(In the Monastery of Spinjitzu, Cole is playing Prime Empire when Lloyd walks in with laundry.)
Lloyd: Are you seriously playing video games right now?
Cole: It's my day off. Why wouldn't I be playing video games?
Lloyd: We've been gone for weeks, Cole, and this monastery won't clean itself! We've got laundry to do, leaves to rake, firewood to chop, and don't even get me started on repairing the sentry cannons outside the wall.
Cole: That sounds like a lot of work. Sure you don't wanna play?
Lloyd: Did you just hear me? Cole, we've got a ton to do and - wait. What game is this?
Cole: Prime Empire.
Lloyd: What?
Cole: What "what"? What's wrong?
Lloyd: Oh, nothing. Except we were just trapped in that game and got cubed!
Cole: You need to let go of the past, Lloyd. Anyway, it's totally safe. Unagami and Dyer worked out the kinks and it's really fun. Look, I gotta concentrate. Just about to beat this level.
Lloyd: (He sighs, then throws his laundry aside to join Cole on the couch.) I guess one game wouldn't hurt.
(Outside, Jay and Nya are raking leaves.)
Jay: Ugh, how are there this many leaves? I don't even see any trees.
Nya: They blow over the walls, Jay. And we've been gone a while. Aspheera's invasion, our little trip to the Never-Realm, being stuck in Prime Empire.
Jay: (sighs) This will take forever to clean up. Unless...
Nya: No! Don't get any ideas.
Jay: What? We could be done instantly!
Nya: If Master Wu sees you using Spinjitzu to take shortcuts like raking leaves, he's gonna be furious!
Jay: Oh, he won't know. He's been locked in with his scrolls all day.
Nya: Please don't.
Jay: (He does Spinjitzu anyway and gathers all the leaves.) Yeah! Woo-hoo! Nice! Haha! (He and Nya gasp when Master Wu suddenly emerges from the giant pile.) Aah! Ahem, um, Master Wu. Sorry! Uh. I got all hopped up on dreams of efficiency and it ... (Master Wu walks away without a word.) Uh, what?
Nya: Huh. That was weird. Master Wu just totally passed up an opportunity to lecture you on something.
Jay: Yeah, he didn't even notice.
(The Postman climbs up the steps to the Monastery, grunting.)
P.I.X.A.L.: Good morning.
Postman: Good morning.
Lloyd: (He enters a library.) Master Wu? Is everything okay? Nya and Jay said you seemed a little ... distracted.
Wu: What? Oh, n-no. I'm fine. J-Just reading a scroll.
Lloyd: You haven't even unrolled it. You were staring out the window.
Misako: I've noticed it too, Wu.
Wu: Misako?
Lloyd: Mom!
Misako: You've been quiet lately. You haven't been yourself. Are you sure nothing's bothering you?
Wu: Perhaps I'm, ah, how should I put it? Feeling my age a little bit.
Lloyd: Your age? But, Master, that's ridiculous! You don't look a day over a hundred. (Wu glares at him.) That's not old! And besides, you're the most skilled fighter I've ever seen! You know more about Spinjitzu than the rest of us put together! You fought all of us at once and kicked our butts! Remember that?
Wu: Yes. Yes, I do. That was fun.
Lloyd: We couldn't have saved Ninjago all these times without your help, Master Wu.
Wu: Saving Ninjago is for the young. (sighs and puts his hands on Lloyd's shoulders.) And your last few adventures you did just fine on your own.
Lloyd: That's not true.
Wu: You handled yourselves admirably in Prime Empire without me. And against Aspheera, and in the Never-Realm. The truth is, you don't need me anymore, Lloyd.
Lloyd: That is not true!
Wu: It's okay, Lloyd. All masters face this moment eventually. The time when their students no longer need them. (He walks away, with Lloyd and Misako watching him worriedly.)
Kai: This is incredible!
Nya: Are you sure this isn't a mistake?
Jay: (gasps) It's real! It's gotta be! It's addressed to us, look!
Lloyd: What? What is it? Bad news?
Zane: It is highly unusual.
Jay: Ooh, we gotta get ready!
Lloyd: What? What happened? Someone's located the Teapot of Tyrahn? Uh, Pythor's back? My father's been found? What?
Postman: Heh, you got an invitation. To Shintaro!
Lloyd: Shintaro?
Postman: Mm-hmm, the Ivory City! You don't deliver one of these every day. No siree.
Jay: (He opens the invitation.) Oh ho! Fancy card!
Cole: That's the fanciest card I've ever seen. Oh, it even smells good.
Lloyd: Shintaro? As in, Shintaro? (Behind him, Wu's chicken chases the Postman away.)
P.I.X.A.L.: As in the remote and exclusive mountain kingdom of Northern Ninjago.
