Dragons Rising

The first season of Ninjago: Dragons Rising was first released on June 1, 2023 on Netflix. Arin is the mascot character and Mistress Beatrix is the main antagonist. Imperium Claw serves as this season's is the villainous faction.

This season is in the United Arc and being the first season in the third Ninjago generation, it is also the first installment to reset the episode count. It is not considered the sixteenth season of Ninjago. The collectible items in this season are the Dragon Energy Cores.

From December 2022 to January 2023, a series of animated comic strip shorts were released titled Ninjago NXT, which let fans decide what the outcome of some stories would be after the end of Season 15. These shorts also corresponded with the release of the second wave of Core sets in 2023.

It is preceded by Crystalized and succeeded by a second season.

Plot Summary
''In the aftermath of a world-changing event, Lloyd, the Green Ninja, must train young heroes to rescue dragons from a technologically-advanced enemy. New and old Ninja team up to find three Dragon Cores with the power to save their unstable world, unless their enemy, the Imperium, steals them first.''

Characters

 * Alfonzo Frohicky - Andrew McNee
 * Arrakore - Mark Hildreth
 * Arin - Deven Mack
 * Beatrix - Nicole Oliver
 * Cole - Andrew Francis
 * Dale - Jason Simpson
 * Dorama - Mackenzie Gray
 * Dragon Matriarch - Brenda Crichlow
 * Gulch - Andrew McNee
 * Jay - Michael Adamthwaite
 * Kai - Vincent Tong
 * Kreel - Kelly Sheridan
 * Lloyd Garmadon - Sam Vincent
 * Nya - Kelly Metzger
 * Ras - Brian Drummond
 * Rapton - Giles Panton
 * Riyu - Brian Drummond
 * Sora - Sabrina Pitre
 * Wu - Paul Dobson
 * Wyldfyre - Kazumi Evans
 * Zane - Brent Miller

Battles

 * Arin & Sora vs. Claw
 * Lloyd, Arin & Sora vs. Claw
 * Ninja & Dragons vs. Claw
 * Arin & Sora vs. Dorama
 * Ninja & Craglings vs. Earth Dragons
 * Ninja vs. merge monster
 * Ninja vs. Claw
 * Ninja, Wyldfyre & Dragons vs. Claw
 * Lloyd vs. Merlopian gang leader
 * Ninja & Algae farmers vs. giant crab
 * Nya & Sira vs. Howlers

Locations Visited

 * Ninjago
 * Monastery of Spinjitzu
 * Ninjago City
 * Merged Realms
 * Ninjago
 * Crossroads
 * Cloud Kingdom
 * Kingdom of Madness
 * Imperium
 * Temple of the Dragon Cores
 * Ocean
 * Ocean farmer's village
 * Greenbone Warrior's forest
 * Pinnacle of Crystals
 * Wyldness

Sets
Arin is the mascot ninja and the Dragon Energy Cores are the collectible items of the season. The set background is based on the Merged Realms.
 * 71777 Kai's Dragon Power: Tornado Spinjitzu
 * 71778 Nya's Dragon Power: Drifting Spinjitzu
 * 71779 Lloyd's Dragon Power: Cyclone Spinjitzu
 * 71789 Kai & Ras: Car & Bike Battle
 * 71790 Imperium Dragon Slayer Hound
 * 71791 Zane's Dragon Power: Spinjitzu Race Car
 * 71792 Sora's Transforming Racing Bike
 * 71793 Heatwave Transforming Lava Dragon
 * 71794 Lloyd & Arin's Ninja Team Mechs
 * 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores
 * 71796 Elemental Dragon vs. Empress's Mech
 * 71797 Destiny's Bounty: Race Against Time
 * 71798 Nya and Arin's Baby Dragon Battle

Ninjago: Core 2 sets
A second wave of Ninjago: Core sets released in the same season as this series.


 * 71780 Kai's Ninja Racing Car EVO
 * 71781 Lloyd's Mech Duel EVO
 * 71882 Cole's Earth Dragon EVO
 * 71883 Kai's Mech-Bike EVO
 * 71884 Jay's Thunder Jet EVO
 * 71885 Jay's Titan Mech
 * 71886 Zane's Ice Dragon
 * 71887 Ninja Creative Brick Box
 * 71888 Lloyd's Ninja Bike

Development

 * Doc Wyatt has stated that something ‘very significant’ will separate the old Ninjago series from the new.
 * He also confirmed that there will be no focus Ninja the way there was in the original series.

