Awakenings is the thirtieth and final episode of the eleventh season, and 128th overall of LEGO Ninjago. It aired on October 28, 2019, in Australia and also aired in Canada on November 15, 2019, paired with "Once and for All." It aired in the United States on February 1, 2020.
Synopsis
The dramatic conclusion of the Never-Realm saga, in which old friends are reunited and the power of friendship is pitted against the corrupting power of the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu...
Extended: Nya, Kai, Jay, Cole and Krag emerge from the wreckage of the Land Bounty and inspect the carcass of the Ice Dragon, which they discover to be made of elemental ice! From this, they surmise the terrible truth: Zane is the Ice Emperor! Nya finds her inner balance an manages to control ice, shooting devasting icicles at Boreal. Unfortunately, the dragon recovers and resumes his attack on the ninja. In the ensuing conflict, Kai recovers his regains his True Potential and goes head to head with the dragon. Fire and Ice. In the end, the dragon must prevail from Kai's fire power. Meanwhile, inside the Ice Castle, a desperate battle between Zane, Lloyd and Akita unfolds. Zane defeats Lloyd but cannot bring himself to destroy his old friend. Vex arrives to finish the job. The shock of seeing Lloyd, attacked by Vex, jolts Zane into remembering who he is... He freezes Vex at the last moment, saving Lloyd's life! Akita is reunited with her long-lost brother, Kataru, and Lloyd is reunited with his fellow ninja. The rule of the Ice Emperor ends at last. Zane uses his abilities to undo the damage he has wrought, freeing Akita's people and the Ice fishers from their frozen states. Vex is banished and peace returns to the Never-Realm as the ninja say their goodbyes and head for home...
Plot
Lloyd confronts Zane in the Castle of Ice. Akita is curious that Lloyd knows the Emperor and that he is the friend he is looking for. Despite this, she still tries to destroy him. Lloyd stops her and they argue with each other until Zane smacks them both down and a battle ensues between them. Grimfax and Kataru fight their own battle against Vex and the Blizzard Samurai, but they are soon captured.
Meanwhile, Nya discovers that Boreal is made of pure ice, leading Jay to think that the Ice Emperor is an Elemental Master of Ice. However, Nya cuts in, realizing that Zane is the Emperor, which horrifies her friends. They try to reason with the conclusion, but Nya reminds them that Zane was holding the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu when banished, and Cole mentions its corruptible power would twist Zane’s mind. Seeing her point, the Ninja realizes that Lloyd is in danger and they must warn him of Zane, but Boreal awakens and attacks them again.
Boreal destroyed by Kai.
Boreal blasts his ice out at them, scattering the Ninja and Krag. Kai is knocked out and Nya tries to wake him up. But before she can do so, Boreal approaches her, forcing Nya to calm herself and learning how to master control over ice. She brings down multiple stalactites on Boreal and Cole and Jay congratulate her, but Boreal emerges out. Nya apologizes, but Kai wakes up, angry at the dragon, and gaining his full powers back and destroys Boreal, melting him.
Back at the castle, Lloyd resists Zane as much as he can, but Zane chases him down and eventually freezes Lloyd. Akita shouts in worry for him and throws her dagger at Zane, but Zane knocks it aside and freezes her, to Lloyd’s dismay. Lloyd pleads to Zane but the latter says he is not Zane before Vex arrives just as Zane finishes defeating Lloyd. Lloyd repeats his name, begging him to stop, which causes Zane to hesitate. Impatient, Vex decides to do the job himself, taunting on Lloyd's failure of not being able to protect anyone, including himself. Zane overhears the word "protect," remembering the purpose of why he was built for: To protect those who cannot protect themselves. All his memories rush back to him, including who he is and all the events that led him to end up in the Never-Realm. Himself once again, Zane impedes Vex’s attempt to kill Lloyd and smacks him away before destroying his scepter, lifting the curse from the realm and releasing everyone.
Vex attempts to kill Lloyd.
Zane helps Lloyd up, who is happy to see that he has regained his memories. Enraged, Vex tries to kill Zane but only for the latter to freeze him in place. The rest of the Ninja, Krag, Kataru, and Grimfax reunite with their friends. Akita has a touching reunion with her brother while the other Ninja reconnect with Zane.
