Codename: Arcturus

Codename Arcturus, or "Projekt Arkturus" as it is known in the German dub, is a three-part story intended to form the second half of season 3. Back when it was originally broadcast in Austria, all three parts were aired in direct succession, and it was even marketed as a movie of sorts. Were you to ask me, I would always recommend this "movie" over the actual Ninjago Movie, even if I am not all too impressed with this season.

After the events of the last episode, Lloyd split his powers amongst the team, and the ninja are searching for Borg and the Nindroids, leading them to learn about a project by the name of Arcturus.

As he follows a Nindroid convoy, Kai is taken captive by them in their base under the city of Ouroboros, leading him to be chained to a rocket as it is about to take off. The other ninja, having deduced that the Overlord wants to obtain the Golden Weapons that have been launched into space back in "Wrong Place, Wrong Time" arrive to save Kai and manage to stow away on the rocket as it takes off.

Various Observations:

-It's really cool to see the Temple of Light again.

-You know, the official explanation is that the ninja gave their powers to Lloyd back when they first visited the Temple of Light, and that he now gave it back to them. I disagree. We already saw Lloyd use their powers before they ever went to the Dark Island, after all. Additionally, the ninja clearly used their elemental powers in the past five episodes, most notably when activating the Techno Blades. Instead, I believe that Lloyd simply split the power of Creation and bestowed it onto his brothers. This gave their elemental powers the boost they needed for the ninja to access their full potential without using the Golden Weapons or Elemental Blades as a conduit.

-I love watching the ninja goof off and have fun with their powers.

-What happened to Garmadon? Not only is he suddenly opposed to Lloyd sharing his powers, calling it "foolish", but he also grumbles about how children should obey their fathers? What? Where did any of this come from? Was he replaced by Those Who Slither In The Dark? This is entirely out of character for him!

-Why is the re-mechanized Cyrus Borg evil? The last time his body was unconscious and he had his machine parts puppetted by the Overlord, but that's not the case here. Instead, it seems like the machine parts turned him evil? But he still had those installed in the last three episodes, where he was his normal self.

-Cryptor's "drones" are asking questions? Since when are the Nindroids sentient? I thought Cryptor was the only one!

-Speaking of the Overlord ... he's a dust cloud now? But he already had a body in the last episode! And why doesn't he want the Nindroids to see him? Does he fear a mutiny? But they are literally programmed to obey him!

-The camera panning to the rocket is a cool reveal.

-Since when do the ninja use Borg Tower as a base? Don't they have a school? And now that I mention it, is Dareth still their sole teacher? Or did Wu hand it over to someone actually qualified to run a school? 

-Why's the postman suddenly part of the team? That's really random.

-Nice worldbuilding, with Arcturus having a constellation named after him.

-What's up with the sound design in the movie Jay, Cole and Nya are watching? Did a mosquito voice Fritz Donnegan?

-Look, the Hageman brothers! I think this is their first cameo ... unless I've missed one.

-Wha - Hold on, why didn't anybody fix the window Borg was abducted through? Hasn't it been a while since the last episode?

-I love watching Kai try and flirt. He's so awkward!

-That aside, the girl he's trying to woo has the same hairstyle as Skylor! I guess Kai has a type. 

 -Kai, why are you pretending to be a secret agent? People know you're a ninja. You literally get fan mail! Heck, Zane has a fan club that went to see him off in "The Last Voyage".

-Kai seems surprisingly angry at Cryptor in particular. Does he know the guy was being sexist towards Nya?

-Kai's way too cocky, but he's also kind of endearing. He literally puts on sunglasses and winks at the camera! It's adorable how hard he's trying to look cool.

-PIXAL accidentally distracting the cyclist is funny.

-And now PIXAL is sassing Kai! I love it! PIXAL really does have more personality ever since she had some alone time with Borg. I'm guessing he really did remove the Techno Blade's hack, which is why she's closer to her original personality now. Plus, it also makes her romance with Zane significantly less gross.

-And Garmadon's angry that Wu "can't control [his] team". Sheesh, why's he so obsessed with mindless obedience today? 

-I'll admit, sending that other driver spinning was a dick move from Kai.

-Oh my god, it really is original PIXAL! "This car is worth far more than you", oh, I love her. 

-Kai and PIXAL bickering gives me life. I need more content with them!

-Can I just say, this one episode has already made me like PIXAL more than all her previous appearances combined? She's gloriously sassy, why didn't we get to see this side of her more often? Just imagine if she'd stayed evil! We'd have gotten this for an entire season!

-Oh my god, the cut to black as the Nindroids crash into the roof of the tunnel got me! Wonderful editing!

-That aside, I did not expect to see anyone decapacitated. Particularly since all Nindroids are apparently sentient now.

-It annoys me that the roadworker's mouth doesn't move when he humms. Why wasn't that animated?

-Of course Min-droid's the one to get slammed into a sign and then run over by the Prototype X-1 Roadster.

.Also, good on you Kai for destroying half of the Overlord's shipping.

-Wait, the Overlord's phone number is 1234? Seriously?

-Kai goes down to a single punch from Pythor? PIXAL actually held the guy off, and she's not a trained combatant! I call foul!

-I love how shocked Jay and Cole are when Nya chooses "Jole".

-Oh my god, did Nya just imply she's going to reprogram the clearly sentient Robo-Usher 3000, excuse me, I mean Jole, to be her boyfriend? Why couldn't it have been me? Er, I mean, that's ... bad. I don't condone smart and confident girls brainwashing me people to be their boyfriend. Yeah. It was definitely never my fantasy.

-Did you hear Nya's heartbroken sigh? She really loves Jole ... Why can't she a have romantic sublot with him? It'd be so much better than the stupid love triangle.

-So if the Overlord wants to launch Project Arcturus that night, wouldn't missing half the fuel hinder him? I mean, the rocket won't actually able to get back like this, right?

-Wait, Lloyd actually has a new outfit? I thought that was just an animation error earlier. Well, damn, now I've gotta delete that paragraph. Why does he already wear the Stone Armor, though? The team only gets it in two episodes. I guess maybe his new outfit just happens to look like the Stone Armor?

-Oh, don't remind me of your time travel adventure, it broke and twisted the plot so many times that it now resembles a pretzel.

-Why does Garmadon expect the launch to take place in Ouroboros? The ominous lightning right after really makes it seem like he's going to reveal that he was working with Pythor all along.

-So the Arcturus rocket was built in the space the Great Devourer was imprisoned in. I do wonder when they had the time to install all the machines and repair the city above it.

-Man, now that the ninja can use their powers, the Nindroids just aren't even a threat anymore. It actually feels kind of cathartic? The Nindroids were never particularly threatening, so having them treated like these unbeatable opponents was ridiculous.

-Sheesh, Garmadon. Could you stop being rude to everyone around you for, let's say ... two minutes? Is that feasible? You know, when I compared him to the Doctor, I didn't mean early-Hartnell.