LEGO Ninjago’s Biggest Redemption: Sons of Garmadon 

6:59 “She wants Lloyd to feel the same pain that she felt when she lost her parents” And she does this by BRINGING BACK ONE OF HIS PARENTS

I heard that Mr. E was originally meant to reveal himself as Echo Zane, hence the letter E to his name. However due to time constraints the writers are forced to scrap the idea.

I loved Zane’s human form and I wish they kept it as his primary form, with him occasionally using the titanium form

You know, I find it interesting that you think Harumi doesn't have the most interesting personality because I think it's the exact opposite. Harumi isn't a character who's so cut and dry and being evil and just tricking Lloyd the entire time, she is way more complex than that. The thing that makes Harumi interesting how she forces the audience to wonder what her mask is, which is fitting because the entire seasons is about masks and this was clearly a deliberate motif. In her introduction, Harumi talks about wearing a mask and it is a very relatable concept to Lloyd. We the audience first think Harumi is talking about how being a princess is a mask, but in reality is is her kind, normal face which is the mask that covers up her evil and vengeful side (with this double meaning dialogue being another excellent component of her character!) But the think about Harumi is that she is a foil character to Lloyd. Everything Lloyd feels about losing his loved ones is something that Harumi felt, except instead of moving past it and growing as a person, Harumi became consumed by her sorrow and let it destroy her morality. So from this we see a very interesting and contrast yet parallel between Lloyd and Harumi, shades of Lloyd's personally can be seen in her. And the fact that Lloyd and Harumi are so similar further benefits her character because the way she deceives Lloyd is by relating to him. Like she is lying about being his friend sure, but everything she says is laced with truth. In a weird way, she does relate to Lloyd and uses their commonality to get close. She has great sadness about losing her parents, she is a kindred spirit to Lloyd, she wants safety and protection. These are truths and the complex part about her personality is realizing that throughout her deception, these were very earnest expressions of her emotions. In fact, it's not just the audience who needs to hash out what was and wasn't deception with Harumi, I think Lloyd and Harumi need to figure it out too. I'm going to make a *bold* claim here, I think Harumi really did like Lloyd and even her adoptive parents. I think that's evident in her dialogue given how even she calls Lloyd and herself "kindred spirits" and says "You're emotions, it's hard to think. I felt those feelings too". I don't think she's lying here, she really did care about Lloyd, but the difference is that in spit of those feelings, she clung to her convictions of hatred and wanted Lloyd to die. She literally choose to wear her mask of hatred and let that define her actions. That is an extremely complex character, for she evidently hated Lloyd more than she grew to love him from the limited time they had together. Like I think you can sum up Harumi with the line "I had to repress those feelings, I had to wear a mask until the time was right for me to take control." Well then the question becomes, what was the mask? What were those feelings. Was it feelings of hatred (for her adoptive parents and Lloyd) that were repressed and hidden by a mask of love? Or was it feelings of genuine love that were repressed by hidden by a mask of hatred? I think it was the latter. Because you don't get the amazing dialogue she had with Lloyd unless there is something earnest underneath. No one is born evil, you let yourself become that way when you let your hatred define you. Harumi wasn't born bad either, but her ultimate downfall was deciding to hate and refusing to let anything else change her mind, even when she herself began to feel love. She chose to wear a mask of hatred and only at the very end when she saved that family and looked Lloyd in the eyes did she finally take it off. It the first action she made in long while that was motivated by love not hate. That's when the mask came off, but unfortunately, as the audience and Harumi both witnessed, it came off too late to save her. And that's why I think Harumi is one of the most complex, deep, intriguing, and best written characters in not just Ninjago, but all of fiction. If you made it this far, thank you for reading and remember, we all choose the masks we wear. A mask does not have to be a bad thing, it can make you strong, as you embrace a better and noble identity. That's what Lloyd does when he wears a mask, that's what so many superheroes do when they wear makes. Let it only be a good mask that defines you and never let a mask of fear, anger, or hatred ever cover up your better self as both Harumi and Anakin Skywalker sadly did.

Dang straight that scene with Harumi and Lloyd in the cave with the Oni Mask is the most intense scene in the show! I'd even go as far as to say it's the best scene in all of Ninjago history! Like it's beyond perfect in terms of cinematography, directing, voice acting, animation, dialogue, and music! It's a masterclass, my jaw was one of floor when I saw it and it was so good, I kept rewinding and rewatching it because I kept finding hidden details that made it even more interesting than the last time I saw it!

