The Last Voyage

 With Ninjago City devastated by the Stone Warriors and Garmadon having started the countdown to the final battle, it's clear that the stakes are rapidly rising.

Having discovered the Dark Island on the horizon, the ninja plan to head there in order to find the legendary Temple of Light, where the Golden Weapons were forged, in order to unlock their elemental powers, while Garmadon and the Overlord are having the Stone Warriors dig up concentrated evil.

On their voyage, the ninja are stranded on a lighthouse island where they encounter Zane's father, Dr. Julien, who had been revived and abducted by Samukai, and was forced to build vehicles for the skeletons while guarded by a Leviathan.

After Dr. Julien and the ninja fix up the Bounty, the Leviathan spots them and attacks, but Zane frees the Leviathan, which had been held captive just like Dr. Julien, causing it to leave the ninja alone. 

Various Observations: 

-Ooh, another reference point for the timeline. This episode opens the day after the last.

-So, how exactly did the Stone Warriors get to the Dark Island in just a single day? I mean, it's possible the Overlord created a portal for them, but that would, in turn, beg the question of why he doesn't use this ability more often, if he can use it even when he's not possessing Garmadon.

-It's interesting that Misako knows so much more about the green ninja than Wu ever did. After all, if Wu had known that the green ninja had "four protectors", each colored like one of the ninja, he would have already known that none of them would be the green ninja. 

-Wait, why do the ninja think their powers are gone without the Golden Weapons? "Darkness Shall Rise" pretty clearly demonstrated that they still have their powers, they just can't access them properly.

-You know, with the Temple of Light being on the Dark Island, I always wondered what it's counterpart in Ninjago was. After all, for the yin-yang symbolism to work, there needs to be an equal darkness in the light half of the world.

-Aww, I like that Jay's parents and Cole's dad get to see their kids off ... although I do have to wonder why Kai and Nya have a talk with Dareth.

-Hey, look, Gene made it out of Ninjago City safely!

-Speaking of Gene, the frequent reuse of models for background characters actually made me somewhat attached to them, strange as it may sound. I recognize most of the refugees in this episode, and that gives this whole situation some additional weight. These people we know have had their home destroyed by the Stone Warriors.

-I like that Lloyd leaves the Ultra Dragon with the refugees of Ninjago City to protect them. It's good to see some thought was put into protecting the people of Ninjago while the ninja are away.

-Why does Zane in particular have a fan club? I mean, he is my favorite of the ninja, so I can understand it, but you'd think Jay would be the popular one.

-And now the falcon's gone, too. The tension is still rising.

-I like Jay's sugegstion of what could be at the Dark Island. But does that imply vegetables that taste like dessert would be evil?

-Man, Lloyd is already contemplating whether they'll die, and the other ninja have already accepted that possibility. Sure, it's phrased as "the end of our destiny", but it's very clear what they're talking about. They really turned up the darkness in these episodes, huh?

-Wait, the flight mode button still has the Fangpyre emblem on it! Why? Was it intentional? Wait, did they just reuse the asset they used for the antivenom vial on the Fangpyre staff and forget to remove the emblem? Is that what's going on with that?

-Oh man, afte a brief hope spot of the falcon transmitting images to the ninja, we see him being killed by a Stone Warrior! Sheesh, no punches pulled, huh?

-You know, a storm is quite a bit less intimidating when you remember that the Bounty has flown through storms enough that one was even used for a quick gag in "The Green Ninja".

-Garmadon is oddly patient with the Overlord. I mean, he threw Chokun overboard multiple times, but despite his frustrations just keeps making the Stone Warriors dig up concentrated evil for the Overlord, even though he'd rather go and conquer Ninjago. Like, dude, just go ahead and leave the incredibly untrustworthy spirit where you found him. It's not that hard. Actually, maybe it is? The only way Garmadon has to leave the Dark Island is with one of the Overlord's portals, but if the Overlord isn't willing to create one ... Yeah, that actually explains it!

-By the way, is the pit where they're digging for concentrated evil the Dark Island's counterpart of the Golden Peaks? One is a mountain, the other a pit, one holds the power of creation, the other the power of ... evil. Well, okay, it's not a perfect match, but still. 

-The celestial clock ticks backwards? I know the Overlord probably just means that a countdown has begun, but this has interesting implications. Was the original fight between the Overlord and the First Spinjitzu Master also the destined Final Battle, with the Overlord now wanting to retry it? 

-Why is everyone having trouble with the winds? The Bounty already sailed through multiple storms!

-I do like the payoff to the underwear gag.

-So the starteeth devour ships, but what else do they eat? I mean, ships don't exactly travel to previously non-existent islands every day, you know? Maybe driftwood is a viable alternative?