Zane: Invitations to Shintaro are exceedingly rare. In recorded history, there have only been a handful of outsiders allowed into the Ivory City.
Jay: I've heard it's incredible! It's the most beautiful city in the world. And the people have wings. Haha! You can't beat wings.
Lloyd: What's it say? The invitation.
Jay: Ahem. "King Vangelis of the Northern Kingdom of Shintaro of the Sky Folk, kindly requests your presence," of course he does, "as honored guests," oh, that makes sense, "to celebrate the birthday of the Princess, Vania."
Cole: Princess Vania. Who's that?
Nya: Apparently, the daughter of King Vangelis.
Zane: Little is known about Shintaro. Up until recently, it was still considered a mythical place.
Cole: Well, it looks like we're gonna see it. In person! (The ninja cheer.)
Nya: Let's go!
Jay: Ooh, I'm gonna pack!
Cole: Let's get the Bounty ready!
Wu: What's this about Shintaro?
Lloyd: We've been invited to the Kingdom of Shintaro, to attend Princess Vania's birthday. Master Wu, this is just what you need. This will get you out of your funk!
Wu: I am not in a "funk". And I'm not going. I'll stay here with Misako and P.I.X.A.L.. I can assist her in the hangar bay.
Lloyd: (whispering to Misako) He's in a funk. (Back to Wu) But how often does a chance to visit a legendary fabled kingdom come your way?
Wu: I've visited my share of legendary fabled kingdoms. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all. You go. Enjoy yourselves. You don't need me tagging along.
Misako: Now, you listen to me, Wu. I've had about enough of this moping around. You are going with the ninja!
Wu: I can't go charging off to far-flung places! Adventures and legendary kingdoms are for the young. You of all people should understand that.
Misako: (glaring angrily at Wu) Why should I understand?
Wu: (realizes his error) Uh, w-what I meant to say was, uh, um -
Misako: You listen to me, Wu. You are going on this journey, and you are going to like it! Is that understood?
Wu: But-but I - the chicken need -
Misako: Understood!? (to Lloyd) He's in.
Lloyd: Yes! This is gonna be just what we need!
(The Bounty sails between mountains.)
Zane: Though, my optic circuits are inputting full visual data, somehow the zeroes and ones of my code cannot convey the grandeur of this moment.
Jay: Yeah. It's like - like - totally super cool!
Nya: That really captured the moment beautifully, Jay. Thanks!
Lloyd: It really is beautiful, isn't it, Master Wu? (Wu sighs.)
Cole: Yeah, beats doing chores back at the monastery, that's for sure. (Something screeches.)
Jay: What-what was that?
Zane: There is something you should know. Early accounts of the mythical city of Shintaro claimed that the mountains surrounding it were home to a vicious species of bat, called the "Dire Bat."
Cole: Dire Bat?
Zane: There is much debate among historians as to whether Dire Bats are real or fiction.
Jay: Pfft. Haha, that's gotta be made up. (A Dire Bat swoops and grabs him off the Bounty.) Huh? Aah! Not made up! Not made up! Not made up! Aah!
Nya: Jay! (A Dire Bat knocks her over and lands in front of her, but Lloyd kicks it away. More Dire Bats land on the sails and start to destroy them.)
Kai: Uh! They're trying to take us down! (He shoots fire at them.) Shoo! Shoo, bats!
Cole: I'm coming for you, buddy! (He leaps onto a Dire Bat.)
Jay: Wait! Hold on! Can-can we be friends? Aah! (The bat drops him, and Cole catches him.)
Cole: You - owe me! (Cole's bat throws them both off, and they scream.)
Kai: (He throws them a rope.) Jay, Cole! Grab the line! (They swing back onto the deck, shocked but relieved.)
Nya: What do we do? How do we stop them?
Wu: Use your Elemental Powers!
Lloyd: Master Wu! (Zane tackles Wu just before a bat attacks him. The ship starts to tilt.)
Jay: Nya!
Cole: Hang on! (Suddenly, all the bats retreat.)
Lloyd: Brace for impact! (The Bounty nearly crashes into a mountain, then stops and is slowly lifted.)
Nya: How?
Kai: Uh, guys? You're not gonna believe this.
Hailmar: Greetings, honored guests! I am Hailmar. Right hand of King Vangelis. I welcome you to the Kingdom of Shintaro. (bows)
Lloyd: You just saved our lives!
Hailmar: It was the least we could do. The Dire Bats are a plague. They are one of the many reasons we discourage visitors, for their own safety. But come, let us put our woes behind us and welcome you to the Ivory City of Shintaro!
Cole: Well, you don't see that every day.
(End of the episode. For more information, click here.)
