“Look, we all know we haven't been working together the way we used to, but Ninjago is relying on us. We're the only chance they have. And if we can't bridge our differences and work together, then there is no hope.”
Ninja vs Lava is the seventh episode of the eleventh season of Ninjago and the 105th episode overall. It aired on July 13, 2019 in the United States, on August 12, 2019 in Australia, and on August 30, 2019 in Canada. It was paired up with "Snaketastrophy."
Extended: Kai is left powerless and unconscious in the wake of Aspheera's attack. The ninja also discover that Aspheera has used her magic to cause the pyramid to slowly flood with lava. Working together, the ninja manage to break out of the crypt and flee through a maze of corridors. The ninja manage a number of narrow escapes, avoiding lava and reanimated mummified serpentine warriors, as they try to reach the surface of the pyramid. They finally arrive only to see that the pyramid is surrounded by lava. Preparing to face the end, the ninja are finally reunited as a team. At the last moment, however, Pixal arrives and whisks the ninja to safety.[2]
Plot[]
Back inside the pyramid, the ninja are trapped in chains and begin to doubt that Clutch Powers will help them. Jay begins to read Powers' book that recommends "vocal exercises" when you are in a stressed situation, but it only annoys the other ninja as they begin to blame each other for the situation they are in. After they calm down, Lloyd tries to come up with a plan to escape, and Jay suggests they read Powers' book to find some advice.
Suddenly, the torches go out and it becomes dark enabling Jay to read, but the light comes back in the room only to be lava leaking from Aspheera's tomb. Jay freaks out and drops the book into the lava, and it burns into ashes.
Running out of time, Lloyd decides to pull on the chains that were holding them to the wall, and the rest of the ninja follow. Eventually, they free themselves from the wall, and after some momentum created by Nya, they safely land away from the lava. Still chained, they began retreating to where they previously entered the tomb.
After some running, they quickly reach a barrier where Cole used his lava arms to lift the rock up. As Cole was lifting the rock up, Jay caught sight of lava approaching them and immediately began running away from the lava. Not realizing they were still tied together, this caused a chain reaction, as Lloyd and Cole were pulled towards Jay causing Cole to drop the rock and nearly crushing Kai.
This causes another argument between Cole and Jay before Lloyd breaks up the fight. Lloyd then tires to rally the ninja together by saying they have gone soft on each other and must work together. As Lloyd was speaking, the flow of lava began spewing over the barrier and the ninja try to interrupt Lloyd by pointing out the lava behind him, but he continued to talk. After Nya points out the lava, Lloyd realizes they are in danger, and the ninja begin to flee.
The ninja reach the tomb where the rest of the Pyro Vipers were stored, but the lava continued to follow them and reawakened the Pyro Vipers along with it. Now having to fight the Pyro Vipers, Jay decided to use Spinjitzu still not knowing he was chained to the rest of the ninja. This resulted in the ninja being part of Jay's Spinjitzu and despite defeating the Pyro Vipers, the ninja were now chained in a circle which forced them to jump instead of run.
When the ninja reach the spikes, they find Hageman, a former explorer who died from the spikes and his bag which contained supplies that would be useful to climb the slope. As the ninja began their ascent, they complain about Kai's weight which cause Cole to lose his grip on his pickaxe and tumble downwards. This caused another chain reaction as the rest of the ninja began falling towards the lava before Nya was able to grip the slope. Eventually, Zane was able to pull Jay, who was closest to the lava, out of the pit as the ninja were able to overcome the setback and reach the top.
Now back to the bridge, Jay thought they could just run across, but as soon as he touched the one of the planks, it instantly collapsed which caused Jay to nearly fall. Nya thought that one part of the bridge was weak, but when she touched another plank which caused the entire bridge to be destroyed. After some thinking, Lloyd comes up with the idea of a human bridge in order to cross. The plan ends up being successful as they were able to cross to the other side.
When the ninja go outside, the pyramid, they find out they are surrounded by a pool of lava steadily rising. Facing certain death, the ninja begin to blame each other and Jay begins to say his "vocal exercise" he got from Powers' book. Soon, the rest of the ninja follow suit, and just when all hope seemed lost, P.I.X.A.L. arrives in the ShuriCopter and is able to save the ninja just before the destruction of the pyramid.
After a long ride, the ninja arrived to where their Land Bounty was located, and P.I.X.A.L. began removing the chains. During that, Kai awakens from being knocked out and the ninja are delighted he's still alive but when he asks why his face hurts, they avoid telling him about all the thing they slammed him into while he was unconscious. Now that the ninja are free, Lloyd promised they will be ready for Aspherra's army and head back to Ninjago City.
When the ninja run off to different directions , the "bonk" sound can be heard when they all hit each other.
When the ninja hold hands and resign their fate till P.I.X.A.L. saves them from the Pyramid's destruction is a reference to Toy Story 3, where Woody and his friends hold hands and also accept theirs till the Pizza Planet Aliens save them from the incinerator.
It is also similar to The LEGO Ninjago Movie when Lloyd and Garmadon accept their fate before they would have died in the lava that the Lost Generals planned, until the rest of the ninja managed to rescue them from the volcano.
Continuity[]
This is the first episode where Nya narrates the title card.
Lloyd accused Jay of opening a possibly cursed tomb without checking it out while Lloyd did the same when he opened the Serpentine Tombs.
The melting of Hageman's skeleton by lava is similar to the way lava melted Morro's skeleton in "The Crooked Path."
Errors[]
When Lloyd tells the others that Wu was right about them gone soft, the lava slowly oozes down behind him, but he finally notices it, the lava oozes down again but this time at a much faster pace.
