ninjago has this consistent idea that the death of a character leads to the development of either said character, or the characters who grieve the death. while this concept can be written very well, ninjago can’t seem to get it right.
for example, nya’s sacrifice in seabound. i think her death could have been the BEST example in ninjago of how relationships can grow and strengthen over a shared loss. nyas ‘death’ could’ve been written as a wonderful way to deepen relationships between the characters, ESPECIALLY kai and jay. relationship development between those two would have been such a good concept, stabilizing eachother during times of grief, and so cole (who was, im sure we all agree, the most stable post seabound) would not have the burden of trying to help all members of the team, burying his own grief in order to aid the others, just as he had to do when his mother died.
furthermore, nya’s own death could have been a development strike for herself, but the show did not give her and nyad enough time to show nya once again reestablishing her sense of self, and collecting her memories. this lack of time nya had, and the lack of attention brought to kai’s grieving methods, combined with loss of potential growth between kai and jay, simply proved that what the writers were aiming for (nyas death--> development) did not work out. and im sure u all can think of the other examples where this idea does not work out.
but i think while the death= development IS a problem, there are times where they got it right, and it did lead to development at some point. for example, when the monastery doors collapsed on lloyd, and so he ‘died’ and met with the first spinjitsu master (plot contribution). and, cole’s ‘fall/death’ showed us an extremely rare occasion of kai being vulnerable and scared, and then nya into a phase of blaming herself, which led to kai comforting nya, showing the strength of the bond between the two.
so, ultimately, i believe the true problem, is : ninjago’s inability to correctly and deeply portray grief, because the entire idea of death= development is based on how individuals deal with grief (coping mechanisms), how they carry on with it, and the relationships formed/strengthened by it. if grief is written poorly, then death can never lead to development.
ive said this so many times but one of my favorite parts about kai is despite his trauma, when he gives, it doesnt come with strings. hes not expecting anything from anyone- when he gives, he does so without ulterior motives. i think its so important to realize that kai understands the value of love and decides to share his love, share what he holds in his heart (that fact that he chooses to hold love in his heart despite everything is beautiful itself), with the world, despite the world not returning it to him.
he loved his parents yet again so effortlessly, and he has always loved his family, nya, lloyd, jay, cole, zane, pixal, wu profusely.
I needed to do this, that's all. (I also wanted to do one about Kai's hair but could find the picture of him in anime style 😔)
Let my baby shine in next season please 😔
(If he looses again his power again, I am going to commit arson 👁️👄👁️🕯️)
i’ve lately been seeing a lot of people comparing the rgb siblings relationships from one another... so I’m here to give my thoughts. before we begin I just want to clarify that I do NOT believe one relationship is more significant than the other. kai loves nya and lloyd EQUALLY, lloyd loves kai and nya EQUALLY, and nya loves kai and lloyd EQUALLY. ok! point made! jolly! also just a quick read on the image: colors correspond to each ninja (green= lloyd, etc), and the arrows work like this:
kai-----(kai’s relationship with image the arrow points towards)---> nya
Kai and Nya:
now, in their childhood, I believe kai played the parental role more than the older brother role (this still remains unchanged). nya simply played the roll of a little sister. HOWEVER. as nya got older, i believe her relationship with kai changed. instead of playing the little sister, she ALSO slowly accustomed herself to a parental role with kai, and before doing so playing the role of an ‘older sister’. Im thinking until around the age of 12 she played little sister, maybe after 12 and until she became samurai x an ‘older sister’ and then after samurai x she accustomed herself into a parental figure toward kai. Also, I do think as nya got older kai slowly eased himself out of ‘ parental’ and into ‘older brother’, but parental is and will ALWAYS be the default relationship with nya. Naturally, both are ‘parental’ in different ways: kai focuses much more on emotional support for nya, offering approval, comfort, nurturance, and love. nya focuses on self-affection, meaning supporting kai in terms of accepting himself, showing that she loves him (not directly, but through gifts/actions), etc. both ‘parent’ eachother in ways the other needs it
Kai and Lloyd;
this one is easy. kai was an obvious father figure/older brother figure to lloyd since day one, and we’ve seen him rotate between them both frequently. kai’s ‘parental’ style remains the same as it was with nya, he offers lloyd approval, comfort, nurturance, and love. and as an older brother, protects him and teases him (just like he does with nya). lloyd played the role of a younger brother, even considerably a son throughout the show. he looks up to kai as a role model, etc
Nya and Lloyd:
both are younger siblings. thats it. THATS ALL. because nya protects lloyd and loves him, lloyd loves nya and they spent lots of time (DEF DOING MISCHIEF.) when the others were out on missions (when lloyd was a kid and nya was not a ninja). they have a rlly mischievous bond, and definitely a lot of chaos when together
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first off, the BIGGEST similarity when it comes to how kai treats nya and lloyd (two slightly different relationship) is: parental LOVE. kai openly loves them both and always SHOWS it.
