Ninjago Seabound - Blog Posts

What are Lloyd and Hellspawn's ages throughout the seasons?

So Lloyd had her about six months before s3, so I headcannon he'd just turned physically 15 then (mentally 11 but in the end, he makes it work)

Rebooted

Lloyd: 15 Hellspawn: 6 months of chaos (& Lloyd almost in tears from stress)

Tournament of Elements

Lloyd: 16 Hellspawn: 13 months (can walk & say two other words than sugar now)

Possession

Lloyd: 16 Hellspawn: 15 months and wondering where the heck her dad went.

Skybound

Lloyd: 17 Hellspawn: A 2 year old menance

Hands of Time

Lloyd: 18 Hellspawn: 3 year old begging to be taught spinjitzu but being told she's too young

Sons of Garmadon, Hunted, MoTo

Lloyd: 19 Hellspawn: 4 year old who wants her dad to stop feeling sad

The Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu & Prime Empire

Lloyd: 20 Hellspawn: 5 (kindergarten is getting fun)

Master of the Mountain

Lloyd: 21 Hellspawn: 6 year old who never expected to end up in an underground whirlpool with a princess, uncle cole & her granduncle. Papa u lie. U said it was a vacation.

The Island & Seabound

Lloyd: 22 Hellspawn: 7 (what happened to aunt nya?)

Crystalized

Lloyd: 23 Hellspawn: 8 year old who wants harumi sent realms away from her dad & left to die

Dragons Rising

Lloyd: 28 (he's somehow very old in her eyes) Hellspawn: 13 year old who won't stop asking her dad how he burned tea after finding out from sora

Soo I've been bored so i drew nya tranforming to her nrg form (not like in the show its based of an art trend ig) it pretty much looks like the nrg form is hatching man idk I'll jus leave it here

The coloured version

Ik its shit but who cares

Anygays hope yall have a great day/night✨

Nrg nya cuz why not

seabound spoilers

HOLY HELL I SHIT YOU NOT I JUST WATCHED NINJAGO SEABOUND DOR THE FIRST TIME AND I CANT STOP CRYING

so I made a cheeky comic

It’s not very good but it was post mental breakdown anyway

also Dashton is so Jaya coded I just realized (the fandom crossover ever)

ninjago’s biggest flaw: death = development

ninjago has this consistent idea that the death of a character leads to the development of either said character, or the characters who grieve the death. while this concept can be written very well, ninjago can’t seem to get it right.

for example, nya’s sacrifice in seabound. i think her death could have been the BEST example in ninjago of how relationships can grow and strengthen over a shared loss. nyas ‘death’ could’ve been written as a wonderful way to deepen relationships between the characters, ESPECIALLY kai and jay. relationship development between those two would have been such a good concept, stabilizing eachother during times of grief, and so cole (who was, im sure we all agree, the most stable post seabound) would not have the burden of trying to help all members of the team, burying his own grief in order to aid the others, just as he had to do when his mother died.

furthermore, nya’s own death could have been a development strike for herself, but the show did not give her and nyad enough time  to show nya once again reestablishing her sense of self, and collecting her memories. this lack of time nya had, and the lack of attention brought to kai’s grieving methods, combined with loss of potential growth between kai and jay, simply proved that what the writers were aiming for (nyas death--> development) did not work out. and im sure u all can think of the other examples where this idea does not work out.

but i think while the death= development IS a problem, there are times where they got it right, and it did lead to development at some point. for example, when the monastery doors collapsed on lloyd, and so he ‘died’ and met with the first spinjitsu master (plot contribution). and, cole’s ‘fall/death’ showed us an extremely rare occasion of kai being vulnerable and scared, and then nya into a phase of blaming herself, which led to kai comforting nya, showing the strength of the bond between the two.

so, ultimately, i believe the true problem, is : ninjago’s inability to correctly and deeply portray grief,  because the entire idea of death= development  is based on how individuals deal with grief (coping mechanisms), how they carry on with it, and the relationships formed/strengthened by it. if grief is written poorly, then death can never lead to development.

