Tear Jerker / Ninjago

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Season 1: Rise of the Snakes

• The ending of "Home". The ninja are moving into their new home, the Destiny's Bounty, and are celebrating. Lloyd watches from the distance, but only sighs sadly and starts walking across the desert alone. Poor kid.
• "Tick Tock" is basically this—mainly Zane's creator dying right in front of him. If the beard hadn't sprouted before this episode, it's definitely come in now.
  • The clincher: despite being a robot, and therefore logically being Unable to Cry, Zane still sheds a Single Tear after it all comes back to him.
  • Right after Dr. Julien turns off his memory, the blank expression on Zane's face, especially since his father dies literally seconds after, makes it even sadder.
    • In the episode "Home", Zane states that he never gets a letter from his parents. Well, now we know why...
  • Sensei Wu's frightened reaction as he watches his brother become consumed and infected by evil.
  • Think about having your own beloved family member turn evil, not because they want to, but a situation beyond their control (bitten by a snake and infected/corrupted/consumed by the wicked evilness in its venom), dividing your family and becoming an evil, villainous dark lord. They are consciously aware of this, but cannot overcome their evil compulsion due to being corrupted by the evil in their blood. To make it even worse, his own beloved child (whom he adores greatly) is the chosen one destined to meet in battle to defeat him. This plight is truly just heartwrenching.
• Lord Garmadon is a wicked, evil villain bent upon conquering Ninjago, enslaving everyone into his evil dystopia, and killing all those who stand in his way...not voluntarily, but because he was bitten and infected by the evil venom of the Great Devourer now deeply rooted in his blood, he cannot fight that dark side of him...and he can't even control it. He knows that what he is doing is wrong, but he can't help himself. So he feels compelled into doing evil things and commits evil acts by impulse while he really and truly doesn't want it to be that way. He struggles to be a good father to his son Lloyd (whom he genuinely adores) and lets him make his own choices and follow his own destiny, even if it means that the two are destined to battle in the future.
  • Gets even sadder and even more heart-wrenching when Lloyd is revealed to be the destined chosen one, which causes upsetting grief to both Wu and Garmadon as their family has now become even more divided. One can only imagine how emotionally painful and heartbreaking/heartwrenching it will be for Lloyd to battle his own father in the future to protect Ninjago and vice versa for Garmadon.
• Because he is the prophesied Green Ninja, Lloyd will one day have to fight his own father. It's clear that neither of them wants this to happen, but the increasing control of the Overlord over his father made it inevitable.
• The Lloyd Garmadon's Blog is incredibly sad, despite its cheerful tones. The scene when he tries to steal the candy at the Jamanakai Village in the episode "Rise of the Snakes" was Played for Laughs, but when we get to read his point of view, the way he was treated at the school for Bad Boys and his reasons to steal the candy...No wonder why poor Lloyd escaped from the school several times.
  Lloyd: "Before I knew it, people were throwing rotten vegetables at me, and those Ninja tied me up to a sign. This was just like Finn all over again. I felt a single tear fall on my cheek, but then I thought that Finn might be right about one thing – evil geniuses don’t cry!"

Season 2: Legacy of the Green Ninja

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• After Lord Garmadon takes over the Serpentine, one of the Mooks suggests killing Lloyd. The look on Garmodon's face is heart-wrenching, as you can practically see him struggling to control the evil inside of him.
• Lloyd giving up his childhood to save his friends. A very literal example of Growing Up Sucks.
  Kai: We can't do that to you! It's not fair!
  Lloyd: 'Fair'? Fair isn't a word from where I come from!
• Lloyd refuses to speak to his mother after meeting her for the first time in his life in "The Stone Army."
  Misako: Careful, son. That sinkhole has no bottom. It's where I found the Stone Warrior.
  Lloyd: Son? You've been gone my whole life! There's nothing you can say!
• In "The Day Ninjago Stood Still", Lloyd's mother muses that she should have chosen Master Wu instead of Garmadon. Not only is this sad because Garmadon didn't ask for the reason she's reconsidering her choice since he was forced into evil, hating every second of it but in a roundabout way, she's wishing Lloyd had never been born because the person he became, for good or ill, was because who his father was and if Wu had been his father, it's entirely probable that there would be nothing of the Lloyd we know and love in the child who would have resulted.
• During "The Last Hope", Lloyd finds himself facing off with Garmadon after the Dark Lord attempted to annihilate the Ninja in a giant mech suit. And despite being told by everyone, both destiny, his friends, and his own mother, that he needs to kill Garmadon, even after seeing him almost kill his friends, he can't bring himself to slay his father even when he has the perfect opportunity to do so.
  • And the end of the episode only takes it even further. Despite the heroes trying their darned hardest to prevent the final battle (with Lloyd even holding off on finishing him off as explained earlier), they fail to return the helmet to the Doomsday Clock in time. And for insult to injury, the heroes end up getting sent falling off the cliffside, with Nya being captured by the Stone Army, angering Jay and leaving Lloyd regretful for not finishing off Garmadon when he had the chance.
• In Episode 25, the ninjas discuss their final battle together. It just seems so final, and they've been through a lot, making it just sad to listen to.
• All of the Ninja, except Lloyd and Kai, being forcefully being turned evil. The latter even tells Lloyd to leave and save himself. They, fortunately, get turned back to normal in the end.