-I like Kai's quip about being "starstruck".

-You know, there would have been a really simple solution to the whole starteeth situation. I mean the deck is soaking wet, right? Just get everyone else inside and have Lloyd use lightning. Boom, no more starteeth. Well, zap, not boom, but you get the gist.

-It's been a long time, but Zane's premonitions are finally back, as he senses the lighthouse, and realizes it's a prison. We haven't seen hide nor hair of his possible psychic abilities since "Never Trust a Snake", if I remember correctly.

-Alright, the underwear bit is growing stale. The potty humour isn't funny.

-Meeting Dr. Julien feels ... warm. I can't explain it, but the music, Zane's reaction, everything, it really makes you feel like a loved one just came back from the dead. 

-Alright, I do like Jay grabbing a pair of Dr. Julien's underpants.

-Jay toying with the little tea robot is funny too, as is him getting splashed with hot tea as a result. Plus, it's in character for him as an inventor to want to test out the little bot's capabilities.

-Wait a second, we see Zane's blueprints here, but is that really what they are? Or do they belong to Echo Zane, who was built in this very lighthouse?

 

-Oh, I really like Zane referring to Dr. Julien as father. It may not be biologically accurate, but for all intents and purposes, he's his father.

-"The past is the past and the future is the future", huh? I much prefer the version from the German dub: "The past is in the past/has passed, but there is always a future". 

-Samukai just randomly had an elixir that can revive people? How in the world did he get that? ...Could it be the elixir from the Well of the Lost? But if so, how did it get to Ninjago, when the well itself is still in the Departed Realm?

-Dr. Julien is a surprisingly complex character, you can really feel his regret and pain when he talks about how he developed the skeletons' vehicles so that he could see Zane again, only to be left alone in the lighthouse for what may well have been years, fearing that his beloved Zane would hate him. Boy, do I feel sorry for the guy.

-The Leviathan is pretty scary, and the build-up to it's appearance is also done well. The menacing roar and Dr. Julien's dread clearly sell the image of a fearsome creature. The fact that it's a sea monster that can get you even on land, is also terrifying. 

-Actually, take a closer look at the tentacle. It looks like there are circuits underneath the rubbery skin, doesn't it? Could the Leviathan be a machine itself? But if so, who built it? It has clearly existed for a very long time, possibly even predating the fight between the First Spinjitzu Master and the Overlord. But the only three people in all of Ninjago to have ever created sentient machines were Dr. Julien, Cyrus Borg and Milton Dyer. So who could have constructed the Leviathan?

-Look, there's a Lego piece behind Lloyd and Nya. It's not something that actually exists, though, so I have to wonder why a model was even created for it.

-I like that Cole's whistling the main theme. Although it does bring up some questions, since he calls it catchy. Does that mean the characters can hear it whenever it plays in the background?

-This episode also gives us full confirmation that Zane, despite his origins, can still grow and evolve on his own, meaning that his choices are similarly his own, rather than the result of his programming, as he picked up cooking by himself.

-Zane wanting to get rid of his memory switch is also great, as he never wants to forget those dear to him, even if they may pass one day. This resolve also makes his arc in season 15 a bit weird, as he has to learn to accept grief again, when that's already part of this episode. Ah, but I'll talk about that when we get to it.

-Look at the main body of the Leviathan. It looks ... off. Like something not from Ninjago. Maybe it was originally from another realm altogether?

 

-You know, I do have to wonder how the skeletons ever even captured the Leviathan. I mean, they weren't really much of a threat, even in the pilot, so how did they ever get their hands on a being straight out of Lovecraft's writings?

-I really love the way Zane ends this episode's conflict. It's not elemental powers like Lloyd's or intelligance like Dr. Julien's that allows the ninja to escape. It's Zane's empathy. One of his most overlooked traits, in my opinion, is that, despite being made from steel and wires, Zane is oftentimes a more empathetic person than any of the others. When faced with a literal eldritch horror chained to the seafloor, Zane, rather than acting on his fear, takes the time to understand the Leviathan's pain and frees it. This also ties into the episode itself surprisingly well. Samukai abducted Doctor Julien and forced him to work for him and the Overlord strives for a substance that makes people automatically aligned to him, while Zane got the Leviathan to help him by extending a kind hand.

-All that aside, this was a surprisingly dark episode, wasn't it? I mean, the refugees in Ninjago, the ninja coming to terms with the possibility of their own death, the falcon dying as far as everyone knows, Doctor Julien spending years in solitude and under the belief his son would hate him, it all sounds like something that'd be more at home in one of the darker Fire Emblem games.