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[S2E2] The Cave
[S2E2] The Cave
While journeying to Omashu, Aang and his friends meet a group of carefree traveling bards, who lead them through a vast network of tunnels known as the Cave of Two Lovers. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh are sheltered by kind villagers after Iroh accidentally drinks tea made from a poisonous plant. Song, a young and compassionate healer, shows Zuko the effects of war from an ordinary citizen's perspective. After being separated from the rest of the group while navigating the elaborate tunnels, Aang and Katara grow closer as they discover the origins of the cave, which includes the tombs of the first two earthbenders. Both groups eventually escape from the labyrinth; Team Avatar arrives at Omashu, only to discover that it has been conquered by the Fire Nation.
Before Aang, Katara, and Sokka enter the cave, Chong mentions that the tunnels form a labyrinth protected by a curse. Only those who put their trust in love can navigate through the maze; those who do not will be forever lost. Once they enter, a group of pursuing Fire Nation soldiers in tundra tanks destroy the entrance to the tunnels, trapping everyone inside. Scared but undeterred, Sokka creates a map to mark their progress while traveling though the labyrinth. Before long, however, Sokka's technique proves useless due to the fact that the tunnels are continually changing around them.
Meanwhile, the group is separated following a cave-in caused by Appa's panic at being underground, exacerbated by an attacking wolfbat and a carelessly wielded torch. Aang's quick actions protect everyone from being crushed by the falling rocks, but the group ends up divided. Aang, Katara, and Appa wind up together, while Momo and Sokka, much to the latter's dismay, are forced to travel through the tunnels with the musical nomads. Chong assures him that he should not not be let down by the cave in.
On their way to Omashu Aang, Katara, and Sokka meet a group of nomads who show them a shortcut through the "Cave of Two Lovers". But when the group becomes trapped in the cave, it's up to Aang and Katara to save the group by trusting in love, and possibly questioning their relationship. Meanwhile, Iroh gets a lethal rash and so he and Zuko head to a small Earth Kingdom town for help, hoping their real identities will not be discovered.
Meanwhile, Frog Lady has quietly tiptoed off to have a sneak spa in a hot spring that she's found. The Child spies hundreds of eggs on the snow-covered ground and naturally breaks one open to gorge itself on the gooey insides. And then, just as we start to imagine a worst-case scenario, almost in perfect synchronization with our new nightmare, all the eggs start to hatch and thousands, upon thousands of ice cavern-dwelling, carnivore, space spiders start to flock towards the Child, Djarin and the currently naked Frog Lady.
The ice cavern-dwelling, carnivore, space spiders are actually called Krykna and were first invented by famed sci-fi artist Ralph McQuarrie in his concept work called the "knobby white spider" for "The Empire Strikes Back." It was originally conceived that they'd appear on Dagobah, the planet where Luke finds Yoda, but as we know, that didn't happen. They later appeared in Kevin J. Anderson's 1995 Star Wars Legends novel "Darksaber" and "The Illustrated Star Wars Universe" and Dave Filoni succeeded in bringing the Krykna into official canon in his animated series "Star Wars Rebels," in "The Mystery of Chopper Base" (S02, E20) when the crew of the Ghost encountered them on the planet Atollon.
The Frog Lady uses the severed head of the droid Q9-0 to translate and says they cannot wait, admonishing the Mandalorian for breaking his word, and he reluctantly begins repairs. Later they find the Frog Lady in a nearby hot water pool, bathing with her eggs. The Mandalorian warns her that it is not safe and collects the eggs. The Child explores the ice cave, finding another kind of egg, which he eats. Nearby eggs hatch, and soon the cave i