Episode Summary
When Aang and his friends hear rumors about surviving airbenders, they decide to stop by the Northern Air Temple on their way to the North Pole to see for themselves. What they find is a bunch of people who aren’t airbenders, but have mastered the art of gliding; though this upsets Aang because they have been defacing the temple. However, there was one part of the temple where nobody has been able to enter, and what Aang and his friends discover inside spells oncoming conflict.
“Cheapskates”
Storyteller: Jingle jingle.
(Sokka searches for some money)
Sokka: Sorry.
Storyteller: Cheapskates.
“Same Thing Basically”
Katara: Do you think we’ll really find Airbenders?
Sokka: You want me to be like you or totally honest?
Katara: Are you saying I’m a liar?
Sokka: I’m saying you’re an optimist. Same thing basically.
“Gliding Maybe”
Aang: Hey guys, look at this!
Katara: Huh! They really are Airbenders!
Aang: No they’re not.
Sokka: What do you mean they’re not? Those guys are flying!
Aang: Gliding maybe, but not flying. You can tell by the way they move they’re not Airbending. Those people have no spirit.
“Before It Finds Us”
Sokka: We better find some solid ground before it finds us.
“Wow!”
Sokka: Wow!
Tao: Yeah, my dad is the mastermind behind this whole place. Everything’s powered by hot air. It even pumps some hot air outside to give us some lift when we’re gliding.
“So Better!”
Katara: Aang used to come here a long time ago. I think he’s a little shocked at how it’s… so different.
Sokka: So better!
“Four o’Candle”
Sokka: Wait, how can you tell the time from that thing? The notches all look the same.
The Mechanist: The candle will tell us. Watch.
(Sparks and bangs go off)
Sokka: You put spark powder inside the candle!
The Mechanist: Four flashes. So it’s exactly four hours past midday. Or as I call it, four o’candle.
“Empty Room”
Sokka: These lanterns are terrible. I can’t see. Why would you want to use fireflies for light?
The Mechanist: Hey, close that up! They’ll get loose. Fireflies are a non—flammable light source.
The Mechanist: Cover your nose and hold your breath.
Sokka: Okay, so you brought me all the way down here to see an empty room.
The Mechanist: Wrong.
The Mechanist: It’s filled to the brim with natural gas. Came across it my first time here. Unfortunately, I was carrying a torch at the time. Nearly blew myself and the whole place even more sky high. Thought my eyebrows would never grow back. Anyway, there’s a vital problem that needs solving. From time to time we have gas leaks and they’re nearly impossible to find.
Sokka: So this place is an explosion waiting to happen?
The Mechanist: Yes, until I figure out how to locate something I can’t see, hear, smell or touch.
“Week—Old Egg Smell”
The Mechanist: I said don’t touch anything! Oh, don’t worry. That experiment’s old and that egg was just part of last week’s lunch.
Sokka: Ugh! Week—old egg smell!
The Mechanist: Quick! Find that egg!
“Big Stink”
Sokka: How could something that’s so small you can’t even see it make such a big stink?!
The Mechanist: That’s the solution to our problem!
Sokka: Yeah! If we put a whole mess of rotten eggs in the cellar where the gas seeps up…
The Mechanist: The gas will mix with the smell of rotten eggs…
Sokka: Then if there’s a leak…
The Mechanist: You smell rotten eggs! Then you just follow your nose to the place where the smell is coming from…
Sokka: And plug up the hole where the gas is escaping!
Sokka and The Mechanist: You’re a genius!
“Weapons For The Fire Nation?”
Sokka: You make weapons for the Fire Nation?!
“Very Bad!”
Sokka: This is bad! Very bad!
“You’re A Genius!”
The Mechanist: We finally got the war balloon working thanks to Sokka. This boy’s a genius.
Sokka: Thank you, you’re a genius.
The Mechanist: Thank you!
“If Only We Knew”
Sokka: See the problem with the old war balloon was you could get it airborne, but once you did, it just kept going. (He demonstrates with a model that goes up and hits the ceiling.) You could put a hole in the top, but then all the hot air would escape. So the question became, how do you keep a lid on hot air?
Katara: Ugh, if only we knew.
“Actually Pretty Smart”
Sokka: A lid is actually the answer. If you control the hot air, you control the war balloon.
Katara: Hmmm. That’s actually pretty smart.
Sokka: Okay, we’ve got four kinds of bombs. Smoke, slime, fire and…
The Mechanist: Stink! Never underestimate the power of stink.
“Bombs Away!”
Sokka: Hey, why aren’t they shooting at us?
The Mechanist: The insignia, they think we’re on their side!
Sokka: Then I guess they won’t see this coming.
The Mechanist: Bombs away!
“The Only Bomb We’ve Got!”
Sokka: Oh no, that was the last one!
The Mechanist: Wait a second. You smell that?
Sokka: Rotten eggs! There! That’s where the gas is escaping!
The Mechanist: What are you doing? That’s our fuel source!
Sokka: It’s the only bomb we’ve got!
(Large explosion)
Aang: Look! They’re retreating!
“We’re Going Down!”
Sokka: We’re going down!
Katara: No! Sokka, hold on!
Sokka: Get ready!
