Avatar: The Last Airbender Newbie Recaps: Book One, Episodes 2 and 3
Recap
Welcome to week two of my Avatar: The Last Airbender newbie recaps, wherein I can feel an intense love of Sokka infecting my soul. Let’s boogie.
The Avatar Returns
After the pilot, Sokka and the rest of his village are none too pleased with Aang and Katara for leading the Fire Nation right to them. Aang offers to spare Katara a hefty dose of family drama by skipping down, because he’s the world’s youngest mensch. Also, this line happened:
Someone give these writers a medal.
Sokka started out this episode as a little jerkwad, losing his sh*t at Aang and being all “But you’d choose him over your own faaaaamily?!” at Katara, when you know that’s not how it is you manipulative jerkwad. But I can’t stay mad at him when the Fire Nation ship rolls on up to his village and he just looks so terrified.
This kid was probably given the “You’re the man of the house now! Take care of your family!” speech when his dad and granddad left, and he’s… what, 14? 15? The way he sees it he’s his village’s only line of defense against a huge warship, and he probably feels at least partially responsible for the utter destruction he’s sure that warship is going to rain down, because he and Katara are the ones who brought Aang back. Look at this kid. He is a teenager and he is legit prepared to die to protect the people he cares about.
Approximately half an hour into a show on Nickel-damn-lodeon, and I’m already getting feels like this. It’s unacceptable, Avatar: The Last Airbender!
The Fire Nation, being exceedingly impolite, just bashes through Sokka’s painstakingly constructed watchtower. Literally no one but the members of the Water Tribe have been dressed at all appropriately for South Pole temperatures. Zuko shows up looking for the Avatar, whom he mistakenly thinks would be an old man. Though Zuko wallops Sokka in their fight, I’m inclined to say Sokka won in my heart because MOTHER. FREAKIN’. BOOMERANG.
Or boomer… Aang?
When all is looking extremely dire for Sokka & co. Aang shows up on a penguin sled to save the day. Zuko is personally offended that the guy he trained to fight is only a kid, and Aang’s confused “…but you’re just a teenager” is pure perfection. Your manadolescentboypain does not not work here, Zuko, so don’t even try. Aang agrees to go with Zuko if the Fire Nation promises to leave his new friends alone, which of course puts Katara in rescue mode. Surprisingly, Sokka acknowledges right away that Aang is their ally, not their enemy, and that they should go rescue him even if it means risking their lives.
….Wow. Sokka got over his Aang-vs-me issues real damn quick. Which I absolutely mean as a compliment. I’ve seen Sokka referred to as the Xander of ATLA, the lone “normal” guy in a crowd of people with supernatural powers, and the way the writers opted not to belabor this early bit of angst makes me think I might not have to sit through retread of Buffy‘s tendency to give Xander multiple episodes about how “Waaaah, he’s not as important as the other Scoobies, nobody needs him, waaaaah.” At the end of each episode he’s made to realize “But Xander, you’re the heart!,” only for his self-obsessed inferiority complex to rear its ugly head with another Very Special Episode the next season. It got old, and Xander needed to get the hell over himself.
Ahem. I needed to get that off my chest. Back to Avatar.
On the Fire Nation ship Zuko sneers that Aang’s staff will make a great gift for his father, not that Aang would know about fathers, having been raised by monks.
Low blow, asshole. Again: Daddy issues.
Aang uses his airbending powers to escape the guards and even uses one of their pointy helmets to cut the ropes around his wrists like a li’l badass. He comes across Uncle Iroh sleeping in his quarters and backs right out because he’s a polite li’l badass, and I just need to highlight this screencap:
Moving on.
Aang finds his staff in Zuko’s quarters but, to quote the great Admiral Ackbar, it’s a trap! Aang zooms around on an airbubble like a little pinball. Zuko’s flinging fireballs around. Man, the Fire Nation must have some real fireproofing know-how. It’s a pretty evenly matched fight, but it looks like Zuko might prevail until Katara and Sokka roll up on Aang’s flying bison. (Which Sokka accidentally figured out how to make fly. Ya cutie.)
All the same Aang gets pushed into the ocean, where he manages to save himself with a bout of impromptu waterbending, which he also uses to take out Zuko and some of the remaining guards.
Katara gets some of the other guards by turning them into soldiersicles. You could say she gives them some ice for their burn. Eyyyyyyyyy.
Our heroic trio escapes, and Zuko and Uncle Iroh—who’s just woken up from his nap—try to shoot them down with a gosh-darn fire spout, but all that happens is that Aang deflects it and the ship ends up encased in ice. A blusterful Zuko says he won’t underestimate the Avatar again!!! and Let’s go after him… as soon as my guards are defrosted. Bangarang, boy.
A dejected Aang tells Katara and Sokka that he kept his Chosen One status a secret from them because he never wanted to be the Avatar in the first place. Katara, slicing through the sads with some ice-cold practicality, reminds him that he’s the only one who has the power to stop the war, and that’s pretty cool, so buck up, buttercup. The legend says that the Avatar starts as an airbender, then masters waterbending, earthbending, and firebending (do I spot a series arc? Book One: Water. Book Two: Earth. Book Three: Fire.), so they should go to the North Pole for some waterbending lessons. Aang agrees… but lists a whole bunch of fun activities they have to do first. Like RIDING DONKEYS. I take it that will be the next episode.
