Air date: February 5, 2019note (UK), February 4, 2019 (US)
In China, Thomas is worried when he is given the honour of bringing a dragon to the New Year celebrations. He thinks that it must be a very scary creature, not realising that it is one of the traditional costumes worn by the performers.
Tropes:
- An Aesop:
- The next time you feel scared about something, you should talk to someone, so it won't be so scary anymore.
- Some things turn out to be not at all what you think.
- Big "NO!": Thomas screams "NOOOOO!" at one point.
- Cannot Spit It Out: A lot of trouble would've been avoided if Thomas simply asked Yong Bao about the dragon, what it looks like, and whether it's real or fake.
- Continuity Nod: In the And Knowing Is Half the Battle segment, Thomas recalls the events of "Marion and the Dinosaurs".
- Cross-Referenced Titles: With "Thomas, Percy and the Dragon" back in Season 3.
- Fiery Salamander: A fire-breathing dragon appears in Thomas' Imagine Spot.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Yong Bat says "Happy new year!" in Chinese at the end of the episode.
- Imagine Spot: Thomas has one where he gets chased by a fire-breathing dragon.
- Large Ham: Yong Bao. "THE DRAGON!"
- Mythology Gag: At one point, Thomas' eyes spin around, similar to when the engines would roll their eyes in the classic series.
- New Year Has Come: In this episode, it is Chinese New Year.
- Oh, Crap!: Thomas' reaction whenever he thinks the dragon is about to appear. He has this reaction when the dragon actually appears, but realizes that it's just a costume.
- Poor Communication Kills: Thomas mishears Yong Bao's words about "the dragon" and thinks it's a real one, not realizing it was only a costume (he dealt with this before).
- Rule of Three: The first time Yong Bao tries to tell Thomas what the best part of the new year is, he is interrupted when a diesel thunders past, leaving Thomas dizzy for some reason. The second time, loads of coal pour all over Thomas very loudly. The third time, he manages to finish.
- Staggered Zoom: When Thomas hears about Young Bao taking the dragon, the camera jumps closer to his face, accompanied by a "dun, dun, dun!".
- Swapped Roles: To the Cross-Referenced Titles as explained above, with Thomas taking Percy's role.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Thomas is afraid of the dragon at first, but gets over it.
