Airdate: November 21, 2012
The final battle is upon the ninja. They must defeat the Overlord before all of Ninjago is lost.
This episode provides examples of:
- 11th-Hour Superpower: Lloyd becomes the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master, turning his uniform gold and allowing him to form a dragon out of light to annihilate the Overlord.
- All for Nothing: The Golden Mech, which was built by the First Spinjitzu Master to combat the Overlord, ends up being destroyed by Nya manning a mobile-defense turret.
- As Long as There Is Evil: Due to the balance between light and dark, the Overlord can never be truly destroyed, which he is gleefully aware of. The Ninja nonetheless vow to ensure he stays gone as long as possible and be ready when he does come back.
- Big Damn Heroes: Dareth of all people manages to save the Ninja in the nick of time by using the Helmet of Shadows, which allows him to control the Stone Army and order them to turn on the Overlord.
- Brought Down to Normal: Once Lloyd has defeated the Overlord, Garmadon is returned to a normal and evil-free human body.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Much like with Nya, corruption via dark matter does this to Cole, Jay, and Zane. Their skin turns gray, in Jay's case his Elemental robes turn gray, and in Zane's case, his golden armor turns silver. All of these changes are undone with the Overlord's defeat.
- Dwindling Party: As the Ninja scale the Overlord's tower, they are gradually taken out or stalled, eventually leaving only Lloyd to fight the Overlord. Cole is first to go when he's corrupted by dark matter, and Jay is second to go when he gets corrupted as well. Zane is the third to go when he willingly remains behind to fight Cole and Jay, during which he is corrupted as well. Kai is the last to go when he remains behind to fight Nya near the top of the tower—though, unlike the others, Kai manages to avoid being corrupted since Nya's turret is destroyed and the Overlord is too preoccupied with Lloyd to personally attack Kai.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The Overlord is defeated, restoring peace to Ninjago, and Garmadon not only survives but is brought back to his original, heroic self.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: After Lloyd unlocks his 11th-Hour Superpower, brief glimpses of the Ninja can be seen. One of these glimpses shows that Zane was corrupted by dark matter while holding back the similarly-corrupted Cole and Jay, which isn't shown or mentioned anywhere else in the episode.
- Glass Cannon: Almost literally in the case of Nya's turret. It easily destroys the Golden Mech, but Kai is able to disable it with a single hit from his Elemental Blade once Nya had her attention diverted with taunting Lloyd, never seeing him coming while she gloated and was Tempting Fate.
- Go Through Me: Zane stays behind to fight Cole and Jay after they've been corrupted. It doesn't last, as Zane is corrupted off-screen.
- Heel–Face Turn: Garmadon, thanks to the evil being purged from his blood.
- Keystone Army: Even after they side with the Ninja, Kozu and the Stone Army are destroyed when the Overlord is defeated.
- No Ontological Inertia: The Overlord's defeat removes the corruption from Nya, Cole, Jay, and Zane... as well as Garmadon.
- Psycho Serum: Much like Nya in the previous episode, Cole and Jay are forced to turn against the Ninja after being hit with dark matter. Zane is also corrupted, albeit off-screen, as he holds back Cole and Jay from reaching Lloyd.
- Red Herring: The Golden Mech is believed to be the key to defeating the Overlord. Unfortunately, it gets destroyed. Turns out it's actually Lloyd who gets to defeat the Overlord.
- Series Faux Nale: This was to have originally been the end of the series, only for it to be brought back for many, many more seasons.
- Tempting Fate: Nya should have been paying closer attention to her brother Kai, but instead she took the opportunity to gloat and taunt Lloyd over his wounded state and how he didn't stand a chance against the Overlord, leaving her wide open to be surprise attacked by Kai, taking out her turret in one strike, and leaving her trying to attack Kai in an angry struggle afterwards until she is purged of her corruption by Lloyd defeating the Overlord.
