Would You Like to Enter Prime Empire? is the first episode of the twelfth season of Ninjago and the 129th episode overall. It aired on March 21, 2020, in Asia, paired up with "Dyer Island." It aired in the US on July 19, 2020, paired with the next three episodes.
Synopsis
While investigating a heist, the ninja discover a legendary unreleased arcade game that suddenly takes control of all other games in Ninjago.[1]
Extended: The Mechanic and his henchmen infiltrate an old electronics warehouse in search of a mysterious motherboard. The ninja learn of the heist and arrive to thwart the attack. But they're completely in the dark as to what the Mechanic wants with it, so they head to the Mechanic's headquarters looking for clues. There, the ninja find the legendary, unreleased arcade game called Prime Empire. Realizing the game is missing a motherboard, Jay inserts the motherboard and the game boots up. While Jay plays the game, the other ninja make their way into the Mechanic's private office where they intercept a phone call intended for the Mechanic. It's a mysterious new villain called Unagami, for whom the Mechanic seems to be working. Meanwhile, Jay accidentally triggers an energy pulse that converts all of the arcade games in Ninjago City into Prime Empire arcade games.[2]
Plot
Citizens in Ninjago City walk around on the streets. A couple of them are seen on their mobile devices. Clutch Powers grabs a teapot and goes to an alley, then light suddenly shines where he stood. Gayle Gossip walks in front of Laughy's, and Dareth follows her as soon as he sees her. Jake plays a video game on his mobile device in a car. A man smells ramen noodles at a food stand. Nelson and Antonia fist bump after delivering newspapers. Meanwhile, The Mechanic drives his Noodle Truck to an old electronics warehouse.
The ninja and The Mechanic's crew.
He and his henchmen investigate the hardware in the warehouse, but as soon as he sees it, he claims a motherboard with a V-shaped signature inscribed on it. The Mechanic's affairs are interrupted by the ninja, who jump towards them from above. They fight, but The Mechanic is able to flee with the motherboard. The ninja follow behind.
Cole drives his Rock Cycle, and Kai drives Lloyd, Jay, Nya, and Zane on his ATV. They pursue The Mechanic on the streets, but he pushes the Katana 4x4 onto a building, which causes it to lose control and stay behind. Cole remains on The Mechanic's tail, sticking a cable to his truck and tying it to a pole, which ultimately causes the truck to malfunction. As soon as The Mechanic gets out of his Noodle Truck, the ninja surround him. Jay takes the motherboard from The Mechanic but is confused by the design.
The Police Commissioner sends The Mechanic away, and thanks to the ninja for their help. Jay continues to examine the motherboard. He tries to give it to the Police Commissioner but gets interrupted as soon as the police are informed of another emergency and leave. The ninja decide to go examine The Mechanic's headquarters after realizing that the Mechanic tried to escape there.
Jay opens the door, peeking to be sure there was no danger. The Mechanic's former arm falls on Lloyd, who is frightened. As soon as Jay sees an arcade cabinet, he tells the ninja all about Prime Empire, though they do not feel as excited. Jay plugs the Arcade Pod to an outlet to show them the game, but it still does not work. Instead of watching Jay make the Arcade Pod turn on, they decide to leave him and go investigate the rest of The Mechanic's headquarters.
Walking through a hallway, Cole is captivated by The Mechanic's hats.
All of the games replaced with Prime Empire.
Meanwhile, Jay complains that he cannot get the Arcade Pod to turn on. Checking the back of the Arcade Pod, he sees a disc receiver, so he grabs the motherboard he took from The Mechanic and inserts it. The Arcade Pod turns on with a red light and in a couple of seconds releases a shockwave of red energy and knocks Jay out. The ninja are surprised by what it was. It passes by The Mechanic in handcuffs entering the Police Station, who cackles. As the surge of energy passes by an arcade, all the video games get replaced with Prime Empire. A player puts his hands together, preparing himself to play the game. Jay wakes up to see Prime Empire booted up on the Arcade Pod, so he approaches the game to play.
Kai sees notes with the same logo on the motherboard on The Mechanic's bulletin board, and Lloyd finds a notebook that also has the logo. A monitor boots up behind some books, so Zane pushes them aside to see it. the monitor questions the ninja if they found the motherboard, and Zane responds typing in the keyboard. The monitor replies back, saying that Unagami is pleased and to activate the game, then turns itself off. Lloyd questions who Unagami is.
Jay enters Prime Empire.
Jay continues grinding Prime Empire happily. He is greeted with a message saying he reached Level 13 in the game. The Arcade Pod asks if he would like to enter Prime Empire. Jay responds yes and presses a red button. The Arcade Pod opens like a door, revealing a white light behind what were the screen and buttons. Jay is attracted to the light and disappears into the Arcade Pod, which then closes and shuts off. The ninja return to see Jay, but he was already gone.
Meanwhile, Prime Empire begins to boot up on more and more Arcade Pods around Ninjago City.
Appearances
Characters
Cast
- Cole - Kirby Morrow
- Game Voice - Mark Hildreth
- Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
- Kai - Vincent Tong
- Leroy - Kelly Metzger
- Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
- Nya - Kelly Metzger
- Older Kid - Vincent Tong
- Police Commissioner - Michael Donovan
- The Mechanic - Michael Antonakos
- Unagami - Dean Redman
- Zane - Brent Miller
Non-speaking
Mentioned
Miscellaneous
- Chen (pictured)
Items
- Arcade cabinets
- Cole's golden hammer
- Jay's golden kusarigama
- Kai's golden katana
- Lava Zombies
- Lloyd's golden sword
- Nya's golden spear
- Prime Empire
- Prime Empire motherboard
- Robo-arm
- Teapot of Tyrahn
- Zane's golden shurikens
Vehicles
Locations
- Ninjago
- Ninjago City
- Wharfs
- Warehouse
- The Mechanic's headquarters
- Private office
- Benny's Arcade Emporium
- Old electronics warehouse
- Ninjago City Police Station
- Wharfs
- Ninjago City
Species
Transcript
For the transcript of the episode, click here.
Trivia
- Narrator: Unagami
- The episode's title is the first question-based title.
- It's also the fourth episode to have punctuation in the title.
- The first three were "Operation Land Ho!," The News Never Sleeps!," and "Vengeance is Mine!."
- It's also the fourth episode to have punctuation in the title.
- The socket Jay plugs Prime Empire too is a Type G, commonly found in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and many other countries around the world.
Continuity
- Captain Soto, Fred Finely, Vlad Tutu, Clutch Powers, Gayle Gossip, Dareth, Jake, Vinny, Nelson, Antonia, Sammy, Leroy, and Wu's chicken all make cameo appearances.
- The Teapot of Tyrahn makes a cameo in this episode, as Clutch Powers rubs it at the beginning of the episode.
- This is the second season premiere where Wu doesn't appear, the first being "The Mask of Deception."
- This is Soto's first appearance since "The Absolute Worst."
- It is revealed that Lloyd did not know what a VCR was until being told about it.
- The sign with the baby at the beginning of the episode is taken from the concept art of Jamanakai Village.
Errors
- When The Mechanic is first on screen, we see him with his new arm, however for the rest of that scene he is seen wearing his old flame-thrower arm.
- When Leroy asked what happened to the arcade cabinets, his mouth doesn't move.
- On Netflix, the name is misspelled as "Woud You Like to Enter Prime Emipre?"
Video
Gallery
For the gallery of the episode, click here.
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