Day of the Departed

Day of the Departed is a LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu TV special that is preceded by Season 6. It follows the Ninja as they commemorate their ancestors and fallen friends on a sacred holiday, during which Sensei Yang ushers in the return of their arch-enemies - forcing the Ninja into an unexpected and dangerous conflict. A teaser featuring the opening scene was released on August 18, while the official trailer was released on September 30. Day of the Departed aired on October 29, 2016.

Synopsis
''' WARNING: This section contains MAJOR spoilers for the plot of Day of the Departed! ''' On the Day of the Departed, the Ninja hurriedly ride the Super Sonic Raider, Rock Roader and Titanium Ninja Tumbler through the desert, en-route to the Ninjago Museum of History. On their way, Cole's arms begin to fade and he nearly crashes into the Raider Jet. Despite this, he regains control of the vehicle, and the Ninja continue through the desert. Upon arriving at the museum, the Ninja are greeted by Wu and Misako, and they reach their mission: obtaining several lanterns in the museum's gift shop. While Jay is eager to partake in the festivities, i.e. eat candy, Wu reminds them of the day's significance, as the Day of the Departed is for remembering fallen ancestors and cherishing family. Dr. Saunders arrives, greeting Wu and the Ninja before bringing them to the museum's new exhibit: the Hall of Villainy. The exhibit contains life-sized mannequins of the major villains fought by the Ninja over the years, including Samukai, Pythor, Kozu, Cryptor, Chen and Morro, as well as a plaque describing a rare lunar eclipse that occurs on the holiday every several thousand years.

As the Ninja express their uncertainty over the exhibit, Cole wanders into a separate hallway and finds a picture of Sensei Yang, as well as the Yin Blade - a chained Aeroblade-shaped weapon on display beneath it. Cole calls out to Saunders, asking him what the weapon is, but finds that nobody is paying attention to him. At the same moment, he hears Yang's voice imploring him to "close the circle". The Ninja leave the museum to commemorate their ancestors without Cole. Realizing he's fading away as one of the departed, he angrily sets off to settle his debt with Yang.

The ninja divide for their own personal memorials: Lloyd and Misako commemorate Garmadon at the Corridor of Elders, where he made his sacrifice to defeat Chen's army; Kai and Nya remember their mother and father at their blacksmith shop; Zane remembers his father in Birchwood Forest, where a giant ice statue of him stands; Jay goes to spend time with his mom and dad at their junkyard; and Wu goes to his old monastery to remember his father. Lou wonders where Cole is before putting on a perfomance with the Royal Blacksmiths. Realizing everyone is out celebrating, Ronin decides to steal from peoples' homes.

Cole drives the Rock Roader to Yang's Temple, which is still floating in the sky. Using Airjitzu, Cole makes it to the temple and confronts Yang inside. Yang is shocked to see Cole wielding the Yin Blade, claiming it was encased in impenetrable Clearstone, but Cole retaliates by claiming he got it from his curse and charges at him. Swinging the blade, however, makes it smash into an orb, and with the combined effects of the eclipse a passage to the Departed Realm is opened. Consequently, the spirits of the Ninjas' old enemies escape, which astonishes Cole as he is detained by Yang's students. The villains' spirits travel through Ninjago before possessing the mannequins in the Hall of Villainy, bringing them to life. Morro is shocked to find he's still existent, Samukai and Kozu challenge each other, while Chen tests the abilities of his chair. The five villains look to the painting of Yang, who explains how they escaped the Departed Realm but will only remain in Ninjago for the duration of the lunar eclipse, unless they exact vengeance on their arch enemies. At that moment, Pythor enters the museum, joining the villains as they discuss who they'll go after. At first, making this decision divides them. Chen chooses to go after Kai and Nya, Pythor chooses Lloyd, Cryptor chooses Zane, Morro chooses Wu, and Kozu chooses Dareth, which leaves Samukai with facing Jay. Pythor proposes they gather reinforcements from the Hall of Sidekicks. There, Kozu allies with two Stone Swordsmen and two Stone Scouts. Cryptor allies with three Nindroids, while Chen allies with the revived Eyezor and Zugu.