The Southern Air Temple
It is not.
Avatar, I am disappoint.
Watch the walking dead full episodes. Our protagonists have decided to take a road trip to Aang’s old stomping ground, the Southern Air Temple, which Katara objects to because… you realize there’s been a war on for 100 years and everyone there is probably dead now, right Aang? Optimistic little cupcake that he is, Aang argues that since the only way to get to the Southern Air Temple is by Bison Airlines, some of his people might still be alive.
Sokka doesn’t give a hoot either way, because all he wants to do is sleep and eat. I feel you, bro.
Meanwhile Zuko and Uncle Iroh have freed their ship from the iceberg and hopped over to Commander Zhao’s harbor for repairs. It is imperative, Zuko reminds his uncle, that the Commander not find out about the Avatar, because if he does he’ll go after Aang himself. So of course Zuko proceeds to be incredibly smooth about how the ship got damaged: “You would not believe how this happened. It was such a crazy random happenstance. Also I absolutely did not find any evidence that the Avatar exists, nosirree!” Zhao immediately realizes that something is up, because Zuko is as bad a liar as he is, apparently, a son.
Pictured: Zuko’s Petulant Teenager Fire Hands.
Things heat up even more for Zuko (harr harr harr) once his crew spills the beans about him having found—and been defeated by—the Avatar. Zhao says he interrogated the crew, but I think it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility that Zuko just forgot to tell them “Hey, by the way, let’s keep the Avatar thing on the down-low, yeah?” He’s kind of hilariously inept so far. But that’s not enough to warrant Zhao’s absolutely shit treatment of him—saying he’s pathetic, he’s a disappointment, he has no sense of loyalty, and oh yeah, even if he finds the Avatar the King won’t undo his banishment because his daddy doesn’t love him. Harsh, asshat. I want four-flippered penguins to swarm the harbor and gnaw his face off. Instead we get Zuko challenging him to a duel, which is OK too, I guess.
Back at the air temple, Aang hasn’t found corpses (yet), but he hasn’t found any people, either. Sokka distracts his new friend by asking him how to play airball, which A) he doesn’t care about, and B) he knew would probably just lead to getting his ass kicked. But he does it anyway, ’cause he’s a champ and Aang’s his friend now. Also trying to protect Aang is Katara, who hides from him incontrovertible proof that his home was invaded by the Fire Nation.
Aang comes across a statue of his old mentor, Monk Gyatso, and from there we head to flashback land where we see Gyatso training a reluctant-to-be-the-Avatar Aang by having him airbend cakes at people’s faces. Gyatso tells Aang that inside the Air Temple Sanctuary he’ll meet someone who will teach him how to Avatar, but that’s not as important to me as an old monk caking people in the face. That sounds wrong.
Back in the present day Aang uses his airbending powers to get into the Air Temple Sanctuary, reasoning that if he survived in an iceberg for a century someone else might’ve survived in there. All he find are statues of the previous incarnations of the Avatar, aka his past lives. He recognizes the previous Avatar, the firebender Roku, even though he’d never seen him before a day in his life. Oh, and he also finds a lemur. He wants to adopt it and cuddle it and keep it as a pet. Sokka wants to eat it. In fact, his entire minset this episode is “obsessed with food.” There’s also this lovely interaction:
Such siblings.
Aang chases the lemur into a lovely room filled with the corpses of Monk Gyatso and a slew of Fire Nation soldiers. The emotional distress caused by his somewhat gruesome discovery switches his Avatar powers to eleven. He goes all glowy. The statues in the sanctuary go all glowy. Buildings in the Earth, Fire, and Air Nations go all glowy. Everything’s glowy. And everyone knows the Avatar hath returned. Meanwhile Aang’s having a hard time controlling his powers. He almost tornados Katara and Sokka clean off the mountain until Katara goes into Inspirational Speech Mode and tells him that, last of the Air Nation he may be, he still has a family: Her and Sokka.
She also apologizes for not telling him about the Fire Nation soldiers earlier, and he accepts that apology with no hard feelings. Hallelujah! Any time someone chooses to withhold information from a friend/family member I assume endless angst will come from it, because I used to watch Supernatural and that particular overused storytelling device has infected by brain. It’s lazy, it’s artificial, and I hate it. So I’m very glad that Avatar wraps up the issue of Katara lying to Aang for his own good literally within ten minutes.
Back to Commander Assbasket… sorry, Commander Zhao. No. I like my name better. Commander Assbasket has a pretty easy time kicking Zuko’s angsty teenage ass all over the place at first, but then our boy uses some fancy footwork and pulls it out at the end with some FIRE KICKS. Having defeated Assbasket, it’s well within Zuko’s right to send a fire blast to his face, giving him a scar like the one Zuko has. He decides not to, but instead of being grateful Assbasket tells Zuko “Your father raised a coward!” (not enough to call him a coward, you have to bring the daddy issues into it too?!) and attacks him while his back is turned. But then Uncle Iroh.
