Unpacking Ninjago’s Love Triangle

welcome back to: ‘i have no concept of speech pacing and thus my words go zoom’

[@errix]

My favourite theory is that the Overlord messed with the machine, trying to cause a rift in the team.

[@djt08031996]

Why didn't I think of that

[@Inactivechannel-r6]

I think that’s official

[@PokemonPrince_]

That makes Sense

[@DexilejJ]

Wait this makes so much sense omg

[@DevilManthehero7786]

Wow interesting theory

[@musingsofahomeschooler5332]

Anyone else remember the murderous conniption Jay had immediately after hearing that his evil clone made out with Nya? Bro even feels outclassed by himself

[@DexilejJ]

Wait this is such a good point?? Surely there’s some symbolism to Jay basically hating his clone (himself) for exploiting his own insecurities. The guy’s self-hatred is more layered than Kai’s entire character development /hj

[@musingsofahomeschooler5332]

@@DexilejJ honestly that’s what I love most about the series. The whole team is so flawed at the series beginning (except Zane) but Jay most of all. It’s the growth that makes it meaningful

[@goodquestion.8518]

honestly I get why Cole "got" with nya. The first thing she told him "yknow, we dont give u enough credit" and coles main fear is being forgotten, here is nya provididing him with attention. Does he feel romantic attraction to her? nope, but it sure is attention.

[@DexilejJ]

That’s a good point!

[@JezElectroAlt]

"how do you POLITELY shatter their soul?" I just love this line

[@Roseshavethorns]

The recap 😭😭 it sounds oversimplified and stupid but it’s EXACTLY what happened. What were they even thinkinggg? I like how you brought up Jay’s insecurities. He’s a geek. Not a charming casanova like Kai, not mysterious like Cole. He felt like he didn’t deserve Nya. When she began to question their relationship because of Cole, Jay felt like his suspicions about not being good enough for Nya became true. Someone better stole her away

[@DexilejJ]

Yes exactly! His anger was rooted in his jealousy. If they’d written the whole thing better it honestly could have been a great Jay-centric arc, but alas.

[@Leavce]

Cole just wanted to read his comic book, just leave bro alone 😭. Also rly good video btw, summarizes my thoughts on the love triangle really well

[@Wolfie_Sophie]

You know this stupid wire thing? 9:53 Like, it being so dramatic for no fucking reason? Well, let me tell you something... Jay was yelling: "Cut the blue one!" Cole was yelling: "Cut the black one!" And Nya was like: "What do I do?!" It's dramatic and stupid and kinda funny but do you know what Nya should have done in that moment? LISTEN.TO.JAY. And no, I'm not saying that bc I love Jaya, I'm saying that bc Jay GREW UP in this junkyard! He knows the mechanics, he most likely used them before! He probably knew which wire did what! Nya, listen to the guy who grew up with this thing in his backyard!😂

[@DexilejJ]

You’re so right!! I can’t believe this never occurred to me! Man, as poorly as Jay responded, I get why he felt so disrespected. That whole scene was so stupid though omg 💀

[@Wolfie_Sophie]

@@DexilejJ For real!!😭 And it was treated so seriously too!

[@lukelaps9298]

I think the love triangle single handedly caused so much conflict that it brought the overlord back

[@boomgirlbucko]

There was a tweet that said that Cole was just shocked from Nya coming onto him and he didn't know any other way to react. Cole is so gay-coded it hurts. It was even confirmed that he was not written to have feelings for Vania.

[@marshupp]

he's into cakes not men or women. he's a cakesexual.

[@captainnoodlestick8620]

The best way I could justify the love triangle is that with the whole lesson of season 3 being "we depend on technology too much" to the point where we let it affect our relationships

[@SuperWarrior64]

In my headcanon I believe it was the Overlord that made Cole come up as Nya's match because in his mind it would cause a rift between the ninja

[@akariko3785]

imo cole's side of the love triangle was the "oh fuck how can i let Nya down?" and also gay copium. bro so badly didnt want to be gay so he took the first woman whop showed interest in him to prove to himself he was straight (he wasn't)

[@DexilejJ]

I love how this definitely wasn’t the intent at the time, but the love triangle fell SO flat that SO many people interpreted it this way, and nowadays they’ve practically canonized gay Cole. Proof that mistakes can open up new opportunities ig lmao?

[@rebellarose6434]

@@DexilejJ During seasons 11-13, it’s implied Kai and Cole are somehow romantically interested in each other so thankfully this love triangle vanished.

