An Ice Beginning

* Sealed
* Unsealed
* Old
* Older

"**An Ice Beginning**" is the first episode of *Animated Inanimate Battle*.

## Synopsis

The teams get chosen, the first challenge is held, and the new teams are put to the test. Who will manage to break the ice and succeed, and who will get the cold shoulder and be up for elimination?

## Plot

### Cold Open

The episode starts off with Bacon meeting up with Oodle, with the former wanting to ask the latter about something. However, Oodle is unable to comprehend Bacon's subtitles, and becomes tired of it. Oodle begins to levitate and fly up into the air, enabling voice and sound by turning himself into a volume mixer. Bacon is confused by this change, but is taken aback when he hears his own voice.

Most of the cast also show opposition to this. Pill and Domino both agree with Bacon's sentiment, while Envelope is happy with his voice. Pitchfork is initially annoyed by it as well, but after blowing away Glowstick after his attempt at flirting with her, she likes it. Chip Bag is distressed about her hands, while Sock and Glove question why they don't have them. Nabla sarcastically says that at least they have legs, before promptly falling over. Teabag and Bouncy Ball state that they have no limbs at all; right after, Coconut kicks Bouncy Ball and snaps Teabag off her string.

As the chaos unfolds, Can says to Oodle to not tell her that these changes are permanent; Oodle shyly acquiesces until Can cynically questions that they are.

### Gather Around, Everybody!

After the drastic change to the contestants, However, Oodle tells everyone to gather around. Only 59 of the 60 contestants gather around, which makes Oodle curious if he counted everybody correctly. After realizing that Album was missing, Oodle, stretches his hand out and latches onto Album, who was covering up a scratch that she obtained in The Pilot. Oodle pulls Album back to the main area, quickly saying his intentions of hosting a competition whilst also putting together Album.

Oodle slides into frame and, in a motion that harkens back to the cold open, asks Bacon about his questions. In a rough Wild West sequence, Bacon asks Oodle if there'll be any teams in the competition. Oodle then establishes the reason for convening everyone here: to form teams. Before he can do anything, however, everyone scrambles to team up with their preferred friends. Glove goes towards Sock and asks him to be on his team; Sock agrees and says to get Chip Bag in as well. Orange Food Dye and Yellow Food Dye meet up, but Ketchup appears in between them, causing the twins to scream. Bone holds a sign up, but when nobody goes up to him, he throws the sign on the ground in a rage. Oodle, unable to calm the situation and yells at everyone, bringing all attention to him.

In the aftermath, Oodle says that he's not letting the contestants choose their teams; instead, the teams will be chosen via a randomizer on a screen by Oodle's "good buddy," Tivo, who he summons by throwing a white cube with a "T" on it. Many of the contestants show disagreement to this. Package asks Oodle how this will work, with Oodle stating that Tivo will split up the contestants into six teams of ten, with no contestant being able to leave their teams. If they do switch teams, however, it will cause a "very severe punishment," a blank threat made by Oodle after he is questioned by Cork.

### Choosing the Teams

Oodle then goes to Tivo and cranks the lever on the latter's side, and begins the formation of the first team. The first member to join is Album, who is promptly thrown over to the podium by Oodle. Next up are Chocolate Chip, Roe, and Pill. Candle and Blanket are up next, with Candle asking who Blanket is. Blanket timidly responds in a quiet manner, much to Candle's annoyance. Glowstick, Bacon, Coconut, and Flaggy are picked last. Coconut states that he'll be the leader of the team, only to be knocked over by an eccentric Flaggy. Bacon then asks Oodle if they're going to have a team name, only for Oodle to anticlimactically name them "Team 1."

Oodle moves on to the second team. Bouncy Ball, Hanger, Jelly, Can, Sock, Yarn, Chalk, Hailstone, Safe, and Brain are chosen from the randomizer. Popsicle Stick asks why she isn't on Jelly's team, to which Oodle passes it off and says they'll be competing against each other. Popsicle Stick then falls to the ground, and dramatically screams. Meanwhile, Glove says to Sock how it'll suck that they won't be on the same team, but they agree to be friends regardless. Popsicle Stick eventually stops her screaming, and falls to the ground, out of breath. Oodle names this team "Team 2," again to Can's annoyance.

