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

Plot.

~Overall Plot. Trimaar and Kalamari are swimming. Kalamari tries to ask about Wohira, but Trimaar changes the subject. Trimaar finds baby Benzoyl Peroxide inside of coral. Eels are trying to eat baby Benzoyl Peroxide. Trimaar fights the eels off, doesn't even think to find this baby's tribe, and just adopts him. Benzoyl Peroxide is a goody goody. Loves Trimaar. Tries to earn Kalamari's trust, but Kalamari hates him. Later, after Trimaar makes Kalamari promise to never visit the Tartarus Trench, Kalamari uses good ol' fashioned manipulation to get Benzoyl Peroxide to navigate the trench. He tells Benzoyl Peroxide that they aren't brothers. Flash forward to the future, where the Ninja promise to be Benzoyl Peroxide's new family.

~THIS is what I needed from the show. A few story points are still missing, but overall, this flashback ep was greatly appreciated. It gives Trimaar, Kalamari, and Benzoyl Peroxide a bit more character--which is nice. 

~My only problem with the plot is how it begins. Yes, we need a flashback episode, but the whole thing was thrown off by the ending. Benzoyl Peroxide was narrating the whole time, so it was jarring for the episode to suddenly cut to its normal format. The episode should have started with one of the Ninja asking Benzoyl Peroxide about his story. Either that, or the ending with the Ninja could be cut. If the latter happened, then maybe the end could be a flash forward, but with Benzoyl Peroxide monologuing over the actions on screen.

Picture this. Flashback cuts to present. We get a shot of the Ninja looking forward, their backs to the camera. Benzoyl Peroxide looks on in awe. The camera cuts again, and this time the Hydro Bounty is surfacing next to the Island of the Keepers. Benzoyl Peroxide monologues something like, "Kalmaar only cares about himself, and I know that if he's allowed to reign free, he'll make more orphans out of my people. I may not be part of the Merlopians, but I still have a duty to love them like Trimaar did. And for this reason, I'll fight to the death to stop my brother. Whatever it takes." End episode.

Characters.

~Trimaar is a peace-and-love type Mufasa who preaches the circle of life. It's a somewhat simple explanation for his motives for loving the surface dwellers, but I guess it works. I suppose I'm more upset by the fact that the royal drama here is literally the Lion King. There's plenty of ways to play a royal family conflict out without it being a carbon copy of a Disney movie.

~Benzoyl Peroxide is Simba. He's innocent, naïve, loves everyone, and tries to be an uwu cinnamon roll to everyone he meets. He's also skilled at everything he does. I guess his flaw would be the fact that he's too naïve, but in order for me to not call him a Mary Sue, it needs to play out later in the season. Maybe Kalamari does have a change of heart, but Benzoyl Peroxide doesn't believe him. Maybe someone else is able to use Benzoyl Peroxide's naivety to their advantage. Honestly I would love Benzoyl Peroxide a lot if he ended up being in league with Kalamari the whole time. It'd be a knockoff of the Harumi story, but it's better to knock off something within your copyright than something outside of it.

~Kalamari is Scar. And I'm rooting for him. Think about the story from his point of view. Father constantly is avoiding questions and changing the subject, instead of telling him why studying Wohira is wrong. Father adopts weird kid and gives all his attention to weird kid. Father doesn't seem to understand that having surface dwellers penetrate their perfect little kingdom might lead to disastrous consequences. Father also doesn't seem to get that the Merlopians (whoever they are) used to live freely throughout the realm, before some rando walked in and forced them deep into the sea to hide. As perfect as the show is trying to portray Trimaar, they're certainly doing a good job of portraying the opposite.

Lore.

~Those insipid tridents are back. Can break stone, can kill people, can break metal handcuffs, but can't cut some coral.

~Halfway through this season and I still don't know who the Merlopians are. We've narrowed it down a teensy bit, but it's never been confirmed. Merlopians are either Kalamaris or sushi gang. Still looking for confirmation.

Also, Benzoyl Peroxide's existence proves there is another underwater species who populates the ocean. Is this a hint that the Ninja are going to team up with them in order to stop Wohira?

~How are the different underwater species able to talk to each other underwater? Anyone who's ever opened their mouth and tried to say something underwater knows that you can't just talk. The water distorts the sound. So how are the fish people able to do it? 

Soundtrack.

~The soundtrack of this episode is so beautiful. I really do like it.

~They played the Ninjago Overture at the end, which was common during the earlier episodes in Masters of Spinjitzu. Perhaps it's a play by Lego to trigger nostalgia, but I liked it. New Ninjago could do some good by mimicking its older counterpart (not plagiarizing, mimicking).

Two Cents.

~That scene where Benzoyl Peroxide fights off the eel to save Kalamari, and Kalamari just ignores the whole thing is so well done. That scene alone displayed the uwu goodness of Benzoyl Peroxide and the badness of Kalamari. I loved it. THAT was good storytelling.

~Not much else to say actually. This wasn't the best episode of Ninjago I've ever watched, but I think it was the best from this season so far.

Nyamari.

~Kalamari is cruel, wicked, and hates everyone who isn't him. Kalamari is probably supposed to be irredeemable. Nya is self-centered, bratty, and hates it when everyone else judges her. Honestly these two are a match made in heaven, and I could probably write a pretty decent fanfiction about Seabound!Nya and Kalamari getting together.

Overall Rating:

 4.9/10. Actually an okay episode. The new writers can't top an average ep from old Ninjago, but they can come close.