[@pumpkincat3739]

I sometimes like to pretend that rebooted was all just a bad dream

[@Thunderdransword]

Unfortunately it can't as zanes old body died here which leads to tournament of elements where the entire point of the ninja in the tournament was because they were told that Zane was on the island which then leads to season 5 wher morrow gets free then at the end of possession the cursed realm dies which leads to skybound where djinnjago is destroyed which begins the events of the season so no unfortunately you can't pretend rebooted is just a bad dream

[@pumpkincat3739]

@@Thunderdransword try me

[@Thunderdransword]

@@pumpkincat3739 ok sure if you want to explain how we went from the final battle to son s of garmadon then if rebooted was a bad dream

[@legoawcstopmotioner9435]

Tbh, I would probably hate it regardless of how well it was done because I hate romance drama. But unpacking it gives me a slightly different perspective.

[@DexilejJ]

Ah same - there’s nothing wrong with a romance plot, but when it gets in the way of the _actual_ plot for the sake of drama then it’s just annoying

[@snowdropsstudio711]

9:34 the fact that it was actually intended as a feminist move to make the rising amount of girl fans in a show they made for elementary school boys ages 8-11ish because they didn't expect girl fans and wanted to please them :D

[@Vivigreeny25]

Gonna be honest I kind of forgot how absurdly the love triangle plays out, so the description of it all at the start had me in a laughing fit because *god* it’s so *fucking ridiculous* Jay really woke up and chose violence didn’t he

[@DexilejJ]

I had fun with that intro lmaoo

[@johnbowen5220]

I dont like the love triangle but I like what came from it

[@diazcamposalizadaniela4636]

I think Nya was tired of how loyal and loving was Jay and tried to find new people but also didnt want to loose Jay, Cole was a horrible friend idk why he continued this if he didnt liked her, And Jay attacked Cole without listening to him but never confronted Nya 🙃

[@gigikju9934]

Watch me “rewrite” the love triangle (and by “rewrite” I mean writing it off while keeping all the stuff we need for the plot) -So the season starts the same way it did before: dumb love test, Cole as a result, etc. However, instead of being all shy around Cole because of some random crush, she’s just awkward because she sees him as a big brother figure like most people on the team. -Cole points out how weird she’s acting during the train scene, where she explains the situation (with the love test thing). So they laugh it off, but then it leads Nya to open up more about her relationship with Jay. She really likes him and all, but she doesn’t feel like she’s ready for a relationship like that. She feels like she shouldn’t feel this way because of how happy he makes her feel and how happy he is too. Cole (being a TherapistFriendTM) tells her that she doesn’t need to step down from her place in his life, just their current relationship. -in the beginning of episode 3 (after Pix gets brought back) Cole sets her aside as they brainstorm a way for her to break up with him. Jay overhears them and internally panics, but doesn’t start acting like a douchebag because ✨people have feelings✨(W Jay) -anyways, Nya ends up taking him to the movies and decides to break up with him there. Jays reveals that he overheard her talking to Cole, and they have this healthy conversation regarding their relationship. -small detail, but Nya hugs Kai instead of Cole in the s3 finale. This is a small thing that’s always ticked me off, but I lowkey got mad when they focused more on that dumb love triangle instead of, you know, *Zane’s friends processing his fatality* -in season four, Neuro reveals that Nya saw Cole in the test thing, and it is implied that this led to her breaking up with Jay. Jay gets pissed (understandably, but not justifiably) which also makes Cole pissed, which means that the tension during that one fight is still there. It is revealed that Jay was also mad that Cole and everyone else seemed to forget about him, which made him feel crappy about his self esteem (part of his story arc :D). They resolve it and everything gets sorted out. There’s more I’d add regarding Skybound, but I’m writing this at 12AM and my brain is too tired to figure that season out. Not sure if I made the “love triangle” better or worse, but I tried :D EDIT: alright spinners, were back at it again. Somethings I didn’t add before: Instead of having the main centre of the fight in s4 be Nya, I was thinking that it could be Jay’s grief. He says that he’s never had any other friends his age besides the ninja, and their post s3 separation made him feel like he never mattered to them at all. Cole talks enough sense into him to get him to stop fighting him, but they only truly make up when Cole tosses Jay the jade blade. He clarifies that he never stopped caring about Jay before he’s eliminated, and Jay is left alone in the arena to reflect on this.

[@Legacyfenwick]

Much better.

[@gigikju9934]

@@Legacyfenwick thanks :D

[@DexilejJ]

This is SUCH an improvement omg WE STAN THE HEALTHY COMMUNICATION👏👏

[@gigikju9934]

@@DexilejJ Ty! :D

[@marshupp]

nya hugs cole on the rebooted finale and if u look at jay he's sad that his bff stole his girl

[@smartistepicness]

This is the dumbest Ninjago plotline. “Nya has an emotional affair because a machine tells her to” The only good thing to come out of this was Robo Usher 3000.