Everyone’s just a dirty-diapered punk next to Uncle Iroh. He tells Commander Assbasket that even in exile Zuko is more honorable than him, and the disbelieving look that Zuko shoots his way just about breaks my heart. Nobody ever tells Zuko anything good about himself!
We finish up this episode with the party of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Appa gaining a new member: The lemur, whom Aang names Momo. Momo even brings Sokka some food so he won’t be tempted to grill him up for an afternoon snack.
Come back next Tuesday for recaps of “The Warriors of Kyoshi” and “The King of Omashu.” I have an idea from the Free Comic Book Day offering I read that the Warriors of Kyoshi might be a band of lady fighters? Bring it!
Because I want to avoid being spoiled if at all possible, comments on this post are locked. Any spoilery discussion can be directed to Facebook; if there’s anything non-spoilery about the recaps you want to say to me, you can hit me up on Twitter. You can catch up on previous recaps here.
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Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 3) | |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 21 |
Release | |
Original network | Nickelodeon |
Original release | September 21, 2007 – July 19, 2008 |
Season chronology | |
← Previous Season 2 | |
List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes |
Avatar Book 3 Episode 3
Season Three (Book Three: Fire) of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American animated television series on Nickelodeon, first aired its 21 episodes from September 21, 2007 to July 19, 2008. The season was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and starred Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, Dee Bradley Baker, Greg Baldwin, Grey DeLisle and Mark Hamill as the main character voices.
This third and final season focuses on Aang's quest to defeat the tyrannical Fire Lord Ozai and finally restore harmony and order to the world.
The season is then followed by The Promise, The Search, and The Rift comic series that take place one or two years later after the hundred-year war's end.
The final season features twenty-one episodes, one more than the previous two seasons. The season finale consisted of the four episodes airing together as a two-hour television movie. Season Three received a similar positive critical reception to that of the previous seasons. The season, and especially the four-part finale 'Sozin's Comet', received much critical acclaim, with praises from sources such as DVD Talk. Between October 30, 2007 and September 16, 2008, Nickelodeon released four DVD volumes and a 'Complete Box Set'.
Production[edit]
The season was produced by and aired on Nickelodeon, which is owned by Viacom.[1] The season's executive producers and co-creators were Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who worked alongside episode director and co-producer Aaron Ehasz.[2] Most of the individual episodes were directed by Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan and Giancarlo Volpe.[3] Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick, and John O'Bryan, along with creators DiMartino and Konietzko.[3]
The season's music was composed by 'The Track Team', which consists of Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, who were known to the show's creators because Zuckerman was Konietzko's roommate.[4]
Plot[edit]
Avatar Book 3 Episode 1
In the season's beginning, protagonist Aang and his friends Sokka, Katara, and Toph are traveling through the Fire Nation, conjuring a plan for invading the Fire Nation and looking for a teacher to teach Aang Firebending. Midway through the season, Aang gathers friends he met in previous episodes and leads a failed invasion into the Fire Nation. Former antagonist and anti-heroZuko changes sides and joins Aang, serving as his Firebending teacher until the four-part series finale when Aang finally defeats the Fire Lord and ends the one hundred-year war in a surprising way: he uses a new ability to permanently rid Ozai of his natural firebending abilities to avoid violating selfless Air Nomad teachings.
Cast[edit]
All of the central characters generally remained the same: Zach Tyler Eisen voices Aang, Mae Whitman voices Katara, Jack DeSena voices Sokka, Jessie Flower voices Toph, Dante Basco voices Zuko, Dee Bradley Baker voices Appa and Momo,[3] and Grey DeLisle voices Azula.
