Boiling Rock

The Boiling Rock is a Fire Nation prison. It is featured in the two-part episode, "The Boiling Rock".

Description
The Boiling Rock is a maximum-security prison located within the middle of a boiling lake (hence, the name) in the middle of a seemingly lifeless island. It is where the most dangerous prisoners in the Fire Nation are held, among them robbers, traitors, and war prisoners. It is made almost entirely of metal, and is accessible only by means of two gondolas that take prisoners and passengers from the prison to the mainland, or vice versa. Anyone who tries to swim to and from through the lake will not survive, the ultimate security.

The prison is far more advanced than the prison Iroh was held in at the Fire Nation Capital. It is equipped with hundreds of cells that can all be opened simultaneously from a control room located above the cell blocks, much like our own prisons. The prisoners are all kept behind bars during lockdown hours and let outside when it best suits the prison staff. Anyone who disobeys prison orders or misbehaves is thrown into specially-designed coolers, which are small, one-man chambers designed to chill traitorous Firebenders into submission. This makes sense, since the prison holds an amazingly large number of Firebenders.

The prison is run by the Warden, a cruel old man who takes great pride in the prison's reputation as an impenetrable fortress. He always verbally or physically abuses his prisoners, and only goes easy on them if they do what he wishes. He and his army of guards often resort to cruel practices to punish the prisoners, such as the infamous coolers and even hanging them upside-down to create physical pain.

History
The Boiling Rock was probably created some time after the start of the War, but this is not certain. There are currently hundreds of prisoners there, of which more than half are convicted Firebenders. In all of its years of operation, no one had ever escaped the prison.

After the failed Invasion of the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun, dozens of prisoners from the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom were imprisoned. However, only their leader, Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe, was sent to the Boiling Rock due to his role as the leader. All of the others were imprisoned at the Capital City Prison. Hakoda's son, Sokka, who escaped the Fire Nation, was desperate to save his father, so he and his new ally, Prince Zuko, traveled to the Boiling Rock to save him. They took Zuko's war balloon, but had to abandon it after it was wrecked in a failed landing. After penetrating the prison, Sokka and Zuko disguised themselves as guards and searched for Hakoda. They could not find him, but they found Sokka's long-lost girlfriend: Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors. She too went to the prison alone as she was the leader. They finally reunited and the group planned an escape. They were joined by Chit Sang, a prominent prisoner who was on bad terms with the Warden. He and two of his friends tried to escape with the group by converting one of the coolers into a boat so that they could cross the lake. However, Sokka, Suki, and Zuko stayed behind to find Hakoda, who might have been part of a new shipment of prisoners.

Chit Sang and his friends blew their cover and were promptly rearrested. Zuko posed as a prisoner while Sokka went to find his dad. Much to Sokka's happiness, Hakoda was at the prison, so he reunited with him and planned a new escape. Much to Zuko's shock, his girlfriend Mai was there, as the Warden was her uncle. She demands Zuko to tell her his decision to leave her, and Zuko explained without much success. Unfortunately, the Warden tortured Chit Sang into revealing that one of their guards helped him escape, endangering Sokka's life. Fortunately, at the roundup of the newbie guards, Chit Sang framed a random guard instead of Sokka, and asked to join in Sokka's second escape in return for protecting him.

Much to the shock of the Warden and the prison staff, Princess Azula and Ty Lee showed up, who immediately suspected Zuko and the Avatar's friends were the actual culprits. After Sokka freed the prisoners, they started a riot, which is where the group made their escape. Zuko also escaped from Mai, and he rejoined his group. The group captured the Warden so that they could use him as a bargaining chip for their escape. The group hijacked a gondola and fled to shore, only to be confronted by Ty Lee and Azula. The group managed to hold them off, but the guards were cutting the gondola lines, which would send the entire group plunging into the lake. Much to the shock of everyone there, Mai attacked the guards and freed the stalled gondola, allowing Zuko and his friends to flee. They then hijacked Azula's Airship and fled to the Western Air Temple. The Warden was left on shore.

Azula confronted Mai and demanded an explanation. Mai explained that she still loved Zuko, more than she feared Azula. Enraged, Azula tried to attack Mai but Ty Lee blocks her Chi energy and paralizes Azula before she cuold even attack. The two girls were then arrested on Azula's orders, presumably in the Boiling Rock itself.

Real-World Connections

 * The name and design of this prison is almost certainly a reference to Alcatraz Island, a real-world island prison, which was nicknamed "The Rock." As with the Boiling Rock, Alcatraz boasts a history of no successful escapes.
 * It also bears some resemblance to Stalag Luft III as depicted in the 1963 film The Great Escape in that it's solitary confinement cells are called "Coolers" and that Sokka's method for escaping involved going in a blind spot between two guard towers.

Notable Inmates

 * Chit Sang (Escaped)
 * Hakoda (Escaped)
 * Suki (Escaped)
 * Zuko (Escaped)
 * Mai
 * Ty Lee