“Though no one has found the third mask, it is given the Royal Family little resolve ... for we know dark forces are looking to acquire it. And that's why we need eyes on it at all times.”
Once the ninja team gets back together, Hutchins appears and tells the ninja about the Oni Masks. The ninja are then told that the Royal Palace is holding the Oni Mask of Deception. Hutchins fears the Sons of Garmadon will try to take the mask during a speech the Emperor of Ninjago will give tomorrow. He then asks the ninja to help protect it, and they agree.
Princess Harumi
While they are guarding the palace outside during the Emperor of Ninjago's speech, Lloyd notices Harumi. Someone sets off firecrackers, leading the ninja to think the palace is being attacked, but it is a false alarm. The ninja are then invited by the princess to stay at the palace because the Royal Family may be targeted since they have one of the Oni Masks. The ninja accept the invitation.
Hutchins takes the ninja on a tour of the palace after they agree to protect the Royal Family. They meet the family who greets them in a kind manner before Harumi herself greets them, stating she was fans of all of them, even changing Nya's cynical attitude to a happy one. They visit the royal buffet and Hutchins states that they have access to eat anything like assorted fruits, assorted vegetables, scones, and cake. Jay then states that Cole "gave up sweets" since Master Wu is gone. Proceeding on the tour, Hutchins tells the ninja there are many secret passages in the palace that only the Royal Family knows. After hearing this, Kai starts pulling books off the shelves, trying to find one of the passages, but only succeeding in making a mess. The ninja are now lead into the main room where the Oni Mask of Deception is being held. Hutchins starts to explain about the mask, but while he is, Lloyd sneaks off to a room to find Harumi doing her makeup. Harumi notices Lloyd through her mirror and she quickly hides her face. Lloyd backs away awkwardly and rejoins the group.
During the night, all the ninja are on guard. Kai and Nya are outside the castle when they notice Hutchins suspiciously walking away from the palace. He then notices them and walks back inside. Jay, Cole, and Zane are in the royal buffet room. Jay is trying to convince Cole to eat some cake but Cole refuses. Cole then proceeds to tell Zane what a "party pooper" is. Meanwhile, Lloyd looks at the Mask of Deception, but after calling out for Harumi, he notices she is missing after checking her room.
This episode is the first to use the designs of the characters from the movie.
Eleven minutes of this episode was released as a sneak peek on the Blu-ray release of The LEGO Ninjago Movie. A sneak-peek of this episode was also shown at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con.
Lloyd replaces Master Wu as the narrator of the episode titles. Excluding Decoded, this is the first time in the show that someone else other than Master Wu has narrated the episode titles.
This is the first episode in which Sam Vincent voices Lloyd.
Once the ninja had gotten back together, Cole and Zane pointed out how Lloyd's voice had gotten deeper, referring to his new voice actor.
This most likely confirms Master of the 4th Dimension is not canon, as Lloyd has his new voice in the short film yet it seems this episode is the first time the other ninja are hearing it.
When the Sons of Garmadon breaks into Borg Tower, a scroll hangs on the wall with an inscription in Ninjargon that says "LEGO toys are cool."[3]
Cole speculates the possibility that if Wu was sent to the past, then a ripple effect could have caused their appearances to change without their knowledge, referencing their design changes.[4] However, in the following episodes, the ninja's old designs are still seen in the character's photos and newly animated flashbacks. While The Hageman Brothers stated that it is the canonical explanation for the ninja's redesigns,[5] according to Tommy Andreasen, there is no real canonical reason and it is simply a fourth-wall-breaking meta-joke.[6]
An earlier version of this episode's dialogue had Harumi refer to Nya's "skill that could rival any man," rather than "any master" as heard in the final version.[7]
The only Oni Mask not to appear in this episode is the Oni Mask of Hatred. This is due to it being in the Oni Temple.
The suits the Sons of Garmadon wear has the same color scheme to the ninja's suits.
The suits use torso design elements from Zane's ZX variant and leg design elements from Skylor's 2016 variant.
This is the first episode to have the name of the season in its title card.
When Mr. E and the other Sons of Garmadon members are running across the monorail, the train has the Sons of Garmadon symbol on it, which one can see if one pauses the video at the right time.
Out of the six masked Sons of Garmadon members, only one's identity is revealed in this episode, that being Mr. E in the green mask. Luke Cunningham would soon be revealed as the Man in the White Mask in "The Oni and the Dragon," while the Visual Dictionary New Edition would eventually reveal Chopper Maroon to be "the Maroon Mask." The thieves in the black, blue, and light blue masks have not been revealed.
This is the only episode where Alan Marriott voices the Mechanic.
Continuity[]
This is Princess Harumi's first appearance.
Several things are revealed in this episode:
It is stated by Cole that it has been a year since Master Wu was lost in time, meaning a year has passed since Season 7.
Misako has been searching for Master Wu on her own and no one—not even Lloyd—knows where she is now.
But as of "Dread on Arrival," she returns, having been captured by the Sons of Garmadon after finding the de-aged Wu.
There is a statue of Khanjikhan behind glass in Borg Tower, despite the events of Season 6 being erased. This is not a plot hole, but rather, it is simply an example of humans having a statue of a legendary being in the same way people in the real world may have a statue of a mythical creature.[8]
The beginning of this episode foreshadows the finale of the season with Mr. E jumping off the highway and at the end of the season and with Lloyd jumping off the monorail.
Kai ruffles Lloyd's hair when he says, "Sounds like our little ninja's growing up." This calls back to when he ruffled Lloyd's hair in "Pirates vs. Ninja" and "Winds of Change," with all three times acknowledging Kai's role as an older brother figure to Lloyd.
P.I.X.A.L. returns, acting as a guide to Lloyd in his ninja Nightcrawler in his chase with Mr. E.
Lloyd was seen peeking in on Princess Harumi doing make-up, which is hypocritical of him given the situation in "Only One Can Remain," where Kai and Jay were spying on Skylor and Lloyd called it an invasion of privacy.
The ninja's lineup in this episode, and in "Into the Dark"
Kai over-excitedly searches to no avail for a switch in a bookcase in the Royal Palace, inadvertently calling back to his instruction to search for hidden switches in "Double Trouble" when Zane mentioned the idea of secret passageways in Darkley's Boarding School.
The ninja's lineup when bowing to the Emperor and Empress would later be replicated in "Into the Dark," with the ninja positioned in the exact same spots when bowing to Vangelis (with the addition of Wu added to the far left of the lineup).
