The Cave of Two Lovers


 * This article is about an episode. For the location, see The Cave of Two Lovers.

Writer: Joshua Hamilton

Director: Lauren MacMullan

Guest Stars: Barbara Goodson (Song's Mother), Kim Mai Guest (Song), Laraine Newman (Lily), Derek Basco (Moku), Dee Bradley Baker (Chong), Barbara Goodson (Song's mom)

Overview
''While on the way to Omashu, Aang and the group meet a group of carefree traveling bards, who take them through a vast tunnel known as the Cave of Two Lovers. Zuko and Iroh are sheltered by kind villagers after Iroh accidentally drinks tea made of a poisonous plant. Song, a young and compassionate healer, shows Zuko the effects of war from a normal citizen's perspective. Aang and Katara grow closer as they discover the origins of the cave.''

Synopsis
Aang and Katara practice Waterbending, while Sokka is relaxing in the middle of a lake. A group of Earth Kingdom nomads then appear, displaying the characteristics of a carefree, nature-loving people. Once the Avatar's group reveal their plans to travel to Omashu, Chong speaks of a shortcut through a tunnel passing under a mountain. Although at first Sokka does not want to trust these new characters, the kids follow the nomads to the tunnels after an unsuccessful attempt to fly over the mountains due to Fire Nation catapults placed there.

Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh are trying their best to survive on their own. Things are not so easy for the formerly pampered characters though – Zuko can not find food and Iroh ends up making tea with the dangerous White Jade plant in the wild (he thought it was a legendary White Dragon bush, which, "makes a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking"). He then finds berries which could cure him (Pekui Berries) or give him blindness (Maka'ole Berries). Zuko tells him they aren't taking any more chances and throws the berries away. After thinking about whether they should go to an Earth Kingdom town (which would risk capture and execution) or going to a Fire Nation town (which would risk being turned over to Azula), both decide to travel to an Earth Kingdom village for medicine and food.

Just before our heroes enter, Chong mentions that the tunnels form a labyrinth protected by a curse. Only those who put their trust in love can find the way through; those who don't will be forever lost. Once they enter, a group of pursuing Firebending tanks destroy the entrance to the tunnels, trapping everyone inside. Scared but undeterred, Sokka plans to create a map while traveling though the labyrinth. But before long, Sokka's technique with the map is useless due to the fact that the tunnels are changing around them.

In the nearby town, Zuko and Iroh meet a friendly girl named Song, who proceeds to ask them their names. Zuko says his name is Lee and Iroh's name is Mushi; Iroh gets him back by saying he was named for his father so they call him Junior. Song tells of her father's capture when the Fire Nation raided her village. When she asks Zuko whether his father is fighting in the war, Zuko says that he is, but does not tell her that his father is the Fire Lord.

The nomads plan to all stick together so no one gets lost. But this plan does not work when the group is separated by a cave-in caused by Appa's panic at being underground, exacerbated by an attacking wolfbat and a carelessly wielded torch. Aang's quick action saves everyone from being crushed by the falling rocks, but the group is separated. Aang, Katara, and Appa are in one group, while Sokka and Momo are forced (to his great displeasure) to travel through the tunnels with the musical nomads, who assure him that he should not "let the falling rocks turn his smile into a frown."



Minutes later, Zuko sits on the front porch. Song sits next to him and mentions that the Fire Nation has hurt Zuko as well. When she tries to touch his scar, Zuko rebuffs her. She then shows Zuko a burn on her leg cause by Firebending, sympathizing with him and showing him that the Fire Nation hurt her as well. Zuko seems shocked by her injury.

After traveling for about three hours, Aang and Katara encounter a large tomb designed for the two lovers spoken of in lore. By reading script around the walls, they discover the true story of the two lovers: a man and a woman from feuding towns met at the top of a mountain. Although it was dangerous to meet, the loving couple found a way to continue their relationship in secret. After learning Earthbending by observing the natural skills of badgermoles, they created a labyrinth which only they could navigate as a place to be together. However, one day the man did not come; he had been killed in the war between their two people. While the woman's fury was initially expressed in a display of Earthbending prowess which could have potentially destroyed both of the warring towns, she instead declared the conflict at an end. The two villages later created a city to honor the couple's love, which eventually grew into the city of Omashu (the names of the lovers are revealed to be Oma and Shu, whose names were joined together). Aang and Katara then turn around and see a statue of the lovers, with a slogan in the middle stating: "love is brightest in the dark."