I recently rewatched the Oni Trilogy and I loved it even more than I did before, especially Hunted. Also, I don’t mind the design changes. It makes the characters look older and showcases their maturity, whilst allowing them to age, much like what How To Train Your Dragon did with it’s protagonists

I love Lloyd’s new voice, I have nothing against Jillian Michaels, but Lloyd’s voice needed to become more mature eventually, for s1-5 it worked, but after that it got annoying for me

Good video, I just have one thing to point out. Lloyd's arc in Hunted was to restore his confidence and have him become a better leader, which is the reason he doesnt act this way in Secrets of Forbidden Spinjitzu like you mentioned. Secrets' job is resolving Lloyd's actual trauma from the Oni Trilogy which is why he's the one to face of against the Ice Emperor, because the season has constantly been paralleling him to Garmadon

A lot of people didn't like the redesigns, but honestly once you get used to them they're a lot better than the old ones, less generic, and somehow it still fits the voice actors really well.

My take on Garmadon in Season 8 was that he's broken mentally. Remember, he's just been revived so there are gaps in his head. He's a mindless zombie who was slowly remembering who he was.

A love the way they changed Llyod's character in this season. In the earlier seasons, he could go through the most horrific thing in his life and than move on in the next season. For Sons Of Garmadon and beyond, it really wraps up Lloyd's true feelings about losing his father in S4, while also giving us a new character for Lloyd to mourn (Harumi). I loved how in S9-S15 Lloyd never gets over what Harumi did and how Harumi "died". One of my favourite moments that I believe really encapsulates this premise is when Cole becomes friends with princess Vania which in turn make Lloyd get defensive and anxious, to the point he tries to persuade Cole into regecting Vania friendship because he believes that his friend is in danger, due to the fact that "all princess are the same".

Probably the main reason why Harumi is one of Ninjago’s best antagonists imo is probably because of her motivations as you mentioned, but mainly to me, her interactions with Lloyd. She isn’t too interesting without him being there, but each scene where they are both speaking to each other is amazing.

I personally believe Garmadon talks wierd at first because in a way he’s kind of a zombie. Like he’s recently been resurrected so I think throughout the rest of SOG and hunted he becomes accustomed to his new body. But I love you points here great video. SOG is probably my top 5 fav seasons.

Thank you so much! In comparison to more mainstream cartoons, Ninjago rarely gets the attention it deserves. I'm so happy to see someone stepping up and making some analytical videos about it, and good-quality ones too!

To support your dialogue notion, the Lloyd vs Harumi fight in the Oni Temple. That has some of the best Dialogue of the entire show. As a side note, her flashback made my favorite episode, “Day Of The Great Devourer”, much better and made my favorite scene of the episode, The Ultra Dragon vs The Great Devourer fight, much more tragic

As someone who is a little more mixed on Sons of garmadon than other fans, I must say I was very impressed with how you brought up the season's strengths while also being unafraid to occassionally point out its weaknesses. This video really softened my criticisms on Season 8 and now I'm tempted to rewatch the season to see if I cam warm up to it alot more

Very good review and season, I just wish Kai wasn’t so bland (as you said) and Nya just felt like a npc tbh

10:55, I never noticed the mistake here, Lloyd’s eyes are green, even though he lost to garmadon allready

It took me a little while to get used to the new character designs and the new Lloyd but then I loved the season. It was fantastic, it’s one of my favourites now, and I loved the music, specifically Harumi’s theme. It’s sweet but sad, it’s in a minor key, and it’s simple. That’s my favourite kind of music because I get the most emotion out of it, Harumi is definitely one of my favourite villains and also just as a character in general. In the soundtrack “The Mask of Hatred” it’s mostly just music for the fight scene, but there’s a few little moments with Harumi’s theme, but it’s quiet and kind of shrouded, which is perfect for Harumi because although most of her is evil, there’s still a little bit of good.

I completely agree that Garmadon was far more interesting and better delivered in Hunted, but I think between the scene in the cave and the fight at Krytparium this season does hold really a unique place in Ninjago history. I love the fact that they were able to build on plot points from the last season while also making them feel natural here. Harumi ties everything together and to this day I don't think we'll get a more interesting villain. By the end of the season, she won. She got everything she wanted. And it's interesting to see how that went into Hunted, where she had to deal with Garmadon and the repercussions of her actions. It kept me from aging out of the show after Hands of Time and really shows how Ninjago continued to evolve and evolve.

I think we can all At least agree on the fact that after this season, lloyd really needs to go to therapy

I liked how this season looked like some kind of video game, with the fights, the plot and the visuals

SOG was crazy, with great shots, storylines, and villains I agree with you on your opinions, i wish Mr. E's mystery is fully explained

Also don't get it why death of Harumi's parents is more tragic than death of Zane or Nya. They are the characters we got to know, grew to love them, and they literally die on screen, quite unexpectedly. That's much more heartbreaking, imo.