Season 3: Rebooted

• After the Overlord's defeat, Ninjago City rebuilt itself to become a technological marvel, only for it to fall under the Overlord's grip once more with its technology acting as its arms and legs.
• Lloyd is helpless to save his father after being captured by Pythor and the Overlord. He even cries when Garmadon is dropped to the bottom of the sea. Jesus.
• Apparently, part of the Serpentine's reason for going underground was due to humans thinking that THEY were the enemy when they were just warning them of the evil Golden Master. No wonder they're so bitter about the sealing bit.
• Zane pulling a Heroic Sacrifice (during which the viewer is shown his last memories flashing before his eyes, including his father telling him he was "built to protect those who cannot protect themselves") to save Ninjago City from the Overlord in "The Titanium Ninja". Suffice to say, the Ninja are torn by the loss of Zane, specifically Nya and P.I.X.A.L, who are both reduced to tears; the former even cries in Cole's arms.
  • At the funeral, Kai makes a truly saddening speech on what powered Zane. Crosses with Heartwarming.
    Kai: I don't know if we'll ever know, but I'd like to think it was brotherhood. Because he powered me. And he'll still power me as his memory lives on. (Dareth of all people is shown to be sobbing.) Ninja never quit, and Ninja will never'' be forgotten. ...Wherever you are, Zane, you'll always be one of us.
  • Zane's falcon perching on the statue of Zane unveiled by Cyrus Borg and the following snowfall. Don't be so surprised if you start crying.
  • Moprhs into Heartwarming during the final scene; when Zane's voice asks P.I.X.A.L, "Are we compatible now?" (a line P.I.X.A.L herself said when it looked like she would die earlier in the season), the awestruck look on her face as she sees him again, and the swelling music with the light female vocals that send a chill up your spine just say it all. This whole scene may be full of Tears of Joy, but they are ripped from you like almost nothing else prior in the series.

Season 4: Tournament of Elements

• The first half of "The Invitation" is this, as it shows how the ninja are dealing with Zane's "death". All of them except Lloyd have given up on being ninja at all and nearly decided to just end the team altogether.
• From "Versus", Zane finds out P.I.X.A.L.'s body was torn apart by Chen, leaving behind only her neural drive in a computer, and her insistence that he go on without her. This line just makes it sadder:
  P.I.X.A.L.: I will always be a part of you.
• Jay and Cole's feuding reaches an all-time high. As they both practice on dummies that have a picture of the other on them before their match, they each destroy their respective dummy. At first, they both look satisfied. That is until the dust clears and they realize what their feud is doing to their friendship.
  • During the part of the episode when they actually fight, neither Jay nor Cole want to. That's why Jay is pretty upset with Cole getting eliminated.
• This line in "The Forgotten Element":
  Kai: (to Skylor) Just tell me one thing. Was it his idea to make me fall for you, or yours? Because it worked.
• When Chen reveals the secret of Garmadon's letter to Misako. Worst of all, there wasn't any really practical reason for it. He even admits he did it just to mess with Garmadon.
  • Wu seems to actually hate his brother for the first time in his life. It's subtle, but there's a scene where he gives Misako some tea, he gives Garmadon the cold shoulder. Fortunately, this all changed when Garmadon decides to banish himself to the Cursed Realm in order to make amends and stop Chen, and Wu was more than willing to forgive him for it.
• The climax of the season 4 finale, when Garmadon is about to be banished to the Cursed Realm. Lloyd's reaction and the Really Dead Montage seal the deal.
• Keep in mind, Lloyd was the one who banished Garmadon to the Cursed Realm. The kid hardly knew either of his parents very well, and was forced to banish one of them to what was more or less a place worse than hell. Even worse, this is possibly the first time Lloyd has ever met uncorrupted Garmadon and he's already forced to give it up to save Ninjago. No wonder the kid was off on his own for a while in Shadow of Ronin.