Grief: Kai and Jay

I chose to focus on those two because of one sole reason: the IMMENSE contrast between the ways Jay and Kai handle grief. Complete opposites.

before i Start i wanna say I don’t have anything against jay, I love him too guys

Jay, time and time again, shows self centeredness in times of grief (again, not saying it’s his fault that’s just how he copes) He leads himself to believe that only he ever loved this person, and that no on else feels the same way. jay is also very expressive- he cries, he mourns, he is verbal throughout his grief. for example, he talks to water in order to feel some grasp of nya close to him- it shows how expressive he his with his longing for her. furthermore, two more examples:

the widely known one: Kai and Jays fight. JAY is the one who suggested they shouldn’t be a team anymore, he is the one who started the fight, and he’s the one who said no one loved/missed nya BUT him.

now, one might say

“But Kai was inconsiderate! He knocked down Jay’s water glass!”

lemme tell you buddy. jay shouldn’t be talking to water glasses in the FIRST place. secondly, this was kai’s way of showing concern, and allow me to remind you that kai still bothered to show concern for jay, when even before the fight jay was saying things like “only I miss nya” “I love her” “we are nothing without her”

secondly, did u guys notice the immense regret and sadness when kai knocked his glass over?

LOOK AT KAI’S EXPRESSION. he is DEVASTATED. he didn’t MEAN to. and on top of that, he is closing his eyes. if you’re a total kai observer, like I am, you’ve noticed that he looks away or dissociates if situations are too emotionally overbearing for him (nyas death, both times, when chen tells him about the fact that his parents might be evil and left them on purpose, etc etc). kai even said sorry, in a heartbreaking tone. he UNDOUBTEDLY would have apologized more profusely if jay didn’t attack immediately.

the other example is Season four, episode two. The ninja were in chens place discussing Zane’s death. jay says “I moved on. I feel guilt. These are not good feelings!” again, kai feels like he is being indirectly attacked, due to jay subtly suggesting that only he feels guilt. kai then says, “You think you feel bad? Imagine how I feel!”

and you might think oh but Kai is being self centered now. no. He’s not. Because remember what Lloyd told him before? Lloyd said Kai was selfish, for wanting to die instead of Zane. Kai felt suppressed and used jays words as a chance in desperation to vocalize some of his pain because he had no other chance to. And every time kai stated ANYTHING related to Grief, it’s automatically considered selfish whereas when jay does it it’s totally fine. kai’s feelings are ALWAYS being dismissed.

Kai handles grief destructively. He drinks, blames himself, mentally tortures himself. He literally has never cried in front of the others and silences his grief because he is criticized for it, especially by jay. It’s not that he isn’t vocal, it’s the fact that he CANT be. He’s SCARED to be.

both were in immense pain, but, and I literally don’t even know how many times I’ve said this, but the show needs to properly address this problem. kai being portrayed as selfish during grief is UNFAIR, and does not make sense AT ALL, when everything he says or does contrasts ‘selfishness’.

We all know Kai’s coping mechanisms for grief are extremely destructive. He became an alcoholic to deal with Zane’s death, and openly said he wished he would be dead instead of him.

BUT During Nya’s death (at least nearly after the year, who knows what he was doing the months before he opened a dojo, probably definitely crying himself to sleep every night and other sad sad things. another quick reminder kai felt the same amount of pain jay did.) he surrounded himself with kids. On the outside, doesn’t seem so bad. He’s a teacher. At least he’s not an alcoholic! Yay?

No. Not yay.