[@DexilejJ]

Robo Usher 3000 is epic, 10/10 character

[@smartistepicness]

@@DexilejJ I agree. I wish they did more with him. They should’ve done a short bit in season 4 where he temporarily replaced Zane,

[@spyrit_real]

Writing love triangles that ACTUALLY work in any form of media can be rather hard. Reading more into the one in Ninjago just honestly makes it worse and worse. It feels like it exists just for the sake of trying to cause "drama" in the team, but it's executed pretty badly. They could have done literally anything else and it could have been way better. But at the same time, removing the love triangle, Nya wouldn't have had a lot of role in the season and they probably wanted to use her more. Still, I can appreciate it for what it's trying to be. We also got a pretty good episode from it in ToE, where Jay and Cole settle their differences. Great video tho! Love how you explain things in detail and the editing is pretty fun too!

[@macaemeia146]

I kinda just assumed that cole did not quite understand what was happening with the love triangle and he was kinda just trolling because he was mad at jay for attacking him and then in tournament he felt sorry for it because it destroyed their friendship

[@rebellarose6434]

The love triangle was truly annoying and rage-inducing 😭💅🏾

[@yo1461]

The love triangle is stupid, however it set up some AWESOME future seasons and create sub plots, (Cole and jay rivalry Tournament of element, and skybound)

[@aoi_obake]

Can you make a video about Wu, Misako and Garmadon triangle?

[@monitormuse]

Please do!

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

I've been rewatching Ninjago with my younger cousins who are seeing the show for the first time and we are about to start season 3. But even though that is when the show really started to take off with crazy emotional moments and a more serialized structure, I'm dreading having to show it to them explicitly because of the love triangle. Like it's just so annoying, pointless, and it didn't make anyone look good, those poor kids are too young to be subjected to all this pointless romantic drama! Plus all that drama is going to go on for another 3 seasons and even then it will be resolved in a way that absolves certain characters of their responsibilities. It's just so horrible in every way and I already know my little cousins won't like it. Kids aren't dumb, even they know when something feels out of place nothing is more out of place than this love triangle. I think it will confuse them more than anything else because it never made any sense in the first place. I swear, if this becomes a foundational memory of how romantic relationships work for them...

[@amiamilux]

I love rebooted just... /not/ the love triangle

[@miraculousninja5255]

For me-It’s a Love-Hate relationship with the Love Triangle. I mean-I hate how it started out, BUT I LOVE the aftermath of the Love Triangle! I hate how it kinda dragged Rebooted down,BUT I love how it made Cole and Jay’s friendship even more special and made Jay and Nya’s relationship stronger! Also, AWESOME VIDEO! Love the Over analyzing! 💙❤️🖤

[@PokemonPrince_]

Literally same i love Nya and Jay together and i love Cole and Jay's bromance but i think the writers could've come up with something better Also i love your vids btw

[@miraculousninja5255]

@@PokemonPrince_ Thank you!

[@Vivigreeny25]

Fr Jay and Cole’s relationship was so good I just wish it didn’t have to come from… *this.*

[@DexilejJ]

For sure! The aftermath is def worth it, but Rebooted itself is just pain

[@moonbased7796]

Honestly in my opinion, I don't have a problem with the idea of a love triangle (since sometimes it can work depending on the context) but I do agree with other Ninjago fans that it was a mess (even when I was a kid at the time season 3 being released. It felt weird.) but if I can give one positive thing regarding the love triangle is that all three characters grew as people for example: Nya was able to talk about her problems to Jay (mostly shown in season 5 when she was in the transition phase from Samurai to Ninja), Cole was able to become a better person and become more level headed, and Jay was able to try not to jump into conclusions (for the most part) and try to not to get as jealous in a way.

[@wehn3624]

I always thought that the fact that the love machine was in the overlord controlled building, which was heavily surveillance by him that he had something to do with it, so technically overlord is to blame 😌 (this is my way of coping with the absolute chaos of rebooted)

[@monerb7185]

My head cannon for the reason this happened is because the overlord shipped nya and cole and tried to get them together which would not only let his ship be real but it would help him with dealing with the ninja fortunately he failed and started shipping llorumi and he brought her back specifically with feelings for lloyd

[@DexilejJ]

PFFFT I’m picturing the Overlord using Ninjago as his irl fanfiction or smth and I love it

[@observersbirdhouse]

Rebooted is kind of a "Oh that happened" season like it's a very short season but so much stuff happens in it that it basically has 2 different points to where the season should of ended but it just kept on going.

