Dead Man's Squall

Not to be confused with the actual storm.

“My father told me they call this the Dead Man's Squall.” “Do you remember much about your father before he left you as a child? When he was . . . bad?” “No, not really. I was too young.”

— Lloyd and Harumi, about Garmadon

"Dead Man's Squall"
Season 8, Episode 5
Air date	February 17, 2018 (Australia) May 14, 2018 (US)
Written by	Bragi Schut
Directed by	Frederik Budolph-Larsen
Episode guide
Previous "Snake Jaguar"	Next "The Quiet One"

Dead Man's Squall is the fifth episode of the eighth season and is the 79th episode overall in Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. It aired on February 17, 2018, in Australia, and aired on May 14, 2018, in the United States on Cartoon Network.

Synopsis

Zane's near demise at the hands of Mr. E forces the Ninja to flee aboard the Bounty, where they discover that a transmission Zane intercepted may reveal the hidden location of the Quiet One.

Plot

Picking up where the previous episode ends, Zane questioned Mr. E on who he was. Ignoring him, Mr. E fights with Zane, leaving him half destroyed. Before Mr. E leaves, he puts something inside of Zane and broadcasts a coded message. The ninja are searching for Zane when the flashlight shines on him. Nya, Lloyd, Jay, and Cole went down to bring him back onto the Bounty.

Onboard, P.I.X.A.L. tells the ninja and Harumi that Zane has damages to all systems and diverted power to critical life functions, telling them that Zane has to do the rest and reboot himself.

As they wonder about the baby, Cole confirms it himself that the Sons of Garmadon called the baby "The key to the third mask." Lloyd soon suggests they leave Ninjago, which Jay was reluctant with as it didn't seem right. But Lloyd tells them that there are other heroes, like Samurai X as Nya still wonders who he is.

Sometime later, the male ninjas are trying to comfort the baby as he cries. Lloyd suggests Cole give him some milk, but Cole replied that the baby doesn't like it. Jay and Kai wonder what the baby likes to drink before Jay wonders if the baby needs a diaper change. Cole asks if they even have diapers as he hands the baby to Harumi before they soon prepare to make a bet on who's hood they should use. But, the baby stops crying when they hear Harumi sing to him. She said the baby was just tired before soon putting him in a nearby cradle. Harumi and Lloyd soon went outside to see a storm in the clouds, which Lloyd says his father told him it is the "Dead Man's Squall." They soon have a conversation about their lost parents before Lloyd tells Harumi that she is not alone as she does the same to him and if the Sons of Garmadon are trying to revive his father and whatever happens, she will be beside him before moving closer, to kiss him. But Lloyd quickly backs away and leaves, making up excuses.

Cole is checking on the baby before he wakes up and is about to cry again. Cole soon embarrassingly sang Glow Worm, comforting and tickling him before noticing something on his blanket. As the Bounty moves along a storm, Jay is amazed as Nya tells him of an ancient tribe that worshiped a storm spirit known as Wohira. They were soon summoned by P.I.X.A.L., who found something inside Zane's system: a digital communication link between Mr. E and the Quiet One, which he recorded in his last moments before losing consciousness. After deciphering it, the message says "The trap has been set." As Jay and Kai think it is a joke, Nya suggests using the message to determine the Quiet One's whereabouts. P.I.X.A.L. is already trying to locate them, but the storm is interfering with her trace program and suggests lowering before Harumi decides against it as the Sons of Garmadon may find them as the storm is providing cover. When Jay asked where they go, Cole barges in, with the baby's blanket, which shows a drawn map on it leading to the last Oni mask.

As they look at the map, they wonder why it was wrapped around the baby, who is now in a beige blanket. Cole remarked the Sons of Garmadon probably didn't have diapers either. When Nya wonders if the "X" is where the mask is, Lloyd, says the location is Primeval's Eye because a friend of his mother's never returned from the uncharted vast wilderness of death while trying to map the area out. Nya thinks of it as a good place to not be found. Pretty soon, Jay, who was just concentrating on a meatball the whole time, stabs Kai's hand with the fork, causing Cole to cover the baby's eyes. As Jay tries to apologize and was about to remove the fork, Kai threateningly tells him not to.

In the bridge, as Zane was still recovering, a component opens up, revealing what Mr. E put in, a mechanical spider, who heads over to the power supply. Nya doesn't notice as she was too busy grilling Cole for feeding the baby some tea, he tells her that the baby likes it as Jay manages to get the meatball. Pretty soon, the power goes out and they head to the bridge while Harumi grabs the map. They realize the trap was planted in Zane and when they see Samurai X on the screen, P.I.X.A.L. revealed she is Samurai X. Lloyd tells Nya to find the trap and everyone else fight.

