**please keep comments spoiler free, as this is my first time watching this season**

**also if this episode is about Kalamari killing his father and banishing his brother I swear--**

Plot.

~Overall plot. Kalamari gets the Ninja into the palace, kills the king (literally called it), then blames it on the Ninja. Ninja try to escape but are forced underwater and cornered by sharks. Trimaar tells the fish dude (Bentho?) that Kalamari killed him. Also tells Benzoyl Peroxide to help the surface dwellers escape. With his dad out of the way, Kalamari becomes king.

~Plot was fine. It's just uninformed. I like how Kalamari used his wits to turn his kingdom against the Ninja, thus utilizing more resources to capture and torture information out of them. However, this also keeps the Ninja down here longer, and I'm starting to wonder when Kai and Cole are coming back. We're around a third of the way through the season, and both of them have had barely any screen time. Not sure if I want baby-Kai back, but I'll take Cole.

The uninformed part of the plot is Trimaar. Why does he love the "surface-dwellers" so much? And how does he know nothing about Kalamari's antics, even though Kalamari has been doing it so close to home for years? Trimaar somehow knows about the humans he's never interacted with, yet knows nothing about the sleeping evil next door. Did he notice the pulse(s) when they went off?

Characters.

~Why are Nya and Maya getting along all of a sudden?

~I like the fact that Kalamari is excited to have a challenge. He kind of comes off as a spoiled, power-hungry dude, but he has a lot of potential as a character. Perhaps he's secretly a genius who gets tired of all his father's simple "peace and love" tactics. He wants to live in a world that challenges his mind. Maybe he's excited to chase the Ninja, because it adds meaning to his boring life. Honestly I'm not against his aversion to the outside world. If you live in a system that works, why change it? Why allow outsiders to come in and mess it all up?

The whole Wohira thing adds layers to this. I honestly don't mind Kalamari wanting to use her to wipe out humanity. From the Merlopian's point of view (whoever they are), the FSM walked into their land, plopped an island down, and created a bunch of invasive species. Liken it to some homeless person walking into your kitchen and claiming it as theirs. Obviously you'd want them out of your house! I'm surprised not more Merlopians are in league with Kalamari. It would make for an interesting plot point.

Lore.

~I know I mentioned it earlier in the review, but I'll say it again. Kalamari created the pulse. The pulse was big enough to wipe out power and cause water to go haywire five thousand fathoms above its source. So how in the world did NO ONE in Merlopia notice it?

~How is it that everyone under the sea speaks Ninjargon? I mean, it get that it's easier to write the story that way, but can there be some sort of lore explanation to back it up? Maybe the Merlopians used to be in league with the FSM? Or that Kalamari's race and the humans mated at some point, creating beings like Benzoyl Peroxide? The Benzoyl Peroxide beings would then take the human culture and share it with the sushi gang, thus helping everyone understand Ninjargon? Idk. Maybe pull an Atlantis where the Merlopian language easily adapts to new dialects it is introduced to.

~Can we explain who the Merlopians even are already? I'm still confused. 

~I don't understand how elemental powers work underwater. I was going to complain about how Jay uses lightning powers underwater, but then Neon cut in with her masterful science knowledge. 

"eh this makes sense bc saltwater (assuming their ocean is salty like ours) conducts electricity due to the sodium and chloride ions so like if i were in the ocean and lightning struck nearby id be ok. but if he shot lightning in freshwater we'd have a different story" - Neon (therearenooptions)

Okay, so Jay shooting lightning underwater creates no plot holes. Good to know. I can't say the same for the rest of the crew. 

Zane can freeze a wall of ice underwater without freezing everything underwater. He didn't even leave a spike from where the ice formed from his hands. And PIXAL can speak in verbatim underwater, and nothing messes up the sound. These instances do not make sense. 

~The Merlopian tridents can break stone but not ice. The tridents can incapacitate mechs and fully grown Ninjas with one hit but it can't kill a squid dude with a blast from three feet away.

~Nya can control her powers right next to the source of her problems. I don't care that her powers messed up her mech, that was shown to have no consequences. The inconsistency here is aggravating.

Soundtrack.

~0:30. THIS IS THE MUSIC FOR WHEN LLOYD AND HARUMI WERE ABOUT TO FALL OFF A WATERFALL. Season 8 music! Again! How dare they try to rehash such a beautiful scene into a dumb "oh no fish are chasing us wah" scene?! I'm seriously convinced now that this is all on purpose–to get us to connect the emotions we had with s8 with this season. It's not working!

~Other than that, no recognizable music. Soundtrack was fine.

Two Cents.

~The shark chase scene was done poorly. Last episode the sharks were released AFTER Nya and Maya started swimming away from Kalamari's hideout. How did the mother-daughter combo realize they were being chased? Why were they so frightened? They're in the middle of the ocean, protected by metal suits, and can control water. I think this scene could have been done better if it showed Nya and Maya being attacked by the sharks first. Maybe one of the sharks rips off a mech arm. This would show how dangerous the sharks are and give Maya and Nya a reason for being so afraid of them.

~Trimaar's throne room is depressingly empty.

Nyamari.

~Kalamari enjoys chasing you Nya. I hope you know that. Headcanon that she's saying Kalamari's name wrong just to aggravate him.

Overall Rating.

2.5/10. Quit rehashing s8. Seabound will never be as good.