Dante Basco credited as playing...
Prince Zuko
- Zuko: If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war.
- Sokka: Yeah, seems to run in the family.
- Zuko: Hey, hold on. Not everyone in my family is like that.
- Sokka: I know, I know, you've changed.
- Zuko: I meant my uncle. He was more of a father to me, and I really let him down.
- Sokka: I think your uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard.
- Zuko: It wasn't that hard.
- Sokka: Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?
- Zuko: Well, I did have a girlfriend... Mai.
- Sokka: That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?
- Zuko: [smiling] Yeah.
- Sokka: If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail.
- Zuko: No, it's not. Look, Sokka, you're going to fail a lot before things work out.
- Sokka: That's supposed to make me feel better?
- Zuko: Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again...
- Sokka: Seriously, not helping.
- Zuko: ... you have to try every time. You can't quit because you're afraid you *might* fail.
- Zuko: Oh, what would Uncle say? "Sometimes clouds have two sides, a dark and light and a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich. So, when life seems hard, take a bite out of the silver sandwich."
- Sokka: [beams] Maybe we haven't failed after all.
- Zuko: That's the spirit. I can't believe that worked. I didn't know what I was saying.
- Sokka: No, what you said made no sense at all. But look... It's Suki!
- [first lines]
- Zuko: [filling eight cups with tea] No one can make tea like Uncle, but hopefully I learned a thing or two. Would you like to hear Uncle's favourite tea joke?
- Katara: Sure.
- Aang: I like jokes.
- Toph Beifong: Bring it!
- Zuko: OK. Well, I can't remember how it starts, but the punch line is: "Leaf me alone! I'm bushed!"
- [everyone stares in silence]
- Zuko: [downcast] Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it.
- Katara: Right. Maybe that's because he remembers the whole thing.
- [she and Aang laugh; Zuko smiles]
- Toph Beifong: It's nice to get a chance to relax a little. It hardly ever happens.
- Sokka: When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops were taken. I just want to know where they might be.
- Zuko: I can't tell you.
- Sokka: What? Why not?
- Zuko: Trust me. Knowing would just make you feel worse.
- Sokka: It's my dad. He was captured too. I need to know what I put him through.
- Zuko: It's not good, Sokka.
- Sokka: Please.
- Zuko: My guess is... they were taken to the Boiling Rock.
- Sokka: What's that?
- Zuko: The highest security prison in the Fire Nation. It's on an island in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable.
- Warden: Well, well, well. I never thought I'd find you in here... Prince Zuko.
- Zuko: How did you know who I am?
- Warden: How could I not? You broke my niece's heart.
- Zuko: You're Mai's uncle? I never meant to hurt her.
- Warden: Quiet! You're my special prisoner now. And you'd best behave. If these criminals found out who you are, the traitor prince who let his nation down, why, they'd tear you to shreds.
- Zuko: So what's in it for you? Why don't you just tell my father and collect a reward?
- Warden: Oh, in due time, believe me, I intend to collect.
- Zuko: How are we gonna get off the island if the balloon won't work?
- Sokka: We'll figure something out. I suspected it might be a one-way ticket.
- Zuko: You knew this would happen, and you wanted to come anyway?
- Sokka: My *dad* might be here. I had to come and see.
- Zuko: Uncle always said I never thought things through, but this... This is just crazy.
- Sokka: Hey, I never wanted you to come along in the first place. And for the record, I always think things through. But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time I'm playing it by ear. So, there.
- [Sokka wants to rescue his father from the Boiling Rock]
- Sokka: I have to regain my honour. You can't stop me, Zuko.
- Zuko: You need to regain your honour? Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you.
- Sokka: No! I have to do this alone.
- Zuko: How are you going to get there? On Appa? Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison day cares!
- [pause]
- Zuko: We'll take my war balloon.