#dragon’s rising rant

[bboisawesome]

I just finished the 10 episodes of Dragon’s Rising on Netflix, so I wanna talk about it.

Just to let y’all know, I enjoyed it. ^^ I’m gonna put a read more thing if y’all haven’t seen it yet and don’t want spoilers.

OKAY! So, I finally finished Crystalized and got into Dragon’s Rising. My quick review of Crystalized was…meh. It was okay, not the worst season, but not my fave. Also, I hate Harumi so anytime she is on screen I am filled with rage. But enough about that, I’m talking about Dragon’s Rising.

First, I want to address the whole, “I don’t know how that happened but it did thing.” Such as Arin teaching himself Spinjitzu, and there being two fire elementals. (Or she has heat? I guess? Idk) Usually if that happened in a show, and they were like, “I don’t know how it happened it just did.”, I would totally count it as lazy writing, and I still kind of do. But I feel it works a bit better in this instance, because we are in a completely new world in a way.

If they were to try that in the regular world of Ninjago, I would completely write it off as lazy and stupid writing. They’d have to find someway to make it work or else it would just be contradicting to past lore, and I know Ninjago hasn’t been the best at keeping lore consistent and stuff, but having two elemental masters wield the same element that aren’t related would be a pretty big lore piece to mess up.

I feel that can be more excused with the whole merge. It’s obvious the merge has changed how the realms work. Some rules seem to be non-existent now, ((such as the cloud kingdom)) and new rules have been created. It’s not just Ninjago anymore, it’s a new world and some of the things we know about Ninjago don’t exist anymore. That’s why I feel this works a lot better. Even if it’s still not totally explained, we still get something, and that is that the merge has changed things, we just don’t know everything it’s changed.

So with that out of the way, I want to talk about the new characters, world building, and all that good stuff.

I’m gonna start with characters. And a good place to start is our new main characters.

Arin, Sora and Lloyd. They seem to be the main three. We have Kai and Nya, and later Zane. But these three as main characters provide a nice dynamic, and I believe an interesting angle to introduce this new world to us.

First, I want to start with Lloyd. Lloyd is a familiar character, a sort of anchor for Ninjago fans that helps ease them into this changed setting. ((The other ninja can also attribute to this effect.)) We all know Lloyd, we know his story, we know who he is, what he does, etc. He is someone we know a lot about, who is also learning about this new world that the merge has created, and dealing with the parts of Ninjago that don’t exist anymore. But there’s a nice familiarity to it that I think let’s people know that some of the old Ninjago is still there. It’s just moving on into a different stage of life, in a way. Lloyd kind of does the same, as he becomes a teacher, or a master. He’s moving on to the role Wu once possessed. Ninjago has dabbled about Lloyd becoming the new Sensei in the past, but I always thought it’d be weird if he became the new Sensei to people that already know Spinjitzu, and have trained for years longer than him. Sure, Lloyd did assume the role of team leader, but he never really went up to the same role as Master Wu. Now he’s finally going through that step of his journey with Arin and Sora, and we get to see him figure it out along the way. We get to see him use what Sensei Wu taught him to teach the next generation of ninja, and help pass the mantle over. ((Also, love watching Lloyd be a little cringe fail while figuring out how to do that, love that for him. ^^))

Next, there’s Sora. I think she adds a nice contrast to Lloyd, as she is completely new. She’s not from Ninjago, she’s from Imperium. She’s spent years growing up with the events of the merge, and she’s taken that time to explore this new world as well. Then her new tech powers pulls her into the world of Ninjago, as well as her friend Arin. She’s a wonderful way to help introduce this new world that we know nothing about, and helps bring insight to the main antagonists as well. I am also loving how close she is to Arin, in a world where they became abandoned or alone, they found each other! If there’s one thing Ninjago provides well, it’s found family, so I’m glad to see that carry into Dragon’s Rising. ^^

Finally, there’s Arin. I believe Arin is a nice middle ground. Unlike Lloyd, Arin is a new face. He grew up around the crossroads, just like Sora, and helps introduce parts of this world we aren’t familiar with. But, unlike Sora, he does come from Ninjago, something familiar to us and to Lloyd. He knows a lot about the ninja, stuff that happened to Ninjago, and many other things. He’s a very nice mix between old and new, and I think that’s a perfect representation for the new world of Dragon’s Rising. Also, I think it’s adorable how much of a fan boy he is, and for being self taught he isn’t half bad. I think I agree with Lloyd when I say that with more training and guidance he will be very good at being a ninja.

