Anyone wondering where to find the latest LEGO Ninjago episodes will have to check Netflix instead of local network times. “The Island” and “Seabound” were once upon a time considered the same season, but changes have been made. According to the fan updated Wiki, the former is considered a miniseries and latter an official season. Niek van Slagmaat revealed on Twitter, “After the specialised launches like Prime Empire and Seabound, the markets asked for a wave with the classic Ninjago identity. We would not get any story continuing content in order to make sure we could get started on 2HY 2022 as early as possible. Thus, Core was born.”
The first two episodes have been released, and can be found on YouTube here.
This may appear on YouTube because to put this release behind a paywall makes little sense.
The wait hasn’t been silent either. In late 2021, fans were treated to The Spinjitzu Brothers–The Curse of the Cat-Eye Jewel and The Lair of Tanabrax (Amazon links)–as a look back at Wu and Garmadon’s formative years. Another volume, Maze of the Sphinx, is coming May 3rd.
Another tale, Journey of the Blind Man’s Eye, by Lachlan Hansen and Ninjago co-creator Tommy Andreasen was released on Twitter. This ongoing work can be found on the Ninjago Wiki.
Also coming on April 2022 is the release of a comic book, Garmadon, by Skybound Publishing. This group is better known for Walking Dead, and to see that they’re venture into kids titles is thrilling. Thanks to Jay’s Brick Blog for mentioning this title (which I didn’t discover till late).
In the meantime, I’ve been doing a lot of rewatching to see if I can find further clues about where the next season may go. Much has been said in my commentaries of the last season, Seabound, and at present, I’m finding not too many new things to identify. One important detail that some may have missed is that a lot of prisoners escaped Kryptarium Prison. Just who got out was not fully mentioned because Lloyd was interrupted when a member of the Explorers Club paid a visit and said his mother was MIA. Aspheera was no doubt one escapee, and she’s a big contender for making a return once she has rallied a new army.
In the meantime, as the season builds up, Nya loses control of manipulating water. As the episode “A Big Splash” reveals, this force was never fully hers to command. So is air, which can be calming as a spring day or angry as a hurricane. Sensei Wu explained its significance and this may be the next feature of the upcoming season. Twitter teasers from Andreasen said that they have yet to explore all the elements.
A consistent theme concerns the old world vs. new. Melmar sought to bring that back by awakening Wojira. Before, the Skull Sorcerer spoke of the old ways. He was imprisoned but got freed. Even Aspheera wanted the realm to return to what it was. Although her priorities shifted to getting revenge on Wu, she wanted to banish humans from this realm. She never liked the First Ninja Master.
As for whether another Ragnarok is coming, it’s doubtful. This world has faced enough; Garmadon and the Oni did more than enough damage and any new threat will have to affect one realm. Wojira only brought about a great flood. If we’re to believe an epic biblical event is coming, we’ve seen plenty of signs. It’ll require various nations uniting to fight a Thanos level villain. The dead had risen, the oni tried and failed as destruction was met with creation and Cole reconnected with his earth elemental roots. The opposite is air, and if that means Queen Vania joining the team as a wind ninja, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Also noticeable is in how little the Vengestone has been used against the Ninjas and other elemental masters. It can be shaped into shackles or lined into cages to negate those powers. We don’t know if it can affect forbidden spinjitzu, as it’s a stronger form, but it’s very probable that Aspheera allied with someone during the prison break and is biding her time before threatening the ninja again.
The new season is expected to air in mid or late 2022. And based on twitter reports of the ongoing production, it’s going to be excellent!