The third team starts off with Recycling Bin, who hopes to get "useful" players on her team. Teabag is immediately added, with Recycling Bin being annoyed. Mitten, Brick, Bone, and Salami are added by Oodle, only to be interjected by the rest of Team 3 when they realize Bone is in their team. Farty, Cork, Nine, and Telescope are the final members added to the team. The group is named "Team 3," with Bone off the podium to the side.

Oodle declares Lyre to be the first member of Team 4, then adding Frisbee and Envelope, much to the first two's exasperation. Alef, Whoopee Cushion, Ketchup, Leek, Toothpick, Glue, and Nabla are added onto the team. In a dramatic series of events, Alef declares Nabla to be his cousin, which surprises everyone else but annoys Nabla. Alef says to Nabla to do nothing that'll embarrass him, only for him to step on Whoopee Cushion and, funnily enough, embarrassing Alef.

Chip Bag, Pear, and Domino are then added to Team 5 Chip Bag and Domino are the first on the podium, but question where Pear is, only to find Pear lazing around off the podium. Fireball, Pitchfork, Apricot, Creamy, Gold Nugget, Antimatter, and Filmy are next up. Pitchfork rejoices in the fact that she's not with Glowstick, only to remark that her team isn't much better. Gold Nugget pitches in, and says she could have Pitchfork excommunicated for that remark, since she's rich. Apricot and Pitchfork inquire Gold Nugget on her personality and quirk, only for her to say that she's rich.

Team 6 is given an anticlimactic entrance; Glassy demands to have their names called by Oodle. Oodle acquiesces, and says the members on Team 6 quickly: Shot Put, Raisin, Package, Popsicle Stick, Glassy, Orange Food Dye, Yellow Food Dye, Glove, Nacho, and Showery. Out of breath, Oodle falls over.

### Explaining the Challenge

Following the formation of the teams, Brain asks Oodle a series of questions, interrupting Oodle attempting to asnwer on all of the questioning. Oodle, in annoyance, tells Brain that he was getting to that until someone rudely interrupted him; Brain interrupts him again and in turn, Oodle interrupts him.

Oodle then reveals six giant ice blocks for everyone, with everyone questioning Oodle on what to do with the ice blocks. Instead, Oodle tells everyone to climb up the blocks and stand on them. Team 2 is the first team up the ice blocks, prematurely declaring themselves the winners of the challenge. That is, until Oodle says that what Team 2 did wasn't the challenge.

Suddenly, giant waves splash into the yellow void after Oodle performs random action poses and snaps his fingers, causing the ice blocks to float in the water. Leek remarks that the waves almost "scared the pee out of him", to which Oodle responds in worry.

In a sequence on Tivo's screen, Oodle explains the challenge: to stay on your team's ice block for as long as possible. If any contestant touches the water, they're out. He declares all kicking, horseplay, and shoving to be allowed⁠— and recommended! The first team to have all their members shoved onto the ice block is up for elimination.

### Ready, Set, Go!

As the challenge begins, Sock kicks Bouncy Ball towards Bone, causing Bone to lose balance and fall into the water. He is the first casualty of the challenge. Meanwhile, Shot Put questions what the challenge is, since he blanked out for a couple of minutes. Glove explains the challenge to him, which causes Shot Put to shove Glove off the block. Glove affirms Shot Put's action, but then realizes he's off the block, and falls towards the water. An angered Package condemns Shot Put for throwing off Glove, to which Shot Put attempts again by trying to throw Popsicle Stick off, only to realize again that Popsicle Stick is on his team.

From a distance, Glowstick catcalls Pitchfork, much to the latter's annoyance. Glowstick comments how, while neither of them are on the same team, he assumes that they're still "dating". Pitchfork denies the claim, saying that she doesn't like him. Glowstick laughs it off, and says to Candle that Pitchfork digs him. Pitchfork, angered by Glowstick's flirting, demands to vent her anger out. Fireball comes by and makes a joke at Pitchfork's expense, with everyone (sans Pitchfork) laughing at the joke... until Apricot realizes that Fireball is melting the ice beneath her. Frantically, Fireball jumps onto Pitchfork, and then Chip Bag offers Fireball a place atop of her. Fireball accepts, and while calming down, accidentally engulfs Chip Bag in flames, killing her.