[@rivaul3649]

Rebooted, Prime Empire, Master of the Mountain, and Seabound have the same runtime tho. Rebooted isn't the shortest season

[@marshupp]

​@@rivaul3649March of the Onis is 4 eps of 22 minutes

[@thefunydaino3991]

Actually a love triangle could've worked, but it was executed so poorly. But here's how it should've happened. Nya hears the news, she doesn't believe it. Then she keeps thinking of it and she gets confused about Cole and thinks that she likes him now. If the relationship with Jay was disfunctional she would try to experiment if Cole isn't actually a better choice. I general Cole just jumps into the bandwagon once he hears the news and constantly teases Jay about it including the whole 3 times Jay asked Cole to leave Nya and he straight up said "No" in Reeboted, tournament of the elements and somewhat in possession. Instead they should've build Cole's love towards Nya in the viewer's eyes. Once he hears the news he should've had a process of tough in his head, considering that fact and actually finding himself liking Nya but he can't explain to himself why, so then the whole triangle has a reason to exist and eventually work it out. The whole thing it's Cole's fault, he kept the triangle crooked because he never got a reasonable reason to like Nya back and shove Jay back

[@musingsofahomeschooler5332]

I can guarantee with confidence that the Hagemans did not consider Nya’s orphan childhood trauma when deciding that she would cheat on Jay. Girls just thrive on creating drama everyone knows that amirite (In the Hagemans defense neither of them has ever been a woman)

[@DexilejJ]

Oh yeah I know, this video was more re-contextual-ly-interpretive than anything. A potential reading, not a definitive one. (Also it doesn’t matter whether Nya and the writers were women or not. The writing was just bad, point blank.)

[@musingsofahomeschooler5332]

@@DexilejJ yeah but the rest of the writing in the season was good so liking it is still ok

[@DexilejJ]

@@musingsofahomeschooler5332 I never said you couldn’t like it, I’m just pointing out some flaws with this specific plot point. Because it had many.

[@barelyhere7200]

In one episode of rebooted, Jay and Cole get trapped in a crusher and are going to be crushed to death, and Nya is the only one that can save them, and she can only save them by cutting a black or blue wire. She ends up saving them, but we never find out what wire she cut. To this day I will still wonder what wire she cut. It bothers me so much that we never got an answer that I still think about it years later😂

[@olamideojetunde9419]

8t was said in an interview

[@Mushroomsushi]

Ok so turns out she cut the black wire, honestly did not expect that

[@DexilejJ]

I think her VA said she cut the black wire in an interview ? (Don’t quote me on that lol) Kinda makes sense, it could be her ‘cutting ties’ with Cole or something? (Not fully, just ending the ‘romantic’ aspect of that relationship)

[@TrashTrackers]

I genuinely appreciate someone taking time to dive into different parts of Ninjago. Please keep up the content!!

[@NRG_Studios]

I always hated the line 'like all boys, you can be reprogrammed'. I mean...if you ask me, that's pretty sexist I'm personally okay with the love triangle. I never loved it or hated it, I just consider it part of the show. Certain parts of it are good, but there are also things I don't like about it, mainly Nya being stupid

[@taeinkim9061]

The fact that even though she know it is wrong that she’s almost dating with jay and being foxy against Cole whom actually nya love from the first time, she just want to be the Harlem heroine.(I don’t really like this shipping with these three)

[@linatwoones]

Honestly I didn’t really mind the love triangle purely because of how funny it was. We would have lost some peak humour moments without it: “ OH yeah?! Well I’m hooped, and I HAVEN’T BRUSHED MY TEETH IN A WEEK!!”

[@PuppyLoverSilver]

That was a hilarious video! You know, I've always loved the love triangle... Don't ask me why - I couldn't even defend it if I wanted to. You did an amazing job with breaking down each of the characters though! 😃 I think my only problem with the love triangle was why Cole even cared if he got together with Nya. You know when they went to the movies? Nya said she'd pick between them after. Why did Cole even care?? Didn't he just think of them as friends?

[@DexilejJ]

Thank you!! Yeah, Cole’s behavior was pretty weird lol. The whole thing would have been better if he’d ✨communicated✨ BUT at least now we can laugh about it xD

[@brickbanditstudios6037]

Remembered this… wonder what was in the Hageman Brothers’ minds when doing Rebooted by implementing the love triangle subplot