Season 5: Possession

• In the first episode of season 5, Lloyd is possessed by Wu's bitter ex-student Morro who was released from the Cursed Realm when Lloyd had to banish Garmadon. In the ensuing battle with Kai, Lloyd briefly surfaces and begs Kai to help him before Morro takes over again. Poor kid.
  • Not to mention Kai begging to go back for him when the others quite literally drag him away from Lloyd.
• Wu honestly liked Morro and his betrayal came from the whole Green Ninja deal that Kai and the others went through. Wu may have seen a repeat of his first student.
• Cole sacrificing his life to get the Airjitzu Scroll and becoming a ghost as penance. Not only is he technically dead, but he also lost the ability to, quote, "feel anything". Watching Cole cope and struggle with being a bodiless deceased spirit is heartbreaking. Knowing that he will probably be a ghost forever makes it all the worse.
  • This is now also Harsher in Hindsight, with Cole’s voice actor, Kirby Morrow, passing away on Nov 18th, 2020.
  • When the Ninja rescue Lloyd and return back to get their equipment for the upcoming battle, they meet up again with Cyrus Borg. However, when Cyrus remarks on how they have all changed, Cole looks clearly distraught when he brings up about how he's a ghost.
• The ninja defeat Morro, the Preeminent, and all the ghosts, but both Garmadon and Morro, two people that Wu loved, are now gone forever, and Cole is still a ghost. In addition, Wu's grief over losing Morro is quite sad.
  • Morro's death in particular is quite sad because of his final words:
    Morro: You can only save those who want to be saved. Goodbye, Sensei.

Season 6: Skybound

• Yes, Nadakhan is a pirate and a Jackass Genie but think about it: He lost the love of his life, and his home realm, Djinjago, gets destroyed because of the destruction of its sister realm, the Cursed Realm. You can't help but sympathize with the guy on those accounts, at least until he betrays his crew near the end of the season.
  • Speaking of his crew, while the shorts may be non-canon and do reveal he tricked most of them into joining the Misfortune's Keep (Clancy willingly joined because he felt like he belonged), there are moments that show Nadakhan and the rest of his gang see each other as family. The Djinn even offers to bring them to Djinjago where they could live an easy life. This only twists the knife further when he betrays them for Delara's resurrection.
• The way Nadakhan made P.I.X.A.L. disappear when twisting the words of poor Zane's second wish.
• After Lloyd and Cole are sucked into the Sword of Souls, Jay is devastated that every single one of his friends, except Nya, is gone.
• While Nadakhan is hit with the Tiger Widow Venom to slow him down, the Ninja see to their horror that Nya ended up getting hit with it as well. What happens because of this can easily qualify as one of the saddest moments of the series alone, even if Nya's death didn't stick. It hits even harder for Jay, who literally had to watch Nya die in his arms. The fact that Jay had gone through Character Development throughout the whole season as well as become closer to Nya makes this all the while tragic. Their last conversation together before Nya dies is also enough to wrench a few tears.
  Nya: You have to make your last wish...You're the only one who can stop him.
  Jay: No! Not if that means losing you!
  Nya: I never wanted to be a part of your... "boy's club", anyway...
  Jay: No, Nya! Don't say that!
  Nya: Guess it's true... the greatest love stories... do always end in tragedy... (dies)
  • Jay is so uncharacteristically heartbroken by the loss of his love interest that he breaks into tears, wishing that the teapot had never been found.
  • Kai's reaction is much worse: He buries his head in his hands. From Kai's perspective, the only reason why he joined the Ninja was to save Nya. But this moment shows that all of his attempts to protect her throughout the whole series have now been absolutely meaningless.
  • After Jay's wish begins taking effect, not only are you seeing time being rewound, you are watching Jay and Nya's love being rewound as well. Fortunately, their memory is the one thing that ended up sticking.
    • Complete with the same music used in Lloyd's Really Dead Montage of Garmadon in the Season 4 finale.

