Return

**Return** is the twentieth and final episode of the fourth season of the Stories of Sodor and the seventieth episode overall.

Return/Transcript

## Plot

Edward starts off by explaining about Terence the Tractor, built in 1932 and arrived on Sodor in the same year for trackside maintenance on the Fire and Rescue Service. Aside from helping in accidents, he also assists in inspecting rail lines and projects; Examples include the China Clay Pits, the Skarloey Railway's expansion and the Waterton Branch. Throughout the years, he has developed numerous contacts who keep him informed on several topics and will talk about these, no matter how insignificant, and owns up if his words are false. A few weeks before the Waterton Branch's opening, as he wasn't needed there, Terence was on his way to the Clay Pits for his yearly safety inspection. At Brendam, he tells Edward and Diesel that four engines are arriving on Sodor soon, two for the Waterton Branch for its opening and two for the main line, with one of the latter pair already on Sodor and at the Works and the other is arriving later in the day. Diesel admits that he and Daisy don't have much in common and have decided to be friends, as Edward says the railcar isn't "his type". Just then, Eric arrives with an old brake van, named Brian, to Edward's surprise. He introduces Brian to Diesel and Terence; The latter referring to the brake van as "the hero of Crosby". Edward then realises that Brian was a part of the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway, and he knows about what happened to its three engines, but is happy to be home. Brian had been on James' goods train and has been assigned to the Brendam Branch. However, James broke down and was towed to Wellsworth.

Back at Wellsworth, Edward has learned that the engine who towed James to Wellsworth is BoCo, who had been at Crovan's Gate and the workmen have eliminated his engine troubles. James' injector had failed and he thanks BoCo for helping him, referring to him as "Bob", although he prefers BoCo. As the engines talk about their names, Edward, Donald and James notice a train moving on their left, as does BoCo. James tells him that they were staring at the engine who was pulling it.

At Tidmouth, the audience is shown the engine who was pulling the train: Peter. Thomas, Gordon and Henry are talking with him and how much has changed since he last pulled a train. He had been reassigned to mostly help with oil deliveries coming from the Waterton Branch. Thomas then says it's great to have Peter back, which puts him at odds with Gordon as Peter leaves. The three engines continue discussing Peter as Sheffield happens upon their conversation. Knowing that Sheffield and Peter were in Rail Gate within the same time frame, Thomas gets puzzled when the Austerity claims he never saw the 8F. Just then, Oliver falls into the turntable well again. That night at Brendam, Diesel reveals that the turntable man had been fired after the incident. Edward is about to tell Brian's story, when he decides to let Brian tell it himself.

In 1915, Adam is taking a train of gunpowder vans along the line with Brian as his brake van. At Crosby, he stops for a drink as they hear Edward approaching them with a passenger train on the same line. Edward throws on his brakes as Brian orders Adam to take his train away without him. A signalman changes the points into the yard as both Edward and Brian brake as hard as they can, managing to stop the train, saving the barber shop from damage. However, the barber isn't happy with them scaring his customers.

Brian then says that he would have lathered his and Edward's faces when Old Bailey arrives, saying it didn't happen because he was the barber's customer. Bailey catches up with Brian with stories just as an owl hoots and he has to leave. Brian remembers Bailey worked for the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway for a time to train the other fogmen. Brian then fills in the engines on what happened after he left for Manchester, ending up in Wales until the end of the First World War when he was transferred to London. During the days of the Big Four, he worked for the LMS and around the city until the Second World War. He then says he had a big memory lapse, remembering the blitz of 1941 but nothing until after his bad accident when he woke up in a workshop in 1962. After the crash, he was working in the Midlands and he decided he wanted to return to Sodor one day. Edward remarked that the brake van picked the perfect time to come home, with Godred's Day approaching. Diesel chimes in that this year will be the millennial anniversary, just as Douglas brings up Peter also returning. He hasn't seen him yet because he wants to prepare what he has to say to the 8F.