Continuity

 * An event known as the Merge occurs in the beginning, merging together all sixteen realms and causing chaos, and the Ninja are separated. Lloyd and Kai remained at the Monastery.
 * Nya was sent somewhere and ended up in the Kingdom of Madness, what was once the Realm of Madness.
 * This marks the first appearance of this realm since Season 2, and the first appearance of the Craglings since then.
 * In Episode 3, Lloyd attempts to train Sora and Arin in the same way that Master Wu originally trained Kai in the Pilot Episodes.
 * The Cloud Kingdom reappears in Episode 5, making its first reappearance since Season 5. It is revealed in this season that the "writers of destiny" claim that their writings predict destiny but are often wrong. This seems to be a retcon of the events of Possession, since we do see that their writings do in fact alter fate.
 * Since the last appearance, the previous Master Writer, who helped the Ninja defeat Fenwick, has stepped down as Master Writer and been replaced with someone else. It may be that they cycle through Master Writers frequently.
 * A new type of Dragon is revealed, Source Dragons, who appear to have the power to enhance Elemental Power.
 * A new character, Sora is introduced with the Elemental Power of Tech, which she is able to access with the Source Dragon Riyu's help.
 * The new Master of Wind has been introduced, being a writer in the Cloud Kingdom.
 * Morro is referenced by Lloyd when he says he knew who the last Master of Wind was and likes the new one better.
 * There is a reason why Ninjago was the epicenter of the Merge, and it may be because of the revelation in Episode 11 that the First Spinjitzu Master did not only create Ninjago, but some of the other realms. Those realms are unknown, currently, but previously he predicted that the realms would come together in what he called "the Coallesense," (what we call the Merge.)
 * In Episode 9, a flashback is shown that takes place sometime between Rise of the Snakes and Legacy of the Green Ninja with Master Wu training young Lloyd.
 * In the flashback, Lloyd has his green eyes, which is an error, as he obviously didn't get them until Sons of Garmadon. He also wears his Legacy Gi, which isn't too big of an issue.
 * He also is played by Sam Vincent and not Jillian Michaels.
 * A portrait of Ray and Maya, Kai and Nya's parents, appears in Episode 11, although their current whereabouts are unknown.
 * Since the Merge, a gang of Merlopians overtook a village of algae farmers on the sea and sent the humans living there stuck floating on the ocean. It is later revealed that the Merlopians were being controlled by Rapton.
 * Gulch, a Geckle from Shintaro, makes an appearance in Episode 13. He is the first character besides the main Ninja team to have a speaking role in this new series. He mentions how Zane and Kai helped him and the other Geckles in Season 13.
 * Also in Episode 13, Zane wears the jacket and hat he wore in "Ninjago Confidential" in Season 12.
 * Characters called Greenbone Warriors appear, and it's revealed by the writers that they once inhabited the Underworld before the Merge.
 * Djinjago is mentioned, and the events of Skybound indirectly, how Djinjago was destroyed. Nya uses the words "long ago" before the Merge.
 * The character Arrokore is introduced as the "last Djinn." He is the only named Djinn to appear besides Nadakhan and his father Kanjikhan.
 * It is revealed that Arrokore was not in Djinjago when it was destroyed, and when he returned, it was reduced to a single grain of sand, which he keeps in an amulet around his neck.
 * When he does end up granting a wish, he says "your wish is yours to keep," which was Nadakhan's saying.
 * It's also revealed that "Sora" the Dragon is really named Zanth, and is a Djinjagian dragon.
 * Arrokore mentions that Djinjagian Dragons have always had the power to ferry between realms, but this has been shown to be true for most Dragons (or at least ones who were born in the First Realm.)
 * Arrokore tells Sora and Nya that Djinnjago was the source of Wish Magic, which all Djinns once had, but without the realm, the magic is depleted. This gives some additional context to Nadkhan's need to recreate Djinnjago before he could marry Nya and gain infinite wishes.