Day of the Departed

• The TV Special, Day of the Departed, focuses on Cole as he makes his final stand since he is fading from existence. Thus, it holds many emotional moments.
  • When Cole starts to fade, his friends walk right through him; unaware of his existence. After this moment, Cole began to struggle with the idea that he is forgotten and possibly destined to be a lonely ghost.
  • In his final battle with Yang, Yang taunts Cole, telling him that his friends and master had abandoned him. Although Cole refuses to back down at first, he is worn down by the constant barrage of battles, which is unarguably against his favor, he eventually gives up and almost fades away for good; becoming so transparent, only a trained eye can see him. Thank goodness they got there in time.
  • A short moment, but Jay is saddened at the thought that Cole didn't survive, and vows to do anything to get him back. Luckily, Cole is alive, and he's a human again, too.

Season 7: The Hands of Time

• Kai and Nya's parents, at some point, betrayed the Elemental Masters. And to make matters worse, this was to protect their kids; no parent should have to make that kind of choice. It's revealed by the end of the season that they didn't betray them willingly, but we're forced to by the Time Twins for the safety of their children.
• Wu's nightmare in "Pause And Effect" where he is confronted by Misako, Garmadon, Morro, the Hands of Time, and apparitions of the ninja, all of whom berate him for all the failures and mistakes Wu has made throughout his life up until the present day.
  (Misako bursts out of a nearby Vermillion egg.)
  Wu: Misako?
  Misako: Wu, why did you fail me?
  Wu: I- I made a mistake! an error of judgment! I should've told you I loved you before you went to—
  (Garmadon bursts out of another nearby egg.)
  Wu: Brother!?
  Garmadon: You let me fall to the darkness, Wu. You failed me, too.
  (Morro bursts out of another nearby egg.)
  Morro: And me!
  Wu: Morro?! I-I don't understand!
  Morro: You don't understand how instead of your greatest success, your student became your greatest failure? You've made many mistakes, Master.
  (The Hands Of Time approach Wu from behind.)
  Krux: Many mistakes! I, but the latest!
  Acronix: At the monastery, you never should've come by yourself, old man!
  (Apparitions of the heads of all the Ninja appear around Wu.)
  Lloyd: We could've helped, Master!
  Kai: You didn't have to face him alone.
  Ninja: You didn't have to be alone!
  Krux: Your arrogance has left you...
  Wu: All alone. I'm... all alone.
• The Season 7 ending can be considered this, as Master Wu ended up getting lost in time. It was even worse when Cole fears they don't have a master anymore.

Season 8: Sons of Garmadon

• The start of "Dead Man's Squall" is a rather harsh one, with Zane being beaten to near-death by Mr. E. A truly painful sight to see (and unlike other brutal fights in the series, we actually see the damage Mr. E inflicted on Zane). And once Zane is deactivated as a result of his injuries, the soundtrack "Built to Protect" (the song that played during Zane's sacrifice back in Season 3) plays once again in the aftermath of the potential second death of the Nindroid, even playing through the opening sequence as well, to hammer the severity home.
• "Game of Masks":
  • The episode starts with a flashback of Harumi's Start of Darkness. It is revealed that her biological parents died during the Great Devourer's rampage and she was adopted into the Royal Family and endured what is implied to be a stern education, as well as having to spend most of her time locked in the palace, and she blames the Ninja for their "failed efforts" to stop the creature and Lloyd for releasing the Serpentine, who went on to release the Great Devourer.
  • Harumi shows her true colors, revealing to Lloyd that she was using him all along, and cruelly mocking his feelings for her, telling him there was never anything between them. Ouch...
  • To make it worse when Harumi reveals to Lloyd that he was responsible for the Great Devourer's attack and getting her parents killed Lloyd doesn't seem to care at all and his only concern seems to be that the girl he liked was using him.
• Lloyd's entire battle with Lord Garmadon in "True Potential". Throughout their fight, Lloyd tries to reason with his resurrected father. But he doesn't listen and continues to fight Lloyd with ease. To sum it all home, Lord Garmadon declares that he has no son. After Lloyd loses, his photo of him and Garmadon gets blown away. The green ninja just can't catch a break.
  Lloyd: You wouldn't hurt me. ... Your son.
  Lord Garmadon: I have no son.
• Lloyd is forced to watch as Garmadon "kills" his friends by ordering the Colossi to crush the Destiny Bounty with them still inside it. Even though the ninja and Wu survived, Lloyd has no idea of that, and thus, from his point of view, he had to witness his friends getting killed by his father right in front of him. If the previous episodes and seasons weren't enough of a Trauma Conga Line for the poor kid, this seals the deal; even if he promises to defeat Harumi one day in spite of all that he's lost.