Great review! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who was super impressed by the dialogue in season 8. It felt so much more natural. The action is also so much better and it was clear that the ninja improved so much in their combat

In my opinion, possession will always be the best ninjago arc. But I have to say this one nearly gave it a run for its money, its probably the second best ninjago arc in all of history. Everything about it is just so great, man I love this arc.

"Garmadon's voice is weird" nah he just woke up from a bad sleep

I like to believe the Royal Family actually came out of nowhere due to the effects that occurred in Hamds Of Time. After all: It was (theorized really) explained that the ninja got their new designs from the effects of time.

Ninjago was definitely going the wrong direction in terms of quality around hands of time, but Sons of Garmadon really took us in a fresh amazing new direction we NEEDED. Great video!

I don't get why Harumi isn't after Pythor, he's the one behind the Great Devourer, Lloyd may have freed him, but that was because he was a kid, who Garmadon left, so then she has to get revenge on Garmadon or the snake that bit him, which is the Great Devourer, also Garmadon wouldn't have defeated the Devourer if not ninja immobilising him, so they also saved the town, it's a lot of confusion if you think about it, so why get revenge on anybody then?

A thing I noticed that didn’t really make sense was Harumi’s age in her flash back in the season. Remember Lloyd was aged up in the episode the ninja got aged down in season 1 or 2. So wouldn’t she still be way younger than him

Very nice video! Quite neatly organized and it was very well produced for a first video. I definitely agree with you in that SoG was a breath of fresh air that Ninjago desperately needed. The previous seasons(particularly 5, 6, and 7) followed a relatively formulaic story and SoG takes that formula and turns it on its head to pave Ninjago into a new era. I do think that the execution of the story was very well done for the most part and the portrayals of most of the characters was exceptional. Since I enjoy almost everything in this season as it is my 3rd favorite, I will mostly just cover some flaws that I find in it that I personally find that hold it back. Some of the episodes to me have strange scenes and plot points such as the crab fight in episode 81. The premiere of the season is also a big setback to the season as a whole in my opinion as it is the episode that a lot of returning(old) fans will watch to see if the show is any good at seasons 8+ with all the changes. Unfortunately, I feel that the premiere doesn’t do the season justice as a whole and in a way alienates returning fans from the show. I don’t mind any of the changes that were brought upon season 8+ now, but I think that the poor integration into the newer style in the premiere is definitely a large setback. As for characterization, I can’t help but feel that Lloyd is a little too focused on and kind of overshadows the other ninja. Jay, Nya, and Kai don’t get much of a role in this season and almost every other Ninjago season gives most of the ninja roles(whether that be good or bad). Of course Lloyd’s characterization was amazing this season, but I would personally have preferred an approach that Seabound took where almost all of non-focused ninja had decent roles. Another minor nitpick that I have with this season is Hutchins as he’s quite bland and mainly there for introduction. Now, the biggest part of SoG is the mystery aspect which I think is both the season’s strength and weakness. Of course, the degree of the twist blows fans away and the overall unexpected outcome of the season is a huge plus. However, I can’t help but feel that the season focuses a little too much on the mystery aspect of the plot instead of the actual story part of the plot. I believe that an approach that Season 1 took would have greatly benefited season 8 where the mystery aspect is mainly pushed to the side and comes to the center very occasionally. To me, this approach benefits rewatches greatly and drives the plot forward more smoothly, especially for a show like Ninjago where I personally don’t think mystery is the focus genre. Finally, I feel that the ending of the season doesn’t feel too “earned” for the villains in a sense. I do like that Lloyd’s downfall was a huge part of the team’s downfall, but it shouldn’t have been the only and main reason why the ninja lost. I believe that the show should have explored a flaw that the team as a whole had without Master Wu, perhaps with disorganization and poor leadership. I know that the ending shows that in a way, but it should have been a little more explicit in my opinion to really hammer home the message that the ninja couldn’t protect the city. With all this being said though, I still fully enjoy SoG. I completely support all the praise that the season gets for the aspects it does brilliantly, but I feel that a few of the flaws that it has (to me at least) are a little important to discuss. I’ve even analyzed the flaws of my other favorite seasons too and no season is ever perfect although it can be phenomenal.

Woohoo! This is a great video Ben! Sons of Garmadon was so well made, both character development and story were very well made.

This season is an amazing example that ninja never quit especially on this show.

