The Cave of Two Lovers

"The Cave of Two Lovers" is an episode from the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which airs on Nickelodeon. It is the second episode of the second season of the series.

On their way to Omashu, Aang, Katara, and Sokka meet a group of nomads who show them a short cut through the "Cave of Two Lovers". But when the kids become lost in the caves, they have to trust in love in order to overcome the curse and get out of the tunnels.

Episode synopsis

Template:Spoilers Aang, Katara, and Sokka are relaxing in the middle of a lake; Sokka is sunbathing while Katara and Aang are practicing their waterbending. 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, the Earth nomads speak of a short cut through a tunnel passing under a mountain. Although Sokka does not want to trust these new characters, the kids later follow the nomads to the tunnels, because of an unsuccessful flight. However, a group of firebending soldiers destroy the entrance to the tunnels, trapping everyone inside.

Scared but undeterred, the group plans to create a map while traveling though the labyrinth. The nomads tell the kids that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. They have no choice but to go in after seeing that the fire nation is following them. The nomads plan to all stick together so no one gets lost. Oddly enough, this plan doesn't work and later causes the group to be separated; Aang, Katara, and Aang's pet Appa are separated by a rockslide (caused by Appa). The three travel blindly while Sokka tries to prevent his own death due to the nomad's strange and unusual behavior. After traveling (for what is estimated at 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": two adults from feuding towns met at the top of a mountain. Although it was dangerous to meet, the loving couple still did secretly. Through their love, they used earthbending to create the vast labyrinth, which only they could travel through without getting lost. However, one day the man didn't come; he was killed in a battle. Instead of displaying anger, the woman displayed her never ending love to the two villages. This later caused the feud to end (somewhat similar to Romeo and Juliet).

The two villages later created a city to display the couple's love, which is actually the city of Omashu (the names of the lovers are revealed to be Oma and Shu, whose names were joined together). The final line in the script states "love is brightest in the dark". Although first confused by this statement at first, Katara and Aang later 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.( They also might have kissed although it is still open for speculation) Finally, the two (plus Appa) get out of the tunnel. But what happened to Sokka and the nomads?

Strangely enough, the second group run into music loving, giant badgermoles in the underground. With the nomad's songs and music, the badgers showed the group to the exit and reunited them with Aang and Katara. But the episode ends with an unhappy note; the protagonists reach an Omashu captured by the Fire Nation.

Meanwhile, Zuko (whom has a new hairstyle) and his uncle, Iroh, are trying their best to survive on their own. Things aren't so easy for the used-to-be-pampered characters though -- Zuko can't find food and Iroh ends up consuming a dangerous plant in the wild. After thinking whether they should go to an earth kingdom village (while risking being killed) or going to a Fire Nation town (which would risk being turned over to Azula), both decide to travel to an Earth village for medicine and food. They then meet a friendly mother and daughter, who are both suffering from the war. The episode becomes much more interesting when the teenaged daughter speaks of her father's death due to the war and her poor views of the Fire Nation. She later shows a burn on her leg when she wants the sympathize with Zuko and show her pain caused by the war. Surprisingly, Zuko does not show his anger when the girl speaks of the war badly; he instead seems to be dealing with his father's hatred and frowns when he see's the girl's scar.

This seems to be a turning point for Zuko, but a final scene proves otherwise. Once Zuko and Iroh leave the small family at night, Zuko steals the family's riding animal for easy traveling. The young girl witnesses this event, maybe not hearing anything, but acts like she saw nothing.

Concluding this, the gang finally gets up to the top of the mountain. When the gang saw the fire nation invasion they were devastated.

Trivia

• It is up to the audience's discretion as to whether or not Aang and Katara did kiss for the first time in the tunnels since the lights were turned off. Audiences lean toward them kissing, for Katara blushes at the end of the show when Aang sneaks a side glance of her.
• We learn how Omashu was founded, and the legend of the first Earthbenders.
• The end of the episode reveals Omashu has been taken over by the Fire Nation.
• Appa actively dislikes being underground, as is evidenced by his nervous demeanor and atypical violent reactions in the tunnels.
• Humans are not the only lifeforms capable of bending -- badgermoles, for instance, can earthbend. Indeed, humans learned how to earthbend by observing badgermoles. Perhaps when Fire Nation soldiers in episode 6 thought that Momo was earthbending, it wasn't that unlikely to occur. (In fact, in episode 15, "Bato of the Water Tribe", we can see that Appa used airbending. In episode 4, "The Warriors of Kyoshi", it is possible that the Unagi used waterbending.)
• The term "Love is brightest in the dark" could be interpreted as a double entendre.
• Katara is teaching Aang for the second time in this episode. The first time was in episode 9, "The Waterbending Scroll".
• When Zuko and Iroh go to the Earth Kindgdom town for medical treatment, they are asked their names. Zuko responds, "I'm... Lee. And this is my uncle... uhh... Mu Shi" -- at which point Iroh glares at him. "Mushi" is a Japanese word meaning "beetle" or "insect".