Season 9: Hunted

• When Kai, Jay, and Zane are brought to the Iron Baron, Kai notices that the throne the Iron Baron's sitting on is familiar because it's made out of the Ultra Dragon's Corpse with the 4 heads being used as decorations for the chair, meaning that the Ultra Dragon (who accompanied the ninja for the first 2 seasons and in the pilot and bonded with them) was Killed Offscreen by the Dragon Hunters.
  • To make it even worse, Word of God confirms that they don't even realize it's the Ultra Dragon and never find out. Kai developed a hatred for Iron Baron just from seeing the throne. Imagine how the Ninja would have reacted had they found out.
• Harumi's death in "Saving Faith". Lord Garmadon (who just recently adopted her as his daughter) then cries out in sorrow. He then sicks the Colossi on Lloyd out of anger.
• In "Green Destiny", we get Emperor Garmadon ordering Lloyd to finish him off. Considering the fact that he seemed hesitant to actually kill Lloyd in previous episodes, adopted Harumi simply so that he could pretend that Lloyd wasn't his son, and saved him from certain death a couple of times when they fought (under the pretense of wanting to kill him himself) it can be interpreted as if Garmadon's guilt over hurting his son emotionally and physically has driven him to suicide. Luckily, Lloyd refuses to do so and merely has him arrested.

Season 10: March of the Oni

• In the episode "The Fall", Cole seemingly falls to his death after Nya accidentally put the Destiny's Bounty in reverse. The subsequent aftermath of the tragedy sent ripples throughout the entire team and then some.
  • Jay has the front-row seat to seeing his best friend fall to his apparent death. He can do nothing but desperately call his name as he himself has to hold on to prevent himself from falling off too.
  • During the scene, Kai is seen barreling his way through everyone in an effort to turn the Bounty around so they could save Cole, who disappeared into the darkness, even though it seemed fruitless to do so. Zane is the one who has to step up to Kai that they're too late and they had to go, less they face the wrath of the darkness themselves. And the music playing throughout does NOT help!
  • When the team was in danger of losing Lloyd and P.I.X.A.L, Nya determinedly says that they 'won't lose anyone else'.
  • When Lloyd and P.I.X.A.L were saved, literally everyone in the team rush to check on P.I.X.A.L and Lloyd, asking if their okay, seeming more desperate than usual. It only makes sense, as they just lost Cole.
  • Lloyd's reaction to realizing something was wrong by looking at the other ninja and learning of Cole's apparent demise is absolutely heartbreaking. Just hearing Lloyd literally begging the other ninjas to tell him about Cole's whereabouts while they all wordlessly give him a broken stare.
    Lloyd: (looking at the Ninja's broken expressions) What? What is it? (Nya, Jay, Kai, and Zane say nothing, only giving Lloyd a sad expression. He then realizes someone is missing.) Where's Cole? (More silence. Jay and Kai avert their gazes while Nya's lips start to quiver. Panicking, Lloyd approaches Kai and shakes him.) Somebody say something! (looks at Nya, becoming desperate) Where's Cole?!
    Zane: (touching Lloyd on the shoulder, turning him around) He...h-he's gone.
    Lloyd: ...What do you mean "gone"?
  • When Lord Garmadon tactlessly goads the team to move on and to carry on their mission, Lloyd blows up in his former Father's face, heartbroken and furious about how heartless he was. Lloyd's outburst really shows how much he really cared for Cole, and his actor's delivery only hammers it home.
    Lloyd: Cole was our friend. He was more than a friend, he was family. But you don't understand that, do you? What's the point? You're never gonna get it, because you don't care about anyone but yourself.
    Garmadon: Every moment you delay risks our survival!
    Lloyd: There's more to life than SURVIVING!! (yells angrily before storming off)
  • After the above conversation, Garmadon asks Zane about the next logical course of action, claiming that out of everyone, he should be the one with the most logical thought. Zane quietly, yet angrily, responds, "At this moment, even I am incapable of logical thought," before also storming off angrily. P.I.X.A.L and the other Ninja follow suit.
    • Kai later mentions in his conversation with Nya that she's the only brains they had left because Zane is too grief-stricken to think properly. And he's a Nindroid.
  • After outbursts by both Lloyd and Zane, Lord Garmadon is seen looking at the photos of the ninjas together, having fun, focusing particularly on Cole, while soft distant laughter is heard in the air. Even though he's lost his humanity, Lord Garmadon still tries to smile, copying the photos. His subsequent conversation with Vinny drives the whole scene home.
  • Nya is so guilty about what she's done that she's crying quietly by herself at the back of the bounty, looking out into the open skies, as if considering to end it all. She and Kai share a quiet moment together, lamenting about Cole and that they had to continue on because that's what he would've wanted.
  • Worst part about this? At the end of the episode, it's revealed that Cole miraculously survived the fall. And the team had no idea and by leaving him, they are basically condemning him to his fate.
• "Endings":
  • Watching Cole struggle to escape the city after being left behind after he was deemed dead by his teammates. Watching him struggle to get his car remote working and then almost giving up when it doesn't show up is just hard to watch.
    • More of Cole's loss in the previous episode is felt: Master Wu is crushed to hear the news about his student and sorrowfully mourns his death quietly while Misako wordlessly comforts him.
    • The look on the team's faces when Kai reforges the Scythe of Quakes. Kai's voice cracks as they lament that it had belonged to Cole. He then gives the weapon to Nya, telling her that Cole would've wanted her to have it. Nya does faithfully continue to use the weapon in the final battle despite not being the Master of Earth.
    • Thankfully, Cole is alive and manages to return to the team. Heartwarming as it is tearjerking to see the ninja's reunion. Lloyd, who had been the most vocally distressed about his loss, is practically speechless, unable to form a coherent sentence, while Jay, rushes up to him and calls Cole a jerk because they thought they lost him.
  • The "death" of Lloyd impacts Lord Garmadon so much that he backs away from the group mourning for him.
    • Also, Garmadon leaves for who-knows-where, with Wu being the only one to notice.
      Wu: Goodbye, brother.

Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu

• The Traveler's Tree has plenty of sad moments.
  • Cole's nightmare. In his nightmare, Cole is forced to make a choice by the dream version of his friends, who tell him that he needs to get the Traveler's Tea in the tipping Bounty, risking death, or they won't be his friend anymore. What does Cole choose? To go back for the tea. Cole rather risk death and die than have his friends abandon him. How desperate is Cole to keep his friendship?
    • The Nightmare itself is a huge callback to what happened to him in "The Fall" in Season 10. In the nightmare, he fearfully hopes that he won't fall. While he did survive the fall that almost took his life, it turns out that he didn't leave the incident without scars...
  • Cole later gets angry at himself for getting angry at Jay and Kai and then messing up Nya's practice. He refers to it as another "Cole mistake". Then he decides the only way to make up for his mistakes is to risk his life and climb the mountain to get to the Traveler's Tree, alone.
• The identity of the Ice Emperor? An amnesiac and corrupted Zane.
  • Beforehand, in "The Message", he leaves, well, a message that Lloyd manages to find. Near its end, we get this:
    Zane: This is the last recording of Zane: Master of Ice. Son of Dr. Julien. Student of Master Wu. I was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I have tried to fulfill this purpose. I have no regrets; I have the best friends anyone could ask for. P.I.X.A.L....I love you. Farewell. (The recording ends.)
    Lloyd: (tearfully) ...Zane?
  • As he says that last line, we can see P.I.X.A.L. sadly embrace a picture of Zane. She clearly misses him.
    • To make matters worse, "Built to Protect" plays yet again throughout.

Season 13: Master Of The Mountain

• "Dungeon Crawl" begins with a flashback of Cole visiting his sick mother in the hospital.

Season 14: Seabound

• "The Tale of Benthomaar" is basically one tragic Flashback Episode with the titular Benthomaar telling the Ninja his story of him and his history with his brother Kalmaar. Throughout his whole life, Kalmaar cruelly dismissed him, always making sure to emphasize that he's merely his adopted brother, and always seeing him as below him due to hating just about anyone that was from beyond the seas. And the one time Benthomaar believes he may finally have a chance to make his brother happy, it's all just a ruse with Kalmaar simply manipulating him so he could get what he wanted as he, unfortunately, finds out.
• "Nyad / Turn of the Tide":
  • In order to stop Kalmaar, Nya must become one with her element, which is a one-way process. When the battle's over and Kalmaar is Woojira food, Jay goes to hug Nya, and it's pretty clear Nya as we knew her is fading fast, as the ocean calls to her. Despite Jay's pleas to remember herself, she leaves.
  • Some days later, the Ninja hold a funeral for Nya. Jay only expects a couple of people to show up. Instead, everyone (including the Geckles, the Munks, the paper kids, the Serpentine, Jay's parents, and many more) showed up at the monastery to honor her, going all the way down the mountain.
    • After the funeral, there's a brief cut to Nya joyfully swimming with the whales, completely ignorant to her family's sorrow, and not missing them at all.
  • Said episode is also dedicated to Kirby Morrow, which makes the ending a HUNDRED times worse.

