The Drill

:This article is about the episode. For the machine, see Fire Nation drill.
"The Drill" is the 13th episode of Book Two: Earth of Avatar: The Last Airbender and the 33rd of the overall series. It premiered at select United States movie theaters on September 9, 2006, and made its television debut on September 15, 2006.
== Overview ==
Having successfully navigated the Serpent's Pass, Aang is determined to journey to Ba Sing Se in the hopes of finding his lost bison, Appa. However, he discovers a Fire Nation drill heading straight for Ba Sing Se, intent on destroying the wall. Aang and the group succeed in demolishing the drill from the inside of the mechanism. Meanwhile, Jet wishes to recruit Zuko as a member of the Freedom Fighters, only to learn Zuko and Iroh are firebenders.
== Synopsis ==
Several Fire Nation tundra tanks rumble across the rugged terrain toward the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se, the enormous Fire Nation drill following close behind. Several segments of the drill extend forward, elongating the machine. Steam is released from its pipes and metal spikes lodge into the surrounding land.
The command module for the drill ascends from the top, where congregated inside are Mai, Ty Lee, Azula, War Minister Qin, and several Fire Nation soldiers operating the machine. War Minister Qin boasts about the drill's magnificent ingenuity and its capability of breaching the walls of Ba Sing Se. Ty Lee questions whether the earthbenders guarding the Outer Wall are capable of halting it, to which Qin objects by stating that the drill's metal shell is impervious to any earthbending attack, emphasizing his point by striking the periscope Ty Lee was looking through. Azula concurs with Qin's claims, but orders Mai, who is sullenly twirling a dagger out of boredom, and Ty Lee to take the earthbenders out just to be safe. Mai immediately sheaths her dagger and moves to execute Azula's order, musing that she finally has something to do.
Meanwhile, Team Avatar approaches Ba Sing Se along with Than, Ying, and their newborn baby, Hope. Aang flies down on his glider followed by Momo and lands in front of them. He warns them of an oncoming danger approaching Ba Sing Se. Moments later, Toph and Aang use earthbending to transport everyone up the Outer Wall, as Sokka asks "Now what's so big that Appa has to wait?"
Upon arrival at the top of the wall, Aang indicates the advancing drill. Ying hopelessly states that they had reached Ba Sing Se and they still were not safe. Earthbender soldiers approach them and question their reasons for coming to the Outer Wall. Aang reveals himself as the Avatar and requests he be taken to their leader. To his surprise, however, the commanding officer, General Sung, says the Avatar's help is unneeded. He assures that the wall's impenetrability prevents any enemy invasion of Ba Sing Se. Toph reminds him that the Dragon of the West, Iroh, had once infiltrated the city, to which the general retaliates by saying that Iroh was quickly removed, and humorously explains that Ba Sing Se means "impenetrable city". Toph alerts him once more of the oncoming drill and Sung sends his elite team of earthbenders, the Terra Team, to stop it. Sokka expresses his favor of the team's name.
Down below, the Terra Team manages to launch one of the Fire Nation tanks into the air and bend earth columns upward against the drill's metal shell in an attempt to hinder its progress. However, the drill is so powerful that when it extends forward again it simply crushes the columns. The soldiers are quickly forced to defend themselves when a flurry of daggers are hurled their way. Mai and Ty Lee are seen skidding down the side of the drill, prepared to battle the earthbenders. Ty Lee swings off a rope onto the ground and deftly takes out all the earthbenders in seconds by striking their pressure points. After successfully blocking their chi, she stands triumphantly over the defeated warriors.
Having just witnessed the defeat of the Terra Team, General Sung exclaims that they are doomed and begins to flail his arms in panic. Sokka slaps the general and tells him to get a hold of himself, causing the general to apologize for his behavior. Toph asks if he needs their assistance at this point, and Sung turns to Aang to humbly ask for his help. With the situation now in their hands, Katara, Toph, and Aang all look to Sokka for a plan, noting that he is the "idea guy". Sokka complains that he always has to come up with the plans, to which Katara mentions that he is also the "complaining guy", a moniker he agrees with.