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

Do you wanna know the actual reason? I wish I could make this up, but that love triangle was introduced because the writers wanted to appeal to female fans of the show. *I'm not joking.* This was discussed in some tweets which I believe can be found via a few google searches. Following season 2, the creators realized that they had actually amassed a significant portion of female fans. They admitted that this was unexpected. Ninjago had always been specifically marketed to boys. Like they didn't exclude girls from the show but they never actively courted them either. Personally, I think this just a testament to how good Ninjago was, it could appeal to everyone. But now that they had female fans, the writers wanted to do something specifically for them and they landed on the love triangle. They thought girls liked romantic conflict and that this would appeal to them. That's also why they tried to tackled it though a "feminist" lens which this video alludes to. That "feminist" lens is also why they never really blame Nya for her actions here, because IRL, girls are often unfairly blamed for being the ones to make relationships fall apart. But the problem is, while many girls are often unfairly blamed for relationships falling apart, sometimes _they very clearly are the ones to blame._ It must be examined on a case by case basis and in this case, Nya very clearly started showing interest in Cole when she was still with Jay, never even broke up with Jay, AND kept stinging both character along. Jay and Cole certainly didn't _react_ to this entire situation properly but Nya was the cause of this entire debacle and she never really faces any consequences. Skybound, the season that repaired this whole issue, never calls Nya out for her actions and never holds her accountable as it too is trying to tackle this form a feminist lens. The writers wanted to be really modern and inclusive and actually say something about sexism to appeal to girls watching the show. Unfortunately, they didn't understand sexism and instead of addressing it, they utilized a bunch of sexist tropes to tell their story. The story they ended up with was "Girl makes mistakes but she's not responsible for any of them by virtue of being a girl because this is a feminism story and girls shouldn't be blamed in feminists stories". But ironically, refusing to blame someone explicitly because of their sex *is* sexism. The writers' intentions were in the right place, but they didn't realize that they were just contributing to the problem.

[@brickbanditstudios6037]

@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi Hello there! And thanks for this info! And wow, so this happened because they’re trying to appeal towards female fans? I mean, after we thought that the show ended, I guess they tried to gain some of the new and old fans on to watching the show. But thanks for the info

[@AlfonzoFrohicky]

Hageman was on CRACK. Dude wrote the script while having a whisky, some weed, and a puff bar on the side

[@DexilejJ]

@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi WOW I knew the show had some issues with sexism / trying to appeal to fans (mainly in Skybound) but I had no idea the love triangle was another direct product of that. It’s hilarious (in a bad way) because I actually relate way more to Cole in this situation (despite being a girl which *obviously* means romance and drama is all I care about /s ). (I should clarify, I relate to him under the assumption that he *didn’t* return Nya’s feelings fully) Like, if they want to include something along the lines of the love triangle (however forced it may be) then sure, I won’t stop them. But it’s exactly like you said, they were so focused on defying tropes that not only did that active pushback cause all those tropes to appear in and dictate the story, but they also didn’t address them correctly BECAUSE the whole aim was to defy them. Let’s just be grateful that ToE did some stuff right because MAN were those repairs needed

[@thateye49]

7:14 Relatable. EYE am the Jay of my social groups.

[@la-ron]

I feel like nya knew she was in the wrong and just wanted to be the center of attention but that's just my head canon

[@maryallred-rg6sw]

You ever notice the similarities between the Misako-Wu-Garm love triangle and the Cole-Nya-Jay triangle?

[@JezElectroAlt]

During the time this love traingle existed, I remembered I liked Jay and Cole less. I didn't HATED them, they weren't Kai obsessed with green ninja title, but still.

[@musingsofahomeschooler5332]

Excellent and fun analysis, loved it. As a fandom we bond over our love for the characters and our hatred for this chapter of their story. It got the best recovery story ever in skybound tho. And thanks so much for making clean videos, that’s such a rare treasure. Like seriously, if you start cursing in your ninjago vids I will die inside

[@DexilejJ]

Yes I l LOVE Jay and Cole’s redemption in ToE and Skybound. And Nya’s was….. aright (she had some issues in skybound but shhh we can ignore that) Possession also did a great job repairing Nya and Cole’s relationship - she’s the first to comfort him when he gets ghostified, and it shows they’ve grown closer again but this time it’s explicitly platonic (considering he’s literally a ghost lol)

[@VortexBricks]

I liked the after math of the love triangle because it brought jay and cole closer together

[@IsThisJd]

I think it's safe to say, that the love triangle was probably the worst thing to ever exist in the show lol

[@skylandersfan6954]

I think all of what you mentioned is probably intentional, but it was not intentional at the time. A lot of it is stuff seasons after Rebooted do in order to recontextualise the arc and make it better in retrospect. Damage control if you will

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

Damage control is the exact word (or rather two). They were thinking "Alright guys, we messed up. How do we fix this?" And then they started adding in the characters backstories to "justify" what happened. But I have to say, nothing we knew at the time of Rebooted really made the love-triangle work. It's frankly bad storytelling to introduce something nonsensical only to explain why it actually makes sense like 2 years later.