Additionally, Mark Hamill joins the cast to voice Fire Lord Ozai after having minor appearances throughout the first and second seasons of the series,[3]while Greg Baldwin now voices Iroh due to Mako Iwamatsu's passing.[5]
Reception[edit]
The season received critical acclaim. Jamie S. Rich from DVD Talk remarked, 'In addition to the solid writing, Avatar the Last Airbender [sic] also has amazing animation. The character designs, with its roots in classic Asian folklore, are colorful and inventive, and the overall animation is smooth and consistently executed'.[6] Jamie S. Rich wrote in another review:[7]
“ | This final season in the trilogy is turning out to be the best.. At this point in the story, major things are happening, with the characters going through changes and the various plot elements coming together. Thankfully, the show creators never rest, and the quality control is top-notch. The writing is smart, and the animation always impressive. (2008) | ” |
Henrik Batallones, a BuddyTV Staff Columnist, also noted the wide variety of positive reviews from the press for the series finale, noting that sources such as The New York Times and Toon Zone gave Avatar: The Last Airbender 'glowing reviews'.[8]
The season also received praise for its video and sound quality. Nick Lyons from DVD Talk felt that the video quality appeared better than previous seasons, which had also garnered additional awards. He also remarks that the sound is 'spot on..as per usual.'[9] At the 2008 Annie Awards, the season won 'Best Animated Television Production for Children'. At the same Annie Awards, Joaquim Dos Santos won the 'Best Directing in an Animated Television Production' caption for his directing in 'Into the Inferno'.[10] Joaquim Dos Santos also gave Avatar: The Last Airbender a nomination at Annecy 2008 for his work with 'The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse'.[11] Additionally, music editor and composer Jeremy Zuckerman and the sound editing team were nominated a Golden Reel award for 'Best Sound Editing in a Television Animation' for their work in 'Avatar Aang'.[12]
Episodes[edit]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Animated by | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code [1] | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
41 | 1 | 'The Awakening' | SEK Studio | Giancarlo Volpe | Aaron Ehasz | September 21, 2007 | 301 | -- |
Aang awakens to find himself weakened, his head full of hair, and all of his friends dressed in Fire Nation clothing as they travel on a stolen ship. He is dismayed to discover that the world believes him to be dead, just like when he was frozen in ice. Sokka believes that this is a positive development and insists they should maintain the illusion as long as possible, since it means the Fire Nation won't be hunting Team Avatar anymore and that they won't be expecting Aang at the invasion. Zuko and Azula are welcomed home as heroes, and Fire Lord Ozai makes his first appearance in the series in which his full, unobscured figure is revealed, as he congratulates Zuko for killing the Avatar. Zuko realizes that Azula credited him with the honor-bestowing reputation for having killed the Avatar for ulterior motives that will eventually serve her own ends. Aang tries to run away by himself, but his friends find him. He accepts that with the fall of Ba Sing Se, secrecy is their greatest advantage, and gives up his glider, a part of his identity as an airbender, to the lava flows of Avatar Roku's island. | ||||||||
42 | 2 | 'The Headband' | JM Animation | Joaquim Dos Santos | John O'Bryan | September 28, 2007 | 302 | -- |
Aang and friends steal some clothes as temporary disguises while traveling in the Fire Nation, and Aang is accidentally taken to a Fire Nation school. He hides his tattoos with a headband and long sleeves, and learns the Fire Nation pledge of loyalty and must maintain his cool upon hearing propaganda about the death of the airbenders. He organizes a school-wide dance party for the up-tight Fire Nation kids. When the principal arrives to shut it down, the kids help Aang escape. A form of movement similar to Capoeira is shown as a Fire Nation traditional dance. Meanwhile, Zuko becomes increasingly certain the Avatar is still alive and hires an assassin to kill Aang. | ||||||||
43 | 3 | 'The Painted Lady' | Moi Animation | Ethan Spaulding | Joshua Hamilton | October 5, 2007 | 303 | -- |
The gang arrives at a Fire Nation village populated by sick and starving people. They are sick because of a nearby Fire Nation munitions factory polluting the river. Katara convinces the group to stay by making Appa appear sick and assumes the role of 'The Painted Lady,' a local legend, in order to heal the sick and steal food from the factory. eventually destroying the factory, she is forced to give up the ruse to Aang. In response to the destruction of the factory, Fire Nation soliders attack the village, but are repelled by Team Avatar. Katara reveals herself to the villagers, who thank her for her selfless aid. Later that night, Katara is also thanked by the spirit of the real Painted Lady. | ||||||||
44 | 4 | 'Sokka's Master' | JM Animation | Giancarlo Volpe | Tim Hedrick | October 12, 2007 | 304 | -- |
Sokka has long felt isolated as the only person of the group unable to bend. Determined to increase his usefulness to the group and the war effort, he seeks out Fire Nation sword master Piandao, still under his assumed Fire Nation identity. With persistence, he convinces the master to take him on as a student. Piandao teaches Sokka the philosophy of swordsmanship by giving him various seemingly boring tasks like painting and rock-gardening. The sword master also helps Sokka forge his own sword, and Sokka chooses to use a meteorite he has found for the necessary material. When Sokka gains Piandao's respect, he becomes ashamed of misrepresenting himself and divulges he is not from the Fire Nation. Piandao reveals that this fact had been readily apparent from their first meeting and that the ways of the sword belong to all nations. He gives Sokka a white lotus Pai Sho tile as a farewell gift. Meanwhile, Iroh, devises a plan to escape his Fire Nation prison and, while feigning the part of a broken and humiliated wretch for his captors, secretly begins an intense training regimen to further build his strength. Note: At the end of the episode, Sokka gives Toph a piece of the meteorite. She bends it to create the Nickelodeon splatter shape. | ||||||||