Bouncy Ball returns to Team 2's ice block and lands in front of Sock, demanding to be kicked once again. Sock kicks Bouncy Ball towards Team 1, kicking off Bacon, Roe, and Glowstick. Pitchfork, observing Glowstick land into the water, thanks Sock for kicking him off. Sock then kicks Bouncy Ball again, and manages to get Recycling Bin off, who was observing the water. Teabag laughs at her expense. Package, observing Team 2, remarks that Team 2 has a great offense capability. She then decides to get Team 6 on the offensive, to which Shot Put responds by attempting to throw Package again. While this is happening, Sock kicks Bouncy Ball, hitting Glue in the process. Ketchup mourns Glue's "death", with Envelope saying it is in vain; she is already dead. Glue, while in the water, says that she's perfectly fine.

After Glue was kicked into the water, Nabla tells everyone to focus on her plan⁠; a foolproof one that will guarantee a "95.7% chance of success". However, Alef pushes Nabla's chalkboard off, this time crushing Glue, and annoying Nabla. Alef, instead, infers that Nabla's plan is stupid and hard to follow, and says that a bunch of science won't help them out if they've already lost two team members. Nabla, annoyed, responds sarcastically what *will* actually help. Off to the screen, Frisbee holds up javelins and whispers "Javelins" quietly. Alef is confused, but then Frisbee shouts out "Javelins!!" and throws the javelins towards the other teams. Nacho, who was being held up by Shot Put, is shot by the javelin. Teabag is snapped by Frisbee's javelin, to Recycling Bin's chagrin, until the latter realizes Teabag is dead after all her tea spills out in the water, leaving her empty and dead. Chalk remarks how javelins aren't useless, until being impaled by a javelin himself. Blanket cowers as a javelin comes towards her until Flaggy jumps in front of it and sacrifices herself, causing Blanket to blush. Nabla is astonished by the effectiveness of the javelins, to which Alef responds affirmatively, but then denounces Nabla's geekiness; she is subsequently annoyed. Suddenly, Bouncy Ball comes by and gets Alef off, and Nabla thanks Sock for kicking him off.

At the same time, Fireball, who is standing on top of the melting ice, asks who on her team is non-flammable. Gold Nugget then comes up and remarks that gold has a high melting point, and is expensive. Creamy asks if the second clause was necessary, as Fireball jumps atop Gold Nugget. Suddenly, Apricot yells out, warning everyone about an incoming Bouncy Ball, causing everyone to scream. Suddenly, screen changes aspect ratios towards a more cinematic look,and turns a muted shade as Filmy monologues about "the end". During this monologue, Filmy infers that he has feelings for Blanket. He is then promptly punted off the block as Bouncy Ball hits him, leading Domino to cheers Sock for getting Filmy off.

Pitchfork, reasonably annoyed about losing a team member, provokes Sock and forces him to kick Bouncy Ball one last time. As he kicks Bouncy Ball, however, he stumbles and falls into the water. Bouncy Ball flies towards Pitchfork, who jumps and flies towards her as well. In the middle, Pitchfork stabs Bouncy Ball, and the two of them fall into the water.

At the same time, Package declares that she has an idea, and tells everyone that if they use Showery's nozzle as a catapult, and fling somebody towards another team, that person can get everyone off and make that team lose. Shot Put objects to this idea, saying it sounds like throwing people *off* but with extra steps; Package corrects him, saying that it's throwing people *onto* stuff. They attempt Package's idea, throwing Raisin towards Team 4, but are dismayed when Raisin smashes into the ice block rather than the team themselves. Glassy mocks Package, reiterating Package's correction towards Shot Put. Team 6 then goes into disarray, with all of them yelling at each other.

