Ariel is going exploring when she is suddenly attacked by a monstrous crustacean. Urchin bravely comes to her rescue, fighting off the crab with a swordfish, but the crab grabs urchin in its claws. As the crab raises Urchin towards its mouth, he beats at it frantically…until he wakes up from his dream. Sebastian arrives to tell Urchin that Ariel has invited him to join her at the waterslide.
While Ariel and Flounder play on the giant underwater slide, Triton and Urchin watch. Triton talks about Ariel admiringly and seems to have some sort of idea. Urchin asks what Triton means. Triton doesn’t fully explain, but he decides to go to Olympia to make some arrangements for a union, saying that Prince Thor and Ariel will be perfect together.
When Triton tells Ariel he is going to Olympia, Ariel is a little worried, since the Olympians have a reputation for being war-like, but Triton says that they’ve never actually fought any wars. Urchin thinks about what Triton said earlier and concludes that Triton is trying to arrange a marriage between Ariel and Prince Thor. When Urchin tells Ariel about this, she just laughs. Since she has six older sisters, it would be ridiculous for Triton to arrange a marriage for her before any of her sisters are married.
At the undersea kingdom of Olympia, Triton talks to King Augustus and tells him that Prince Thor and Princess Ariel would make a perfect pair…in the aquabatics competition at this years under-the-sea games. When Prince Thor is told of the idea, he is skeptical, and decides he needs to judge Ariel’s aquabatics skills for himself first.
Thor arrives in Atlantica, takes note of Ariel’s beauty, and when she teases him, he says that this was all her father’s idea. His vague words cause Ariel to think that Urchin was right about the arranged marriage. Sebastian tells Ariel she must not offend the Prince, and Ariel grudgingly suggests that they have dinner together later, hoping that Thor will learn some manners by then.
Urchin gets the idea of making Thor’s stay as miserable as possible, so he won’t want to marry Ariel anymore. With help from his fish friends, Urchin tells Thor that before dinner, it is customary in Atlantica to pet an electric eel, wrestle an octopus, and take a mud bath. Then he covers Thor with orange hair dye that leads to Thor getting chased by a pack of dogfish.
Thor shows up to dinner in a disheveled state and tells Ariel that since he can’t bear to stay in Atlantica, he is going to take her to Olympia on the next low tide.Urchin plans with Sebastian and Ariel to trick Thor into thinking Ariel is loony and prone to bizarre mood swings so he won’t want to be with her. Thor figures out their plan and thinks that they believe he is unworthy of Ariel. Offended, he decides to return to Olympia.
Thor tells his father that he was attacked by Ariel and her friends. King Augustus declares that all thoughts of peace are off. Triton returns to Atlantica to ask Ariel what happened. During their conversation, Ariel and her friends finally learn that Ariel and Thor were not going to be married but were meant to be partners at the sea games. Unfortunately, after their Prince was treated so poorly, Olympia has declared war on Atlantica.
The Olympian army arrives and begins shelling the city of Atlantica. While Triton shoots down the shells with his trident, Ariel slips out and goes to Thor, apologizing to him for the misunderstanding. Urchin sees Thor and Ariel together and thinks that Ariel has been captured. He rushes to her rescue and is hit by one of the shells. Augustus orders a ceasefire. Triton picks up Urchin, who is delirious.
In his unconscious state, Urchin has a dream about an alternate Atlantica. No music, no dancing. No exploring to be done. All the sea creatures sit around listlessly. Urchin heads into the throne room and sees Triton sitting sadly on the throne, twiddling his trident idly while Sebastian sleeps on a pile of paperwork.
- Urchin: What’s wrong with everybody?Sebastian: (Waking up) Urchin, why have you bothered to return to Atlantica? Since Ariel left, this place has been no fun at all, man. The king hasn’t signed a proclamation in years. There’s no dancing, no singing, and Flounder has become a juvenile delinquent fish. (Holding up a wanted poster of Flounder)
Ariel wakes Urchin up from this nightmare, telling him she isn’t going anywhere. Urchin hugs her, to her surprise. Triton tells Augustus that since Urchin is all right and no one else was hurt, peace between Atlantica and Olympia is still possible. Now that the Olympians have had their first real experience of war, they decide they don’t like it as much as they thought, and Augustus agrees to peace.
- Urchin: Can you believe it? I caused a war. I was just so scared you’d leave and never come back, Ariel. I was scared I’d lose the first real friend I ever had.Ariel: Oh, Urchin. No matter what happens, our friendship is forever.
Tropes
- Arranged Marriage: Urchin thinks that Triton is trying to arrange a marriage for Ariel.
- Bad Future: When stunned by a shell, Urchin has a vision of Atlantica sunk in a deep depression without Ariel.
- Informed Attribute: Lampshaded. The Olympians have a reputation for being bellicose, but Triton points out that they’ve never actually fought in a war.
- Poor Communication Kills: Urchin’s misunderstanding of Triton nearly leads to a war between Olympia and Atlantica.
- Precocious Crush: Urchin has one on Ariel, which contributes to his fears of her being married to Prince Thor.
- "Wanted!" Poster: Flounder has one in the bad future Urchin imagines.