45 | 5 | 'The Beach' | Moi Animation | Joaquim Dos Santos | Katie Mattila | October 19, 2007 | 305 | -- |
Zuko, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee are forced to go on vacation to Ember Island while Aang and his friends meanwhile are attacked by Zuko's assassin, who uses an obscure form of firebending (later referenced as 'combustion bending') which channels his power through his third eye to create powerful localized explosions with much more destructive force than normal firebending. After winning a beach volleyball game, Zuko and the girls get invited to a party where Azula tries to flirt but scares guys away with her psychotic raving. Zuko, who has resumed a romantic relationship with Mai, observes a boy flirting with her and destroys a vase in anger, prompting Mai to tell him off. Later around a campfire, Ty Lee reveals she is so outgoing because she grew up with six identical sisters and hated it. Mai reveals that her parents were worried about their careers and gave Mai anything she wanted, but required that she always kept her emotions subdued and acted properly, and that this created the cold persona that she feels she must always project to others. Zuko reveals that he hates himself because he is unsure of the difference between right and wrong anymore. Azula reveals that she knew her mother thought she was a monster, before brushing it off by claiming that her mother was quite obviously correct. The group then bond and end the night by returning to the party and trashing the place as the horrified host looks on and cries. | ||||||||
46 | 6 | 'The Avatar and the Fire Lord' | JM Animation | Ethan Spaulding | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz | October 26, 2007 | 306 | -- |
Through separate sources, Aang and Zuko both learn about the strong and close childhood friendship of Avatar Roku and Fire-lord Sozin. Sozin suggested to Roku that, as the pinnacle of civilization, the Fire Nation should control the destiny of the entire world to ensure universal prosperity. As Roku was the Avatar, he knew the importance of balance between all people and disagreed. When Sozin later greedily took an Earth Kingdom colony, Roku defeated him in battle and threatened to kill him if he again tried to do anything that crossed that line. When Roku's island volcano erupted years later, Sozin came to help. But, at the last moment, when Roku was overcome by volcanic gases, Sozin realized that he could rule the world if he let Roku die, and he abandoned him. Roku then died from the lava and was reincarnated as Aang. In his prison cell, Iroh tells Zuko that as the great-grandson of both Roku and Sozin, he alone has the ability to resolve their endless conflict and restore order and peace to the world. At the end of the episode, Toph asks if friendships can transcend life times where both Aang and Katara acknowledge and accept Toph's intuition (implying that Aang's next incarnation, Avatar Korra, will befriend both Katara and Toph). | ||||||||
47 | 7 | 'The Runaway' | Moi Animation | Giancarlo Volpe | Joshua Hamilton | November 2, 2007 | 307 | -- |
Katara expresses her disapproval when Toph begins scamming Fire Nation civilians for quick cash. Toph thinks Katara is acting too motherly, and a rift forms within the group. To patch things up, Katara decides to pull a scam with Toph, but they are caught by Zuko's assassin, Combustion Man. He uses them as bait in an attempt to kill Aang, but Katara's quick thinking saves the day. | ||||||||
48 | 8 | 'The Puppetmaster' | JM Animation | Joaquim Dos Santos | Tim Hedrick | November 9, 2007 | 308 | -- |
The gang discovers that there have been strange disappearances in a Fire Nation town during a full moon. They befriend an elderly innkeeper named Hama, who reveals that she is a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe that had been taken away sixty years previously alongside her fellow Southern waterbenders. She becomes Katara's mentor and shares with her the tragic story of her life as a longtime prisoner of the Fire Nation. Katara then discovers that Hama is enacting her revenge by kidnapping Fire Nation civilians with bloodbending, a sinister and dark technique of waterbending which can only be used by an incredibly strong and skilled waterbender, and only during a full moon when his or her waterbending abilities are at their strongest potential. The resulting battle forces Katara to use the technique against Hama to save Aang and Sokka. After being arrested by the village, Hama congratulates Katara on mastering bloodbending. A horrified and saddened Katara cries and Aang and Sokka comfort her. | ||||||||
49 | 9 | 'Nightmares and Daydreams' | Moi Animation | Ethan Spaulding | John O'Bryan | November 16, 2007 | 309 | -- |
The invasion is four days away, and Aang begins to feel nervous about confronting the Fire-Lord. Feeling that he is unprepared, he trains constantly and loses sleep, causing him to hallucinate and have nightmares. After three straight days, it takes the collaboration of Sokka, Toph and Katara to get him to finally sleep and feel confident about facing Fire Lord Ozai. | ||||||||
50 | 10 | 'The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion' | JM Animation | Giancarlo Volpe | Michael Dante DiMartino | November 30, 2007 | 310 | 3.77[13] |
On the day of the solar eclipse, many allies featured in previous episodes reunite with Team Avatar to a launch the planned invasion of the Fire Nation, lead by Hakoda. Aang finally kisses Katara as sign of his strong feelings for her, worried that he may not return. Relying on several forms of bending and aquatic vehicles designed by Sokka, engineered and constructed by the Machinist, and propelled by waterbending, the invasion forces successfully circumvent several layers of Fire Nation defenses and infiltrate the capital, where they begin a grueling assault towards the palace under constant onslaught from Fire Nation forces. Aang reaches the Fire-Lord's palace, only to find out that no one is present. | ||||||||
