What Did We Really See In The Phantasm Cave?

Alright guys time for another theory post:

What did we really see in the Phantasm Cave?

We’ve generally accepted that the Ninja and Co. saw visions of their (arguably) greatest fears: Nya and Jay, Riyu and Wyldfyre, Sora and Arin. All pretty rudimentary.

Then we get to Lloyd. Main character that he is, his fear is much more layered. This got me thinking back on the visions we saw, and even those we didn’t, and what they might mean. I’m going to highlight the interesting bits that you may have missed upon a first-watch.

Arin:

- scene opens with Arin misidentifying his parents as Sora and Lloyd, then he approaches them

- not the last time he does this: shows up again in the season 2 finale after Arin fights Ras, but the opposite way. Arin thinks he sees his parents when it’s just Nya and Lloyd.

- after his parents are revealed, he suddenly can’t move anymore. He just runs at them without moving forward

- notably, his mother asks “Why haven’t you found us, Arin? Are the Ninja your new family now instead of us? Did you forget us?”

- Arin only responds to/denies forgetting his parents, but doesn’t address her other questions.

Arin fears that his attachment to the Ninja compromises his parents’ love for him. He’s able to make progress in his ninja training, albeit slowly, but hasn’t gotten anywhere closer to finding his parents. He blames himself for taking so long. He’s not worried that he won’t find them: he’s scared they’ll hate him when he does.

Sora:

- notably, her vision isn’t in or about Imperium itself. Beatrix and Ras represent the regime of Imperium that she ran from.

- these two appearing on a video screen ties in her elemental tech powers, as well as her “we are all dragons” speech from the season 1 finale, which was aired on a similar TV system

- she’s grabbed and pulled into the screen by a bolt of electricity: not a hand, not any involuntary movement, but the lifeblood of her element. We’ve known about elements having overlap since season 11, so this is likely another tie-in to her powers.

- a golden hand appears through the screen at the last moment to grab her. It’s unclear if this is Ras or Beatrix, though the electricity appears from Beatrix’s hand.

Sora has been exploited by Imperium before, and that was before she discovered her element. With a power that’s so utility-based, she’s afraid that her powers are going to bring her more pain. Choosing to activate the Photacs back in season 1 must have really stuck with her, especially since the Ninja nearly lost the battle because of her decision. She couldn’t stand to put others in danger again like that. And unlocking her true potential solidified the divide between her and her parents. In her own words: “I’m a dark cloud. Bad luck seems to follow me everywhere.”

Lloyd:

“Your team needed strong leadership and did not receive it.”

“But, I had these visions, and—“

- in an attempt to justify his actions, Lloyd tries explaining his visions; though he doesn’t know how much he can trust what he sees, it’s the only lead the team has. Lloyd continuously doubts his decisions based on his visions, so why would he be excusing them now? Perhaps as a way of justifying his inadequate leadership?

“I blame myself, nephew. I felt you were ready to take over for me. But I was wrong.”

- Lloyd puts Wu on this pedestal for being a “perfect” master. He’s able to call him that despite Wu’s mistakes and shortcomings, but Lloyd can’t give himself the same treatment. He doesn’t deserve it: he’s not worthy.

“You will never / be good enough.”

- Ras appearing here is really telling. He appears in his Imperium garb because this was the point when Lloyd’s mistakes in leadership came with tangible consequences: during the battle for the second monastery. His team was put in danger because of him. Not only is Lloyd not good enough to be a master, but he isn’t good enough to properly deal with this looming threat.

- Lloyd has also observed Ras’ leadership of both the Claws of Imperium and the wolf mask warriors and how effective he is. He’s much more organized and mentally sound than Lloyd, and he keeps winning. He consistently keeps coming back. By all of Lloyd’s metrics, Ras is a better leader than him.

Nya:

- this vision seems to be set up to imply that Nya regrets not loving Jay more before he disappeared. Because she didn’t care about him enough, he’s gone and forgotten their relationship altogether.

- Nya’s previous fears in the series have been: failure (S5) and becoming ordinary (S11 + 15). This vision ends up combining these two: In Nya’s failure to find Jay after the merge, she’s become ordinary to him.

Nya is the first to realize her vision is fake. I believe this is because hers was the only purely external conflict among all the visions. She’s able to separate herself from the given situation because what she feels for Jay hasn’t changed. She hasn’t been absorbed by her self-criticism or mistakes because she’s not doing anything wrong: Jay forgot her. She has no fault or control of that.

Riyu and Wyldfyre:

- Riyu and Wyldfyre are implied to have had similar visions regarding Wasting Sickness. It’s revealed later with Egalt that Wyldfyre has experienced the effects of Wasting herself among her clan. And Riyu coming from the Mountain dragon tribe would have also likely seen the devastation of Wasting.

- Both of them would have encountered this disease when they were much younger.

- We also learn from Egalt and Wyldfyre that Wasting primarily impacts older dragons. Both Riyu and Wyldfyre have older dragon mentors/family members: Heatwave and the Matriarch. I bet they saw these two suffering from the disease and were unable to help.

Kai:

- we are shown next to nothing about what Kai saw (thanks, show 😤), but his reactions paired with this pattern of analysis can give us some idea.

- after coming to, Kai glances to Nya, huffing a sigh of (what seems to be) relief. He looks to Nya first, notably. Remember, these animation choices are deliberate.

- when Nya says “It couldn’t be real”, he makes this face:

- Her conversation with Lloyd seems to sour his mood. Nya seems to think that just because her vision seems impossible, everyone else’s must have been just as unrealistic. And Kai disagrees. What Kai saw was likely something that could feasibly happen, or something that already happened.

- In a more meta sense, we can also assume this is a more recent conflict, seeing how none of the OG Ninja’s visions touch on relevant plot beats from before Dragons Rising.

- taking into account this ask to Doc Wyatt from a few months back:

I believe Kai’s vision had something to do with wandering the merged lands alone. This would explain the attention drawn to his relief at seeing everybody ok. I imagine we’ll get more info from Kai about his travels, but I’d respect the writers’ decision to leave this ambiguous.

So where does that leave us?

What I believe we’re seeing in these visions are the Ninja’s regrets. These commonly stem from underlying fears of theirs, but there’s not as much terror involved with this sequence.

From a writing standpoint, this is a deeper exploration of character than simply living their greatest fears. Given the opportunity, what’s one thing you would go back and change? One mistake that you’d fix? These visions force these characters to confront these questions head-on as they struggle to rationalize their past behavior.

Feel free to share your thoughts and theories in the comments or reblogs! I’d love to know if I’m cooking or not on these longer theory-crafting posts.