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"That's not what happened at all!"
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Way of the Departed is a "could-be-canon" Ninjago novel written by Tommy Andreasen and released on Twitter.[1] It takes place between The Hands of Time and Sons of Garmadon. It focuses on Cole’s journey to discover the origins of his scar. Clouse serves as the main antagonist.
Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
She will be here soon. She is always punctual. I look up at the floating island in the sky. That does not compute. I have run countless scenarios but none of them make logical sense. Even with my recent upgrades the numbers just don't add up. I wonder if I would be able to get it right if P.I.X.A.L. was still in my head. I conclude that some factors in this world must be outside the grasp of logic. Like my own power. I have vague memories of how I got them, but there is no logic I can make of that either. Just that it happened. I see dust in the distance from a car approaching. It lifts my emotion readout a bit. Claire is good to have around. It is nice with an outside perspective on things sometimes. "Hi Zane! Hot day isn't it?" Claire looks over at the puddle under the unshapely ice block which recently resembled Cole, but she does not comment on it. "Ready for a bit of housekeeping? I know I am!" Claire seems to love coming here. Even though her job is the mundane one of cleaning the temple and doing small repairs, she always seems so joyous. She has a history with the temple. Back when it was still haunted by the ghost of Sensei Yang, her father was the caretaker. It had become a tourist attraction back then. He did not do a very good job. Claire has told me that he fully believed in the stories about it being haunted, and he was deathly afraid of it. That is the reason the temple was in such disrepair back then. He would not go near it and mostly tended to the grounds around it. Claire on the other hand is not afraid of anything. She often made her way inside to explore the staircases, studies, corridors, dojo, atelier, and such I suspect she knows the interior lay-out better than we do. She seems very eager today. "Can we do a sweep of the Temple?!?! Please!!!!" I was expecting her to say that. I am not comfortable with it. Summoning my elemental dragon has become increasingly difficult these past few months. It takes a much higher level of concentration now. The others have felt it too. I've run simulations on the scenario that it has something to do with Master Wu going missing, but the feedback offers no explanation. Maybe it is another one of those things that cannot be defined within the parameters of logic. I find myself saying "Yes Claire. A sweep could prove most satisfactory." It contradicts my coding to endanger another being unnecessarily. I shall strain myself to make it safe. It is very interesting to observe Claire as we take to the skies on my Ice dragon. I focus on the dragon, but it is hard to ignore the pure and unhinged joy she expresses. Our lives have become lives of duty and responsibility. Claire is not burdened by that. I admire and envy her. I find myself enjoying the few sweeps of the temple while Claire waves enthusiastically at Misako feeding the koi in the pond. As we set down Claire wastes no time. She loves that temple, and the fact that it is now floating and in pristine condition is just another plus for her. She seems to be a bit disappointed that it is no longer haunted though. She chuckles as she talks about how that was the thing that made his father keep his distance. Now that it's not haunted, keeping the grounds shouldn't be a problem for him. Except he is also afraid of heights. It was Lloyd's idea to get some help to take care of the temple. We need to stay focused on our search for Wu. We will soon be leaving again. I guess Jay will need a new search partner. Misako perhaps. She greets Claire with a warm hug. "Great Wohira this place looks great! Less than a year ago it was a complete mess. An AWESOME complete mess, but look at it now! Dad had his hands full keeping looters away, but with this whole airborne thing you guys've got going I guess you don't have that problem anymore!" Misako chuckles. "Not at all. Having the best Ninja in all the land and some elemental dragons around also helps!" We have not told Misako about our fading ability to summon our dragons. The loss of Master Wu has taken its toll on her. She is as driven as any of us to find him. She puts up a brave face, but I can feel her pain. She pins up photos everywhere. Not just of him but also us, our friends and those we care about. Even on the Bounty. I have not observed such behaviour in her before. With loss comes reflection and appreciation of the good things in your past. My processors have no problem finding the logic in that. "Follow my lead!" Jerahn tells me as his eyes scan over the street, making sure we are unseen. I do not like doing this, betraying Seliel's hospitality. But after all, this is the reason why Yang sent me here, so I hide away my guilt for later. He scans the street to make sure the coast is clear, and then he Airjitzus to the roof of one of the tallest buildings. I follow. When I join him, he is already removing some wooden boards from the side of the wall. I did not come by this place by chance. I was following a lead. His voice is intense. "Come inside. No one knows this room exists." It is dark inside. Only the light of the rift on my head illuminates the room. I see that Jerahn has a reason to be secretive. The place is filled with ornate artefacts, vases, weapons, idols and paintings. He turns to me and looks me straight in the eyes. All this stuff is authentic Edo period. "Those villages where the building materials and this stuff comes from. They were old but they were in fine shape. They were abandoned. No one knows why, when and what happened to the people who lived there. They just left or were taken. No one knows!" Jerahn swallows hard. "And that's not all. There is not only stuff here from those towns. There is something else. Something made years ago. Back when I was still a ghost." He points to the corner of the room. And there, bathed in the light of my rift is a portrait of Master Yang. |
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Appearances
Characters
Locations
- Endless Sea (dream)
- Ninjago
- Underworld
Species
Trivia
- Tommy Andreasen explained he was keeping the novel non-canon for now in order protect his creative autonomy when developing it, though it may be able to be accepted as canon once it's completed.[2] He later stated, "It is written to not contradict canon. And supply some answers if you consider it canon."[3]
- Previously, Tommy Kalmar called the novel "Cool fan fiction" and Tommy Andreasen described it as "off-canon".[4][5]
- At one point, Andreasen noted the possibility of Way of the Departed being published along with another book, in the same way The New Ninja included two stories written by fans.[6]
- This is one of the only installments to be confirmed as non-canon despite having no inconsistencies with the TV series. This contrasts with installments such as The Realm of Shadows, The Book of Spinjitzu, and Ninja Legend!, which are confirmed canon despite having major inconsistencies with the TV series.
