Although this is a stand alone episode of the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender, it’s also a continuation — a second part — of the last episode. I’ll look at the Story Enneagrams of both. Let’s start easy, though, with the episode in front of us.
ONE
Fire Nation tanks and the immense drill, looking like a Dune sand worm, drive across the cracked plain toward the wall of Ba Sing Se. Hissing, the drill expands with a steam mechanism.
TWO
In an overlook tower on the drill are Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. The War Minister in charge of the drill is unimpressed that earth benders prepare to attack, but Azula sends her gang out to take care of them.
THREE
In a small canyon, Sokka, Katara, Toph, and the refugees approach the wall. Aang and Momo fly up to meet them. He and Toph earth bend a rock platform with everyone on it up the side of the wall. When they get to the top, the gang gets a good view of the drill.
FOUR
The commander in charge of the wall isn’t interested in their help. He’s confident in his team on the ground. At the drill, the unit is defeated quickly by Ty Lee’s pressure point attacks. Now the commander is willing to admit he needs help.
Meanwhile, inside at the ferry terminal, Iroh and Zuko, using fake paperwork, apply to enter Ba Sing Se. Iroh flirts with the intake lady, Zuko cringes, and they’re allowed in. As they walk away, Jet and his Freedom Fighters discuss whether Zuko would make a good addition to their gang. Jet says yes. Smellerbee says they know nothing about him. “I know he didn’t get that scar from a water bender,” Jet replies.
At the infirmary, Katara uses her water bending powers to unblock the chi of the downed earth benders. She recognizes who did this: Ty Lee. This gives Sokka an idea. The gang will hit the drill’s pressure points, taking it down from the inside.
Preparing to attack, the gang waits for Toph to bend dirt and debris as cover for their approach. She gets them under the drill where they find a way to jump up inside. Toph, who can’t bend in the “metal monster”, will stay outside and slow it.
SWITCH
Looking about, Sokka realizes that the drill has an inner and outer shell, with braces connecting the two parts. Destroy the braces and the machine will collapse.
FIVE
Back in the terminal, Jet sits next to Zuko. A tea vendor pushes his cart past, and Iroh calls for a cup of jasmine. It’s cold, though, and he spits it out in disgust. Jet pulls Zuko aside to invite him to join them, but Zuko turns Jet down. In the background, Iroh leans away and then holds a steaming cup of tea. Jet notices the change. Returning, Zuko smacks Iroh for fire bending, but it’s too late.
In the drill, the gang finds the braces they’ll need to cut with water bending. They’re thick (like multiple I-beams welded together). Aang and Katara send a water knife back and forth through the brace, but this will take forever. They’re exhausted, and the one brace, when cut, doesn’t collapse the structure.
The drill is at the wall and begins to chew. Rock is removed by a conveyor belt.
Aang realizes they don’t need to cut every brace completely. They just need to weaken some of them. He and Katara bend with new energy.
Reports start coming in for the War Minister. Schematics were stolen from an engineer, and one of the drill’s braces is cut clean through. Sabotage! Azula’s eyes narrow.
She and her team find Aang. Fighting commences.
Aang goes one way, taking the canteen, and prepares to break the drill. Katara goes the other way with Sokka. Azula chases the Avatar; the others pursue Katara.
SIX
Sokka finds the hatch to the slurry pipeline, the rock on the conveyer belt now mixed with water.
SEVEN
He and Katara jump in. Mai shudders and refuses to follow. Ty Lee goes in after them.
EIGHT
At the back of the drill, Katara and Sokka are ejected with the slurry. As Ty Lee surfs down the slurry drainage, Katara bends it back, blocking Ty Lee into the drain opening.
Meanwhile, Aang is on the nose of the drill, ready to break the braces. Earth benders on top of the wall, though, rain down boulders. Aang must dodge and attack at the same time.
Toph finds Katara and helps with earth bending to send the slurry plug back into the drill.
As Aang rests from trying to break the braces, Azula finds him. Aang has all the disciplines — air, water, and earth — to attack with, but Azula, with lightning, is more powerful. Aang is knocked unconscious.
The drill breaks through to the inside of the wall.
Azula lifts Aang and prepares a killing blow. As Aang wakes, the slurry bursts from the seams of the drill, sending him and Azula in different directions down the sides. Momo rescues him, getting him back on his feet and onto the top of the drill. Aang bends a rock into the shape of a wedge and drives it into the hull. Returning, Azula tries to get a lightning blow on Aang, but she’s too late. The drill bursts apart, the braces cascading and slurry flying everywhere.
The drill is dead.
NINE
At the train station, Jet walks with a purpose. Smellerbee tells him to let it go, but Jet knows that those two are fire benders.
Zuko and Iroh board, sitting next to our pregnant refugee and tickling the baby’s chin. Earth benders move the stone train from the wall, heading toward the city.
On top of the wall, our gang relaxes with their victory. Now they can complete their missions in Ba Sing Se.
CRITICAL NOTES
Although the Three and Six are unconnected — unless you count “getting a view of things” as a commonality — the Story Enneagram for this episode mostly lines up. The beats are competent and proportionate to the arc.
However, “The Secret of the Fire Nation”, the overarching title given to the bundle of these two episodes, has no identifiable Enneagram. Even when considering Zuko and Iroh, who don’t make enough of an impact to be included in the Story Enneagrams, they don’t coordinate enough over the two-part, either. They’re included in order to lay pipe for trouble they’ll have in Ba Sing Se. I guess they’re also an example of how easy it is to get a ferry ride if you’re a good enough liar, lol. (Can I get a spin-off Avatar with Toph and Iroh traveling together?)
These two episodes are fine, but we’re all just waiting to find Appa. Everything that delays us will disappoint. I’m not sure why the show insisted on lumping these two, stand-alone episodes together. Is the “Secret” of the Fire Nation this drill? It’s too huge to be much of a secret! I guess the point is that the last holdout, the great Earth Kingdom fortress of Ba Sing Se, deserves two episodes to reiterate its might. The Fire Nation will not defeat it from the outside.