Meanwhile, Iroh and Zuko are at the ticket gate in the Ba Sing Se monorail station. The ticket woman accidentally pronounces their names incorrectly and casts them suspicious looks. Iroh corrects her on the pronunciation of their names, angering her. To settle the tension, he quickly compliments her, comparing her beauty to that of a flower in full bloom. Flattered by this, she compliments him back, stamps their tickets, and welcomes them to Ba Sing Se. A disgusted Zuko snatches his ticket out of Iroh's hand and walks away.
Jet and Smellerbee discuss the possibility of Lee, really Zuko under an alias, joining the new Freedom Fighters. Smellerbee opposes the idea, highlighting their unfamiliarity with the man, though Jet notes that he did not get his scar from a waterbender. He asks Longshot for his input, only to get a blank stare, responding that he "can respect that".
In an infirmary located on the Outer Wall, Katara utilizes her healing abilities on one of the earthbenders attacked by Mai and Ty Lee. When the general mentions the bender did not appear to be injured, she informs him the earthbender's chi is blocked. The earthbender provides a description of the person who ambushed him, whom Katara identifies as Ty Lee. She remarks how she does not look threatening, but "it's like she takes you down from the inside". Sokka's face suddenly lights up and he states they should dismantle the drill in a similar manner. Toph chimes in by saying, "By hitting its pressure points!" Aang agrees and they start their descent from the wall toward the drill. Toph creates a large dust cloud to use as cover to approach the drill, instructing the others to follow close behind her as only she will be able to "see". When Ty Lee examines the dust cloud through the periscope, she remarks that it was "poofy". Azula suspiciously looks at War Minister Qin, who reassures her that everything is in order.
The group dashes through the cloud close to the drill. Toph creates a tunnel underground and tells everyone to jump in before closing it up behind them. When Sokka remarks that it is so dark that he cannot see, Toph sarcastically responds that it is a nightmare, causing him to apologize. Toph keeps tunneling until they emerge underneath the drill. Sokka sees an open area up into the interior and Aang boosts him and Katara inside. Toph refuses to go, explaining that she would not be able to bend or see inside the metal drill. Instead, she stays outside in order to aid their efforts by wedging a large earth column against the drill to try to slow it down.
Inside the metal mechanism, Sokka says he needs the drill's schematics. To the others' surprise, Sokka slices off the wheel of a nearby pipe, resulting in the rapid release of steam. Aang and Katara grow worried that someone will hear them. However, Sokka explains that a large machine is bound to have engineers to maintain it, meaning someone will come by with schematics to help them fix any problems. Later, a firebender engineer walks out of the mist and approaches the source of the incident. He turns around sharply only for Katara to freeze the steam, entrapping him. Sokka takes the schematics from the engineer and the team runs up the stairway. He examines the schematics and explains that they need to cut through the braces that connect the inner mechanism and the outer shell. This would consequently result in the collapse of the machine.
Meanwhile, Iroh and Zuko seat themselves on a bench at the monorail station when Jet comes over and sits next to Zuko, inquiring about his plans once inside the city. While they talk, a tea seller walks by, advertising his wares. Iroh asks for jasmine tea, only to spit it out in disgust, complaining the tea is cold. Pulling Zuko aside, Jet tries to convince him to join the Freedom Fighters, but the firebender declines. Jet suspiciously eyes Iroh drinking the now hot, steamy tea and suddenly realizes they are firebenders. Seeing the Freedom Fighter casting a menacing glare at Iroh, Zuko knocks the tea out of his hand and scolds his uncle for firebending his tea in public, to which Iroh remarks, "I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but it's just so sad."
Sokka, Katara, and Aang arrive at the location of the massive steel braces and carry out their scheme. Aang and Katara begin slowly slicing through one brace using their waterbending to forcefully shoot Katara's water skin supply back and forth between themselves. Just getting halfway through the brace, however, both Aang and Katara grow fatigued. Sokka attempts to encourage them to continue but quickly shuts up when a frustrated Katara threatens to harm him with her waterbending. When they finish cutting through the brace, however, the two ends only slightly shift out of alignment. Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound reverberates and the entire drill shudders. Having deemed themselves successful in destroying the drill, the team prepares to evacuate only for War Minister Qin to come over the announcement system and explain that the rumbling was due to the drill making contact with the wall.