He surrounded himself with Children. Little girls (and boys) who undoubtedly reminded him every single day of his baby sister. Kai was basically torturing himself, forcing himself to remember that he was unable to protect his nya. Seeing all these eager kids wanting to learn how to fight, seeing these parents send in their Tom’s and their Jennifer’s, through desperation he tried to help protect them so the guilt of failing to protect Nya was less suffocating. So that neither Tom or Jessica’s parents go through what he went, and so that when the guilt is just a little less suffocating , because it probably won’t ever not be suffocating, he can try and just maybe scrape the courage and try living and breathing in the honor of the life she, his baby sister, nya, lived, telling her story and fulfilling her dreams (likely what nya would have wanted) instead of drowning in the grief of the life she couldn’t live.

lets all start a revolution so we get more kai and nya and lloyd let us all rise and conquer 

may our goals awaken from beneath the everlasting darkness and reign for eternity 

we want rgb grief. we want our dynamic. im so sick of romance focused troupes. IM SO SICK OF ALL THIS ROMANCE GARBAGE. I WANT SIBLINGS. GIVE US SIBLINGS. I WANTED TO SEE MORE OF THEM. I WANT TO SEE MORE OF THEM. ONLY POTRAYING JAY AS THE MAJOR PERSON AFFECTED BY NYA’S DEATH IS NOT OKAY. HOW MANY TIMES AM I SUPPOSED TO SCREAM OUT,” KAI RAISED HER!! LLOYD AND KAI LOVED HER TOO!”

If somebody says one more time that Kai deserved to not only get kicked but also beaten up by jay in that one fight scene in crystallized I will THROW HANDS. No, I DO NOT hate jay. But I DO HATE tommy anderson

we know why jay acts the way he does. we have information about his past. we have an entire season about him and how he perceives himself (sky bound). Nadakhan literally pointed out that jay uses jokes to cover up insecurity. His true potential showed that he was insecure about being himself (until nya talked to him etc). We got like three seasons of him being the hero and saving entirety of Ninjago.

We were given Information about Cole’s past. We saw his childhood with his gorgeous mom. We saw in his true potential how he desperately wanted to be accepted by his dad. We saw Zane’s past. We saw how he sacrificed himself for the Ninja, understanding and acting upon the same words Kai had told him, “it’s about family, not numbers”. The writers could dive into Zane more, but we got something. And we also got some Nya, why she’s a perfectionist, why she isn’t that verbal, why she’s Independent; Kai said so himself, after all. Even though I wish we saw her talk with Nyad more, we still got her. And the entire series is about our boy Lloyd. And even though every one of them could be explored so much more, we got something. And for a few ninja, we got a lot of something’s. But not Kai. Rarely Kai.

Kai’s true potential was protecting someone. And I loved that, I did. But that’s it. If anything, it literally points out that no, he is not selfish. We never got a season truly revolving around Kai’s childhood struggles/trauma. Why is he reckless? Why is he protective? Why does he never cry? While the other ninja have their spotlights, Kai never had his. He is such a complex character (that ninjago refuses to dive into) and that’s why I love him so much.

I know. I know Kai can be rude to Jay sometimes, and bully him, but if it came down to it, Kai would die for him. Because this is the man that makes his sister happy, because jay does mean a lot to kai. Kai doesn’t show it - frankly, he doesn’t show a lot of things. And I know this doesn’t entirely excuse the way he acted toward jay before, but why. I want to know why he acts like that. But the writers never dwelled on it. Jay is allowed to confront and express his feelings about how Kai for ‘bullying’ him, but not like this ( by the way, idk if I guys noticed but lately Kai has been complimenting/hyping jay up a lot now.)

And when jay, who is grief stricken, leads him self to believe only he loved nya in the entire world, kai is allowed to get angry. Kai is allowed to feel anger towards someone acting like no one else loved nya when Kai raised her. Protected her. Did everything for her. Just because we did not see as much of Kai grieving as we did of Jay, does not mean Jay was more upset. For all we know, Kai was dying on the inside. She was his sister for gods sake.

Kai did not “deserve” that kick. And if you genuinely think that, i honestly do not know what to tell you.

i heard @grimbeak was looking for this scene👀

no no, i was thinking the same thing

he just seemed very ‘there’s something wrong but im not gonna let you know that because saving nya and maya is more important’

something about him just feels off and i could be wrong but didn’t zane say that even if jay did survive, there would be fatal damage or something?? 

Seabound Episode 5+6 Reaction

Episode 5

“What island? Keepers of what?” I love Nya so much oh my gosh-

I’ve only heard about two lines from Prince Kalmar’s adopted brother at this point but I’ve already decided that I would die for him and he’s my new son.

