlord to defeat him
Crystalized is the Rise of Skywalker of Ninjago seasons
The season is decent but I have so many complaints about it. Why are the ninja in prison without vengeStone Handcuffs? In Skybound when the ninja were in prison they had those to make sure they couldn’t escape. Why don’t they have them here. Oh yeah they don’t have them here because if they did then the story couldn’t happen. Also The fact that they basically already did the entire jail plot point in sky bound but never bring that up is really weird. I get the ninja don’t remember it but Jay does. It just feels lazy like they couldn’t come up with something new. Pythor coming back is cool but the way they brought him back was really anti-climatic. For Christ sake we haven’t seen him since the day of the departed and you just bring him back with him just being in jail already. That’s pretty lame. Fugi Dove in one of the most annoying characters the show has ever had and I literally wanted to murder him every time he was on screen. All of those complaints are really nothing more than small problems. My biggest complaint is the series finale. It feels super underwhelming and it really shouldn’t. Ninjago is a show that has been going on for A really long time. I expected the finale to feel like a satisfying conclusion to all the characters and their stories but it’s really not. They beat the overlord and then they decide to rebuild the monastery and then it just ends. It doesn’t feel like a finale in the slightest. What an underwhelming ending. Modern family had a more satisfying than this
Vengestone cuffs aren't that big of a deal. There may not be any vengestone left because Harumi collected all the vengestone. But Jay definitely should have talked about Skybound. I agree with you on that.
i have to say you are right whit phytor in my eyes if they bring him back he schould be the main villan
The writers had a habit on keeping annoying characters around… Fugi-Dove that you’ve mentioned, and Clutch Powers… Fugi-Dove is okay in some extent but Clutch I really HATED SO MUCH! The Clutch in the show feels like NOT the Clutch I remembered! And they still kept him around?!?!?!? My god… 🤦♂️🙄
Decent Season with a lot of writing Problems agreed they should of done something else with the plot
@@aslytherclawontheinternet that's true only Nya and Jay have conflict
Settling in for the hour long ride! Thanks bendo, this has truly made my evening!
I'll be honest, the hour twenty runtime was intimidating, but I'm so glad I watched it all the way through. Absolutely love this channel and this video. Keep up the good work! :)
20:35 LITERALLY ME
Surprised there was no mention of how the Ice Emperor was vastly out of character and a lot more noisy than he was in his season
A one hour ninjago vid is like a blessing from heaven, this vid is so well made and your points are well thought through GREAT WORK ^_^
This season was just such a disappointing ending to the series. Originally I wanted them to bring back nadakhan this season because they have been teasing him coming back since season 11 but now I’m really glad they didn’t bring him back because they would’ve just messed that up to. Anyway I think this season would’ve been much better if they got rid of every member of the Crystal council except for Pythor. The story would just be about Pythor helping the overlord and every other villain including Harumi would not even be in the story because they don’t do anything and in Harumis case they completely ruined her character
I honestly think the season could still work with the crystal council but I definitely agree Harumi should not be in this season. I like seeing the others tho and I feel as if they could have easily been implemented into the season better.
They should of focused on the Crystal council more
Im disappointed that they didn't mention the events of the Garmadon comics in Crystalized lmao it has so much Important context for garmadons growth during absence.
Absolutely amazing video! You worded everything perfectly. You were able to capture the feelings after watching the season to a t!🤩
Yeah
Great video holy cow was it a long one but it was amazing. Crystalized had so much potential it’s just so sad to see how they threw it out the window
That about Lloyd being a child and not knowing spinjitzu yet is what I have ALWAYS said and that Harumi blaming him specifically NEVER made sence.
This video was done amazingly. You pointed out pretty much everything I had to say, but added upon it with things I didn't even notice. The production, scene choice, voice-over, background music, and script really made this the best video essay I've ever seen. This was amazing, keep up the good work!
I think the reason garmadon was not seen by any of the ninja, was because after s10, they went to the never realm, so maybe that was when garmadon was wandering around ninjago
I feel like they should have gave Oni Lloyd more screen time, but I’m more saddened that this amazing show just ended :(
Hey, I wanted to let you know that I'm loving the videos. I got back into Ninjago about a year ago, I won’t lie, I was surprised by how well it stands after all these years.
But anyway I've binged all your videos in one day and can't wait for the next one.