now, the biggest ‘difference’ is kai. nya and lloyd both have a more ‘respectful’ relationship with kai. yes, if nya got the chance she would soak him in water and if lloyd got the chance he would pour flour on kai. yes, kai and lloyd are double trouble and kai and nya are partners in crime. which is why im not talking about chaos, bc all three relationships have equal heaps of it. im talking maybe that nya and lloyd wouldnt curse in front of kai as often, and maybe listen to kai more than they would listen to the other (for example, if kai said to do ‘x’ then nya and lloyd would probably do it, but if nya/lloyd told lloyd/nya to do ‘x’ then theyd be stupid and ‘fight’ abt it). idk. just thoughts.
Theory: I think the first one will have every scene of Lloyd running in the temple, from Mr. F and Vangelis, as well as the Overlord walking in front of the crystal, and awakening his army. The second one is the one where Lloyd falls from the sky, runs from Harumi, and Nya saves him before he falls.
I ALSO think Aspheera is the unlikely ally, as a way to repay him for freeing her and helping her escape the monastery.
lloyd part I
“In the series, Kai is the only ninja and protagonist who has never defeated a main antagonist alone.”
yeah because the writers are scared to give him that power
also because he always either sacrifices himself (ex. prime empire) or something else happens and he can’t be there
give him the power. don’t be scared. the only thing to be afraid of here is kai stans/kai development havers
I think that probably the most realistic scene in Crystalized is the fight between Jay and Kai.
They're both stressed out. They're both grieving. They're both trying to cope, just in a different way, and sometimes, grief can get the best of us.
But I'm actually surprised that Kai hadn't snapped sooner. Because Nya, the reason he joined the ninja in the first place, Nya, his sister who he basically raised, his family – is dead.
And Jay has the audacity to act as if no one else cared that she was gone. As if he was the only one affected.
Kai is trying to hold it together. He's trying to move on, because he knows he can't change what Nya has done. And he knows that Jay is grieving too and he does his best to not blame him.
Yes, he accidentally knocked the glass of water, but he instantly apologized for that, knowing what it means to Jay.
In other words, I'm on Kai's side on this one. I think that he had every right to point out Jay's bullshit. He should have done it sooner.
If reading a fic about Kai dissociating from his own sense of self after realizing he only ever lives for other people and that he has never had time to consider who he is as an individual human being sounds like a good time to you you’re in luck ✌️
people ask me why I’m so distraught over ninjago ending and when you tell them it’s because your emotionally attached since it’s been there since your childhood and you’ve grown up with it and even though it does injustice to your favorite character it still has your favorite character and you sound like a crazy person when in reality you just can’t let go of something that brings you comfort so easily even though it’s just some stupid tv show
she/her || drowning in fandoms || certified ninjago enthusiast || firm believer in sibling dynamics || kai <33
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