Tick Tock

 It is time ... Time for what may well be the single most popular episode in the history of Ninjago. When it was first released, it blew everyone away. 

Does it hold up? You bet it does! But first, let's get through the summary.

 The episode opens with a montage of the ninja all having reached their physical limits, but Wu explains that their True Potential is something they can only reach by facing themselves, Persona-style. He also tells them that Garmadon was turned evil by the Great Devourer when it bit him as a child, and then leaves to search for someone to help the ninja fight Pythor.

Encountering the falcon, the ninja follow him and find an abandoned laboratory in a snow-covered forest. It turns out that the falcon is a mechanical being, created in that very laboratory - and that the same also goes for Zane!

He, understandably, has a bit of a breakdown at the prospect of being a robot, telling the ninja to go ahead while he deals with what he is feeling. Flipping a switch inside his own chest, Zane recovers his lost memories, and learns that Docor Julien, the man who built him "to protect those who cannot protect themselves" raised him like a son, and erased his memory immediately before his own death, so as to spare Zane the grief.

With renewed resolve, Zane heads outside, only to find the ninja being attacked by Treehorns, giant tree-like bugs. Together they fight the Treehorns off, and when their queen appears, Zane, now knowing who he truly is, unlocks his True Potential, freezing her solid.

 In the meanwhile, Pythor finds the map to the Fangblades needed to awaken the Great Devourer, and Wu uses the Traveller's Tea to head to another realm, meeting Garmadon, who now has four arms.

Various Observations:

-Fun Fact: The German version of this episode translates to "The Nindroid". That's kind of a major spoiler to just put in the title, no? 

-New Weekend Whip remix, neat.

-I love Wu's speech about what it means to reach one's True Potential! Why does the first season (of fifteen!) do the best job at making Wu appear wise and experienced?

-Why, exactly, are Wu and Garmadon playing with real weapons? We've seen the ninja use wooden weapons for training before, so why are these two literal children using metal blades?

-Hmm ... Had Wu not refused to retrieve his katana for whatever reason, he would have been the one to be bitten by the Great Devourer. That'd be an interesting concept to explore in a filler episode during the Ice Chapter. Certainly better than the filler we did get. Actually, come to think of it, Lloyd would still be the son of the evil brother, since Misako wouldn't have ended up with Garmadon, had he not put his name on Wu's letter.

-Interestingly, the young form Great Devourer can actually be represented by one of those small snake pieces that were used as weapons during the sets released for season 1. Sure it would be missing the crown, but aside from that it's a perfect match.

-You know, young Garmadon seems more evil in the scene after he was bitten than he does years later, during the battle against the Time Twins. I guess maybe he just got better at hiding it.

-It's implied that Wu himself never unlocked his True Potential, because of the guilt he felt over his role in Garmadon's descent to evil. Perhaps he resolved it after their final meeting in season 4, and that's why he can summon his Elemental Dragon in the season after that?

-This is the first time we see the staff of the Anacondrai. Shouldn't Pythor have held it during the Slither Pit last episode? Claiming the staff is how one wins, after all, so it's presence is kind of important.

-Alright, I love the flyers the ninja put up. That's one way to find the Fangblades, I suppose.

-Wait, the ninja never picked up the flyers after Zane dropped them! Eh, I guess the storeowner was pretty rude, he can pick them up himself.

-Gotta say, I love how the ninja immediately trust Zane's intuition and the falcon. It's a nice contrast to "Home".

-The journey to follow the falcon looks beautiful and has some gorgeous music ... but could they not have followed it in their vehicles?

-Since I mentioned the German version, the Treehorns are called "Baumhörnchen" a cutesy name, reminiscent of "Eichhörnchen", meaning squirrel. The twist of them actually being really dangerous beasts works much better like that, I believe.

-Sooo ... why does the robot Zane defeated never show up again? It doesn't even appear during Day of the Departed, when Zane fights Cryptor in the very same forest that this episode takes place in.

-Hold on ... is there a mechanical cat in Dr Julien's workshop? I wonder if that's another companion, like the falcon, that he was working on before he died.

-The sudden cut to Wu feels kind of odd here. Maybe this scene should have been placed after Zane finds the door to Dr. Julien's bunker, but before he goes inside.

-Alright, why is Harry Potter working in Mystake's shop? And why is the tea behind her labelled as "OK"? Does that mean the other teas are expired or something?

-Man, Mystake has a weird way of running her store. She just gives out a teapot with her tea leaves. Why? How would you ever turn a profit like this?

-I love Wu's retort when she tries to talk him out of using the Traveller's Tea. 

-You know, Zane's internal mechanics change appearance pretty much every season, but I do like the classic look they have here. It's consistent with Dr Julien's other creations. Interestingly, his power source is absent here, despite being the one feature that stays consistent from season 3 on.

-By the way, why does the "humor" switch just make him burst out in song? And why does Jay actually find that funny? Kai and Cole look more confused, which is about how I'm feeling.

-I love how supportive the ninja are. There is zero hesitation from them, they immediately reassure Zane that he is still their brother, just with "more gears" as Cole puts it. And when Zane needs some time to be alone, they back off and respect his privacy. God, I love their family.

-Hey, young!Zane is cooking the same soup Cole made two episodes ago. That's a neat little callback.

-Wow, Doctor Julien's death was executed perfectly. The immediate switch in colors, from the warm tones of before to cold, sterile colors really makes the loss of Zane's father hit harder.

-Oh dear, the queen of the Treehorns looks just a bit too much like a spider for comfort.

-So we're all in agreement that the queen of the Treehorns is dead, right? Her entire body was frozen solid, she probably froze to death. The ninja really went for blood back then, huh?

-So the antidote in the staffs create a map to the Fangblades. Why? Why would you ever want them to be found? Also, what does the Anacondrai antivenom even do? The Anacondrai just turn invisible, they don't affect anyone else with their powers.

-As a bit of a personal note, this episode has a special place in my heart, for pretty similar reasons as "Home". Zane is different from the other ninja, not even just on a behavioural level, but also on a biological level. And yet that doesn't matter. He is still their brother, he's just a touch more unique. As an autistic kid myself, even if I did not know that at the time, seeing someone who was "odd" or "weird", like me, be accepted like this meant so much to me. For this reason, Zane is one of my comfort characters, alongside Haley Anne Thomas and Ema Skye.