Keep up the good work dude.
This is really entertaining while doing homework and i had a blast watching this,while doing my homework. Nice work!
I would've liked to see the OG Ninja in episode dedicated boss battles against the council with each getting their moment to shine before the big battle. Then sacrificing themselves to become the golden dragon.
I agree completely with all your points here, something that I really wish I didn't. I had high hopes for Crystalized and, as someone who fell in love with the show all the way back during Rise of the Snakes, I was so excited to see how they ended it. I think this finale exhibited all the issues with the WildBrain era of the show in general, though. Rushed pacing, character inconsistency, using jokes to set up emotional moments, all those things. I would have loved to see so much more from the show... and I think in the end it ended up being just alright. I remembering watching it realizing we were going into the finale with only two episodes and realizing what it might mean... and sadly I wasn't proven wrong. I wish it had turned out differently... so, so differently.
"I think this finale exhibited all the issues with the WildBrain era of the show in general, though. Rushed pacing, character inconsistency, using jokes to set up emotional moments, all those things"
As if.
This man needs all of CZcamss ad revenue. What a great review. Kept my attention for the full 80 minutes. Great job! I love ninjago, and I love its community even more!
I love this video with my heart. Best ninjago review! 👍
51:30 also did Lloyd just forget abt mystake? Like she was an oni and wasn’t evil. Plus she literally sacrificed herself in hunted
The scene was supposed to be lloyd being irracional plus mystake has been forgotten just like the other serpentine generals
I also thought this might too
I was put into an unholy amount of fandom drama when I was 10, and Harumi’s plot felt like a kick to the balls because Lloyd’s plot with her always felt really nice to me, I healed and watched him heal, but oh my god what did they do 💀
Garmadon needs his own show😂
I mean we do have the Garmadon comics! Honestly, I rather read that than rewatch Crystalized again. Anyways, had you ever read the Garmadon comics? If so, what you think on it?
Yeah he needs his own Show
Instead of Zane’s falcon we get pixbot 17😭
Even worst Pixbot was around for like 2 episodes. Didn’t even appear in any sets and Wubot of all things appeared.
Oh my God I completely forgot about the "holding all four weapons" thing for Garmadon. Yeah, it would've been epic to see that return either with Lloyd or even Garmadon again. It could've definitely been set up during the whole invasion arc.
I honestly expected the Overlord to take the golden weapons since this is the first time since him possessing Garmadon that he was shown with four arms.
I love this season, but it is so disappointing and failed many things like Oni Lloyd and the council being wasted, especially Pythor and Mister F, both of which I was really excited to see return and hopefully get good conclusions. Hopefully the new season will be better then this one.
Yeah i hope Season 16 is better
Im disappointed that they didn't mention the events of the Garmadon comics in Crystalized lmao it has so much Important context for garmadons growth during absence.
You know, the more I think about it, the less sense this whole story makes. As many people wonder, why did Pythor even agree to take a part in Crystal Council when he already knew that the Crystal King is Overlord? Sure he couldn't just walk away from there, but at least it should've been clear that he's like forced to participate in all that.
Another thing that makes the overall story feel very rushed is missed character interactions. Imagine how cool would it be to have a Garmadon and Pythor interaction, or Garmadon and Overlord, or hell, even Aspheera and Garmadon, it's such a missed opportunity.
And speaking of interactions, Harumi and Pythor should've not been working together. Like there's no way that Harumi didn't know that Pythor was the one responsible for unleashing the Great Devourer. It's out of character for her even, giving how much of Ninjago's history she's supposed to know as a princess and someone who actually knows anything about Oni and Ninjago's creation.
And on top of all that, some plot decisions actually seem stupid and barely make sense as well. Like the whole Garmadon and Vinnie arc, Lloyd being handled so poorly, Harumi losing most of her original character traits, Pythor's literal amnesia (and Garmadon's too btw). And this whole "Oni blood makes me evil" thing is just... Damn... Although adding Oni to Ninjago's lore in s8 was a controversial idea since the very beginning giving how much errors it creates in the early seasons' narrative. Also the concept of Overlord being behind everything evil is also just very weird. And I guess you can call it a plothole, but how did the Overlord bring Harumi back to life in this purple limbo, if she was supposed to go to the Departed Realm? If he simply just caught her a moment before that, this means he was around this whole time in s9 and watched her die. So what stopped him from possessing Garmadon in that time, or possessing the ninja when they were battling against the colossus. The writers must've forgot his ability to possess people.
