***SPOILERS FOR NINJAGO SEASON 8 AHEAD***
If you read my previous rant, you know I didn’t have much to say concerning the positive side of Ninjago’s eighth season. I have to confess, I was a bit biased. The whole character redesign really got under my skin. I think some of my opinions were swayed by that. I.E., I went into Sons of Garmadon all ready to hate it. Well, I am used to the ninja’s new looks now (not saying I like them--well, except for Lloyd. He actually looks pretty cool.), so I thought I’d rewatch season eight from an unbiased perspective. I have to say, I missed quite a lot. Quite a lot of good things.
First off, the animation was INCREDIBLE. After the Lego Ninjago Movie certain project whose name won’t be uttered here, the animation studio had a lot of new toys to work with. Even though Ninjago city looked totally different than it used to, I think it looks awesome. The fight scenes were more complex and suspenseful. Even smaller details like textures looked so realistic. Kai’s dual katanas and Nya’s trident genuinely looked deadly.
I was disappointed that the Weekend Whip (or some variation of it) wasn’t in the intro, but this made up for it 100%
Speaking of music, can we talk about the soundtrack? SoG had some of the best Ninjago music EVER composed. I used to listen to “Sons of Garmadon/The Quiet One” on repeat. I still would if my Amazon Music Unlimited subscription hadn’t ended 〒▽〒
I mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating: HARUMI WAS AN AMAZING VILLAIN!!! I already knew beforehand that she was the Quiet One both times I watched SoG. But if I hadn’t known, I seriously wouldn’t have been able to tell because she’s so darn good at lying. I loved that her backstory traced back all the way to season 1. AND THAT SCENE WHERE LLOYD FOUND OUT HER IDENTITY AS THE QUIET ONE!?! *chef’s kiss* Basically Harumi in a meme:
Can we talk about Baby Wu? Actually, I don’t even need to ask. But I don’t know if I can put into words how adorable he is. Maybe I can attempt using kaomoji? (ಥ _ ಥ) (^人^) (￣ω￣(￣ω￣〃)ゝ (❤️ ω ❤️) Nah, that doesn’t even scratch the surface. But seriously, Cole acting like a dad to him was the only thing more adorable.
“See you next season!” ~ the Mailman. This speaks for itself.
Even though I still think the whole “resurrecting Garmadon” plotline was weak (though, not WildBrain Ninjago weak--but I’ll save that for another rant), the fight between Lloyd and Garmadon was satisfyingly heartbreaking. And Lloyd abandoning the others in anger so he could face his father…yeah, that was Kai-level reckless AND I LOVED IT.
Lloyd was pretty great in this season. I actually didn’t like him much in any of the previous seasons. To me, he was just the powerful leader who really only became relevant because the writers needed someone other than one of the original four ninja to become the “chOsen oNe”. He didn’t really have much character development until the Oni Trilogy. Lloyd became so much more sympathetic and real in SoG. To me, now he’s the heavily traumatized youngest ninja 😆 But seriously, he’s one of my favorite characters now.
Lastly, THAT FINALE??! Man, I know I said this already, but Lloyd is so traumatized in this season. (His heart is broken by his crush who then attempts to murder him, he has to fight his father [who is a villain again] and realizes he can’t be turned from evil this time, he is forced to watch his brothers and sensei “die,” need I go on?) I love it. But man, that final line he delivered to Harumi:
I’M NOT KIDDING THAT LINE GAVE ME CHILLS AND LEFT ME GRINNING.
This is random, but since Garmandon adopted Harumi, doesn’t that make her and Lloyd siblings…? Uhhhhhhhh ok, that’s weird to think about (⊙ˍ⊙)
I still agree with everything in my previous rant. And I wouldn’t say this is my favorite Ninjago season. But there was definitely some great stuff in Sons of Garmadon that I missed the first time around.
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