That one season that’s better for an older audience:

In sons of garmadon it seems like garmadon is just a monster and as his story progresses in the other seasons he starts to care more and his voice changes as he does

Now I really like season 8 and I do think it’s one of the best seasons but I do hate the fact that they completely got rid of elemental dragons and airjitzu

Son of Garmadon was my second favorite season after tournament of elements. Great tone and villains.

"the great devourer was to strong for you and your frieds" girl...he had 9 years at the time

Season 2 of Ninjago will always be my favorite season Zane is such an awesome character when he figures out he’s a robot you feel for him. But great vid I like this season too

I just realised that harumi “died” the same way her parents did which is why she was so offended in crystallised

What I wanna see is what the writers do with harumi in the future. Now that she’s good I think she’s gonna be like another skylor but to keep her a lot more different than skylor she definitely needs 2 things. 1. A power, either let her keep her crystal power with the drawback of using it too much at once corrupts her, or give her another loose end power like wind. 2. Give her a bit more screen time and maybe (this is more or less what I want) her own arc like jay ams nyas in skybound that vastly improves the relationship between Lloyd and harumi, bringing Lloyrumi to life, if you can’t tell I’m a lloyrumi fan

honestly, i didn’t really have any problems with this season. I found the desings fine, i like them more than the original in my opinion. But if they are older i felt they shud look older, while cole and lloyd do look older, zayn looks ok (since he can’t age yk), but jay and kai look less matured, i still like their designs. Overall, i’m pretty happy with this season, im actually not a long time fan and hv only recently started watching, im on s10, so i might be wrong, maybe my opinion can change throughout s10 to s16, but for now i think ninjago is pretty great

Honestly I feel like Jay's character Reset from Hands of Time Should've been at least somewhat fixed, Skybound was so good For him but Hands of time...It was such a dissapoinment

I remember back when this season came out, I was feeling a bit burnt out from Ninjago. Season 7 didn't hit for me in the same way that both Seasons 5 & 6 did, I'd found many other new series to focus on, and of course, the Movie didn't help much when it came to maintaining my hype. Pair that with what looked to be a fairly mediocre set lineup, and I had very low expectations going into this, not watching it until a good few months after it came out (though that happened with Season 7 as well I suppose). And then I watched S.o.G. and remembered why I love this show. And then Season 9 was great too! While Season 5 remains my favorite season for a number of subjective reasons, 8 & 9 are absolutely the peak of Ninjago's writing, and despite the new seasons' constant improvement, I doubt we'll see anything like S.o.G. or Hunted again. Hey, at least we got to see them

dead mans squall is still the best episode of ninjago to this date

Just one thing though. Garmadon was meant to sound very different this time, because he is different. He's like the Frankenstein monster, he can barely speak, he breathes heavily. He is not really self-aware. He needs Harumi to explain things to him, because he doesn't understand. She summoned him, and so he just sort of does her bidding. In this way, he's like a golem or something. The writers, and voice actor discussed this. He was meant to be more robotic, a shell. He doesn't remember a lot of his former self, doesn't even recognise a picture of himself. And he has to relearn about the world like a child, but guided by evil that is Harumi, and the SoG. That was the entire point. He's not himself right now, and so he cannot be reasoned with. Not yet anyway. Now we all know that's not really true, and he turns good again. It was just sort of buried deep in him this time. Oh, and the bit with him fighting Lloyd, completely traumatised us. My kids and I actually cried. I was like, what the hell did I just watch?? It was so heartbreaking, cause they had loved each other so much. For both their sake, as you knew that Garmadon would never do this otherwise, and once he became aware, would never forgive himself. The picture blowing away in the wind, and the sad music. OMG. The most traumatic part of Ninjago's entire run imo. More than any other deaths, or any of it. All of them sad, but this was the worst.

Another banger as always bendobricks!

I actually really like hands of time. Sons of garmadon is actually my favourite season of ninjago. I really love the oni and dragon trilogy.

I'll be honest, Ninjago redeemed itself when I found out that the tv voice actors/actresses would still be around after the movie.

This channel is really underrated.

5:06 no he has a point

Also in the backstory they used the old designs which I found very funny

Very Excellent Review

The Oni trilogy will always be peak Ninjago for me

Hey! I just found your channel, like, JUST found it! When sons of garmadon came out, I was put off by the redesigns and lloyd's new voice, so I stopped watching at... about the 2nd episode? I finally came back to ninjago as a series only about a month ago, I binged every episode from the pilot to seabound, which I finished yesterday, I'm glad to finally be back in the loop Anyways, sons of garmadon was awesome, my only problem is.. well, Garmadon. He was one of my favourite characters in seasons 1-2, and my absolute favourite in season 3-4. He just, isn't the same character anymore, which, I know that's the point, but still, I really wanted the old Garmadon back other than that, sons of garmadon was, as I said, amazing.

