Rupert accidentally ends up accompanying his friend Pong Ping on a trip to China where he struggles with learning things like how to eat with chopsticks, how to properly address the Emperor, and how to rescue his friend when he’s kidnapped by the Great Dragon.
First appearances of Pong Ping and The Emperor, and Rupert’s first trip to China.
This episode provides examples of:
- Digging to China: The boys ride a giant underground drill from England to China.
- Distressed Dude: Pong Ping
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Pong Ping’s trademark lift to China is nowhere to be seen, with the boys instead using a giant drill to get to the other side of the world (maybe it wasn’t finished yet...?).
- Rupert is mostly on his own trying to save his friend, who’s the victim. Normally, Rupert and his Companion of the Week work together to save someone else or accomplish something together.
- Easily Forgiven: Averted. The Emperor does not forgive his dragon for what he’s done just because everything works out all right.
- Everyone Has Standards: The Emperor’s dragon assures his master and Rupert that the Great Dragon will only keep Pong Ping prisoner — the dragon wanted him gone but not injured or dead.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The Emperor’s pet dragon asks the Great Dragon to take Pong Ping away because he’s jealous of the attention the Emperor’s young friend is getting.
- Help Mistaken for Attack: Rupert gets dragged along for the ride to China because he assumed the men pulling Pong Ping into the drill were kidnapping him and rushed to “help.”
- Honor Before Reason: No one has actually done anything to the Great Dragon. He has no grudge against them or reason to attack them... but insists he has to in order to maintain his reputation.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Once Rupert starts to make friends with him, the Emperor’s dragon regrets arranging for Pong Ping’s abduction, but it’s too late to stop it.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Sapient, speaking, vegetarian, come in a wide variety of sizes.
- Spare a Messenger: Since the Great Dragon wants the world to know “No one escapes the Great Dragon!”, Rupert convinces him to let them go so they can spread the word (if he kills everyone who gets close, no one will know how powerful he is). It works.
- Supernatural Aid: The Wise Old Woman and her sleeping potion.
- Warrior Therapist: Rupert can beat a fire-breathing dragon just with words and logic, then mend the friendship between the Emperor and his dragon.
- We Need a Distraction: When Pong Ping sees Rupert sneaking into the Great Dragon’s lair, he does his best to keep the dragon focused on him.