I also think the world building is very cool! We get some of the old Ninjago stuff, the monastery, Cloud Kingdom, stuff like that. But we also get new places, and we get the interesting concept of how the different cultures and lifestyles of the realms would interact when smushed together. The crossroads is a nice representation of that, specifically the carnival! Having an event for all of the different realms to come together and celebrate parts of their worlds was amazing. Not to mention, it’s also an opportunity to mourn what was lost during the merge. The merge may have invented a new world that provides opportunities for some, like Sora, but it was also a huge event that tore people’s lives apart, like Arin. Everyone finding a way to come together and celebrate what they once had, while also celebrating the new things they have is a wonderful bit of world building for the crossroads. You get a good sense that this is a place where the different realms really do come together, not just physically, but spiritually, in a sense. They come together as a community, some as a family.

You also get the nice contrast of Imperium, a place so bent on keeping things how they are supposed to be. They’re stiff, brainwashed, and overall just plain dystopian. Even it’s own citizens are afraid to step even a bit out of line, and it could be for the simplest of things, such as not wearing shoulder pads on a Tuesday. It’s very stark contrast to the colorful and wild world of the crossroads. Everything looks nice and orderly in Imperium, but no one is free. Not to mention the whole harming living dragons for energy thing. And the leader just seems very narcissistic. It’s all about what she wants, she doesn’t care what’s actually best for the city or for her people.

Then you have some of the other places, such as the part of the realm of Madness, and the Cloud Kingdom. We get to see how these different areas that are more separate have been dealing with the merge. Overall, it’s nice to see all of this setting being expanded upon.

So, yeah, I enjoyed Dragon’s Rising. I’m excited for more. I might talk about Nya, Kai and Zane soon, but personally I don’t think I have much to say, so I’ll leave it out for now.

I also would talk about Ras, since he seems to be building up to something more interesting, but I wanna see where that goes first.

Also, Riyu is adorable.

Aaand, I think that’s everything? Everything I can remember or properly type out without being confusing anyway.

[yunmaobao]

NINJAGO DRAGONS RISING SEASON 2 SPOILERS

dramatic recreation of the worst/best scene this season. no im not okay.

[llannasvsp]

One of my favorite things about Lloyd is that when he outsmarts someone in combat he just says, "Gotchya!" with the most sassy tone in his voice. Like you just KNOW he's smirking under his mask. I think I like it so much because it reminds me of s1 bratty Lloyd.

[theplatypusblue]

I think abt these guys sometimes 😗 ....

(i dont have a post-merge design for harumi yet lol)

[colekinnie-4life]

I wanna talk about Jay’s amnesia for a bit. And I don’t mean saying “oh he forgot Nya it’s so tragic blah blah blah”, no.

He forgot everything, not just Nya. Not just the thing the show is trying to show us, which is his relationship with Nya and the rest of the ninja. I mean literally everything.

He forgot his parents, his home, the junkyard. He forgot any potential childhood pets he had/goldfish he definitely killed on accident. He forgot riding a bike for the first time, winning a spelling bee, or just anything special about his childhood.

His birthday, how old he is, hell, he probably doesn’t even know what his middle name is (if he has one, anyways).

He forgot everything. And I’m hoping and praying to John Spinjitzu himself that Season 3 goes into this. Maybe the ninja meet up with Ed and Edna and tell them about what’s going on with Jay, and we get a flashback to when he was a kid, since we haven’t gotten anything like that for Jay.

Just something, anything, that gives us more detail on his amnesia besides “oh he forgot Nya! Here’s some more Jaya angst for the fans, cause we definitely don’t have enough of that already!”

No. I want Jay angst. Not Jaya angst, Jay specific angst.

[an-established-butt-dent]

Dragon age inquisition: Solas

I wonder how long it took the companions to notice Solas wields magic just a bit... differently?

Surely an apostate knows magic beyond the boundaries of a Circle? But even Dorian doesn't recognize some of his techniques, and the ones that he does are only described in ancient Tevene tomes.

Hmm... strange.

Acrylic ink, fineliner and gouache on paper.

[little-hermit-crab56]

Not really DR s2p2 spoilers but I mention it

Can we talk about Lloyd a Sora's dynamic?? Like they're actually so adorable, I've been calling Sora 'the next Lloyd' because she's lowkey green ninja successor material.