FINALLY A VIDEO ON BENDOBRICKS! Also Hands of Time was good, change my mind.

how do you only have 775 subs? you deserve way more dude!

This Garmadon shows how much control good Garmadon had over the evil in him in season 1 and 2. Now he has no good left in him. No sensei Garmadon :(

Great video

And then they pulverized it after March of the Oni. Absolutely pulverized it.

In the golden hour shorts it when who is knocked against the monastery wall which created the logo of the royal family

YESSS FINALLY

Harmi really did say mean things to Lloyd to get the oni mask

honestly for the ninjago movie it shouldve been more related to ninjago lore than it was to lego lore

Sons of Garmadon used to be my favorite season for years! 💚

Very underated

Harmi is a monster in the game of masks

Yes

I believe that the reason Harumi didn't escape the castle before the explosion was because it'd be extremely suspicious to see her gone while it happened, maybe instead she went to a room which had less explosives, or only had explosives in the roof, and not the ground or walls, I mean, she wasn't in her bedroom or in the throne room. But that's just my take.

11:12 i would LOVE to hear this discussion lmfao

We did learn who Mr E is he’s echo Zane got revealed because the writer said it would be too complicated to put it in

I prefer every one of the movie designs to the originals, except Kai (and zane but it's just because I think his hair looks doofy). but I'm pretty sure kai's hair change was to make it possible to model it in form since his hair spikes were so thin that if they made an accurate hair piece, it would bend too easily.

I think I heard from some media that originally season 8 would’ve been a continuation of season 7

It always starts with the villen

I really hated what they did to Kai, the continuity and most of all Lloyd getting the spotlight again after the zillionth time. I love LLoyd but you got to admit he gets too much spotlight.

You should look at Possession and Hunted!

Lloyds new voice actor was so so much better I hated the old voice it just annoyed me and I love Lloyd’s character

I like call the seasons 8, 9 and 10 the "Oni Trilogy"

Mr E was intended to be Echo Zane

Woah

Woah thats legos

Wow

I really need to know your thoughts on the entirety of S11 especially since it starts off the Wildbrain Era of Ninjago

Garmadon: *has epic redemption arc and is a great mentor the Ninja and forges a good relationship with his son, then sacrifices himself to rid Ninjago of the Anacondrai once more* Season 8: evil garmadon go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

THIS WHOLE VIDEO I WAS LITERALLY NODDING AND AGREEING THE ENTIRE FREAKING TIME I HAVE THE SAME OPINION

great video! what’s the name of the song that starts at 11:33 by the way?

I heard that harmi is the quite one and behind all of this

11:22 sooooo when are we seeing this video? I know I’m interested to hear your thoughts on Wildbrain Lloyd

I love how they all come back in the new season cristalized

crystalized is promising!

I’m a big Lego ninjago fan and I loved the Lego ninjago movie, except for Kai’s hair piece I think it looked better shorter, also I don’t know why but for all Lego set that have Kai in them I changed all his swords with the red ones used by the sons of garmadon because I think the red swords fit with the red ninja

I remember when this shit was just ninjas vs serpentine

I love the movie- I just bought it today 😂😂

So glad I found this channel! Just the kind of content I was hoping for :D Also, what would your opinion be on the show's tone changing over and over again from campy to dark to campy to dark over and over? I've always found it very odd

Lloyd almost died fighting his father Lloyd lost his powers and garmodon has a dark potential that bet Lloyd he almost died

one thing I noticed is how Harumi is like a child, roughly around the age of Lloyd pre tea, but when Lloyd started liking her, she must have been at least 3 to 4 years younger than him. Kinda makes Lloyd a pred if you ask me

In my opinion Season 1: great. Season 2: decent the beginning was filler and kinda boring. Season 3: don’t like it so boring In my opinion and created the love triangle. Season 4: great literally everyone say this and you know why. Season 5: amazing. Season 6: great it only recently got love. Season 7: boring just plane boring I do like Kai and nya parents though and the villains. Season 8: great amazing Season 9: awesome Season 10: pretty decent Season 11 fire chapter: bad or ok Season 11 ice chapter: decent Season 12: good Season 13 awesome The Island :bland Season 14: amazing From what we seen from season 15: good

For people who understand good writing yes.....but not for people who cry over the new designs....and that are many people...

Bendo(ver)Bricks