[ominous music playing]
So we see, Ninja,
there is nothing you can acquire
that I cannot confiscate.
And yet,
to think of all that I, your humble narrator,
had to overcome...
Why, the dangers.
The hardship.
The drama I have personally endured--
Egotistical villain monologues are always boring...
[crackles]
...but this one's super boring.
Triple agree, so, so, so boring!
Know what's not boring?
-Fireballs! -Fireballs!
[groans]
[grunts]
[zaps]
Hey, no fair!
Of course it's fair!
Absorbing exotic energy is my true dramatic gift,
you two-bit player!
It's why my patron of the arts,
the good Empress Beatrix,
recruited me in the first place.
And so I dedicate this Core to her!
[applause]
Also, I want to thank my many fans.
Now, because of me,
we will have the Dragon Energy Core forever!
Yoink!
[both] No core for you! No core for you!
Was I... just robbed
by a troop of waddling fire-philistines?
After them!
[tense music playing]
We have to get that Core first!
-[grunts] -Keep away!
Cores are for winners!
[grunts]
No Core...
For...
You!
How are these things so fast?
Got you!
Or do you?
We launch the flaming boulders if you say, "What?"
What?
Ha! You said it!
You!
Launch the flaming boulders!
Our final defense system!
[gong bangs]
-[whooshing] -[gasps]
Flaming boulders?
Awesome!
♪ Lost in the unknown So much to see ♪
♪ Together we will rise! ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ We fight ♪
♪ Be a ninja for what's right ♪
[electricity crackles]
[suspenseful music playing]
We had an amazing time, Arrakore.
You're a great chef and an even better singer.
Feasting and heroic song is the only way
to celebrate victory over Howlers!
Plus, it gave me time to recover enough
to wield some wish magic again.
I doubt I could grant any major wishes,
but a small one like yours
should be within my fragile power.
I wish we could locate the missing Dragon Energy Core.
[crackles]
-[grunts] -Arrakore!
It is okay, Ninja Sora.
My strength will grow back with time and practice.
This thing, what?
Acts like a kind of compass?
Yes. It will point you toward the item you seek.
Thank you, Arrakore.
You may have just helped save the world.
It is but a mere token compared to the great debt I owe you.
[snarls]
Farewell, Zanth, my friend!
Farewell, Ninja, Jiro,
and the little, but mighty Riyu!
May all of your wishes come true!
Butter-cream, butter-flake, crisp flake,
and finally, crumble wall.
Wow. My mistake.
Guess there can be 52 different kinds of pie crust.
Uh, Lloyd, that "Mother Garden" place
the Temple Spirit said to look for?
I think we've found it.
[whimsical music playing]
Woah! [laughs]
[exhales deeply]
Huh.
[clanking]
This land is wild.
But I guess you've seen weird stuff like this
a lot on your adventures.
I've seen weird stuff...
[bubbling]
...but maybe not like this.
The Core!
Easier to find than I thought it'd be!
Wait.
The Spirit told us the Cores were entrusted to people.
That was centuries ago.
There could still be someone protecting it.
We should ask permission before we just take it.
Yeah, good point. But ask who?
[gasps]
[Zant-tanz] Congratulations, wanderers,
for you have passed our little test.
What test?
Why, to see if you would steal our Core or not.
I am Zant-tanz,
acting General of the Mucoid Warriors
here in the Mother Garden.
We have no intention of stealing anything,
but the Spirit in the Dragon Core Temple
sent us here.
We need to ask for this Core so we can try to stop
the MergeQuakes.
[indistinct chanting]
[Arin] What are they all doing?
They hail our forefathers.
We have been taught from one generation to the next
that one day, our vigil over this Core
would end when heroes came
from the temple asking permission
to save the world.
Now our work,
and the work of those who came before us,
is fulfilled.
So, we can have the Core?
Of course.
Use it wisely.
All right! Mission accomplished!
Oh, it's a good thing you asked,
because if you'd just tried to take the Core,
you would have been captured like the last guy.
Last guy?
Behold, the would-be Core thief!