Cole is imprisoned in Yang's temple, being guarded by his students. Yang tells Cole of his history, explaining how he taught his students to master Airjitzu and that he discovered the Yin Blade, which was claimed to be embedded with enough dark magic to imbue immortality. After testing its abilities on several plants, Yang tried testing it on himself, but its powers backfired, turning him and his students into ghosts while his temple became a decrepit structure. With the lunar eclipse to his advantage, Yang intends to use the Yin Blade and open the Rift of Return, which will bring him back to life. He and his students set off to open the rift.

As Kai and Nya wonder if they'll find out what happened to their parents, Chen arrives with Eyezor and Zugu, who are driving two Condrai Crushers. Cryptor and his Nindroids confront Zane, while Morro confronts Wu at the monastery and Samukai, Krazi and Frakjaw attack Jay and his parents. Pythor confronts Lloyd at the Corridor of Elders, remarking that he always intended to conquer Ninjago which was his reason for saving it. Pythor begins fighting Lloyd, using his staff to knock off the head of a statue which nearly crushes Lloyd, but he uses his strength to hold it up. Chen uses his dinosaur-like vehicle to attack Kai and Nya, who flee on the Raider Cycles with the Condrai Crushers in pursuit. Kai's Raider Cycle is stopped by Chen, who claims he'll have his revenge against him. In Birchwood Forest, Cryptor and the Nindroids fight Zane. Cryptor taunts Zane, telling him he knows his "brother's" every move. Samukai fights Jay while Krazi and Frakjaw go after his parents. As the Royal Blacksmiths perform onstage, Kozu arrives with several Stone Warriors and confronts Dareth, who was responsible for taking control of the Stone Army when The Overlord was defeated. Unlike the other villains, Morro has no intention of revenge; recalling his final moments, he has already forgiven his adversaries and seeks to help them. He tells Wu of Yang's plan and that the other Ninja are in danger, prompting them to set off on Destiny's Bounty 2.0. Cole is left alone with one of Yang's students. He manages to escape from him and begins making his way up through the temple, fighting Yang's students along the way. Eventually, Cole makes it to the attic, where he briefly confronts Yang alone before his students return. Yang makes it to the roof of the temple, where he begins spinning the Yin Blade around to open the Rift of Return.

Kai and Nya are pursued by Chen and the Condrai Crushers. They manage to defeat Eyezor and Zugu, sending their spirits back to the Departed Realm. Chen fires a single missile at them, but Nya surprises him by unleashing a stream of water, which repels the missile and sends it crashing into the Chenosaurus, vanquishing Chen once more. Ronin arrives at the junkyard with a mech he salvaged from scrap metal. Jay severs the top of a magnetic crane, which crushes Krazi and Frakjaw, before shattering Samukai to pieces using his nunchucks. Zane outsmarts Cryptor by briefly "giving up" and throwing him off-balance, sending him back to the Departed Realm, while Dareth finds the Helmet of Shadows and uses it to recontrol the Stone Warriors. Dareth orders them to turn on Kozu, who they beat up and send back to the Departed Realm. Pythor is cornered by Lloyd and Misako on the edge of Garmadon's monument. Realizing he can't win the fight, Pythor leaps off the statue and hits the ground hard, hobbling away from the scene. On the roof of his temple, Yang opens the Rift of Return, and he does Airjitzu to fly up and reach it. Cole emerges on the rooftop and pursues Yang, grabbing onto him as the two fall back towards the temple.