In the end, Akita narrates the ending of the Ice Emperor's rule by explaining how she was happy that she reunited with Kataru, Grimfax was king once more, Vex was banished to the outskirts and how the Ninja returned home, with Sorla's help. But for the Traveler's Tea to work (since not even the tea leaves from the Never-Realm can work), she needed something potent, and Cole hands her the berry he had been saving which will work.
The Ninja return to Ninjago.
Back at the Monastery of Spinjitzu, P.I.X.A.L. interrupted Wu's thoughts, bringing him out to investigate a mysterious portal. Once they realized it was the Ninja, Wu and P.I.X.A.L. were overjoyed to see Zane and wait for Cole and Lloyd to return. Krag hugs Cole as his friend bids him goodbye. Lloyd nervously speaks to Akita who kisses Lloyd on the cheek before he leaves. Akita is sad to see Lloyd leave so Kataru tries to cheer her up by taking her out for another run. She remarks on how her brother thinks Lloyd will never return, but she believes that she will see him again, just not for a very long time.
Cast
- Akita - Tabitha St. Germain
- Cole - Kirby Morrow
- Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
- Kai - Vincent Tong
- Kataru - Cole Howard
- Krag - Brian Drummond
- Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
- Nya - Kelly Metzger
- P.I.X.A.L. - Jennifer Hayward
- Sorla - Patty Drake
- Vex - Michael Kopsa
- Wu - Paul Dobson
- Zane/Ice Emperor - Brent Miller
Transcript
For the transcript of the episode, click here.
Locations Visited
- Never-Realm
- Castle of Ice
- Throne Room
- Hallway
- Formling Village
- Great Lake
- Ice Cave (Flashback)
- Castle of Ice
- Ninjago Island
- Mountains of Impossible Height
- Monastery of Spinjitzu
- Hanger Bay (Flashback)
- Monastery of Spinjitzu
- Ninjago City (Flashback)
- Ninjago Museum of History
- Hall H
- Ninjago Museum of History
- Desert of Doom (Flashback)
- Mountains of Impossible Height
Notes
- Narrator: Lloyd
- Despite being shown in LEGO.com, Boreal is revealed to have been created by Zane with his Elemental Power.
- Zane destroying his scepter, ending the Eternal Winter, and restoring the Never-Realm is similar to when Kai destroyed the Staff of Elements, restoring the Elemental Powers to their users in "The Forgotten Element."
- Akita kisses Lloyd on his cheek.
- The way Akita kisses Lloyd's cheek is similar to how Harumi kissed Lloyd's cheek in "The Quiet One": Both girls kissed Lloyd's cheek and was shocked by both kisses. the only difference is that Harumi's kiss was a distraction for Lloyd, while Akita's kiss was her saying goodbye to Lloyd.
- This also implies that Akita may have developed a crush on Lloyd, after witnessing his courage and skills, along with her loyalty to Lloyd by staying with him through the entire journey and as well as his never-ending faith in Zane, no matter how evil he became.
- Aspheera, the Elemental Cobras, Grimfax, Uthaug, and Boma also appear in this episode but do not speak.
- The former two only appear in Zane's flashback.
- Zane's memories showed when he first arrived at the Never-Realm, several scenes from the Fire Chapter of Season 11, and the picture of him with P.I.X.A.L. when it was first taken.
- Grimfax being restored to his throne mirrored the episode "Never Trust a Human", in how Mambo the Fifth was restored to his throne: both being overthrown by respective antagonists and both protagonists were cheered by their people, while the agitators were punished for their crimes.
- According to Tommy Andreasen, he wanted Nya to take control of Boreal with her powers instead of crushing it with ice. However, there were too many moments in the episode so the scene had to be cut.[1]
- Bragi Schut also replied that Zane and Akita may have apologized to each other off-screen, as the scene wouldn't have fit in the episode since there wasn't enough time to put it in.[2]
- This is the only Season 11 episode to not be paired up with another LEGO Ninjago episode in the US on its first airing.
Videos
Episode
Gallery
For the gallery of the episode, click here.