It has been rumored for quite some time that the next season of the LEGO Ninjago TV show is going to be titled LEGO Ninjago: Day of the Departed. However it seems like all of that was a misunderstanding, as a couple of days ago LEGO revealed on their Facebook page that LEGO Ninjago: Day of the Departed is a one-time TV special, not the name of a full season of episodes. LEGO also shared a trailer for the upcoming special, which you can watch below. 🙂
On LEGO’s Facebook page the introduction to the video says: You’ve wondered, you’ve waited, and here it is! What do the Ninja have in store for you? A sneak-peek at the upcoming special… LEGO Ninjago: Day of the Departed!
Exciting, isn’t it? According to the Ninjago Wiki, this is the synopsis of the TV special: “On a special holiday known as the Day of the Departed, Ninjago’s citizens honor departed souls. Jay visits his parents, and Kai and Nya remember theirs. Lloyd and Misako go to the Corridor of Elders to remember Garmadon, while Sensei Wu remembers his father and Zane remembers his. Meanwhile, Cole feels self conscious about his ghostly appearance. He goes to Yang’s Haunted Temple to repay a debt, but Yang wants something different – this year is special and there will be a lunar eclipse which will be his only chance to bring back passed villains. Yang tells Cole that if he does not help him by the lunar eclipse, he is doomed to remain a ghost forever and even may fade away forever.”
LEGO Ninjago: Day of the Departed is going to air on October 29th, so make sure you mark your calendar. At the recent San Diego Comic-Con it was also revealed there is another LEGO Ninjago title called LEGO Ninjago: Hands of Time. At this point it is not clear if this is going to be another one-time TV special or a full season. I wouldn’t be surprised if LEGO continues with specials until The LEGO Ninjago Movie, scheduled for September 22nd of next year. Specials would allow more creative freedom, and could perhaps even start to lead us into the film. But we will just have to wait and see. In the meantime you can also check out the newly released LEGO Ninjago sets at the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Ninjago: Day of the Departed trailer? And do you think the seasons will continue next year? Or will there be just some specials? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the LEGO Ninjago section for more news, reviews and discussions, or select from the following recent posts:
Interesting! So maybe no more regular seasons? I’m looking forward to the tv special? Is it going to be like an hour long?
No idea at this point how long the special is going to be. Maybe like the original pilot episodes?
So you think there will be no more seasons? Only specials? Or is there any chance there is going to be a new season before the theatrical release?
There is really no way of knowing right now. It has been confusing to say the least, as so far everyone was saying that Day of the Departed is the new season. But it is clear from LEGO’s FB page that it isn’t. If and when a new season will launch is unknown at this point. I think it could be either way.
I saw the next wave of Ninjago toys at a TRU reccently, and it seems to be themed around all the past villains returning, with the obligatory “collectible” weapons each representing one of the past storylines. Nothing says “ending things with a bang” like a greatest hits parade, so it seems like Lego isn’t planning on giving Ninjago a third three-year plan.
Yeah, that’s what I have been thinking too. There are probably going to be special TV episodes and sets released until the film, then sets related to the film, and that will likely be the end of Ninjago.
Well, if the sales surpass expectations, these plans are likely to get changed… There’s a movie premiere and 20 new sets planned for 2017 (according to Bricklink), so Lego might not be willing to throw in the towel on the franchise yet…
Yeah, sure, anything can happen. My thinking though is that the original Ninjago fans are in their mid to late teens by the time the movie comes out, so unless Ninjago has been amassing a large number of new fans, it may not be profitable to continue. LEGO does pay close attention to their numbers and their bottom line. They already had bad experiences with dragging on a theme too long. But then again, they have already resurrected Ninjago once with great success. Without seeing their actual sales numbers and viewership however, all we can really do is speculate. 😀
Well, a plan might be for Nexo Knights to replace it, although I think the theme’s a little too ridiculous (although a crossbow-shaped jet is kinda cool)…
Yeah, I think that was the plan. First Chima supposed to replace Ninjago, then it was Nexo Knights. But I don’t think LEGO fans look at them that way as they are very different. I only watched the first few episodes of the Nexo Knights TV show, and it just didn’t have the same impact for me as Ninjago. But that’ may be just me.
Btw, do you know about the origin of the “Ninjago” name? Is it from the English verb “go” (Ninja, Go!), a contraction of “Ninja Lego”, or something else? I also thought on the fact that “go” means five in Japanese, and that there are five different main ninjas (although the proper Japanese for “The five ninjas” would be “Gonin no ninja”, I think)…
And one ninja named Lloyd, another one named Cole… Some designer must like The Commotions…
There is a lot of hidden plays on words and numbers in Ninjago. Nathan wrote this article some time back: http://thebrickblogger.com/2013/05/lego-ninjago-the-number-four/
So its just a special? Will you post it here?
If I can find it, I will post it here, but I can’t guarantee.
…Well then… this looks… interesting.
I was hoping they wouldn’t continue with ghosts 🙁 But Hands of Time sounds extremely interesting… I think I’m looking forward to that more than their Halloween-y one.