51 | 11 | 'The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse' | Moi Animation | Joaquim Dos Santos | Aaron Ehasz | November 30, 2007 | 311 | 3.77[13] |
As the eclipse begins, Sokka, Aang, and Toph search for the Fire-Lord, but only find Azula in an underground bunker, and give chase to her. When Sokka realizes that Azula is merely delaying them to exhaust the time they can benefit from the eclipse, he initially attempts to stop the chase, but Azula provokes him into going on the attack again by telling him of Suki's capture. Zuko confronts his father in another bunker. He tells Ozai that Azula struck down the Avatar, who survived the attack, that the Fire Nation only spreads fear and hatred, and that in order to restore peace he will join forces with the Avatar. Zuko refuses to kill Ozai as that is the Avatar's destiny, not his. As he begins to leave, Ozai stalls him by revealing the events of the night Fire-Lord Azulon died. Azulon had ordered Ozai to kill Zuko, as punishment for Ozai's request to be made heir to the Fire Nation throne, following Iroh's retreat from state affairs after the death of his son Lu-tan at the siege of Ba Sing Se. Desperate to save her son's life, Zuko's mother sought an alternative, creating a treasonous plan for Ozai to take the throne immediately by assassinating Azulon with poison which she would produce; Zuko's mother was banished following the successful implementation of the plan, but Ozai does not reveal where she was sent. As Ozai finishes the tale, the eclipse ends and he attacks. Zuko redirects Ozai's lightning back at him, using the technique taught to him by Iroh and leaves, intent on freeing his uncle. However, Iroh single-handedly breaks out from prison before Zuko can join him. The exhausted and diminished invasion force has no choice but to surrender and be captured, but at the urging of his allies, Aang flees with his friends to the Western Air Temple with Zuko trailing them on a stolen warship balloon. | ||||||||
52 | 12 | 'The Western Air Temple' | JM Animation | Ethan Spaulding | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz Tim Hedrick | July 14, 2008 | 312 | -- |
Zuko follows Aang and his friends to the Western Air Temple, seeking to join their group. There, Zuko desperately tries to prove to them that he has changed for the better and wishes only to atone for his past mistakes. It is only after Zuko helps save them from Combustion Man that he receives their acceptance as Aang's firebending teacher and the fifth member of Team Avatar. However, an embittered and cautious Katara still refuses to trust that Zuko has really changed and threatens to take his life at the slightest sign of treachery. | ||||||||
53 | 13 | 'The Firebending Masters' | Moi Animation | Giancarlo Volpe | John O'Bryan | July 15, 2008 | 313 | -- |
Zuko tries to teach Aang how to firebend, but has lost his own ability to bend as he is no longer reliant on rage, the previous focus of his firebending. Toph suggests they learn from the original source of firebending, the mighty dragons. Zuko reveals that his uncle Iroh killed the last dragon long ago, in the last of a line of glory hunts that earns a firebender the title of 'Dragon'., but he also notes that the dragons first imparted their knowledge to the Sun Warriors, a now extinct people who were the genesis of the Fire Nation. Zuko and Aang travel to the ruins of the Sun Warrior civilization, where they discover a tribe of the fabled people still exist. The pair must carry a sacred flame up to the mountain to meet the 'Masters', who turn out to be a pair of surviving dragons, but their flames go out at the last moment. They perform the dragon dance, a series of firebending forms seen carved in the ruins, and the last two dragons reveal that at its core firebending is a source of life, not destruction. The Sun Warriors reveal that Iroh had lied about the extinction of the dragons after receiving similar training, in order to protect the remaining members of the species from further hunts. Both Aang and Zuko begin to firebend again, stronger and more skillfully than before. | ||||||||
54 | 14 | 'The Boiling Rock, Part 1' | JM Animation | Joaquim Dos Santos | May Chan | July 16, 2008 | 314 | 3.97[14] |
Sokka and Zuko infiltrate the Fire Nation's top prison, the Boiling Rock, to find Sokka's father Hakoda. It is surrounded by a boiling lake, trapping Sokka and Zuko when their balloon crashes. They find Suki and hatch an escape plan with Sokka disguised as a guard. Zuko is captured and the warden, Mai's uncle, recognizes him. A prisoner, Chit Sang, blackmails them into letting him join help orchestrate the escape. As they are nearing escape, a new batch of prisoners arrive, including Sokka's father Hakoda. Sokka, Zuko, and Suki decide to stay to save him. Chit Sang and his friends leave without them but make a mistake. | ||||||||
55 | 15 | 'The Boiling Rock, Part 2' | Moi Animation | Ethan Spaulding | Joshua Hamilton | July 16, 2008 | 315 | 3.97[14] |
Sokka, Zuko, Suki, and Chit Sang create a new plan for escaping the prison after the original plan failed. Mai appears and demands to know why Zuko left her. He says he's trying to save the Fire Nation, not destroy it. Later, Sokka and allies take the warden hostage to escape on the gondola which provides access to the prison over the boiling water. The guards attempt to cut the line following the warden's orders, but Mai saves them by stopping the guards. Azula is furious over her betrayal, but Mai declares she loves Zuko more than she fears Azula, enraging Azula further. After Ty Lee stops Azula's attack on Mai with Chi-blocking (a technique which allows her to temporarily eliminate the abilities of a bender) and tries to aid her escape, Azula furiously has them both imprisoned. | ||||||||
56 | 16 | 'The Southern Raiders' | Moi Animation | Joaquim Dos Santos | Elizabeth Welch Ehasz | July 17, 2008 | 316 | 4.23[14] |