Concurrently, Brick is observing Team 6 through Telescope, to which Telescope demands Brick put him down. However, Brick asks for one more second and plays with Telescope's settings, observing a poker game between Pitchfork and Bouncy Ball. Telescope, who is tickled by this, only demands Brick to stop it again, and screams at him when he doesn't, causing Brick to lose his balance and fall off. Salami declares that the "time is nigh" to go on the offense against another team. He calls on Farty to fly towards Team 6, but Team 5's block comes in the way. Apricot spots this, and inquisitively says that if Farty touches Fireball, Team 5 will explode. Antimatter offers to help out, and flies towards Farty, stopping him in his tracks. As they argue, Alef is seen below, and splashes water towards the two floating entities. Oodle blows his whistle, and declares the both of them out, since they technically touched water. Farty and Antimatter reconcile, with the latter saying they're not so different, and fly towards the opposite direction and into the sunset.

Yellow Food Dye asks Shot Put what he's doing, with Shot Put saying that he's going to throw Glassy (calling her "Cuppy") towards Team 2's ice block. He denounces Package's idea, and declares "muttony"; Package corrects him and says it's "mutiny" and it isn't even mutiny if they're doing exactly as she planned. Glassy is thrown atop Team 2's ice block and wreaks havoc, kicking Hanger, Hailstone, and Brain off and throwing off Can. Jelly, as Glassy attempts to kick Safe off (and injures her foot in the process) picks up Glassy and punts her towards Team 1, with Yarn telling Jelly to be careful. On Team 1's platform, Glassy latches onto Candle, and is promptly hit by Coconut using Pill as a baseball bat.

Aggravated by Glassy, Coconut demands revenge and satisfaction from Team 6. Suddenly. Album pipes up, asking how they're going to do that *in subtitles*. Coconut is confused, as Chocolate Chip correctly assesses that, since Album was unknown to Oodle until the competition started, she was never able to gain a voice. Coconut decides to use Album's subtitles as a weapon. Pill states that Team 6 is drifting towards their ice block, so Coconut, quick on the draw, tells Album to spiel on about her favourite metal bands. This causes a large block of text to form right above Album.

Meanwhile, Team 6 is alarmed by Team 1 floating towards them. They attempt to hatch out a plan, but are unable to, since their team is disorderly and full of conflict. Every team member except Showery yells at each other for conflicting ideas. Showery, who stayed out of the fight, asks if he could say his idea for a plan. The fight stops, and all members' eyes turn towards Showery. However, Showery doesn't have a plan in mind. As he thinks of one, Chocolate Chip says that Team 6 is distracted, and demands Coconut to enact his plan.

Coconut latches onto Album's subtitles and throws them towards Team 6, throwing everyone except Showery into the water and cracking the ice block in the process. Recoiling from this, Shot Put flies into the air and crashes into Team 5's ice block, flipping the ice block upside down with only Fireball left on it. With only Showery left on the now-crumbling block, Nacho unemotionally tells Showery to keep his balance. Showery then claims that he has a great sense of balance... only for him to fall down the ice block and into the water. With all team members in the water, Team 6 is declared the losers of the challenge by Oodle.

### The Winner?

Exhausted from the challenge, Oodle tells Tivo to skip ahead, breaking the fourth wall by declaring that the episode has gone on for too long. During the fast-forward, it is unknown what happened to the other teams. Suddenly, Oodle tells Tivo to stop fast-forwarding, as there is a winner left on the field.

The camera pans towards Fireball, atop a melting piece of ice and surrounded by knocked-over ice blocks. Oodle drives up towards Fireball in a speedboat, declaring it ironic that a fireball won a challenge where you lose if you fall into water. Fireball claims that she survived due to not wanting to miss the violence, but also states bluntly that no one noticed her since her block was almost gone. Oodle then tells Fireball that she won the challenge; therefore, she gets a prize! Fireball enthusiastically attempts to return to land by jumping into water, but dies in the process.

Reviving Chalk, Chip Bag, Teabag, and Fireball, Oodle gives Fireball her prize: a pickaxe. The pickaxe subsequently burns up in flames. Examining the heap of ash, Oodle gives Fireball a *metal* pickaxe.