Season 15: Crystalized

• In "Farewell The Sea", similar to back when Zane sacrificed himself, most of the remaining Ninja, along with Wu, were hit hard by Nya's departure, but to an even worse extent. While Cole thankfully manages to reunite the team by the episode's end and reinspiring them to get back into action, it's a heartwrenching sight to see how hard the Ninja were hurt by this loss.
  • Zane shut off his emotions entirely in order to avoid dealing with the grief, and for several episodes, he continues to have them shut off. And later on, when he does briefly turn them on while the team's detained in Kryptarium Prison, he's left screaming in terror from everything that's happened before they're turned back off.
  • Wu has been searching desperately for an answer to bring back Nya but to no avail and increasing despair.
  • Kai began to train kids in how to fight, but it's clear he's still really hurt by the events of Seabound as he has them viciously tear apart a cardboard cutout of Kalmaar, and is training them to obliterate their opponents, not wanting to mess around.
  • Lloyd became a window-washer and refuses to return, blaming himself for what happened to Nya, and harshly telling off Cole for trying to relay their "Ninja never quit" quote to him.
    Lloyd: (furious) Don't say it! Just don't! I don't want to hear that! I-I'm done, okay?! I can't be responsible for anyone ever again...I just do windows now.
  • The saddening part is that when Zane died, the Ninja had disbanded, but it was Lloyd who brought them back together. The tables have certainly turned now.
  • Jay has isolated himself in the old lighthouse, desperately trying to communicate with Nya through (half-empty) glasses of water, bitterly believing that everyone has already moved on and forgotten about her sacrifice and initially refusing to help the Ninja, much to Kai's silent yet visible irritation and disappointment in response to seeing the person his sister loved end up like this.
• "The Shape of Nya":
  • Upon learning the New Ninja have basically become the heroes of Ninjago City, the betrayal Lloyd feels is quite apparent, with him fearing they've basically been replaced in the eyes of the public.
  • Despite having been reunited, the grief from Nya's departure hasn't left at all, with Jay and Kai, in particular, having incredibly high tensions in their thoughts about Nya, with Jay's constant hesitance to go on without the girl he loved, and Kai's irritance towards said constant hesitance in relation to the loss of his sister. It gets to the point that the two break down into a fight at the episode's end after a mission gone poorly and their different feelings over Nya's loss boil over. It's only Nya managing to reach the Ninja that breaks up the fight, as the two were both ready to outright quit the team in their brawl.
    Jay: I'm saying I don't think we can do this without her...
    Kai: You're acting like you're the only one who misses her. We all do. But at least the rest of us are trying to help, instead of being mopey and useless!
    Jay: Hey! You came to me! I didn't ask to be here!
• In "A Sinister Shadow", we get a flashback to the aftermath of "Green Destiny", showing Lloyd digging through the rubble of the collapsed building, searching in vain for Harumi's body with no success.
• "The Fall of the Monastery" has Nya apparently dying in...well, the fall of the Monastery. Skylor, P.I.X.A.L., and Wu are all devastated, with the latter collapsing to his knees and weeping in despair. Nya survives, though, but still.
• "Brave but Foolish"
  • When Wu prepares to use his Dragon armor to try and fight the Overlord, Garmadon is skeptical he'd even survive or that they'd win against the Overlord due to Lloyd refusing to use his Oni form; Lloyd blows up at him for not even having faith in them and storms off in anger, to Garmadon's notable distress, with Wu trying to follow Lloyd and calm him down.
  • Then Garmadon tells Nya that he's been carrying around the seemingly-dead Christofern since it was the only green in his life and he was hoping that it would grow, thrive and perhaps one day forgive him. Nya suspects this line of thought isn't really about Christofern itself and questions Garmadon on it but he quickly denies it, obviously trying to mask his grief at his relationship with Lloyd being seemingly doomed beyond repair by his own actions. Then Nya somewhat improves his mood and reignites his hopes to mend his relationship with Lloyd by pointing out Christofern can be saved if cared for properly.
• "An Issue of Trust": While Played for Laughs, Garmadon is genuinely distraught and angry that the Ninja and their allies don't trust him, and when he tries to see if at least Lloyd does, he gets a non-answer from Lloyd, who says he just might think he trusts him.
• "Roots":
  • Garmadon's (later revealed to be fake) death, having Lloyd at his side and him crying over it. It also leads to him finally freeing his Oni side.
  • In a last-ditch attempt to prevent the Overlord from pertrifiying all of Ninjago, the Ninja do a Heroic Sacrifice by merging the Golden Weapons together, an act which was dangerous in the past, in order to free the spirits contained within the weapons. Thinking the merge act might kill them, the Ninja say it was an honor to be brothers before all bidding "To the End", before finally doing it.
  • Garmadon's farewell to Christofern, having finally found a fitting community and more green in his life, before reuniting with his son and rebuilding the Monastery with the Ninja and their allies.