She's so receptive to his teachings, like she really takes everything he says and integrates it into her mindset.

They also have so many 'student becomes the master' moments, like the way she was pep talking him about his fight with Zeatrix. She really threw his words back at him and bro had nothing left to argue with.

Honestly, the more Sora grows as a character the more she reminds me of Lloyd in earlier seasons. She's great at pep talks, great at turning fights in her favor, great at basically everything Lloyd was back then.

I absolutely loved the look on his face when Sora was giving him that pep talk, like he's given so many pep talks in the past he doesn't know how to react when it was happening to him.

Also the way their relationship has grown! I got the impression Sora wasn't too keen on Lloyd when he started training them because she saw him as kinda an authority figure and we all know her issues with authority. Then she realised he was a fucking loser, who honestly doesn't have that many years on them, and isn't really a threat to her autonomy, and their relationship has just gotten better from there. She really trust's his teachings and it's so sweet.

Also I love how despite the obvious power dynamic of student and teacher, they are so equal. Like Sora doesn't hold him in the same high regard the ninja did with Wu, and Lloyd doesn't demand blind respect just because he's older and more experienced.

Lloyd may not have been the best teacher for Arin, but he really is the perfect teacher for Sora, especially with her past with authority. He never forces her to do anything, or puts pressure on her the way her parents did, or uses his status and age to demand respect. He's really just a guy with enough experience to become a teacher, and I love him for that.

[ct-9902]

Ninjago halloween recap if you missed it:

Morro returning with an official minifigure leak

Forbidden Jay minifigure leak

Ninjago live action movie news

And episode titles could leak tomorrow

Also something with new characters in 2025

[rainofthetwilight]

strength

[cable-salamdr]

Continually in awe over how well of a mentor Kai is to Wyldfyre— The fact that it takes him a moment, but as soon as he realises that she loves competition and that the best way to get her to do something is by giving her a difficult role or challenging her he becomes incredibly good at actually training her. It’s not just that Wyld reminds Kai of himself, but also that he uses that as a way to help her become better.

[mittenslikescats]

I can’t even

Some fucker changed it because ‘oh no Ninjago can’t possibly have a gay relationship’ even though there’s evidence in the SHOW and not to mention several ppl working on the show support these 2 as a ship.

And don’t tell me that ‘they’re just trying to make sure the information is factual’ cus on that same exact page they have Nya listed as one of Cole’s former love interest even though it’s been confirmed by Tommy Andersen that Cole never liked Nya romantically and that he was just confused at the sudden attention she was giving him.

But of course some homophobe probably got upset at seeing Geo being a possible love interest for Cole. I sometimes cannot with this wiki, like you have your canon straight ships, you got Jaya, Kailor, Pixane, Llokita just let us have this one gay ship be canon. It’s not going to ruin Cole’s character if he ends up in a romantic relationship with Geo. When Kai and Skylor got together did that suddenly ruin Kai’s personality? No and it would be the same for Cole.

It’s honestly tiring having to fight for queer representation in Ninjago and it doesn’t make it easier having homophobes trying to bash anyone who supports a queer ship or headcanons a character as queer in this fandom.

Also while on topic I actually hate how ppl will try to use Vania as an excuse to be homophobic. Like when a homophobe goes on about how ‘Cole isn’t gay’ they’ll always bring up Vania (and Nya at times too) like it’s been confirmed that Cole and Vania are just friends yet people still treat the ship as canon (u can totally ship them if u want btw) and use Vania as an excuse to homophobic. Like don’t you dare bring my girl into this

I’m honestly disappointed in the ninjago wiki, I thought people there would be more open to the idea of Cole and Geo being a canon couple. But I guess that’s just wishful thinking.

[kindaasrikal]

I hope the tournament of sources shows the capability of the elements each master has way more.

Like for a good while most elemental masters quite literally just blasted or used their elements in the basic forms, like Kai shooting fire, Jay moving lightning or absorbing it. Basic stuff that you expect from the elements.

But after seeing the later exploration of Nya and Cole’s elements, with Nya becoming one with water or being able to somewhat control ice, or Cole’s rock form or the shintaro season that explored how elemental powers get stronger when surrounded by it. I want them to further explore everyone else’s elements

I want the return of Kai and Jay lowkey becoming their elements, like how Jay used to be able to fly by becoming lightning, or when Kai became a fireball and was shown to be able to withstand CRAZY temperatures.