When the Samurai Mech captured Harumi, Lloyd went after it. P.I.X.A.L., however, ejected back to the Bounty. Lloyd frees Harumi and puts her in the mech to break her fall. He then used the map as a parachute but broke his arm on impact. Meanwhile, Zane woke up and destroyed the trap. Just when P.I.X.A.L. completed the reboot, her sword destroyed the last thruster. To slow down the fall, Nya uses her Water to control the rain. Meanwhile, Lloyd uses the map as an arm sling and stated they're on their own.

Cast

• Baby - Paul Dobson
• Cole - Kirby Morrow
• Harumi - Britt McKillip
• Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
• Kai - Vincent Tong
• Lloyd - Sam Vincent
• Mr. E - Brent Miller
• Nya - Kelly Metzger
• P.I.X.A.L./Samurai X - Jennifer Hayward, Michael Donovan
• Zane - Brent Miller

Transcript

For the transcript of the episode, click here.

Locations featured

• Ninjago
  • Sea of Sand
  • Primeval's Eye
• Ninjago sky
  • Dead Man's Squall

Trivia

• Regarding the word "Dead" in the title, Tommy Andreasen said, "That stuff usually gets removed due to network 'standard and practices' ... but they must have been sleeping on the job the day we submitted it. Win!"
• The intro of this episode used Zane's death music instead of the new theme.
  • The composers originally had a new track for the scene, but the crew decided to call back to Zane's death theme from "The Titanium Ninja," which happened to synchronize perfectly with the intro.
  • This is an example of why "The Weekend Whip" is not used in the intro of this season, as it would not fit the tone.
• This is the second episode that ends with Lloyd suffering from some sort of injury, i.e, a broken arm or dislocated shoulder. The first is "Return of the Overlord" where he suffered from a twisted ankle.
  • Lloyd temporarily lost one of his arms in The LEGO Ninjago Movie. It's possible this episode is intentionally referencing the film.
• P.I.X.A.L.'s confession is quite similar to Nya's from "The Snake King": when both are unable to assist the team, they reveal their secret.
• Samurai X's identity is revealed in this episode, being P.I.X.A.L. It is unknown how she was able to return to her physical form.
  • Presumably, like Zane in "The Titanium Ninja," she created her new body secretly.
• It is revealed why the Baby was the key to finding the third Oni Mask, the Mask of Hatred; the swaddling clothes used to wrap the Baby was a map, meaning that the "key" the Sons of Garmadon members were referring to in the previous episode was the map. Also, because Wu is part Oni, he would have to remove the mask from the temple, as only people with Oni blood could.
• Lloyd broke the fourth wall in this episode; when Harumi suggested using the map to the Mask of Hatred as a parachute, Lloyd replied in exasperation that this only works in cartoons.
  • This is similar to when Nya and Kai were trying to fix the console on the Destiny's Bounty in the Season 7 episode, "Secrets Discovered."
  • Lloyd was, in fact, able to use the map as a parachute moments later, the same way the ninja used their hoods as parachutes in "Island of Darkness."
• After Mr. E knocked Zane unconscious, he made a remark which sounded like gibberish. It was instead a message to the Quiet One. He said "The trap has been set" backward.
  • This is similar to the fifth season episode "Stiix and Stones," in which Zane was damaged and he can only speak backward.
    • Harumi probably deliberately told them to stay in the storm so they wouldn't find out she was the Quiet One.
• Harumi took down the family photos that she had put up in the Bounty's sleeping quarters' bulletin board where the ninja have their family photos, probably because she knew she had to leave soon before the ninja found out that she was the Quiet One.
• A brief scene when Cole briefly holds aloft the baby is a reference to The Lion King.
• Jay stabbing Kai's hand with his fork could be a reference to the movie Harry Potter and the goblet of fire.
• Nya mentions Wohira and the tribe that worshiped her, who would later make an appearance in The Island.
• The scene where P.I.X.A.L. is controlled by Harumi and says "There is no P.I.X.A.L., only the Quiet One" is a reference to the movie Ghostbusters.
  • A similar line is said in "Grave Danger" when Bansha possessed Misako.
• According to Tommy Andreasen, this was the toughest episode to produce. He stated that, "the 1st draft script wasn't very good and it took a lot of work... and still some great ideas which would have made it even more intense didn't make it into the episode."
  • It is Andreasen's favorite episode of the season, possibly of the whole series.

Errors

• Jay's meatball seems to change size.
• Before Mr. E goes to attack Zane, he cracks his neck. However, this is physically impossible, since he is a Nindroid.
• When Harumi is holding the baby there seems to be another photo next to Ronin's in the corkboard, but when Harumi puts the baby in the crib, the photo is gone.
• When Cole puts Baby Wu in the cradle before the Dead Man's Squall came to the Bounty, Wu has a blue diaper. Although he should have a brown one, as Cole already found the map and took it away.

Video

Ninjago The Ninja Get Hacked! Cartoon Network

Ninjago Dead Man's Squall Cartoon Network

NINJAGO MR. E full story and 3 behind the scenes videos!

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Gallery

For the gallery of the episode, click here.