This was one heavily flawed season. If LEGO picked one writer with a strong knowledge of Ninjago instead of a team of people who clearly weren't very familiar with it, it could have turned out great. I guess that Hands of Time suffered from some seriously troubled production.
One idea I had was making a sequel season focused on time travel. Maybe there could be a cliffhanger where the ninja fail to stop the Time Twins from travelling through time, and the next season is focused on undoing the damage. Since the recent seasons have more of a connected plot, it would make sense.
Honestly, that's something I like about season 8. It ended and was completely interconnected with season 9. I also enjoyed the Oni and Dragon plot. Overall, I think I like it mainly because of how much it set up for the plot. It added a lot of mystery, and (in my opinion) adding mystery really makes a show good.
Based on the ending of season 7, I'm like, 90% sure that if the LEGO Ninjago Movie hadn't come out when it did (subsequently influencing the show, with SOG being a soft reboot), season 8 would've continued on from Hands of Time in the same way that Hunted continued SOG's story. That's not to say I don't like seasons 8 and 9, because I do, but I personally really don't like the way that literally none of the new characters and plot points from Hands of Time were carried over into Sons of Garmadon, except for Samurai X and baby Wu (and even with the latter, you could make the argument that Wu's subplot wasn't truly carried over from Hands of Time, since the intent at the end of that season was obviously for Wu to get lost in time, not to... presumably fall off the Iron Doom while being turned into a baby).
I think we must define sophisticated storytelling differently: I think it's far more sophisticated to handle dark subject matter with an inconspicuous touch than to stress it for the sake of making the story more gripping/dramatic. I might bring Possession to your attention. The premise of that season is inherently dark when you get down to it--Lloyd literally gets possessed by Morro and the ghosts are all cursed for eternity--but that point was never played up for the sake of making the show "dark." I prefer it this way because I just don't like blatant dark subject matter, but I suppose the SoG way of handling it could appeal to some people.
I don't actually see how Sons of Garmadon overdid the darkness. Sure, things do get dark and intense, but there is still some humour to it, and it's not excessively grim. My issues with it really come from the villains and the ninja being made weaker.
I feel like Mr E could've been like a second main antagonist in season 8, since he was really hyped up in promotional material and the season itself. Maybe having two primary villains in season 8 would've been wonky, but hey, season 9 had both Garmadon and Iron Baron.
Also, the Sons of Garmadon should've been a group of samurai instead of evil bikers.
Plus, it's a way of the show growing up with the audience, you could say. We meet change, we watch characters grow up and stories intensify, and that's OK, because change is part of life.
I mean, oh yeah, and it gets way more exciting when it's all dark and gritty.
Exactly, and Ninjago has kinda tought me how to except change a little more. Plus if you think about it, if a kid started watching Ninjago when it first came out when he or she was 7, by this time they would be about 15 years old!
Yep.
I started watching Ninjago back in 2011, when I was 10.
Let me rephrase that, not everyone who draws has the gift of art.
Real talk though, I thought Harumi was like, 18 in SoG?
Well, I've tried determining her age based on Lloyd's. Before Lloyd was exposed to the aging tea, I imagine him being ten or nine, maybe a bit younger. The rest of the kid-turned ninja I assume were about twelve so when they were all turned into to teens, the ninja were returned to being in the range of seventeen and fifteen (I've imagine Cole as being seventeen, Kai seventeen-sixteen, Jay sixteen and Nya fourteen-fifteen in seasons one and two) and Lloyd was changed into a fourteen year old. So, if in SoG, Lloyd is now, let's say eighteen or seventeen, and Harumi, having never been exposed to aging tea is about two years younger, I believe that she is about sixteen or fifteen. I hope that made sense, I'm not the best at explaining things.
Real talk though, I thought Harumi was like, 18 in SoG?
Well, I've tried determining her age based on Lloyd's. Before Lloyd was exposed to the aging tea, I imagine him being ten or nine, maybe a bit younger. The rest of the kid-turned ninja I assume were about twelve so when they were all turned into to teens, the ninja were returned to being in the range of seventeen and fifteen (I've imagine Cole as being seventeen, Kai seventeen-sixteen, Jay sixteen and Nya fourteen-fifteen in seasons one and two) and Lloyd was changed into a fourteen year old. So, if in SoG, Lloyd is now, let's say eighteen or seventeen, and Harumi, having never been exposed to aging tea is about two years younger, I believe that she is about sixteen or fifteen. I hope that made sense, I'm not the best at explaining things.
Jay sixteen in season 1? And Cole seventeen? What? They are older than I thought...
Well, I've tried determining her age based on Lloyd's. Before Lloyd was exposed to the aging tea, I imagine him being ten or nine, maybe a bit younger. The rest of the kid-turned ninja I assume were about twelve so when they were all turned into to teens, the ninja were returned to being in the range of seventeen and fifteen (I've imagine Cole as being seventeen, Kai seventeen-sixteen, Jay sixteen and Nya fourteen-fifteen in seasons one and two) and Lloyd was changed into a fourteen year old. So, if in SoG, Lloyd is now, let's say eighteen or seventeen, and Harumi, having never been exposed to aging tea is about two years younger, I believe that she is about sixteen or fifteen. I hope that made sense, I'm not the best at explaining things.
Jay sixteen in season 1? And Cole seventeen? What? They are older than I thought...
Oh, I thought that was non-canon or whatever it is called.
The ages are indeed "fanon". It's all speculation. I think the ages haven't been confirmed, since it would just get confusing. Personally, I used to like to think Lloyd became 18 at the end of episode 18, but now Sons of Garmadon seems to denounce that.
Well, I've tried determining her age based on Lloyd's. Before Lloyd was exposed to the aging tea, I imagine him being ten or nine, maybe a bit younger. The rest of the kid-turned ninja I assume were about twelve so when they were all turned into to teens, the ninja were returned to being in the range of seventeen and fifteen (I've imagine Cole as being seventeen, Kai seventeen-sixteen, Jay fif/sixteen and Nya fourteen-fifteen in seasons one and two) and Lloyd was changed into a fourteen year old. So, if in SoG, Lloyd is now, let's say eighteen or seventeen, and Harumi, having never been exposed to aging tea is about two years younger, I believe that she is about sixteen or fifteen. I hope that made sense, I'm not the best at explaining things.
Jay sixteen in season 1? And Cole seventeen? What? They are older than I thought...
It's not confirmed, just my fan theory. Since Cole got a job as a bank security, he'd have to be older and Jay I imagine as fifteen or sixteen because he and Nya are dating and generally fourteen year-olds don't date. (at least I don't think...)
Oh, I thought that was non-canon or whatever it is called.
The ages are indeed "fanon". It's all speculation. I think the ages haven't been confirmed, since it would just get confusing. Personally, I used to like to think Lloyd became 18 at the end of episode 18, but now Sons of Garmadon seems to denounce that.
The ages are indeed "fanon". It's all speculation. I think the ages haven't been confirmed, since it would just get confusing. Personally, I used to like to think Lloyd became 18 at the end of episode 18, but now Sons of Garmadon seems to denounce that.
