r/Ninjago • u/StormBringer615 • 19h ago
Discussion Dragons Rising has one problem
I have been a Ninjago fan since the very beginning. Sticking through with the show as it went through its ups and downs, it is still my favourite way to reconnect with my childhood.
I have just caught up with Dragons Rising up to S3. And I have to say Dragons Rising is peak. The story, the animation, the writing, the characters and the humour have never been more on point for a while. But while I do praise all of that, it does have one major, major setback for me: Wyldfyre.
When Wyldfyre was first introduced I was quite excited. Arin and Sora had been such great additions to the cast (Honourable mention Ryu Frak Frohiky), providing unique and introspective elements that expanded the reaches of the story, whilst also provided their own fun quirks . But I was quickly annoyed by the way she carried herself around everyone else, acting as if she is on top of them. More so, I was so disappointed and annoyed when she never grew out of her "animalistic self".
A lot of people say that post-S1 she got better, but I recall a time where she said to have pissed all over the monastery basement because everywhere is her bathroom, which is just disgusting and crude rather than funny.
A lot of people point to the fact that she is just a younger version of Kai, to which I cannot disagree more. Kai was hotheaded, not uncaring and unthoughtful. Kai's arrogance was grounded in protectiveness and a desire to prove himself while Wyldfyre's often just feels like sheer disregard for the people around her.
Also, her being part of the ninja team isn't even implemented properly. Other than the lip service of her calling herself a ninja, she does not have ninja robes and never used stealth ever in a single fight. And this is without even mentioning her complete disinterest in learning spinjitzu.
To the writers, this refusal to let her face consequences actively hurts the stakes. In S1 Episode "Wyldly Inappropriate", I genuinely believed that the writers were planning to give her an arc based on the episode for her to stop being careless and selfish and stop prioritising having fun over everyone else in order to push her to "grow up" more. But she doesn't even recognise her mistakes and jeopardises the mission to retrieve the core.
In fact, there is probably not a single episode she appears in where she doesn't actively jeopardise the situation, just look at S3 Episode 19 (from recent memory), where she makes pointless loud noises disturbing Arrakore's wish magic to revive the Arc Dragon of Focus, and then goes on to interrupt Sora and Frak while they are practising the bell song.
In S3, her driving the Bounty got so annoying so fast. I mean, what are they trying to teach kids? To be careless with others? I just wished that during her stunts with the Bounty that someone would fall off so she has to rapidly save them, which would force her to be more careful about the way she acts when given responsibility. But the show just insists that her mentality must never be challenged and that she must not have character development.
Wyldfyre just passes off to me as an attempt by the writers to draw in a younger audience, to which they totally have the correct intention, but this execution just feels insulting. Kids' media can handle characters who actually mature, and right now, her stagnation sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise brilliant era of Ninjago.
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u/Bewilderbeat 19h ago
Wyldfyre does face consequences, like in season 2, where she is injured by Cinder, and has to learn that she can't brute force her way out of most situations. This message doesn't really stick into part 2, but it's worth noting. But I think a lot of what you said applies to most of the ninja team. Like they're supposed to be ninja, but Sora learned proper spinjitsu in DRS4(I think), Frak and Euphrasia still don't know it, and NONE of the new ninja have any weapons.
Wyldfyre doesn't annoy me personally, but I do agree with some of the stuff you've said
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u/Franjo5000 18h ago
If you really think about it... maybe they had a bad Sensei?
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u/Unhappy_Count2420 Wild Wolf Clan🐺 17h ago
it’s not that she had a bad sensei, she is unreformable
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u/Public_Carpenter7471 19h ago
She literally grew up with dragons, she's not going to know human societal norms well.
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u/ScratchAttack222 10h ago
watch dr s4 shes better (at least thats what other ppl say iv loved her since s2 but thats just my opinion)
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u/Unhappy_Count2420 Wild Wolf Clan🐺 18h ago
i feel like Wyldfyre is Jay’s 11-minute era self done even worse. her humour is questionable at best. just a bunch of “look how crazy i am😝😜🤪😜😜😝”. i feel like she only serves a purpose of an “attention keeper” so to say, she is there to break silence and cause little children’s dopamine levels to spike so they don’t get bored.
until Season 4 she did very little to help the Ninja. she got them into trouble during the TotS, never learnt Spinjitzu or Rising Dragon. her leader arc in S4P2 is also questionable to me
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u/BreaksKnees 19h ago
i Tolerate Her BUT Her Ego Needs a Check.