Air date: January 26th, 2010 (UK), September 25th, 2010 (US)
Thomas is given the job of transporting a crate containing a very special statue called The Lion of Sodor. However, he thinks his cargo is a real lion, so he decides to take extra care of it. Throughout his journey to Knapford, Thomas decides to make sure that the lion is well fed and comfortable, so he collects syrup from Henry, fish from Edward, and straw from Toby, which are all placed inside the crate. When Thomas arrives at Knapford station, the crate is opened up and everyone is shocked to see the Lion of Sodor in a terrible mess. Thomas feels very silly and owns up to what he thought of his cargo. The Fat Controller and Henry explain that the Lion of Sodor was a special statue which got broken. Thomas' cargo was the new statue of the Lion. Feeling silly, Thomas agrees to get the statue clean. Taking advice from Henry and Edward, Thomas gets it cleaned at the wash-down and then polished at the Sodor Steamworks. Once the Lion of Sodor looks very clean, Thomas takes Toby's advice to a short-cut via the windmill to get back to Knapford station, where the Mayor of Sodor is very pleased to see the new statue.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- An Aesop: What you're delivering is not what you think; always listen to your friends about such.
- Comically Missing the Point: Thomas thinks a real lion is in his crate.
- Idiot Ball: Thomas. Also his driver for pouring syrup, fish, and straw into the crate.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The engines when they see what happened to the statue.
- Rule of Three: Thomas gives his "lion" some sticky syrup, fresh fish and straw.
- Running Gag: "Stop, Thomas! The Lion of Sodor isn't a — "
- Took a Level in Dumbass: Thomas, who thinks The Lion of Sodor is a real lion. What makes this even more ridiculous is that Thomas, as well as Percy, are portrayed as being too young to know what the Lion of Sodor is - even though they've been on Sodor longer than Toby and Cranky.
- Also, Thomas' driver, who does nothing at all to correct Thomas's mistake and goes along with his ideas on how to make the lion comfortable.