Sokka uselessly pushes against the brace with all his might but fails to budge it. Realizing that after exerting a lot of time and energy, the team has only cut through one brace with minimal damage, Aang recalls his earthbending lessons and points out that they only need to slice halfway through the braces, just enough to weaken them. After completing that task, he would need to deliver a final blow, forceful enough to shear the braces, to which the team agrees. Aang reminds them that everyone in Ba Sing Se is depending on them to emerge victorious. Aang and Katara immediately resume work cutting away at the braces while Toph continues to hinder the drill's progress from outside.
Meanwhile, earthbenders atop the wall hurl large boulders in an attempt to damage the drill but to no avail.
From the command module, a soldier informs the War Minister that an engineer has been ambushed while another tells him a brace was cut clean through. Sensing sabotage, Azula beckons Ty Lee and Mai to investigate with her.
Aang and Katara continue cutting through the braces. Sokka persistently cheers them on when a blue fireball suddenly comes hurtling his way, causing him to duck and shout in alarm. Katara and Aang look up to find Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee standing on an overhead beam. Ty Lee states her excitement to see the Avatar "and friends" while shooting Sokka a flirtatious look. Sokka responds with a wave and a drawled "Hey" while Katara pulls him away.
Ty Lee dives toward Aang, who airbends her away. They split up at an intersection where Katara tosses her water skin to Aang, saying he would need it. Mai and Ty Lee follow Katara and Sokka while Azula follows Aang. Sokka and Katara come to a hatch marked "slurry pipeline", within which a rock and water mixture channels through. Sokka explains that it is a convenient escape route, so they jump into the muddy water in time to avoid Mai's thrown knives and are washed away through the pipeline. Peering down into the pipe, Ty Lee tries to persuade Mai to accompany her, but Mai pointedly refuses to go "in that wall sludge juice". Ty Lee shrugs and jumps in while Mai closes the hatch after her.
Meanwhile, Aang speeds past numerous engineers and control rooms with Momo perched on his back. He climbs a ladder to the top of the drill where he plans to deliver the final strike.
Katara and Sokka exit outside the rear of the drill covered in slurry with Ty Lee close behind in hot pursuit. Katara uses waterbending to create a plug, imprisoning Ty Lee. Sokka urges her to continue plugging the drain, explaining that when Aang delivers the final blow, the pipes will be ready to burst from the built-up pressure.
Aang chooses a spot on the top of the drill to deliver the final blow. Several boulders suddenly fall from overhead, one nearly hitting him. Aang shouts up to the general to stop hurling rocks, but Sung, still paralyzed with fear, orders his men to keep going. The Avatar uses waterbending to slowly cut an "X" into the hull to create a weak spot.
Meanwhile, Katara continues holding back the slurry to build up pressure as Sokka continues to "coach" her, commenting on her good technique and telling her to remember her breathing. Irritated and fed up by his constant ordering around, she angrily snaps that he is like a "chattering hog monkey". Sokka retaliates by ordering her to "Just bend the slurry, woman!", which earns himself a wave of slurry bent at his face to shut him up. Toph approaches and teams up with Katara to help plug up the drain by earthbending the slurry, the two forcing it back even further and exerting more pressure on the pipeline, causing its sections to bulge outward.
Working on his "X", Aang momentarily stops for a break and wishes he was a metalbender. Momo suddenly shrieks, causing him to turn around and catch sight of a blue fire blast coming toward them. Aang manages to dodge it and sends Momo away, preparing for a duel with Azula. Azula shoots several fireballs at him, all of which Aang manages to avoid. He blasts a gust of air her way and uses water whips to deter Azula's blasts off-target. Aang attempts to deflect two fierce blasts she shoots with a water shield, however, the shield evaporates and he is sent back several feet. More boulders are hurdled downward and Aang takes the opportunity to throw one at Azula. She ducks in time and shoots another fireball. Aang resorts to creating a wall of rubble and repeatedly hurls components of the wall at the Fire Nation princess, who merely kicks the boulders away and almost strikes Aang with a kick of flames. Azula proceeds to somersault in the air and deliver a powerful fire blast, destroying the makeshift wall and causing Aang to hurtle into the Outer Wall, falling unconscious onto the surface of the drill.
