Decoded, alternatively titled as Ninjago: Decoded,[1] is a could-be-canon[2] mini-series part of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu that was released from November 27, 2017 to January 29, 2018, between Season 7 and Season 8. Zane serves as the focus ninja and one of the mascot characters alongside the six original ninja, the Overlord serves as the main antagonist. It consists of ten parts that are about eleven minutes long. It uses recycled scenes from Season 7 with changed voice acting, as well as clips from other previous episodes.
This mini-series was done to recap the events of the series in order to prepare fans and newcomers (such as The LEGO Ninjago Movie fans) for Season 8.[3] It is a recapitulation of the series from the pilot episodes to Season 7.
The official playlist of the episodes can be viewed here.
Cast
- Chen - Ian James Corlett
- Cole - Kirby Morrow
- Cyrus Borg - Lee Tockar
- Echo Zane - Brent Miller
- Edna - Jillian Michaels
- Garmadon - Mark Oliver
- Guide Parrot - Michael Adamthwaite
- Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
- Kai - Vincent Tong
- Krux/Dr. Saunders - Michael Daingerfield
- Lloyd - Jillian Michaels
- Maya - Jillian Michaels
- Misako - Kathleen Barr
- Morro - Andrew Francis
- Nadakhan - Scott McNeil
- Neuro - Paul Dobson
- Nya - Kelly Metzger
- P.I.X.A.L. - Jennifer Hayward
- Pythor - Michael Dobson
- The Overlord - Scott McNeil
- Wu - Paul Dobson
- Zane - Brent Miller
Episodes
| Series Ep # | Image | Episode name | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
"Legacy" | November 27, 2017 |
| 2 | 
|
"Vehicles and Mechs" | December 4, 2017 |
| 3 | 
|
"Legendary Places" | December 11, 2017 |
| 4 | 
|
"Ninjago's Most Wanted" | December 18, 2017 |
| 5 | 
|
"The Digiverse and Beyond" | December 25, 2017 |
| 6 | 
|
"The Elemental Masters" | January 1, 2018 |
| 7 | 
|
"Beasts and Dragons" | January 8, 2018 |
| 8 | 
|
"Rise of Garmadon" | January 15, 2018 |
| 9 | 
|
"Prophecy of the Green Ninja" | January 22, 2018 |
| 10 | 
|
"Greatest Battles" | January 29, 2018 |
Gallery
Promotional media
Prime Video
Intro
Character icons
.png "Screenshot (1641).png (55 KB)")
.png "Screenshot (1640).png (89 KB)")
Video
LEGo Ninjago- Decoded Teaser
Trivia
- Decoded was based on clip show scripts written by Tommy Andreasen. The scripts focused on Lloyd reading lessons written by Master Wu in his journal. It was reworked because of its melancholic tone.[4]
- This idea was reused in Chapter 9 of Andreasen's novel, Way of the Departed.
- According to Glen Lakin, LEGO instructed for these episodes to be canon.[5]
- However, he later specified that it was made to be "could-be-canon" instead and that a definitive decision on its canonical status wasn't made so that fans can ignore it if they want.[2]
- This marks the third time that the Overlord returns, but only for a brief moment; this is also the second time following Season 3: Rebooted where Zane is the main protagonist and the Overlord is the main antagonist.
- Also, this Overlord is revealed to actually be a remnant of his virus/kraken form that latched onto Zane when he went back into the Digiverse. While this would technically mark the resurgence of one of the Overlord's "bodies" as a drone of his, he was technically not controling it directly (unlike the Golden Master in "The Void"-"The Titanium Ninja"), and may have not known it existed.
- Tommy Andreasen has stated it could potentially be canon, but he was not involved in its production and has not seen it.[4][6]
- In "Ninjago's Most Wanted," Kai learns about Nadakhan and sees some of the events of Skybound, but he appears confused when Jay acknowledges the Skybound mural in "The Darkness Comes."
- On a page from the book, The Book of Elemental Powers, one of the Ninjigma's riddles is quoted. It is likely this book is considered canon, which would confirm Decoded is canon.
- Brent Miller was flown back by LEGO from his vacation in order to record the lines for these episodes.[7]
- The series was made from start to finish in two months.[8]
- This is the first installment to have eleven-minute episodes instead of twenty-two-minute episodes, and it is the only installment before Season 11 to do so. As Decoded is technically its own series, Season 11 is the first installment of the main series to have eleven-minute episodes.
- When talking about Jay's old TV show in "Legacy," Zane mentions that the show consisted of 74 episodes and a special. This is a fourth wall nod to the show itself at the time.
- "Ninjigma" is a play on the words "ninja" and "enigma."
- The intro for Decoded is a combination of seasons 1 - 7. It uses the Season 3 remix of The Weekend Whip.
- The majority of the episodes also use this as the closing credits song, though "Vehicles and Mechs" uses "The Temporal Whip" and a few others use soundtracks from previous episodes.
- This mini-series marks the last time Jillian Michaels voiced Lloyd (albeit through archival audio). Beginning with the 4D LEGOLAND Ninjago short film, Master of the 4th Dimension, Sam Vincent started voicing Lloyd, indicating that the character had finally gone through puberty.
- Zane's digital avatar image looks somewhat different from his main design, in that it doesn't have any lines on the sides, and he also appears to be more reflective, resembling his titanium design from before Season 7. This is also the case with him in Master of the 4th Dimension.
- This mini-series marks the first time Garmadon as a hero has been referred to as "Master Garmadon" on-screen. He was previously called that in "Child's Play" by Fangtom and Skales.
- Not counting the various mini-movie series, this is the first and currently only multi-episode installment not to coincide with a wave of sets.
- Similarly to the Dark Island Trilogy, Decoded starts with an unknown villain who is ultimately revealed to be a villain the ninja have previously fought.
- The idea of reusing previous footage to create a new scene is similar to the Chima crossover in "Curseworld, Part II," which also reused and altered footage from another episode, which was in this case an episode from another show.
- Despite being labeled as a miniseries, it is actually longer than March of the Oni, an installment that is officially recognized as a season.
- Despite the use of pre-movie styling, the font for this series uses Kunoichi.
- Decoded was the last piece of Ninjago media to be animated by WILFilm ApS' animation vendor GDC
Translations
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| French | Ninjago Decoded |
References
- ↑ https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/ninjago-decoded/6469353367626979112
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://bsky.app/profile/iwritewrongs.bsky.social/post/3ly7nu7ygzs2p
- ↑ http://www.psychicbunny.com/project/ninjago-decoded/
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/934094451370274817
- ↑ https://bsky.app/profile/iwritewrongs.bsky.social/post/3lxxztaglns27
- ↑ https://x.com/TommyAndreasen/status/934373803077132288
- ↑ https://youtu.be/CCpA_X1gC1k?t=64
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20201101065711/https://mailchi.mp/0a89698d9186/we-wrote-and-directed-a-series-for-lego?e=6cf7e1d232