Panning back towards Team 6, Oodle exclaims that one of them will be eliminated from *Animated Inanimate Battle*, asking how it feels. Most of the team still shivering from the cold water, Glove only mutters out a "So cold..." until the outro begins.

### Stinger

Following the credits, Oodle is seen with Album. Album thanks Oodle for finally giving her a voice, and remarks that it was cool how Coconut used her subtitles as a weapon. Oodle doesn't mind the thanks, instead pushing it off as just another "itch he had to scratch", until landing his eyes towards a scratch on Album. After silence ensues, Oodle remarks that Album has a scratch on her face.

## Trivia

* This episode was written in 2018, after the production of "The Pilot" was finished. Some part of it, however, were rewritten when production of *Animated Inanimate Battle* resumed in 2020.
* Album's words about her favorite metal band goes like this: Oh my gosh, well where how do I even start?! I absolutely love the Chain Crusher$, their music speaks to me on an emotional level, that NO other band has been able to. But at the same time, they don't have the integrity that the Thunderblasts have. I mean, their number one single, "Crashin A Motorcycle" was one of my favorite songs of all time... I'm forever heartbroken that the Thunderblasters broke up. Nothing will ever compare to the music-adjacent sounds they produced. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do euismod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
	+ The text past "Lorem ipsum dolor..." is essentially nonsense text that still gives an idea of what real words will look like.

* The title of the episode "An Ice Beginning" has the same acronym as the title of the series "Animated Inanimate Battle"
* It is the first episode to reach 1,000,000 views.
* This is the first episode of AIB.

### Goofs

* When Oodle gathers everyone and counts out how many people there are, Salami is missing his eyebags.
	+ In the same scene, Lyre has tape on her broken string, but when Tivo was picking the members of Team 4. She is shown fixing her string with tape as if it wasn't fixed.
* When most of Team 5 is staring at Fireball, the contestants with arms have their arms missing.
* When Nacho gets hit by a javelin, her assets get cut by the water, making it look like she flew out of the water.
* Chalk didn't snap when impaled by a javelin, nor soaked up the water.

### Continuity

* The beginning of the episode starts with the same "early installment weirdness" as the pilot episode does.

### Cultural References

* When Oodle yells at the contestants, Glowstick makes a similar pose to the "Cactuar" enemy from the *Final Fantasy* series.
* When the members of Team 2 are chosen, they are revealed in a manner that resembles *The Brady Bunch* intro.
* When the challenge starts, Sock's two lines and knocking off Bone are a reference to the first episode of Inanimate Insanity II, where Paintbrush says the same lines and pops Balloon. Coincidentally, that episode also involves staying on blocks of ice.
* One of Showery's lines (Ye- You know, the- One thing I should- Excuse me for one second...) seems to have come from *The Simpsons* episode "22 Short Films About Springfield." The original quote can be found here.
* The way that Farty communicates is similar to Kimchi from Chowder, who is also a fart cloud.
* At one point, Shot Put screams like Patrick Star from *SpongeBob SquarePants*. Specifically, the scream is taken from the popular episode "Band Geeks"
* When Sock and Glove are not on the same team and and Glove says, "Sucks we're not on the same team..." Sock replies with, "Yeah.. We can still be friends though, right?" Glove replies with, "Totally!" Then the Super Mario 3D World level completion song is played with friendship in white text in the background.
* Paper Mario sound effects are used throughout the episode.
* Popsicle Stick asking Jelly about their team idea is a possible reference to BFB 12, which Barf Bag was reassuring her not being a faker with Spongy.
* When Showery said he had a great sense of balance and slides down into the water, it sounded like the catchphrase Daddy Pig uses.
* During The Vote To Eliminate, Raisin's Pose May Be Similar To Book's Old Pose From BFDI.[1]

## Deaths

* Chip Bag is burnt to ash when Fireball stands on her.
* Teabag is emptied when a javelin slices her string causing her to fall into the ocean, killing her.
* Chalk is impaled by a javelin.
* Fireball is extinguished when trying to swim in the water.

**List of AIB Episodes**