[grunts]
Rapton!
You two! Get me outta here!
Why's Rapton after the Core?
Beats me.
But if he is, Empress Beatrix must know what we're up to.
Which is all kinds of bad.
What're you doing here?
Yeah, yeah, I'll tell you all that stuff,
really spill my guts, but first you gotta save me!
From what?
These perfectly pleasant and agreeable snail-people?
Pleasant? They're gonna destroy me!
[chuckles] He thinks you want to hurt him.
[laughs] He does!
And he's totally right.
He's a thief.
So we're going to throw him in the "doom mucus".
He's utterly doomed if he goes in there.
That's why we call it that.
[gasps]
See? You gotta help me!
[whooshing]
I know you think this is a game,
but we need that thing to save the world!
[laughs]
You expect me to believe that annoying girl you're with
is going to save the world?
Ha! Give me a break!
One break, coming up!
[gasps] Oh, come on!
Wyldfyre, pass!
Yeah, right!
You're just gonna lose it again.
-[both grunt] -[zapping]
[laughs]
The second-act plot twist gets them every time!
-[grunts] -Oh.
Yes! Classic prank!
[soft grunts] It is. It really is.
Ha!
[crackles]
You had better run!
I am well-versed in all types of stage combat, you hack!
Next time, pass the Core!
Passing is for teams,
and teams are for people too weak to work alone!
First, she has the same elemental power as me,
how's that even a thing, now she's a Core-hog.
This kid is the worst.
[suspenseful music playing]
[zaps]
Prepare for my standing ovation!
[grunts]
Ha! Totally planned!
I'm tired of these games! Eat fire!
Wyldfyre, no!
[laughs]
[whooshing]
Um, whoa, I mean, still all part of the plan!
[laughs]
Uh, my flames always stop enemies!
I wouldn't say "always".
Yes, always!
Crushing you will be my greatest practical joke!
[laughs]
[both] No Core for you! No Core for you!
[growls]
[suspenseful music playing]
This is where the magic compass led us,
but now the arrow's just spinning.
We must be close, but what is this place?
[clanking]
-[soft growls] -Receipts.
Car keys. Stuffed animals.
This place is weird.
Seriously. A single sock?
You'd think a glowing Dragon Core
would be easy to find in all this.
-[grumbles] -Ah. Oh!
Do you know what's happening?
I don't know what's happening.
[groans]
[clatters]
[grunts]
[groans]
Somehow this place just got even more strange.
Trash geysers?
Some of this stuff is brand new.
And some looks like it's from Imperium.
And I'm still not seeing a Dragon Core.
[rattles in distance]
Hey! You!
Wait up! We need to talk to you!
[groans]
So you're telling me Rapton here is slated to be... destroyed?
Oh, yes! And they said Mucoids
don't punish those that break our rules.
Hm. Well, actually no one has ever said that,
I just have a very active fantasy life.
Come on, man.
I know our relationship got off to a rocky start...
You tried to stomp us into oblivion.
And claw us into pieces with indestructible monsters.
Quit living in the past!
Right here, right now, these slugs plan to end me!
Can't you do something?
[sighs]
Look, while I'm not a huge fan of this guy...
[sighs] I can hear you.
...I really don't want to see him meet his doom.
Is there any way he can,
I don't know, be pardoned for his crimes
against the Mucoids?
Well, technically, there is one way to prevent
this abhorrent criminal
from meeting his much-deserved fate.
[inhales deeply] But I wouldn't recommend it.
Recommend it! Recommend it!
What can be done?
According to ancient Mucoid tradition,
a prisoner may be freed if, and only if,
someone will walk "The Impossible Path"
on their behalf.
Okay, cool.
What's the problem with that?
Well, we do not refer to it as "The Impossible Path"
because walking it is possible.
Anyone who dares traverse the path will,
with near complete and utter certainty,
be destroyed.
Obliterated.
Pass away.
Cease to be among the living...
I think we get it.
So obviously, you won't be taking that option,
so enjoy your Core
and say goodbye to your friend here and...
I'll do it.