“While you guys are thinking, I’m gonna go get the, uh...oxygen tanks.” ...Fuck.

GLOWY EYES

AHHHHHH

...Aight is it just me or does anyone else think that Jay is not actually as okay as he’s acting?

I don’t know why exactly but I think there’s something wrong.

Also I’m kinda miffed at their use of Zane’s sacrifice track for that scene. Sure it was kind of intense but not nearly on the same level as season 3’s finale—idk it just doesn’t feel right

Captain Jay sjskalfkshalddjla

-

Episode 6

Blah the intro is still blasphemous

Whoa that’s a really cool-looking shark water monster thing

FSM why couldn’t Nya have been this amazing in every season.

Bruh did he just kill his own dad

How is that allowed on a kids show

“He has been gravely injured by the surface dwellers” bITCH how dare you lie to my new son like that

Okay so the king’s still alive?

“Zane? You don’t require a breathing device.” “Yes, but I like how it completes my attire.” MY GOD

Jay is a literal 5 year old hdkslaldjjsla

Okay so Benthomaar knows that his brother (who I’m not adopting) is evil now that’s good

They’re like Thor and Loki but with swapped morals

-

Anyway to sum up: Nya is becoming my new favorite, I’m concerned about Jay’s well-being, and I have adopted another lego person.

honestly these were pretty much my exact thoughts-

jay just seemed kinda..off and that makes me worried but also i would die for benthomaar

Seabound Episode 5+6 Reaction

Episode 5

“What island? Keepers of what?” I love Nya so much oh my gosh-

I’ve only heard about two lines from Prince Kalmar’s adopted brother at this point but I’ve already decided that I would die for him and he’s my new son.

“While you guys are thinking, I’m gonna go get the, uh...oxygen tanks.” ...Fuck.

GLOWY EYES

AHHHHHH

...Aight is it just me or does anyone else think that Jay is not actually as okay as he’s acting?

I don’t know why exactly but I think there’s something wrong.

Also I’m kinda miffed at their use of Zane’s sacrifice track for that scene. Sure it was kind of intense but not nearly on the same level as season 3’s finale—idk it just doesn’t feel right

Captain Jay sjskalfkshalddjla

-

Episode 6

Blah the intro is still blasphemous

Whoa that’s a really cool-looking shark water monster thing

FSM why couldn’t Nya have been this amazing in every season.

Bruh did he just kill his own dad

How is that allowed on a kids show

“He has been gravely injured by the surface dwellers” bITCH how dare you lie to my new son like that

Okay so the king’s still alive?

“Zane? You don’t require a breathing device.” “Yes, but I like how it completes my attire.” MY GOD

Jay is a literal 5 year old hdkslaldjjsla

Okay so Benthomaar knows that his brother (who I’m not adopting) is evil now that’s good

They’re like Thor and Loki but with swapped morals

-

Anyway to sum up: Nya is becoming my new favorite, I’m concerned about Jay’s well-being, and I have adopted another lego person.

PLS I WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE ELSE WAS THINKING THIS AHHHH

Episode 3 had some serious ducktales vibes going...

What if Jay sacrifice himself instead of Nya?

I have nothing else to put here because I don't know what to post xd

So I leave you some drawings of Nyad and Harumi 😼

I leave you this Kai from season 15 eating a sandwich because it is cute ;u;

all the time i think about how Nya really and truly was the glue of the ninja like Jay said in Crystallized because let’s be so for real, had Nya not been kidnapped by the Skeleton Army or been such a great help to the Ninja and Wu ever since, there literally would be no Ninja. She’s what assembled the four core ninja to begin with. She goes to every length possible for these boys, whether they like it or not. She keeps it going. She’s Nya and she’s badass and she’s the game-changer in so much of the Ninjago plot that these boys truly do not know what to do without her.

if i had a nickel for every time an animated kids show just up and ran with lore ideas i had brewing in my little pot of fanfic ideas for at least a year before its respective premiere season came out, i’d have two nickels. it’s not a lot but it’s awfully strange that it happened twice now.