Azula chases Aang from the temple. Zuko confronts Katara about her distrust of him and tries to gain her friendship. He decides to help Katara find the soldier responsible for Kya's untimely death. Aang warns her that revenge is not the answer. Along the way, Katara's behavior becomes increasingly aggressive, and she even resorts to mercilessly bloodbending a Fire Nation soldier. They eventually find the retired soldier, Yan Rha, who reveals that Katara's mother had died protecting her. Despite Katara's rage, pain, and desire for revenge, she is unable to take Yam Rha's life as revenge. Katara and Zuko leave, and once reunited with a relieved Aang and the rest of Team Avatar, Katara finally forgives Zuko and accepts his friendship. | ||||||||
57 | 17 | 'The Ember Island Players' | JM Animation | Giancarlo Volpe | Tim Hedrick, Josh Hamilton John O'Bryan | July 18, 2008 | 317 | 4.53[14] |
Sokka discovers that the Ember Island Players, a Fire Nation theater group, is debuting a play based upon their adventures. The play turns out to be Fire Nation propaganda, and although the audience enjoys the play, Aang and his friends are embarrassed by the inaccurate and exaggerated portrayals of themselves (with the sole exception of Toph, who is amused by her depiction as a large muscled man who employs a primitive form of sonar by yelling at everything). In context, the play also serves as a concise summary of Aang's entire journey throughout the show. The play ends with the Fire Nation winning the war, Azula killing Zuko and the Fire Lord killing the Avatar, which triggers a standing ovation from the audience and clearly frightens Aang. | ||||||||
58 | 18 | 'Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King' | JM Animation | Ethan Spaulding | Michael Dante DiMartino | July 19, 2008 | 318 | 5.59[14] |
Aang has decided to fight the Fire-lord after Sozin's Comet passes. Zuko derails this plan by revealing that Ozai intends to raze the entire Earth-Kingdom continent while under its influence. The gang begins a frantic training regimen while Aang struggles with his responsibilities: his friends exhort him to simply kill Ozai, but Aang clings to the pacifist beliefs of his Air-Nomad heritage. In his sleep, Aang is drawn towards a mysterious island that appears suddenly in the sea; the next day, his friends find June the Bounty Hunter to attempt to locate him again. Ozai bequeaths the Fire Nation throne to Azula and declares himself 'Phoenix King', ruler of the known world, while Aang awakens on the unknown island now in the middle of the sea. | ||||||||
59 | 19 | 'Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters' | Moi Animation | Giancarlo Volpe | Aaron Ehasz | July 19, 2008 | 319 | 5.59[14] |
On the island, Aang seeks guidance from his past lives, but they too insist he may have to take violent action against the Fire Lord. The island turns out to be a giant lion-turtle, which gives Aang the guidance he has been seeking. After June is unable to find Aang, Zuko decides to ask June to find his uncle Iroh instead. After June leads them to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, they meet King Bumi, Jeong Jeong, Master Pakku, and Master Piandao, who are revealed to be members of the Order of the White Lotus, a secret society, presently lead by Iroh, that is constituted by citizens of all three surviving nations. After reuniting with Iroh, the team decides to split up and go in different directions to help stall the Fire Nation's plans: Zuko and Katara will handle Azula at the capital of the Fire Nation; Sokka, Suki and Toph will attempt to deflect the Fire Nation airships encroaching on the Earth Kingdom, and Iroh is to lead the White Lotus in the liberation of Ba Sing Se. Sozin's Comet arrives and Phoenix King Ozai prepares to destroy both the Earth Kingdom and the Avatar. | ||||||||
60 | 20 | 'Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno' | JM Animation | Joaquim Dos Santos | Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko | July 19, 2008 | 320 | 5.59[14] |
Azula's mental stability, undermined by the betrayal of her childhood friends at the Boiling Rock, begins to deteriorate as her coronation as Fire Lord approaches. Zuko and Katara confront her right when she is about to be crowned, but Azula challenges her brother to an Agni Kai. Zuko, although initially prevailing against his sister's unbalanced assault, is gravely injured when he dives in front of lightning that Azula throws at Katara. Aang duels Ozai, but still being unwilling to kill, is kept constantly on the defensive, narrowly avoiding Ozai's onslaught of firebending, which is powerfully augmented by Sozin's Comet. Sokka, Toph and Suki attempt to halt the Airship fleet but are soon separated, while the Order of the White Lotus battles for Ba Sing Se's freedom. | ||||||||
61 | 21 | 'Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang' | JM Animation | Joaquim Dos Santos | Michael Dante DiMartino Bryan Konietzko | July 19, 2008 | 321 | 5.59[14] |
With a chance injury, Ozai accidentally causes Aang to enter the mighty Avatar State. The Order of the White Lotus successfully liberates Ba Sing Se, while Sokka, Suki and Toph successfully disable all of the airships in the Fire Nation attack armada. Katara fights and outmaneuvers Azula, freezing her in ice and then chaining her to the ground, triggering a psychotic breakdown in Azula. Katara then uses her exceptionally strong healing abilities to revive a severely wounded Zuko. Aang, in the power of the Avatar state, chases and easily overwhelms Ozai, yet still refuses to kill him. Aang uses knowledge he received from the lion-turtle and employs an ancient form of bending to alter the natural energy within Ozai, using the technique to permanently strip him of his firebending abilities, defeating the Phoenix King without taking his life. In an epilogue sequence set some days later, newly appointed Fire Lord Zuko declares the war over. Zuko and Mai reconcile officially, and Zuko confronts his father, angrily asking where his mother, Ursa, is being kept. Some time later, 'Team Avatar' celebrate together at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se; slipping out to share a quiet moment together, Aang and Katara embrace and kiss under the sunset.