Other media

• While never appearing in the show, the Fold's song "A-W-E-S-O-M-E", has a very melancholy and nostalgic vibe.
• The non-canon novel, Way of the Departed, may not be canon to the story, but it does give some very depressing insight into Cole's character that isn't explored much in the show.
  • Cole is shown tormented by ghastly nightmares where he is exposed to his own death over and over (by his head splitting open no less) and feeling cold, but remarking he shouldn't feel cold because he is not alive anymore; though he is alive now. He's become distrustful of his own friends, even his best friend Jay, and doesn't confide in any of them about his nightmares and the fact he is losing sleep. Cole hides everything from them, deciding that it's better to abandon them and solve it on his own to protect them, not wanting to put them in unnecessary danger even though he knows that they would gladly come to his aid. He seems to regret this later on but seems affirmed by his decision to keep them safe.
    • Cole seems to have lost all interest eating cake. This is Cole, the glutton who loves cake to the ends of Ninjago and back. He even claims that cake tastes like ash in his mouth and that he no longer enjoys eating it, though eats it anyway for a chance of normalcy.
  • Jay comes to wake up Cole for their morning training, only to find that Cole is no longer there and a simple note with no indication of where his best friend went.
  • A couple of days after Cole abandons them, Zane makes an ice sculpture of Cole and notices his low emotion levels. He misses Cole. Another day, Misako seems to be bothered by the fact that they have contact with all the Ninjas, except Cole, who left without anything.
  • Master Yang seems absolutely distraught over Cole's suffering. He and Cole have struck a sort of unlikely friendship as Cole is the only one he feels that he can freely communicate with. They have become friends and Cole became his one and only student. He effectively sent Cole to his death and Ninjago to their doom. The remorse he feels is immense and can only be apologetic to Cole, who bears the brunt of all the suffering.
  • The senseless amount of agony Cole is going through this entire story. He basically walked the path to his own doom. He has become an insomniac and afraid to sleep because of the nightmares. Cole does end up falling asleep sometime in the story, but his mind is dragged down to the Underworld, the literal hell, while his comatose body is thrashing and shrieking in pain due to the rift on his face threatening to split it open. Seliel has to hold down his body, but even though she's begging Cole to wake up, he doesn't. He's trapped.
• The Garmadon comic miniseries delves into Garmadon's quest for redemption post-March of the Oni and it showcases just how much of a Tragic Villain the resurrected Emperor is:
  • Issue #1 has Garmadon confront the embodiment of his sins and evil, "Shadow Garmadon", who doesn't hesitates to tell him that he's been a failure his whole life in every role he's tried to play not only as an evil emperor but also as a brother to Wu, as a husband to Misako and as a father to Lloyd, while Garmadon at first dismisses it since he still thought of himself as a conqueror, later actions would prove his flaws and sins being brought up truly managed to shake him to his core.
  • Just the entirety of Issue #4's opening panels: right after Garmadon has survived his fight with Lord Mogra he is left on death's doorstep and weakly tries to get up and find himself a place to recover, he then hears a familiar voice... Lloyd's, who comes to his aid, Garmadon responds to his son coming to save him with a few words that demonstrate that for all his prior abuse, harm and jerkass behavior in the Oni Trilogy he genuinely feels remorse for what he did to Lloyd. While it turns out that "Lloyd" was actually Min (a little girl he had befriended) and he just hallucinated his son in her place, this one moment makes his situation in the prior seasons even more tragic, especially since he implies that he feels his son might not love him anymore for the things he put him through and is conscious of the possibility of it being his fault.
  "Lloyd": Father. Father, can you hear me— It's me
  Garmadon: A-After all I've done... you haven't given up on me... Lloyd.

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