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After flying through a powerful electrical storm, Jay crash-lands and finds himself in a world where Sensei Wu’s team of ninja was never formed. Here, the Serpentine rule with skeleton warriors as their servants, Jay’s friends are scattered and powerless, and his only hope is an ancient master of Spinjitzu — Lord Garmadon![1]
Summary[]
While flying through a storm in his Storm Glider after being ridiculed for the failure of an invention, Jay is struck by lightning, forcing him to land. Converting his vehicle back into the Nunchucks of Lightning, Jay attempts to find refuge in a nearby village, only to realize it's inhabited by countless Constrictai and their Skulkin slaves. Fleeing, Jay stumbles across Bytar and an eye-patch wearing Kai, and tries to save his friend, only to discover that the two of them are working together. Jay is forced to escape, only to discover that the skies are being patrolled by countless Rattle-copters, even as Kai and Bytar decided to continue their search for Bonezai.
Before Jay can proceed any further, he gets stuck in a trap and is confronted by a vengeful Cole. Cole explains how, a year ago, after training Cole as his student, Sensei Wu sought out Jay to make him a ninja; However, that day, Jay's flier ended up working, and in his ecstasy Jay callously shrugged off Wu's request. Even as Jay realizes that the flier had never worked to begin with, he escapes his trap and manages to reconcile with Cole, revealing he has no intentions to fight.
Later that day, Cole explains how he and Sensei Wu decided to confront Garmadon on their own, only to fail, with Wu being lost in the chaos. Even as the Skulkin took over Ninjago, however, Lloyd, in an attempt to prove his worth to his father, unleashed the Serpentine. However, the Serpentine clashed with the Skulkin and unleashed the Great Devourer. Garmadon, armed with the Golden Weapons, attempted to take revenge on the beast, only to lose and be forced to flee, losing the Golden Weapons to the Serpentine in the process.
Suddenly, Cole and Jay are ambushed by Lasha and his group aboard their Bite Cycles. Recalling that Lasha was the one who captured Nya, allowing the Serpentine to control Kai through her, Cole attempts to defeat him, only to be subdued and captured. Jay, in the chaos, is knocked out by a Bite Cycle and is left behind, with Lasha taking the Nunchuks of Lightning in the process.
Meanwhile, Garmadon, watching afar, decides to intervene before telling his masked prisoner to keep put. Jay, recovering consciousness, is shocked to see his nemesis and begrudgingly accepts his help. Meanwhile, at a carnival, Fang-Suei complains over being assigned as a guard alongside a more lenient Snappa. While exploring the carnival, they accidentally startle Zane, who in the alternate timeline has become an attraction due to his ability to sit in icy water for long periods of time. Startled, Zane accidentally drenches an angered Fang-Suei, but is saved by Garmadon. Garmadon rallies the Skulkin, including Nuckal, Whiplash, and Frakjaw, to rebel against the Serpentine. Even as chaos ensues, the trio manages to escape, and go off to save Nya.
Arriving at one of many replicas of the Dark Fortress that Garmadon had built during his brief time ruling Ninjago, they plan a diversion. Jay, using Spinjitzu and a pair of torches, manages to create a flaming vortex in the sky, distracting Rattla and Mezmo and allowing Zane and Garmadon to sneak in through a secret entrance. Meanwhile, Jay proceeds to destroy several Rattle-Copters coming in to intercept him, even as Zane and Garmadon find Nya in her workshop. After angrily confronting Garmadon, Nya reveals that by using several pieces of leftover metal given to her to create weapons, she managed to create the Samurai Mech, and uses it to smash the Dark Fortress to pieces. Even as they escape, however, Jay and Garmadon are attacked by a Spykor, with Garmadon mysteriously being unable to control it. However, Jay knocks it into the river and they escape, setting up camp.
Jay explains his origins from an alternate timeline, and Garmadon deduces that Jay had arrived in their world through an incredibly rare, special kind of storm, and they suggest artificially recreating it, before splitting up; with Jay finding his counterpart, and the others gathering the rest of the Skulkin. Meanwhile, back in cave, the masked prisoner escapes, revealing himself to be none other than Lord Garmadon, strangely enough.
Meanwhile, Jay visits his counterpart at his home and tries to, without success, convince him to help. Elsewhere, Zane manages to reunite Kai with his sister. Before the group can go on, however, they're confronted by the second Garmadon, forcing the one they've been with their journey to reveal his true identity; Sensei Wu. Explaining how he needed Garmadon's name to rally the Skulkin to their cause, Wu manages to hold a truce with his brother.
The next morning, the protagonists regroup with Samukai and the Skulkin army, leading an attack on the Great Devourer and the Serpentine army. Both Jays, using flyers, manage to come in and get back the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu and free Cole, and with the help of the powerful weapons defeat the Serpentine, forcing them on the run while Garmadon and the Skulkin follow in pursuit.
With peace returned to Ninjago, Jay reconciles with his alternate counterpart before the latter uses a device to replicate the same storm he had encountered. Flying through, Jay is once more struck with lightning and arrives back home, where he's greeted by his friends.
The cover depicts characters (but not weapons) found in the 9450 Epic Dragon Battle set. The overarching plot of the novel takes elements from the set as well, namely the apparent absence of the other Ninja and the appearance of the Great Devourer.
The idea of an alternate dimension where the team of Ninja was never formed hearkens back to the plot of "Wrong Place, Wrong Time," where Lord Garmadon sought to alter the past to prevent the four Ninja from becoming a team. However, this novel focuses on the potential consequences of the Ninja never existing, showing that the Serpentine were still unleashed and have retaken Ninjago for their own.
Despite being responsible for the Serpentine's takeover of Ninjago, the alternate Lloyd's fate and whereabouts is never addressed within the novel, despite Garmadon being a central character.
In the book, there's a scene where Cole hits Lasha with a gold staff. Lasha says, "Warriors, to my side!", and Venomari warriors come to Lasha's aid. This implies that scouts have greater power than the warriors of a Serpentine tribe, unlike the show.
It is unknown when the events of the graphic novel takes place, although it most likely happens between the events of "All of Nothing" and "The Rise of the Great Devourer," since Jay is under the mindset that they defeated the Serpentine but still has the Nunchucks of Lightning, therefore happening during the trip to Torchfire Mountain.
The comic in Hungarian was released in 2023 as the first special issue of the Ninjago Magazine that year, which was sold separately.
Cultural references[]
The final pages of the comic include a poster for Enter the Serpent, a parody of the 1973 film Enter the Dragon. Coincidentally in 2015, Season 4 would end up being inspired by the movie[3] and set 70749 Enter the Serpent would also be released.
