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The Lego Movie · 2014 — Chapter 10 of 22 · 3'17" · B2

Emmet Learns to Trust His Instincts, Explained: Trust your instincts

On the run, the training finally starts with one instruction: "Step one: Trust your instincts." Emmet has no idea what he's doing, and the film agrees with him — until instinct, or luck, builds something that actually works. "Unless your instincts are terrible" is the punchline waiting under the whole lesson.

What happens

After escaping Bad Cop, Emmet, Wyldstyle, and Vitruvius flee toward Cloud Cuckooland. Mid-chase, the training begins with a single rule: trust your instincts. Emmet improvises badly at first, then finally builds a working contraption from a wheel, saving the group.

Asking for helpTeasingAskingComfortingTeacher & studentB2slowamericanClean
IMDb ↗

Listen for

in the clearthe hard wayTrust your instinctshang tight

00:00 / 03:17
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Phrase of the scene

Trust your instincts

rely on your own gut feeling

维特鲁威给艾米特上的第一课就是 Step one: Trust your instincts，让他别等指令、凭感觉动手。

When the data was thin, she trusted her instincts.

Also in this scene

  • in the clear

    out of danger or suspicion

  • the hard way

    through difficulty or force rather than ease

  • hang tight

    hold on and stay steady for a moment

Everything marked in this scene

26 notes across 62 lines

Slang · B1fellasAny of you fellas seen this guy?
Phrase · A2what happened to somethingCuckooland? Wait. What happened to that whole training part?
Phrase · B1open upopen up.
Phrase · B1on threeOn three.
Phrase · B2be in the clear

out of danger or suspicion

- Whew. I think we're in the clear. - BAD COP: Freeze, turkeys.
Soundin the clear

weak form

- Whew. I think we're in the clear. - BAD COP: Freeze, turkeys.
Slang · B2turkeys- Whew. I think we're in the clear. - BAD COP: Freeze, turkeys.
Phrase · B2would rather do somethingWe would rather he died than give it to you.
Grammar · C1We would rather he died than give it to you

would rather A than B: The structure weighs two bad options and picks the lesser one.

We would rather he died than give it to you.
Phrase · B1the easy wayLook, everybody, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it...
Phrase · B2the hard way

through difficulty or force rather than ease

They took the hard way. Fire!
Phrase · B1get out of hereLet's get out of here. Here, use this.
Soundget out of here

liaison

Let's get out of here. Here, use this.
Slang · B1dangOh, dang!
Phrase · B1play aroundQuit playing around in the mud. I could use your help.
Phrase · B2could use somethingQuit playing around in the mud. I could use your help.
Phrase · B2gain on someoneVitruvius, they're gaining on us. Build something!
Phrase · A2start with somethingWe'll start with how to become a MasterBuilder.
Phrase · B2trust one's instincts

rely on your own gut feeling

Step one: Trust your instincts.
Phrase · B1take thatAha. Take that!
Grammar · B2Unless your instincts are terrible

unless-clause: The unless-clause quietly cancels the advice it just gave.

Unless your instincts are terrible.
Phrase · B1spin aroundEmmet, we need to attach the wheel to something that spins around.
Phrase · B2this better workOh, this better work.
Phrase · B1hang tight

hold on and stay steady for a moment

During the escape someone shouts for everyone to hold on tight.

Hang tight!
SoundHang tight

elision

Hang tight!
Phrase · A2well doneWell done, Emmet.

Emmet Learns to Trust His Instincts, explained

What's really going on

The film sets up its own punchline and then delivers it. "Step one: Trust your instincts" sounds like wisdom until the next line: "Unless your instincts are terrible." Emmet is the least qualified hero possible — he says flatly, "I don't know what I'm doing" — and the joke is that trusting himself is both the lesson and the risk. His eventual success with the wheel does not really prove his instincts are good; it proves that doing something, badly at first, can beat freezing up. That is why the training is delivered mid-chase, with no time to prepare: the point is to act before you feel ready.

Theme

CourageEmmet has to act before he feels ready, and the lesson is that moving beats freezing even when you have no plan.
Coming of ageThe chase doubles as Emmet's first real training, turning an ordinary nobody into someone who can build under pressure.

Listen for

  • in the clear — weak form
  • get out of here — liaison
  • Hang tight — elision
We would rather he died than give it to you.

The rebels' defiant stance: they will protect the Piece of Resistance at any cost, even a friend's life.

Unless your instincts are terrible.

The deadpan caveat that undercuts the whole lesson: trust yourself — as long as you happen to be trustworthy.

I don't know what I'm doing.

Emmet's honest self-assessment, said while doing exactly the thing he doesn't understand. It is his whole character in one line.

No, let's not let Emmet try! I haven't had any training.

His panic at being asked to build without preparation, undercutting the hero the prophecy says he is.

Questions about this scene

Why do the rebels say they would rather he died?

They are refusing to trade the Piece of Resistance, even to save a friend. It shows how much they believe the weapon matters, and how seriously they take the fight against President Business.

Why does Emmet doubt himself so much?

He has had none of the training a Master Builder gets, and he keeps saying so. His fear is played for comedy early on, but it also sets up the idea that ordinary people can build if they try.

Is the advice to trust your instincts good advice?

It means stop overthinking and act, which is the opposite of Emmet's habit of following instructions. The joke is that his instincts are shaky, so the advice is both true and dangerous.

Where are they going in this scene?

To Cloud Cuckooland, the secret realm where the remaining Master Builders are supposed to gather. The escape from Bad Cop is also the journey there.

The Lego Movie · 22 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 11tale of woeEmmet Addresses the MasterBuilders
Chapter 1put to sleepEmmet Follows the InstructionsChapter 2between the linesEmmet's Morning Routine in BricksburgChapter 3I hate to tell you thisEmmet Touches the Piece of ResistanceChapter 4a blank slateBad Cop Interrogates EmmetChapter 5drop the actWyldstyle Rescues EmmetChapter 6no time to loseVitruvius Explains the UniverseChapter 7No more Mr. Nice GuyPresident Business Reveals the KragleChapter 8blend inEmmet Fails the MasterBuilder TestChapter 9in the first placeEmmet Invents the Double-Decker CouchWatching · Chapter 10Trust your instinctsEmmet Learns to Trust His InstinctsChapter 11tale of woeEmmet Addresses the MasterBuildersChapter 12every man for himselfCuckoo Land Gets RaidedChapter 13after allBusiness Mocks the Double-Decker CouchChapter 14the last thing someone expectsEmmet Pitches His Master PlanChapter 15out of the blueEmmet Plans the Tower HeistChapter 16put on a tough actLucy Reveals Her Real NameChapter 17made it upVitruvius Reveals the Prophecy Is FakeChapter 18special little snowflakeLord Business Releases the KragleChapter 19sounds like a cat posterGhost Vitruvius Reveals the TruthChapter 20a face in the crowdWyldstyle Rallies the UniverseChapter 21Fire in the holeDad Finds His Lego Collection WreckedChapter 22back from the deadLord Business Offers His Hand
Chapter 10 of 22 · about 43 min to go