#dragon form

Oh hm! the original four turning into dragons! while lloyd is turning into an oni! that wouldn't be important in any way now would it? not symbolizing the eternal conflict that gave birth to the realm they're trying to save or anything, yknow, the conflict that has corrupted and destroyed people who were once so passionately caring, the conflict that turned families into the bitterest enemies, families who thought they were strong enough to overpower the destruction in their blood.

nah doesnt sound familiar to me (*aheM LLOYD'S ENTIRE LINEAGE SINCE THE LITERAL DAWN OF CREATION*)

also, remember how lloyd's always tried to prove that he's part of the family in a sense? and how he's blamed himself for a lot of their problems? and was always afraid of being left out and hated when the others told him to stay back? itd be kinda full-circle, don't you think, if he did go evil in the end

and then there's this, which i'm pretty sure everyone picked up on

yeah buddy idt that mirror showed your greatest fears. more like your future. because nya saw herself as a powerless normal girl, and what happened in crystallized? she was drained of her element and depressed because of it. zane saw himself as just code, nothing human, and what happened in crystallized? he turned off his emotions - the human part of him - because he couldn't deal with grief.

lloyd saw himself becoming his father and what happened in crystallized? not only did he simply turn oni, and here's the important part, he changed at a very specific time. his father just supposedly died, and lloyd immediately became a four-armed oni warrior fighting against the overlord for the sake of the family the overlord took from him. sound familiar?

then following the parallel logic, wouldn't it make sense that oni lloyd would have to fight his dragon brothers??? and that the self-loathing and regret for the countless mistakes he's made would turn bitter and twisted? wouldn't it make sense if he couldn't fight them and he hurled himself into isolation, in some dark hideous place - maybe he feels like somewhere like that the only place he deserves to be, which could also be translated as don't you see, brother, here i feel at home - until the world forces him to return and face them? might the hatred for himself gradually twist further and become corrupted in the dark that's eating away at him, until he sees it as hatred for others, hatred for the world, hatred for what's in his blood that made him this way?

(gosh that makes lloyd's first introduction so dark and tragic. the child who wanted to be like his father, who didn't understand the world. well kiddo if we look at the cyclical nature of your family's messed-up generations, you might darn well end up a lot more like your father than you thought)

Now back to the oni/dragon things happening at the same time. another set of related events is the ninjas' elemental dragons flying up right as lloyd falls. (real quick, I know lloyd wasn't oni form anymore at this point (a true shame) but this is more narrative analysis on why i 1000% thought they were setting up evil lloyd.)

Okay now think about this for a moment. ninjago has always been really rich in symbolism so i really don't see how that was a coincidence. the ninja turn into dragons. the dragons fight stronger because of their change, but it isn't enough. they give their lives and their powers instantly soar upwards.

meanwhile, lloyd turns into an oni. he fights stronger because of the change but backs out because of fear. he gives up his oni form and almost instantly falls from the heights.

so the dragon power brought them up, and the oni power tore him down

not only that but then they collided

you get the vision?????

ALSO. may i please point out that, prophecy or no, timing or no, the ninja weren't able to get anywhere in their dragon form training while lloyd was with them. however, when he was gone, first try. and yeah ik it's because they needed people around them but still. (honestly, i would be willing to fully analyze that prophecy and i could probably come up with an interpretation that would make poor lloyd even more doomed lol)