Katara is inspired by this to suggest a possible way to solve the labyrinth; perhaps by following the example of the lovers and kissing, she and Aang could find the way out. Although Aang (due to his unexpressed but growing affection for Katara) finds this idea highly intriguing, he attempts to reassure an embarrassed Katara that he could not imagine kissing her. When she seems put out by this response, he assures her that what he meant was that, in choosing between certain death and kissing her, he would definitely choose to kiss her ("It's a compliment!"). This makes Katara storm away in anger, while Aang laments his poor word choice.

Meanwhile Zuko and Iroh depart from Song's residence. While Iroh thanks the family for their excellent meal, Zuko steals the family's Ostrich Horse for easy traveling. Iroh tries to convince his nephew not to do it, but in the end he hops on anyway, after Zuko insists. Song witnesses this event but does not stop them. She instead just closes her door as Zuko and Iroh left.



Later, as the torches are burning out, desperation, and possibly affection, lead Aang and Katara to dare the unknown. As the torchlight fades, we see them leaning toward each other, closing their eyes. In the resulting darkness, Aang and Katara find out that the two lovers put glowing crystals showing how to get out of the tunnel, and these crystals only glow in the dark. Finally, the two (plus Appa, who is happy to see sunlight) get out of the tunnel.

Sokka and the nomads continue to find dead-ends in their quest for the exit, and are eventually confronted by a pair of enormous badgermoles, who corner the group. As Sokka tries to escape, he accidentally touches a dropped guitar which makes a sound. The angry badgermole pauses, intrigued, and Sokka tries to play a song to pacify the beast. The nomads quickly realize what he is doing, and contribute their talents. They are successful in taming (or at least pleasing) the badgermoles, who take them to the exit of the labyrinth.



The group is reunited with Aang, Katara, and Appa. After the badgermoles leave them, Katara notices a big red rash on Sokka's head, which was the result of him hitting himself every time the nomads did something stupid; Chong announces that he thinks the one painted with tattoos is the Avatar, forcing Sokka to hit himself again.

After seeing the nomads go a separate way from them, Aang, Sokka, and Katara finally get to Omashu. When Team Avatar sees the Fire Nation has taken Omashu, they are devastated.

Series Continuity

 * It is possible that the Fire Nation captain with the eye patch seen at the start of this episode is also the one ambushed by the Freedom Fighters in the episode "Jet".
 * This episode shows Omashu under Fire Nation control, whereas it remained untouched in "The King of Omashu".

Goofs

 * The writers named the red berries that Iroh finds "Maka'ole Berries" because they thought "Maka'ole" meant "without eyes" in the Hawaiian language, when in reality it means "eye tooth".
 * Chong sings "Don't Let the Cave In Get You Down, Sokka" to cheer Sokka up. When he starts out on Sokka's right he is wearing two white bracelets on his right wrist, but when he reappears on Sokka's left side, the bracelets are gone. This happens several times throughout the episode.
 * When Aang says, "We're going to lose the light any second now," there is still about a quarter or so of the torch left. Each torch lasts about 2 hours, so that bit should have lasted at least 20 more minutes; but it didn't.
 * Sokka and the nomads wave goodbye to the badgermoles. The badgermoles are blind, although it could be a reflex action.

Trivia

 * At one point Chong says, "The tunnels, they're a-changin'!" This is a reference to Bob Dylan's song The Times They Are a-Changin', which was a hit in the 1960's, a time period affiliated with hippies.
 * The story of the two lovers is similar to that of Romeo and Juliet, a famous play by William Shakespeare.
 * The story of the two lovers, Oma and Shu, is similar to the story in the play, "West Side Story". In "West Side Story", there are two rival gangs who are consistently fighting. Two people, Tony and Maria, each a member of a different gang, fall in love with each other and must keep their love a secret because of the rivalry. However, after a brutal fight, Tony is killed. Although devastated, his death prompts Maria to unite the two gangs ending the rivalry.
 * The rash on Iroh's left leg, which he received from the White Jade plant, is very similiar to the burn Song showed Zuko.
 * This is the first episode in which badgermoles are actually seen.
 * When Aang and Katara entered Oma and Shu's tomb, the pictures that tell their story are referencing Egyptian culture with its hieroglyphics. The educator John McBon helped with his knowledge about this type of writing.
 * This is the first time that Katara is seen in her bathing suit.

Die Höhle der Verliebten De Grot van Twee Geliefden Пещера двух влюблённых (серия)