Really good Video! You are criminaly underrated!
So... I agree with almost everything you said here.
Especially the feeling of emptiness and being lost about the finale - Inner Steel instead of the Weekend Whip? LIKE WHAT!
A lot of the points you said match up with mine. Crystalized definitely has a lot of missed potential and story/scenes that feel repetitive or dragged.
Nya, definitely should've stayed 'dead'. It wrapped up her character beautifully and her actions in Seabound has consequences. Like abandonment in Prime Empire, they should've stayed with real life situations of people not coming back. That way they explore grief with Nya being Kai's sister and Jay's love interest. Also, it would've worked to improve their characters. Especially since in Ninjago (Forbidden Spinjitzu- onward), they've been very poorly written in my opinion. Benefit of Grief, should've been their episode.
First half of Crystalized is maybe Kai- centric, callback to the pilots, the ninja that started it all.
While second half, is Lloyd's conflict with his Oni Side and whatnot.
Not much to say about Cole, but PIXAL and Zane, PIXAL's speech made me cry even if Zane came back. I knew he would come back, but I had some hope that maybe he would actually 'die' later on, like he did in Rebooted. The Overlord not acknowledging Zane (the real person who beat him) really irks me.
Wu should've died as well. Like, permanently, since his character is just so off now. I don't care for him like I used to. He should've been used during the reveal of the Overlord possessing the Great Devourer as a tie back to his guilt of his brother being turned evil because of him. This guilt manifests to anger and recklessness, which ultimately leads to his death.
This death would've pushed Lloyd to unlocking his Oni Form. I don't understand why Lloyd is so against becoming his father (evil) - I get it, he's the green ninja ( a hero ), but when he was introduced, all he wanted to be was Lord Garmadon. This extreme hatred he has for him is weird to me- he knows this isn't his /true/ father: just the evil parts of him resurrected. So, what's up with not getting a birthday card? (Very Ninjago Movie to me :| ) . His Oni Form could've been a way of Lloyd accepting that he isn't perfect (all good) and he's a balance himself: of good and evil. Evil : when he was younger (due to abandonment and feeling alone), and good: now due to having the Ninja and his uncle, but still with flaws.
The finale battle with the Ally's: like you said, I was excited to see them all, but when they didn't speak and were all emotionless, that went away quick. I wanted to see Ed & Edna blab and never shut up. Lou singing to raise the spirits and cheer Cole on. Ray & Maya reacting to seeing their baby girl alive! SKALES!!!!!! But, nothing came from them. Not even Skales and Pythor arguing :(((((((
The Ninja becoming dragons was something I've been drawing since I was 14! Seeing it on screen, should've felt better- but, there was nothing to it. There was no stakes. Haha losing their powers , like they aren't just gonna regain them by next season -_-
The Fold and the Weekend Whip being the key to achieve it is hella cute! But, what's the price??????? Where's the stakes???
They should've done what Nya did, give in fully to their powers to save the ones they loved.
It started with the four ninja, should've ended with the four ninja.
I'm not saying death is the only way to go, heck, they'll be back next season and whatnot. But, if this is supposed to be the finale , the fans goodbye of a 11 (10 for me) year show, it really doesn't feel like it the way they did it.
also, Harumi stay dead.
Overlord, still boring as always. But, when he spoke about taking control of the four elemental powers of creation, I don't know. I thought he was gonna try and turn the Ninja evil like he did with Nya back in season 2. Why destroy creation, when you can control it?
Not to mention, Kai was practically training lil kids to kill. Evil Kai when?
haha that's probably a bit too much, but the Overlord not being focused on the Ninja's abilities is a real let down. His 'defeat' and explanation to why he came back, is a real let down.
Inner Steel has a much better actual meaning then the Weekend Whip
Really? How so?