- Previously, Tommy Kalmar called the novel "Cool fan fiction" and Tommy Andreasen described it as "off-canon".[4][5]
- Seliel, the "Phantom Ninja" from Who is the Phantom Ninja?, appears in this novel.
- Seliel's father, Claire and Jesper (the latter two from 70751 Temple of Airjitzu) also appear.
- Andreasen considered the concepts in the novel too dark to be used in the series.
- Its story was never meant to be an episode or a part of the series, as it is made without any official LEGO involvement.[7]
- Tommy Andreasen said he has not planned to make a novel about Christmas, but he does not rule it out.[8]
- While the novel is not canon to the television series, it does offer some possible explanations and additions to the main storyline:
- As explained in Chapter 21, Airjitzu draws on Edo magic, which is a dark form of magic, which is why the ninja don't use it after The Hands of Time, with the exception of once in Prime Empire, which was digital, meaning no magic was involved.
- In Chapter 6, Zane makes note that summoning Elemental Dragons has become harder for the ninja to achieve. He theorizes that this has to do with the loss of Master Wu (presumably because the Ninja were constantly afraid they wouldn't be able to find him), but is for the most part unsure. This helps explain why these dragons don't appear as of Sons of Garmadon, though it doesn't explain why they don't use them after Wu returns, or why Wu doesn't use his own dragon.
- Yang's students had names and lived in villages that were destroyed by Edo magic during their imprisonment in the Temple.
- Three have been named so far; Jerahn, Alyce and Milo.
- Jerahn is the ghost student that Cole called "Chuck."
- Three have been named so far; Jerahn, Alyce and Milo.
- The novel suggests that Chen and Clouse manipulated Krux and Acronix after the Serpentine War into going against the Elemental Alliance and informed them where the eggs of the Great Devourer were. This was originally a scrapped idea for Season 7.[9]
- In Chapter 22, Ronin is said to have a family with a wife and a daughter. He also says that Clouse threatening their safety is the reason he kidnapped Zane and P.I.X.A.L..
- Lar is mentioned in Chapter 4 the novel. Seliel tells Cole he was visiting Nom, claiming to be the Master of Water, a reference to his role in the non-canon book he appeared in. It's implied that this book was a story written by Lar himself.
- Jay theorizes that someone named "Ekosan" is the new Samurai X and then denies having said this. This is likely a reference to Echo Zane, with Jay denying it because no one remembers the events of Skybound except for him and Nya.
- This is the first mention of Wohira and Cole's mother, both of whom would go on to have more prominent roles in the following seasons.
- One of the ideas of the novel was to "explore ‘the undisclosed narrator’ which is really not possible in a visal medium."[10] At one point, Andreasen asked for feedback on whether this technique worked or was needlessly confusing.[11]
- Chapter 17 originally had Cole remembering the Tiger Widow, but a fan pointed out Cole would not remember the events of Skybound, so Andreasen changed it.[12][13]
- Tommy Andreasen stated in July 2018 that he started writing another novel called The Splinter in the Blind Man's Eye.[14]
- Claire's mother's description of the Departed Realm from Chapter 18 matches the appearance of the Grasslands from "Endings."
- As of September 1, 2020 (Chapter 22 being the most recent chapter), Andreasen stated he was around 2/3 or the way through writing it.[16] He would later state that he had around 10 chapters left to write.[17]
- As of February 26, 2020, he is "pretty busy" and therefore does not know when he will write the next chapter, Chapter 25.[18]
- On September 2, he accidentally re-released the previous chapter because he thought he had not released it yet, so to make up for the lack of a new chapter he posted a drawing of a ninja and her animal sidekick.[19]
- The fate of the Temple of Airjitzu will be explained by the end of the story.[20]
- When Andreasen finishes the book, he will revise all chapters to fit with the current lore explained in the show, such as the fact that enough Traveler's Tea has now been shown in "The Kaiju Protocol" to open a portal to the Departed Realm despite Yang's statement in Chapter 2 that Traveler's Tea is not enough.[21]
Gallery
References
- ↑ https://twitter.com/i/events/1051091938848505856
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1024278819182657537
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1357812926854406145
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Tommy_kalmar/status/947900632312221696
- ↑ https://youtu.be/eU1lS9-XYQg?t=134
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1027450238813003776
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200322162024/https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1241758243866710021
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/934106136265060357
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/972330304269676544
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1178282495126708224
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/954369171927781378
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/969710723650801664
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/970316310143012864
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1021864990553255936
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1420124902108143620
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1300918018344706054
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1352010975982067713
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1497578025696866313
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1301180626633097218
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1277143441764466690
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1362680532291751942