Airdate: January 14, 2011
After successfully acquiring the Scythe of Quakes, the Ninja set out to find the other three Golden Weapons. They travel by boat to the Frozen Wastelands, and on the way there, Master Wu tells them about the Tornado of Creation, and if done incorrectly, can lead to disastrous consequences. The ninja make it to the cave where the Shurikens of Ice is located and Zane takes it upon himself to retrieve them. This awakens its guardian, the Ice Dragon, and the other three Ninja carry a frozen Zane out of the cave and ride atop him on the ice all the way back to the boat.
Their next stop is the Floating Ruins, where the Nunchucks of Lightning are being kept. The Lightning Dragon appears in a lightning flash after Jay grabs the Nunchucks, and the team escapes to the Forest of Tranquility for some campfire fun before sleep.
Kai wakes up to see Nya standing nearby and calling his name before running off. He follows after her to the Fire Temple, where he finds her standing in front of the Sword of Fire. She reveals herself to be the shadow of Lord Garmadon when he goes up to her, while the real Nya is dropped down on a chain dangling over the lava. Kai uses Spinjitzu to grab the Sword and cut her free before she falls in. Lord Garmadon then summons rapidly-multiplying shadows of Kai that Kai himself is unable to defeat. Master Wu comes to his rescue, using his own shadow to fight off the doppelgangers. Lord Garmadon taunts Wu by showing him the Skullkin taking the other three Golden Weapons from a tied-up Cole, Jay, and Zane. He then awakens the Fire Dragon to prevent Kai, Nya, and Master Wu from leaving the temple. With no other options available, Wu takes the Sword of Fire and decides to go into the Underworld to fight Lord Garmadon directly, sailing down a river of lava to leave Kai and Nya facing the Dragon alone.
Meanwhile, Jay uses a sword he stole from Nuckal to cut himself and the other two ninja free. They give chase to the Skulkin, engaging them in an attempt to reclaim their Golden Weapons. However, they are unable to defeat them in time and the villains manage to escape to the Underworld.
Since the pilot episodes are 10 minutes long each, this episode is often combined with "Weapons Of Destiny" in order to meet the runtime for a typical 20-minute TV episode.
This episode contains examples of:
- Batman Gambit: Lord Garmadon's initial plan on retrieving the Sword of Fire hinges on Kai following his sister to the Fire Temple without a weapon or waking up the other ninja, as well as his choice to take the Sword of Fire to cut Nya free from the chain lowering her into lava despite knowing that he was being used as an Unwitting Pawn.
- Lord Garmadon knew that his brother, Master Wu, was helping the ninja, so he lured Kai to the Fire Temple, knowing that Wu would come rescue him and thus leave the other three ninja unprotected, allowing him to claim the other three Golden Weapons.
- Big "NO!": Kai gives one when Master Wu falls into the Underworld via going over a waterfall of lava.
- Body Sled: When Zane gets frozen by the Shurikens of Ice, the other ninja use him as a bobsled to escape the ice dragon.
- Casting a Shadow: Being a Living Shadow himself appears to have given Lord Garmadon the ability to control shadows as well as create multiple copies of them. He takes control of Kai's shadow which he then uses against Kai in combat. Kai quickly learns that his attacks go right through them but the shadows' attacks are able to affect him. Sensei Wu is also able to use this ability as he frightens Kai's shadow clones off by creating a bird with the shadows of his hands.
- Continuity Nod: The mechanical glider that Jay was testing when he first met Master Wu makes a reappearance in this episode, where each member of the team wears and activates one in order to make a quick escape from the Floating Ruins and the Lightning Dragon.
- Comically Missing the Point: Kai invites Master Wu to show them some dance moves while Cole plays the drums around the campfire. Zane thinks that they have the same caveats as the Tornado of Creation.Kai: Get up here. Show us some moves.
Master Wu: Umm...I guess I could. Now this move is very special.
Zane: But if done incorrectly, will it lead to disastrous consequences?
(Everyone starts laughing)
Kai: Zane, is that a joke? A sense of humor... you've found it! - Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Master Wu tells the ninja about the Tornado of Creation, supposedly the most powerful move in Spinjitzu. It has the ability to create something out of nothing and is only accomplished when the elements of fire, ice, lightning, and earth are combined. Kai then tries to activate it, causing Master Wu to warn him that doing it incorrectly would lead to disastrous consequences. However, this trope is downplayed in the sense it's never mentioned or shown what those consequences might be. This sets it up as the Forbidden Chekhov's Gun for the next episode.
- Downer Ending: The episode ends on a sour note: Master Wu leaves for the Underworld alone with the Sword of Fire, Kai and Nya are left to deal with the Fire Dragon while trapped in the Fire Temple, while Zane, Jay, and Cole fail to stop the Skullkin from obtaining the rest of the Golden Weapons.
- Face Death with Dignity: As Master Wu floats down the lava river towards the Underworld, he sits down and pours himself a cup of tea before he plummets.
- Harmless Freezing: The Shurikens of Ice freeze whoever touches them into a solid ice block, as demonstrated by Zane. Yet when the ninja crash into an ice pillar while riding the frozen Zane back to the boat, it breaks the ice open with Zane left unharmed. Then again, Zane's a robot so he would've survived being frozen anyway.
- Human Popsicle: When the Ninja retrieve the Shurikens of Ice, Zane is frozen solid. Although maybe the human part of the trope isn't quite accurate.
- Humanshifting: Lord Garmadon uses his shadow abilities to disguise himself as Nya in addition to imitating her voice in order to lure Kai to the Temple of Fire.
- Living Shadow: Lord Garmadon's presence in Ninjago is reduced to that of a shadow due to his banishment into the Underworld. This renders him unable to physically take the Golden Weapons, thus he needs others to do the dirty work for him.
- MacGuffin Delivery Service: As a result of Lord Garmadon's orders from the previous episode, Samukai hangs back and lets the ninja retrieve the Nunchucks of Lightning and the Shurikens of Ice first, to the extent of apparently letting his mooks freeze in the latter case. Lord Garmadon successfully gets Kai to take the Sword of Fire for him, but Master Wu intervenes and takes the Sword himself. Lord Garmadon's backup plan is to awaken the Fire Dragon, thus trapping them inside the Fire Temple and forcing Wu to travel to the Underworld with the Sword in order to fight him. Meanwhile, Samukai and the Skullkin steal the rest of the Golden Weapons from the ninja and manage to escape to the Underworld with them. Now all four Golden Weapons are en route to the Underworld, with everything going according to Lord Garmadon's plan.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The shadowy form of Lord Garmadon and by extension, Kai's evil shadows all have glowing red eyes.
- Something That Begins with "Boring": According to Kai, their ship had been drifting aimlessly for miles in the Frozen Wastelands, which explains Jay's apparent boredom.Jay: I spy something... white!
Cole: (sighs) Could you try to be quiet for once? This ain't easy.
(The boat then stumbles as they're sailing ahead)
Jay: (groans) I spy something broken! - Speech Impediment: Cole accidentally hits Jay in the throat with the end of his scythe, causing him to lose his voice for the rest of the episode and part of the next.
- Sword Plant: Cole attempts to slow down the Skull Truck by rigging one of its chains to his scythe and planting it in the ground.
- You Fool!: Lord Garmadon when Sensei Wu deliberately cuts himself off from Kai and Nya, allowing him to fall into the Underworld.
