Avatar: The Last Airbender/Recap/Book 3/14 The Boiling Rock Part 1

""How did you know who I am?" "How could I not? You broke my niece's heart.""

Feeling keenly responsible for the capture of the invasion forces during the eclipse, Sokka decides to redeem his honor by rescuing his father. Accompanied by Zuko, he takes Zuko's war balloon to the Boiling Rock, the highest security prison in the Fire Nation.

Going undercover as guards, Zuko discovers that there are no Water Tribe prisoners currently at the Boiling Rock, but Sokka discovers that Suki is a prisoner there. Zuko's cover is busted while he is standing watch to let Sokka talk to Suki and he becomes a prisoner himself. To make things worse, the warden is Mai's uncle, who is none to happy with the boy who broke Mai's heart.

Sokka, Suki and Zuko come up with an escape plan but are overheard by Chit Sang, another prisoner and are forced to let him in on the plan. While proceeding with the plan, Sokka and Zuko hear that some war prisoners are arriving the next day and decide to let Chit Sang and his friends go ahead with their plan, while they stay behind with Suki on the chance that one of the war prisoners is Hakoda, Sokka's father.

Tropes:

 * The Alcatraz: The eponymous Boiling Rock.
 * And Then What?: Zuko asks this regarding Sokka's plans.
 * Great Escape: Making one of these is the point of the two-part episode.
 * He's a Friend: Sokka has to tell Suki this regarding Zuko.
 * Heart Symbol: Sokka gets this when he realizes that Suki is at the Boiling Rock.
 * Ice Cream Koan: Zuko comes up with one of these when Sokka gets upset about the fact that there aren't any Water Tribe prisoners there.
 * The Infiltration
 * Orphaned Punchline: Zuko tries to tell Iroh's favorite tea joke, but he can only remember the punchline.
 * Prison Episode
 * The Bus Came Back: Suki