I want Zane being able to somewhat control water, create snow, create weapons and the such with his element. I want them to to show Zane being able to create an ice form like Cole’s rock one, dude i want him to do cool stuff with his element.

I want Lloyd to feel the life source of each living being around him, to feel when someone is near death, to control small amounts of the other elements again or show less obvious factors that shows his connection to each element, like beings super strong, or dealing with wild temperatures, or being fast or smth.

I want Jay to control bits of wind like how Nya can ice, and therefore Morro and Euphrasia be able to control bits of lightning in return.

Like please can they stop nerfing the ninja down and instead give them tougher challenges guys 😭

They can give canonical reasonings to each of these things. Like when controlling other elements only barely connected to their own it takes too much mental effort and concentration that drains and tires out the master in seconds, or them not becoming one with their elements often-like Jay flying- because it affects their bodies if done too much. Like bro they even threw away the elemental dragons too, they could’ve used them sometimes and said that creating them drains their elemental energy or smth.

[carlostck]

SPOILERS! (ninjago dragons rising season 2 part 2)

I'm crying why did she grab him??? And he doesn't even resist

Also, I LOVE how they go about Arin's "betrayal" Arin doesn't like him, he doesn't want to be on his side... He just wants what Ras can give him

Very confused about the "Wu caused the merge" thing because I feel like it's more of caused-it-due-to-not-stopping-it situation rather than directly causing it? Especially because Wu was actively trying to prevent it from happening, as shown on a few occasions

In addition to that, love how Cole is shown in the series so far, just wish we got a little more of him. I know they aren't the main characters anymore but he's the mom friend and they all need more of that lol Geo and him running to the museum together is so cute awgh

Liking how this is going, the Ras situation is curious in that it seems like he was attempting to avenge his people by "controlling" the forbidden five (moreso attempted to)

The only thing I didn't like about season 2 part 2 is how they went about the Jay situation? Something about it felt off or wrong, can't place a finger on it though... I may just be stupid and it may only be me, but felt funny; like it wasn't right??

Now, questions on my mind since this has raised some: If Lloyd hadn't been disqualified for being injured in a fight (lame rule by the way, he seemed fine <3), then would he have won? And if he did, he would have to fight Sora, but I'm more curious about what Nokt would have done about it Why did Lloyd's eyes stay green after losing his power? Is it not completely lost, just limited? 'Cause Cole was still able to control the rocks due to the assistance of the elemental energy in his mother's mech, meaning they still have the connection... Which would make sense, considering all the "got my powers back" instances Oh, also they called his power "life," which I find interesting because one would assume that the Tournament of Sources would have the correct name for his power! Curious what else Lloyd can do, since I don't think he's ever really reached his true potential? (I know people consider him becoming the Golden Spinjiztu master it but that doesn't make much sense to me) When Zeatrix attacked Lloyd with the sword, was that supposed to be her literally cutting through his side? They're legos so it kinda just looked like she whacked him with a long stick, lol

Euggh I cannot wait for more I love Sora and Lloyd's relationship. Also when she said "If he (Arin) even wants to be found" I lost it because I immediately thought of Morro oops Wyldfyre sleeping with Riyu, awjwaah... I was slightly sad when we didn't get much of her and Riyu at the beginning (since the relationship just makes sense), but those little things are great I also love Frak (however you spell it) and I hope he doesn't just disappear after that

Still want to see Lloyd go ape shit please elpase pleasesplease pelasep palesepelase pleaseee

[llannasvsp]

Theory that Lloyd is willingly ignorant about his element because he doesn't want to know what kind of power he's capable of. He's someone that doesn't have a lust for power and I'd assume he wouldn't even want to be aware of what else he could do.

This is also why he's notably more skilled in swordfighting, because he spends more time honing those skills rather than his element.

"I'm already the Golden Ninja... how much more power do I need?" -Lloyd; Rebooted

[toastingpencils37]

Why is Riyu just sitting back there staring menacingly like he's Ras' boss or some shit TOT

[fancypersonaskeletonturtle]

I find it slightly tragic how anticlimactic the team’s response to Jay’s appearance was honestly. Hopefully when he meets Kai it’ll be angst filled and heartbreakingly tragic. Honestly these two could use more emotional moments together, I miss their chaotic dynamic so much.