#or explode

ALSO the Ninja are "grown-up teenagers" in season 9, meaning they are, at the oldest, 19. But they are also clearly pretty grown in season 1, given that they're using the tall leg model! But also, Lil' Nelson has longer legs by season 11, yet had the short legs kid model when he was first introduced in season 6!! And he has voice cracks in s11! So he's implied to be a teenager! So how many years have passed between season 6 and season 11? At what age do lego characters become old enough to use the long legs model?

And some of the creators of the show claim the Ninja were around 16 during the first season. 16!??? You're telling me that season 1 through to 9 happened, at most, in three years???? But then you have the time skips! Season 4 implies a large portion of time has passed since the last season's finale due to the Ninja's distance from each other and clearly established new careers (Jay's a TV show host with a LARGE following after all, and Zane's titanium statue memorial is already weathered, overgrown and covered in bird poo. Did the city just immediately give up on caring for it?) But season 8 also implies a good portion of time has passed since the end of season 7, as the Ninja are all surprised by Lloyd's voice dropping and, aside from a few pairs here and there, have not been together as a group in a while.

I choose to believe, for my own sanity and peace of mind, Kirby Morrow's argument from his interview with Brent Miller that the Ninja are 14 in the pilots/first few seasons. He says, "seriously, I will tell you hands down, unequivocally, there's no way they were 16 or older" (to which Brent says "he believes it's 14 years old, I believe somewhere on the character—" only for Kirby to interrupt and claim, "I don't believe, I know. I know it was 14 years old ... if somebody 16 sounded like this, everybody would beat the crap out of him") which also just makes my life much easier. My only issue there is that, in 'The Royal Blacksmiths', Cole claims "I haven't talked to my father in years." Yet, in recent seasons, when we get the flashbacks to Wu recruiting the original Ninja, Cole is still using the long legs model (and even has a six pack) which happens pretty soon after his mother died.

So did Lou stop talking to him before that? Did she die when he was still a kid and Lou hasn't talked to him since he was a child? When did he go to the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts? It has to have been after or during the mountain climb when he meets Wu, because Cole talks about how his dad doesn't do any work around the house anymore, leaving it all to him, but Cole ran away from the school after only two days. So, unless he ran home, this must have been after. Was he twelve? Was he really that muscular at twelve?