The Ninja reunite at the museum, telling each other what happened before Wu arrives with Morro. The Ninja immediately feel threatened, but Morro proves his harmlessness by unveiling Yang's plan. Realizing Cole is missing, the Ninja set off with Wu and Misako to Yang's temple, while Morro's spirit peacefully returns to the Departed Realm. On the top of the structure, Cole battles Yang, infuriated and giving his all to defeat him. However, Cole fades away almost entirely when Yang reminds him that his friends haven't come to find him, and that he has no one left to remember him. After Yang cuts apart his sword, Cole is hopeless, but is inspired when the Ninja approach on the Bounty. Cole starts renewing his fight against Yang, saying he's the lonely one for having his imprisoned students instead of a family. His heightened vigor changes his arms to become rock-solid - a sign of his humanity being restored - which he uses to shatter the Yin Blade. With its spells broken, Cole tells Yang's students to cross through the Rift of Return. Using Airjitzu, they make it through the rift and become human again, as the rift starts to close.

Yang is distraught by the loss of his students, saying that he failed them and all he ever wanted was to live forever so that no one would forget him. Cole tells Yang he understands his desire, but assures him that he would be remembered as the creator of Airjitzu, as he always was. Together, Yang and Cole use the martial art to ascend towards the Rift of Return, but Yang tells Cole that someone has to remain in the temple as a ghost. Yang lets go of Cole, falling to the temple while Cole makes it through the rift as it closes. The Ninja believe Cole is lost, but are astonished when they find he made it back and is mortal once more.

The Ninja and their allies gather around a fire outside of Yang's temple, which has been cleansed after the rift was closed. Jay admits he was scared during the event, though everyone is happy to be safe and reunited. Cole looks back to the temple and winks at Yang, who stands inside and winks back in return. Those surrounding the fire let their lanterns float into the night sky, concluding their celebration.

Main Cast

 * Cole - Kirby Morrow
 * Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
 * Kai - Vincent Tong
 * Lloyd Garmadon - Jillian Michaels
 * Nya - Kelly Metzger
 * Sensei Wu - Paul Dobson
 * Sensei Yang - Michael Donovan
 * Zane - Brent Miller

Guest Cast

 * Master Chen - Ian James Corlett
 * Cryptor - Richard Newman
 * Dareth - Alan Marriott
 * Dr. Saunders - Michael Daingerfield
 * Edna Walker - Jillian Michaels
 * Ed Walker - Colin Murdock
 * Eyezor
 * Frakjaw
 * Kozu - Paul Dobson
 * Krazi
 * Misako - Kathleen Barr
 * Morro - Andrew Francis
 * Three Nindroid Warriors
 * P.I.X.A.L. - Jennifer Hayward
 * Pythor P. Chumsworth - Michael Dobson
 * Ronin - Brian Dobson
 * Samukai - Michael Kopsa
 * Two Stone Scouts
 * Two Stone Swordsmen
 * The Royal Blacksmiths singing voice - Jeppe Riddervold
 * Zugu

Errors

 * When the Chenosaurus' boxing gloves are replaced by buzzsaws, the gloves disappear in thin air.
 * As Samukai does rock-paper-scissors with Kozu, Morro's statue can be seen on in the background, despite Morro being in possession of it at the time.
 * During the credits, Paul Dobson is listed as having voiced Kozu and Pythor, but he only voiced Kozu. His brother, Michael Dobson, voices Pythor. In fact, both Michael and Paul were credited for voicing Pythor with their names sitting next to each other.
 * The revived Nindroids, Stone Warriors and Fake Anacondrai were meant to have a green/ghostly appearance to them, but due to an animation mishap they do not.
 * A noticeable mistake is during the villains' revival scene. After being brought back to life, Cryptor's mannequin no longer has shoulder armor. The armor is absent all throughout the villains' museum scene until the last shot, when Pythor proposed they go to the Hall of Sidekicks. This shot, as well as all the shots after it, featured Cryptor with the armor on.
 * When the Ninja arrive on the Bounty and Kai says "we have to help him!",  he and Lloyd were wearing their Jungle Robes.
 * When Kozu jumps onto the stage, there is a Stone Swordsman instead of Stone Scout.

Trailer