Lin

The dream sequences are SO good. EXACTLY what I've been itching for since the phantasm cave episode. Between them and Lloyd's whole plot this season, that itch has officially been scratched. It provides such a great explanation for all his actions, really gets you a deeper understanding of where he's at. Only problem was it did feel like a rather abrupt turn around from the tail end of last season. The impression I got was that while he was still loosely opposed to being the guy they all told him he was, he had discovered that he wanted a relationship with the ninja, and getting him on board 100% to accepting he used to be Jay would still be a bit of a process. But nah, I guess it all happened off screen, which is a bit disappointing. But hey! he wants his memories for this really distorted reason. He thinks he can't be a family with them unless he brings Jay back. The ninja try to tell him otherwise, but he's not having it. Great dynamic! we know exactly where this arc is going. He has this distorted belief that he as Rogue (I know he's not really using rogue, but to simplify I'm just going to refer to non-memory Jay as rogue) is not enough and won't be truly accepted, and we in the narrative need to see him unlearn that.

The plot moves along and we have them conveniently quickly uncovering some stuff about his past it seems insane that Jay didn't look into himself sooner. I start daydreaming about the missed opportunity to have a plotline in the earlier seasons about Jay doing his own investigation into his identity on his own, slowly piecing together for himself that he used to be a ninja rather than just repeatedly being told. Discovering the administration lied to him while in the administration, framing him as a character with increased initiative and curiosity (you know, like Jay is).

And then we get to episode 4 and it's just like... it just happens. They just do it. So quickly. Nothing goes wrong. They don't really run into any dead ends. And the worst thing is that the story seems to take Jay's side in this whole thing? His view that he needs his memories to be a full person is supported by the narrative. When the options on the table are a 50/50 to get jay's memories back or kill your ability to make memories all together, the decision comes down that it's worth the risk, which... no. I have to disagree on that one. It is NOT WORTH IT. It's a very clear choice between Jay and Rogue. Is giving Jay a second chance worth the risk of essentially killing rogue and any future he would have had? And Rogue says yes. I would rather let myself die than be unable to be this other person. My lack of memories won't allow me to love you enough Nya. It won't let me be enough of a team member. it won't allow me to ever be truely happy again. I will never be enough without those memories locked in my head. How depressing is that? and despite the ninja's pleas otherwise, they let him do it... and he just gets what he wants. He gets to skip any of the hard work or character development it would have required to fall in love with nya all over again, or form individual relationships with each one of his teammates. Rogue doesn't get to go through all the emotional leg work I was looking forward to seeing him go through, because he was so stuck on thinking this short cut was his ONLY option for doing so. And the show just NEVER corrects him about this. It never sinks in that he would have been enough on his own if Jay was truly gone. Rogue was broken, and we have now fixed him.

he's back.

not that he's incorporated these two halves of himself into his being, not that he's grown because of his experience as rogue, no. he's just back. reset like nothing happened. isn't that a great way to develop your character?

And it sucks, because the scene itself is good. I like the colors coming back, I like the kiss, I think Kai being annoyed is great. It's just that how we got here is THE WORST.

The machine should have malfunctioned. Show him wanting to push it further, toward almost certain death and Kai and Nya choosing to pull the plug, making him realize he's maybe gone too far. Let him think there's no way to get his past back. Make him face an impassible barrier, let us see how he copes. Force him to learn that he is loved just the way he is. He can be loved and show love and become the man he was all over again, but better, and more experienced. He gets the opportunity to experience all the joys of his last life all over again. You didn't loose your first kiss, you get to give nya a second first kiss. What a blessing in disguise this can be. Only after Rogue realizes all this can you then give him his memories back, because he's not responsible enough to know what they mean and what to do with them otherwise.

Or maybe he does get his memories back, and he expects it to fix everything, but he still feels like this different person. He is disconnected from Jay. He is now a man with entirely different man's memories awkwardly implanted next to his own. He is not himself even when everyone else now really expects him to be. And so he's forced to define who Rogue is, and choose his path going forward instead of continually looking back. Make the most of the moment he's in right now. Just anything that forces him to reexamine this misplaced desire to become exactly the person he used to be. it is not what he needs.

And it just especially stings because memory loss is such a very human problem. Amnesia is a real thing, and it's absolutely possible to get your memories back sometimes- but it's not something anyone has complete control over. You can't brute force your way back like Jay does. And in a more general sense, most people know someone with dementia. Most people will forget memories from their youth as they grow old, humans forget things all the time. It is a struggle against mother nature which is universal, inevitable, and lined with organic tragedy. Ripe for all sorts of valuable storytelling. But that's why it's so important that we learn to cope with topics like this. Having Ninjago cover how to support people with memory issues would be a REALLY COOL real life tool to give kids. You can still show those who forget you your love, and that doesn't mean that they don't still love you. And even on a less metaphorical level, lessons about not living in the past at the expense of your future are valuable. Relationships are things which require you to nurture them continually, and it's never too late to inject new meaning into one. Our pasts, whatever they are, do not make us any more or less valuable. What we do right now is what matters.

And then when he does get them back hes gone for a whole ep which is just a bad start really .and when he shows up again he slowly starts to turn into the dumbest fuck you’ve ever seen who only pops up to shove himself up nya’s ass before doing something genuinely stupid to remind everyone that hes incompetent

rogue!nya when she was working in the Administration then picked a fight with another agent and that didnt go very well. nonsense yap beloww ↓↓