[@justdex721]

A fellow individual named Dex who loves Ninjago? Easiest sub i've ever made! Also this video is an excellent view of the mess that is the love triangle

[@DexilejJ]

Ayy haha thanks!

[@NinjaFannn7008]

Finally a new video! Welcome back Dexile!! :D

[@onionwielder9728]

I mean, a love triangle between these three COULD have worked to some extent if the valid points you brought up were actually mentioned in the show. But it didn't because none of the characters involved acted in character. Nya, normally extremely smart and independent, blindly accepts the judgement of a robot and decides Cole is the one for her just because it told her so. Cole is clueless until episode 3, and after learning that Nya might be interested in him and Jay is livid with him, he decides to actively pursue the conflict, deliberately fighting for Nya for no way. Jay ALMOST acts in character. We already knew that he was insecure, high-strung and extremely emotive. He still overreacted, but he does have a tendency to overreact, even if not to this extent. The love triangle sucks. I only take solace in that fact knowing that Tournament of Elements chose to address and abolish it rather than simply ignore it. That shows to me that the show writers realized their mistakes and genuinely attempted to atone for them rather than pretend it never happened.

[@DexilejJ]

YES I’m grateful for what ToE did, it addressed the love triangle without having it control the plot again

[@AlfonzoFrohicky]

I hate the love triangle. Every character was awful. Downgraded cole's overall from a potential 95 to a 76. Jay is now a 50 ovr brown shirt. And nya downgraded to an npc. Truly the worst thing I ever had to witness.

[@Legacyfenwick]

is brown shirt Dareth?

[@jayafan4700]

The only reason why I think cole "liked " nya back is because he grew up without a mother and he lacked that childhood love that any child desires . So it would be obvious why he liked her back ( not literally) when nya confeces her feelings to him I think he got attached to that feeling of being liked or loved . Can't blame him I'll tell ya that

[@PokemonPrince_]

Okay but literally in season 1 he said ''i wish i had a sister like you'' so why tf would he then want that sale Girl to be his girlfriend???

[@BATMAN-zw8nf]

COLE HAS MOMMY ISSUES

[@Vivigreeny25]

@@PokemonPrince_ Because he didn’t, he just kind of got swept up in everything else

[@DexilejJ]

Yeah you’ve got a point, plus maybe he felt protective over her similar to Kai - when Jay started acting irrational, maybe Cole didn’t want them to get back together when he knew it wasn’t a good position for Nya (?) I don’t think he ever properly liked her, he just wasn’t sure how to handle the situation Or he was just oblivious lol

[@Corbyin]

Whenever you post a video, it's always a good day! Love this video, pretty much sums up how I feel on the love triangle. Poor Cole. Poor Jay. Poor Nya. But what were literally any of them thinking.

[@DexilejJ]

Aw thanks ^^ But yeah that pretty much sums it up lmao

[@Goldenwhitewings]

I love your channel. Well done on the videos

[@CosmicKitten67]

9:11 yes. The answer is yes.

[@Turbo_Marto_Lol]

Oh my God! I was worried, you hadn't uploaded anything for over a week 😅 I am so happy to see you're back Dexile, keep up the amazing videos you make! 😁

[@DexilejJ]

I’m not dead !! 🎉✌️

[@abrahammartin4695]

Love ur videos. Keep up the good work!

[@bclubofawesomeness2894]

the way this video inspired me to make a ninjago video essay 😅

[@DexilejJ]

Ayy that’s awesome!

[@HiggyIsSlick]

Gonna move that first digit from an 8 to a 9, been watching some of your videos and love them all

[@DexilejJ]

Ayy tysm!!

[@theghostwiththemost789]

The thing I don’t understand is how much time passed between Legacy of the green ninja and rebooted. In rebooted the ninja are teachers and that requires going to college which takes years and scales had a kid who is still very young but already knows how to walk and talk and seems to be about four. So at the very least a few years had to of passed in between legacy of the green ninja and rebooted but that doesn’t make any sense because according to hunted, the ninja are still teenagers? Even though they were teachers in rebooted? Also I thought the ninja we’re already adults in the pilot. Kai and Nya we’re living on their own so that means at the very least Kai had to of been an adult. Also jay proposes to Nya in march of the oni which I don’t think takes place that long after hunted but in hunted Kai said they were teenagers, which again makes no sense. I’m pretty sure the ninja are adults and that a good 4 years passed in between legacy of the green ninja and rebooted and that line about them being teenagers in hunted is complete bullshit and a continuity error. Wow this got completely off topic😅

[@brickbanditstudios6037]

