#too tempting

But what did I think of Hands of Time itself? Honestly, I think it’s a really great season. It’s weird in some ways but not in ways I consider negative for the most part. Let dig into the notes.

-Kai and Nya are on pretty great form this season, with Kai’s personality seemingly the transition to what would become the foundation going forward, and Nya mixing in a cute sub-plot that isn’t even related to the sibling thing, which came as a relief to me. In fact, the fact that the sibling thing doesn’t dominate the plot until the last two and a half episodes is good because they can sprinkle it in naturally (something which Possession missed a trick on with Kai and Lloyd) while letting them bat off the others too. The brother and sister dialogue thing is annoying, but thankfully is only used in a couple of scenes. The other thing that irked me is that it seemed to walk back a bit on what Possession did; S5 suggested that Kai had the biggest big brother instinct for Lloyd, but it was Jay who was most supportive of Lloyd’s master thing here? Huh? -The other main cast are on good form too, even Pixal despite the fact the show won’t reveal to use how much Pixal was here until next season probably. Jay sometimes veers close to the line of being obnoxious, but that thankfully gets reeled in and leads to one pretty epic moment where he confronts Acronix, and a whole episode where he gets to show off. It’s his only episode really, but it’s better than nothing. Cole, Zane and Lloyd have some small arcs of their own (in Cole’s case, it’s tiny), but at least they get to be involved in the team plot as well and get brief, good interactions (instead of leaving some in the dust). Wu was on good form this season too. Yeah, it repeats the whole “There’s something I haven’t told you” shtick, but this season really calls him out for it.  -Sides characters are once again surprisingly sparing in this season despite. Misako, Dareth and Ronin have basically one or two scenes each, and they’re fight scenes. Skylor appears too as an agony aunt of sorts (like season 5, which I didn’t mention), and all these examples are basically just fodder for Pixal’s confrontation from Nya. -No, it’s the parent characters who get more out of them this time. Ed and Edna get to shine again in Jay’s aforementioned episode, Cyrus Borg is a complete primadonna and is the best parent of the season (to Pixal, obviously), Ray and Maya are alright, and their moment first meeting their children grown up is done well, but they don’t get much time to really show off the full extent of their personalities due to circumstances, and Lou even gets a bit in with a more comedic slant (a minute or two before the Kai and Nya parent bonding...uh, tonal whiplash a bit). Even Jay’s mother and Skales get some time to show off through little cameos (the former not getting to bond with Jay due to it being the past and Jay being in the present).  -The Vermillion Army aren’t as engaging as the previous two seasons’ enemies, but they’re amusing in their antics outside of the more dramatic parts. I mean, they’re Serpentine, that’s kind of their thing.  -The Hands of TIme, aka Krux and Acronix...I’m just going to add Krux to my collection of older characters who I like who tend to get hated by the fandom. He’s good as a character, I like how he can mesh the ridiculous persona of Dr Saunders with menace, snark and grumpiness. Acronix is good too, I especially like the contrast between him being posed as a genuinely very serious villain (aside from one or two more cheesy lines) in the first episode to being like Deedee from Dexter’s Lab in the next episode. I actually think their dynamic with each other was kind of under-utilised though. I mean, outside of planning, most of their dialogue was about the conflict of modern tech against traditional ways, and while that was a good source of comedy, I feel there should have been more to it (like the brief line where Acronix notes that their mother always thought Krux as stubborn). Props to Krux for faithfully waiting for his brother for 40 years and neither of them even considering backstabbing the other, at least you can tell they’re very loyal brothers. -The tone of the season was completely unexpected. Even though it does have more of the world building and story expansion as the previous 3-4 seasons, this one tonally feels akin to S1/S2. Very strange, but appreciated since I prefer that sort of tone.  -The story was fine generally, and did feel balanced despite it being a Kai and Nya focus season according to itself. I did feel the disposal of Krux and Acronix was kind of quick. I guess the main thing was getting one over the Iron Doom, but the personal final fight was still over in a flash. 

So overall, I really like this one, it’s up there with my favourites of the pre-S11 stuff. Is it better than Possession? I’d say no but just because it’s a bit weaker on the villain and on the side of all the characters time to bond, although they don’t go without by any means. It’s still a good watch and a good time. 

So, next time, we’re getting a huge paradigm shift. Say goodbye to the OG designs and Jillian Michaels in lead position, and say hello to the movie repercussions (which I feel are better designs across the board mostly) and Sonic’s Underground singing voice stepping up to voice the Ultimate Spinjutsu Master in Sons of Garmadon.