The drill extends again and Azula walks over to Aang with sinister intent. She hoists Aang up and holds him against the wall before his body slides between the wall and the drill. She readies a blue flame in her hand. However, Aang slowly awakens and sees the oncoming attack. He quickly makes an earth gauntlet from the wall and blocks her attack, pushing her back several feet. He readies for battle when slurry suddenly spews from the cracks in the wall, coating the drill with a slick layer of liquid and dirt. Azula recovers from the incident and rockets toward him using firebending, however, she slides across the mud instead. Her momentum flings her into Aang while windmilling to regain her control. The two of them slam into the wall and both begin sliding down opposite sides of the cylindrical drill. Azula manages to turn over and stop her descent by using her hands and the soles of her shoes. Momo arrives on the scene and latches onto Aang's back, helping him up while he uses airbending to climb back to the top.
Aang thanks Momo and runs to the weakened spot. A recently hurled boulder conveniently lands next to him, which he moves over and proceeds to cut the four lower sides off with earthbending to craft a spike that fits neatly into the "X" he carved. He rides an air scooter straight up the wall and, at the apex of his ascension, turns around and races down on foot. Azula spots him and, intending to intercept him, sends a powerful blue fire blast at him at close range. However, Aang speeds past it, missing the blast by a fraction of a second, and slams down with an air impact on the rock spike, driving it deep. The impact causes the compromised braces to snap and the excess slurry bursts out of the machine. Broken down, the drill is left jammed partially in the Outer Wall. Azula, who was thrown back by the final blow, slides down the drill to join Ty Lee, who is sitting in the slurry, having been freed from her predicament once the influx of slurry stopped. Mai emerges from one of the hatches completely dry and casually announces the two that they lost.
Meanwhile, at the station, Smellerbee, Longshot, and Jet, eyes wild with hatred, board the same monorail Zuko and Iroh are riding to Ba Sing Se. Inside the monorail car, Iroh leans over and tickles an infant, who happens to be Ying's baby, Hope.
At the top of the wall, Sokka begins to brainstorm clever nicknames for their group including "The Aang Gang", "The Boomeraang Squad", and the "Fearsome Foursome", as the team prepares to enter Ba Sing Se, saved from Fire Nation war tactics once again.
== Credits ==
* Written by:
** Michael Dante DiMartino
** Bryan Konietzko
* Directed by:
** Giancarlo Volpe
* Starring:
** Zach Tyler Eisen - Aang
** Mae Whitman - Katara
** Jack DeSena - Sokka
** Jessie Flower - Toph
** Dante Basco - Prince Zuko
** Dee Bradley Baker:
*** Appa
*** Momo
**** Only Momo actually appears in the episode.
* Also starring:
** Mako - Uncle
** Grey DeLisle - Azula
** Cricket Leigh - Mai
** Olivia Hack - Ty Lee
** Crawford Wilson - Jet
** Nika Futterman - Smellerbee
** Barry Dennen - General Sung
** Kristoffer Tabori - War Minister
* Additional voices:
** Dee Bradley Baker
** Cameron Bowen
** Roberta Farkas (ticket woman)
** Kim Mai Guest (Ying)
** Jim Meskimen
** Rodney Saulsberry (misspelled Sulsberry)
** Kristoffer Tabori
== Production notes ==
=== Transcript ===
=== Translations ===
=== Avatar Extras ===
=== Series continuity ===
* Sokka has the books he "borrowed" from Wan Shi Tong's Library in his bag.
* The blueprints for the Fire Nation drill were seen in the mechanist's laboratory in "The Northern Air Temple".
* The drill itself was first referred to by Suki, albeit as a rumor, in "The Serpent's Pass".
* This is the second time in the series waterbending is used to cut through metal, the first being when Koizilla attacked the Fire Navy ships in the Siege of the North.
* This is the second episode in which Iroh has gotten into trouble due to tea. The first time was when he accidentally drank tea brewed from a poisonous plant in "The Cave of Two Lovers".
* This is the second time Toph has tried to slow something down that Aang, Katara, and Sokka were in. The first time was in "The Library" when the library was sinking.
* This is the first time the name "Team Avatar" is used.
* Team Avatar later uses this drill as proof in "The Earth King" to convince Earth King Kuei that the war is real.
* In "The Guru", Toph develops metalbending, a skill Aang wishes he had when slicing the metal hull of the Fire Nation drill.