Agree, only Garamadon is not, and has never really been 'evil'. He's not this way for being oni, he's this way for being unbalanced due to first the curse, and then Harumi resurrecting him this way. But nothing in him is inherently evil. He is an oni, dragon, human hybrid, just like Wu, and just like Lloyd. Nothing different about any of them. If they had been cursed, or resurrected that way, they would be just like he is now. And he's not evil, cause he still had good in him. He's a good person who was made imbalanced by others. He still has the dragon side of him, that's why he can still create. The oni side merely dominates now. But the dragon side is still in him. If he can balance himself again, he will be back to sensei G. And since he's a shapeshifter, he should be able to take that form again anyway. It makes zero sense why Lloyd is so hard on him, and why he has way more excuses for Harumi, who actually did evil on purpose, and is WHY his father is like this now.
We could have had Skales and Pythor arguing about the different ways they went after rise of the snakes. These two great established characters, partners in crime that haven't seen each other since season one. They robbed us blind they did.
The fact that he calls the new ninja competent when they couldn’t even figure out that touching the vengestone army crystallises you when there were multiple citizens infected due to this, which walked right infront of them
I would’ve like it if all of the New Ninja got corrupted except for the Teal one than we see him join the resistance where he’s humbled and realises that even though the Ninja are old they can still be heroes.
Bro keep this up, your videos are amazing.
Really great video, I agree on all the major points and you made some points which I felt but didnt really know how to vocalise.
I honestly expected Harumi to be plotting against the Overlord, so seeing her flipflop on her thoughts towards him and Lloyd was frustating.
Lloyd embracing his Oni Form would have been a great metaphor for how its okay to be angry so long as it doesn't consume you. I really liked the idea of him using the Golden Weapons.
I hope we see the New Ninja fleshed out, they kind of ended up being jokes at the end of the season but seeing normal powerless people take up the Ninja mantle was so cool.
I really hope Ninjago finds new and interesting consequences to character choices, since at this point deaths and losing powers isn't going to cut it (especially since they always get reverted).
Great stuff, here's hoping to a bright future for Ninjago
I’m really impressed with where your channel has gone! (No disrespect) I didn’t think much of it first, but slowly but it’s becoming clear that these videos are improving at a rapid pace.
I personally think of Crystalized as an unambitious, ambitious season. And I think your words of the finale not feeling like Ninjago capture it perfectly.
it really feels off as a Season final
March of the oni did it better
fantastic video essay; didn't expect to be in for an hour and a half long dissection but oh my god did you do a good job with picking apart crystalized's flaws (because there's So Many)
im so mad at how oni lloyd was handled this season. it really doesn't feel like the end to the series, more like a season end that was a bit more high stakes than usual. it's clear how rushed this was and how badly the writers fucked it up :(
The season with a total of six writers, that was hell for them to debate about what should and should not be in the season
Loved the video essay! In my opinion, a lot of the plot points in Crystalized seemed really reminiscent of things I've seen in fanfiction, especially things regarding to Lloyd. It felt like they wanted to give us the season of our dreams basically, but had some problems in the execution.
I also found it an inconsistency that Lloyd gives up on being a ninja when Nya dies, but is the one to bring the team back together when Zane died. Just something that personally bugged me a bunch.
Really like the channel! Keep up the good work! :)
this is such a good video! I pretty much agreed with almost everything you said, good job on this!
Love your video! And honestly, thinking about how Crystalized turned out, just makes me sad. It had everything to end this saga beautifully, and just wastes all the opportunities it has.
i was excited but after finishing the Season it's really disappointing
The only thing missing was Poe Dameron saying "Somehow the Overlord returned."
I think the things that overall kill Crystalized are 1. The horrendous pacing (The could have given us a proper Harumi redemption but they focused more on the paper boy stuff). And 2. Some things happening either too soon or too late, Nya should have come back in the second half and Harumi should have had a more fleshed out redemption sooner that isn’t just lashing out at the Overlord. That all being said… I still enjoy Crystalized, but the pacing just kills a lot of the parts of this season. The end of series marketing doesn’t help either. Sure, Dragons Rising is technically a different show, but it’s the same canon with most of the same characters. Had Crystalized just been marketed as another Ninjago season or as the end of the Vengestone Arc (Instead of it being marketed as the end of the show) then the pressure probably wouldn’t be as high. Return of the Ice Emperor sucks though LMAO. The only good parts of Return of the Ice Emperor were PIXAL being PIXAL and the Kryptarium crew doing something heroic just so they could have their city back.
"If I had to deal with Lloyd this season, I would have unlocked my Oni form"
I almost spat out my drink lmaoo