Keep in mind that thisis asimple theory, nothing is confirmed, and that I have no evidence supporting my theory. This is simply a theory—a wild guess—on what I believe may happen, for the upcoming season of Ninjago.
REASONING & THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND As Nya is now—to put it simply—deceased, of course the Ninja will all be grieving. However, some of them will take this to heart much more than others. Kai, being Nya's brother, and protector as to when they were young, will certainly dig a deeper pit in his emotions than most of the others. Jay too, as is most obvious, as her Yin, will experience the crushing grief of her loss more heavily than most. (I want to make it clear that this doesn't mean the other Ninja do not care about her loss. Lloyd formed more minor ties with her when she encouraged him and motivated him in S9, Hunted. Zane and Nya were both known as the tech geniuses, and therefore felt a connection through their mechanical knowledge. Cole has shown affection for Nya in the past, and we know he has, at some point, connected to her on a deeper level. Pixal and Nya, being the only female team members, formed a strong friendship as well.)
Of course, Ninjago being Ninjago, and being generally aimed more towards the younger audiences, it is likely that she will come back. We have seen Lloyd and Zane (Perhaps Kai, if his heart rate possibly stopped for a moment when he fell into the water, in the truck with Kalmaar, midway through s15,) decease briefly, then return. Of course, there is also a chance that Nya may not return. But we do know she will be present as a character sometime during S16. Observe a picture I found on Ninjago Wiki, concerning the cast for the upcoming S16.
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We have the main Ninja (including Wu and excluding Pixal, as of this image) lined up with their corresponding voice actors. As we can see, Nya is listed above, meaning she will be voiced sometime during the season. This does not mean she will be present in reality. She could be seen and/or heard in a dream, a vision, or in a flashback.
There is also a large, recently leaked piece of information, tweeted by Tommy Andreasen on Twitter. Observe his words.
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(Credits to TannerFishies, a Ninjago YouTuber whose channel I obtained this image from. Check him out. Cool dude. Good stuff.)
With my reasoning for my theory, and things to keep in mind as I present it, here is my actual theory.
THEORY
I believe that the Ninja will all be bitterly grieving throughout the first few episodes. We will see a lot of tears, sadness, and heart-wrenching regrets. Ninjago City will be repairing itself, honoring Nya and her noble sacrifice as they go. Anything related to water (of which there will likely be much) reminds us of Nya's courage.
However, the criminals and villains of the city see the loss of the water ninja as a great time to hop into action. With little to no time to grieve over their loss, the Ninja must set off on countless crime-stopping missions. However, Jay and/or Kai refuse(s) to go on these missions, grief overtaking them in a way that renders them practically useless.
However, while staying behind on these missions, one or both of Kai and Jay find(s) some intriguing information about whatever the plot or villain of this next season will be like. He/They go to inform the others of this information. And in a very small amount of time, their grief is briefly forgotten, as they suddenly realize havoc is about to strike.
That's all I've got for my theory. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