=== Goofs ===
* When Aang and Toph are moving the group up the side of the Outer Wall, Aang's staff is missing.
* After climbing up the wall, while Team Avatar is talking to General Sung, Than's family is missing.
* In one shot, when the group is standing on the Outer Wall, the low wall in front of them is taller to both sides; in the next shot, it is lowered to both sides.
* When identifying the Terra Team's attacker as Ty Lee, the part of Katara's necklace that connects the pendant to the choker is the same color as the pendant when it should be yellow.
* When Katara questions Sokka when he comes up with the idea to take down the drill from the inside, her necklace disappears in mid-frame.
* When looking at the schematics of the drill, Sokka's right pinky and ring fingers are blue.
* After Aang says, "I don't know how many more of those I have in me," Sokka's mouth moves, but nothing is said.
* When Sokka disgustedly tries to wipe the slurry off himself with his hands, they emerge completely clean.
* When Ty Lee becomes stuck in the slurry, rocks either go right through her arm or hit her arm without having any effect on her.
* When Sokka sits back up after having been knocked over into the slurry, his back is not entirely covered in it.
* When Katara and Toph were bending the slurry, Ty Lee would have likely drowned or been beaten to death by the rocks in the slurry. On top of that, the engineers would not have lived either when the slurry flooded the inside of the drill.
* After Aang is slammed into the wall of Ba Sing Se and falls down unconscious, his left hand is under his head; in the next frame, however, his right hand is under his head.
** The slurry leaked also disappeared in this frame.
* When the drill made it through the wall while Katara and Toph were bending the slurry to plug up the drain, the slurry should have come out the other side of the machine.
* At the end of the episode, the sun is pointing the wrong way based on the shadows of the characters.
=== Trivia ===
* The Book Two DVDs refer to this episode as "Journey to Ba Sing Se, Part 2: The Drill".
* This episode reveals that while Katara can heal wounds, she cannot heal someone whose chi has been blocked.
* This episode marks the first time an actual person has defeated Ty Lee. Prior to this, only Appa had managed to defeat her.
* This episode and "The Serpent's Pass" aired together as the one-hour special, Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation. With 4.4 million viewers, this special is the second-highest rated among viewers, behind "Sozin's Comet".
** This special airing, called "The Secret of the Fire Nation", was sponsored by Upper Deck Entertainment, distributor of the Avatar Trading Card Game, for special premiere screenings at numerous cities throughout the United States. These screenings began on September 9, six days before the Nickelodeon television airing, at Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, Providence, and Washington, D.C. movie theaters and included demonstrations of the Avatar TCG.
* The events pertaining to this episode would be referenced in "The Ember Island Players". When the scene cuts to the audience, many people are either nodding off or asleep, alluding to the lukewarm reception this episode had with the fan base.
* Iroh saying "I know not to cry over spilled tea" is a wordplay on the saying "Don't cry over spilled milk."
* It is interesting to note that, based on the apparent hydraulic components of the drill, simply sabotaging the hydraulic system by busting the numerous pipes and valves might have brought the drill to a halt much faster than the wildly inefficient strategy the team employs.
* Metalbending is mentioned for the first time in this episode.
* In the Indonesian version of this episode, Toph is really afraid when she creates and enters the hole under the drill, as opposed to her English counterpart who mocks Sokka.
* This episode marks the only time Aang is known to have waterbent from a water skin.
* At the end of the episode, Sokka comes up with several nicknames for the group: "The Boomeraang Squad", "The Aang Gang", "The Fearsome Foursome", and "Team Avatar". Ironically, though Katara stated that the name "Team Avatar" would never catch on, the term is commonly used by fans and was later referenced in the episode "When Extremes Meet" by Bolin while referring to Aang and his friends and taking on the name of Team Avatar in their honor.
** Another popular nickname for the group among fans is "Gaang", which derives from Sokka's second suggestion.
** In another episode of The Legend of Korra, the name "Fearsome Foursome" is suggested by Varrick for a group of former villains teaming up together.
== References ==
de:Bedrohlicher Bohrer
es:El Taladro
fi:Pora
fr:La Foreuse
nl:De Boor
pl:Wiertło
pt-br:A Broca
ru:Бур (серия)
uk:Бур
Category:A to Z
Category:Book Two: Earth
Category:Episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender
Category:Real world