Rebooted (Suits)

The third season of Lego Ninjago introduces ... well, between two and four sets of robes, depending on how you count it. Look, let's just start with the robes we all agree count.

The first of these sets of suits would be the Techno robes, given to the ninja by Cyrus Borg in "The Surge" to protect them from the facial recognition software the Overlord had installed in all of Borg's machines and, presumably, the Nindroids.

Now, unlike any previous sets of gi, the appearance of these robes drastically differs from ninja to ninja, with only a single exception: Jay and Cole share the same "type" of robes, so to speak. Outside of these two, the only unifying feature of the Techno robes is their face mask, a feature shared with many other sets of robes the ninja wil wear in the feature. Being fully honest, I hate the fact that these suits look so different. If there were some kind of cohesive theming tying them together, such as the emblem of their Honor robes, dragon symbols on the Legacy robes, or straps of the Digi robes, or simply a general aesthetic like the Resistance or Island robes, they'd look much better. As things stand, however, they're just all over the place. Furthermore, the blank leg pieces even makes the individual robes less interesting to look at, particularly when contrasted with the overly detailed torsos. And why does Zane's robe place the emblem representing his heart on the wrong side of his chest? Lastly, there is the fact that Lloyd's robes, while reflecting his golden power, fail to represent the fact that he is the golden ninja at this point, not the green one. Full score? 1/10. They're that bad.

 

Now, the other set of robes, used during "The Titanium Ninja" by most of the time, but during all of Project Arcturus by Lloyd, is the Stone Armor.

Quite unlike the Techno robes, this suit goes hard! The simpler design, owing to a lack of leg printing, actually works on these robes, as the torso has a less intricate design. Really, it's just a piece of armor over a simple and unremarkable gi in each ninja's color, with only Zane standing out, as two extra straps across his chest hold the armor in place. Honestly, it just works. The grey beautifully contrasts the bright colors each ninja wears. These suits are clearly bulky, and the show acknowledges it. The entire point of the Stone Armor is to act as, well, armor. The sole complaint I have with them is that, once again, Cole is clad in the unappealing combination of grey and black he keeps ending up with. Unlike his previous robes, however, the shiny metal still stands out against his black gi, making it more appealing to look at than his ZX and elemental robes. Being fully honest, I think this set of robes deserves a perfect 10/10. It's a shame we never got to see them again ...

 

The next question is, do the golden versions of the Techno robes count? And what about the spacesuits? To settle this question, I am going to introduce three qualifications all sets of robes must pass, unless they exist in physical form, in which case they immediately qualify.

One: They must be meaningfully different from each other. Pallette swaps like the singing outfits from "The Royal Blacksmiths" still fulfill this requirement, the spacesuits do not, as only small the color of tiny dots on their chest is different.

Two: They must be worn outside of battle. The Stone Armor was still worn at Zane's funeral, for example, and the Techno robes were the default outfit for the first six episodes of this season. The golden versions of the Techno robes are only a brief power-up during a single battle, so they do not count.

And finally: They must not be a disguise. Think of the Stone Warrior disguises, or the musician outfits. Those do not count.

 

But, that tangent aside, let us tally up this season's score. 4 plus 1 plus 10 ... divide by three ... Oh, it's 5/10. Mediocrity! How wonderful! Certainly better than the score the season would have gotten without the Stone Armor.