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DVD releases[edit]
The first three DVD volumes contain five episodes each, and the fourth volume contains six. A later boxed set contained all four volumes. The first DVD was released on October 30, 2007, and the complete boxed set was released on September 16, 2008.[15] They are released by Paramount Home Entertainment. Each of the individual Season Three DVDs also comes complete with an exclusive comic book.[16] The Complete Book 3 Collection DVD includes the following DVD extras: Inside Sozin's Comet: Exclusive Four-Part Commentary by Creators, The Women of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 3 Finale Pencil Test Animation and Into the Fire Nation at San Diego Comic-Con.[17] The boxed set was released on February 1, 2010 in the United Kingdom.[18]
Volume | Discs | Episodes | Region 1 release | Region 2 release | Region 4 release |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 5 | October 30, 2007 | Not released | June 1, 2010[19] |
2 | 1 | 5 | January 22, 2008 | Not released | September 23, 2010[20] |
3 | 1 | 5 | May 6, 2008 | Not released | October 7, 2010[21] |
4 | 1 | 6 | July 29, 2008 | Not released | November 4, 2010[22] |
Box set | 5[23] | 21[23] | September 16, 2008 | February 1, 2010[18] | December 2, 2010 |
Footnotes[edit]
- 1.^ Production code format taken from the commentary for 'Sozin's Comet Part 1: The Phoenix King'
References[edit]
- General
- 'Season 3'. Avatar: The Last Airbender. IGN. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- 'Season Three DVD Information - TVShowsOnDVD.com'. TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
- Specific
- ^Luening, Erich (September 7, 1999). 'CBS, Viacom in blockbuster merger — CNET News'. CNET. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
- ^DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan (August 29, 2005). 'Interview with 'Avatar' Program Creators — Page 3'. Animation Insider (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by Aaron H. Bynum. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- ^ abcd'Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast and Details'. TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
- ^DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan (August 29, 2005). 'Interview with 'Avatar' Program Creators — Page 4'. Animation Insider (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by Aaron H. Bynum. Archived from the original on May 27, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- ^Harris, Jeffery (February 4, 2008). 'Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3: Fire / Volume 2 Review:'. IGN. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2009.
- ^Rich, Jamie S. (January 22, 2008). 'Avatar The Last Airbender — Book 3: Fire, Vol. 2'. DVDTalk.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- ^Rich, Jamie S. (May 6, 2008). 'Avatar the Last Airbender — Book 3: Fire, Vol. 3'. DVDTalk.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- ^''Avatar' Officially Over, but Perhaps Not Quite So'. BuddyTV. July 22, 2008. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
- ^'Avatar The Last Airbender Book 3 Fire, Vol. 1 : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video'. Dvdtalk.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
- ^'2008 Annie Awards: For Your Consideration'. Annie Awards. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
- ^'Annecy 2008 - Official Selection'. Annecy 2008. 2008. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- ^'56th Golden Reel Awards Television Nominees - Best Sound Editing in a TV Animation'. Motion Picture Sound Editors. 2009. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 18, 2009. Retrieved January 31, 2009.
- ^ ab'Top Cable Nov 26-Dec 2, NFL & Tin Man'. TVByTheNumbers. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
- ^ abcdefgh'Nielsen Ratings Cable TV Top 20: Home Run Hit for ESPN 07/22/2008'. TVByTheNumbers. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
- ^'Avatar: The Last Airbender Search'. Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ^Harris, Jeff. 'IGN: Avatar: The Last Airbender — Book 3: Fire May 27, 2008'. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
- ^'DVD Empire — Item — Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Complete Book 3 DVD Box Set / DVD-Video'. DvdEmpire. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
- ^ ab'Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 3'. Play.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
- ^'Avatar - The Legend of Aang: Book 3 - Fire: Volume 1'. EzyDVD. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- ^'Avatar - The Legend of Aang: Book 3 - Fire: Volume 2'. EzyDVD. Archived from the original on September 23, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
- ^'Avatar - The Legend of Aang: Book 3 - Fire: Volume 3'. EzyDVD. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2010-09-02.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
- ^ ab'Avatar: The Last Airbender Season Three DVD Information'. TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved October 28, 2008.