Sacred Flutes

History[]

Prior to the series[]

After their defeat in the Birchwood Forest, the Elemental Alliance withdrew to Jamanakai Village. Garmadon then noticed a villager playing the flute, hypnotizing his snake in a basket. This gave the son of First Spinjitzu Master the idea of how to end the war.^[2] The Alliance stole the flutes back from Chen and rebuilt them, allowing them to manipulate the Serpentine. With the help of these flutes, the Alliance managed to lock the Serpentine in five separate tombs. As the years went by, humans forgot about its ancestors' wisdom, and all the flutes were lost, except for one owned by Master Wu.^[3]

Home[]

By the time that the Serpentine were released by Lloyd, Master Wu had the only remaining Sacred Flute. He used it to cure Cole of Skales' hypnosis while the brainwashed ninja fought his comrades atop Lloyd's treehouse fortress. Upon hearing the music of the flute, Cole immediately snapped out of his trance and joined his allies in escaping the crumbling fortress. On the way back to the monastery, Wu explained the flute's significance to the ninja.

Snakebit[]

Master Wu brought the Sacred Flute with him when the ninja visited Ed & Edna's Scrap N Junk. It proved useful in stunning the Fangpyre forces occupying the junkyard, but Lloyd countered its effects by using a boom box infected with Fangpyre venom, playing loud music to drown out the sound of the flute.

Can of Worms[]

When Cole and Zane investigated the Constrictai Tomb, they took the Sacred Flute with them. During their battle with Constrictai General Skalidor, they repeatedly attempted to use the flute, but Skalidor's powerful grip left them unable to finish the song. After several tries, Zane finally completed the melody, weakening Skalidor enough for the two ninja to defeat him.

Later, the ninja were lured into a trap in the Toxic Bogs, where they learned that all of the Serpentine had been unleashed. When Zane attempted to use the Sacred Flute against the massed Constrictai and Venomari, Pythor knocked the flute out of his hands and took it for himself. Master Wu was displeased to learn that the Serpentine now possessed the flute.

The Snake King[]

Pythor would eventually use the Sacred Flute against his fellow Generals in a bid to unite the tribes under his leadership. After letting Skales in on his plan, he challenged the Generals to a Slither Pit in the Lost City of Ouroboros, demanding their allegiance if he managed to defeat all four of them at once. When the battle turned against Pythor, Skales slipped him the Sacred Flute, and the scheming Anacondrai used it to incapacitate the other Generals. Both Pythor and Skales had put cotton balls in their ears prior to the battle, so they were not affected.

Day of the Great Devourer[]

Zane was revealed to have a recording of the Sacred Flute, which the ninja used in the construction of the Ultra Sonic Raider. The vehicle's main armament was a pair of sonic cannons that played the Sacred Flute's melody at an amplified volume, which the ninja used against the Great Devourer. The monstrous snake proved as vulnerable to the music as the Serpentine had, but it managed to disable the Raider's sonic cannons with its tail before the ninja could completely pacify it.

Appearances[]

Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu Season 1: Rise of the Snakes 2. "Home" 3. "Snakebit" 4. "Never Trust a Snake" 5. "Can of Worms" 6. "The Snake King" 7. "Tick Tock" (error) 13. "Day of the Great Devourer" (sound) Season 4: Tournament of Elements 40. "Spellbound" (flashback) Day of the Departed "Day of the Departed" (depiction) Season 7: The Hands of Time 65. "The Hands of Time (depiction) 66. "The Hatching" (flashback) 70. "The Attack" (depiction) 74. "Lost in Time" (depiction) Season 9: Hunted 92. "Saving Faith" (flashback) Ninjago: Reimagined 5. "Golden Hour" (depiction) Graphic novels Tomb of the Fangpyre (vision; non-canon) Strike of the Serpentine (flashback) Ninjago Magazine 25. "Vermillion Battle!" (sound; non-canon) Ninjago: Legacy Magazine 2. "Snake Attack!" (replica; non-canon) 17. "Snakes in the Sand" (flashback)

Trivia[]

• The tune of Sacred Flutes is adapted from 牧笛 (Herding Flute), a famous Chinese flute song composed in 1958. This song is used to herding cattle, but it is used on snakes in the show.
• Sacred Flutes are based on a wind musical instrument called Pungi from the Indian subcontinent. Snake charmers used this instrument for snake charming, in which a snake, most often a cobra, is placed in a basket and then comes out of it at the sound of a flute. Unlike a real musical instrument, where the flute is held directly in front of the charmer, the Sacred Flute is played sideways.
  • However, in "Spellbound" and the flute's concept art, it is played in a way like in real life.
  • The truth about snake charming is that snakes are not actually being entranced by the sound of the music. In fact, real life snakes are deaf (physically unable to perceive airborne sounds like humans are). When they rise out of the basket and move to the music of the flute, they are closely monitoring the vibrations in the ground as they attempt to assert their dominance, trying to hold their ground against the flute player, which they visualize as a predator challenging them.
• When Wu tells his story in "Tick Tock," the flute can be seen in a cabinet behind him, even though had been stolen by Pythor at that point.
• Wu's appearance in "Day of the Departed" and The Hands of Time depicts what appears to be a Sacred Flute on his back. However, the last flute was lost and last seen in "The Snake King." This was confirmed by Tommy Andreasen to be a case of the designers not being briefed on the show's lore well enough.^[4] He also offered the possibility that Wu had since created a new Sacred Flute.^[5]
• When used, they cause the Serpentine's eyes to spin, and look similar to someone affected by Hypnobrai hypnosis.
• In "Spellbound", the sound of the flute varies drastically from that of the flute in Rise of the Snakes.
• The effects of the flute are different in Season 1: Rise of the Snakes and "Spellbound."
  • While in Season 1 the flute only causes the Serpentine to cover their ears because they can't stand its sound, in "Spellbound" the flute has a similar effect as Hypnobrai hypnosis.
    • It is possible that a hypnosis-like effect can be achieved by playing the flute for a longer time, as even in "Spellbound" the Anacondrai first only covered their ears.
• According to a non-canon issue of the Ninjago Magazine, the sound of a Sacred Flute does not affect the Vermillion. It is unknown why is this the case, as it clearly can affect their mother.

Videos[]

Gallery[]

Pictured in LEGO form[]

Promotional media[]

Concept art[]

In Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu[]

Season 1: Rise of the Snakes[]

Season 4: Tournament of Elements[]

Day of the Departed[]

Season 7: The Hands of Time[]

Season 9: Hunted[]

In Ninjago: Reimagined[]

In other media[]

Translations[]

Language	Name
Finnish	Pyhät huilut
German	Heilige Flöten
Japanese	聖なる笛
Polish	Święty Flet
Russian	Священная Флейта
Spanish (Latin America)	Flautas Sagradas

References[]