The Mirror of Dread[1] is a mystical artifact which shows the greatest fear of anyone who looks into it in its reflection. It is currently located in the Explorer's Club.
History[]
The Maze of the Sphinx (flashback)[]
Thousands of years ago, the mirror that showed the greatest fear of whoever looked at it was placed in a narrow corridor next to the abyss inside a pyramid inhabited by the Sphinx.
When Shezada got stuck in the pyramid, she walked near the mirror and looked into it, seeing her greatest fear, and was frightened that she had almost fallen into the abyss.
A few weeks later, as she walked past the Mirror of Dread, as she liked to call it, with Wu and Garmadon, she told them not to look into it. However, Garmadon did not resist and looked into the mirror, first seeing his normal reflection, but it then changed to his future self - Lord Garmadon with black skin, red glowing eyes, four arms holding two katanas, and white hair, along with a little boy and an another person. Garmadon was shocked by his reflection and almost fell into the abyss, but Shezada managed to save him.
Many millenia later, the mirror was found by an archaeologist from the Explorer's Club and placed in their artifact collection.
The Explorers Club[]
When Lloyd, Zane, and Nya break into the Explorer's Club to steal the second Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu, they encounter the mirror amongst many other dangerous and quirky relics. When Lloyd looks into its reflection, he sees his father, who he fears becoming like. From this, he determines the mirror shows them what they feared most. In its reflection, Nya sees herself as normal, having never unlocked her True Potential, while Zane sees himself as purely robotic, with no traces of his humanity. Lloyd warns the others that none of these reflections are real and urges them to move on.
Abilities[]
When a person looks at their reflection in the mirror, rather than see themself, they see the embodiment of their greatest fear or future self.
Appearances[]
Ninjago[]
Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu[]
- 111. "The Explorers Club"
Books[]
- The Maze of the Sphinx (flashback)
Trivia[]
- The ice labyrinth from Possession is similar, since a person sees their self differently: in the Mirror of Dread they see their worst fear and in the ice reflection they see their future self.
- Nya's reflection wears her casual clothes from Sons of Garmadon onward, which look similar to her movie counterpart's casual design.
- The mirror is similar to the Mirror of Erised from Harry Potter. Both are magical ornate mirrors that do not show true reflection. The difference is that the Mirror of Dread shows fears, while the Mirror of Erised shows desires.
- The titular character from the Harry Potter series also saw his father in the mirror.
- The mirror also resembles the Dark Side Cave from Star Wars to some extent. Both manifest visions of their users' worst fears. The difference is that the Mirror of Dread shows its users' fears as nothing more than reflections, while the Dark Side Cave manifests fears as physical entities.
- The mirror reveals that Lloyd's worst fear is becoming like his father, in the same way as the cave reveals Luke Skywalker's fear of becoming like Darth Vader (though Luke still had not learned that Vader was his father when he ventured into the cave).
- Ironically, becoming like his father was originally Lloyd's greatest dream.
- The mirror reveals that Lloyd's worst fear is becoming like his father, in the same way as the cave reveals Luke Skywalker's fear of becoming like Darth Vader (though Luke still had not learned that Vader was his father when he ventured into the cave).
- Tommy Andreasen said the mirror would show him a perfect reflection of himself, because it is his greatest fear.[2]
- Certain events in Crystalized seem to correlate with what each of the ninja saw:
- Zane turning off his emotion meter which resulted in him being more robotic than human.
- Nya losing her elemental power.
- Nya explicitly acknowledges this in "The Call of Home," saying it "was my greatest fear. Losing my powers, becoming ordinary ... but it's not anymore."
- Lloyd falling to his inner darkness, becoming like his father.
- Lloyd expresses this to his father in "Distress Calls".
- Lloyd turns into an Oni, briefly, in "Roots," but resists it upon seeing his reflection.
Gallery[]
Promotional media[]
In Ninjago[]
In The Maze of the Sphinx[]