Cartoon logic. Am I right? 😅

[@DexilejJ]

The Ninjago timeline has caused me SO many headaches and this is by far one of the biggest. Not to mention the fanfare around the team in Skybound is _pretty_ concerning if they’re still minors. Dhshdsh this show is so weird but I love it

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

Ninjago doesn't exactly operate according to our modern rules so we should be careful about ascribing our modern assumptions regarding education, maturity, etc, to it. For example, 200 years ago, you didn't need a college degree to each and 500 years ago, teens were considered to be adults who had jobs, got married, payed taxed, went to war, etc. This is also interesting because many elements of Ninjago are both modern and premodern. They have towering skyscrapers with cars and mechs but at the same time have rural villages that existed 500 years ago. Many of those villages still fight with swords and staffs and some even have slaves. Again, this just means we should not automatically assume the Ninja fit out modern rules of maturity and education. In our world it would be very strange for a teen to teach at a school but 300 years ago, it would be very normal. Perhaps Ninjago's world is more similar to 300 years ago than to today.

[@theghostwiththemost789]

@@Obi-Wan_Kenobi even if that is the case I still call bullshit on the ninjas still being teenagers in hunted because that makes literally no sense because years have passed since the pilot

[@Elico-du1oi]

@@DexilejJ Season 6 is not even canon. Only the last episode is.

[@Jayamyheart]

I dont have to mentle compasity to watch this but I can bet everything that this is amazing!❤❤

[@speedingfox5628]

What the writers should have done was pair up Jay with both Nya and Cole, he has two hands, and would've made for a more interesting love story. /j Jokes aside, THANK YOU for video, you pretty much putting my thoughts into words on why this whole love triangle was just a mess and it shouldn't have happened but it did, look what it did to my two favorite boys (Jay and Cole). Definitely one of the reasons I don't like Rebooted, the love triangle bothers me so much. Take this next bit with a grain of salt as we don't have confirmed ages of the ninja (Lego specify their ages please), but if the ninja were (somehow) still minors by the time of Rebooted, then Jay and Cole's behavior could be chalked up as them being dumb teenagers with how immature they're being. Not at all justifying how they acted, just saying that they were still young and they probably didn't know how properly handle the situation and resolve it until later in ToE, where they both thankfully talked it out like adults and grew from their experience. I will say though, I do like the theory of the Overlord messing with that matchmaker machine in an effort to get the team to split up, which makes a lot of sense, and if that's the case, it did work in a way. Makes me hate him more.

[@DexilejJ]

I’ve got my own (quite loose) age headcanons which place them at 17-18 during Rebooted, so yeah I love seeing the maturity / character growth in ToE (even if we had to suffer through Rebooted to get there-) Really how I’d sum it up is: Nya: young + socially isolated Jay: young + insecure Cole: confused af

[@PokemonPrince_]

*Long comment/rant incoming* Honestly i kind of agree with you, I hate the love Triangle, mostly because Jay and Nya are and always have been my favorite ship in Ninjago, and Jay is literally my favorite character in Ninjago. For years Cole became my least favorite character because of the love Triangle. Luckily now he's back to Bring one of my favorites But to be honest, i actually think Jay's reaction made Sense, even though i Also think it was overreacting but still All Jay knew was: his girlfriend was acting Very cold and distant towards him, and then he finds out she actually liked Cole, HIS BEST FRIEND. Like it makes Sense that Jay would assume Nya and Cole had been together already so i understand why he got Mad Also, in the video you said Cole never actually liked Nya (and yes Tommy Adreasson said this himself) but honestly in the season he absolutely does. He literally competes with Jay, goes on a triple date with Nya and Jay, and when Jay saves his life and says as a favor to ''stay away from nya'' he literally declines. With Nya i agree with all of your Points Honestly all in all i hate the love Triangle, it ruïned three of my favorite characters in Ninjago, it Came out of NOWHERE, but i do agree that it was sort of necissairy because of Jay's arc in s6 which i love, and Aldo his friendship with Cole which i Also love, but honestly with how good of writing Ninjago often has, i think they really could have come up with literally anything else Thanks for reading have a Nice day 👋 Also one More thing: your channel is Very underrated you deserve more subs

[@DexilejJ]

Thank you ! Yeah I can definitely understand Jay’s perspective. It was wrong of him to lash out the way he did (ie physical assault) but he had every right to be upset. As for Cole, I don’t think he really liked her? (romantically at least) It felt (to me) more like he _didn’t_ like her but wasn’t sure how to defuse the situation. Cuz he didn’t really seem focused on Nya, he just wanted to ‘beat’ Jay because he was angry at his behavior. Like, in the trash compactor scene (the infamous black vs blue wire scene), Jay immediately asks about the wires once they’re safe, but Cole cares more about their safety than about Nya’s decision Dhshdhs idk this is speculation lol

