The LEGO Ninjago signature ninja command ship, Destiny’s Bounty, is on hiatus for Season 7 with the previously released version having just been retired and the next version attached to The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Enter Destiny’s Shadow, a sleek fun stand-in with a prominent on-screen role at a fraction of the Destiny’s Bounty price.
Destiny’s Shadow is a gift to Lloyd from his mom, Misako, during the battle against The Hands of Time: Crux and Acronix, in Season 7 of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. It appears in multiple episodes and the toy version bears a decent resemblance to its animated version.
Like it’s older and much larger brother, Destiny’s Shadow is designed to function as both a boat and a flying vehicle. This functionality is realized with action-triggered horizontal wing sails as opposed to a traditional horizontal sail. A small yellow button on the ship’s rear pushes the wings out for flight, while an awkward push on the wings themselves returns them to neutral mode.
LEGO Ninjago Destiny’s Shadow Wings
Either side of Destiny’s Shadow is a mirror image of the other so there’s expected repetitiveness in the build. Many hidden Technic parts and some fun building methods help offset a plunge into redundancy.
Destiny’s Shadow is equipped with detachable olive green canoes on either side so the ninja can go scouting in the swamp. Their inclusion add a stylish curve to the profile. This swampy olive green color scheme carries forward into details on the front of the ship for a nice balanced look.
From the rear, Destiny’s Shadow breaks up the brown/green/red color palette with bright purple lighting up all three thrusters.
Ironically there’s as much deck space on the Destiny’s Shadow as there is on the Destiny’s Bounty. Perhaps that’s due to complaints raised against the Bounty and how it’s difficult to easily fit all the ninja on there. You can easy fit eight mini-figures on the Shadow including the pilot’s chair at the ship’s stern.
The Destiny’s Shadow mini-figure lineup skews heavily in favor of the heroes. Included are Cole with his new Day of the Departed ghost scar and the red Pause time blade, as well as Lloyd. The former has an alternate face print while the latter does not. Both are identical to their versions in Iron Doom though do not include their shoulder armor seen in that set.
Representing the Vermillion is Vermin, a grunt soldier with extra armor and a fantastic dual-molded sword with intricate snake details. It goes without saying that the Vermillion figures in this wave of LEGO Ninjago toys have the best torso printing of any LEGO line to date.
Vermin has a stud on his back so he can affix to a small inclusive glider, though the instructions nor box make that apparent. The marketing guys must not have picked up on this neat detail designers built in as Vermin looks ridiculous standing angled on the glider.
For reasons unknown there’s a green frog sitting up near the ship’s bow. To my knowledge he’s not show accurate though he does appear on the box’s side alongside the other characters. There has to be an inside joke here somewhere.
Destiny’s Shadow fills in the Destiny’s Bounty void nicely. I would have liked to seen another Vermillion warrior or at least some loose snakes as seen in every other set for more good vs. evil balance. At $30 SRP, Destiny’s Bounty is much more affordable than the $120 SRP recently retired Destiny’s Bounty and can shuttle around Wu’s entire crew.
You can check for pricing or buy Destiny’s Shadow at Amazon.
