Minions of the Shadow Dragon has been announced as the second Emperor Edition theme. A Spider Clan theme, Minions of the Shadow Dragon represents Daigotsu’s odd relationship with the current avatar of the Lying Darkness. The Spider Ninja will now include not only the Goju, but also the Ninube, who had previously eluded the Shadow Dragon’s grasp. Although they will be distinct from Scorpion Ninja, the Spider Ninja, like the Yasuki, represents a previously one-clan theme spreading to other clans.

The announcement also contains an interesting sentence – “With the changes wrought in the Spider’s operations at the conclusion of the Destroyer War, the Daigotsu and their attendants are not so free to engage in activities that once would have seemed second nature to them” – which seems to reference, although without any specificity, that the Spider’s operations will be curtailed as a result of achieving Great Clan status, and also names the current phase of the war(s) that has engulfed Rokugan for a while now.