[@Quinzy580]

No one cares if u didn’t like Cole, jay sucks and deserves the worst. L jay W Cole

[@la-ron]

​@@Quinzy580Bro you are toxic

[@Snake_Jaguar_Nerd]

great observation !!! i also hate this love triangle as well, but it was somewhat needed lol

[@fathi3451]

Dude you giggle a bit I'm the end XD? Idk I think I heard something But yeah I agree, I think some drama could have been made with Kai being a protective brother instead of Nya trying to get together with Cole Glad I'm not the only one who got confused by the boys reprogrammed line XD it felt like a passive aggressive insult

[@DexilejJ]

Yeah bro what was that line lmao???? I was rewatching the episode to make sure I didn’t miss stuff and I noticed that and was like hUH-??

[@siimplykittxie8469]

In my netflix on my tv that line was cut entirely so I was so confused about that line 😅

[@flashspidergamer5629]

I just started to know about this love triangle whatever

[@hannawhite7605]

Great video like other people said I like to believe it was the overlord messing with the love machine

[@adekunletaiwo1342]

Amazing video!!!!!! How are so good at this?!!!!!!!!

[@DexilejJ]

Tysm!!

[@playcoarmboy1836]

My problem with the love tringle is that we didn't get alot of cole and nya moments, they only had one romantic scene when they were on the train compare that to Jay and nya who were daiting during season 1 and season 2, I wish in season 3 we got more romantic scenes between cole and nya that way the audience would have a hard time choosing who nya should be with, most fans wanted nya to pick jay because they had more sceans togather, there was no competition since cole and nya berly had romantic moments between them

[@DexilejJ]

This is a pretty good point - it seems like people are split between ‘Cole never liked Nya’ and ‘he liked her but there wasn’t enough focus’. Either way some clarity would have been nice lol We definitely needed more from Cole’s POV. Even if he didn’t care for Nya romantically, they could have put more focus on his friendship (or lack thereof) with Jay instead of making everything from Nya’s (quite flawed) POV

[@thateye49]

9:56 Sexism _☕_

[@Damnaxe]

Might be late, but I'm happy it's only 10mins long, because my headphones are dying 💀

[@DevilManthehero7786]

I don’t like love triangle

[@DexilejJ]

Neither do I, my friend

[@DevilManthehero7786]

@@DexilejJ yeah because this doesn’t make sense

[@monerb7185]

You mean you don’t love triangle

[@Yuppy111]

I agree nya is pretty dumb in this season + a little weird

[@PokemonPrince_]

Pretty much all three of them act incredibly out of character

[@kaismith3921]

Can you make a video explaining the Lava ship dynamic? Because in a way, it always seems like Kai and Cole go sometimes to something similar as "more than friends", but then the creators always decide to add the hetero love interest as if anything lgbtq is bad. (This probably makes so sense at all, but it really looks like it)

[@MarinMixes]

I very much do not think they vilify homosexuality, they are just taking a "safer" approach to love in the series, because as you can imagine, all this is very polarizing

[@kaismith3921]

@@MarinMixes I know, I just don’t think that adding a lover to every character (minus Cole) is necessary

[@ThumbKnuckle]

Because this show is aimed at kids (me being an adult who grew up with the show) a large portion of the world in America and Europe still despise homosexuality, so the creators of the show aren't being explicit with their support of it. That being said I do not ship characters outside of established Canon and we probably get a little too much relationship drama anyway. I definitely do not ship Cole and Kai, they are bros and thats the way it's best.

[@tyrencrafton1814]

And your thinking is probably why they haven't put any homosexual relationships in the show. Yes we see you, Yes we acknowledge you, but stop thinking that just because your not shown in every form of media fiction its an attack

[@kaismith3921]

@tyrencrafton1814 first of all, when did I say that I view it as an attack? Because I don't. Second of all, I don't give a damn if homosexuality isn't in a show or movie and my 'way of thinking' wasn't meant in the way that I'm complaining, it's genuine curiosity. If you're mad about me just asking a normal question (mind you, I didn't add anything bad) then idk, go for a walk, go eat a snack or smth, lay off of social media for a bit if you're mad about someone asking about dynamics in a literal children's show

[@brandonscott5544]

GREAT VIDEO 💙🩷🩵

[@cakelover4Life]

But the show is still awesome

[@Damnaxe]

Only 2% 👁️👄👁️

[@cakelover4Life]

The triangle is bad

[@CosmicKitten67]

I hate Jay because of the love triangle-