The next day, Douglas meets up with Peter, who had slept at Arlesburgh, outside and under the stars as he wanted time to himself. Douglas had heard Gordon isn't happy to see the 8F again, as he never forgave Adam for drowning the German prisoners. Peter is dismayed to learn about Adam coming down with metal fatigue and choosing the final firing. Douglas tells Peter about Brian at the rear of his train before welcoming the 8F home, who goes over to greet Brian, who stares at him in shock. He asks Peter if he has a twin brother because the year before, he met an engine who had a similar voice and appearance to Peter, going by the name of Alan. Peter says the engine couldn't have been him as he was in Rail Gate.

Later, at Vicarstown, Peter meets up with Gordon and they start bickering just as Mickey arrives and requests that they visit Crovan's Gate later in the day for therapy. Gordon and Peter reluctantly agree as Mickey leaves, wanting them there at 5 PM. At the China Clay Pits, Terence tells Edward and Ben about Mickey's arrangement. Edward then ponders about what Brian was saying about meeting Peter's twin. Terence then tells Edward what he was told from a workman who overheard a conversation between Thomas and Sheffield. The former said that  while he was at Rail Gate in 1939, they rotated the engines around and they still were doing the same while Sheffield was there fifteen years later. He said he didn't see Peter was because he "wasn't there". Edward finds this jarring, and  Johnny Cuba's words come to mind which seem to specific of a detail to be coincidental. He then asks Terence about his contacts on the mainland and tells him to get answers if Peter was actually in Rail Gate.

That evening, Gordon and Peter have joined Mickey for their session. Gordon and Peter are still at each other's throats as Peter brings up an incident during a small battle they fought in Africa where Gordon had mistaken an American tank as enemy armour, with the incident being friendly fire, so Gordon was dismissed of wrongdoing, but he still felt guilty. As they continue their therapy, Eric, who was undergoing repairs, had overheard their conversation.

That night, he talks to his colleagues at Brendam about the battle, with Edward reminding him to stay quiet about the matter. Eric then wonders who invented the green water. Brian remembers there were a few barrels full of the substance on the day the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway opened, meaning it has been around for a long while. Douglas then tells Brian about when he and Thomas were making their way back to their platoon with Oliver in Germany, although they don't know exactly why the 1400 tank engine was there in the first place. Brian then tells them his time during the blitz, suddenly saying he was hit by a bomb and was killed in an unfitting tone. The engines get on Brian's case, but their anger turns to shocked concern as the brake van has a mental breakdown. Later, the engines have exited their shed as Brian is given green water and they wonder if the brake van had come back from the dead. Mickey arrives, saying that Brian is in unusually top-form for a brake van of his age. Mickey had also requested for Brian's service record while he gives the brake van therapy to get to the reason why Brian believes he died.

Brian stubbornly believed he had died until Mickey showed him his service record, which contained a detailed account of his activities during the time he was supposedly dead. Mickey theorised that Brian seeing his dead friends was a symptom of his amnesia, having been told of their deaths, and built an elaborate fantasy as a coping mechanism, as Brian felt guilty about him surviving while his friends didn't. After intense therapy and recovery, he was brought back into service and continues to share the many stories about his adventures. Meanwhile, Gordon and Peter took big steps in mending their friendship. The 8F would also meet up with friends, old and new as he readjusted to working life. As it turns out, Peter was in Rail Gate. Terence's contacts had reached the prison where they were given Peter's records, which say he had served his entire sentence inside, as Sheffield and Peter were in different sheds. As for Peter's supposed twin, he could have been the one Johnny Cuba had boasted about taking out, or he was stretching the truth. After confirming with Peter that he spent all of his fifteen years in Rail Gate, Edward forgot about the topic. BoCo had exceeded on the main line as a mixed-traffic engine. At the end of August, Godred's Day arrived, and by the autumn, the Waterton Branch had opened and its new engines arrived for the opening. The engines to arrive are Wendell and William, who bring Toad with them, as Edward says there's a reason the line is better known today as 'The Little Western'.