You will?
No one ever takes "The Impossible Path"!
As your teacher, it's vital I instill in you the knowledge
that all life is important.
But that's Rapton.
Hey!
Sure, Rapton wouldn't lift a finger to help us,
but it's the right thing, the ninja thing
to do whatever we can to save him.
Lead me to the Impossible Path.
It has been a pleasure knowing you.
[yells]
How the Lava-tides have turned!
Ha.
Do you ever think before you act?
Why would I do that?
Cease your advance!
I, Dorama, two-time winner
of the Ninjago City Stage Actor Union's
"Certificate of Honorable Mention",
do hereby...
[thuds]
Alas, I have been disrespected.
[ominous music playing]
Why did you lead us here?
What? You were in the front!
[groaning] Nowhere to run! Nowhere to hide!
-Prepare to... -[grunts]
Oh, yeah! That's my family!
[growling]
[gasps]
[snarls]
See ya, losers!
[groans]
Ugh! No Core for... us.
Uh, what are we gonna tell the Empress?
This is only the intermission.
The play still has many more acts!
Is this "Impossible Path" nearby?
Quiet! One must treat this journey with solemnity.
The Impossible Path lies before us.
I know it is difficult to face,
but do not avert your eyes.
This... is "The Impossible Path"?
The single most dangerous place in the Mother Garden.
And, no one has ever survived the path, for real?
Hmmm. Uh, let's see.
That one time? No... What about...
Nope, uh, he also did not survive.
Maybe there was... No.
No, no one has ever lived through it.
Good luck! Follow me, young one.
We'll traverse to the end of the path.
Going there is useless since no one ever survives,
but it's part of the ritual, so we must do it.
Are you okay, Lloyd?
Oh, sure. How impossible could this path really be?
[sighs]
[breathes rapidly, grunts]
[suspenseful music playing]
I'm really worried about Lloyd.
There's no reason to be nervous.
There isn't?
Nerves are only for situations
in which you don't know the outcome.
You already know your teacher will meet his demise.
So relax!
That... might be the worst advice
anyone has ever given me.
Welp, we've given this enough time,
let's head back so you can make funeral arrangements.
-[footsteps] -[gasps] Footsteps?
It can't be...
[whistling]
Hey, guys!
You have achieved the impossible!
How is that possible?
There wasn't a single dangerous thing in there.
I mean, I kept waiting for something to jump out,
or a trap door, or quicksand
but it was just a pleasant trail through the garden.
Maybe you overhyped it slightly?
[grunts, cries]
[pants]
But the path is completely covered in salt!
Salt is the ultimate doom!
It is impossible to survive!
-How? -Oh, now it makes sense.
Salt can be deadly to snails, but isn't dangerous for us.
Like, at all.
We even eat salt.
[groans]
Per ancient law of the Mucoids, your freedom has been granted.
Even though this has never once happened before,
I would imagine that an expression of gratitude
would be in order.
[laughs]
I would definitely like to express my thanks...
-[zaps] -[grunts]
...for letting me do this, suckers!
[laughs]
Well, that did not seem gracious.
But maybe customs among their people are different.
[grunts]
[tense music playing]
I can't believe he just did that!
Don't worry, he can't outrun us!
-[grunts] Whoa. -[crackles]
Oh, great.
This was supposed to be a routine examination
of the legality of this foliage,
but now we uncover an unlicensed cosmic power source?
Ugh. So much paperwork.
Let's take it back to the Administration
and get started on our 10-83b forms.
[whooshing]
[zaps]
[gasps] Arin, run!
[both grunt]
[bubbling]
[retching]
[sighs] This has been the weirdest day.
I can't believe it. We finally have the Core.
[wheezes]
Heatwave's hurt!
We have to help him!
[both pant]
Hey! We just want to talk!
Please! Stop!
-[rumbles] -[Sora yelps]
No one touches these children!
[grunts]
[groans]
[soft growl]
[gasps]
[whooshing]
Spinjitzu?
-[gasps] -Huh?
Cole? Is that you?
[closing theme music playing]