In a post-credits scene, the Skarloey engines are discussing the origins of Crovan. Following the discussion, Rusty asks Duke how Old Bailey was still old back when he was young. Duke ponders, admitting that it was originally a joke, before coming to the realisation that it is true. The others find this objectionable, as Bailey had to have been somewhere in his twenties when the line opened in 1882. Duke concludes that Bailey practically looked the same back then as he does now.

Soon, the fog had come down, and at Sudwin station, Bailey attempts to get an alleged passenger to leave, only for him to tell him that he is not catching a train. Bailey asks if he knows him, before the man says that "we" have been looking for him for a long time. An army of soldiers climb out of the vans and out of every corner to surround Bailey. He deduces that they are the same people who killed Crovan. The man asks for Bailey to come with them, and warns him not to make things more difficult, before referring to him as *"your majesty"*. Bailey states that it has been a long time since he's been adressed by that, before asking who they are.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Donald and Douglas
* Oliver
* Eric
* Diesel
* Adam *(flashback appearance)*
* Peter
* Mickey
* Ben
* Salty
* Sheffield
* BoCo
* Skarloey
* Rheneas
* Rusty
* Duncan
* Ivo Hugh
* Duke
* Falcon
* Stuart
* Brian
* Terence
* Old Bailey
* Morty
* Dr. Pierce *(not named)*
* Dr. Hatley *(not named)*
* Daisy *(does not speak)*
* Johnny Cuba *(does not speak)*
* Alan *(does not speak)*
* Wendell *(not named; does not speak)*
* William *(not named; does not speak)*
* Percy *(cameo)*
* Duck *(cameo)*
* Emily *(cameo)*
* Clive *(cameo)*
* Matthew *(cameo)*
* Reginald *(cameo)*
* Geoffrey *(cameo)*
* Kate *(cameo)*
* Samantha *(cameo)*
* Rosie *(cameo)*
* Alfred *(flashback cameo)*
* Barry *(cameo)*
* Rebecca *(cameo)*
* Richard *(cameo)*
* Atlas *(cameo)*
* Stanley *(cameo)*
* Toad *(cameo)*
* Bertie *(cameo)*
* Trevor *(cameo)*
* Colin *(mentioned)*
* Lily *(mentioned)*
* The Fat Controller *(mentioned)*

## Trivia

* This is the final episode of Season 4.
* The events of this episode take place in August of 1964.
* This is the first episode to have a post-credits scene.
* At 30 minutes and 37 seconds this is the longest episode of the series so far.
* This episode reveals multiple things:
	+ It is implied Edward is either gay or asexual.
		- The Sodor Answers video "Can vehicles run for positions of power" all but confirms that Edward is gay, and will marry Barry at some point.
	+ BoCo's real name is Bob.
	+ The creature from  the episode of the same name was indeed not a vengeful mother bear, but a wizard named Crovan who took the form of a sasquatch; it is also confirmed that the SCP Foundation deemed him an Apollyon-class anomoly and killed him.
	+ The owl who hoots on the foggy nights is supposedly immortal.
	+ Old Bailey is confirmed to be an SCP, and heavily implied to be an immortal King Godred.
* The incident involving Brian is based on "A Close Shave", albeit with Edward and a passenger train instead of Duck and a runaway goods train. The barber also never gets a chance to lather up Edward or Brian's faces before Old Bailey intervenes.
* James makes a reference to the famous fictional spy James Bond.
* Terence is seen at the beginning of the episode clearing up the confusion about Kate's name. Based on Kate's expression, though, she either doesn't believe him, does but won't make amends with Thomas, or she's merely angry at Terence for unintentionally giving Thomas the idea for said insult.

## Goofs

* Peter's sentence in Railgate started in September, when Edward mentioned that Godred's Day happened on August 31st. Meaning either Peter was let out a few days early for good behavior, or Edward made a mistake in his narration.